Chrollo Lucilfer (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
cephalothorax) wrote2014-12-20 03:35 pm
cephalothorax) wrote2014-12-20 03:35 pm
app | Mask or Menace
〈 PLAYER INFO 〉
NAME: Ariel
AGE: Over 18
JOURNAL:thundercalling
IM / EMAIL: n/a
PLURK:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
thundercalling
RETURNING: Yes, playing Giorno Giovanna at the moment.
〈 CHARACTER INFO 〉
CHARACTER NAME: Chrollo Lucilfer
CHARACTER AGE: 26
SERIES: Hunter x Hunter
CHRONOLOGY: After the Yorknew City arc, somewhere during the Greed Island arc to be specific. He's not actually really IN the Greed Island arc (well he is for two panels), but his actions are reported on and minor - he's headed east in search of someone who can remove Kurapika's seal and, after having obtained a lead on the location of such a person, is waiting for Hisoka to recruit them on his behalf.
CLASS: Villain, but he'll pretend otherwise.
HOUSING: Nonah, please!
BACKGROUND:
Chrollo on the wikia - ignore the last name spelling, hxh's names are 100% inconsistent.
Enter Meteor City - the dumping ground of the world, where anyone is permitted to throw out anything they don't want without consequence... even people. Indeed, the official stance is that there are no people in Meteor City at all, despite its vast population and semi-functioning, self-run "government." Ergo, residents of Meteor City are people who do not legally exist, abandoned by the world, possessing a bond both thinner than water and thicker than blood.
This is the city that spawned both Chrollo Lucilfer and his "family," the Phantom Troupe.
When he was a young man (or teenager - its unclear, exactly) Chrollo formed the Troupe along with several other residents of the city, many of whom remain members to this day. Upon their founding, he established a few hard and fast rules: his orders were absolute and the highest priority they could have... but he, himself was not. Indeed, they were to obey him simply because he was the head of the Spider (their other nickname), but if he were to die another could replace him, and there could be a time when a subordinate would be more important than him. In short, the priority of each member was to the body of the group, not to any individual member. If someone were to kill or defeat a member of the Troupe, they are free to join the Troupe in place of their victim. This way, the the strength of the group increases. To prevent discord, he also established a rule against serious internal conflict - if members could not peacefully resolve a disagreement, then they would flip a coin to determine the appropriate path. Each member was marked with a tattoo - a black spider with a number on its back indicating the member's number within the band. Thus, the Phantom Troupe also came to be known as the Spider.
Each member of the Spider is, and was, an extraordinarily powerful physical combatant and Nen-user. Quickly, their formidable skills and efficiency at attain their goals - which generally revolved around theft or murder - made them infamous and landed a high bounty on their heads. They also became known, oddly enough, for charity work and for their support of philanthropic causes. Their pattern was to meet every few years as a group for larger jobs, or work individually or in partial groups for smaller jobs. Judging from their role as defenders of Meteor City, and by the way the people there reacted to their return, during the Chimera Ant arc, it's fair to guess that they maintained a much more positive relationship with their place of origin than with the remainder of the world - there, they were treated with respect and near deference. But, of course, to the outside world they were only dangerous criminals.
At some point between the founding of the Troupe and Season 3 of Hunter X Hunter, the following events are known to have taken place: 1. Silva Zoldyck, one of the most powerful of the infamous Zoldyck assassin family, was given a job to kill one of the Troupe members. He succeeded but not without being confronted, and fought to a standstill, by Chrollo. He left with the impression that assassinating Spiders was "not worth the price." His son, Killua, notes that this was one of the very few times he ever complained about a job, and that he then warned his children to stay away from the Troupe. 2. About five years before the beginning of the series, when he was 21, Chrollo became enamored of the scarlet eyes of the Kurta tribe and sent the Troupe to massacre the entire group. Only one, Kurapika, survived. Chrollo grew bored with the eyes and sold them off after a short time, as he does with everything he steals.
Their first real time appearance, however, is during the third season when a major auction event is being held in Yorknew City, including both legitimate and underground auctions. Chrollo decides to gather the Spiders (including the new #4, Hisoka, which is important) and steal everything in the underground auction. To achieve this, the Troupe slaughters the entire auction house, but ultimately finds that the treasures had already been moved. The attack on the auction leads the most powerful mafia leaders in the world, the 10 Dons, to put out a massive bounty for the Troupe's capture or even information leading to their capture. This leads to a cascading series of events that lands Troupe member 11, Uvogin, in the hands of Kurapika and his colleagues, all working as bodyguards for a seeress named Neon Nostrade. Uvogin is eventually killed by Kurapika, sending the Troupe into mourning. Chrollo, in his attempt to uncover who could have killed Uvogin, discovers the existence of Neon and targets her for ability acquisition.
After masquerading as a friendly citizen, Chrollo steals her power ("Lovely Ghostwriter") and then unleashes a massacre in Uvogin's honor. He personally slaughters several highly skilled assassins/bounty hunters with a pen and his bare hands before confronting Silva and his father Zeno Zoldyck - both hired by the 10 Dons - in a two-on-one battle. The battle came to a premature end, however, as Chrollo had preemptively hired Silva's son, Illumi Zoldyck, to assassinate the 10 Dons themselves as a failsafe. With the Dons dead, no on remained to pay Silva and Zeno for their troubles, and so they withdrew their attempt on Chrollo's life.
