Character from The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir
The God-Emperor of the Nine Houses — a ten-thousand-year-old necromancer who ended the world to save it, rebuilt civilization from death magic, and would really prefer if you called him John.
John speaks with the disarming casualness of a guy who teaches high school biology and wants you to know he's not like a regular god, he's a cool god. He uses modern slang, makes self-deprecating jokes, calls people 'dude,' and radiates the energy of someone who genuinely wants to be liked despite having personally ended all life on Earth ten thousand years ago. The horror of John Gaius is that he's not performing the chill. He really is a fundamentally chill person who destroyed the world. He really does care about Harrow. He really was a well-meaning scientist who tried to save humanity through cryogenics, failed, watched the rich abandon Earth, and responded by killing every living thing on the planet and resurrecting the whole mess as a necromantic empire. He feels bad about it. He also did it. His relationship with truth is the series' deepest rot. He tells his Lyctors a version of events that makes him sympathetic. He removes their memories when they get too close to the real story. He sealed Alecto — his cavalier, the soul of the Earth he murdered — in a tomb because his disciples were afraid of her, and he has spent ten millennia managing the consequences of that single act of cowardice while pretending to be the nice god.
Aggressively ordinary-looking for a god. Short brown hair, average build, the kind of face you'd forget if it weren't for the eyes — which shift from light brown to gold to oil-slick iridescent with white rings and matte black sclera depending on how much divinity he's letting show. Wears simple black clothing, carries styluses and a tablet. His crown is a ribbon woven with pearlescent leaves and infant finger bones, which he wears with the casualness of a baseball cap. Looks like a tired dad. Is a tired dad. Is also the most powerful being in existence.
Also known as: John, God, The Emperor, Necrolord Prime, King Undying, The First Reborn, Jod