capeandcowl Application
[PLAYER INFO]
NAME: Spaz
AGE: 25
JOURNAL: sp4ztard but never actually used
IM: sp4ztard
E-MAIL: sp4ztard@googlemail.com
RETURNING: Yes! One other character, James Bond
[CHARACTER INFO]
CHARACTER NAME: Saito
FANDOM: Inception
CHRONOLOGY: Post-movie
CLASS: Entirely neutral, all choices made for THE GREATER GOOD
SUPERHERO NAME: The Tourist
ALTER EGO: Saito, business mogul
BACKGROUND:
Relatively nothing is known or ever stated about Saito's past and he himself never mentions any of it, keeping his personal life just as it should be- personal. However, given certain approaches and his attitude, some assumptions and filling in of blanks can be done regarding the main core of his life before the movie.
Due to his generally cautious approach to riches and a respect for what he's made for himself, along with his disregard for Fischer and the relationship with Fischer Snr, I assume he wasn't born into money like his competitor and has little in the way of family riches. Saito's general ego and confidence suggests he's made a name for himself thanks to his own efforts and has every right to claim what he deserves after clawing his way to the top of the food chain. He displays a sharp knowledge in the business world and seems to know every aspect of how to get to and stay at the top, no matter what has to be done to stay there, no doubt earned from personal experience rather than taught by any other means.
Getting as high up as he has can't have been easy and will have been done after first gaining power and contacts elsewhere, along with having a high intelligence and understanding of how to get what he wants. In his youth, its possible that Saito was involved in several gangs, which originally gave him a taste for power and money that stuck with him for life. Keeping these contacts throughout his rise to power has been a great aid to him and has kept him feared and respected by all those around him, although Saito has personally managed to keep his hands clean for much of it (or at east avoided being caught doing anything illegal) which has made him a perfect leading role for his global business. During the prequel of Inception, Saito is also shown attending an underground 'dreamcade' - a sort of virtual reality arcade all done within the dream world- which is run by the Yakuza, who appear to treat him as a known regular, allowing him to participate and bet in what is undoubtedly an illegal organisation. This display of trust and respect from the Yakuza is yet another nod towards Saito's morally blurred past and wouldn't make it entirely unlikely to assume they may even work for him when it suits him.
His traditionalism suggests his family brought him up with a strong respect for where he's come from, both his heritage and place of birth, though due to his age and his general obsession with work, it's likely his parents are either dead or rarely visited. Saito hasn't much time or general interest in a family life, favouring his business above all others, along with the occasional love affair. However, a wife is briefly mentioned in passing by Cobb and for appearances sakes, it's not at all unlikely for Saito to have married for convenience to a likely much younger, stay at home wife who he only sees when it suits him, while keeping her on his side with a constant flow of money. Marriage certainly looks good on paper, appeals to long set traditions and completes the image of an entirely successful businessman, but that's about all it's good for in his opinion. It's clear enough that he shows little respect for the vows themselves considering one of the initial dream sequences within the movie has him at his hidden away 'love nest' for himself and his mistress- a Venezuelan woman married to a high-ranking Government official.
The movie begins with a dream- a dream within a dream- where Saito is being sold the idea of dream security by Dominic Cobb- along with his team Arthur and Nash- who's a dirty liar and actually only there to steal secrets. Saito's secret's specifically. But Saito came into it knowing he was going to be swindled and plays along with it all, only revealing his hand after catching Cobb red-handed who then decides to bust out of the scenario. Soon after waking up, Saito learns he's not just woken up from a dream, but is in a dream within a dream, and his previous indifference to both Cobb and Co's antics are suddenly turned to interest. Stubborn as he is, extraction of his knowledge is a failure and as such, back in reality, Cobb and Arthur are forced to flee before their latest employers catch up on their failure.
However. Nash has other plans and sells his two team mates out to Saito.
But Saito doesn't like traitors, and with a need for some dream extracting of his own, he catches up with Arthur and Cobb before they can go into hiding and makes them a deal. Work for him and not only get paid vast amounts of money, but also ensure their safety against their previous employers and allow Cobb to return safely to America where he was (falsely) accused for murder. In return, they're asked to perform inception- an apparently impossible act of planting an idea into someone's mind. Cobb agrees and Arthur follows, while Saito assures he'll give them whatever they need to succeed.
