application •
[ Player Name ] : January
[ Personal LJ ] : myfarewells
[ Age ] : 16
[ Timezone ] : GMT -5
[ Other Characters ] :
Billy Iketani (aimforthesun) | Beauty Pop
Sakuya (reveringly) | Eureka seveN
Zen (countrybeloved) | Akagami no Shirayukihime
[ Character's Name ] : Train Heartnet
[ Character's Age ] : 23 (though by this point, he's presumably turned 24)
[ Series ] : Black Cat
[ Canon Point ] : Post-series
[ History ] :
It all began when Train’s parents were murdered.
For reasons that Train admits to not knowing, even to this day, the murderer in question-Zaguine Axeloake-took him and taught him to kill. It became Train’s goal to kill this man as revenge, and for that he trained to become stronger.
Unfortunately, he lost his chance.
After four months, a third party killed Zaguine. As he lay there, dying, he parted some final words with Train, inspiring him to focus on becoming stronger, no matter what. It was because of this that Train grew obsessed with power, choosing not to care about anyone else. Afterwards, a man named Karl took him in for a few years and had him join Chronos, a group of assassins. Train quickly rose through the ranks until he became a Number-XIII, to be precise. He became known as the “Black Cat”, a legendary assassin feared by all in the underground.
-And in some cases, adored. One of his partners, named Creed Diskenth, became obsessed with Train, despite the latter’s cold attitude. This infatuation would later set the entire series’ plot into motion.
Train’s entire way of thinking changed when, while bleeding on a sidewalk, a sweeper (i.e. bounty hunter) named Saya Minatsuki came across him. She took him and tended to his wounds, despite knowing whom he was. Afterwards, the two became friends, and slowly, Train’s view on life began to change. He questioned if being Chronos’s “pet cat” really suited him, to which Saya replied that it probably didn’t, seeing as how he never smiled. Because of her, Train started killing less and less, choosing instead to spare his targets. This got him put in confinement for ten days as punishment by Chronos.
Chronos was the least of Train’s worries, though. Creed, who admired Train’s murderous side to extreme levels, was not happy with Saya’s influence, to put it mildly. Calling her a “witch” who had put Train under a curse, he set out to kill her. Despite her skills, she was defeated when she saved three kids who’d stumbled across the fight. Train, who’d received a note by Creed, came across the scene. She then died in his arms, but not before leaving him with her last words:
“You can… forget about me.”
He vowed to kill Creed instead.
Locating him was an entirely different story, however. In the meantime, Train left Chronos, became a sweeper, and over the next few months, changed completely. By the time he met Sven Vollfied, he was the happy-go-lucky guy he is today. In fact, this cheerful personality made the other sweeper believe that Train wasn’t suited to be a sweeper, and he told him to quit and live a normal life.
… He promptly ate his words when Train later busted him out of a trap. Sweeper or not, his skills as XIII hadn’t diminished. Thanks to this event, the two became partners, working together to capture the target.
In the series’ present (two years after Saya's death), the two come across Rinslet Walker, a well-known thief. She convinces them to form a temporary alliance with her for a mission, where she steals research data and they have a chance at a large bounty. It’s during this mission that Sven and Train obtain the third member of their party: a girl named Eve, infused with nanomachines that allow her to transform at will. Train spots her and the target while doing reconnaissance of the target’s mansion-or rather, he spots her killing the subordinates that his target isn’t pleased with. In order to stop her, he reveals himself, leading him to be chased throughout the mansion. Eventually, he resorts to the good ol’ “disguise yourself as one of the lackeys” trick, allowing him to sneak away.
Meanwhile, Eve, who leaves the mansion, meets Sven. Due to his gentleman nature, he looks after her, believing her to be a lost child. He’s quickly proven wrong when his and Train’s target appears, and Sven, not realizing his connection to Eve, announces his status as a sweeper.
Eve stabs him.
Fortunately, Rinslet finds him, preventing the wound from being fatal. Sven vows to help Eve, noticing that she had tears in her eyes when she stabbed him-proving herself to be more than just a weapon. After testing his will and being satisfied with the results, Train agrees to let him come along. Long story short, they win and subsequently adopt Eve (as for the research, Rinslet, disgusted by it, burns the laboratory to the ground).