At this point, the Troupe faked their own deaths and slunk back into the shadows. Having recovered the original auction treasures, they had copies made by their copy-creating member, Kortopi, and sold off the copies while keeping the originals for themselves. Having read the fortune given to him by Neon before he stole her ability, Chrollo was aware that fate was conspiring to kill even more of his people if they remained in the city to avenge Uvogin and, as such, planned to withdraw. However, Hisoka - who had never truly been loyal to the troupe but was simply trying to get Chrollo alone for a fight - manipulated them into remaining there to find Uvo's murderer. Long story short, Kurapika's friends Gon and Killua turned themselves in to the Troupe in the hopes of covering Kurapika... who then kidnapped Chrollo to arrange a hostage exchange. The exchange was made, but not before Kurapika had sealed Chrollo's nen, rendering him powerless and unable to interact with the Troupe on pain of instant death. In this way, he avenged the loss of his home and family by denying Chrollo access to his own.
Chrollo, however, was not without hope: during his theft of her powers, Neon had predicted much of what happened. Her prophecy urged him to head East to seek new allies and find one who would await him... and so Chrollo moved east, eventually reaching Greed Island, the physical location accessed by those in possession of the video game and the then-current location of a man who could remove Kurapika's seal. Without his power, Chrollo couldn't force his way past Razor, the Island's guardian, and so he formed an arrangement with Hisoka: the latter acted as his agent, seeking the nen eraser in return for the promise of a duel should the seal be removed.
PERSONALITY:
The impression Chrollo makes, upon first meeting, depends wildly on where the meeting takes place and what agenda he's pursuing at that time. In most cases, when dealing with people he may find useful or hasn't decided on an approach toward yet, Chrollo will generally present himself as a soft-spoken and gently enthusiastic young man with bright eyes and a kind and curious nature. In this guise, he is immensely likable and seems trustworthy, has a self-deprecating and humble way about him. He will also show an interest in whoever he's speaking to, asking them gentle questions in what appears to be a harmless manner - in this persona, he's quite good at teasing out secrets and confidences, building trust. This, then, is his public face - the face he is most likely to show strangers or potential victims.
When he's on Troupe business, however, Chrollo is a different man entirely. Quiet and serious with an intense stare, Chrollo is aloof and unapproachable, seemingly unemotional. Far from his engaging and talkative public self, he's often silent, as well, preferring to observe and analyze, speaking only when necessary to give an order or explain a situation or his reasoning. This face is, or can be, quite terrifying especially to those who aren't personally involved with him. Furthermore, his odd, quirky way of moving and speaking, his silence, his seemingly impenetrable and expressionless face can combine to make him seem a bit alien, at times - even inhuman.
This impression is easy to understand. Aside even from the ruthlessness and bordering on sociopathic lack of remorse he feels for committing and/or ordering crimes from petty theft to murder (and even genuine atrocities like the genocide of the Kurta clan), Chrollo also has a seemingly inhuman mind. Chrollo observes everything, misses nothing. He is able to unlock puzzles, analyze situations or information quickly and efficiently with a minimum of data and make easy in-the-moment adjustments even when his life is on the line such as in the battle with Silva and Zeno. Chrollo is also able to put emotional needs such as revenge, grief, anger and instead pursue paths dictated by the demands of rationality. Physically he is generally immobile - even his facial expression rarely changes. And he carries himself with an unmistakable ease and confidence, yet never tips over into arrogance: he's aware of the extent of his abilities, just as he's aware of when they're being taxed.
In general, he's quite efficient, killing his enemies without hesitation - you won't get a big anime villain speech from him, in fact he barely talks at all before or during a confrontation, preferring to observe his enemy's behavior and analyze their strengths and weaknesses based on that. The major exception to this is a battle with someone whose powers he wants to acquire - in a case like that, he'll hold back significantly to prolong the fight in the hopes of creating such an opportunity.
But don't let his efficiency imply that he doesn't enjoy his cruelty - one of the bounty hunters sent after him recognizes Chrollo as a kindred spirit, describing the both of them as "addicted to murder." That does seem true in some sense - Chrollo refers to death battles as "play," for example. When asked how he can have so little regard for the life of strangers, Chrollo is unable to truly articulate his motivations beyond saying that he can kill people who have nothing to do with him in part because... they have nothing to do with him. You can speculate that this is directly tied to his history as a Meteor City child... and you would probably be right. As one who grew up as an outcast, with no true name or identity in the world, the only bonds he shares are with fellow outcasts and rejected people. He has, therefore, no regard for those who didn't grow up in the same circumstances, and the same place... just as they have no regard for him. He does recognize in that moment that his motivation isn't actually as simple as that, however he doesn't (or isn't able to) explain any further. Even so, he rarely goes wild, and never without reason.
His commanding presence and natural leadership skill add to his striking impression. It is his strong personality, in fact, which allows him inspire love and loyalty even in the band of miscreants he's gathered, and to hold them together, mediate their disputes and and maintain order despite their individually volatile personalities. It probably helps that, despite his superior strength and position as their leader, he does not consider himself above them or more important than them. Quite the contrary - he considers the greater survival of the troupe itself far more important than himself (or any other one member).
