► APP FOR LUCETI
Mun
Name: Saffy
Livejournal Username: presea
E-mail: jerkbender@gmail.com
AIM/MSN: AIM: heroic BSOD // MSN: chrome@feathery.org
Current Characters at Luceti: N/A
Character
Name: Lloyd Irving
Fandom: Tales of Symphonia
Gender: Male
Age: 19
Time Period: Six months before Tales of Symphonia 2 begins, or a year and a half after the ending of Tales of Symphonia.
Wing Color: Light blue-green
History: Here is That One Wiki. I consider the serious drama CDs that take place after the game as part of Lloyd's canon, including ~ A Long Time Ago ~.
Personality:
Some people have two faces. Lloyd has a face for the outside world, and… he lost the other one somewhere. He's simple. He even admits it. He sleeps through class and slacks off, and he'll stuff his face at someone else's house unabashedly because he doesn't always think things through. However, there is a sort of idiot savant to his logic, at times; it is this simplicity that leads him to accept his friends no matter who or what they are, because they're his friends. Similar "simple" conclusions led to him wielding two swords for "twice the power", which turned out to be the most significant characteristic of his fighting style later on.
That simplicity is not to be underestimated, however. With the proper triggers, it gives way into pure, raw determination. Lloyd is unstoppable when he wants to do something, and do it right. When given the ultimatum between saving one person or saving the world, he declared that he would find a way to save both: and that is when his true journey began. He was not dissuaded by physical or mental obstacles. He didn't have a damned clue as to what he should be doing, but he was committed to restoring his childhood friend's life. With the guidance of friends and sheer luck, he managed to accomplish not only this, but eventually the restoration of the two worlds into a single world, as it was meant to be.
Lloyd does have some naïve tendencies. He likes to believe in things as they're presented to him, so he doesn't always look past appearances unless he's given a reason. That said, he has an uncanny ability to read people he knows, which frustrates the more mysterious characters. His straightforward, upbeat manner draws people into his company and also makes it easier for him to forgive people for major things like betraying him. He's terrible at holding grudges mainly because he can see the other person's point of view, something that came to him with time and experience. Whatever remained of his desire for revenge against his mother's killer was tempered by the knowledge that he did what he had to do, though it infuriated Lloyd enough that he'd later turn his anger against the organization that placed Anna into that situation.
One of his best friends is a rather mouthy half-elf, and a certain redheaded Chosen also tends to poke at his buttons, making Lloyd at least semi-fluent in sarcasm and snark. It's never mean-spirited banter, however, which is distinguishes him from the more cynical characters. Whenever he's moody, it's generally due to some outside situation stressing him out and making him way too serious for his own tastes, unless he's pouting at someone. That sort of thing tends to be short-lived with Lloyd.
He's not all sunshine by any means. His promise to restore Colette's humanity has its roots in guilt. He felt responsible for destroying his hometown and for overlooking the truth about Colette's journey. Every life lost feels like the world to him, but it spurs him on more. He has a tendency to slip into dark moods if there is no one he's close to helping him, though of course he'll try to hide it behind a smile and fail miserably.
Notably, in the second game, an important and dangerous journey forces him to cut off all ties with the people he knows in order to protect them, and he holds to this no matter how much it devastates him on the inside. Considering his original opposition to heroic sacrifice of any sort, he's obviously capable of some regression, and being a hypocrite is a major part of his character; he values honesty yet has no problem lying or picking locks to get his way. Also, his deep-seated anger of Cruxis and the Desians is rather dangerous to his soul, though not unstoppable as long as he's channeling it into something positive.
While that vengeance is mostly gone since the main issues have been resolved, fighting between the Tethe'allan and Sylvaranti people will continue, as well as racism against half-elves, giving him the opportunity to wrestle his anger as well as others'. He understands this and it has begun to temper his original naivete-- while making his stubborn idealism all the more poignant. Whether it's a vow to change the world or simply trying to change someone's mind, he puts all of his energy into the things that matter.
Though his backstory is tragic as well as the journey that brought him thus far, Lloyd doesn't let it get him down. Beneath the world-shaker's skin he is very much a teenager: one with far more responsibilities than when he began, but with the optimism and personal strength to follow them through without complaint. He knows how short life can be and lives every day to the fullest, just as his best friend Colette taught him; the love and devotion he demonstrates for his friends is incomparable.
Strengths:
Lloyd's main mental strength is how stubborn he is. He might not be able to solve complicated math problems, but he is innovative in his own way. Though his determination has the potential to veer off into pig-headed territory, Lloyd has matured quite a bit since he stepped outside of his village. He's capable of joking around, but he can also sense when someone close to him is hiding something. Despite how excitable he is, Lloyd has the patience to listen to the other side of the story before making any judgments; he's very forgiving, believing that people deserve second chances. His experiences with his own mistakes give him an unusual but important viewpoint. It's those qualities that make him an extrovert and a natural-born leader.
