. . . Originally, he was . . . just a grudge leftover from an unwilling sacrificial lamb. Originally, he was shapeless, formless. Nothing but hate.

The person you see him as is the shape he can take because he based it off of a human. But, his core is still the same - that vengeance, that hate.

So . . .

Losing that core is losing himself. When I say that he will pass on, I mean that "Avenger" will. So the person left behind won't be . . .

[ glancing to the side, murmuring quieter ]

Anything like him. Not in the ways that matter.