As it turns out, though, their target had been in league with Creed, who abducts Rinslet and holds her as hostage. Train convinces him to let her go if they duel-in which if Creed wins, Train will join him. Thanks to Creed’s new-and invisible-blade, the Imagine Blade, Train is nearly backed into a proverbial corner. After all, as Creed points out, it’s rather difficult to block a sword you can’t see.
However, Train proves himself yet again to be a formidable fighter when he formulates a plan to defeat Creed. He allows Creed to cut his right hand off, which, by doing so, allows him to tell where the sword is and shoot it away. He then shoots Creed with a Burst Bullet, designed by Sven, and far more powerful than your average bullet. Believing Creed to be dead, he falls unconscious-and out of the tower, along with Rinslet who tries to save him. Luckily, the two survive due to a number of reasons. After landing, an ally of Creed’s (known only as Doctor) uses a technique to fuse Train’s hand back with his arm, under Creed’s orders.
Throughout the rest of the series, Creed gains allies for his group, the Apostles of Stars, and his motivations become clearer: he wants to change the world, by getting rid of those he deems ‘unworthy.’ He continuously asks Train to join him, and it’s not until the end of the series does he finally realize that Train is never going to. Meanwhile, Train undergoes his own decisions-mainly, how to deal with Creed. In time, he decides against his original goal of killing him; instead, he’ll capture him, like a sweeper would.
At one point, Creed accidentally shoots him with a Lucifer bullet, which implants nanomachines into his body. They cause Train to de-age physically, but he manages to return to normal by using the nanomachines’ shapeshifting ability. In the process, he gains the power of charging his cells, turning his gun Hades into a railgun-i.e. a gun that stores energy and, upon releasing it, accelerates bullets to incredible speeds. Of course, all such powers have a price: he can only use it a few times a day.
Upon learning Creed’s location, Train, his allies, and an alliance of sweepers head over there to take him down. One by one, they defeat the Apostles of Stars, but in the process, Train uses up all his railgun shots. To make matters worse, Creed has infused himself with nanomachines, essentially making him immortal. His Imagine Blade has also evolved to Level 3, linking it with his mind and giving him even more power. On the other hand, as Train notes, if it’s linked with his mind, then breaking it will break Creed’s mind.
-The tricky part is breaking a blade that, well, won’t break. Creed proceeds to nearly defeat Train, having decided to kill him and keep his corpse if Train won’t join him. It’s when Train remembers the support of those he met along the way-and, of course, Saya-that he manages to summon enough energy for another railgun shot. Combined with the Burst Bullet, he succeeds in beating Creed.
[ Personality ] :
Train is, first and foremost, carefree. This stems from a number of his traits: his “don’t give a damn” attitude, his general insensitive straightforwardness, his seemingly dense attitude, his thirst for excitement, his cockiness, and his determination to live life as a “stray cat”, free to do as he pleases.
First of all, his lack of worries. Half the time, he never seems to be concerned with too many things, much to Sven’s annoyance. A woman pleads to him for help? His immediate answer is no (he was just about to eat, after all!). They’re trying to out-drive a rainfall of debris? Train just cheerfully comments, “Sven, if you make a mistake, we will all die!” (and even goes onto add, “If we die, you’ll have to take full responsibility, Sven!”). Someone’s using the Black Cat name for his own purposes? Let him do what he wants. The world could be facing its end? Train’s just worried about what’s for dinner-and so on and so forth. His cheerfulness veers right into childish territory, as, if one didn’t know better, he/she’d think that he doesn’t even realize the danger he’s constantly in. He almost always has a smile to be found on his face and rarely loses his upbeat personality, no matter how bad the situation is. However, that’s not to say his laidback attitude is always immature or a bad thing. The fact that he doesn’t fall to brooding could also be considered one of his greatest strengths. Take the Doctor’s warp world, for example-he is able to shoot the illusion of Saya without hesitance. Were it any other hero, they probably would’ve stopped and struggled with the decision, but not Train. He simply looks forward, free from the chains that burden other people, as he conquered them long ago.
