✘ information | updated 1/27/13

[imatreenow]

The New, Improved Character Survey of Doom

Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy?
His canon height and weight are listed at 5’0” and 90 lbs respectively, but as he no longer has a Cruxis Crystal attached, his body has begun to grow again in Luceti. He currently stands at 5’9” and weighs roughly 125 lbs. He remains slight for a boy his age. (Physical/cognitive age, anyway, as I imagine most people who are 4000 years old have long since been reduced to a withered pile of bones and are very slight indeed.) But he is deceptively strong – even without a Cruxis Crystal he can swing a sword pretty darn well. So his body could be described as subtly sinewy, because who knew he had all those muscles.

2. How old is he?
Older than dirt. He’s been around for more than 4000 years, but physically he appears 17 (canonically 14, but again, his body ages in Luceti due to his lack of a Cruxis Crystal). Cognitively, he is more or less in accordance with normal children this age, actually, using Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development for reference. Like most young teens, he is well beyond the concrete operational stage, but he isn’t quite fully functioning at the formal operational level. The primary evidence supporting this assertion is the way in which he reasons about complex, abstract, global concepts – in particular the issue of discrimination. He naively believes that racial differences are at the root of discrimination when really it is a multifaceted problem. The linear way in which he views it is, again, very typical of adolescents this age. (As a side note, you can’t be “4000 years old mentally”; such a thing does not exist. As previously mentioned, most people who are 4000 years old are quite dead, and therefore possess no mental capabilities whatsoever. Yes, four millennia would allot a great deal of time to acquire knowledge, but that is a matter of knowledge and nothing more. One’s cognitive capabilities - the ability to think, essentially - would not expand infinitely to evolve beyond the normal capacities.)

3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch?
His posture is rather impeccable. He generally carries himself with an air of superiority, as he feels that he is far above everyone else and must make this fact apparent; it is a tool of intimidation, to discourage people from approaching him, and simultaneously a defense mechanism with the purpose of protecting himself from others both physically and emotionally. He maintains an upright posture and holds his head high, especially when speaking to others, in order to compensate for his lack of height. He does loosen up and relax more around people he actually cares about and whom he trusts, though. Which are...few and far between. When he is relaxed, he tends to stand with his hands clasped either in front of him or behind him, and he often sits with his hands folded in his lap. Much of his body language in this state could easily be described as “feminine”.

4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?
Mithos is in good health with no illnesses or disabilities. He would consider “not being an angel” a disability, but that doesn’t count. Despite not being a super-powerful semi-immortal, he is still fairly strong (especially considering his small stature) and nimble. So yes, he is very fit. He stays in fighting shape through training a few times a week. During times of extreme emotional distress, he tends to not take good care of himself, neglecting to feed himself properly and ceasing physical activity for lengthy periods.

5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?
He’s more graceful and nimble than the average person, and his reflexes are finely honed after thousands of years worth of battle experience. But that doesn’t mean he’s entirely immune to losing his balance and things like that, especially considering that the angelic sense he is so accustomed to relying on are blunted and mangled by his lack of a Cruxis Crystal.

6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror?
One would likely describe him as “pretty.” Mithos himself doesn’t consider whether or not he could be perceived as attractive; it isn’t something that has really crossed his mind, because it’s just not important. However, being as sensitive as he is to the fact that he is different from others, he has devoted quite a lot of time to thinking about the way he looks. Not in terms of attractiveness, but rather in terms of dividing his physical traits into categories: which traits are from his human blood and which are from his elven blood. This is something he thought about fairly often back when it was just him and Martel, especially after they were kicked out of Heimdall, because of course it is the combination of the two categories that “give away” what he is. Mithos takes that sort of thing to heart and never lets go of it, so even now he still views himself in this way.

7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?
His complexion is fair, but not abnormally so. Being a teenager, and despite being a JRPG character with supposedly flawless skin, he gets acne every so often but it’s not terrible. However, he has amassed an impressive collection of scars over the years – many wounds have healed without a trace thanks to healing magic, but some have left permanent marks. See the diagram here. Note: minor scars are not documented, though there are a fair number of such scars decorating his body, smaller and/or more faded in appearance.

8. Describe his hair: color, texture, style.
His hair is blonde, and leaning toward “fine” rather than “thick”. It is fairly long, falling several inches past his shoulders, though the pieces that frame his face are a few inches shorter, and he has side-swept bangs. For a while, he trimmed his hair regularly for the sake of appearing the same when Martel returned. He became fixated on cobbling together a sense of sameness, in reaction to how strained his relationship with his sister felt after he learned how much she disapproved of his actions in their world, but he’s since given up on these misplaced feelings. He realized that, for one thing, it was pathetically shallow and meaningless, and for another that his body has begun to grow and change in other ways anyway. So since about June, when Martel last left, his hair has been growing untamed.

