Application for Splendorocity.
Player Information:
Name:Cookie
Journal: azriaz
Method of Contact: aim: noonerly | plurk: strangecookie
Previous characters: n/a
Character Information:
Full Name: Mihael "Mello" Keehl
Series: Death Note
Canon point: Post canon (+game canon)
Age: 20 Species: Human
Appearance/PB: See here!
Appearance upon arrival: He's... mildly bloodstained. It's not his own, but he got here from finding his best friend's body. Like so.
History:
Character History: Canon history is here!
Previous RP memories:
DramaDramaDuck: Mello spent a little more than a year linked to the community Dramadramaduck. Notable first contacts include Xanxus, Michael Trinity, Minato Arisato and Mariya Shidou. Shortly after him, his friend Matt was connected as well. Doing his research through the community he saw posts of a previous version of both himself and Matt, thus finding out about their fate. It goes without saying that he resolved to do his best not to let it happen.
After several amusing ventures, such as a survival trip to Jurassic Park and a canon-move, effectively 4th walling himself and a few other people (which he will conveniently forget about so we can keep with the premise here), encountering both L and Light Yagami over the (timeline resistent) community, Matt was disconnected. Only to return again with no memories of what had happened previously. Well. Rinse, repeat. Mello, being the social butterfly he is, made connections with people like Vermouth (Detective Conan), Eris (Goddess of Discord), V (V for Vendetta), Bruce Wayne (Batman), Issei Ryudo (Fate/Stay Night), Naoto Shirogane (SMT Persona 4), Kamina (TTGL), Renji Abarai (Bleach), The Tenth Doctor (Doctor Who) and many many others.
During one event in particular he was given memories of being married to Naoto, in fact, and after that wore off it resulted in plenty of awkward. In the end, they saw each others more as siblings than anything else.
His canon scarring incident happened a little differently as well. Due to the ordeal being partially broadcast to, well, half the multiverse, not only Matt but also another friend of his insisted on helping him. Michael Trinity (Gundam 00) had him carted off to another world and treated, though it didn't do much for the scars. Only for the recovery time.
It was somewhere around that time that he ran into Gilbert Beilschmidt (APH) over the community. Somewhat kindred spirits in knowing of their own supposed demise, they bonded quite quickly. The community and its events helped turning that into something far more intimate than anyone had intended, but, once again, after the effects had worn off and the awkwardness more or less faded, they turned out to be friends more than anything. And the incident was never to be spoken of again.
A zombie outbreak came and went, which him and Matt survived extraordinarily well, Naoto, by now adopted little sisterbrother to the both of them, managed through canon. People came and went, V died, only to return to the community with his timeline rewound. Mello, alongside one Arthur Kirkland (APH) resolved not to let him die a second time. Sora (KH) was turned into a heartless and came after him, but with help from Nate Grey (X-Men) and Tim Wayne (Batman) he was restrained before he could harm anybody.
The next notable thing was his birthday, for which he was given a pocketwatch by Naoto, with a portrait of her etched into the inside of the lid, and a prussian military uniform by Gilbert. He carries the saber and the watch to this day. There was also a Highschool event. Pretty much what it says on the tin: a Highschool AU for the entire community. More relationships were forged, Mello learned how to play soccer, and people went on about their lives once it was over. Shortly after, however, happy times came to a close - Mello realized he had a lot less time left to plan his and Matt's escape from certain death than he'd anticipated, and had a brief chat with Death (Sandman), during which he learned that she really, honestly didn't care. In the friendliest of ways. If he wanted to live, he was free to.
...and so he did. They both did. But that comes later.
Before that happened? Mello fell unconcious for three whole days. As did about a dozen other members on the community. And while they weren't going anywhere physically, their minds were off somewhere in an abandoned, run-down amusement park in a battle royale-esque game in which they were told, the existence of their entire world was on the line. Without them having any clue to tip them off that they were not, in fact, physically there, the whole ordeal was broadcast for the rest of the community to see. Mello killed Kasumi Tendou (Ranma 1/2) in more or less cold blood, and was killed himself by Terra Branford (Final Fantasy 4) about a day later. Matt and Gilbert watched over him, helping him over his trauma after he woke up.
But on to more canon matters.
