just wanna fuck shit up.
PLAYER
NAME: Sakki
PERSONAL LJ: chisakki
EMAIL/MESSENGER(S): lordoftheiphail@gmail.com ; snakesonacondor
CHARACTER
NAME: Graham Spector
AGE: 24
GENDER: Male
ROLE IN CANON: Antagonist
FANDOM: Baccano!
FANDOM MEDIUM: Anime
TIMELINE PERIOD: After the OVA
ABILITIES: An incredible knowledge of mechanical devices, especially cars, although he most often (if not only) uses this to break them apart. He also has incredible physical strength, able to dismantle a car in the air while using his wrench and not dropping it. He also has some kind of leadership skill, since he has a gang that helps him out with his rare mafia-related activities, although they might follow him out of fear more than anything else.
CHARACTER HISTORY: Nobody knows where Graham came from: his past is shrouded in mystery (and by that I mean that the OVA wasn't very helpful and the novels haven't been translated anywhere near that far). He was probably born in Chicago, the son of a mechanic who passed on all his knowledge to his hyperactive and eager only child. From a young age, Graham was destructive and wild. At first, it was put down to 'boys will be boys', but as he got older and didn't calm down, his parents slowly became distanced from him. He went into the same vocational school as his father and was quickly apprenticed to a mechanic who was often too drunk to care what his insane blond prodigy was doing. After a few years, Graham left, deciding that being a mechanic wasn't quite his thing; he preferred to destroy, dismantle, and smash rather than fix or put together. He ended up in a warehouse, working alongside a handful of other shady characters who ignored his incessant rambling so long as he didn't bother their bootlegging and other scams. From them he learned the arts of being a criminal, but he didn't have very far to go. His unusual strength made him an excellent protector of the warehouse, and they often left him in charge of making sure their goods didn't go missing.
Graham probably would have been perfectly happy destroying cars and the occasional person had it not been for his coworkers' decision to steal goods from the local mafia family, the Russos, and try to sell them on the black market. Ladd Russo, the psychotic nephew of the current family head, arrived at the warehouse and shot all but one of the men there before Graham arrived. Upset that Ladd had partially destroyed a car he was looking forward to dismantling, Graham attacked wildly, and a quick but violent fight began. Ladd refused to dodge an attack, shocking Graham into near-paralysis, but when Ladd refused to kill him and, in fact, admitted he rather liked guys like Graham, it inspired a strong sense of brother-hero worship in Graham, who immediately attached himself to Ladd as an excellent ally for anything that the Russo family just couldn't, or didn't want, to do.
That was in 1929. Three years later, Graham, having long since moved to New York and started up a gang to assist the Russo family's (although Ladd in particular) endeavors there, was ready for his hero to smash the hell out of New York City so that their names could be plastered across the country. But the news came to him that not only had most of the gang been brutally slaughtered on the cross-continental train they were on, The Flying Pussyfoot, Ladd had been forced off the train and was injured and in police custody. It was nearly unbearable for Graham to know that there was someone out there powerful enough to hurt Ladd, and he was desperate to find them and make them pay - but first, there was the matter of criminal activities. Using information from one of his subordinates, Graham learned that a group of thieves and somewhat smaller-time criminals had stolen a bunch of goods off the train and were holed up with the Genoard family (very rich, very connected to the mafia). He decided to kidnap the Genoard's daughter and hold her for ransom, hopefully getting hold of the thieves in the process and regaining not only the lost godson the train but also a family fortune.
He didn't expect to kidnap the wrong girl, however. Instead of stealing away the young, vulnerable daughter of the Genoard family, he wound up with a well-dressed but extremely well-trained assassin, Chane Laforet, who had been staying with the thieves as well. Excited by the prospect of a surprising fight, Graham was ready to take the fight to the extreme when the head of the thieves, Jacuzzi Splot, showed up and offered to trade himself for Chane, as he had a bounty on his head from the Russo family. Graham was pleased, surprised, and horribly torn - what a selfless man, and yet what an opportunity! He wasn't sure whether to let them all go or smash their skulls. Fortunately, Chane was ready to keep fighting, and right as he was ready to launch back into battle, the rest of Jacuzzi's gang showed up - plus one. As Graham considered their logic in all "showing up alone", an unfamiliar man detached himself from the back of the group, introduced himself as Rail Tracer, and ignored Graham completely as he went to talk to the kidnapped Chane. Graham tried to listen in and regain attention, but the man - Claire Stanfield - pointedly did not care and just went on to happily confess his love.
