Origins

His order is the Venators. No one becomes a Venator by volunteering: you are chosen, and chosen by another Venator. When Ivy asked him how you become one, he answered that there’s a criteria and a process, much like canonization. She remarked offhand that at least no one has to die; his only reply: no — someone always does.

“By another venator. There's a criteria and a process much like canonization.”

“被另一位诛邪者选中。有标准，也有程序，很像封圣。”TL

He has taken an oath: his life belongs not to him, but to service. We all have a calling, he says, too; the only question is whether we have the courage to answer it.

“I've taken The Venator's Oath. My life belongs not to me, but to service.”

“我已立下诛邪者的誓言。我的生命不属于我自己，而属于服务。”TL

The title fills him with pride and shame alike. Fewer than two dozen have the honor of being called Venator, he says, and the title is a source of much pride; the work he is sometimes called to do, less so. But it is not for a Venator to question what is necessary — only to have the will to do whatever it takes.

“Less than two dozen men and women have the honor of being called Venator. The title is a source of much pride. The work that I am sometimes called to do... Less so. But ours is not to question what is necessary, ours is to have the will to do whatever is takes.”

“能被称为诛邪者的，全世界不过二十四人。这头衔让人自豪。至于我有时被召去做的那些事……就没那么光彩了。但我们不质疑什么是必要的，我们要做的，是有决心去完成任何必须完成的事。”TL

Yet he is no man to act without thinking. He never questions what needs to be done; what he questions is the timing. Sometimes he says he isn’t ready to pass judgement yet; at other times, that he is still recovering from the last hunt.

“I don't question what needs to be done, I question the timing.”

“该做什么我从不怀疑，我怀疑的是时机。”TL

He has no illusions that his hands are clean. When Vindicta asked why he would work with her, he answered: because he is a flawed man who judges others. To Calico, too, he once owned it: innocent people have indeed died by his hand, but never because he was looking to make a dollar. When he prays to the Lord, what he asks for is blessing and absolution.

“Because I'm a flawed man who judges others.”

“因为我是个有缺陷的人，却在审判别人。”TL

A man like this speaks of his order with a candor that borders on the cold. When Silver asked whether he had a problem working with her, he said the Venators are a results-centric order. She laughed that it must cover all manner of sins; his only reply: you have no idea.

“The Venators are a results-centric order.”

“诛邪者是一个以结果为中心的组织”

And he always sets his own place low. He doesn’t get to walk the righteous path, he says; he only blazes the trail so that others may do so safely.

“I don't get to walk the righteous path… I blaze the trail so that others may do so safely.”

“我没资格走正道……我是为别人开路的人，好让他们能安全地走下去。”TL

Old Friends and Foes

Grey Talon: Another at the Abyss’s Edge

Grey Talon has left the Baxter Society, yet Venator still calls him by his own name, Wesley. You’re staring into the abyss, he says, and we both know where that leads. Grey Talon only tells him to worry about the task at hand. The tone is the concern of old acquaintances, not a stranger’s interrogation.

He doesn’t always agree with the Baxter Society, but he has always respected them. When Grey Talon fell, he said he didn’t blame him for being consumed by anger, promised to pray for his family, and said that peace never lasts for men like them. Grey Talon, for his part, has asked how things are with the Venators, and whether there have been too many funerals; last year was hard, he answered, but they’ve been blessed as of late.

“I'll pray for your family, Grey Talon.”

“我会为你的家人祈祷，灰爪”

The protégé Grey Talon chose makes him frown the moment he comes up: that man should be dead. And he left a warning: if the man strays from the path, Grey Talon won’t be able to protect him from the Venators.

“He should be dead.”

“他本该已经死了。”TL

Shiv: The Man in the Mask

Shiv is Grey Talon’s protégé. Venator says he knows what Shiv has done, and that those many crimes must be answered for. He asked Shiv how much longer he could keep the charade up; Shiv answered, a lifetime, and he only scoffed. Yet when Shiv cut down one foe after another in the melee, he too admitted under his breath: I get what Talon saw in him.

“I get what Talon saw in him.”

“我算明白灰爪看上他哪点了。”TL

Abrams: The Burden of the Brownstone

Between him and Abrams lies an old affair, one that took place in the Brownstone. Hate my methods all you want, he said, I saved lives. There was a way to save more, Abrams answered. That, he said, was a way to risk more — and God help us all if we failed. What happened in that brownstone, he added, is his burden alone, not Abrams’s. Abrams’s only reply: I should have stopped you.

