Name: Athena
Personal LJ:
jarateContact Info: hplovemachine @ AIM | ghostlights @ Plurk
Other Characters Played:
pkeccentric and
hispalette Character Name: Herbert West
Character Series: Re-Animator
Character Age: 24
Background:
Here Personality: When one hears the name Herbert West, it’s easy to conjure images of stacked books and a young man hunched over them, half-empty mug of coffee in one hand and a fistful of papers in the other. It might also bring to mind the sight of a reserved, quiet man who tries his best not to make eye contact with anyone bigger than himself but that’s much less accurate than the prior image. True, Herbert definitely ranks high on the introverted spectrum and his idea of a fun Friday night would likely involve spending quality time alone with a book on surgical errors, but he isn’t the kind of person to buckle under pressure. Instead of laughing insults off, he hurls them right back with sharp wit and an even sharper tongue and rather than shying away from conflict, he meets it head on with nothing short of cool, even-headed confidence. For many who first meet him and expect an intellectual who is every bit as unimposing as he is tiny and awkward looking, it may come as a surprise to find that he’s not only insightful and prim but that he also carries a presence that dominates whatever room he’s in.
To a lesser extent, it might also come as a surprise that he’s not the best company one could ask for. See, Herbert isn’t a nice person. To put it even blunter, he’s actually kind of a dick. Among a laundry list of flaws, he’s arrogant, bossy, cynical to a fault, condescending, rude, and possesses a mile high ego that’s almost as overwhelming as his morbid curiosity. He’s studying medicine to prepare himself for a career as a doctor, but his bedside manner is as developed as his social skills (hint: he has no social skills. absolutely none), and he isn’t the kind of person anyone should talk to if they’re looking for comfort. He speaks bluntly even in instances where he’s not intending to be rude and has no problem with laying on harsh truths, which - surprise, surprise - doesn’t make him a very popular person to be around, even in a classroom where he has no qualms with telling his professors why they are incompetent to their faces. And most of the time, this suits him quite well; he’s a textbook loner with a cold outlook on the world and better, more productive things to do than build relationships or have fun - things like immersing himself in his research which often tends to end with him knee-deep in gore with ravenous undead not too far behind.
Among his more underhanded accomplishments such as a knack for deception, one of the things Herbert is truly good at is keeping secrets. Every part of his personality is treated as something to be guarded and kept buried under an emotionless exterior; the more open he is with a person means that, slowly but surely, he’s growing to trust them. He views people with indifference at the best of times and as tools to be used at the absolute worst, but he isn’t without his reasons and will never go out of his way to hurt or antagonize others without cause. Ironically, he tends to make most of his enemies because of their relationships with people he’s come to consider “friends”; he relentlessly belittles Dr. Carl Hill due to Hill plagiarizing the work of Herbert’s deceased mentor (and implied surrogate father figure), and instantly hates Megan Halsey on principle alone because of her intimate relationship with Herbert’s roommate, Daniel Cain, and out of jealousy that she takes up more of Dan’s attention than he himself is able to. Herbert isn’t a good influence and he definitely isn’t a good friend in the fact that he has a habit of sucking up attention like a sponge, but he is a loyal one who won’t leave others unless they leave him first.
Herbert isn’t exactly a leader but he’s no follower either. Mostly, he enjoys a life on the sidelines where he’s free to do his own thing without interruptions. In spite of his misanthropic ways, he does genuinely seem to think that the work he does with reanimating dead tissue is noble and will benefit mankind in the long run; he doesn’t look for fame, glory or power, but he isn’t above using those things to manipulate others into helping him achieve it nor is he above falling back on murder for self-defense. It’s blatantly obvious that there’s something unstable and cracked about him, but at the same time, something lonely and hollow. He knows he isn’t well-liked by others, but in spite of (or perhaps directly because of this), he never loses his self-confidence and remains very comfortable with who he is. He might not be the most pleasant person, but he never claimed he was to begin with.
Abilities: INTELLIGENCE ▶ Being physically unintimidating and incapable of great feats of strength that are not achieved through blind luck alone, Herbert is forced to rely on his intellect to get him through danger. This suits him well, though, because his is well above the norm, straddling the line between genius and insanity. He’s resourceful, cunning and analytical. As a proper example of the scope of his intelligence, take this to heart: he was able to synthesize a unique chemical compound that could regenerate cells and “cure” brain death. To date, no one else in his world has done invented such a serum.
MEDICAL TRAINING ▶ Herbert is a medical student which means that he not only possesses extensive knowledge on human anatomy and medicine but also knows first aid and other similar emergency techniques for treating injuries. He’s also studied biochemistry so he knows how to synthesize certain reagents and serums.
CHEMICALLY ALTERED BIOLOGY ▶ Over the years, Herbert has experimented with his reanimation serum in a number of unorthodox ways. One of the most questionable choices he’s made is the decision to use himself as a test subject which has led him to discover that, if taken in small doses, the reagent has the curious effect on a living human body by functioning similarly to adrenaline. It makes sleeping and eating unnecessary and greatly improves cognitive functions, but is also horribly addictive and induces excruciating
withdrawal symptoms should the body build up an addiction.
[] Reanimation reagent
[] Chemically altered biology
[] Bone saw
[] Personal notes/research