| Overview |
| Coyote | |
 |
|
| Full Name | Mason Jean Campbell |
| Nickname | Coy |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Male |
| Affiliation | The Gift Shop |
| Age | 25+ |
| Height | 6'0" |
| Zodiac | Capricorn |
| Family |
Delia Madison (daughter) Walker Madison (partner) Meredith Campbell (sister) Max Campbell (late brother) Margaret Campbell (mother) Richard Campbell (father) |
| Appearances | Dead in Desert Bleak |
Coyote is a mischevious nomad, thief, and semi-functioning addict who wants to kill Atar. His motivations for doing so are initially unclear, as is the reason why he knows so much about the incredibly secretive Bahutha, making him a suspicious character to Walker. He turns out to be a troubled but trustworthy character on a quest for redemption.
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Coyote is a tall man with an expressive face. Unless dyed or bleached, he has fawn blonde hair. He has dark circles under doe eyes, a crooked smile with a gap tooth, and is compared to a "cherub fallen upon hard times." Due to his drug habits, Coyote has an impaired appetite and a hard time keeping down food, so he is deathly scrawny. He usually wears aviator glasses that are much too large. He has a lot of patterned button-up shirts and hats, with a fashion sense that is outdated and outrageous. Items that have appeared in his wardrobe include cowboy hats, a "girly suede jacket," sneakers covered in cartoon stegosauruses, "way high-waisted pants" and "too many rings."
Coyote's body is covered in randomly-placed and unrelated tattoos, many of them having been done by Nicole. Specifically, he has: a pomegranate flower on his left forearm; a goat on his right forearm; blood sigils done by Fate on his upper arms; a stylized Cthulhu on his chest; a bandaid over a scar on the opposite side; a lamb and noose on his stomach; a heart on his neck; and some random symbols or text done by Nicole. There is also a Garfield on his leg and a Hello Kitty on his shoulder.
There are two moles beneath his hairline on the left side of his forehead.
Coyote- known by his real name, Mason, during his childhood- was a sporty and creative kid, but was bad at studies. His mother was a landlord of a house where a famous artist stayed; this artist painted her room with a mural, so Mason's family was able to sell the house for a fortune. Mason suggested they use that to monetize his mother's gardening hobby. Strangely, this turned into a rather successful brand of vanilla products and extracts by the time he was a teenager. His family was already well-off but became quickly and unexpectedly wealthy.
Once a teenager, Nicole had already begun to experiment with heroin and alcohol, and Mason followed suit. He routinely got in trouble with his family for this and his relationship with them deteriorated as a result. His friend group's spot in the woods where they would hang out and share drugs was where Nicole fell down the well and died. Mason, for fear of persecution, never reported the body. One day, when he checked the well, Nicole's body had mysteriously disappeared. Overcome with guilt over the circumstances of Nicole's death, Mason's bad habits worsened. His mother had a heart attack and he had to drive her to the hospital, despite him being horribly drunk, and, speeding down his long driveway, Mason killed his brother, Max.
Following the two tragic incidents, Mason attempted suicide via overdose and failed. At some point, he went to jail for robbing a drug store, and missed out on many family events. They grew to hate him.
One day, Mason revisited the spot where Nicole had died, only to find that she returned in a new form as a result of a blunder by a nearby Lux coven. (The force keeping her alive, as it turned out, was the eye of the Old God, Uzuk, which was dropped into the well and instinctively slithered into her eye socket.) She had been revived as a zombie who could not heal from injuries or eat food and was bound by a spell which made her unable to venture far from the coven grounds or kill herself. This state of being caused Nicole constant pain, and so from then on, she begged Coyote to kill her, but this only drove Coyote away and his visits waned in frequency.
