[App] singularity_rpg
Player Information ;
Your Nickname: Aubrey
OOC Journal: inthemortalcity
Under 18? No
Email/IM: taibhsearachd@gmail.com / meant to care (AIM)
Characters Played at Singularity: Georgia Mason, May Daye, Olivia Dunham
Character Information ;
Name: Harry Dresden
Name of Canon: The Dresden Files
Canon/AU/Other Game CR: Canon
Reference: Wikipedia
Canon Point: The very end of Ghost Story.
Setting: The Dresden Files is set in your typical urban fantasy universe - normal 21st century Earth (primarily Chicago) on the surface, chock full of magic, werewolves, vampires, fae, and any other aspect of the supernatural you can imagine as soon as you look close enough. Harry Dresden is a wizard, one of the most powerful alive today, and the only one with an ad in the phonebook - he's a private detective who solves problems the average citizen (as well as most of the police force) is helpless against. He's also thoroughly embroiled in almost every major supernatural conflict that's happened in the past ten years, in large part because he's incapable of saying no when people ask for his help.
Human magic in this universe is based on life - it's generated by the natural processes of life, and drawn both from the wizard himself and all the living things around him. A wizard might run out of the strength to use his magic, but it's all but impossible to run out of magic itself. It's also based on belief - the most carefully constructed spell in the world will fail if the wizard doesn't believe it will work the way he believes gravity works. Because of the fact that magic comes from life, using magic to kill humans, take away the will of others, or break the fundamental laws of nature is viewed as going against its purpose - it's dark magic, and it's outlawed by the White Council. Furthermore, dark magic corrupts its user, making them more and more inclined to abuse magic, harm others, and use their powers for their own ends without much consideration for others.
As a result, breaking the Laws of Magic is taken very seriously, with most warlocks being beheaded on the first offense. However, if a senior wizard vouches for the offender, they may be saved and placed on probation, where one slip-up means execution. Harry knows that all too well - his mentor, Justin DuMorne was a warlock, and Harry himself was put on trial after using magic to kill DuMorne to save himself; years later, he had to vouch for the daughter of a friend and take her on as his apprentice after she was caught using illegal mindmagic to help a friend. So yeah, Harry and dark magic are not exactly strangers, and many members of the White Council regard him with deep suspicion because of it.
The White Council is the governing body for wizards all across the globe, responsible for enforcing the Laws of Magic, as well as protecting humanity from the other major supernatural forces in the world (primarily the Sidhe, and the White and Red Courts, two different types of vampires). Not all humans with magic are part of the White Council - those whose magic is too weak aren't eligible to join the Council and are mostly ignored by it, though they are still subject to the Laws of Magic and will be punished if they break them. Any human with enough magical ability really has no choice but to join the Council, but on the bright side, being a part of it allows a vote in Council affairs and affords a certain amount of protection because screwing with a wizard may mean bringing the wrath of the entire White Council down on your head.
The laws and power of the White Council are enforced by the Wardens, something between an army and police force. They hunt down and execute warlocks, monitor former warlocks on probation, and fight the White Council's battles when they're at war. Harry was made a Warden - and a regional commander of the Wardens - several years ago, mostly due to the fact that war had reduced their numbers to the point where they were desperate. Most Wardens get a shiny magic sword with the job. Harry didn't, because no one's capable of making them anymore. This is a little disappointing to him, because let's face it, there are few things cooler than a magic sword.
The White Council has been at war with the Red Court for more than half a decade now. The Red Court is one of three types of vampires in this world, the other two being White and Black. White Court vampires are the closest to human - they feed on emotions, and Harry's half-brother is one of them. Black Court vampires are very much like the classic Dracula vampire, and are nearly extinct because the knowledge of how to kill them is so common. Red Court vampires are... monsters. They started as human, but all that changes after they're infected and feed. Under their human skins, they're horrible bat-like creatures. They feed on blood, their saliva is a narcotic, and they enslave humans and view them as cattle.
Harry's girlfriend Susan was kidnapped by the Red Court and infected - to save her, he burned down the building, killed many many vampires, and knowingly started a war between the Red Court and the White Council. Because Susan never fed on blood, she didn't complete the transformation to a full vampire, but along with superhuman strength and speed, she did get the vampire bloodlust... which forced her to leave Harry out of concern that she wouldn't be able to control herself around him. She joined an organization of half-vampires dedicated to fighting the Red Court... and years later contacted Harry to inform him that his daughter, who he didn't know existed, had been kidnapped by the Red Court. In order to save her, Harry ended up having to kill Susan in a blood ritual that destroyed every last Red Court vampire in existence - effectively ending the war he started years ago.
