Sep. 18th, 2015 11:17 pm
Ryslig App
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noasarkOOC INFORMATION
Name: Usagi
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usagisquared
Other Characters: Reira Akaba, Loki
CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character Name: Noa Kaiba
Age: '17' (Physically and...arguably mentally 10. Computer life is complicated.)
Canon: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters
Canon Point: End Virtual World Arc
Character Information: Here!
Personality:
A complicated sort, Noa can be described neither as a child nor as an adult, in any total sense. As one who was preserved mentally at the age of ten, his mind after all failed to mature beyond that state--while his intelligence grew exponentially, his supercomputer mind taking in as much as it could acquire, the spirit behind it could never mature.
To see what sort of person this resulted in, one must thus look not only at who he was during the majority of his screentime in the series, but also who he was before this. Little is revealed about Noa from this time, but from what little there is, it is clear that he was a happy--albeit no doubt spoilt--child. His father had him take part in numerous activities for the sake of increasing his skill and knowledge, and unlike Seto Kaiba, the boy who would replace him, Noa enjoyed every moment of it. He would study his years-above-age-level work dilligently, practice numerous sports, instruments... ...While one could argue that a boy in this position could be just as cruel as he was through the series, his attitudes immediately after his death say otherwise.
Noa as a living child, and even recently dead child, was clearly polite--and even grateful--for what he had. He enjoyed all that he experienced, and was perhaps despite his intelligence even naive; wanting nothing more than the continued love of his father, he desired above everything, his approval. It is for this reason that when he was told that Seto had been adopted for the purposes of a mental challenge--a final test on his worth as the CEO's heir--he latched on intensely to the idea of surpassing the other. It is just before this however that we see Noa grow bitter to his situation; the limitations of the program his father created meant that what should have given him happiness was simply a continuous, unchanging record, a dream that could not be altered. His attitudes, veiled by his once sunny, polite demeanor, quickly sour, and this is first viewed with his rage within the program itself when he cannot so much as even make a different choice on his 'food', throwing stones at his gifted puppy and receiving no reaction. It becomes more evident however, during the very scene his father realizes the change Noa has undergone--after a 'birthday trip to space', wherein Noa first thanks his father for the experience, and then follows with 'Ah, but of course, you would have seen this data yourself while uploading it~'. Bit after bit, it becomes clear that in his bitterness, Noa has latched on even harder to his father's love, coming to view his existence within the computer as a gift to further this. In his efforts to appeal to him, he uses his growing abilities within the system to reveal to Gozaburo a strategy that could successfully annihilate all but 3% of human life, adding that, as a computerized existence, the matter of how many survive did not matter to him.
His empathy, it seemed, had been swallowed by code--replaced only by dedicated obsession. It is here that he is presented with the challenge of defeating Seto; however, before he could do so, Gozaburo vanishes, already seeing the boy less and less within his computer home. Gozaburo, Noa discovers, is killed...sparking bitter rage in the boy for what he felt would have been all he needed to totally gain his father's approval. This results in the boy we see throughout most of the Virtual World. Throughout the course of the arc, it becomes clear that Noa is absolutely dedicated to his escape from the computer, and to 'surpassing' Seto as he rightfully should have. His vindictiveness has reached an absolute peak, his sights set on entering reality in a human body and taking over the company that his father intended for him to take. His dedication here, while unclear early on, is absolutely connected still to his father's ideals; in his eyes, there is only him, and there is only making him happy. As such, even without Gozaburo there, he must prove himself to the man in death, thorugh whatever means are necessary.
Noa, as noted, seemed entirely devoid of empathy through much of the series due to his existence as a computer program. He acts cruelly, seeming to be entertained by the suffering of others, and quite deliberately going out of his way to have the 'last laugh', as seen when he tells the Big 5 that he employed as his pawns that they could never have succeeded in escaping to the real world--sending them into a despaired rage right before deleting them without mercy. He plays memories of the past for Seto in particular, and hounds him continuously with the teen's history; but at the end of it it is clear that such actions are less for the sake of those actions, and more because of who they are in particular. The Big 5 had formerly joined forces with Seto to overthrow his father, sending Gozaburo to his death. Seto in the meantime had already become someone whom Noa had a personal vendetta with, believing him to be a thief of what was rightfully his; Seto, in Noa's eyes, should never have become CEO, certainly not without proving himself first. While Noa of course feels that it would have been impossible anyway, it is this fact that drives the stake further.