Secondly, Train is rather blunt, and thus often comes across as rude. He’s not necessarily honest, as he’s more than capable of lying, but he generally says whatever’s on his mind (whether it be the truth or a lie). This goes hand in hand with his “don’t give a damn” attitude-he’s not concerned with what people think of him-and his drive to live life as he wants, as explained below. Still, this trait (… along with just about all of his other ones) makes him difficult to put up with at times.
Thirdly, Train will come across as… quite idiotic, or at least senseless. While he’ll never forget an important detail, unimportant ones tend to fly through his head and exit in three seconds, completely forgotten. He has a one-track mind, and generally, the two things on it are food and excitement. He’s motivated by the idea of good food or a free meal, he rushes straight into battle, etc.-making him appear to be your standard idiot hero. Let’s face it, a large portion of his, Sven, and Eve’s debts come from all the wreckage he causes and all the food he wastes money on.
And on that note, Train lives for excitement. To him, it’s not about capturing the target, as it is the thrill of it when he tries. Because of that, he’ll purposely give up his advantage or resort to basic chasing (again, much to Sven’s annoyance) if it means making the mission more exciting. He’s the sort of person who’d intentionally reveal himself at the last minute just to be dramatic. This can probably be traced to the fact that he likes to live in the moment. For him, it’s not always the end that matters, as it is how you get there.
Fifth-he’s extremely confident to the point of arrogance. That being said, going back to the previous note, about how he sometimes gives up his advantage-that’s because he’s usually self-assured enough that he’ll catch the target even so. He has tremendous (and justified) faith in his abilities, as evident by how he never panics in battle and how he often taunts his enemies. While he acknowledges others’ strength, he also openly boasts about his skills. Ultimately, a lot of the ‘stupid’ things he does? They’re less out of idiocy, and more out of confidence that he’ll succeed either way.
Sixth, and his most defining trait: his way of living freely that he adopted from Saya. He will not compromise his beliefs, he will not be used as a tool-he will not do anything he doesn’t want to. After all, a cat does whatever it pleases, and a stray cat even more so. As said, he lives in the moment-he does whatever he wants whenever he wants (wherever he wants, however he wants, etc.). In that sense, he is both an impulsive and a selfish person. He goes with the flow, adapting to any obstacle that gets thrown his way, all the while enjoying himself. He does his own thing, without much regard for anything else. Honestly, Sven ought to know better than to let him pick up the bounty-otherwise Train will end up only accepting a small percentage of it, spend it all on food, etc., while ignoring their huge debt. It makes being Train’s partner frustrating, since as much as Train values his friends, it doesn’t change the fact that he lives life the way he wants to.
-But to dismiss him as a purely untroubled and selfish person would be inaccurate. His carefree life is not one that comes entirely ‘naturally’, so to speak; that is, he makes an adamant effort to live his life that way. As he tells Sven once, “Before [Creed and I face each other], I’d like to play the role of a happy-go-lucky sweeper.” His cheerfulness isn’t an act (though he’s capable of using it as such), but it’s not something that’s just there for no reason. He’s definitely far more light-hearted than your average person, but he’s also more serious than he seems at a glance. His past is stained with violence, and he knows that. However, instead of running away from it, he makes it a point to embrace the fact it existed, and from then on to grow stronger. This is something he chose not to adopt from Saya, who told him to forget. Rather, he chose to remember, and because of her memory, was able to overcome Creed. Although he doesn’t go around telling people of his past (despite working with Sven for a long time, he doesn’t tell him about Saya until near the end of the series), he doesn’t truly hide things either. Take his XIII mark, for example-it’s right in plain view, both on his collarbone and his gun. He’s been recognized as Black Cat countless times, but he doesn’t care. To him, the past exists, and it’s not there so that you can run away from it.
