Smash Academy (NEW APPLICATION)

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Out-of-Character Information

Name: Carbon
Are you over 15?: By ten years yes :c
Time Zone: EST
Personal Journal: carbonatedwater
Reliable Method of Contact: godofpaper84. My AIM is the same!
Other characters in the game: Nah.
Link to slot request if 6th, 7th slot:

Tegaki: CarbonatedWater
Anything Else?: WELCOME BACK KOTTER

In-Character Information

Name: Byrne
Game/Series: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Teacher/Student/Other: Teacher
Canon Point: After ripping Zelda's spirit from her body
Age: Most likely somewhere between 200 and 300 years old. Physically he looks like a young man.
Grade Level/Class Taught/Job: Train conducting
Dorm or Living Arrangement: Dddddorm.

Personality:

Upon first glance, Byrne seems completely menacing. And he is quite menacing and knows it. He actually enjoys keeping this image up, both to enhance his sense of power and to keep people away from him. He has a distaste for humans, it seems, so he'd most likely rather not deal with them. While Byrne does look human upon first glance, he is actually a Lokomo, and as such he has a great superiority complex. As Lokomo are meant to basically be the Spirits of Good's servants, he considers himself above humanity, closer to the tier of godhood.

However, despite the fact that he is a de facto servant to something that has the name Good attached to it, he doesn't actually care about the "right thing" most of the time. His desire for power overwhelms the better parts of his psyche, leading him to abandon his fellow Lokomo and the Spirits and take his own path. It isn't that he feels he'll get more power by being a politician or something; he feels that the one being that can offer him power is the most evil being in the land of [new] Hyrule. So not only does he abandon his race and masters, he sets off to do the exact opposite of what he's supposed to do - reviving the demon Malladus, which he's supposed to help keep sealed away. Whoops. So it's very plain to see that his principles are very misguided and he's extremely selfish.

The major reason he shoves people away, though, is that they remind him too much of what he was brought on this Earth to do, and they remind him of what he perceives as betrayal at the hands of the Spirits. Byrne is an antagonist and is quite selfish, but he's not entirely bad, and that part does nag at the back of his mind. He may not be happy with the Spirits or the other Lokomo, but there is an intrinsic part of him that knows that reviving Malladus could lead to chaos. (Spoilers: it does.)

But what keeps him going in this path is also a desire to show the Spirits that they had done wrong by betraying him. They denied giving him more power, and that's a resentment that he carries for over a century. It's a quest for vengeance, both on the Spirits and his former master, Anjean. He trains and trains throughout that century just so he can become more powerful, just so he can become enough to earn the approval of Malladus and finally become "just as powerful as the Spirits themselves." What Byrne knows is training, and he feels that if he trains enough, then he'll get what he wants. He trained as an apprentice to Anjean and did everything he thought he could do, gaining as much power as he thought he could under her. He did well, so the Spirits should grant his request for more power, right? Well, they didn't. That confused and enraged him. So he left and kept training, becoming more powerful physically, as that was the best he could do to compensate. And if he kept going, then he'd earn the favor of Malladus, right? And he'd figure out a way to revive him.

Past his canonpoint, Byrne is shown the error of his ways and actually redeems himself, regretting his wrongdoing and sacrificing himself to undo his mistake. However, this hasn't happened yet here, so he's still very much in the mindset that he needs more power, that he needs to keep training. If he can't revive Malladus here, then he will continuously look for another source of power.

However, it's also possible his guilt could catch up to him. His desire for power and resentment of the Spirits outweighs the guilt for now, but there are moments he feels guilty and realizes that what he does is wrong. But it may take a long time and plenty of self-reflection, possibly with the help of others who may sneak past the walls he puts up around himself. It's the compassion of his former enemies (Link and Zelda) combined with the betrayal of Malladus that ultimately helps Byrne realize the error of his ways, so it would certainly take a lot to calm him down in Smash Academy, but it's not impossible.

Byrne is the personal henchman/mercenary of Cole, a demon-thing who also wants to revive Malladus, likely for power reasons as well. Byrne quietly does what Cole asks, knowing that this will lead him to revive the Demon King and get what he wants. So while he does want power, there are small sacrifices he's willing to make. It's very likely that Byrne does not think too highly of Cole, and would not want to split his power. However, the two do need each other to complete the revival, and they cooperate to a point. Past the canonpoint, when Byrne does succeed in reviving Malladus, he's quick to point out to the Demon King that he is the one who did most of the work, so he deserves the gift of power. He'd likely throw Cole under the bus right then and there if it would serve to benefit him.

