Name: Amy Contact: PM, or aqours Current Character(s): n/a
Character Info
Character's Name: Mikhail Character's Canon: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Character's Age: ~500, appears in his early-mid 20s Canon Point: after his death Background/History:wiki link
Strengths:
PERSISTENT— … though debatably, this could also be called a flaw. Through development that’s never explained nor seen, Mikhail outgrew his quietly taciturn personality as a child to become an outspoken and lively man over the course of 500 years. It’s a testament to how stubborn he can be about enduring tragedy and grief, serving as a double-edged sword that feeds his cynicism but also keeps him on his feet. Throw whatever you want at this guy, he’ll either laugh it off or fight until the bitter end. While Jin and Malos were rather blunt about not caring about whether they lived or died as long as they killed everyone else first, Mikhail never seemed to express the same suicidal sentiments, implying that he wasn’t yet ready to give up on his own life for such a cause.
INSIGHTFUL— Mikhail is the first member of Torna we see who openly questions Jin’s goal to destroy the world, and he questions it again when they descend into the land of Morytha. Mik may have helped perpetuate the evils that Jin and Malos decided to bring upon Alrest, but he clearly had the capacity to stop and reconsider their actions. It certainly doesn’t excuse anything that he’d done, but he does come to realize that Torna was wrong. At the very end, he sacrifices himself to help the protagonists ascend the World Tree. As he ponders his abrupt decision, he asks: ”I wonder… if the people I loved were still around, would things be different? I wonder that, and I start doubting myself.” We see no trace of the person he used to be until this moment, when he recalls a past long gone and reflects upon the things he'd done. In non-canonical NG+ continuity in which he somehow survives the explosion that kills him, Mikhail expresses that he wants to become a better person and find reasons for believing in the world that Torna wanted to destroy. Mik’s a piece of shit, but he’s a piece of shit that knows he’s a piece of shit (even if he won’t admit it like that). His redemption won’t come so easily if he's given another chance to live, but he’s apparently willing to work at it to try to atone for at least some of the atrocities he played a part in.
DEXTEROUS— Not so much a personality strength as much as being resourceful and self-educated. Beneath the buffoonish clown act is a surprisingly sharp mind with extensive knowledge in engineering. Jin and Malos relied on Mikhail to handle all the matters with their warship and the artificial Blades, and throughout the game it’s consistently mentioned that Mikhail is the one handling all of Torna’s machinery behind the scenes.
Weaknesses:
MISANTHROPIC— He openly states that he hates all humans but never elaborates on why; we’re left to assume that he hates them for the same reason that Jin hates them. It’s a little easier to see his reasons if we look at what had happened after the old nation of Torna (not the present day terrorist group) fell: Indol took in refugees under the guise of aiding them, but instead used them for inhumane experiments to fuse Blade DNA into their bodies. Mikhail was one such victim, and was the only survivor after Indol decided to kill off the people they mutated. His hatred stemmed from there, then the blame spread to the God that had clearly abandoned his children to suffer. Torna hyperfocused on the flaws of humanity, and therefore terrorism with a healthy side of genocide was the only solution to fix that rotten world. Apparently.
FLIPPANT— He’s cocky, smug, and rarely takes anything seriously. When he and Patroka make their first appearance before the Aegis’s group, he fools around and makes some dramatic speech about the Aegis’s beauty before Patroka punches him and tells him to shut up. This flippant attitude is seen again much later in Tantal, when Jin has defeated the group; Mòrag is the only one to get up and attacks Mikhail, to which he grabs her by the throat and flirts with her, and then openly mocks Pyra for her very serious threat of killing herself if Jin would not let the group live. Even Malos, who’s usually cartoonishly evil, tells Mikhail to cut it out.
SELF-ABSORBED— It isn’t outwardly stated, but worth noting that Mikhail supposedly did nothing to help Jin when he was at his lowest before the events of the story swung into motion. Jin supposedly just needed a friend for him to find reason to live, and… Mikhail was not that person. There’s no saying how exactly things played out during that 500 years, but it’s very telling that both Mikhail and Jin turned out the way they did when they both used to be caring, well-adjusted people. Mikhail even already has an established connection to Jin, and they both know what the other was like before the tragedy of old Torna, yet things still went completely south for both of them. It says something about Mikhail’s emotional capacity as well, that he could never connect with Jin in the way Malos did. Or he simply didn’t try.
