Character Base

• Character Name: Equius Zahhak
• Age: 16, ballpark
-This gets complicated. So, first of all, Equius is 6 Alternian Sweeps at the start of the Homestuck webcomic. This translates, roughly, to 13 human years as per the wiki article for Equius Zahhak. Some time, though an unspecified amount, transpires between the start of Homestuck and the “Time-Skip,” on the Asteroid prior to the time of John Egbert's first time shenanigans to correct the primary timeline and make it viable. Equius resided in the game “Asgard Eventide” from December 2012 through to its conclusion in March of 2015.
Because, at a certain point, this gets insanely complicated I'm going to just simplify our headaches. He lived in Asgard for 2 years and 4 months, and survived close enough to qualify as approximately 16 years of age at that point.
• Canon (Date/Year Released)/Canon Point: Homestuck – Immediately Post Death (Comic page 3448), but prior to Nepeta Lejion's subsequent death. Post-Ending Asgard Eventide (Panfandom Game, run time 2012-2015).
• Items Coming Along:
- The Clothes on His Back (Jean shorts, knee-length black socks, Excellent Black Boots [Made for him by Leonardo Da Vinci], black tank top with a blue sagitarrius symbol on it, duster jacket)
- A Large Sketch Pad with Pencil
- A Broken, very high quality composite bow (it wasn't broken when he arrived. Oops, someone got his strength back)
- A Towel
- A Bandolier with a set of electrician and auto-mechanic's tools in various housings.
- A Bracelet with a deep purple scapolite gem set in it and symbology devoted to the Norse God Freyr.
• Content Warnings for Character: Homestuck, just Homestuck.
(More Seriously: Extremely Unusual Gendering Issues, Fantasy Drug Use, Death, Murder, Blood, Gore, Erotic Asphyxiation at the time of death, Racism, Classism, Elitism, Dubious Consenting Relationships, Creepy Behavior, attempted mind/emotional manipulation through blood transfusion, blood-based caste systems. Honestly, there's probably more, but that's everything I can remember off the top of my head

Character Background

• History: wiki article
Now, I personally consider Equius' wiki page to be inferior, but the MS Paint Adventures wikia has seen so many hands on it that it's impossible to keep straight, not to mention the fact that the canon itself is a jumbled mess on a good day.

The Short Version of the Canon:
-A group of human children and a group of Alterian Troll children from different planets and universes begin playing a game called SBURB (human side) and SGRUB (troll side) on respectively different times. The initiation of the game leads to the destructive of their universes, and the game's culmination is set to create a new universe (something neither group is aware of at the time of starting the game). Through a string of timeline altering hijinks and numerous bloody deaths, leading to the complete resetting of a large portion of the timeline, the surviving members of both groups are ultimately able to create a new universe and complete the game, allowing the great Frog to Speak the Vast Croak (No, I am not joking about this.), which initiates a new reality.

Equius Zahhak does not survive this experience in any timeline.

Equius, born of the nobility of the Troll race, is an elitist proponent of the Troll blood-based caste system and one of the physically strongest allies of his compatriots in their playing of the SGRUB game. Initially, he is a somewhat reluctant participant in the entire affair, viewing it as foolish and a waste of their time. However, with the forebearance of someone regularly accustomed to being dragged into the tomfoolery of others, he participates and gets manipulated several times by confused members who all want him to be on their team, right up until he ends up on “Team Blue,” paired with Aradia Megido, with whom he has a very complicated crush.

Some time prior to the events of Hivebent/SGRUB, Aradia had died due to the manipulations of 'friend' (in the loosest sense of the word) and future teammate Vriska Serket, but her spirit continued to persist and interact with her friends, along with being able to participate in SGRUB. Equius, a robotics genius, built a body for Aradia's spirit to house herself in, incorporating his own blood both to 'purify' her lower caste rust blood and also to attempt to forcibly impart feelings for him through the robot's programming. This initially caused a violent reaction by Aradia, leading to her both nearly beating him to death and kissing him. He mistakes this for a possible Kismesis (Blackship, or Hateship) and continues his imfatuation in her.

Due to the actions of Jade Harley in the human side of SBURB, an unkillable monster was created who assaulted the troll players and forced them to retreat onto an Asteroid, where they began to view the events of the human team's timeline, manipulating them both in the past and the present while largely unaware of the exact time that they were involving themselves at each occasion (and inadvertently helping to initiate the events that led to their being incarcerated on the Asteroid.). While on the asteroid, Equius became broody and sullen even by his own standards and devoted most of his time protecting his moirail, Nepeta Lejion, while watching fellow teammate Gamzee Makara become increasingly mentally unstable.

