Character Survey of Doom
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy? Average-thin, and middling height - maybe 5'8". He's not horribly imposing in terms of stature.
2. How old is he? About one hundred, technically; he appears in his late twenties - early thirties.
3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch? Straight, controlled, and calm; if he's relaxed enough and in company of people he trusts, it relaxes some, but otherwise he tends to carry himself with authority.
4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities? He's doing pretty good for someone with a bad case of death-. He's in good health, and good physical shape; even when things are more peaceful he's tended to try to keep in fighting condition.
5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid? Calm and fluid, even in a fight; he's athletic, agile, and pretty skilled physically.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror? As much as he keeps himself up, he doesn't actually think about that a whole lot! As much as he's not overly imposing, he is kinda pretty.
7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred? Clear and somewhat light, although at least he's inherited going tan a little more than burning, not that it'll matter in this setting. He does have a good handful of scars, although with how he dresses, they're not really visible; he got into a LOT of fights when he was younger, and only really continued the trend. Also, gained in-game, he now has some burns along the left side of his face and neck that're going to scar.
8. Describe his hair: color, texture, style. Blonde, straight, and fluffy, and prone to cheerfully defying attempts at controlling it.
9. What color are his eyes? Amber; this actually does seem to be his natural eye color.
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features? Sometimes he masquerades as a candle. Not much normally; in Dying Will state, there's the Sky Flames burning in front of his forehead and around his hands.
11. What are his chief tension centers? Back, shoulders, neck; left to his own devices he's more relaxed, but he's pretty well learned to pull formal carriage to avoid getting taken too lightly.
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? Subdued; grey and black, formal suits, and the Mantle that's actually a protective item.
13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them? Perfectly comfortable, and they're probably tailored by this point.
14. Does he dress the same on the job as he does in his free time? If not, what are the differences? He will dress down and lose the suit jacket and whatnot in spare time, although it's still archaic by current standards.
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando? ... I think he's refusing to answer this.
Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse? Even, middle-range, clear.
2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate? He's usually soft-spoken, but not hesitant; he's not shy or timid, just quiet and polite. He's capable of raising his voice if he feels it's needed, but it doesn't happen often.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics? ...Well, if it ever comes up, he's Italian.
4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency? Italian obviously; also Japanese considering that he retired there, and possibly French and English.
5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations? He'd probably resort to whatever would be understood by the most people present.
6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words? He is - he's good with words and good at plotting out how to reach people.
7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change? He's somewhat formal/polite, but he's not really given to flowery language; it's usually pretty simple. If he's upset enough, drunk, or otherwise impaired/not thinking straight, he can probably swear like a sailor and hit the gutter with the best of them, thanks to the wonderful influence of G.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart? He's pretty intelligent; it's a little more street-smart than book-smart, but he's fairly well educated for his day.
2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate? Somewhere in the middle; he prefers having time to think, but if that's not an option he doesn't have a problem with switching to thinking-fast.
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical? Slightly more intuitive than logical; he's careful enough to keep the logical side in mind, but his actual decisions will run with intuition more than logic. He also weights more idealistic than practical; he's grounded enough to understand what effort it actually takes and to be a realist, but that doesn't stop him from working towards ideals and holding onto them.
4. What kind of education has the character had? Likely his parents and self-teaching, up to a point; he was probably literate and knew some trade skills before, and then ended up with a bit more filled in by Spade and Lampo's associates.
5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about? His areas of expertise are more tactics, leadership, and politics, specifically more underworld politics; if there was less of a necessity for fighting, he'd probably lean more towards diplomacy, literature, and basic naturalism.
6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert? Somewhere in the middle. He's very friendly and gets along with most people, but he's a fairly calm personality - he's friendly to almost everyone and adopts people easily, but he's not going to make huge attempts at being Everybody's Best Friend or have a pressing need to Go Out And Meet People. There's also certainly quite a bit that he's more comfortable with being private or only shared with a trusted few.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven? He's VERY even-tempered; it's hard to throw him off balance, he adapts quickly, and he stays very calm and controlled, even if he can be a massive dork at times. On a healthier day he's the sort that's able to be happy without a whole lot, and if he's got people he's close to around he's usually pretty happy, but between the way things went when he was alive and the time he's spent in the ring, he lapses more melancholy when he's alone or not otherwise distracted. He'd LIKE to be laid-back, but if there's any sign of something up he can be incredibly driven, and he has a hard time comfortably resting and enjoying peace if there's a sense there's something he Should Be Doing.