Movement around the globe is overseen and Saito follows his newest employees to Paris and Mombassa, ensuring their safety while keeping an eye on them as the team grows in numbers, acquiring Ariadne, Eames and Yusef to add into the mix.
Planning takes up much of their time and the whole team- including Saito- plot every detail of the operation until the time comes to get on a plane (Saito bought the airline), drug up their victim, Robert Fischer, and enter the dream state. Due to Cobb's insistence, there end up being numerous layers of dream states, starting off within a 'city' where the team are immediately met with hostility from Fischer's trained subconscious. After plenty of gun fighting, Saito gets shot in the chest and begins the slow process of bleeding out. Sadly for him, dying within this dream doesn't take the usual course of simply waking up, but actually causes the deceased to slip further into the dream world known as Limbo where they tend to spend eternity living a life that isn't reality.
Saito's only saving grace is that the next level of the dream means less death and bleeding for him, so as they step into the second dream, Saito's back on his feet and helping out where he can while Cobb and Co fool Fischer into thinking they're there to help and that he needs to fall asleep again to solve it all. And then there's the third dream, by which point Saito's started suffering again and yet still offers to be the one to escort Fischer to the final destination while Eames runs around playing chase with the heavily armed subconscious and Cobb and Ariadne just… sit around mostly. In fact, Cobb is entirely useless for that part of the dream and even ends up letting their target, Fischer, get shot and fall into Limbo, with Saito soon following as he finally dies (only after holding off an army with a grenade and a pistol. Bad ass).
Presumably from this point on, Saito just chills in Limbo for a long fucking time, creating his own world and living in a castle with a whole bunch of security guards (despite Cobb saying that subconscious isn't IN limbo), until Cobb eventually arrives to rescue him. The two of them have gone a little mental in their isolation but after a brief conversation, they remember their own reality and likely shoot themselves dead to actually live again. In the real world.
The moment Saito awakes in reality, he holds up his end of the deal and arranges for Cobb's safe arrival into LA, after what appeared to be an eventually successful Inception on the whole teams behalf. The last time Saito is seen in the movie is in the baggage claim of LAX and this is precisely where he'll be taken from for The City's purposes.
PERSONALITY:
Saito is a man of great power and wealth, heading a leading global company behind much of the world's supply of energy. Or at least, that's about as much as the average man knows about him and while it's a good base to start at, there's so much more behind the businessman exterior.
With power comes great responsibility, along with great delegation and a constant watchful eye. Factors which Saito has grown up learning and uses to his full advantage. Working from the bottom has meant he's not only got a constantly clear vision of his goals and achievements, but also understands the needs of his employees and partners. He displays time and time again a great understanding for the running of an empire and, though ruling with an iron fist, he's also known world wide for his fair and honourable approach.
Honour drives him, working as the constant force behind the choices he makes and considered something so important by him that to break it would be a great disgrace. It's so very typically Japanese and isn't the only stereotype he plays up to. After all, no greater stereotype can come about than being the 'Japanese tourist' and yet he still manages to bring a whole new meaning to it. Saito's proud of his heritage and his birthplace to the extent that he often comes across as quite a traditionalist, still sticking strongly to many of the Japanese ways and values and often appearing as very classically Japanese. But he's one of the many generations to get stuck in the tug-of-war between Eastern and Western civilisation, having been brought up with all the values of a Japanese family and yet being presented with these new and curiously different approaches of the Western world. Despite the differences to the two, Saito easily caters to both, having learnt plenty of both cultures thanks to his constant travels around the world to meet with business associates and create new contracts. He's occasionally seen dropping back into the polite and careful approach of his Japanese up-bringing and rarely displays himself as outwardly rude, yet he shows himself as a ruthless and cut-throat individual, in and out of his work.
