SCORCHED APP
Out of Character Information
player name: Het
player livejournal: heatherizcool
playing here: Sebastian Michaelis, Xerxes Break
where did you find us? Mi lured me into the box with champagne and promises.
are you 16 years of age or older?: Yep.
In Character Information
character name: L Lawliet (SUPER SECRET REAL NAME) aka Ryuzaki (one alias of many)
Fandom: Death Note
Timeline: The day of his death, Episode 25, "Silence"
character's age: 25
powers, skills, pets and equipment:
Canon powers: None, unless one counts the ability to eat nothing but sweets without going into a sugar coma and dying.
Non-Canon Powers:
Technopathy, stolen shamelessly from a suggestion on the Forge page! Here's the stipulations I've got in mind for it:
- Ability to "talk" to computers and other machines with his mind, which will aid in hacking/building equipment for himself. (More complex machines mostly, since... what use does he have for talking to a toaster?)
- Touch is required for this. He can't just remotely access anything.
- He can fix broken equipment with a touch as well, but considering this is a new power, he might not be able to control all the time. I'd like to include the possibility that he could overload circuits by accident and plunge a small area into darkness... assuming they had electricity to begin with, of course. (I could determine this by a d10 roll or something. IDK, I like the idea of making random debacles possible.) With player permission too, of course, if they'd like to also be affected by a random blackout.
...Er, that's all I can think of for this at the moment! I think that's more than enough to keep L occupied for awhile.
Skills:
- His ridiculously superior intellect. He's known as the world's greatest detective for a reason. He has a crazy logical mind and can deduce things in very little time that would often escape most other people.
- Computer knowledge/Hacking. He knows his way around a mainframe. And could probably make some tweaks to his Forge, with mod permission, of course. >_>
- Capoeira(?). L's tendency to kick people in the face has roots in the South American martial art. Unfortunately, he was not trained by anything but videos and being on the receiving end of an attack by someone who knew capoeira herself, so his version is, uh... untraditional at best, watered down at worst.
equipment: He's demanded he arrive with one of his laptops and a voice scrambler. Everything else I'll make him hit up tunnelmen or fashion himself from found objects. Other than that, just his... super extensive wardrobe, snerk.
canon history: Very little is known about L before he became L, the world’s greatest detective. Up until the Kira case he had solved 3500 difficult cases worldwide, and declined to get involve with cases he was not interested in. Usually there had to be ten bodies or at least a million dollars at stake before he would step in.
His real name is L Lawliet, and he was born on October 31, 1982, although every record of this has been erased. He was orphaned at around eight years old and somehow found himself at Wammy’s House in Winchester, England. Sometime in there, Quillsh Wammy, later more famously known as Watari, discovered L’s great potential and helped mold him into a detective mastermind. After five years at Wammy’s House, L began to travel the world with Watari, solving cases.
Two years before the Kira case, there was another monumental case in L’s life, although very few people understand its significance. The Los Angeles BB murder cases brought L to the suspended FBI agent, Naomi Misora, and with her help they tracked down the killer. He was a young man called Beyond Birthday, known better to L as B, one of the children being trained by Wammy’s House to become L’s successor. B was driven to madness under the pressure of living up to L, and disappeared from Wammy’s House. He started the LABB murders as a game to prove he was, in fact, better than L. He even began dressing as L (although how he knew what L looked like to begin with is open for debate) and acting like an exaggerated facsimile of L, all in an attempt to “beat” L. This case had a tremendous affect on L’s psyche, seeing that B likely wouldn’t have even existed if not for him. Thankfully, with Misora’s help, L was able to stop B before his final murder can be carried out - on himself. Still, L understood the implications of the case: the true burden of being needed on such a large scale, and that the necessity to create duplicates could paint him as a villain as well as a god. Also, B’s act brought to L’s attention that L is, essentially, a freak of nature. Still, with B's threat defeated, L takes on the alias Ryuzaki, which was the name B operated under when working with Misora. This was meant to symbolize that he had overtaken another rival detective's mantel (just like the other famous detectives, Eraldo Coil and Deneuve), but perhaps also meant to serve as a reminder to himself about the fine line between brilliance and madness.
