Player Name: Nix Preferred Contact:salroka Timezone: EST Current Characters in Victory Road: N/A
Character Name: Manaka Sajyou Series: Fate/Prototype Timeline: After her death, while she is still dormant ("dreaming") inside the Grail Canon Resource Links:Link
Personality: Much of the time, Manaka behaves like a typical, if somewhat precocious, young girl. However, in reality, the idea that she is simply a normal child couldn't be further from the truth. More than anything, Manaka is an extremely warped person. Throughout her entire life, she has been connected to "the Root," something that is most simply described as being the center of all creation; later, at the time of her "death," she was submerged in something containing all of humanity's evil desires. Obviously, neither of these things is going to produce a person with a normal outlook on life!
First and foremost, she is self-centered to the extreme. While she can see and understands other people's wants, she doesn't factor them into her behavior when taking action, and she's perfectly willing to toss aside anyone who comes between her and her goals, no matter what they may mean to her. It isn't that she feels nothing for others; it's just that her desires far outweigh the worth of most people in her mind. For example, in canon, she has expressed a willingness to harm or kill both her sister (whom she has explicitly said she loves) and the closest thing she has to a friend—and acted on it, in both cases.
However, despite this, she's stated to be an "innocent monster" that holds no malice toward others, and it's true that her actions weren't born from hate or vengeance or any negative feeling at all. Having been constantly aware of the cycle of death and rebirth since infancy, Manaka simply doesn't see the value of a life in the way that most people do, and doesn't understand basic morals others take for granted, such as the idea that killing is wrong. Her callousness comes from a skewed perspective, rather than cruelty.
The only exception to the above is her Saber. She's described as having been "irreparably warped" by her love for him, and it's a hard statement to argue with, seeing as that love has led to her massacring dozens of people without batting an eye. In her mind, he is the most important thing in the universe. She would happily sacrifice every other life on the planet for his sake—and fully intends to do so, given that the action she sees as the fulfillment of his wishes is also one that will consume and extinguish all human life. Retaliating against someone she perceives as having "endangered" Saber is the only time she is seen acting out in anger, too.
She also appears to hold some general level of ennui directed at life, thanks to her connection to the Root. It doesn't come across in her demeanor—she's peppy and upbeat—but even so, it appears as a reoccurring theme in her thoughts and actions. When her father mentions wanting to use the Holy Grail as a means to connect to the Root, she brushes his desire aside as "boring." In the Fate/Labyrinth sidestory, because she is unable to experience surprise any other way, she purposefully induces in herself a special sort of dream. Unsurprisingly, being able to look inside something that houses everything that ever has existed and everything that ever will has made her bored.
In the aftermath of her death, Manaka's innocence has become somewhat warped, a twisted version of what it was originally. While she is still devoid of malice, and still doesn't grasp the idea of moral absolutes, she has gained an intimate understanding of the ugliest of human desires. So, while she doesn't precisely empathize with them, she can speak on them in depth, if prompted. She also has a tendency to view no human as morally better than another, and is unlikely to pass judgment on a person's moral failures, given that she views such dark desires as simply an unpleasant but undeniable part of the human heart.
Her concept of and expressions of love have also been distorted. Following her death at Saber's hands, she seems to have twisted the concepts of violence, death, and love into a single inseparable knot. When speaking of her happiness at the thought of seeing Saber again, she uses gory metaphors, describing the feeling as being one like "[her] insides will fall out of her stomach"; conversely, when speaking of being impaled, she does so in a way that is evocative of sexual intercourse.
As a note, though Manaka's outward manner is often childish, her mental age is a bit more complicated. This can be seen in one of the one-shot comics published in the second official Fate/Prototype artbook, in which she initially behaves very much like a young girl when around others, only to switch to a more adult manner of speaking when alone. How she chooses to present herself when is dependent on whim and the surrounding circumstances; while she generally acts the age she appears to be, she may be more open about her true colors around people she feels some level of connection with.
Pokémon Information Affiliation: Team Rocket Starter: Woobat (lvl 5) & Litwick (lvl 15); Litwick is similar to Manaka in that it appears to be cute and harmless on the outside, but is actually much darker in nature. Additionally, its type reflects Manaka's own death and resurrection, as well as the fact that this wouldn't be the first time Manaka has undertaken a partnership with a monster that feeds on the life force of others. Password: Atomic fireball
Samples RP Sample:CW: Blood/Gore/Casual Murder Talk (I'm sorry, this is... the only recent thread I have for her. She won't be anywhere near as awful within the setting, since she'll have no motivation to be!)
