Escordvi App
Nov. 1st, 2024 01:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
emberizedPLAYER INFO
CHARACTER INFO
Character: Axel
Canon: Kingdom Hearts | At the end of Kingdom Hearts 2 prior to Dream Drop Distance
Age: 20ish (based off Aqua and Terra and because Nomura designs are hella deceptive (points at FF7 Cid)
Background Information: Axel | Kingdom Hearts Wiki
Personality: With blazing red hair, a devil may care attitude, and an imposing posture, if Axel is one thing, it is memorable. He's quick to laugh, give a sarcastic quip, or convince someone that acting on something is in their best interest. Whichever the case, it's easy to see Axel as a person bursting with personality; Ironic-- given that he isn't supposed to have one.
Axel is what is known as a Nobody, a being that occurs when a person loses their heart. If someone of exceptionally strong will retains their sense of self after the loss, they can reform as beings with visual similarities and memories of who they once were. These abominations caught between existing, yet not being 'real', make up the core of Organization XIII, the main antagonists of Kingdom Hearts II.
To be a Nobody is essentially to have magical depression; that is to say, Nobodys experience no feelings of emotional attachment but recall enough to detect the absence. Their behavior is derived from the memories of who they used to be before losing their hearts. Because Lea-- Axel's original self-- was self-assured, snarky and fun-loving, Axel too gives off the impression of being these things as his default state.
This combination of traits makes Axel exceptionally dangerous as a Nobody and particularly suited to the double agent role he plays for the Organization. At first.
In Chain of Memories, when Axel is sent to Castle Oblivion to root out traitors, his friendly and outgoing demeanor brings down the guard of everyone around him. He's quick to make bets with Zexion, push Vexen's buttons and banter with Marluxia and Larxene. Even when the latter are suspicious of him, he knows just what to say and how to act to get accepted into their coup. In the end, Axel is the only member there to survive-- according to plan-- and further dialogue with Saix suggests that Axel is used to this kind of work.
Axel seems to enjoy playing the role of an instigator, his lack of empathy as a Nobody stops him from feeling guilt while the old part of him is fulfilled to have engaged in something sociable. This isn't always a negative trait and with no person is this more apparent than with Roxas.
When Axel first takes Roxas under his wing, his motivations are entirely self-serving. He talks to keep himself entertained and takes the new recruit out for ice cream simply because he remembers doing so with Isa (now the cold, distant Saix). What Axel doesn't expect is that Roxas would become so taken with the routine (why would he, they both lack emotions) or that he himself would come to enjoy hanging out in return. With Roxas, Axel's penchant for prompting helps the other Nobody learn to express himself and slowly develop into his own person. What begins as a parroting of human interaction slowly becomes something more and more real.
What the two of them fail to understand, is that it is.
Because Roxas is linked to Sora's heart, when Axel develops a bond with the blonde it also forms a connection with Sora. Unbeknownst to either individual, the strength of Sora's heart is so great it begins to carry over, slowly awakening Axel's own capacity to feel.
Before Axel knows it, he has formed a true friendship and what had merely been 'playing house' skyrockets into a genuine unbreakable bond.
When Roxas invites Xion into their circle, Axel becomes fiercely protective of them both. He goes against orders to eliminate them, neglects to stop them from escaping and carries them back to the base when they pass out. As much as Axel claimed to be loyal to the Organization, he knew he lacked the heart to actually mean it– with Xion and Roxas, however, he would do anything to keep them safe.
This is to his detriment. Everything Axel knows about being a Nobody contradicts what he is experiencing and his work as an assassin, while useful in keeping him alive, has taught him to only trust his own perspective. He must hold all the cards at all times. Friends were never part of that equation.
When Axel learns the truth about Xion, he keeps it from Roxas while also trying to convince Xion to give up finding out more about herself. This should have been easy but with his capacity to now feel more than before, it tears him up inside, leaving him vulnerable to outbursts.
In addition to lacking trust, Axel’s greatest flaw is how well he lies, especially to himself.
When Roxas thinks that Axel has died and expresses how worried he had been, Axel laughs it off, amused that Roxas would claim something so human. Multiple times he dismisses these situations, not to trick Roxas but because that simply can’t be the case.
It's only when Roxas quits the Organization and throws these words back in his face that Axel has to acknowledge this DOES stir something in him and heart or no heart, something HURTS about this.
