scorched Teddie Application

[sevetenks]

Out of Character Information

player name: Seve
player livejournal: sevetenks
playing here: none, at the moment!
are you 16 years of age or older?: Have been for over three years now!

In Character Information

character name: Teddie
canon source and the point from which they're taken: Persona 4; After the True End
character's age: Physically, Teddie's human form is that of a (very pretty) teenager, but due to his true identity being a Shadow, he could in fact be (and probably is) much older than that.

canon powers, skills, pets and equipment:
- Bearsona!: After the party defeated his Shadow, and Teddie accepted it as part of himself, Teddie gained a Persona, an "other self" characters in the series summon forth from within them during battle to fight with. It started out as Kintoki-Douji, but as the main character helps Teddie discover himself throughout the story, it transforms into a more powerful one. Teddie's current Persona, Kamui, specializes in Bufu (Ice element) and healing skills. It, meaning Teddie so long as he has the Persona, resists wind and light element attacks, completely blocks ice ones, and is weak to electric ones. As the Persona is essentially Teddie's other self, these traits are also a part of Teddie, should those elements ever be used on him even when he isn't using his Persona.

- Bear Handed!: Before he created a human body for himself, Teddie's form was a hollow bear suit. Even after creating a human body for himself, when in the TV world and going into battle, Teddie gets back into the bear suit and can be equipped with various claws to fight enemies with.

- It's Beary Weak!: Though this role was later taken on by Rise so he could join the others in actual combat, Teddie does have some minor powers as far as enemy analysis - he can tell whether or not an enemy is strong or weak, and can keep track of their elemental weaknesses and advantages. Though this ability is restricted to the TV world, he can also sense whether or not people have entered it, as well as where they are, to an extent.

- I Can't Bear To Look!: The fog in the TV world is dense and dangerous, and prolonged exposure to it causes exhaustion and various other symptoms - however, Teddie has the unique ability to make glasses that allow the wearer to see through the fog as if it isn't even there. While this might not work on the mist of Anatole, that certainly won't stop him from trying.

- Do I Dazzle You?: ... Not actually much of a power, but because Teddie's human form is just so damn pretty, he is somehow able to sparkle at will. It's beary effective when used against girls!

As far as changing canon powers, most of them would probably stay the same, though in the case of Teddie's Persona , he would gain the ability to summon his Persona at will as opposed to attacking its "card" with his weapon. This is in part because, in canon, he is always in his bear suit and using a weapon (he puts various claws on the hand of the suit) to summon the Persona, and thus he would be defenseless a lot of the time if he were to be going around in his human body.

non-canon powers: Teddie's human form would gain both enhanced strength and a minor shapeshifting ability - that being to transform his hands into the bear claws he normally just puts on his bear suit, and as it develops, full on "bear" arms. However, both of these abilities will develop and grow, as will his control over them, as he spends more time in Anatole and is exposed to the world, as opposed to them coming to him instantly.

Also, despite these extra abilities, Teddie's battle preference (should an upcoming battle be known to him as opposed to him just being taken off guard) would probably be to wear his trademark bear suit with an attached bear claw and do things like usual, unless the suit getup is not allowed to come with him, in which case his new abilities can act as replacements. Plus, being a Shadow originally and all, who's to say his human body is all that stable anyway, right?

canon history:
"You ever hear of the Midnight Channel? You're supposed to look into a TV that's switched off, alone, exactly at midnight on a rainy night. While you're staring at your own image another person will appear on the screen..."

In the nowhere town of Inaba, a mystery is brewing. Murders and kidnappings begin taking place as one Soji Seta transfers there, and unbeknownst to all but he and his friends, these murders and attempted murders all seem to revolve around a mysterious television program, the Midnight Channel, and another world that exists on the other side of the TV. Soji and his friends band together to find out the identity of the killer, all the while going to school, protecting and doing side quests for the citizens of Inaba, and pursuing their true selves.

