Absolute Threshold Application

▐ YOUR NAME: Erasmus, Elmo, or Elm
▐ OVER 18? Yes, I am 25.
▐ PERSONAL LJ reverse_solidus 
▐ EMAIL/IM: sixpounduniverse@gmail.com // AIM: rainofrevelation
▐ OTHER AT CHARACTERS: N/A
▐ RESERVED?: No

჻ CHARACTER: Mitsuo Kubo
჻ CANON SERIES: Persona 4
჻ TIMELINE: Post conclusion of Persona 4, with the assumption of the 'good ending' being carried out.
჻ WIKI LINK FOR BIO/HISTORY: Link for Info

▐ ELABORATE

჻ HISTORY:

Several times during Mitsuo's 'Void Quest' dungeon, in the television world [the maze of dungeons where most of the action in Persona 4 takes place], odd voice overs appear, apart from the 'Level Up' messages that are shown in regard to his alleged murders [note: several women are murdered at the beginning of the game, and near the middle, when a third victim is found, Mitsuo takes credit for all three.]. These voice overs hint at the life he had endured, prior to his descent into violence; a life of solitude, neglect, and mistreatment. Mitsuo exhibits an extreme lack of social skills as well as a disconnect with reality and a dislike from most of humanity. He harbors resentment, paranoia, fear, and rage, toward nearly every class of people, and takes solace only in the safety of his own delusions. As long as everything is a game, he's a hero and no one gets hurt... unless they really deserve it.

Mitsuo is seen several times around town before he is actually brought under suspicion, complaining at length about crime and how much he hates people, even mentioning Mr. Morooka [the teacher that he murders later in the game] by name, even though he doesn't go to the same school where the main cast do. His rants are unfocused and tend to jump around, with the only real connection being the anger he feels. Whether it is based in reality or not, that emotion is the basis for nearly all of his actions.

In my personal 'fanon' for him, his father left when he was very young, because his mother is mentally unstable. Mitsuo was left to take care of her during her bad times, which forced him to grow up in some odd ways when he was still very much a child. When his mother was doing well, she would be extremely confident and sometimes even start relationships, which allowed Mitsuo to relax back into the role of a child, and to let 'the Adults'  handle things. However, when his mother would inevitably relapse, they would be left alone to cope again, and Mitsuo would have to bounce back into that Protector role. The older he got, the less able he was to switch back and forth and his resentment over the situation increased as he withdrew further from the outside world.


 

PERSONALITY: 
Mitsuo is anti-social and paranoid, either due to isolation or the influence of his mother's illness [or perhaps a predisposition to such illness himself]. Because of his attachment to the games that he distracts himself with, his distrust of the world is offset by an overt familiarity with people he has formed imaginary attachments to; near the beginning of the game, he addresses one of the female main cast as simply 'Yuki' while asking her out in a both forceful and insecure way, even though he had never actually met her before.

In times of stress, he retreats to the mentality of the games he plays; he has done nothing wrong, because it's only a game, even after he 'confesses' to the police. He wants the credit, but not the blame. This is likely due to the fact that he was so neglected as a child, that he doesn't actually understand the consequences of his action in any other context.

He is that kind of stereotypical loner nerd, who has gone so long in that role that he honestly doesn't know how to function any other way. However, his loneliness does drive him to seek other people out... but if they don't meet his exact expectations, he responds with petulant and uncontrolled anger.

▐ WHAT ARE THEY BRINGING TO NUADORIA?: A fully loaded Superiority/Inferiority Complex; his laptop; his mother's handgun, which he does not know how to use; a PSP.
▐ YOUR CHARACTER'S ELEMENT: Lightning
▐ WHAT IS THEIR GESTALT?: His Shadow [like the Id and the Super-Ego] forms, from his canon.
      Defense Form: 8-bit Soldier
      Attack Form: Inner Child
▐ HOW WILL THIS CHARACTER FIT INTO THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE GAME?: Mitsuo is the perfect kind of person to drop into an environment like this; he is already prone to doubting his senses, he thinks he was destined for some grand adventure, and he has no prior personal entanglements because he has no friends. The playing field of his attention is completely level, as he assumes that no one can compete with himself intellectually, and at the same time he has no social grace what-so-ever. He is an equal opportunity dick, which means he is likely, once he gets his bearings, to butt into EVERYONE'S business.

✔ THIRD PERSON SAMPLE:

Mitsuo drifted up out of unconsciousness, lured by an odd smell and the unfamiliar feel of stone beneath him. He opened his eyes slowly, barely interested to discover where he was or why. All he knew was that it was not the Detention Center, and definitely not a hospital... and thus, not likely based in the 'Reality' that his doctor was so keen on impressing upon him. Ever since his arrest, and his mother's death, he hadn't been anywhere other than the Center and the Hospital, and neither of those two places had such a Western feel to them. Pale stone, and gothic carvings surrounded him, though they had a very modern feel to them. Everything seemed... timeless.

Nothing in this place struck him as odd. Not the architecture nor the intangible haze of danger; not the communication device on his wrist, nor the collection of his own random personal items. The only thing that struck him as 'off', was the lack of screen.

This was the kind of world that he had spent his life exploring and exploiting... from the safety of his bedroom. The last time he had actually been 'transported' somewhere, he had nearly died, and then he'd been arrested. Or had it been the other way around? The whole ordeal was fuzzy in his memory, the way a dream might be, or something too traumatic to recall. He had avoided death that time, and had been afforded a tenuous CONTINUE.

"I suppose I'm not in Kansas anymore," he said, just to hear his own voice. It echoed off the cold stone, and seemed to sink into the air. After a moment, he sat down with his back to a wall and drew his knees up to his chest. "There's no place like home.. there's no place like home... there's no place like---"

✔ FIRST PERSON SAMPLE: Oh, man... look at these graphics! The environmental engine must be first class. If this is a dream, I never want to wake up.

...

If it's not a dream--- I still never want to wake up.