Could you please tell me about ogCale's personality? I want to understand him from your perspective.
I would love to! Happy to be of service.
First of all, one important thing to note: a lot of things you might have come across about OG Cale on places like tumblr or AO3? Most of it, it's fan speculation. The character had exactly ONE canon appearance, aside from a few rare flashbacks from other characters' POVs and KRS!Cale's recollections of "The Birth of a Hero" series.
So, I think it's best to break it down one-by-one.
First chapters of the book, we see how people react to the "new" Cale. They specifically notice the things Cale ISN'T doing, such as: throwing bottles (with "terrible aim", which could either be true or staged, but I personally suspect the former), breaking things (which his father always had to replace with new stuff, so OG Cale was actually doing people a service with that), complaining about food (fans made lots of speculation about it, but the exact reasoning for that one is unclear), being rude to servants (probably to make them gossip about what an awful heir OG Cale would make), and terrorizing local gangsters (instead of harassing the poor or beautiful women, like a real trash would). This creates a pretty solid image of what OG Cale was "usually" like.
So, his MO is acting like a spoiled, bratty noble. The drinking only began when he was 15, so he had to act full 7 years without the excuse of being "drunk", so he mostly depended on being rude, rash, and others not asking any probing questions about it. They probably all thought the trauma of losing his mother affected him this way, and did not want to trigger him by mentioning it. After all, according to Cale, "it was basically taboo to talk about the late countess in the house".
But there are other, more subtle hints: how Basen is shocked that Cale smiled about food – meaning he did not smile a lot, at least not happily. He was likely used to wearing an unhappy expression around his family, or maybe being sarcastic. Deruth's expectation that Cale would be unhappy about delicious food, so him being grumpy was also a regular thing. It is also strongly implied that OG Cale also avoided family meals, but participated in them from time to time regardless, due to his father's request (because otherwise Basen would have no expectations of Cale's behavior at meal times; not enough to drop a fork in shock at his smile, at least). In TBOAH, Cale remembers that OG Cale supposedly "only listened to his father, and only liked Ron among his servants and saw him as a father figure". He also avoided interacting with Violan and her children. So we have a clear image of awkward, yet somehow still respectful relationships of OG Cale with exactly 5 people. Yet even those 5 never suspected the extent of OG Cale's mask… they all assumed that he was so hurt by the past, he was lashing out in the present. And to be perfectly fair to them – Cale was just a kid at first, and then a teenager. Occam's Razor reasoning would bring anyone to that conclusion unless they had any evidence to the contrary. Which OG Cale made sure not to leave behind, because he wasn't honest around anyone; not even Ron.
Another thing? Rosalyn remembers hearing gossip about Cale Henituse in the Breck Kingdom – a FOREIGN NOBLE. His antics were so "scandalous" it even reached the ears of foreign royalty! In other words, OG Cale knew how to draw exactly the type of attention he wanted. And yet, no one knew his actual, real personality. Even Alberu Crossman's spy network did not manage to find anything fishy about OG Cale before the transmigration. Nor did the literal undercover assassin by his side... That's how insanely good his acting skills were.
There is little on his personality before, but we see some glimpses. Early on in the series, Ron remembers OG Cale hugging Deruth after Jour's death, in contrast to his later "trashy" behavior (which started when he was eight years old). From this, we can conclude two things: first, OG Cale was compassionate as a child, at least to his own family. Second, his "trashy act" was not how he had always behaved. We have no specific scenes to confirm if he was a sweet kid, or a cheerful kid, or if he used to playful or hyperactive. My own guess that he had always been a bright kid, at least. We will see evidence for OG Cale's intelligence later on, as subtle as it is.
Also quite early on, Eric remembers Cale as his Dongsaeng, and kept writing him letters. When he meets Cale in canon, he thinks that "his hard work was finally paying off". We can conclude two things about this relationship: one, OG Cale tended to ignore Eric. Two, despite mostly ignoring him, he still did not reject his advice outright. So their relationship was at the very least friendly-ish. So OG Cale wasn't "completely awful" to his peers – the ones he respected at least. He was at the VERY least, mildly amicable. Obviously both Neo Tolz and Venion Stan considered Cale a total loser, so he had no friendly relationship with those two.
