for capeandcowl

[invokings]

[PLAYER INFO]
NAME: Nita
AGE: 21
JOURNAL: hierarchic
IM: hierarchics
E-MAIL: ziodynes@gmail.com
RETURNING: 1 ( Kate Kane @ soldarius )

[CHARACTER INFO]
CHARACTER NAME: Gilbert Nightray
FANDOM: Pandora Hearts
CHRONOLOGY: post Retrace 59 but pre-60. Literally whenever they returned to Pandora HQ.
CLASS: Hero... vaguely. Gil is loyal to his friends/allies but he won’t necessarily go charging into a Good vs. Evil battle unless it involves him in some way.
SUPERHERO NAME: HIS NAME IS STUPID ENOUGH.
ALTER EGO: Gilbert Nightray, confused 18th century pseudo-Victorian era man who will wind up serving you food at a fancy restaurant. And judging all you spandex wearing heroes.

BACKGROUND:

This is going to sound stupid and this is what happens when someone uses Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as an inspiration for their story. :V It is also important to note the story is set in a pseudo-Victorian era universe but it’s barely expanded on.

Right, so the inconvenient part of all this is that Gil suffers from Plot Convenient Amnesia, therefore the majority of his past is just as much a mystery to him as it is to us, the readers. Here is what we have been able to piece together thanks to out of chronology flashbacks:

PRE-TRAGEDY:

A little over one hundred years ago, Gil and his brother Vincent were born, possibly in the old capital city of Sablier. It can be assumed Vincent’s heterochromia (one red eye and one gold what is natural eye color in manga) was the main factor that made their biological mother sell her boys off to a “freak show” as Vincent would put. Inexplicably, the boys got out and were left to survive in the streets where no one paid them any heed. At the time, red eyes were seen as a bad omen and Gil would have to protect Vincent from the physical and verbal abuse they suffered from society. Much to more plot convenient stuff their luck, the brothers were taken in by the youngest son of a noble household, Jack Vessalius. While life was good there and they grew out of their timid shells, things took a strange twist with Jack’s best friend, Glen Baskerville. Gil was also brainwashed at some point when he had been brought into the house. He was told he must always defend his master, Jack, no matter what that meant. If someone was hurting his master, he would snap and even go into a killer frenzy. There was also an instance where Jack tried to introduce the boys to a girl their age, locked in a tower by Glen for unknown reasons. However, this girl was cruel to Vincent about his eyes and Gil and his brother grew to hate her after Gil attacked her.

Meanwhile, Glen had his eyes fixed on Gil due to needing a new vessel for his aging body. During the ceremony though, Vince had been convinced by a Mysterious Hooded Lady to open the door to the Abyss (a world between worlds where everything is horrible and scary but at least those cool Chains are from there) and SHIT GOT REAL. Glen ordered his servants to slaughter everyone in the capital for MORE REASONS UNEXPLAINED but he’s the series’ antagonist so there. The capital was up swallowed up by the Abyss and Gil ended up dwelling in there for years unaware what had happened until way later in canon. I guess it’s also important to note the girl Gil attacked, named Alice, had been killed during what modern day wherever they live calls the Tragedy of Sablier. There are suspicions Gil did it and then blacked out but who knows!!

POST-TRAGEDY:

Gil eventually got out of the Abyss and ended up collapsing in the current Vessalius family’s gardens where he was rushed inside and treated. He had no recollection of his brother, his past or his previous master and all he could remember was his name. Appointed the young Oz Vessalius’ servant, Gil’s fears subsided once more befriending the boy. Once again, he had found a purpose in his life and he was happy, even if he never saw himself as anything more than just a mere servant.

But yeah, his life would fall apart when Oz turned fifteen at his Coming of Age ceremony where one of the Baskervilles took control of his body, had him attack his own precious master and then they all appeared, announcing their intention to throw Oz into the Abyss. When he had control of himself, he tried to defend the other boy but a lightning flash caused him to see the face of one of the cloaked figured and he panicked, realizing who it was. Oz thought Gil was in danger and attacked the Baskerville only to strike Gil down accidentally. Gil somehow DID NOT DIE from blood loss but he did collapse and when he awoke, no one at the ceremony could remember seeing the Baskervilles or what had happened. Horrified at losing his master to the Abyss, unable to defend him, Gil wandered off and was approached by Xerxes Break who offered him a way to rescue Oz. For these reasons, Gil ended up being adopted into the Nightray dukedom, so he could be closer to contracting with the family’s Chain, Raven, and to spy on those in the household for Break. In his years spent growing up there, he was reunited with Vincent, learned to use a gun and was able to contract with Raven, despite the legitimate heir and his youngest adoptive brother, Elliot, being the one who should have been able to. This angered his older brothers, whom already hated both Gil and Vincent from the time they were children.