While his bitterness and cruelty knows no bounds, using Seto's younger blood brother against him in a move of emotional manipulation when the opportunity arises even, he employs a curious sense of fairness in his methods. While he is certainly not above trickery and deceit (As noted by his aforementioned use of emotional manipulation, along with other examples, such as the repeated sight of painful memories and illusions), his limit becomes clear during the duel between Jonouchi Katsuya and the businessman taking the form of the 'Judgeman'. When it becomes clear that the Judge is rigging the dice rolls within their game, he not only steps in, but immediately announces that the duel has been cancelled, showing a Zero Tolerance attitude for blatant cheating. To him, using others as pawns to the advantage is simply using tools, something that was taught to him by his own father--therefore, it is only with immediate, rigged results, or underhanded tricks done by his own hands, that he cannot prove his own worth against Seto. This explains as well, why he viewed the use of Mokuba in all of this as 'fair'. Mokuba was not kidnapped by himself, but one of the Big 5 within the virtual world; he simply recovered him, and after manipulating the boy's memories, banked on the fact that Mokuba would come to him when he was in danger later on... ...Thus cementing his success against Seto in his eyes.
The matter of Mokuba brings in a rather key part of Noa's personality--something that arguably shapes every aspect of his being. Within the computer after all, Noa had only one person to love, and that was his father. When his father ceased visiting, he was thus left alone, with no companionship at all. Because of this, Noa became desensitized to what it meant to have an attachment to another person. Repeatedly he is astounded by the strength of the connections between those who come into the Virtual World, despite his readiness to use those bonds against the others. It comes to the point that, after witnessing Mokuba's dedication to Seto, he openly craves the bond for himself. Arguably, he has been lonely the entire time, but it is only witnessing the connection between others that allows him to realize that lonliness and thus act upon it. And as the overpowered child he is, he thus uses all he has to get what he desires, just as he has dedicated everything to appeasing Gozaburo's memory.
This need and craving for companionship is further emphasized in both desire and in a lack of understanding in the key duel of the arc; he clearly understands the importance of Yugi's friends when it comes to his opponent's resolve, turning them to stone one by one so that he can shake the other--however, he also states midway that if Yugi sides with him, and agrees to be loyal to him, he will save not only Yugi but all of his friends as well. From many others, such a deal could be seen as shallow. However, Noa has by this point already proved himself to up hold his sides to any bargain. He is not above making deals with even his enemy--and as the former heir to a CEO, is quite skilled when it comes to such discussions as well, bearing a very fluid speaking ability without any hesitance. While his zero tolerance policy toward things such as the deal with the Big 5 show clearly what he thinks of failure, discussions that fall outside the realm of pleading for a second chance.
First with the Judgeman, we see him consider Jonouchi's request to continue the duel with the Judge even with the disadvantage the latter's cheating has left him at--and while Noa scoffs at the motion to take what is clearly the ticket to loss instead of success, allows it (albeit for the likely fact that Jonouchi's loss seems obvious, and the outcome in his eyes will not affect his own chances at success). This repeats when he faces Yugi, having only won his duel against Seto due to the previously noted manipulation; in using Mokuba as his shield, he prevented Seto from attacking, thus successfully winning the match. As the method through which Seto lost left him with lifepoints however, Yugi steps forward with a deal--he will use a combination of his deck and Seto's, with Seto's remaining lifepoints, in order to defeat Noa and prove the boy's loss a matter of trickery instead of skill. As he again feels there is no risk of loss, Noa thus once more accepts, feeling that there is no risk in accepting the offer. When it comes to Noa after all, he gauges the risks involved as well; and although he bears an incredible sense of superiority at this time, he continously makes note of whether or not something is worth bothering with (as seen with his deals with the Big 5, where he remarks that he doesn't actually care who the men duel, as either way it will work in his favor).