When all was said, he still called him a good man, and said that if this was his last battle, he was happy to have it be with the Detective. Yet on another front he is after the tome in Abrams’s hands: it should have been handed over the moment it came into his possession. Abrams says it doesn’t belong to the Vatican; doesn’t belong to you either, he answers.

“You should have handed over the tome the moment it came into your possession.”

“你应该在得到宝书的第一时间就把它交出去”

Afterward, having struck him down, Abrams spoke of the priest: he really hoped he would never see that guy again — and there’s no reasoning with a man like him.

Calico: Before She Became a Monster

Calico says they worked well together. That was before you became a monster, he answers. When she retorted that he has no moral high ground, he laid it bare: his own hands are not clean, but at least he doesn’t kill to make a dollar; when she argued on, he only told her not to pretend she bothers to check. When she fell, he said: I hope your 30 pieces of silver was worth it — and added, that was for Grey Talon.

“That was before you became a monster.”

“那是在你变成怪物之前。”TL

“I hope your 30 pieces of silver was worth it, Calico.”

“卡厉可，希望你那30块银子物有所值”

Vindicta: The One Who Confuses Revenge With Justice

Vindicta branded him a religious extremist; he said he was not one of the people that hung her, and she said only that they were cut from the same cloth. She pressed him on whether he knew what she had done; he said he had his suspicions, and still he would work with her. Later, when she struck him down, she told him: I respect you. When he struck her down, he said: you confuse revenge with justice. What he faults in others is precisely the pit he himself is likeliest to fall into.

“I'm not one of the people that hung you Vindicta.”

“吊死你的人里没有我，薇妲。”TL

“You confuse revenge with justice, Vindicta.”

“你把复仇和正义混淆了，薇妲”

Paradox: The One He Calls a Thief

He counts Paradox a thorn in the side of the whole order. The first words out of his mouth: return what you stole from us. She refused flatly, calling him Father Rourke. He sneered that he was surprised her colleagues hadn’t murdered her in her sleep yet; she answered that Paradox is like any family — they can get competitive, but ultimately they always come together in the end. You’re not a family, he said, you’re a den of thieves. After she fell, he said that made his day, and that the other Venators would buy him a drink.

“Return what you stole from us.”

“把你从我们这里偷的东西还回来”

“That made my day.”

“这让我今天心情大好”

Holliday: The Man Who Prayed With Her

Holliday carries the weight of what happened in Macomb. He told her it wasn’t her fault; he has failed before too; she can’t let it consume her. Pain and anger, he said, are fires that need to be tended. Later she said their praying together hadn’t worked, but it was nice that he tried. As enemies, he showed her no mercy, saying the people of Macomb deserved better than her.

“No. But I've failed before. You can't let it consume you.”

“不，但我以前也失败过。你不能让它吞噬你”

“The people of Macomb deserved better than her.”

“马科姆的人民应该得到比她更好的警长”

Bebop: A Good Son

Bebop asked him to say a prayer for Shelly, and his prayer ran: may his aim be true, and his resolve unshaken by the screams of his enemies. When Bebop fell, he said: I’m sorry, your mother’s needs don’t outweigh the world’s — and that he was a good son.

“Of course. Lord, please guide Bebops hand. May his aim be true, and his resolve unshaken by the screams of his enemies... for he fights not for himself, but for life of a good woman. Amen.”

“当然。主啊，请指引比波普的手。愿他百发百中，愿他的决心不被敌人的叫嚣所动摇……因为他并非为自己而战，而是为了拯救一位善良女子的生命。阿门”

Lady Geist: He Calls Her Jeanne

Lady Geist told him he looked older; he said she looked the same. She needled him that he hadn’t been sent here for her; you certainly knew who to bribe, he answered. He said he would cut off her arm, and that you can’t fight evil with evil; she, in turn, mocked his staggering lack of self-awareness. Another time he called her Jeanne, and said that Venators only hunt the wicked — if she had nothing on her conscience, why worry about someone like him? When she fell, he said Oathkeeper will be stopped, and that her days of leeching on the lives of others were over.

“When this is over I'm cutting off your arm.”

“这事了结之后，我要砍掉你的手臂。”TL

Seven: Today, His Monster

Seven killed a friend of his, and still he works with him. When Seven asked him for a benediction, he refused flatly: you’d have to have a soul first. He calls Seven a monster — but today, his monster. Seven is hardly grateful, and calls him a Vatican dog.

