Soul_Campaign application!
[ PLAYER INFORMATION ]
Player Name: Haley
Age: 23
Timezone: MST/Mountain Standard Time, USA
Personal Journal: HaleySings
Contact Information:
Instant Messenger: BrightBlueInk
Email: HaleySings@gmail.com
Current Characters: N/A
Activity Checks: N/A
[ CHARACTER INFORMATION ]
Name: Shader. She’ll sometimes tack on “The Sinner” onto the end of it and jokes that people can call her “Professor” for short, but she’s almost always just referred to by her given name.
Age: It’s hard to pin down her natural age for sure-demons age differently from humans-but I’ve heard the mangaka has placed her “older” brothers, Aion and Chrono, at around 85 in 1924 (so 30ish in 1870, where I’m taking Shader). Because of this, I’m guessing she’s in her mid-twenties. Physically she appears to be in her late teens.
Gender: Female, albeit a bit tomboyish.
Fandom: Chrono Crusade (manga)
Timeline: From Chrono’s flashbacks in volume 6, set around 1870, after Pandaemonium’s attack but before Chrono’s betrayal.
History: Wiki’s here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrono_Crusade Although she’s a minor character so they’re light on info for her. There’s also a fansite that’s got a lot of info on the manga--http://www.chrno-crusade.com/AC_Friends&Foes.htm this is the section that discusses Shader directly (although still only a little bit). I think most of the info on that site comes from the Super Guide, so even though it’s a fansite it should be pretty reliable, barring translation issues.
What you need to know about Shader from this stage is that she’s a demon who fled Pandaemonium, her homeworld, after her life was threatened because of her older “brother”, Aion, showing extreme power in his coming-of-age ceremony and reaching forbidden ancestral memories. They fled to America on their floating island/city/ship, Eden, and have been trying to gather together what they need for a counterattack. Chrono, another one of her “brothers”, captured the holy seer Mary Magdalene to help them with their goals, and Mary became an assistant and friend of Shader as they worked together to try to extract data from the severed head of a “terminal” of their queen, also called Pandaemonium. Their work was almost completed when the head came to life and attacked, injuring three of her comrades, two of them seriously. Much of their work has been set back to the beginning, and Shader is trying to use what they learned in the battle to create devices that allow them to tear off their horns, which tie them to Pandaemonium and keep them subservient to her.
Character Personality: When you first meet Shader, she comes across as a spazzy, clingy teenager. She’s a huge ball of energy and at her most energetic can move around almost as if she’s jumping from one place to the next. At her happiest, she’ll be waving her arms around and speaking loudly-although fortunately her “default” level of activity seems to be a notch or two below that.
It’s a good thing she has a lot of energy, because she spends a lot of it on being a tech for the rest of the Sinners. Although she doesn’t seem all that intelligent at first blush due to her spazziness, she’s actually very bright and inquisitive. (In fact, the “Super Guide” for the series says she’s even smarter than the Magdalane Order’s tech advisor, the Elder!) When she comes across a problem, she buckles down and works out possible solutions in her head, particularly solutions that are based on technology. A major thing that shows how intelligent she is are the devices she creates to replace the horns of her fellow Sinners and free them from Pandaemonium’s connection. There’s not any hints that anything like this has ever been attempted among demons, but within a few months at the most she’s put together a working prototype that lasts Chrono for over fifty years (albeit with the need of an additional power source). It’s likely that she’s behind much of the technology the Sinners use, which (in later years past the point I’m taking her) include prosthetics, stasis devices and even the ability to use the body of a dead girl as a “doll” with a (possibly) artificial soul. She hasn’t gotten quite to that level yet at the point I’ve taken her, but the potential is definitely there as she studies and grows in her knowledge and ability. She also takes her work very, very seriously, to the point where it’s hard to get her attention when she’s really concentrating on something.
Shader is very friendly to strangers-especially to kids-and with those she knows better she can be sisterly and very affectionate toward (even if they seem irritated or embarrassed by it). Within seconds of meeting you she’ll probably be giving you big hugs and even thoughtful advice if it seems like you need it. Shader is an emotional core for the rest of the Sinners due to her kindness toward both other demons and humans, and she tries to soothe and care for everyone in her group. She doesn’t like to be cruel or cold toward anyone-even toward enemies, she’s apologetic and tries to explain as much as she can. She avoids harming anyone if at all possible. If her boss’ plans or orders force her to do so, she WILL do it, but with a heartbroken expression.
As caring and friendly as she is to everyone that crosses her path, those that are particularly close to her heart receive an unprecedented amount of devotion. There’s a lot of things, particularly later in canon chronologically, that Aion asks her to do that she’s obviously repulsed or upset by-but she’ll do them, because she trusts Aion, believes in his dreams and would never want to betray him. Even if it hurts her emotionally, she’ll agree to almost anything for the sake of his plan. It’s very likely that she’d show nearly much of the same loyalty to any partner she gets in-game, particularly if they had the same powerful dreams.
