Polychromatic app
[nick / name]: Lila
[e-mail]: K.E.901111@gmail.com
[AIM / messenger]: MoeDohl
[series]: Suikoden
[character]: Tyr McDohl
[character history / background]: Gensopedia page
[character abilities]: In general, he has a great deal of combat and military experience from having led one war and unofficially participating in another. He was trained in fighting with a bo staff, which is his weapon of choice. Game-wise, he has pretty good stats all around, too. He also has a True Rune, called the "Soul Eater", which can be read about here. Despite having the ability to use the Rune, he doesn't use it often, if at all. Also, because it doesn't go into detail about the whole "eating souls to gain power" bit, in the game, it seems that the Soul Eater takes the person's soul as the person is dying.
Away from the military side of things, he's pretty good with dice games, since he recruits Tai Ho and Yam Koo for proving that he is. The dice game is also the easiest way to gain money in the game, so it's almost like it wants Tyr to gamble all his earnings for a profit.
[character personality]:
When you first meet him in Suikoden II, Tyr comes off as distant and reclusive. He's one that spends his days not wanting to be disturbed as he just fishes for hours. When he speaks with Riou and old friends, he does so in a soft, generally polite and very pragmatic way. He rarely lets on to what he's feeling by his words - sometimes leaving Gremio to fill in what he's thinking - and tends to change the subject if he thinks the conversation is going in a direction where his own thoughts and feelings will be discussed.
He isn't necessarily one to hide things, though. For instance, during the Gate Rune War, everyone knew who he was and of the dialogue choices given, he rarely had the opportunity to lie. Likewise, a number of people end up knowing about his True Rune, despite the fact that the previous bearer, Ted, hid his possession of it for centuries. What he does hide are also things he avoids in general. From Gremio speaking with (or for) Tyr, we know that he didn't want to return to his home because of painful memories associated with it, but he also wanted to face those memories and spent time at home before choosing the travel again.
On the topic of his Rune, the Soul Eater has had a major effect on his character in that it keeps him from doing what he would ordinarily do without much hesitation. An example of this comes in the one of the first scenes he has in Suikoden II, where a child is kidnapped by bandits. While from how he's shown to act in Suikoden I - often going in to help or save others without much hesitation - he originally declines to go help because of the Rune reacting. Tyr agrees to help Riou in saving the child though, but mostly because Gremio reassured him by saying he doesn't believe that "the Rune itself is evil".
His view of the rune as being evil is not unfounded, though. Before his death, Ted told Tyr that the Rune has "evil intentions", and Leknaat, the character who guides all the heroes in the series, also says the rune is malevolent and that Tyr should never use its power. Combined with the fact that the rune took the souls of his father, Odessa (the original Liberation Army leader), Gremio, and Ted, it's not hard to see why Tyr came to view the Soul Eater as evil.
However, past that first scene, Tyr's views regarding the rune don't come up again until Suikogaiden 2 (which takes place after Suikoden II) where Tyr seems to be coming more to terms with having the Soul Eater. Because of this, he probably spent a lot of time before and during Suikoden II trying to accept his fate of having to protect the Rune.
More than anything, though, Tyr's personality was shaped by his role as the leader of the Liberation Army. As a leader, he learned to push aside his emotions in order to accomplish what had to be done. For instance, while many people might need time to mourn after the death of a loved one - and really, he did too - Tyr still had to lead his army in a major battle shortly after Gremio's death. In fact, while Viktor initially offers to lead in Tyr's stead, he almost immediately retracts the offer to say, "For a leader of the Liberation Army, weakness is unforgivable." With each death Tyr experiences after Gremio's (and Gremio's was the first to really shake Tyr), he was able pick himself up and continue to do whatever was necessary with more ease.