Though he has doubts like everyone else, he doesn't let them get in the way. Lloyd is always willing to lend an ear or the shirt off his back, and this makes him a bit of a social chameleon. He doesn't dwell on disappointments or sad feelings. He acknowledges his mistakes and pushes forward, which becomes an important factor when the similarities between Mithos and Lloyd are explored in-game. Mithos refused to admit what he did wrong and continued to live in the past, while Lloyd forged a new future knowing he wasn't a saint.
His main source of physical power lies in the Exsphere socketed into his hand. Exspheres grant superhuman strength and agility as well as heightened magic prowess, but Lloyd's goes beyond this, making him damn hard to kill-- and even granting him his own pair of angel wings at the end of the first game. As a sidenote, his Exsphere contains the soul of his mother, and she talks to him sometimes when it's super important (like, twice). Exspheres are dangerous and soul-sucking if attached directly to the skin, which is why he wears his with a Key Crest.
In addition to the Exsphere, Lloyd had two very powerful magic swords that combine to form the Material Blade. However, he left one sword at his mother's grave and… probably lost the other. In their place, he uses a set of red and blue swords named Gagnrad. Lloyd also has some amazingly… rogue-like qualities. He can pick locks, disarm bombs, and lie his way past guards. He does have an eye for detail, however; his attempts to repair and create Key Crests become rather important over the course of the game, and he retains some interest in dwarven crafting.
Weaknesses:
Lloyd is not brilliant. He has some sense, but it's ruined by his glaring naivete. He has a simple way of looking at problems, and the direct approach is not always the best one. It definitely earns him some ire and gets him into trouble. He is also a fantastically terrible student. His attention span is such that he spends most of his time being punished for falling asleep. And falling asleep during the punishment for falling asleep. Sometimes he mixes up words and looks even more stupid in the process. Lloyd's work ethic also needs some improvement; he's not above having other people do his homework for him, and he has a tendency to wake up late.
While Lloyd might not get down on himself as much as some other heroes, he can get angry. Very angry. This rage is usually directed into something constructive, such as punching through four-thousand-year-old paradigms, but when he feels especially helpless about a situation he can become difficult to deal with. Like any teenager, he can brood; this is seen mostly in the sequel when traveling with the main party. He has quite a resemblance to Kratos when he's like this.
Physically, Lloyd is human. He bleeds when stabbed and he might swear profusely if he breaks a bone. Take away the Exsphere, and he's just a normal human, slow and… well, he can still lift those swords, but he can't hit as hard. He doesn't have any true elemental weaknesses.
Samples
First Person:
[voice]
[After some difficulty, Lloyd has managed to activate the voice function with his foot. As for the rest of him, however…]
So… let's say that one day you decided to climb a tree. Only it was three trees all kind of growing together, and it was hard to get a foothold, so you had your wings out for balance.
[Branches creak ominously nearby.]
After a while, you ended up at the top. The view was pretty good but boring after a while. Then you were hungry, so you decided to climb down. But your clothes got caught on something, and then you tripped and let go of the wrong branch, and… [Creeeeeaaaaaaaaaaak.]
L-look, could someone bring a handsaw to the forest outside the battledome? I'm on a bit of a deadline. [mumbled] And I'm upside down. I'll make it up to you, I swear! Just don't ask… at least until I'm on the ground.
Third Person:
Lloyd let out a sigh and leaned away from the forge, drawing a dirty glove across his wet forehead and making his dirty work all the more apparent. He smelled like smoke, charcoal, and the sharp tang of steel. His wings stretched and flexed, feathers spread to shed excess heat; they were somewhat inconvenient when he was working with fire and sharp things, but he'd managed not to burn anything off so far. There was that time he'd singed them while experimenting with a gas stove. His eyebrows had been the saddest casualty.
"I think I'm done." He could scarcely believe it himself. For six long days, he'd toiled endlessly on this one project. His friends wondered what he could be obsessing over, but he refused to divulge any details. One might have expected some kind of glorious sword or a shining silver shield, but the finished product was so much greater-- and smaller.
He marveled at how well the engravings caught the ambient forge-light, giving the illusion of flames dancing across a watery silver surface. It was almost inviting, but Lloyd knew better. These were chakrams, the same circular blades that Colette favored in combat. Lloyd had wanted to make her a pair of chakrams for years, but he'd lacked the proper discipline until recently. He also didn't know how they worked. After watching Colette in combat, he had a better idea of the weapons' balance. These were lighter than usual and could travel much further on the wind. The engravings weren't just for decoration, either; woven into the gold-embossed leaf motif were a few choice dwarven enchantments for protection.
They were the best weapons he'd ever made. Lloyd still had a long ways to go if he compared himself to Dirk, but he could give these to Colette without regret. He'd tried his best, and even when he was frustrated-- like when the mithril ran too thin-- he didn't give up.
His stomach rumbled grumpily above the crackling of the forge. That wasn't a surprise. He really wanted to see Colette's face when she opened Lloyd's first on-time birthday present, but first… he really needed dinner. And maybe a nap.