Despite all this, and the impression he can give, Chrollo is, in fact, very human. His greatest weakness seems to be his slight awkwardness with emotion and his tendency to think in pure intellectual ideals rather than emotional realities even when dealing with his own heart and the hearts of others. For example, Chrollo accepts himself as expendable as dictated by the rules of the Troupe, but is unable to recognize the extent to which it is his personality and presence that holds them together, or how much of their loyalty is directed at him personally even more than the group as a whole. Indeed, even those who were willing to let him go did so because they considered breaking his rules and defying his vision to be a betrayal of him. Similarly, the ideal that he holds regarding accepting the killers of members into the Troupe is... questionable. While it may be a good idea in theory, and perhaps it has worked out in the past, the sole time we actually see this issue come up, Chrollo does not in fact try to recruit Kurapika. Instead, he tries to hunt him down and only stops once he realizes (through Neon's prophecy) that doing so endangers more of the Troupe.
The Troupe is the thing Chrollo loves most in the world. He calls many of them by nicknames, and openly weeps at Uvo's death. The slaughter that followed is demonstrative of both Chrollo's dark heart and his genuine love for and devotion to his chosen family: while his coldness toward the hundreds or thousands murdered that night shows the disregard in which he holds most people's lives, he ordered it not for his own pleasure but to honor his battle-mad comrade and bring happiness to Uvogin's spirit. His love for the Troupe is absolute and demonstrative of his extreme ingroup/outgroup mentality: to him, there is the Troupe and there is everyone else, and only the 12 on one side of that line matter. The residents of Meteor City can likely be said to fall in a rare in-between space - more important than strangers and less than his family. For those who aren't Spiders, this is probably as good as you can get with Chrollo.
It should be mentioned that both his public and private faces are, in fact, "faces." Certainly his cold persona, the head of the Spider, is more "honest" than his gentler presentation... but neither is entirely accurate. His truest personality, the most accurate, is probably some combination of the two - when his guards go down, Chrollo's normally composed face can be quite animated and youthful, and even his voice and speech patterns become more casual and light. It's evident that his primary face is a cultivated one - forged through his time with the Troupe. Its evolution can be vaguely tracked through the short flashbacks we're shown - Chrollo laughing as a child, Chrollo friendly and bright eyed as he brings the original members together for the first time, Chrollo with a harder face as he crosses paths with Silva Zoldyck for the first time. Chrollo in the present with his hair slicked back, expressionless and controlled.
Chrollo can come off, at times, as a bit quirky and creepy - in particular his eyes are quite memorable and unnerving when he wants them to be. He can quickly swing between cute/childlike moments, restrained sophistication and a wildness both compelling and frightening. Finally, he has a number of interests - mostly in beautiful or valuable things, which he indulges through theft. However, his interest is fickle and inevitably dies out, leaving him to sell his treasures off on a regular basis. The only possible exception made is for books, as he has a particular fondness for reading, with a special love of antique and first edition books.
POWER:
Chrollo is an extremely powerful and adept Nen user. Basically this means that he can use his spiritual aura to achieve various anime enhancement effects: increased strength/durability/healing/sensing things. Think of a generic anime energy power and that's what it is. Since he's an advanced user, he can also use it in more specialized/focused ways such as increasing one body parts' power to a larger degree than others' or enveloping an animate object to enhance it/sharpen it, as well. Long story short, though, Chrollo is physically formidable and can use his Nen for misc anime sensing/enhancement purposes.
Beyond those basic techniques of aura use, a powerful Nen user can also develop special abilities - the superpowers of HunterxHunter. Canonically, Chrollo's special Nen power is called Skill Hunter, and it permits him to steal the powers of others. There are a bunch of conditions he has to meet in canon, but they're a bit rough to make use of in a game context, I'd like to be take advantage of the Porter to switch it up, if possible. So basically what follows is a game-tweaked version of a canon ability. Anyway.
Skill Hunter will allow him to copy (rather than steal) the powers of other characters and place them into his book for future use. There are, of course, still rules, and they are as follows:
There would also be some simple rules for activating/using the powers, as follows:
Canonically, he already had an unknown number of abilities in his book. I'll be bringing the four that he's directly displayed to the game with him, which amounts to 1. summoning man-sized carnivorous fish that can exist only in an indoors space 2. creating a cloth that when draped over something, causes it to shrink 3. precognition that manifests in the form of a 3-4 verse poem 4. Teleportation (limits unknown in canon, though he does use it to involuntarily teleport another person. for the purpose of the game, I'm saying it's single person only, but can be used on himself or one other).
I'd also like to add a noncanon Porter power: Chrollo will be able to form spiders from shadow (they'll basically melt out of any patch of shadow and become solid upon emergence). He will be able to remotely control them/use to view things remotely (by seeing through their "eyes"). The spiders vary from, say, normal spider size to human-sized, for example), and can survive an amount of damage appropriate to their size. Other than their size (potentially), they look and feel like normal spiders, though their webbing is black instead of silvery/clear. The spiders can also merge back into/travel between shadow patches, bringing anything they've caught within their webs with them (within reason - no cars!) When killed, the spiders dissolve into black smoke; similarly, the webbing dissolves into black smoke when broken. The larger the spiders are, the fewer he can create. This is really meant to echo Chrollo's spiders/phantoms theme, and also probably help him with petty thefts and such since he's a... thief....