The end of the war hardly means the end of Harry's problems, though. There's still the Sidhe - fairies, essentially, who live in a world of magic that exists alongside this one, referred to as the Nevernever. They are divided into two courts, Summer and Winter, engaged in an eternal struggle for power that has lasting consequences on the mortal world - Summer gaining an upper hand can lead to global warming and diseases, while Winter has the power to plunge the world into an Ice Age.
Harry has been tied to Winter since literally before he was born; his mother appointed a fairy called the Leanansidhe as his literal fairy godmother, and she helped him when DuMorne tried to kill him. She also tried to turn him into a dog to add him to her pack of hellhounds, but hey, that's the Sidhe for you. Later, the Leanansidhe transferred her godmothership to Mab, Queen of Winter - who's a little bit unhinged, to be perfectly honest. Harry's been in debt to her for a while, and recently, while trying to save his daughter he got backed into a corner where the only way out was asking for Mab's help. She did, but the price was that he become the Winter Knight.
Each Sidhe Court has a knight, a mortal who is granted some of the Queen's power and used as a way for the Sidhe to involve themselves in mortal affairs, which they are ordinarily unable to do. Unfortunately, this also means they end up having to do the Queen's dirty work in the mortal world, something Harry was thoroughly unwilling to do - and as the only way to get out of the job once you've got it is death... that's the route Harry took. He arranged his own assassination, and then had his apprentice wipe his memory so he wouldn't see it coming. He was killed. He died. And because this is Harry Dresden, even that couldn't be simple.
Turns out, there is an afterlife. Harry pretty much knew that already - he's fought fallen angels, and spoken briefly with the archangel Uriel on a few occasions, who likes being mysterious and entirely unhelpful at him. It turns out that once you die, there's heaven, there's hell, and then there's a weird in-between place like a very empty Chicago where Harry ended up and nearly got hit by a train to hell. No, really. That's what happened. And then a dead sort-of friend pulled him out of the way, dragged him to a police station full of dead cops and angels, and his best friend's dead father gave him the option to go back to save a friend who would die without him. He didn't specify which friend, but that didn't matter much to Harry - of course he chose to go back, something only possible because the side of hell cheated to lead Harry to his death, and heaven had the chance to balance the scale.
Unfortunately, he came back as a ghost, unable to be seen or heard by anyone but wizards, fairies, and other ghosts. He's also been gone considerably longer than he thought - what from his perspective was maybe a couple hours turned out to be several months. After the disappearance of the Red Court, a few dangerous new powers have moved into the resultant power vacuum, Harry's friends have had to rally to pick up the slack in his absence... and it's been extremely hard on all of them, because surprise, Chicago's main defender suddenly vanishing tends to bring all the nasty things out of hiding. Harry didn't exactly think that plan on killing himself through.
When Harry chose to move on to What Comes Next... What Comes Next turned out to be returning to very painful life in a dark cave on an island in Lake Michigan. Queen Mab had recovered his body from the lake and kept it alive while she waited for his spirit to return... and that's where he is now. Alive again, still the Winter Knight, and about to dive back into the insane world of supernatural politics that is his life. Just as soon as he finds himself some clothes
Personality: Harry Dresden is not the hero of the story. Well... okay, maybe he is, for some crazy reason, but he's pretty sure he doesn't deserve to be. He's more noir detective than knight in shining armor, at least if you ask him, although... it's not like the whole white knight thing is absent from his personality. It's just overshadowed, especially at first glance, by cynicism and snark and a certain ruthlessness not generally found in those knight in shining armor trenchcoat types. He has done some really terrible things in order to do what he thinks is right, and he doesn't deny those things, and has no doubt he's going to do plenty of things just as bad again one day. He doesn't like it, he always feels guilty for it, and absolutely does everything he can to avoid it, but he can't ignore that that side of him exists.
However, he's also pretty well aware that he has chronic and probably terminal Hero Syndrome. When someone needs his help, he will charge into the situation with as little planning and forethought as he can get away with and still survive (and sometimes the survival is optional). This applies doubly when it comes to women and children - Harry is a sucker for a damsel in distress, and he knows it, and somehow knowing it rarely seems to stop him from giving into his own sense of chivalry. And it is chivalry; Harry's more than a little old-fashioned, and he will go out of his way to treat women like ladies... often whether or not it makes them want to punch him. (This only... sort of applies if said woman is evil - all bets are off, in that case, but Harry will still feel bad if he makes a girl cry, even if she is evil.)