He always wears his hair down in order to hide his ears, with the reason being that his ears are the most obvious indication that he isn’t fully human nor fully elven (they are pointed, but not quite as pointed as would be seen on a full-blooded elf). Back when he and Martel were traveling through Sylvarant it became prudent to attempt to blend in as much as possible, though those efforts were generally for naught. Even now he would still be very uncomfortable with tying his hair back and exposing his ears, because the association with being looked down upon is so ingrained in him. Again, Mithos’s heart is very sensitive to this sort of thing. It’s one thing to make his elven ears visible as Yggdrasill in the setting of Cruxis, where everyone is a half-elf and as their leader he serves as something of a rallying point; it’s another in an unpredictable, heterogeneous setting like Luceti.

9. What color are his eyes?
Blue, with tints of green depending on the lighting.

10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features?
I already mentioned the scars and the ears, so the only other thing worth noting is that his filial wings are a medium grey in color, and they have begun to molt, with sleek adult feathers replacing the fuzzy baby down. Also, it is important to note that he is left-handed (Tales of Fandom 2 depicts him wielding a sword in his left hand).

11. What are his chief tension centers?
.....I still don’t know what this means.

12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does he have six of the same suit?
The clothes he wears tend to follow along the lines of what he wears in canon. Various tops (usually longer, flowy ones), some kind of cloak/shawl/jacket (even in the summer), well-fitted pants, and boots. A lot of white, greens, blues, purples. Warm colors are rare in his wardrobe, but not entirely absent. He totally accessorizes with an assortment of bracelets. Very masculine bracelets. In Luceti, he has amassed a pretty decent collection.

13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them?
Yes? This question seems superfluous.

14. Does he dress the same on the job as he does in his free time? If not, what are the differences?
He doesn’t have a job. At his former job as leader of Cruxis, he dressed like.....no, let’s not even get into that. DISCO KING MITHOS YGGDRASILL. Honestly, if you think people will take you more seriously when you’re wearing a skin-tight disco jumpsuit (with an open back too – what the hell, Mithos), you’re doing it wrong.

15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando?
He wears tight pants, so briefs or boxer briefs or something along those lines.

Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?
So puberty finally happened, and seeing as Mithos is halfway through 16 and on his way to 17, his voice has probably settled by now. That’s right, James Arnold Taylor time. He has a tenor voice, and it's smooth and even regal sounding. Voice sample here, spoiler warning for important plot developments.

2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate?
Normally his voice is soft and even. However, he will speak more aggressively when trying to assert himself as someone to be taken seriously, or when faced with people he does not like, which accounts for the vast majority of the population. In these situations, he speaks more sharply and, if engaged in argument, with greater volume. His thoughts and words rush out of him more quickly the more on-edge he is. He tends to talk very easily when he’s self-righteously lashing out at someone and putting his beliefs out there, because his beliefs are the best and only beliefs. In situations that are new or unfamiliar, he will hesitate more in his speaking. He’s naturally somewhat shy, and more or less socially crippled, so engaging with someone on a personal level is awkward for him. Here, he becomes a lot more uncertain and his verbal expression carries that.

3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?
None that come to mind.

4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency?
The unnamed “current language” of Aselia, which is supposedly derived from Angelic. In turn, Angelic is most likely derived from (or even one and the same with) ancient Elven. Either way, Mithos is fluent in all of these languages.

5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations?
Not really.

6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words?
It depends on the situation. If he is clashing with someone over his beliefs (which is...often), his words come very easily because they’re things about which he has thought a lot and feels very strongly. On the other hand, if the situation is unfamiliar he thinks more about what to say.

7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change?
He is generally quite eloquent; he knows how to express his thoughts. When he throws a temper tantrum, it’s an eloquent one. Until he crosses a certain point of frustration and then that eloquence can degenerate into commands to shut up and the like. Additionally, extreme emotional distress and eloquence tend to not go hand in hand.

Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart?
You pretty much can’t live for 4000 years and not gain a wealth of intelligence. There is plenty of time to read books and absorb knowledge in all of those years. Mithos knows a lot about history in particular, having lived through a sizeable chunk of it. Beyond just “book smarts”, he also obviously has a lot of experience with the world. In a way, though, he is very ignorant about a lot of things. His views have stagnated because he himself is so stuck in the past. He refuses to accept information that contradicts his beliefs, instead of accommodating the framework of his mind to encompass the new information. He is also surprisingly naïve in a way, too, in regards to how he thinks that erasing racial differences will eliminate discrimination entirely. What he thinks he knows about the world gets in the way of him actually knowing what the world can be like. So in summation, I would say that overall he is a fairly intelligent person, but he is obstinate to the point of extreme foolishness.

2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate?
He can think on his feet and accommodate to sudden changes, like in battle or when speaking. But he does like to ruminate over everything ever and plan things out, too. This especially applies to personal/emotional situations, in which he is a lot more hesitant due to his constant fear of getting hurt. For example, it takes him a long time to grow accustomed to someone new, and he discourages himself with his own doubts and re-thinks everything way too many times (see: Kaori, Sayo).

3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?
Mithos is someone who is very much guided by his emotions. His feelings of sorrow and anger in particular command his behavior and define his own rules of reasoning. In his mind, what he believes to be logical is not wholly discrete from his emotions; they more or less go hand in hand. He runs into trouble because while he is an emotionally-driven person, he attempts to organize his world through logic, creating rules for “the way things are” as a mechanism to protect his fragile heart. When something goes against his supposedly clear-cut logic, he does not know how to reconcile with that digression and he creates a problem out of nothing. Once upon a time, he was an idealist. Martel’s death didn’t kill the idealist in him; he remained an idealist, but one whose ideals had become horribly disfigured and disillusioned. Mithos still desired a world without discrimination, which is a completely idealistic notion, but the means he used to reach that goal changed for the worse. Despite his negative view of the world, he was delusionally optimistic about certain things – for example, believing that reviving his sister and reducing the population to lifeless beings would solve all of his problems. Due to developments in Luceti, primarily stemming from Martel’s disapproval of his actions, he has let go of these delusions. All he has left is his pessimism, which leads him to believe that he’s fated to be unhappy forever and nobody can help him, among other self-defeating thoughts.

4. What kind of education has the character had?
He has never been formally educated. Intelligence and learning is valued among the elves, but they also value being conservative, immutable pricks and in all likelihood did little to include half-elves – unspoken village pariahs – in whatever sort of education was provided for other youngsters. He at least learned to read and write, through concerted efforts and support from big sis. Further learning has been self-acquired and built off from what his sister taught him.

5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about?
Mithos has expertise in magic and swordsmanship, having been training and battling for four thousand years. He’s also well-versed in herbology, having grown up helping Martel in the garden and learning about herbal remedies from her. He is interested in learning about...anything he deems relevant. In particular, how the magic of different worlds works, or the fighting styles of other worlds, so he knows what’s out there and can therefore be prepared.

6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert?
Taking into account the “Big Five” personality trait model of Extroversion versus Introversion, Mithos is significantly more introverted than the average person, but I wouldn’t say that he is exceptionally introverted. He of course prefers to spend time alone rather than with large groups of people, but that is primarily because he is so angered and disgusted by people as a whole. (Note that introversion does not necessitate disliking people or disliking the company of others; there is a huge difference there.) Ideally, he prefers to spend time with the people he cares about, but so few people are encompassed by this category. While he does value alone time, he is happiest in the company of others. It’s...just that he hates pretty much everyone. Which is really counterintuitive.

7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?
Volatile is the best word that comes to mind. I wouldn’t say he has mood swings, because that would entail being happy for at least some of the time. He spends most of his time in a perpetual state of stewing anger and sorrow, always just below the surface and ready to burst outward. It is not difficult to incite him to anger, and then it takes a while for him to calm down (back to his default “cool” anger). He sort of has the temperament of a volcano. Dormant and seemingly calm on the surface, but with boiling magma underneath, ready to pour out. His anger is most outwardly visible to most, again largely as a tool of intimidation as well as a defense mechanism, but behind that I would say “despair” and “loneliness” are the predominant components of his mood.

8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?
Anything new is met with automatic suspicion. New situations are ones that cannot be controlled (at least right away) and whose outcomes cannot be predicted, so he responds with increased wariness and tension. New people are similarly unpredictable, and so he instantly labels any new person he comes across as an enemy just to be safe.

9. Is he more likely to act, or to react?
If his feats as Mithos the Hero and later as the leader of Cruxis are any indication, he does not hesitate to act when he sees a need for it – to end the war, to foster positive relations between races, to revive his sister from death, to initiate the Age of Lifeless Beings, etc. However, being in Luceti forces him into a position of helplessness – he can do nothing but sit back and try to roll with whatever is thrown his way, which is extremely frustrating to him. Because he is so emotionally-drive, his heart often wants to act rather than react, but his ever-cautious mind tries to subdue it while he waits to read and re-read the situation.

