Biography:
Belladonna always pushed the boundaries. She loved tattoos, piercings, body mod, and leather restraints. She was obsessed with blockheads, the sideshow performers who drove spikes and nails into their faces and through their flesh to the shocked gasps of an audience and took to the trade herself with vigor.
It was working for Col. Progress Bargum's Circus Spectacular that she met Ivarn Zik, a mysterious Varandovan fortune teller who introduced her to the dark arts. She learned to summon spirits with a board and planchette and to read the secret scripts of the nether-realms. When she learned all she could from Zik she stabbed him in his sleep and used his blood to summon her first demon.
She became truly corrupted and she began to build her Freak Show; specifically out of victims who she mutilated, manipulated, and deceived. She began dealing with criminal organizations and even supervillains as she grew more wealthy and more pernicious.
Soon she grew wealthy enough to buy the circus and turn it into her own little roving criminal cohort. She has proven to be a twisted and cruel mistress since taking over the Circus. She’s recruited a veritable car-load of creepy clowns who act as pernicious pranksters, eager to get laughs by fulfilling her twisted whims. The Incendiary Iris, a hot-tempered fire-breather, has also become a willing henchwoman of the new boss, burning more than one rival who has dared to cross them.
Others are ignorant of these wicked schemes, or perhaps they tacitly ignore them in stoic silence. The Stupendous Strongjack and the Outrageous Owens Twins are far from criminals but overlook the shady dealings of the circus in order to continue performing their extraordinary acts for crowds of adoring fans. The Eerie Erich has taken part in some less-than-moral acts on behalf of the new boss, but isn’t overtly underhanded (except in carrying out some of his “magic” tricks). It’s harder to believe that the Prophetic Penelope is unaware of the unlawful activities, but she avoids confrontation.
Belladonna herself has mystical abilities to absorb wounds and inflict pain. She is stealthy, sly, and has many underlings to protect her. Belladonna has had confrontations with Miscreant, Phantomess, Gumshoe, and the Troll. She has never been arrested though it does seem that after her disastrous encounter with Mercy Mordake she is now in deep debt to some demonic overlord.