The entirety of Kingdom Hearts II Axel’s entire focus is just to see Roxas again. He isn't sure whether he wants to harm or help Sora to do it but nothing else matters aside from this one singular goal. A Nobody without a purpose is destined to fade away, but Axel comes to peace with that, giving his existence up for what Roxas believed in.
In the end, Axel is a contradictory bag of traits; someone suave and mysterious but who, beneath all that energetic swagger, is much softer and kind than anyone could suspect.
A flashback in BBS reveals Axel has always been this way.
In his youth, Lea and his friend Isa cared so deeply about a girl they found imprisoned in a castle, that they spent literal years trying to free her, going as far as to apprentice to said Castle just to find her again when she was moved elsewhere. We see this quality again when Lea challenges Ventus to spar, to snap him out of a bad day. Axel with his heart restored in Kingdom Hearts 3 is particularly kind-hearted, prone to apologies and even occasional tears, even with his fiery bravado intact.
Putting it all together, it’s obvious that the supportive and passionate friend Axel is around Roxas IS his true self, he simply doesn’t know how to get back to that state.
The thing about Axel is that when he can feel, he feels strongly. Roxas and Sora bring it out of him most, but like a dead battery only getting half of a charge, he runs on faulty wiring with everyone else.
A secret report found later reveals that given enough time, and room to grow, a Nobody might one day have emotions as real as any other person, even without being restored.
While Axel is not that person, not yet, it's a glimpse of who he can be, if he works at it.
He wants to work at it. Thankfully in Escordvi, where Axel has a chance to form new bonds and experiences he can do just that.
Abilities & Inventory:
Passive Abilities:
Being a Nobody– Nobodies are essentially like corporeal ghosts. By physical standards they are virtually indistinguishable from their human origins, with a few exceptions.
Without a heart, Axel's vitality is based more on willpower than his body.
In the manga, Axel survives being nearly bisected by Saix's blade, a wound that should have killed him on the spot. It still does massive damage but sheer determination to see Roxas allows Axel to hold himself together just long enough to reach Sora and help fight before he succumbs.
Nobodys also disintegrate rather than 'bleed.' When injured and dying, Axel's body was wreathed in black flames, his very essence billowing away like smoke until he fully faded away.
Dark Corridors– Organization XIII (and Nobodys in general, according to the manga) have the power to summon portals made of darkness that allow them to teleport from one place to another.
It is Organization XIII’s preferred way of doing anything, from dramatically leaving a conversation to poofing into their chairs for meetings.
In game I'd like to keep it as an ability for casual use or retreating from battle. I could drop it into a 10 ft range and base any further upgrades for it on the Ring of Returning rules. Ex: paying for a level 3 Ring of Returning will give Axel the ability to use this ability to portal to a ship.
Axel cannot remain in these portals for long unless he is wearing his coat or exposure to too much darkness will start to disintegrate him. For similar reasons he cannot carry anyone with him or they too will be hurt by the darkness
Weapons:
Chakrum (Eternal Flames)– Axel wields two bladed circular disks known as chakrum that he uses both as a throwing weapon and also to bash things and defend with.
Like keyblade wielders Axel can summon his weapon into his hands when he fights. When he throws them, he need only flick his wrist before they reappear in his hands once more. His combos usually rely on this tactic or their acting as a boomerang to fly around of their own accord before coming back to him.
Fire Manipulation: Axel also has fire magic, which he utilizes in all of his fighting, from lighting his chakrum on fire to forming pillars or a circle of fiery walls around his opponent to shrink the battlefield.
Although he uses these techniques the most for offensive combat, Axel has been shown to also light his chakrum on fire without even touching them, light himself on fire to hurt the player and leap unscathed into his own flames suggesting he has defenses, at least to his own fire magic.
Inventory: 1x Organization XIII coat for darkness travel
ARMADA SELECTION
SAMPLE
Canon: Kingdom Hearts | At the end of Kingdom Hearts 2 prior to Dream Drop Distance
Age: 20ish (based off Aqua and Terra and because Nomura designs are hella deceptive (points at FF7 Cid)
Background Information: Axel | Kingdom Hearts Wiki
Personality: With blazing red hair, a devil may care attitude, and an imposing posture, if Axel is one thing, it is memorable. He's quick to laugh, give a sarcastic quip, or convince someone that acting on something is in their best interest. Whichever the case, it's easy to see Axel as a person bursting with personality; Ironic-- given that he isn't supposed to have one.