One other thing that he did adopt from Saya, though, is her value of life. Although he does kill a few times at the beginning of the series for unexplained reasons and seems to spare people more because of bounty policies, there’s no denying that he’s different from how he was as an assassin. As the latter, he’d take a life without regret (though he drew the line at women and children). Now, he has genuine compassion for other human beings, thanks to Saya’s influence. It’s because of her that he decided not to kill Creed, knowing that she wouldn’t approve, and instead went after him as a sweeper. He doesn't believe in murder as revenge anymore, and tries to get other people to feel the same.
Speaking of which, for all his selfishness, Train’s also much kinder than he appears. When you get down to it, he has a genuine desire to help others-and god help you if you harm his friends. This consideration even extends to his enemies, such as when he decides to help Kyoko start a new life or defeat Shiki by making him realize Tao isn’t the strongest way of fighting (and by doing so, he also opens up doors for the future for him, which is Train’s own way of helping him). His policy about not killing isn’t just for show-it’s not just there because Saya would’ve approved. He especially has a soft spot for those who wish to start anew, as he himself is someone who reformed from a darker past.
He also chooses not to command people’s lives. As much as he’d like for people to reform, he won’t force them to. He’ll give them the opportunity to, and after that, he leaves it up to them. It’s why he never forces Eve to leave them, in contrast to Sven. He decides to support her with whatever decision she makes, frequently letting her known of his and Sven’s plans and whatnot so she can help. Again, this probably has to do with his carefree lifestyle. If he doesn’t want others to dictate how he lives, why should he dictate how others live?
[ Strengths/Weaknesses ] :
Train grew up as a fighter, and it shows.
He's considered to be the greatest marksman in the world, a title he most definitely deserves. His skill with the gun is amazing-he rarely misses a shot, he’s mastered Saya’s reflect shot, he can shoot bullets out of the air, etc. While he no longer has the railgun ability, as it disappeared after his fight with Creed, he’s more than a competent enough fighter without it. His gun Hades doubles as a shield and holds six shots.
That's not to say he needs his gun to fight, though. Along with his marksmanship, he’s incredibly agile, fast, and strong physically, being able to brush off serious wounds as if they were nothing and dodge bullets with ease-consider even hurting him to be an achievement. His eyesight is also six times better than the average person. On top of that, he's a master of disguise, and he’s got a few gadgets, thanks to Sven, such as his smoke bombs and whatnot (though obviously, without Sven around, he has a limited supply of those).
He’s not just a brute either. Despite his seemingly idiotic behaviour, he's always very aware of his surroundings and he actually relies on tactics and strategy quite a bit. He’s a lot smarter and more perceptive than he seems.
That being said, he’s still a bit of a simple-minded person. Outside of battle, you’re not going to see him doing anything overly-complicated. His ideals can also come across as naïve-mainly, his policy to not kill in a world where your enemies are more than happy to kill you. He's also got a weak spot for women and children.
[ Other Important Facts ] :
He’s rather fond of milk-probably thanks to Zaguine, who encouraged him to drink it.
He's ambidextrous-originally left-handed.
He also appears to be asexual.
He fails at video games forever.
[ Sample ] :
[Nothing quite starts the day off, Vatheon, like having a golden eye peering into the screen. It eventually backs up, revealing the blank face of one Train Heartnet.]
Heeey, is this one of Sven’s inventions? That’s weird-he didn’t tell me about this…
[The fact that he’s soaking wet doesn’t seem to bother him much as he glances around, his expression going from blank to annoyed.]
Geez, did that guy ditch me here or something? Cheap! I bet Little Princess told him to…!
[He looks back to the SFC.]
Sven, if you’re listening right now, guess what? As payback for ditching me here, I’m selling this thing! We already have communicators anyway, remember? I don’t think we really need new ones.
… I wonder how much this is worth. Might be able to buy me a meal, at least.
[They could’ve at least left him with something to eat, geez. He pauses.]
Besides, did you really have to make it so tacky? Come on, you could’ve come up with something better than a star. Kind of bulky too, if you ask me…
[He looks around again, and-oh! It seems something’s caught his attention off-screen. A grin spreads across his face, as he starts moving.]
Hey, miss, that looks gooooood-
[Train Heartnet, XIII, Black Cat, legendary assassin-distracted by a food stall.]
[ Questions? Comments? Concerns? ] : ... Someone show me the badge, sob.
