OOC [application part 1]
CHARACTER INFO
CHARACTER NAME: Cecil Harvey
SERIES: Final Fantasy IV (specifically the DS version)
RESERVED: Yes.
WISHLIST: No.
PERSONALITY: Cecil is a good man, although he does not always believe it of himself. The thing with Cecil is that he undergoes a great deal of character development over the course of the game, starting it depressed, ashamed of himself, and deeply conflicted, and ending it as The Hero-capital T, capital H. He goes from doing what is necessary to doing what is right.
Like your standard RPG hero, Cecil will absolutely fall all over himself to help or save his friends, being both very trusting and very forgiving, especially evident as his best friend has this teensy problem with being a turncoat, yet Cecil is always willing to take him back.
However, given that he had rightful reason to be ashamed of himself at the beginning of FFIV, Cecil has lingering guilt issues-he must do what is right not only because of its rightness but because he has failed to do the right thing so many times. He has family issues as well, being an orphan, and deep issues revolving around his older brother, being that his older brother abandoned him as a baby and then turned evil and tried to destroy the world and then tried to redeem himself and-suffice to say, Cecil is conflicted on the question of brothers.
On a more positive (kind of) note, one of the facets of his personality that I am very fond of is that he doesn’t dance around the fact that he has fucked up big time. He accepts that the fault for his transgressions lies with him and him alone, and will not allow uninvolved others to share the blame, even if they’re trying to help. He does not ask for forgiveness of his crimes because he has done some things that he believes cannot be forgiven-nor does he make excuses for his actions: The problem was not that he was given orders, the problem was that he was too cowardly to disobey them. In short, he exhibits serious strength of character.
He is…I can’t say that he’s exceptionally smart, but he is polite and wellspoken, modest, even a little shy. In many ways, he plays the part of the perfect paladin well-noble, virtuous, brave, strong, constant and true-he’s even good with kids, for christ’s sake. However, failure seems to dog his steps at times, and he’s had to stand by and watch people suffer without being able to do a thing to save them many times. The fact that he apparently got through the entirety of the main storyline of the game (will be elaborated on in the Background section) without needing a team of therapists suggests great mental/intestinal fortitude on his part. In short, Cecil is a damn decent guy, albeit plagued by certain insecurities-he is determined to overcome them, and to make right what is wrong.
TIMELINE: Very shortly after the end of FFIV DS, before The After Years, ignoring Dissidia as I haven’t had the chance to play it yet.
ABILITIES:
Well, Cecil has quite a few skills available to him throughout the course of the game, and the character himself is very customizable, so I’ll be providing a list of the abilities I find myself coming back to time and time again in my playthroughs.
First, though, the basic thing, the thing on which all else is based and in the end comes second to: Cecil tanks. That means, for those of you who don’t play video games, that it is his job to make sure that when enemies or monsters or whatever come after him and his allies, he is the one who gets hurt, who takes the damage, because he can survive it. (and unlike some other videogame tanks, not only can he take it, but he can also dish it out)! In vidyagame terms, this means his HP and defense are high, in amnesiac fishbowl terms, this means you can pound on him all you like but he is going to get right back up and proceed to give you a world of hurt. Now, for specific abilities!
Cover: Deliberately takes damage for an ally-just darts in before the hit connects. He also makes himself the target of all attacks, which can probably be replicated in Edensphere (if ever necessary) by planning an assault in such a way as to make Cecil the diversion/distraction while others ambush the whatever-it-is they’re assaulting.
Counter: Whack him and he will whack right back. And he’s a tough cookie, so when he hits, it hurts in a big-time way. He can’t counter, though, if someone hits him with a magical move.
White Magic: Cecil, being a paladin, has access to white magic, the Final Fantasy term for magic that buffs and heals the self and allies. The spells he knows (or to be more accurate, can eventually relearn) are as follows:
Cure/Cura: Restorative magic, can heal self or an ally for slight recovery (cure) or moderate recovery (cura). Can also cast on everyone in range; though the effect is weakened the more there are, it can still be more cost-effective than casting individually on everyone.
Sight: Allows Cecil to see beyond himself, and to know the details of the nearby surroundings.
Libra: Allows Cecil to understand an enemy’s various affinities and/or weak points, including how close it is to death.
Esuna: When cast on self or allies, removes various afflictions like being poisoned, petrified, blinded, put to sleep, turned into a toad, or silenced. Cecil can only cast this on one person, though there exist better mages who can cast it on everyone in range.
Protect: A spell that, when cast, protects the recipient from physical injury to some degree for the duration of one fight. Protect can be cast on one person or as many as needed.
Shell: A spell that, when cast, shields the recipient from magical injury to some degree for the duration of one fight. Shell can be cast on one person or as many as needed.
Teleport: Allows instantaneous transportation from one place to another. As it is used in the game only to escape dangerous places or situations, so it will only be used that way in Edensphere, if indeed the issue ever comes up. Works within a small radius of space.
Raise: Returns a character from the brink of death, albeit they will still be gravely injured. Raise can only be cast on one target by Cecil, though there exist better mages who can cast it on everyone in range. Given the potential to wreak havoc with game balance, Cecil will either never remember how to use it or how to use it reliably, unless mods are down with that.
And that’s it for white magic.
Darkness: The user is infused with the power of darkness, which boosts the strength of their attacks but as payment, part of the damage dealt is reflected back to the user. This is an ability not of Cecil the Paladin, but rather Cecil the Dark Knight; he forsook it when he became a Paladin but given the nature of the game he can, actually, relearn it. I thought about not including this ability, but because of the potential for plot and drama and angst and all that good stuff, I included it. It may never come up, but who knows?
As for other, miscellaneous combat abilities, Cecil has used swords, knives, and axes in the past and can most likely relearn their use much faster than he could learn unrelated weaponry, like spears or some such. He is used to moving in full plate armor and is quite fast in it, all things considered. He also knows (or again, more accurately, knew) how to use a shield. Also, he has some talent piloting an airship, though he is not the best at it. Not sure if that will ever come up.