He doesn't feel that women are weaker (having a female best friend who could totally beat him up probably has something to do with this), and if a woman's capable of protecting herself, he's more than happy to let her, but give the slightest indication that his help is needed and he will be there in a heartbeat. And children... Well, Harry never really had a proper childhood of his own. He believes that children deserve to keep theirs as long as possible, and it's probably best not to threaten that unless you're fond of being set on fire. However, you don't exactly have to be an innocent person to get Harry's sympathy - having once been nearly executed for breaking a law he didn't know existed, he's very big on giving people second chances, and he'll also jump to the defense of someone who's made some mistakes, even extremely grave ones, but is basically a good person. After all, if people are only measured by the bad things they've done in their lives, Harry is pretty much screwed.
As quickly as he will come to the aid of someone he feels needs his protection or help, it is so much worse when you threaten his friends or family. Harry's an orphan, he lost his first adopted family in the worst way, and he worked pretty hard to earn his current friends and family, never mind the work he's had to put in to keep all of them alive. He emphatically does not want to lose any of them, and putting them in danger is the fastest way to get Harry to just throw all rationality out the window and come snarling to try and rip your face off, whatever the personal danger to himself. He's literally started wars to save the people he loves, and he wouldn't hesitate to do it again. His temper's not exactly quick, but it is pretty massive, and it burns white-hot - he's capable of keeping it in check, but it does tend to make him quicker to act, and a lot less inclined to think things through entirely.
It's probably incidents like the aforementioned starting of wars that get Harry his reputation as a sort of magical thug, not to mention a loose cannon. For the most part, he does nothing to disabuse people of that opinion. He does have much more raw power than most wizards, and he uses it when necessary. He is very fond of dramatic gestures, especially if they annoy someone who deserves to be poked with a stick - this is the guy who showed up at a vampire party dressed in the cheesiest vampire costume he could find, and rode a polka-powered undead T-Rex through Chicago (not on the same night - that would just be ridiculous). He pretty much can't open his mouth without being sarcastic, most of the time, and when he's talking to something that would happily kill and eat him, that fact will not stop him. Actually, it probably just makes it worse: Harry's default reaction to fear is to try and smash the thing that's scaring him, and if he can't do that, he'll snark in its face to make himself feel better. It's honestly not that he has no sense of self-preservation - he likes being alive a lot, really - it's just that his acute stress response is all fight, hardly any flight, and the snark is part of that sometimes, sort of the way a scared animal will puff up its fur to look bigger.
Despite all outward appearances, though... Harry is a lot more competent and intelligent than you'd guess at first glance. He does not get by as a detective by being an idiot (...okay, that depends on your definition of "idiot") - he is very observant, and while it might sometimes take him a while to work something out, he has a talent for turning problems over in his head, putting disaparate facts together into a bigger picture. He's very quick on his feet, which is part of what makes him such a versatile wizard - improvisation is as important a tool in his repertoire as snark, and he doesn't balk at trying something just because it's crazy. He's capable of keeping pace with (...sometimes) and very occasionally out-maneuvering the master manipulators of the White Court and the fairy courts - definitely not so much the big dumb gumshoe. Harry's biggest strength, though, lies in just not giving up. Ever. He is stubborn as hell, he will keep going no matter how many times you knock him down, and if one tactic doesn't work for him, he'll take some time to regroup and try another. It's really, really difficult to beat a person who's like a masochistic terrier with a habit of going after tigers instead of rats.
However, you don't live your life that way without pissing off a lot of people, and that tends to put a certain amount of distance between Harry and even the people he cares most about. Part of that is how dangerous it is to know him - there are plenty of dangerous things that know perfectly well the fastest way to get at Harry is to hurt the people he loves, and he's not willing to put them in danger like that. Part of that is that he's a wizard, and if he survives long enough, he's going to outlive everyone he knows and loves, which is not a thought conducive to forming any very close relationships. Plus... Harry's just not good at expressing his feelings. Sarcasm isn't just a defense mechanism when he gets scared, it also keeps him from having to admit how he really feels about anything - he will, on occasion, but mostly only when he's pressed. Often when he thinks he might die. He's lonely, and pretty well convinced that he's going to die alone (hint: he is, at least once), but it'd take a lot before he'd admit it.