The most important and most famous of L's cases is the Kira case. L travels to Japan and becomes personally involved with the National Police Agency to pursue Kira, who is killing criminals with heart attacks with the goal to establish a new world order. Almost immediately, L suspects Light Yagami, the police chief's son, to be the culprit. Although he never has proof, he is correct: Light has a notebook from a shinigami called a Death Note, and he only needs to know a face and write the person's name in the Death Note and they will die. From here, L and Light enter a deadly game of cat and mouse. L installs security cameras in Light's room, but Light outsmarts him by having Ryuk -- said shinigami -- scope out where all the cameras are, and acts like a ridiculously normal teenager to throw L off the trail. L remains unconvinced. (The author has stated that although L tells Chief Yagami there is a 3-5% chance that Light is Kira, L is actually lying -- he is quite certain Light is Kira. The same goes for later on, when L tells Light that Light is his only friend. It's all part of L's investigative plan.)
To continue his investigation of Light, L enrolls at Light's college and confronts him, revealing himself as L. The two continue in their little cops and robbers game, competing in metaphorical activities such as a tennis match, frantically trying to outdo the other. Light continuously has an unfair advantage over L, having the help of both a shinigami and a second Kira -- Misa Amane, an up-and-coming model, has her own Death Note and the power of a devoted fangirl. She also has shinigami eyes, which allow her to see the true name of any human.
Thankfully, L's mad reasoning skills continue keep him ahead of Light's game, even with all the cheating. He finds out about Misa, has evidence collected from her home that links her to the second Kira, and has her detained. Then he lets Watari interrogate her with some VERY morally lax methods, but hey, GREAT JUSTICE is at stake here. Misa's shinigami, Rem, who has a very low threshold for Light's bullshit, confronts him and tells him he must save Misa or she will rip him a new asshole. Thus Light hatches a brilliant plan to toss away both Death Notes, which will erase both his and Misa's memories of being Kira. He hands himself over to L's custody, under the act that he suspects he might be Kira subconsciously.
L's like, well, okay, let's put you in jail.
Light then denounces the Death Note, and Rem has gotten Misa to do the same, so they both get the most convenient case of amnesia that ever was. That's what L thinks, at least. That's why he keeps them locked up for about two more months before letting them go. (He actually has Chief Yagami drive Light and Misa out to the middle of nowhere and has the chief pretend to execute them both, under the reasoning that if Light really was Kira, he would have no qualms killing his own father to remain alive. Again, L is right, but with the amnesia, Light does no such thing.)
After that confrontation, L handcuffs himself to Light to make sure he hasn't somehow tricked L (which he has) and will somehow return to being Kira without L noticing (which he will). Then L falls into something of a depression because the case comes to a stand still, he really wanted Light to be Kira (...because he is), and he has to deal with Misa's vapid high-pitched blathering on a daily basis. There's a two month period where nothing happens aside from well-choreographed fighting between L and Light (and L shows off his capoeira that he learned from Misora by kicking Light in the face!). Then, finally, a lead: it seems the Kira killings have started up again. In actuality, Rem gave the Death Note to a member of the business enterprise known as the Yotsuba Group. Light instructed her to do so in order to create a distraction from himself and Misa as the killers. So the Scooby Gang Kira Task Force investigates the Yotsuba Group, and they find the killer to be Kyosuke Higuchi. This culminates in a showdown with the police. L gets to ride in a helicopter and Watari reveals his hidden badassery by shooting a sniper rifle out the window. The "killer" is apprehended, but as soon as the Death Note is passed back to Light, he recovers all of his lost memories and screams like a terrified little girl... right in front of L.
L is suspicious. Unfortunately, with nothing to go on aside from strange circumstantial evidence and gut feelings, he can't move on his persisting theory that Light is indeed Kira and is orchestrating everything. Light, on the other hand, considers this his checkmate against L and there is nothing stopping him from finally killing L. He then tricks Rem into killing L on the basis that it would be the only way to spare Misa's life. Hopelessly dedicated to Misa, Rem agrees, even though it will kill her.
On the day of L's death, he spends time on the roof of the Kira Task Force Skyscraper (...did that thing ever have a name other than headquarters? I guess not), reminiscing about his life and how Light essentially has him cornered. L seems to think perhaps Light will eliminate him soon, based on the conversation the two of them have. (L even asks Light if he's ever told the truth in his entire life, and Light's perfectly diplomatic response of lying to people "for their own good" seems to confirm something to L.)
I plan to take L directly after this conversation, but before they quite get back inside and L, uh... meets his fate. >_> He might... even arrive damp because he was out in the rain. How unpleasant.
personality: L is a shrewd little weirdo. Earth-shatteringly brilliant, of course, but intellect alone doesn't make a man. While he exhibits textbook autistic symptoms (repetitive behavior, selective interests, finger-biting, and atypical eating, to name a few), he is also self-aware of his own huge idiosyncrasies and will use them to his advantage. He knows he looks like a creep, so when investigating, he will often play up said behavior to throw the suspicion off of himself. The world's greatest detective can't possibly be that freak in the corner. He can also do a good impersonation of a drunk frat boy, so he has diversity in his acting skills.
