exitvoid application

player.
NAME/HANDLE: Greer!
PERSONAL JOURNAL: zhopa
ARE YOU 16 OR OVER?: ye
CONTACT: (aim: hurghleburlebutz, plurk: zhopa)
OTHER CHARACTERS: jean kirstein; bravelypees


character.
CHARACTER NAME: Baroona (Nolastname)
SERIES: vagrant soldier ares chapter summaries, this tells you a bit more, and i guess no one cared enough after that–i can type one up if needed
The basics you need to know for Baroona:
-He used to be a slave/gladiator for a country called Daraak
-He had a "master" (more like mentor) named Marino who became his father figure
-He killed Marino through dubious circumstances
-Became, or was, the champion gladiator
-Escapes and flees through like, four countries to get to Chronos
-Becomes a Temple mercenary
-Becomes friends with Ares, Michael, Gohu
-Goes through a lot of shit with Ares, Michael, Gohu, Robin and Douglas

CANON POINT: Beginning of volume 25
AGE: 22 surprisingly
APPEARANCE:
upon entering, what he normally looks like, back + arm tattoos(?)

PREVIOUS GAME HISTORY: n/a

PERSONALITY:

Baroona isn't spectacularly smart but he is perceptive. He knows how to see through shields and mannerisms people invoke to hide answers and problems. He knows how to break them and how to aid them, quiet but gifted in saying the right things at the right time. Having been controlled, he knows how to do it-a skill most clearly seen when he eggs the Red-Eyed Swordsman into fighting him by correctly pinpointing his insecurities to irritate him. Likewise, he knows how to comfort. It's a skill he uses repeatedly on Ares and, again, is most clearly seen in the fight with the Red-Eyed Swordsman.

Out of anyone, Baroona's relationship with Ares is crucial to understanding his character. While at the beginning of the story they don't seem that close, as the manwha progresses and they start losing more and more of the people they knew, Ares and Baroona's bond becomes tighter. It's mostly out of desperation-neither one of them wants to be alone, with both of them saying so at different points. In that way, their friendship is symbiotic though it doesn't seem that way at first.

At first, it seems somewhat lopsided mostly due to their roles in the story. Ares, the protagonist, goes through the most emotional trauma and needs healing. Baroona, the support character, does just that, avidly protecting him and watching over him, going so far to create a disguise and follow Ares on his journey in the last volume. In fact, most of the second half of the series is Baroona staying close to Ares and supporting him in various ways. Not that it matters which way he does it–Baroona's presence alone is a stabilizing factor in Ares' life. And that's how Ares supports Baroona, as well. They both ground each other and that balance is what makes them so important to each other. It's what balances it out because just like Ares needs a stable presence in his life, Baroona needs someone he knows will stay around.

It's a need that makes sense when you think about Baroona's background and what he's been through. Not only is there the revolving door of people in the coliseum, but also the amount of people he's met while on the run and even in Temple mercenaries that have left his life in one way or another. Coupled with the loss of a significant number of his closest friends, it's easy to see why Baroona would want a friend he could depend on to simply stay alive.

Baroona has an odd relationship with death in that he accepts it but fights at the same time. To put it simpler: If it comes to him, he'll accept it but if it's something he can prevent, he'll fight it. While he doesn't actively go searching it out, he does realize that his line of work will eventually lead to it. There are a couple moments in the manwha that show this: three points in which he realizes he's on the brink of death. Two of the three times are when he's fighting an opponent that has either worn him down or outmatches him in terms of skill. In those two instances he remains calm and resigned. The only one he fights is the third point when he's facing an opponent he knows he can win against.

Unsurprisingly, his views on death shift when his friends are involved. Even when fighting for his own life, he remains calm; when his friends are in danger, he becomes more emotional, becoming knowingly reckless in an attempt to save them. Whether it's distracting the deadliest man alive or charging into a crowd of elite soldiers, Baroona tends to lose the cool he usually maintains when his friends are in danger.

Again, this brings up his distaste for those he's close with dying. While it doesn't seem strong enough to be a fear, Baroona states himself that he doesn't want to be left alone which directly contrasts how he acts at the beginning of the manga–personable but still distant. With that in mind, it can only be assumed that the prolonged friendships he formed (and lost) changed his views and made him value company and the loss of it more than he previously did.

Socially, Baroona isn't exactly a standout. He's quiet, subdued, and usually tends to keep to himself unless approached. In conversations, he prefers to listen and learn about the person talking rather than mention things about himself. He'll ask questions, make comments–but they'll all be focused around the other person. It's a rare occasion that Baroona talks about himself or his own life experiences. Usually he only does it when asked and asked seriously.

