OOC ⚡ Super Character Survey
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy?
He's tall-ish and pretty thin. And though the uniform hides it, he's got a surprising amount of lean muscle.
2. How old is he?
~37-38 years old (~80 Earth years)
3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch?
He carries himself well, almost to the point of obnoxiousness.
4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?
As a soldier, Jade is very fit. But he does mention that, according to the military doctors, he's a bit underweight. He does wear glasses, but they have no effect on his vision - they keep him from taking on too many fonons, so he won't kill himself and everything in a one-block radius whenever he casts an arte.
This does not mean he won't try to feign illness to get out of manual labour.
5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?
In terms of walking across a room, he's a little rigid. He'll walk at a measured pace, usually with his hands in his pockets. In battle, he's very graceful and surefooted, if a bit slow to react.*
* compared to Guy "Greased Lightning" Cecil
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror?
He's attractive and he knows it, but he doesn't spend too much time staring at himself in the mirror. He will go to some lengths to keep himself presentable, though.
7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?
Pale. Pale like something that spends much too much time indoors.
8. Describe his hair: color, texture, style.
It's hard to pin down his exact hair colour, but it ranges from mid-brown to a sort of dishwater blond. Jade's hair is pretty thick and well-cared for, in line with his desire to be presentable.
Long hair seems to be popular among men from Malkuth. Whether he's helped to popularise it remains a mystery.
9. What color are his eyes?
Red, by means of his Fonic Sight.
Fanon states that they were brown before. For the sake of being contrary (or just for the appeal it has), my headcanon says they were a brackish green.
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features?
No idea! He dresses so modestly, it's hard to tell.
11. What are his chief tension centers?
If he has any, he doesn't show them.
12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does he have six of the same suit?
Most often, he wears his colonel's uniform. Emperor Peony has also made or commissioned a few outfits for him, which include a nice white jacket and a pair of dress pants, and a costume designed to make the colonel look like a fairy-tale villain. Occasionally, he'll don a labcoat - which is a good time to pack up and leave town.
13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them?
The clothes under his trenchcoat and his alternate clothes fit him very nicely, but his trenchcoat might need to be tailored to fit a little better.
14. Does he dress the same on the job as he does in his free time? If not, what are the differences?
This is up for debate, because we don't see him out of his uniform often. If there's any difference between work and play, it's in his attitude, not his clothes.
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando?
Given the absence of panty lines, I'm inclined to say he goes commando. But I could be wrong about that.
Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?
He has a decent range, but his natural voice is a baritone. Deep enough to be unmistakably male, but not super deep.
2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate?
As with many things, how Jade speaks is dependent on his mood and the situation. Generally, he'll speak normally and clearly, without much hesitation.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?
He has a slight Chokmah accent, which best translates to a West Coast USA accent.
4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency?
He speaks Fonic (read: English with a pretty alphabet) and Ancient Ispanian fluently. If Keterburg has its own native dialect, it's also likely that he can speak that too.
5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations?
His ability to speak Ancient Ispanian is a bit of an informed ability. While a bunch of people on Auldrant can speak it, the only ones who do in the course of the game are Tear and Van.
Jade did translate an ancient scroll once, but he spoke the translation and not the original text.
6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words?
He won't give impromptu speeches, but he can come up with jokes and jabs on the fly.
7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change?
Jade is eloquent about how badly other people fail at life. He's much less eloquent about describing his own feelings.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart?
He's supposed to be Auldrant's equivalent of Nikola Tesla in terms of mad science. It would be an understatement to say that he's intelligent. Jade might look to be a little bookish, but he does have quite a bit of street smarts, too.
2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate?
He likes it when he can map out every detail, but he's no stranger to improv when things go wrong.
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?
He's the logical down-to-earth sort of person, often cruelly so.
4. What kind of education has the character had?
The details are a little sketchy, but he's had a formal education since he was nine. Before that, we don't know much except that he taught himself difficult fonic artes.
5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about?
Jade is one of the top experts on fonons and fonic artes, but he does dabble in other fields. He knows a fair bit about poisons and medicine, as well as anatomy and biology.
But as Abyss' designated Smart Guy, expect him to know a little bit of just about anything.
6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert?
Introvert. Very, very much so.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?
Outwardly, Jade is very laid-back and cheerful. He keeps a cool head, even in some ridiculous situations. (e.g. having a bomb go off in his face. Couldn't make it up if I tried.)
Inwardly, it's all up for debate, except for the fact that you probably don't want to know.
8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?
He'll be friendly and/or hospitable, but don't expect him to form any lasting relationships. Under that mask is someone very suspicious who will try to screw you over if it's to his advantage.
9. Is he more likely to act, or to react?
It depends on how much warning he's had in advance, but he'll act more often than react.
10. Which is his default: fight or flight?
Fight. He'll run in the event that whatever is after him is too strong to take on, but those kinds of encounters are few and far between.
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?
Jade loves to tease, but he doesn't always like to be teased back. His favourite style is dark humour, which he'll generally joke about while keeping a straight, smiling face. Occasionally, he'll indulge in a practical joke.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them?
Jade has an extremely difficult time to feel sympathy for anyone, even if he wants to. It's so difficult that he claims he can't feel grief at all.
He considers his intelligence to be a curse, since his meddling with advanced fonic concepts has brought him a lot of misfortune.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person?
- Inscribed an unstable arte on his eyes at age 8 that would allow him to amplify his fonic abilities threefold.
