Judge Magister Gabranth (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
judging_you) wrote2020-12-24 01:42 pm
judging_you) wrote2020-12-24 01:42 pm
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PLAYER INFO
CHARACTER INFO
SAMPLE
Literally every other recent thread I have for him is an AU
❥ Name/Handle: Sceadu
❥ Contact:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
draconic
❥ Over 18?: Yep!
❥ Other Characters: Emet-Selch/unnecessaryflourishes
❥ Contact:
❥ Over 18?: Yep!
❥ Other Characters: Emet-Selch/
unnecessaryflourishesCHARACTER INFO
❥ Name: Judge Magister Gabranth (born Noah fon Ronsenburg)
❥ Canon: Final Fantasy XII
❥ Canon Point: Shortly after his defeat at the Ridorana Pharos
❥ Fandom OC Approval: N/A
❥ History: have a link!
❥ CRAU?: N/A
❥ Personality: On first look, one might think - and especially if one should assume him to be similar to his twin brother - that Gabranth is a man of honor and loyalty. This is not entirely wrong. But neither is it right. Gabranth's allegiance lies with the Archadian Empire, and while he is undeniably loyal to the Empire, it's not one sits well with him. You see, the Empire conquered his homeland, and by the time we meet Gabranth in game, he has become a bitter and broken man. A hound of the Empire, he's repeatedly called, and we never once see him argue that point, even as his continued loyalty to the Empire that took his homeland only serves to further drive home the point that he has failed.
And that is, really, the core of the problem. In choosing loyalty - in choosing to remain in Landis and accept the Empire's rule - he forsook his honor (or believes himself to have, at least). Forsook the things he should have protected, and even despite the fact that it may have been a choice made with the best of intentions and made in the face of a terrible decision - to flee and abandon his homeland, or remain and accept the Empire's yoke - the guilt and shame of it have eaten away at him ever since. And that might well have been the end of Gabranth's story - a man broken by guilt and shame, bound by a past even he directly admits he cannot escape. But if there's anything else Gabranth is it's stubborn. Enough so that, while it comes shortly after his current canon point, he goes directly from a boss fight that ended with him being thrown into a wall with not insignificant force (and possibly getting clipped by a high-powered magical explosion that took out the top third of a lighthouse) into another boss fight, even despite having been visibly staggering before the second. And after being beaten down the second time, he still manages to climb back to his feet, even if it takes him distinct effort to do so. In short, Gabranth quite simply is very very bad at stopping, even if it might actually be in his best interest to do so. This stubborness, in turn, has let him essentially turn his guilt and shame over what happened to Landis and his decisions with regards to the Empire into a sort of anger, focused both inwardly - as continued guilt and shame, twisted up into a messy knot of what he believes to be worthy self-hatred - as well as outwardly, focused almost exclusively at Basch, who he believes to have retained his honor despite having fled their homeland.
This, in turn, is the crux of Gabranth's deep animosity towards his brother. Having chosen loyalty over honor, he very literally cannot understand how Basch - having taken a route that he considers to be tantamount to throwing away the very idea of their homeland - has still managed to hold onto his honor. In fact, while it may very well be dramatic hyperbole, offered in the heat of the moment and with a very deliberate intent to (try to) provoke anger, he directly claims that Basch's "shield is shattered" and that "[his] oaths poison those [he] would protect." So, you know, that's a thing. And for all that there is a deliberateness in not only those remarks but also his repeated insistences that his brother is an enemy of the empire and will die by his hand... there's still a sense that even these are nothing more than things he has either allowed himself to believe or what is essentially a sort of performative proof of loyalty. A way to attempt to justify his actions, if only to himself.
It doesn't help that the events of canon are not kind to Gabranth. He starts the game a bitter and broken man, and the game only contrives to break him further. His brother escapes from prison - from solitary confinement - very nearly under his own nose, and he finds himself asked if he never thought to follow his brother's path in fleeing the empire and finding his freedom. The emperor under whom he had served died, and he is all but forced - under duress and with heavy implications that the alternative is at minimum being found guilty of treason - to swear loyalty to his much more vindictive successor. And if that weren't bad enough, the first test asked of him to prove that newly-sworn loyalty is to kill a colleague to whom he had been fairly close. (Which he does, because he is given no real choice, and the grief it causes him is all but palpable.) Needless to say, each blow drives him ever further into that same knotty spiral of guilt and shame and anger, and as of his canon point it has catalyzed into a very nearly desperate anger, nearly all of which is focused squarely at Basch. (...Look, he. might not have the best of coping mechanisms.)
However, this is not all Gabranth is. Or rather, it is not all he could be. While it doesn't take place until after his current canon point, Gabranth does actually think to ask Basch how he has managed to hold on to his honor after having failed both his homeland and the land he came to consider his own afterwards. And while it takes him getting his ass kicked again by the party and a point-blank reminder that he can, in fact, fight to reclaim what he no longer considers himself to have a right to... he listens. Realizes that while he might not have honor he has his pride, and things he still wants to protect and raises his sword to do just that, even though it means drawing his sword against the man he had been forced to swear loyalty to. And while he does end up dying shortly thereafter, that he does manage to set aside not just his anger and rage but the whole of the past that had bound him is enough to suggest that he is still a decent man underneath it all. One who may have a long and bumpy road ahead of him, especially if he is to repair the various damage inflicted by not just the empire but having clung to guilt and shame for so long, but a man who is, perhaps, willing to try. Provided someone manages to knock some sense into his stubborn head, first.
