King Saralegui of Small Shimaron (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
enthraller) wrote2014-07-10 12:08 pm
enthraller) wrote2014-07-10 12:08 pm
Entry tags:
ooc - app to ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thelegion
APPLICATION
Player Name: Kelly
Plurk Handle:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
tinybro
Other characters: N/A
Character Name: Saralegui
Fandom: Kyo Kara Maoh!
Character Journal:enthraller
OU, AU, or OC? OU
If canon, canon point: Anime, post-season 3
PB: Sorta using the manga art as a PB because the anime art can be pretty awful.
Superhero Name: Sovereign
History: There are no decent wikis to link, but I have a thorough history write-up over here.
Additional OC and AU Background: N/A
Personality: By all outward appearances, Saralegui is just the young and charismatic king of the country of Small Shimaron. He's intelligent and fair in his rule despite his age, and well-liked by his people. He's kind and charming and strives for peace, the sort of king that really cares about his people, rather than just enjoying the luxury that such power brings.
In reality, however, Saralegui is manipulative and scheming. He plays nice with others to keep up a good reputation, because it's that sort of thing that helps him most in the cutthroat politics of his world. Saralegui doesn't shy away from using others to accomplish his goals, and he's both intelligent enough and powerful enough to get away with it. "Powerful" in this case referring less to his rank and more to the hypnotic magic he can work with his eyes. He doesn't even need that much of the time though, more interested in the challenge of going without, or doing things the more complicated way, such as in the incident where he arranged for himself to be hit by an arrow apparently intended for Yuuri in order to gain his trust. When asked by Belias why he was going so far when he could simply use his powers for the same purpose, Saralegui had simply answered that it was more fun going without. He's extremely intelligent, plotting moves out far in advance and predicting the moves on others accurately in order to make all his plotting work, and with his hypnotic abilities to fall back on, he's willing to make extremely risky gambles that always seem to work out for him in the end.
It isn't a lie that he cares for his country, but even that has a selfish root -- a need to be a greater king than his father was, to be acknowledged and loved and respected and feared by everyone because his father would barely even look at him. He has something of an abandonment complex, between his father's lack of care and his mother having been entirely absent from his life. No one is nice to others without wanting something from them, as far as he's concerned, and the concept of love is a pretty lie. How could he believe in something like that, after all, when his own parents, the people who are supposed to love you unconditionally and before all others, wanted nothing to do with him?
On a casual level, he ranges from genuinely affable to incredibly two-faced. He's very focused on appearances and often lies and sticks to polite surface interactions for the sake of maintaining that persona of a sweet and pleasant young ruler. But it's not as if everything he does always has such ulterior motives. He's very much capable of being friendly and getting along with others, and with all the societal rules and niceties out of the way he can actually be pretty great for intelligent conversation or flirting or joking around. After the whole revelation about his mother while at Blood Pledge Castle, with all the scheming and deception behind them, he actually manages to have a simple, pleasant day with Yuuri and Greta while getting a tour of the castle and being introduced to Yuuri's various friends. As long as things remain on a lighthearted surface level, he can be fairly genuine and likable without issue -- it's getting deeper than that that starts opening up a can of worms. He has some intense trust issues as well, so he lies and manipulates rather than put his faith into others, and his pride can just as easily get in the way of such relationships.
The only person he trusts absolutely his his bodyguard, Belias, and that's a trust built up over more than a decade of loyal servitude. Had Belias entered his life later it might have been too late, with Saralegui already too suspicious of others in general to allow anyone that close, but Belias came at a critical point, when Saralegui was still young and desperate enough to cling to whatever attention he was given. Belias is the only person he truly trusts, and he takes that trust to an extreme, even fearlessly putting his life in his bodyguard's skilled hands, as in that example with the arrow. For everyone else, however, he's skeptical of others as a rule, and prone to suspecting others of having ulterior motives than simply accepting the kindness of a stranger.
Despite everything he's done, Saralegui isn't exactly a villain. He does bad things, sometimes cruel things, but his intentions are often good. His world peace scheme, for example, wherein all his machinations to deal with Large Shimaron and take over as its king would supposedly lead to a situation where he and Yuuri could set an example for the rest of the world as allied leaders of the two greatest nations. He has a very "ends justify the means" attitude, which is why he could so easily trick his only friend, the pacifistic Yuuri, into destroying entire armies for him on two separate occasions -- it might hurt Yuuri, yes, but it gets rid of the threat of Large Shimaron's forces without having to send a single soldier into battle, and if it manages to kill off Large Shimaron's king in the process, then that just means he can claim the throne himself and definitively end all the fighting between humans and demons.
