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rampantfantasy[OOC Information]
Name: Nai(lo) (the Nai of many modifiers)
Age: I turned 21on New Year's Day :D
AIM/Plurk/Dreamwidth/Email: starcrossedskyy@AIM, starcrossedsky@plurk, starcrossedsky@Skype
What characters do you already play here, if any?
How did you hear about the game? 101% Cygna’s Fault
[IC Information]
Character Name: Riku Replica
Series: Kingdom Hearts
Gender: Male
Age: It’s Complicated (~15 physically; chronologically about two weeks? being replica is suffering)
Species: Human (KH Replica)
Appearance: A teenage boy, just entering the ridiculous-growth-spurt stage of puberty, with arms that are too muscular for their own good and faintly tanned skin. Overall, his coloration is pale; light blue-green eyes and silver hair feathered to the nape of his neck. This is more particularly striking in the darkness-based bodysuit that he usually wears, which wraps him in black, dark blue, and red swirls from the underside of his jaw on down save for a mostly-white half-skirt. His more “normal” clothes include a strapped yellow vest and dark blue wading pants.
Personality: It’s impossible to discuss the replica’s personality without comparing it to Riku’s - in the most general of ways, he resembles the person he was copied from. The both of them possess strong wills to protect those close to them, and the replica has a great deal of the arrogance that Riku possessed in the first game and is only coming to terms with in Chain of Memories. In comparison to Riku, however, the replica tends to have a quicker temper and, at the end of his life, a significantly larger bitter streak.
Both before his memory modification and during the period he believed he was the real Riku, the replica thought himself powerful and in control - he was better than Riku who was scared of the Darkness, he was better than Sora who forgot and abandoned Namine. In both cases, it takes a serious show of power to break this belief - although the replica would forget his first encounter with Larxene, her treating him as a toy to be played with, and Vexen’s callous abandonment of him, seemed to have struck a great fear into the replica. His world is broken again when Namine shatters his heart and memories - however, rather than responding with fear, this turns the replica bitter about his state of existence.
In spite of this, he continues to protect Namine, to fulfill a promise that never really existed - possibly because it was the only “real” thing he had to hold on to. His relationship with Namine, although patterned after Riku’s relationship with Kairi, is theirs alone - unlike his bond with Sora, which is influenced by Sora’s memories of the real Riku. Perhaps this is why the replica rejects the latter and not the former, although his last interaction with the two indicates that he has some fondness for both Sora and Namine as friends.
When it comes to events, the replica is largely a reactive person - he doesn’t particularly plan, just following what seems like the best idea at the time. He seems plenty content to go along with Vexen’s plans in the beginning of his life (up until those plans involved the modification of his memory) and to go along with Axel and destroy Zexion. The replica’s desires are always things that can be summarized simply - “protect Namine,” “prove myself against the real Riku” - which can work to his disadvantage in a world as full of manipulators as Kingdom Hearts.
And because his reactions to things are often anger and running off, the replica doesn’t exactly form bonds easily. Not that Riku does, by any means, but the only interactions the replica has with anyone that aren’t touched with some form of antagonism are those he has with Namine. That isn’t to say he’s incapable of it (as demonstrated by his gentleness towards Namine as well as his more introspective last conversations with Sora and Riku), but it isn’t his default response to new people or even to people he already “knows.”
Finally, these is the issue in itself of being Riku’s replica. After the shattering of his memories seemingly restores memories of his true nature to him, the replica seems inclined to discount himself as a fake in a way he was unwilling to before his memories were modified. He’s no longer a “better Riku” unrestrained by fear of the Darkness - he’s a tool that got broken and thrown away by the Organization, and he knows it. Thus, he tends to feel unworthy towards the things he considers "Riku's," such as friendship with Sora, and makes a point out of rejeecting them.
