Damned application
Name/Handle: Katheryn
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Timezone: US Eastern
Personal LJ: perivates
E-Mail: kate.douglass@gmail.com
AIM/other: LugensFata, also perivates on Plurk
Is English your primary language?: Yes
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Series: Animorphs
Series' Medium: Books, and an unfortunate TV series that we do not speak of.
Character: Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul
Age: Due to timeline fuckery, his exact age is unknown. His approximate (comparable human) age is late 20s/early 30s. In Landel's, he will be listed as 30.
Sex/Gender: Male
Canon Role: Secondary character who provides the series' MacGuffin before dying.
"Real" Name: While he was on Earth, he used the alias Alan Fangor. Since that timeline was disrupted, no one knows of his human name aside from those whom he deliberately tells, and it is implied that the only one he ever intended to inform of this was his son.
How long have you roleplayed your character, if at all?:
I have been playing him since July of last year.
Where have you roleplayed in general and/or with this specific character?:
The only game which I presently have him in is Kannagara. Other than that, mostly museboxes and memes.
Are you personally familiar with your character's canon?:
I have read the entire series several times over the past decade-plus, and watched all of the TV series.
Please give us a personal history of your character's life and explain to us in detail how they grow and develop over the course of their canon:
In the beginning, an idealistic Andalite by the name of Seerow came across a sluglike, sentient race called Yeerks, who could only experience the sensory world through their natural symbiotic hosts, the Gedds. Seerow felt sorry for them, and shared Andalite technology with them so that they could become enlightened and travel the stars.
The Yeerks took advantage and attacked the Andalites, stole a ship, and broke free from the stifling captivity of their home planet. They then went on to enslave many species throughout the galaxy, creating Controllers from them. A Controller is one who has a Yeerk crawl inside their ear, wrap around their brain, and take complete control over their body.
Among the species that the Yeerks infested, there were those like the Taxxons: mostly willing slaves, in exchange for a promise to satiate their endless hunger for blood. And there were also the Hork-Bajir: a peaceful, tree-dwelling race, childlike by nature and never before exposed to the horrors of war.
Seerow was a fool. For this, the Law of Seerow's Kindness was created, so that no other Andalite would ever forget the price they pay for taking pity on less advanced species.
The Andalites took on the responsibility of annihilating the Yeerks due to Seerow's actions, and the Andalite-Yeerk War has raged on for years.
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Elfangor started out as an aristh (equivalent of a cadet) aboard the Dome ship StarSword. He and his fellow aristh Arbron were sent on their first mission with the disgraced War-Prince Alloran.
It was meant to be a rather simple side-quest of sorts--rescuing two humans (Loren and Chapman) from the scavenging Skrit Na who abducted them, and return them home. But they quickly discovered that the Skrit Na had something of terrible value: the Time Matrix. A weapon created by the Ellimists, creatures of legend, equivalent to gods. The Skrit Na were taking the Time Matrix to the Taxxon world, which was under Yeerk control, and so they needed to go after it before it fell into enemy hands.
During this mission, many things went wrong. Arbron was trapped in Taxxon morph, and Esplin 9466 Primary tricked Elfangor, which led to Alloran's infestation, thus becoming the first Andalite Controller. The Abomination. From that point on, Esplin became Elfangor's very personal enemy.
Not much later, Elfangor, Esplin, and the two humans fell into a black hole. In order to escape, they were forced to use the Time Matrix, but it could not be successfully directed by multiple people at once, and so they inadvertently created a splintered universe that drew on the memories of Elfangor, Loren, and the Yeerk for its foundation. After confronting Esplin and his pet Mortrons in this universe, Elfangor and Loren retrieved the Time Matrix and Loren used it to take them to Earth, where Elfangor buried the device--refusing to allow it to fall into Yeerk or Andalite hands, as by this point he was not nearly as naive as he once was; he knew he could not expect his people to hold to a higher code of honor, not with access to a weapon like this. Not when he had learned about the vile things his people had done, such as creating a quantum virus to commit genocide against a sentient species rather than allow the peaceful but frightening-looking Hork-Bajir to be used as weapons against them in battle.
And so he morphed human, intentionally trapping himself in that form, becoming a nothlit. He chose to run away from the war between Andalites and Yeerks, to become human, to live out the remainder of his life at the side of the human whom he'd fallen in love with.
But only three years passed when the Ellimist called upon Elfangor to return to the war, assuring him that if he didn't, both of his people--human and Andalite--would fall to the Yeerks. And so he agreed to return, only after which he discovered that Loren was pregnant, and he learned that his son will be instrumental in the fight to save Earth from the Yeerks.
The Ellimist restored his body and his timeline, returning him to a critical point in a battle that his people were losing. He managed to rescue them by ramming his own fighter into Esplin's Blade Ship and nearly died for it, but he was retrieved by the Fleet and debriefed.