Mello borrowed a car from a friend of his friends, (Saguru Hakuba; Magic Kaito) which had been magically enhanced to be able to cross through worlds - thus Matt pulled a vanishing act at the end of the car chase, and lived. Himself, he really hadn't put much thought into, but some surprise fairy magic, courtesy of Jorgen von Strangle (Fairly Oddparents), disappeared him from his world before the Death Note could take effect. He didn't keep count, but there were a number of people threatening to kill him should he not find a way to save himself. ...Yeah, it sounded that absurd the first time around too.
Matt and Mello crashed at Naoto's family's mansion for a while after that, eventually making contact with the Elric brothers (FMA). Mello and Ed in particular got along very well. Within weeks, they were close enough to consider each other family, and Mello decided if he was going to keep his little brother somewhat out of trouble, he would need a way to world-hop himself. So, in a bargain with the resident chaos goddess, he gave up his rosary to turn the pocket watch he'd been given earlier by Naoto into something magical. (Later, he would recieve a different rosary from Gilbert - but not wanting to risk breaking the contract, he had the pendant changed significantly.)
In the meantime, for lack of something better to do, Mello signed up to work at the bar Xanxus had set up for the community members. Him and Matt moved to KHR-verse, Italy, to be off Naoto's back and to be closer to his work. Another AU event later, during which Mello learned and used alchemy only to find out he no longer could after it was over, made him increasingly frustrated with learning things concerning other worlds.
Because even Gods need entertainment apparently, Eris decided to rope a few community members into a little game of hers. Deciding to either give people powers or turn them into monsters, and then having them fight one another, Mello, for a few short days, gained the same immunity to injury as Achilles, along with muscle memory of fighting experience far beyond what he had. He was pitted against Xanxus, turned into an Ifrit, and while he did win, he quickly noticed that there was a catch to the power he'd been granted. Even if he wasn't injured, he still felt the pain. So he earned a favor from her, which he never did call in.
Edward, who also participated in the game, was severely injured. Mello barely managed to save his life during his fight with the Hydra.
Some time after that, a small difference in opinion between Xanxus and Shi-long Lang (Ace Attorney), an Interpol agent, escalated into a small-scale war. The community was effectively divided by its morals, and while Mello would have much preferred to stay on the sidelines, he was, naturally, roped into the mess because he already worked for Xanxus. This ended in him having to fight Naoto, and while he succeeded in stopping her, she also gave him a deep gash in his right shoulder that left yet another nasty scar. And a quiet loathing for Xanxus. Things with Naoto and his other siblings Ed and Al (who were reasonably angry that he'd hurt her, albeit more emotionally than physically) were sorted out quickly, and he quit his job.
Matt and Mello then moved to Megatokyo, (Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040) as Mello had become good friends with Priss Asagiri of that same canon and world. A few months after that, he died, still in Megatokyo, leaving a goodbye message and directions to where he suspected his grave would be to a devastated little family and many many friends.
KANNAGARA (Because Kannagara also allows for characters with game-canon memories intact, I hope it's alright if he retains memories of both.)
Arriving in Kannagara had Mello rather less surprised and unsettled than most new arrivals, given his experience with being thrown into other worlds and scenarios. What quickly had him more than thrown off, however, was that there had apparently been a version of him there previously, and so there were quite a few people who knew him, but barely anybody he knew. And the people who did know had never so much as talked to him, there. Thusly deprived of his social network, he met up with Matt and Jessica Hamby (True Blood) in the village of Yomisato, where, event-relatedly, all hell began breaking lose.
In the chaos of nightmares being broadcast for all to see, monsters running lose outside the towns, and the inhabitants of some towns turning into something almost as bad as the monsters, Mello and the others fled to safety in another town, but the reprieve should only be momentary. As the lines between reality and dreams started to blur, people's nightmares began affecting what happened to their bodies. Matt, who had died in a nightmare, was found dead by Mello later the same day. Barely having been dissuaded from striking a deal with the Millenium Earl (D.Gray Man), Mello left the town, with no intention of returning.