Although outwardly (and genuinely, the majority of the time) Shader is cheerful and loving, everything’s not always sunshine and roses for her. Shader is one of the few survivors of her entire generation, the victims of a mass slaughter by her own people. While there used to be hundreds, there’s now only six. There’s very few people who could make it through that sort of event unscathed, and Shader isn’t one of them. I’m not saying she’s constantly depressed or anything-even in the bad times, Shader tries to make the best of things. But Shader isn’t truly content with her current situation, and she’s not naïve about how difficult of a situation her people are in. That may very well be why she’s so loyal to Aion in the first place-who else will be able to save them from the mess they’re in?
However, while she’s completely loyal to Aion and never directly disobeys him, her kindness makes her uncomfortable with Aion’s ruthless tactics and often shows a lot of guilt for the things she’s had to do while working with Aion. She knows consciously that things aren’t ideal and makes the best of it, but that doesn’t mean she’s happy about it. She’s very good at putting on a mask and hiding how upset she is that she has to sacrifice people to accomplish the dream Aion’s given her. At times she struggles with Aion’s decisions or argues with him, but not for very long. In the end, she always obeys Aion’s orders with little complaint. He’s gotten them this far, so she’ll follow him to the ends of the Earth…even if it only means further guilt and pain for herself and sacrificing the humans she genuinely cares for.
Character Abilities: Shader’s biggest strength is that she’s a technical genius. Although she’s implied to be pretty young for a demon, she already demonstrates a keen knowledge and understanding of machines and how to create them, as well as how to manipulate the supernatural elements of her world with those devices. She even demonstrates a bit of medical knowledge, at least for a demon’s particular problems, considering she’s able to create devices to compensate for the handicaps of some of the Sinners.
As a demon herself, she likely has a strong resilience to injury, due to her “legion” being able to rebuild themselves and even pull together lost body parts if needed. She never actually demonstrates this ability on-screen, but we have no reason to believe she can’t when all of the demons we see in battle are able to do this. It doesn’t mean she’s immortal-demons are shown being killed when their heads are severed or their hearts are ripped out, or when they’re attacked with holy objects-but it does mean that she’s much more likely to be able to heal quickly from an injury. Other abilities that seem common for demons are the ability to sense spiritual energy, and to draw in spiritual energy from the Astral Line (as long as they have their horns attached, or a device that uses their horns as a substitute (only created by Shader herself, as far as we know). Demons can also form a contract with a human to use their soul instead of the energy from the astral line to fuel their powers and bodies, although this is physically taxing on their contractors and will eventually lead to an early death.
You could also probably count her huge amount of energy as an “ability” (since it’s unlikely she’d be tired out easily). She’s also very emotionally “tuned in” to other people-she’s able to empathize with others well, which makes her a great sounding board for people. There’s several times where she seems to be able to adjust her manner of speech or find the right method of comfort for someone that’s upset. She’s not psychic or anything, and certainly not perfect-but she really does seem to “get” people and knows how to gently push them in the right direction.
Character Weaknesses: I think one of Shader’s biggest weaknesses is her devotion to other people. Aion can and does order her to do things she finds abhorrent, but she does them anyway, often with very little protest. This makes her pretty easily to manipulate among those few people that have her full devotion (who is pretty much only Aion for now, but *could* include a love interest or her partner depending on how those develop). I don’t doubt that she’d die for Aion without hesitation if she thought there was no other way.
Also, while she in general seems to have a sense of right and wrong, she’s willing to sacrifice it to fulfill her devotion to Aion since she believes his plans will ultimately be worth it. She stands back and watches Aion place priority on tools needed for his plans over the children and wounded in Eden during their escape (and all of the children and wounded ended up dying in the battle, actually). Soon after the time point I’m taking her from, she’ll knowingly follow Aion when he plans to kill one of her friends, Mary Magdalene, and offers little assistance or warning outside of giving Chrono the watch to help him survive without his contractor. She’s obviously upset by this, but still doesn’t seem to actively attempt to solve it. Later in the manga she’ll aid Aion in kidnapping children, uses the body of a girl Aion murders to create a “doll” that can generate magical gems for Aion’s plans and, when she realizes that Chrono could disrupt Aion’s plans, collapses the floor beneath him and Rosette and sends them tumbling out into the sky (even though she seems to greatly care for him). She’s NEVER happy about doing any of these things, but she feels like she has to…so she’ll do it.
Really, it’s not only that she’s willing to sacrifice people for Aion, she almost seems to not have the backbone to truly stand up to him. When she does defy him, it’s little things behind his back (and he might’ve even ordered her to give the watch to Chrono for all we know). She’s just not a very strong-willed person at all. (Although even if she was, she does truly believe in his plans and believe that the sacrifices has to be made, so there’s less for her to defy him on in the first place.)
Shader also has a bad habit of being super-focused while in “research mode”, to the point where she doesn’t notice much around her (and has to have her name shouted behind her to even realize someone’s trying to talk to her). While this is something of a strength, since it allows her to give her research undivided attention, it could also become a weakness if she gets too focused at the wrong moment.