Harry puts his faith in magic, in the idea of power being controlled, ordered, used for constructive purposes. And the thing with magic is that you can't use it do do something that isn't a part of you, deep down. The effects this has on his self-image are... well. Some of his biggest talents, magically speaking, is blowing shit up, and maybe it's best not to examine what that says about him. He certainly doesn't want to. He doesn't know what it is people see when they look into his eyes, but Marcone seemed to recognize him as a fellow predator, and people have been known to faint or start screaming about how they don't believe in hell after a soulgaze with him, so it's kind of impossible to deny that his soul has some seriously dark corners. On the other hand... most good people who soulgaze him also trust him afterwards, even seeing everything he is and all he's capable of - and he tends to forget that about himself, most of the time.
Abilities, Weaknesses, and Power Limitation Suggestions: Abilities:
Weaknesses:
Power Limitations:
Inventory: ...nothing. Seriously, he's not even wearing clothes. IT'S NOT MY FAULT. HE WAS DEAD, OKAY?
Appearance: Harry is freakishly tall - 6'9" at best guess - with a lean build. He has dark hair, usually kind of unkempt, dark eyes, and sharp features. He's got an impressive collection of scars - a bullet wound in his shoulder, faint marks of a bad burn on his left hand, scars above and below one eye - but they're all very faded due to his natural healing ability.
Age: 37...ish? He died just before his birthday, but he's back now. So. Let's say 37.
Samples ;
Log Sample: Harry barely had time to take a deep breath and pull himself together enough to stand before the ground fell out from under him, pretty much literally. One second there was cool, damp earth under his bare feet, the next just empty air, and he fell.
He'd been naked when he woke in the cave in Demonreach, and that hasn't changed. The cold air alone is enough to knock the breath from him. The impact as he hits the jagged pile of debris does much worse than that. A breathless cry of pain escapes him, but he has enough presence of mind to curl forward and throw his arms up to protect his face as he slides downhill, pieces of god knows what smashing and slicing into him on the way down.
Another time, maybe, he might think to do something to break - or at least slow - his fall, but it's hard to think clearly when you've been so recently dead. No spell comes to mind, but thankfully before long he rolls to a stop at the base of the hill of junk, lying flat on his back, staring up at... he's not sure what. It doesn't seem to matter at the moment. Maybe he's in the Nevernever. Maybe Mab decided to smack him down for mouthing off.
"Could've at least handed me some pants first..." he murmurs dazedly to himself while he tries to kickstart his brain into working again.
It's not easy. He thought he hurt before, when he first woke up. He was wrong. His entire body hurts in one way or another. Cuts sting, bruises throb, and his ankle aches so much he wouldn't be surprised if he broke it. He's still out of breath, gasping and still not quite getting enough air into his lungs. And he's freezing. All of it ordinary, physical, entirely mortal pain.
He's alive. He's still alive to help his friends, and the rest of it's just details he can figure out another time. Harry pushes himself painfully to his feet, gathers his magic around himself, and starts to take stock of his surroundings.
Network Sample: [ The audio feed switches on. There are a few vague rustles and beeps that suggests Harry's still fiddling with the wearable. TECHNOLOGY IS CONFUSING, OKAY? ]
Uh... I'm guessing I have about a minute and a half before this thing blows up on my arm, so I'm just gonna...
[ Deep breath. Sigh. How is he even asking this question. ]
Any chance there's a good Samaritan out there willing to bring me some clothes? Any clothes at all would be a step up the current state of affairs. There was a... situation. Before I showed up. And-
You know what, I can explain later if someone really wants to know. In person. And once I have some clothes.
Your Nickname: Aubrey
OOC Journal: inthemortalcity
Under 18? No
Email/IM: taibhsearachd@gmail.com / meant to care (AIM)
Characters Played at Singularity: Georgia Mason, May Daye, Olivia Dunham
Character Information ;
Name: Harry Dresden
Name of Canon: The Dresden Files
Canon/AU/Other Game CR: Canon
Reference: Wikipedia
Canon Point: The very end of Ghost Story.
Setting: The Dresden Files is set in your typical urban fantasy universe - normal 21st century Earth (primarily Chicago) on the surface, chock full of magic, werewolves, vampires, fae, and any other aspect of the supernatural you can imagine as soon as you look close enough. Harry Dresden is a wizard, one of the most powerful alive today, and the only one with an ad in the phonebook - he's a private detective who solves problems the average citizen (as well as most of the police force) is helpless against. He's also thoroughly embroiled in almost every major supernatural conflict that's happened in the past ten years, in large part because he's incapable of saying no when people ask for his help.