Bringing someone along?: nope~
Personality:
Canon: If I had to describe Mello's personality in one word, I would say he's driven. Driven by his pride and his ambition to bring down Kira, and more importantly, to defeat his rival Near. Driven by his will and his stubbornness bordering on megalomania. He doesn't care about very many human beings apart from himself. A dozen people might be dying around him and he doesn't even spare them a thought so long as his plan doesn't fail. It can be canonically said that the only people Mello ever cared about were Matt, L, and Near, even though his relationship with Near is a complicated one, a story of polar oposites, bitter rivalry and struggle.
In all due respect for this though, Mello is probably the only major character within Death Note canon who does, in fact, have a friend - and that is Matt. So he is, at least, capable of caring. His priorities are just set differently than other people's.
He is very strong-willed and hot headed, something that makes him, above all else, human, and thus dangerous. Very much in accordance to the Bible, he is either hot or cold, but never lukewarm. Though he may be moody, he knows perfectly well how and when to keep himself in check, the only possible exceptions are when people he cares about are involved. He is an inteligent and cunning individual, not afraid to get into action and do his own dirty work to accomplish his goals. He is also somewhat materialistic - seen in his very specific taste for clothing, for instance, as well as his being rather particular about the brand of chocolate he's eating (when he can afford to be).
Mello is canonically always shown wearing a rosary. This shows off his religious roots, and hints at an intact moral code, at least somewhere in there - Mello knows that what he's doing (and has done) is wrong. However, the environment he was raised in was an incredibly competetive one. His desire to be at the top is much, much more important to him than the values his religion would like him to have, and at the same time he can't bring himself to let it go. All the same, he's hell-bent on doing things his way with no compromises until the end.
The explosion of the Mafia headquarters does have quite an impact on his personality as well. It rather darkens him, making him a lot more serious, even grim. Little as he cared about the mob, he now prefers to work completely by himself. He does not become any less reckless, but a lot less easygoing - his whole nearly hyperactive energy now focused solely on his goal. The most apparent thing though? He is much more openly angry now, after the humiliation he suffered from having to use his last resort. And he won't be letting that happen again.
+Game Canon: He has changed a great deal due to his involvement in DDD. A key issue is that he found something like a family, he formed deep bonds with people which he avoided before. He's a bit more reluctant to use people at this point simply because of the ones who kept insisting he was, in fact, a good person. Especially his "little siblings", Naoto Shirogane as well as Edward and Alphonse Elric. However rather than functioning as a concience, they were people he cared about, and ultimately would have gone to any lengths to protect. This is an entirely new development for Mello, who didn't so much as display a protective urge in canon.
There is also the issue of religion. He went into the community as a faithful christian. He encountered there the Goddess of Chaos, who was much more real and much more interested in him than he would've liked, proving beyond the shadow of a doubt that what is largely considered greek mythology is, in fact, the truth. Or at least that its deities were nothing like fictional. ...then did he not only ask the Shinigami Shidou, but even went to the point of fourthwalling himself only to find out that his world literally doesn't have an afterlife. That it simply makes no difference what you do and don't do in life. That the faith he had held not even a sliver of truth. Consequently, he gave it his best shot to turn his back on that faith, giving up his rosary for the ability to travel between worlds.
Ultimately, Gilbert gave him another, but Edward helped him transform the pendant into a symbol of his choice: A plain silver cross with the broader iron cross behind it, and a snake winding around the whole thing.
Making the decision never to return to his world essentially uprooted him. Post canon he found himself without aim or purpose, readily throwing himself into research and varying projects, but to no avail. It was terrible not to have anyone to antagonize effectively, to have no goal and no enemy. Mello made do, but the thought that he should have simply died with his case crossed his mind more than once. He became reckless, and the only thing that really held him back was his family who needed him around.
Of course the events that brought about fake memories took their toll on his mental state. In time, he learned to constantly question his reality. More than once he picked up on the effects of the community before they wore off, but it only fueled his paranoia - if you can't trust your memory, if you can't trust your friends' memory either, then what can you trust? Not what you see or hear or think or feel. He will retain the alternate memories to an extent, the time he was married to Naoto, his life as a normal highschool student, the one as an Amestrian soldier, and the one living as a woman in Megatokyo. At one point it was all real to him, and needless to say, not all of his marbles are in his possession anymore. Or. Well. Less than he had in canon, anyway.