10. Which is his default: fight or flight?
Physically, his default is fight. Upset, angry, frustrated? Take it out on someone else! Emotionally, it’s flight. He is very careful to keep his heart boarded up and protected, which of course works best by staying far, far away from others.

11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?
He pretty much has no sense of humor. That went right out the window with Martel, his grip on reality, and his happiness.

12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them?
Surprisingly, no.

13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person?
There have been a lot of defining moments in Mithos’s long life, but it is easiest to narrow it down to four important events. The first is when he and Martel are exiled from Heimdall; this is when he first becomes truly exposed to the hatred and discrimination that would eventually come to be too much for him to bear. The second is when Kratos encourages him to do something about the injustice he sees in the world; this is the moment in which Mithos begins to transform into the great hero and sublime idealist who would bring an end to the war. The third and most significant of all is when Martel is killed; this is of course when he loses faith in people and allows himself to collapse underneath his grief. The fourth is when he is defeated by Lloyd; it isn’t a catalyst for any sort of change in Mithos, but it is the culmination of all the wrong choices he made in his life and serves to illustrate how far he has fallen since Martel’s death. Here, he is given the choice to back down and live his life in peace, but he cannot accept that people can learn to change, nor can he accept a life where he knows his sister can never return to him. Ultimately, he decides that his ideals are worth fighting to the death for, because any other life would be meaningless.

Events in Luceti have continued to define Mithos. The first is the development of his relationship with Kaori. When he arrived in Luceti, he was in no position to trust anyone ever again, but with her he was able to build up trust and see that he was not completely alone in the world. She gave him the gift of understanding. It is also important to note that for her, he was willing to compromise and inch out of his comfort zone. The second is the development of his relationship with Sayo, who became the first human he trusted in a long, long time. She gave him the gift of acceptance. The third major development was when Martel opened his eyes to the truth that she had not wanted what he crusaded for through all those years. For the first time, he was left uncertain about his relationship with his sister, who had always been his rock. Her disapproval has thrown most of his beliefs in question, dragging him into a state of depression. The fourth event is the departure of his three important persons (Martel, Kaori, and Sayo) in rapid succession. For the first time since the beginning of his stay in Luceti, he has absolutely no support system and he is struggling badly with feelings of depression and hopelessness.

14. What does he fear?
Mithos fears a lot of things. Primarily, he fears people – particularly, but not limited to, humans. There is both a physical and an emotional component to this: based on past experience, he expects humans to treat those who are different poorly. Racially-spurned abuse and violence is unfortunately not uncommon in the world he is familiar with, and he assumes this carries over to every situation. Also based on past experience, he assumes that people look out only for themselves and will throw you to the sharks the instant it becomes convenient for them. Thus, he highly fears trusting anyone or even letting them anywhere close. He’s been betrayed more than enough times in his life, and to eliminate the chances of being betrayed, you must eliminate any opportunity to let people into a position that could give leverage over you. Essentially, what he fears most is anything that could compromise his frail heart.

Recently, he fears that he will be alone for the remainder of his time in Luceti. He’s afraid that Martel will never come back, and neither will Kaori or Sayo; he’s afraid that there will never be another person who accepts or understands him like they did. Even if Martel returns, he’s afraid that their relationship will never be how it once was.

15. What are his hopes or aspirations?
His greatest aspiration was to create a world free from discrimination by means of ushering in the Age of Lifeless Beings. However, once that was denied of him he settled upon the wish of creating a world for just him and Martel. It’s just easier not to deal with anyone else. His most basic desire, one that has been buried deeply inside him, is for others to accept and understand him. He has always longed for a place where he can feel like he genuinely belongs, but life has denied him this over and over. Luceti has delivered many a swift kick to the heart, causing him to set his aspirations lower and lower. Right now he just wants Martel by his side – and even though he hopes for her understanding, he would settle for just being with her, misunderstanding and all. Over all, he just wants to be happy. He just doesn’t know how this can be made possible.

16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him?
He really doesn’t want anyone to know how afraid he is of all the things mentioned two questions previous. It’s something he himself doesn’t like to look at. He also would prefer if people not know what exactly his level of ability is. He considers himself to be very weak right now, and he would much rather if people assume he is as powerful as he wishes he still was.

Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents.
His parents are dead to him, and that has nothing to do with the fact they have been literally dead for a long time now. Mithos spent the early years of his life with Martel and their mother in Heimdall, in a time when half-elves were marginally permitted to live in the village but they weren’t exactly well-liked (and nobody bothered to keep it a secret). His mother more or less ignored her children, providing for them physically but neglecting them emotionally. His father visited Heimdall fairly regularly (his parents did genuinely care for one another and maintained a good relationship). His attitude toward his children was always one of uncertainty, considering the climate of fear and hate surrounding half-elves. He didn’t dislike them, but he couldn’t bring himself to care very much about them either, much like their mother. Mithos always felt a lot closer to Martel than he did to either of his parents, as she did her best to shelter him from the austere coolness of everyone around them. Their mother didn’t even attempt to intervene when it was decided that half-elves were the root of the village’s problems, leading to Mithos and Martel being banished from Heimdall. Looking back, Mithos doesn’t think of his parents as his family, but merely the fools who are to blame for bringing him into the world without thinking of the consequences. So while he does remember his parents, he considers Martel to be the only family he’s ever had.

2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?
...Is it even necessary to answer this question? His sister Martel is absolutely everything to him. She played a much greater role in raising him than either of his parents, since even when they still lived in Heimdall they were largely left to fend for themselves. He has always strongly admired her and felt responsible for protecting her – sister complex to the nth degree, and quite the over-protective little brother. After she was killed he became downright obsessed with her, pouring all of his efforts into reviving her soul and following her final wish for a world free from discrimination. Everything he does is for her sake. Or...so he thought. In Luceti, his eyes have been opened to the fact that his actions did not truly align with Martel’s wishes, and he is still struggling to adjust to this sharp change. His entire perception of reality has literally been thrown into question. His relationship with his sister has become somewhat strained because he still loves her so much – he cannot reconcile her rejection with his adoration. He feels extremely hurt and confused that she does not understand why he wanted what he did, but at the same time he loves her more than anything and cannot sever himself from her, which is his standard reaction when somebody disagrees with him.

3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand?
There sure aren’t.

4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them?
Through a strange combination of even stranger circumstances which Mithos himself still doesn’t entirely understand, he has definitely begun to think of Sayo as a mother figure. One could argue that Martel serves as a mother figure to Mithos, but while it is true that she raised him and is extremely nurturing, the fact remains that he does recall (however vaguely) his biological mother and regards his sister as wholly his sister. The role of a proper mother is one that has never been filled in his life, until Sayo came along. She provided physical support in a time when he could not care for himself, and even more importantly, she provided the emotional support he craved. She continued to support him with love and acceptance until the day she left Luceti. By then, he was in a place where he could accept that he thought of her as family, but he never got the chance to tell her how much she meant to him. He regrets this very much.

5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet?
His best friend is Kaori, and he has the bracelet to prove it. They met by accident, when he was playing a song on Martel’s panpipes and she was drawn to the music. Although their relationship started out very hesitantly, she eventually grew to be very important to him – “irreplaceable”, he called her, and she agreed that he was the same to her. She’s easily the best friend he’s ever had and in all likelihood the best friend he ever will have.

6. Does he have other close friends?
Implying that Mithos has any friends at all. Kratos and Yuan, once upon a time. He respected and admired Kratos a great deal, even viewing him as a father figure, since he was the first proper male role model Mithos ever had. He was genuinely happy with the prospect of Yuan becoming his brother-in-law, but of course making Yuan the butt of every joke is way too much fun and Mithos happily fulfilled the role of the-girlfriend’s-annoying-younger-brother. Then all of this went down the tubes after Martel died. Later there was Genis, whom Mithos was drawn to due to their shared experiences as half-elves, but Mithos ruined that too. He’s had so few friends throughout his life that anyone who manages to become a friend at all is automatically a pretty darn close one. The closest thing he has to friends right now are people like Frey, Jeb, and Silver, all of whom he is very wary of. Deep down, he wants to believe that they might genuinely care about him and have a desire to help him, but he has too many doubts.

7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people?
Hahahaha...ha...ha. He doesn’t trust anyone, and people as a whole disgust and anger and frighten him, so no, he does not make friends easily. His general belligerence toward others probably doesn’t help either. Aside from all this, he’s plain old awkward thanks to growing up with severely limited social interaction. In Martel’s words, he does not relate well to others. He has difficulty seeing from other perspectives and understanding others because he is so accustomed to only seeing the world from his own frame of mind. This translates on a broad scale into his extreme obstinacy in his opinions, and on a smaller scale into his tendency to project his own feelings and thought patterns onto people he is close with.