She’s also, frankly, a bad fighter. Emotionally she seems to dislike violence and not want to harm anyone (she tends to apologize when she does), so while she seems to be somewhat OK with indirectly fighting against someone (for example, taking care of a ship for her comrades during a battle and crafting weapons for them), she seems much more uneasy at the idea of directly harming anyone. Hand-in-hand with that, she’s not physically all that imposing, either. She’s petite and lightweight, and seems to go out of her way to avoid fights altogether. The closest she gets to any sort of real fight in the manga is when Genai becomes irritated with her cheerful personality and grabs her by her coat to yank her forward threateningly. She hardly seems to struggle or fight back, or even really break stride in her cheerful curiosity. It could be because she trusted that Genai wouldn’t ACTUALLY hurt her, and I think she’d fight to protect herself if she was forced in a situation that she had to, but by herself she likely wouldn’t last long. She depends on her stronger friends (and will likely depend on her partner) to keep her safe.
If Shader were to ever lose her horns, she’d be in great danger-without a way to draw in astral energy, demons eventually “starve” and die. They rely on this energy to run the legion that makes up their bodies and gives them their abilities. However, a demon’s horns keeps them tapped into the “network” of other demons and is a connection to the Queen herself. This isn’t too dangerous under normal circumstances, but for the Sinners this makes them susceptible to any spells Pandaemonium would cast to control them. During a fight with a terminal of Pandaemonium she was able to attack them through the horns and keep them frozen in place in pain. Although Shader’s been working on a device to allow them to tear out their horns without dying, from the time period I’m taking her from she hasn’t yet perfected it and the device would still need another source of energy-like a human contractor, for example.
One last thing-since she’s a demon, she has a weakness to “holy” weapons and items like holy water, etc. (She never actually gets attacked with these on-screen, but I don’t think we ever learn about a demon that DOESN’T have that weakness in-canon.)
[ SOUL CAMPAIGN SECTION ]
What are the abilities that your character will retain in Soul Campaign?
Just her intelligence, energy and good people skills, I think. None of her demonic abilities should come along with her.
What are the weaknesses that your character will lose or gain in Soul Campaign?
Her weakness to stronger personalities, particularly Aion, might depend on what happens in-game. If Aion isn’t with her and she doesn’t have anyone else she’s particularly close to, she might learn to be a little more self-sufficient and lose that weakness. Or she might find someone else to be attached to-particularly her meister-and her devotion might shift to them, which could be a weakness depending on who she chooses to trust.
It’s also possible that without anyone else from her world with her, she might feel directionless and aimless and become a little less cheerful, depending on what support base she has with her at the time and how well she manages to focus on the war. That all depends on how she develops in-game I think.
Since her supernatural abilities would be deactivated, Shader would no longer need her horns to survive. (However, she’d still be cautious to protect them, as there’s no telling what would happen if she lost her horns in Shibusen’s world and then returned to her own world.) Her weakness to holy water and other sacred objects will be lessened since much of her demon abilities are gone-it might not be quite as deadly, but it could still cause her irritation or pain. Something like a “allergy to holiness”.
[ WEAPON ONLY SECTION ]
Why your character should be a Weapon: Shader isn’t a directly confrontational person. She very rarely argues, and she says herself that she uses her “brains, not [her] fists” to help the other Sinners in battle. She wouldn’t be very comfortable in the position of the person directly in the fight. Also, she’s very much more of a “follower” than a “leader”, and is much more comfortable in the position of a “tool” rather than the “user”.
What is your character's Weapon form?: Shader’s weapon form looks like a small communication device, similar in size to an iPhone or palm pilot but a bit thicker and much more alien-looking. It is, in fact, a Demon Communication Apparatus for Transmissions Device (or the C.A.T. Device for short!-my apologies for the horrible acronym). At the top is a six-sided screen (demon architecture and technology tends to be built around hexagons), and at the bottom is a row of four buttons with strange lettering on them (actually the demon-language digits for the numbers 1-4), each with access to a different ability:
1. Cat Scan: Shader uses her brains, not her fists! This ability allows Shader to scan her opponents and the surrounding area to help give her Meister tactical advice. At low resonance levels, this skill relies more on the knowledge she’s learned while in Shibusen-so in reality, it more just gives her the ability to recall information she already knows quicker, and to communicate with her partner efficiently. At higher levels, this ability becomes more of a sixth sense, allowing her to figure out enemy weakspots, their energy level, etc (reliant on mun permission and information). At higher levels, Shader becomes completely focused on analyzing the enemy, to the exclusion of everything else-while the ability is being used, and for a period of time after it’s deactivated (anywhere from a minute to a half-hour, depending on how useful/hidden the information she’s deducing was) Shader will be unable to communicate to anyone other than the Meister using her at the time (and to them, only able to communicate about the battle) and will be unable to use any of her other abilities. A stronger meister/weapon pair will be able to block this ability, which will daze Shader for a short period of time.
2. Cat-munication: Shader can “hack” into nearby communication and broadcasting technology (radios, TVs, phones, speakers, Shibusen communicators, etc) to quickly relay information to others or send out a call for help. At lower resonance levels, the radius for this ability is small (about five feet or so), the signal is weak and prone to break up/have static issues, and she can’t choose what devices she transmits to-everything in the area receives her transmission even if it’s something in the hands of the enemy! As her resonance level with her partner increases, she’s able to transmit farther (up to the radius of a few miles), with a better signal and more precise choice on what it’s going to. If she’s low on energy, she can’t broadcast her message for too long or she’ll wear out! This ability only works on inanimate technology, NOT robots or other weapons (even if their weapon-form is some sort of electronic device).
