Koschei, also spelled Koshchei or Kashchei, is a mythological figure from Russian folklore, often serving as an antagonist in stories. As it turns out, Koschei is in fact real, and is Marianne's father.
Backstory
Koschei is featured in numerous Russian tales, as opposed to a single story. It is unknown how many, if any, of the stories are actually factual. The most common feature attributed to him however lends to his epithet as "the Immortal" or "the Deathless". Supposedly Koschei has hidden his soul in side of a series of nested objects and animals, such as inside a needle which is inside an egg which is inside a duck that will fly around and evade capture. This can be considered a rather convoluted form of a phylactery and thus makes him a lich.
Little is known of what exactly Koschei has done over the centuries, aside from the folklore stories. It is known that he has an army consisting of his undead creations, and wars with beings such as Baba Yaga. In battle, while Koschei may not be as strong as his daughter in terms of pure power, he is someone that is far more willing to plot and strategise, stacking engagements in his favour as much as possible.
It is unknown by what circumstances it happened, but in the mid-19th century Koschei sired Marianne by way of a prostitute in Marseille, France. He was not around to raise her, and it is unknown if he even knew about her at all. At least on Marianne's side, she would not properly meet her father until the 1960s, deep in the frozen-wastes of Siberia. No details are known about how the meeting itself went, but he gifted her the Ancient Earrings which she still wears.
In modern day Koschei has one of his minions, Zhenya, spying on the Magical Camp and Marianne for him.
Personality
From his one in-game appearance the only determination that can be made of Koschei's personality is that he is a pervert. Having apparently knocked up a prostitute in the past supports this. Drawing more from what is known about him, it can be inferred that Koschei is likely quite crafty as well as powerful to have survived so long despite having enemies. From his mastery over magic and the powers of life and death his intelligence as well cannot be discounted.
Interactions
- Koschei can be seen in the Death Knight Game Over, where he revives Eric(a) as a sexy female death knight to serve as one of his generals.