However, Teddie is not a resident of Inaba. Teddie, in fact, isn't even a human - at least not technically. Teddie is in fact a resident of the world on the other side of the TV, and in the beginning, knows nothing about himself beyond the fact that he has always been there. However, much to his disgression, soon someone began dropping in people from "the other side" - the real world - and once inside the TV, they were killed by their other selves, their repressed sides gone wild and taken form; their Shadows. However, no one knew that right away, in fact, it took until the second victim for some real investigation to take place.

It was after Soji and two of his friends had done some exploring in the mysterious world that they came across Teddie. Teddie, meeting someone for the first time, accused them of being the one who was tossing people in his home and making everything inside it chaotic. After some introductions, the three of them managed to convince Teddie they weren't the ones throwing people into his world and promised they would help find who was really behind it. Once he was pleased with their story, he summoned some small TVs to shove them into that lead them to the TV that they came in from.

That was how the story began for Soji and his friends. A mysterious world in the TV and a talking bear, nothing too horrible about that. But when the crush of one of Soji's friends is killed, the world inside the TV is entered once again, this time for a more serious look around. After meeting up with Teddie, he lead Soji and Yosuke to a new place within the TV, this place being almost an exact replica of the missing girl's parents' store. There, Soji discovered he had the ability to summon a Persona, and inside, the trio learned that the place that the girl had been in was now left with her lingering thoughts "haunting" them.

It was then that they discovered Shadows - those repressed sides of people that have gone wild? Well, Yosuke's came out of him and, with Teddie's help, was defeated by Soji. Yosuke faced himself, gained a Persona, and they learned a little about more about the TV world. About Teddie's world.

Next, a girl named Yukiko was seen on the Midnight Channel, haze at first but then extremely clear, and sure enough, then Teddie could sense her presence inside of the TV world. Taking along Chie this time, the four of them entered a castle that, as they learned during their exploration, was created by Yukiko herself after entering the TV world.

The process repeated like this. After getting famous on one television show or another, someone would appear on the Midnight Channel, hazy at first, and then their other self would appear, clear as day, and that would be the sign that the person was inside the TV. After either going in and tracking down their location or having to learn about the person to figure out where the location might be, the Investigation Team would be able to proceed. Then Soji and the rest of the Investigation Team would go in to the TV, with Teddie providing backup, and rescue the person inside. They would defeat their Shadow in battle, and the person would then be able to face themselves - thereby gaining a Persona and joining the party.

This continued with Yukiko and Kanji, two other students at Soji and Yosuke's school, and then up through looking for the idol Rise and her loose Shadow. Teddie's role, ultimately, seemed to be nothing more than the one who stayed behind in his world and assisted during searches. But as things started progressing more and more, he began wondering about himself. Who was he really? Where did he come from?

There were so many things he didn't know that he had never wondered about. Before Soji and the others had arrived, as far as he knew at that time, all he had ever done was exist in his world by himself, avoiding the Shadows (the normal Shadows, monster-like creatures that seem to attack whoever comes near, as opposed to the Shadows that specifically come out of people and are composed of their hidden feelings) and living as peaceful a life as he could. A simple life.

It was finally after defeating Rise's Shadow, all thanks to Teddie nearly sacrificing himself, when she was speaking to it and realizing some truths about herself, she said to herself "There's no real me", that his very own Shadow came out of him. But after all, he was dumbfounded. How could there be no "real Teddie" when he'd been trying to find out for so long just who that was? Surely, he had just forgotten, or those memories had been erased somehow, right?

But out his Shadow came, taunting him. It was a surprisingly intelligent Shadow, completely unlike Teddie except in appearance. It declared that there was no real Teddie, that he had no lost memories, that he was simply nothing. The only truth was, at most, that he had forgotten that fact. After knocking Teddie away, he turned to the party and to them, told them there was no real truth. He challenged them to battle, with the intent to kill them, but of course, they defeated him thanks to Rise's help - she took over Teddie's backup position - and Teddie accepted the parts of himself that the Shadow had been made of. With that, he had a Persona of his very own.

With fresh determination, Teddie stayed behind in the TV world and began training himself - from then on, he wasn't going to just be the backup. He was going to be strong. He was going to be beary useful!

