application; zodion

[reanimania]

✖ CHARACTER:
Name: Saphir Wyon Neis
Canon: Tales of the Abyss: Tsuioku no Jade (idk whether you want to classify this separately from the game? It's supposed to be the same universe/timeline/whatever as game canon and doesn't really contradict anything, I'm just not totally sure if it should be considered 100% canon? Japan, stop making your franchises confusing.)
PB/Image: loser.
Info links: UH this is kind of a minor side manga that's mostly a big flashback, and there's not really much written up about it. This is his general ToA wiki page, which does include some stuff about his past, it's just from a later viewpoint and also includes a bunch of things that aren't applicable yet.
Alternatively you can just skim the actual manga here... IT'S REALLY SHORT. (this is just the first half, but all the stuff from his canon point happens in this part.)
Canon Point: ND2003; before Jade's last fomicry experiment
Gender & Sex: Male
Age: 21
Birthdate/Sign: October 13; Libra. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH TIME I WASTED DEBATING BETWEEN THIS AND SAGITTARIUS. Ended up going this way because an air sign better accounts for the calculating intellectual side of him, and Libra also has a more lofty and narcissistic aspect to it on top of the overbearing passion!! the two signs share. Also the Sagittarius page here says they don't hold grudges, and l m f a o
Tattoo: About an inch, at the base of his neck just above his collarbone.
Suitability: n/a
Power: Picking up air channeling, because lmao I DON'T KNOW IF HE ACTUALLY USES FONIC ARTES HIMSELF OR JUST MAKES MACHINES. Plus, logically, fonic shit wouldn't work outside of their planet anyway, I guess. Also god knows he'll grow up to love floating.

Personality:
Saphir's entire being revolves around two people -- Professor Gelda Nebilim and Jade Balfour.

His feelings toward Professor Nebilim, though rather complex, are relatively simple to quantify. He adores her; she treated him kindly and supportively in his childhood when most others -- particularly Jade -- didn't. There isn't a single negative or conflicting feeling toward her; in the years since her death, she's become something beyond human in his eyes. She's a symbol of his happy, sheltered childhood, a golden ideal that he clings to relentlessly, and her death marked the moment when everything shattered -- something he has never been able to deal with. His sole mission in life ever since that day has been to bring her back to life so that he can restore things to how they once were, when he and she and Jade were "happy" together, and in this, she has become an unattainable perfection, a savior.

His relationship with Jade is equally unhealthy, although at this point, years prior to the game, it's much less complicated than it will eventually be.

Saphir utterly idolized Jade throughout their childhood and desperately wanted to be friends with him. Jade was brilliant and powerful and cool; Saphir was the only other child around who came close to matching Jade's intellect, so it only made sense to him that they belonged together as best friends, even if he was rather lacking in the other two areas. But Jade had no interest in the whiny, clingy Saphir, and his callous rejections of his myriad attempts at friendship ranged from merely cold -- not bothering to help when Saphir tripped and hurt himself while trying to catch up to Jade -- to outright cruel -- casting an arte to make the ice beneath him break when Saphir attempted to join Jade and his friends in ice-skating, something that resulted in search parties having to fish him out of the freezing water.

And despite all this, Saphir never stopped trying.

--which ended up working out well for Jade after he killed Professor Nebilim in an accidental explosion. Saphir was there to help him carry her body from the building, he was at Jade's side throughout the creation of their first failed replica, and when Jade vowed that the two of them would find a way to truly bring Nebilim back no matter what it took -- well, there was certainly no way Saphir would refuse to indulge him. This was almost a bittersweet moment in his life, because while he considers it the absolute worst, losing his beloved professor and shattering his childish innocence, it was also the first time Jade ever needed and wanted him.

From that point on, it really has been him and Jade, the two geniuses no one else could understand, against the world, just as he'd always imagined it should have been. This justifies all the years of bullying in his mind and contributes to his delusion that the three of them had once been perfectly happy together -- Jade needs him after all, he must have always needed him, and once Professor Nebilim is there with them again, with the two students who care enough to bring her back, everything will be perfect.

Throughout their time at the Malkuth military academy, Saphir makes absolutely no attempt to branch out and interact with anyone other than Jade. He remains completely dependent on him both for the entirety of his social interaction and for his own confidence. On his own, he would be terrified of getting into trouble, but he'll flagrantly disregard the rules if Jade is leading him. He can be a haughty little bitch, talking down to anyone who questions them, because he and Jade are smart and special, and they don't need to do stupid things like help the normal students with cleaning duties, right, Jade??? But if Jade doesn't agree, it shatters whatever confidence he had in that moment, and once again, he's crying as Jade walks away from him. He also still as utter blind faith in him, and can't begin to accept the possibility that Jade might not succeed in something he works for.

