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IC Information
Name: Emil
Canon: Nier
Gender: Male
Age: Over 1300, physically 10.
History: Once, a long time ago, Emil was a normal child. He had a normal life with his twin sister and his parents...until he was about 8 years old, at which time both of his parents died in an accident. Both Emil and his sister, Halua, were taken to a facility. While it might have seemed like an orphanage, the truth was much less kind. They were given strange tests, and there were very few children at the facility-- mostly adults in white coats. Though Emil never really suspected anything, he eventually learned what was really going on, the hard way. The facility was creating magic weapons, using human children. Halua was selected to become the next experiment in weapons creation, but upon waking as a giant terrifying skeleton with immense strength, she was understandably a little bit freaked out and proceeded to go on a rampage, only stopped when Emil, who'd also been turned into a weapon, used his new powers to petrify Halua, turning her to stone and stopping her from causing anymore harm. After this, Halua was kept in a chamber deep within the underground facility.
Aside from a single researcher, who (up until her death at the weaponized Halua's hands) had treated Emil somewhat like her own child, most of the facility's people considered Emil terrifying. His powers couldn't be fully controlled, and as a result, everything he looked at would turn to stone. He wore a blindfold and lived with his eyes closed ever since those changes were made to his body, though because of everything from his powers themselves up to the way he could easily walk around without bumping into anything, the researchers thought of him as almost like a monster. But with no permanent way to get rid of Halua, Emil had to be kept around. The aboveground part of the facility was renovated and appeared to be a normal mansion, and for the next 1300 years, Emil spent his life there, and whether his memories of those incidents faded during that time, or the horror of what he'd witnessed and done caused him to forget (the more likely reason), he eventually began living as a seemingly-normal young boy.
The world, which had all but died, was a mess by the time things changed for Emil. Everything outside the towns was overrun by strange monsters called Shades (since this is a background just for Emil, I won't even begin to touch on this, but just know that it's a long and complicated explanation that involves weird cloning and soul science), and the planet's axis had tilted so that there was no more night, and technology was all but lost.
There were always strange rumors about his mansion, people saying it might be haunted, but until Emil's robot butler (please don't ask), Sebastian, sent a letter to a man who would take on literally any job, there wasn't much else known. This man, whose name is Nier, didn't actually get the letter first, because his daughter got it out of the mail and thought it was for her, and Sebastian wrote the letter pretending to be Emil, and Nier's daughter was like "Dad, it's from my friend, we have to help!" so Nier went over to the mansion thinking that he was going to have to beat someone up for dating his daughter or something.
In any case, it was quite a surprise for Emil when a big dude and a floating book showed up in his room, partially because he never really got guests, and partially because while he could hear the big dude walking, he couldn't hear the floating book. But rather than being upset about having strangers wandering around, he was pretty helpful and gave them keys to get around and eventually followed them around, turning the Shades that had taken up residence in his manor to stone. It turned out that Sebastian had sent the letter asking for help, because he thought that the cure for Emil's "condition" was in the mansion's library, but the library was full of Shades, so he couldn't exactly get there to find it. With Emil's help, the gang cleared the place and found what they were looking for, though it was written in code that would eventually take Sebastian like 5 years to figure out (no, really).
And because of that little adventure, Emil met his first friends, people who accepted him and weren't afraid of him and even thought that there was some use for his freaky eye powers. After they left, though, Shit Went Down in a bad way, and Emil blindly ran to Nier's village to warn him of the danger that was on its way...but by then it was too late, and the day ended with Nier's daughter being kidnapped by a weird Shade version of Nier and with a giant Shade locked inside the village library's basement-- sealed there by the other new friend of Emil's, Kaine. Though in order to make that happen, he had to petrify the doors closed, while Kaine stood in front of them to keep the Shade in. Basically, right after meeting his new BFFs, everything went to shit.