Anyway, for his normal person skillset, Chrollo has a genius level intellect, and is an excellent hand-to-hand combatant capable of killing skilled fighters with a pen (!) and fighting two other excellent combatants simultaneously with minimal strain despite holding back. Silva Zoldyck comments that his combat instinct is outstanding, as he dodges attacks with perfect timing and thus prevents any openings in his defense that, otherwise, could be taken advantage of. He also notes that Chrollo's murders are efficient, perfectly executed and "beautiful" - often achieved with a single strike. Speaking of which, Chrollo is skilled in assassination, proficient in the use of poisons, and excellent with various weapons (most notably knives). He is extremely athletic as well - strong, fast, durable and agile with extraordinary reflexes.
He will arrive with his Ben's Knife, an exceptional blade that is strong and sharp enough to cut the tough, damage resistant skin of Silva Zoldyck (it doesn't have powers or anything, though, it's just a really good knife).
〈 CHARACTER SAMPLES 〉
COMMUNITY POST (VOICE) SAMPLE:
[He hasn't been here for long. A mere handful of days. Even so, Chrollo has already spent a significant amount of time pondering his appearance here - or should he say, his reappearance. Truth be told, that's the strangest part of it: watching videos of himself saying words he doesn't remember saying, greeting people he doesn't remember knowing. It's as though someone has sealed away a part of his mind and that's far more disturbing than sealed nen. More disturbing, even, than appearing in a foreign world inhabited by people from worlds yet more foreign still.]
[But.]
[There is a benefit to it, as well, and that is... data. Information to mine - who knew what about him (almost no one, and almost nothing, it seems - that's good), and what sort of approach works best when dealing with which person.]
[And it gives him something to say, too, on this, his "inaugural" appearance on the Network. So here he is, all kind eyes and gently failing hair, forehead covered by a bandage, looking sheepish at best. And here he is, putting on his best gentle, warm tone, when he says...]
Ah, this may be a little awkward, but... my name is Chrollo Lucifer, and I've been told some of you may know me from a few months ago... or weeks ago? I'm not really sure, I'm sorry.
[Weeks. He's counted them, too.]
Unfortunately, I really don't remember... anything about it. So if anyone would like to reintroduce themselves -- or introduce themselves for the first time! -- I'd be most grateful. And most pleased to meet you, as well.
It's a little troubling to know I may have lost friends due to my disappearance and lost memories.
Thank you very much! I appreciate your time.
LOGS POST (PROSE) SAMPLE:
[Here's a thread he participated in on the Test Drive Meme. It's not terribly prosesy so I wrote a prose sample below, but it's good for getting a feel for his dialogue when he's not being a huge faker like in the Network Sample.]
The apartment they assigned to him is bare, simple, humble. Even so, it's considerably better put together than Chrollo's normal headquarters of choice - ruined buildings, burned out husks. He's always been one to prefer abandoned things. So, sitting there, he feels a certain discomfort at the "normalcy" of it all - perfectly made bed, perfectly polished desk. Sharpened pencils, desk chair. How average, he thinks, how...
He doesn't finish the thought. That seems to be a problem of late - segmentation of thoughts, things trailing into one another, and overlapping, and folding over again. Until his arrival here it was a simple byproduct of immobility - he was waiting, and waiting, and then waiting. Waiting for news, and then waiting for Hisoka to find what he needed, and then waiting for Hisoka to arrive. So he read, and he thought, and he planned for what to do when his strength returned, and planned for what to do if it never returned.
That was the reason, then. Now it may simply be force of habit, or a way of thinking around the oddness of this predicament: removed from home, separated from whatever it was he was waiting for. Separated from his "family," too. That shouldn't bother him. In theory, it's little different than it had been since that chain-user issued his judgment. But in practical terms? At home they'd been separated by miles, yes, and by time. But here, they're separated by a much more fundamental division: the division of reality itself. Or so he's been told. It feels different. It feels...
His thought trails off again. Chrollo's eyes stare, unblinking, at the desk before him. There's a notebook there, spiral bound, empty inside. He could write there, maybe - sort the maze of interconnecting thoughts sparking up his mind. But instead, he stands, motionless as a statue, and lets his eyes fall closed. Lets his mind run free. And his aura curls and flows around him, rises like waves and that, at least, he does enjoy. Because if there's one thing (only one) to take pleasure in within this place - this new and normal world - it's this. The feeling of freedom.
The feeling of being unchained.
FINAL NOTES: I haven't put a limit on the number of powers he can copy for two reasons. First, there's canonically no known limit to his capacity to steal abilities and, more importantly, between the permissions involved and the plotting it would take to navigate him through the steps to steal a power, it seems self-limiting already. I guess I'd rather leave him with the promise of potential future acquisitions than have him hit a hard limit, which he'd find pretty demotivating.
NAME: Ariel
AGE: Over 18
JOURNAL:
thundercallingIM / EMAIL: n/a
PLURK:
RETURNING: Yes, playing Giorno Giovanna at the moment.
〈 CHARACTER INFO 〉
CHARACTER NAME: Chrollo Lucilfer
CHARACTER AGE: 26
SERIES: Hunter x Hunter
CHRONOLOGY: After the Yorknew City arc, somewhere during the Greed Island arc to be specific. He's not actually really IN the Greed Island arc (well he is for two panels), but his actions are reported on and minor - he's headed east in search of someone who can remove Kurapika's seal and, after having obtained a lead on the location of such a person, is waiting for Hisoka to recruit them on his behalf.
CLASS: Villain, but he'll pretend otherwise.
