Endymion
Sept 26, 2014 0:21:45 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2014 0:21:45 GMT -5
-Player Info-
Name/Alias: Dante.
IM/Email: annaxxmunich@gmail.com
Age: Eighteen.
Where did you find us?: Google search, query ‘Transformers Prime Roleplay’.
-Character Info-
Name: Endymion.
Age: Eighteen to twenty, in human terms.
Gender: Mech/male.
Species: Cybertronian.
Faction: Decepticon.
Original Occupation: Student, soldier.
Occupation/Specialization: Scout, navigation technician.
Appearance/Altmode: Endymion has strong, masculine facial features in contrast to his sleek bodice and femme-like shaping of his chassis. He is lanky and strawn out, having the most mass around his chest and shoulders as well as at his peds, but he isn’t particularly sturdy at the midsection. He does have some strength to him, but it is clear he was meant for speed, due to his aerodynamic form and smooth styling. His form is predominantly sleek, but is punctuated by angular styling on his facial features and upper body. He sports a matte black paintjob, the only thing breaking from that trend being his crimson optics and chevrons in biped mode. He is comparable to Bumblebee in build, but is two heads taller than him.
His alt mode is a 2010s-era Dodge Challenger; matte black
-History-
Endymion came online in the latter days of the Caste system, within the City-State of Kaon. He was placed into a small cohort with nothing more than a mother-figure and a father-figure as his companions for most of the beginning stages of his life. These two had been chosen due to their diligence in both their work and their leadership; while Endymion’s patriarchal figure, Tiburon, never held a large rank, he held some authority within his work group within the mines of Kaon. He eventually advanced into a supervisory rank, providing himself and his spark-mate Benidorn the stability needed to be considered for raising a sparkling. His life began just before the tipping point and start of the inevitable war. In hopes of prophesizing a more fulfilling purpose for the life they had been now placed responsible of, his cohort gave him an overtly regal name, as opposed to the accepted toil of many of the companions they had. While Endymion’s cohort were highly against the Caste system and were incredibly unhappy with their existence since its creation, they did not let how they felt strip them of their pride, or their hope for their sparkling.
Endymion wasn’t aware of the precipice that Cybertronian society stood upon as a sparkling; he recognized that his cohort had less and his parents were by no means prestigious, but he simply felt like that was how things were supposed to be. He was relatively docile as a child, his cohort shielding him from the conflict around him for as long as they could. They encouraged Endymion’s studies and kept him learning with what little they had, determined that when the world tipped, the sparkling would come out on top. While Tiburon indulged in the gladiatorial-style combat offered by the city, Endymion was kept away from it; Benidorn was determined that society had began to focus too much on brutality and not enough on the intelligence that was required to efficiently control such strength.
Due to his careful upbringing, Endymion grew quickly, both in a physical and mental sense. His cohort could be overbearing, but definitely not neglectful in the least. Endymion wanted for nothing as a sparkling, and began to grow accustomed to getting his way. While his cohort had known hardship, Endymion knew relative comfort- every pitiful pay check they earned was spent on the sparkling, ensuring that he would have what it took to rise above the coming conflict. This was the first emergence of Endymion’s vanity complex, and could very well be the entire root of it; to put it simply, Endymion was spoiled.
Tiburon knew of Megatronus from a fan’s standpoint; that being, he knew Megatronus was powerful, and in Tiburon’s view those that followed him would find success. Power meant protection, and brute strength was the epitome of success. When the metaphorical pot boiled over, Tiburon was quick to push the now teenaged sparkling into the thick of it. Suddenly, the young mech who knew the power of words was forced into learning the power of artillery. This didn’t go well, due to factors including Endymion’s lanky chassis and general distaste for combat, creating much conflict with Benidorn. As the war progressed and lines started to be drawn, Benidorn left to assist with the Autobot cause, leaving her sparkling and mate to remain within the ranks of the Decepticons. The abandonment was stubborn, and hit Endymion like a blade. Once she left, neither himself nor Tiburon saw or heard of her again. While he could not understand the politics or complexity of Benidorn’s decision, he might have been more sympathetic towards her if he was getting both sides of the story.
Tiburon kept Endymion committed to the Decepticon cause as a youth by pumping him both full of fear and promises of grandiose power. The personal issue of the ideological loss of Benidorn to the Autobots kept a flame of hatred burning within him towards the ‘other’ side, and as aided by Tiburon’s propaganda, this flame grew. Tiburon wasn’t intentionally abusive toward Endymion, but he kept a close grip on the mech he had raised; something that had been triggered by Benidorn’s abandonment. Tiburon was determined to keep the remaining member of his cohort close to him, even if it meant skewering the truth or otherwise telling Endymion falsehoods to keep him at his side.