Anyway, fast forward 5 years, and Sebastian sends Nier another letter saying he thinks he has a clue of how to fix Emil, but it's in a secret downstairs area of the mansion. So Nier decides to go exploring the creepy basement, which is actually the laboratory from a few paragraphs ago, along with Emil. During this little adventure, Emil gradually begins to remember just what he is, eventually remembering everything when he comes face to face with the giant skeletal form of what used to be his sister, Halua. As they stood before her, she began to wake up from her petrification, pulling herself free of the giant nails that held her to the wall. Emil knew that with her power, he might be able to control his own magic, but he also knew that the odds of this whole "asking for help" thing weren't 100%. And then Halua got herself down from the wall and swallowed Emil whole.
Yes, that actually happened. Really, I'm not joking. Though in the game, they beat Halua up and get him out safely, and then he kind of turns into a mini skeleton thing. But since Monad requires a dead body...well, that's where it ends for him.
Personality: A "childish child." That's how Emil's sister, Halua, described him. And it's a pretty accurate observation. He's more than a little bit naïve, and even though he's more than 1300 years old, he's still as kind and innocent as he was when he was 10. Despite his age, he never really mentally grew up all the way, and acts quite like a sheltered child who doesn't know much about the world. Having lived a normal childhood, followed by a life in a strange facility didn't give him much opportunity to go see the world and grow up, especially considering he can't actually "see" anything now. He's easily fascinated by things like trains and electricity, has a pretty childish and downright stupid sense of humor, and seems to lack a verbal filter when it comes to his strange thoughts on things (anything from calling a fellow party member "scary" to mentioning how an enemy reminds him of spaghetti).
Most surprising is the way that, rather than hating the world or being unhappy with others for being afraid of him or being alone for so long, Emil's quite a friendly kid. He loves meeting new people, especially ones who aren't immediately terrified of him, and it's not that hard for Emil to grow attached to people. For someone who never really had friends, or people who looked at him as anything other than something to be feared, the idea that he can be accepted for who he is and really cared about is something new, and therefore, anyone who does treat him with kindness pretty much has a friend for life. And once he's friends with someone, he'll do just about anything for them, including being willing to throw away his own life to help them. Even Nier and Grimoire Weiss, who he'd only met a few minutes prior, were people he was willing to stay behind and fight enemies for while they got away safely (naturally, they turned him down). Even if he's scared, or he knows he's putting himself in danger, he rarely thinks twice if it's to help people who were nice to him.
That's not to say that he's not normally a kind person; Emil cares about everyone, really. Sure, he's got his limits, just like anyone else, but even people who don't want him hanging around them because he's sort of dangerous are treated well. It takes a lot to anger Emil or make him actually want to lash out. That's why he lived in solitude for so long; he would never want to hurt an innocent person, even if he was in danger. It's also why he wears the blindfold; even if his condition may make things difficult, he puts the safety of others before his own. He hates the idea of hurting or killing people, either directly or indirectly. Even if people are unkind to him, he simply accepts it and refuses to hold it against them, no matter how much it may upset him to be treated that way.
He's also pretty honest, and not exactly the best liar around; he tends to remain honest, but even when he lies-- always to protect the feelings of his friends and others-- his true feelings aren't really that difficult to figure out. It's kind of a mix of him having the tendency to just say what's on his mind (whether that's "electricity sounds stupid" or "oh my gosh being a lighthouse keeper sounds so romantic" or "if this guy had 8 arms that would be awesome" or "omg omg omg tell me all about your wedding was it the BEST THING EVER do you ever want to get married again"), as well as the fact that he just doesn't have much experience with hiding his feelings on things, and no prior need. I mean, if you lived alone for hundreds of years, it's not like you'd need to lie a lot.
Though he does clearly care deeply for his friends, his own self-esteem and self-worth are probably in need of a bit of work. He doesn't entirely have trouble thinking of himself as someone that should be kept away from others-- though it causes him a lot of emotional pain-- because of his powers, and is genuinely surprised at the kind treatment he receives from Nier and Kaine. In a sense, he's kind of ashamed of who and what he is, and it really takes the affirmation of others for him to realize that he does have some worth as a human. Really, he's not beyond help, but he just needs a little bit of work in the self-esteem department, and a little more time around people who think that he's fine as he is.