HOUSING: Nonah, please!
BACKGROUND:
Chrollo on the wikia - ignore the last name spelling, hxh's names are 100% inconsistent.
Enter Meteor City - the dumping ground of the world, where anyone is permitted to throw out anything they don't want without consequence... even people. Indeed, the official stance is that there are no people in Meteor City at all, despite its vast population and semi-functioning, self-run "government." Ergo, residents of Meteor City are people who do not legally exist, abandoned by the world, possessing a bond both thinner than water and thicker than blood.
This is the city that spawned both Chrollo Lucilfer and his "family," the Phantom Troupe.
When he was a young man (or teenager - its unclear, exactly) Chrollo formed the Troupe along with several other residents of the city, many of whom remain members to this day. Upon their founding, he established a few hard and fast rules: his orders were absolute and the highest priority they could have... but he, himself was not. Indeed, they were to obey him simply because he was the head of the Spider (their other nickname), but if he were to die another could replace him, and there could be a time when a subordinate would be more important than him. In short, the priority of each member was to the body of the group, not to any individual member. If someone were to kill or defeat a member of the Troupe, they are free to join the Troupe in place of their victim. This way, the the strength of the group increases. To prevent discord, he also established a rule against serious internal conflict - if members could not peacefully resolve a disagreement, then they would flip a coin to determine the appropriate path. Each member was marked with a tattoo - a black spider with a number on its back indicating the member's number within the band. Thus, the Phantom Troupe also came to be known as the Spider.
Each member of the Spider is, and was, an extraordinarily powerful physical combatant and Nen-user. Quickly, their formidable skills and efficiency at attain their goals - which generally revolved around theft or murder - made them infamous and landed a high bounty on their heads. They also became known, oddly enough, for charity work and for their support of philanthropic causes. Their pattern was to meet every few years as a group for larger jobs, or work individually or in partial groups for smaller jobs. Judging from their role as defenders of Meteor City, and by the way the people there reacted to their return, during the Chimera Ant arc, it's fair to guess that they maintained a much more positive relationship with their place of origin than with the remainder of the world - there, they were treated with respect and near deference. But, of course, to the outside world they were only dangerous criminals.
At some point between the founding of the Troupe and Season 3 of Hunter X Hunter, the following events are known to have taken place: 1. Silva Zoldyck, one of the most powerful of the infamous Zoldyck assassin family, was given a job to kill one of the Troupe members. He succeeded but not without being confronted, and fought to a standstill, by Chrollo. He left with the impression that assassinating Spiders was "not worth the price." His son, Killua, notes that this was one of the very few times he ever complained about a job, and that he then warned his children to stay away from the Troupe. 2. About five years before the beginning of the series, when he was 21, Chrollo became enamored of the scarlet eyes of the Kurta tribe and sent the Troupe to massacre the entire group. Only one, Kurapika, survived. Chrollo grew bored with the eyes and sold them off after a short time, as he does with everything he steals.
Their first real time appearance, however, is during the third season when a major auction event is being held in Yorknew City, including both legitimate and underground auctions. Chrollo decides to gather the Spiders (including the new #4, Hisoka, which is important) and steal everything in the underground auction. To achieve this, the Troupe slaughters the entire auction house, but ultimately finds that the treasures had already been moved. The attack on the auction leads the most powerful mafia leaders in the world, the 10 Dons, to put out a massive bounty for the Troupe's capture or even information leading to their capture. This leads to a cascading series of events that lands Troupe member 11, Uvogin, in the hands of Kurapika and his colleagues, all working as bodyguards for a seeress named Neon Nostrade. Uvogin is eventually killed by Kurapika, sending the Troupe into mourning. Chrollo, in his attempt to uncover who could have killed Uvogin, discovers the existence of Neon and targets her for ability acquisition.
After masquerading as a friendly citizen, Chrollo steals her power ("Lovely Ghostwriter") and then unleashes a massacre in Uvogin's honor. He personally slaughters several highly skilled assassins/bounty hunters with a pen and his bare hands before confronting Silva and his father Zeno Zoldyck - both hired by the 10 Dons - in a two-on-one battle. The battle came to a premature end, however, as Chrollo had preemptively hired Silva's son, Illumi Zoldyck, to assassinate the 10 Dons themselves as a failsafe. With the Dons dead, no on remained to pay Silva and Zeno for their troubles, and so they withdrew their attempt on Chrollo's life.
At this point, the Troupe faked their own deaths and slunk back into the shadows. Having recovered the original auction treasures, they had copies made by their copy-creating member, Kortopi, and sold off the copies while keeping the originals for themselves. Having read the fortune given to him by Neon before he stole her ability, Chrollo was aware that fate was conspiring to kill even more of his people if they remained in the city to avenge Uvogin and, as such, planned to withdraw. However, Hisoka - who had never truly been loyal to the troupe but was simply trying to get Chrollo alone for a fight - manipulated them into remaining there to find Uvo's murderer. Long story short, Kurapika's friends Gon and Killua turned themselves in to the Troupe in the hopes of covering Kurapika... who then kidnapped Chrollo to arrange a hostage exchange. The exchange was made, but not before Kurapika had sealed Chrollo's nen, rendering him powerless and unable to interact with the Troupe on pain of instant death. In this way, he avenged the loss of his home and family by denying Chrollo access to his own.
