APPLICATION @ LUCETI
Mun
Name: Aiden.
Livejournal Username: owlcoholic
E-mail: chippegan@gmail.com
AIM/MSN: banichyann
Current Characters at Luceti: N/A
Character
Name: Barnaby Brooks Jr.
Fandom: Tiger & Bunny
Gender: Male
Age: 26
Time Period: End of series, before the one year time-skip, just after taking down Maverick.
Wing Color: electric pink (#FF2299)
History: Here ya go!
Personality:
Oh boy, Barnaby's personality is both easy and incredibly difficult to describe, depending upon what canon point he's currently being played from. More than any other character in the series, he undergoes a vast growth in personality throughout the length of the series, though there are some traits that remain static throughout. So I suppose I'll just start from the beginning, eh?
When we're first introduced to Barnaby, he's completely closed off, emotionally. He's arrogant and prideful, antisocial, a lone wolf. He is set up as a hero by Albert Maverick, his father figure - the position is all but handed to him, but Barnaby is entirely capable of living up to the hero's standard all on his own - physically, at least. He takes his job very seriously, on an entirely platonic level, and he cares more about earning points and catching the spotlight than he cares about saving people. For him, it's simply a job, a way to shine, an outlet for his powers and a way to continue his own agenda. When he's introduced to the public, Barnaby's smile dazzles the public; he's very charismatic when he wants to be, good at pandering to his fans and keeping up his pristine mask of perfection.
That begins to change when Kotetsu comes into his life. Apollon Media, Barnaby's main sponsor company, hires Kotetsu Kaburagi (the down-and-out hero 'Wild Tiger') to be Barnaby's partner. They share the same NEXT ability - the hundred fold power - but that aside, the two of them couldn't be more different. Apollon Media hires Kotetsu so that they could work together, the first hero team ever formed, in hopes that it would give Hero TV a boost in ratings and interest. But unlike Barnaby, Kotetsu is older, rash and clumsy, and doesn't care at all about earning points so long as they're able to save the day and help those in need. The two of them clash almost immediately. Barnaby is cool and collected, smart and logical, he doesn't believe in reacting recklessly or relying on your instincts, and he'll hang back for as long as it needs to properly assess a situation before diving in. He even goes so far as to strategize just how he can best seize the spotlight during their missions and calls. His morals and ideals are the exact opposite of his new partner's, so you can imagine just how well Barnaby gets along with him.
We soon find that Barnaby, despite his cool, casual, arrogant demeanor, is in actuality a deeply scarred individual, and very emotionally unstable. His parents, Barnaby Sr. and Emily Brooks, were murdered before his eyes when he was only four years old, shot by a shadowy stranger, their bodies, and his childhood home, set afire. This event greatly shaped his personality, traumatizing him deeply and forever changing the course of his life. He spends the majority of his young life in an orphanage, but is eventually plucked up by Albert Maverick, the CEO of Hero TV Live, and a close friend to his parents; Maverick and Samantha (Barnaby's household maid) are the only two people that Barnaby keeps close as he grows up. He makes no attempt to get close to others, nor to make friends, and it is even canonically stated that Barnaby is incapable of feeling loneliness, he's simply so accustomed to being alone, completely by choice. He attends boarding school, and later the Hero Academy, but rather than learn to socialize and have fun like a normal adolescent, all of Barnaby's time is monopolized by one thing: revenge. He's obsessed with the death of his parents, and devotes nearly every spare moment to researching the mysterious organization Ouroboros, his only lead on his parents murder. He spends years gathering information and compiling it, learning everything that he can, but Ouroboros is shrouded in mystery and nearly all of his leads dead end.
When the series begins, he's still researching, still searching, even twenty years after the murder. So you can imagine the sort of person that Barnaby has become -- isolated and self-sufficient, strongly driven and badly socialized, and though he presents a strong, collected front, he's an incredibly emotionally unstable individual. He also has deep-seated trust issues, and doubts almost everyone he meets, and is not at all quick to trust others. This begins to make itself apparent when he starts growing closer to his partner, Kotetsu. It takes time, but he slowly begins to open up, to show some modicum of trust in his partner, even going so far as to revealing his past, telling Kotetsu about his family, his past, and Ouroboros. As the series progresses, Barnaby's cold mask begins to crack, and his finely stitched seams begin to burst, and he unravels. He suffers several mental breakdowns, is plagued by fits of manic depression and nightmares, waking hallucinations - he sleeps little and snaps quickly, lashing out at Kotetsu in an attempt to push him away, after he suspects that Kotetsu doesn't trust him to handle himself. Kotetsu's trust was clearly very important to him, and when he felt his partner didn't have faith in him, he responded very negatively.