Soon after, it seemed like the police had a suspect for the original two murder cases that happened before the various kidnappings - that is, the various people that had been thrown into the TV and been saved by the Investigation Team. However, this only came about when Soji, Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko's homeroom teacher, a man named Mr. Morooka, was killed - without any warning from the Midnight Channel no less.

So naturally, the team went to ask Teddie if anyone had been in the TV world. But upon arrving at Junes to use their big screen TV to enter, they discover that Teddie had gone and left the TV world. After meeting up with him and learning that Teddie had somehow grown a human body despite his bear suit form being completely empty before, they learned that no one had entered the TV. In fact, Teddie was offended that they doubted his extraodibeary nose.

Thus began two changes in Teddie's life. The first was that he began living in the human world, working in Junes as a mascot and living with Yosuke, and the second was that he was able to take part in battles now that he had developed a Persona. With these in mind, the team slowly but surely discovered the identity of the suspect of the murders, a young man by the name of Mitsuo Kubo. However, they also learned that he was now hiding in the TV. Knowing that, they made their way through his dungeon to defeat him.

After defeating his Shadow and taking him out of the TV world, they gave him to the police and believed the case to be over. The group started celebrating, and Teddie started adapting more and more to his new life in the real world. However, one Naoto Shirogane, a teenage "detective prince", believing the case not to be over, decided to appear on the television - and not long after that, he found himself inside of the TV world and cornered by his own Shadow, who revealed to the party once they arrived to defeat it that he in fact was a she.

Now knowing that the real culprit was still out there and that Mr. Morooka was only murdered by Mitsuro as a copycat killing, the group kicked things into gear. Soji recieved a threatening letter and was taken into the police station by his uncle Dojima, at which point his little cousin, Nanako, whom Teddie had grown close to during his time in the real world, was kidnapped and taken into the TV world. The real culprit, a man named Namatame, was in there with her, and a journal he left behind seemed to prove that he was in fact the real killer and kidnapper.

When the Investigation Team arrived at Namatame and Nanako's location, however, he claimed he was trying to save her. Paying his claims no more mind than they would any other words of a raving mad man, the team battled the being he transformed into and took him and Nanako - who was in bad shape - out of there as soon as they could. Namatame was taken into custody by the police, and Nanako was taken to the hospital.

From then on, it seemed like the case was really over. Namatame was in custody, Nanako was in the hospital, hopefully recovering, and the team was going to await for Namatame to face judgement. All the while, Teddie began to feel doubt. Why was he here now? The killer had been caught, everyone had kept their promise, and what's more, and he had failed Nanako. Was it his fault she was hurt? Did anyone even want him here anymore?

These feelings were finally brought to the surface as, after being called to the hospital, Nanako died before his and everyone else's eyes. While the rest of the team, in a fit of rage, went to confront Namatame, Teddie stayed behind with Nanako and spoke to her. After speaking to her, he disappeared from the world, and wasn't seen again until he appeared in Soji's dreams much later on. Unbeknownst to him, however, shortly after he spoke to her, Nanako had a miraculous recovery, and after that, slowly began recovering more and more.

Meanwhile, after confronting Namatame and, at Soji's urging, deciding to leave him, the group decides to investigate a little more. During their investigation, the dangerous fog of the TV world begins seeping into the real world. After discovering the true culprit is a man named Tohru Adachi, the assistant of Soji's uncle, they try to find out where he is in the TV world, but Rise can't locate him. Upon their return to Junes, however, Teddie returns to the group's usual meeting spot. He explains that he finally discovered what he truly was, and how he would understand if they wouldn't accept him anymore.

A long time ago, in the world created by the human mind - in other words, the world on the other side of the TVs, it was only populated by Shadows. One Shadow, one lonely Shadow, wanted to become real, friends with humans, so it made itself a cute body so no one would be afraid of it and cleared its mind so it wouldn't even know what it was.That Shadow was, once upon a time, Teddie.

The team doesn't seem bothered by this, however, much to Teddie's surprise. Naoto says that the reverse of the usual happened in Teddie's case - while most defeat their Shadow, a Shadow made itself an ego. With Teddie back on the team, they head back into the TV and Teddie discovers that Adachi is hiding where Soji, Yosuke, and Chie first went to in the TV world. After confronting an after image Adachi left behind, the team heads in after him.