Human magic in this universe is based on life - it's generated by the natural processes of life, and drawn both from the wizard himself and all the living things around him. A wizard might run out of the strength to use his magic, but it's all but impossible to run out of magic itself. It's also based on belief - the most carefully constructed spell in the world will fail if the wizard doesn't believe it will work the way he believes gravity works. Because of the fact that magic comes from life, using magic to kill humans, take away the will of others, or break the fundamental laws of nature is viewed as going against its purpose - it's dark magic, and it's outlawed by the White Council. Furthermore, dark magic corrupts its user, making them more and more inclined to abuse magic, harm others, and use their powers for their own ends without much consideration for others.
As a result, breaking the Laws of Magic is taken very seriously, with most warlocks being beheaded on the first offense. However, if a senior wizard vouches for the offender, they may be saved and placed on probation, where one slip-up means execution. Harry knows that all too well - his mentor, Justin DuMorne was a warlock, and Harry himself was put on trial after using magic to kill DuMorne to save himself; years later, he had to vouch for the daughter of a friend and take her on as his apprentice after she was caught using illegal mindmagic to help a friend. So yeah, Harry and dark magic are not exactly strangers, and many members of the White Council regard him with deep suspicion because of it.
The White Council is the governing body for wizards all across the globe, responsible for enforcing the Laws of Magic, as well as protecting humanity from the other major supernatural forces in the world (primarily the Sidhe, and the White and Red Courts, two different types of vampires). Not all humans with magic are part of the White Council - those whose magic is too weak aren't eligible to join the Council and are mostly ignored by it, though they are still subject to the Laws of Magic and will be punished if they break them. Any human with enough magical ability really has no choice but to join the Council, but on the bright side, being a part of it allows a vote in Council affairs and affords a certain amount of protection because screwing with a wizard may mean bringing the wrath of the entire White Council down on your head.
The laws and power of the White Council are enforced by the Wardens, something between an army and police force. They hunt down and execute warlocks, monitor former warlocks on probation, and fight the White Council's battles when they're at war. Harry was made a Warden - and a regional commander of the Wardens - several years ago, mostly due to the fact that war had reduced their numbers to the point where they were desperate. Most Wardens get a shiny magic sword with the job. Harry didn't, because no one's capable of making them anymore. This is a little disappointing to him, because let's face it, there are few things cooler than a magic sword.
The White Council has been at war with the Red Court for more than half a decade now. The Red Court is one of three types of vampires in this world, the other two being White and Black. White Court vampires are the closest to human - they feed on emotions, and Harry's half-brother is one of them. Black Court vampires are very much like the classic Dracula vampire, and are nearly extinct because the knowledge of how to kill them is so common. Red Court vampires are... monsters. They started as human, but all that changes after they're infected and feed. Under their human skins, they're horrible bat-like creatures. They feed on blood, their saliva is a narcotic, and they enslave humans and view them as cattle.
Harry's girlfriend Susan was kidnapped by the Red Court and infected - to save her, he burned down the building, killed many many vampires, and knowingly started a war between the Red Court and the White Council. Because Susan never fed on blood, she didn't complete the transformation to a full vampire, but along with superhuman strength and speed, she did get the vampire bloodlust... which forced her to leave Harry out of concern that she wouldn't be able to control herself around him. She joined an organization of half-vampires dedicated to fighting the Red Court... and years later contacted Harry to inform him that his daughter, who he didn't know existed, had been kidnapped by the Red Court. In order to save her, Harry ended up having to kill Susan in a blood ritual that destroyed every last Red Court vampire in existence - effectively ending the war he started years ago.
The end of the war hardly means the end of Harry's problems, though. There's still the Sidhe - fairies, essentially, who live in a world of magic that exists alongside this one, referred to as the Nevernever. They are divided into two courts, Summer and Winter, engaged in an eternal struggle for power that has lasting consequences on the mortal world - Summer gaining an upper hand can lead to global warming and diseases, while Winter has the power to plunge the world into an Ice Age.
Harry has been tied to Winter since literally before he was born; his mother appointed a fairy called the Leanansidhe as his literal fairy godmother, and she helped him when DuMorne tried to kill him. She also tried to turn him into a dog to add him to her pack of hellhounds, but hey, that's the Sidhe for you. Later, the Leanansidhe transferred her godmothership to Mab, Queen of Winter - who's a little bit unhinged, to be perfectly honest. Harry's been in debt to her for a while, and recently, while trying to save his daughter he got backed into a corner where the only way out was asking for Mab's help. She did, but the price was that he become the Winter Knight.
