| “ | Whether or not you believe in God, you must believe this: when we as a species abandon our trust in a power greater than us, we abandon our sense of accountability. Faiths… all faiths… are admonitions that there is something we cannot understand, something to which we are accountable. With faith we are accountable to each other, to ourselves, and to a higher truth. Religion is flawed, but only because man is flawed. The church consists of a brotherhood of imperfect, simple souls wanting only to be a voice of compassion in a world spinning out of control | „ |
| ~ Tomas Ortega |
Father Tomas Ortega is a former priest from Palmyra, New York. On a journey to complete a botched exorcism, Tomas relives traumatic memories and traverses through dangerous situations to defeat the unspeakable evil that plagues him.
Appearance[]
Tomas Ortega is a young man with short messy blonde hair and bangs, standing at six feet two inches tall. He is always seen wearing priestly clothing, including a white clerical collar. In his civilian clothing, he simply wears an army jacket, a gray polo shirt, and jeans.
History[]
Background[]
Father Tomas Ortega is a priest living in New York City, a compassionate leader of a hearty little church, and a student of his superior Father Allred. He was also a member of the Vatican, one of the few exorcists who is privy about their private subdivisions like Iscariot, and is even revealed to be a descendant of one of the disgraced Templar Knights who destroyed Baphomet's influence and worship. Unlike most priests in the Vatican, Tomas has an unbiased view towards what can be considered human and monster whereas most others like the members of Iscariot would kill any unholy beast regardless of its morality. This causes Tomas to lose faith in the way the Vatican would operate to dispel the darkness from the world.
Possession of Amy Martin[]
Nonetheless, Father Tomas has proven himself to be a reliable and capable exorcist, but things only took a turn for the worst when Tomas performed a botched exorcism on Amy Martin. Amy had a deteriorating mental state which only worsened as time passed and was behaving inhumanly, leading to the conclusion that she was possessed by a powerful demon. During the exorcism, Amy escapes and kills Father Allred followed by her parents whom she strangles to death with their own innards. Tomas would be trapped in the house by Amy, constantly bombarded by horrific and unsightly images and visions with demon in Amy taunting him about his own sins.
At his breaking point the possessed Amy restrains Tomas and attempts to rape him with Tomas profusely praying and begging for someone to answer him. Suddenly, a mysterious white entity manifests before him. Using Shakespearean English, the entity says that it hears him asks what he wishes. The entity gives him a disclaimer that, if it leads him to safety, then the girl's fate will be sealed, implying that the demon possessing her will have a stronger restraint on her and will likely never be exorcised. The entity forces him to swear on it and Tomas obliges. There were signs that this entity is not what it seems, but Tomas was too afraid and mentally drained to comprehend the gravity of his situation. With this deal done, he is able to walk out of the house alive without getting ambushed while Amy has completely disappeared and staggers towards paramedics and the police outside.
Redemption[]
He was admitted to a psychiatric word and remained there for six months until he was released but was greeted with contempt and disdain from most members of the Vatican especially Enrico Maxwell. Ortega spent the rest of his days attempting to remedy his mistakes by helping people in his church until he found himself entangled in a web of apocalyptic conspiracy surrounding the infamous Illuminati.
Despite the Vatican's tumultuous relationship with organizations like Hellsing and the Order of the Silver Cross, Tomas was perhaps the only priest the members of the organizations truly trusted and was instrumental in having the Vatican put back their differences aside and help save the world from the coming Apocalypse. After the Apocalypse, he would be involved once again in a demonic scenario, particularly during the American Gothic, involving a Satanic cult known as the Halo of the Sun in the rural town of Silent Hills where the sins of his past have come back to haunt him.
Personality[]
Father Tomas is a warm, selfless and compassionate individual. He works as an ordinary run-of-the-mill priest and does not have very many relationships with other people. He is clumsy and awkward, but what he lacks in physical training, he makes up for in his courage. Tomas is described by his adopted daughter Heather as a "worrywart". Tomas was so concerned for Heather's safety that he provided her with a stun gun for self-protection, though the real reasons as to why he was so concerned become apparent later in Heather's life.
However, during the infamous Martin case, Tomas's mental state is in shambles, filled with self-loathing and guilt over a failed exorcism, among other stressful matters such as his traumatic experience of the demon that was possessing Amy Martin's body nearly raping him. There's even an underlying implication that he is somewhat suicidal, secretly wishing for things to have changed all the way back to his first exorcism, which was pointed out by John Constantine who has a "history" with such thoughts. As the series progresses, he tries to remain noble despite encountering demons, monsters, and various evil forces. In his journey, everything he goes through serves as both a test of faith in God and in himself.
What is unique about Tomas is his unbiased view in regards to the differences between what qualifies as a monster and a human. He is perhaps one of the very small number of priests who does not go out of his way to harm and kill monsters that are simply trying to make a living and avoiding any conflict with humans. Such a trait was looked down upon with contempt by the likes of Iscariot, especially Enrico Maxwell who disparages Tomas's moral code to such beasts as weak and even went so far as to berate him on it being the very thing that damned Amy Martin in the first place. Regardless, such a trait as earned him the respect of individuals like Professor Broom, Klaus, and even the likes of Father Alexander Anderson who while initially mocking Tomas's views would later acknowledge them in a positive way and compliments his strong heart.
By the end of his journey, he breaks out of his shell and begins to open up to his new demon-fighting ally Father Garcia or love interest Lisa Pearson. After his harrowing experience in Silent Hills, Tomas would come to adopt the infant Heather as his own daughter. Tomas is shown to be a competent, devoted, responsible, and loving father towards his adopted daughter, risking his life to save Heather when she goes missing in Silent Hills. His daughter is the most important thing he has in life, and he devotes it to her well-being.
