Characters of Hazardous Pursuits
Feb. 5th, 2013 01:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
link_to_revivalGeorge Volshoft
The father of the late James Volshoft (Lynn's fiancee), George was a military man through and through. In fact, maybe a bit too through. A high-ranking officer in Britannia's military, George considered those that refrained from serving in the armed forces as sub-human, content to reap the benefits that modern society could grant while never contributing in their defense. It didn't matter to him if you were a brilliant scientist or a capable politician or a philanthropist: if you never fought and bled for your nation you weren't human.
Hearing that his son had fallen in love with a civilian scientist was a tough blow for him, but George nevertheless held his tongue and respected his son's decision. James was a military man himself, he was free to make his own decisions, and there was always the chance that Lynn would end up joining the Britannian Corps. of Engineers. However, this never came to pass on account of the Icarus Bombing. James was killed, and Lynn was at fault. George's anger was beyond comprehension, and he was responsible for the largest bounty posted on Lynn's head. The deaths of everyone else in the Icarus Bombing didn't matter to George, they weren't human in his eyes, but James had still been killed and such an inglorious death for a soldier had to be avenged.
In the wake of Second Impact, George broke off from the Britannian military, unwilling to accept that Lynn had died during HALO's misfire. Accompanied by many of the men and women who had served under him, George founded the PMC group "Blitz Valhalla", for which work could always be found. It was only a matter of time though before Blitz Valhalla was approached by a liason from Yggdrasill, however. Marie Weiss might've disagreed on some of the finer details regarding George's worldviews, but they both fostered the feeling that the majority of humanity was beneath them.
Eventually a deal was struck, with Blitz Valhalla becoming Yggdrasill's personal army and informing them of the goings on in the world. George frankly hated Marie, thinking that for all her grandeur and greatness she would still die to a bullet in the head just like anyone else, but work was work and work of that kind would naturally provide him with information. Information that would eventually lead to the whereabouts of Lynn Idris.
Simoun Tyer (note: appable)
Very few people can claim that the Icarus Bombing in fact saved their life rather than ending it. Simoun, however, can. As a child, she and her mother were both abused severely by Simoun's father. Frequently beaten and bloodied, Simoun's mother was ultimately killed one day when her father went too far in his beatings, and he turned his attention to Simoun since she couldn't be allowed to live after what she'd seen.
Halfway through strangling Simoun, however, there was a tremendous explosion, one that blew a copious amount of shrapnel into her father's back and killed him. Simoun's family lived in the suburb that was struck by the Icarus Bombing, and said bombing was the only reason her father hadn't killed her. This led to a dissonance she felt regarding the incident. On one hand, a lot of people had died as a result of it and Simoun knew it was selfish to be grateful for it since the Bombing saved her life. On the other hand, it did teach her from a very young age that oftentimes small good things can happen in the midst of tragedy and the opposite is also true.
Simoun grew up in foster care for several years before ultimately enrolling in military school. Determined, stoic, and getting high marks across the board, she earned numerous accolades and the respect of most of her teachers. Upon graduation she was scouted by George Volshoft and offered a position in his PMC, noting that the pay would trump whatever Britannia would be willing to pay her. She accepted, and swiftly rose up the ranks in Blitz Valhalla, until she became George's young second in command.
Simoun in a lot of ways was very different than George. Quieter and oftentimes speaking in contrary of her superior, she nevertheless would do anything George needed her to do so long as she was given a reasonable explanation. Her own background also painted her as the kind of person George liked: she could've spent her entire childhood leeching off of the Empire's welfare programs but instead she did didn't.
However, the Icarus Bombing and especially the Icarus Bomber herself are a sticking point for Simoun. And how things play out when the two ultimately meet is going to be... interesting.
Patrick Wargraves
As a loudmouth, profane, and extremely aggressive man, one might be surprised to discover that Patrick Wargraves is in fact a high ranking member of Biltz Valhalla. One would be further surprised by the fact that Patrick is far more intelligent and cunning than his rhetoric would imply. Patrick obfuscates crudeness to throw off his opponents both while on foot and while piloting. That isn't to say it isn't entirely an act, Patrick simply exaggerates his more notable characteristics when it serves a purpose. He's smart enough to know how to perform trick shots in his KMF, rebounding bullets off walls to hit enemies he can't see without difficulty.
That said, Patrick puts too much confidence in his persona and often overconfident as a result. It's this overconfidence that ultimately gets him killed in the first mission when he underestimates Lynn, REVIVAL, and its arsenal, allowing Lynn to use the penetrator rifle to directly shoot Patrick in spite of all of the rubble between them.
