Character Info
Name: Gabranth (Noah fon Ronsenburg)
Canon: Final Fantasy XII // Dissidia
Timeline: After he's banished to the Underworld.
Age: 36
Species: Hume (Human)
History: For the Empire...
Personality:
Gabranth comes across as a rather ruthless and cold person, having framed his twin brother for treachery and imprisoned him for two years, nearly leaving him for death. In fact, when Basch left Landis - by extension abandoning his twin and their sick mother - something shattered inside Noah. He lived with that bitterness of abandonement and having his country taken over by another nation. In his despair, he embraced that invasion, deciding to become powerful so he could right the Empire's wrongs from within. Indeed he becomes a Judge Magister to a nation that raided his own - no doubt his bitterness towards his brother fuelling his will. When at last he and Vayne forge a plan to assassinate king Raminas of Dalmasca and hence blame Basch for the deed, one witnesses that same ruthlessness of his character along with his despair.
Indeed 'despair' is perhaps the word that describes Gabranth the best, even more in Dissidia. His actions and fighting stance are drowned by it and, for the frozen cold demeanour he exhudes at most times, when he lets his feelings control him he's nigh unstopable with his blade, adopting a sort of berserk fighting style. But Gabranth isn't truly evil at his core. He commited reproachable acts in the name of the empire because he believed his actions would eventually bring forth some kind of justice, in the hands of his young protegé, Larsa. He kills Judge Magister Drace at Vayne's order, putting a swift end to her life painlessly. He followed late emperor Gramis'commands behind Vayne's back because he wanted to protect Larsa, to help bring a just emperor to the throne of Archades. Eventually, Vayne finds out his alliance with his father and, after the emperor dies (presumably at Vayne's hand), he forces Gabranth to prove his loyalty to him by killing the then deemed traitor Drace, the only apparent friend of Gabranth. Sometime after, when it is known that princess Ashe and her party are searching for the nethicite to counter the empire's advance, Vayne makes it Gabranth's duty to spy on the Dalmascan princess, hence learning whether she seeks to start another war or if she strives for peace with Archades. The noting of his failure by the crazed scientist Dr Cid makes Gabranth snap, proofing that under pressure all his reasoning and strategies are shoved aside for his rage and despair.
Later when confronting the party and his brother Basch, Gabranth has his final change of heart and uses his last strength to protect Larsa and give a victory chance to Basch, claiming that 'even strays have pride'. This drains him of his final will and he perishes, only to find himself stuck in yet another war, this time amongst gods. The exact exchange between him and Cosmos and Shantotto is unknown, but he is banished by the lady of antiquity to underworld's depths where he acts as Hell's very own guard hound.
Head-canon/Explanations: My take on Gabranth is that after all that has happened he's pretty much a broken soul, a lost spirit as Squall puts it. His sanity comes out as worn thin at times and all that guilt that riles him up doesn't help to make him come across as clearly as he once was. Not to say that he'll start ranting like a mad man a-la Cid style as he still is a very reserved person and schools his features perfectly most of the time but there will be moments when that façade slips and some of his guilt and despair will show, be either in his actions or dialogue. One thing that is certain about him right now is his endless guilt upon his misdeeds and all the rage he has bottled up for everything that has happened. Among all that there is still his pride, which makes him act in contradict ways at times.
Random Facts: Either be it because he was dead or because he was never one for much rest (I imagine him as sort of a workaholic, really) he doesn't really sleep much. In fact, he's likely to just keep going until he collapses. Nasty habit he picked up in hell or not, one of the reasons for this is because if he tries to sleep when not absolutely exhausted he's plagued by nightmares. Food is another question. Again, he'll most likely forget to eat since I doubt there is much food to be had in the underworld to begin with. So he's been going on out of sheer will and whatever few potions he has taken due to his injuries from battle.
Abilities: As pointed out before, Gabranth's fighting style is pretty close to berserk. For one that hides his expression behind a helmet, when something riles him up he just snaps. The gameplay manages to portray both his calm demeanour (in his 'normal' mode he has no life damaging attacks, only allowing the player to charge EX mode) and his ruthlessness. When the player enters Ex Mode, wielding the power of The Mist, the winning chances quickly spikes up as among deadly attacks and higher endurance he's nigh unstopable. He's able to quickly chain up attacks with incredible speed and his ex hits are very similar to Basch's Quickenings in Final Fantasy XII. He also moves fairly quickly for someone clad in full armor.