While there's no canon explanation for why he acts this way, the way he answers questions about himself shows that he probably doesn't see it worth mentioning. He's never shown to be ashamed of anything he's done, either in past or present so it's unlikely that his silence is based on a feeling of regret. Instead, it's probably more because he separates the past from the present and is much more oriented in living and dealing with the present. He doesn't bring up the past because he doesn't see past actions mattering more than current ones.

Reserved as he is, Baroona is more playful than cold. Once you get past his quietness, it's pretty easy to see. He's a trickster, albeit a subtle one. Oftentimes he'll exaggerate dumbness and sincerity, tricking people into trusting him using the air of seriousness associated with his usual demeanor. Canonly, he states that he's a liar and that's seen both in conversation and in battle.

Baroona isn't a noble fighter. He's underhanded and dirty, using any means necessary to win. He doesn't believe in honor but rather survival and will do whatever he can to continue living. In a fight, he lies, cheats, goes for the low blows and ropes in other people to help him. Nothing is above him; surviving is his winning.

Not to say that he doesn't have his own sense of pride. It's just less along the lines of a noble "warrior" and more in tune with being proud of what he can accomplish. He knows he can easily kill a man and takes pride in that. He was forced to fight as a gladiator and he became the champion–he's proud of that too, never once showing shame in his tattoos or attempting to hide them. They are a symbol of what he's single-handedly pulled himself from and he's proud of that.

Unsurprisingly, a large sense of pride is easily wounded and Baroona is no exception. Despite his own perceptiveness, he still doesn't have the control to see when people are using his own tricks against him. If someone looks down on him, he gets riled up. If someone shows that they're better than him, his temper flares. While he can still keep it under control, sometimes his hold slips. A good example of this is when he fights Ouranos, another gladiator, in the manwha. As the ex-champion, his pride is already on the line to hold the title he takes pride in. As such, he loses his reasoning and accepts the Ouranos' challenge despite knowing how reckless it is and almost dies as a result.

Overall, Baroona's pride gets the better of him. Not so much that it's all-consuming, but enough that it can interrupt his usual calm demeanor. Yet even when he's irritated by someone's bait he never becomes bloodthirsty. A likely side effect of being a gladiator, Baroona knows the value of life having (presumably) taken so many. As such, he is the only actively fighting character in Ares that is shown to hesitate when killing and the only one shown willing to spare lives.

This distaste towards killing directly contrasts his own love of fighting, which is shown when he fights in low-tension battles (ones that he knows won't end in death) and while waiting to fight. In low-tension fights, he's seen grinning and sometimes goes so far as to almost play with his opponent. That attitude changes later on when the battlefield stretches to not just one war, but four. While the situation in general demands more seriousness, so does his new role. As the story shifts around, Baroona's role transforms into one of a protector where he's forced to kill in order to keep himself and others alive. While still not okay with it, Baroona knows that it's a mandatory thing that needs to happen and is willing to perform it in order to, again, keep surviving.

Probably the largest issue for Baroona stems from his time as a gladiator. While the specifics of his time aren't thoroughly brought up, one fact is: He had a "master" (probably more like a mentor) who taught him everything he knows and, by some circumstances, killed him in the coliseum. It's a fact that he never brings up and is only mentioned by Ouranos during their aforementioned fight. He freezes up when the subject is brought up and completely snaps when Ouranos pushes that his master's death was his fault–something he firmly rejects.

The problem is, due to setting of the fight and the nature of the setting, it is very likely that Baroona killed his master of his own will. While the choices presented to him would have been limited, there would have been different methods, suggesting that Baroona's insistence of having no choice could be a misinterpretation of the options available or, in part, denial of his own role in the death. I play it as both, with a heavy leaning on a deep-rooted and completely convincing denial that he did not kill his mentor.

The stretch of his denial isn't fully explored in canon beyond the Ouranos instance, but it does highlight how Baroona, in general, copes with things. Avoidance is the best answer–as seen in how he never brings up his mentor again, even going so far as to lie when asked about it. While this coping method can be a good technique, the extent to which Baroona uses it borderlines unhealthy in that he pushes things behind him so fast that he has no proper time to confront them.

ABILITIES:
Weapons Though it's shown that he's most skilled with his linked daggers, the series has shown that he can hold his own with swords and-due to the nature of gladiators in the series-it can be inferred that he's competent with other weaponry as well.
Hand-to-Hand While not necessarily trained in any particular style, he is shown in multiple fights to favor using close combat with his weaponry. He chooses to fight in a fairly rudimentary way, preferring kicks over actual punches.

POSSESSIONS:
That stupid helmet, the dumb cloak, two daggers linked together, two packs of cigarettes, a book of matches along with the other clothes pictured above.

samples.
INTERACTION SAMPLE:
Hopefully, this will work!
if not, here are a couple unfinished threads

INTROSPECTION SAMPLE:
Already in game! But I'll write one up, if needed.