Gestalt; Character Relationships
Gestalt
Dark Nation - modified guard hound.
Turks (Subordinates) - Elena and Reno (Tseng and Rude unplayed)
Rufus hails from post Advent Children and as such is extremely close to his Turks. Sharing a Lodge with no one else for 2 years will do that do you. While he (privately) regards them as family, this has never been voiced and there remains a clear delineation - Rufus is quite firmly the boss and is used to having his orders obeyed without question.
For his part, there is very little that Rufus will not do for his Turks. Nevertheless, he is conscious of the fact that people may exploit this vulnerability ("may"? Make that "will") if they discover it, and maintains the same professional formality in his interactions with the Turks as he did before Meteorfall. That, and the fact that unwinding is simply not Rufus' style.
Cloud Strife (Mutual acquaintance who fought against Sephiroth)
Rufus likes to call Strife his comrade in arms in the battle against Sephiroth (reference: Advent Children Complete). This, despite the fact that they were at each other's throats for most of the events of Final Fantasy VII. Mostly, Rufus regards Strife as a usual resource. He is well aware that Strife failed to enter the SOLDIER programme, but thanks to Strife's introducing himself during their first meeting as an ex-SOLDIER, Rufus is entirely too happy to play along with this little deception. After all, Strife is hardly a normal failure. It is clear that they are not allies, but Rufus is intent on positioning them as not-enemies, and by and large, has succeeded at some uneasy truce. While they can hardly be termed as "working together", Rufus generally has his ways of getting Strife pointed in the direction that he wants him to go, and that suits him just fine.
Tifa Lockhart (Acquaintance, former enemy)
Rufus' dealings with Tifa are less extensive than his dealings with Strife. Nevertheless, the approach is the same - while he is aware that he can never get the former Avalanche members fully on his side, he has no desire for hostilities between them. He has some interest in Tifa as a handle on Strife.
Kadaj (Enemy)
If Rufus is willing to overlook Avalanche's attempts to kill him, he's not so willing to overlook Kadaj's transgressions. However, things may have changed following Kadaj's death, and Rufus is willing to consider the possibility that Kadaj may not be quite the mother obsessed little puppet that he was previously. Still, a cautious approach is best.
In-game
The Doctor (Neutral)
Just established contact. Finds him knowledgeable and potentially useful. Other opinions reserved.
Dai (Neutral)
Just established contact. Opinions reserved.
Giovanni (Neutral)
Crossed paths once. Suspects he may be a little unstable.
Name: Rufus Shinra
Time-line: A few weeks post Advent Children
Age: 27 (Using the updated timeline from On a Way to a Smile)
FF7 canon used:
Before Crisis: Applied (wince)
Original game: Applied
On the Way to a Smile; Case of Shinra: No no and no
Advent Children: Applied
Dirge of Cerberus: Not applicable
Appearance: Advent Children, sans bandages
Physical traits: As per here. For avoidance of doubt - (1) Hair colour follows AC and not OGC, (2) Eyes are pure blue, no mako colouration
Apparel:
White outer jacket, vest (kevlar), white button down (long-sleeved) dress shirt, black button down (long-sleeved) under shirt.
White suit pants - for practicality, he's switched back to something more form fitting and less like a pillow case.
Concealed holster for shotgun (foldable barrel) behind back.
Further information (history): Wiki, Profile
Personality:
Enigmatic. Charismatic. Charming, scheming bastard.
99% of the time, Rufus adopts a smooth talking, deceptively pleasant demeanour, quite a change from his obvious arrogance in OGC. Although polite, however, he is almost never cowed, and in fact doesn't appear to know the meaning of fear (except when applied to other persons). He doesn't bother hiding his intelligence, but he does keep a very tight rein on his emotions and has a tendency to conceal his thoughts, motives, and random alien heads. Oh, and he has no compunctions about lying through his teeth.
The remaining 1% of the time, he has a vicious, vicious temper.
He's addicted to information like an addict to coke, and does have a slight tendency to launch into interrogations rather than conversations.
Rufus' relationship with power is somewhat complex. He's used to having it. He was born with it. On one hand, he's not power hungry - he will not lunge for it like a starving dog for meat. On the other hand he resents anyone having any leverage on him. He's quite content to stand behind the scenes and allow others to take charge, as long as he's confident that they don't have control over him, and that he can continue to be able to do what he wants (and seeing that he thinks on an extremely large scale - think world domination - this makes things somewhat difficult). At the same time, he gravitates naturally to the assumption of responsibility and leadership, particularly in a vacuum (again, think world domination), and has an unwitting tendency to view anyone else in charge as a puppet that he can manipulate.
The world is rather like a chessboard to him, and you can be sure that he's standing around assessing how the pieces move and how he can move the pieces (even if it's just for the sake of being able to move them). He may even do it consciously.
Whether Rufus is truly reformed from the "I will rule the world by fear" person he was in OGC to the "I must make atonement for the sins of the company" person he is in Advent Children is not entirely clear. Not even to him. It's simply the most effective personality and outlook for this present age, and Rufus doffs personalities like other people change clothes. Whatever the case, you can be sure that he doesn't make the same mistake twice.
Special mention needs to be made of Rufus' terrible sense of humour. He finds everything amusing, in the way a demigod might find a bunch of humans trying to kill each other amusing. The more dangerous the situation, the more enjoyable it is. One suspects that his fear (and self-preservation) circuits were misrouted from birth.