❥ Abilities:
Magic and Technicks
Magic
•Protect: reduces damage taken by physical attacks
•Renew: heals the hp of target (and all nearby allies) completely
->Dissidia adds the wind-based spell Aero to this list
Technicks
FFXII's term for any non-magickal ability a character can use (eg: steal/mug, 1000 needles, gil toss, etc). The ones Gabranth has access to are as follows:
•Circle of Judgement: A spinning slash with his swords
•Guilt: A forward thrust, followed by a slice with his swords that causes an explosion
•Sentence: A forward dash followed by a series of sword strikes
•Innocence: Sword beams, the attack. Gabranth charges his blades and then shoots four crescent-shaped blades of energy at his target
->Dissidia adds both a wider-range version of Circle of Judgment (Vortex of Judgment), and a version of Innocence where he instead channels the energy through the ground (Gaia Breach)
Quickenings
FFXII's answer to Limit Breaks. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, Gabranth's are very nearly identical to Basch's. For the sake of thoroughness, however, they are as follows:
•Fulminating Oblivion: Gabranth blasts the target with dark energy
•Ruin Unflinching: Gabranth punches so hardthe screen breaks it warps gravity around around a single enemy, causing significant damage
•Frost Purge: Gabranth summons a number of flaming swords to strike the enemy
While these only appear in Dissidia, it's not unreasonable to assume that Gabranth has them even in canon proper despite not having used them at any point. Also dramatic parallels, even if he probably isn't going to be using them for a good long while.
Et cetera
In addition to the above, Gabranth is - as befits a man of his rank - is both a skilled fighter, favoring both dual swords and polearms, and is also really tanky. Some of this is no doubt due to the armor he wears as a matter of course, but even apart from that, he is both naturally stubborn and very determined; paired with his not-inconsiderable skill, he is a force to be reckoned with. So much so, in fact, that at one point it takes his own brother to match him.
He is also in charge of the bureau of the Archadian military that is responsible for "the gathering and dissemination of information"; while canon never particularly elaborates on what that means, it wouldn't be too farfetched to assume that he has a not insignificant amount of skill in both information gathering and wading through the mess of politics that the upper echelons of Archadian society seems to be at the least, and may have functioned as something like a more military-inclined version of a spymaster.
❥ Extras:
Did your character bring anything along (limit 3 items) with them?
-his armor (minus the helmet)
-a pair of swords, which can be combined into a funky-ass double-bladed polearm
Which god will they choose to support?
Diacht! While he might be kind of twisted up in knots about it, honor is at the core of basically everything he does.
❥ Canon: Final Fantasy XII
❥ Canon Point: Shortly after his defeat at the Ridorana Pharos
❥ Fandom OC Approval: N/A
❥ History: have a link!
❥ CRAU?: N/A
❥ Personality: On first look, one might think - and especially if one should assume him to be similar to his twin brother - that Gabranth is a man of honor and loyalty. This is not entirely wrong. But neither is it right. Gabranth's allegiance lies with the Archadian Empire, and while he is undeniably loyal to the Empire, it's not one sits well with him. You see, the Empire conquered his homeland, and by the time we meet Gabranth in game, he has become a bitter and broken man. A hound of the Empire, he's repeatedly called, and we never once see him argue that point, even as his continued loyalty to the Empire that took his homeland only serves to further drive home the point that he has failed.
And that is, really, the core of the problem. In choosing loyalty - in choosing to remain in Landis and accept the Empire's rule - he forsook his honor (or believes himself to have, at least). Forsook the things he should have protected, and even despite the fact that it may have been a choice made with the best of intentions and made in the face of a terrible decision - to flee and abandon his homeland, or remain and accept the Empire's yoke - the guilt and shame of it have eaten away at him ever since. And that might well have been the end of Gabranth's story - a man broken by guilt and shame, bound by a past even he directly admits he cannot escape. But if there's anything else Gabranth is it's stubborn. Enough so that, while it comes shortly after his current canon point, he goes directly from a boss fight that ended with him being thrown into a wall with not insignificant force (and possibly getting clipped by a high-powered magical explosion that took out the top third of a lighthouse) into another boss fight, even despite having been visibly staggering before the second. And after being beaten down the second time, he still manages to climb back to his feet, even if it takes him distinct effort to do so. In short, Gabranth quite simply is very very bad at stopping, even if it might actually be in his best interest to do so. This stubborness, in turn, has let him essentially turn his guilt and shame over what happened to Landis and his decisions with regards to the Empire into a sort of anger, focused both inwardly - as continued guilt and shame, twisted up into a messy knot of what he believes to be worthy self-hatred - as well as outwardly, focused almost exclusively at Basch, who he believes to have retained his honor despite having fled their homeland.
