★ Character Information ★
Character Name: Rayman (preferred name Ramon)
Character Age: It's not entirely clear, but the absolute
youngest he could possibly be is mid-40s. He doesn't age like, much less look like, a human, so what he
appears to be is entirely up to an individual's opinion. I'm going to put him somewhere in his 50s for timeline breathing room.
Character Species: "Alien." They don't get any more specific than that. He looks like a western-style cartoon character: "three-heads-tall" proportions and a little more than half the height of an average human. Most notably, his body is six different pieces (head, torso, two hands and feet) with no limbs to connect them to each other. He basically has an unlimited reach and is completely unrestricted in his range of motion.
Current Health: Physically? Perfectly fine. Mentally? Ehh...
Outfit: idk was feeling cute,
might delete the government later (cw: blood, murdered people)
Character Canon: Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix
Link to History: Before you start reading,
here's a catch-all content warning list.Captain Laserhawk takes place in a cyberpunk retro-futuristic dystopia. At some point in the past, the United States of America collapsed, and a technological oligarchy known as Eden sprouted from the ashes, spending the last handful of decades fast-forwarding technological advancement and establishing a fascist dystopian hellscape.
And Rayman has been their spokesperson-mascot ever since they started.
He first arrived on Earth as a refugee, back when America was still standing. He had no choice but to abandon his completely ravaged homeworld from "Dimension X" and start anew on Earth. Unfortunately, America never really had a great track record with people who were
different, and being "filthy alien scum" is no exception. Rayman spent years trying to grasp the bottom rung of a ladder held constantly out of reach, working himself to the bone just to be turned away from opportunities because of what he is.
So when Eden comes around and offers the career breakthrough he's always wanted, of course he takes it without hesitation. They tell him that under Eden's rule, humans and hybrids would live in a truly egalitarian paradise where everyone would be able to pursue the life they want, supported by the safety net of universal basic income (UBI, I'm not kidding, this is the self-aware joke Ubisoft decided to go with). He's given no evidence to believe the contrary -- for example, that hybrids are treated like second-rate working class citizens denied the full benefit of UBI, or that UBI was used as a cudgel to keep people in check and plugged into the propaganda. In his highly privileged and sequestered position, he simply accepted what they told him as the truth. After all, if Eden could elevate someone from "filthy alien scum" to the biggest celebrity in the country, then life should be better for everyone else, too.
All they had to do was keep him stupid and happy.
Unfortunately, when Rayman calls out another Eden celebrity for wanting to "eradicate alien filth" on live television, what starts as a crack in the window of his world view quickly spirals out of control and Eden begins to lose its grip on him. They quietly replace him with [a clone? It's unclear] on television, leaving him questioning just how much the Board of Directors really had his back this whole time. He's prompted by a member of the Board to meet up with Bullfrog, one of the terrorists that Rayman had been railing against in headline stories for the last few days. During his conversation with Bullfrog, he's shown the extent of the damage that he was contributing to, initiating a full-on psychotic break.
Rayman proceeds to take on the moniker "Ramon" since Eden made it perfectly clear that Rayman now belongs entirely to them -- and takes matters into his own hands.
Canon Point: Post-canon, and thanks to the fact that Netflix exclusively releases episodes for binge-watching purposes, this canon is a little more than two months old by now.
Canon Iteration: Canon
Canon Iteration Explanation: N/A
★ Folkmore Roles & Attributes ★
Skills: Only the most intimidating entertainer's portfolio reel you could possibly imagine: general camera presence, acting, voice over, DJing, MCing, singing/songwriting, various musical instruments (yes, even with only three fingers per hand), sleight-of-hand, improv, comedy, dancing. If you need something performed, he's your guy.
Canon Abilities: The alien biology thing carries a lot of subtle implications. He can reach across a room (possibly even more) without having to walk it. The lack of limbs makes him almost impossible to truly restrain in any meaningful way (short of locking his entire body in a casket), and he has significantly less vulnerable spots to attack.