When it comes to his duel with Seto and then Yugi, there was the added notion of pride to consider. Noa is seen from the very start to be incredibly prideful, more than aware of the vast amounts of knowledge at his disposal. With that knowledge, he feels he surpasses everyone--with that knowledge, he might as well be a 'god' (directly stated himself during that duel with Seto in fact). He is therefore untouchable--his actions thorugh the season a mere game, really, and for that reason when someone questions that intelligence, Noa snaps. A slight against his skill is one he does not take lightly at all, manifesting first as irritation, and then as he comes closer to outright loss, rage. He is a child, in the end, and when he is unable to hide behind a mask of intelligence and proper superior 'politeness', he thus devolves to that obvious state--his words losing their refined nature until he can do no more than scream for those in front of him to 'shut up!' and to 'stop looking at [him] with that face!'. Loss shakes Noa--and when he is at risk of losing at all, he becomes reckless and even 'damaged'. After his betrayal at the hand of his own father, the man to whom he had dedicated everything, we see this in full. First, there is the initial fallout of course; the faltering and even crazed statements to others that 'it isn't so bad' in the computer world show clearly how much love he had for the man, and just how deeply everything he worked on came to connect to his goals for Gozaburo. They show again as well his need for companionship, though perhaps in this case to a lesser extent.
His destructive habits however, are something we see only after this. Noa is an incredibly vindictive child, acting on impulse toward those who have wronged him in his eyes. Soon after his breakdown he very quickly comes up with a plan to not only again escape the computer world but also destroy the computer itself...and therefore, the three who he detests so much at this time. His father, who betrayed him after all he had done for the man, and had even gone so far as to blatantly tell Noa that Seto had been intended as a body for the boy, only to declare that he would be taking Seto's body as his own using the systems Noa created. Yugi, the duelist who had defeated him. And of course, Seto... ...who at this time represented still everything he wanted and had lost.
Noa's cunning combines here with his rage just as it did before the season began, as he formulates this plan. He tells everyone that, given his father's words, he will help them escape--instead tricking them into a program once again, and further fooling Mokuba into a trap that allows him to steal the boy's body instead of his brother's. With this, Noa moves to access the systems from the outside world, redirecting missiles that his father had set on the very destructive path he had told him about years ago (the plan that would erradicate most of the earth in 30 days) toward the base where the computer lay. The lives of all the others within do not come to mind at this point--only his desire for vengeance, and more importantly, survival.
Time within a living body however allows Noa to regain the heart and empathy that he lost in his solitude--or perhaps more accurately, as hinted by his shock just before taking Mokuba's body, to fully realize it. Before he takes the boy's body, Mokuba voices sympathy and even empathy for Noa, causing the other to briefly falter before he mentally decides that Mokuba is simply being foolish--or perhaps more likely, is even still affected by the mind altering code he created. Though Mokuba offers to get his brother to build the other a body, Noa simply escapes, setting the path of descruction on course and allowing a certain other within the facility to destroy what he will. As he sets off on his escape route however, he thinks harder on Mokuba's words and actions--and in doing so realizes that Mokuba, unlike anyone else thus far, had cared.
For the first time in years, Noa experiences regret, and remorse, breaking down in the cockpit of the helicopter he intended to escape with. This regret only intensifies when he returns to the controls of the facility to find everything destroyed; the missiles cannot be shut down any longer, leaving them twenty minutes to get everyone to safety. Noa here returns to the sort of boy he was before death in a sense, while retaining his intelligence gained over the course of the years. While capable of great cruelty and malice, he sets out to warn the others through the system of what is coming, helping them to escape one by one. It is implied of course, that he is doing this only for Mokuba--and indeed, his choice to save Seto after all the hatred he showed toward the other make things questionable--but his very words to Seto, as well as his words afterward, show that he has realized his own wrong doings regarding the teen. He apologizes completely for his actions, and switches places with Mokuba one last time, allowing the brothers to escape not only for Mokuba, but also for himself; for at this time, he wants nothing more for them to survive.
And in his case, to die. Noa is ready to atone, and here accepts that he is dead. It is likely perhaps that he feels his father suffered the same emotionally crippling effects that he did within the system, though his love, blinding as it has been, could also be what binds him there. Noa at last states that he is "A human. Not a machine", and locks his father's mind within the system while stating that they will now die together, and be together in peace.
