OOC Tumblr: vanitycultured
(a quick note that I'll be using this blog for rping at Citta! Hope that's okay x: ) Other characters in Citta: n/a!
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Character name: Vanitas
Series: Kingdom Hearts
Canon point: Pre final fight in the keyblade graveyard
Personality:
Vanitas' story begins and ends on a sour note. As the Birth By Sleep novels explain, Ventus is an orphan from an unknown world who is picked up by Master Xehanort; a Keyblade wielder, to be his vessel, which occurs an undisclosed amount of time before Ventus fails to fall under Xehanort's will. Angered by his apparent weakness, Xehanort then cleaves his heart in two, conceiving Vanitas from the darkness in Ventus' heart.
According to the novels, Vanitas' first known emotions are fear and self loathing. From the moment of his creation, the only two well known influences to his personality are Xehanort, who beguiles Vanitas to believing in the ideals of his own personal goal for the boy, and Ventus, whose emotions remain viewable to Vanitas through the connection of their hearts. As it was his original self's weakness that led to his creation, Vanitas immediately casts blame where it's due, going so far as to attack his Other and advise Xehanort that he will kill Ventus if he is not taken from his sight.
Vanitas begins his life alone, and much of his personal development is due to this. The Unversed, monsters created from his own emotions, are a huge key in why he chooses to become the boy he is-- terrified as he is of them, Vanitas cannot simply make them go away. Killing them initially brings him great pain, and the additional terror of gaining the face of someone else is a breaking point-- at this stage, Vanitas is at his most vulnerable.
Master Xehanort proposes to him that the only way for Vanitas to truly be free of his newly found agonies caused from his own existence is to merge together again with Ventus, forging the X-blade-- a blade of untold power and destruction that holds the potential to bring about a Great War. It's a concept that Vanitas desperately latches onto, and uses for his own motivation to become what he is today.
Whilst Vanitas' story within these four years is predominantly blank, what we do know is that he took personal interest in achieving the goal of being whole once more. The radical jump in descriptions from the scared, hapless child in the novels to the chillingly manical villain portrayed in the games gives life to how far Vanitas was willing to go to obtain this; it speaks of how irreparably damaged he has been from the simple understanding that he will not be whole until he is with Ventus again.
By the time he returns to our sights, Vanitas has become much more self confident in what he is. Having grasped a control of the Unversed, he becomes the key component to the main storyline, providing the evil that prompts two out of three main protagonists, Terra and Aqua, to leave their home in search of answers and to battle the darkness. He is also the catalyst that forces our third protagonist, Ventus himself, to leave home, though how he goes about this varies greatly from a physical threat to emotionally manipulative.
"The Terra you know will be gone forever."
It is implied in the Xehanort reports, an unlockable feature of the game that is revealed more the further you progress, that Vanitas is capable of feeling Ven's adoration of Terra. He then uses this to manipulate Ventus into starting his journey, showing a callous disregard for what the boy cares about. this is further exhibited later on, when he advises Ventus that he should come and "watch me choke the life out of Terra and Aqua."
Throughout their exposure to each other, Vanitas exhibits a certain amount of rashness, going as far to attempt to kill Ventus after the boy fails to best him in a fight, taunting him about being worthless as he waves away concerns of ruining current plans. The implication given to us is that Vanitas grew up with the sound understanding of just how happy and well cared for his Other was; an exact opposite of the environment Vanitas had thrust upon him. Because of this, his resentment has grown to the point of incurring at deep level of hatred; causing Ventus to suffer is just as important to him as being whole.
Ventus is by far his greatest influence because of this connection. The deep rooted bitterness that begins as resentment for Ventus' failure to protect himself at the time of Vanitas' creation has grown into full blown hositility, just as strong as Vanitas' other motivation. Nearly every scene involving him includes mention of Ventus, from the implications to Aqua that "It's always good to have a back up" to breaking the wooden training blade that Ventus left behind in Neverland.
Another implication given by the previous example is just how willing Vanitas is to use whatever means necessary to rankle an opponent, prompting aggression from everyone he faces. He takes enjoyment out of other's negative emotions, and is driven to incur them as much as possible.
Vanitas is cocksure and openly emotional, though for much of the game the latter is hidden behind a mask. His facial expressions leave no room to mistake exactly what he is feeling, and this it is easy to see why Vanitas would attempt to hide them until such a time when allowing them to be on full display no longer matters. The revealing of his actual face is a clear declaration that he considers himself the victor prior to his battle with Ventus within their heart, and Aqua in the Keyblade Graveyard.
To draw from his attack style, Vanitas predominantly uses long range magic attacks with ferocious bursts of speed that only put him within range of the enemy for a short time. The implication that can be perceived is that he doesn't like to be touched, easily reinforced by the limited amount of interactions witnessed within the game and novel. Drawing upon all these components, many conclusions can be made to Vanitas as he is at the time of his death.
