As far as the design goes for my character, I started with the Philippines national hero Jose Rizal. He wrote two novels that somewhat mirrored his own life and lead to the revolution against Spain in real life. Upon researching about him, I noticed many similarities to the protagonists of both novels (the sequel being the same character Cristosomo, under a new identity Simoun) and the author. Each of these people had different ideologies to free themselves from Spain, and none ultimately saw that change in their lifetimes. Another important character from the first novel was Elias, who was the most like a typical revolutionary and stalwart companion, although had a checkered past and quite the redemption arc.
The lore of the hero's existence is that the gods felt that he had unfinished business worthy of watching. Jose Rizal would be brought back as Elias, the Maharlika warrior. Losing the Battle of Manila in 1570 was what caused the Spanish rule in the first place, and this time, it wouldn't be lost.
As a warrior who practices mangkukulam (necromancy in this case,) Elias raises the souls of fallen warriors and Spanish conquistadors to do his bidding. His favorite soul in particular, is calling upon Ferdinand Magellan, who was killed and taken by Filipinos during the Battle of Mactan (1521.)
