[Application | Asgard]

[necrowmantic]

IC Information;

Character Name; Henry
Canon; Fire Emblem: Awakening, (Wiki for the character, for the game itself.)
Canon Point; Just before Endgame: Grima
Age; ~20

House; Hel
Power; Shadow Control

Personality;

The easiest thing to notice about Henry is his abundance of optimism. His cheerfulness is ever-present, and every situation is met with a smile and probably a bit of laughter. Nothing phases him, annoys him, bothers him, or causes him to pick up a grudge. Though not especially social, and with little-to-no experience with things like "friendship", his easygoing nature could make coexisting with him simple enough. If one can get over the fact that he's also overwhelmingly, shamelessly, happily, morbid.

His fascination with blood, death- anything gruesome and monstrous and terrible and vile- is nothing short of obsession. Not that this affects his disposition; Henry is exactly as cheerful when he's talking about blowing up foes, as he is about anything else (not that he talks about much else). In the game he's a dark mage from Plegia, with a specialty for hexes and curses. His entire reason for being in any army is because he loves killing- and the only reason he joins up with the Ylissen heroes (the people his country had just been in a war with), was because he had a feeling he'd be able to kill a lot more on their side. That hadn't even been the first time he'd helped the Ylissen- as when their exalt (the ruler of the country) had been set for assassination by Plegia, Henry had passed along information to try to stop it. Not because he cared about the exalt's life, or from any sense of honor or morality- but only because Ylisse was a weak country, and her death "would have been a terrible waste of a perfectly fun war."

If he gets to kill things, he's happy. If he doesn't, Henry's not likely to complain- he'll just leave and find a group that's more willing to point him at bad guys to slaughter. And he'll do everything with the same grin.

Unfortunately, there's likely little about this that occurred naturally.

Henry's childhood was less than pleasant. His parents were at best, neglectful, and at worst, abusive. He was abandoned in the woods for long periods, and credits the animals there for raising him. It's likely because of this that he doesn't have much humanity- he's much more honest and direct with his thoughts, having never learned subtlety or manipulation. And while his capacity for empathy is somewhat haphazard, Henry does seem to have more of a fondness for animals. While this doesn't prevent him from killing them without remorse when a situation calls for it, he's less likely to do so just because they're there. Crows in particular have an attachment to him, always gathering around him, and in his first appearance he's surrounded by an entire flock. Henry claims to be able to communicate not only with them, but with everything else in nature- trees and flowers included. True or not, animals do seem to like him.

And his best and only friend in the world growing up, was a giant female wolf. But when she came near his village, she was killed by hunters- shot full of arrows. Though he couldn't have stopped it, and couldn't resurrect her, he did murder everyone who had been involved.

This wasn't his only trauma either. His parents also sent Henry off to a "wizarding school"- more of a prisonly-institution than anything- where the "students" participated in dangerous experimentations and tortures. Whenever he mentions it, it's usually in connection to how he almost died- always with a smile, and a quip about how fun it all was. Nevermind the nerve damage or his exceptional pain tolerance.

It's possible his facade was developed as a response to the trauma he experienced- a way of defending himself. More than one character remarks that he's difficult to read- that he doesn't have much of a heart, or emotions, that his smile is fake. That despite his friendliness, he never actually gets close to anyone, or exposes anything of himself underneath his assumed "mask." Henry, for his part, denies that he's anything but what he appears- a naturally happy man. It could be that they're both correct. That what was once a defense against others became all that remained. A cover so fixed that it can't be removed- the only thing left a morbid optimism. True or natural, Henry maintains that he was never anything different.

Possibly related to the above, Henry also doesn't think too much. Not too deeply, not too closely- he accepts things without questioning them. Similarly, he doesn't feel much beyond general satisfaction. A satisfaction cultivated by gravitating towards death. He loves death. He takes threats as gracious offers, and though he's not particularly suicidal, he also has no fear of death. To him, it's something that happens to everyone, so why worry? His only hope is that his own death is as awesomely bloody as possible (and entirely painless). This easy lack of concern is another of his trademarks, and his official roster in the army lists him as "The one with the lowest heart rate." If nothing bothers him, little really excites him either.

Henry is, surprisingly, capable of forming attachments to other people! His way of showing it can be a little odd, though, and depending on who he's talking to, he'll offer to murder everyone in camp, all of the Grimleal (i.e., people from his own country), even Chrom, the leader of the army he's in- absurdly grand, and utterly sincere gestures of affection. If he cares about someone, he'll do anything for them, and the idea of having a family is somewhat attractive to him. In the game, it's possible for characters to marry each other, and if Henry ends up with a wife (and child), he's stated to have "turned out to be a surprisingly good father." Morbid or not, Henry is extremely protective of anyone he does care about.

He's also very good at following orders ("Well, except for stupid ones like 'don't fight the enemy.' If someone tried to tell me that, I'd cut 'em in half and feed them to the crows!"), and is not much of a leader. Nor does he care about politics or sides, as long as he's allowed to murder things.

And though he's entirely aware of his abilities and the strength of them, he doesn't puff himself up as anything special, and reacts with surprise when someone compliments him. Though incapable of shame, pride is almost as uncommon, and he even claims to have never had anything like it. His hexing ability is just a happy fact, one he's eager to demonstrate to anyone who happens to need a death curse or five.

He's also totally fascinated by the idea of turning into other animals, as well as experiencing all kinds of horrible bodily mutations.

Samples;

Network Sample;

[The boy who shows up on camera is a new face- and quite a happy one by the look of it. He's smiling as he begins to speak.]

Question! You all aren't just figments of an exceptionally gory imagination, right? Just checking. You gotta admit that this is pretty weird!

I mean- everyone was being so tense and serious and saying how "this is the final battle", doing their last-minute sword polishing and whatever. Cooking their last dinner- and it probably will be the last one for a lot of them! [He laughs. There doesn't seem to be any malice in it.] I could hardly wait!

And then BAM, whoosh~ [He waves a little with his hands and laughs again.] From one war of gods to another! Immortals just don't play nice~

I wonder what my old pals would say if they saw me now? Oooh I bet they'll be mad once they've noticed I've gone and disappeared! Probably think I deserted right at the critical moment! Nya ha!


Log Sample;

It was, well, surprising. Henry had seen a lot, and experienced a lot, and performed quite a few himself, but if this was an enemy curse, it was totally out of nowhere, and totally awesome. He made a mental note to find whoever had done it and congratulate them once he figured out how to dispel it. And, like, turn them into some kind of goo in thanks. Or maybe a lizard? Lizard goo.

...Not that any of his hexes seemed to be working. "Oh, wow," he ended up saying aloud, a little more surprised, and a little more impressed. If it was a curse, it really was a doozy! No chance for a little return-hexing, aaaand nope, not a single tome to be seen!

Not having any easy attack options available was a little disheartening, but Henry was nothing if not resourceful. And that cool mutating maid person said something about new powers, so even if it was a trap it was a pretty considerate one too!

Nope, he was just fine with whatever it was that was happening. If there was a war, it was his kind of place. It was just a matter of finding the battlefield!