[ooc] Character Info
Character Name: Flay Gunnar, The Masked Defender of Justice, Duke of Destruction, the Flayvor of Evil....
Character Series: Mana Khemia
Character Age: 21
Background: Not much is known about Flay's past, other than that he's the biggest, loudest, most annoying kid on campus. He disappears frequently, causes trouble and otherwise makes himself the biggest thorn in the administrators' side. Still, in spite of his faults, he grows close to those he considers worthy of being friends without hesitation and works to get them to the best place possible.
Flay is the kind of person who does things without considering the consequences. For instance, he fails his senior year at Al-Revis in order to stay around his younger classmates and push them along, not realizing what worry he might be causing. When asked about failing, Flay is genuinely surprised that everyone was worried about him.
He remains fairly consistent throughout the game; in spite of all the strange or awkward situations that crop up, Flay's interests are always to have the most fun he can have with the friends that he has. Even as his concern for those friends grows and begins to affect his rationality in protecting them. Once someone is established as Flay's friend, he will risk his life in a heartbeat to save theirs.
In addition, he's been trying to train someone to take over his role as the masked Defender of Justice, and once he's decided someone is a good candidate for that, he will pursue them relentlessly in order to teach them the importance of and the good feelings that come from defending those too weak (or whomever he's offered rewards or otherwise asked to help him...) In the end, once Flay has found and trained his 'replacement', he plans to become their “arch enemy”, just to keep the suspense (and his fun) going on longer.
Personality: Flay has a fairly straightforward, superhero-like personality. He loves to come to the rescue, and definitely loves to be the talk of the area. He's also a terrible actor, and even worse at putting together successful, choreographed scenes. Still, he does his best to try anyway, proving repeatedly that he is, if nothing else, stubborn as an ox. In spite of all his good points, he can be considered annoying in regular day-to-day interactions, as his over-the-top personality shines a little too brightly at times, and some might even go so far as to call him flighty. Flighty, however, likely isn't the right word - Flay is very headstrong, opinionated, and good natured. He just... likes to make people prove themselves, whether they really need to or not. So, he'll often wait until a task has been set out and then disappear, leaving his fellow classmates to do the grunt-work without him. He claims, of course, that this is all part of their training, but really he just doesn't like doing the mostly thankless, boring work. Nothing will put Flay off doing something more than making it perfectly clear that the job is “boring.”
In contrast, the very instant he hears the scream of a damsel in distress, (or, more likely, the cry of someone acting in a plot he himself cooked up,) Flay will dash off in that direction, hoping for some action. By this point, he'll have donned his mask and the Defender of Justice persona, which is, all things considered, not all that different from his norm. The main difference is that he will spout cheesy, sometimes bordering on 'bad guy' lines before swiftly dispatching his enemies. He honestly believes this flimsy mask is enough to hide his identity, but if someone confronts him over who he really is, he doesn't deny it. Instead, he quickly turns the situation around to be as best in his benefit as he can manage, not hesitating to use near-blackmail, if necessary, to 'convince' the other person to allow themselves to be trained as a Defender of Justice.
There are likely a large number of people who resent Flay for his whimsy, but there's also much to be said for the fact that he is almost always there when he's truly needed. As mentioned above, Flay will happily do his best to protect those in need, no matter what the cost. And, truth be told, he does have the ability to focus. For example, he has a very strict training regimen, which he can be seen performing anytime he's inside the Alchemy workshop. Because of this training, he's certain of his skills to such a degree that, when Jess is kidnapped during the school's annual “battle tournament,” he tells Vayne to go and save her, certain that he can secure them a spot in the finals by himself in the meantime. With only the referee as his partner, he does indeed secure that spot, indicating that his rigorous training isn't just for show. Granted, he has to believe there's a reason to apply himself in any manner (whether that be for personal gain or manipulation, or just plain good fun) before he'll be willing to do so. Another, perhaps more telling moment that proves his sheer determination is in his acquisition of the Mana of Gold. Considering the fact that he's a sophomore at the beginning of the game, and still hasn't acquired a mana for some time during the game, it's not insensible to believe that he's actually been trying to defeat the mana, to get him to pact with Flay.
Because he is driven by good fun and excitement as he is, it's probably not inaccurate to call Flay a troll. He thrives on impulsive action - at one point, he mistakes Roxis' almost crippling fear of ghosts as attraction toward Pamela. Instead of bringing this up to Roxis, he comes up with a plot (involving his lower-classmen, of course) to make Pamela aware of Roxis' supposed feelings. He also has a penchant for escalating frustrations and mockery, sometimes to the point of nearly breaking the fourth wall (he mentions having seen better than one of the events in B-horror movies, for example.) In one cutscene, he insinuates that Tony (who considers himself Flay's strongest rival, but that's a whole other story) is a Mook (which he vehemently and immediately denies.) Additionally, Flay is quick to defend his stance - even if doing so requires him to say something blatantly untrue.
Abilities: Flay knows alchemy, as all students at Al-Revis do. Basically, this is item synthesis through the combination of ingredients.
He's also a rather top-notch swordsman, in spite of his often slacker-type personality.
He has a pact with the Mana of Gold, which allows his Gearsword to function to the best of its abilities (and thus, allows his stronger, mostly drill-based skills to be used.)