While Tiburon aged and stayed close to the platoons Endymion was placed in (unlike the sparkling, Tiburon had far less mental and physical potential to learn and grow), Endymion began to refine his combat skills. Often, he pushed himself far beyond his physical limitations, creating many risky situations during his training. This lead to frustration and the kind of bruised ego that only encouraged him to push harder. The once peaceful sparkling shifted to a much more violent young mech, one that was also crippled by a manic sort of anxiety that Tiburon saw as weakness.
The inklings of anxiety didn’t show immediately. It started with small things; lacking recharge, refusing energon, refusing to sit still. Eventually it panned into an irrational fear of Tiburon, a constant fear of death, and a tendency to avoid doing anything other than being in combat in order to further ‘the cause’. The growth of the Decepticons made him slightly more comfortable, but the rise of these issues made the fact they were practically winning the war insignificant in comparison as to what was going on in his head. These issues only screamed of weakness to Tiburon, and were not legitimate issues; Tiburon was constantly telling him that he needed to de-frag and get his slag together before he got himself killed.
Ignoring his issues meant they got worse, to the point wherein he was barely functioning. Determined to not seem weak to the higher-ranking Decepticons and to Tiburon, he continued to stay in combat and fight on.
This would prove to be his undoing.
It happened in a moment; he had been in a heated battle with several Autobots, Tiburon by his side. His servos began shaking during combat, his shots becoming more and more scattered. In the chaos of battle, he began to lose the ability to discern what shots were his and which were not. The next thing he knew, Tiburon was down, having been gunned down in the confusion. Shortly after being knocked down, he was terminated by one of the Autobots they had been fighting.
Due to the haziness of that moment, and the fact that it seemed no one could give him a straight answer as to who had knocked Tiburon down the first time, Endymion immediately assumed it had been his own friendly fire that had brought him down the first time. He blamed himself for breems, as while he couldn’t be completely sure he’d had a hand in Tiburon’s demise, there was still the great chance that he could have. He hadn’t fired the shot that killed him, but the shot that brought him down was his.
And so, when the Exodus to Earth took place, Endymion easily volunteered to leave. Cybertron held nothing for him but confusion and hurt; he jumped at the opportunity to leave the darkness of the dead planet behind and bury the guilt that now ate away at him when he was left alone for too long. The guilt transferred into hatred, and he began mentally downplaying the mystery of his Tiburon’s death- all that mattered was that he’d died at the hands of an Autobot, regardless of what had lead up to those events. As he buried this era of his life, he also buried with it any hope of fully healing from these events. Instead of facing the pain and coming to terms with what had happened, he merely compartmentalized the memories and funnelled his emotions to perhaps a more damaging venue.
Despite the way Tiburon had treated him and his general character as a bot, Endymion made him a martyr in his mind. If his father had believed and died for Megatron’s cause, Megatron’s Decepticons must have been the correct side to be on. He thought little of Benidorn, as those wounds were replaced by the larger void of Tiburon being gone. He never once considered the possibility of switching sides; the violence didn’t bother him anymore, as he’d become that violence. He found his niche within the Decepticons, using his knowledge to become a navigation tech aboard the Nemesis, hoping that this would be the greater life his cohort had been preparing him for.
-Personality-
Endymion’s personality has shifted and evolved over time and due to circumstance, but for the most part, he has remained true to certain elements of who he is. For example, he’s never been any less of a smart alec, except for the times as a child wherein he hadn’t learned enough to feel superior. He may not exactly have an honour code or be the most civil of bots, but he can be a decent enough mech to be around. He has his share of issues, some more clear than others, but he has a handful of redeeming strengths that may be what keeps him in the Decepticons and not banished entirely.
One’s first impression of Endymion is vital to really understanding who he is. He carries himself in a proud manner, the kind of bot who accentuates his strut to attempt to look bigger than he actually is. Considering he isn’t of great physical mass, this can be sometimes an advantage when dealing with bots of a similar size, but is nothing short of hilarious when around larger bots; these attempts to make himself look stronger are entirely laughable in their audience. He has 'door wings' on his back, which flare when he feels intimidated, flustered, or if he is simply trying to make himself seem bigger. When this works, he gives off an air of cockiness and slight stupidity, despite what is really going on. When he is around authority figures, his posture compresses, and he seems to hunch down and away from them ever so slightly.
