Thistlecrown

Thistlecrown is a treant demon featured in Going Underworld, who later acts as one of the central protagonists. Grax first stumbles into Thistlecrown during her journey back to Hell, in which they find the treant to be an infamous cryptid on the Overworld, currently hunted by paranormal investigators. Grax's group decides to help him, taking him with them to hide him from authorities. As their time spent together grows, Thistlecrown finds himself attached to his new friends, and thus ends up a permanent addition their circle.

Appearance
A tall and lanky tree creature with a bushy mane of leaves, with several more protruding out of his body.

Life
Thistlecrown is an oddity, as he was neither a human in a past life nor was he a Hellborn-- instead, he was the result of a flower demon passing away on the Overworld, their dust scattering over a garden of flowers. Growing up, Thistlecrown would grow weary of humans, secluding himself into the forests as he traveled the world, tending to all flora and fauna.

Personality
Thistlecrown is very kind hearted, but also shy and intimidated by people. He is curious and a bit on the slow side, and as such he's easily manipulated and tricked

Allies

 * Grax: Grax is the first demon Thistlecrown sees, and as such is very intrigued by how different they are despite being of the same Hellish properties. Grax's compassionate and understanding attitude mixes well with Thistlecrown's kind hearted nature, and as such the two form a close bond, in which the latter finds her to be family. Thistlecrown calls Grax's horns "head branches", and enjoys playing games with her Lucies, finding them very cute and entertaining. Overall, their relationship is very healthy.


 * Duple: Thistlecrown's relationship with Duple is relatively peaceful, with the two seeming to be on good terms. Thistlecrown is interested in Duple's violin, calling it a "magic music stick", and often gives Duple piggyback rides. While their relationship is nothing special or anywhere near as close as Thistlecrown and Grax's, they still enjoy each other's company, and get along quite nicely.


 * Crux: The relationship between Thistlecrown and Crux is initially very one-sided. While Thistlecrown is kind in nature and treats those around him with unconditional affection, Crux thinks nothing of it and prefers to distance himself between the much too touchy-feely treant. While Crux doesn't belittle Thistlecrown as much as he does with Duple, he will still occasionally act condescending towards the treant, something that Thistlecrown takes no notice of. Once Crux begins softening up to his team, his relationship with Thistlecrown grows more nuanced, and while he doesn't actively give Thistle any attention back, he doesn't mind when the other is overly affectionate as much.


 * GB: GB is probably the character closest to Thistlecrown behind Grax. During the several years where GB lay dormant and deactivated, Thistlecrown watched over them, helping decorate them with moss and grass, thinking of it like a dress-up game. When Thistlecrown left their designated spot, GB was gone after he returned. After Grax's group's run in with the treant, he is overjoyed to see a now reactivated and repaired GB. The two get on very well, with Thistlecrown being incredibly fascinated with technology and GB being interested in nature. Coupled with the two of them having passive, friendly personalities, they're very close friends.


 * Hope: Another odd relationship is the one between Thistlecrown and Pandora's Box. The treant is still friendly and compassionate towards the box, but is noticeably more confused and detached from it than he is the others. Hope doesn't think much of Thistlecrown, having said to leave him behind and save themselves when Grax considered helping the treant hide, and during the rest of their travels together the box is still somewhat apprehensive about Thistle. Despite that, Thistlecrown will still often tag along with Hope and Duple whenever the two get into schemes, and the box finds Thistle to be a blank canvas to lie to and pull tricks on. While not an inherently hostile relationship, the two aren't exactly the closest.


 * Lycoris: Thistlecrown and Spiderlily get along nicely, despite being of opposite factions. Having been created from the dust of a flower demon, Thistlecrown is very clingy and familiar with Spiderlily, who treats him as a son figure. While the two get along, Spiderlily is still very vocal towards the other members of Grax's group, believing them to have taken advantage of Thistlecrown's kind nature to manipulate him into serving them. Later on in the series as the two factions grow closer to each other, Spiderlily grows a lot more attached to Thistlecrown, being much more physically affectionate, and choosing to mostly only spend her time with him when the two groups are together.

Abilities

 * Rootcaller: Thistlecrown can create roots when on soil, and alternatively can plunge his arms into the ground to let them act as vines when they emerge.
 * Body Manipulation: Thistlecrown can alter his body in several ways, such as twisting his arm and hand to shape a tool, or extend his arms elastically. He can also generate leaves, flowers and other flora from his body, and can twist his vines around to act as a shield.
 * Regenerative Healing: Thistlecrown can safely lose any of his limbs, as they'll slowly grow back.

Trivia

 * Thistles are plants with sharp leaves, and is the floral emblem of Scotland and Lorraine.
 * Thistlecrown is the first and so far only demon to have been created on the Overworld.
 * Thistlecrown's design was inspired by Ivern from League of Legends and Wormwood from Don't Starve.
 * His slow talking, but kind attitude was inspired by The Iron Giant from the movie of the same name.