He spent the next several years engaged in war, earning for himself the moniker Beast among the Yeerks for how fearsome and ruthless he was in battle, driven by his need to protect his people, his family.
Eventually, the war extended to Earth, and it was during a battle above Earth's atmosphere when the tide turned against the Andalites, as they had been unaware of Esplin (by then possessing the high rank of Visser Three) having his Blade Ship hidden in a crater on the dark side of Earth's moon. Out of desperation, Elfangor fled to the place where he had buried the Time Matrix so long ago, willing to use it now, before the last resistance for Earth could fall. But what was once a forest was now an abandoned construction site, and he knew that he did not have time to recover the Time Matrix before the Yeerks could catch up to him, grievously injured as he was.
Before the Yeerks could arrive, he met five young humans--his son among them--who were cutting through the construction site on their way home from the mall. He warned them of the Yeerk threat and gave them the morphing technology, and he told them to flee just before the Yeerks arrived.
Esplin gloated over his seeming victory, morphed into an Antarean Bogg, and murdered Elfangor by devouring him.
And even though he died there, he knew that by breaking the Law of Seerow's Kindness, he had given Earth the fighting chance it had needed to stand strong against the Yeerks.
What point in time are you taking your character from when he/she appears at Landel's and why?:
I am taking him from shortly before he crashed his fighter, when he was engaged in battle above Earth. The Yeerks had a Blade Ship that the Andalites did not know of beforehand, one that belonged to Elfangor's nemesis Esplin, and the battle would surely be lost. But he could not allow that to happen, not directly above Earth, where Loren and his son were, and so he decided that he would use the Time Matrix. His pressing need to access the Time Matrix and alter the outcome of the battle (not yet knowing that the place where he had buried it had become a construction site, and would be where he would die) is an ideal point to take him from, as it maximizes his urgency in wanting to bust out of Landel's, which should create the opportunity for plenty of interesting CR.
Please give us a detailed description of your character's personality:
Elfangor begins his mission as a serious young Andalite, determined to prove himself and make a name for himself in the fleet. He says early on, "I didn't like people laughing at me. And I didn't like losing." He was certain that as soon as he joined the fight, he could make a difference and become a hero. By but the end of his mission, he could only look back on his youthful ignorance and call himself a fool.
He is shown to be intelligent and intuitive, although he usually does not think matters through as fully as he should. Arbron tells him that he thinks too much, and his instructor Sofor says that he should have been a scientist, not a warrior. He has moments of great insight throughout his adventure, but the plans that he develops often rely upon extraordinarily good luck and an ability to bluff his way through situations.
He is also extraordinarily sensitive and compassionate, for an Andalite. When Arbron says that he finds the humans to be annoying, Elfangor instead sympathizes with Loren for being so far from home in a situation she surely couldn't have expected to find herself in. Even when he morphs Taxxon and is struck by the horror of the species' all-consuming hunger, he shows a profound understanding of the motivation behind the decision of many Taxxons to ally themselves with the Yeerks.
Overall, he appears to be a very emotional being, even though Andalites as a species are portrayed as striving for the ideal of the stoic warrior. But Elfangor shows a range of intense emotional reactions. He breaks down and cries in Loren's arms after his first kill, and later breaks down into tears again when he is emotionally exhausted from all the horrors he'd seen. He experiences acute pity when Arbron is trapped as a Taxxon yet finds renewed purpose in what is sure to be a suicide mission, when most Andalite warriors would simply feel pride at such devotion to battling the Yeerks. He seeks out comfort in the midst of a terrible situation by daydreaming about what life must be like on Earth, and beautiful places he's seen in photographs where he would like to visit with Loren when the madness is over.
He in fact shows an almost immediate affinity for humans through his connection with Loren (meanwhile believing Chapman to be a detestable, negligible example of human behavior). While he initially sees them as strange creatures, crippled by only two legs with no tail and the need for shoes, he quickly comes to appreciate what unexpected strengths they do possess. This culminates in the battle against Esplin's Mortrons when Loren dispatches the creatures with an impressive surety that cements Elfangor's fondness for humans.