Abilities: As a copy of Riku from the early era of the canon, the replica possess a large variety of abilities utilizing Darkness, and he uses them more freely and easily than Riku does at the same point in the timeline. Primarily, these are used to enhance his own style of swordsmanship, granting him additional strength and speed. The specific abilities given by the darkness include short-range teleporting (“warping”), darkness-based fireballs (“Dark Firaga”), and he also has access to “Dark Mode,” which is a bodysuit formed by the darkness that appears to enhance related abilities. Common Darkness-related abilities that the replica does not seem to possess but may develop in the future include a heightened sense of “smell” that can be used to tell how much darkness is in a person’s heart, and a reflective honeycomb-barrier called Dark Shield. (Riku develops both of these abilities in later canon.)
He may have the potential to develop a Keyblade of his own; although Riku did not possess a full Keyblade at the time the data was taken (only the “proto-keyblade” Soul Eater), he did possess the potential to manifest one eventually (given by Terra in Birth By Sleep). As the other replica in the Kingdom Hearts series (Xion) was created specifically for her ability to wield a Keyblade as a replica of Sora, it stands to reason that the Riku Replica likewise contains the same potential that Riku does. As a replica, he has an unexplained ability to absorb (strength? abilities? It’s unclear) from others (notably Zexion).
Items: His clothes. That’s it, pretty much.
History: The replica was originally created by Vexen as an experiment, and possibly to counter Marluxia’s intent to control Sora. It’s known that Vexen collected Riku’s data after Riku arrived in Castle Oblivion and that the Riku Replica was predated by Xion (the “superior” replica of Sora that was allowed entry into the organization), but beyond that, the exact methods of his creation are unknown.
Notable is one difference from Xion, who began life as a quiet, personality-less doll - the Riku replica is introduced as being already aware of what he is - a replica of Riku capable of wielding the darkness and, to some extent, a tool of the Organization. From the outset of his birth, he demonstrates full awareness and a variation of Riku’s personality.
Not long after his birth, Vexen places him against Riku as a test - the replica claims superiority based on his free use of the powers of Darkness that he and Riku both possess, but is defeated by Riku at that time (the replica blames it on his being practically new-born). Vexen takes him up to the upper floors of the Castle, to where the other half of the Organization (Marluxia, Larxene, and Axel) are keeping Namine. Here it is suggested that he be pitted against Sora as a “true” replica of Riku - one that possesses a modified version of Riku’s memories, implanted by Namine. The replica objects to this, but Vexen is intrigued by the idea enough to allow it. When the replica attempts to fight against it, Larxene overpowers him.
The next time the replica appears, he believes completely that he is the real Riku due to the implantation of memories of Namine and Sora. (Interestingly, some memories of Kairi were implanted only to be removed later - in his first appearance in Sora’s story, the replica asserts that going back to the islands to protect Kairi was Sora’s job, but this is the only time she comes up in conversation between them.) He and Sora clash several times as Sora ascends the castle, each time leading to the replica’s defeat, over a “promise” made to Namine to protect her - both the replica and Sora received the same memories of false events that only one could logically witness.
His last battle with Sora takes place at the entry to the thirteenth floor, after Sora and Namine have met and Sora is aware that his memories are false. In order to stop him striking down Sora, Namine shatters the replica’s heart, turning him into an unconscious doll and breaking the chains of his false memories. Larxene arrives on the scene and explains the deception, although with one glaring error - she states that Riku was never in the castle at all, not knowing that he is in the floors below.
Sora presses on after defeating Larxene, leaving Namine alone with the damaged replica. Marluxia soon arrives, taking Namine deeper into the floor, and sometime after this the replica wakes up and pursues them. Aware again of his true nature, the replica arrives just as Marluxia is attempting to force Namine to shatter Sora’s heart. He defends Namine while Sora dispatches Marluxia, then prepares to take his leave. While Sora insists that even if he isn’t the real Riku, he’s still a person, the replica basically waves off the attempt at friendship before turning away to pursue ...whatever it was he was planning to do.
It’s at this point that Axel finds him, and leads him back to the basements. Promising the replica more power, Axel sics the kid on Zexion, who is already injured and near death after a confrontation with Riku. The replica absorbs some of Zexion’s strength, killing the Nobody while Axel looks on, and goes off in search of Riku.