And because the tragedy quota wasn’t filled, some of the Nightrays were beheaded by a mysterious killer they were calling the Headhunter (original...) but unbeknownst to anyone, Gil was not the intended target as most thought, even when someone (revealed to be his douchebag older brothers who were going to lay the blame on the Headhunter) attempted to poison him. His uncle and two brothers were killed, leaving Vincent, Elliot and his only sister Vanessa while their adoptive mother fell into a depression and joined a cult. Yes. Really. Anyway, afraid staying in the household would result in another person being hurt or beheaded, Gil left home without a word, causing a rift in his relationship with Elliot.

OZ’S RETURN:

With the power of Raven and a member of Pandora, an organization that dealt with Chains, Contractors, the Abyss and illegal activities involving them, Gil set off with Break and Sharon Rainsworth, another Pandora member, to retrieve Oz, who escaped the Abyss on his own after contracting with Alice. Not realizing ten years had passed since he had fallen in nor recognizing his best friend had grown up, Gil kept his identity a secret until he was revealed by the Baskerville who had used his body at the ceremony during a fight with her. Unable to hide himself anymore and realizing Oz would still accept him regardless of how many years had passed, Gil returned to being Oz’s servant.

And then wacky hijinks ensued.

In all seriousness, Oz, Gil and Alice are bent on 1. retrieving Alice’s lost memories and 2. discovering the truth behind the Tragedy of Sablier. Their encounters, battles and piecing together some clues caused a great strain on Gil, who realized Oz was growing more and more independent and maybe didn’t even need him anymore. There was also high tensions due to the fact Oz became an illegal Contractor and they are running on limited time before the seal’s clock makes its full round and drags Oz back into the Abyss. The plot finally got interesting again when the trio decided to pay the old capital a visit and were sucked into illusions where they each saw a fragment of the past, Gil slowly remembering important moments but being unable to accept them, frightened by what knowing could do to him. His inner turmoil nearly boiled over when the one who pushed Oz into the Abyss, his father showed up and Gil ran off in an attempt to kill him. In the nick of time, he’s stopped by Break and knocked out before he can harm anyone. Sablier was pretty much a bust and suddenly a brand new quest to the story: Gil and the others have to find these sealing stones that contain Jack’s body parts (cursed with MAGIC to prevent the Baskervilles from bringing Glen back into the world, I swear this isn’t as stupid as it sounds) before anyone else does. Of course, this new quest is blessed with suck as every sealing stone they find ends up being destroyed by someone when they have their backs turned and even the old dude guarding one of them was beheaded literally five minutes after they leave his manor. That or they are fail heroes.

But his death wasn’t in vain, as he had given Gil’s master a box containing papers that could help with their research on the seals and people who may know more about the Abyss and Sablier. One of these people is a foreigner, Isla Yura, and though they cannot enter his mansion without good reason, Yura holds a Coming of Age ceremony for Oz and Gil and the others attend, sneaking around to find one of the sealing stones.

THE MOST RECENT ARC AKA ROCKS FALL EVERYONE WHO IS A NIGHTRAY DIES:

HAVE I LOST YOU YET?

At the ceremony, the Baskervilles show up and start creating trouble but it’s followed by a gang of children in the same cloaks as them appearing and they start murdering people and setting fire to the building. The children are all contracted to the same Chain, Humpty Dumpty. Gil is forced to fight the children while trying to defend his friends and Elliot, who had been invited as a representative of the Nightray dukedom. Things get progressively worse when their only sister, Vanessa, is beheaded and Break, who Gil has come to finally see as a friend, fights the Baskervilles alone practically on a suicide mission. After rescuing Oz, he pleads with him to let him go rescue Break, requiring permission to use his Chain he knows normally strains Oz physically. With it, he aids Break and they’re able to kill one of the Baskervilles before they have to run back into the mansion to save Alice, Oz and stop the sealing stone from being broken. Yura is killed by Oz because he was the one who orchestrated the attack and though he was the cult leader (of which Mama Nightray joined and oh yeah she died too during this) he actually didn’t give two craps about what people in the cult wanted. He wanted to recreate another Tragedy but FOILED BY A MEDDLING KID.

Before Gil and the others can escape the burning and collapsing building, they overhear screaming in one of the other rooms and Gil finds Elliot, his last adoptive sibling, dead. It turns out Elliot was an illegal Contractor and was the one who murdered his own siblings without realizing it, because the Chain reacted to protecting his own servant Leo. Gil is left speechless and bottles up his reaction, deciding he won’t cry or react to losing the rest of his family (save Vincent but in SURPRISE TWIST it’s revealed he was the Headhunter all along so who cares about that jerk right now) until Oz has shown some reaction himself.

