zodion: APPLICATION.
✖ PLAYER:
Name & LJ: Shannon / estheim
Birthdate & Age: 6.30.93 / 18
Characters played in Zodion: N/A
✖ CHARACTER:
Name: Faize Sheifa Beleth
Canon: Star Ocean: The Last Hope
PB/Image: http://i.imgur.com/v0yTq.jpg
Info links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Ocean:_The_Last_Hope#Characters
Faize has an individual page on the Star Ocean wiki, but there are some glaring inaccuracies considering the mod has never actually played the game. I wouldn't recommend looking to that one, myself, so hopefully a shorter bio will do!
Canon Point: Immediately after falling into Nox Obscurus during the ending, so technically post-game if you don't include his hidden ending.
Gender: Male, physically and mentally.
Age: 18
Birthdate/Sign: Canonly February 3rd, 2078 / Aquarius. It's worth noting that the typical traits of an Aquarius fit him to a T.
Tattoo: Faize already has symbology tattoos located on his wrists, so his Aquarius tattoo will be located on his right wrist, just below it and about the same size in both height and width.
Suitability: N/A
Power: Faize's power is symbology, which according to the in-game dictionary is "A technology whereby certain phenomena can be induced through the combination of invocation, marking, and mental power near an inscription of a special type of design called a symbol." To word it in less complicated terms, it's magic that can be used both offensively and defensively. Faize's particular abilities are mostly offensive and mainly centered around earth and ice attacks, but the ability I'll let him keep is Deep Freeze, a move that cools the air surrounding the target and freezes it from the ground up. Faize gets it at level 41, but it isn't too extraordinarily powerful - Faize is actually widely regarded as the weakest party member in combat of the eight of them.
Personality: Faize is a character who goes through a significant amount of change and development through the course of his canon, starting out as a person who is generally eager and open before quietly descending into someone who is much more closed-off and self-deprecating. To put it simply, he's your morally ambiguous pretty-boy type of character, one who has so much kindness in his heart that it eventually ends up being his downfall. He's an Eldarian, an alien species that possesses advanced technological skills that far surpass Earth's own, and Faize himself is widely regarded as a genius by his Eldarian peers, having been the sole creator of a type of Eldarian spacecraft called a Sol. He's always been someone who's been heavily relied on, enduring constant praise from the supreme commander of Eldar's forces, Commander Gaghan, as well as the other Eldarians who surrounded him, but despite this, Faize often feels that he doesn't measure up to what he should be, promising to do his best but claiming that he's not very fond of being thrown around by everyone. There's a great deal of responsibility on his shoulders and he feels a strong sense of obligation to his Eldarian brethren, always striving to boost his skills and placing high priority on training to better himself.
Faize is actually one of the select few Eldarians who were artificially bred through the use of carefully selected DNA. According to him, such people receive education under the control of the planetary government so that they're properly prepared to serve in Eldarian society. He has no family, and nothing comparable to one, but Faize states that he can't feel down about it because he had always been surrounded by his friends, friends who were carefully selected in the same way as himself. He's intuitive, perspicacious and curious about the universe, stating that he's incredibly excited by space travel and the prospect of meeting new people and exploring new places. The first Earthlings Faize comes into contact with are Edge and Reimi, members of one of the first-ever Earth spaceships, the Calnus. After crashing on a planet called Aeos and losing a good portion of the crew, Faize is the one sent to help. Edge is quickly designated captain and Faize is invited to join their crew, and so the three of them set out to explore various underdeveloped planets, picking up a number of other crew members the further along they go.
While usually appearing to be calm and collected, he is actually prone to great displays of emotion that range from boundless excitement to severe irritation, even occasional fits of jealousy. At other times he can be rather shy, even bashful, and he's easily flustered, especially when dealing with emotions that are unfamiliar to him. He's good with things like mechanics, logic and analysis but Faize is still someone who can be considered emotionally naive, and I'd even go as far to say that he can be immature at times. He's kind and respectful to others and has no qualms about helping people when he can, never considering it to be a waste of time or a burden, and Faize has his own clear view of right and wrong (if not one that's different from Edge's at times) but despite his kindness, he is by no means perfect and he possesses some rather rude traits, as well. He's not above laughing in disbelief at the notion of Lymle, a little girl, being a master symbologist, nor is he above scolding her and calling her a baby when she'd rather sleep next to Edge than in her own room. The two of them often banter back and forth like this, although Faize himself admits to Lymle being a very nice girl, despite the fact that he is even hurt by her words at times, turning to Edge for help. It wouldn't be too far of a stretch to say that he sees Lymle like a younger sister or at least a familial figure of some sort - never having had a family himself there's nothing to compare it to, but Lymle herself is an orphan and so I think they find a sense of family in each other, neither one having any other relationship similar to their own.