8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic? He's relaxed and open; with people he's fairly friendly, polite, and calm, with situations he's more quietly analytical.
9. Is he more likely to act, or to react? Depends on the situation. Catch him when he's basically enjoying peace and quiet and it's more "react"; if there's anything else going on, he's more likely to act.
10. Which is his default: fight or flight? Situational! If there's any chance of other people ending up at risk, it'll be "Fight", always; if he's badly outmatched and can get away without putting others at risk, or has a way to get others that might be in the path to safety, he's not above tactical retreats. If it's just him and there's no chance of others being hurt, he's just as likely to flee as to fight.
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks? Puns, sly pranks, and gentle teasing; he likes to surprise people, although his jokes and pranks are pretty good-natured.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them? At this point, he's probably nursing an on and off depression, and the guilt complex he's got about Spade certainly isn't healthy. He's not as broken as he could be, and has mostly been coping by trying to pay attention and do what little he can to influence things; the 9th and 10th Generations have helped immensely by being more in tune with what he founded the Vongola for, and more given to his form of ideals and empathy.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person? However he met G, that set him up for quite a bit. Headcanonly, there was a bit of a turning point of going from "tradesman's son" to "wandering vigilante" after some of the criminal groups went to shake down his family for money and it turned violent; he had a bit of a near-death-experience in the fighting and ended up tripping over the Dying Will state. Running into Cozarto when they both tripped over each other helping a mutual acquaintance is another big one, since Cozarto was the one who suggested forming the Vongola, and he'd count his first meetings with every one of his Guardians as important; there's also the off-camera and never fully explained moment where he'd arranged the bargain to become the keepers of the Vongola rings, as well as the oath he made with Cozarto before the Vendice. Spade's first betrayal was another big one, and his choice to not actually confront Spade on it; also his headcanon death was sort of a killdeer act - he'd managed to outlive the rest of his Guardians, and was being targeted while in retirement, choosing to strike off on his own and let the people after him get him rather than put his family at risk.
14. What does he fear? Things happening to the people he cares about; this one's already come true once. As much as he cares about Spade, there's also a tangled mass of complexes that includes several fears, although the fear of what Spade would make of the Vongola actually rates higher than fear of Spade finding new ways to take out his grudge against Giotto. He's not really thrilled with isolation, either.
15. What are his hopes or aspirations? Peace, in a fashion - the Vongola being strong enough and capable enough to protect the weak so they don't have to live in fear, and being able to reach a point where they don't have to use force to settle conflicts anymore. He's learned that a point where relying purely on pacifism and diplomacy is feasible is a pipe dream, at least.
16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him? He does carry a good bit of guilt for having taken their fighting force apart before the attack that killed Elena, and blames himself again for not managing to get through to Spade after that, such that Spade grew bitter and spiteful enough to turn the way he did and start trying to mold the Vongola into monsters instead of protectors. He'd also prefer that others, especially his Guardians, not hear details of how he died and that he didn't exactly put up any kind of fight.