He can be a decent fake, but what most often gives him away are his eyes. He has dark crimson optics, through which much of what he is thinking is communicated. If Endymion is feeling anxious or uneasy, they lighten and widen considerably; this can be noted as a physical factor of the ‘fight-or-flight’ response his system has.
However, His facial features are by no means delicate. Whatever softness he may carry in his optics stops the moment one takes their gaze from directly into them. The lines of his faceplate and helm are square and sharp, angles slightly slanted in an aggressive manner. His head is narrow, with a slightly pointed chin; although his face is not overtly long. He has a double chevron on his forehead, one behind the other. These two chevrons are narrow, the one in the front smaller in order to fit within the one behind. Regardless of his paint job, this chevron and the lines of his faceplate (as well as the space between any other of the panels on his bodice) are a deep, glossy red. His facial features are most often twisted into a slight scowl or frown of displeasure. He’s not that grumpy of a bot- he simply suffers from a condition known as ‘chronic bitchface’.
For a Decepticon, he’s weirdly positive. Maybe not about Cybertronian kind or in a philosophical sense, but he is the type of bot that cheers on his teammates in battle, and does not hesitate in being the morale booster of the team. This can grind the gears of other bots, as Decepticons aren’t entirely known as being a chipper bunch. This may stem from his own cockiness, but he genuinely believes that the Decepticons will crush the Autobots, and sooner rather than later.
This attitude of course leads to the next element of his personality, which is the fact that Endymion can be a brutal son-of-a-gun. Any deep-seated pain he may have is entirely communicated through violence, regardless of whether or not the cause of this violence is related in any way to the source of his pain. He is quick to judge and blame, as his world is predominantly black-and-white when it comes to who is right and who is wrong. While he does not spend much time on the battlefield, most of his time spent inflicting pain is time he spends ‘assisting with interrogations’. Endymion can hold a solid grudge, and unless a miracle happens, one is unlikely to get off of his hit list in a reasonable amount of time.
Endymion is brash in the sense that he’s got a short temper. His impatient attitude, combined with this, affect the way in which he deals with situations. Despite being fairly logical, this can sometimes be thrown to the wind in the heat of the moment. He rushes into situations and problems unless he forces himself to be tactical about a situation, or someone else requires him to come up with a plan before moving into action.
Logic, while hindered by Endymion’s unstable emotions, is something that is incredibly important to him. As he spent most of his sparkhood studying, Endymion is determined to continue learning and developing his mental skills. Often he will ask around the Nemesis for tasks out of his jurisdiction that he could assist in completing, simply to gain that experience. He doesn’t have a bucket list per se, but he does have a craving to have as many experiences in life as he can.
Surprisingly, Endymion is a very helpful bot to have around. He’s not exactly downright generous, but he will offer to assist any bot on his team with low expectations of gaining anything in return. He simply wishes to learn and assist where he can; should these experiences be hands on, the better it is for him. These actions may make others see him as soft or overly compassionate, but Endymion sees those others as lazy for not seizing the opportunity.
Compassion is something he does have. It is buried by a hardened spark, but it’s still there. Endymion ‘feels deeply’ in the sense that he spends so much time worrying about getting attached to bots that he doesn’t realize how much he is attached to them. He is genuinely concerned for the well-being of his friends and peers, so much so that he will go out of his way to ensure their happiness or safety. Unfortunately, this side of his personality does not extend to the likes of the enemy; he may be empathetic with his team, but the line is drawn between the likes of Decepticons and Autobots.
Perhaps it was the vorns of brainwashing from Tiburon, but he considers himself deeply attached to the Decepticon cause. Not quite the leader himself (he could care less for Megatron, probably due to his fear of him) but of the end goals of the Decepticon army. He firmly believes that a society ruled by a strong Decepticon hand will lead to more prosperity and a better quality of life for all bots, and that those who disagree simply do not understand the nature of their own existence or the reasoning behind the cause.
However, considering that he has never given the Autobots a second glance, it may be all due to circumstance and the Decepticons being what he has known for most of his existence. For all the thinking he does, he rarely overexerts his processor on the morality of the Decepticons’ motives or anything of that sort. He may seem to not fit the mould of a Decepticon, but he would never consider switching sides- to switch sides would be a sign of intense weakness, as set in his mind by Tiburon.
