Profile Meme
[Character Name] Dist the Rose/Reaper
[Canon] Tales of the Abyss
[Point Taken from Canon] Post-Game
[Age] 35
[Gender] Male
[Sexual Orientation] Jade-o-sexual
[Eye Color] Magenta
[Hair Color] White with a light purple tint
[Height] 5' 9"
[Other] He is very scrawny.
[Background]
Dist the Rose grew up as Saphir Wyon Neis, one of the few children in the snowy town of Keterburg. He was one of the few students of Professor Gelda Nebilim, and possessed an incredible proficiency in fontech - technology that is magically powered. He was closest to Jade Curtiss (Balfour at the time), at least in his own mind, and constantly hounded the other boy with somewhat humorous results.
However, it was Saphir who was with Jade during the fateful event of Nebilim's death, and later Saphir who followed Jade from Keterburg to pursue the research of fomicry.
If Jade Curtiss is the Father of Fomicry, Saphir is the Mother of Fomicry. While it was Jade's theory that ran the research, it was Saphir's fontech that gave it life and applied it in to useable form. It was Saphir who created the devices that gave fomicry practical use, giving live to his 'childhood friend's' theory.
Unfortunately, Jade Curtiss eventually abandoned fomicry (and his promise) and had it banned - something that Saphir still does not comprehend to this day. Forced to take his research underground, Saphir came in contact with certain individuals that allowed him to continue working in fomicry for the price of his cooperation. As such, Saphir discarded his true name and joined the Oracle Knights, eventually becoming the God-General Dist the Rose - not that anyone uses that title, instead calling him the Reaper. The newly born Dist continued his forbidden research in fomicry.
In a rather rough partnership of give and take, Dist gave his supporters the replicas they so desired in exchange for their protection from the fomicry ban. He created many replicas during this time, both for Van and for Grand Maestro Mohs, while privately planning to use his knowledge to revive the professor. The fact that Van had access to Nebilim's fondata was used to encourage his continued cooperation.
Dist's time with the knights was a lonely one. He proved unable to make any friends, both feared by his underlings or ridiculed by his peers. As a testament to his loneliness, he spent six years eating his meals completely by himself - shunned by the others until a young girl named Anise decided to sit with him. Other than the young girl's company, Dist was completely alone and as a result buried himself entirely with his work.
Generally, Dist kept to himself and his own plans, avoiding getting directly involved as much as possible. It wasn't until he was approached by Asch to examine his replica that Dist actually took any interest in Van's plans. Discovering that Asch's replica was perfect caught his attention - discovering that Jade was involved in the plans only solidified his interest. Upon ordered to attack a ferry carrying the replica and his comrades, Dist was confronted by Jade - for the first time in a very long time. Still bitter about Jade's 'betrayal' at abandoning the promise, intense words were exchanged before a battle which resulted in Dist and his machinery being sent overboard. And thus the situation became personal.
Biding his time, Dist once again confronted Jade and his traveling companions (whom he referred to as 'Jade's gang' as he held no interest in them individually) when St. Binah was collapsing in to the Qliphoth. He attacked the group, indiscriminate in his targets and thus endangering the citizens that were fleeing the collapsing city. His actions earned him the ire of Jade and his companions and earned himself another explosion that sent him flying.
After this point, Dist licked his wounds and continued to work for Van and Mohs - creating more replicas and improving his own machinery. He manipulated both sides against the other, using Van for everything he could while making Mohs believe he was on the Grand Maestro's side. The reality was that he was only ever on his own side, totally intent on fulfilling the promise. For this reason, he had no hesitation in leaking top secret information about Van's plans to Mohs in exchange for his cooperation.
The next time Dist was able to confront Jade, it was when he had confiscated the Fonstone, an item necessary for their flying transport to function. Giving Jade a message to meet him at Keterburg for a duel, he emphasized that he did not hide the Fonstone at Daath and most certainly had it in his possession. Naturally, this revealed to Jade that the Fonstone was indeed at Daath and the group opted to search for it and ignore Dist's duel.
Dist waited patiently at Keterburg, honestly believing that he had outwitted Jade and his former friend would have no choice but to show up. He waited for a long time, long enough that he eventually suffered from hypothermia and fainted in the snow. Jade's sister, Nephry, then took him to the hotel in Keterburg, where he remained until Jade passed through again on a completely unrelated mission.
After an intense and highly questionable incident in the hotel room that involved screams, Jade arrested Dist and had him sent to the capital as a prisoner.