Once he does get that help, though, he really is a devoted friend, and pretty much will do anything for them, and makes his whole purpose revolve around them, as he never really had much of a purpose until then. However, he might get a bit too easily attached to people, because he still has that mindset that he should be feared and isn't worthy of kindness. So even a little kindness goes a long way with him. However, it also means he'll go to just about any lengths for those people, and will look up to them more than any others. He's a good kid, really, once you get past the freaky eye thing.
Powers/Abilities: Emil is capable of turning anything he looks at to stone. In order to avoid this, he always goes around wearing a blindfold, and keeps his eyes closed. He is also basically immortal (though not invulnerable), and has lived for over 1300 years. He also is apparently highly resistant to magic.
Keepsakes/Mementos:
- He would totally love to have his piano. Kid loves playing the piano.
- Unfortunately, his manor was large and not very...well-decorated. He did have a bunch of keys on him because of all the unlockable doors. Also his butler, who was totally an android. Dude was weird.
- Maybe the documents regarding the old project that resulted in him being turned into a weapon? Not that he could read those.
Sample: Of course, Emil had always spent a great deal of time wondering about himself. Why he had been alive so long, why he petrified everything he looked at, why he had to be like this at all. It only seemed normal that he shut himself away from the world...and only now did he have any hope of all of that changing.
But the further he followed Nier into the underground facility, hidden away for centuries beneath his manor, the more worried he became. He had to continue, of course-- he knew that, he wanted to continue on, to learn how to make it so that he wouldn't hurt people ever again. So no matter what they found, no matter how much his head kept hurting (it felt like there was something just beyond the edges of his memory, and try as he might, he just couldn't figure out what it was), no matter what happened to him, they had to keep going.
As they crossed the bridge into one last room, he could already hear something strange-- their steps, echoing far, far down was new, but the sound of breathing, ahead of them...slow and loud and heavy. It was unnerving, yet somehow familiar. And in the center of the room, standing before something giant, he suddenly remembered-- Halua.
He remembered everything.
The woman from the facility who took care of him and his sister, the strange tests they were given every day, the room they stayed in, together...the weapon his sister had been turned into. What they made him into. The people he'd killed...
Experimental weapon Number 7. That was him. Created to seal away his only family.
"This is Number 6," Emil told Nier and Weiss. The two of them, standing behind him, must have been shocked at what they saw. What he was telling them. He didn't know what their faces looked like, but he could guess. "She's...she's my sister."
Behind him, the large skeletal being that was once-- that was still-- his sister roared. He could hear the groaning of metal, the stakes and chains that had been used to hold her bending under her weight. "This thing is alive?" Weiss sounded scared. Emil had never seen his sister like this, but he could tell by her size, by the inhuman sounds she made, that it likely wasn't for no reason.
This was his only hope. It had to work. "My sister is the greatest weapon ever made...and... with her help, I could eradicate my petrification curse." He was confident in that, but whether it would work...he wasn't as sure. Nier must have been able to tell, he sounded ready to fight as he asked Emil what to do. "First, you have to promise me something. If my sister somehow manages to swallow me up..."
Behind him, the sound of a metal spike being pulled from the wall.
"If my original self becomes lost, I'm afraid I may try to hurt all of you."
The floor shook, as Halua finally broke free of her restraints, dropped to the ground in front of him. "And if that happens--" He heard Nier protesting, and turned around to face him. "I want you to kill me."
And an instant later, Halua was upon him.
Mindset: He'll definitely be scared at first! But he's pretty good at bouncing back and finding a reason to go on, even when things are terrible. So once he gets over the initial shock of being dead and being somewhere weird and unknown, he'll handle it all pretty well.
G̶̶l̨͡i̵͢t̷c͝͠h̕é͠s̷̷͡:
- The fact that he can turn things to stone just by looking at them is something that's caused him a lot of grief for hundreds of years.
- Normal people who entered his manor were accidentally turned to stone; their bodies are still out in the courtyard.
- His sister, who he had to petrify (and who swallowed him whole upon meeting him again).
- After having to petrify his sister, he was later used by a military group and ended up turning innocent people to stone.
- Out of the first friends he made, he had to petrify one of them (Kaine) only a day or so later.