Dark Nation - modified guard hound.
Turks (Subordinates) - Elena and Reno (Tseng and Rude unplayed)
Rufus hails from post Advent Children and as such is extremely close to his Turks. Sharing a Lodge with no one else for 2 years will do that do you. While he (privately) regards them as family, this has never been voiced and there remains a clear delineation - Rufus is quite firmly the boss and is used to having his orders obeyed without question.
For his part, there is very little that Rufus will not do for his Turks. Nevertheless, he is conscious of the fact that people may exploit this vulnerability ("may"? Make that "will") if they discover it, and maintains the same professional formality in his interactions with the Turks as he did before Meteorfall. That, and the fact that unwinding is simply not Rufus' style.
Cloud Strife (Mutual acquaintance who fought against Sephiroth)
Rufus likes to call Strife his comrade in arms in the battle against Sephiroth (reference: Advent Children Complete). This, despite the fact that they were at each other's throats for most of the events of Final Fantasy VII. Mostly, Rufus regards Strife as a usual resource. He is well aware that Strife failed to enter the SOLDIER programme, but thanks to Strife's introducing himself during their first meeting as an ex-SOLDIER, Rufus is entirely too happy to play along with this little deception. After all, Strife is hardly a normal failure. It is clear that they are not allies, but Rufus is intent on positioning them as not-enemies, and by and large, has succeeded at some uneasy truce. While they can hardly be termed as "working together", Rufus generally has his ways of getting Strife pointed in the direction that he wants him to go, and that suits him just fine.
Tifa Lockhart (Acquaintance, former enemy)
Rufus' dealings with Tifa are less extensive than his dealings with Strife. Nevertheless, the approach is the same - while he is aware that he can never get the former Avalanche members fully on his side, he has no desire for hostilities between them. He has some interest in Tifa as a handle on Strife.
Kadaj (Enemy)
If Rufus is willing to overlook Avalanche's attempts to kill him, he's not so willing to overlook Kadaj's transgressions. However, things may have changed following Kadaj's death, and Rufus is willing to consider the possibility that Kadaj may not be quite the mother obsessed little puppet that he was previously. Still, a cautious approach is best.
In-game
The Doctor (Neutral)
Just established contact. Finds him knowledgeable and potentially useful. Other opinions reserved.
Dai (Neutral)
Just established contact. Opinions reserved.
Giovanni (Neutral)
Crossed paths once. Suspects he may be a little unstable.
Name: Rufus Shinra
Time-line: A few weeks post Advent Children
Age: 27 (Using the updated timeline from On a Way to a Smile)
FF7 canon used:
Before Crisis: Applied (wince)
Original game: Applied
On the Way to a Smile; Case of Shinra: No no and no
Advent Children: Applied
Dirge of Cerberus: Not applicable
Appearance: Advent Children, sans bandages
Physical traits: As per here. For avoidance of doubt - (1) Hair colour follows AC and not OGC, (2) Eyes are pure blue, no mako colouration
Apparel:
White outer jacket, vest (kevlar), white button down (long-sleeved) dress shirt, black button down (long-sleeved) under shirt.
White suit pants - for practicality, he's switched back to something more form fitting and less like a pillow case.
Concealed holster for shotgun (foldable barrel) behind back.
Further information (history): Wiki, Profile
Personality:
Enigmatic. Charismatic. Charming, scheming bastard.
99% of the time, Rufus adopts a smooth talking, deceptively pleasant demeanour, quite a change from his obvious arrogance in OGC. Although polite, however, he is almost never cowed, and in fact doesn't appear to know the meaning of fear (except when applied to other persons). He doesn't bother hiding his intelligence, but he does keep a very tight rein on his emotions and has a tendency to conceal his thoughts, motives, and random alien heads. Oh, and he has no compunctions about lying through his teeth.
The remaining 1% of the time, he has a vicious, vicious temper.
He's addicted to information like an addict to coke, and does have a slight tendency to launch into interrogations rather than conversations.
Rufus' relationship with power is somewhat complex. He's used to having it. He was born with it. On one hand, he's not power hungry - he will not lunge for it like a starving dog for meat. On the other hand he resents anyone having any leverage on him. He's quite content to stand behind the scenes and allow others to take charge, as long as he's confident that they don't have control over him, and that he can continue to be able to do what he wants (and seeing that he thinks on an extremely large scale - think world domination - this makes things somewhat difficult). At the same time, he gravitates naturally to the assumption of responsibility and leadership, particularly in a vacuum (again, think world domination), and has an unwitting tendency to view anyone else in charge as a puppet that he can manipulate.
The world is rather like a chessboard to him, and you can be sure that he's standing around assessing how the pieces move and how he can move the pieces (even if it's just for the sake of being able to move them). He may even do it consciously.
Whether Rufus is truly reformed from the "I will rule the world by fear" person he was in OGC to the "I must make atonement for the sins of the company" person he is in Advent Children is not entirely clear. Not even to him. It's simply the most effective personality and outlook for this present age, and Rufus doffs personalities like other people change clothes. Whatever the case, you can be sure that he doesn't make the same mistake twice.
Special mention needs to be made of Rufus' terrible sense of humour. He finds everything amusing, in the way a demigod might find a bunch of humans trying to kill each other amusing. The more dangerous the situation, the more enjoyable it is. One suspects that his fear (and self-preservation) circuits were misrouted from birth.