He's terribly possessive and protective, which can manifest in both admirable ways and in ridiculously catty ones. If anyone says anything bad to Jade or tries to push him around, Saphir rushes in to his defense; if there's a physical threat, he'll jump in between them without a second thought and take any blow for him (which sadly happens kind of often), seeing himself as Jade's knight in shining armor.

On the other hand, he pretty much shoves his way into any conversation anyone tries to have with Jade, because he can't stand the idea that Jade might make another friend and that he'd have to share him with someone else -- or that he might *lose* him to that someone. As much as he manages to delude himself about their relationship, somewhere in the back of his mind he has to still have those memories of all the times Jade left him behind in their childhood, of how Peony came to their school from out of nowhere and suddenly captured all of his attention, something Saphir had never managed to do in all the time he'd known him. Far worse, he'll actively antagonize anyone he sees as a rival with petty acts of preemptive revenge like leaving thumbtacks around or sneaking into their room and cutting holes in their clothes. And sadly, in the years since leaving home, he's so ingrained in himself the idea that every other person is either an enemy or a rival for Jade's attention that his irrational jealousy and distrust now prevent him from accepting any genuine kindness from someone who offers it to him -- which he would never get from Jade.

While he's still the hot-tempered, clingy, emotional mess he's always been, a new part of him has developed over these past years of experimentation that's a bit more like Jade -- more desensitized, and more detached from everything outside of themselves and their work. He's gone from constructing simple fomicry machines that replicate small, ordinary objects to complex machines capable of replicating living human bodies, bringing them close to their goal. Unfortunately, these living replicas aren't treated much differently then the inanimate objects they worked with before. While Saphir once would have been disturbed by their killing their failed experiments, that's now just a routine part of their work; and while he once would have been sick at the sight of blood, he now shows little reaction to a broken down replica's blood spattering his coat and face.

At the same time he's been developing that callous side, he's also been becoming more of a show off, and more concerned with appearance. He's grown his hair out from its awkward childhood bowl cut into a shaggy layered cut that gives the illusion of being effortless even though he always has that one strand of hair that has to be swept across his forehead just so. He also wears the collar of his uniform open (and also positioned just right), revealing skin down to below his collarbone, which he probably thinks makes him look very cool and devil may care, even though no other student in the academy appears to have caught onto this trendy look if that's the case. Again, he's most likely only gained this (over)confidence because Jade has been there; while Saphir is often Jade's literal physical shield, Jade has been his shield against everyone else and anything they might say about him, because he's the only one whose opinions matter, and because getting to stand at his idol's side, he can't help feeling good and special. (Even if he kind of just looks like an idiot in reality.)

The interesting thing is that as thoroughly devoted as he is to Jade, he's more devoted to their mission of bringing back Professor Nebilim. Eventually, Jade will give up on their experiments and move on, but Saphir won't, even though it means breaking and going their separate ways. He sees it as Jade abandoning their teacher when they owe it to her to bring her back, and as turning his back on the past they loved, and he will never be able to forgive him for it; so he'll give up the Jade that was there with him in the present in favor of pursuing the unattainable Jade of the past.

In general, Saphir is a chore to interact with. He comes off as narcissistic and overbearing, traits that become increasingly obvious and central to his character as he grows up; he's always singing the praises of his own intellect, talent, and appearance, while insulting yours and talking down to you, because obviously you can't be expected to understand anything when you're so far from being a genius like him. Like nearly everything else about him, the underlying reality here is kind of muddled -- to an extent, he really does believe these things about himself, particularly in regards to his intellectual ability, but they're almost certainly rooted in the insecurity and desperation for attention he's exhibited since he was young, and he's likely seeking out validation every time he acts like this, trying to convince himself as much as anyone else of his superiority and everyone else's comparative mediocrity.

His reactions tend to be extreme in whatever direction they may be, and he reacts to everything. Anything he perceives as a slight or an attempt to take his place -- regardless of whether this is even remotely the intent -- can send him into a defensive rage, and he will hold it against you for the rest of your life or his life, WHICHEVER ENDS FIRST. In the future, at least, he keeps a REVENGE JOURNAL, and while it's not known whether he has anything like it at this point, he at least has a good mental list of everything everyone has ever done to him. He also gets so worked up over things and tries so hard that he often ends up self sabotaging and making stupid slip ups, like being so vehement in denying something that it makes it blatantly obvious that the opposite is true.

All these extremes in his personality, aside from pretty much ensuring that no one will ever want to go near him or stick around until he finishes a sentence, make him come off as a sort of caraciture that's hard to take seriously, and as such, he tends to be a major source of comic relief throughout the canon (less so in this background manga, much more so later on in the game). This is rightfully deserved, and he fulfills the role very well, much to his chagrin.