Victory Road Sample: Manaka dreamed often, but it didn't take her long to realize that this was something else entirely. It was like coming out from under anesthesia, only to find that someone had removed one of her arms while she slept: disorienting, and a little alarming as she tried to flail around with something that wasn't there. She couldn't feel the Root, or the Beast. Her magic circuits were gone, and even the place where Saber's blade had pierced her—
But as that single, wild moment of shock faded, the feeling was replaced by something else entirely: Awe.
She had jolted upward, launching herself out of the Rocket dormitory bed she'd found herself in—but then, in the next moment, she froze. Her gaze dropped downward, and she flexed her fingers, turning her palms back and forth like she'd never seen her own hands before in her life. Maybe she hadn't—at least, she'd never seen them like this, through a normal person's eyes.
Still half-dazed, she lifted her head to scan the room she had found herself in. It wasn't a very exciting room, impersonal and sterile, but that didn't stop the niggling feeling that there was more to it than that. How could there not be? For Manaka to find herself here, it must have been something special.
Finally, her eyes fell on what seemed to be the only objects of note in the room: A pair of strange orbs made of a material she couldn't identify at a glance, half white and half a bright red. Padding toward the nightstand they were situated on, she picked up the one closest to her, her thumb giving the button in its center a swift click. And...
And whatever she had been expecting, it wasn't the stream of light that leaped free as the lid swung open. Nor was it the way that light solidified into what seemed to be a living candle, its nubby little arms lifting proudly as it declared, "Lit! Lit!"
Manaka gasped, her entire expression lighting up at the sight—a reaction that seemed to please the creature, what with the little twirl it performed in reply. "Wow...! You're so cute!" she squealed, half-skipping to clear the distance between herself and her new friend. "Were you left here to wait for me?"
"Wick," it chirped, and if there was any doubt that had been an affirmative, it followed up the statement with a nod.
That earned another coo from Manaka. "Mm! I hope you weren't alone for too long." Then, cupping her hands, she lifted them in front of herself, offering the candle a place to sit. It complied, wax surprisingly cool to the touch as it settled itself in her palms. "Do you have a name, Mr. Candle?"
"Lit! Wick!"
"Ah, I guess that's all you can say..." Trailing off, Manaka mulled over the implications of that for a moment. Then, she shrugged, her expression returning to that beaming smile a second later. "I'll figure out something cute to call you myself! For now, can you show me where I am?"
Manaka Sajyou (Fate/Prototype)
Name: Nix
Preferred Contact:
Timezone: EST
Current Characters in Victory Road: N/A
Character
Name: Manaka Sajyou
Series: Fate/Prototype
Timeline: After her death, while she is still dormant ("dreaming") inside the Grail
Canon Resource Links: Link
Personality:
Much of the time, Manaka behaves like a typical, if somewhat precocious, young girl. However, in reality, the idea that she is simply a normal child couldn't be further from the truth. More than anything, Manaka is an extremely warped person. Throughout her entire life, she has been connected to "the Root," something that is most simply described as being the center of all creation; later, at the time of her "death," she was submerged in something containing all of humanity's evil desires. Obviously, neither of these things is going to produce a person with a normal outlook on life!
First and foremost, she is self-centered to the extreme. While she can see and understands other people's wants, she doesn't factor them into her behavior when taking action, and she's perfectly willing to toss aside anyone who comes between her and her goals, no matter what they may mean to her. It isn't that she feels nothing for others; it's just that her desires far outweigh the worth of most people in her mind. For example, in canon, she has expressed a willingness to harm or kill both her sister (whom she has explicitly said she loves) and the closest thing she has to a friend—and acted on it, in both cases.
However, despite this, she's stated to be an "innocent monster" that holds no malice toward others, and it's true that her actions weren't born from hate or vengeance or any negative feeling at all. Having been constantly aware of the cycle of death and rebirth since infancy, Manaka simply doesn't see the value of a life in the way that most people do, and doesn't understand basic morals others take for granted, such as the idea that killing is wrong. Her callousness comes from a skewed perspective, rather than cruelty.
The only exception to the above is her Saber. She's described as having been "irreparably warped" by her love for him, and it's a hard statement to argue with, seeing as that love has led to her massacring dozens of people without batting an eye. In her mind, he is the most important thing in the universe. She would happily sacrifice every other life on the planet for his sake—and fully intends to do so, given that the action she sees as the fulfillment of his wishes is also one that will consume and extinguish all human life. Retaliating against someone she perceives as having "endangered" Saber is the only time she is seen acting out in anger, too.
