Character Survey of Doooooooom (in progress)
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy?
Tall, but thin. 6'2" for height; weight not known in canon. "Lightly built" might be more accurate than thin; he's not scrawny by any means, but let's just say wrestling is demonstrably one of his less effective combat maneuvers.
2. How old is he?
I ran the conversions. Including things like days, estimations as here. Estimated creation date was July 9, 1982, "present" date December 17, 2011. 45:1 conversion rate between worlds.
....Which all sums up to 1354 cycles, or 1237 years experienced. (Only 28 years passed in the user world).
3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch?
So. Much. Slouching. Hunching is more accurate, and Rinzler loses a good half-foot of height from it compared to when he stands up straight. As Tron, he stood tall, and relatively easily; as Rinzler it's the opposite. Drawn in, body almost always clenched, waiting for orders or combat. Default stance is hunched, head lowered, hands half open at his sides.
4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?
Health is less applicable for a program. But he's completely functional in a physical sense, barring whatever injuries he may have acquired in any given game or fight. Very, very fit as compared to human standards.
5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?
Depends somewhat on the setting. Default motions are fluid, quick, but at times, especially in Clu's presence, he'll cling to that full-body tension even while moving, resulting in almost mechanical motions, usually on command. Barring that, he moves easily and suddenly, often with acrobatics or quick tricks thrown in. Rinzler prefers to be in motion, and is somewhat of a show-off as to what he can do.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror?
Eye of the beholder and all. Under the mask, he looks like his user, Alan Bradley. That said, barring circumstances (*cough*,
Abax), Rinzler will always keep his mask on. He doesn't actually remember what he looks like; as far as he's concerned, he has no face, and he's not supposed to have a face, and the black helmet is all there is.7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?
Light skin, paler than human norm and lacking human irregularities. No physical scars; he's been thoroughly repaired from past injuries suffered.
8. Describe his hair: color, texture, style.
Brown, relatively short. As for texture, it turns into voxels if the render's damaged—just like everything else. Barring that... straight, not visibly coarse?
9. What color are his eyes?
Blue-grey. Pupils are hexagonal, can be backlit with the color of his circuitry if undergoing a heavy processing load or performing certain scans.
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features?
Circuitry: Rinzler is covered in streaks, dots, and lines of light across the exterior of his gridsuit. These glow red-orange to indicate his loyalty to Clu, full or partial reversion to Tron can switch the color to blue-white. Beneath the gridsuit, the pattern is much more complex, and fluctuates much more readily, resembling (though not completely identical to) his old Encom design. With or without his shell, the most distinctive mark is the tetra-amino on his chest marking out a T for Tron.
11. What are his chief tension centers?
...I'm tempted to say full body; Rinzler does rigid/coiled really well. That said, probably shoulders and spine, with hands coming up next most.
12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does he have six of the same suit?
Ha. On the Grid, he wears one thing, and only one thing. Ever. His armor/gridsuit: black, barring the circuitry dots, more or less one unit piece. It's actually a part of his codebase, not an externalized attachment; he can rezz or derezz it at will, though he rarely has reason to. It comes with a black, opaque helmet which as Rinzler, he will never choose to remove—between the helmet and gridsuit, he's completely covered, nothing showing.
Off-Grid, he pretty much wears the same thing... except when circumstances (Abax) force him to do otherwise. Rinzler's user clothes consist of a relatively close parallel, albeit clothes instead of coded suit. Black, long sleeves and pants. No helmet, and no gloves, but otherwise covering everything. Though there's no built in disk dock, his disk can attach and sync in his back like it normally would; a visible connection of orange light will hold it in place.
13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them?
Gridsuit: yes. It's skintight, flexible, literally part of his design.
User clothes: less so. They fit okay, but he's not used to wearing loose things with fiddly bits. And he is so very awkward about having a face.
14. Does he dress the same on the job as he does in his free time? If not, what are the differences?
He is his job. Which is to say, no.
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando?
...probably commando. Gridsuit is, y'know. Covering everything.
Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?
...If you ever get Rinzler to talk, it will sound... somewhat like someone who hasn't spoken in a thousand years. Electronic flange, rough. More deep than high pitched.
2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate?
Normally? He doesn't. Rinzler emits a constant ticking rumble as Clu's programming conflicts with his base code; this is his only vocalization. It can vary to some degree with mood or expression, but larger changes indicate code conflicts or internal struggle. Rinzler speaking is a rare event indeed; he's (re)made to be voiceless.
In the event that he broke through Clu's coding enough to speak for himself, it would take effort, and there would be hesitation.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?
The same electronic flange to the voice held by all Basics. As Tron, his speech was relatively straightforward and devoid of tics.