Role: Legend
Role Qualities/Attributes: Wings, Mood Ring eyes, halo, generalized durability/strength buff
Role Reasoning: He fits the Legend archetype from tip to toe. Highly emotional? Check. Cares deeply for others? Check. Concerned with the well-being of the masses, more than his individual self? Check! His tendency to self-disparage, combined with his literal interpretation of what "goodness" means, will make him insist that it's not a fit - he has a lot of vices, after all, with a short temper, and wrath is certainly is one of the emotions that can catch him in a chokehold. That being said, it's pretty unlikely that he'll ever truly fall, because his motivations are usually altruistic, even if the end result is gnarly. This is the narrative I want to pursue with him in the long run: that the happiness and freedom that he seeks is not the toxic positivity that Eden force-fed him, but rather a path forged with righteous anger and refusal to be taken advantage of as a chronic people-pleaser.
★ Personality ★
Option 1. Summarize your character's personality in general and what their full potential would look like to them and what they would be willing to go through to meet that potential and what gaining that potential would mean to them. 400-800 word requirement.
Allow me to bury the lead by laying down the recipe for the perfect storm:
1. Rayman is an entertainer. At the surface level, it's because he wants people to smile, or at least be distracted from their struggles, even for a passing moment. On a deeper level, it's because entertainment was his only respite when he was struggling. Back when America still stood and he could never get approval from anyone or obtain at least a modicum of security, fiction was the only source he could reliably find a salve for his emotional anguish. He wants to provide that for others, too.
2. Rayman cares deeply about other people. He automatically believes the best in people until they give him a reason not to. This is extended to basically anyone, even strangers -- but especially children and the social rejects, who hold a special place in his heart on account of being a reject himself.
3. Rayman refuses to lay down in the face of his trauma. His homeworld was utterly destroyed, and the only place that he could run to did not welcome him with open arms for years. Instead of giving up hope and becoming a pessimistic misanthrope, he manifests a stalwart optimism about the world and the future. Even when things are at their bleakest, he will not give up fighting for a better tomorrow.
4. Rayman can't stop. Whether it's because he has something to prove to himself or to prove to others, he'll put every piece of his bandwidth to work. Work is good, it gets him places and gets things done, but most importantly, staying busy keeps his mind away from the dark, aching loneliness constantly chewing at the back of his mind. If he has free time, he turns to his vices to numb the agony, only to turn over the next (obnoxiously early) morning and get right back to work.
All of these are reasons why Eden chose him. He had the raw talent that they were looking for, the work ethic to show up just about anywhere and give it his all, and most importantly, a blind faith that things were finally turning around under Eden. Everything was perfect and he had no reason to believe otherwise, until he finally gets the chance to meet one of the "terrorists" he'd been told to rail against, and have a very pointed conversation that immediately triggers his deprogramming.
You might think that someone that got shot to stardom, with more money than can be counted and enough fame to be the ubiquitous mascot of an entire country, would cling to the safety and security of prestige and comfort...but no. The very second he discovers what he's been used for, he turns around and immediately bites the hand that's been feeding him, because his empathetic moral compass is stronger than his need for validation and security.
Frankly, at this canonpoint, he would have jumped at Thirteen's proposal without question or hesitation. Burdened with his realization that he's done decades worth of irreparable damage, meet your potential could be anything from simply knowing that he's still the same bright-eyed people-lover, to being able to provide a real tangible benefit to others, whatever that might actually mean. He'll do anything to make reparations from his mistakes. He still thinks he can do better for others.
In reality, though, his real potential would be more about doing better for himself. It's going to take a while for him to learn what it really means for him to "pour from an empty cup" - and the damage that he can do to both himself and others because of it. Only once Ramon figures out how to care for himself will he really understand what it means to meaningfully care for others and not simply become their doormat.
★ Player Information ★