Relating to the deaths of his loved ones, following their wishes seemed to become a larger factor in how Tyr lead his army as the game progressed. While the initial impetus to rebel against the Scarlet Moon Empire was to correct their injustices, characters tended not to rely upon that in order to make sure Tyr didn't give up, but rather focused on how he should live up to the late, original leader, Odessa's, expectations and "not waste the life Gremio gave [him]". What his loved ones asked of Tyr was for him to do what he thought was right and to follow his path to the end. Since those are the wishes people referred to in order to drive him as a leader, it shouldn't be surprising that he led the army following his own view of justice rather than pandering to the desires of those around him.
While he doesn't seem to mind going along with the advice and ideas of others, he doesn't allow himself to be swayed by their emotions and keeps a level-head about a situation. The clearest examples of this come when Tyr is given the choices to kill Kwanda and Milich, two of the Imperial Generals. While others called for revenge for the crimes they committed (the first committed genocide and the second murdered Gremio and all the soldiers in Soniere Prison), Tyr saw past first impressions to realise that the men were being manipulated and thus not the ones at fault for their actions. It wouldn't be entirely fair to call Tyr merciful, though: When someone is responsible for the crimes they commit, he isn't above seeing them punished.
Unlike Riou, the young leader in Suikoden II, Tyr is never given the option to desert his army. However, he also doesn't stop Riou and his sister from leaving. While others (if they join Riou and his sister when they flee) try to convince them to stay, Tyr says nothing to them and lets them leave. This has lead me to believe that while Tyr would and could never abandon his army, he can sympathise with Riou and his situation, and knows how it is to not want to be the leader. This is further supported by the fact that, once the Gate Rune War was over, he didn't become leader of the Toran Republic (as was expected, especially given that was the original ending for him), but left in the middle of the night with Gremio and didn't even return to the Toran Republic for the next three years. When he did return and was faced with Lepant, his former general and the current President of the Toran Republic, Tyr backed away and refused to take the position of president. As far as we know, he still hasn't decided to succeed Lepant as president, fifteen years after that meeting where he promised to eventually claim the presidential seat.
Long story short: While he was a dedicated leader, he's doesn't expect others to be, and he really doesn't seem to want to be a leader again himself. Having the hopes and fates of several people rest on him again probably isn't something that he wants because of everything he went through before. In the time he was the Leader of the Liberation Army, Tyr had very little time to cope with the deaths of his loved ones and the issues with the Soul Eater, so he spends most of his time now coping.
[point in timeline you're picking your character from]: Shortly after the events at Rockaxe in Suikoden II
[journal post]:
[ The device comes on with the sound of footsteps against flag stone. ]
Let's go. This way should take us to...
[ He trails off and the sound of his steps stops. There's a stretch of silence before he speaks again. ]
Riou? [ Slowly, he continues to walk around, but it isn't long before he freezes again. At length, he murmurs suspiciously: ] What's going on here?
[third person / log sample]:
It was starting to sort of feel like home again, Tyr thought as he fell back onto his bed.
Downstairs, he could hear Cleo and Pahn talking, but he wasn't really listening hard enough to try to make their conversation. Really, he could block it all out, he realised, and it was just another hum of the city, like the sound of the fountain outside or the birds' singing. Despite that, a pang of sorrow still hit him when he thought about it. Of course it was like home. If one never left his house, it would seem like Gregminster hadn't changed much since the days when his father still proudly served Emperor Barbarossa. The only difference was that his father was never meant to return from his mission in the north, and Ted, whose portrait hung on Tyr's wall, would never drop by for dinner again.
It was best not to think of that, though. He spent enough time thinking about it, he reflected. Before, he had spent hours wondering if there could have been a way to change how it all turned out, or if it was just in the course of destiny that so many around him would fall. There was still that thought in the back of his mind that the Soul Eater played a hand in seeing that all of them met their demise. He didn't think he could ever forget that disgusting feeling that came with their deaths, as if the Rune just wanted to let him know that it was gaining power in return for their souls. In trying to correct that though - mostly for his own sake - he tried to argue that the Rune couldn't be all evil. Right? It always came back to thinking, "If Ted were here, maybe..."