Each Sidhe Court has a knight, a mortal who is granted some of the Queen's power and used as a way for the Sidhe to involve themselves in mortal affairs, which they are ordinarily unable to do. Unfortunately, this also means they end up having to do the Queen's dirty work in the mortal world, something Harry was thoroughly unwilling to do - and as the only way to get out of the job once you've got it is death... that's the route Harry took. He arranged his own assassination, and then had his apprentice wipe his memory so he wouldn't see it coming. He was killed. He died. And because this is Harry Dresden, even that couldn't be simple.
Turns out, there is an afterlife. Harry pretty much knew that already - he's fought fallen angels, and spoken briefly with the archangel Uriel on a few occasions, who likes being mysterious and entirely unhelpful at him. It turns out that once you die, there's heaven, there's hell, and then there's a weird in-between place like a very empty Chicago where Harry ended up and nearly got hit by a train to hell. No, really. That's what happened. And then a dead sort-of friend pulled him out of the way, dragged him to a police station full of dead cops and angels, and his best friend's dead father gave him the option to go back to save a friend who would die without him. He didn't specify which friend, but that didn't matter much to Harry - of course he chose to go back, something only possible because the side of hell cheated to lead Harry to his death, and heaven had the chance to balance the scale.
Unfortunately, he came back as a ghost, unable to be seen or heard by anyone but wizards, fairies, and other ghosts. He's also been gone considerably longer than he thought - what from his perspective was maybe a couple hours turned out to be several months. After the disappearance of the Red Court, a few dangerous new powers have moved into the resultant power vacuum, Harry's friends have had to rally to pick up the slack in his absence... and it's been extremely hard on all of them, because surprise, Chicago's main defender suddenly vanishing tends to bring all the nasty things out of hiding. Harry didn't exactly think that plan on killing himself through.
When Harry chose to move on to What Comes Next... What Comes Next turned out to be returning to very painful life in a dark cave on an island in Lake Michigan. Queen Mab had recovered his body from the lake and kept it alive while she waited for his spirit to return... and that's where he is now. Alive again, still the Winter Knight, and about to dive back into the insane world of supernatural politics that is his life. Just as soon as he finds himself some clothes
Personality: Harry Dresden is not the hero of the story. Well... okay, maybe he is, for some crazy reason, but he's pretty sure he doesn't deserve to be. He's more noir detective than knight in shining armor, at least if you ask him, although... it's not like the whole white knight thing is absent from his personality. It's just overshadowed, especially at first glance, by cynicism and snark and a certain ruthlessness not generally found in those knight in shining armor trenchcoat types. He has done some really terrible things in order to do what he thinks is right, and he doesn't deny those things, and has no doubt he's going to do plenty of things just as bad again one day. He doesn't like it, he always feels guilty for it, and absolutely does everything he can to avoid it, but he can't ignore that that side of him exists.
However, he's also pretty well aware that he has chronic and probably terminal Hero Syndrome. When someone needs his help, he will charge into the situation with as little planning and forethought as he can get away with and still survive (and sometimes the survival is optional). This applies doubly when it comes to women and children - Harry is a sucker for a damsel in distress, and he knows it, and somehow knowing it rarely seems to stop him from giving into his own sense of chivalry. And it is chivalry; Harry's more than a little old-fashioned, and he will go out of his way to treat women like ladies... often whether or not it makes them want to punch him. (This only... sort of applies if said woman is evil - all bets are off, in that case, but Harry will still feel bad if he makes a girl cry, even if she is evil.)
He doesn't feel that women are weaker (having a female best friend who could totally beat him up probably has something to do with this), and if a woman's capable of protecting herself, he's more than happy to let her, but give the slightest indication that his help is needed and he will be there in a heartbeat. And children... Well, Harry never really had a proper childhood of his own. He believes that children deserve to keep theirs as long as possible, and it's probably best not to threaten that unless you're fond of being set on fire. However, you don't exactly have to be an innocent person to get Harry's sympathy - having once been nearly executed for breaking a law he didn't know existed, he's very big on giving people second chances, and he'll also jump to the defense of someone who's made some mistakes, even extremely grave ones, but is basically a good person. After all, if people are only measured by the bad things they've done in their lives, Harry is pretty much screwed.
As quickly as he will come to the aid of someone he feels needs his protection or help, it is so much worse when you threaten his friends or family. Harry's an orphan, he lost his first adopted family in the worst way, and he worked pretty hard to earn his current friends and family, never mind the work he's had to put in to keep all of them alive. He emphatically does not want to lose any of them, and putting them in danger is the fastest way to get Harry to just throw all rationality out the window and come snarling to try and rip your face off, whatever the personal danger to himself. He's literally started wars to save the people he loves, and he wouldn't hesitate to do it again. His temper's not exactly quick, but it is pretty massive, and it burns white-hot - he's capable of keeping it in check, but it does tend to make him quicker to act, and a lot less inclined to think things through entirely.