Canon: Nier
Gender: Male
Age: Over 1300, physically 10.
History: Once, a long time ago, Emil was a normal child. He had a normal life with his twin sister and his parents...until he was about 8 years old, at which time both of his parents died in an accident. Both Emil and his sister, Halua, were taken to a facility. While it might have seemed like an orphanage, the truth was much less kind. They were given strange tests, and there were very few children at the facility-- mostly adults in white coats. Though Emil never really suspected anything, he eventually learned what was really going on, the hard way. The facility was creating magic weapons, using human children. Halua was selected to become the next experiment in weapons creation, but upon waking as a giant terrifying skeleton with immense strength, she was understandably a little bit freaked out and proceeded to go on a rampage, only stopped when Emil, who'd also been turned into a weapon, used his new powers to petrify Halua, turning her to stone and stopping her from causing anymore harm. After this, Halua was kept in a chamber deep within the underground facility.
Aside from a single researcher, who (up until her death at the weaponized Halua's hands) had treated Emil somewhat like her own child, most of the facility's people considered Emil terrifying. His powers couldn't be fully controlled, and as a result, everything he looked at would turn to stone. He wore a blindfold and lived with his eyes closed ever since those changes were made to his body, though because of everything from his powers themselves up to the way he could easily walk around without bumping into anything, the researchers thought of him as almost like a monster. But with no permanent way to get rid of Halua, Emil had to be kept around. The aboveground part of the facility was renovated and appeared to be a normal mansion, and for the next 1300 years, Emil spent his life there, and whether his memories of those incidents faded during that time, or the horror of what he'd witnessed and done caused him to forget (the more likely reason), he eventually began living as a seemingly-normal young boy.
The world, which had all but died, was a mess by the time things changed for Emil. Everything outside the towns was overrun by strange monsters called Shades (since this is a background just for Emil, I won't even begin to touch on this, but just know that it's a long and complicated explanation that involves weird cloning and soul science), and the planet's axis had tilted so that there was no more night, and technology was all but lost.
There were always strange rumors about his mansion, people saying it might be haunted, but until Emil's robot butler (please don't ask), Sebastian, sent a letter to a man who would take on literally any job, there wasn't much else known. This man, whose name is Nier, didn't actually get the letter first, because his daughter got it out of the mail and thought it was for her, and Sebastian wrote the letter pretending to be Emil, and Nier's daughter was like "Dad, it's from my friend, we have to help!" so Nier went over to the mansion thinking that he was going to have to beat someone up for dating his daughter or something.
In any case, it was quite a surprise for Emil when a big dude and a floating book showed up in his room, partially because he never really got guests, and partially because while he could hear the big dude walking, he couldn't hear the floating book. But rather than being upset about having strangers wandering around, he was pretty helpful and gave them keys to get around and eventually followed them around, turning the Shades that had taken up residence in his manor to stone. It turned out that Sebastian had sent the letter asking for help, because he thought that the cure for Emil's "condition" was in the mansion's library, but the library was full of Shades, so he couldn't exactly get there to find it. With Emil's help, the gang cleared the place and found what they were looking for, though it was written in code that would eventually take Sebastian like 5 years to figure out (no, really).
And because of that little adventure, Emil met his first friends, people who accepted him and weren't afraid of him and even thought that there was some use for his freaky eye powers. After they left, though, Shit Went Down in a bad way, and Emil blindly ran to Nier's village to warn him of the danger that was on its way...but by then it was too late, and the day ended with Nier's daughter being kidnapped by a weird Shade version of Nier and with a giant Shade locked inside the village library's basement-- sealed there by the other new friend of Emil's, Kaine. Though in order to make that happen, he had to petrify the doors closed, while Kaine stood in front of them to keep the Shade in. Basically, right after meeting his new BFFs, everything went to shit.