Canon Powers: Mind-control through eye contact.
Game powers: The same mind-control as in canon, functioning as the 1 super badass power. Canon demonstrates that it can be resisted to some extent by those with extremely strong willpower, and I think it would be fair if characters with telepathic powers of their own have some additional resistance. Physical barriers block it even if they're transparent, so he can't use the power while wearing his glasses (which he generally keeps on both for sentimental reasons and also because the power makes his eyes very sensitive to light). Commands can be spoken or silent, but victims are more likely to not remember or realize what happened if the power was used subtly, mixed in with ordinary verbal persuasion.
Abilities: He's skilled at non-supernatural methods of manipulation, and in general his people skills are pretty fantastic. He's a born diplomat, charismatic as hell, and he honestly prefers getting what he wants the old-fashioned way rather than by using his powers, because it's just more fun that way. Also, his night vision is really good (though not quite to a supernatural extent) as a side-effect of his sensitivity to light.
Setting: Being from a medieval fantasy setting, all these futuristic new worlds will likely be a bit overwhelming for him. But he's more the type to marvel at such fantastic, strange new things, and he'll likely delight in the novelty of it all once the initial uncertainty wears off. And even before that, he care too much about appearances to let himself seem nervous and confused by any of it, so he'll probably just play it cool and then have hilarious incidents with modern technology later because he won't ask for help.
I'd like to see how having to play the hero will affect him in the long-term. Though not quite a villain, he's usually been a very morally grey character, and it's only at his canon point at the end of the series that he's been making any real steps towards being decent. He plays the good guy well, but actually being that is going to take some work. Forced into being more open about his abilities and his methods might just help to make him a more honest person overall, given that he only really began being genuine and decent to Yuuri in canon after showing his true colors and being given another chance anyway.
SAMPLES
Prose Sample:
You would think being a king would make a person sensitive to being questioned, unused to such treatment. But being the bastard child king of a small country under the power of a larger and stronger country, Saralegui doesn't even bat an eye.
"I suppose it's fair to have such misgivings," he says with a smile. It's deeply familiar to him by now, well-rehearsed after so long dealing with Lanzhil and any number of lords with over-inflated senses of self-worth -- polite, and with just a slight edge of self-deprecation to appeal to such egos. "If some stranger was just dropped into my world and called a hero, I'm sure I'd doubt them, too."
Then again, that actually did happen. And Yuuri was probably the best thing that had ever happened to their world. But Saralegui is hardly going to mention that here, to a man that would likely only become agitated if so directly challenged.
"I won't claim to be the answer to any and every problem. But if we might be able to help at all while we're here, is it so beyond belief that we try?"
Saralegui shrugs, and he knows perfectly well what sort of effect his pretty face and sweet manner has. If someone wants to continue with such obvious jabs at such an unoffensive target, they'll only come out of it looking like a bully.
And that suits Saralegui just fine.
((Supplementary sample from another game here.))
Network Sample:
This seems silly. It's little more than talking to myself, isn't it?
[Forgive him for his skepticism. He comes from an medieval era before formalized therapy and self-help books. That, and the fact that he doubts this won't be listened to by those helpful individuals that suggested making it, means he isn't likely to do any real soul-bearing here. Something to humor the Legionnaires will suffice.
Saralegui sighs, and his frown is definitely bordering on a pout.]
Of course I'm not really happy being here. Things are...complicated right now, back home. And I've waited a long time for things to reach this point. It's not unreasonable that I want to be there dealing with all that.
[His gaze flicks downward, a lovely display of guilty uncertainty. It certainly can't hurt to butter up those in charge here, right? Assuming they really are going to listen in.]
I mean...I do feel for the people here and their problems. Of course I do. But how can I let myself worry about this world's problems when there are prior responsibilities in my own country I should be taking care of? Wanting to help everyone who needs it doesn't necessarily mean I can.
[Another sigh, and he lifts a hand to fiddle with the ends of his hair. A subtle gesture meant to demonstrate that youth and inexperience that so often gains him sympathy.]