Chrollo, however, was not without hope: during his theft of her powers, Neon had predicted much of what happened. Her prophecy urged him to head East to seek new allies and find one who would await him... and so Chrollo moved east, eventually reaching Greed Island, the physical location accessed by those in possession of the video game and the then-current location of a man who could remove Kurapika's seal. Without his power, Chrollo couldn't force his way past Razor, the Island's guardian, and so he formed an arrangement with Hisoka: the latter acted as his agent, seeking the nen eraser in return for the promise of a duel should the seal be removed.
PERSONALITY:
The impression Chrollo makes, upon first meeting, depends wildly on where the meeting takes place and what agenda he's pursuing at that time. In most cases, when dealing with people he may find useful or hasn't decided on an approach toward yet, Chrollo will generally present himself as a soft-spoken and gently enthusiastic young man with bright eyes and a kind and curious nature. In this guise, he is immensely likable and seems trustworthy, has a self-deprecating and humble way about him. He will also show an interest in whoever he's speaking to, asking them gentle questions in what appears to be a harmless manner - in this persona, he's quite good at teasing out secrets and confidences, building trust. This, then, is his public face - the face he is most likely to show strangers or potential victims.
When he's on Troupe business, however, Chrollo is a different man entirely. Quiet and serious with an intense stare, Chrollo is aloof and unapproachable, seemingly unemotional. Far from his engaging and talkative public self, he's often silent, as well, preferring to observe and analyze, speaking only when necessary to give an order or explain a situation or his reasoning. This face is, or can be, quite terrifying especially to those who aren't personally involved with him. Furthermore, his odd, quirky way of moving and speaking, his silence, his seemingly impenetrable and expressionless face can combine to make him seem a bit alien, at times - even inhuman.
This impression is easy to understand. Aside even from the ruthlessness and bordering on sociopathic lack of remorse he feels for committing and/or ordering crimes from petty theft to murder (and even genuine atrocities like the genocide of the Kurta clan), Chrollo also has a seemingly inhuman mind. Chrollo observes everything, misses nothing. He is able to unlock puzzles, analyze situations or information quickly and efficiently with a minimum of data and make easy in-the-moment adjustments even when his life is on the line such as in the battle with Silva and Zeno. Chrollo is also able to put emotional needs such as revenge, grief, anger and instead pursue paths dictated by the demands of rationality. Physically he is generally immobile - even his facial expression rarely changes. And he carries himself with an unmistakable ease and confidence, yet never tips over into arrogance: he's aware of the extent of his abilities, just as he's aware of when they're being taxed.
In general, he's quite efficient, killing his enemies without hesitation - you won't get a big anime villain speech from him, in fact he barely talks at all before or during a confrontation, preferring to observe his enemy's behavior and analyze their strengths and weaknesses based on that. The major exception to this is a battle with someone whose powers he wants to acquire - in a case like that, he'll hold back significantly to prolong the fight in the hopes of creating such an opportunity.
But don't let his efficiency imply that he doesn't enjoy his cruelty - one of the bounty hunters sent after him recognizes Chrollo as a kindred spirit, describing the both of them as "addicted to murder." That does seem true in some sense - Chrollo refers to death battles as "play," for example. When asked how he can have so little regard for the life of strangers, Chrollo is unable to truly articulate his motivations beyond saying that he can kill people who have nothing to do with him in part because... they have nothing to do with him. You can speculate that this is directly tied to his history as a Meteor City child... and you would probably be right. As one who grew up as an outcast, with no true name or identity in the world, the only bonds he shares are with fellow outcasts and rejected people. He has, therefore, no regard for those who didn't grow up in the same circumstances, and the same place... just as they have no regard for him. He does recognize in that moment that his motivation isn't actually as simple as that, however he doesn't (or isn't able to) explain any further. Even so, he rarely goes wild, and never without reason.
His commanding presence and natural leadership skill add to his striking impression. It is his strong personality, in fact, which allows him inspire love and loyalty even in the band of miscreants he's gathered, and to hold them together, mediate their disputes and and maintain order despite their individually volatile personalities. It probably helps that, despite his superior strength and position as their leader, he does not consider himself above them or more important than them. Quite the contrary - he considers the greater survival of the troupe itself far more important than himself (or any other one member).
Despite all this, and the impression he can give, Chrollo is, in fact, very human. His greatest weakness seems to be his slight awkwardness with emotion and his tendency to think in pure intellectual ideals rather than emotional realities even when dealing with his own heart and the hearts of others. For example, Chrollo accepts himself as expendable as dictated by the rules of the Troupe, but is unable to recognize the extent to which it is his personality and presence that holds them together, or how much of their loyalty is directed at him personally even more than the group as a whole. Indeed, even those who were willing to let him go did so because they considered breaking his rules and defying his vision to be a betrayal of him. Similarly, the ideal that he holds regarding accepting the killers of members into the Troupe is... questionable. While it may be a good idea in theory, and perhaps it has worked out in the past, the sole time we actually see this issue come up, Chrollo does not in fact try to recruit Kurapika. Instead, he tries to hunt him down and only stops once he realizes (through Neon's prophecy) that doing so endangers more of the Troupe.
