Application for knightsofgotham
Canon Character Application
Player Info
Player Name: Emily
Player LJ: airawyn
Player Instant Messenger Type and Handle: AIM: wonderboydrake
Player Email: wonderboydrake@gmail.com
Are you 18 years of age or older? yes
Character Info
Character Name: Timothy Drake
Character’s Age: 17
Fandom: DC Comics/Batman
Timeline: Just after Red Robin #13
Game Specific Info
Why do you want to play this character?
Tim Drake has an unusual origin for a superhero. He doesn't have any supernatural powers and he wasn't spurred to action by a great tragedy. He was just a boy who said, "Batman needs a Robin." He happened to also be a boy with the right clues and the detective instincts to figure out the identity of Batman and had the dedication and strength of will to take on the training that Batman offered.
Tim's life has been marked by a number of tragedies since that point, but he still began his superhero career as a kid who wanted to help. Not for glory or fame (the Bats get very little of that); he just wanted to do what he could to make things better.
Tim started as an amateur detective with some gymnastics and karate skills. Through training with Batman, Nightwing and a few other teachers he sought out, he's become extremely adept with tactics and combat. He's also honed his detective skills and could someday surpass Batman himself in detective abilities.
Tim's introverted by nature and training with Batman hasn't encouraged him to express his feelings openly. The double life he lives as a costumed vigilante means he can't risk trusting many people. He tends to keep himself emotionally distant from others as much as he can. However, if he does care about someone, he cares very deeply.
Tim will fight and risk his life to protect the lives of anyone, no matter how he may feel about them personally. He's got a strong, innate moral compass and his mentors, Batman and Nightwing, have reinforced this. He's got a dark side, however. He's trained to fight efficiently and keep brutality to a minimum, but when he's pushed to a breaking point, he may lash out. In one possible future, Tim becomes Batman - a Batman who carries a gun and kills his enemies; he has the West Coast under his militant control and kills or tortures those who threaten to break his peace. Tim would take the road of good intentions to the dark side. He'd always believe that he was doing the right thing. Present-day Tim would rather die than become this evil version of Batman, but he's also shown signs of darkness - he tried to clone his friend Kon-El using technology stolen from Lex Luthor and he nearly made a deal with the villain Ra's al Ghul in order to resurrect his parents.
Currently Tim's moved away from the darker side of himself. Several of his friends, believed to be deceased, have returned. Tim confronted Ra's al Ghul and the League of Assassins on his own, but when Ra's came after his family and friends, Tim recruited allies and got Ra's al Ghul to back off. He's reunited with his older brother, Dick, and is learning to tolerate his younger brother, Damian. He's found evidence that Bruce Wayne is alive and convinced the Justice League to search for him. Generally, he's in a pretty good place - which is where I'll be yanking him from canon and dropping him in a new Gotham City with an explosive implant in his head. (Sorry, Timmy.)
[A note on his name: Tim was born Tim Drake and has been adopted by Bruce Wayne. Though he sometimes calls himself "Tim Wayne", his legal name is still Tim Drake (according to Red Robin #4) and it's what he's known as publicly (Red Robin #12), so that's what I'm going with. I'm fine with people referring to him as Tim Wayne or Tim Drake-Wayne, though.]
Why do you believe this character fits into this game’s setting?
Tim loves Gotham. He freaking *loves* this damned city. The art, the architecture, the businesses, the back alleys, the bars, the crumbling buildings and everything else, from Bristol to Crime Alley, from Arkham to Blackgate. He's been all over the world, but Gotham is his home, his territory and his responsibility. He'll fight to defend the city and its people no matter what the personal cost.
As a player, I like what the setting can give me. It's a dark setting with the potential for chaos and death. As Tim, I'd be one of the people trying to hold back the darkness and keep Gotham a little safer for a little longer. It's an ongoing fight against entropy, one that the second law of thermodynamics says can never be won. But Tim will continue to fight and to believe that the fight is worth the cost.
How do you intend to fit this character into a panfandom setting?
Tim will fit easily into the Gotham setting and have plenty of reasons to interact with the Batfamily, their allies and enemies. The challenge, then, is to find a way to mix it up a bit. I'd love to see what new relationships will form. I'd be fun to, say, have Tim and Paige Guthrie discuss what it's like to follow in the footsteps of a big brother who's also a hero.