He strives to uphold justice at all costs. It is something he believes in, and, at the same time, he finds solving difficult cases fun. If there's no thrill in it for him, he likely will not get involved. He has no qualms bending rules to get the results he wants. For example, he routinely hires con men and thieves to work for him, and they comply because he has enough dirt on them to put them in jail forever. He will also allow torture to obtain information in interrogations. He is, or at least, was -- an atheist, and he was so shocked at the possibility of the existence of a shinigami, he had a spazz attack and fell out of his chair.
He has a signature sweet tooth -- he will refuse all other foods besides sweets, although fruit seems to be safe -- and just awful posture. He crouches instead of sitting, citing that his reasoning will decrease 40% if he sits normally. He will imbibe both tea and coffee by the gallon. He hates wearing shoes and socks and prefers to go barefoot. His usual manner of speaking is a low, level monotone, interspersed with pauses while he thinks.
Finally, when it comes right down to it, he is not always very nice. He CAN exhibit great kindness - and finds justice to be the greatest kindness - but if he finds people stupid or annoying he will mock them, often with very subtle sarcasm.
why do you feel this character would be appropriate to the setting?
One of the great beauties of L as a character is that he doesn't seem appropriate to any setting. He's just that much of a weirdo. And, perhaps socially, that's true. In Anatole and surrounding provinces, however, I think he could get involved with a great deal, both clandestinely in an attempt to better the civilization (once he gets over the crisis caused by Anatole's accepted justice system), and publicly as... that strange hunched man. Although far from the most supernaturally enhanced character, his superior intellect will probably keep him out of mortal peril. H-hopefully.
Writing Samples
Network Post Sample:
Sample #1: L faces his largest adversary yet. A stray kitten.
Sample #2: L meets a ghost. Things go surprisingly well after the initial shock. Uh, sorry for excessive ooc chatter in this one, but it's thread I really like, so hopefully it isn't too distracting.
Third Person Sample:
The first thing was not to panic. Deep breath, inhale, exhale. Panicking blocked out logic and logic was his greatest weapon. Next, take stock of his surroundings. A room, dull by almost anyone's standards. A bed, a desk, a window, a door. Nothing on the walls; no person effects.
A prison?
No, that assessment was ultimately incorrect, L knew. He knew because of a reason he couldn't quite recall. If this was a kidnapping - a possibility he had always been ready for, considering his status. Considering how important he'd be to various people if they could break him and force him to work for someone other than himself, the prime suspect would be...
He would think of it. Although obviously groggy and disoriented - drugs? No, he wasn't feeling any of the usual chemical side effects - he was unbound. And unmonitored, unless there were hidden cameras, and guards outside the door. But just lying there wouldn't be able to tell him that.
He sat up, pulled his knees in to his chest and hugged his ankles. Yes, much better. Reasoning went up 40% when he assumed this position. He chewed the end of his thumbnail for good measure. Yes. Now he was certain he could remember what he had forgotten before falling asleep or being knocked out. This was unlikely to be a kidnapping because...
...His shoulders rose slightly, as did his chin. And his eyes, quite wide already, got wider.
The one who wanted him the most right now was Kira. And Kira would much rather just kill him. Kidnapping would be superfluous, and altogether not Kira's style. In fact, if L thought about it, it was a surprise he was even alive at all. He had been certain Light Yagami was Kira, and that Kira was about to call checkmate on their game of wits.
Being kidnapped by an outside party at just that moment was beyond unexpected, it was nigh impossible. Below one hundredth of one percent. Perhaps even one thousandth; L had never dealt with percentages this absurdly low. Only one thing was sure now: further investigation of the situation was needed in order to reach any useful conclusion. Which would, unfortunately, entail getting off the bed.
L suspected his fortune was not good enough for Watari to have been abducted alongside him.
Anything else? Since accepted canon in the Death Note franchise often seems to vary from player to player, I thought it should be noted that my sources for L's character stem from the Death Note anime and the prequel novel, Another Note. He's seemed to integrate fine with manga characters in the past, though, since he's not around for the second arc of the anime, which is where the main differences between the manga and its anime adaptation occur. Since, uh, h-how would he know of the discrepancies? >_>