... except he might not see that for a while. He’s being pulled into the City.

PERSONALITY:

To be frank, Gil’s got serious issues. Who wouldn’t given the crappy life he’s lived so far?

He’s a plethora of contradictions and mysteries, some of which he is partially aware of and others not so much. On the surface of even first impressions, he comes across as a distant, broody and at times something of a gentleman and none of these are entirely false. Having dealt with tragedy after tragedy in his life, he’s exhausted physically and more importantly, emotionally, from it. All he wants to do is make things right again for the sake of his precious master, Oz. He determines his value as a person and reason for existing based on how “good” of a servant he can be for Oz, a clear indication Gil doesn’t hold himself in high regards. He has little self worth and lacks the self confidence some people mistakenly believe he has. It’s unhealthy, troubling and even self-destructive behaviour and thoughts that he plagues himself with. Is Gil aware of this and what he’s doing to himself?

Somewhat.

The main issue with Gil is that he doesn’t see this as wrong. He came from nothing and had he not been taken in by the Vessalius, given a purpose, he would have nothing else to live for. He’s merely a servant and by that alone, nothing else should truly matter as long as he has a place by his master’s side. For better or worse, he’s content with that. He puts Oz on a pedestal (although they are best friends, Oz has bullied him in many ways) and stubbornly refuses to see his master as anything else but that very title and his friend. He doesn’t often question if he truly wants to be someone’s servant for the rest of his life, he just sort of accepts it as his reality. But Gil is happy; he won’t - can’t - lie about that. Before Oz and even Jack, there was nothing for him but a life of hardship, prejudice and poverty. Growing up with friends and even people he could call family gave him a sense of hope and something to cling to, something worth fighting for. Without Oz, his co-dependency cripples him and leaves him incredibly vulnerable, feeling lost and being eaten alive by his own insecurities. If Oz isn’t around, he cannot focus properly or at all and he grows agitated, nervous, he may lash out and he starts assuming the worst sometimes. A part of this can be blamed on the fact that as a child, Gil was brainwashed by someone while he served Jack Vessalius. Into his head they put a powerful urge to do anything and everything he could for his master and if necessary, to kill anyone who dared to threaten his master’s safety or happiness. With his amnesia, this trigger shifted from Jack to Oz for Gil and he has difficulty fighting it, even going as far as making an attempt on Alice’s life because if he severed the connection between her and Oz, their illegal contract would break and Oz would be able to live a full life.

And all of this frightens Gil. In his moments of psychosis, he sways back and forth from murderous fantasies and urges to extreme insecurity and self-hatred. He may be capable of violence if he doesn’t find a way to calm himself or if someone doesn’t just knock him unconscious.

But he did spend ten years growing up without Oz, even if the boy was always in his thoughts and dedicating his time to growing stronger, betraying the Vessalius and being adopted by the Nightrays and taming their Chain, Raven. While deep down he may still retain a part of that that shy fourteen years old persona, he has developed a personality and something of a life outside of servitude, even if he doesn’t like to admit it. To start, he’s... well, an awkward person. He’s quiet and tends to observe more than put his opinions out among strangers but he is also reactionary when poked in the right ways and this is easily accomplished. He may act like a cool-headed, jerk with a heart of gold but he’s neither of those things; Gil is just as emotionally screwed up as the others he surrounds himself with. His amnesia troubles him a great deal as does anything related to his past. It’s too much to take in at once and difficult to fully comprehend. Discovering he was not only someone else’s servant but from a different time period altogether initially haunted him and paralyzed him from moving forward. Even when the pieces of the past come together and make sense, he doesn’t know what the proper reaction should be. Gil is afraid of what he was and importantly, what he might be someday.

However, since Gil was adopted by a noble house, he’s learned the etiquette and manners expected of those in the upper class enough to utilize them properly despite the fact he’s never truly cared for those customs. He is polite to a point but mostly out of uncertainty on how to socialize properly. He tends to close himself off to people - even his loved ones and he can be a difficult wall to break. Ultimately, he hates being weak. He hates being exposed and in such situations, lives in fear of what may happen to those around him if they get too close. The beheading of his adoptive brothers and uncle prompted him to leave the Nightray house, quite aware of the implications that would arise from doing so. He was labelled a coward and disgrace to the family by one of the few he truly cared for: his youngest brother, Elliot. He didn’t argue back nor talk about it, letting him think what he wanted because in the end, the less he knew the safer Elliot and the rest of the family was, even though it’s been stated a few times Gil “hates” the Nightrays. He started off as a mole in the family but actually grew to care about them in his own way, which he has never outwardly stated but it shows in his actions. He cares a great deal for the people around him and has even stood up for them in front of other nobles, which is considered insulting and out of line for anyone to do. He worries even for people like his scheming brother Vincent. No matter how disturbing his behaviour or words are, Gil has continued to look out for him despite being embarrassed to admit that. He’s simply not good with expressing himself, including around Oz. Considering he’s been ostracized by most of his family when he was adopted, he isn’t completely understanding of the idea there are people who want to be his friend or do care about him. But he isn’t inconsiderate when he’s told or reminded. He is often surprised by grateful for the support and love he gets from the people who matter most to him.