The one card that overrides the deck of his personality would be his crippling anxiety. This flaw manifests itself in several different ways, whether it be on the battlefield or not. Regardless of any other element of his personality, his panic attacks and nervousness shift him into nearly a different being altogether. On the battlefield, he becomes less sure of himself and loses sense of any tactics he may have carefully crafted. On the base, it makes him wary and guarded of others.
What is the worst of all the effects his anxiety has on him is simply the toll it takes on his emotional and mental state. He is constantly stressed, nervous, and worried over any given thing at any given time. Endymion may be good at faking a sense of ‘togetherness’, but he very well appears to be falling apart at the seams, when given a closer look.
Likes: Endymion likes to recharge, so much so that he often recharges past capacity. This offers no real gain to his energy levels, but the time spent with his processor slowed does him a lot of good. If it were not for the moments he spends doing absolutely nothing, his spark would have surely given up on him by now.
He adores speed and racing, as to him, there are few highs that could even try to approach the feeling of a solid drift or a strong burnout. The slipperier the terrain, the better; he has come to adore the feeling of sliding across Earth’s many sand dunes, appreciating the way he can feel utterly out of control and yet perfectly in control at the same time. Letting loose and feeling rubber burn is a great release of pent-up anxiety for him. If he’s not working, he’s often on long drives (or recharging- there seems to be no happy medium with Endymion, as he is either overactive or not active at all in his spare time) to pointless destinations, just for the fun of it.
Endymion likes competition, but he likes winning above anything else. He’s a bit of a sore loser and will either mope or bitch about losing for several breems after a competitive game or race. He tends to make small competitions out of absolutely anything one could think of; he feels the need to consistently be first, although perhaps this is due to his many emotional insecurities. He keeps a journal, which some may at first think is comical, but in reality the journal is simply pages upon pages of Endymion gloating to himself about ‘how awesome he is’. It makes for quite a dry read.
Socializing is something that may not seem like something Endymion would be interested in, however, he actually quite enjoys it. Having a few good laughs with the right crowd of bots can bring him out of any sort of funk or spoiled mood. Occasionally, Endymion will feel the need to compete for attention and try to take the spotlight, but he honestly enjoys listening to stories just as much as he likes telling them. The experiences of other ‘Cons fascinates him, and he often takes these sorts of opportunities as a way of second-hand learning; he has an excellent memory, and often stores the stories he is told for future reference.
He has an appreciation for Earth’s music, it being something he was immediately attracted to. His favorite genre of music is EDM, loving absolutely anything with bass. The genres in EDM he enjoys the most would be progressive house, trance, and trouse. However, anything with an aggressive beat is something he can enjoy; he’s been known to enjoy heavy metal as well. Occasionally he’ll catch himself doing something called ‘dancing’, and he quite enjoys it.
Endymion enjoys mental stimulation. Solving a riddle, facing a challenge, or otherwise overcoming situational challenges is something he really enjoys. Endymion needs to be constantly pushing himself or otherwise advancing forward in life to feel accomplished and thus, happy. He does not like laying stale for too long, and is especially susceptible to bouts of cabin fever, or annoyance at being in one physical or mental place for too long. His impatience seems to not affect these sorts of challenges, as he is too stubborn to give up on a problem once he’d started working on it.
In an entirely vain and ridiculous fashion, Endymion loves himself, at least physically. He loves his alt-mode, and feels a weird sort of pride at being in his alt-mode for extended periods of time. He doesn’t feel strained by having to disguise himself around humans, rather enjoying it.
Believe it or not, Endymion’s all-time favourite activity would be cuddling. Not anything else, just… Cuddling. He doesn’t usually receive positive physical contact, and so that makes any sort of affection like some sort of dessert for the spark to him. But no one would be able to get that piece of information out of him willingly, and he’s made sure that no one knows about that.
Dislikes: Endymion hates nicknames. He has been blessed with, in his opinion, a ‘beautiful’ name and it ‘deserves to be heard’. Mostly, he appreciates the fact that his full name is the most lasting gift his parents had given him, aside from his education. However, pet names from a friend or lover are an entirely different issue, and he actually doesn’t mind those. He just cannot handle any compression or disregard for the full glory of his name.
Patience is not a word that is under the umbrella of all things Endymion. This extends not only to slow loading times on computers, but also to other bot’s personalities and intelligence levels. He has no patience for ‘stupid bots’ and does not have the time to explain or slow down what he is saying for anybody, unless you are already his friend or someone he thinks is acceptable.