Marie Weiss
The main villain of Hazardous Pursuits, a cruel and unsympathizing woman who made an absolutely massive fortune in the pre-Second Impact world. She respected Britannia's views on Social Darwinism and always felt that the masses were just parasites expecting to be saved while doing nothing about it. And with Second Impact looming, Marie decided to just let humanity as a whole die off since they were beneath her and the truly gifted.
As mentioned in the additional backstory notes, Marie created Yggdrasill as a means for business leaders and artists to escape both Second Impact and also from the yoke of government regulation. And as a result Marie has enjoyed very advanced medical treatments for the past seventeen years, enough that she looks far younger than a woman in her late 60s should.
Marie's renewed interest in the world at large mainly stems from the feelings that perhaps humanity, or at least parts of it, were not so lowly as she expected. Technology in the world's advanced and there was the pressing need for Yggdrasill to keep up with all the latest developments. Marie's plans for this are what kick-starts the story.
Marie ultimately has two sides of her, and it's difficult to say which is the "dominant" one. On one hand, she has tremendous respect for the truly gifted so long as they behave how she expects them to behave. On the other hand, she is also extremely petty and vindictive, even willing to suffer temporary inconveniences just to screw over those that have wronged her. She has money and power, and she has no problem with making use of them to lord over anyone who gets in her way.
She also has nothing but disdain for George Volshoft, seeing him as a barbarian in spite of his uses. Neither one is a mask, but her mood can shift very quickly from the first to the second, as will happen with her interactions with Lynn.
Typhon
Dr. Wagner's attempt to recreate his dead wife Greta gave way to "Greta" becoming R. Similarly, his attempt at creating a son from scratch gave way to his death, the collapse of the Universal Alloy project, and ultimately this son would go on to become Typhon.
Typhon's monstrous, sado-hedonistic personality synchs up very well with the original Greek father of monsters. Typhon is entirely a being of pleasure, prone to try out random things just to see what emotions they stir inside of him. And if he feels good after doing something (like tearing someone limb from limb as they beg for mercy) he'll make a note of it and be sure to follow up on it at some later time.
Unlike R, Typhon is also obsessed with the concept of being human, to the point he recognizes himself as being male and having his robot form have a noticable codpiece. Typhon also considers the biggest highlight of being human is our amazing way of thinking up ways to kill each other. In fact, Typhon considers the greatest achievement a human being can do in their life is to kill another. Not only because you're ending a life, one of the most difficult things in the world it is to create, but also the emotional response you'll get from those who were close to the deceased. It grants one power not only over the person you killed, but also those close to them as well.
He also feels a very strong sense of both gratitude and dislike towards R. Dislike because of the fact they were made by the same man and R's technically his mother, and yet R is absolutely nothing like him. On the other end of the spectrum though, it was through R's actions that Wagner made Takeda in the first place, which he'll be sure to point out during their first rematch.
Typhon's combat body, equipped with countless Magcores, also grant him virtual immortality. So long as even his Strings exist, Typhon can reconstitute from any injury given sufficient time.
Satoru Takeda
Genius inventor. Brilliant scientist. An inspiration for those who wish to discover new technologies to better mankind as a whole. Satoru Takeda is all of these things and still a completely batshit, dogmatic, sycophantic zealot who idolizes Marie Weiss, the ground she walks on, and even the little worms she might crush as well. Takeda in a way is the anti-Lynn; a scientist who doesn't give two shits about helping other people but instead simply wants to see what amazing things he can create when given the resources. Understandably, Marie's views on the world and the rights of the truly gifted are something he really, really loves, and similarly he really loves Marie in an almost creepy way.
It's only "almost creepy" because Takeda is also very good at hiding his true intentions and feelings. He had every intent to murder everyone in the Yasakani Veil lab aside from his senior staff the day he accepted Britannia's offer to develop his barriers for them. Typically his feelings towards Marie come off as simply a tremendous respect. Later on, this ability to keep his feelings under wraps helps save his life when it comes to wheeling and dealing under the command of Volshoft, but more on that later. Ultimately Takeda can be very deceptive when there is a need for it
Takeda also has a bit of an inferiority complex, making him compulsively try to "keep up with the Joneses" as it were. Having recently discovered about the other kinds of barrier systems in the world, he's determined to prove that the Yasakani Veil is the greatest of them all. This determination stems from a fear that Marie may lose respect for Takeda if she discovers a better product than his is available, and since he could never be angry at anything Marie would decide he'd naturally take it as his own failings.
In battle, Takeda shittalks in a very cold and sadistic manner. He will highlight the failings of other people to throw them off their game and even try to exploit any openings to mess things up even more for the people he fights against.