3. Shell: Shader can project a protective barrier around herself and the Meister using her at the time. At low-strength it will only protect from the front and can be easily shattered by a strong attack. At higher strength the barrier surrounds the Meister in a sphere and is much more resilient to attacks, but if the barrier is broken at this level it could cause injury to Shader. She can only keep the shell up for a limited time, as it relies on her spiritual energy.
4. Meow Beam: Shader can fire beams of spiritual energy out of a port at the top of her C.A.T. device to attack! The strength of the attack depends on her resonance with her partner and their strength and ability.
[ SOUL INFORMATION ]
Soul Description: Spazzy, intelligent, caring, loyal, cat-like, discontented
Soul Appearance: Yellow-green, with two points on the top that look like cat ears, eyes that look like giant round glasses, blush stickers and a cat-like smile. The expression seems a bit uneasy, even if it’s mostly happy. See this image!
[ SAMPLES ]
First Person:
[The video pops on to show a petite woman with short brown shaggy hair and large round glasses grinning at the camera. While her form is humanoid, she’s obviously not human-her main eyes are red and slitted, and there’s two smaller eyes on her forehead, she has a pair of horns jutting out from where a human’s ears would be and curving down around her jaw, and in place of human ears she has a pair of cat ears sitting on the top of her head. Her expression is chipper, but if you’re familiar with cat body language you might notice that her ears seem lowered and uneasy, and in the background of the video her tail is swishing back and forth in an agitated manner.]
Well, this turns on easy! I have to admit, I’m pretty impressed that there seems to be so much circuitry packed into this teeny little thing. I’ve never seen a human manage to create technology with this level of complexity before. Well done!
[She pauses, trying to keep her expression friendly.] I’ve been through the tour, so I understand a little of what’s going on, I think. They…said you needed help. Well, Shader the Sinner is on the case! Don’t worry everyone, your big sis will help take care of things.
So, I want to meet all of you! Would anyone like to introduce themselves to me? Don’t worry-my fangs look sharp but I’m a friendly kitty~
Third Person:
It was awful watching her “family” be injured so terribly during Pandaemonium’s attack. Shader felt sick as she recalled the memory-Genai’s eyes being slashed out, Rizelle cut in two, Viede thrown to the side. They’d already lost so many people when they left Pandaemonium, so to have nearly half of their remaining members to be injured so badly was a horrible blow. Shader knew there was nothing she could have done during the battle itself-she was useless as a fighter-but she still felt in her gut that it shouldn’t have been allowed to happen. What she didn’t have in brawn, she could make up for in brains. She would learn from the battle, and she would NOT allow them to be so badly beaten again.
She started her studies nearly immediately after she finished programming the legion to start the repairs on Eden. Pandaemonium was able to beat them so easily because of her power over them and the geass she sent through the horns that connected them to her. They had to find a way to block her control over them…but without their horns, they’d die. She spent most of her first day trying to figure out what she should do, and when she finally came up with the solution, it was so obvious she was frustrated she hadn’t come up with it sooner-she needed to figure out a way to disconnect their horns and receive astral energy from another source.
She ran through a dozen different design ideas-spheres, pendants, gloves, something to connect a receptor of astral energy to. She finally decided that it was important to show how much stored-up energy remained, and settled on her first design, a watch. With the design finally settled, she started work on her first prototype. She practically lived in her workshop as the clock was being built, only stopping to eat and sleep (and only when Chrono was sent by Aion to nag her to do so) or to watch over Mary’s medical status. They had no idea when another attack would happen. They HAD to be prepared, as soon as possible.
That was why she’d fallen asleep at her work desk, clutching a small screwdriver, the pockets of her labcoat stuffed with random bits of scrap metal and nuts and bolts. It was not the most comfortable place to sleep, and as she started to stir awake, Shader wondered if she might as well have fallen asleep on the floor.
When her eyes flickered open, she realized to her surprise that she HAD been sleeping on the floor. She frowned, sitting up and narrowing her eyes to try to see through the pitch black dark of the room. Why was it so dark? Did the power go out? The area of Eden that was damaged during the attack was far enough away from their generators that it shouldn’t have been a problem…
She reached out with her senses, worried she’d woken up to another attack. To her panic, she could sense nothing, as if the spiritual sense granted by her horns had disappeared entirely. She was blind. She stumbled to her feet, clutching her screwdriver closer as if it’d be a decent enough weapon to protect her. She had to find Aion and the others and try to help in any way she could!
A screen suddenly appeared in the chamber, showing a young man with red hair. Realizing that she didn’t recognize him, Shader listened, and as he explained her situation, she started to realize how serious the situation they’d found themselves in truly was…
[ NOTES ]
Manga spoilers: [In the manga version of Chrono Crusade, the "demons" are actually refugee aliens that fled to Earth long ago. That's why they have such advanced technology, and also why they don't always quiiiite fit with Judeo-Christian mythology.]
