![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Melody of the Abyss - Profile [ WIP ]
Feb. 23rd, 2015 04:57 pmName: Jude Mathis
Age: 15
Gender: Male
Height: 5'4"
Body Type: Slender
Weapon of Choice: Bracers
Image Song: N/A
Changes at a Glance:
- Placeholder
Appearance:
History:
Personality ( from canon ):
The best way to start describing Jude is through one of his own quotes:
"You might say I'm nosy or naive, but I just can't leave you alone."
Which really is a good point to start with - Jude is often described as a "do-gooder honors student" by his peers in medical school, and with good reason. He's the type of person that can't help but get involved and help others in need, offering assistance and advice as he is able to - sometimes regardless of whether or not it's actually needed. An admirable trait, perhaps, but it's also a double-edged sword in that he often ends up in situations over his head as a result - in fact, it's because of this habit he kickstarts the plot of Xillia in the first place by investigating a Spirit Arts incident at his school, and subsequently following Milla to the Lafort Research Facility even though she warns him that it may not be safe. ( And he becomes the butt of many "Go home, Jude" jokes as a result, on top of that. )
Of course, regardless of what happens his desire to help other people never wavers, even if his choosing to do so could end very badly for him. If he promises to do something he sees it through to the end, no matter what he promises or where the journey will take him. At the outset of his journey, he's more than willing to follow Milla and help her with her mission even though doing so makes him a wanted criminal by Il'fan. In fact, the only reason he ended up meeting Milla in the first place was because he wanted to find his professor and congratulate him for being given a prestigious award. Really, the core of his whole being is characterized by his inability to turn down someone in need, which - as noted before - is both a good and bad thing.
As noted by both his friends and family, Jude is regarded as very mature in comparison to his peers, and certainly tries his best to act it, as both Alvin and Milla note when he accompanies both of them to the country of Au Jule to evade the authorities. His analytical nature, hyper-awareness and ability to improvise plans as needed help get the party out of a pinch numerous times, such as his idea of having Alvin shoot a disguised octopus and sic it on Presa when she captures Milla. Due to his training as a doctor, he's also able to read people as well, figuring out how they tick, and is able to say or tell people the right things at the right time, as needed, to help push them forward. As Jude himself states, he doesn't try to overthink or overdo, he just wants to see the the best in people. This is why he's willing to accept that Milla's the Maxwell despite how outrageous it comes off as. Or why he trusts Alvin despite having many legitimate reasons to not trust him, after all the shit that he puts the party through. ( That said, he IS aware that he can be too nice and naively trusting at times, as Alvin himself and Leia will often point out. )
That said, he still has several revealing flaws in his character that, even now, he's still working on. The biggest of these is his aimlessness and lack of conviction where the big picture is involved - he only starts off following Milla out of a sense of duty, finishing what he began, but as the journey continues he starts internalizing and trying to come up with reasons why not to leave her side; she quickly becomes his raison d'etre, to the point of being unhealthily obsessed with staying by her side even after their journey is over. And this is something that Milla picks up on as well, questioning his lack of direction in life and even encouraging him to start thinking for himself and forging his own path for the future.
It isn't until the two most important women in his life put themselves in harm's way for him - Milla sacrifices herself protecting the party from the Lance of Kresnik, and Leia protects him from getting gunned down by an emotionally unstable Alvin by taking the bullet for him - that he's forced to confront his indecisions head-on: what was he hoping to gain out of this journey? What was he going to do from here on out? He realizes that by this point, he has to make his own decisions and start thinking for himself, not just for Milla's sake, but for his own - otherwise he would be, in effect, throwing away his life and letting it go to waste.
This also highlights another flaw of his that, while subtle, contributes to his listlessness in life - even when he does make decisions, he doesn't exactly have any confidence in them, often turning to others for guidance and having a lack of confidence in himself as a result. It's not until Alvin attacks him while going through aemotional rock bottom and shoots Leia in the process that he finally gets it into his head to start thinking for himself. This flaw inexplicably also ties into his lack of a goal in life - up until meeting Milla, much of his do-gooding and involvement in other people's lives was mainly because he trying to figure out what he wanted to do; preventing himself from becoming lonely and feeling like he's useful to others around him in the meantime. Going on the journey with Milla taught him that it was okay to make decisions that other people may not like and go through with them.