I don't know. This is all still so strange...
((Supplementary sample from another game here.))
Additional info: Any additional info you think it's important to include.
Player Name: Kelly
Plurk Handle:
Other characters: N/A
Character Name: Saralegui
Fandom: Kyo Kara Maoh!
Character Journal:
enthrallerOU, AU, or OC? OU
If canon, canon point: Anime, post-season 3
PB: Sorta using the manga art as a PB because the anime art can be pretty awful.
Superhero Name: Sovereign
History: There are no decent wikis to link, but I have a thorough history write-up over here.
Additional OC and AU Background: N/A
Personality: By all outward appearances, Saralegui is just the young and charismatic king of the country of Small Shimaron. He's intelligent and fair in his rule despite his age, and well-liked by his people. He's kind and charming and strives for peace, the sort of king that really cares about his people, rather than just enjoying the luxury that such power brings.
In reality, however, Saralegui is manipulative and scheming. He plays nice with others to keep up a good reputation, because it's that sort of thing that helps him most in the cutthroat politics of his world. Saralegui doesn't shy away from using others to accomplish his goals, and he's both intelligent enough and powerful enough to get away with it. "Powerful" in this case referring less to his rank and more to the hypnotic magic he can work with his eyes. He doesn't even need that much of the time though, more interested in the challenge of going without, or doing things the more complicated way, such as in the incident where he arranged for himself to be hit by an arrow apparently intended for Yuuri in order to gain his trust. When asked by Belias why he was going so far when he could simply use his powers for the same purpose, Saralegui had simply answered that it was more fun going without. He's extremely intelligent, plotting moves out far in advance and predicting the moves on others accurately in order to make all his plotting work, and with his hypnotic abilities to fall back on, he's willing to make extremely risky gambles that always seem to work out for him in the end.
It isn't a lie that he cares for his country, but even that has a selfish root -- a need to be a greater king than his father was, to be acknowledged and loved and respected and feared by everyone because his father would barely even look at him. He has something of an abandonment complex, between his father's lack of care and his mother having been entirely absent from his life. No one is nice to others without wanting something from them, as far as he's concerned, and the concept of love is a pretty lie. How could he believe in something like that, after all, when his own parents, the people who are supposed to love you unconditionally and before all others, wanted nothing to do with him?
On a casual level, he ranges from genuinely affable to incredibly two-faced. He's very focused on appearances and often lies and sticks to polite surface interactions for the sake of maintaining that persona of a sweet and pleasant young ruler. But it's not as if everything he does always has such ulterior motives. He's very much capable of being friendly and getting along with others, and with all the societal rules and niceties out of the way he can actually be pretty great for intelligent conversation or flirting or joking around. After the whole revelation about his mother while at Blood Pledge Castle, with all the scheming and deception behind them, he actually manages to have a simple, pleasant day with Yuuri and Greta while getting a tour of the castle and being introduced to Yuuri's various friends. As long as things remain on a lighthearted surface level, he can be fairly genuine and likable without issue -- it's getting deeper than that that starts opening up a can of worms. He has some intense trust issues as well, so he lies and manipulates rather than put his faith into others, and his pride can just as easily get in the way of such relationships.
The only person he trusts absolutely his his bodyguard, Belias, and that's a trust built up over more than a decade of loyal servitude. Had Belias entered his life later it might have been too late, with Saralegui already too suspicious of others in general to allow anyone that close, but Belias came at a critical point, when Saralegui was still young and desperate enough to cling to whatever attention he was given. Belias is the only person he truly trusts, and he takes that trust to an extreme, even fearlessly putting his life in his bodyguard's skilled hands, as in that example with the arrow. For everyone else, however, he's skeptical of others as a rule, and prone to suspecting others of having ulterior motives than simply accepting the kindness of a stranger.
Despite everything he's done, Saralegui isn't exactly a villain. He does bad things, sometimes cruel things, but his intentions are often good. His world peace scheme, for example, wherein all his machinations to deal with Large Shimaron and take over as its king would supposedly lead to a situation where he and Yuuri could set an example for the rest of the world as allied leaders of the two greatest nations. He has a very "ends justify the means" attitude, which is why he could so easily trick his only friend, the pacifistic Yuuri, into destroying entire armies for him on two separate occasions -- it might hurt Yuuri, yes, but it gets rid of the threat of Large Shimaron's forces without having to send a single soldier into battle, and if it manages to kill off Large Shimaron's king in the process, then that just means he can claim the throne himself and definitively end all the fighting between humans and demons.