Further worth mentioning is that he found someone else to look up to besides L. Ironically, it had to be another person with a single letter alias. V, (though also Gilbert Beilschmidt and Arthur Kirkland to an extent), became someone he actually admired for his vigilante ways, his intelligence, his courage and his ruthlessness.
...and then Kannagara happened. Being thrown once again into a world unfamiliar to him, he was removed from pretty much the entirety of his social network. Not even his best friend was quite the same as the one he'd known and saved, and people he had grown close to did not so much as remember his name. That that hurt and really didn't help his mental state any should be pretty obvious. The only thing that, rather ironically, kept him together there, was that he entered the place during a time filled with nightmares and monsters, which is not the norm: it's rather like Mello to keep his wits about him under pressure, and that still holds true. However, he has come to the resolution that absolutely nothing is for certain or is ever to be taken for granted, not the people he cares about, not even the privacy of his own thoughts or dreams, and especially not the ground you stand on.
Extra:
Character Abilities: While Mello is physically fit, he's no soldier. His strengths lie in his mind and mindset, as he's very intelligent, ruthless, and socially capable. He absorbs knowledge like a sponge, is always curious, and only very selectively cares about people. Mello also has a strong will, an innate stubbornness and confidence that empowers him to always make the best of any given situation. He is, however, a rather skilled marksman.
He's had military training, now, but doesn't remember all of it, so he has at least basic survival and self defense skills. He knows alchemy, but has never been able to use it after the event had ended. He's got plenty of knowledge about current and further advanced technology, for all the good that will do him. While he's had some swordfighting lessons he's decent, but not remarkable. The ability to travel from one world to another was magic instilled in a pocket watch given to him by his little sister, and never really his own, so I'm assuming it won't apply here, anyway.
Possessions: I'd like for him to keep the few meaningful presents he got from his DDD CR, which he always carries with him, anyway. That would be a pocketwatch he got from Naoto, which contains a portrait of her in the lid, his changed pendant on the new rosary, a prussian saber (a gift from Prussia himself) and a long knife Edward made for him. The watch previously gave him the ability to travel between worlds, but this ability will of course not apply in Splendor. It will once again merely be a timepiece.
Anything else: I will post a full list of people he's talked to/met on his journal for convenience and permission later, so I don't make anyone uncomfortable with his knowing their character.
Samples:
Action/Communication thread/post sample:
[The Golden Entranceway of Splendor City Hall: a young man clad in black leather, face scarred, armed with a sword and a long knife, looks around and surveys the surroundings warily. There are some bloodstains on his clothes, but it doesn't appear to be his own. Detecting no immediate threat he turns, regarding the hall, the stairs, the people surrounding him, until finally the tension leaves him somewhat. He sighs.]
...Another fancy prison, huh.
[Muttered more to himself than to anyone in the vicinity. Long, easy strides carry him outside.]
Log/Prose sample:
Adapting to new situations always had been one of Mello's strengths. And so, he'd quickly adapted to life in Splendor: it was easy for him, really, he had the mind and the will for it, so once he'd gotten the hang of how the wishing worked, the city, despite its whims, supplied him with anything he could ever ask for. At least as far as material needs went. So now he sat on a windowseat in his apartment, watching the busy streets below. From his view it might as well be New York, except perhaps for the fact that it was a lot cleaner. Fog shrouded the other apartment buildings from view today, thick as a curtain, and he couldn't help thinking back to a case he'd helped working on, to his little sister who spent afternoon upon afternoon fighting and dreading the next foggy day.
Peering into the grey expanse of nothing, Mello's eyes grew distant, the steam from the mug in his hands the only thing in the room that moved. How long had it been since he'd seen them? How were they doing now? Was he dead to them, just like he was to his own world? And what of his rival? Mello couldn't help his curiosity, frustration rising within him, aimless now that the one he had striven to surpass had absolutely, certainly won, and was far beyond his reach besides. Abruptly the blonde rose, nearly spilling his hot chocolate in the process, scowling at the world at large. It was too quiet, too peaceful. He needed something else. Something to aim himself at. A skill to acquire, maybe, because enemies were hard to come and not reliable, with all the comings and goings in the city, but he needed something to do.
Mello felt himself pacing before he realized he'd begun, restless, the mug placed on the counter and forgotten. With only the hope for distraction in mind, he headed down the stairs and outside, to roam the foggy streets. There had to be something.
