welcome back to gallagher academy, CADEN LUCCA! according to their records, they’re a SECOND year, specializing in DRIVER’S ED + SEDUCTION & FLIRTATION; and they DID NOT go to a spy prep high school. when i see them walking around in the halls, i usually see a flash of (messy brown hair, the slightest bit of stubble, and eyes glazing over in the classroom). when it’s the (leo)’s birthday on 8/15/1996, they always request LOBSTER TAIL WITH BUTTER from the school’s chefs. looks like they’re well on their way to graduation.
NAME: Caden Mateo Lucca
KNOWN AS: Caden
BIRTHDATE: August 15, 1996
ASTROLOGY: Leo sun / Virgo moon / Aries rising
HOMETOWN: Virginia Beach, VA
RESIDENCE: Philadelphia, PA & Washington DC
GENDER: Cis male ( he/him )
SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Heterosexual
HEIGHT: 6'1"
HAIR COLOR: Dark Brown
EYE COLOR: Dark Brown
TATTOOS: Latin quote in illegible cursive on his chest; Wolf's head on his calf; Sword with the name Amelia in the center on his forearm
KNOWN LANGUAGES: English, Spanish, Russian, and a handful of others at a beginner's level
IMMEDIATE FAMILY:
Rodrigo Lucca (formerly Lopez): Father, Senator of Pennsylvania
Charlotte Lucca née Blythe: Mother, former Gallagher Academy alum, housewife
BACKGROUND.
Rodrigo Lucca had come from somewhat humble beginnings, moving to Pennsylvania from Venezuela when he was ten years old. A career in politics had always been the end goal for him, which is why he changed his last name from Lopez to Lucca at age eighteen ( knowing people are far too racist to willingly vote for a Rodrigo Lopez ) . He had met Caden's mother when he was a law student at Georgetown University. Charlotte had come from old money, and her family's money coupled with Rodrigo's political ambitions helped them make a comfortable home for themselves in Philadelphia.
It was there that Caden was born, a few years into his father's law career, leaving him busy and often out of the house. Though Caden wouldn't remember, his first few years were spent just him and his mother, with baby Caden refusing to be held or spend time with anyone else unless Charlotte was in the same room. It wasn't until Caden was six and his father joined the House of Representatives for the state of Pennsylvania that the care of the Lucca child was thrown to nannies. They moved into a bigger house, and Rodrigo hired housekeepers and chefs to take care of it all, so his wife could become a socialite among the other politician's wives. It worked for a few years, but by the time teenage Caden would come home for the holidays, he'd find that his mother barely left her bedroom.
The Lucca household had been a lonely one to grow up in, so when the opportunity arose for Caden to go to boarding school in middle school, he jumped at the chance. His father had found him one in Washington DC, not far from the family's second home, so his parents could occasionally visit. But they never did come, and boarding school turned out to be worse than having a house to himself. It was an all boy's school full of sons of other politicians and dignitaries, and Caden didn't get along with any of them. He begged his parents to let him go home, but after calling them every day for a week straight, his father told him the truth: it was easier without him around. Rodrigo had promised if Caden could get through the next year and a half at this school, they could find him a better alternative for high school. So Caden learned how to play nice, developing an easygoing personality that helped him gain friends for the rest of his time there. In return, his father sent him to another boarding school for high school, without consulting his son about it.
By the time high school rolled around, the boy's rebellious side had started to grow. He was angry at his dad for lying to him yet again, so he took it out on the schools he was sent to. Caden threw parties on school property, snuck off campus, and willingly let himself get caught with drugs and alcohol. But when his usual antics didn't work ( because by the third or fourth school, his father strived to make sure his son didn't get kicked out anywhere else ) , he had to work a little harder. He destroyed school property, keyed faculty cars, was caught having sex in public places. Grades weren't an issue for Caden, who was naturally bright and didn't need to try in any of his classes. But it took him five years to graduate high school, and by the end of it he had been to seven different boarding schools from all over the country.
The last thing both Caden and his parents wanted was for him to move back home with them, so he took the opportunity to take his father's credit card and travel the world for almost two years. Though he was always on his own, Caden rarely traveled alone, either meeting up with an old friend or making new ones at the hostels and cities he stayed at. These years were spent mostly in bars and nightclubs, and always drunk, and he had convinced himself life couldn't get any better. But it all came crashing down on his twenty-first birthday, when he went to buy himself a generous present and found his card had been declined. Rather than calling to wish their son a happy birthday, his parents had gifted Caden with cutting him off. His father said it was time for Caden to grow up, and until he did, he wouldn't have any part of his lifestyle.
Despite having very little options, his own pride refused to let him move back home and have his parents win. Instead Caden spent almost a year couch hopping between friends, mooching off them as long as he could. He tried working any odd job he could get his hands on, but a rich boy with no experience didn't have much to offer employers. Jobs never lasted long with him, and he was beginning to lose friends because of his couch-hopping ways. So Caden eventually moved back to Washington DC -- where his dad was now the Pennsylvania Senator for the Democratic party -- and swallowed his pride long enough to beg him for a job. The two Luccas working together lasted a whopping five months before Rodrigo approached his son with the option of Gallagher Academy. Never had Caden planned on going back to school, but he had been so miserable working in politics, he couldn't complain; for him, Gallagher was just another school he was bound to be kicked out of.
GALLAGHER ACADEMY.