The Troupe is the thing Chrollo loves most in the world. He calls many of them by nicknames, and openly weeps at Uvo's death. The slaughter that followed is demonstrative of both Chrollo's dark heart and his genuine love for and devotion to his chosen family: while his coldness toward the hundreds or thousands murdered that night shows the disregard in which he holds most people's lives, he ordered it not for his own pleasure but to honor his battle-mad comrade and bring happiness to Uvogin's spirit. His love for the Troupe is absolute and demonstrative of his extreme ingroup/outgroup mentality: to him, there is the Troupe and there is everyone else, and only the 12 on one side of that line matter. The residents of Meteor City can likely be said to fall in a rare in-between space - more important than strangers and less than his family. For those who aren't Spiders, this is probably as good as you can get with Chrollo.
It should be mentioned that both his public and private faces are, in fact, "faces." Certainly his cold persona, the head of the Spider, is more "honest" than his gentler presentation... but neither is entirely accurate. His truest personality, the most accurate, is probably some combination of the two - when his guards go down, Chrollo's normally composed face can be quite animated and youthful, and even his voice and speech patterns become more casual and light. It's evident that his primary face is a cultivated one - forged through his time with the Troupe. Its evolution can be vaguely tracked through the short flashbacks we're shown - Chrollo laughing as a child, Chrollo friendly and bright eyed as he brings the original members together for the first time, Chrollo with a harder face as he crosses paths with Silva Zoldyck for the first time. Chrollo in the present with his hair slicked back, expressionless and controlled.
Chrollo can come off, at times, as a bit quirky and creepy - in particular his eyes are quite memorable and unnerving when he wants them to be. He can quickly swing between cute/childlike moments, restrained sophistication and a wildness both compelling and frightening. Finally, he has a number of interests - mostly in beautiful or valuable things, which he indulges through theft. However, his interest is fickle and inevitably dies out, leaving him to sell his treasures off on a regular basis. The only possible exception made is for books, as he has a particular fondness for reading, with a special love of antique and first edition books.
POWER:
Chrollo is an extremely powerful and adept Nen user. Basically this means that he can use his spiritual aura to achieve various anime enhancement effects: increased strength/durability/healing/sensing things. Think of a generic anime energy power and that's what it is. Since he's an advanced user, he can also use it in more specialized/focused ways such as increasing one body parts' power to a larger degree than others' or enveloping an animate object to enhance it/sharpen it, as well. Long story short, though, Chrollo is physically formidable and can use his Nen for misc anime sensing/enhancement purposes.
Beyond those basic techniques of aura use, a powerful Nen user can also develop special abilities - the superpowers of HunterxHunter. Canonically, Chrollo's special Nen power is called Skill Hunter, and it permits him to steal the powers of others. There are a bunch of conditions he has to meet in canon, but they're a bit rough to make use of in a game context, I'd like to be take advantage of the Porter to switch it up, if possible. So basically what follows is a game-tweaked version of a canon ability. Anyway.
Skill Hunter will allow him to copy (rather than steal) the powers of other characters and place them into his book for future use. There are, of course, still rules, and they are as follows:
- He must have previous knowledge of what the power does through some means, be it an explanation, reading a file or seeing it in use.
- He must witness the power in action (in person, via video recording, whatever), and must do so clearly. For example, if someone uses pyrokinesis to create a fire, he can't just see that someone waved their hands and smoke happened somewhere. For an invisible skill like telepathy, it would need to be used on him since he can't "see" it happening. If the previous condition was fulfilled through a viewing, then a second viewing (of a different use) is required (e.g. he can't just watch the same video twice.)
- He must fulfill one of the following hurdles: a) close a piece of the victim's physical body into the book (not necessarily a limb or anything - a lock of hair would work, for example. It would need to be fairly substantial, though - a single strand of hair or fingernail clipping wouldn't be sufficient). or b) close a piece of something emotionally close to the victim into the book (a piece of a wedding gown, the ear of a beloved childhood toy into the book. Bodyparts would work too, if they came from a person close to the victim.) The book will then absorb the offering and create a page for the power, but...
- If the power does not have a spiffy anime technique style name, he must give it one to complete its page within his skillbook before he can access the power. (If it does have such a name, the name will simply transfer with the power).
There would also be some simple rules for activating/using the powers, as follows:
- To activate a power, he must summon his skillbook. It will open to the appropriate page automatically, and then vanish (unless he wants it to remain, of course). To deactivate a persistent power, he must summon the book again. It will close automatically and the power will go latent again.
- If the book is destroyed during those moments, it will be unavailable to him for 24 hours, after which time he can summon it again..
- Since he's using his Nen to replicate the abilities, the number he can have active at one time is dependent on the power of the ability relative to his Nen's strength. Ergo, a simple or weak power could stack easily with other abilities, whereas an extremely strong power may absorb all of his Nen and thus need to run alone.
Canonically, he already had an unknown number of abilities in his book. I'll be bringing the four that he's directly displayed to the game with him, which amounts to 1. summoning man-sized carnivorous fish that can exist only in an indoors space 2. creating a cloth that when draped over something, causes it to shrink 3. precognition that manifests in the form of a 3-4 verse poem 4. Teleportation (limits unknown in canon, though he does use it to involuntarily teleport another person. for the purpose of the game, I'm saying it's single person only, but can be used on himself or one other).