Another one of his flaws lies in the way he deals with people. When it comes to logically piecing together information, Jude's good at that - no surprises there since studying medicine involves being able to analyze and determine a diagnosis of someone based on even the most minute details - but Jude tends to get so lost in the logic that he often tends to completely miss the emotional aspect of a given situation. Of course, he doesn't mean to dismiss anyone's feelings, not at all, but Jude just really sucks at "reading between the lines" and picking up on someone's true feelings unless they're made obvious. This particular flaw of his is particularly evident in his interactions with Elize - after more or less kidnapping her from her home in Hamil ( where's Chris Hansen when you need him ) Jude takes on the responsibility of finding somewhere else for her to call home, not realizing that her deepest wish is just to stay with him and her other new friends. Another more serious incident involves Teepo being reset and the subsequent reveal of it being a Spirit Arte Booster - while Jude is correct in saying that Teepo's just a doll, he doesn't pick up on how much he hurts Elize by stating as much, since before meeting the party Teepo was really the only friend she ever had.
. . . yeah, a brain-to-mouth filter he does not have. This is further highlighted in his interactions with others - for example, there's the moment where he accidentally pisses off Leia by mentioning that he doesn't bother remembering things that aren't important right after she gets on his case for forgetting her birthday yet again. Granted, he cares for her deeply, worries over her well-being and tends to play the mother hen where she's concerned, so it's probably more like he can be himself and not pull any punches around her; yet he still remains blissfully unaware of her feeligngs towards him, which results in him hurting her feelings even when he doesn't mean to. So he's still got a ways to go on that front.
On a more hilarious note, his lack of a brain-to-mouth filter also means that he tends to blurt out or ask about things directly that he really shouldn't have any business asking about or getting caught up in in the first place. Like bazongas. Or direct-tethering. Actually, you can pretty much put anything related to certain sexual innuendo in that listing, mention it and watch his face turn as red as a tomato. Or get really stunned and judging looks from him. ( Seriously, y'all nasty. ) Really, with how serious the boy tries to act it's little wonder that he's usually the one that ends up being involved in these ridiculous situations and teasings in the first place...
So, where does that leave us? In the end, as mature and empathic as he is Jude's still a teenage boy trying to find his place in the world around him. And that's definitely not a bad thing - he's certainly self-aware enough that he knows he has a ways to go until he can be an equal to Milla, and to be someone that can be a source of strength to others in needed. And in a way, that's his greatest strength - continuing to work his way to becoming someone everyone can rely on, and perhaps inspiring others to be as dedicated to their cause as he is along the way.
Special Abilities:
. . . does having a fondness for bad puns count?
No?
. . . okay. :(
That said, he is known to be an excellent chef and very nice handwriting in canon, to the point that he gets defensive about the latter after Leia accuses him of having really girly handwriting. As he himself puts it, "There's nothing wrong with a guy having neat handwriting!" Though to be fair, having nice handwriting would make it easier to decipher prescriptions and other doctor's notes, so he may not be that far off...
He's also really knowledgable about medicine and healing artes, so it wouldn't be too surprising for him to have a clinical eye - being able to diagnose someone based on observing a person. That said, he's still in training, so he'd probably have to make sure that he was right and get a second opinion on things before saying anything...
Battle
Class: Fighter
Range: Close-range
Weapon of Choice: Bracers
Sub-Weapons: Gauntlets?
Armor of Choice: Leather Guard
Accessory:
( insert thing here )
Artes
Martial Artes
Healer
Demon Fist
Cerberus Strike
Steel
Palm Strike
Swallow Dance
( Will add more as needed )
Ties to Other Characters:
Aster Laker - Childhood friend! Jude met him one day when he was in the clinic, recovering from being attacked by a monster on his journey to Belkend. It's mainly because of Aster following his recovery from partial replication that Jude decided to study medicine elsewhere and become a doctor.
Leia Rolando - Other childhood friend. All three of them were as thick as thieves back in the day, and they're still very close to each other even now. Jude usually has to keep Leia from getting into trouble sometimes, but he still cares for her deeply, as mentioned before. Even if he was her personal punching bag when they were little... :P
Derrick Mathis - His daddy. Still has a strained relationship with him, still wants him to be proud of him, still tired of being dismissed by him and feeling like he's never gonna be good enough of a son to him... yeah, it's complicated. Some things never change, it appears...