Every major influence shown in his life, while limited, has been negative. As a being of darkness, Vanitas exhibits from the get go the worst of Ventus, and develops from there into a caustic young man with little consideration for other beings. Everything from his words and actions is controlled to produce aggravation in those he interacts with, though he also loses control when exposed to certain motives and passions that alludes to a large amount of recklessness and overconfidence. Very simply put, one can easily google the characteristics of a four year old and sum Vanitas up from the given notes. He acts out from authority, he seeks attention in any form, particularly negative. He seeks to shock others through action and abrasive wording, and strikes out to claim things as his own.
Passionately single minded when it comes to his goals, we see very little of the Vanitas portrayed in the novels throughout the duration of the game itself. The major connecting feature that allows us to see through this and provides a clear connection to the two is Vanitas' death itself, when he reaches desperately for the incomplete X-blade just past his grasp. Throughout all of his history, Vanitas buries what emotions he originated from in a manner that leaves little doubt to him being irrevocably tainted by his own actions.
And yet he still dies afraid.
Abilities your character possesses :
۞The Keyblade۞
His main offensive weapon which is used as a bludgeoning tool. With an uncanny speed, Vanitas uses this to tear into his opponents and enhance his other, more magical orientated abilities. His physical and magical attacks are often combined to deadly affect, and he’ll stalk his prey across the battlefield, summoning large bursts of speed or even close range teleportation to gain the advantage.
Void Gear- Strength +8, Magic +4, Length- long.
Vanitas is also one of two key components in creating the X-blade; a blade that can only be forged when a being of pure light and darkness clash. This is a weapon to fear, with even the incomplete form allowing Vanitas the strength to shatter Ventus’ Heart Station, but send Aqua and Mickey flying away in a gust of wind caused by a mere sweep of his arm. The abilities as exhibited can be purely accredited to the power of the blade itself.
The blade is also said to have the power to call all Keyblade wielders within the universe, to re-enact the Keyblade War. The amount of devastation that this could potentially cause is insurmountable.
۞Magic۞
In cohesion to his physical abilities and Keyblade, Vanitas’ magic proves that his bite is many times worse than his bark. Usually, Vanitas will move away, into the air or dance to the side before throwing some of his more vicious attacks, but even close range Vanitas’ magic makes a common appearance.
-Dark Firaga: Large, deadly fireballs, used commonly to the extent that one makes its appearance in one of his many cutscenes with Ventus. Dark Thundaga is used to the same extent, both moves generally taking place when Vanitas is well away from his opponent, or in the air.
-Dark Infusion: In which Vanitas infuses his blade with darkness, causing its essence to seep off the steal in purple waves. It allows for a greater amount of physical damage.
۞Shotlock۞
Vanitas’ shotlock is known as the Dark Cannon; like all shotlocks, this is a concentrated, often lasting attack meant to wipe out the enemy in one fell swoop. Dark Cannon takes on a triangular form with spinning crystals revolving around Vanitas’ body in a clockwise direction, and the move itself appears to have a concentrated level of range- Vanitas can turn horizontally, but is unable to direct the beam diagonally or vertically.
۞Personal Abilities۞
-Physically, Vanitas is inhuman in many ways- his strength, his endurance, his speed are all exceptional, and like most cockroaches, he survives every battle and scrap with a laugh and the last word.
As mentioned above, he also retains the ability to teleport short distances. Levitation is not out of his grasp. Though most cut scenes do portray a more common usage of the Dark Corridors, his meeting with Ventus in the Lanes Between also proves that he’s capable of traversing them with little more than his own darkness to protect him.
۞The Unversed۞
"It happened when you and I were split into two. The negativity took shape as these monsters. They are what I feel—a horde of fledgling emotions under my control."
Vanitas is capable of creating and controlling a series of monsters and beasts known as the Unversed- made from the negativity of Vanitas and those around him. Though they appear as the second type of dark versed creature, they are the first to attack the realm of light, with a proposed four year timeline in which Vanitas ventures across the worlds and spreads the beings that are essentially an extension of himself.
They’re the only enemy thus far that do not have an immediate connection or want for the heart. Rather, they’re creation relies on the emotions that the hearts contain, and so despite the variety that the Unversed show, all do show the bearings of the emotion most used in their conception. Each Unversed portrays a signature styling of eye- gleeful, sorrowful, or furious. This may also affect the rate at which they attack a person, as Unversed with the signature ‘happy’ eyes are less likely to make movement in a timely manner.
The Cursed Coach, a boss from Aqua’s story in the Castle of Dreams is a good example of this simple manipulation on Vanitas’ part. Throughout the three protagonist’s stories, the jealousy of Lady Tremaine is constantly pronounced and expanded upon. The Cursed Coach brings this jealousy to a head, though it also brings about the demise of both Lady Tremaine and her two daughters.
A full list of the Unversed and their abilities can be found here, however on a basic level, it is important to note that Unversed seem to maintain two different branches. Physical Unversed are often ground prone, whilst all magical usage occurs from airborne or levitating monsters- a reflection of Vanitas’ own usage of magic. It’s also notable that there are very few styles of Unversed that actually use a weapon aside from their own body.
Weapon of choice: The keyblade known as Void Gear