Mason consulted with the witches at the coven and began learning about demons and the occult. He ditched his association with his family, who were growing to become semi-famous, and began going by Coyote around this time. On his hunt for a way to resurrect Max, Coyote came upon Fate, who promised a spell to do as Coyote asked, if only Coyote would form a pact with him. Coyote was to work as a thief and steal priceless magical relics for Fate's collection at a steady rate for the rest of his life, and Fate was to provide a demon-free spell to bring Max back to life. However, the ritual was a failure, as Max became mangled and was so disoriented and distressed he could only scream. Coyote was forced to kill his brother a second time and his aura was since burned with the mark of the damned. Still, he continued to work to return his debt, as the sigil tattoos on his arm bound him to it. Though it wasn't contractually required, Fate would come to compensate Coyote with cash for his efforts. Coyote became nomadic during this time, living from motel to motel as he searched for targets to steal. His financial situation fluctuated greatly as he tested his luck in casinos around the world.
Coyote was left with an ever-growing hatred for magic and the Bahutha cult, which practiced it in its most egregious forms. He learned much of their culture from Fate and stole artifacts from them constantly. He was nearly killed many times during these endeavors but enjoyed the risk involved. Eventually, Coyote came across the eye of Asag, a relic which he had previously not believed to exist outside of legends. Fate theorized that the betrayal of Atar unto his brothers festered within the eyes of the deceased Old Gods to that day, as the eye of Asag was imbued with "potentially apocalyptic levels of power." Coyote, with the assistance of Fate's expansive knowledge, devised a plan to collect all three remaining eyes of the Old Gods and use it to destroy Atar, which would effectively render the Bahutha powerless. Unfortunately, even if he were to collect all of the eyes, Coyote could not use them, for he lacks the blood of a demon, so he would need to seek out a willing Bahut or dimension-travelling fairy to do his dirty work.
Coyote is neurotic and emotionally immature while also being clever to a fault. He is creative enough to climb his way out of most sticky situations, only to quickly think of another way to get into trouble. He finds it difficult to adopt a less hedonistic lifestyle because he never recovered from the deaths of Max and Nicole and tends to marinate in misery. Another result of his past is that he faints at the sight of gore and detests killing. Even if a person irrefutably deserves to die, Coyote believes that murder is a negative, sadistic reflection of someone's character.
He has a strict set of morals and becomes easily outraged by those who breach it. While he's not opposed to criminal behavior, he's very empathetic, and dislikes causing trouble for innocent people. He also detests the use of magic by humans.
He can be rude at times, but Coyote never resorts to cruelty. Invoking his trauma can easily drive Coyote to hysterics, but he is otherwise laid-back in times of turmoil, to a point of irrationality. In fact, he finds enjoyment in the thrill of risk, which is reflected in his affinity for gambling and his job, which often involves stealing from highly dangerous targets.
Coyote is socially inept and is often too blunt or harsh. He attempts to cushion his thoughts with insecure filler, including "I suppose," "unless I'm mistaken," or "actually, nevermind." He also curses every other sentence and doesn't care what strangers think about his behaviour. His method of speech is clearly enunciated and often verbose, especially when stuck in a drunken ramble. He likes using abstract and funny metaphors to describe things.
It's difficult to lie to Coyote, as he is incredibly perceptive of how others communicate, despite his own failures in the art of conversation. He is kind and very silly but carries a lot of mental weight around which influences him towards bitchiness. His agitation is exacerbated by often taking uppers and never eating enough. His desires to further his relationship with Walker and repair ties with his family are the catalyst that eventually lead Coyote to work on fixing his health.
This section is incomplete!
When scoping out a Bahut cargo train for unguarded goods, Coyote witnesses Walker kill everyone on board and recognizes the vial of Atar's blood that Walker steals. Curious, Coyote trails Walker to the bar where Walker drinks the god's blood mixed into a sangria. Coyote confronts Walker, questioning the motivations of his treason, and learns that Walker also aims to kill Atar. Coyote presents his plan and Walker agrees to help realize it.