Gil is also a rather stubborn person. Despite the fact he wants to be the best he can for Oz, he does nothing to overcome his co-dependency issue (it’s almost as if he refuses to grow up at times) and he puts his own health at risk with his chain smoking... and he’s aware smoking can give him cancer. He doesn’t even try to face his phobia of his cats or go out of his way to be social, when people want the best for him. He can be downright childish about these things and incredibly frustrating to deal with.

He’s also got a bit of a temper for all purposes: comedic and dramatic. Threaten or insult Oz (or any of the Vessalius with the exception of the duke) and he’ll raise his voice and immediately tell you to shut up. You don’t cross the line with the Vessalius, not with Gil around. But he’s also easily irritated by smaller things like Alice being a messy eater or Break occasionally teasing him for harmless fun. Easily provoked but never malicious (when not pushed to the edge), Gil’s mostly all bark and no bite when it comes down to it. He can be a kind person - some of his friends have noticed this, even to their own surprise. Though ten years have passed since he was once a meek and easily flustered boy, in some ways he still retains those characteristics. He won’t talk ill of people or be rude toward them if there’s no basis for it. “Be nice to others and they’ll be nice to you.” It seems like he follows this to a point. He may be blunt and look at others funny but that’s about it.

And yet, Gil still has a lot of maturing to do. He’s slowly getting better at standing up for himself but as long as he sees Oz as completely necessary in his life, he will always put himself at the bottom of his list of priorities. If lying about his true feelings and bottling them up will keep Oz safe and happy, then what’s wrong with that? After all, a good servant ensures his master’s happiness.

POWER:

Alright, so canonically Gil exhibits no meta-human/super power of his own because he is simply a human. (Or MAN I HOPE SO, canon hides so much but if it’s revealed he’s not a basic human being then I will come to the mods to fix this.)

He does, however, have a Chain named Raven.

WHAT THE EFF IS A CHAIN?

In canon, Chains are beings born in the Abyss. They were once human but the Will of the Abyss transformed them and sometimes they become powerful entities. They cannot leave the Abyss on their own and need a Contractor, legal or illegal, to help them escape. Since Gil is a legal Contractor, I don’t need to explain how the illegal method works. The Chain has to agree to contract with a human and they need to meet certain qualifications. Once both parties have agreed, the Contractor uses a Blood Seal Mirror (it is a tiny necklace, basically) to soak up the Chain’s blood to keep the seal off their actual body.

RAVEN: is Gil’s Chain. It is about the size of a house and can only appear when Gil summons it. Chains are corporeal in that they can be touched and touch other Chains and people. Some examples are one of the Baskervilles’ Chains kills a few human via chomping on their necks. Some are seen capable of being rode on. They can’t be killed with human weapons as far as canon has shown but killing its Contractor or breaking the Blood Seal Mirror severs the contract between the two.

In other words: think of a Final Fantasy summon.

Carrying on, Raven has various abilities of its own:

Teleportation ► ... what it says. It can travel a good distance but at a great strain to Gil.
Sealing ► it can seal other Chains’ powers and only Gil can unlock them at different amounts if he chooses to. For this power in particular, I’m not sure how it would work in the City since we only ever see this power used in detail on one Chain in particular. If it would be allowed (and obviously with a set up permissions post), would Gil be able to put seals on others’ powers if he needed to? It would only be related to energy/magic-based abilities. If not it’s not cool, I’m okay with tossing it out!
Fire ► and finally, Raven can create blue flames that obviously... burn... things.

Finally, for the game I’d like to give Gil power sensing.

FINAL NOTES ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER:

Although he isn’t wearing it at his canon point, Gil will be arriving with his hat because he is crazy about it and will act out like a five year old if he’s separated too long from it. :( IT WAS A GIFT OKAY. He is also arriving with his two pistols.

Despite the setting of the story and while Gil speaks with an English accent, most of the characters do not use phrases, words or slang that are widely used in the UK. WHY? I DUNNO. The author clearly didn’t think that through. :I Aaaand if it wasn’t obvious, first person comes way after third person.