While incredibly calm in his final moments, and kind, these final traits are only a fraction of who Noa is. Similarly, while it would be easy to refer to Noa as little more than a cruel and lonely child, those very actions show that this is far from the case. It is only in blending these sides of him together that one can see his full self. Noa is, at the core, an intelligent child, immensely so, who even within the computer world desired nothing more than to know more. It would likely have been something he pursued in reality once he escaped in fact, and there is no doubt that he would have sought out everything he had ever missed. He is intelligent, and as well as that, cunning--able to come up with and enact strategies and plots that are immensely difficult to overcome, while patient enough to set such plans into motion...and as shown in his final half hour, able to come up with equally crafty plans on the fly. His pride however blinds him--he is all too aware of his intellect, and lauds this over others, feeling as if there can be nothing that can face it in turn. What he finds obvious is obvious, and while he is absolutely able to hold a civil discussion with others for reasons beyond 'business', internally, he still clutches to this superiority. If he is proven wrong nonetheless, his first reaction tends toward irritation, and childish grumbling--or perhaps, in the case of more groundbreaking losses, absolute wide-eyed shock or fear.
As a child, he is emotive--while he can restrain himself with great skill, and manages to withold tears in most situations, he can be brought to them all the same, and openly lashes out when he is enraged. He laughs openly, he shouts--and loudly, easily upset as he is when it comes to what is personal. For the most part however, he attempts to hold himself 'maturely', something that was likely in part drilled into him through his living years. This results in polite (albeit still somewhat childish) speech, and in turn, many hidden barbs toward others when he feels particularly snippy--rather than break the facade of pleasantries, he tends toward emotional stings for as long as he feels he is truly in control. For all that he will openly manipulate and deceive however, he has a curious sense of honor to go with it all. For Noa, skill is not proven if it is achieved through lesser (cheating) means, and he has no tolerance for such actions, nor mercy as well. While it is likely now that he could perhaps show perhaps a little more forgiveness toward those he deems deserving of it, he holds no remorse for those he considers true 'failures', and if required, would very easily be able to dispose of them. The fact that he could deem others deserving however, connects well to what goodness he bears.
As well as that core need for companionship. A connection to others is what brings out his kindness beyond mere 'fairness', beyond what side of him allowed for the decision to send those from the Virtual World back to reality. Desiring it as he does, he tends to follow those he interprets as being truthfully kind to him, and in turn, becomes absolutely vicious toward those who would take it from him. He is kind to those he feels deserving of kindness--sometimes for selfish reasons, certainly, but as shown with his actions toward Seto Kaiba himself, also because of an awareness of his own place in things. While it is likely that those more like him would be met with harsh bickering in any conversation, the chances of him thus becoming attached if things go even remotely well for him is absolutely there. It is, perhaps, a naive trait of his--but then after all, he is still in the end a child.
He has much to learn, and much to develop in terms of maturity--his emotions must yet catch up to his knowledge of the world, just as his naive knowledge of human action must catch up as well. Noa after all, could never have predicted the nature of others, and their desire to protect what they love, not beyond manipulating them as tools--not until he experienced it himself.
As such, in summary, Noa is a rather proud child, who while capable of absolute cold mercilessness, bears a sense of fairness and even kindness as well. His motivations in the end are somewhat lost as one who has accepted death, perhaps, but as one who craves knowledge and more importantly companionship beyond anything (save his father's love, which he feels he has anyway by the end of things), he will have no trouble adapting. Adapting after all, while something that doesn't suit him entirely, is still something he does well, being able to formulate plans of both vengeance and assistance within moments when need be. As a child, he can be rather selfish--thinking for himself before others, and thus using his polite words to weave his way around for what he wants before anything else, but should those he care about be caught in the crossfire, he shows not only remorse, but a great desire to rectify his actions at whatever cost. He is a man (or rather, boy) of his word, however much he can hold a grudge, and though he will work his way through whatever loophole and obstacle there is, at the end of the day he stands by what he says.
He is, in the end, perhaps a rather sad child, in addition to it all...
But then perhaps a second chance at life is thus what he needs in order to better realize himself beyond the realm of the computer.
5-10 Key Character Traits:
Would you prefer a monster that FITS your character’s personality, CONFLICTS with it, or EITHER? Fits!
Opt-Outs:
> Vampire
> Demon
> Goblin
> Shade
> Merperson
+ Wendigo & Werebear (my other two muses)
Roleplay Sample:
Here!