Byrne will cooperate with the school if he thinks it benefits him, but do not expect him to say many nice things, or much at all. He's somewhat quiet, preferring not to waste his words. Of course it's part of the wall he puts up to keep people away, to have as little social interaction as possible. He can get more wordy if his emotions catch up, mostly if he's angry. But even otherwise, his words can have a bit of a sarcastic bite. Past the canonpoint, he congratulates Link and Zelda for intruding upon his plans - right before fighting them. And while he lies injured in their train, his way of encouraging Zelda not to give up on reclaiming her body is to remind her, "Didn't you say you wanted to have words with me?" (Zelda had said this in reference to wanting to chew him out for essentially being an antagonist.)

Backstory:

Na na na na na na na na WIKI!

Once upon a time, there was a land called Hyrule. But whoops, the three goddesses who ruled over everything kind of flooded it, so it lay below the sea. Meanwhile, there was another land kind of nearby that was probably about as big as Hyrule, where people lived in peace. The Spirits of Good - who are probably somewhat like gods on a lower tier than the three main goddesses - ruled over the land. Everything was super until the great Demon King Malladus came and started wreaking havoc. The Spirits of Good fought him in a dreadful war, but unfortunately were unable to defeat him. They sealed him away in an underground prison with the Tower of Spirits serving as the lock, and the Spirit Tracks serving as the shackles. Conveniently, these tracks were perfectly fit for trains, so train conducting was probably invented shortly afterwards.

Because the Spirits of Good had exhausted much of their power and needed to recover, they sent down their servants, the Lokomo, to watch over the land and keep Malladus locked away. There are six main Lokomo who guard over the different realms, so they were likely the ones sent down. Anjean is the leader of them, guarding over the Tower of Spirits. Since Byrne is so much younger than them, he was likely born later. Whether there are a bunch of other Lokomo wandering around and having kids is completely unknown, but for now it can be assumed that Byrne was born 200-300 years before the start of Spirit Tracks.

Meanwhile, some time before the start of the game (four generations worth of time), a pirate named Tetra happened upon this land. Since her land of Hyrule had been buried beneath the sea, she wanted to start a new land and reclaim her royal heritage. Tetra became good friends with Anjean, and together they christened the land as the new Hyrule.

Anjean took Byrne in as an apprentice early in his life, presumably to train him to take up her position as the guardian of the Tower of Spirits whenever she passed. Byrne excelled in his training and grew strong, but Anjean saw darkness and an overzealous ambition in his heart. About 100 years before the start of the game, Byrne asked the Spirits of Good to grant him more power, but they denied his request. He was completely angry and hurt because he thought that he deserved the power for all that he had done, and as a result he left Anjean and his life behind.

Anjean was none too pleased, but she couldn't really stop him. So Byrne spent those next 100 years training and getting as much power as needed. Presumably he probably tried different schemes to seek the power he dreamed of, but nothing worked until he met the demon Cole. Byrne and Cole had come up with a plan to revive Malladus, as they both desired his power. Byrne served as Cole's henchman and pretty much did the dirty work, as well as utilizing his Lokomo power to create a Compass of Light and reveal the entrances to the Dark Realm. Together they worked to undo the shackles of the Spirit Tracks which kept Malladus bounded to his prison, and now all they had to do was find a body for him to possess.

Cole disguised himself as a chancellor and right-hand man to the current Princess Zelda, the great-great granddaughter of Tetra, in order to gain access to her. Though she was entirely suspicious of his motives, she still couldn't stop him when he and Byrne showed up to snatch her body away. Alfonzo, who once served as one of the highest officers in the Royal Guard, was still no match for Byrne, who eagerly subdued him with his strength. Link, who had tried to help Zelda escape the castle, was no match for him either, so it was pretty easy then for Byrne and Cole to separate Zelda's spirit from her body. So now, with body in hand, they set off to begin the ritual of reviving the Demon King.