I'd also like to add a noncanon Porter power: Chrollo will be able to form spiders from shadow (they'll basically melt out of any patch of shadow and become solid upon emergence). He will be able to remotely control them/use to view things remotely (by seeing through their "eyes"). The spiders vary from, say, normal spider size to human-sized, for example), and can survive an amount of damage appropriate to their size. Other than their size (potentially), they look and feel like normal spiders, though their webbing is black instead of silvery/clear. The spiders can also merge back into/travel between shadow patches, bringing anything they've caught within their webs with them (within reason - no cars!) When killed, the spiders dissolve into black smoke; similarly, the webbing dissolves into black smoke when broken. The larger the spiders are, the fewer he can create. This is really meant to echo Chrollo's spiders/phantoms theme, and also probably help him with petty thefts and such since he's a... thief....
Anyway, for his normal person skillset, Chrollo has a genius level intellect, and is an excellent hand-to-hand combatant capable of killing skilled fighters with a pen (!) and fighting two other excellent combatants simultaneously with minimal strain despite holding back. Silva Zoldyck comments that his combat instinct is outstanding, as he dodges attacks with perfect timing and thus prevents any openings in his defense that, otherwise, could be taken advantage of. He also notes that Chrollo's murders are efficient, perfectly executed and "beautiful" - often achieved with a single strike. Speaking of which, Chrollo is skilled in assassination, proficient in the use of poisons, and excellent with various weapons (most notably knives). He is extremely athletic as well - strong, fast, durable and agile with extraordinary reflexes.
He will arrive with his Ben's Knife, an exceptional blade that is strong and sharp enough to cut the tough, damage resistant skin of Silva Zoldyck (it doesn't have powers or anything, though, it's just a really good knife).
〈 CHARACTER SAMPLES 〉
COMMUNITY POST (VOICE) SAMPLE:
[He hasn't been here for long. A mere handful of days. Even so, Chrollo has already spent a significant amount of time pondering his appearance here - or should he say, his reappearance. Truth be told, that's the strangest part of it: watching videos of himself saying words he doesn't remember saying, greeting people he doesn't remember knowing. It's as though someone has sealed away a part of his mind and that's far more disturbing than sealed nen. More disturbing, even, than appearing in a foreign world inhabited by people from worlds yet more foreign still.]
[But.]
[There is a benefit to it, as well, and that is... data. Information to mine - who knew what about him (almost no one, and almost nothing, it seems - that's good), and what sort of approach works best when dealing with which person.]
[And it gives him something to say, too, on this, his "inaugural" appearance on the Network. So here he is, all kind eyes and gently failing hair, forehead covered by a bandage, looking sheepish at best. And here he is, putting on his best gentle, warm tone, when he says...]
Ah, this may be a little awkward, but... my name is Chrollo Lucifer, and I've been told some of you may know me from a few months ago... or weeks ago? I'm not really sure, I'm sorry.
[Weeks. He's counted them, too.]
Unfortunately, I really don't remember... anything about it. So if anyone would like to reintroduce themselves -- or introduce themselves for the first time! -- I'd be most grateful. And most pleased to meet you, as well.
It's a little troubling to know I may have lost friends due to my disappearance and lost memories.
Thank you very much! I appreciate your time.
LOGS POST (PROSE) SAMPLE:
[Here's a thread he participated in on the Test Drive Meme. It's not terribly prosesy so I wrote a prose sample below, but it's good for getting a feel for his dialogue when he's not being a huge faker like in the Network Sample.]
The apartment they assigned to him is bare, simple, humble. Even so, it's considerably better put together than Chrollo's normal headquarters of choice - ruined buildings, burned out husks. He's always been one to prefer abandoned things. So, sitting there, he feels a certain discomfort at the "normalcy" of it all - perfectly made bed, perfectly polished desk. Sharpened pencils, desk chair. How average, he thinks, how...
He doesn't finish the thought. That seems to be a problem of late - segmentation of thoughts, things trailing into one another, and overlapping, and folding over again. Until his arrival here it was a simple byproduct of immobility - he was waiting, and waiting, and then waiting. Waiting for news, and then waiting for Hisoka to find what he needed, and then waiting for Hisoka to arrive. So he read, and he thought, and he planned for what to do when his strength returned, and planned for what to do if it never returned.
That was the reason, then. Now it may simply be force of habit, or a way of thinking around the oddness of this predicament: removed from home, separated from whatever it was he was waiting for. Separated from his "family," too. That shouldn't bother him. In theory, it's little different than it had been since that chain-user issued his judgment. But in practical terms? At home they'd been separated by miles, yes, and by time. But here, they're separated by a much more fundamental division: the division of reality itself. Or so he's been told. It feels different. It feels...
His thought trails off again. Chrollo's eyes stare, unblinking, at the desk before him. There's a notebook there, spiral bound, empty inside. He could write there, maybe - sort the maze of interconnecting thoughts sparking up his mind. But instead, he stands, motionless as a statue, and lets his eyes fall closed. Lets his mind run free. And his aura curls and flows around him, rises like waves and that, at least, he does enjoy. Because if there's one thing (only one) to take pleasure in within this place - this new and normal world - it's this. The feeling of freedom.
The feeling of being unchained.
FINAL NOTES: I haven't put a limit on the number of powers he can copy for two reasons. First, there's canonically no known limit to his capacity to steal abilities and, more importantly, between the permissions involved and the plotting it would take to navigate him through the steps to steal a power, it seems self-limiting already. I guess I'd rather leave him with the promise of potential future acquisitions than have him hit a hard limit, which he'd find pretty demotivating.