As important as Elfangor's personal reactions to the events of his adventure are in displaying his personality, the questions of responsibility and morality are perhaps the most prominent issues that plague Elfangor throughout his journey, and they reveal critical facets of his values. As much as he'd been looking forward to proving himself a capable warrior, when he is faced with the reality of killing in battle, Elfangor endures an intensely negative reaction that is only the beginning of his troubles. He begins to develop a pattern of avoidance, simply shoving away thoughts and problems that he does not wish to deal with, but that he ultimately must face. When his prince orders him to kill thousands of defenseless enemies, Elfangor realizes that what is right is not always in accordance with orders given by his superiors. And when he is separated from his comrades, he finds himself in a position of needing to make decisions on his own without relying upon an authority figure for guidance. But in trying to act in accordance with his morals, he effectively hands Alloran over to Esplin, thus creating the Abomination: an Andalite-Controller. He learned too late that there was no decency in war, and now Alloran's capture was his responsibility. Distraught, Elfangor admits that he does not know what it right or wrong anymore--but the one thing he knows is that he must destroy Esplin at all costs. When he returns to the war, he goes so far as to pit himself against Esplin's ship in a suicide attack, and that same need to atone for his mistakes drives him to accept the weight of duty, to be the warrior that his people need him to be.
But vengeance is not all that drives him. His primary motivating factor in returning to the war is love--the need to protect his people, both human and Andalite, and his family above all else--and hope for the future. He is, at the heart of it all, a seeker of peace. But his idealism is tempered by the realism gained through experiencing the horrors of war, and he will fight viciously when it becomes necessary.
Please give us a physical description of your character:
Elfangor is an Andalite. Andalites are centauroid aliens; his lower body is similar to that of a deer or horse, and he has a humanoid torso. Most of his body is covered in blue fur. He has no mouth, three vertical slits for a nose, and four eyes - two main eyes where humans would expect, and two stalk eyes atop his head which move in all directions. But perhaps most importantly, he has a long, strong tail, at the end of which is a deadly curved blade. Tail-fighting is a warrior art for Andalites, and they can move their tails with extreme speed, force, and accuracy; a typical observer would only catch a blue blur and hear a "fwap" as the blade cuts through the air. Additionally, since they have no mouths, Andalites communicate telepathically via thought-speak. Thought-speak may be broadcast openly, or aimed only at specified individuals. The distance at which thought-speak can be "heard" varies, much like vocal speech.
His human morph is an important part of his identity as well. When he "went native," he intentionally trapped himself in morph. He took on the name Alan Fangor. "Alan" was the result of a Frolis Maneuver, a mixing of DNA within a species to create a unique morph. (His human form is never described in canon; I have been using Chris Pine as his PB since I have started playing him, but due to PB conflict, I will be using Paul Walker in Damned.) In Landel's, he will be restricted to his human form during the day, and will likely suspect that he has become trapped in that form as a nothlit once again.
What kinds of otherwordly abilities does your character have, if any?:
Elfangor can morph into any creature that he can touch. This is the result of a spying technology that the Andalites developed to combat the Yeerk threat, and the morphing ability is transferred by means of the Escafil Device (aka the morphing cube or blue cube). However, he does not actually have very much experience with morphing, as he only has acquired four different morphs in canon. (Please refer to the morphing guide that I have written for those unfamiliar with the ability.) Presumably he acquired other forms during the war, but there is nothing confirming this in canon. He also has the ability to track the passage of time with extreme accuracy.
If present, how do you plan to tweak these powers to make your character appropriately hindered in the setting of Landel's?:
As most of Elfangor's morphs are not native to Earth, he will not be able to use them in Landel's, and only be able to resume his Andalite form during SC. He will still be able to use thought-speak, but only at night, and his time sense will be vague at best.
Since he will not have access to his present roster of morphs, I would like to tweak the morphing ability for this setting so that he will be able to acquire new forms even while trapped as a human. He would not be able to acquire more than three new forms, only be able to maintain the morph for a few minutes at the time, and feel thoroughly fatigued afterward.
Does your character have any non-otherworldly abilities/training that surpass the norm?:
Elfangor is, as all Andalites are, significantly advanced in terms of technological knowledge and abilities. He is actually canonically implied to be responsible for the development of Microsoft and Macintosh. He is also able to understand any language, due to the translator chip that all Andalite military personnel are required to have implanted, although that does not mean that he can speak it, since the technology was devised with thought-speak in mind.
While he is highly skilled in combat, this is primarily known in reference to his ability for tail-fighting. However, an Andalite without a tail would feel at an extreme disadvantage without his natural weapon. At one point when he is confronted with a potential invasion of his home while human, Elfangor says, "Human arms are strong and can be used for fighting. But whenever I sensed danger, I missed my tail." I infer from this that he does know how to fight with human arms, largely on account of Andalite reflexes aiding in this, and that he would not be opposed to using a bladed weapon given the (unlikely) opportunity.
What do you see your character doing in the scope of the game and how do you plan to use the setting of Landel's Institute to develop them and affect their psychology in a unique, interesting way?:
His first concern will be assessing whether or not there is a Yeerk presence in Landel's, and most importantly, if they are running the institute. Beyond that, he will seek out others who would seek to get out of this place, as he has rather pressing matters to attend to back home. It is possible that he would want to try to strike out on his own, but as he is trapped in human form without access to weapons, he would see the wisdom in making allies within this place.