Naturally, this did not last. Dist escaped his prison and rescued Grand Maestro Mohs, who he ultimately transformed in to a monster with his own consent by infusing him with the Seventh Fonons without revealing that those unable to naturally use them would in fact mutate and go insane. It showed that he held no amount of affection for his benefactors, turning on Mohs just as he had done with Van.
The final time Dist actually fought Jade directly was at the Tower of Rem, when the replicas had gathered to purge the world of the miasma engulfing it. When Jade made it known that he meant to kill Dist once and for all, the fontechnician sought to up the ante himself. Using his most powerful Kaiser Dist robot, he attempted to kill the group as well as all the replicas in order to 'clean up' the useless specimens. Upon his defeat, Dist activated the self-destruct on his robot in an attempt to take Jade and himself out at the same time - a 'beautiful' end to their story, in his eyes. Naturally, this did not go as planned as his robot was jettisoned from the tower and Dist was believed blown up in his suicide attempt - alone.
But this was not the end of Dist. When Jade and his traveling companions broke the seal on Nebilim's replica, they discovered that they had been manipulated the whole time by Dist. Having given up on the fondata held by Van (who had no intention of turning it over due to his betrayal), he opted instead to go after the murderous replica that the two had made so many years ago. The replica attempted to kill Dist, and was in turn killed by Jade. In the end, Dist had once again survived the attack and when he regained consciousness, confronted Jade about leaving him behind and massacring the replica.
This proved to be rather foolish as Dist was once again arrested.
[Personality]
Dist is an insecure narcissist, as completely bizarre as that sounds. While he proclaims his own superiority, as well as the simultaneous inferiority of everyone else, he gets extremely flustered when other people call him on it. Ranging from throwing childish temper tantrums to making threats about writing their name down in his 'Revenge Journal', Dist generally loses his composure and thus exposes the whole thing as an elaborate act. However, he always manages to recover and secure himself in his narcissism once the confrontation is over, reassuring himself that the other person was either a fool or jealous.
Dist's primary obsession in life is Jade Curtiss. In a twisted love-hate relationship, he actively craves Jade's friendship and approval while equally condemns and insults him. One minute he is gushing over the Necromancer and suddenly he is spewing hatred and venom at the man, often as a result of a comment from said man.
Dist is overly emotional. His responses are strong and exaggerated as he seems unable to control himself. While he will put on a show of dignity, it doesn't take much for his emotions to veer completely out of control and reduce him in to what seems like a child rather than an adult. These responses vary and can involve explosions of rage, cooing affection, or even outright sobbing and wailing like a little girl.
In spite of his quirks, Dist is in fact a genius. Few people seem to realize this as his quirks tend to overshadow his intelligence regularly - his numerous inventions are either ignored or forgotten. It seems that even he tends to 'forget' that he's a genius, though he certainly loves to remind everyone else of it. Dist's genius centers on fontech, or technology - and he is quite enthusiastic about it.
He has created many inventions that are beyond even the comprehension of most, such as robots with artificial intelligence or massive capabilities in destruction, and even the devices used in fomicry.
[Specialties/Abilities]
Dist is a genius when it comes to technology. He has invented a wide variety of machines, from devices capable of replicating living people (with various success), enormous war machines capable of mass destruction, and even robots with artificial intelligence that he can talk to (as no one else will).
He has even invented a floating chair that he uses for transportation.
Dist depends rather heavily on these machines, using them to fight for him. This is due to the fact that Dist is completely lacking in the physical department. Despite possessing the most baffling ability to survive near-death and certain-death situations like a cockroach, Dist is what people might consider a stereotypical nerd. Lacking muscles or any significant physical attributes, Dist is not physically imposing - in fact, he is downright scrawny. Underweight to the point of being lanky, Dist could never be considered a threat if judged purely on appearances. If not for his fontech, Dist would not be taken nearly as seriously as he currently is - which isn't much to start with.
Dist is capable of using fonic artes as well, but they are nothing to to brag about. He mostly uses in place of tools.
[Affection] Dist is actually quite affectionate to people he likes. As such, he'll tend to be very accommodating and easily forgiving of the individuals lucky (or unlucky) enough to earn his affection. Otherwise, he's just downright scathing and treats everyone as if they are beneath him.
[Fighting] Violence is allowed, as one of Dist's odd abilities is taking a lot of abuse and surviving it. Without his fontech, he's helpless, so he generally doesn't go around picking fights unless he has a giant robot behind him. Of course, that doesn't mean he won't run his mouth! No killing, and serious injury is okay if cleared with me first. Ultimately, please discuss it with me first.
[Other Permissions] At this time, I have no problems with mind-reading or fourth wall breakers. I can't think of anything that isn't already known, at least by those involved.