After the defeat of Jake Martinez (a member of Ouroboros, and the man supposedly responsible for murdering Barnaby's parents), Barnaby's personality begins to slowly turn around. With his parents' murder finally resolved and avenged, Barnaby is finally able to live a normal, well-adjusted life. Over the course of ten months he begins to relax, to open up, to trust more easily, though he makes no attempt to socialize, or make friends. Kotetsu is enough for him, and though Barnaby softens up, he's still a loner at heart, and likely always will be. But he smiles more, and argues with Kotetsu substantially less, until it's revealed that Jake Martinez was, in fact, not the man responsible for the murder of Barnaby's mother and father. And that easily, Barnaby is launched right back into chaos.
The nightmares and hallucinations return, the breakdowns, to the point that he considers retiring as a hero, or at least taking a long sabbatical to get himself back in order. He suffers frequent flashbacks and blackouts that torment him day and night, he has no defense mechanisms against them, and cannot seem to pull himself back together. Barnaby is also very sensitive - when he finds out that Kotetsu has lied to him about retiring from the hero business, he is deeply hurt and responds with anger and scathing words. The walls come back up, and he all but completely ignores Kotetsu, until the time comes that his partner is finally able to redeem himself. It can also be noted that a great deal of Barnaby's emotional instability is due to the fact that he's been manipulated his entire life by the man who he saw as his father figure: Maverick.
Albert Maverick is a NEXT who is able to manipulate the memories of those he comes in contact with - it was Maverick who planted the image of Jake Martinez in Barnaby's mind, in the flashback memory of his parents death, and after Barnaby and Kotetsu uncover the fact that Jake Martinez couldn't have possibly been the killer, Maverick manipulates him again. He changes the same memory, confusing Barnaby to the point that he thinks he's losing his mind, because the memory keeps shifting, changing, inexplicably. How long Maverick has been scrambling his brain is unknown, but Barnaby's memory as a whole is severely damaged, full of holes, and he will never have any way of knowing just what was real, and what was implanted. His memory is a mottled patchwork, more or less tailor made by Maverick, so it's likely that he will never recall his true childhood memories, unless for some reason they are triggered. Contradictions in his memories are able to dispel Maverick's changes.
Despite the fact that Barnaby is a cold, unapproachable person (privately, at least) he does care very deeply about those he does manage to bond with. His parents, obviously, he loved so completely that he devoted his life to avenging them (though it could be speculated that he only attached to this as a way to keep himself motivated, to keep himself moving forward every day, or that this was just one of many reactions to Maverick's tampering with his mind). He's also deeply attached to a woman called Samantha - his housekeeper growing up, and the only person he associates with, besides Albert Maverick who knew his parents and remembered the fire. He trusts them both implicitly, and Kotetsu as well (which is why he's very upset when he learns that Kotetsu does not trust him as fully). And, of course, he grows incredibly fond of Kotetsu, though he'd be hard pressed to admit it aloud in seriousness. Kotetsu is the only person in the world who Barnaby can consider a friend, a best friend, and he cares quite deeply for him.
Barnaby does experience a good amount of character growth over the course of the series. He opens up, he learns to smile, learns to cope, learns to loosen up a bit, but there are still some things that will never change. He's still arrogant and sassy, he can still be conceited and selfish, and he remains rather closed off. He's content with that, however, with having Kotetsu as a partner and a friend. Though he still misses them very badly, and hurts for the childhood he never really got to experience, Barnaby is able to make peace with his parents' death. But overall he comes off as friendly and approachable (he still likes to keep his mask firmly intact), behind the scenes he's still a chilly person who is perfectly content to be alone - with the exception of Kotetsu - and keeps others at arms' length. He's arrogant and very vain, fussy about lighting and cleanliness and neatness, picky about his appearance, his clothes and hair, and his personal space. He's in no way affectionate or welcoming, and will always display some measure of emotional instability when it comes to dealing with loss. He's also very much a city kid, and his parents were relatively wealthy, so he's accustomed to having plenty of money to throw around on expensive products, so he's pretty spoiled as well. He's also not particularly attached to his job, either. He enjoys the limelight and the attention and, of course, being on top, but he isn't a particularly sympathetic individual, and doesn't display the same desire to help and protect others as his partner does.