[ Personal LJ ] : myfarewells
[ Age ] : 16
[ Timezone ] : GMT -5
[ Other Characters ] :
Billy Iketani (aimforthesun) | Beauty Pop
Sakuya (reveringly) | Eureka seveN
Zen (countrybeloved) | Akagami no Shirayukihime
[ Character's Name ] : Train Heartnet
[ Character's Age ] : 23 (though by this point, he's presumably turned 24)
[ Series ] : Black Cat
[ Canon Point ] : Post-series
[ History ] :
It all began when Train’s parents were murdered.
For reasons that Train admits to not knowing, even to this day, the murderer in question-Zaguine Axeloake-took him and taught him to kill. It became Train’s goal to kill this man as revenge, and for that he trained to become stronger.
Unfortunately, he lost his chance.
After four months, a third party killed Zaguine. As he lay there, dying, he parted some final words with Train, inspiring him to focus on becoming stronger, no matter what. It was because of this that Train grew obsessed with power, choosing not to care about anyone else. Afterwards, a man named Karl took him in for a few years and had him join Chronos, a group of assassins. Train quickly rose through the ranks until he became a Number-XIII, to be precise. He became known as the “Black Cat”, a legendary assassin feared by all in the underground.
-And in some cases, adored. One of his partners, named Creed Diskenth, became obsessed with Train, despite the latter’s cold attitude. This infatuation would later set the entire series’ plot into motion.
Train’s entire way of thinking changed when, while bleeding on a sidewalk, a sweeper (i.e. bounty hunter) named Saya Minatsuki came across him. She took him and tended to his wounds, despite knowing whom he was. Afterwards, the two became friends, and slowly, Train’s view on life began to change. He questioned if being Chronos’s “pet cat” really suited him, to which Saya replied that it probably didn’t, seeing as how he never smiled. Because of her, Train started killing less and less, choosing instead to spare his targets. This got him put in confinement for ten days as punishment by Chronos.
Chronos was the least of Train’s worries, though. Creed, who admired Train’s murderous side to extreme levels, was not happy with Saya’s influence, to put it mildly. Calling her a “witch” who had put Train under a curse, he set out to kill her. Despite her skills, she was defeated when she saved three kids who’d stumbled across the fight. Train, who’d received a note by Creed, came across the scene. She then died in his arms, but not before leaving him with her last words:
“You can… forget about me.”
He vowed to kill Creed instead.
Locating him was an entirely different story, however. In the meantime, Train left Chronos, became a sweeper, and over the next few months, changed completely. By the time he met Sven Vollfied, he was the happy-go-lucky guy he is today. In fact, this cheerful personality made the other sweeper believe that Train wasn’t suited to be a sweeper, and he told him to quit and live a normal life.
… He promptly ate his words when Train later busted him out of a trap. Sweeper or not, his skills as XIII hadn’t diminished. Thanks to this event, the two became partners, working together to capture the target.
In the series’ present (two years after Saya's death), the two come across Rinslet Walker, a well-known thief. She convinces them to form a temporary alliance with her for a mission, where she steals research data and they have a chance at a large bounty. It’s during this mission that Sven and Train obtain the third member of their party: a girl named Eve, infused with nanomachines that allow her to transform at will. Train spots her and the target while doing reconnaissance of the target’s mansion-or rather, he spots her killing the subordinates that his target isn’t pleased with. In order to stop her, he reveals himself, leading him to be chased throughout the mansion. Eventually, he resorts to the good ol’ “disguise yourself as one of the lackeys” trick, allowing him to sneak away.
Meanwhile, Eve, who leaves the mansion, meets Sven. Due to his gentleman nature, he looks after her, believing her to be a lost child. He’s quickly proven wrong when his and Train’s target appears, and Sven, not realizing his connection to Eve, announces his status as a sweeper.
Eve stabs him.
Fortunately, Rinslet finds him, preventing the wound from being fatal. Sven vows to help Eve, noticing that she had tears in her eyes when she stabbed him-proving herself to be more than just a weapon. After testing his will and being satisfied with the results, Train agrees to let him come along. Long story short, they win and subsequently adopt Eve (as for the research, Rinslet, disgusted by it, burns the laboratory to the ground).