Placeholder - N/A
Age: 15
Gender: Male
Height: 5'4"
Body Type: Slender
Weapon of Choice: Bracers
Image Song: N/A
Changes at a Glance:
- Placeholder
Appearance:
History:
Personality ( from canon ):
The best way to start describing Jude is through one of his own quotes:
"You might say I'm nosy or naive, but I just can't leave you alone."
Which really is a good point to start with - Jude is often described as a "do-gooder honors student" by his peers in medical school, and with good reason. He's the type of person that can't help but get involved and help others in need, offering assistance and advice as he is able to - sometimes regardless of whether or not it's actually needed. An admirable trait, perhaps, but it's also a double-edged sword in that he often ends up in situations over his head as a result - in fact, it's because of this habit he kickstarts the plot of Xillia in the first place by investigating a Spirit Arts incident at his school, and subsequently following Milla to the Lafort Research Facility even though she warns him that it may not be safe. ( And he becomes the butt of many "Go home, Jude" jokes as a result, on top of that. )
Of course, regardless of what happens his desire to help other people never wavers, even if his choosing to do so could end very badly for him. If he promises to do something he sees it through to the end, no matter what he promises or where the journey will take him. At the outset of his journey, he's more than willing to follow Milla and help her with her mission even though doing so makes him a wanted criminal by Il'fan. In fact, the only reason he ended up meeting Milla in the first place was because he wanted to find his professor and congratulate him for being given a prestigious award. Really, the core of his whole being is characterized by his inability to turn down someone in need, which - as noted before - is both a good and bad thing.
As noted by both his friends and family, Jude is regarded as very mature in comparison to his peers, and certainly tries his best to act it, as both Alvin and Milla note when he accompanies both of them to the country of Au Jule to evade the authorities. His analytical nature, hyper-awareness and ability to improvise plans as needed help get the party out of a pinch numerous times, such as his idea of having Alvin shoot a disguised octopus and sic it on Presa when she captures Milla. Due to his training as a doctor, he's also able to read people as well, figuring out how they tick, and is able to say or tell people the right things at the right time, as needed, to help push them forward. As Jude himself states, he doesn't try to overthink or overdo, he just wants to see the the best in people. This is why he's willing to accept that Milla's the Maxwell despite how outrageous it comes off as. Or why he trusts Alvin despite having many legitimate reasons to not trust him, after all the shit that he puts the party through. ( That said, he IS aware that he can be too nice and naively trusting at times, as Alvin himself and Leia will often point out. )
That said, he still has several revealing flaws in his character that, even now, he's still working on. The biggest of these is his aimlessness and lack of conviction where the big picture is involved - he only starts off following Milla out of a sense of duty, finishing what he began, but as the journey continues he starts internalizing and trying to come up with reasons why not to leave her side; she quickly becomes his raison d'etre, to the point of being unhealthily obsessed with staying by her side even after their journey is over. And this is something that Milla picks up on as well, questioning his lack of direction in life and even encouraging him to start thinking for himself and forging his own path for the future.
It isn't until the two most important women in his life put themselves in harm's way for him - Milla sacrifices herself protecting the party from the Lance of Kresnik, and Leia protects him from getting gunned down by an emotionally unstable Alvin by taking the bullet for him - that he's forced to confront his indecisions head-on: what was he hoping to gain out of this journey? What was he going to do from here on out? He realizes that by this point, he has to make his own decisions and start thinking for himself, not just for Milla's sake, but for his own - otherwise he would be, in effect, throwing away his life and letting it go to waste.
This also highlights another flaw of his that, while subtle, contributes to his listlessness in life - even when he does make decisions, he doesn't exactly have any confidence in them, often turning to others for guidance and having a lack of confidence in himself as a result. It's not until Alvin attacks him while going through aemotional rock bottom and shoots Leia in the process that he finally gets it into his head to start thinking for himself. This flaw inexplicably also ties into his lack of a goal in life - up until meeting Milla, much of his do-gooding and involvement in other people's lives was mainly because he trying to figure out what he wanted to do; preventing himself from becoming lonely and feeling like he's useful to others around him in the meantime. Going on the journey with Milla taught him that it was okay to make decisions that other people may not like and go through with them.
