Character advice

[Halrath]

I'm having a bit of a time trying to nail down my character's background. So I'm asking you guys for some help...

 

I'm looking at a male highlander. Enlisted/conscripted by the empire when they took over Ala Mhigo. Was there for the battle in 2.0. Didn't die, woke up slightly confused...and decided that it was a good a time as any to desert the empire and head towards Ul'dah or Limsa Lominsa.

 

Thoughts? ideas? Am I killing the lore? Is it to generic?

 

Thanks for any input you can give me.

 

Peace,

Halrath

[Savarah]

Not lore breaking that I can tell. It will sound better once you flesh it out; I felt the same way originally. One thing you might want to ask is what event drove your character to finally leave the Empire? Most people don't just up and leave anywhere for no good reason. Especially somewhere like the Empire that's incredibly militaristic and doesn't take kindly to deserters.

[Merri]

I could go into great depth about Garlean military structure, suffice it to say that your average Garlean footsoldier is quite brainwashed. They're put through rigorous training to make killing literally a second nature to them. To a point where they can do it without even thinking about it. Mindless killing machines. In fact, it was mentioned that as a part of a daily training regimen, Garlean Soldiers are forced to kill something, anything, once a day. They do so in order to build up a tolerance to the act so they can kill without second guessing themselves. It makes them incredibly efficient, and very ruthless.

 

That being said, while it could be possible to break free from that, most ex-garlean military characters are kind of broken people. They'd generally suffer from extreme bouts of PTSD and probably not function very well in society.

 

Makes for an interesting character, but it's something to think about. Has consequences, basically.

This is all canonically speaking, of course. :>

Take it with a grain of salt.

[speitzer]

Not lore breaking that I can tell. It will sound better once you flesh it out; I felt the same way originally. One thing you might want to ask is what event drove your character to finally leave the Empire? Most people don't just up and leave anywhere for no good reason. Especially somewhere like the Empire that's incredibly militaristic and doesn't take kindly to deserters.

 

Agreed.

 

I think this is a good story to start out with. I've always felt that what your character has done is less interesting than why and how they did it. If you really develop the feelings your character has towards the empire, it can be a strong jumping board.

[Savarah]

I could go into great depth about Garlean military structure

 

Shower us with your lore knowledge! I already got all I know about 1.0 from your incredible video montage and write up. :moogle:

[Halrath]

Thanks for the input! I think if I flesh it out a bit more i can make it work... And giving Hal some PTSD aspects might make for an interesting character.

Thanks again!

 

Peace,

Halrath

 

P.S please feel free to elaborate on the Empires military structure

[Trickery]

One thing you might want to ask is what event drove your character to finally leave the Empire? Most people don't just up and leave anywhere for no good reason. Especially somewhere like the Empire that's incredibly militaristic and doesn't take kindly to deserters.

 

If I was making this character, I'd probably do something like have the character be a part of the Garlean air forces rather than being on the ground, perhaps a part of Gaius Van Baelsar's XIV legion, seeing as they were there in airships during the final battle in order to observe. Your airship could've been one from that legion that was slow to withdraw after Bahamut appeared and got caught in the blast, blowing you wildly off course, destroying the airship, and obliterating the crew, yourself being the sole exception.

 

You could then awake later to find yourself in the care of a friendly nomadic tribe of some sort who rescued you from the wreckage. With no idea of where you were and little hope of returning to the Empire anytime soon, you'd be forced to accept their generosity while you plotted your return to the Empire.

 

During the course of your stay with said nomadic tribe, you'd become more sympathetic, trusting, and attached to them as you assured each others continued survival. Eventually you'd learn that "they aren't really so different from us after all" despite the years of brainwashing to the contrary. You might come to relish your freedom, develop friendships, and maybe even start to fall in love with someone.

 

You'd inevitably find your way back to the Empire, but only come to realize upon your return that its embrace is much colder and restricting than you'd remembered. You'd try to fall back into the day to day duties that you'd originally been accustomed to, but you can't help but think that the Garlean way isn't as virtuous and honorable as you'd been brought to believe. You'd eventually be ordered to do something that would serve as the crux of your rebellion, finally forcing you to choose freedom and desertion rather than continue to serve under the yoke of the Empire.