It wouldn't be a stretch to say that his morals are questionable, to the extent of being entirely ambiguous at times, but in a world of 'every man for himself' Saito knows just how to keep ahead of it all, using his power and influence to stay on top. It's influence he's gained from decades of global expansion, using charm and authority- along with a strong wit- to get exactly what he wants from people. His boundaries seem limitless and he's been known to blackmail to get to his goals, along with waving entirely irresistible rewards- which is exactly what he managed with Dominic Cobb to first attract his attention into the idea of employment. But while Saito played fair with Cobb, he also displayed a darker side of himself in the same swoop, showing a complete disregard for human life when presenting a battered ex-colleague of Cobb's, Nash, and a gun for execution, even practically signing the man's life away to another after Cobb denied the kill for himself. It was more for show than anything else, a demonstration of what happens to those who break the trust and honour of another, but was still something Saito had little problem with doing when showing off his authority in attempts to snare Cobb.
While he's happy to make these little shows of power at any point possible, his pride can also be used against him, a careful stroke of his ego making him far more susceptible than some. Arthur and Cobb knew this well enough when creating the ensnaring dreamscapes that were used to try and extract information from him upon their first encounter, and while the first level was simply a familiar base for Saito, the next level down was an entire castle created in his image. It catered to every point of his personality to the extent that he could be fooled into thinking it was his own, playing out the literal king of his castle as he easily settled into the huge, Japanese landscape and the apparent party his subconscious was throwing in his honour. Even the art was to his liking, post-war British paintings adorning rooms alongside the asian art work, his taste showing a love for fine things and an appreciation for arts, all of which had been found out due to simple research.
Despite the convincing dream, it's apparent from the start that Saito doesn't hold much faith or belief in it being reality, showing a great understanding of an easy distinction between the two and using his logical reasoning to quickly pick up on the fact he's being screwed over. It's these displays of knowledge that make Saito appear to be an extremely intelligent individual, coupled with his obvious success in life, his grasp of languages and a quick wit. But even with his knowledge within the dreamscape, theft from his mind is clearly not an appreciated act and Saito doesn't hold back on his dislike, entirely upfront and truthful with his emotions and making it clear that he's far more comfortable when getting his own way.
He is, however, an exceptionally adaptable individual, taking each step as it comes and easily catering to whatever is thrown at him and- later in the film- his team. When he's not forced to adapt, it's his forward thinking that keeps Saito one step ahead at all times, and while the team discussed and worried over just how they'd even get to Fischer for such a long stint of time, Saito had already planned for Fischer's private jet to be out of action and bought out an entire airline just for the job. Easy when you know how.
Although generally coming across as a straight-faced and unamused individual, Saito's time with the team brings out a more personal side to him, still often dry and unassuming in his approach, but also displaying a burning curiosity, questioning everything he encounters and apparently unafraid of showing he didn't know the answer. When in conversation, his manner tends to full of sarcasm and wit, often biting back with snarky responses or the occasional show of humour while still maintaining a generally professional approach. Even when he's been with the team for all of the planning stages, it's clear that Saito's capable of keeping his distance, constantly aware that it's 'just business' and therefore keeping personal involvement limited. That isn't to say he doesn't get involved, because Saito shows himself to be one of the most engaged members of the group, overseeing every step of the job with an unwavering determination and constantly offering himself as a hands-on member of the group, unwilling to just be 'the tourist' in something so important to his future. Even after the threat of death, there is no lack of involvement from him.
Saito sees things through to the end, even if it means his own end, and when choking on his own blood, unable to move, he still makes a point of assuring Cobb that he will hold up his end of the deal no matter what, intent on seeing the job through while apparently unconcerned for his own health. That bullet to the chest is great proof of Saito's stoicism and self-discipline, never once being the one to point out his pain and other than the occasional cough, he's intent not to bring any attention to himself despite bleeding to death.
All in all, despite his moral ambiguity and tendency towards mood swings when things aren't turning in his favour, Saito is one GQMF, charming, suave, witty, intelligent and rocking the Japanese James Bond villain act like a boss.
POWER:
None of these powers are classed as canon, though both are based from canon 'abilities':
Dream Tourer
Saito will have the ability to 'tour' dreams, allowing him access into other peoples dream worlds while asleep where he can be seen and interact, but he'll be incapable of dream manipulation. When accompanied by experienced dream sharers, Saito's abilities strengthen to give him more involvement.
Manipulator
As a master persuader Saito will be granted the power of manipulation, able to persuade others into doing as he wishes simply by the power of his voice. While working better on the weak minded, it will eventually grow to become more powerful as he develops and understands the power further.
