ooc: exitvoid application

[fishstick]

player.
NAME/HANDLE: Nu
PERSONAL JOURNAL: scaleless
ARE YOU 16 OR OVER?: yarp
CONTACT: email: erashure at gmail . com
aim: the scaleless
plurk: scythed
OTHER CHARACTERS: n/a

character.
CHARACTER NAME: Abraham 'Abe' Sapien
SERIES: Hellboy/B.P.R.D.
More on Hellboy
More on B.P.R.D.
Aaand some character-specific background on Abe himself
CANON POINT: After the helicopter he's on crashes, Plague of Frogs, Issue 2
AGE: Approximately 210.
APPEARANCE:
a walking fish, basically
PREVIOUS GAME HISTORY: n/a

PERSONALITY:

Abe's personality goes through some rather dramatic changes as the series progresses. He starts out as a curious-- almost to the point of restless-- recruit. While not exceptionally outgoing or obnoxious about it, he's a well-meaning, generally good-natured guy who goes out both to help people and because he enjoys the work. He treats his friends like family, and sees the B.P.R.D. as his home (largely in part due to Hellboy); missions and casualties on the field were personal issues, and he's prone to lacking confidence. During his first solo mission, he hallucinates his friends and peers insisting he was a fuck-up, even if it's completely out of character for them to do so. These early days, he tries to keep deaths to a minimum, and will usually take a more peaceful option when available.

This changes once Liz and Hellboy leave the bureau.

The first major factor is that he's left as one of the few experienced, respected agents. It's worth mentioning that Abe is quick to adapt to leadership, and despite some heckling from peers/not really seeing himself as the head of a team, his ability to head up a squad and get shit done is commendable. He's honest and critical, but isn't so militant that he's the type to get angry at his men or close his ears off to suggestions. At the same time, we see him rapidly begin to toughen up once Hellboy is gone-- he starts to resent the corporate nature of B.P.R.D./how they view him and his fellow 'special' agents, and it's clear that the number of coworkers he buries every year sobers him up. We begin to see that Abe is actually very capable even when he doesn't have Hellboy as a crutch: he works well under stress, and is stubborn as hell when it comes to getting the job done. At work, he's the sort of person to take charge of the situation, even going so far as to lie to his superiors so he can run off and do what's best.

Anyway, second and more drastic point of no return is when he discovers his past life. He ends up having an identity crisis, and this is where we see some of his insecurities. He drops his responsibilities, despite his friends' urgings, and unconsciously tries to take on aspects of his old life (speaking with a more 'Victorian' style, wearing contemporary clothes, etc). Not knowing exactly what or who he is is a constant source of underlying tension for Abe, both in terms of fear of some sort of kinship towards the frog monsters rampaging the Earth, and his amnesia. During these times he's hesitant to open up, and isn't slow to tell even his closest friends to leave him be.

Thankfully, in the end, he's too responsible to let the world fall by the wayside. He stays with the B.P.R.D. when Liz needs help, and immediately goes back to field work after Roger dies; he does care a great deal for his friends, and will throw himself into danger to help people even as he grows into a colder person. While he eventually learns that Bad Things happen and people die despite your best efforts, he still takes on a great deal of self responsibility for his actions or lack thereof. It's less that Abe changes his core personality, and more an altered execution. Early Abe waffles about and mopes and becomes distracted after he screws up-- older Abe still feels guilt, but knows he has to get over it. He eventually concludes that emotions have no place on the field, and he loses the sort of compassion and hesitance he starts with to trade out for a resistance to mind games and psychological trauma. Even if he does care, the world just can't afford the time for him to recover, and he learns to come to grips with that.

But why, exactly, does he feel responsible? As readers, we honestly don't see much in the way of his actual motivations for a very long time. At one point, he even considers leaving the bureau completely. It certainly doesn't bring him much happiness. Part of it goes back to his insecurities, in that he doesn't believe he can properly integrate into the rest of the world because of his appearance and just generally not knowing who he is and where he'd even start.

However, we see that there's probably more to it than that. While having a heart-to-heart, both he and Daimio talk about how they're working to keep the world safe in their own way. Abe isn't the type of person who can completely abandon a cause when he knows he can help, even at the expense of his own comfort. Liz, who he has practically a familial relationship with, puts it as such:

"He's got few reasons to give a crap about anything or anybody. But he does anyway, so I guess that counts for something."

In terms of interaction, he tends to be a bit reserved, though not to the point of being unfriendly. More like someone who doesn't force conversation, especially since he's used to people being put-off by his appearance. To strangers this leads to a sort of casual politeness, and him seeming a bit standoffish. Others have noted that Abe can be cold, especially if he's forced to be the center of attention. So he's socially inexperienced with people who aren't total freaks, though it comes off as more aloof than the usual stuttering shyness.

Towards his friends he's kind of cheeky and has a sarcastic streak, but it's all in good fun. He's a dependable, caring person once he gets to know someone, making the conscious effort to help them when he can. Moreso than words, his way of comfort is about deference and speaking through actions. Rather than being pushy and overprotective, he'll try to be there by their hospital bed, buy them the cigars they like when they're feeling down, keep secrets, etc. Abe is also loyal (to, at times, a fault. See: Daimio), defending and trusting the people he cares about until the bitter end-- a large part of his frustration with the bureau is how they tend to treat him and his friends like threats more than people. On that note, he's remarkably unaffected by people with bizarre origins or appearances, as he's dealt with everything from near-vivisection to alienation from his own odd situation.