Canon Powers: Mind-control through eye contact.
Game powers: The same mind-control as in canon, functioning as the 1 super badass power. Canon demonstrates that it can be resisted to some extent by those with extremely strong willpower, and I think it would be fair if characters with telepathic powers of their own have some additional resistance. Physical barriers block it even if they're transparent, so he can't use the power while wearing his glasses (which he generally keeps on both for sentimental reasons and also because the power makes his eyes very sensitive to light). Commands can be spoken or silent, but victims are more likely to not remember or realize what happened if the power was used subtly, mixed in with ordinary verbal persuasion.
Abilities: He's skilled at non-supernatural methods of manipulation, and in general his people skills are pretty fantastic. He's a born diplomat, charismatic as hell, and he honestly prefers getting what he wants the old-fashioned way rather than by using his powers, because it's just more fun that way. Also, his night vision is really good (though not quite to a supernatural extent) as a side-effect of his sensitivity to light.
Setting: Being from a medieval fantasy setting, all these futuristic new worlds will likely be a bit overwhelming for him. But he's more the type to marvel at such fantastic, strange new things, and he'll likely delight in the novelty of it all once the initial uncertainty wears off. And even before that, he care too much about appearances to let himself seem nervous and confused by any of it, so he'll probably just play it cool and then have hilarious incidents with modern technology later because he won't ask for help.
I'd like to see how having to play the hero will affect him in the long-term. Though not quite a villain, he's usually been a very morally grey character, and it's only at his canon point at the end of the series that he's been making any real steps towards being decent. He plays the good guy well, but actually being that is going to take some work. Forced into being more open about his abilities and his methods might just help to make him a more honest person overall, given that he only really began being genuine and decent to Yuuri in canon after showing his true colors and being given another chance anyway.
SAMPLES
Prose Sample:
You would think being a king would make a person sensitive to being questioned, unused to such treatment. But being the bastard child king of a small country under the power of a larger and stronger country, Saralegui doesn't even bat an eye.
"I suppose it's fair to have such misgivings," he says with a smile. It's deeply familiar to him by now, well-rehearsed after so long dealing with Lanzhil and any number of lords with over-inflated senses of self-worth -- polite, and with just a slight edge of self-deprecation to appeal to such egos. "If some stranger was just dropped into my world and called a hero, I'm sure I'd doubt them, too."
Then again, that actually did happen. And Yuuri was probably the best thing that had ever happened to their world. But Saralegui is hardly going to mention that here, to a man that would likely only become agitated if so directly challenged.
"I won't claim to be the answer to any and every problem. But if we might be able to help at all while we're here, is it so beyond belief that we try?"
Saralegui shrugs, and he knows perfectly well what sort of effect his pretty face and sweet manner has. If someone wants to continue with such obvious jabs at such an unoffensive target, they'll only come out of it looking like a bully.
And that suits Saralegui just fine.
((Supplementary sample from another game here.))
Network Sample:
This seems silly. It's little more than talking to myself, isn't it?
[Forgive him for his skepticism. He comes from an medieval era before formalized therapy and self-help books. That, and the fact that he doubts this won't be listened to by those helpful individuals that suggested making it, means he isn't likely to do any real soul-bearing here. Something to humor the Legionnaires will suffice.
Saralegui sighs, and his frown is definitely bordering on a pout.]
Of course I'm not really happy being here. Things are...complicated right now, back home. And I've waited a long time for things to reach this point. It's not unreasonable that I want to be there dealing with all that.
[His gaze flicks downward, a lovely display of guilty uncertainty. It certainly can't hurt to butter up those in charge here, right? Assuming they really are going to listen in.]
I mean...I do feel for the people here and their problems. Of course I do. But how can I let myself worry about this world's problems when there are prior responsibilities in my own country I should be taking care of? Wanting to help everyone who needs it doesn't necessarily mean I can.
[Another sigh, and he lifts a hand to fiddle with the ends of his hair. A subtle gesture meant to demonstrate that youth and inexperience that so often gains him sympathy.]
I don't know. This is all still so strange...
((Supplementary sample from another game here.))
Additional info: Any additional info you think it's important to include.