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Name: Davesprite (Dave Strider)
Age: 13
Gender: male
Canon: Homestuck
Timeline: End of Act 5
Character History:
Dave, Davesprite
The divergence into Davesprite's timeline involves John following what should have been a joke from Terezi, skipping ahead to meet the denizen of his medium (the equivalent of the final boss) and being killed by him. At this point this group no longer even has contact with the trolls, as they're only following the alpha timeline, but they're unaware of this difference. Their timeline is what is essentially referred to as a doomed timeline. It's uncertain how much time has passed since the divergence. Dave says four months, but his perspective on time is skewed because of how often he travels through it. It has at least been around that long for him, if not Rose. Jade in this timeline apparently never made it into the medium, as John wasn't there to bring her in.
So Dave and Rose realize they're screwed over at this point. Dave had even prototyped the puppet Cal with his Kernelsprite who, while seemingly helping him well enough in combat, drove him up the wall otherwise as all he did was laugh ridiculously. When he goes back in time, he manages to hit the point right before John lifts off to the seventh ring AND right before Dave does the second tier prototyping of his kernelsprite and hops up to have himself prototyped instead.
Character Personality:
Dave, in general, is the type of character that hides behind shades and a cool kid facade. His life is all irony and sarcastic metaphors, while at the same time he's clearly grateful for the friends he has. He's obviously not too cool to hang out with the rather nerdy friends he has (and it doesn't seem like he has many others besides them). He keeps himself closed off from others, friendly but not always honest about how he feels.
What others think about him is important, and he can be easily swayed to change his opinion about something if someone writes off his own thoughts as silly. He might play it off as though he wasn't serious to begin with. All things considered, he probably starts out as one of the least mature of the four.
He looks up to his brother a lot, while simultaneously being weirded out by him. Bro has some strange hobbies, after all. This isn't to say that Dave doesn't also like some weird things, such as strange creatures in jars.
Davesprite is an example of what can happen in some science fiction tales when the subject of time and alternate timelines is used to great extent. (Given that Dave is the Knight of Time, this is especially fitting.) He is basically a canon AU, or alternate universe character, but is actually a part of the main plot. This is not a completely uncommon occurrence. One example I can think of to compare this to is that of William and Thomas Riker from Star Trek the Next Generation. In that series, a transporter accident was responsible for splitting Riker into two individuals, with neither of them being aware that they'd been split until eight years later. They had both originally been Riker, but it's our experiences that shape us as human beings, and by that point they weren't the same man anymore. That said, the situations are nowhere near identical and it hasn't been nearly as long between the Dave separation as it was for Riker, but I believe the point on character development remains.
Aside from having to go through the deaths (or likely deaths) of two of his friends, Dave also had to make the decision to leave Rose behind in their doomed timeline without knowing what would happen to her. He did advise her to go to sleep first, as anything that remained from their timeline was more likely to be kept in her dream self than by any other method. The fact that he gave this advice and that they weren't communicating through the usual method of teasing they had before already shows the increased level of seriousness and maturity between them.
Having been forced into a more proactive role after the death of his friends, he is a little more quick to take initiative than Dave was. (Though Dave has gotten a bit better at that since.) He's less of a follower and more secure in making his own decisions.
On the other hand, he has to deal with the fact that he's no longer the alpha Dave. He exists now as a guide for a group of people that both are and aren't his friends at the same time. John at one point even asks to speak with the "real" Dave while chatting with him, which is upsetting. This is also a prime example of the differences between the two of them, as alpha Dave waves it off and tells John not to worry about it because it wouldn't have bothered him, while Davesprite is clearly a little bothered.
He gets along with his alpha self without too much awkwardness, but a lot of that is just Dave being Dave. When around himself he acts more like his old self. They agree with each other and go off on the usual rambling metaphors. As of yet, they haven't been seen arguing, and Davesprite goes out of his way to keep himself safe. It's his duty now to make sure this timeline succeeds where his didn't.
The prototyping into the kernelsprite made him privy to all the knowledge sprites are given. He's supposed to deliver this information more in riddle form than by straight answers, but he claims he doesn't care and will be straight with Dave. His counterpart doesn't press him for any answers, however. He also has the knowledge and experience that comes with simply being active in the medium longer. It's his guidance, along with the gifts of all the items he'd alchemized over that time, that allow Dave (and the others to an extent) to get through the medium at a faster pace.
When he's believed dead after the fight with Jack, he goes off on his own again rather than return to alpha Dave and the others. He puts what he knows about that world to good use and find's Hephaestus, getting him to help reforge the Royal Deringer (...which Dave later breaks again anyway). It could be said that he went off because he figured he had other tasks to do, but it's just as likely he didn't want to be seen by his alpha self after failing to keep their brother from getting killed. When he meets with Jadesprite later, there's virtually nothing left of his coolkid exterior. No sarcastic metaphors or irony or any of that. He's tired, and he assumes he doesn't have much time left. (At this point he's lost a wing and is still bleeding freely despite bandages.)
While Jadesprite merges with Jade and regains purpose, Davesprite isn't part of Dave and wasn't needed for his ascent to god tier. At this point in the story, it's doubtful he finds much purpose to his existence.
Character Abilities you would like to expand on further:
Dave is fairly talented in sword combat, though not in any one particular style. He spent a great deal of time fighting in the medium, after all. Speed is also something he has in great supply, though some of that is accountable to time manipulation.
As a sprite, he's apparently fairly powerful, but we're not shown much of what he can actually do. We are shown what a couple of the other sprites can do, such as shoot beams of energy or objects of their creation at the enemy. All we ever see Davesprite fighting with is a sword, and perhaps that's all he needs.
Character Weaknesses you would like to expand on further:
His feelings of self-worth are rather low, as he's out of place now and doesn't have much to give advice wise now that the group has gotten further than his did. He is also, as mentioned previously, not incredibly difficult to manipulate.
[ SOUL CAMPAIGN SECTION ]
What abilities will your character retain in Soul Campaign?
None aside from the non-time-based basic physical ones and the knowledge he had as a sprite.
What weaknesses will your character lose or gain in Soul Campaign?
Well he's human again now, so any abilities granted in sprite form will be gone. Aside from that he's not so much gaining weaknesses as losing abilities.
The wish Death the Kid made to the BREW in 2009 was to “rescue Death City and stop the waves of Madness from overtaking the world.” By whatever means necessary. Pretend you are the BREW. Why would you choose to bring this character to Death City?
With Dave having left before, it's possible BREW found Davesprite to be an important asset to the group and brought him in while returning Dave under the assumption that two was better than one. After all, it was Davesprite that helped his other self get as far as he did originally anyway.
WEAPON AND SOUL INFORMATION HERE.