This final confrontation is different in tone - Riku has mastered and no longer fears his darkness, and the replica has had his world shattered, replaced, and shattered again. The replica wants to defeat Riku to prove that he’s more than just a fake, but it doesn’t turn out that way - Riku bests his replica, leaving him on his back on the ground, dissolving into a pool of darkness. Their parting exchange is not entirely antagonistic, with Riku saying that their hearts will go to the same place before the replica dissolves.
DEAD.
First-Person Communicator Sample: [Note that this would be an anonymous text post - own up to needing advice? Never going to happen.]
If you had someone you thought was a friend, and it turned out that you were never really friends at all, what would you do? Would you keep on being their friend, even if you weren't the person they thought you were? Would you leave them?
I guess what I'm trying to ask is how much would a fake friendship matter to you, if you thought it was real at the time?
...Nevermind. It's not that important.
Third-Person RP Sample: It was pretty strange to think about - although his fake memories had shown him a large part of Destiny Islands, this was his first time in any world other than Castle Oblivion. Traverse Town was very different from his hazy, half-shattered memories of tropical sunlight, and the real, solid memories of white castle halls. In spite of it being night, the town was far less ominous than the well-lit floors of the castlewherehe'd lived and died.
"Hey, are you coming?" the boy calls to the Dream Eater that fluttersalong after him. The Komory Bat has gotten distracted by something in a shop window, a glittering windchime that spins slowly and throws little rainbows into the street. At the boy's voice, it turns towards him, flapping its wings excitedly and dipping towards theshop window. The boy makes a sour face at it.
"We don't have time to waste shopping." Getting a place to stay and food to eat is more important than looking at things in the windows. The bat droops its wings in disappointment. The boy sighs and turns away, brushing some of the silver hair out of his face. "Fine, you can stay here if you want."
Not long after he startsto walk off, though, he hears the sounds of wings flapping hard to catch up with him. The replica stops, letting the Dream Eater fly over to hover in front of him, and gives it a small smile that could easily be missed if you weren't looking at exactly the right moment.
"Well, it's nice to see thatat least you like me enough to stick around."
What’s the mod’s favorite Dream Eater? Pricklemane :3
Name: Nai(lo) (the Nai of many modifiers)
Age: I turned 21on New Year's Day :D
AIM/Plurk/Dreamwidth/Email: starcrossedskyy@AIM, starcrossedsky@plurk, starcrossedsky@Skype
What characters do you already play here, if any?
How did you hear about the game? 101% Cygna’s Fault
[IC Information]
Character Name: Riku Replica
Series: Kingdom Hearts
Gender: Male
Age: It’s Complicated (~15 physically; chronologically about two weeks? being replica is suffering)
Species: Human (KH Replica)
Appearance: A teenage boy, just entering the ridiculous-growth-spurt stage of puberty, with arms that are too muscular for their own good and faintly tanned skin. Overall, his coloration is pale; light blue-green eyes and silver hair feathered to the nape of his neck. This is more particularly striking in the darkness-based bodysuit that he usually wears, which wraps him in black, dark blue, and red swirls from the underside of his jaw on down save for a mostly-white half-skirt. His more “normal” clothes include a strapped yellow vest and dark blue wading pants.
Personality: It’s impossible to discuss the replica’s personality without comparing it to Riku’s - in the most general of ways, he resembles the person he was copied from. The both of them possess strong wills to protect those close to them, and the replica has a great deal of the arrogance that Riku possessed in the first game and is only coming to terms with in Chain of Memories. In comparison to Riku, however, the replica tends to have a quicker temper and, at the end of his life, a significantly larger bitter streak.
Both before his memory modification and during the period he believed he was the real Riku, the replica thought himself powerful and in control - he was better than Riku who was scared of the Darkness, he was better than Sora who forgot and abandoned Namine. In both cases, it takes a serious show of power to break this belief - although the replica would forget his first encounter with Larxene, her treating him as a toy to be played with, and Vexen’s callous abandonment of him, seemed to have struck a great fear into the replica. His world is broken again when Namine shatters his heart and memories - however, rather than responding with fear, this turns the replica bitter about his state of existence.