Axel is what is known as a Nobody, a being that occurs when a person loses their heart. If someone of exceptionally strong will retains their sense of self after the loss, they can reform as beings with visual similarities and memories of who they once were. These abominations caught between existing, yet not being 'real', make up the core of Organization XIII, the main antagonists of Kingdom Hearts II.
To be a Nobody is essentially to have magical depression; that is to say, Nobodys experience no feelings of emotional attachment but recall enough to detect the absence. Their behavior is derived from the memories of who they used to be before losing their hearts. Because Lea-- Axel's original self-- was self-assured, snarky and fun-loving, Axel too gives off the impression of being these things as his default state.
This combination of traits makes Axel exceptionally dangerous as a Nobody and particularly suited to the double agent role he plays for the Organization. At first.
In Chain of Memories, when Axel is sent to Castle Oblivion to root out traitors, his friendly and outgoing demeanor brings down the guard of everyone around him. He's quick to make bets with Zexion, push Vexen's buttons and banter with Marluxia and Larxene. Even when the latter are suspicious of him, he knows just what to say and how to act to get accepted into their coup. In the end, Axel is the only member there to survive-- according to plan-- and further dialogue with Saix suggests that Axel is used to this kind of work.
Axel seems to enjoy playing the role of an instigator, his lack of empathy as a Nobody stops him from feeling guilt while the old part of him is fulfilled to have engaged in something sociable. This isn't always a negative trait and with no person is this more apparent than with Roxas.
When Axel first takes Roxas under his wing, his motivations are entirely self-serving. He talks to keep himself entertained and takes the new recruit out for ice cream simply because he remembers doing so with Isa (now the cold, distant Saix). What Axel doesn't expect is that Roxas would become so taken with the routine (why would he, they both lack emotions) or that he himself would come to enjoy hanging out in return. With Roxas, Axel's penchant for prompting helps the other Nobody learn to express himself and slowly develop into his own person. What begins as a parroting of human interaction slowly becomes something more and more real.
What the two of them fail to understand, is that it is.
Because Roxas is linked to Sora's heart, when Axel develops a bond with the blonde it also forms a connection with Sora. Unbeknownst to either individual, the strength of Sora's heart is so great it begins to carry over, slowly awakening Axel's own capacity to feel.
Before Axel knows it, he has formed a true friendship and what had merely been 'playing house' skyrockets into a genuine unbreakable bond.
When Roxas invites Xion into their circle, Axel becomes fiercely protective of them both. He goes against orders to eliminate them, neglects to stop them from escaping and carries them back to the base when they pass out. As much as Axel claimed to be loyal to the Organization, he knew he lacked the heart to actually mean it– with Xion and Roxas, however, he would do anything to keep them safe.
This is to his detriment. Everything Axel knows about being a Nobody contradicts what he is experiencing and his work as an assassin, while useful in keeping him alive, has taught him to only trust his own perspective. He must hold all the cards at all times. Friends were never part of that equation.
When Axel learns the truth about Xion, he keeps it from Roxas while also trying to convince Xion to give up finding out more about herself. This should have been easy but with his capacity to now feel more than before, it tears him up inside, leaving him vulnerable to outbursts.
In addition to lacking trust, Axel’s greatest flaw is how well he lies, especially to himself.
When Roxas thinks that Axel has died and expresses how worried he had been, Axel laughs it off, amused that Roxas would claim something so human. Multiple times he dismisses these situations, not to trick Roxas but because that simply can’t be the case.
It's only when Roxas quits the Organization and throws these words back in his face that Axel has to acknowledge this DOES stir something in him and heart or no heart, something HURTS about this.
The entirety of Kingdom Hearts II Axel’s entire focus is just to see Roxas again. He isn't sure whether he wants to harm or help Sora to do it but nothing else matters aside from this one singular goal. A Nobody without a purpose is destined to fade away, but Axel comes to peace with that, giving his existence up for what Roxas believed in.
In the end, Axel is a contradictory bag of traits; someone suave and mysterious but who, beneath all that energetic swagger, is much softer and kind than anyone could suspect.
A flashback in BBS reveals Axel has always been this way.
In his youth, Lea and his friend Isa cared so deeply about a girl they found imprisoned in a castle, that they spent literal years trying to free her, going as far as to apprentice to said Castle just to find her again when she was moved elsewhere. We see this quality again when Lea challenges Ventus to spar, to snap him out of a bad day. Axel with his heart restored in Kingdom Hearts 3 is particularly kind-hearted, prone to apologies and even occasional tears, even with his fiery bravado intact.