The father of the late James Volshoft (Lynn's fiancee), George was a military man through and through. In fact, maybe a bit too through. A high-ranking officer in Britannia's military, George considered those that refrained from serving in the armed forces as sub-human, content to reap the benefits that modern society could grant while never contributing in their defense. It didn't matter to him if you were a brilliant scientist or a capable politician or a philanthropist: if you never fought and bled for your nation you weren't human.
Hearing that his son had fallen in love with a civilian scientist was a tough blow for him, but George nevertheless held his tongue and respected his son's decision. James was a military man himself, he was free to make his own decisions, and there was always the chance that Lynn would end up joining the Britannian Corps. of Engineers. However, this never came to pass on account of the Icarus Bombing. James was killed, and Lynn was at fault. George's anger was beyond comprehension, and he was responsible for the largest bounty posted on Lynn's head. The deaths of everyone else in the Icarus Bombing didn't matter to George, they weren't human in his eyes, but James had still been killed and such an inglorious death for a soldier had to be avenged.
In the wake of Second Impact, George broke off from the Britannian military, unwilling to accept that Lynn had died during HALO's misfire. Accompanied by many of the men and women who had served under him, George founded the PMC group "Blitz Valhalla", for which work could always be found. It was only a matter of time though before Blitz Valhalla was approached by a liason from Yggdrasill, however. Marie Weiss might've disagreed on some of the finer details regarding George's worldviews, but they both fostered the feeling that the majority of humanity was beneath them.
Eventually a deal was struck, with Blitz Valhalla becoming Yggdrasill's personal army and informing them of the goings on in the world. George frankly hated Marie, thinking that for all her grandeur and greatness she would still die to a bullet in the head just like anyone else, but work was work and work of that kind would naturally provide him with information. Information that would eventually lead to the whereabouts of Lynn Idris.
Simoun Tyer (note: appable)
Very few people can claim that the Icarus Bombing in fact saved their life rather than ending it. Simoun, however, can. As a child, she and her mother were both abused severely by Simoun's father. Frequently beaten and bloodied, Simoun's mother was ultimately killed one day when her father went too far in his beatings, and he turned his attention to Simoun since she couldn't be allowed to live after what she'd seen.
Halfway through strangling Simoun, however, there was a tremendous explosion, one that blew a copious amount of shrapnel into her father's back and killed him. Simoun's family lived in the suburb that was struck by the Icarus Bombing, and said bombing was the only reason her father hadn't killed her. This led to a dissonance she felt regarding the incident. On one hand, a lot of people had died as a result of it and Simoun knew it was selfish to be grateful for it since the Bombing saved her life. On the other hand, it did teach her from a very young age that oftentimes small good things can happen in the midst of tragedy and the opposite is also true.
Simoun grew up in foster care for several years before ultimately enrolling in military school. Determined, stoic, and getting high marks across the board, she earned numerous accolades and the respect of most of her teachers. Upon graduation she was scouted by George Volshoft and offered a position in his PMC, noting that the pay would trump whatever Britannia would be willing to pay her. She accepted, and swiftly rose up the ranks in Blitz Valhalla, until she became George's young second in command.
Simoun in a lot of ways was very different than George. Quieter and oftentimes speaking in contrary of her superior, she nevertheless would do anything George needed her to do so long as she was given a reasonable explanation. Her own background also painted her as the kind of person George liked: she could've spent her entire childhood leeching off of the Empire's welfare programs but instead she did didn't.
However, the Icarus Bombing and especially the Icarus Bomber herself are a sticking point for Simoun. And how things play out when the two ultimately meet is going to be... interesting.
Patrick Wargraves
As a loudmouth, profane, and extremely aggressive man, one might be surprised to discover that Patrick Wargraves is in fact a high ranking member of Biltz Valhalla. One would be further surprised by the fact that Patrick is far more intelligent and cunning than his rhetoric would imply. Patrick obfuscates crudeness to throw off his opponents both while on foot and while piloting. That isn't to say it isn't entirely an act, Patrick simply exaggerates his more notable characteristics when it serves a purpose. He's smart enough to know how to perform trick shots in his KMF, rebounding bullets off walls to hit enemies he can't see without difficulty.
That said, Patrick puts too much confidence in his persona and often overconfident as a result. It's this overconfidence that ultimately gets him killed in the first mission when he underestimates Lynn, REVIVAL, and its arsenal, allowing Lynn to use the penetrator rifle to directly shoot Patrick in spite of all of the rubble between them.