4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency?
5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations?
Not really.
6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words?
...neither. Tron is direct and blunt and has no brain to mouth filter. He's not actively insulting, but he can come off that way. Rinzler has all the filters, and thinking isn't relevant.
7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change?
Covered this pretty well in the previous stuff. Utterly inarticulate to the point of not being able to talk. Likely to change if he breaks through Clu's reprogramming (fully or partially), or is recoded.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart?
Intelligent. Though he rarely shows it openly, Rinzler is always watching, always taking in data, and always analyzing for strategies or weaknesses. Neither book smart nor street smart is entirely accurate, given he's a programmed intelligence, but the latter's closer to it, he learns and plans so he can act, not for knowledge's own sake.
2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate?
On his feet, on his hands, on whatever limb he's flipping off at the time... very quick and short-term adaptable. Tactics over strategy.
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?
Take in data, analyze for weakness or relevancy, store or discard or note or respond. More logical by far, though he's not above emotions, and capable of quick assessments approaching intuition—he's not going to second-guess a flash of inspiration mid-fight; he's going to act on it.
That said, Rinzler utterly lacks much imagination or creativity; while he can project out ideas and tactics based on his capabilities (which are extensive), he's never going to deviate too much from simple practicality. He can't, and doesn't try to, plan ahead for everything. And idealism doesn't factor into anything. He'd need something to believe in.
4. What kind of education has the character had?
LOL, program? It's a bit less straightforward than that actually; while most of his base skills and combat routines are programmed in, Tron was coded to be adaptable, and despite the restrictions placed on him, he has learned and continues to learn. No education as such; he learns and grows as he experiences, and for all that much of that capability has been locked away or deleted, Rinzler's got over a thousand years of experience to draw from. Most of his learned ability relates to combat or tactics; anything nonessential to his function tends to get discarded or wiped, though as in-game situations force him past his usual parameters, he tends to observe and retain more.
5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about?
Combat. He's spent his entire existence fighting, killing, and, at least for the last thousand, being upgraded, edited, and cut down specifically to increase that function at the cost of everything else. Tracking's also primary, tactics are a peripheral inclusion, and he's capable of any number of skills that would increase his ability to hunt targets and follow Clu's commands.
What he's interested in learning more about... is complicated. Rinzler as a baseline is solely focused on his function; anything relevant to new combat abilities or tactics would be a focus; anything that isn't would be discarded as not relevant. That said, he used to be more than that, used to care about more than that, and given time, it can leak through. Once he opens up a bit, Rinzler can be curious about everything, and while he might excuse it as acquiring data for potential future use, that's not quite true. Some things are half familiar, and others seem like they should be, and he badly wants to find something important, even as he rejects everything.
6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert?
Just. Laughing. i>Forever</i>. At this question.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?
He wouldn't admit it, but mood swings. He's supposed to be blank, default, uncaring, acting rather than thinking or evaluating on his own. He isn't. Rinzler's primary emotional response at any given time is anger; he's inherently hostile towards the world, and at himself both for being what he was programmed to be and failing to be just that. Any number of issues or people can trigger responses from desperate interest to violence. 'Cheerful' would just... never apply, and he alternates between apathy and intent focus. 'Volatile' would be the most applicable descriptor.
8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?
Suspicion with an edge of hostility. Inherently expects the worst of everyone and everything, and poised to identify and respond to the threat.
9. Is he more likely to act, or to react?
React. Doing things—any things—of his own initiative doesn't come easily for Rinzler. While he will land himself in a lot of messes in a nonstandard environment, that's more due to his default response to any perceived threat being "kill it"; it's still automatic reaction, not choice and intent.
10. Which is his default: fight or flight?
Another laughter-inducing question. Let's just put it this way. In panfandom games, he's come up against heroes and villains, mages and giant robots, psychopomps and gods. Most of these in direct personal combat. And Rinzler? Still hasn't learned how to back down or run away.
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?
What is humor. No. Really. What is it?
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them?
...mental disorders? All of them. Diagnosable? ...
He's been reprogrammed. Thoroughly. With checkups and edits and regular efforts to delete every scrap of his former personality... or much of any personality. But canonly? There are still fragments of Tron poking through the rewrite.
In the state I pulled him from, Rinzler's got severe amnesia: his memories of being Tron are completely blocked and filtered away from access in a way that makes them both extremely painful and extremely difficult to even try and reach. Other memories and experiences are likewise restricted, and any number of triggering events will induce anything from more memory deletion to short-term lockup or loss of physical autonomy. He's coded for unconditional loyalty to Clu—there is very little his admin could command that would even get a moment of hesitation from the program.