Putting it all together, it’s obvious that the supportive and passionate friend Axel is around Roxas IS his true self, he simply doesn’t know how to get back to that state.
The thing about Axel is that when he can feel, he feels strongly. Roxas and Sora bring it out of him most, but like a dead battery only getting half of a charge, he runs on faulty wiring with everyone else.
A secret report found later reveals that given enough time, and room to grow, a Nobody might one day have emotions as real as any other person, even without being restored.
While Axel is not that person, not yet, it's a glimpse of who he can be, if he works at it.
He wants to work at it. Thankfully in Escordvi, where Axel has a chance to form new bonds and experiences he can do just that.
Abilities & Inventory:
Passive Abilities:
Being a Nobody– Nobodies are essentially like corporeal ghosts. By physical standards they are virtually indistinguishable from their human origins, with a few exceptions.
Without a heart, Axel's vitality is based more on willpower than his body.
In the manga, Axel survives being nearly bisected by Saix's blade, a wound that should have killed him on the spot. It still does massive damage but sheer determination to see Roxas allows Axel to hold himself together just long enough to reach Sora and help fight before he succumbs.
Nobodys also disintegrate rather than 'bleed.' When injured and dying, Axel's body was wreathed in black flames, his very essence billowing away like smoke until he fully faded away.
Dark Corridors– Organization XIII (and Nobodys in general, according to the manga) have the power to summon portals made of darkness that allow them to teleport from one place to another.
It is Organization XIII’s preferred way of doing anything, from dramatically leaving a conversation to poofing into their chairs for meetings.
In game I'd like to keep it as an ability for casual use or retreating from battle. I could drop it into a 10 ft range and base any further upgrades for it on the Ring of Returning rules. Ex: paying for a level 3 Ring of Returning will give Axel the ability to use this ability to portal to a ship.
Axel cannot remain in these portals for long unless he is wearing his coat or exposure to too much darkness will start to disintegrate him. For similar reasons he cannot carry anyone with him or they too will be hurt by the darkness
Weapons:
Chakrum (Eternal Flames)– Axel wields two bladed circular disks known as chakrum that he uses both as a throwing weapon and also to bash things and defend with.
Like keyblade wielders Axel can summon his weapon into his hands when he fights. When he throws them, he need only flick his wrist before they reappear in his hands once more. His combos usually rely on this tactic or their acting as a boomerang to fly around of their own accord before coming back to him.
Fire Manipulation: Axel also has fire magic, which he utilizes in all of his fighting, from lighting his chakrum on fire to forming pillars or a circle of fiery walls around his opponent to shrink the battlefield.
Although he uses these techniques the most for offensive combat, Axel has been shown to also light his chakrum on fire without even touching them, light himself on fire to hurt the player and leap unscathed into his own flames suggesting he has defenses, at least to his own fire magic.
Inventory: 1x Organization XIII coat for darkness travel
ARMADA SELECTION
Corsair- Axel works best as a Corsair because he needs time to find things out for himself. After quitting the Organization he is on edge about belonging to another group and the free-spirited, lawlessness of Corsairs will allow him that.
Even with Roxas here, Axel is going to be suspicious of how long this good fortune will last. Much like how he behaved as an assassin, he will want to do his own investigating to make sure things stay this way and that he can keep the people important to him safe-- whether they know about it or not.
Giving Axel a reason to occasionally be at odds with his cast is also fun way to preserve their old dynamic, even if a friendly sparring match from a Paladin is all that will take to convince him to abandon a mission. Juggling his duties to keep the Corsair's satisfied while keeping loyal to his paladin friends is the perfect way to keep Axel as the double-agent he know and love.
Even with Roxas here, Axel is going to be suspicious of how long this good fortune will last. Much like how he behaved as an assassin, he will want to do his own investigating to make sure things stay this way and that he can keep the people important to him safe-- whether they know about it or not.
Giving Axel a reason to occasionally be at odds with his cast is also fun way to preserve their old dynamic, even if a friendly sparring match from a Paladin is all that will take to convince him to abandon a mission. Juggling his duties to keep the Corsair's satisfied while keeping loyal to his paladin friends is the perfect way to keep Axel as the double-agent he know and love.
SAMPLE