Weapon: Gabranth's weapon is rather unique (and rare, according to Onion Knight) and made up of two short swords that can be connected at the hilt to form a long double edged sword. The longer blade is known as Chaos Blade while the shorter piece is known as the Highway Star. When in Ex Mode he'll disconnect the single piece, wielding both weapons in each hand. Gabranth shows great ability in wielding both swords separatedly, revealing great movement coordination as he's able to strike with both arms unrelently and unleash powerful attacks.
@ Ruby City
As for his judge magister title, I'm willing to bet he has finally decided to discard it after he found himself out of hell and in Ruby City. He won't be introducing himself as a judge anymore but if prompted he won't deny it as he will still try to bring justice in some circumstances. As for his old name Noah he won't be using it either, as it is the only thing he has intact relating to his brother. Hence he will introduce himself simply as Gabranth.
Third Person:
The fates jest indeed - that would be the main thought in the former judge's mind as he took in his new surroundings. It seemed being dead was far from boring, at the very least. First finding himself in the midst of a war between gods, then confronting the most annoying lady he'd ever laid sight upon and finally being banished to the lowest depths of the underworld, only to regain his role as a guard hound and lay judgment to any straggler that found themselves equally absconded there. He hadn't been expecting to find himself in yet another place in the near future. Dreams had been a rare occurrence - if only because sleep was ever so - and whatever images his mind had decided to plague him with, had too often spoken of pain and the hot shame of betrayal by his own hands. When the feeling and visions of a train ride in an old looking contraption had assailed him he'd been surprised, but only mildly so - in fact, he'd expected his remaining sanity to snap sometime ago now. If madness was to come through metaphors of antique trains then so be it.
As it was, it was the less than gallant tripping out of the train - more like his outrage at the thought of being so rudely shoved out of it rather than the contact with the harsh cold ground as pain was to be his only constant familiar companion - that brought his mind back to the current situation, the here and now. Which seemed...rather unfamiliar and truly unexpected. If there was anything he had been expecting of a place like Hell...a deserted platform lacking any of the eternal raining flames was not it. The former judge was fairly quick to get back on his feet - quicker than one would expect from a man donning full armor - and adjusted the swords crossed at his back, glad for their familiar weight. Years of training as a warrior had him instantly on his guard, as he automatically shoved any surprise and questions to the back of his conscience.
A small eternity spent as little more than a wraith longing for vengeance made him aware of many things, including the few items on himself - it seemed the dead weren't meant to be lugging around a whole lot of things to begin with. So it didn't take long for the warrior of antiquity to locate the new item in his possession. Truly, the prim looking pocket watch (wrought in silver of the finest quality, a casual part of his mind added] wouldn't be out of place with a judge magister, if only he hadn't been one to frown upon the easy comforts that could be had within such a prime position. A slight frown etched itself in the gallant features as gloved fingers caressed the intricate mechanisms, taking into account the fact that telling the time seemed to be the lesser feature of the odd object. Unexpected development alright.
@ Dissideo
Preferred faction: Cosmos! Yes so it's just not about being different from canon. I actually have a good reason several. It has been established that Gabranth isn't truly bad at his core, just lets his feelings get the best of him at times and has his own different ways of doing things. Of course I won't say he's a goodie goodie either (as in a heavily political game, I believe everyone has their own reasons for doing what they do and it's not a fact of labelling x or y as good or evil.) But I digress. From what we see in Dissidia, Gabranth isn't interested in taking part in the war at all. He has been banished to the underworld and he's still so overcome with guilt (and after his canon memories are gone what is left but guilt and despair?) that the simplest explanation is that he simply doesn't give a damn about who's fighting and why they are fighting and he just wants it all to end. For him the war is just a ridiculous endless battle, maybe even some sort of atonement for his past actions (whatever they were, as his memories fade.) Hence why I believe he could either belong in Chaos or Cosmos - because his self hatred and desire to atone overlaps it all. 'sides, I belief he has got enough of Hell scenery.
But, should the fact he'd belong in Cosmos faction unbalance this game in any way of course I won't have a problem to have him in Chaos' side once again.
THE MANNEQUIN
Title: Warrior of Antiquity
Color: Gold
THE WORLD
Name of Stage: Sky Fortress Bahamut
Image: Here
Effect(s): In here, the greater your injuries, the greater your fighting will becomes. Although push your body too far and you won't make it until the end. Also, both gods' battle aids will be at full force here so expect your enemy to freeze on his tracks should they aim for a low blow or an unexpected boost in strength when you thought all hope was lost.