Name:Cookie
Journal: azriaz
Method of Contact: aim: noonerly | plurk: strangecookie
Previous characters: n/a
Character Information:
Full Name: Mihael "Mello" Keehl
Series: Death Note
Canon point: Post canon (+game canon)
Age: 20 Species: Human
Appearance/PB: See here!
Appearance upon arrival: He's... mildly bloodstained. It's not his own, but he got here from finding his best friend's body. Like so.
History:
Character History: Canon history is here!
Previous RP memories:
DramaDramaDuck: Mello spent a little more than a year linked to the community Dramadramaduck. Notable first contacts include Xanxus, Michael Trinity, Minato Arisato and Mariya Shidou. Shortly after him, his friend Matt was connected as well. Doing his research through the community he saw posts of a previous version of both himself and Matt, thus finding out about their fate. It goes without saying that he resolved to do his best not to let it happen.
After several amusing ventures, such as a survival trip to Jurassic Park and a canon-move, effectively 4th walling himself and a few other people (which he will conveniently forget about so we can keep with the premise here), encountering both L and Light Yagami over the (timeline resistent) community, Matt was disconnected. Only to return again with no memories of what had happened previously. Well. Rinse, repeat. Mello, being the social butterfly he is, made connections with people like Vermouth (Detective Conan), Eris (Goddess of Discord), V (V for Vendetta), Bruce Wayne (Batman), Issei Ryudo (Fate/Stay Night), Naoto Shirogane (SMT Persona 4), Kamina (TTGL), Renji Abarai (Bleach), The Tenth Doctor (Doctor Who) and many many others.
During one event in particular he was given memories of being married to Naoto, in fact, and after that wore off it resulted in plenty of awkward. In the end, they saw each others more as siblings than anything else.
His canon scarring incident happened a little differently as well. Due to the ordeal being partially broadcast to, well, half the multiverse, not only Matt but also another friend of his insisted on helping him. Michael Trinity (Gundam 00) had him carted off to another world and treated, though it didn't do much for the scars. Only for the recovery time.
It was somewhere around that time that he ran into Gilbert Beilschmidt (APH) over the community. Somewhat kindred spirits in knowing of their own supposed demise, they bonded quite quickly. The community and its events helped turning that into something far more intimate than anyone had intended, but, once again, after the effects had worn off and the awkwardness more or less faded, they turned out to be friends more than anything. And the incident was never to be spoken of again.
A zombie outbreak came and went, which him and Matt survived extraordinarily well, Naoto, by now adopted little sisterbrother to the both of them, managed through canon. People came and went, V died, only to return to the community with his timeline rewound. Mello, alongside one Arthur Kirkland (APH) resolved not to let him die a second time. Sora (KH) was turned into a heartless and came after him, but with help from Nate Grey (X-Men) and Tim Wayne (Batman) he was restrained before he could harm anybody.
The next notable thing was his birthday, for which he was given a pocketwatch by Naoto, with a portrait of her etched into the inside of the lid, and a prussian military uniform by Gilbert. He carries the saber and the watch to this day. There was also a Highschool event. Pretty much what it says on the tin: a Highschool AU for the entire community. More relationships were forged, Mello learned how to play soccer, and people went on about their lives once it was over. Shortly after, however, happy times came to a close - Mello realized he had a lot less time left to plan his and Matt's escape from certain death than he'd anticipated, and had a brief chat with Death (Sandman), during which he learned that she really, honestly didn't care. In the friendliest of ways. If he wanted to live, he was free to.
...and so he did. They both did. But that comes later.
Before that happened? Mello fell unconcious for three whole days. As did about a dozen other members on the community. And while they weren't going anywhere physically, their minds were off somewhere in an abandoned, run-down amusement park in a battle royale-esque game in which they were told, the existence of their entire world was on the line. Without them having any clue to tip them off that they were not, in fact, physically there, the whole ordeal was broadcast for the rest of the community to see. Mello killed Kasumi Tendou (Ranma 1/2) in more or less cold blood, and was killed himself by Terra Branford (Final Fantasy 4) about a day later. Matt and Gilbert watched over him, helping him over his trauma after he woke up.
But on to more canon matters.