Depending on how long it takes to get to Adachi, the team will witness just how negative the effects of the fog being in the real world can be. People will get sick, they stop caring what other people think of them (seeing as no one can see them through it), and more. Regardless, once they reach Adachi, they challenge him to battle and, after an evil monologue and some exchanged blows, manage to finally defeat the true killer once and for all.

... but then a bunch of Shadows decide to merge with him and form Ameno-sagiri, the "ruler of the fog", who has supposedly determined that mankind wishes to live in the fog and that he/it is acting in their best interests, declares that the team's actions are foolish and they must be stopped. So of course, they fight and prove him wrong, at which point he vanishes and they can take Adachi out of the TV world to pay for his crimes.

So all is well and it's time to fast forward a few months. Nanako is starting to recover, enough to get out of the hospital, everyone has pursued their truth, burned their dread, what have you, Soji has said all of his goodbyes, to Teddie and Yosuke, to everyone else, and it's time for him to go home.

... But there's one thing that's bothering him still, even after all of this. So he returns to the main area of the investigation team, where Teddie and the others all eventually arrive to meet him. They decide to search around for clues and see if they can find anything, even though the case has been closed for months.

As it turns out, a goddess of all things greeted Soji (as well as Namatame and Adachi) when he arrived to Inaba, disguised as a gas station attendant. This goddess, Izanami, was the one who was - yes, really this time - truly behind everything, as well as the one who granted Soji, Adachi, and Namatame their power to enter the TV. She also created the Midnight Channel, and wishes for nothing more than humanity to become mindless Shadows - essentially what Adachi and Ameno-sagiri were already saying earlier on.

Once Izanami is defeated, the TV world transforms into a beautiful field, and Teddie remembers that a long, long time ago, it had always looked like this. After looking at the TV world for a little while, everyone leaves the TV and the day ends. It is time to say goodbye to Soji, and as it turns out, goodbye to Teddie as well, as he's decided to return to the TV world so he can protect it. Of course, more than likely he'll return to the real world when he gets bored or really hungry, but his determination to keep things peaceful is there all the same.

And with Soji leaving to return to the city, his friends running after the train yelling out farewells, the credits roll, and Persona 4 ends.

personality: The first thing that might come to one's mind when thinking about Teddie is his sense of humor. He doesn't take a lot of things seriously, espescially early on, when he joked about a lot of things during serious moments, and even during battles, throwing in bear puns comes natural to him. He's always eager and excited to prove himself to the rest of the Investigation Team, and when the situation calls for it, he can be just as serious as the rest of them. His determination and devotion to protect people like Nanako, after his resolve is finally mustered towards the end, is something to be feared if you're on the wrong end of it.

Given that Teddie lived in the TV world his entire life and had no memories (at least early on) meant that he didn't understand most things in the real world, be ones he saw or ones the Investigation Team spoke about. Even things in his own world were a mystery to him at first. He doesn't understand some things, some things confuse him, and others he misunderstands completely. But that doesn't mean he's not intelligent, not by a long shot. In fact, sometimes he'll start quoting something almost like he's a walking commercial, selling a product. Unfortunately, his info is either wrong or irrelevant (getting all eager about going to an inn for their hotsprings, for instance), but it's still another aspect of the being that is Teddie.

One of the most important things about Teddie is that, no matter what, he is completely and utterly devoted to his friends. Despite the fact that he'll tease them, get them into beary embarassing situations, act like a total child with them, or, in the case of the girls, hit on them at almost any given opportunity if the time is right, the fact remains that he would die for them. In fact, when the group faced Shadow Rise, he nearly did. Furthermore, with Soji, who he has dubbed "Sensei", is espescially close to him, given that Soji helped him through all of his idenity problems, helped him discover himself, and even brought Teddie back to the real world when he appeared in Soji's dreams.

why do you feel this character would be appropriate to the setting? Despite the fact that Teddie is, well, a beary punny character, Persona 4 is a serious game and Teddie went through the same things the rest of the cast - even more things, given the fact that he had to discover not just his "true" self, but the fact that his self used to be a Shadow. Furthermore, given the fact that a lot of the game is dungeon crawling and surviving, and a lot of the game's plot revolves around a mysterious fog, Teddie's TV world espescially, this sort of setting is actually right up his alley.