Player Name: Haley
Age: 23
Timezone: MST/Mountain Standard Time, USA
Personal Journal: HaleySings
Contact Information:
Instant Messenger: BrightBlueInk
Email: HaleySings@gmail.com
Current Characters: N/A
Activity Checks: N/A
[ CHARACTER INFORMATION ]
Name: Shader. She’ll sometimes tack on “The Sinner” onto the end of it and jokes that people can call her “Professor” for short, but she’s almost always just referred to by her given name.
Age: It’s hard to pin down her natural age for sure-demons age differently from humans-but I’ve heard the mangaka has placed her “older” brothers, Aion and Chrono, at around 85 in 1924 (so 30ish in 1870, where I’m taking Shader). Because of this, I’m guessing she’s in her mid-twenties. Physically she appears to be in her late teens.
Gender: Female, albeit a bit tomboyish.
Fandom: Chrono Crusade (manga)
Timeline: From Chrono’s flashbacks in volume 6, set around 1870, after Pandaemonium’s attack but before Chrono’s betrayal.
History: Wiki’s here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrono_Crusade Although she’s a minor character so they’re light on info for her. There’s also a fansite that’s got a lot of info on the manga--http://www.chrno-crusade.com/AC_Friends&Foes.htm this is the section that discusses Shader directly (although still only a little bit). I think most of the info on that site comes from the Super Guide, so even though it’s a fansite it should be pretty reliable, barring translation issues.
What you need to know about Shader from this stage is that she’s a demon who fled Pandaemonium, her homeworld, after her life was threatened because of her older “brother”, Aion, showing extreme power in his coming-of-age ceremony and reaching forbidden ancestral memories. They fled to America on their floating island/city/ship, Eden, and have been trying to gather together what they need for a counterattack. Chrono, another one of her “brothers”, captured the holy seer Mary Magdalene to help them with their goals, and Mary became an assistant and friend of Shader as they worked together to try to extract data from the severed head of a “terminal” of their queen, also called Pandaemonium. Their work was almost completed when the head came to life and attacked, injuring three of her comrades, two of them seriously. Much of their work has been set back to the beginning, and Shader is trying to use what they learned in the battle to create devices that allow them to tear off their horns, which tie them to Pandaemonium and keep them subservient to her.
Character Personality: When you first meet Shader, she comes across as a spazzy, clingy teenager. She’s a huge ball of energy and at her most energetic can move around almost as if she’s jumping from one place to the next. At her happiest, she’ll be waving her arms around and speaking loudly-although fortunately her “default” level of activity seems to be a notch or two below that.
It’s a good thing she has a lot of energy, because she spends a lot of it on being a tech for the rest of the Sinners. Although she doesn’t seem all that intelligent at first blush due to her spazziness, she’s actually very bright and inquisitive. (In fact, the “Super Guide” for the series says she’s even smarter than the Magdalane Order’s tech advisor, the Elder!) When she comes across a problem, she buckles down and works out possible solutions in her head, particularly solutions that are based on technology. A major thing that shows how intelligent she is are the devices she creates to replace the horns of her fellow Sinners and free them from Pandaemonium’s connection. There’s not any hints that anything like this has ever been attempted among demons, but within a few months at the most she’s put together a working prototype that lasts Chrono for over fifty years (albeit with the need of an additional power source). It’s likely that she’s behind much of the technology the Sinners use, which (in later years past the point I’m taking her) include prosthetics, stasis devices and even the ability to use the body of a dead girl as a “doll” with a (possibly) artificial soul. She hasn’t gotten quite to that level yet at the point I’ve taken her, but the potential is definitely there as she studies and grows in her knowledge and ability. She also takes her work very, very seriously, to the point where it’s hard to get her attention when she’s really concentrating on something.
Shader is very friendly to strangers-especially to kids-and with those she knows better she can be sisterly and very affectionate toward (even if they seem irritated or embarrassed by it). Within seconds of meeting you she’ll probably be giving you big hugs and even thoughtful advice if it seems like you need it. Shader is an emotional core for the rest of the Sinners due to her kindness toward both other demons and humans, and she tries to soothe and care for everyone in her group. She doesn’t like to be cruel or cold toward anyone-even toward enemies, she’s apologetic and tries to explain as much as she can. She avoids harming anyone if at all possible. If her boss’ plans or orders force her to do so, she WILL do it, but with a heartbroken expression.
As caring and friendly as she is to everyone that crosses her path, those that are particularly close to her heart receive an unprecedented amount of devotion. There’s a lot of things, particularly later in canon chronologically, that Aion asks her to do that she’s obviously repulsed or upset by-but she’ll do them, because she trusts Aion, believes in his dreams and would never want to betray him. Even if it hurts her emotionally, she’ll agree to almost anything for the sake of his plan. It’s very likely that she’d show nearly much of the same loyalty to any partner she gets in-game, particularly if they had the same powerful dreams.