She also appears to hold some general level of ennui directed at life, thanks to her connection to the Root. It doesn't come across in her demeanor—she's peppy and upbeat—but even so, it appears as a reoccurring theme in her thoughts and actions. When her father mentions wanting to use the Holy Grail as a means to connect to the Root, she brushes his desire aside as "boring." In the Fate/Labyrinth sidestory, because she is unable to experience surprise any other way, she purposefully induces in herself a special sort of dream. Unsurprisingly, being able to look inside something that houses everything that ever has existed and everything that ever will has made her bored.
In the aftermath of her death, Manaka's innocence has become somewhat warped, a twisted version of what it was originally. While she is still devoid of malice, and still doesn't grasp the idea of moral absolutes, she has gained an intimate understanding of the ugliest of human desires. So, while she doesn't precisely empathize with them, she can speak on them in depth, if prompted. She also has a tendency to view no human as morally better than another, and is unlikely to pass judgment on a person's moral failures, given that she views such dark desires as simply an unpleasant but undeniable part of the human heart.
Her concept of and expressions of love have also been distorted. Following her death at Saber's hands, she seems to have twisted the concepts of violence, death, and love into a single inseparable knot. When speaking of her happiness at the thought of seeing Saber again, she uses gory metaphors, describing the feeling as being one like "[her] insides will fall out of her stomach"; conversely, when speaking of being impaled, she does so in a way that is evocative of sexual intercourse.
As a note, though Manaka's outward manner is often childish, her mental age is a bit more complicated. This can be seen in one of the one-shot comics published in the second official Fate/Prototype artbook, in which she initially behaves very much like a young girl when around others, only to switch to a more adult manner of speaking when alone. How she chooses to present herself when is dependent on whim and the surrounding circumstances; while she generally acts the age she appears to be, she may be more open about her true colors around people she feels some level of connection with.
Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Team Rocket
Starter: Woobat (lvl 5) & Litwick (lvl 15); Litwick is similar to Manaka in that it appears to be cute and harmless on the outside, but is actually much darker in nature. Additionally, its type reflects Manaka's own death and resurrection, as well as the fact that this wouldn't be the first time Manaka has undertaken a partnership with a monster that feeds on the life force of others.
Password: Atomic fireball
Samples
RP Sample: CW: Blood/Gore/Casual Murder Talk (I'm sorry, this is... the only recent thread I have for her. She won't be anywhere near as awful within the setting, since she'll have no motivation to be!)
Victory Road Sample:
Manaka dreamed often, but it didn't take her long to realize that this was something else entirely. It was like coming out from under anesthesia, only to find that someone had removed one of her arms while she slept: disorienting, and a little alarming as she tried to flail around with something that wasn't there. She couldn't feel the Root, or the Beast. Her magic circuits were gone, and even the place where Saber's blade had pierced her—
But as that single, wild moment of shock faded, the feeling was replaced by something else entirely: Awe.
She had jolted upward, launching herself out of the Rocket dormitory bed she'd found herself in—but then, in the next moment, she froze. Her gaze dropped downward, and she flexed her fingers, turning her palms back and forth like she'd never seen her own hands before in her life. Maybe she hadn't—at least, she'd never seen them like this, through a normal person's eyes.
Still half-dazed, she lifted her head to scan the room she had found herself in. It wasn't a very exciting room, impersonal and sterile, but that didn't stop the niggling feeling that there was more to it than that. How could there not be? For Manaka to find herself here, it must have been something special.
Finally, her eyes fell on what seemed to be the only objects of note in the room: A pair of strange orbs made of a material she couldn't identify at a glance, half white and half a bright red. Padding toward the nightstand they were situated on, she picked up the one closest to her, her thumb giving the button in its center a swift click. And...
And whatever she had been expecting, it wasn't the stream of light that leaped free as the lid swung open. Nor was it the way that light solidified into what seemed to be a living candle, its nubby little arms lifting proudly as it declared, "Lit! Lit!"
Manaka gasped, her entire expression lighting up at the sight—a reaction that seemed to please the creature, what with the little twirl it performed in reply. "Wow...! You're so cute!" she squealed, half-skipping to clear the distance between herself and her new friend. "Were you left here to wait for me?"
"Wick," it chirped, and if there was any doubt that had been an affirmative, it followed up the statement with a nod.
That earned another coo from Manaka. "Mm! I hope you weren't alone for too long." Then, cupping her hands, she lifted them in front of herself, offering the candle a place to sit. It complied, wax surprisingly cool to the touch as it settled itself in her palms. "Do you have a name, Mr. Candle?"
"Lit! Wick!"
"Ah, I guess that's all you can say..." Trailing off, Manaka mulled over the implications of that for a moment. Then, she shrugged, her expression returning to that beaming smile a second later. "I'll figure out something cute to call you myself! For now, can you show me where I am?"