Tim's reserved, so he's not likely to chat people up at random. I'd have to set up situations where he could meet new people. He can jump in for a rescue if someone needs help, of course. I was thinking that there might be obligations for the members of the Wayne family in Gotham. There could be fundraising parties, carnivals, boat races or other events where different people in Gotham society would come together and socialize. It's also possible he could go to school. He could attend classes directly or hire a personal tutor. Maybe he could take on an internship with someone like Tony Stark.
It depends a lot on what the other characters in the game are interested in doing, but I'm sure I can figure out ways to get him interacting.
What are your plans for your character in this game?
I'd definitely like him to battle villains and fight against crime. The setting of the game allows for some dark and creepy stuff and I like putting my characters into dark, creepy plots.
I'd also like to explore the Tim Drake side of the character. He's an official part of the Wayne family now, so he would be in the eye of the gossip columns and the social scene. I'd like to have him balance that life in the public eye with his vigilante work. Since Bruce is around in this Gotham, it wouldn't be necessary for Tim to get involved with Wayne Enterprises, but I might have him learn more about the business side of things, anyway. He should be finishing up high school about now and he's going to have to decide what to do with his life. Can he go to college if he's being Red Robin? Should he? Does he want to? There's a lot of questions that come up at that age that he could be figuring out, with the added complications of his double life.
Writing Samples
Log/Third Person Sample:
"... as the pond grows larger, it attracts life. First algae, then fish. Fish eggs can be carried to a new pond in a number of ways..."
Tim took careful notes and tried to focus on the lecture. It seemed absurd to be thinking about environmental science when he should be out on the streets doing something to take down Marcone's operation, but at this point, all they could do was wait until Marcone made another move. The man was smart and slick. They'd linked him to half a dozen operations, but still hadn't dug up any proof that would stand up in court. Thugs were loyal, too, and not scared of Batman, so it wasn't likely that any of them would flip on Marcone. The guy was good, Tim'd give him that. He didn't leave a trail of bodies like some mob bosses, either. Still, he'd been steadily upping the heroin distribution in Gotham. Might be slower deaths than drive-by shootings, but Marcone was still killing people in Gotham.
Tim's phone vibrated once. He slipped it from his pocket, being careful to keep it under his desk and out of sight of the professor. It was a message from Dick.
Breakthrough on that project we've been working on.
Finally. Tim texted back. Emergency?
He didn't have to wait long for a response. Be cool! Stay in school! After class is fine.
Tim smiled and texted back. Fine. Where should I meet you?
"Something amusing, Mr. Drake?"
Oh, crap. The professor stood right in front of his desk.
"I, uh, sorry. Just got a text from my brother," Tim said.
"I'm sure Mr. Grayson's exploits are a fascinating read, but if you wish to stay in my class, Mr. Drake, you will refrain from texting in my class."
"Yes, sir," Tim said meekly. He slipped his phone back into his pocket. He managed to mostly pay attention for the rest of the hour, but the moment the lecture finished, he was out the door.
Journal Entry/First Person Sample:
[Audio and video are both on, but sound is muffled and the video just shows some place with no light. The blackberry is stuffed in a pocket somewhere.]
Red Robin to Batman, do you copy? You dropped out after you mentioned the bridge.
[A long moment, filled with the quiet clicks and beeps of someone fiddling with an electronic communicator.]
Robin, come in. What's your twenty? [Another brief pause.] Batgirl? Oracle? Can anyone read me?
[He swears softly. There's the sound of pouches being opened and suddenly there's light on the screen. A fair-skinned young man wearing a leather cowl with a pointy nose looks right at the camera. His eyes are hidden behind white opaque lenses.] What the...?
[The camera lens flips around to show a dark alley. It's dingy and dark, with garbage piled around the dumpster and the skeleton of an old bed leaning against the back wall. The phone beeps as Red Robin tries something out on the keyboard.
Then the camera swerves abruptly to show a man creeping along the alley. When he spots Red Robin, he swings the gun in Red Robin's direction. Red Robin laughs.] You're new to Gotham, aren't you? Here's a tip - don't try to mug someone in a mask.
[The screen blurs with motion and then there's a loud CRACK. The blackberry clatters to the ground and a gun lands beside it. To the far right of the screen, Red Robin can be seen zip-tying the hands of the mugger.]
If anyone's hearing me, I have a pickup on 4th Street, behind the Auld Sod.