It's probably incidents like the aforementioned starting of wars that get Harry his reputation as a sort of magical thug, not to mention a loose cannon. For the most part, he does nothing to disabuse people of that opinion. He does have much more raw power than most wizards, and he uses it when necessary. He is very fond of dramatic gestures, especially if they annoy someone who deserves to be poked with a stick - this is the guy who showed up at a vampire party dressed in the cheesiest vampire costume he could find, and rode a polka-powered undead T-Rex through Chicago (not on the same night - that would just be ridiculous). He pretty much can't open his mouth without being sarcastic, most of the time, and when he's talking to something that would happily kill and eat him, that fact will not stop him. Actually, it probably just makes it worse: Harry's default reaction to fear is to try and smash the thing that's scaring him, and if he can't do that, he'll snark in its face to make himself feel better. It's honestly not that he has no sense of self-preservation - he likes being alive a lot, really - it's just that his acute stress response is all fight, hardly any flight, and the snark is part of that sometimes, sort of the way a scared animal will puff up its fur to look bigger.
Despite all outward appearances, though... Harry is a lot more competent and intelligent than you'd guess at first glance. He does not get by as a detective by being an idiot (...okay, that depends on your definition of "idiot") - he is very observant, and while it might sometimes take him a while to work something out, he has a talent for turning problems over in his head, putting disaparate facts together into a bigger picture. He's very quick on his feet, which is part of what makes him such a versatile wizard - improvisation is as important a tool in his repertoire as snark, and he doesn't balk at trying something just because it's crazy. He's capable of keeping pace with (...sometimes) and very occasionally out-maneuvering the master manipulators of the White Court and the fairy courts - definitely not so much the big dumb gumshoe. Harry's biggest strength, though, lies in just not giving up. Ever. He is stubborn as hell, he will keep going no matter how many times you knock him down, and if one tactic doesn't work for him, he'll take some time to regroup and try another. It's really, really difficult to beat a person who's like a masochistic terrier with a habit of going after tigers instead of rats.
However, you don't live your life that way without pissing off a lot of people, and that tends to put a certain amount of distance between Harry and even the people he cares most about. Part of that is how dangerous it is to know him - there are plenty of dangerous things that know perfectly well the fastest way to get at Harry is to hurt the people he loves, and he's not willing to put them in danger like that. Part of that is that he's a wizard, and if he survives long enough, he's going to outlive everyone he knows and loves, which is not a thought conducive to forming any very close relationships. Plus... Harry's just not good at expressing his feelings. Sarcasm isn't just a defense mechanism when he gets scared, it also keeps him from having to admit how he really feels about anything - he will, on occasion, but mostly only when he's pressed. Often when he thinks he might die. He's lonely, and pretty well convinced that he's going to die alone (hint: he is, at least once), but it'd take a lot before he'd admit it.
Harry puts his faith in magic, in the idea of power being controlled, ordered, used for constructive purposes. And the thing with magic is that you can't use it do do something that isn't a part of you, deep down. The effects this has on his self-image are... well. Some of his biggest talents, magically speaking, is blowing shit up, and maybe it's best not to examine what that says about him. He certainly doesn't want to. He doesn't know what it is people see when they look into his eyes, but Marcone seemed to recognize him as a fellow predator, and people have been known to faint or start screaming about how they don't believe in hell after a soulgaze with him, so it's kind of impossible to deny that his soul has some seriously dark corners. On the other hand... most good people who soulgaze him also trust him afterwards, even seeing everything he is and all he's capable of - and he tends to forget that about himself, most of the time.
Abilities, Weaknesses, and Power Limitation Suggestions: Abilities:
- Magic! What he can do with his magic is theoretically limited only by his creativity and how long he can use it while still remaining conscious and not blowing himself up, but for the most part, his talents lie in tracking, shields, fire, wind, and blasts of pure force.
- Sometimes he can boost his magic with something called soulfire - which is basically using parts of his own soul to give himself more power - but it's not a great idea to overuse it. Because, you know, he needs his soul. The parts he use regenerate with time, like any other wound, but still.
- He heals much better than your average person. It's not necessarily faster, but where most people would stop healing and be scarred or crippled for life, Harry's body just keeps going repairing damage.
- The Sight, which is simply the ability to see the world as it really is, on a magical and spiritual level. While occasionally very useful, everything he sees with The Sight is permanently burned into his brain, a perfectly fresh memory no matter how long has passed, so Harry doesn't like to use it much, for obvious reasons. Like not wanting to go mad.