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Name: Usagi
Contact:
Other Characters: Reira Akaba, Loki
CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character Name: Noa Kaiba
Age: '17' (Physically and...arguably mentally 10. Computer life is complicated.)
Canon: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters
Canon Point: End Virtual World Arc
Character Information: Here!
Personality:
A complicated sort, Noa can be described neither as a child nor as an adult, in any total sense. As one who was preserved mentally at the age of ten, his mind after all failed to mature beyond that state--while his intelligence grew exponentially, his supercomputer mind taking in as much as it could acquire, the spirit behind it could never mature.
To see what sort of person this resulted in, one must thus look not only at who he was during the majority of his screentime in the series, but also who he was before this. Little is revealed about Noa from this time, but from what little there is, it is clear that he was a happy--albeit no doubt spoilt--child. His father had him take part in numerous activities for the sake of increasing his skill and knowledge, and unlike Seto Kaiba, the boy who would replace him, Noa enjoyed every moment of it. He would study his years-above-age-level work dilligently, practice numerous sports, instruments... ...While one could argue that a boy in this position could be just as cruel as he was through the series, his attitudes immediately after his death say otherwise.
Noa as a living child, and even recently dead child, was clearly polite--and even grateful--for what he had. He enjoyed all that he experienced, and was perhaps despite his intelligence even naive; wanting nothing more than the continued love of his father, he desired above everything, his approval. It is for this reason that when he was told that Seto had been adopted for the purposes of a mental challenge--a final test on his worth as the CEO's heir--he latched on intensely to the idea of surpassing the other. It is just before this however that we see Noa grow bitter to his situation; the limitations of the program his father created meant that what should have given him happiness was simply a continuous, unchanging record, a dream that could not be altered. His attitudes, veiled by his once sunny, polite demeanor, quickly sour, and this is first viewed with his rage within the program itself when he cannot so much as even make a different choice on his 'food', throwing stones at his gifted puppy and receiving no reaction. It becomes more evident however, during the very scene his father realizes the change Noa has undergone--after a 'birthday trip to space', wherein Noa first thanks his father for the experience, and then follows with 'Ah, but of course, you would have seen this data yourself while uploading it~'. Bit after bit, it becomes clear that in his bitterness, Noa has latched on even harder to his father's love, coming to view his existence within the computer as a gift to further this. In his efforts to appeal to him, he uses his growing abilities within the system to reveal to Gozaburo a strategy that could successfully annihilate all but 3% of human life, adding that, as a computerized existence, the matter of how many survive did not matter to him.
His empathy, it seemed, had been swallowed by code--replaced only by dedicated obsession. It is here that he is presented with the challenge of defeating Seto; however, before he could do so, Gozaburo vanishes, already seeing the boy less and less within his computer home. Gozaburo, Noa discovers, is killed...sparking bitter rage in the boy for what he felt would have been all he needed to totally gain his father's approval. This results in the boy we see throughout most of the Virtual World. Throughout the course of the arc, it becomes clear that Noa is absolutely dedicated to his escape from the computer, and to 'surpassing' Seto as he rightfully should have. His vindictiveness has reached an absolute peak, his sights set on entering reality in a human body and taking over the company that his father intended for him to take. His dedication here, while unclear early on, is absolutely connected still to his father's ideals; in his eyes, there is only him, and there is only making him happy. As such, even without Gozaburo there, he must prove himself to the man in death, thorugh whatever means are necessary.
Noa, as noted, seemed entirely devoid of empathy through much of the series due to his existence as a computer program. He acts cruelly, seeming to be entertained by the suffering of others, and quite deliberately going out of his way to have the 'last laugh', as seen when he tells the Big 5 that he employed as his pawns that they could never have succeeded in escaping to the real world--sending them into a despaired rage right before deleting them without mercy. He plays memories of the past for Seto in particular, and hounds him continuously with the teen's history; but at the end of it it is clear that such actions are less for the sake of those actions, and more because of who they are in particular. The Big 5 had formerly joined forces with Seto to overthrow his father, sending Gozaburo to his death. Seto in the meantime had already become someone whom Noa had a personal vendetta with, believing him to be a thief of what was rightfully his; Seto, in Noa's eyes, should never have become CEO, certainly not without proving himself first. While Noa of course feels that it would have been impossible anyway, it is this fact that drives the stake further.