Though in the end, it was too late for could-haves and should-haves; it was more important to consider those around him now. Returning home meant not letting those memories and the Rune run his life anymore. It would always be inescapable to a degree, but for his sake and for others', he could at least try. It was also hard to simply avoid his friends and former allies after seeing so many of them again in Gregminster and at Riou's castle. They all were still just like he remembered them from their time together. They were older, more mature, but... it was almost ironic that after putting his own pain to the side through the war, he was the only one that still couldn't put the past behind him as if it had never happened, like they seemed to. ...Or maybe they were just as good at putting up a front as he was.
Despite that, he couldn't say he disliked seeing everyone again. It was just as uplifting as it was tiring to spend time with them again. Meeting another young man so much like himself, too, was... It was a feeling Tyr couldn't quite place, somewhere between gratefulness and pity. It was probably some of that feeling of pity and empathy that made him wish he could help Riou. Though as much as he wanted to be of help, be some sort of guidance for him, the latest events proved his own weakness in trying to be just that. He had no words to Riou after his sister's death. What sort of condolences could he give? It was best, Tyr reasoned, that he simply left. He hadn't felt the ache of his Rune claiming her soul, and had no desire to stay at the castle in case he did.
And that's where Tyr stood now, laying on his bed staring blankly at the grey wall opposite him. At length, he thought could smell mutton wafting in from the kitchen. He could almost hear Pahn grumbling about dinner already, even though he still wasn't paying any attention to what his old friends might be discussing. The thought of it, though - of Pahn being Pahn, Gremio being Gremio - was what brought a smile to the young man's face despite his melancholy thoughts. It was nostalgic, even if the memories themselves had been tainted. However, if he tried to not think of the past and where it left them in the present, this place really was his home.
[extra sample for more of his leader side]:
The call to burn the flowers had barely left Mathiu's mouth when Milich showed himself before Tyr and the others in a bid to save them.
Tyr couldn't control the ugly look that came to his face as he saw the Great General and heard his shrill voice. Viktor could have well read the Liberation Army Leader's mind when he angrily shouted, "I'll get you!" At that moment, there wasn't much Tyr wanted more than to see the person who had murdered Gremio - along with the soldiers stationed at the prison - punished for his crimes.
The hate wasn't allowed much more time to settle in as Milich cried out, however. The words "Lady Windy's rune" reached his ears, pulling him out of that blind rage. This had happened before, he remembered. Kwanda, the black rune that Windy used to make him slaughter so many people. Like then, Milich had no idea what was going on, even when Mathiu prompted him.
At that moment, Tyr knew who was truly at fault for Gremio's death.
Yet behind him, the call for vengeance buzzed in his ears. Gremio had to be avenged. He wanted someone to pay for Gremio's untimely death, too. But he couldn't let an innocent person die in his name. That wasn't justice to Tyr, and in spite of his comrades' bid to never forgive and to execute Milich for his crimes, he couldn't allow it.
"What do you think, Tyr?"
With just himself and Mathiu standing between the others and Milich, Tyr finally turned to face them at Flik's question. A part of him wanted to join the chorus still and see Milich pay for Gremio's life with his own, but it would be wrong.
"This man is not at fault!" he said definitively, addressing all of them.
That was right. It was Windy who should pay. For using Milich as a puppet and murdering so many people with others' hands. Tyr didn't care if Cleo and Viktor - if any of them - didn't understand why. He stood his ground between them, unflinching as Viktor closed he distance between them. He wasn't going to change his mind. If he followed along with their wishes, it would be Gremio he'd be doing a disservice to.
He had to trust his own judgement. Like Gremio wanted.
Turning to Milich again, Tyr listened silently to his words and request to join him. While Milich may still have held loyalty to the Scarlet Moon Empire, they both wanted the same thing: To stop Windy. There was still a desire to simply spare Milich and never see the man again, but with the two of them fighting for similar goals, he knew that a Great General like Milich would be an asset to the Liberation Army. When he finished speaking, Tyr nodded. "I understand."