Although outwardly (and genuinely, the majority of the time) Shader is cheerful and loving, everything’s not always sunshine and roses for her. Shader is one of the few survivors of her entire generation, the victims of a mass slaughter by her own people. While there used to be hundreds, there’s now only six. There’s very few people who could make it through that sort of event unscathed, and Shader isn’t one of them. I’m not saying she’s constantly depressed or anything-even in the bad times, Shader tries to make the best of things. But Shader isn’t truly content with her current situation, and she’s not naïve about how difficult of a situation her people are in. That may very well be why she’s so loyal to Aion in the first place-who else will be able to save them from the mess they’re in?
However, while she’s completely loyal to Aion and never directly disobeys him, her kindness makes her uncomfortable with Aion’s ruthless tactics and often shows a lot of guilt for the things she’s had to do while working with Aion. She knows consciously that things aren’t ideal and makes the best of it, but that doesn’t mean she’s happy about it. She’s very good at putting on a mask and hiding how upset she is that she has to sacrifice people to accomplish the dream Aion’s given her. At times she struggles with Aion’s decisions or argues with him, but not for very long. In the end, she always obeys Aion’s orders with little complaint. He’s gotten them this far, so she’ll follow him to the ends of the Earth…even if it only means further guilt and pain for herself and sacrificing the humans she genuinely cares for.
Character Abilities: Shader’s biggest strength is that she’s a technical genius. Although she’s implied to be pretty young for a demon, she already demonstrates a keen knowledge and understanding of machines and how to create them, as well as how to manipulate the supernatural elements of her world with those devices. She even demonstrates a bit of medical knowledge, at least for a demon’s particular problems, considering she’s able to create devices to compensate for the handicaps of some of the Sinners.
As a demon herself, she likely has a strong resilience to injury, due to her “legion” being able to rebuild themselves and even pull together lost body parts if needed. She never actually demonstrates this ability on-screen, but we have no reason to believe she can’t when all of the demons we see in battle are able to do this. It doesn’t mean she’s immortal-demons are shown being killed when their heads are severed or their hearts are ripped out, or when they’re attacked with holy objects-but it does mean that she’s much more likely to be able to heal quickly from an injury. Other abilities that seem common for demons are the ability to sense spiritual energy, and to draw in spiritual energy from the Astral Line (as long as they have their horns attached, or a device that uses their horns as a substitute (only created by Shader herself, as far as we know). Demons can also form a contract with a human to use their soul instead of the energy from the astral line to fuel their powers and bodies, although this is physically taxing on their contractors and will eventually lead to an early death.
You could also probably count her huge amount of energy as an “ability” (since it’s unlikely she’d be tired out easily). She’s also very emotionally “tuned in” to other people-she’s able to empathize with others well, which makes her a great sounding board for people. There’s several times where she seems to be able to adjust her manner of speech or find the right method of comfort for someone that’s upset. She’s not psychic or anything, and certainly not perfect-but she really does seem to “get” people and knows how to gently push them in the right direction.
Character Weaknesses: I think one of Shader’s biggest weaknesses is her devotion to other people. Aion can and does order her to do things she finds abhorrent, but she does them anyway, often with very little protest. This makes her pretty easily to manipulate among those few people that have her full devotion (who is pretty much only Aion for now, but *could* include a love interest or her partner depending on how those develop). I don’t doubt that she’d die for Aion without hesitation if she thought there was no other way.
Also, while she in general seems to have a sense of right and wrong, she’s willing to sacrifice it to fulfill her devotion to Aion since she believes his plans will ultimately be worth it. She stands back and watches Aion place priority on tools needed for his plans over the children and wounded in Eden during their escape (and all of the children and wounded ended up dying in the battle, actually). Soon after the time point I’m taking her from, she’ll knowingly follow Aion when he plans to kill one of her friends, Mary Magdalene, and offers little assistance or warning outside of giving Chrono the watch to help him survive without his contractor. She’s obviously upset by this, but still doesn’t seem to actively attempt to solve it. Later in the manga she’ll aid Aion in kidnapping children, uses the body of a girl Aion murders to create a “doll” that can generate magical gems for Aion’s plans and, when she realizes that Chrono could disrupt Aion’s plans, collapses the floor beneath him and Rosette and sends them tumbling out into the sky (even though she seems to greatly care for him). She’s NEVER happy about doing any of these things, but she feels like she has to…so she’ll do it.
Really, it’s not only that she’s willing to sacrifice people for Aion, she almost seems to not have the backbone to truly stand up to him. When she does defy him, it’s little things behind his back (and he might’ve even ordered her to give the watch to Chrono for all we know). She’s just not a very strong-willed person at all. (Although even if she was, she does truly believe in his plans and believe that the sacrifices has to be made, so there’s less for her to defy him on in the first place.)
Shader also has a bad habit of being super-focused while in “research mode”, to the point where she doesn’t notice much around her (and has to have her name shouted behind her to even realize someone’s trying to talk to her). While this is something of a strength, since it allows her to give her research undivided attention, it could also become a weakness if she gets too focused at the wrong moment.