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents. Close; his mother was a decently strong influence, even though she passed away when he was around ten or eleven, and his father was the one that used to slip him sweets if a fight he'd gotten into was for a good cause, especially if he'd won. His father continued to support him into the earlier days of the Vongola.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like? None; as much as his parents were open to it, his mother's failing health pretty well nixed that.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand? The extended family was from Venice mostly; he was never horribly close with them, but it wasn't an exactly hostile relationship, and when the Vongola started getting more established, some of them threw in as supporters.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them? Referring to the Vongola as "Famiglia" wasn't just a social term, for him; his Guardians were his closest family. G would be the one he was closest with, as the two of them grew up together. Ugetsu also ended up being pretty much "practically sibling", even with the distance for a few years there. Lampo was pretty much Giotto's surrogate younger sibling to troll and be overprotective of, as much as the boy did get perfectly capable in his own right. Knuckle tended to be basically the eternally bright thing that made it hard to angst or get overly worried around. Before his betrayal, Spade had ended up being a close trusted confidante, stabilizing influence, and sounding board, someone Giotto'd often turned to for honest advice or when there was something bothering him or something he was mulling over that he wasn't sure about sharing with the others for one reason or another, as well as the one who taught him how to deal with politics - a relationship that definitely didn't help his difficulty in coming to terms with Spade's eventual grudge. His relationship with Alaude was a bit more complicated and confusing; while Alaude didn't tend to carry himself as being close at all, there was a good amount of implicit trust, and the "I'm not associated with you" posturing was more plausible deniability for Alaude's other position as a government official and Alaude's own independence than an actual representation of the relationship. When he was around, Alaude would occasionally end up getting used as a second trusted sounding board, if one that tended to be more prone to snark and "brutal honesty"; after a few years they'd gotten pretty good at carrying on conversations where an outside party wouldn't be sure what the Hell was going on with them, since Alaude would never adjust his normal patterns of interaction and Giotto'd acquired a very good Alaude To Normal Person translation filter, and would carry on his side as if Alaude's posturing, insults, etc. weren't even happening. Worth noting that with the different relationships, while G, Ugetsu, and Cozarto probably held the strongest "pseudo-family" bonds, he was pretty aware of where they had their weaknesses that he'd be covering - don't trust G to be calm and hold his temper, Ugetsu being occasionally TOO calm, chill, and nonconflicting, Cozarto having people of his own to worry about... Such that the two that'd been the "Most trusted" in terms of him being willing to actually drop covering his own weaknesses or trusting their judgment without stopping to evaluate where they might be distracted or tripping up or if he'd be troubling them, were Alaude and Spade.
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet? As much as he sort-of weeps at having to choose among the above, it'd be G, with Cozarto a second-place; G had gotten involved in one of his fights when he was younger and sort-of saved his ass, then ended up helping him learn how to fight, while Cozarto he met after Cozarto returned his wallet ... which he'd dropped to backhandedly pass the money to a poor and bad-off friend in the neighborhood ... while Cozarto and G had both ALSO done the same thing.
6. Does he have other close friends? He'd have pretty much adopted the rest of Cozarto's people; there was also Elena, who was the one that introduced him to Spade. As much as she wasn't a Guardian herself, she was a philanthropist and strong enough supporter in the upper class that she was a part of the Vongola inner circle with the Guardians, and probably someone he practically considered a sister.
7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people? He makes friends easily, although the people he's truly close with are a pretty short list that it's harder to get on; he has to really grow to trust someone before he considers them close.
8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends? He refuses to choose, considers his friends "family", and would run himself into the ground to protect both if he were given a "choose one or the other" scenario.
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once? Technically widowed. While his wife outlived him, she's also now long dead.
10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse? He's been boxed up in a ring for a century.
11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest? Oh god. It's really hard to tell with what little is known, and he's pretty close-mouthed about it; it's entirely possible he had a brief crush on Elena that popped up and flickered off to disappear since she was already involved with Spade when they met, and he did think they had a wonderful relationship. The last would've been his wife.
12. What does he look for in a romantic partner? Somebody who'd share his ideals and be happy to help with the "taking in strays" that he's prone to, close enough to be trusted, and able to be a stabilizer occasionally when he's being more flighty.
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any? Yes, and a great-great-great grandson who's a lot like him, even if he's a flaily, squishy, self-esteem-issue-ridden mass of Libra indecision.
14. Does he have any rivals or enemies? Definitely enemies in some of the other Mafia bosses of his day, although most of those are dead and in modern times the Vongola have managed to earn some form of respect and acceptance in the underworld. As much as Spade is working to undermine and warp everything he worked for and likely had a hand in him stepping down and his death, he doesn't consider Spade an enemy.
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does he fall on the Kinsey scale? 0, maaaaybe a 1, and that mostly out of just the extent of how strongly he bonds to people he's close to, and would probably require alcohol to run into.
16. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him? He has a kid and he still kind-of flusters at the subject outside of privacy and significant other; he was kinda raised Catholic and as much as he's really not that Catholic, he's still more on the "repressed" end of the scale.
17. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits? I may need to get him drunk to get an answer out of him for this.
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does he fit type? He doesn't have a canon birthdate!
