Empatheias Application

⌈ PLAYER SECTION ⌉
Player: Jayne
Contact: bronnichiwa
Age: 24
Current Characters: N/A


⌈ CHARACTER SECTION ⌉
Character: Zelos Wilder
Age: 22
Canon: Tales of Symphonia
Canon Point: Post ToS1

Background: Wiki link!

Personality:

The important thing to understanding Zelos Wilder is that he's essentially a Stepford smiler. While on the surface he's pretty easy-going (and comes off like kind of an ass), it's actually a mask for deep insecurities that resulted from childhood trauma.

At first glance, Zelos gives the impression of being nothing more than an easy-going playboy. He flirts with almost every woman he sees, and makes it his job to cause trouble for everyone around him, while seemingly not giving a shit about anything. This is partially because he was born into the life of a Chosen, and practically regarded as royalty. Despite the fact that he's the person whose responsibility it is to go on the Journey of Regeneration and save the world, his title has become nothing more than a mark of political power, because Tethe'Alla hasn't been in danger for centuries.

That being said, it still had a profound effect on him growing up, and it still binds him socially. Due to his fame, he was often seen as an object to move forward for others, and this resulted in a lack of real bonds with people, as well as an essential distrust of others.

However, it's exactly this celebrity status that spawned his "carefree personality." By his logic, if he was going to get everything he wanted and people were going to try to take advantage of him anyway, he might as well act like an idiot and ride it for all it was worth. Known around the kingdom as the carefree playboy, he spent most of his days flirting with women and living the high life. He doesn't seem to let anything affect him; rather, he shrugs his shoulders, and lets it pass over him. Despite his intelligence, he also wasn't over using his position to take advantage of others (thinking that others were always taking advantage of him, anyway). It's mentioned that back in school, he would bribe and cajole other people into doing his work.

Despite the nonchalant demeanor he puts on, however, he actually has very little love for himself. When he was a kid, he was bright-eyed and excited about the world, but eventually, being raised in a lavish environment became "harsh." His father, the previous Chosen, died when he was young, while his mother always remained cold and distant. Their marriage had been one of status, and not love, and that negatively affected his mother emotionally while his father escaped by having an affair. Because of this, Zelos has one half-sister, who he didn't meet until his father's funeral. Her mother believed that everything in their life would be better if she had been Chosen, so Seles' mother makes an attempt on the Chosen's life, accidentally killing his mother instead. Her last words to him were "It would have been better if you had never been born," and this has gone on to have a profound effect on his life, and was the foundation for his lack of self-confidence, trust, and ability to build relationships. Because it happened at such a young age, he internalized it rather quickly and came to believe that he was useless and unloved. The lack of love from his parents and others around him helped to shape his personality, and eventually he grew to believe that all of his bonds were fake. He even believes his sister, his last living relative and one of the few people he almost cares about, would be better off and happier if he were dead.

However, despite this, he's very close, and very protective of his sister, and took her under his wing after her mother was executed. Although he keeps her "trapped" on a small island off the coast, this is really just a front. In actuality, he keeps her there because of both the combined dangers of her being the Chosen's sister, and a debilitating childhood illness that she's still struggling with. Another similar situation to this is the betrayal to the party at the Tower of Salvation, he plays it off that he doesn't care and he was in it to turn on them all along, while he actually uses the opportunity to help the party out. These situations mimic how he treats his relationship with most people he's close with on a larger scale; while he tries to play off that he doesn't care, everything he does is with her best interests in mind, even if he doesn't understand what her bests interests actually are, or how much losing him would hurt her.

This gap of not truly understanding people carries into the rest of his relationships. As stated before, because Zelos was raised in a position where he was essentially a celebrity, there are very few people he's actually "close" to. Most people he knows, he knows on a very superficial level (i.e. his hunnies), and doesn't get closer on the assumption that they're using him. Even the people he spends a lot of time with, he still doesn't feel very close to. Even after travelling with the party for an undisclosed (but still long) amount of time, he still felt like they were only friends on the surface, and that they, like most people, would distrust him when it came down to it. This lack of bonds and close relationships plays into his fear and lack of trust. Not only does he feel like he can't trust others, he doesn't feel like he can be trusted himself (and acts accordingly). This is why him living or dying depends on one single line of dialogue; "I trust you." If Lloyd doesn't say this, Zelos' line of belief isn't changed; he still feels like he's better off dead and that the party believes he'll turn on them anyway, so he chooses to fight them. But, if Lloyd affirms that trust, Zelos begins to believe in his relationship with the party (and himself) just a little bit more, which is why he refuses to fight the party and instead actively help them. While this change and development doesn't solve his issues entirely, it does put them on a track where they can get better.

But, this side of Zelos isn't something that most characters in Verens are likely to see. At first glance, he'll appear like a playboy who does nothing but flirt with women and joke; to many, he'll appear like an idiot. Everything he's done is pretty carefully calculated, as pointed out in a skit shortly after Corrine dies. In a skit shortly after the summon spirit passes away, he's still cracking jokes. Although the party admonishes him for being unable to read the air, it's revealed that he knows exactly what he's doing: trying to keep the mood light to avoid anybody dwelling on things they can't change. It also shows that, while he often plays it off and pretends he doesn't care, deep down he does, and he wants the best for his friends. In addition to coming off as an idiot, part of the reason he acts as cheerful as he does is to keep the spirits of those with him, even during the bad times. Essentially, the carefree attitude is just an act; a very perceptive person might be able to see through it, but it's unlikely that anyone in Verens will grow close enough with him to let those barriers down.

Abilities:
Zelos is above-average physically; he's not super strong, but he is decent for his size. He has a decent amount of training and combat experience, so he's pretty handy with a sword, even if his style does focus more on speed than strength. And flair. Never forget flair. He has access to what the Symphonia-verse deems "Techs," which are basically fancy sword-moves. Most are outward striking and able to push the enemy away, with some able to toss the enemy up into the air.

Other combat abilities include the ability to cast magic; he has a decent amount of low and mid level elemental attack spells (Eruption, Air Thrust, Grave, Thunder Blade, etc), as well as a few healing spells in the same range (First Aid, Healing Stream, and Healing Wind). While the majority of his higher level magic spells are area spells and can hit a wide range, the lower level spells are often single target. For attack spells, this mean they'll only hit one enemy, and for healing spells, this means that they'll only hit one ally.

Additionally, since he has access to an exsphere, his physical abilities are amplified, meaning he can jump faster, hit harder, etc. In addition, thanks to plot magic, Cruxis' involvement, he's also jumped through the first few hoops of becoming an angel. This gives him access to a few special skills, including a nice spell named Judgement and a rockin' pair of wings that he can summon at-will. Although Zelos only ever uses the wings in battle (and even then, rarely), it's likely that he'd be able to use them to fly, as all the other characters with wings are seen doing the same.

Alignment: Piphron:
Zelos' entire arc is built around trust. He's repeatedly known to not trust other people (or even himself), and the difference between him living and dying is "Can I trust you?" versus "I trust you."

Other: N/A


⌈ SAMPLE SECTION ⌉
Sample: Test drive!


Questions: N/A