Anyway, fast forward 5 years, and Sebastian sends Nier another letter saying he thinks he has a clue of how to fix Emil, but it's in a secret downstairs area of the mansion. So Nier decides to go exploring the creepy basement, which is actually the laboratory from a few paragraphs ago, along with Emil. During this little adventure, Emil gradually begins to remember just what he is, eventually remembering everything when he comes face to face with the giant skeletal form of what used to be his sister, Halua. As they stood before her, she began to wake up from her petrification, pulling herself free of the giant nails that held her to the wall. Emil knew that with her power, he might be able to control his own magic, but he also knew that the odds of this whole "asking for help" thing weren't 100%. And then Halua got herself down from the wall and swallowed Emil whole.
Yes, that actually happened. Really, I'm not joking. Though in the game, they beat Halua up and get him out safely, and then he kind of turns into a mini skeleton thing. But since Monad requires a dead body...well, that's where it ends for him.
Personality: A "childish child." That's how Emil's sister, Halua, described him. And it's a pretty accurate observation. He's more than a little bit naïve, and even though he's more than 1300 years old, he's still as kind and innocent as he was when he was 10. Despite his age, he never really mentally grew up all the way, and acts quite like a sheltered child who doesn't know much about the world. Having lived a normal childhood, followed by a life in a strange facility didn't give him much opportunity to go see the world and grow up, especially considering he can't actually "see" anything now. He's easily fascinated by things like trains and electricity, has a pretty childish and downright stupid sense of humor, and seems to lack a verbal filter when it comes to his strange thoughts on things (anything from calling a fellow party member "scary" to mentioning how an enemy reminds him of spaghetti).
Most surprising is the way that, rather than hating the world or being unhappy with others for being afraid of him or being alone for so long, Emil's quite a friendly kid. He loves meeting new people, especially ones who aren't immediately terrified of him, and it's not that hard for Emil to grow attached to people. For someone who never really had friends, or people who looked at him as anything other than something to be feared, the idea that he can be accepted for who he is and really cared about is something new, and therefore, anyone who does treat him with kindness pretty much has a friend for life. And once he's friends with someone, he'll do just about anything for them, including being willing to throw away his own life to help them. Even Nier and Grimoire Weiss, who he'd only met a few minutes prior, were people he was willing to stay behind and fight enemies for while they got away safely (naturally, they turned him down). Even if he's scared, or he knows he's putting himself in danger, he rarely thinks twice if it's to help people who were nice to him.
That's not to say that he's not normally a kind person; Emil cares about everyone, really. Sure, he's got his limits, just like anyone else, but even people who don't want him hanging around them because he's sort of dangerous are treated well. It takes a lot to anger Emil or make him actually want to lash out. That's why he lived in solitude for so long; he would never want to hurt an innocent person, even if he was in danger. It's also why he wears the blindfold; even if his condition may make things difficult, he puts the safety of others before his own. He hates the idea of hurting or killing people, either directly or indirectly. Even if people are unkind to him, he simply accepts it and refuses to hold it against them, no matter how much it may upset him to be treated that way.
He's also pretty honest, and not exactly the best liar around; he tends to remain honest, but even when he lies-- always to protect the feelings of his friends and others-- his true feelings aren't really that difficult to figure out. It's kind of a mix of him having the tendency to just say what's on his mind (whether that's "electricity sounds stupid" or "oh my gosh being a lighthouse keeper sounds so romantic" or "if this guy had 8 arms that would be awesome" or "omg omg omg tell me all about your wedding was it the BEST THING EVER do you ever want to get married again"), as well as the fact that he just doesn't have much experience with hiding his feelings on things, and no prior need. I mean, if you lived alone for hundreds of years, it's not like you'd need to lie a lot.
Though he does clearly care deeply for his friends, his own self-esteem and self-worth are probably in need of a bit of work. He doesn't entirely have trouble thinking of himself as someone that should be kept away from others-- though it causes him a lot of emotional pain-- because of his powers, and is genuinely surprised at the kind treatment he receives from Nier and Kaine. In a sense, he's kind of ashamed of who and what he is, and it really takes the affirmation of others for him to realize that he does have some worth as a human. Really, he's not beyond help, but he just needs a little bit of work in the self-esteem department, and a little more time around people who think that he's fine as he is.