While his bitterness and cruelty knows no bounds, using Seto's younger blood brother against him in a move of emotional manipulation when the opportunity arises even, he employs a curious sense of fairness in his methods. While he is certainly not above trickery and deceit (As noted by his aforementioned use of emotional manipulation, along with other examples, such as the repeated sight of painful memories and illusions), his limit becomes clear during the duel between Jonouchi Katsuya and the businessman taking the form of the 'Judgeman'. When it becomes clear that the Judge is rigging the dice rolls within their game, he not only steps in, but immediately announces that the duel has been cancelled, showing a Zero Tolerance attitude for blatant cheating. To him, using others as pawns to the advantage is simply using tools, something that was taught to him by his own father--therefore, it is only with immediate, rigged results, or underhanded tricks done by his own hands, that he cannot prove his own worth against Seto. This explains as well, why he viewed the use of Mokuba in all of this as 'fair'. Mokuba was not kidnapped by himself, but one of the Big 5 within the virtual world; he simply recovered him, and after manipulating the boy's memories, banked on the fact that Mokuba would come to him when he was in danger later on... ...Thus cementing his success against Seto in his eyes.
The matter of Mokuba brings in a rather key part of Noa's personality--something that arguably shapes every aspect of his being. Within the computer after all, Noa had only one person to love, and that was his father. When his father ceased visiting, he was thus left alone, with no companionship at all. Because of this, Noa became desensitized to what it meant to have an attachment to another person. Repeatedly he is astounded by the strength of the connections between those who come into the Virtual World, despite his readiness to use those bonds against the others. It comes to the point that, after witnessing Mokuba's dedication to Seto, he openly craves the bond for himself. Arguably, he has been lonely the entire time, but it is only witnessing the connection between others that allows him to realize that lonliness and thus act upon it. And as the overpowered child he is, he thus uses all he has to get what he desires, just as he has dedicated everything to appeasing Gozaburo's memory.
This need and craving for companionship is further emphasized in both desire and in a lack of understanding in the key duel of the arc; he clearly understands the importance of Yugi's friends when it comes to his opponent's resolve, turning them to stone one by one so that he can shake the other--however, he also states midway that if Yugi sides with him, and agrees to be loyal to him, he will save not only Yugi but all of his friends as well. From many others, such a deal could be seen as shallow. However, Noa has by this point already proved himself to up hold his sides to any bargain. He is not above making deals with even his enemy--and as the former heir to a CEO, is quite skilled when it comes to such discussions as well, bearing a very fluid speaking ability without any hesitance. While his zero tolerance policy toward things such as the deal with the Big 5 show clearly what he thinks of failure, discussions that fall outside the realm of pleading for a second chance.
First with the Judgeman, we see him consider Jonouchi's request to continue the duel with the Judge even with the disadvantage the latter's cheating has left him at--and while Noa scoffs at the motion to take what is clearly the ticket to loss instead of success, allows it (albeit for the likely fact that Jonouchi's loss seems obvious, and the outcome in his eyes will not affect his own chances at success). This repeats when he faces Yugi, having only won his duel against Seto due to the previously noted manipulation; in using Mokuba as his shield, he prevented Seto from attacking, thus successfully winning the match. As the method through which Seto lost left him with lifepoints however, Yugi steps forward with a deal--he will use a combination of his deck and Seto's, with Seto's remaining lifepoints, in order to defeat Noa and prove the boy's loss a matter of trickery instead of skill. As he again feels there is no risk of loss, Noa thus once more accepts, feeling that there is no risk in accepting the offer. When it comes to Noa after all, he gauges the risks involved as well; and although he bears an incredible sense of superiority at this time, he continously makes note of whether or not something is worth bothering with (as seen with his deals with the Big 5, where he remarks that he doesn't actually care who the men duel, as either way it will work in his favor).