[e-mail]: K.E.901111@gmail.com
[AIM / messenger]: MoeDohl
[series]: Suikoden
[character]: Tyr McDohl
[character history / background]: Gensopedia page
[character abilities]: In general, he has a great deal of combat and military experience from having led one war and unofficially participating in another. He was trained in fighting with a bo staff, which is his weapon of choice. Game-wise, he has pretty good stats all around, too. He also has a True Rune, called the "Soul Eater", which can be read about here. Despite having the ability to use the Rune, he doesn't use it often, if at all. Also, because it doesn't go into detail about the whole "eating souls to gain power" bit, in the game, it seems that the Soul Eater takes the person's soul as the person is dying.
Away from the military side of things, he's pretty good with dice games, since he recruits Tai Ho and Yam Koo for proving that he is. The dice game is also the easiest way to gain money in the game, so it's almost like it wants Tyr to gamble all his earnings for a profit.
[character personality]:
When you first meet him in Suikoden II, Tyr comes off as distant and reclusive. He's one that spends his days not wanting to be disturbed as he just fishes for hours. When he speaks with Riou and old friends, he does so in a soft, generally polite and very pragmatic way. He rarely lets on to what he's feeling by his words - sometimes leaving Gremio to fill in what he's thinking - and tends to change the subject if he thinks the conversation is going in a direction where his own thoughts and feelings will be discussed.
He isn't necessarily one to hide things, though. For instance, during the Gate Rune War, everyone knew who he was and of the dialogue choices given, he rarely had the opportunity to lie. Likewise, a number of people end up knowing about his True Rune, despite the fact that the previous bearer, Ted, hid his possession of it for centuries. What he does hide are also things he avoids in general. From Gremio speaking with (or for) Tyr, we know that he didn't want to return to his home because of painful memories associated with it, but he also wanted to face those memories and spent time at home before choosing the travel again.
On the topic of his Rune, the Soul Eater has had a major effect on his character in that it keeps him from doing what he would ordinarily do without much hesitation. An example of this comes in the one of the first scenes he has in Suikoden II, where a child is kidnapped by bandits. While from how he's shown to act in Suikoden I - often going in to help or save others without much hesitation - he originally declines to go help because of the Rune reacting. Tyr agrees to help Riou in saving the child though, but mostly because Gremio reassured him by saying he doesn't believe that "the Rune itself is evil".
His view of the rune as being evil is not unfounded, though. Before his death, Ted told Tyr that the Rune has "evil intentions", and Leknaat, the character who guides all the heroes in the series, also says the rune is malevolent and that Tyr should never use its power. Combined with the fact that the rune took the souls of his father, Odessa (the original Liberation Army leader), Gremio, and Ted, it's not hard to see why Tyr came to view the Soul Eater as evil.
However, past that first scene, Tyr's views regarding the rune don't come up again until Suikogaiden 2 (which takes place after Suikoden II) where Tyr seems to be coming more to terms with having the Soul Eater. Because of this, he probably spent a lot of time before and during Suikoden II trying to accept his fate of having to protect the Rune.
More than anything, though, Tyr's personality was shaped by his role as the leader of the Liberation Army. As a leader, he learned to push aside his emotions in order to accomplish what had to be done. For instance, while many people might need time to mourn after the death of a loved one - and really, he did too - Tyr still had to lead his army in a major battle shortly after Gremio's death. In fact, while Viktor initially offers to lead in Tyr's stead, he almost immediately retracts the offer to say, "For a leader of the Liberation Army, weakness is unforgivable." With each death Tyr experiences after Gremio's (and Gremio's was the first to really shake Tyr), he was able pick himself up and continue to do whatever was necessary with more ease.