Due to his genetic makeup, when he's suppressing an extreme amount of anger or grief the irises in his eyes glow a bright red. The first instance of this occurring happens close to mid-game on the planet Roak, where Faize and the rest of the party meet a young tribe girl who offers to teach Faize an ancient kind of symbology, and Faize gets really excited over symbology, okay. The girl also gives Faize a black cloak.. scarf... thing that he wears for the remainder of the game, although it's not shown in most of his official art. After the group parts ways with her in order to rescue their friend Sarah, he comes to find that the tribe girl had been slaughtered in their absence. Not being able to save someone who had done nothing but extend her kindness to him seems to be a major catapult for his descent into, well, craziness. He's hugely empathetic to a fault and to see someone who was nothing but innocent die when he believes it could have been prevented is something he can't handle well enough to manage to move on from. The guilt of such a thing completely consumes him, and from there on out he closes himself off, prompting concern from both Edge and Lymle, the only two who notice that there's anything wrong about him.
Unfortunately, the death of the tribe girl is just the beginning of Faize's guilt issues, and when the party returns to Aeos and meets up with another Earthling captain and a longtime friend of Edge's, Crowe, along with a fellow Eldarian, Arumat, they're informed that Eldar, Faize's home planet, had been completely destroyed, while many - but not all - of the Eldarians had managed to escape in emigration ships. Upon hearing this news Faize is struck by both disbelief and despair, falling to the ground close to tears and begging Arumat to spare him the details, but Arumat berates him for openly displaying such a lack of pride as an Eldarian; Eldarians as a whole are a race that thrive on pride and rationality, not emotion. It is here that Faize makes the decision to go back with Crowe, concerned for his Eldarian brethren's safety, and he leaves the party, exchanging parting words with Edge - being reassured of how important a friend he is - and Lymle before taking his leave.
The Eldarian ships as well as Crowe's own ship come under attack by the Grigori (the main antagonist, a group of phantoms aiming to destroy the universe or something) and Faize, unable to do anything but stand and watch as the ships surrounding them are destroyed one by one, pretty much loses it, claiming that watching his brethren die meaningless deaths is too painful for him. He escapes through the airlock and vows to protect them, vows to not let any more die and resolves that he's going to do what even Edge wasn't able to do. This is the last we see of Faize until the ending where, surprise surprise, in a shocking plot twist that never happens in any other JRPG ever, he is the final boss! It's unspecified as to how, exactly, but the Grigori possess Faize, granting him tremendous power and corrupting Faize's wish for a peaceful universe, twisting it around into a wish for a universe in which all planets are destroyed just so no one has to feel any pain or sorrow anymore. Even when Faize wants to destroy his friends and everything they hold dear, Edge still refers to him as someone who is kinder than anyone else, someone who was too kind for the universe.
Faize's relationship with Edge is probably his most important, due to the fact that Edge is the first person he meets who has a true, profound impact on him, and many of his actions and the motivation behind them seem to at least partially revolve around Edge. For much of his speech as the final boss he addresses only Edge, claiming that he wants him to become a part of his new universe with him. During the course of the game Edge is someone he clearly wants to both impress and match up to, someone he wants to support to the best of his abilities, and most significantly, someone he desires to follow. He greatly admires Edge's optimism and determination and (during the first half of the game especially) constantly compares himself to him, claiming that he could never match up to someone so impressive. After the final battle - reverting back to his proper form, no longer possessed by the Grigori - and during the collapse of Nox Obscurus Faize says that it "feels nice" to hear Edge calling back to him from ahead, and that he hopes that someday he can continue to follow Edge. From the moment you defeat him in battle until the very end Faize displays a tremendous amount of guilt and sadness, reprimanding himself for his actions and claiming that all he ever wanted was to be strong, like Edge. Edge holds on to him to keep him from falling into darkness but Faize, feeling immense guilt for what he had done and claiming that he doesn't understand why Edge is "trying so hard," willingly lets go of his hand, not seeming to think that he has the right to stay by his friends anymore.