- Developed the theory of Fomicry (replication) at age 9. He met Nebilim shortly after.
- He kills Nebilim by accident at age 12 and attempts to save her through fomicry. When it fails, he descends into obsession with reviving her.
- At age 22, he nearly dies in a fomicry-related lab accident. Peony, worried for Jade's safety, convinces his friend to stop further experiments. As an extra measure, the use of fomicry on living creatures is banned from Malkuth.
14. What does he fear?
Himself. More precisely, he fears using his smarts to do some very, very stupid things.
15. What are his hopes or aspirations?
He'd like to see the Replicas and natural-born humans coexist, but he's cynical enough to know it won't happen in his lifetime.
16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him?
He has a nice side! It's just hidden under layers and layers and layers of snark and bitterness.
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents.
Nonexistent. Neither his biological parents nor his adoptive family have made on-screen appearances.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?
He has one younger sister, Nephry. Their relationship is strained at best, since Jade has scared her since she was a child.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand?
None that we know of.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them?
The most likely candidate would be Anise, since they're basically partners in crime. Anise has tried to pass Jade off as her father before, so it's plausible.
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet?
Emperor Peony IX, as much as Jade will deny it. They met as kids in Keterburg when Jade sneaked into Peony's manor to see who/what was inside. They've been like brothers ever since.
6. Does he have other close friends?
The main party and Ion come close, more so with Luke and Anise.
7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people?
It's more likely that other people will have a hard time getting along with him than the other way around.
8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends?
It's difficult to say, since he has so few of either.
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once?
He's single and thoroughly enjoying himself.
10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse?
No.
11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest?
For all we know, he's never had one before.
12. What does he look for in a romantic partner?
It's difficult to say exactly, since he doesn't have a canon love interest. He does respond well to kindness, especially if the person being kind doesn't allow others to take advantage of them. He also enjoys the company of other intelligent people - not necessarily geniuses, but people that can stand up and think for themselves.
Headcanon says he also has a thing for dark hair, but he's not so picky to turn down someone if they aren't a brunet/te.
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any?
He doesn't have any kids, and after traveling with a bunch of teenagers across the globe to fight off evil, it's probably safe to say he doesn't really want any.
14. Does he have any rivals or enemies?
Dist considers him to be a rival of sorts, but Jade ignores him. He's also made a ton of enemies on the battlefield for taking replica data from corpses of fallen soldiers.
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does he fall on the Kinsey scale?
I play him as asexual, but it's all a matter of interpretation.
16. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him?
Sex isn't important to him. It's actually something of an annoyance.
17. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?
He doesn't have any. Headcanon says he sleeps in the buff, but nothing's been proven.
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does he fit type?
Auldrant doesn't use the same calendar as Earth does.
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his life?
Virtually everyone in Abyss is an athiest, since their major religion is centered around a prophecy and not god(s). But even with that, Jade is a firm non-believer.
3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it?
He adheres to the letter of Malkuth law, but not always to the spirit of it. It would take some serious mental and/or physical trauma to make him turn against his principles.
4. How does he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?
He'll leave others alone about their beliefs if they leave him alone about his.
5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them?
He's disgusted by obsession and people who obsess over things. Given that his obsession has nearly killed him in the past, it's pretty justified.
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?
He's pretty wealthy, being the current patron of House Curtiss.
2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him?
He's still considered to be a commoner, but Jade holds a certain amount of prestige for inheriting the Curtiss estate despite being adopted. He also has the ear and eternal trust of the Emperor. He doesn't have to rely on others to be recognized, however - he has a fearsome reputation within the military, which has earned him the nickname 'Jade the Necromancer'.
While Jade has become accustomed to living a life of luxury, he hasn't let it go entirely to his head. He's a soldier, and as such he can't let himself go too soft.
3. Where does he live? House, apartment, trailer? Is his home his castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does he share it with others?
He lives in a nice manor house in Grand Chokmah with a couple of servants. Since it doesn't get much screen-time, it's hard to say how he regards living there.
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend his money on?
Most of what he spends probably goes toward funding his fomicry research. It's also plausible that he donates some money toward assisting the replicas made by Van.
5. What does he do for a living? Is he good at it? Does he enjoy it, or would he rather be doing something else?
He's a soldier, and he's very, very good at it. Recently, he's gone back to work in the Imperial Forces' R&D department to reclaim fomicry.
6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time?
Jade doesn't get much free time, but he probably cares for plants. Plants with names like 'belladonna' and 'blue rocket'.
7. What are his eating habits? Does he skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?
He probably skips out on meals when he's been busy at work, but otherwise he eats well. He does drink, but rarely to the point of losing motor control.
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is his favorite:
1. Color?
Blue.
2. Smell?
Expensive soap. Alternatively, cologne.
3. Time of day?
Any time.
4. Season?
Autumn.
5. Book?
Probably anything by Terry Pratchett.
6. Music?
I associate him with 'Backdraft' by Thrice.
7. Place?
Any place he can get a good drink and even better curry.
8. Substance?
C-4. It's stable (i.e. it can take some abuse and won't detonate) and flexible, but still inherently dangerous.
9. Plant?
A yew. Yew was a popular choice in the making of longbows. While Jade isn't a marksman, the longbow was a devastating weapon for many years. It's also very twisted, rather like his personality, and highly toxic.
10. Animal?
I associate him with weasels in general, the mink in particular. Not only are they tricky creatures, they are able to take down prey several times their size.
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