Relating to the deaths of his loved ones, following their wishes seemed to become a larger factor in how Tyr lead his army as the game progressed. While the initial impetus to rebel against the Scarlet Moon Empire was to correct their injustices, characters tended not to rely upon that in order to make sure Tyr didn't give up, but rather focused on how he should live up to the late, original leader, Odessa's, expectations and "not waste the life Gremio gave [him]". What his loved ones asked of Tyr was for him to do what he thought was right and to follow his path to the end. Since those are the wishes people referred to in order to drive him as a leader, it shouldn't be surprising that he led the army following his own view of justice rather than pandering to the desires of those around him.
While he doesn't seem to mind going along with the advice and ideas of others, he doesn't allow himself to be swayed by their emotions and keeps a level-head about a situation. The clearest examples of this come when Tyr is given the choices to kill Kwanda and Milich, two of the Imperial Generals. While others called for revenge for the crimes they committed (the first committed genocide and the second murdered Gremio and all the soldiers in Soniere Prison), Tyr saw past first impressions to realise that the men were being manipulated and thus not the ones at fault for their actions. It wouldn't be entirely fair to call Tyr merciful, though: When someone is responsible for the crimes they commit, he isn't above seeing them punished.
Unlike Riou, the young leader in Suikoden II, Tyr is never given the option to desert his army. However, he also doesn't stop Riou and his sister from leaving. While others (if they join Riou and his sister when they flee) try to convince them to stay, Tyr says nothing to them and lets them leave. This has lead me to believe that while Tyr would and could never abandon his army, he can sympathise with Riou and his situation, and knows how it is to not want to be the leader. This is further supported by the fact that, once the Gate Rune War was over, he didn't become leader of the Toran Republic (as was expected, especially given that was the original ending for him), but left in the middle of the night with Gremio and didn't even return to the Toran Republic for the next three years. When he did return and was faced with Lepant, his former general and the current President of the Toran Republic, Tyr backed away and refused to take the position of president. As far as we know, he still hasn't decided to succeed Lepant as president, fifteen years after that meeting where he promised to eventually claim the presidential seat.
Long story short: While he was a dedicated leader, he's doesn't expect others to be, and he really doesn't seem to want to be a leader again himself. Having the hopes and fates of several people rest on him again probably isn't something that he wants because of everything he went through before. In the time he was the Leader of the Liberation Army, Tyr had very little time to cope with the deaths of his loved ones and the issues with the Soul Eater, so he spends most of his time now coping.
[point in timeline you're picking your character from]: Shortly after the events at Rockaxe in Suikoden II
[journal post]:
[ The device comes on with the sound of footsteps against flag stone. ]
Let's go. This way should take us to...
[ He trails off and the sound of his steps stops. There's a stretch of silence before he speaks again. ]
Riou? [ Slowly, he continues to walk around, but it isn't long before he freezes again. At length, he murmurs suspiciously: ] What's going on here?
[third person / log sample]:
It was starting to sort of feel like home again, Tyr thought as he fell back onto his bed.
Downstairs, he could hear Cleo and Pahn talking, but he wasn't really listening hard enough to try to make their conversation. Really, he could block it all out, he realised, and it was just another hum of the city, like the sound of the fountain outside or the birds' singing. Despite that, a pang of sorrow still hit him when he thought about it. Of course it was like home. If one never left his house, it would seem like Gregminster hadn't changed much since the days when his father still proudly served Emperor Barbarossa. The only difference was that his father was never meant to return from his mission in the north, and Ted, whose portrait hung on Tyr's wall, would never drop by for dinner again.
It was best not to think of that, though. He spent enough time thinking about it, he reflected. Before, he had spent hours wondering if there could have been a way to change how it all turned out, or if it was just in the course of destiny that so many around him would fall. There was still that thought in the back of his mind that the Soul Eater played a hand in seeing that all of them met their demise. He didn't think he could ever forget that disgusting feeling that came with their deaths, as if the Rune just wanted to let him know that it was gaining power in return for their souls. In trying to correct that though - mostly for his own sake - he tried to argue that the Rune couldn't be all evil. Right? It always came back to thinking, "If Ted were here, maybe..."