Once he does get that help, though, he really is a devoted friend, and pretty much will do anything for them, and makes his whole purpose revolve around them, as he never really had much of a purpose until then. However, he might get a bit too easily attached to people, because he still has that mindset that he should be feared and isn't worthy of kindness. So even a little kindness goes a long way with him. However, it also means he'll go to just about any lengths for those people, and will look up to them more than any others. He's a good kid, really, once you get past the freaky eye thing.
Powers/Abilities: Emil is capable of turning anything he looks at to stone. In order to avoid this, he always goes around wearing a blindfold, and keeps his eyes closed. He is also basically immortal (though not invulnerable), and has lived for over 1300 years. He also is apparently highly resistant to magic.
Keepsakes/Mementos:
- He would totally love to have his piano. Kid loves playing the piano.
- Unfortunately, his manor was large and not very...well-decorated. He did have a bunch of keys on him because of all the unlockable doors. Also his butler, who was totally an android. Dude was weird.
- Maybe the documents regarding the old project that resulted in him being turned into a weapon? Not that he could read those.
Sample: Of course, Emil had always spent a great deal of time wondering about himself. Why he had been alive so long, why he petrified everything he looked at, why he had to be like this at all. It only seemed normal that he shut himself away from the world...and only now did he have any hope of all of that changing.
But the further he followed Nier into the underground facility, hidden away for centuries beneath his manor, the more worried he became. He had to continue, of course-- he knew that, he wanted to continue on, to learn how to make it so that he wouldn't hurt people ever again. So no matter what they found, no matter how much his head kept hurting (it felt like there was something just beyond the edges of his memory, and try as he might, he just couldn't figure out what it was), no matter what happened to him, they had to keep going.
As they crossed the bridge into one last room, he could already hear something strange-- their steps, echoing far, far down was new, but the sound of breathing, ahead of them...slow and loud and heavy. It was unnerving, yet somehow familiar. And in the center of the room, standing before something giant, he suddenly remembered-- Halua.
He remembered everything.
The woman from the facility who took care of him and his sister, the strange tests they were given every day, the room they stayed in, together...the weapon his sister had been turned into. What they made him into. The people he'd killed...
Experimental weapon Number 7. That was him. Created to seal away his only family.
"This is Number 6," Emil told Nier and Weiss. The two of them, standing behind him, must have been shocked at what they saw. What he was telling them. He didn't know what their faces looked like, but he could guess. "She's...she's my sister."
Behind him, the large skeletal being that was once-- that was still-- his sister roared. He could hear the groaning of metal, the stakes and chains that had been used to hold her bending under her weight. "This thing is alive?" Weiss sounded scared. Emil had never seen his sister like this, but he could tell by her size, by the inhuman sounds she made, that it likely wasn't for no reason.
This was his only hope. It had to work. "My sister is the greatest weapon ever made...and... with her help, I could eradicate my petrification curse." He was confident in that, but whether it would work...he wasn't as sure. Nier must have been able to tell, he sounded ready to fight as he asked Emil what to do. "First, you have to promise me something. If my sister somehow manages to swallow me up..."
Behind him, the sound of a metal spike being pulled from the wall.
"If my original self becomes lost, I'm afraid I may try to hurt all of you."
The floor shook, as Halua finally broke free of her restraints, dropped to the ground in front of him. "And if that happens--" He heard Nier protesting, and turned around to face him. "I want you to kill me."
And an instant later, Halua was upon him.
Mindset: He'll definitely be scared at first! But he's pretty good at bouncing back and finding a reason to go on, even when things are terrible. So once he gets over the initial shock of being dead and being somewhere weird and unknown, he'll handle it all pretty well.
G̶̶l̨͡i̵͢t̷c͝͠h̕é͠s̷̷͡:
- The fact that he can turn things to stone just by looking at them is something that's caused him a lot of grief for hundreds of years.
- Normal people who entered his manor were accidentally turned to stone; their bodies are still out in the courtyard.
- His sister, who he had to petrify (and who swallowed him whole upon meeting him again).
- After having to petrify his sister, he was later used by a military group and ended up turning innocent people to stone.
- Out of the first friends he made, he had to petrify one of them (Kaine) only a day or so later.