“You killed a friend of mine.”

“我的一个朋友就是因为你去世了”

Drifter: Not the First, Nor the Last

Drifter told him: you ain’t the first Venator to swear he’d drive a stake in my heart, and you sure as hell ain’t gonna be the last. His answer: you’ve never fought a man like me before. Later Drifter asked how many of his order he’s gotta kill before they realize they can’t stop him.

“You've never fought a man like me before, monster.”

“你从没跟我这样的人交过手，怪物。”TL

What Outsiders Say

Dynamo says he’s no man of God, he’s a maniac. Victor says you can’t reason with zealots. Haze, though, says you can’t help but admire his commitment — and in the next breath reminds him that the Vatican oversteps.

“You can't help but admire his commitment.”

“你一定会钦佩他的奉献精神”

He and Haze share an acquaintance besides: Marlowe. He asked her to tell the bastard he said hi; yet when the two came to blows, he said he doesn’t answer to the OSIC.

Nurse Harrow’s verdict carries a chill: having struck him down, she said she won’t have him questioning her methods, that conviction is not a substitute for common sense, and told him to stay out of her business. He himself has little to say of her; on the battlefield he only warns, “Careful, Nurse…”, or rallies the others to take her out.

Anecdotes

Fire and Judgement. Fire saves more lives than it takes, he says; there are no innocents here; collateral damage is acceptable. He likens himself to the flood that washes the earth clean, declares that Sodom will burn, and in his direst straits murmurs: I am the tenth plague.

“Fire saves more lives than it takes.”

“火灾拯救的生命比夺走的生命更多”

The Introduction. It is the Lord who judges, he says; he merely facilitates the introduction. Yet when he takes his revenge, he says: God forgives. I do not. When he strikes, the words on his lips are Latin: Ego sum ira Domini — I am the wrath of the Lord.

“God forgives. I do not.”

“主会宽恕，但我不会。”

The Tithe. He calls the spoils a tithe, and says Venators rely on donations like these; the work doesn’t come cheap.

“Venators rely on donations like these…”

“诛邪者依靠像这样的捐款…”

Old Tools. His gun is loaded with silver and cold iron buckshot, and in his hands is a crossbow from the mid-1200s; Mo & Krill placed its age at a glance. Ancient evils, he says, call for ancient tools.

“It's from the what? Mid 1200s?”

“是什么年代的来着？十三世纪中叶？”TL

The Carnifex Rite. Before he goes on the hunt, he first performs a rite. Viscous teased that he did a ritual before doing the ritual; I suppose I did, he answered. When Viscous spoke of having come for an evil “Adversary,” he pressed at once: he wanted to know more.

“I suppose I did.”

“我想是的。”TL

The Baroness. He has heard of the Baroness Hotel. When the Doorman invited him to stay there the next time he visits New York, he said The Baroness definitely has his attention; after the Doorman fell, he said that was no doorman, and that he needs to speak to the others.

“That was no doorman.”

“那不是门卫”

Fairfax. He told McGinnis: it’s not that you make weapons, it’s how you make them. As for Fairfax Industries, he would have it ripped out root and stem.

“Fairfax Industries needs to be ripped out root and stem.”

“菲尔法克斯实业必须连根拔起”

Judgement and Misgivings. He condemns no one for their birth. To Apollo he said he doesn’t care about the circumstances of his birth, nor whether he looks like a monster — only how he acts. To Kelvin he admitted he is not scared, only uneasy: someone who doesn’t even know what happened to him is someone he can’t trust, not fully. From Graves he demanded the Lich Hand, convinced that the Lich is using her, and saying they’re all the same.

“Young man, I don't care about the circumstances of your birth, I care about who you are. I don't give a damn if you look like a monster…. But if you act like one I will put you down.”

“年轻人，我不在乎你的出身，我只在乎你是怎样的人。就算你长得像个怪物，我也毫不在乎。但如果你真的那样做…我会让你付出代价”

“You don't know what you are Kelvin, and if you don't know what happened to you, then I can't trust you. Not fully.”

“你不知道自己是什么，开尔文。你连自己遭遇了什么都不清楚，我就没法信任你，至少不能完全信任。”TL

A Lonely Vigil. After a narrow escape, he says it felt like divine intervention; in the direst straits, he still says the Lord has plans for him.

“That felt like divine intervention.”

“那感觉就像是神迹”

Open Questions