On one fateful day, Equius is forced to confront and speak with a now utterly insane and violent Gamzee, who he views due to bloodline to be his superior in the caste system, all while another troll is murdering several of his teammates at the same time. The encounter turns violent and Equius is choked to death, smiling as Gamzee embraces his true inner rage the way that Equius had always wanted to see him do (admittedly perhaps not on himself), just before Nepeta attacks Gamzee in retaliation and also dies.

(While there are future stories that relaate to Equius as a spirit, this is where his story within Homestuck ends for our purposes. Confused? Good. So is almost everyone who reads Homestuck, myself included.)

Oh, and not that you asked, but REGARDING GENDER: Alternian Trolls are hermaphroditic insect-based humanoids with rainbow-chromatic blood variations used as part of a complicated caste system that follows the colors of the rainbow. They possess both male (tentacled) and female reproductive organs, and most identify their gender identity based on bodily morphology and appearance (choosing to be identified as male or female). The race is bisexual and somewhat omnisexual related to species. Equius is a male-identity hermaphrodite, who uses He/Him as pronouns.
• Core Relationships:
-ROMANCE: Troll reproduction and romance is weird. A VERY short summation is as follows. Trolls have 4 relationships. Most healthy trolls seek to have all four of these relationships, and are societally obligated at a certain age to have both Matesprites and Kismesis partners:
-Matesprites: A “Red” romance based around Pity, it is the closest to human conceptions of love and is an erotic or sexual relationship. Both Matesprites.
-Moirails: A non-sexual 'red' romantic relationship, this is also centered around pity and focuses on protection, preservation, calming and supporting. It is close to a human conception of “Best Friends,” but usually also involves caste dynamics of a higher-rank protecting a lower-rank in the caste, who likewise supports and calms the violent emotions of the higher rank.
-Kismesis: The Black flipside to Matesprite's Red. This is a sexual relationship focused on hate. It is an intense rivalry that is both erotic in nature and at the same time intentionally non-destructive (Think … Megamind and Metro Man, or Batman and the Joker. Killing each other ruins the fun, so it's more about the constant battle.)
-Auspistiicsm: The non-sexual Black relationship. Auspistices exist because trolls are a naturally violent race, and Kismesis do not share well. Violent black-flirtation is commonplace, and generally one blackrom is possible at a time (without heads literally rolling). Sometimes, also, a kismesis is just too violent and likely to end in someone dying, so an Auspistices is a 3-person relationship involving two people who really HATE each other, and a third who calms the situation down and controls it, keeping the trio more or less romantically involved, but not sexually, and the hatred to a more manageable level. This often times makes the 3rd wheel very prone to being a bit of a nosey sort who buts their nose into people's business.

-Nepeta Lejion: Equius' Moirail, and with little equivocation the most important person in his life. Nepeta is an Olive-blooded (therefore lower blood than Equius' Blue, but not so low as to be considered “Lowblood.”) troll with a penchant for shipping various people together, hugging strangers, acting like a neko cosplayer and roleplaying ALL THE TIME. Nepeta is one of the only people who seems capable of calming Equius down, or talking sense into him when he is being stubborn, and one of the few people who is truly patient with his frequently inappropriate outbursts. She cares deeply about him, and in turn he is incredibly protective of her, trying to curate who she has contact with to improve her social upbringing (and to protect her from more violent trolls) and 'better her' at least in his understanding.

-Aradia Megido: Frankly? Equius is obsessed with her. Emotionally, he feels a deep connection to the troll, and considers her to be his intellectual equal or even better. He views her to be a perfect person, and he might even be in love with her, if it were not for one problem. She is Rust-Blooded and not really interested in him that way. She is the lowest of all blood, making a union scandalous in the extreme. It makes him misinterpret everything she says as somehow romantically centered (generally just his wishful thinking), and leads to a lot of awkward and confusing conversations with her. Eventually, his obsession reaches a point where he attempts to reprogram her while giving her a body to live in. She reacts violently and kisses him. This causes him to misinterpret this as a possible “Blackrom” relationship, though as we later find out the kiss was a heat of the moment thing out of anger for the reprogramming attempt, and that she regrets much. Aradia becomes more aware of his interests and after his death, makes the non-relationship status clearer to him in his spirit form. But, while he is alive, he is obsessed with her.