8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends?
Martel is more important than everything else ever. End of story.

9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once?
Absolutely single, as he has always been.

10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse?
No.

11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest?
I hesitate to answer in this way, but prior to arriving in Luceti the closest Mithos ever came to having a crush on someone was most likely Genis. I wouldn’t necessarily classify it as a romantic crush, but rather a friend-crush, boy-crush, whatever you want to call it. He was very fond of the concept of having someone his own age (well...), and also a fellow half-elf, to whom he could relate and be close. It was something he had never experienced before.

In Luceti, he began to develop romantic feelings toward Kaori. Somewhere between protecting her during the June 2011 draft, experiencing the total isolation of his underground cell during the summer, and falling into (further) emotional turbulence due to Martel’s rejection and departure, he reached the point where he needed her by his side, beyond just the initial fascination of having a friend who understands. This need became stronger after they repaired their damaged friendship in February 2012 and he began to spend more time with her through the spring and summer of 2012. Even now that she’s gone, his feelings remain just as strong, and he remains just as oblivious to their romantic tint. His emotions tend to be pretty intense normally, and romance is such a distant concept for him that he thinks these are just the normal feelings of a best friend. However, certain incidents have set off confusion about this before...

12. What does he look for in a romantic partner?
He doesn’t look for anything in a romantic partner. The idea of romance is so far underneath his radar, and that’s pretty much where it always has been. Mithos has never really associated with people his own age, by which I mean his physical/cognitive (in many ways) age, not his chronological age. Children generally begin to take interest in the opposite sex (or the same sex) around the age of 11 or 12, by which is roughly when Mithos was banished from Heimdall alongside Martel, and then by 14 he was gallivanting about as the epic legendary hero. The idea of romance occurred to him, being exposed to Martel and Yuan’s relationship of course, but there was never anyone at whom he could direct such thoughts and feelings. And after Martel’s death, romance became the last thing on his mind. But hypothetically speaking... A suitable romantic partner would need to be someone who he feels can understand him. His scope of the world is stupidly limited and ego-centric, so shared experiences need to be established for him to latch onto. He would need someone that could smother him in affection, and withstand being smothered right back – clingy is absolutely perfect. There can never be any doubt that he or she cares about him, nor can there be any doubt that Mithos can trust them (or minimal doubt, because absolutely no doubt is impossible for him).

13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any?
No, no, no, no.

14. Does he have any rivals or enemies?
He considers nearly everyone to be his enemy, until proven otherwise. Humans are automatically labeled enemies. He considers his most prominent enemies to be Lloyd and anyone associated with Lloyd – he is very bitter about being defeated. Somewhere in his heart he had given up and was tired of trying, but in his obstinacy he blames Lloyd for destroying his dream for a world he could share with his sister. Kratos and Yuan have both made it to the top of his shit list as well, through their insubordination and betrayal.

15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does he fall on the Kinsey scale?
Ideally, I would say a 3, the exact midpoint between exclusive heterosexuality and exclusive homosexuality. Were he to develop romantic feelings for someone, I think it would be equally likely for that someone to be a female or a male. Mithos is very emotion-driven, and I doubt the other person’s physical sex would really get in the way (race is a more legitimate concern for him). However, taking into consideration that Mithos has only been exposed to the concept of homosexuality within the parameters of a Malnosso experiment, he wouldn’t quite connect that a boy can like another boy in that way. Rather than a question of sexuality, it’s a question of individual personality. Mithos will like whom he likes.

16. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him?
Sex is a biological process through which people and creatures come into being. It is an event far removed from himself. That’s all the thought he gives to it. The act of sex isn’t important to him at all, but the results are quite crucial, or used to be, when he was spending all those years carefully orchestrating the perfect vessel for Martel’s soul. Right now, he barely gives it a second thought. Although, there have perhaps been dreams of questionable and confusing content.

17. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?
........No, get out.


Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does he fit type?
Seeing as there is absolutely no information regarding how Aselia’s calendar works, it’s difficult to match up our zodiac to their system of time. And regardless, it’s not as if Mithos’s birthday is known – he himself doesn’t even remember, not having celebrated it since Martel died. In Luceti, I’ve set his unofficial birthday as July 9th, which would make him a Cancer. Cancer is a water sign, dictating an affinity toward strong emotions – what is essentially the core of Mithos’s character. Words often used to describe Cancers are: sensitive, temperamental, possessive, devoted, and protective.