Strengths:
Physical: Barnaby is very physically fit, and spends a good deal of his off-time training in the gym. Even without his 100 fold power activated, Barnaby is more than capable of handling himself in a fight - he's strong, but also very fast and agile, able to turn on a dime, make long jumps, and deliver punishing kicks. There's also, of course, the 100 fold power as well (or 50 fold, in Luceti!), which, when activated, amplifies all of his physical abilities (strength, speed, endurance, etc. ) by 100x. Aside from fighting prowess, however, Barnaby is also incredibly pretty. He's poised and graceful, fine-boned and good looking, and he takes great pride in his appearance. He goes to a hairdresser twice a month. Yeah. He's not above using his good looks and charming personality to get ahead.
Mental: His intelligence. Barnaby is very smart, analytical and logical, with a talent for strategy. He's incredibly observant and often notices little details before others (like the PDA bracelet that the fake Jake Martinez is wearing near the end of the first arc), and he is constantly surveying and analyzing his surroundings. He's also well equipped to deal with all sorts of situations, like disarming a bomb, for instance, and he's a pro at gathering data and using technology. He's also incredibly passionate about certain things, things he finds important - his revenge, mainly, or protecting those he cares for, and this provides him with an ample amount of drive. Barnaby also possesses an inherent charisma; he's uncannily good at schmoozing people when he needs to, and has a great 'public face' that wins him an astounding amount of fans. Despite the fact that he wants nothing to do with people as a whole, he's terribly good at wooing and winning people over, and utilizes a rather large amount of charm and wit.
Emotional: Barnaby's incredibly tenacious when he wants to be, and he will not back down, no matter the odds, if he has a goal in mind. Twenty years he chases Ouroboros and never tires, never slackens, and no matter how many times he is struck down by an enemy he will always get back up, so long as he has something to fight for. He's also exceedingly devoted to the choice few whom he does form close relationships with, and once he forms a trusting bond with them he'll stand beside them always. Unless, you know .. they're scrambling his brains and using him to better their own selfish, twisted desires, of course. There is a line.
Weaknesses:
Physical: Barnaby's fast, and a good fighter, but when his 100 power isn't activated, he's just a normal guy. A physically fit normal guy, yeah, but aside from his own wits and Normal Guy strength, he doesn't have any fancy defenses. When facing up against another NEXT, or equally powerful being, if Barnaby's 100 power isn't activated, he's more or less a sitting duck. During the fight with H-01, for instance, he and Kotetsu are unable to use their powers at the beginning of the fight, and it's all they can do just to dodge the android's attacks while they wait for their powers to reactivate. Oh yeah, did I mention that the 100 power only has a 5 minute duration? After his five minutes are used up, Barnaby is a normal human, and must rest for about an hour before his powers can be reactivated again.
Mental: Barnaby's stoicism and distrust of others as a whole is probably his greatest weakness, mentally. He's arrogant and bullheaded about doing things his way, and he doesn't work at all well in a team. When he and Kotetsu first partner up, their teamwork is a disaster, because he's unable to trust Kotetsu enough to be able to rely on him, and he'd much rather simply work on his own. He sees others as a liability, or as obstacles - they only get in his way. He's awful at socializing on a private level, and generally thinks himself superior to most other people. His passion can also be seen as a weakness, also, if it gets out of hand. When he gets fired up over something, he can lose control - for instance, when he finally gets his hands on Jake Martinez he nearly strangles him to death, and during the final fight with H-01, Barnaby is too busy worrying about Kotetsu's well being, and makes stupid mistakes. This passion can also blind him to his more logical side, and bring him to nearly ruin plans that he himself put in order; not to mention, when he's on a war path he's like a bull seeing read, and no one can easily thwart him. He's also somewhat emotionally stunted, considering his unusual upbringing, so he's selfish and self-absorbed, and doesn't stop to consider others' feelings.
Emotional: Oh boy. This kid is pretty much an emotional trainwreck. He's got Mommy and Daddy issues, to begin with, deep seated emotional instability, trust issues, and he's pretty antisocial. He was a perfectly happy four year old boy, but witnessing his parents murder at such a young age pretty much destroyed any hope of ever having normalcy in his life, psychologically at least. He's prone to mental breakdowns if these issues are stirred up, and he can lose himself in fits of depression rather easily. He doesn't respond well to betrayal, and he's not at all a well-adjusted individual by any means, though this does improve a bit by the end of the series, thanks to Kotetsu's influence. Even so, it doesn't take much to dredge up old memories, and there are some issues that Barnaby will simply never let go of, deeply rooted problems that he'll carry with him forever. Obviously feelings like these can get in the way and complicate any number of situations, because when Barnaby loses control of himself he's more or less useless at best, and aggressive at worst. He can be pretty volatile under the correct circumstances, and if anyone is able to pinpoint his specific triggers he's incredibly easy to manipulate and rile up.