As it turns out, though, their target had been in league with Creed, who abducts Rinslet and holds her as hostage. Train convinces him to let her go if they duel-in which if Creed wins, Train will join him. Thanks to Creed’s new-and invisible-blade, the Imagine Blade, Train is nearly backed into a proverbial corner. After all, as Creed points out, it’s rather difficult to block a sword you can’t see.
However, Train proves himself yet again to be a formidable fighter when he formulates a plan to defeat Creed. He allows Creed to cut his right hand off, which, by doing so, allows him to tell where the sword is and shoot it away. He then shoots Creed with a Burst Bullet, designed by Sven, and far more powerful than your average bullet. Believing Creed to be dead, he falls unconscious-and out of the tower, along with Rinslet who tries to save him. Luckily, the two survive due to a number of reasons. After landing, an ally of Creed’s (known only as Doctor) uses a technique to fuse Train’s hand back with his arm, under Creed’s orders.
Throughout the rest of the series, Creed gains allies for his group, the Apostles of Stars, and his motivations become clearer: he wants to change the world, by getting rid of those he deems ‘unworthy.’ He continuously asks Train to join him, and it’s not until the end of the series does he finally realize that Train is never going to. Meanwhile, Train undergoes his own decisions-mainly, how to deal with Creed. In time, he decides against his original goal of killing him; instead, he’ll capture him, like a sweeper would.
At one point, Creed accidentally shoots him with a Lucifer bullet, which implants nanomachines into his body. They cause Train to de-age physically, but he manages to return to normal by using the nanomachines’ shapeshifting ability. In the process, he gains the power of charging his cells, turning his gun Hades into a railgun-i.e. a gun that stores energy and, upon releasing it, accelerates bullets to incredible speeds. Of course, all such powers have a price: he can only use it a few times a day.
Upon learning Creed’s location, Train, his allies, and an alliance of sweepers head over there to take him down. One by one, they defeat the Apostles of Stars, but in the process, Train uses up all his railgun shots. To make matters worse, Creed has infused himself with nanomachines, essentially making him immortal. His Imagine Blade has also evolved to Level 3, linking it with his mind and giving him even more power. On the other hand, as Train notes, if it’s linked with his mind, then breaking it will break Creed’s mind.
-The tricky part is breaking a blade that, well, won’t break. Creed proceeds to nearly defeat Train, having decided to kill him and keep his corpse if Train won’t join him. It’s when Train remembers the support of those he met along the way-and, of course, Saya-that he manages to summon enough energy for another railgun shot. Combined with the Burst Bullet, he succeeds in beating Creed.
[ Personality ] :
Train is, first and foremost, carefree. This stems from a number of his traits: his “don’t give a damn” attitude, his general insensitive straightforwardness, his seemingly dense attitude, his thirst for excitement, his cockiness, and his determination to live life as a “stray cat”, free to do as he pleases.
First of all, his lack of worries. Half the time, he never seems to be concerned with too many things, much to Sven’s annoyance. A woman pleads to him for help? His immediate answer is no (he was just about to eat, after all!). They’re trying to out-drive a rainfall of debris? Train just cheerfully comments, “Sven, if you make a mistake, we will all die!” (and even goes onto add, “If we die, you’ll have to take full responsibility, Sven!”). Someone’s using the Black Cat name for his own purposes? Let him do what he wants. The world could be facing its end? Train’s just worried about what’s for dinner-and so on and so forth. His cheerfulness veers right into childish territory, as, if one didn’t know better, he/she’d think that he doesn’t even realize the danger he’s constantly in. He almost always has a smile to be found on his face and rarely loses his upbeat personality, no matter how bad the situation is. However, that’s not to say his laidback attitude is always immature or a bad thing. The fact that he doesn’t fall to brooding could also be considered one of his greatest strengths. Take the Doctor’s warp world, for example-he is able to shoot the illusion of Saya without hesitance. Were it any other hero, they probably would’ve stopped and struggled with the decision, but not Train. He simply looks forward, free from the chains that burden other people, as he conquered them long ago.