Cancers are fragile and unpredictable, creating a need to be shown constant support and encouragement. This fragility also lends to the need to build up an elaborate array of defenses to hide the Cancer’s intense feelings and extreme sensitivity. Their fears are largely based in their difficulties with trusting others, so it is necessary to protect their sensitive hearts from damage caused by others. Cancers have the tendency to wallow in self-pity and rue how the world has mistreated them. They do not forgive and forget, often finding themselves heavily preoccupied with the past. Ironically, despite difficulties with trusting others, they are nurturers – when they are close to someone, they believe they must help and care for that person. Cancers easily become possessive of those who they become close to – once someone is involved in their life, that person will never be allowed to leave. A Cancer never receives enough affection, always requiring more.

Additionally, Mithos’s birthday places him in the second decanate of Cancer’s ruling period. Second decanate Cancers are described as having a forceful yet thoughtful personality, letting strong feelings predominate when making decisions. In work, they are disciplined and in relationships, sentimental, emotional, and possessive. They are rigid once their mind is set. As you have hopefully noticed without me having to connect the dots, this all describes Mithos with alarming accuracy.

2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his life?
Neither religious nor spiritual.He believes in the concept of a spirit or a soul, but he also believes that the soul dies with the body. Therefore, he does not believe in life after death, or rather, he believes that the soul exists but it is inert in the same way a dead body is inert. The dominant religion in his world is of course the Church of Martel, which...he more or less fabricated himself. He does worship his sister, but in the figurative sense, not the literal, religious sense. Although, it is amusing to note that, in a way, he does pray to her. As a coping mechanism for his loneliness, he began to talk to her inert body while it was anchored to the Great Seed. This is how she knew everything that he had done when he finally revived her in Colette’s body during the course of the game. She was not literally a goddess, capable of overseeing the world from her sleep – everything she knew of what was happening in the world, she knew because Mithos told her while she slept. In Luceti, he has continued to talk to her even when she is not there. He does the same with Kaori and Sayo now that they have left too.

3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it?
Mithos used to have a wonderful moral compass and wanted to do all he could to save the world and its people...then Martel was killed and his sense of ethics became horribly skewed. Her death pretty much compromised his entire sense of ethics. Now the moral guidelines he follows state that if it is for Martel or for preserving himself, it is right.

4. How does he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?
His beliefs are the only beliefs, as far as he’s concerned. He is highly intolerant of beliefs that go against his own, to the point that he shuts them out completely. When evidence is offered to the contrary of what he believes about the world, he ignores it. It is akin to putting your hands over your ears and saying “LALALA I CAN’T HEAR YOU.” He essentially isolates himself from other possibilities, choosing to close his eyes.

5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them?
He is of course extremely prejudiced against humans. He has good reason to despise humans – they’ve treated his kind as little more than slaves for thousands of years, and his sister was killed by humans. However, this doesn’t justify the intensity of his hatred for all of humanity, nor does it justify the actions he takes on behalf of those prejudices. Mithos definitely believes he is justified, however. The way he sees it, humans hated him first, and for simply being what he is, something he had no say in. He, on the other hand, has a reason for hating humans. Many reasons, in fact.

Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?
Not applicable in Luceti. But back when he was at the top of Cruxis and everything was going Just As Planned, I imagine he controlled a vast pool of wealth and resources. Even someone of whose existence nobody knows isn’t above the economic system.

2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him?
Well for four thousand years, as he led Cruxis from behind the scenes, he was completely severed from society and thus from any labeling of social status as well. Prior to Martel’s death and the founding of Cruxis, his social status was so low that it practically did not exist. Half-elves were treated no better than slaves; they were the dirt beneath the bottom rung of the social latter. How this affected him should be obvious: not very positively at all. His heart pretty much collapsed beneath the weight of the contempt thrown his way.

3. Where does he live? House, apartment, trailer? Is his home his castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does he share it with others?
Back on Derris Kharlan he lived in this ridiculous, ominous, gothic-style castle called Vinheim. (On an interesting side note, the name presumably comes from the Norwegian “Vindheim” which is a name for the realm of the gods in Norse mythology, more commonly known as Asgard. The word “vinheim” itself translates to something like “wine home”, and wine is commonly associated with the decadence of gods.) It wasn’t really a home at all, more like a base of operations. A lair, if you will. Lots of staircases, winding hallways, balconies, and an unnecessarily spacious entrance area – standard castle fare. It was also inhabited by creepy, lifeless angels who roamed the hallways. Overall, eerie and empty and all kinds of related adjectives.

