Broca

NAME: Leigh

CONTACT: jhope or Leigh#4246 (until I'm forced to change it)

AGE:18+

OTHER CHARACTERS: N/A

CHARACTER NAME: Broca

CANON: Arknights

CANON POINT: After the events of the main story, when Broca has worked for Rhodes Island for some time.

AGE: ~26

HISTORY: Broca comes from a country called Siracusa on a planet known as Terra. The long short of it is that Terra is a planet overrun by massive natural disasters known as Catastrophes, where a large portion of the population has contracted a deadly mineral poisoning known as Oripathy that causes the infected to become outcasts (or worse) in their own communities.

Broca happens to be one of those unlucky Infected, though Broca is in a much better situation than most Infected as, by pure chance, he and his friends stumbled across a pharmaceutical organization called Rhodes Island that specializes in treating people infected with Oripathy, and that is currently searching for a cure.

Prior to this fortuitous encounter, however, Broca worked loyally for one of the mafia families that has a stranglehold over Siracusa. That was, up until his boss decided that the best thing that Broca could do for him was to quite literally die for him, and left Broca to his fate. Charmingly though, he made sure that Broca was well aware of the fact that he was tossed aside like trash.

Shortly after the betrayal was the first time that lady luck decided to shine on Broca, and he was found by two men known as Aosta and Chiave, who saved his life. The three quickly formed a tight-knit group with Chiave acting as the leader, Aosta being the brains of the outfit, and Broca providing the muscle.

The rambunctious Chiave wasn't exactly good at keeping a low profile, however, and eventually the three men found themselves in hot water with some of Siracusa's crime families. They were forced to leave the nation for good. It was during this exodus from the city states that they met a Rhodes Island employee for the first time, though they made more trouble in other cities before finally signing on with the organization.

While being rescued by Aosta and Chiave and spending time together with them meant that Broca's strong loyalties shifted to his two new friends, the earlier betrayal by his former boss left him with a scarred ability to trust, especially when it came to large organizations. It meant that joining Rhodes Island was a rocky experience for him, and one he only agreed to because Aosta and Chiave decided they were going to.

Broca had plenty of suspicions of the organization and its members, including butting up against some of the operators that had been there for some time, however most of the members of Rhodes Island held a heavy sense of community and duty towards one another; if someone was injured in battle, other members of the organization would do everything in their power to rally to their side to save them. It was a lesson that Broca learned early on during his time working for the company, though one that he needed to learn a few more times before it really sunk in.

It took a lot of time, a lot of missions as one of Rhodes Island's operators, and a lot of getting to know people for Broca to being to trust them. It was a slow start and a tall mountain to climb, but he eventual become a reliable pillar within the organization.

PERSONALITY:

What impression does your character give when meeting someone for the first time? How does the first impression differ from your character’s true nature?

Having spent years working for the mob, Broca intentionally crafted the look and vibe of a no-nonsense bouncer. His face is near permanently etched into a scowl, and the serious demeanor makes it sound like he'll suffer absolutely no fools.

That's not actually true though. One of Broca's favorite people in the world is probably also one of the biggest fools he knows. While Broca still isn't the type to easily crack jokes or show an outwardly warm and affable side once you get to know him, he's a lot more likely to go along with the shenanigans of the people he knows than a first glance might suggest. He doesn't actually hate fun, he just looks like he does.

He's also got a variety of hobbies from wholesome woodworking projects to reading that don't necessarily mesh with the big muscle guy look that he's got going on, though he does more practical retrofitting work as well for Rhodes Island. He also does it with enough competency that some employees have dreams of him switching to the production department of the organization.

What's more, while he seems like a man of few words, and those few words seem blunt and sometimes cutting, he's better at holding a conversation with someone once he gets to know them. He's not a chatterbox, and never will be even after years of built up trust and friendship, but he at least has more to say the more familiar he is with a person.

It's all to say that while the exterior is intentionally cold and distant, Broca is a much gentler and more honest person once someone's had the time to chip away at the walls he initially puts up.

What are your character’s ambitions/goals? Why are they important to your character?

Broca is not, and has never been, a highly ambitious man. He doesn't have lofty goals for himself, or dreams of a glorious future. He's always contented himself with finding meaning in the goals of the people that are important to him.

At first this meant carrying out the orders of the head of the family he worked for, despite the crooked nature of the mob not necessarily lining up perfectly with Broca's natural inclinations. He's never been a selfless hero, though he's not exactly a callous villain either.

When he fell in with Chiave and Aosta his goals shifted to keeping his new found family safe and happy, ready to follow their orders without question, and comfortable in the knowledge that they wouldn't use and abuse him the way he had been in the past. One of the few times he really butted heads with their decision was when they decided to join Rhodes Island, but his desire to keep them safe overrode other misgivings he had.

Ironically that allowed for his current goals to form. While protecting Aosta and Chiave is still an important priority to him, his circle of found family and friends has expanded, and he has more people he wants to keep safe. The optimistic goals of Rhodes Island, to create a better world for the Infected, and offer them a cure, is something that now resonates with him, but at the end of the day it will always be the concern for those he personally cares for that drives Broca the hardest.

In The City he'll find himself wanting to understand the mysterious not just out of innate curiosity, but out of a desire to get back to where he came from, and to the people he belongs with. Things are likely to get complicated the more connections he makes to new people though, as Broca is first and foremost a man who is motivated by his bonds with others.

What are your character’s fears? How do they hinder or challenge your character?

If Broca's biggest motivation is his bonds with others, then his biggest fear is the potential shattering of those bonds. It's happened to him once before, and in theory it could happen to him again.

There are people who he trusts unconditionally, but they're few and far between, and also not stuck in this mysterious city alongside him. That means he has to risk relying on others he doesn't know, and has no real reason to believe in. Even as he begins to make new connections, they're tenuous things for Broca in the initial stages, and not something he can put faith in remaining strong. He'll have his guard up with just about everyone he meets until either enough small good deeds have added up, or some big act tips him over into actually trusting them.

It's going to make some aspects of teamwork difficult for him. While he'll have few problems helping others, he'll be more reluctant to receive help in return. A lot of the same problems he had in his early days at Rhodes Island, his suspicion and mistrust bleeding through in a very obvious way, will continue to come out. By not taking a risk and trusting people, he's ironically going to risk sowing seeds of mistrust in others in turn. After all, who wants to put their faith in someone who refuses to offer them the same courtesy?

SKILLS/ABILITIES: • Ability to use Arts. It's more or less magic, and while Broca doesn't use them to the same extent as someone specialized in casting Arts (ie magic spells), what Arts he can use can be quite... electrifying! I mean to say he can basically use lightning magic. This has the super fun side effect of stunning him briefly whenever he uses his Arts.
• Woodworking, some metal crafting, electrical wiring, etc... In general a wide variety of skills that allows him to be good at making tools and equipment.
• Combat training. Broca's weapon of choice is a big old drill.

NERFING: While Broca used to be able to knock people back with his electrical charges, the current is going to be a lot weaker. He's not going to be able to pack the same punch behind those volts that he used to, though he should still be able to deliver some zaps that will at least be unpleasant feeling. He probably won't stun himself into a stupor anymore though, so that's nice!

WEAKNESSES: Use of his Arts at full 100% power causes him to stun himself.

TDM Threads:
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