Powers/Abilities:Blades are sentient beings with unique weapons and control over ether, summoned from Core Crystals by those with the aptitude to become a Driver, but that aptitude is never clearly defined. Mikhail is a Blade Eater, a human with an unawakened Core Crystal implanted into his body.
This has rapidly slowed down his aging (he only appears in his early-mid 20s, 500 years later) and gives him the ability to conjure his own weapons exactly how a normal Blade would. Assumedly he also has the regenerative abilities of a Blade and can rapidly heal wounds, but he’s not truly immortal. Canon is very… very vague about how exactly his physiology was affected, unfortunately, but I run with the assumption that he has all the abilities of a normal Blade but still physically functions as a regular human, as in he still needs food and water like every other schmuck.
Mikhail can conjure a pair of fans and has control over dark elemental ether. As a side effect of the successful Blade Eater experiment, he also has the unique ability to distort gravity around him to knock foes off their feet or trap them to the ground.
He can also form temporary affinity links with anyone who has that loosely defined aptitude to be a Driver. While normal Blades only have one Driver and have their lifespan linked to that of their Driver, Mikhail can attach and detach himself to Drivers at will. Whoever is his temporary Driver can use his weapons and utilize his ether energy to perform dark elemental-type Arts.
He’s also very good at drawing attention to himself, as a Tank-type Blade.
Other Noteworthy Traits: He’s great with fiddling with machines (he somehow modified an ancient warship into a giant mech?), has Salvaging Mastery and Ancient Wisdom as his field skills, and likes reading books. Also he really likes to dance, I guess!! Weapons & Other Special Inventory: Just his Infinity Fans. As long as that Core Crystal in his chest is intact he can summon them.
Color: Red. Aside from his general color scheme (his whole armor is red) the color is usually associated with anger… and amorous love. He likes flirting with women, did I mention that?
Mikhail | Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Name: Amy
Contact: PM, or
Current Character(s): n/a
Character Info
Character's Name: Mikhail
Character's Canon: Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Character's Age: ~500, appears in his early-mid 20s
Canon Point: after his death
Background/History: wiki link
Strengths:
PERSISTENT— … though debatably, this could also be called a flaw. Through development that’s never explained nor seen, Mikhail outgrew his quietly taciturn personality as a child to become an outspoken and lively man over the course of 500 years. It’s a testament to how stubborn he can be about enduring tragedy and grief, serving as a double-edged sword that feeds his cynicism but also keeps him on his feet. Throw whatever you want at this guy, he’ll either laugh it off or fight until the bitter end. While Jin and Malos were rather blunt about not caring about whether they lived or died as long as they killed everyone else first, Mikhail never seemed to express the same suicidal sentiments, implying that he wasn’t yet ready to give up on his own life for such a cause.
INSIGHTFUL— Mikhail is the first member of Torna we see who openly questions Jin’s goal to destroy the world, and he questions it again when they descend into the land of Morytha. Mik may have helped perpetuate the evils that Jin and Malos decided to bring upon Alrest, but he clearly had the capacity to stop and reconsider their actions. It certainly doesn’t excuse anything that he’d done, but he does come to realize that Torna was wrong. At the very end, he sacrifices himself to help the protagonists ascend the World Tree. As he ponders his abrupt decision, he asks: ”I wonder… if the people I loved were still around, would things be different? I wonder that, and I start doubting myself.” We see no trace of the person he used to be until this moment, when he recalls a past long gone and reflects upon the things he'd done. In non-canonical NG+ continuity in which he somehow survives the explosion that kills him, Mikhail expresses that he wants to become a better person and find reasons for believing in the world that Torna wanted to destroy. Mik’s a piece of shit, but he’s a piece of shit that knows he’s a piece of shit (even if he won’t admit it like that). His redemption won’t come so easily if he's given another chance to live, but he’s apparently willing to work at it to try to atone for at least some of the atrocities he played a part in.