Secondly, Train is rather blunt, and thus often comes across as rude. He’s not necessarily honest, as he’s more than capable of lying, but he generally says whatever’s on his mind (whether it be the truth or a lie). This goes hand in hand with his “don’t give a damn” attitude-he’s not concerned with what people think of him-and his drive to live life as he wants, as explained below. Still, this trait (… along with just about all of his other ones) makes him difficult to put up with at times.
Thirdly, Train will come across as… quite idiotic, or at least senseless. While he’ll never forget an important detail, unimportant ones tend to fly through his head and exit in three seconds, completely forgotten. He has a one-track mind, and generally, the two things on it are food and excitement. He’s motivated by the idea of good food or a free meal, he rushes straight into battle, etc.-making him appear to be your standard idiot hero. Let’s face it, a large portion of his, Sven, and Eve’s debts come from all the wreckage he causes and all the food he wastes money on.
And on that note, Train lives for excitement. To him, it’s not about capturing the target, as it is the thrill of it when he tries. Because of that, he’ll purposely give up his advantage or resort to basic chasing (again, much to Sven’s annoyance) if it means making the mission more exciting. He’s the sort of person who’d intentionally reveal himself at the last minute just to be dramatic. This can probably be traced to the fact that he likes to live in the moment. For him, it’s not always the end that matters, as it is how you get there.
Fifth-he’s extremely confident to the point of arrogance. That being said, going back to the previous note, about how he sometimes gives up his advantage-that’s because he’s usually self-assured enough that he’ll catch the target even so. He has tremendous (and justified) faith in his abilities, as evident by how he never panics in battle and how he often taunts his enemies. While he acknowledges others’ strength, he also openly boasts about his skills. Ultimately, a lot of the ‘stupid’ things he does? They’re less out of idiocy, and more out of confidence that he’ll succeed either way.
Sixth, and his most defining trait: his way of living freely that he adopted from Saya. He will not compromise his beliefs, he will not be used as a tool-he will not do anything he doesn’t want to. After all, a cat does whatever it pleases, and a stray cat even more so. As said, he lives in the moment-he does whatever he wants whenever he wants (wherever he wants, however he wants, etc.). In that sense, he is both an impulsive and a selfish person. He goes with the flow, adapting to any obstacle that gets thrown his way, all the while enjoying himself. He does his own thing, without much regard for anything else. Honestly, Sven ought to know better than to let him pick up the bounty-otherwise Train will end up only accepting a small percentage of it, spend it all on food, etc., while ignoring their huge debt. It makes being Train’s partner frustrating, since as much as Train values his friends, it doesn’t change the fact that he lives life the way he wants to.
-But to dismiss him as a purely untroubled and selfish person would be inaccurate. His carefree life is not one that comes entirely ‘naturally’, so to speak; that is, he makes an adamant effort to live his life that way. As he tells Sven once, “Before [Creed and I face each other], I’d like to play the role of a happy-go-lucky sweeper.” His cheerfulness isn’t an act (though he’s capable of using it as such), but it’s not something that’s just there for no reason. He’s definitely far more light-hearted than your average person, but he’s also more serious than he seems at a glance. His past is stained with violence, and he knows that. However, instead of running away from it, he makes it a point to embrace the fact it existed, and from then on to grow stronger. This is something he chose not to adopt from Saya, who told him to forget. Rather, he chose to remember, and because of her memory, was able to overcome Creed. Although he doesn’t go around telling people of his past (despite working with Sven for a long time, he doesn’t tell him about Saya until near the end of the series), he doesn’t truly hide things either. Take his XIII mark, for example-it’s right in plain view, both on his collarbone and his gun. He’s been recognized as Black Cat countless times, but he doesn’t care. To him, the past exists, and it’s not there so that you can run away from it.
One other thing that he did adopt from Saya, though, is her value of life. Although he does kill a few times at the beginning of the series for unexplained reasons and seems to spare people more because of bounty policies, there’s no denying that he’s different from how he was as an assassin. As the latter, he’d take a life without regret (though he drew the line at women and children). Now, he has genuine compassion for other human beings, thanks to Saya’s influence. It’s because of her that he decided not to kill Creed, knowing that she wouldn’t approve, and instead went after him as a sweeper. He doesn't believe in murder as revenge anymore, and tries to get other people to feel the same.