She’s also, frankly, a bad fighter. Emotionally she seems to dislike violence and not want to harm anyone (she tends to apologize when she does), so while she seems to be somewhat OK with indirectly fighting against someone (for example, taking care of a ship for her comrades during a battle and crafting weapons for them), she seems much more uneasy at the idea of directly harming anyone. Hand-in-hand with that, she’s not physically all that imposing, either. She’s petite and lightweight, and seems to go out of her way to avoid fights altogether. The closest she gets to any sort of real fight in the manga is when Genai becomes irritated with her cheerful personality and grabs her by her coat to yank her forward threateningly. She hardly seems to struggle or fight back, or even really break stride in her cheerful curiosity. It could be because she trusted that Genai wouldn’t ACTUALLY hurt her, and I think she’d fight to protect herself if she was forced in a situation that she had to, but by herself she likely wouldn’t last long. She depends on her stronger friends (and will likely depend on her partner) to keep her safe.
If Shader were to ever lose her horns, she’d be in great danger-without a way to draw in astral energy, demons eventually “starve” and die. They rely on this energy to run the legion that makes up their bodies and gives them their abilities. However, a demon’s horns keeps them tapped into the “network” of other demons and is a connection to the Queen herself. This isn’t too dangerous under normal circumstances, but for the Sinners this makes them susceptible to any spells Pandaemonium would cast to control them. During a fight with a terminal of Pandaemonium she was able to attack them through the horns and keep them frozen in place in pain. Although Shader’s been working on a device to allow them to tear out their horns without dying, from the time period I’m taking her from she hasn’t yet perfected it and the device would still need another source of energy-like a human contractor, for example.
One last thing-since she’s a demon, she has a weakness to “holy” weapons and items like holy water, etc. (She never actually gets attacked with these on-screen, but I don’t think we ever learn about a demon that DOESN’T have that weakness in-canon.)
[ SOUL CAMPAIGN SECTION ]
What are the abilities that your character will retain in Soul Campaign?
Just her intelligence, energy and good people skills, I think. None of her demonic abilities should come along with her.
What are the weaknesses that your character will lose or gain in Soul Campaign?
Her weakness to stronger personalities, particularly Aion, might depend on what happens in-game. If Aion isn’t with her and she doesn’t have anyone else she’s particularly close to, she might learn to be a little more self-sufficient and lose that weakness. Or she might find someone else to be attached to-particularly her meister-and her devotion might shift to them, which could be a weakness depending on who she chooses to trust.
It’s also possible that without anyone else from her world with her, she might feel directionless and aimless and become a little less cheerful, depending on what support base she has with her at the time and how well she manages to focus on the war. That all depends on how she develops in-game I think.
Since her supernatural abilities would be deactivated, Shader would no longer need her horns to survive. (However, she’d still be cautious to protect them, as there’s no telling what would happen if she lost her horns in Shibusen’s world and then returned to her own world.) Her weakness to holy water and other sacred objects will be lessened since much of her demon abilities are gone-it might not be quite as deadly, but it could still cause her irritation or pain. Something like a “allergy to holiness”.
[ WEAPON ONLY SECTION ]
Why your character should be a Weapon: Shader isn’t a directly confrontational person. She very rarely argues, and she says herself that she uses her “brains, not [her] fists” to help the other Sinners in battle. She wouldn’t be very comfortable in the position of the person directly in the fight. Also, she’s very much more of a “follower” than a “leader”, and is much more comfortable in the position of a “tool” rather than the “user”.
What is your character's Weapon form?: Shader’s weapon form looks like a small communication device, similar in size to an iPhone or palm pilot but a bit thicker and much more alien-looking. It is, in fact, a Demon Communication Apparatus for Transmissions Device (or the C.A.T. Device for short!-my apologies for the horrible acronym). At the top is a six-sided screen (demon architecture and technology tends to be built around hexagons), and at the bottom is a row of four buttons with strange lettering on them (actually the demon-language digits for the numbers 1-4), each with access to a different ability:
1. Cat Scan: Shader uses her brains, not her fists! This ability allows Shader to scan her opponents and the surrounding area to help give her Meister tactical advice. At low resonance levels, this skill relies more on the knowledge she’s learned while in Shibusen-so in reality, it more just gives her the ability to recall information she already knows quicker, and to communicate with her partner efficiently. At higher levels, this ability becomes more of a sixth sense, allowing her to figure out enemy weakspots, their energy level, etc (reliant on mun permission and information). At higher levels, Shader becomes completely focused on analyzing the enemy, to the exclusion of everything else-while the ability is being used, and for a period of time after it’s deactivated (anywhere from a minute to a half-hour, depending on how useful/hidden the information she’s deducing was) Shader will be unable to communicate to anyone other than the Meister using her at the time (and to them, only able to communicate about the battle) and will be unable to use any of her other abilities. A stronger meister/weapon pair will be able to block this ability, which will daze Shader for a short period of time.
2. Cat-munication: Shader can “hack” into nearby communication and broadcasting technology (radios, TVs, phones, speakers, Shibusen communicators, etc) to quickly relay information to others or send out a call for help. At lower resonance levels, the radius for this ability is small (about five feet or so), the signal is weak and prone to break up/have static issues, and she can’t choose what devices she transmits to-everything in the area receives her transmission even if it’s something in the hands of the enemy! As her resonance level with her partner increases, she’s able to transmit farther (up to the radius of a few miles), with a better signal and more precise choice on what it’s going to. If she’s low on energy, she can’t broadcast her message for too long or she’ll wear out! This ability only works on inanimate technology, NOT robots or other weapons (even if their weapon-form is some sort of electronic device).