Everything seemed to be going pretty well for Byrne, and he was finally going to get the power he had always dreamed of. He figured Malladus would reward him for his hard work in reviving him, and everything would be just swell. As the ritual was a days-long affair, Byrne stopped to rest for the night. But... he didn't wake up where he went to sleep. Nope, he woke up at this weird Academy in his very own dorm! He was not very pleased, to say the least.

Anything Else?:

I've played Byrne here before, but as you could probably tell, I'm giving him a canon reset and wiping all of his previous memories.

Byrne is a pretty formidable fighter, and relies on his crazy metallic gauntlet. The thing is massive, so while his regular hand rests within its "sleeve," he can shoot the metallic hand out like a grapple and propel himself. It's a useful weapon, though when it gets stuck in something and he can't get it out, it's kind of annoying. He also knows magic and can shoot dark balls of energy.

Since the Lokomo all seem to be able to play instruments, I decided Byrne can play the guitar. Or... something like a guitar. A Hyrulean-equivalent of a guitar. Look man they call the lyres harps okay.

Since he was around when his land became New Hyrule, he probably studied up on Old Hyrule quite a bit to learn where the name came from, so he's familiar with the basics of the old legends of Zelda. Like, for Ocarina, he knows that there was a Hero of Time and six sages pretty much. And he knows that Ganon is kind of a dick.

As a Lokomo, Byrne does have the unique ability of regeneration, though this will likely never come into play. If a Lokomo dies, they'll be reincarnated, but without any memories of their previous life. So the Byrne I played before died somehow and here he is again.

In-Character 1st person sample:

[The video turns on, but the picture is very wobbly and static flickers across the screen. A metal hand engulfs the picture for a second to adjust the camera.]

...Why am I supposed to use this to announce my class? Annoying, annoying...

[He mutters to himself, unaware that the video feed is already on. The technology is completely foreign to Byrne, so far superior to anything he had ever known.

Once he's finished adjusting the camera, there are about two minutes of frantic mouse-clicking as he tries to figure out what he's doing. Displeasure is written all over his face, evident in the way his yellow eyes keep glowing brighter with annoyance. But suddenly he stops and turns his gaze toward the camera, at once realizing his mistake. But his expression hardly changes. The words he speaks, however, are calm.]

Trains are a convenient method of travel. Learning to operate one can net you a great deal of money.

[Gaze completely unwavering, he speaks the truth, at least when it comes to Hyrule.]

I am offering a class on train conducting. Consider it a gift.

Additional sample.

In-Character 3rd person sample:

There was nothing about this place that was familiar to Byrne at all. Nothing here resembled any part of Hyrule that he knew of. He was so close, too. So very close to obtaining the power he had always desired, and now he was here in this strange new land, back to square one. All day he had tried to figure out where he was, tried to look for clues or any sort of landmark that might indicate how to get back to where he came from. But there was nothing. Zelda's body was back at the Tower, and Byrne bristled at the thought of Cole continuing on with the ritual without him. He would probably do such a thing too, the slimy bastard.

Once it became apparent that Byrne was not anywhere close to Hyrule, his next step was to figure out how he actually got here. Nobody seemed to be able to help him out there, and they offered shrugs in response. But what he had found out was that he was on the grounds of an Academy, apparently a fairly reputable fighting academy. That was something, at least.

Byrne had found the so-called leaders of the place, the Hands, and he observed their power quietly, trying to figure out their motives, their wishes, how they came to even be here. There was little he could figure out until they graciously offered him a teaching position. Normally he would have declined, having no desire to teach anyone anything, but perhaps there was an opportunity here. Upon finding out that someone else already taught Martial Arts, his first choice and what he considered himself best at, he begrudgingly suggested train conducting, as to him, it was a very useful skill. Nothing that would harm him or get in the way of any of his plans, of course, but still something that would serve of value to the Hands if he ever wanted to get anywhere with them.

He never traveled by train much in his recent years, since the Spirit Train had so long ago been denied to him, but it was certainly in his blood to operate one. It was either that or music, but his music was something he had hardly kept up since he left the Tower all those decades ago. So trains it was. It was easy enough to learn, so hopefully he'd have little difficulty teaching. And if the pathetic students he taught got on his nerves, perhaps he could rig it so that they ended up tragically driving off a cliff. That thought amused him somewhat as he set off to teach his first class, causing a slight smile cloaked beneath his cowl.