NAME: Spaz
AGE: 25
JOURNAL: sp4ztard but never actually used
IM: sp4ztard
E-MAIL: sp4ztard@googlemail.com
RETURNING: Yes! One other character, James Bond
[CHARACTER INFO]
CHARACTER NAME: Saito
FANDOM: Inception
CHRONOLOGY: Post-movie
CLASS: Entirely neutral, all choices made for THE GREATER GOOD
SUPERHERO NAME: The Tourist
ALTER EGO: Saito, business mogul
BACKGROUND:
Relatively nothing is known or ever stated about Saito's past and he himself never mentions any of it, keeping his personal life just as it should be- personal. However, given certain approaches and his attitude, some assumptions and filling in of blanks can be done regarding the main core of his life before the movie.
Due to his generally cautious approach to riches and a respect for what he's made for himself, along with his disregard for Fischer and the relationship with Fischer Snr, I assume he wasn't born into money like his competitor and has little in the way of family riches. Saito's general ego and confidence suggests he's made a name for himself thanks to his own efforts and has every right to claim what he deserves after clawing his way to the top of the food chain. He displays a sharp knowledge in the business world and seems to know every aspect of how to get to and stay at the top, no matter what has to be done to stay there, no doubt earned from personal experience rather than taught by any other means.
Getting as high up as he has can't have been easy and will have been done after first gaining power and contacts elsewhere, along with having a high intelligence and understanding of how to get what he wants. In his youth, its possible that Saito was involved in several gangs, which originally gave him a taste for power and money that stuck with him for life. Keeping these contacts throughout his rise to power has been a great aid to him and has kept him feared and respected by all those around him, although Saito has personally managed to keep his hands clean for much of it (or at east avoided being caught doing anything illegal) which has made him a perfect leading role for his global business. During the prequel of Inception, Saito is also shown attending an underground 'dreamcade' - a sort of virtual reality arcade all done within the dream world- which is run by the Yakuza, who appear to treat him as a known regular, allowing him to participate and bet in what is undoubtedly an illegal organisation. This display of trust and respect from the Yakuza is yet another nod towards Saito's morally blurred past and wouldn't make it entirely unlikely to assume they may even work for him when it suits him.
His traditionalism suggests his family brought him up with a strong respect for where he's come from, both his heritage and place of birth, though due to his age and his general obsession with work, it's likely his parents are either dead or rarely visited. Saito hasn't much time or general interest in a family life, favouring his business above all others, along with the occasional love affair. However, a wife is briefly mentioned in passing by Cobb and for appearances sakes, it's not at all unlikely for Saito to have married for convenience to a likely much younger, stay at home wife who he only sees when it suits him, while keeping her on his side with a constant flow of money. Marriage certainly looks good on paper, appeals to long set traditions and completes the image of an entirely successful businessman, but that's about all it's good for in his opinion. It's clear enough that he shows little respect for the vows themselves considering one of the initial dream sequences within the movie has him at his hidden away 'love nest' for himself and his mistress- a Venezuelan woman married to a high-ranking Government official.
The movie begins with a dream- a dream within a dream- where Saito is being sold the idea of dream security by Dominic Cobb- along with his team Arthur and Nash- who's a dirty liar and actually only there to steal secrets. Saito's secret's specifically. But Saito came into it knowing he was going to be swindled and plays along with it all, only revealing his hand after catching Cobb red-handed who then decides to bust out of the scenario. Soon after waking up, Saito learns he's not just woken up from a dream, but is in a dream within a dream, and his previous indifference to both Cobb and Co's antics are suddenly turned to interest. Stubborn as he is, extraction of his knowledge is a failure and as such, back in reality, Cobb and Arthur are forced to flee before their latest employers catch up on their failure.
However. Nash has other plans and sells his two team mates out to Saito.
But Saito doesn't like traitors, and with a need for some dream extracting of his own, he catches up with Arthur and Cobb before they can go into hiding and makes them a deal. Work for him and not only get paid vast amounts of money, but also ensure their safety against their previous employers and allow Cobb to return safely to America where he was (falsely) accused for murder. In return, they're asked to perform inception- an apparently impossible act of planting an idea into someone's mind. Cobb agrees and Arthur follows, while Saito assures he'll give them whatever they need to succeed.