Writing Samples

First Person Sample:

Dearest Sensei,

Don't worry about me. I'm sure by now, overtaken with worry, stricken with fear, desperate for answers, Yosuke's told you that I've gone missing... But just so you know, I'm fine! There have been a few close calls, but I came through them just fine. In fact, I did it bear handed! Get it?

Actually... This time, you probably don't! My hands turned into bear hands! Real ones, just like the ones I like to put on when we went into the TV! And just between you and me, it was panda-monium! There are monsters here too, kind of like Shadows, and I beat the stuffing out of them! ... Okay, maybe I didn't totally beat the stuffing out of them, but I got some beary good hits in before we had to run away. Really! They didn't know what hit them, and that's the truth!

This place is pretty strange. It reminds me of a book I saw in Junes once. And there's a lot of fog here... It's kinda spooky, given everything that happened back home. Oh, but don't tell Yosuke I said that! As far as he's concerned, I'm being the best darn bear that I can be here! In fact, I'm going to go kick some monster butt now that I'm thinking about it, just to show him!

Anyway, if you get this, please send help, topsicles, and vibrating chairs. Not necessarily in that order, I'm pretty sure topsicles are easier to send.

Your pal,
Teddie

Third Person Sample:

"Hmmm... Beary suspiscious... No, more than that, this is beary worrying!"

Teddie had been told by more than one person that this wasn't the "world" that he was from. But given that he'd been to two worlds in his life, and one of them had had some grizzly changes over his lifetime, trying some old tricks couldn't hurt, right? Besides, how could he face Sensei if he didn't try everything in his power to go back again?

... But even with that determination, no matter how many times he tapped his foot, same as always, the TVs that should have appeared to take him back to Junes didn't come.

"I guess this really isn't my world," Teddie sighed, uncrossing and crossing his arms behind his back, his expression growing darker. He should have known that they wouldn't come, considering how his world had been fixed for good (right?) but trying never hurt anybody. "But if I'm stuck in this... place, and there aren't any TVs, how am I supposed to be able to go back home? "

This wasn't like the last time Teddie had disappeared, though. This was the polar opposite of that time, almost! This time, he was fine - no one was dying, there was no murder case to solve. He had just been in Junes with Yosuke, reminiscing about Sensei, and he'd been heading back into the TV to go home...

"But I... I'm still lost," he murmured to himself, looking down at the ground. What was even stranger was that this world, wherever it was, was completely surrounded by a strange fog. Was it like the fog that had once filled his home and then invaded Sensei and the rest's world? "The big eyeball monster and that Izanami lady both said that they were done with us, but... Could they have just moved on to some other world?"

It was all just far too strange - too familiar, and that was what really had Teddie unnerved. He had never wanted to see another world ruined like his almost had been again, and yet from the looks of things, this one was already almost completely gone.

"Beary suspicious indeed!" Teddie announced, to no one in particular. But could he just let himself get down in the dumps just because he was lost with no way home? No sir, not this bear! If there were two things he had learned in the past year, they were to believe in your friends (they would probably come for him at... some point, right?) and to never, ever give up. "And that's why I, Teddie the magnificent, am going to investigate Anatole and discover the source of their mysterious fog and put a stop to it once and for all!"

With that decided, Teddie put his hands on his hips and smiled brightly. Things were starting to look up for him. Now, so long as they could stay that way, he thought to himself that maybe, just maybe, he might just be okay.

Anything else? In the game, as I mentioned in the application Teddie's original body became a bear suit that he wore in the real world and in the TV one. For one thing, it... appears he is used to fighting like that, but also he just likes it and it's natural to him. So I'd like to ask, would it be okay for him to bring along his bear suit to go around in it and even, if the occasion called, fight in it? If not, that's fine and might be an interesting change for him, and as far as fighting goes, that's why I figured he should be able to summon his Persona and fight as a human as well as a "bear".