This, in turn, is the crux of Gabranth's deep animosity towards his brother. Having chosen loyalty over honor, he very literally cannot understand how Basch - having taken a route that he considers to be tantamount to throwing away the very idea of their homeland - has still managed to hold onto his honor. In fact, while it may very well be dramatic hyperbole, offered in the heat of the moment and with a very deliberate intent to (try to) provoke anger, he directly claims that Basch's "shield is shattered" and that "[his] oaths poison those [he] would protect." So, you know, that's a thing. And for all that there is a deliberateness in not only those remarks but also his repeated insistences that his brother is an enemy of the empire and will die by his hand... there's still a sense that even these are nothing more than things he has either allowed himself to believe or what is essentially a sort of performative proof of loyalty. A way to attempt to justify his actions, if only to himself.
It doesn't help that the events of canon are not kind to Gabranth. He starts the game a bitter and broken man, and the game only contrives to break him further. His brother escapes from prison - from solitary confinement - very nearly under his own nose, and he finds himself asked if he never thought to follow his brother's path in fleeing the empire and finding his freedom. The emperor under whom he had served died, and he is all but forced - under duress and with heavy implications that the alternative is at minimum being found guilty of treason - to swear loyalty to his much more vindictive successor. And if that weren't bad enough, the first test asked of him to prove that newly-sworn loyalty is to kill a colleague to whom he had been fairly close. (Which he does, because he is given no real choice, and the grief it causes him is all but palpable.) Needless to say, each blow drives him ever further into that same knotty spiral of guilt and shame and anger, and as of his canon point it has catalyzed into a very nearly desperate anger, nearly all of which is focused squarely at Basch. (...Look, he. might not have the best of coping mechanisms.)
However, this is not all Gabranth is. Or rather, it is not all he could be. While it doesn't take place until after his current canon point, Gabranth does actually think to ask Basch how he has managed to hold on to his honor after having failed both his homeland and the land he came to consider his own afterwards. And while it takes him getting his ass kicked again by the party and a point-blank reminder that he can, in fact, fight to reclaim what he no longer considers himself to have a right to... he listens. Realizes that while he might not have honor he has his pride, and things he still wants to protect and raises his sword to do just that, even though it means drawing his sword against the man he had been forced to swear loyalty to. And while he does end up dying shortly thereafter, that he does manage to set aside not just his anger and rage but the whole of the past that had bound him is enough to suggest that he is still a decent man underneath it all. One who may have a long and bumpy road ahead of him, especially if he is to repair the various damage inflicted by not just the empire but having clung to guilt and shame for so long, but a man who is, perhaps, willing to try. Provided someone manages to knock some sense into his stubborn head, first.
❥ Abilities:
Magic and Technicks
Magic
•Protect: reduces damage taken by physical attacks
•Renew: heals the hp of target (and all nearby allies) completely
->Dissidia adds the wind-based spell Aero to this list
Technicks
FFXII's term for any non-magickal ability a character can use (eg: steal/mug, 1000 needles, gil toss, etc). The ones Gabranth has access to are as follows:
•Circle of Judgement: A spinning slash with his swords
•Guilt: A forward thrust, followed by a slice with his swords that causes an explosion
•Sentence: A forward dash followed by a series of sword strikes
•Innocence: Sword beams, the attack. Gabranth charges his blades and then shoots four crescent-shaped blades of energy at his target
->Dissidia adds both a wider-range version of Circle of Judgment (Vortex of Judgment), and a version of Innocence where he instead channels the energy through the ground (Gaia Breach)
Quickenings
FFXII's answer to Limit Breaks. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, Gabranth's are very nearly identical to Basch's. For the sake of thoroughness, however, they are as follows:
•Fulminating Oblivion: Gabranth blasts the target with dark energy
•Ruin Unflinching: Gabranth punches so hard
•Frost Purge: Gabranth summons a number of flaming swords to strike the enemy
While these only appear in Dissidia, it's not unreasonable to assume that Gabranth has them even in canon proper despite not having used them at any point. Also dramatic parallels, even if he probably isn't going to be using them for a good long while.
Et cetera
In addition to the above, Gabranth is - as befits a man of his rank - is both a skilled fighter, favoring both dual swords and polearms, and is also really tanky. Some of this is no doubt due to the armor he wears as a matter of course, but even apart from that, he is both naturally stubborn and very determined; paired with his not-inconsiderable skill, he is a force to be reckoned with. So much so, in fact, that at one point it takes his own brother to match him.
He is also in charge of the bureau of the Archadian military that is responsible for "the gathering and dissemination of information"; while canon never particularly elaborates on what that means, it wouldn't be too farfetched to assume that he has a not insignificant amount of skill in both information gathering and wading through the mess of politics that the upper echelons of Archadian society seems to be at the least, and may have functioned as something like a more military-inclined version of a spymaster.
❥ Extras:
Did your character bring anything along (limit 3 items) with them?
-his armor (minus the helmet)
-a pair of swords, which can be combined into a funky-ass double-bladed polearm
Which god will they choose to support?
Diacht! While he might be kind of twisted up in knots about it, honor is at the core of basically everything he does.
SAMPLE
Literally every other recent thread I have for him is an AU