In spite of this, he continues to protect Namine, to fulfill a promise that never really existed - possibly because it was the only “real” thing he had to hold on to. His relationship with Namine, although patterned after Riku’s relationship with Kairi, is theirs alone - unlike his bond with Sora, which is influenced by Sora’s memories of the real Riku. Perhaps this is why the replica rejects the latter and not the former, although his last interaction with the two indicates that he has some fondness for both Sora and Namine as friends.
When it comes to events, the replica is largely a reactive person - he doesn’t particularly plan, just following what seems like the best idea at the time. He seems plenty content to go along with Vexen’s plans in the beginning of his life (up until those plans involved the modification of his memory) and to go along with Axel and destroy Zexion. The replica’s desires are always things that can be summarized simply - “protect Namine,” “prove myself against the real Riku” - which can work to his disadvantage in a world as full of manipulators as Kingdom Hearts.
And because his reactions to things are often anger and running off, the replica doesn’t exactly form bonds easily. Not that Riku does, by any means, but the only interactions the replica has with anyone that aren’t touched with some form of antagonism are those he has with Namine. That isn’t to say he’s incapable of it (as demonstrated by his gentleness towards Namine as well as his more introspective last conversations with Sora and Riku), but it isn’t his default response to new people or even to people he already “knows.”
Finally, these is the issue in itself of being Riku’s replica. After the shattering of his memories seemingly restores memories of his true nature to him, the replica seems inclined to discount himself as a fake in a way he was unwilling to before his memories were modified. He’s no longer a “better Riku” unrestrained by fear of the Darkness - he’s a tool that got broken and thrown away by the Organization, and he knows it. Thus, he tends to feel unworthy towards the things he considers "Riku's," such as friendship with Sora, and makes a point out of rejeecting them.
Abilities: As a copy of Riku from the early era of the canon, the replica possess a large variety of abilities utilizing Darkness, and he uses them more freely and easily than Riku does at the same point in the timeline. Primarily, these are used to enhance his own style of swordsmanship, granting him additional strength and speed. The specific abilities given by the darkness include short-range teleporting (“warping”), darkness-based fireballs (“Dark Firaga”), and he also has access to “Dark Mode,” which is a bodysuit formed by the darkness that appears to enhance related abilities. Common Darkness-related abilities that the replica does not seem to possess but may develop in the future include a heightened sense of “smell” that can be used to tell how much darkness is in a person’s heart, and a reflective honeycomb-barrier called Dark Shield. (Riku develops both of these abilities in later canon.)
He may have the potential to develop a Keyblade of his own; although Riku did not possess a full Keyblade at the time the data was taken (only the “proto-keyblade” Soul Eater), he did possess the potential to manifest one eventually (given by Terra in Birth By Sleep). As the other replica in the Kingdom Hearts series (Xion) was created specifically for her ability to wield a Keyblade as a replica of Sora, it stands to reason that the Riku Replica likewise contains the same potential that Riku does. As a replica, he has an unexplained ability to absorb (strength? abilities? It’s unclear) from others (notably Zexion).
Items: His clothes. That’s it, pretty much.
History: The replica was originally created by Vexen as an experiment, and possibly to counter Marluxia’s intent to control Sora. It’s known that Vexen collected Riku’s data after Riku arrived in Castle Oblivion and that the Riku Replica was predated by Xion (the “superior” replica of Sora that was allowed entry into the organization), but beyond that, the exact methods of his creation are unknown.
Notable is one difference from Xion, who began life as a quiet, personality-less doll - the Riku replica is introduced as being already aware of what he is - a replica of Riku capable of wielding the darkness and, to some extent, a tool of the Organization. From the outset of his birth, he demonstrates full awareness and a variation of Riku’s personality.
Not long after his birth, Vexen places him against Riku as a test - the replica claims superiority based on his free use of the powers of Darkness that he and Riku both possess, but is defeated by Riku at that time (the replica blames it on his being practically new-born). Vexen takes him up to the upper floors of the Castle, to where the other half of the Organization (Marluxia, Larxene, and Axel) are keeping Namine. Here it is suggested that he be pitted against Sora as a “true” replica of Riku - one that possesses a modified version of Riku’s memories, implanted by Namine. The replica objects to this, but Vexen is intrigued by the idea enough to allow it. When the replica attempts to fight against it, Larxene overpowers him.