Mello borrowed a car from a friend of his friends, (Saguru Hakuba; Magic Kaito) which had been magically enhanced to be able to cross through worlds - thus Matt pulled a vanishing act at the end of the car chase, and lived. Himself, he really hadn't put much thought into, but some surprise fairy magic, courtesy of Jorgen von Strangle (Fairly Oddparents), disappeared him from his world before the Death Note could take effect. He didn't keep count, but there were a number of people threatening to kill him should he not find a way to save himself. ...Yeah, it sounded that absurd the first time around too.
Matt and Mello crashed at Naoto's family's mansion for a while after that, eventually making contact with the Elric brothers (FMA). Mello and Ed in particular got along very well. Within weeks, they were close enough to consider each other family, and Mello decided if he was going to keep his little brother somewhat out of trouble, he would need a way to world-hop himself. So, in a bargain with the resident chaos goddess, he gave up his rosary to turn the pocket watch he'd been given earlier by Naoto into something magical. (Later, he would recieve a different rosary from Gilbert - but not wanting to risk breaking the contract, he had the pendant changed significantly.)
In the meantime, for lack of something better to do, Mello signed up to work at the bar Xanxus had set up for the community members. Him and Matt moved to KHR-verse, Italy, to be off Naoto's back and to be closer to his work. Another AU event later, during which Mello learned and used alchemy only to find out he no longer could after it was over, made him increasingly frustrated with learning things concerning other worlds.
Because even Gods need entertainment apparently, Eris decided to rope a few community members into a little game of hers. Deciding to either give people powers or turn them into monsters, and then having them fight one another, Mello, for a few short days, gained the same immunity to injury as Achilles, along with muscle memory of fighting experience far beyond what he had. He was pitted against Xanxus, turned into an Ifrit, and while he did win, he quickly noticed that there was a catch to the power he'd been granted. Even if he wasn't injured, he still felt the pain. So he earned a favor from her, which he never did call in.
Edward, who also participated in the game, was severely injured. Mello barely managed to save his life during his fight with the Hydra.
Some time after that, a small difference in opinion between Xanxus and Shi-long Lang (Ace Attorney), an Interpol agent, escalated into a small-scale war. The community was effectively divided by its morals, and while Mello would have much preferred to stay on the sidelines, he was, naturally, roped into the mess because he already worked for Xanxus. This ended in him having to fight Naoto, and while he succeeded in stopping her, she also gave him a deep gash in his right shoulder that left yet another nasty scar. And a quiet loathing for Xanxus. Things with Naoto and his other siblings Ed and Al (who were reasonably angry that he'd hurt her, albeit more emotionally than physically) were sorted out quickly, and he quit his job.
Matt and Mello then moved to Megatokyo, (Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040) as Mello had become good friends with Priss Asagiri of that same canon and world. A few months after that, he died, still in Megatokyo, leaving a goodbye message and directions to where he suspected his grave would be to a devastated little family and many many friends.
KANNAGARA (Because Kannagara also allows for characters with game-canon memories intact, I hope it's alright if he retains memories of both.)
Arriving in Kannagara had Mello rather less surprised and unsettled than most new arrivals, given his experience with being thrown into other worlds and scenarios. What quickly had him more than thrown off, however, was that there had apparently been a version of him there previously, and so there were quite a few people who knew him, but barely anybody he knew. And the people who did know had never so much as talked to him, there. Thusly deprived of his social network, he met up with Matt and Jessica Hamby (True Blood) in the village of Yomisato, where, event-relatedly, all hell began breaking lose.
In the chaos of nightmares being broadcast for all to see, monsters running lose outside the towns, and the inhabitants of some towns turning into something almost as bad as the monsters, Mello and the others fled to safety in another town, but the reprieve should only be momentary. As the lines between reality and dreams started to blur, people's nightmares began affecting what happened to their bodies. Matt, who had died in a nightmare, was found dead by Mello later the same day. Barely having been dissuaded from striking a deal with the Millenium Earl (D.Gray Man), Mello left the town, with no intention of returning.