Movement around the globe is overseen and Saito follows his newest employees to Paris and Mombassa, ensuring their safety while keeping an eye on them as the team grows in numbers, acquiring Ariadne, Eames and Yusef to add into the mix.
Planning takes up much of their time and the whole team- including Saito- plot every detail of the operation until the time comes to get on a plane (Saito bought the airline), drug up their victim, Robert Fischer, and enter the dream state. Due to Cobb's insistence, there end up being numerous layers of dream states, starting off within a 'city' where the team are immediately met with hostility from Fischer's trained subconscious. After plenty of gun fighting, Saito gets shot in the chest and begins the slow process of bleeding out. Sadly for him, dying within this dream doesn't take the usual course of simply waking up, but actually causes the deceased to slip further into the dream world known as Limbo where they tend to spend eternity living a life that isn't reality.
Saito's only saving grace is that the next level of the dream means less death and bleeding for him, so as they step into the second dream, Saito's back on his feet and helping out where he can while Cobb and Co fool Fischer into thinking they're there to help and that he needs to fall asleep again to solve it all. And then there's the third dream, by which point Saito's started suffering again and yet still offers to be the one to escort Fischer to the final destination while Eames runs around playing chase with the heavily armed subconscious and Cobb and Ariadne just… sit around mostly. In fact, Cobb is entirely useless for that part of the dream and even ends up letting their target, Fischer, get shot and fall into Limbo, with Saito soon following as he finally dies (only after holding off an army with a grenade and a pistol. Bad ass).
Presumably from this point on, Saito just chills in Limbo for a long fucking time, creating his own world and living in a castle with a whole bunch of security guards (despite Cobb saying that subconscious isn't IN limbo), until Cobb eventually arrives to rescue him. The two of them have gone a little mental in their isolation but after a brief conversation, they remember their own reality and likely shoot themselves dead to actually live again. In the real world.
The moment Saito awakes in reality, he holds up his end of the deal and arranges for Cobb's safe arrival into LA, after what appeared to be an eventually successful Inception on the whole teams behalf. The last time Saito is seen in the movie is in the baggage claim of LAX and this is precisely where he'll be taken from for The City's purposes.
PERSONALITY:
Saito is a man of great power and wealth, heading a leading global company behind much of the world's supply of energy. Or at least, that's about as much as the average man knows about him and while it's a good base to start at, there's so much more behind the businessman exterior.
With power comes great responsibility, along with great delegation and a constant watchful eye. Factors which Saito has grown up learning and uses to his full advantage. Working from the bottom has meant he's not only got a constantly clear vision of his goals and achievements, but also understands the needs of his employees and partners. He displays time and time again a great understanding for the running of an empire and, though ruling with an iron fist, he's also known world wide for his fair and honourable approach.
Honour drives him, working as the constant force behind the choices he makes and considered something so important by him that to break it would be a great disgrace. It's so very typically Japanese and isn't the only stereotype he plays up to. After all, no greater stereotype can come about than being the 'Japanese tourist' and yet he still manages to bring a whole new meaning to it. Saito's proud of his heritage and his birthplace to the extent that he often comes across as quite a traditionalist, still sticking strongly to many of the Japanese ways and values and often appearing as very classically Japanese. But he's one of the many generations to get stuck in the tug-of-war between Eastern and Western civilisation, having been brought up with all the values of a Japanese family and yet being presented with these new and curiously different approaches of the Western world. Despite the differences to the two, Saito easily caters to both, having learnt plenty of both cultures thanks to his constant travels around the world to meet with business associates and create new contracts. He's occasionally seen dropping back into the polite and careful approach of his Japanese up-bringing and rarely displays himself as outwardly rude, yet he shows himself as a ruthless and cut-throat individual, in and out of his work.