It wasn't until he stepped foot in Gallagher Academy that Caden learned it was more than just a school for Exceptional Young People, but for future spies of America. He took the information unsurprisingly lightly, mostly because he preferred to think of it as a former all girl's school ( women, women everywhere ) . Caden had started out with an undeclared major, but throughout his first semester he actually found himself genuinely interested in the new world around him. He had taken the initiative to find a tutor in combat -- a girl tutor -- and after the first semester, Caden decided to declare not one but two majors: seduction and flirtation, and driver's ed. For a man who had expected to not last a full semester of college, he had actually found himself invested in his education.
It didn't hurt that Gallagher put him in touch with many people from his past, especially those he never thought he would see again. Caden's always been a lady's man, especially throughout his travels, but meeting Amelia Taylor in Ireland when he was nineteen had been another story. He had always had a habit of falling for girls too similar to himself, but he hadn't realized how true that was until being reunited with Amelia at Gallagher. Though they started a no strings relationship, Caden had wanted more, which Amelia didn't reciprocate… and Caden didn't appreciate. Spring semester had been spent mad at the blonde, until Amelia had been murdered on Valentine's Day.
Caden turned to sex and alcohol to cope with his problems, per usual. It didn't help that Caden had learned that one of the Gallagher alums on campus was his cousin from his mother's side, a cousin he never knew he even had. He had always assumed he had been accepted into Gallagher because his father was family friends with the Suttons, and as a Senator he had connections ( though he didn't talk to his parents very often, so the jury was still out on whether Rodrigo Lucca knew if it was a spy school or not ) , not because he was a legacy. Had his cousin not shown him a picture of his mother as a Gallagher student, Caden never would've believed that Charlotte Lucca had ever been anything other than the cheating, alcoholic housewife she was now.
After one shocking death and one life-aftering secret being revealed, it took the rest of the semester and start of Caden's summer to carry on. A romance with a witness protection student helped, as well as breaking into where Amelia's found killer was held on campus and beating him to near death ( Caden still doesn't know if they actually killed Cecil or not, nor does he care ) . When the semester ended, Caden also had the pleasure of meeting his mother's side of the family that he had never been told about, and in return was given a glimmer of hope at the prospect of having a real family. ( More information can be found here. ) He still has a long way to go, having not spoken to his parents since Christmas, but Caden isn't the same man he was a year ago -- and for once, he actually likes having direction in his life.
PERSONALITY.
Caden is extremely charismatic, very obviously the son of a politician. He's a grade-A conversationalist from years of experience campaigning for his father and making new friends wherever he goes, but most opportunities never allowed for relationships to become more than skin deep. Back in high school, he developed a talent for arriving onto a new campus mid-semester and immediately surrounding himself with the coolest guys and hottest girls. While social media has made it easy to keep up with all these friends of his, usually once he'd leave a place, the friendship would cease to exist ( unless he needed a place to crash ) , so lifelong friends aren't really something Caden has much experience with.
Not only is he good at charming his way into friendships, but Caden is also known to be well-versed in the ladies department. He's an obvious, shameless flirt, and for whatever reason women seem to love him. Monogamous relationships are few and far between, and tend to not be healthy or long-term. Friends with benefits are more his speed, setting boundaries right away so nobody can get mad at him for intentionally breaking their heart in the process -- though it's happened a few times anyway.
Though arrogant and sometimes smarmy, generally Caden is pretty easy to get along with and doesn't go out of his way to be an asshole. Every so often his idea of a joke and the way he roasts his friends can go too far, but when it comes down to it he would do anything for the people he cares about.
Caden's no stranger to vices, but drinking is certainly his biggest; I put this under personality because he acts like enjoying alcohol is a personality trait. He's always down for a good time, which tends to be his detriment.
MORE INFORMATION / HEADCANONS:
Caden knows fluent Spanish from growing up with it in the house, both because his father spoke it and because his parents made sure to only hire nannies who would speak Spanish to him. He doesn't like speaking it though, because it reminds him of his father.
His first tattoo ever is a Latin quote on his chest, which he had gotten specifically because his father had told him NOT to get a tattoo when he turned eighteen. Caden had been drunk when he got it, so the translation is completely wrong; thankfully he had chosen such a heinous cursive font that it's impossible to read, and he'll never tell anyone what it's supposed to mean.
Thanks to Mommy and Daddy he's not great with expressing his feelings; his way of caring is shown through flexing his credit cards and doing something special for the important people in his life. Expect ridiculously lavish birthday and Christmas presents.
Some of his favorite travel destinations include Tokyo, Reykjavík, Amsterdam, New York City, and Ireland.
During his boarding school days he was known for being a notorious prankster, though he retired the title once he graduated. His favorite prank had been filling a teacher's office with condom balloon animals. ( Okay I never said he was amazing, he was a sixteen year old boy. )
His seven boarding schools had been in Maine, Kansas, California, Washington, Michigan, and two in Pennsylvania.
Though he's not a movie buff, Caden is a slut for a good John Hughes move. The Breakfast Club is his favorite of all time.
Caden's a closet Potterhead and 100% a Gryffindor.
TL;DR: Caden is the son of the Pennsylvania Senator who he doesn't get along with ( daddy issues hello ) and has spent most of his life acting out through getting kicked out of boarding schools, traveling the world instead of working, and finally landing on coming to Gallagher rather than working. His mother was a Gallagher Girl but didn't find out until recently. He's essentially a fuckboy with a heart of gold.
CURRENT & WANTED CONNECTIONS HERE