That said... even before any game events push him past normal function, the repurposing's already been strained. Meeting a user, seeing Flynn's hideout, triggering experiences that were already pushing him towards the breaking point he hit in the lightjet battle. He isn't that far through his own timeline; he's still serving Clu, hunting down the users, not fighting for them. But he's not quite at default settings, either. Rinzler's just barely beginning to wake up and look around for himself; his usual coping method of complete apathy is wearing thin.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person?
...so many.
>As Tron: the first movie.
-Getting caught by the MCP before he was even fully written, pretty much growing up (as much as programs do) as a captive forced to kill others to stay alive.
-Breakout, Ram's death, and then finding out Flynn was a user. Completely broke his (fairly naive) expectations, made him more curious and open than worshipful.
-MCP's defeat, freeing the system. Also included what he perceived as Flynn sacrificing himself for them.
>Tron part 2: Betrayal, Evolution:
-Switching over to Flynn's new system, having to adapt his function of network security to living on and protecting a half-developed closed system with only one user.
-The ISOs—the strain they put on the system, and him, but mostly Clu. How Tron got stuck between the factions. Highlight point would be Clu's poisoning the Sea; it was a conclusive break between him and Clu, and made it heartbreakingly clear how little Flynn cared to listen to either of them.
-The coup, Clu's betrayal: fighting for the users, for Flynn—and failing. Sacrificing himself just to give Flynn a chance to run—throwing away his life, he'd thought. And losing more than that.
>Rinzler. This part's relatively short because he was intentionally kept static.
-Reprogramming, creation in a sense. Lost everything he was, really did wake up a drone. Original process took awhile, there were several trials and errors before Clu was satisfied with his work.
-Cue a thousand years of... just about nothing. No growth, no development—because Clu wouldn't let there be any. Constant edits, reworking, checks for absolute obedience. In all that time he glitched somewhat, but once the original issues were fixed, the number of times he came close to any kind of breakthrough could be counted on one hand. Over a thousand-year interval.
-Legacy: Fighting Sam Flynn shocks him out of his complacency—badly shocks him, given the spoken word. Glitches smoothed out, went along with no problems. But the enemy was users, and everything was much more present than it had been for so long, and Rinzler couldn't quite stop thinking about it. His current timeline cuts before he gets past thinking.
14. What does he fear?
Biggest fear: reprogramming. Where Clu's concerned, he utterly shuts down in this regard, but on a level he can't even be aware of, he's helpless and panicky and terrified of losing himself—and he does lose himself. To Rinzler, hands on his disk mean an attempt to reshape him, delete him, twist away any fragments of awareness he's managed to cling to. And while he shuts down with Clu because he has to, with anyone else, he will panic and attempt to kill.
Other fears include failure, abandonment—though the second's less fear and more quiet expectation. He knows he doesn't have value, and he knows he'll be left behind. And if he hates it, that doesn't make a difference.
15. What are his hopes or aspirations?
He doesn't have any.
On a very big level, that's it. He doesn't hope, he doesn't look forward to anything. He just obeys. He's already the best, he's already perfect, and he doesn't expect anything to change, ever. That said... there's still a fragment. Hope in the users, a sense of absence that hurts and he wants himself back. Or possibly just wants it all to end. It's very bleak, and he rejects this so very violently—because it doesn't work, it's a lie, users leave and he's nothing but a weapon.
Hope is a very nebulous concept for Rinzler, and game interactions can push things in any number of directions. He can shut down, become more convinced he's only a tool to be used, go into active despair, especially if he recovers just enough to know how wrong he is, or in a very few cases, actually believe he could be more.
16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him?
As a baseline? Nothing. But only because he doesn't know enough about himself. If he learned it, he'd want to keep his former identity secret; there would be all the confusion and shame about what he is and was.
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand?
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them?
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet?
6. Does he have other close friends?
7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people?
8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends?
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once?
10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse?
11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest?
12. What does he look for in a romantic partner?
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any?
14. Does he have any rivals or enemies?
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does he fall on the Kinsey scale?
16. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him?
17. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does he fit type?
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his life?
3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it?
4. How does he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?
5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them?
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?
2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him?
3. Where does he live? House, apartment, trailer? Is his home his castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does he share it with others?
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend his money on?
5. What does he do for a living? Is he good at it? Does he enjoy it, or would he rather be doing something else?
6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time?
7. What are his eating habits? Does he skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is his favorite:
1. Color?
2. Smell?
3. Time of day?
4. Season?
5. Book?
6. Music?
7. Place?
8. Substance?
9. Plant?
10. Animal?
END
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