It wouldn't be a stretch to say that his morals are questionable, to the extent of being entirely ambiguous at times, but in a world of 'every man for himself' Saito knows just how to keep ahead of it all, using his power and influence to stay on top. It's influence he's gained from decades of global expansion, using charm and authority- along with a strong wit- to get exactly what he wants from people. His boundaries seem limitless and he's been known to blackmail to get to his goals, along with waving entirely irresistible rewards- which is exactly what he managed with Dominic Cobb to first attract his attention into the idea of employment. But while Saito played fair with Cobb, he also displayed a darker side of himself in the same swoop, showing a complete disregard for human life when presenting a battered ex-colleague of Cobb's, Nash, and a gun for execution, even practically signing the man's life away to another after Cobb denied the kill for himself. It was more for show than anything else, a demonstration of what happens to those who break the trust and honour of another, but was still something Saito had little problem with doing when showing off his authority in attempts to snare Cobb.
While he's happy to make these little shows of power at any point possible, his pride can also be used against him, a careful stroke of his ego making him far more susceptible than some. Arthur and Cobb knew this well enough when creating the ensnaring dreamscapes that were used to try and extract information from him upon their first encounter, and while the first level was simply a familiar base for Saito, the next level down was an entire castle created in his image. It catered to every point of his personality to the extent that he could be fooled into thinking it was his own, playing out the literal king of his castle as he easily settled into the huge, Japanese landscape and the apparent party his subconscious was throwing in his honour. Even the art was to his liking, post-war British paintings adorning rooms alongside the asian art work, his taste showing a love for fine things and an appreciation for arts, all of which had been found out due to simple research.
Despite the convincing dream, it's apparent from the start that Saito doesn't hold much faith or belief in it being reality, showing a great understanding of an easy distinction between the two and using his logical reasoning to quickly pick up on the fact he's being screwed over. It's these displays of knowledge that make Saito appear to be an extremely intelligent individual, coupled with his obvious success in life, his grasp of languages and a quick wit. But even with his knowledge within the dreamscape, theft from his mind is clearly not an appreciated act and Saito doesn't hold back on his dislike, entirely upfront and truthful with his emotions and making it clear that he's far more comfortable when getting his own way.
He is, however, an exceptionally adaptable individual, taking each step as it comes and easily catering to whatever is thrown at him and- later in the film- his team. When he's not forced to adapt, it's his forward thinking that keeps Saito one step ahead at all times, and while the team discussed and worried over just how they'd even get to Fischer for such a long stint of time, Saito had already planned for Fischer's private jet to be out of action and bought out an entire airline just for the job. Easy when you know how.
Although generally coming across as a straight-faced and unamused individual, Saito's time with the team brings out a more personal side to him, still often dry and unassuming in his approach, but also displaying a burning curiosity, questioning everything he encounters and apparently unafraid of showing he didn't know the answer. When in conversation, his manner tends to full of sarcasm and wit, often biting back with snarky responses or the occasional show of humour while still maintaining a generally professional approach. Even when he's been with the team for all of the planning stages, it's clear that Saito's capable of keeping his distance, constantly aware that it's 'just business' and therefore keeping personal involvement limited. That isn't to say he doesn't get involved, because Saito shows himself to be one of the most engaged members of the group, overseeing every step of the job with an unwavering determination and constantly offering himself as a hands-on member of the group, unwilling to just be 'the tourist' in something so important to his future. Even after the threat of death, there is no lack of involvement from him.
Saito sees things through to the end, even if it means his own end, and when choking on his own blood, unable to move, he still makes a point of assuring Cobb that he will hold up his end of the deal no matter what, intent on seeing the job through while apparently unconcerned for his own health. That bullet to the chest is great proof of Saito's stoicism and self-discipline, never once being the one to point out his pain and other than the occasional cough, he's intent not to bring any attention to himself despite bleeding to death.
All in all, despite his moral ambiguity and tendency towards mood swings when things aren't turning in his favour, Saito is one GQMF, charming, suave, witty, intelligent and rocking the Japanese James Bond villain act like a boss.
POWER:
None of these powers are classed as canon, though both are based from canon 'abilities':
Dream Tourer
Saito will have the ability to 'tour' dreams, allowing him access into other peoples dream worlds while asleep where he can be seen and interact, but he'll be incapable of dream manipulation. When accompanied by experienced dream sharers, Saito's abilities strengthen to give him more involvement.
Manipulator
As a master persuader Saito will be granted the power of manipulation, able to persuade others into doing as he wishes simply by the power of his voice. While working better on the weak minded, it will eventually grow to become more powerful as he develops and understands the power further.