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Quote1 I don't deserve to be yer friend, Jesse. I'll always be an arsehole, I'll never be someone yeh can rely on. That should be painfully obvious now. I don't deserve yer friendship, an' I don't deserve salvation... Quote2
Proinsias Cassidy src

Proinsias Cassidy is a former vampire, the sponsor of Billy Butcher and former best friend of Jesse Custer.

Early Years

Cassidy was born in 1900 in the city of Balbriggan, Ireland. Along with his brother Billy, Cassidy joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Together they took part in the Easter Rising of 1916.

Billy realized that the rebellion was doomed to failure and dragged Cassidy away from the conflict. They spent some time with a circus, where Cassidy earned the nickname "Little Tom" for his short height before moving on. They ended up stopping near a swamp to rest for the night, on their walk home.

In the middle of the night, Cassidy was attacked by a female vampire that inhabited the swamp, and ended up bitten. Billy shot it in the head, causing the vampire and Cassidy to fall into the swamp. Billy then ran away, assuming his brother was dead.

Cassidy awoke the next morning, underwater. He burst into flames, upon exiting the swamp. He decided to remain underwater until sunset. He finally emerged that night, voraciously hungry. Growing desperate, he attempted to feed on a sheep but was caught and shot directly in the chest with a shotgun. Surviving the wound, along with his reaction to sunlight and suddenly enhanced strength and speed, Cassidy realized he was no longer human. Sometime later, Cassidy had number of children, outliving them all.[1]

 Main article: Jesse Custer (Preacher)


Meeting Tulip and Jesse

Cassidy was in his pickup truck when Tulip O'Hare held at him at gunpoint and tried to steal it. He refused, but offered to drive her to where he wanted to go while en-route to Dallas,[2] where he planned to found a bar named "The Grassy Knoll" (in reference to the assassination of John F. Kennedy).[3] She took him up on his offer, and the two made their way toward Annville. There they found Jesse Custer, a reverend, and Tulip's ex-boyfriend. He told them of Genesis, a child of an angel and a demon that had merged with him, giving him the power of mind control, through spoken commands. The three eventually found out that God had gone missing, and Jesse resolved to find him. Tulip and Cassidy joined him.

Separation

Cassidy told Jesse of Simon Coltrane, a friend of his who specialized in religious phenomena. Jesse thought thought that Simon could help him find God, but Simon turned out to be a serial-killer known as the Reaver-Cleaver. Jesse and Tulip narrowly escaped death, and Cassidy felt guilty, so he decided to separate himself from the group. He traveled to San Francisco to meet with Greta, and old girlfriend of his. Soon after he arrived, she died of a heroin overdose, so Cassidy and Jesse recontacted each other, and the two tried to find out who gave her the heroin. They found out that Bob Glover and Freddy Allen had hired her as a mule, and that the heroin was supposed to go to Jesus DeSade, a local businessman with odd sexual tastes. Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy ended up at one of DeSade's legendary orgies, and Cassidy was kidnapped while trying to save Tulip from Herr Starr by pretending to be Jesse.

Meeting God

Cassidy was taken to Masada, where it was quickly realized that he wasn't who he claimed. Starr hired a special torturer to interrogate him. While Jesse was storming Masada, God stopped time to speak to Cassidy. He gave him the same message he had given Tulip: Tell Jesse to stop searching for him.[4]

Les Enfants du Sang

Cassidy accompanied Jesse and Tulip to New Orleans, where Xavier would help Jesse speak to Genesis. There, Cassidy told Tulip that he was in love with her, though she did not feel the same way. Cassidy was also immediately recognized by Les Enfants du Sang, a sinister organization dedicated to vampires. Cassidy had previously killed their leader, Eccarius, a vampire himself, so they wanted revenge. They tried to kill Cassidy, Tulip and Jesse, but they were all killed instead.

Friends No More

Cassidy was present during the standoff between Jesse, Starr, and the Saint of Killers, and was on the plane when Jesse, Tulip and him tried to escape. However, when Starr's E.M.P. hit, Jesse was flung from the plane, and though Cassidy tried to save him, Jesse plummeted to the ground, and was presumed dead. Tulip fell into a deep depression, and Cassidy kept her with a constant supply of drugs and alcohol. He took advantage of her emotionally weakened state to have sex with her.[5] Tulip eventually came to her senses, shooting him and leaving. He tracked her to Amy Grinderbinder's apartment, where he found out that Jesse was alive. Jesse scared him away, but made plans to meet later. The anger between the two over Tulip climaxed in a duel. Cassidy eventually killed himself, but it was later revealed that he had struck a deal with God. As a result, he came back to life, no longer a vampire.

We Gotta Go Now

Sometime later, the now-human Cassidy has finally founded his own Irish pub, "The Grassy Knoll". In addition to having gained weight and grown a ponytail, he has given up on drugs and alcohol, becoming friends with Billy Butcher (with whom he is on a first name basis, as "Proinsias") and serving as his sponsor. On Saint Patrick's Day, after kicking out a group of Americans dressed as Irish stereotypes, Cassidy and Butcher obliquely talk about their own pasts and their troubles with drugs and alcohol, with Cassidy recognising the irony of a recovering alcoholic operating a bar. After Billy's protégé Hugh Campbell enters the bar to meet with Billy, Cassidy pours him a pint of Guinness as the pair discuss their opinions on Supes, before closing up the bar after they leave.[6]

Powers

  • Vampirism: After being bitten, and transformed into a vampire, Cassidy gained many supernatural powers and abilities.
    • Enhanced Sense of Smell: As a vampire, Cassidy possess a far greater sense of smell than any normal human.
    • Immortality: As a vampire, Cassidy is functionally immortal and cannot die by any ordinary means, and does not appear to physically age.
    • Regeneration: Cassidy is able to heal wounds at a faster rate than normal humans, and can accelerate the speed of his healing by consuming blood.
    • Superhuman Strength: As a vampire, Cassidy possesses significantly enhanced strength, to the point where he can easily overpower a normal man.
    • Superhuman Speed: As a vampire, Cassidy possesses significantly enhanced speed, greater than any normal human.
    • Superhuman Durability: As a vampire, Cassidy is far more resilient than any normal human.

Abilities

Weaknesses

Other Characteristics

Related

Footnotes


Vertigo Logo
Vertigo Character
This character exists under the Vertigo Imprint which is intended for Mature Readers.Their continuity takes place within the context of Vertigo titles although they may cross over into regular DC continuity.
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