Paracelsus

Paracelsus, born John Pater, is so to speak the recurring main-villain during the first- and second season of the 1987 TV-series "The Beauty and the Beast" and was played by Tony Jay.

Early Years
John "Paracelsus" Pater was one of the founders of the World Below (an utopian community without crime and suffering, living in a secret system of tunnels and caverns beneath New York City) alongside Jacob “Father” Wells and a highly respected savant and universal-genius with interests in philosophy, science and even magic. It was him who originally discovered more than half of the tunnels and vaults the inhabitants still use and live in. He also developed the code-language the community still uses to communicate through the widespread pipe-system via secret knocks. But after some time he developed a disturbing lust for power and when he forcefully tried to take over the World Below he was banished. Filled with hate and bitterness he called himself Paracelsus after his role-model, the legendary medieval alchemist, and lurked in the shadows for a chance to take revenge on those who cast him out.

Recurring Terror
The World Below becomes aware of him again when a dangerous drug he developed costs the lives of dozens of New Yorkers. When Vincent (the main-character, a tall man with many physical characteristics of a lion, inluding almost superhuman strenght, claws and sharp teeth; played by Ron Perlman) tries to stop his madness his lair bursts into flames as a result of a fight. The source of the drug gets destroyed and Paracelsus is seemingly killed in the fire.

But he survived with severe facial burns which he hides beneath a half-mask of pure gold and kidnaps Catherine (the main-heroine, a tough investigator for the Manhattan District Attorney and Vincent's love-interest; played by Linda Hamilton) and sets a trap for Vincent. When he arrives at Paracelsus’ new hideout in purgatorial depths of the World Below, he claims to know much more about Vincent’s origin than Father has told him. When Paracelsus tries to burn Catherine at a stake Vincent safes the day but the madman escapes in the darkness.

He strikes again at the World Below’s most important holiday when he tries to kill Father with a bomb. Here he demonstrates his astonishing talent for disguising and imitating voices alongside a shocking and sadistic brutality. He almost kills Narcissa the nearly bling fortune-teller and beheads one of the community’s ‘world-above’allies to take his place during the festivities.

Demise
Paracelsus’ final plot is to make Vincent ‘his son’ and drive him mad by unleashing his inner beast. During this final confrontation two versions of Vincent’s origin are revealed:

In Paracelsus version Vincent is actually his biological son as well as a result of biological experiments he implemented to impregnate his infertile wife Anna. Due to this story Vincent wasn’t born the usual way but with his claws ripped his way out of his mother’s flesh.

Later it is revealed that the truth is that it was Anna who found Vincent as a baby near St. Vincent’s Hospital. She and John always dreamt of starting a family but weren’t able to have children of their own, so they decided to raise him as their son. But Anna was worried about the baby because about that time John began to lose himself in his growing hunger for power. He was more and more obsessed with Vincent as ‘his son and heir of his future kingdom’ and so she took the boy and gave him to Father to care for him. For this ‘treason’ John murdered his wife with poisoned wine before he tried to take over control which was the ultimate reason for his banishment from the community.

It is unclear how far Paracelsus in his insanity believed the tale of the creature, that ripped his mother’s body apart to be born, himself but he was successful with unleashing Vincent’s beastly inner demons. After this terrible reveal Vincent suffers a breakdown. He loses control and wounds him mortally. Paracelsus final words before he dies are “Finally you are my son…”

Physical Appearance
Paracelsus appears as a gaunt man in his late fifties or early sixties with thin greyish hair, a beard and dark sharp looking eyes. Most of the time he wears a black suit with a stand-up collar and narrow white seam at the jacket’s front but occasionally he is also seen with a dark suit with a white shirt and a gold-coloured tie. During the character-development he suffered severe burns on the left side of his face he hides beneath a roughly welded golden half-mask. His left hand is always in a black leather glove.

Weapons & Abilities

 * His favourite weapon is a wrist-blade hidden in his right sleeve. With an inconspicuous movement of his arm he can let it snap out and cause mortal injuries.
 * Another addition to his wicked arsenal is the talent of voice-imitation. Seemingly without any effort he can imitate the voices of Vincent, Father and a variety of other inhabitants of Below to fool and trap his enemies.
 * The most dangerous weapon he carries is his twisted but still genius intellect. With his sophisticated behaviour and his deep soothing voice he can easily manipulate others to his will and make even crazy things sound wise and reasonable.

General Informations
John “Paracelsus” Pater was played by the late character-actor Tony Jay and appeared in six episodes during the first- and second season of the TV-show:


 * Season 1
 * Episode 14 - “The Alchemist”
 * Episode 20 - “To Reign in Hell”
 * Season 2
 * Episode 02 - “Remember Love” (In this episode he appears in a vision of Vincent in which Paracelsus actually rules the World Below)
 * Episode 04 - “Dead of Winter”
 * Episode 20 - “What Rough Beast”
 * Episode 21 - “Ceremony of Innocence”