Canon: Final Fantasy XII // Dissidia
Timeline: After he's banished to the Underworld.
Age: 36
Species: Hume (Human)
History: For the Empire...
Personality:
Gabranth comes across as a rather ruthless and cold person, having framed his twin brother for treachery and imprisoned him for two years, nearly leaving him for death. In fact, when Basch left Landis - by extension abandoning his twin and their sick mother - something shattered inside Noah. He lived with that bitterness of abandonement and having his country taken over by another nation. In his despair, he embraced that invasion, deciding to become powerful so he could right the Empire's wrongs from within. Indeed he becomes a Judge Magister to a nation that raided his own - no doubt his bitterness towards his brother fuelling his will. When at last he and Vayne forge a plan to assassinate king Raminas of Dalmasca and hence blame Basch for the deed, one witnesses that same ruthlessness of his character along with his despair.
Indeed 'despair' is perhaps the word that describes Gabranth the best, even more in Dissidia. His actions and fighting stance are drowned by it and, for the frozen cold demeanour he exhudes at most times, when he lets his feelings control him he's nigh unstopable with his blade, adopting a sort of berserk fighting style. But Gabranth isn't truly evil at his core. He commited reproachable acts in the name of the empire because he believed his actions would eventually bring forth some kind of justice, in the hands of his young protegé, Larsa. He kills Judge Magister Drace at Vayne's order, putting a swift end to her life painlessly. He followed late emperor Gramis'commands behind Vayne's back because he wanted to protect Larsa, to help bring a just emperor to the throne of Archades. Eventually, Vayne finds out his alliance with his father and, after the emperor dies (presumably at Vayne's hand), he forces Gabranth to prove his loyalty to him by killing the then deemed traitor Drace, the only apparent friend of Gabranth. Sometime after, when it is known that princess Ashe and her party are searching for the nethicite to counter the empire's advance, Vayne makes it Gabranth's duty to spy on the Dalmascan princess, hence learning whether she seeks to start another war or if she strives for peace with Archades. The noting of his failure by the crazed scientist Dr Cid makes Gabranth snap, proofing that under pressure all his reasoning and strategies are shoved aside for his rage and despair.
Later when confronting the party and his brother Basch, Gabranth has his final change of heart and uses his last strength to protect Larsa and give a victory chance to Basch, claiming that 'even strays have pride'. This drains him of his final will and he perishes, only to find himself stuck in yet another war, this time amongst gods. The exact exchange between him and Cosmos and Shantotto is unknown, but he is banished by the lady of antiquity to underworld's depths where he acts as Hell's very own guard hound.
Head-canon/Explanations: My take on Gabranth is that after all that has happened he's pretty much a broken soul, a lost spirit as Squall puts it. His sanity comes out as worn thin at times and all that guilt that riles him up doesn't help to make him come across as clearly as he once was. Not to say that he'll start ranting like a mad man a-la Cid style as he still is a very reserved person and schools his features perfectly most of the time but there will be moments when that façade slips and some of his guilt and despair will show, be either in his actions or dialogue. One thing that is certain about him right now is his endless guilt upon his misdeeds and all the rage he has bottled up for everything that has happened. Among all that there is still his pride, which makes him act in contradict ways at times.
Random Facts: Either be it because he was dead or because he was never one for much rest (I imagine him as sort of a workaholic, really) he doesn't really sleep much. In fact, he's likely to just keep going until he collapses. Nasty habit he picked up in hell or not, one of the reasons for this is because if he tries to sleep when not absolutely exhausted he's plagued by nightmares. Food is another question. Again, he'll most likely forget to eat since I doubt there is much food to be had in the underworld to begin with. So he's been going on out of sheer will and whatever few potions he has taken due to his injuries from battle.
Abilities: As pointed out before, Gabranth's fighting style is pretty close to berserk. For one that hides his expression behind a helmet, when something riles him up he just snaps. The gameplay manages to portray both his calm demeanour (in his 'normal' mode he has no life damaging attacks, only allowing the player to charge EX mode) and his ruthlessness. When the player enters Ex Mode, wielding the power of The Mist, the winning chances quickly spikes up as among deadly attacks and higher endurance he's nigh unstopable. He's able to quickly chain up attacks with incredible speed and his ex hits are very similar to Basch's Quickenings in Final Fantasy XII. He also moves fairly quickly for someone clad in full armor.