Bringing someone along?: nope~
Personality:
Canon: If I had to describe Mello's personality in one word, I would say he's driven. Driven by his pride and his ambition to bring down Kira, and more importantly, to defeat his rival Near. Driven by his will and his stubbornness bordering on megalomania. He doesn't care about very many human beings apart from himself. A dozen people might be dying around him and he doesn't even spare them a thought so long as his plan doesn't fail. It can be canonically said that the only people Mello ever cared about were Matt, L, and Near, even though his relationship with Near is a complicated one, a story of polar oposites, bitter rivalry and struggle.
In all due respect for this though, Mello is probably the only major character within Death Note canon who does, in fact, have a friend - and that is Matt. So he is, at least, capable of caring. His priorities are just set differently than other people's.
He is very strong-willed and hot headed, something that makes him, above all else, human, and thus dangerous. Very much in accordance to the Bible, he is either hot or cold, but never lukewarm. Though he may be moody, he knows perfectly well how and when to keep himself in check, the only possible exceptions are when people he cares about are involved. He is an inteligent and cunning individual, not afraid to get into action and do his own dirty work to accomplish his goals. He is also somewhat materialistic - seen in his very specific taste for clothing, for instance, as well as his being rather particular about the brand of chocolate he's eating (when he can afford to be).
Mello is canonically always shown wearing a rosary. This shows off his religious roots, and hints at an intact moral code, at least somewhere in there - Mello knows that what he's doing (and has done) is wrong. However, the environment he was raised in was an incredibly competetive one. His desire to be at the top is much, much more important to him than the values his religion would like him to have, and at the same time he can't bring himself to let it go. All the same, he's hell-bent on doing things his way with no compromises until the end.
The explosion of the Mafia headquarters does have quite an impact on his personality as well. It rather darkens him, making him a lot more serious, even grim. Little as he cared about the mob, he now prefers to work completely by himself. He does not become any less reckless, but a lot less easygoing - his whole nearly hyperactive energy now focused solely on his goal. The most apparent thing though? He is much more openly angry now, after the humiliation he suffered from having to use his last resort. And he won't be letting that happen again.
+Game Canon: He has changed a great deal due to his involvement in DDD. A key issue is that he found something like a family, he formed deep bonds with people which he avoided before. He's a bit more reluctant to use people at this point simply because of the ones who kept insisting he was, in fact, a good person. Especially his "little siblings", Naoto Shirogane as well as Edward and Alphonse Elric. However rather than functioning as a concience, they were people he cared about, and ultimately would have gone to any lengths to protect. This is an entirely new development for Mello, who didn't so much as display a protective urge in canon.
There is also the issue of religion. He went into the community as a faithful christian. He encountered there the Goddess of Chaos, who was much more real and much more interested in him than he would've liked, proving beyond the shadow of a doubt that what is largely considered greek mythology is, in fact, the truth. Or at least that its deities were nothing like fictional. ...then did he not only ask the Shinigami Shidou, but even went to the point of fourthwalling himself only to find out that his world literally doesn't have an afterlife. That it simply makes no difference what you do and don't do in life. That the faith he had held not even a sliver of truth. Consequently, he gave it his best shot to turn his back on that faith, giving up his rosary for the ability to travel between worlds.
Ultimately, Gilbert gave him another, but Edward helped him transform the pendant into a symbol of his choice: A plain silver cross with the broader iron cross behind it, and a snake winding around the whole thing.
Making the decision never to return to his world essentially uprooted him. Post canon he found himself without aim or purpose, readily throwing himself into research and varying projects, but to no avail. It was terrible not to have anyone to antagonize effectively, to have no goal and no enemy. Mello made do, but the thought that he should have simply died with his case crossed his mind more than once. He became reckless, and the only thing that really held him back was his family who needed him around.
Of course the events that brought about fake memories took their toll on his mental state. In time, he learned to constantly question his reality. More than once he picked up on the effects of the community before they wore off, but it only fueled his paranoia - if you can't trust your memory, if you can't trust your friends' memory either, then what can you trust? Not what you see or hear or think or feel. He will retain the alternate memories to an extent, the time he was married to Naoto, his life as a normal highschool student, the one as an Amestrian soldier, and the one living as a woman in Megatokyo. At one point it was all real to him, and needless to say, not all of his marbles are in his possession anymore. Or. Well. Less than he had in canon, anyway.
Further worth mentioning is that he found someone else to look up to besides L. Ironically, it had to be another person with a single letter alias. V, (though also Gilbert Beilschmidt and Arthur Kirkland to an extent), became someone he actually admired for his vigilante ways, his intelligence, his courage and his ruthlessness.