Another one of his flaws lies in the way he deals with people. When it comes to logically piecing together information, Jude's good at that - no surprises there since studying medicine involves being able to analyze and determine a diagnosis of someone based on even the most minute details - but Jude tends to get so lost in the logic that he often tends to completely miss the emotional aspect of a given situation. Of course, he doesn't mean to dismiss anyone's feelings, not at all, but Jude just really sucks at "reading between the lines" and picking up on someone's true feelings unless they're made obvious. This particular flaw of his is particularly evident in his interactions with Elize - after more or less kidnapping her from her home in Hamil ( where's Chris Hansen when you need him ) Jude takes on the responsibility of finding somewhere else for her to call home, not realizing that her deepest wish is just to stay with him and her other new friends. Another more serious incident involves Teepo being reset and the subsequent reveal of it being a Spirit Arte Booster - while Jude is correct in saying that Teepo's just a doll, he doesn't pick up on how much he hurts Elize by stating as much, since before meeting the party Teepo was really the only friend she ever had.
. . . yeah, a brain-to-mouth filter he does not have. This is further highlighted in his interactions with others - for example, there's the moment where he accidentally pisses off Leia by mentioning that he doesn't bother remembering things that aren't important right after she gets on his case for forgetting her birthday yet again. Granted, he cares for her deeply, worries over her well-being and tends to play the mother hen where she's concerned, so it's probably more like he can be himself and not pull any punches around her; yet he still remains blissfully unaware of her feeligngs towards him, which results in him hurting her feelings even when he doesn't mean to. So he's still got a ways to go on that front.
On a more hilarious note, his lack of a brain-to-mouth filter also means that he tends to blurt out or ask about things directly that he really shouldn't have any business asking about or getting caught up in in the first place. Like bazongas. Or direct-tethering. Actually, you can pretty much put anything related to certain sexual innuendo in that listing, mention it and watch his face turn as red as a tomato. Or get really stunned and judging looks from him. ( Seriously, y'all nasty. ) Really, with how serious the boy tries to act it's little wonder that he's usually the one that ends up being involved in these ridiculous situations and teasings in the first place...
So, where does that leave us? In the end, as mature and empathic as he is Jude's still a teenage boy trying to find his place in the world around him. And that's definitely not a bad thing - he's certainly self-aware enough that he knows he has a ways to go until he can be an equal to Milla, and to be someone that can be a source of strength to others in needed. And in a way, that's his greatest strength - continuing to work his way to becoming someone everyone can rely on, and perhaps inspiring others to be as dedicated to their cause as he is along the way.
Special Abilities:
. . . does having a fondness for bad puns count?
No?
. . . okay. :(
That said, he is known to be an excellent chef and very nice handwriting in canon, to the point that he gets defensive about the latter after Leia accuses him of having really girly handwriting. As he himself puts it, "There's nothing wrong with a guy having neat handwriting!" Though to be fair, having nice handwriting would make it easier to decipher prescriptions and other doctor's notes, so he may not be that far off...
He's also really knowledgable about medicine and healing artes, so it wouldn't be too surprising for him to have a clinical eye - being able to diagnose someone based on observing a person. That said, he's still in training, so he'd probably have to make sure that he was right and get a second opinion on things before saying anything...
Battle
Class: Fighter
Range: Close-range
Weapon of Choice: Bracers
Sub-Weapons: Gauntlets?
Armor of Choice: Leather Guard
Accessory:
( insert thing here )
Artes
Martial Artes
Healer
Demon Fist
Cerberus Strike
Steel
Palm Strike
Swallow Dance
( Will add more as needed )
Ties to Other Characters:
Aster Laker - Childhood friend! Jude met him one day when he was in the clinic, recovering from being attacked by a monster on his journey to Belkend. It's mainly because of Aster following his recovery from partial replication that Jude decided to study medicine elsewhere and become a doctor.
Leia Rolando - Other childhood friend. All three of them were as thick as thieves back in the day, and they're still very close to each other even now. Jude usually has to keep Leia from getting into trouble sometimes, but he still cares for her deeply, as mentioned before. Even if he was her personal punching bag when they were little... :P
Derrick Mathis - His daddy. Still has a strained relationship with him, still wants him to be proud of him, still tired of being dismissed by him and feeling like he's never gonna be good enough of a son to him... yeah, it's complicated. Some things never change, it appears...
Placeholder - N/A