Cleanliness is of the utmost importance to Endymion, so it’s really no surprise that he has a great hatred of dirt and grime. He is also a very neat person, with an organized way of keeping himself together, and he cannot stand when anyone attempts to upset this. He doesn’t like being around unclean mechs, often suggesting in not-so-subtle ways that they need to hit the wash bay before speaking with him.
He very much dislikes personal questions and talking about his past. Part of why he changes his paint scheme so much is to remain detached from anything involving the past, or stay detached from anything at all. While he does care about other bots, he fears growing too attached to another, simply out of fear of the damage it could do to him if that bot were to leave his life. He doesn’t spend any time thinking about his past on Cybertron or any decision or action he might have made when he was younger.
The attitude Seekers tend to have towards ground-based alt-modes is something Endymion greatly dislikes. He has never been a fan of flying or being suspended in the air, thinking that gliding without much struggle is simply boring. He enjoys the gritty feel of the Earth and sees little reason as to why he’d prefer flight over his current altmode, something that Seekers believe flags him as a fool. Endymion tends to have a general dislike for most Seekers, as there is simply too much ego in one room while they’re around.
Endymion may be driven but he doesn’t tend to be a fan of physical labour. While scouting and light combat is something he enjoys, anything involving drudgery or messiness is simply not for him. There is too much of a risk in physical situations that his paint could be chipped or any part of him injured, and so he simply avoids labour whenever it appears in his vicinity. Despite being of mid-grade rank, he’s usually manipulative enough to convince someone to do any work he is assigned for him.
Preferring to fight in a group, Endymion really isn’t a fan of one-on-one combat, or when he is outnumbered. He would much rather flee than attempt combat with a larger group than his own. In these situations, saving his own metal becomes the greatest priority, rather than saving his pride.
Anxiety aside, he honestly enjoys being around his peers and cannot stand being alone for too long. He likes attention, but he also likes sharing experiences with others, and so it is rare for him to be holed up by himself for too long. While he does need time to himself, positive social interactions don’t wear him out; he can last much longer with his peers than he can when communicating with his superiors.
That being said, Endymion really isn’t a fan of authority. While he respects Megatron, he still finds himself greatly uneasy around him. Were he a more objective being, Endymion would realize this is because he subconsciously picks up on the fact Megatron is a tyrant; however, he simply attributes his uneasiness to his social discomfort at being around those in more power than he is. He doesn’t necessarily enjoy being told what to do, even though if left to his own devices, nothing would ever get done.
-Strengths/Weapons-
Firepower: Endymion’s biped form features two forearm cannons, of two different types. His left arm fires in a much heavier fashion than his right (In a way, he seems to be left-handed), which is predominantly used for punch-like, knock-back blows. His right cannon can fire far more rapidly, creating a spray sort of attack with lighter blows. When he is focused, Endymion is excellent at using both of these sorts of attacks in an efficient and lethal manner; even though it should be noted that these weapons are secondary to his primary functions of speed and stealth, and so they are not of notable power when compared to bots that are tailored to war. However, the moment he gets overwhelmed is the moment his calculated approach dissolves simply into spraying-and-praying. He also has a habit of keeping grenades on his hips at all times, but he uses them far less frequently than he uses his cannons.
Fast: Endymion’s altmode is designed for power and speed, two things of which he is not lacking. In combat, Endymion’s technique involves a lot of simple avoidance of his enemies. Due to his size, being faster than his opponent is something that he relies heavily upon to ensure his own survival. What he lacks in sturdiness, he makes up for in simply being proficient at making quick getaways if he needs to.
Educated: Considering himself a student of the universe, Endymion will never and has never turned down the opportunity to learn and experience new things (within his polarized limitations, of course). He is adaptable and willing to perform most tasks that require mental muscle, seeing these opportunities as chances to learn and further himself. When his judgement isn’t clouded, he can be quite quick-witted and inventive when he needs to be. Although, it should be noted that Endymion’s intelligence is predominantly scientific and does not take on he form of wisdom.
Guarded: Perhaps more of a display of mental strength in comparison to his displays of mental weakness, Endymion is excellent at compartmentalizing and prioritizing his life. He knows who to trust and who not to trust, and rarely takes risks when it comes to leaving sensitive information in the hands of other bots. He is acutely aware of how deceptive other can be, and thus he does not wish to ever put himself into a situation where in which potentially compromising information about himself is freely floating around the base. Few know any personal details about him, and his past is something that he simply does not discuss.
