Soul Campaign Character Application

Nov 04, 2010 22:33

Name: Grell Sutcliff
Age: Appears mid-20's, age unknown
Gender: Male but transgendered; identifies as female. In canon, however, is described as "he."
Fandom: Kuroshitsuji anime, including the OVA
Timeline: Kuroshitsuji II, end of episode 8: Grell comes for the critically injured Alois Trancy's soul, but has to fight off his demon maid first. He returns to find that Trancy's demon butler, Claude, has murdered him and taken his soul. Grell is interested by this turn of events and does not interfere.
History:
Kuroshitsuji wiki - http://kuroshitsuji.wikia.com/wiki/Kuroshitsuji_Wiki
Grell wiki - http://kuroshitsuji.wikia.com/wiki/Grell_Sutcliff

Character Personality:

Grell is transgendered, identifying as female, despite the fact that society - human, demon, and shinigami - seems to embrace the mores of Victorian England. As such, he is an object of revulsion. Grell's boss, William T. Spears, calls him a "thing." The demon butler and object of Grell's obsession, Sebastian Michaelis, openly despises him; when Grell proclaims his admiration, Sebastian replies, "Don't say such disgusting things."

Grell wants to be a woman; but he hates women too, particularly ones who have had abortions, since he himself wants to bear children but can't. He loves the color red, and thinks women look best in red - especially if what's staining them red is their own blood! When Madam Red does something typically feminine - protecting her dead sister's child -- Grell immediately calls her "ordinary" and runs her through with his chainsaw.

Neither female nor human, Grell sees himself as an "extraordinary woman." Unlike his typical Victorian female counterparts, he is neither modest, passive, nor shy about sex. He is arresting, flamboyant, and larger than life: a sharp-toothed, grinning vision in red! When sexually excited, he leaps high into the air, steam erupting from his nostrils, summoning forth flowers and sparkles and glitter text. Over and over again, he shamelessly hurls himself at Sebastian, never taking no for an answer. He interrupts a stage play to comment on the sex appeal of a fellow player. He's even attracted to Sebastian's demon dog.

Grell is bloodthirsty and sadistic. He can swing from delighted to murderous in the blink of an eye. He makes delighted "Hn! Hn! Hn!" noises as he's skewering or slicing people. As an accomplice to Madam Red, he acted as "Jack the Ripper," gleefully perpetrating a series of crimes grisly enough to shock a demon. And then, after working closely with Madam Red for months, even masquerading as her butler, he slaughters her impulsively when she disappoints him. Even so, Grell can be a bit of a coward. He avoids fights that "look dangerous"!

Grell has an enormous sense of entitlement. After killing Madam Red before her nephew's eyes, he proclaims that she has no right to wear red, strips her of her signature red jacket, and dons it himself. Rules are for other people -- even the rules of his own society. His chainsaw death scythe is illegally modified; and he kills humans not on the Death List, even though this is strictly prohibited. He shirks work on a regular basis, sleeping on the job or (in the OVA) performing in a stage play, forcing his boss to come looking for him.

Grell is vain, fixated on his appearance. In the middle of a pitched battle, he will frequently entreat his attacker not to hit his face. He's proud; as a death god, he holds himself above and apart from humans. He's dismissive of ordinary people. He finds the gentler human emotions, such as compassion and loyalty, to be cliched and dull. He yawns during touching reunions and gets excited when something disturbing happens.

As the anime progresses, we see a slightly more chastened Grell -- a Grell stripped of his beloved chainsaw death scythe, forced to do mundane tasks, armed with nothing but ordinary scissors! Thus humiliated, he agrees to protect Ciel in exchange for a kiss from Sebastian (who welshes on the deal!). Later, Grell reacts to the idea of pedophilia with distaste, saying that he has no interest in children. When sent to collect Alois Trancy's soul, Grell is very nearly compassionate, saying he'll reap the boy's soul painlessly.

Despite this character development, Grell remains utterly self-centered. He is obsessed with Sebastian, but doesn't seem to actually care about him; for instance, when Sebastian is devastated at losing Ciel, all Grell can do is marvel at how his pain makes Sebastian a spectacular photographic subject. And although Grell often consents to help Sebastian, one get the feeling it's just an excuse to be near him. On the one occasion he has the opportunity to help Sebastian behind the scenes, Grell is content to sit back and watch, declaring, "True love is a battle to the death!"

Character Abilities:

His primary ability has to do with his role as a shinigami - that is to say, soul-reaping. When scythed by a shinigami, people destined to die relive their lives through streaming cinema reels that shoot out of their chests; thus can shinigami review and judge their existence. On occasion, if a person's life is especially exemplary or beneficial to the world, a shinigami can undo the person's death. This almost never happens, however. Grell's scythe is in the form of a chainsaw and it's unclear where he keeps it - he seems to be able to pull it out of the ether, as it were!

Shinigami can also perceive demons. Grell knew what Sebastian was at first sight. Also, because a shinigami's primary job is soul-reaping, it stands to reason that they might have Soul Perception.

Shinigami are very nearly invulnerable. Sebastian once tried to beat Grell to death, but failed. In another episode, Grell was immune to the effects of an enchanted, deadly camera. Grell can, however, be cut and killed by a death scythe.

Grell can bend the laws of physics. Gravity seems to be no more than a suggestion, as he can leap into the air, hover, and even fight without any visible means of buoyancy. He can also run straight up a building. Additionally, he can also apparently call forth sparkles, flowers, little hearts, rainbows and various other effects by force of sheer emotion. It's unclear if anyone but Grell sees them, however!

Grell has theatrical talent. He has a lovely singing voice; and he was able to act as Jack the Ripper without arousing suspicion because he played the part of Madam Red's bumbling butler so very well.

Character Weaknesses:

Grell's Achilles heel is - Sebastian Michaelis. Initially a rival and very nearly Grell's executioner, Sebastian increasingly becomes an object of obsession. Grell goes to significant efforts to help Sebastian, despite always being used and frequently abused. In fact, Grell is instantly distracted by almost any handsome man, and can be easily manipulated on that basis. Grell is often interpreted in fandom as being a masochist; however, I don't believe he enjoys pain at all. It's just that his passions obscure his reason and land him in unfortunate situations.

Another Achilles heel is his own weapon. Shinigami are very nearly invulnerable, but can be cut and presumably killed by a death scythe. Apparently they don't do well when large buildings fall on them, either.

Grell does howl with pain when hit, and his face swells when injured; though he seems to heal very quickly.

Grell's bloodthirstiness, volatile anger, vanity, pride, selfishness and tenuous grip on sanity were discussed in the personality section.

[ WEAPON ONLY SECTION ]

Why your character should be a Weapon: Grell is the embodiment of passion, flamboyance and violence. He's exceptionally skilled with his chainsaw. However, his greatest weakness is the way his wild emotions affect his judgement. He makes bad choices; and loses battles he should have won, or enters battles he should have avoided. He needs a strong meister to control, channel and direct his deadly potential.

What is your character's Weapon form?:

Grell's weapon form is, of course, his beloved chainsaw. Its principal ability is that it can cut through anything at all, as long as the chain mechanism is spinning. Jamming that mechanism renders the weapon harmless. Soul resonance extends the length, reach, and noise of the chainsaw.

[ SOUL INFORMATION ]

Soul Description:

Passionate, volatile, bloodthirsty, theatrical, flamboyant, lazy

Soul Appearance:

Bright, brilliant red with a grin full of sharp, pointy teeth! Evil-appearing eyes with red cat-eye glasses.
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