Metaheroes Info

[portolan]

Player —

Player Name: Taylor
Pronouns: she/they
Are you over 18? Yes
Contact: portolan
Current Characters: n/a
Who Invited You?: Tifa

Character —

Character Name: Balthier
Character Canon: Final Fantasy XII
Character Age: 23
Canon Point: Post-FFXII
Link to History: link
Inventory: his gun, his hov-bike, nethecite,  assorted treasure (largely jewelry and smaller antiques he’s collected, such as teapot or globe), some compiled Archadian plays, healing items
Powers:
(a)   Perception Manipulation
Balthier can alter others’ perceptions. Currently this is limited to visual and manifests in two ways. The first (1) is that he can cause others to not see him, rendering him effectively invisible. This gets harder if it’s for a longer time or more people. Currently, he will still show up on recordings. (2) Second, he can create a double of himself. This gets harder the longer he holds the spell, the farther it is from him, or the more elaborate a task the double does. In both cases, he still mentally tries to use the Mist, which doesn’t exist here, so has some difficulty controlling and ending the spells; both strain his physical energy. I see these potentially growing to include other senses, impact more people, and be grander in scope. I might also do something like psychic paper from Doctor Who (manipulating person to think it’s the document he needs it to be).
(b)  Health Transfer
Balthier can “heal” but only by taking the injury/disease/etc. on himself. For example, if he heals a broken leg, he now has a boken leg. As this progresses, he will be able to take on partial wounds, transfer his own wounds to others, and eventually transfer maladies between third parties.

Personality —

Please EITHER (1) Summarize your character's personality — including motivations, behaviors, and psychology — in 300-600 words OR (2) Respond to the questions below.
 

What were your character's most formative experiences?:

(1)Balthier was the educated son of an elite, social-climbing scientist in Archades. Due to his father’s connections, he was appointed Judge (a powerful political position) at just 16. However, his poor relationship with his father and the political stance of the Empire led him to steal a prototype ship and flee. He became a sky pirate thereafter, for roughly the past 5 years.
(2) Early in his sky pirate career, Balthier met Fran, his partner. She was the only person he ever really trusted, especially with his more vulnerable thoughts and experiences, including his mother’s disappearance and his father’s narcissism. Fran helped Balthier explore both his skills as a pirate and his identity. Losing her is going to take a toll.
(3) Romantically, Balthier has trust issues and was burned by early partners. Meeting Princess Ashelia reignited both an attraction to powerful people (which frightens him), and reignited his hate for politics and the empire and how it destroys everything it touches.
 

What values, morals, and/or philosophies does your character live by, and how are those beliefs demonstrated? What happens when they have to compromise what they believe in?

Balthier values his freedom above all else. He’s made this his identity, both fleeing the Empire and his past life and becoming a sky pirate. He’s willing to take and enjoys the challenge of a good theft. A lot of this is rooted in his willingness to take shots at his father and the Empire; when he runs into it, he is more torn on taking from less powerful people or communities. He avoids being tied down to anyone or anything and likes to show off.
 
Balthier is suspicious of organized power and doesn’t believe governments or large organizations will ever serve the greater good; they are all corrupt and will just serve those who are powerful. As is such, he watches out for himself and his very tiny community (usually just Fran).
 
Balthier will group up with others if he sees the personal benefit, but he’s loathe to commit to anything or be under anyone’s command. If he finds himself there, he’ll do what he can to repay the debt or keep back doors. That said, he has a habit of having a soft spot for helping others. He doesn’t like the ties this creates, so will purposefully avoid getting to close to others, but also likes to socialize and entertain.
 

What is your character afraid of? How does avoiding or preventing these fears influence their actions and decisions?

Balthier is terrified of being under his father’s thumb again. While this isn’t literally possible, it manifests in an aversion to authority as well as organized government. The irony is that Balthier is a sharp political thinker and natural leader. He likes the spotlight, but will tend to slip away or break ties the minute he feels tied down to something.
 
Balthier is also afraid of giving people power over him, especially people he has affection for, as outside of Fran he does not trust his own judgement. This has led him to take on a very flirty, charming, and cocky persona but to keep distance from others, even as he seeks them out. The loss of Fran is illuminating how large this hole is for him.
 
Related to this, Balthier is very afraid that the person he actually is under the pirate persona is vulnerable, gullible, and unlovable. He’s terrified of returning to the sweet but naïve boy he was before becoming a Judge so tried to erase that person as much as he can. However, he likely needs to reconnect with some of these pieces in order to have intimacy.
 

What goals does your character have right now?  What do they want, and how do they go about getting it?

First and foremost, he wants to find Fran. As it becomes increasingly clear that she is not here, he flounders for purpose and companionship. No one can replace that space, but flying solo isn’t as great as he’d have thought.
 
Back home, Balthier was motivated by treasure. He thinks he still wants to chase that, so commits himself to learning about the local situation, might even fall in with other thieves. He probably joins the villain guild, as it’s the kind of people he’s used to running with and the promise of not being under authority. This renewed life of piracy will satisfy for a time, but may not be as satisfying as he thought.
 
Increasingly adrift, Balthier wants a sense of purpose, and is vulnerable to influence by whatever community he falls in with; he’s still a boy at heart in this way. He is only 22 and much of his identity has been AGAINST his childhood. He will also be particularly swayable by the opinions of anyone he gets close to, but he has trust issues so that may be difficult to do.
 

Gameplay —

Areas of Interest / Brainstorming:
 
-I’m interested in Balthier organically choosing which guild he ends up in. As mentioned above, I think he leans toward piracy initially but is finding this sadly lacking without the context of robbing from the empire and therefore his father. I think he could be swayed toward the Heroes and leadership, or could find someone else’s purpose in his villain community to attach to. For someone who fancies himself the leading man, he’s desperately in need of community.
 
-Related, I’m interested in Balthier having an identity crisis and reinventing himself now that he’s been pulled from home. I want the people he falls in with to organically influence that. He definitely pretends to be a lone wolf and definitely needs attention and community, especially with his partner missing.
 
-I’m interested in some more intense interpersonal relationships, as he’s lost the only significant healthy relationship he’s ever had. He may become extremely codependent with an individual or small group, or may work on healthier relationships with a wider spread of people, or both.
 
Samples: 
https://metamemes.dreamwidth.org/368.html?thread=17008#cmt17008
https://metamemes.dreamwidth.org/368.html?thread=45680#cmt45680