Marie Weiss
The main villain of Hazardous Pursuits, a cruel and unsympathizing woman who made an absolutely massive fortune in the pre-Second Impact world. She respected Britannia's views on Social Darwinism and always felt that the masses were just parasites expecting to be saved while doing nothing about it. And with Second Impact looming, Marie decided to just let humanity as a whole die off since they were beneath her and the truly gifted.
As mentioned in the additional backstory notes, Marie created Yggdrasill as a means for business leaders and artists to escape both Second Impact and also from the yoke of government regulation. And as a result Marie has enjoyed very advanced medical treatments for the past seventeen years, enough that she looks far younger than a woman in her late 60s should.
Marie's renewed interest in the world at large mainly stems from the feelings that perhaps humanity, or at least parts of it, were not so lowly as she expected. Technology in the world's advanced and there was the pressing need for Yggdrasill to keep up with all the latest developments. Marie's plans for this are what kick-starts the story.
Marie ultimately has two sides of her, and it's difficult to say which is the "dominant" one. On one hand, she has tremendous respect for the truly gifted so long as they behave how she expects them to behave. On the other hand, she is also extremely petty and vindictive, even willing to suffer temporary inconveniences just to screw over those that have wronged her. She has money and power, and she has no problem with making use of them to lord over anyone who gets in her way.
She also has nothing but disdain for George Volshoft, seeing him as a barbarian in spite of his uses. Neither one is a mask, but her mood can shift very quickly from the first to the second, as will happen with her interactions with Lynn.
Typhon
Dr. Wagner's attempt to recreate his dead wife Greta gave way to "Greta" becoming R. Similarly, his attempt at creating a son from scratch gave way to his death, the collapse of the Universal Alloy project, and ultimately this son would go on to become Typhon.
Typhon's monstrous, sado-hedonistic personality synchs up very well with the original Greek father of monsters. Typhon is entirely a being of pleasure, prone to try out random things just to see what emotions they stir inside of him. And if he feels good after doing something (like tearing someone limb from limb as they beg for mercy) he'll make a note of it and be sure to follow up on it at some later time.
Unlike R, Typhon is also obsessed with the concept of being human, to the point he recognizes himself as being male and having his robot form have a noticable codpiece. Typhon also considers the biggest highlight of being human is our amazing way of thinking up ways to kill each other. In fact, Typhon considers the greatest achievement a human being can do in their life is to kill another. Not only because you're ending a life, one of the most difficult things in the world it is to create, but also the emotional response you'll get from those who were close to the deceased. It grants one power not only over the person you killed, but also those close to them as well.
He also feels a very strong sense of both gratitude and dislike towards R. Dislike because of the fact they were made by the same man and R's technically his mother, and yet R is absolutely nothing like him. On the other end of the spectrum though, it was through R's actions that Wagner made Takeda in the first place, which he'll be sure to point out during their first rematch.
Typhon's combat body, equipped with countless Magcores, also grant him virtual immortality. So long as even his Strings exist, Typhon can reconstitute from any injury given sufficient time.
Satoru Takeda
Genius inventor. Brilliant scientist. An inspiration for those who wish to discover new technologies to better mankind as a whole. Satoru Takeda is all of these things and still a completely batshit, dogmatic, sycophantic zealot who idolizes Marie Weiss, the ground she walks on, and even the little worms she might crush as well. Takeda in a way is the anti-Lynn; a scientist who doesn't give two shits about helping other people but instead simply wants to see what amazing things he can create when given the resources. Understandably, Marie's views on the world and the rights of the truly gifted are something he really, really loves, and similarly he really loves Marie in an almost creepy way.
It's only "almost creepy" because Takeda is also very good at hiding his true intentions and feelings. He had every intent to murder everyone in the Yasakani Veil lab aside from his senior staff the day he accepted Britannia's offer to develop his barriers for them. Typically his feelings towards Marie come off as simply a tremendous respect. Later on, this ability to keep his feelings under wraps helps save his life when it comes to wheeling and dealing under the command of Volshoft, but more on that later. Ultimately Takeda can be very deceptive when there is a need for it
Takeda also has a bit of an inferiority complex, making him compulsively try to "keep up with the Joneses" as it were. Having recently discovered about the other kinds of barrier systems in the world, he's determined to prove that the Yasakani Veil is the greatest of them all. This determination stems from a fear that Marie may lose respect for Takeda if she discovers a better product than his is available, and since he could never be angry at anything Marie would decide he'd naturally take it as his own failings.
In battle, Takeda shittalks in a very cold and sadistic manner. He will highlight the failings of other people to throw them off their game and even try to exploit any openings to mess things up even more for the people he fights against.