Speaking of which, for all his selfishness, Train’s also much kinder than he appears. When you get down to it, he has a genuine desire to help others-and god help you if you harm his friends. This consideration even extends to his enemies, such as when he decides to help Kyoko start a new life or defeat Shiki by making him realize Tao isn’t the strongest way of fighting (and by doing so, he also opens up doors for the future for him, which is Train’s own way of helping him). His policy about not killing isn’t just for show-it’s not just there because Saya would’ve approved. He especially has a soft spot for those who wish to start anew, as he himself is someone who reformed from a darker past.
He also chooses not to command people’s lives. As much as he’d like for people to reform, he won’t force them to. He’ll give them the opportunity to, and after that, he leaves it up to them. It’s why he never forces Eve to leave them, in contrast to Sven. He decides to support her with whatever decision she makes, frequently letting her known of his and Sven’s plans and whatnot so she can help. Again, this probably has to do with his carefree lifestyle. If he doesn’t want others to dictate how he lives, why should he dictate how others live?
[ Strengths/Weaknesses ] :
Train grew up as a fighter, and it shows.
He's considered to be the greatest marksman in the world, a title he most definitely deserves. His skill with the gun is amazing-he rarely misses a shot, he’s mastered Saya’s reflect shot, he can shoot bullets out of the air, etc. While he no longer has the railgun ability, as it disappeared after his fight with Creed, he’s more than a competent enough fighter without it. His gun Hades doubles as a shield and holds six shots.
That's not to say he needs his gun to fight, though. Along with his marksmanship, he’s incredibly agile, fast, and strong physically, being able to brush off serious wounds as if they were nothing and dodge bullets with ease-consider even hurting him to be an achievement. His eyesight is also six times better than the average person. On top of that, he's a master of disguise, and he’s got a few gadgets, thanks to Sven, such as his smoke bombs and whatnot (though obviously, without Sven around, he has a limited supply of those).
He’s not just a brute either. Despite his seemingly idiotic behaviour, he's always very aware of his surroundings and he actually relies on tactics and strategy quite a bit. He’s a lot smarter and more perceptive than he seems.
That being said, he’s still a bit of a simple-minded person. Outside of battle, you’re not going to see him doing anything overly-complicated. His ideals can also come across as naïve-mainly, his policy to not kill in a world where your enemies are more than happy to kill you. He's also got a weak spot for women and children.
[ Other Important Facts ] :
He’s rather fond of milk-probably thanks to Zaguine, who encouraged him to drink it.
He's ambidextrous-originally left-handed.
He also appears to be asexual.
He fails at video games forever.
[ Sample ] :
[Nothing quite starts the day off, Vatheon, like having a golden eye peering into the screen. It eventually backs up, revealing the blank face of one Train Heartnet.]
Heeey, is this one of Sven’s inventions? That’s weird-he didn’t tell me about this…
[The fact that he’s soaking wet doesn’t seem to bother him much as he glances around, his expression going from blank to annoyed.]
Geez, did that guy ditch me here or something? Cheap! I bet Little Princess told him to…!
[He looks back to the SFC.]
Sven, if you’re listening right now, guess what? As payback for ditching me here, I’m selling this thing! We already have communicators anyway, remember? I don’t think we really need new ones.
… I wonder how much this is worth. Might be able to buy me a meal, at least.
[They could’ve at least left him with something to eat, geez. He pauses.]
Besides, did you really have to make it so tacky? Come on, you could’ve come up with something better than a star. Kind of bulky too, if you ask me…
[He looks around again, and-oh! It seems something’s caught his attention off-screen. A grin spreads across his face, as he starts moving.]
Hey, miss, that looks gooooood-
[Train Heartnet, XIII, Black Cat, legendary assassin-distracted by a food stall.]
[ Questions? Comments? Concerns? ] : ... Someone show me the badge, sob.