3. Shell: Shader can project a protective barrier around herself and the Meister using her at the time. At low-strength it will only protect from the front and can be easily shattered by a strong attack. At higher strength the barrier surrounds the Meister in a sphere and is much more resilient to attacks, but if the barrier is broken at this level it could cause injury to Shader. She can only keep the shell up for a limited time, as it relies on her spiritual energy.
4. Meow Beam: Shader can fire beams of spiritual energy out of a port at the top of her C.A.T. device to attack! The strength of the attack depends on her resonance with her partner and their strength and ability.
[ SOUL INFORMATION ]
Soul Description: Spazzy, intelligent, caring, loyal, cat-like, discontented
Soul Appearance: Yellow-green, with two points on the top that look like cat ears, eyes that look like giant round glasses, blush stickers and a cat-like smile. The expression seems a bit uneasy, even if it’s mostly happy. See this image!
[ SAMPLES ]
First Person:
[The video pops on to show a petite woman with short brown shaggy hair and large round glasses grinning at the camera. While her form is humanoid, she’s obviously not human-her main eyes are red and slitted, and there’s two smaller eyes on her forehead, she has a pair of horns jutting out from where a human’s ears would be and curving down around her jaw, and in place of human ears she has a pair of cat ears sitting on the top of her head. Her expression is chipper, but if you’re familiar with cat body language you might notice that her ears seem lowered and uneasy, and in the background of the video her tail is swishing back and forth in an agitated manner.]
Well, this turns on easy! I have to admit, I’m pretty impressed that there seems to be so much circuitry packed into this teeny little thing. I’ve never seen a human manage to create technology with this level of complexity before. Well done!
[She pauses, trying to keep her expression friendly.] I’ve been through the tour, so I understand a little of what’s going on, I think. They…said you needed help. Well, Shader the Sinner is on the case! Don’t worry everyone, your big sis will help take care of things.
So, I want to meet all of you! Would anyone like to introduce themselves to me? Don’t worry-my fangs look sharp but I’m a friendly kitty~
Third Person:
It was awful watching her “family” be injured so terribly during Pandaemonium’s attack. Shader felt sick as she recalled the memory-Genai’s eyes being slashed out, Rizelle cut in two, Viede thrown to the side. They’d already lost so many people when they left Pandaemonium, so to have nearly half of their remaining members to be injured so badly was a horrible blow. Shader knew there was nothing she could have done during the battle itself-she was useless as a fighter-but she still felt in her gut that it shouldn’t have been allowed to happen. What she didn’t have in brawn, she could make up for in brains. She would learn from the battle, and she would NOT allow them to be so badly beaten again.
She started her studies nearly immediately after she finished programming the legion to start the repairs on Eden. Pandaemonium was able to beat them so easily because of her power over them and the geass she sent through the horns that connected them to her. They had to find a way to block her control over them…but without their horns, they’d die. She spent most of her first day trying to figure out what she should do, and when she finally came up with the solution, it was so obvious she was frustrated she hadn’t come up with it sooner-she needed to figure out a way to disconnect their horns and receive astral energy from another source.
She ran through a dozen different design ideas-spheres, pendants, gloves, something to connect a receptor of astral energy to. She finally decided that it was important to show how much stored-up energy remained, and settled on her first design, a watch. With the design finally settled, she started work on her first prototype. She practically lived in her workshop as the clock was being built, only stopping to eat and sleep (and only when Chrono was sent by Aion to nag her to do so) or to watch over Mary’s medical status. They had no idea when another attack would happen. They HAD to be prepared, as soon as possible.
That was why she’d fallen asleep at her work desk, clutching a small screwdriver, the pockets of her labcoat stuffed with random bits of scrap metal and nuts and bolts. It was not the most comfortable place to sleep, and as she started to stir awake, Shader wondered if she might as well have fallen asleep on the floor.
When her eyes flickered open, she realized to her surprise that she HAD been sleeping on the floor. She frowned, sitting up and narrowing her eyes to try to see through the pitch black dark of the room. Why was it so dark? Did the power go out? The area of Eden that was damaged during the attack was far enough away from their generators that it shouldn’t have been a problem…
She reached out with her senses, worried she’d woken up to another attack. To her panic, she could sense nothing, as if the spiritual sense granted by her horns had disappeared entirely. She was blind. She stumbled to her feet, clutching her screwdriver closer as if it’d be a decent enough weapon to protect her. She had to find Aion and the others and try to help in any way she could!
A screen suddenly appeared in the chamber, showing a young man with red hair. Realizing that she didn’t recognize him, Shader listened, and as he explained her situation, she started to realize how serious the situation they’d found themselves in truly was…
[ NOTES ]
Manga spoilers: [In the manga version of Chrono Crusade, the "demons" are actually refugee aliens that fled to Earth long ago. That's why they have such advanced technology, and also why they don't always quiiiite fit with Judeo-Christian mythology.]