Pre-Emptive: Due to his anxiety, Endymion likes plans. He likes having things sorted out in his brain far before events happen, and having a general idea of where he is now and where he needs to go. This means that he is incredibly organized and on top of things as far as his work life goes. He consistently meets deadlines early, and tasks are given a full 110% from him. He often goes above and beyond demands set by others when it comes to assignments, simply so that he can avoid missing anything or having to re-do said task.
Motivated: Fear of failure is a great motivator. Endymion needs to stay in control of things, and so he has much more drive to accomplish things than other bots. He doesn’t like to waste time or idle when he knows there is something he could be doing, but he also understands the balance between working hard and playing hard.
Stealthy: Due to his light weight and agile frame, he is excellent at being silent and unnoticed. Stealth is often something he relies on during both scouting and combat, although the latter usually expresses itself through quick getaways and sneaky exits.
Team Player: Unlike most Decepticons, Endymion isn’t constantly looking for ways to frag his teammates over. He has a genuine interest in the Decepticon cause, as twisted as it may seem to those who are against it. In Endymion’s mind, the goals and purposes of the Decepticon cause are simply the logical way to go. While he can be heartless at times, for the most part Dante is a fairly genuine mech, who makes a great friend once given the opportunity to. As he’s suffered with his own internalized issues for as long as he can remember, he values being someone’s shoulder to lean on to an extent in which normally isn’t associated with Decepticons. While this aspect of his personality can be overridden by the more hostile sectors of who he is, it certainly isn’t a part of him to be simply brushed off as a ‘once in a while’ sort of thing.
-Weaknesses-
Violent: Endymion is very ‘eye for an eye’ when it comes to combat. He is quickly triggered and made angry, and can easily become unhinged by his anger. He holds grudges for vast expanses of time, and while he himself has changed from past to present, he doesn’t always believe that a bot can change and should be forgiven. He gets even instead of making things right, and can be ruthless when it comes to extracting revenge upon someone who has crossed him.
Unsteady Hand: Endymion has a habit of getting himself ‘in too deep’ when it comes to combat. His overall cocky attitude and approach to battle means that he very quickly bites off more than he can chew, triggering an anxious reaction with him. In the heat of combat, he often gets too flighty, and loses much of his aiming capabilities due to pure adrenaline and the inability to control his anxiety when things get tough. His aim gets inaccurate once he becomes overwhelmed, to the extent of him occasionally committing unintentional friendly fire on more than one occasion. He becomes a ‘loose cannon’ at times, fuelled entirely by the intense emotions of being in combat, acting irrationally on top of becoming inaccurate and misguided. The solution for this is simply taking a step back and retreating from battle for a moment or two, but often due to his own stubbornness he refuses; this causes harm to both himself and to others. Occasionally he needs to take prolonged breaks from combat due to these outbursts, as the mental effects of battle stay with him for longer periods than other bots. While others may have mastered the art of unwinding, Endymion will remain strung out for days after heavy combat, which often becomes an issue for the rest of the team.
Lightness: While his light build means that he can move quickly and manoeuvre his body with relative ease, this also means he has all the disadvantages of being less in mass. It is easy for him to get knocked about and more difficult for him to stand his ground; a moderately hard blow to some can come as a significant blow to him. He takes much more damage than a bot designed for combat in battle, and so his current designation as scout and navigation technician for the Nemesis suits him well. In situations where in which he’s asked to anchor himself to the ground or to an object for support, he struggles far more frequently than others do, as the force exerted on his frame takes more of a toll on him. He relies heavily on having space to dart around in order to protect himself, and so combat in confined spaces often means he is more inclined to get knocked about and taken out easily.
Intimidation Factor: Despite often being perceived as confident and secure within himself, Endymion is actually very easily intimidated. A downside of having vanity as one’s main personality traits is that it means Endymion is acutely aware of his shortcomings, and sees almost anyone as a possibility to further exploit his weaknesses. He is easily intimidated in the sense that he despises the feeling of being outranked by those around him and thus feels quite uncomfortable when faced with certain social situations. Most of his higher-ranking comrades scare the spark out of him, which means it can be difficult for him to socialize with them in a relaxed manner. Often socialization with higher-ups seems artificial or forced coming from him-which it is. He can usually fake it well enough to get by when it comes to communicating with his seniors, but it never feels as comfortable for the other party as it would if Endymion viewed them as his peers.