DEXTEROUS— Not so much a personality strength as much as being resourceful and self-educated. Beneath the buffoonish clown act is a surprisingly sharp mind with extensive knowledge in engineering. Jin and Malos relied on Mikhail to handle all the matters with their warship and the artificial Blades, and throughout the game it’s consistently mentioned that Mikhail is the one handling all of Torna’s machinery behind the scenes.
Weaknesses:
MISANTHROPIC— He openly states that he hates all humans but never elaborates on why; we’re left to assume that he hates them for the same reason that Jin hates them. It’s a little easier to see his reasons if we look at what had happened after the old nation of Torna (not the present day terrorist group) fell: Indol took in refugees under the guise of aiding them, but instead used them for inhumane experiments to fuse Blade DNA into their bodies. Mikhail was one such victim, and was the only survivor after Indol decided to kill off the people they mutated. His hatred stemmed from there, then the blame spread to the God that had clearly abandoned his children to suffer. Torna hyperfocused on the flaws of humanity, and therefore terrorism with a healthy side of genocide was the only solution to fix that rotten world. Apparently.
FLIPPANT— He’s cocky, smug, and rarely takes anything seriously. When he and Patroka make their first appearance before the Aegis’s group, he fools around and makes some dramatic speech about the Aegis’s beauty before Patroka punches him and tells him to shut up. This flippant attitude is seen again much later in Tantal, when Jin has defeated the group; Mòrag is the only one to get up and attacks Mikhail, to which he grabs her by the throat and flirts with her, and then openly mocks Pyra for her very serious threat of killing herself if Jin would not let the group live. Even Malos, who’s usually cartoonishly evil, tells Mikhail to cut it out.
SELF-ABSORBED— It isn’t outwardly stated, but worth noting that Mikhail supposedly did nothing to help Jin when he was at his lowest before the events of the story swung into motion. Jin supposedly just needed a friend for him to find reason to live, and… Mikhail was not that person. There’s no saying how exactly things played out during that 500 years, but it’s very telling that both Mikhail and Jin turned out the way they did when they both used to be caring, well-adjusted people. Mikhail even already has an established connection to Jin, and they both know what the other was like before the tragedy of old Torna, yet things still went completely south for both of them. It says something about Mikhail’s emotional capacity as well, that he could never connect with Jin in the way Malos did. Or he simply didn’t try.
Powers/Abilities: Blades are sentient beings with unique weapons and control over ether, summoned from Core Crystals by those with the aptitude to become a Driver, but that aptitude is never clearly defined. Mikhail is a Blade Eater, a human with an unawakened Core Crystal implanted into his body.
This has rapidly slowed down his aging (he only appears in his early-mid 20s, 500 years later) and gives him the ability to conjure his own weapons exactly how a normal Blade would. Assumedly he also has the regenerative abilities of a Blade and can rapidly heal wounds, but he’s not truly immortal. Canon is very… very vague about how exactly his physiology was affected, unfortunately, but I run with the assumption that he has all the abilities of a normal Blade but still physically functions as a regular human, as in he still needs food and water like every other schmuck.
Mikhail can conjure a pair of fans and has control over dark elemental ether. As a side effect of the successful Blade Eater experiment, he also has the unique ability to distort gravity around him to knock foes off their feet or trap them to the ground.
He can also form temporary affinity links with anyone who has that loosely defined aptitude to be a Driver. While normal Blades only have one Driver and have their lifespan linked to that of their Driver, Mikhail can attach and detach himself to Drivers at will. Whoever is his temporary Driver can use his weapons and utilize his ether energy to perform dark elemental-type Arts.
He’s also very good at drawing attention to himself, as a Tank-type Blade.
Other Noteworthy Traits: He’s great with fiddling with machines (he somehow modified an ancient warship into a giant mech?), has Salvaging Mastery and Ancient Wisdom as his field skills, and likes reading books. Also he really likes to dance, I guess!!
Weapons & Other Special Inventory:
Just his Infinity Fans. As long as that Core Crystal in his chest is intact he can summon them.
Color: Red. Aside from his general color scheme (his whole armor is red) the color is usually associated with anger… and amorous love. He likes flirting with women, did I mention that?
Sample: one thread, another thread.
[ OPTIONAL ] World Aspect: n/a