✗ OOC → Information
Name: Lockon Stratos / Lyle Dylandy
Stats: 185cm (6'1"), 67kg (148lbs), Age: 29, Blood Type: O, Birthdate: March 3
Series: Mobile Suit Gundam 00
Taken from: End of S2
History: [spoilers]
➠ Family went boom.
➠ Boarding school time.
➠ Graduation + job in trading company.
➠ Joining Katharon to fight the Earth Federation.
➠ Recruited into Celestial Being.
➠ "78%! 78%!"
➠ Entering "serious mode" to snipe the giant beam cannon.
➠ Anew Returner.
➠ "I love you"
➠ "I'll make you my woman again"
➠ Anew dies.
➠ Setsuna the punching bag.
➠ BOOM HEADSHOT.
➠ "I'll fight. As a Gundam Meister of Celestial Being."
Personality: One of the first things that come to mind when seeing Lyle with the other Gundam Meisters is that Lyle is "normal". Although his parents and sister died when he was a teenager, Lyle managed to lead a normal civilian life, secured by his brother's financial support. Although Neil went away and the two of them drifted apart, he would always send money to pay for Lyle's tuition and support him until he finished school to find a proper job. In a way, Lyle was pampered by his brother despite being kept at a distance and it is that which causes their strange relationship and Lyle's view on his brother. For Lyle, Neil has always been out of reach. Whether as children, when people compared them and Lyle felt the need to be just as good or better than his brother, or as teenagers and adults, when Neil did his best to support him financially but broke contact with him otherwise. This spawned a number of inferiority complexes because Neil was never "normal" while he, on the other hand, was.
That normalness is what makes him an important part of the Ptolemaios crew, though. Because Lyle is normal, he can see things from a different angle. Despite the act of nonchalance and cockiness he puts on, Lyle's very much an optimist and can easily believe in 'fighting for the future' rather than trying to correct past mistakes or dwelling on thoughts of revenge like his brother did. Because of that, Lyle is a lot more stable than the other Meisters due to the way he grew up and lived his life. Lyle joined Katharon to make a difference in the world, and he joined them on his own accord. The Meisters, on the other hand, were picked up by Celestial Being because they had 'nowhere else to go'.
But that doesn't mean that Lyle is all sunshine and rainbows. He actually displays an almost irrational rage when chasing after A-Laws mobile suits and firing at them without much restraint. Lyle can get very emotional when his mental walls of defense disappear for a second and he lets loose on the rage he tells himself not to feel. Seeing innocents or friends getting hurt triggers the feelings of hatred that Neil carried with him constantly. A different kind of emotion, but also just as strong, is displayed when Anew leaves the Ptolemaios under Ribbons's orders, and Lyle attempts to take her back. Telling her that he will "make her his woman again", he is almost desperate to get her back to his side. Another emotional outburst follows when he punches Setsuna for what happened to Anew and Lyle even cries at that point.
At the same time, though, Lyle is seen being able to control his feelings eventually, such as when he pulls his gun on Setsuna for killing Anew but relents and lets him go. Unlike Neil, Lyle did not give in to the anger and frustration and continued to believe in what he first said when confronted with the reason of his brother's death. Neil, who died while seeking revenge, merely got a humorless chuckle from Lyle and a shake of head. "Our family died over ten years ago. I can't brood over it as much as he did. It's all in the past. There's no point in moping over what's already happened. That's right. We're not fighting for the past, we're fighting for the future."
On the outside, Lyle is a very confident and cocky character, teasing and flirting with anything that walks, even hitting on Tieria and kissing Feldt (and getting slapped for it). He's a womanizer, immediately getting friendly with Anew and starting a relationship with her soon after their meeting. There are two theories as to why Lyle acts the way he does: One, that it's simply his nature and that being in a stable and relatively normal life made him into what he is. This is definitely partly true, as he also boldly confesses his love to Anew over the intercom where everyone can hear it, but then it also becomes visible that the cheeky behavior he displays especially in the beginning of being on the Ptolemaios is something he does out of defense. Hearing about his glorious brother and how kind he was to everyone makes him try to do the exact opposite so that people will stop believing that Neil came back from the dead. Especially the kiss with Feldt is a mix of both things; it can't be denied that part of the reason for kissing her was simply because she was a girl in the (sort of) right age range, but the other, probably bigger part was to give her a reality check. Where Neil treated her as little sister and protected her, Lyle gave her the other side of that to make her see that the things she was trying to see in him weren't going to come true. And while the kiss was one of the biggest things to display his duality in reasons, many of his actions display the kind of double-edged behavior. In short, Lyle likes to be an ass and annoy people for his entertainment and because it often breaks the tension in serious situations, but he also has his deeper reasons for the things he does. Lyle really isn't as thoughtless and careless as he pretends to be.
In the course of the series, Lyle is also shown actually giving advice to people (like Allelujah, telling him to let Soma/Marie fight if that’s what she really wants) although his way of giving advice differs slightly from his brother’s. Neil seemed kind and trying to cheer people up while Lyle is more the type to say things the way they are, even if "the truth hurts". He’s a lot more direct and not afraid of smacking some sense into people with his words.
The relationship with Neil is a very complicated one as he looks up to his brother and is thankful for everything he has done for him but at the same time, he sees his flaws and often also feels inferior when being compared. He tells Anew that he left for a boarding school to run away from the pressure of always being next to this perfect brother, showing just how insecure Lyle can get about himself despite the act of confidence he puts on. He does seem to make up his mind somewhat by the end of everything, deciding to become a Gundam Meister and fight for his own sake; not following his brother, but to choose his own path and do what he thinks is right. Still, in a way, Lyle will always feel like 'Neil's little brother'.
Wiki Links: 1 and 2
Sin: WRATH, despite being able to control it most of the time, he goes sort of batshit when pursuing A-Laws for attacking the Katharon base. Although not quite as vengeful as Neil, Lyle isn’t completely right in the head either, which is understandable. Then there’s ENVY, for his obvious inferiority complex regarding Big Brother. Also, PRIDE, a mix of the inferiority complex towards his brother and the resulting “I am so much better” attitude.