On the flipside, when he dislikes someone or is upset, he won't go out of his way to do anything to them. Instead he's just kind of passive-aggressive, catty, slow to forgive, and will excuse himself from the room when he has the displeasure of seeing your face. But so long as you aren't a murderous douchebag or repeatedly calling him the antichrist, you should be okay. And honestly, once you earn his respect, it's hard (though far from impossible) to lose Abe as a friend.

While for social situations he's a bit passive in his confrontation methods, he did inherit Hellboy's temper, if to a lesser degree. He's reliable under fire, but his jadedness lends to a sense of trigger-happiness with time. Early canon Abe does seem to prefer more peaceful methods, but in the end, he's a soldier. His and his squad's health comes second to accomplishing what they have to, and he'll shoot an enemy without much hesitation; if you've hurt his friends, he's not above open aggression and punches to the face. On the other hand, he's also one of the better agents about actually doing research on the occult, keeping himself informed, and 'bureaucratic approaches' so oftentimes he'll find a more efficient solution than 'run in and blow up everything.' Abe is an odd mix of structured and rebellious, just as likely to hotwire a car as he is to fall into formation. And while his temper/brusqueness only gets worse as the series progresses, he prefers quiet downtime, such as reading and listening to music.

Anyway, I've talked a lot about his growth because it's a huge part of Abe's character, but where exactly in the process is he? This is a relatively early canon point, so he's a little more approachable than older!Abe and not wholly disillusioned, though still getting used to his leadership role. He's also not going into his odd Victorian-style levels of formality yet.

And some parting trivia: he's awful with kids, and, ironically, gets seasick :c

ABILITIES:
Abe's most obvious 'ability' is that he's amphibious. He breathes just fine underwater and is an exceptional swimmer, able to outmaneuver sharks and the like if he needs to. The one catch is while he functions on dry land without issue, he's prone to drying out if he does so for too long. Usually this is solved by sleeping in a tub, but hey. He'll improvise.

Otherwise, he's not exactly the most intimidating person you could meet on a cross-universe adventure. Decent to have around in a hand-to-hand fight (stronger than average for a human his size), and an excellent shot, but nothing absurd. What he lacks in ridiculous powers he makes up for with experience in dealing with both high-stress situations and supernatural bullshit, and a tactical mind that usually keeps him and the people he's in charge of alive.

Speaking of, he is significantly tougher to kill than the average human. Doesn't age, and can usually get back up after being shot, stabbed, thrown around, et cetera. That isn't to say that with enough effort (or bullets) he can't die. Just that he's kind of stubborn about it.

POSSESSIONS:
- A black swim jammer
- Bulletproof vest with a swanky B.P.R.D. logo
- A partially loaded handgun (of, unfortunately, unknown make and model) with some spare ammunition pouches
- A standard combat knife
- (2) flashbangs, (2) grenades
- And in his many pouches: a cigarette, a government ID, a screwdriver, assorted charms and religious symbols, and a little spare cash.

samples.
JOURNAL ENTRY SAMPLE:
Bureau, this is Chopper Team One; Agent Sapien. Do you copy? --Kate, are you getting this? [ The talking fishman doesn't sound frazzled, though his vest is dusty and he looks a little ragged around the edges. In fact, he's pretty calm for a guy who just got kidnapped, watching the compass intently with one hand cupped around the earpiece. A few seconds later, he rolls his shoulders, clenching his jaw instead of grimacing. ] Worth a try.

[ A light fingertap against the compass. ] Maybe it's a concussion talking, but I'm fairly certain Michigan's not by the ocean. [ Tap. Tap. ] But all right. I'll work with it. [ Sounds like someone's scrolling through the other entries now. ] It looks like we all have to-- so I'd appreciate some more information than what 'COMPASS' is offering. If it's available.

[ His lips thin to a line, and he gives a stiff gill flap. ] If not, I'd like to fix that.

[ Tap. His brow crinkles. ]

And Liz, Johann, Roger. Let me know you're okay.

THIRD-PERSON SAMPLE:
Abe figures if he told anyone about his dreams, they'd laugh. An amphibious man, dreaming about fish and the ocean-- how stereotypical could you get?

But as he holds himself against the deck's rails, watching the waves of an unknown ocean break against an unknown ship, the dreams creep back with the foam. For as long as he could remember, the water was as natural as the air and ground was to everyone else. Hell, maybe even more than that. He'd always slept better submerged. But now there was something ominous to it-- and it wasn't the jitters from diving into black water and any number of dangers that loved to live in the sea. That much, he was used to.

It was the sound. Underwater, everything was so muted. Placid. But in the dream, the bells rang clear as they would on the shoreline. Or a church cathedral. They rang through every bone in his body and reverberated off every drop of water and every floating body.

And then he wakes up.

He looks over the edge again. Strictly analyzing the scope of the mission, he had to be honest with himself: there probably weren't many clues to be found under the surface that they didn't know already. No answers to all their questions scrawled on the underbelly of the boat. More likely, it would be ghosts, waterlogged debris, and if he was really lucky, a pack of shark monsters. There was probably nothing to be gained from this at all besides maybe an early, extremely unpleasant grave for him.

But however unlikely, maybe there was something down there. Some tiny piece to the whole puzzle that would help them home. Or in his case, the bureau ('Do I miss it?' he wonders. It's followed by a mental scoff, because how rhetorical could a question get?). Abe doesn't think himself an optimist, but he doesn't want to be stuck with regrets later-- better to try now and know for certain. It's obvious to him what he has to do; he lets go of the rail, and the thoughts bogging him down.

He doesn't need to take a breath before he splits the water.