But it does make it easy to gloss over or overlook the darker aspects of his personality and thought processes as discussed previously -- his twisted feelings and dependency along with his cold callousness when it comes to his experiments -- and also to forget that as ridiculous as he seems, he actually is an exceptionally competent scientist, highly respected in his hometown; and he will be the only person to intentionally manage to create a perfect isofon in the future (Star the Cheagle).

(He also later will better accept and appreciate the rare offers of company he does get, once he realizes how rare they're really going to be -- in the game, he's grateful to Anise for sitting with him when he's alone in the dining hall, and he alters her stuffed toy into a weapon for her as thanks -- BUT he is not at that point yet, and still lashes out like a temperamental puppy at these attempts.)

✖ SAMPLES:
"Zodion" First-Person Network Entry:

[he's a little wet and bedraggled, and the uniform and lab coat he wears are both stained with dark spatters of dried blood. it probably would have been prudent for him to make this an audio post instead, but the thought doesn't really cross his mind. he's used to wanting to show off!!! and tbh he's pretty much forgotten how bad he looks right now.

so he launches right into his transmission, with a cockiness incongruous with his present appearance.]

Well, this all seems like an incredible waste of time, particularly for one with as many irons in the fire as I! You'd think they would be aware of how rude it is to waste such a man's time, but since they were desperate for a dazzling intellect such as mine that was previously so sorely lacking, I suppose I can let it slide.

[he gives a smug grin and holds up his letter for everyone to see, though the text is a little blurry up so close to the camera.]

That's what it says, by the way, "dazzling intellect". Does anyone else's say that? Anyone?

[smirk.]

Jade, what does yours say? I bet it says the same, doesn't it? Because obviously if they think they need me then they need you too. Or maybe they use a different adjective? ("Dazzling" does seem fairly specific, to be honest. I'm sure yours is an equally impressive word, though.)

Is all the technology here like this? It functions extraordinarily well for something that's obviously so primitive in its inner workings. I'll have to take it apart for a closer look-- but don't worry, Jade, I won't do it before you've responded.

[and there's a much less confident smile there, tinged with anxiety, before he ends the feed with a click.]


"Zodionlogs" Third-Person Prose Entry:

Thirty seconds ago, he had been peeling off his latex gloves and tossing them into the waste bin beside the sink; ten seconds ago, he had been holding his hands under the cold running water, the first step in the thorough post-experimentation cleaning he so needed; and three seconds ago, the water had disappeared and the lab had disappeared, and then he was here. Standing there dumbfounded with cold, wet hands.

It wasn't until he turned to look to his side, where the other sink should have been and where Jade had been and where Jade wasn't now, that he felt that first pang of anxiety.

"J-Jade..?"

He could scarcely get the name out at first, and when he did, he cringed at the sound of his own voice, dry and shaky and ending in an embarrassing squeak. He swallowed and took a breath before repeating it, loudly this time, less of an uncertain question and more what he hoped any potential listener in the distance would think was the sound of a strong, determined man who would not be swayed from his important search and rescue mission. He paused to listen for a reply, and wiped his hands dry on his lab coat before shoving them into its pockets. He bit his lip when no reply came, and after some hesitation, began Walking forward in what somehow seemed like the right direction. He repeated the name once again, this time followed by a "Can you hear me?" even though he really thought that question was quite evidently implied in the calling of the name itself, and felt a little stupid for just having yelled it.

He felt worse a moment later when the toe of his shoe caught in the groove of a thin ring of water carved into the floor around the altar he was approaching, making him fall forward just in time for a blast in the face from the waters that suddenly sprang up around him. (Apparently being stuck wet and without a towel was going to be a theme today.) With a sputtering cough, he stumbled back, and made a hasty attempt to dry his glasses with his coat so that he could see what the hell was happening.

--Oh dear god.

His face flushed bright red, and for that instant, at least, he was glad that Jade wasn't there -- he didn't even want to see himself like this. (Not that he wasn't a very fetching and delicate-featured young man still in the prime of youth!!! he halfheartedly assured himself.) When he had blinked away the water droplets from his lashes, and with a bit of a squint, he managed to see clearly enough to make out the source of the pink glow in his (very handsome!!!!) reflection; and instinctively, his fingers rose to touch that spot on his neck for verification. He didn't understand what it was or how it had gotten there, but he didn't understand anything else that was happening right now, either, so that wasn't necessarily so special.

He was a little irritated, honestly, as he began to suspect this entire embarrassing display had been for the sole purpose of pointing out a mark on a part of his body that he couldn't see for himself, and that this really could have been revealed just as well if his reflection had been permitted to keep its clothes on.

On the bright side, he supposed, stepping closer for a better look and tracing a fingernail along the symbol's lower line--

This color looked surprisingly good on him.