...and then Kannagara happened. Being thrown once again into a world unfamiliar to him, he was removed from pretty much the entirety of his social network. Not even his best friend was quite the same as the one he'd known and saved, and people he had grown close to did not so much as remember his name. That that hurt and really didn't help his mental state any should be pretty obvious. The only thing that, rather ironically, kept him together there, was that he entered the place during a time filled with nightmares and monsters, which is not the norm: it's rather like Mello to keep his wits about him under pressure, and that still holds true. However, he has come to the resolution that absolutely nothing is for certain or is ever to be taken for granted, not the people he cares about, not even the privacy of his own thoughts or dreams, and especially not the ground you stand on.
Extra:
Character Abilities: While Mello is physically fit, he's no soldier. His strengths lie in his mind and mindset, as he's very intelligent, ruthless, and socially capable. He absorbs knowledge like a sponge, is always curious, and only very selectively cares about people. Mello also has a strong will, an innate stubbornness and confidence that empowers him to always make the best of any given situation. He is, however, a rather skilled marksman.
He's had military training, now, but doesn't remember all of it, so he has at least basic survival and self defense skills. He knows alchemy, but has never been able to use it after the event had ended. He's got plenty of knowledge about current and further advanced technology, for all the good that will do him. While he's had some swordfighting lessons he's decent, but not remarkable. The ability to travel from one world to another was magic instilled in a pocket watch given to him by his little sister, and never really his own, so I'm assuming it won't apply here, anyway.
Possessions: I'd like for him to keep the few meaningful presents he got from his DDD CR, which he always carries with him, anyway. That would be a pocketwatch he got from Naoto, which contains a portrait of her in the lid, his changed pendant on the new rosary, a prussian saber (a gift from Prussia himself) and a long knife Edward made for him. The watch previously gave him the ability to travel between worlds, but this ability will of course not apply in Splendor. It will once again merely be a timepiece.
Anything else: I will post a full list of people he's talked to/met on his journal for convenience and permission later, so I don't make anyone uncomfortable with his knowing their character.
Samples:
Action/Communication thread/post sample:
[The Golden Entranceway of Splendor City Hall: a young man clad in black leather, face scarred, armed with a sword and a long knife, looks around and surveys the surroundings warily. There are some bloodstains on his clothes, but it doesn't appear to be his own. Detecting no immediate threat he turns, regarding the hall, the stairs, the people surrounding him, until finally the tension leaves him somewhat. He sighs.]
...Another fancy prison, huh.
[Muttered more to himself than to anyone in the vicinity. Long, easy strides carry him outside.]
Log/Prose sample:
Adapting to new situations always had been one of Mello's strengths. And so, he'd quickly adapted to life in Splendor: it was easy for him, really, he had the mind and the will for it, so once he'd gotten the hang of how the wishing worked, the city, despite its whims, supplied him with anything he could ever ask for. At least as far as material needs went. So now he sat on a windowseat in his apartment, watching the busy streets below. From his view it might as well be New York, except perhaps for the fact that it was a lot cleaner. Fog shrouded the other apartment buildings from view today, thick as a curtain, and he couldn't help thinking back to a case he'd helped working on, to his little sister who spent afternoon upon afternoon fighting and dreading the next foggy day.
Peering into the grey expanse of nothing, Mello's eyes grew distant, the steam from the mug in his hands the only thing in the room that moved. How long had it been since he'd seen them? How were they doing now? Was he dead to them, just like he was to his own world? And what of his rival? Mello couldn't help his curiosity, frustration rising within him, aimless now that the one he had striven to surpass had absolutely, certainly won, and was far beyond his reach besides. Abruptly the blonde rose, nearly spilling his hot chocolate in the process, scowling at the world at large. It was too quiet, too peaceful. He needed something else. Something to aim himself at. A skill to acquire, maybe, because enemies were hard to come and not reliable, with all the comings and goings in the city, but he needed something to do.
Mello felt himself pacing before he realized he'd begun, restless, the mug placed on the counter and forgotten. With only the hope for distraction in mind, he headed down the stairs and outside, to roam the foggy streets. There had to be something.