-Vriska Serket: The Cerulean blooded spider queen of the troll team, Vriska is a cunning, violent, manipulative person who just never can seem to help herself. She's always plotting some sort of elaborate backstab. Equius considers this to be just her nature as a cerulean, and essentially tolerates her constant manipulations so long as she is not getting Nepeta involved in them or causing trouble enough that he has to deal with her. She, in turn, appears more than smart enough to know when not to push Equius too far. The result is that the two have a low grade of loathing towards each other, but are more than willing to work with one another on most occasions, usually resulting in Equius knowing being manipulated by one of Vriska's games.

-Gamzee Makara: The “Highblood” is one of the most troubled of Equius' relationships. When we first encounter Gamzee, he is doped up by eating soporific juices that are usually meant to be slept in but not injested, in order to control the violent dreams that trolls are often affected by. It gives him the feeling being a laid back hippy who cares little about what he says or does. Equius regularly chastises him for his lack of violence and poor bearing as his genetic superior, trying to convince him to embrace his indigo-blooded nature. When Gamzee runs out of his drugs and is driven mad by what he perceives as blasphemous statements by the human Dave Strider, one of the first people that he encounters is Equius. Now, embracing the Highblood's rage, he assaults and kills Equius. It is a strange situation for Equius, because on the one hand dying at Gamzee's hands is an almost erotic experience for him, and a culmination of the 'proper' order of things, but at the same time he has begun to question the wisdom of his existence in his last days, and it makes the situation an almost awkward and uncomfortable experience (not to mention lethal)

-Eridan Ampora: The two have a hostile relationship that has nothing to do with hateships. Royalty (of whom Eridan technically is part) live in the sea and have natural antipathy towards land-dwelling bloodlines. The two constantly bicker out of principle, and because Equius considers Eridan to be unworthy of the blood he bears. He barely tolerates their genetic superior Feferi because she is a princess and entitled to be whatever she wants. The purple-blooded gets no such kindness.

• Summary of CRAU Impact:
Equius lives for more than two years in the Holy City of Asgard, participating in the events leading up to Ragnarok, the fall of Surtr and the death of the Ice Queen Thiazi. The city, turned gray as all life and emotion is drained from it, fights to rebuild its life and its magic while preparing for the final war. Within this time, he spends a considerable amount of time interacting with members of his canon also trapped in the city with him, along with numerous others from outside of his canon. While many of his awkward and difficult quirks remain and he is still a deeply disturbing and difficult troll to deal with, what he gains is a considerable amount of self-awareness of his flaws and the flaws of the Troll Society.

He spends most of his first year and a half in the company of his moirail Nepeta. In the end, the dominant force of the relationship is Nepeta, who begins pro-actively starting to show him the errors of troll society and trying to support him in being less creepy. It is Nepeta, along with Aradia, who actually cause Equius to realize precisely how badly his relationship with Aradia went and how inappropriate his actions were towards her. Near the end of her time in the setting, Equius manages a jerky, confused apology to her, one that is at least tacitly accepted (mostly because Aradia herself has long moved beyond him at this point. He is simply and finally catching up).

In part because he meets Her Imperious Condesce (the empress of the Troll race), and sees her for just how horrifically flawed she really is as a person, and in part because of conversations both with Nepeta and Eridan, along with countless non-castmates, Equius begins to finally rescind his obsession with the Troll Caste System, and views it as a flawed system that should not be implemented outside of Troll society, and is in need of extensive repair to be workable even there. He does not publicly speak of these developments often, however, as he still struggles with the fact that he considers such thought blasphemous in the extreme.

Equius begins to develop romantic feelings for a non-troll, ones that never are actually fulfilled, and as a result of those feelings that he develops and then puts to the side (Kaworu Nagisa), he begins to embrace the idea that he does not need to always get what he wants. It's a slow process for him, but he is in a moderately more healthy spot emotionally.

Equius' willingness to be manipulated by others begins to grow through his time in the war effort. Through Nepeta's coaxing and continued interactions with others who became determined to put up with his crap because he was useful, he became increasingly comfortable serving in logistics and support. He was one of the preeminent weapons manufacturers of the war effort and even after her departure did a great deal to assist others mostly in the for of producing arms and equipment for their use. While not exactly humble, he seemed more willing to take a backseat as long as he could remain in the fighting.

He never developed a sense of humor however.

Particular Note: I will be keeping his memories of individuals in the game somewhat vague to avoid needless confusion, as this is a 6 year old game and almost none of those characters are still in use. His past will be treated as more generic and he will recall specific names and faces only if requested or appropriate.