When it comes to his duel with Seto and then Yugi, there was the added notion of pride to consider. Noa is seen from the very start to be incredibly prideful, more than aware of the vast amounts of knowledge at his disposal. With that knowledge, he feels he surpasses everyone--with that knowledge, he might as well be a 'god' (directly stated himself during that duel with Seto in fact). He is therefore untouchable--his actions thorugh the season a mere game, really, and for that reason when someone questions that intelligence, Noa snaps. A slight against his skill is one he does not take lightly at all, manifesting first as irritation, and then as he comes closer to outright loss, rage. He is a child, in the end, and when he is unable to hide behind a mask of intelligence and proper superior 'politeness', he thus devolves to that obvious state--his words losing their refined nature until he can do no more than scream for those in front of him to 'shut up!' and to 'stop looking at [him] with that face!'. Loss shakes Noa--and when he is at risk of losing at all, he becomes reckless and even 'damaged'. After his betrayal at the hand of his own father, the man to whom he had dedicated everything, we see this in full. First, there is the initial fallout of course; the faltering and even crazed statements to others that 'it isn't so bad' in the computer world show clearly how much love he had for the man, and just how deeply everything he worked on came to connect to his goals for Gozaburo. They show again as well his need for companionship, though perhaps in this case to a lesser extent.
His destructive habits however, are something we see only after this. Noa is an incredibly vindictive child, acting on impulse toward those who have wronged him in his eyes. Soon after his breakdown he very quickly comes up with a plan to not only again escape the computer world but also destroy the computer itself...and therefore, the three who he detests so much at this time. His father, who betrayed him after all he had done for the man, and had even gone so far as to blatantly tell Noa that Seto had been intended as a body for the boy, only to declare that he would be taking Seto's body as his own using the systems Noa created. Yugi, the duelist who had defeated him. And of course, Seto... ...who at this time represented still everything he wanted and had lost.
Noa's cunning combines here with his rage just as it did before the season began, as he formulates this plan. He tells everyone that, given his father's words, he will help them escape--instead tricking them into a program once again, and further fooling Mokuba into a trap that allows him to steal the boy's body instead of his brother's. With this, Noa moves to access the systems from the outside world, redirecting missiles that his father had set on the very destructive path he had told him about years ago (the plan that would erradicate most of the earth in 30 days) toward the base where the computer lay. The lives of all the others within do not come to mind at this point--only his desire for vengeance, and more importantly, survival.
Time within a living body however allows Noa to regain the heart and empathy that he lost in his solitude--or perhaps more accurately, as hinted by his shock just before taking Mokuba's body, to fully realize it. Before he takes the boy's body, Mokuba voices sympathy and even empathy for Noa, causing the other to briefly falter before he mentally decides that Mokuba is simply being foolish--or perhaps more likely, is even still affected by the mind altering code he created. Though Mokuba offers to get his brother to build the other a body, Noa simply escapes, setting the path of descruction on course and allowing a certain other within the facility to destroy what he will. As he sets off on his escape route however, he thinks harder on Mokuba's words and actions--and in doing so realizes that Mokuba, unlike anyone else thus far, had cared.
For the first time in years, Noa experiences regret, and remorse, breaking down in the cockpit of the helicopter he intended to escape with. This regret only intensifies when he returns to the controls of the facility to find everything destroyed; the missiles cannot be shut down any longer, leaving them twenty minutes to get everyone to safety. Noa here returns to the sort of boy he was before death in a sense, while retaining his intelligence gained over the course of the years. While capable of great cruelty and malice, he sets out to warn the others through the system of what is coming, helping them to escape one by one. It is implied of course, that he is doing this only for Mokuba--and indeed, his choice to save Seto after all the hatred he showed toward the other make things questionable--but his very words to Seto, as well as his words afterward, show that he has realized his own wrong doings regarding the teen. He apologizes completely for his actions, and switches places with Mokuba one last time, allowing the brothers to escape not only for Mokuba, but also for himself; for at this time, he wants nothing more for them to survive.
And in his case, to die. Noa is ready to atone, and here accepts that he is dead. It is likely perhaps that he feels his father suffered the same emotionally crippling effects that he did within the system, though his love, blinding as it has been, could also be what binds him there. Noa at last states that he is "A human. Not a machine", and locks his father's mind within the system while stating that they will now die together, and be together in peace.