Though he regrets only finding the strength to put Nicole out of her misery due to his own selfish reasons, Coyote takes Walker to retrieve the eye of Uzuk. However, upon arrival, Coyote discovers the eye in the body of a witch child and is subsequently knocked out with a shovel, along with Walker. Arranged and restrained in a way that suggests that something will be coming to eat him, Coyote awakes at the bottom of the well where Nicole died and hysterically laughs at the irony until Walker rescues him a day later. Walker confronts the High Priestess, who allows the two to leave to prevent violence. The zombie witch girl willingly surrenders the eye once she hears of the cause to kill Atar, and because she wishes not to become miserable like Nicole.
Coyote decides to attend a reunion at his family's estate. He brings Walker to exorcise the troubled energy of Max's soul which haunts the grounds as a result of being resurrected, therefore carrying the risk of becoming a demonic presence. This is the first time Walker learns of Coyote's past and witnesses the relationship with his family.
Throughout the events of Dead in Desert bleak, Walker and Coyote grow increasingly close, but once they succeed in killing Atar, they end up going separate ways until they both can settle into new lives.
Given that Walker is a Bahut, Coyote finds it difficult to even view him as human at first. In time, however, Coyote learns more about Walker and the reasons behind his actions, and can't help but empathize. Regardless of how much time they spend together, Coyote finds himself simultaneously scared and captivated by Walker to the point where he confesses his heart races any time they are in the same room.
Coyote pities and hates himself terribly for having made bad decisions, while Walker doesn't really care what he's done in the past and focuses on the future. However, Walker could use some of Coyote's remorse and reflection. In ways like this, they teach each other new ways of thinking. Walker is also brutally honest in his criticisms, which helps Coyote grow out of his wallowing. Coyote is afraid to love anyone for fear of hurting them, but Walker is always sticking around, and they fluctuate in and out of a relationship until they finally go to Vegas and have an impulsive, trashy wedding. They both are extreme personalities who would sacrifice anything for each other.
Together, Coyote and Walker always seem to find a way out of the mischief they are constantly getting into. The romantic aspects of their relationship are complicated, given how little they agree on lifestyle choices. Their journey towards a functioning relationship is a tumultuous one but they always have each others' best interests in mind.
Coyote was once resentful of Fate for tricking him into a working contract, but he can't complain about the pay and eventually comes to terms with how Fate really can't help doing what a fairy does. Upon that realization, he begins treating Fate like a breed of cute animal, which flies over Fate's head completely. Fate doesn't outwardly express affection towards anybody, but Coyote detects a tinge of disappointment from him when they part ways.
Years before Nicole fell down the well, she and Coyote made a drunken promise. "No matter what happens, even if we get in a big fight, don't ever leave me," is what she said; "I don't want to ever be alone." Coyote finds it difficult to face her when she is resurrected. He doesn't want to be near her, as she creeps him out, is miserable to hang around, and her body is falling apart. He feels extraordinary guilt for not keeping her company as much as he should, or at least putting her down. If he had never left her body alone at the bottom of the well, she would have been sent off properly and she would have never become a zombie.
Coyote continues to be haunted by regret when he finds out Nicole was killed again for the sake of an unrelated child.
Coyote knows full well how dangerous Leah is, but her unassuming form and manipulative magic reel him in. Luckily, Leah is uninterested in using Coyote as anything other than entertainment. They play card games together; Leah makes Coyote give her jewelry if he loses, and Coyote gets to drink Leah's mysterious hallucinogenic brew if he wins. Leah is happy to help Coyote kill Atar, stating that she wishes to take his place one day, implying she is actually an Old God.
There is nothing Julie and Coyote like about each other. Coyote despises her for carelessness in toying with Mud Beasts, as opposed to the comparatively benign Lux demons that witches typically study. Julie dislikes Coyote for his closed-mindedness and the way he disrespects her, her house, and her family.
This section references future events which may or may not be relevant to the canon!
Delia latches onto Coyote almost immediately; Coyote adores her and finds happiness in being a part of her life. However, since Delia and Walker cannot seem to bond, it becomes an uncomfortable situation, as Coyote does not want Walker to resent either of them for it. He becomes very distressed when Delia develops mental issues which he is not skilled at dealing with, and Delia becomes increasingly more distant and antisocial as she grows older.