Within combat, this means he gets overwhelmed when faced with more powerful enemies. Considering his chassis type and stance, this happens quite often, but to different degrees. Most of his reactions depend on situational factors- he will be fine and feel reassured if combat is in an open area and he is fighting with someone more experienced that will be able to assist and coach him through. However, as referenced in Unsteady Hand, intimidation will trigger his nervous reactions, causing him to become sloppy and distracted by what’s going on in his own head. He is doomed to fail when faced one-on-one with a significantly more powerful opponent, and often sees escape or retreat as his only way to survive in those sorts of situations.
Pre-Emptive: As mentioned earlier, Endymion’s pre-planned nature can be a great strength; however, it can also be his Achilles’ heel at times. Endymion likes to assume he has all of the information he needs before making a tactical decision, which leads him to often put on metaphorical blinders to the reality of a situation. Outside of combat, one of his biggest flaws is assuming too much and thinking that he already has things figured out, even if he is clearly missing important details that he should know about a person or plan. In his mind, he has no time to spare- everything must be done immediately. He acts out of line and goes beyond direct commands, often acting on them earlier than intended. If his commander were to ask him to do a certain task on a signal, Endymion would surely preform that task far in advance of said command. His reckless behaviour in this sense is a downside to his situational anxiety; he feels like he needs to get things done far in advance to ensure they are completed, even if it means striking an enemy or starting an attack prematurely and before others are ready to participate in an attack. This puts others around him in danger, as he can act on a second’s notice, without much warning. Combined with his flaw of having an unsteady hand when he is under stress, this could prove fatal.
Vain: With a name like ‘Endymion’, it almost seems like vanity comes with the territory. Endymion isn’t an overly proud or confident mech, but his vanity is certainly a strong pitfall of his personality. He enjoys being rewarded and often feels entitled to respect and other social attributes, even if he has done little to deserve praise or admiration. He sometimes comes off as a bit of an airhead; the sort of bot who thinks the entire universe is wrapped around his digits. Endymion has a certain way of doing things, and any breach to his internal protocol of living is taken as a personal attack or otherwise offensive action against him as a bot. His anxiety makes it so that he often examines all possible outcomes of a situation, creating a paradigm within his personality that causes him to assume that he’s already decided the most efficient or most intelligent way of doing things. Emotional vanity aside, he is also incredibly particular about his appearance. While his altmode remains the same, he is constantly experimenting with different paint schemes, tints, rims, and anything else that seems shiny or otherwise appealing to him. Whatever emotional issues he may have about himself, his insecurities end at his appearance- to put it lightly, he thinks he’s hot slag. Endymion is not vain in a purposefully inconsiderate or demeaning sense; it seems like something that could wear off with age, but for now, he’s in the thick of it.
Blunt: The word ‘honest’ is a grave understatement when it comes to describing just exactly how Endymion communicates. He tends to very openly (and very loudly) speak his mind on just about anything under the sun, even if it’s about a situation that doesn’t and never could possibly concern him. He’s smart, but not necessarily educated in absolutely every sense of the word, and so this complex he has in which he thinks he has the right to comment on everything makes little sense. Half the time he doesn’t really know what he’s talking about when he voices his opinion, and so most around him have simply learned how to tune him out when he starts spouting off like he often does. Where he crosses the line is often when it comes to the tone in which he says things. Endymion can be smooth, when he puts the effort into being so, but his words are often like an axe when he’s not truly thinking about what he’s saying. He’s been known to be quite rude on occasion and offend other bots by the clunky way he expresses himself at times, which endangers friendships and opportunities for social advancement.
Anxious: The root of most of his problems, of course, is Endymion’s anxiety. This is a flaw that is complex and deep seated in the fibres of Endymion’s spark itself, and is what the roots of many of his problems trail back to.
Young: This is likely one of his most obvious flaws. The lack of wisdom that Endymion has is something you can practically feel around him. For all the knowledge in terms of technical prowess and memorized theories, he simply lacks life experience. This not only drags him down in combat, but also in his social and personal life. When his anxiety overwhelms him, it can be incredibly difficult for him to talk himself down, as he doesn’t understand that it’s not the end of the world and life will continue on. This worsens in times of constant war, as he runs entirely on a blend of hysterical nervousness, intense fear and rampant stress; it can be hard for him to place himself and the situation within the grand scheme of things, as he simply doesn’t have a concept of any such scheme. Due to the compartmentalizing and mismanagement of his memories, Endymion has robbed himself of any real hope of truly learning from his past experiences.