Weapon: Gabranth's weapon is rather unique (and rare, according to Onion Knight) and made up of two short swords that can be connected at the hilt to form a long double edged sword. The longer blade is known as Chaos Blade while the shorter piece is known as the Highway Star. When in Ex Mode he'll disconnect the single piece, wielding both weapons in each hand. Gabranth shows great ability in wielding both swords separatedly, revealing great movement coordination as he's able to strike with both arms unrelently and unleash powerful attacks.
@ Ruby City
As for his judge magister title, I'm willing to bet he has finally decided to discard it after he found himself out of hell and in Ruby City. He won't be introducing himself as a judge anymore but if prompted he won't deny it as he will still try to bring justice in some circumstances. As for his old name Noah he won't be using it either, as it is the only thing he has intact relating to his brother. Hence he will introduce himself simply as Gabranth.
Third Person:
The fates jest indeed - that would be the main thought in the former judge's mind as he took in his new surroundings. It seemed being dead was far from boring, at the very least. First finding himself in the midst of a war between gods, then confronting the most annoying lady he'd ever laid sight upon and finally being banished to the lowest depths of the underworld, only to regain his role as a guard hound and lay judgment to any straggler that found themselves equally absconded there. He hadn't been expecting to find himself in yet another place in the near future. Dreams had been a rare occurrence - if only because sleep was ever so - and whatever images his mind had decided to plague him with, had too often spoken of pain and the hot shame of betrayal by his own hands. When the feeling and visions of a train ride in an old looking contraption had assailed him he'd been surprised, but only mildly so - in fact, he'd expected his remaining sanity to snap sometime ago now. If madness was to come through metaphors of antique trains then so be it.
As it was, it was the less than gallant tripping out of the train - more like his outrage at the thought of being so rudely shoved out of it rather than the contact with the harsh cold ground as pain was to be his only constant familiar companion - that brought his mind back to the current situation, the here and now. Which seemed...rather unfamiliar and truly unexpected. If there was anything he had been expecting of a place like Hell...a deserted platform lacking any of the eternal raining flames was not it. The former judge was fairly quick to get back on his feet - quicker than one would expect from a man donning full armor - and adjusted the swords crossed at his back, glad for their familiar weight. Years of training as a warrior had him instantly on his guard, as he automatically shoved any surprise and questions to the back of his conscience.
A small eternity spent as little more than a wraith longing for vengeance made him aware of many things, including the few items on himself - it seemed the dead weren't meant to be lugging around a whole lot of things to begin with. So it didn't take long for the warrior of antiquity to locate the new item in his possession. Truly, the prim looking pocket watch (wrought in silver of the finest quality, a casual part of his mind added] wouldn't be out of place with a judge magister, if only he hadn't been one to frown upon the easy comforts that could be had within such a prime position. A slight frown etched itself in the gallant features as gloved fingers caressed the intricate mechanisms, taking into account the fact that telling the time seemed to be the lesser feature of the odd object. Unexpected development alright.
@ Dissideo
Preferred faction: Cosmos! Yes so it's just not about being different from canon. I actually have a good reason several. It has been established that Gabranth isn't truly bad at his core, just lets his feelings get the best of him at times and has his own different ways of doing things. Of course I won't say he's a goodie goodie either (as in a heavily political game, I believe everyone has their own reasons for doing what they do and it's not a fact of labelling x or y as good or evil.) But I digress. From what we see in Dissidia, Gabranth isn't interested in taking part in the war at all. He has been banished to the underworld and he's still so overcome with guilt (and after his canon memories are gone what is left but guilt and despair?) that the simplest explanation is that he simply doesn't give a damn about who's fighting and why they are fighting and he just wants it all to end. For him the war is just a ridiculous endless battle, maybe even some sort of atonement for his past actions (whatever they were, as his memories fade.) Hence why I believe he could either belong in Chaos or Cosmos - because his self hatred and desire to atone overlaps it all. 'sides, I belief he has got enough of Hell scenery.
But, should the fact he'd belong in Cosmos faction unbalance this game in any way of course I won't have a problem to have him in Chaos' side once again.
THE MANNEQUIN
Title: Warrior of Antiquity
Color: Gold
THE WORLD
Name of Stage: Sky Fortress Bahamut
Image: Here
Effect(s): In here, the greater your injuries, the greater your fighting will becomes. Although push your body too far and you won't make it until the end. Also, both gods' battle aids will be at full force here so expect your enemy to freeze on his tracks should they aim for a low blow or an unexpected boost in strength when you thought all hope was lost.