Application | Mikleo

[nerdeology]

OUT OF CHARACTER:
Name/Handle: Akai
Contact: akaikitsunedono@gmail.com / fontech / fontech
Reference: N/A
Other characters: Kirito huaaaaagh

IN-CHARACTER:
Character name: Mikleo
Character journal: nerdeology
Series name: Tales of Zestiria
Canon notes: Prior to meeting with Mayvin in Loghrin re: the Earthen Historia

Species:

Mikleo is a seraph, a spiritual being that resembles a human but cannot be seen, heard, or touched by humans without a sufficient level of resonance. They used to be worshipped like gods, though it's fallen out of favour in recent years. Seraphs are typically associated with some kind of element; Mikleo is a water seraph.

Seraphs can occasionally be seen in mirrors if they focus hard enough. They do not need to eat or sleep and usually are extremely long-lived- they do not die of old age. They can be corrupted by a dark, invasive power (known in canon as malevolence) and become monsters, if they're exposed to an excess amount of it and aren't properly protected, and therefore can sense when it's around.

History:

The game history wikia is here.

Mikleo grew up in Elysia, a small, secluded village inhabited by seraphim and Sorey, the only human who can see them. He and Sorey were raised together from infancy by the village elder, Zenrus, whom they consider to be a father/grandfather. The village itself is protected by Zenrus, who has blessed the forest outside of town to make it near-impossible to navigate to their town, thus protecting it from invaders.

In Elysia, life was peaceful, and Mikleo spent his days reading books, listening to stories about the world, and exploring ruins with Sorey to learn as much history as possible. This changed when, while checking out a nearby ruin, they found the human Alisha inside. Sorey brought her back to town, but she was unable to see any seraphim and assumed he lived alone. After she left, encouraging Sorey to visit her hometown for a festival later, a monster known as a hellion (a name given to creatures or objects consumed and altered by malevolence) attacked the village, and it had been so long since hellions breached their territory that Zenrus allowed Sorey and Mikleo to leave town so they could determine the state of the world.

They encountered more hellions outside, and discovered that the world's state was actually pretty terrible. In order to properly fight the hellions, Sorey pledged himself to the seraph Lailah, and became the Shepherd, who is basically a warrior who bridges the gap between human and seraphim and can purify hellions. Eventually Mikleo became sub lord to Lailah to gain the power of purification as well, surrendering his freedom so he could help Sorey on his journey. Since then, they've been traveling around the world, exploring ruins, learning the history of the Shepherds, and cleansing each territory of malevolence.

Personality:

As a seraph from an extremely isolated village, Mikleo grew up knowing only one human, Sorey. Because of this, he has a natural caution around humans, especially those who are either ignorant or critical of seraphim. Circumstances force him to work together with humans like Alisha and Rose, whom he gradually comes to trust and call friends, but his contact with other humans is mostly only through Sorey's interactions with them, since the vast majority of them can't see or hear him. As such, his understanding of humankind's needs, culture, and attitude is pretty limited. His already brash attitude can therefore come across as even more abrasive and disrespectful. He doesn't outright hate humans, but when the second human he ever meets, Alisha, is in his territory, he's as uncomfortable as the rest of the seraphim, scolding Sorey for bringing her there and urging him to get her out as soon as possible. (Her presence was unwanted due to the link between humans and malevolence, which can corrupt and sicken seraphim- thus, he has good reason to be concerned, but even so.) On the flipside, however, he does understand Sorey's desire to get to know other humans, so he stands up for his friend, buying him a couple of days to get to know Alisha and help her out. He does this even under the assumption that Sorey would likely decide to leave the village, and their peaceful life together would be lost, maybe forever.

He's often disgruntled and has a solid poker face, but being raised alongside Sorey means he's kindhearted and naive in much the same ways. He's quite stubborn and is difficult to budge on the teachings he's grown up with his whole life- that humans and seraphim don't mesh well, and Sorey is an exception. This is something he has to overcome when he and Sorey begin the Shepherd's journey, where the goal itself is to purify malevolence in the world through the cooperation of humans and seraphim. He does carry some fondness for the dream of uniting the human and seraphim worlds- after being told multiple times that he can't become a sub lord because it isn't his dream to purify hellions, he tells Sorey that it is in fact their shared dream to create a world where humans and seraphim can live together. He acknowledges his stubbornness as a flaw but also uses it as momentum to push himself forward and earn his place in the group.