The next time the replica appears, he believes completely that he is the real Riku due to the implantation of memories of Namine and Sora. (Interestingly, some memories of Kairi were implanted only to be removed later - in his first appearance in Sora’s story, the replica asserts that going back to the islands to protect Kairi was Sora’s job, but this is the only time she comes up in conversation between them.) He and Sora clash several times as Sora ascends the castle, each time leading to the replica’s defeat, over a “promise” made to Namine to protect her - both the replica and Sora received the same memories of false events that only one could logically witness.
His last battle with Sora takes place at the entry to the thirteenth floor, after Sora and Namine have met and Sora is aware that his memories are false. In order to stop him striking down Sora, Namine shatters the replica’s heart, turning him into an unconscious doll and breaking the chains of his false memories. Larxene arrives on the scene and explains the deception, although with one glaring error - she states that Riku was never in the castle at all, not knowing that he is in the floors below.
Sora presses on after defeating Larxene, leaving Namine alone with the damaged replica. Marluxia soon arrives, taking Namine deeper into the floor, and sometime after this the replica wakes up and pursues them. Aware again of his true nature, the replica arrives just as Marluxia is attempting to force Namine to shatter Sora’s heart. He defends Namine while Sora dispatches Marluxia, then prepares to take his leave. While Sora insists that even if he isn’t the real Riku, he’s still a person, the replica basically waves off the attempt at friendship before turning away to pursue ...whatever it was he was planning to do.
It’s at this point that Axel finds him, and leads him back to the basements. Promising the replica more power, Axel sics the kid on Zexion, who is already injured and near death after a confrontation with Riku. The replica absorbs some of Zexion’s strength, killing the Nobody while Axel looks on, and goes off in search of Riku.
This final confrontation is different in tone - Riku has mastered and no longer fears his darkness, and the replica has had his world shattered, replaced, and shattered again. The replica wants to defeat Riku to prove that he’s more than just a fake, but it doesn’t turn out that way - Riku bests his replica, leaving him on his back on the ground, dissolving into a pool of darkness. Their parting exchange is not entirely antagonistic, with Riku saying that their hearts will go to the same place before the replica dissolves.
DEAD.
First-Person Communicator Sample: [Note that this would be an anonymous text post - own up to needing advice? Never going to happen.]
If you had someone you thought was a friend, and it turned out that you were never really friends at all, what would you do? Would you keep on being their friend, even if you weren't the person they thought you were? Would you leave them?
I guess what I'm trying to ask is how much would a fake friendship matter to you, if you thought it was real at the time?
...Nevermind. It's not that important.
Third-Person RP Sample: It was pretty strange to think about - although his fake memories had shown him a large part of Destiny Islands, this was his first time in any world other than Castle Oblivion. Traverse Town was very different from his hazy, half-shattered memories of tropical sunlight, and the real, solid memories of white castle halls. In spite of it being night, the town was far less ominous than the well-lit floors of the castlewherehe'd lived and died.
"Hey, are you coming?" the boy calls to the Dream Eater that fluttersalong after him. The Komory Bat has gotten distracted by something in a shop window, a glittering windchime that spins slowly and throws little rainbows into the street. At the boy's voice, it turns towards him, flapping its wings excitedly and dipping towards theshop window. The boy makes a sour face at it.
"We don't have time to waste shopping." Getting a place to stay and food to eat is more important than looking at things in the windows. The bat droops its wings in disappointment. The boy sighs and turns away, brushing some of the silver hair out of his face. "Fine, you can stay here if you want."
Not long after he startsto walk off, though, he hears the sounds of wings flapping hard to catch up with him. The replica stops, letting the Dream Eater fly over to hover in front of him, and gives it a small smile that could easily be missed if you weren't looking at exactly the right moment.
"Well, it's nice to see thatat least you like me enough to stick around."
What’s the mod’s favorite Dream Eater? Pricklemane :3