Also, while he did intentionally become human once before, that was done so knowingly and willingly. Finding himself suddenly thrust back into this form without the intention of doing so will be very emotionally distressing, and bring up his issues with identity--as he does consider himself just as much human as Andalite.
Given that this RP takes place in an unsettling and outright horrific environment, how do you justify your character as being appropriate in both body and mind for this kind of setting?:
Elfangor has, frankly, endured an incredible amount of bullshit within the span of one week (i.e. the events of his first mission leading up to his going AWOL for three years), let alone an entire lifetime. He is a seasoned warrior, who has made his way up through the ranks to attain the status of War-Prince, which is the equivalent of a General. He has both seen and done terrible things, and he has made a name for himself among his enemies: the name Elfangor alone is enough to cause some Yeerks to piss themselves. He is more than capable of meshing well with this sort of setting.
Third-Person Sample:
(This sample comes from my application to Kannagara. It has been edited to reflect past tense, as it was originally written in present tense for a dream.)
He stood before the Time Matrix once again. The vortex, the center of the storm that twisted space and time beyond recognition, swirled behind him; he could hear the raging wind, the wind that was not truly there. But his eyes, all four of his eyes, were focused solely on the machine before him. What should have been an off-white sphere reflected the storm surrounding it, like a mirror.
There was something wrong with the mirror.
He saw his own reflection, but... it was all wrong. It was as though there were two images, superimposed over one another - while each image might be accurate on its own, together, there was only chaos. Blue fur and pale skin in the same place. His tail, arched high over his shoulder, yet translucent as a mirage.
He tried to speak with a mouth that was only faintly there, but no sound came out. Tried to stamp his hooves, only to feel grass sliding between his toes. Tried to swivel his stalk eyes, desperately seeking an escape from the images before him, but the phantom limbs were not responsive.
He wanted to scream.
Somehow, he managed to pull himself away from the sight before him, of his own mangled reflection, and then he was running. His hooves pounded against the ground as his hearts pounded against his ribs, beating out an erratic rhythm. His stalk eyes--if they were even truly there anymore--failed to see the rock that one of his hind hooves caught on, and he was sent sprawling.
Only to find his arms, strong arms, braced before him. Five fingers spread to catch the force of impact.
Something wet burned against his cheeks. It wasn't until the wetness reached the corner of his mouth and he tasted salt that he realized what it was. When did he begin to cry?
Terror seized him, but he couldn't run anymore. He wasn't even certain of what it was that he was running from. His past? Of course he was running from his past. From the war. From the memories of what he'd seen, what he'd done, what he'd allowed to happen. But he was running from himself, as well. He knew that, in the depths of his hearts, even when he wanted nothing more than to never need to admit that, even in his own mind. He'd run away from his duty, his people, his responsibilities. How could he truly consider himself Andalite, after everything? Yet, he wasn't human, either. Earth may have become his adopted home, but he would never really be one of them. He has seen the people of Earth hate for race, for creed, for anything and everything. Of course they would hate him as well, if they should know what he was.
But just what was he, truly?
Coward. Deserter. Weak. The one who allowed The Abomination to come into existence.
He was all these things, and yet. And yet. There was Loren. She had seen all these things about him, the darkest corners of himself, and still she had remained by his side. She had told him other words, words to counter the darkness, and even now he heard her words echoing in his mind.
"You were compassionate, Elfangor. It takes a tremendous kind of strength to walk away from one set of responsibilities for your own convictions. And it will never be your fault, what happened to poor Alloran - that was all for Esplin's awful ambitions, you can't blame yourself for his taking advantage. It wasn't your fault."
Even so, he couldn't help put pull his knees up to his chest (only two legs now, when he'd been running on four) and take ragged, gasping breaths through tears that would not stop. He felt his heart, only one heart, battering within him and against him.
Human. Andalite. Both, yet neither. Forever torn between his hearts, and within his own mind.
First-Person Sample:
I do not know where I am. Presumably Earth, but beyond that, I cannot be certain.
I should not be here.
I was taken from this planet once, by a being far greater in power than most can imagine. A meddler who claims not to interfere in the lives of other species. Has he done so again, to bring me back? Though it is possible, I doubt it. Could it be a trick by the Yeerks? Also possible. Esplin is far too much of a loose cannon to put up with such a charade... but a higher ranking Visser may be responsible. Or even the Council of Thirteen itself. Their purpose in this, however, is unclear. They could have simply infested me when they had the chance. Perhaps they are arguing over who ought to have the honor of becoming the next Andalite Controller?
Even if this may be so, I cannot help but dread that they suspect of the weapon and its whereabouts.
I must enact the utmost caution in handling this situation. If they know of the Time Matrix, I cannot allow them to take it. Too much is at stake.