Damaged: Endymion has vorns upon vorns of undealt issues to deal with. These weigh heavily on his subconscious, disturbing his recharge and manifesting themselves through his anxiety and occasionally through PTSD-like reactions when faced with heavy combat. His flashbacks hinder his performance on the battlefield, as he often needs to step away and regroup himself before continuing on. The many social and emotional complexes he has compromises the integrity of his personality and his relationship with his team, often causing unnecessary roadblocks in his life to prevent him from achieving his goals.
Extra Info: His theme would be Live Forever (Shogun Remix) by Ferry Corsten feat. Aruna. Not only is this a perfect example of the music Endymion would enjoy, but the energy of the song perfectly captures the energy of Endymion himself.
-Sample RP-
He couldn’t hold himself together.
As the fight droned on, he felt his cooling systems be pushed past capacity, meaning his systems were far from optimum temperature. He could practically hear the pain in his joints, protests of pain jumping around inside his processor as if they’d taken on a life of their own. Every step, leap, twist was another reason for his spark to pulse even more rapidly than it already was.
Endymion didn’t like heavy combat, but things were made even worse by the fact that they were outnumbered. This didn’t happen often; usually, Decepticons lead the dance that was battle. But in this case, himself, the remaining member of his cohort and a couple of other ‘Cons were getting taught a hard-hitting lesson by their foes. They’d had a plan of attack, an objective, but that plan had been tattered as the fight wore on. His battle mask was covered in grime and splattered with energon.
They had been fighting for countless breems, the battle having shifted from a stalemate just moments earlier to the situation they were faced with now. Other soldiers in their platoon had since retreated or had been terminated, and the stress was getting to Endymion’s head. For every Autobot he knocked down, there seemed to be two more to take their place. Through internal comm links, Tiburon had told him that backup had been called, but they had to hold the Autobots off for a few more kliks.
A few more kliks, he thought to himself as he rapidly fired his light weapon, giving the heavy weapon a chance to recharge. His optics felt heavy, response time felt slow, while he was really moving at quite a rapid pace. Occasionally he would glance to Tiburon, if only to give his processor that nanoklik to focus on something. It was during one of these fragments of time that he received a notification on his HUD that one of their remaining platoon members had just been gunned down- now it was a slanted three versus seven.
The news made him snap. Suddenly, that pressure in his spark caused it to flutter, the intense fear making his optics widen and intakes scream as they tried to bring his systems back down to optimum function. ::Easy- Endym-:: He heard Tiburon’s voice over his communicator, but it was quickly drowned out by the repetitive banging of his heavy weapon.
Despite the cannon knocking his arm back with each shot, he wasn’t entirely registering what was happening- or who he was aiming at. He gave a low, guttural bellow as he shot, gritting his dental plates as he felt the strain rocket through his body. It was a cross between feeling too much and feeling too little; he could feel his grip slipping, and yet he felt like he’d left his chassis, that he was watching what was going on as a bystander. The pain was immense as he felt strikes from the Autobots punch into his chestplates, and yet it wasn’t enough to stop him.
A new alert pulled Endymion from his sights, a quick command from an arriving officer to stand down. He forced himself to lower his weapon as the reinforcements rushed past him, optics immediately searching for their anchor. Tiburon was tall, and yet he could not see the tip of his helm among the shoulders and helms of others. It was only when he heard the other mech’s screaming that he’d thought about looking down.
Two rushed steps forward were involuntarily taken, lunging toward the figure that was his patriarchal figure on the ground. He raised his light weapon, heavy weapon out of use, unable to recharge. There was a massive hole in one of his Tiburon’s lower legs, causing him to be crippled. An Autobot was standing over him, pressing a rifle to the side of his head. Endymion was jolted by the incoming transmission from Tiburon’s communicator; ::Get out of here! I will be…::
Whatever the purpose of the transmission, it had been cut short from he blast of the Autobot’s rifle terminating Tiburon’s existence, and the short scream beforehand. Endymion didn’t process what happened, barely having a reaction to it, mostly out of shock and blinding rage. He raised his light weapon at the Autobot, but his work was done for him by one of the reinforcements that had arrived.
He forced his exhausted peds to carry him as quickly as he could to the body of what had remained of his cohort, all but sliding down to his side. He grabbed his shoulders, not making a sound as his optics traced his Tiburon’s mutilated figure. There was no great cry, no promise of revenge; no sound left the mech’s vocalizer as he let go of the body and took a step back.
No, the words for grief did not cross his processor at his moment. Something else ate at him, something that stripped him of the right to grieve at the moment. As he raised his heavy weapon again, he could not help but notice that the size of the barrel and the diameter of the wound that had brought his father down were nothing short of a perfect match.