If I remember correctly, Basen's flashback was mentioned twice, once from his own POV, and once again from his brother's, with more detail. After getting bullied by some relatives of the Henituse family, OG Cale told him to stand proud and declare himself as "Henituse blood ". While Basen doesn't quite understand the reasoning behind it (after all, Cale was 8 and Basen was only 5 at the time), he listens and gradually becomes accepted into the noble social circles as the "apparent heir". So we can conclude two things: OG Cale was observant enough to read a room – both the general vibe and the political sense, which indeed makes him quite clever for his age. And second, and even more important, is the fact that OG Cale was charismatic. It went beyond his acting abilities.
And finally, we get to the part where OG Cale actually speaks himself about the past. He states that "the family wouldn't kick him out no matter how much he acted out". So it was his actual GOAL to get kicked out!! I don't know about you guys, but I suspect OG Cale would have had no problem adjusting and making an honest living if that ever actually happened. Someone with his acting skill and brains? He totally could have changed his name, left the country and live as a commoner. He had "expensive tastes" in clothes in food – or at least he pretended to – but he made do with Kim Rok Soo's life just fine. It really seems to me like he was fully prepared to "throw away the name of Cale Henituse" LONG before the transmigration happened.
I'll quickly go over the implications of his account from the 20-year-long war from the TBOAH timeline; OG Cale survived long enough to live to see the final battle. He was a soldier. He was able to keep KRS's role as a Team Leader without major difficulty. He was a talented fighter, a brilliant strategist, and overall an extremely capable man. Not something you would expect from a dumb kid who spent his entire childhood ignoring his studies and being spoiled rotten by his dad.
So, to quickly sum up all facts about OG Cale:
He was a compassionate kid, at least towards his dad, and we see him still being compassionate and a good dude as adult transmigrated KRS, so that has to be his "real", base personality
He could read the political climate at early age and came up with a clever strategy to elevate his step family's social position
He was brilliant and an incredible actor, able to play with other people's expectations, and knew how to fuel rumors to reach even across borders
He kept his real personality under lock and key so the 5 people he actually liked never suspected how far his acting go, they thought he was lashing out because of his mother's death
He still wasn't a total jerk to his peers even if he ignored Eric's advice
OG Cale had a talent for strategies and fighting despite being "average", like knowing how to miss on purpose and terrorizing gangsters into behaving themselves in the Henituse territory, and becoming a good enough fighter to survive 20 years of war in TBOAH timeline.
Things we absolutely DO NOT KNOW about OG Cale:
His exact childhood personality, or his relationship with his mom. All we know is that they were very close
Whether he ever let his guard down around anyone, or if he acted as trash 24/7 in front of everyone
Whether he actually threw away his studies like everyone assumed, or if he still continued his education in secret
Why exactly he decided that being a spoiled brat wasn't enough and decided to add drinking to it at the age of 15 (maybe becasue it wasn't working and he wanted to be thrown out? That's still only my own speculation though)
Whether OG Cale's immunity to alcohol extended to other poisons as well (but it's a fun headcanon regardless)
Whether he was ACTUALLY unhappy as "trash of the count's family", or if he liked playing his role. Many fans make him out to be this tragic, misunderstood victim, but he might as well has been merely pretending to be unhappy… with all the money and fancy clothes and delicious food and everything. For all we know, he could have been having the time of his life fooling with everybody's expectations – aside from some minor angst over no one realizing the truth. (I've read a couple of fanfics where OG Cale actually has fun acting as an agent of chaos and honestly, I can see that being canon. OG Cale!KRS in the side-story is definitely mischievous, and KRS!Cale loves acting and scamming as well. Still; it's all just speculation with no clear evidence to support it.)
Why he complained about Beacrox's food, there could be plenty of reasons (he could have been jelous of Ron's attention, maybe he did not like Beacrox personally, maybe he just wanted to sell the act more and actually loved the food; who the heck knows)
What rank he had in the army later on (Some people suggest he found an Ancient Power, but I kind of doubt it, while some other fan headcanons make his a Swordmaster, which is NOT impossible seeing as his sister Lily is becoming a very powerful swordsman in canon... but there is no evidence for either. For all we know he could have been a freaking mage lol)
Whether he ever found out about Alberu's identity as a quarter Dark Elf in the TBOAH timeline (we have no idea if he ever got close to know any of Choi Han's allies or even Choi Han himself, he only said he saw him on the battlefield)
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