Graham was not pleased. Not only was the spotlight away from him, but this guy was being a terrible guest. He demanded that Claire stop being as pompous as the most pompous man in the universe, Ladd - but to his surprise, not only did Claire know who Ladd was, but he also knew that he fell from the train. And then he learned that Claire was the one who got Ladd to jump off the train in the first place.
It was an amazing opportunity. Forgoing any words (for once), Graham launched into an attack. The battle lasted less than five minutes, with Claire skillfully dodging every attack and leaving Graham angry and frustrated. Giving up, Graham promised that one day, Claire would be brutally slaughtered by Ladd - a death sentence that Claire casually accepted as a warning. Then, his ruffled feathers soothing abruptly, Graham gave up his kidnapping scheme, told Jacuzzi he was free to come use the warehouse his gang usually holed up in, and walked out into the night of New York City, ready to find a new way to break Ladd out of jail, or at least avenge him.
CHARACTER PERSONALITY: Graham is pretty much insane. He's not just regular-type crazy, though; it's mania more than anything else. He's energetic, lively, rarely sleeps, forms plans on a dime, and aggrandizes himself. He's psychotically violent on occasion, which arises mostly in his desire to smash or break things (manifested most often in relation to cars). He talks a /lot/, often not letting people get a word in otherwise, and will follow his train of thought until it derails completely (sometimes even beyond that point). He loves to philosophize about himself, his current situation, others, and the world and society at large, often going from a horribly depressed and negative view of things to a light, optimistic take on it all - doing a perfect 180 in a matter of seconds. He has no middle emotional ground. Most of his time is spent psychotically manic, but on occasion he ranges into deep pits of depression, full of despair for the future to be. Fortunately, these only last for, at most, a matter of days; more often they're quick, minute-or-second-long pitfalls in his normally violent (but somewhat positive) streams of thought.
That's not to say he's an entirely bad guy, of course. He's so on-the-spot that he often gives up his plans for murder, or kidnapping, or fighting at a moment's notice. He's an emotional little punk, swayed by the actions of others (particularly if they're selflessly good or unbearably evil) into doing one thing or another or changing his stance on something. In short, he never stops moving, never shuts up, never acts normal, never tries to be predictable, never does any of the things he could do to make people like him for any decent reason, never treats people like other human beings - he never, ever stops, and that's just damn fine with him.
HOW IS THIS CHARACTER APPROPRIATE FOR THIS SETTING: Graham is genuinely crazy. He's a killer and a massive sufferer of Bipolar Disorder, a maniac in every way with no limits and no desire to control himself. He won't be afraid of the torture or therapy; he comes from a time only about 30 or 40 years ahead of the game, so he's fully prepared for what a mental institution has to offer. He really belongs here, and is probably one of those people who will be deemed 'incurable'.
WHAT WILL THEIR DIAGNOSIS BE: Bipolar Disorder, with an emphasis on severe mania. See his personality section for a good description of a mania-focused-bipolar victim.
PREDICTED PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS: His mania will remain basically the same. He'll be slightly more depressed without his cars and tools, but in general, he'll just the same crazy little fuckbend he always has been. When he discovers Ladd is there, he will probably get rather happier. And more annoying.
PREDICTED BEHAVIOR/PLANS: He will just be insane. He'll try to get out, of course, but for the most part, he'll just harass everyone he comes across, beat the hell out of anyone he can, irritate the doctors, philosophize violently, hurl himself against furniture, bash his head against walls, and never ever ever shut up when it comes to the intercom system.
DANGER LEVEL: 2