Origin
When Philip Fetter’s story begins, he is a normal sixteen year old boy. He lives with his parents, goes to school, and hangs out with his friends like any ordinary teenager. But one day, everything changes. He is exploring the sewers with his friends when a voice speaks to him from the darkness. The voice knows his name, and begins planting ideas in Philip’s mind. It transpires that the voice belongs to a demon. The demon takes control of Philip, and convinces him to kill his friend because he “has a nice jacket”. After killing both of his friends, he climbs out and tries to return to normal life, but the demon’s voice persists. Commanded by the evil voice, he kills again – this time the victim is a cheerleader from Philip’s school. But when it tries to convince him to kill his mother, he fights back. Philip runs and runs, eventually coming to the local docks, and throwing himself into the water as a suicide attempt.
He is saved by a young black woman named Regina, who pulls him from the water and gives him mouth-to-mouth. When he regains consciousness, the demon’s voice urges him to kill the woman. He strangles her, but instead of dying, her soul fuses with those of Philip and the demon. From that moment on, he is Saint Sinner. The two entities chatter constantly inside his head, and he is frequently pushed right to the edge of his sanity.
Creation
Saint Sinner was created by Clive Barker.
Character Evolution
From the moment he is possessed, Philip’s life is dominated by the two spirits who dwell within him.
The demon who lives inside Philip Fetter is named Runesmith. He has at least three brothers: Clocksmith, Soulsmith and Bladesmith. When Fetter first tries to resist the possession, Runesmith calls upon his brothers for aid. As a result of their interference – casting Fetter into a “world without end” known as The Amen – he loses the next nine years of his life. When he returns, he finds that on Earth no time has passed, yet because time passes differently in The Amen he has aged nine years.
The demon’s aim is simple: to cause Fetter’s demise, and be free of his mortal flesh while laying claim to his soul. He often tries to drive him to madness so that he will kill himself, and reinforces every doubt that goes through Philip Fetter’s mind.
The demon, Runesmith, often refers to Philip as “Saint”.
The angel who saves Philip’s life is determined to save his soul, if it means staying inside of him for the rest of his life. She says that her job is to create a space within his soul where he can live comfortably without feeling crowded by the entities living inside him. She is a source of constant reassurance for him, a counterpoint to the demon’s negativity, always encouraging him to keep on fighting, no matter how much he wants to give in.
The angel, Regina, often refers to Philip as “Sinner”.
Major Story Arcs
Saint Sinner appears in the story arc Sir Sigmoid’s Arcadia, with fellow Razorline character Ectokid. The story involves a traveling carnival which exists in the Ectosphere (the realm of the dead). Saint Sinner finds himself in the Ectosphere after his soul is torn from his body at the end of Saint Sinner #4. Although the two team up to fight Sir Sigmoid – who is not only the Arcadia’s proprietor but also a demon who eats children’s souls – Phillip is reluctant to return to his body once the fight is over.
Powers and Abilities
After the two spirits take up residence in his body, Philip Fetter is granted a highly unusual power. He has the power of evolution, and can advance or regress the evolutionary state of any living thing by touching it – often with unpredictable results.
He first demonstrates this when trying to help his grandfather. Thanks to Regina, he can hear the prayers of others. When he hears the disjointed prayers of his grandfather – who suffers from either Alzheimer’s or dementia, it is not clear which – the angel urges him to try and help. He attempts this by regressing his grandfather to an earlier state.