 

At least, that's the kind of story I'd use for a Garlean turncoat. It's not that uncommon a story Final Fantasy wise either, to tell the truth. 

 

A lot of that is purposefully left very vague in order to be filled in with relevant bits or your character's own background and personality.

[Savarah]

One thing you might want to ask is what event drove your character to finally leave the Empire? Most people don't just up and leave anywhere for no good reason. Especially somewhere like the Empire that's incredibly militaristic and doesn't take kindly to deserters.

 

If I was making this character, I'd probably do something like have the character be a part of the Garlean air forces rather than being on the ground, perhaps a part of Gaius Van Baelsar's XIV legion, seeing as they were there in airships during the final battle in order to observe. Your airship could've been one from that legion that was slow to withdraw after Bahamut appeared and got caught in the blast, blowing you wildly off course, destroying the airship, and obliterating the crew, yourself being the sole exception.

 

I really love that entire thing, but I especially like the idea of being in van Baelsar's XIV legion. That could give massive character insight into his 'actual' character, and not to mention that sounds ridiculously awesome. 

 

The yearn to escape from Garlean reign after a taste of what freedom and individuality is like could be a strong driving force for character development.

[Rhynka]

They'd generally suffer from extreme bouts of PTSD and probably not function very well in society.

 

This could actually be true for any character that has survived horrible physical or psychological trauma. I wouldn't say it's a must for a Garlean soldier, but definitely a nice touch of realism to their personality design. Only reason I say it doesn't have to be a must is because there are probably other characters not of Garlean origin that probably should have that disorder and don't. It really varies on the individual and how they cope with circumstances of extreme trauma. Just like some soldiers IRL suffer from PTSD and others don't, and there are even some people who have never seen war and have extreme cases of it also.

[Halrath]

Awesome! Thanks for the input. I had originally thought of my character more as a ground soldier. Wounded in battle, lost amongst the mass casualties and left for dead. Only to find himself "rescued" by scavengers of the battlefield.

 

I prefer to write with a little bit of grit. Maybe rather then the scavengers rescuing him out of the kindness of their hearts. They do so will ulterior motives. Sold in to slavery? Forced to fight in the gladiatorial arenas by The Syndicate? PTSD could make him hyper violent (the brainwashing of the empire didn't help either) and unpredictable as well, making him a good/dangerous fighter.

 

The problem with this though is that it doesn't leave much room for outside RP. He'd be a loner, someone who avoided people rather than sought them out for adventures...

 

Lots of ideas now. Thanks again!

 

Peace,

Halrath

[Havoc Snow]

This isn't exactly input, more of a question relating this type of character, but I thought that all Garlean troops went through some type of indoctrination (like we see them doing to Eorzean captives in 1.0) that made them unquestioningly loyal to the Empire?

[Halrath]

That was my understanding, hence my original post about whether such a story line would be considered "lore breaking".

 

In real life, indoctrination (heavy or otherwise) can be undone to some extent, though to what extent I think depends on the individual and methods employed.  I would also imagine that even if my character were to break the brainwashing implemented by the Empire the emotional and mental scaring would be severe.

 

I'll have to fiddle with some of the details and write something out to see if I like where it goes.

 

 

 

The other option I have is creating a slightly mad/insane older Midlander with a patient Lallafel assistant that tries desperately to keep him out of trouble.. a la Don Quioxte

[Savarah]

The other option I have is creating a slightly mad/insane older Midlander with a patient Lallafel assistant that tries desperately to keep him out of trouble.. a la Don Quioxte

 

Not that I'm against your original idea, but I personally think that would be absolutely ADORABLE. But, that's a woman's input for you.

[Havoc Snow]

Well to me knowledge the only person canonically to leave the Empire was Cid, but he wasn't Military he was R&D effectively. I'm not saying you couldn't do it, just that it was my impression that they used crazy brainwashing techniques to keep all their troops loyal and in line.

 

Maybe your character suffered some kind of head trauma, or has amnesia? That kind of thing would work to rid him of the indoctrination.