Mikleo is used to being a skeptical pillar of reality for his comrades near the beginning of the game- quick to curb Sorey's enthusiasm before he gets ahead of himself. However, given the right topic - ruins and research, for example - Mikleo can be just as prone to lose himself in excitement. The two of them have a tendency to egg one another on. Typically, though, he can be very cynical, sarcastic, and a bit of a wet noodle, overall. Because of his attitude, the rest of the party is fond of giving him silly nicknames, which reveal another fault of his personality: he is very easy to rile up. When someone says something objectionable, he's often the first to lose his cool and snap at them, no matter how often it's pointed out that he steps right into the teasing.

For a seraph, he's quite young - only 18, when the species can live for hundreds, even thousands of years. His inexperience shows in how ignorant he is about many aspects of the world; he's not as clueless as Sorey is, but there are many things he doesn't know about the human world as well as the nature of seraphim, despite being one himself. He is sharp and analytical when it comes to researching and subjects he's passionate about. He loves books and can often get sidetracked by the various ruins, histories, etc. that the party comes across while they travel, assuming it's safe enough to do so. He loves to learn so much that he can forget about his surroundings- Sorey scolds him for reading books in a city because it would appear to humans that a book is floating in the air. Sometimes he can be obnoxious about what he learns, depending on the way it's taught to him (such as giving Edna attitude when she mocks him for not knowing that it's better to use a weapon of a weaker element to one's own), but he still absorbs the information with some gratitude.

Mikleo is incredibly protective of those he cares about. He is frustrated by his weaknesses and seeks to become stronger, willing to push himself to his limits in order to avoid becoming a burden or a cause of worry for his friends. When Sorey tries to push him away from the Shepherd's journey or stop him from pledging himself as a sub lord to Sorey's bonded seraphim, Lailah - which would essentially tie him to Sorey for an unspecified amount of time and force him to dwell inside Sorey instead of traveling freely with him - Mikleo has to fight for recognition and the right to decide for himself what he wants to do. He is willing to sacrifice his freedom for the sake of the world, as well as to help the person who is most important to him. The rest of the group acknowledges that Mikleo is much more likely to get emotional in situations that involve Sorey, which is expected when the two have been so close their entire lives. Sorey is both best friend and rival to Mikleo, and it shows during both the difficult, emotional times and when the mood is more lighthearted. They often partake in friendly bets and challenges, and have been pretty much responsible for each others' entertainment for their entire lives.

This isn't to say that Sorey is the only one Mikleo shares a connection with. He can be kind and empathize with people even without fully understanding them- when attempting to recruit another human, Rose, as a squire to Sorey, he recognizes that he and the other seraphim can't support him the way that another human might, because as close as they are, they're still different species, and a seraphim doesn't know what it's like to be human. He can acknowledge that there are some things that he can't do but others can, and shows a degree of maturity beyond the bratty kid that some have teasingly dubbed him.

Abilities:

As a seraph of water, Mikleo has the power to control and manifest water and ice. These abilities are known as seraphic artes. He also has a powerful healing arte, though he can only heal one person at a time. As a sub lord and bonded seraph, he also has the ability to dwell inside a human and fuse with them in a process known as armitization, where the two can fight in one body temporarily. Since he is already linked to Sorey, this would only work with him. Overall, his abilities aren't any more powerful than your average RPG party member.

Species-related abilities include the power to infuse man-made objects with their essence, which can then make the objects invisible as long as the seraph is in contact or proximity, and the ability to dispel or summon said objects once they are a part of the seraph. Mikleo is shown doing this with his staff, and the divine artifact (his bow) that he uses when armitized with Sorey.

This isn't so much an ability as his very nature, but seraphs are invisible to most humans. Only those who have enough spiritual resonance can interact with him- either a natural affinity, or prolonged exposure to his presence. (Sorey can also act as a medium, but that's only useful when he's around.) Animals, and those with animal instincts, can also sense the seraphim.

To combat an aspect of his character that could make him near-unplayable, I'd like to give him the ability to make himself visible to people when its required, with enough focus, until he starts making connections with others. Canon already supports this as possible, but very difficult (and typically needing a mirror), so it would be cool to be able to boost that. The communicators should also work for him, because Atroma.

Please let me know if this is acceptable or if it needs tweaking!


Augment Skillset: Communications

Sample: Musebox thread!