While incredibly calm in his final moments, and kind, these final traits are only a fraction of who Noa is. Similarly, while it would be easy to refer to Noa as little more than a cruel and lonely child, those very actions show that this is far from the case. It is only in blending these sides of him together that one can see his full self. Noa is, at the core, an intelligent child, immensely so, who even within the computer world desired nothing more than to know more. It would likely have been something he pursued in reality once he escaped in fact, and there is no doubt that he would have sought out everything he had ever missed. He is intelligent, and as well as that, cunning--able to come up with and enact strategies and plots that are immensely difficult to overcome, while patient enough to set such plans into motion...and as shown in his final half hour, able to come up with equally crafty plans on the fly. His pride however blinds him--he is all too aware of his intellect, and lauds this over others, feeling as if there can be nothing that can face it in turn. What he finds obvious is obvious, and while he is absolutely able to hold a civil discussion with others for reasons beyond 'business', internally, he still clutches to this superiority. If he is proven wrong nonetheless, his first reaction tends toward irritation, and childish grumbling--or perhaps, in the case of more groundbreaking losses, absolute wide-eyed shock or fear.
As a child, he is emotive--while he can restrain himself with great skill, and manages to withold tears in most situations, he can be brought to them all the same, and openly lashes out when he is enraged. He laughs openly, he shouts--and loudly, easily upset as he is when it comes to what is personal. For the most part however, he attempts to hold himself 'maturely', something that was likely in part drilled into him through his living years. This results in polite (albeit still somewhat childish) speech, and in turn, many hidden barbs toward others when he feels particularly snippy--rather than break the facade of pleasantries, he tends toward emotional stings for as long as he feels he is truly in control. For all that he will openly manipulate and deceive however, he has a curious sense of honor to go with it all. For Noa, skill is not proven if it is achieved through lesser (cheating) means, and he has no tolerance for such actions, nor mercy as well. While it is likely now that he could perhaps show perhaps a little more forgiveness toward those he deems deserving of it, he holds no remorse for those he considers true 'failures', and if required, would very easily be able to dispose of them. The fact that he could deem others deserving however, connects well to what goodness he bears.
As well as that core need for companionship. A connection to others is what brings out his kindness beyond mere 'fairness', beyond what side of him allowed for the decision to send those from the Virtual World back to reality. Desiring it as he does, he tends to follow those he interprets as being truthfully kind to him, and in turn, becomes absolutely vicious toward those who would take it from him. He is kind to those he feels deserving of kindness--sometimes for selfish reasons, certainly, but as shown with his actions toward Seto Kaiba himself, also because of an awareness of his own place in things. While it is likely that those more like him would be met with harsh bickering in any conversation, the chances of him thus becoming attached if things go even remotely well for him is absolutely there. It is, perhaps, a naive trait of his--but then after all, he is still in the end a child.
He has much to learn, and much to develop in terms of maturity--his emotions must yet catch up to his knowledge of the world, just as his naive knowledge of human action must catch up as well. Noa after all, could never have predicted the nature of others, and their desire to protect what they love, not beyond manipulating them as tools--not until he experienced it himself.
As such, in summary, Noa is a rather proud child, who while capable of absolute cold mercilessness, bears a sense of fairness and even kindness as well. His motivations in the end are somewhat lost as one who has accepted death, perhaps, but as one who craves knowledge and more importantly companionship beyond anything (save his father's love, which he feels he has anyway by the end of things), he will have no trouble adapting. Adapting after all, while something that doesn't suit him entirely, is still something he does well, being able to formulate plans of both vengeance and assistance within moments when need be. As a child, he can be rather selfish--thinking for himself before others, and thus using his polite words to weave his way around for what he wants before anything else, but should those he care about be caught in the crossfire, he shows not only remorse, but a great desire to rectify his actions at whatever cost. He is a man (or rather, boy) of his word, however much he can hold a grudge, and though he will work his way through whatever loophole and obstacle there is, at the end of the day he stands by what he says.
He is, in the end, perhaps a rather sad child, in addition to it all...
But then perhaps a second chance at life is thus what he needs in order to better realize himself beyond the realm of the computer.
5-10 Key Character Traits:
- Prideful
- Cunning
- Vindictive
- Childish
- Intelligent
- Lonely
- Fair
- Selfish
- Polite
- Information hungry
Would you prefer a monster that FITS your character’s personality, CONFLICTS with it, or EITHER? Fits!
Opt-Outs:
> Vampire
> Demon
> Goblin
> Shade
> Merperson
+ Wendigo & Werebear (my other two muses)
Roleplay Sample:
Here!
and
Here!