In Luceti, he had returned to house number 52, where he lives alone. See the basic layout here. There is a bedroom set up in anticipation of Martel’s return, which he has filled with items he thinks she might like. The other upstairs bedroom is reserved for his use, while the downstairs bedroom has been converted to a study of sorts. The living room is neglected because it’s not like he ever has company, and he prefers to spend his time in other areas of the house. For example, by the windowsill where Kaori’s daffodil sits, or curled up in Martel’s bed like any perfectly normal younger brother would do. The house is kept neat, because that’s just the way he likes it. It is his fortress, which he leaves only when he must. However, he doesn’t think of it as his home, because he has no one to share it with, and because he doesn't feel like he belongs anywhere in the village.

4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend his money on?
...There is no monetary system in Luceti.

5. What does he do for a living? Is he good at it? Does he enjoy it, or would he rather be doing something else?
He...doesn’t do anything for a living. Formerly the leader of Cruxis, though that wasn’t necessarily for a living. I could make a bad joke here, and I will: it was for...quite the opposite. YEEEEAAAAAHHHHH. I wouldn’t say he enjoyed it, either - it was out of necessity, out of his love for Martel.

6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time?
All of his time is free time, and he spends an unhealthy chunk of it either brooding or having an emotional breakdown. Sigh...what am I going to do with this boy? Other hobbies include playing Martel’s panpipe, reading, and gardening in warmer weather. Since the last five swords he had in his possession were confiscated (sadly, this is only a small exaggeration), he has been teaching himself to fight with the knife Kaori left behind for him. He practices his swordsmanship and magic on a fairly regular basis, choosing to venture out into the woods rather than go to the battle dome.

7. What are his eating habits? Does he skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?
He eats simply when he his hungry. His body has not required food in 4000 years, and having to eat only serves to remind him that he is no longer an angel, the perfect being. (As a side note, because the game is rather ambiguous on the matter, it is my own belief that Mithos did use his Cruxis Crystal to fully suppress his metabolism, to the point of not requiring food or drink. Obviously it is possible to retain a natural metabolism – a system that requires food and water to function – while using a Cruxis Crystal, as evidenced by Colette’s regaining of her humanity, but at the same time it is also possible to gain some degree of control over the Crystal its functions. This is something Mithos definitely did, such as how he used the Crystal to hasten his growth and fit the image of the leader of Cruxis. He was obsessed with becoming the perfect being of power, which to him was a means to differentiate himself from the human and elven blood from which he came, so he likely devoted a lot of time to testing the abilities of his Crystal.)

But really, he does like the taste of food and has preferences and aversions like a regular person. Spicy foods are one such aversion, although this is mostly due to his inability to handle the spiciness. (As a side note which I assure you is much briefer, this is me being a dork and playing around with the Norwegian origins of his name. As the joke goes here in the Scandinavian-dominated upper Midwest, you know you’re Minnesotan when ketchup is too spicy.) When in emotional duress, which has been pretty much constant throughout the past year, he often loses his appetite and neglects to eat properly.

Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is his favorite:

1. Color? My association: Grey | His favorite: Green
2. Smell? My association: The...smell of...trees? Hahaha I have no idea. | His favorite: The way it smells when it rains. Or the way his sister smells.
3. Time of day? My association: Night. BECAUSE IT’S SHROUDED IN DARKNESS LIKE HIS SOUL. | His favorite: Early morning.
4. Season? My association: Winter. BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS DEAD AND COLD. | His favorite: Seasons stop mattering after you’ve been around for that long, but secretly he likes Spring the best.
5. Book? My association: Norse mythology in general. | His favorite: I don’t know if he has a particular favorite. Mythological tales as a whole, adventure stories, things like that. He should read up on Norse mythology in the library at some point.
6. Music? My association: FLUTE MUSIC. The voice of the flute - especially how it expresses sorrow - is absolutely perfect in reflecting his fragile, childish heart. Also because I might be biased. | His favorite: The music of Martel’s panpipe, of course.
7. Place? My association: ...None, actually. The lack of placement. | His favorite: He has no attachment to location, never having had anywhere to call “home.” Wherever he can be with the people he loves.
8. Substance? ...What does this even mean.
9. Plant? My association: TREES. ANY TREE. Specifically ash trees, if Norse mythology is to be taken into consideration. | His favorite: Fandalia flowers, because they remind him of Martel. Also Kaori’s daffodil.
10. Animal? My association: Hmm...not sure I have one? | His favorite: He doesn’t have a favorite animal...but he likes Noishe well enough still. Ha, he probably likes furry, cuddly animals best. What a weenie.

END
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