By his headcanon birthdate and the chart that goes with it, he's a Libra. And oh, is he a Libra. It's nearly impossible to get him to hold a grudge because he's too good at understanding the other side's perspective even if he's standing up against them enough to beat them down.
Current headcanon birthdate places him as a Tiger on the Chinese zodiac - inexhaustible energy source, no sense of fear, and a compulsion to go Right Wrongs.
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his life? Spiritual more than religious, at this point. I mean, he certainly seems to register being entrusted with part of the Tri-ni-Sette as a basically divine charge, but somehow I imagine that as much as he was raised Catholic and probably still has fragments of it, he's probably not on great terms with the church anymore, and seems to've ended up a little disillusioned with the organized institution of the church.
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? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I'll take "definition of his existence" for 500$, Alex!
He pretty much seems to've had a pretty strong moral compass since he was little, and while there's some leeway for underhanded tactics and deception if that'll minimize real harm done, you're not going to get him to compromise it; he'll die first.
4. How does he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent? Somehow I doubt Ugetsu was Catholic. Tolerant, curious, and open; Libralibralibra. Even if he ends up tripping over things he disagrees with, as long as it's not actively harming others, he'll respect it.
5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them? You know I think he has an allergy to the concept of prejudice on principle. He might be confused or unsure how to react to things that're unfamiliar or go against what he was raised with, but if they're not hurting people, he'll flail and adapt.
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt? As of when he died, he was decently well off; he'd probably given up the greater part of whatever wealth they'd built as something to leave as a legacy of the Famiglia, but kept enough to survive comfortably in retirement.
2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him? Born to a trade/crafts family - basically lower-middle-class, doing glass and some jewelry work; when that got destroyed, there was a period of time where he was basically off grid as a vigilante and probably scraping by with G, although they seem to've gotten to where they could afford charity by the time he met Cozarto, and he'd managed to rebuild to where he had contact with some of the aristocracy by the time he'd recruited all of his Guardians. At his height as Vongola Primo, they had the resources to handle a multi-front war against other underworld and mafia groups, and presumably a few irritated authorities, and a few bases and boltholes; as mentioned, a lot of that was given up in retirement, and he was probably back to living off his crafts, albeit comfortably, before his death.
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 had a home in Japan before his death, although he fled it to draw people after him away from his family; it seems to've worked seeing as how they survived fine. Wherever he's lived, it's been well-kept whether it's been poorer or richer, and an open home to any of his Famiglia, as well as probably occasional temporary strays he was taking care of, human and otherwise. Since his death this's been kind of irrelevant as he's been the will of a ring.
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend his money on? Gifts and upkeep for people he cares about, mainly. After that, not a whole lot; he's capable of being perfectly happy with a few friends and maybe a garden.
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? There's basically two things here - the trade he grew up with, and what he dedicated most of his life to. As far as the glass and minor jewelry work goes, he's perfectly good at it, if a bit rusty by now. The main career, however, was building up the Vongola as a vigilante organization that settled into being a permanent Famiglia, and... well, he managed to probably piss off every major underworld group in Europe and not only survive, but get the Famiglia to build enough of a foothold to remain a real challenger and start to prosper. He doesn't care for the outright fighting and conflict, but he does enjoy building something worthwhile and getting to help others.
6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time? He has a fondness for plants and animals; there were probably gardens and birdbaths in their bases whenever he could manage, and he did have some interest in the arts and literature, although it was mostly layman's appreciation when he had the chance. He's also picked up an interest in philosophy, and would probably find psychology fascinating if he were introduced to it.
7. What are his eating habits? Does he skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods? A little scattered; if he's preoccupied enough he can forget meals, especially now that he's been dead for a while. He's not likely to eat out alone, and is perfectly happy and capable of cooking; there's not a whole lot that he avoids, and he's usually willing to try anything once. As for alcohol, he's not against it, but he's a total lightweight; it takes very little to get him drunk.
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is his favorite:
1. Color? Gold and blue
2. Smell?
3. Time of day? Afternoon/early evening
4. Season? Spring
5. Book?
6. Music?
7. Place? Vicenza and Venice area
8. Substance?
9. Plant?
10. Animal? Lion as a somewhat canon association; he had a soft spot for songbirds, and just about any animal that crossed his path.
END
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