Though in the end, it was too late for could-haves and should-haves; it was more important to consider those around him now. Returning home meant not letting those memories and the Rune run his life anymore. It would always be inescapable to a degree, but for his sake and for others', he could at least try. It was also hard to simply avoid his friends and former allies after seeing so many of them again in Gregminster and at Riou's castle. They all were still just like he remembered them from their time together. They were older, more mature, but... it was almost ironic that after putting his own pain to the side through the war, he was the only one that still couldn't put the past behind him as if it had never happened, like they seemed to. ...Or maybe they were just as good at putting up a front as he was.
Despite that, he couldn't say he disliked seeing everyone again. It was just as uplifting as it was tiring to spend time with them again. Meeting another young man so much like himself, too, was... It was a feeling Tyr couldn't quite place, somewhere between gratefulness and pity. It was probably some of that feeling of pity and empathy that made him wish he could help Riou. Though as much as he wanted to be of help, be some sort of guidance for him, the latest events proved his own weakness in trying to be just that. He had no words to Riou after his sister's death. What sort of condolences could he give? It was best, Tyr reasoned, that he simply left. He hadn't felt the ache of his Rune claiming her soul, and had no desire to stay at the castle in case he did.
And that's where Tyr stood now, laying on his bed staring blankly at the grey wall opposite him. At length, he thought could smell mutton wafting in from the kitchen. He could almost hear Pahn grumbling about dinner already, even though he still wasn't paying any attention to what his old friends might be discussing. The thought of it, though - of Pahn being Pahn, Gremio being Gremio - was what brought a smile to the young man's face despite his melancholy thoughts. It was nostalgic, even if the memories themselves had been tainted. However, if he tried to not think of the past and where it left them in the present, this place really was his home.
[extra sample for more of his leader side]:
The call to burn the flowers had barely left Mathiu's mouth when Milich showed himself before Tyr and the others in a bid to save them.
Tyr couldn't control the ugly look that came to his face as he saw the Great General and heard his shrill voice. Viktor could have well read the Liberation Army Leader's mind when he angrily shouted, "I'll get you!" At that moment, there wasn't much Tyr wanted more than to see the person who had murdered Gremio - along with the soldiers stationed at the prison - punished for his crimes.
The hate wasn't allowed much more time to settle in as Milich cried out, however. The words "Lady Windy's rune" reached his ears, pulling him out of that blind rage. This had happened before, he remembered. Kwanda, the black rune that Windy used to make him slaughter so many people. Like then, Milich had no idea what was going on, even when Mathiu prompted him.
At that moment, Tyr knew who was truly at fault for Gremio's death.
Yet behind him, the call for vengeance buzzed in his ears. Gremio had to be avenged. He wanted someone to pay for Gremio's untimely death, too. But he couldn't let an innocent person die in his name. That wasn't justice to Tyr, and in spite of his comrades' bid to never forgive and to execute Milich for his crimes, he couldn't allow it.
"What do you think, Tyr?"
With just himself and Mathiu standing between the others and Milich, Tyr finally turned to face them at Flik's question. A part of him wanted to join the chorus still and see Milich pay for Gremio's life with his own, but it would be wrong.
"This man is not at fault!" he said definitively, addressing all of them.
That was right. It was Windy who should pay. For using Milich as a puppet and murdering so many people with others' hands. Tyr didn't care if Cleo and Viktor - if any of them - didn't understand why. He stood his ground between them, unflinching as Viktor closed he distance between them. He wasn't going to change his mind. If he followed along with their wishes, it would be Gremio he'd be doing a disservice to.
He had to trust his own judgement. Like Gremio wanted.
Turning to Milich again, Tyr listened silently to his words and request to join him. While Milich may still have held loyalty to the Scarlet Moon Empire, they both wanted the same thing: To stop Windy. There was still a desire to simply spare Milich and never see the man again, but with the two of them fighting for similar goals, he knew that a Great General like Milich would be an asset to the Liberation Army. When he finished speaking, Tyr nodded. "I understand."