Edge barely hesitates in risking to sacrifice his life to save Faize, and he jumps into the abyss after him, but fortunately Faize is quick enough to summon a Sol to rescue Edge. As for what becomes of Faize himself - Zodion will be the judge of that.
✖ SAMPLES:
"Zodion" First-Person Network Entry:[ the feed flicks on to display what some might liken to something like an alien - although aside from the pointed ears covered by ornate decorations, the green hair and the violet irises, he's more humanlike than most other aliens you would see. although his mouth is set in a thin, straight line, his eyes are tired and desolate, clearly a fruitless attempt at appearing to be undisturbed by the situation. they're the eyes of someone who had held what may have been the entirety of the universe at his fingertips hardly two hours ago, of someone who had just let everything near and dear to him slip between those fingertips, but it's needless to say that you wouldn't know this, would you? he's facing away from the camera - seemingly aware that the device is on, but either unwilling or simply unable to face whoever may be watching. he's clutching the welcome letter tightly in his hand, and one sleeve is pulled up to reveal the marking of aquarius on his right wrist, set just below another tattoo that's a lot less new. ]
It is rather ironic that I, of all people, would be called upon and asked to complete as grand a task as protecting the fate of the cosmos. If I were in a slightly better mood, I might even think it to be amusing.
[ he can't help but think of certain others who may be far more suited for such a task. perhaps this is his punishment? there's a long pause, but he finally manages to shake it off, turning his head to face the camera. his tone grows considerably lighter, but there's still not even the faintest trace of a smile. ]
I'm not quite sure what the task of going forth and worshipping entails, nor am I sure that I'm one cut out for the job, whatever that job may be. But I suppose it would be safe to say that at this point, there's not much I have to lose, is there? I won't ask for any assistance, but an estimate of just how many others are present here in Zodion may serve to help me collect my bearings.
"Zodionlogs" Third-Person Prose Entry:The first thing that truly captures Faize's attention is the light. It's a soft glow, and such a warm one, but too much so and he finds that he's not quite sure if it's really any better than the pitch-darkness of Nox Obscurus, a darkness so deep that he couldn't manage to do much but stumble blindly through it in the end, the only warmth guiding him being a shock of blonde hair and a hand covering his own. The way his chest tightens at the memory is so palpable and sudden it startles him, and his fingers find their way to the cloak covering his heart to grasp at the dark fabric, squeezing gently as if it could somehow override the feelings blooming in his chest, heavy with something akin to guilt and the knowledge that it really is over, now; that he really is alone, and he has no one to blame for it but himself. Even now, he's not sure if the full magnitude of it has really hit him. How could it?
He knows he deserves no less. By all means he's not even sure how he still has claim to his own life - he knows Edge managed to make it out safely, and Lymle, too, but what then... ? The memory is hazy, clouded in darkness, and he shakes his head before picking himself up from the ground, legs still slightly unstable, exhausted from a long battle and an even longer fall. It doesn't matter, does it? As long as Edge and the others are safe - as long as he knows that his friends are alive and well and can go on the way they were meant to, it doesn't truly matter what becomes of him.
It's with these thoughts in mind when Faize finally steps toward the stone alter standing proud before him, refocusing his attention to the glow that seems to be almost calling out to him, somehow, reverberating somewhere deep inside. When he's finally come close enough to dip the toes of his boots into the clear water surrounding, the reflection that appears underneath is that of his own bare toes, and purple eyes widen in astonishment as he glances up to find himself somewhere that seems so far away from where he had been just seconds ago.
Perhaps he really is dead, after all?
It would make the most sense, maybe, but no, that can't be it; he feels very much alive. The emotions still wound up tight in his chest must be proof of it - surely death would be something more peaceful, wouldn't it? Water rises up around him and he hardly feels the abrupt sting on his right wrist at first, too distracted by the sight of his own reflection surrounding him every which way he turns, but the dull throbbing eventually catches his notice, and by the time it does there's the clear mark of Aquarius stretching across the skin over his veins, similar in both size and color to his own symbology tattoos. He can't recall what, exactly, the mark means - Earth astrology was something he'd researched once or twice, but the memories were lost amongst topics that came off as far more interesting to him, numbers and figures and mechanics - but it seems to fit, somehow, like maybe it was meant to be there, meant for him. He isn't quite sure why, but there isn't much time to further think about it before the glowing has ceased and he's stepping toward the box, knowing full well that although he's not sure that he's ready to unseal whatever his fate may be, he has nothing more to lose.