- Looking into someone's eyes will trigger a soulgaze - sort of a personal, two-way version of The Sight, where both he and the other person will see each other's true natures. That's something he avoids too, when he can help it - luckily, a quick glance isn't enough to trigger it, and he's gotten pretty adept at avoiding much more eye contact than that.
- As the Winter Knight, he now has more speed, strength, and stamina, both physically and magically, as well as improved ability with ice magic, which he ordinarily has pretty much no talent for.
Weaknesses:
- Harry mostly requires to speak the words of a spell to use his magic. Wordless magic is possible, but extremely dangerous, so for the most part, if you can keep him from talking somehow, you can keep him from using his magic.
- Because of the First Law of Magic - that is, not killing people with magic - he is extremely cautious about using his magic on humans. Even if their death is accidental - say he hits them with force and they break their neck in the fall - if it's a result of something he did with magic, he's still responsible.
- Places where people live have a threshold - the strength of it varies depending on whether it's a home or just a place to live, but if he enters someone's home without being invited, he has to leave a large chunk of his power at the door.
- Magic and technology don't get along, and the more complicated the technology, the worse the effect. Basically, technology around him tends to malfunction. Badly. Or just plain explode.
- A bad habit of charging into danger, an inability to say no to a request for help from someone who really needs it, and a terminal case of Hero Syndrome.
Power Limitations:
- Limiting his magic's effect on technology somewhat - I would still really, really like to keep it, but while normally Harry can break a computer just by standing in the room with it while it's running, now his magic is only dangerous to tech while he's actively using it or soon after he's used magic, while the energy's still clinging to him. He'll probably still need someone with a different kind of magic to shield his wearable so it doesn't explode, but I'm completely willing to deal with that issue.
Inventory: ...nothing. Seriously, he's not even wearing clothes. IT'S NOT MY FAULT. HE WAS DEAD, OKAY?
Appearance: Harry is freakishly tall - 6'9" at best guess - with a lean build. He has dark hair, usually kind of unkempt, dark eyes, and sharp features. He's got an impressive collection of scars - a bullet wound in his shoulder, faint marks of a bad burn on his left hand, scars above and below one eye - but they're all very faded due to his natural healing ability.
Age: 37...ish? He died just before his birthday, but he's back now. So. Let's say 37.
Samples ;
Log Sample: Harry barely had time to take a deep breath and pull himself together enough to stand before the ground fell out from under him, pretty much literally. One second there was cool, damp earth under his bare feet, the next just empty air, and he fell.
He'd been naked when he woke in the cave in Demonreach, and that hasn't changed. The cold air alone is enough to knock the breath from him. The impact as he hits the jagged pile of debris does much worse than that. A breathless cry of pain escapes him, but he has enough presence of mind to curl forward and throw his arms up to protect his face as he slides downhill, pieces of god knows what smashing and slicing into him on the way down.
Another time, maybe, he might think to do something to break - or at least slow - his fall, but it's hard to think clearly when you've been so recently dead. No spell comes to mind, but thankfully before long he rolls to a stop at the base of the hill of junk, lying flat on his back, staring up at... he's not sure what. It doesn't seem to matter at the moment. Maybe he's in the Nevernever. Maybe Mab decided to smack him down for mouthing off.
"Could've at least handed me some pants first..." he murmurs dazedly to himself while he tries to kickstart his brain into working again.
It's not easy. He thought he hurt before, when he first woke up. He was wrong. His entire body hurts in one way or another. Cuts sting, bruises throb, and his ankle aches so much he wouldn't be surprised if he broke it. He's still out of breath, gasping and still not quite getting enough air into his lungs. And he's freezing. All of it ordinary, physical, entirely mortal pain.
He's alive. He's still alive to help his friends, and the rest of it's just details he can figure out another time. Harry pushes himself painfully to his feet, gathers his magic around himself, and starts to take stock of his surroundings.
Network Sample: [ The audio feed switches on. There are a few vague rustles and beeps that suggests Harry's still fiddling with the wearable. TECHNOLOGY IS CONFUSING, OKAY? ]
Uh... I'm guessing I have about a minute and a half before this thing blows up on my arm, so I'm just gonna...
[ Deep breath. Sigh. How is he even asking this question. ]
Any chance there's a good Samaritan out there willing to bring me some clothes? Any clothes at all would be a step up the current state of affairs. There was a... situation. Before I showed up. And-
You know what, I can explain later if someone really wants to know. In person. And once I have some clothes.