Character Personality Through Key Moments

(2+) Positive Experiences:
1) A Supportive and Intensely Loyal Friend (to the few he respected)
Finding positive things to say about Equius Zahhak isn't exactly easy. He's a sweaty, unpleasant man who gets the wrong idea about everything that people say, and who treats people more as species, races or things than as individuals. However, when a person has broken past this veneer of traditionalist and frankly racist behavior, he is an exceptionally and profoundly loyal person. His relationship with Nepeta is probably one of the best ways to see this.

She annoys him regularly with her antics, and yet he puts up with it. He really doesn't like roleplaying and thinks its childish, foolish and silly, but he does it with her because she loves it. He cares about what she thinks of him even as he's trying to correct her behavior. He doesn't want to disappoint her, and more importantly he doesn't want anything bad to happen to her, and will risk his life to try and protect her. For all of his incredibly large numbers of character flaws, Equius is loyal, and is willing to do a great many things to support people that he gives a fig about. Once a person is more than “Hey, human” and has a name that he registers and cares about, he can be a very supportive soul. His support tends to come in the form of lectures and guidance, or in providing for that person's needs/wants without being asked, but he does support them.

2) Begrudgingly Helpful Nature
It might be a bit more accurate to say that Equius is easily manipulated (his family name Zahhak is based on an Iranian mythological figure who was strong but easily manipulated), but given that Equius seems intimately aware that others are manipulating him on most occasions? He isn't truly manipulated by others so much as he does not care about them using him for their games, particularly where it applies to what he considers to be his true callings: Fighting, and Building Things.

Despite the fact that he doesn't really like Tavros that much, and that Vriska constantly uses him, he builds mechanical legs for the first and a mechanical arm for the latter. A mechanical and robotics genius for someone as young as him, he is willing to put his mind towards the creation of any sort of mechanical marvel if someone properly butters him up, or he simply sees it as a good opportunity to flex the muscles of his mind. He is willing to help others, less out of the kindness of his heart and more out of a perceived societal duty to do so, and because nobody else is likely able to do it in his stead. So he proves himself regularly useful in fashioning weapons, doomsday devices and robotic limbs with narry a complaint because he is always aware that this sort of logistical support is probably why people keep him on the team (well that and he can punch things in half.)

In Asgard, this improved from perceived duty to a personal matter of pride. He was one of the best arms dealers in the whole city of Asgard, and he knew it. His home was a stockpile of weapons that everyone in the war effort could make use of, and he gave them away towards the end of the war for free just to make sure the troops were properly armed. In some ways, he found his true calling was in being more of a quiet support to others, something he had only begun to accept in his youth on the Asteroid.

(2+) Negative Experiences:
1) Obsessive Tendencies and a Lack of Personal Boundaries
Equius makes the horrific mistake of attempting to reprogram his friend Aradia Megido to have romantic feelings for him when he gives her a new body, as her old one is dead. On the one hand, his taking the time to craft a perfect body so that she will have one to live in is an act of genuine kindness. On the other, everything about his act is horrendously tainted by the fact that he fills it with his own blood to 'purify' what he sees as corrupt and lowblooded in her. Even worse, because he desires her romantically, he attempts to force these feelings onto her, which results almost predictably in a violent reaaction as she literally tears out the heart he put into it, beats it to pieces, and then turns on him. He barely survives the beating she gives him before she kisses him in a confused rage.

There's nothing defensible about Equius' actions towards Aradia. Nepeta tries on a few occasions to get that through his thick skull, but within the span of the canon he doesn't seem to be able to understand just how much of a violation of her privacy and personal autonomy this really is until after his death at Gamzee's hands. He's in love with Aradia, but he's so hide-bound in his conception of what is proper that he thinks he needs to 'fix' her first, which he absolutely does not (and which Aradia clearly finds either odd or just a little insulting depending on if she's alive enough to care what he thinks), and to force his feelings on her.

After the events of Asgard Eventide, he has reached a point of acknowledging that he mucked everything related to Aradia up terribly, and that this is not how to approach any sort of stable relationship with another person. His apology was something of a not quite apology, but he did attempt to express his regret even while still having a crush on her (And let's politely not mention that he was still making Aradiabots as a weaponized army for the war effort at the time, but details details.). Still, he accepted that she did not feel about him as he did about her, and with time acknowledged that he had been wrong to treat her as he did.

2) Hide-bound, Traditionalist and Stubborn in his Notions of Caste Dynamics
Throughout this conversation and numerous others like it, Equius demonstrates that he views the world through an oversimplified lens. People are viewed as being examples of their blood-type and race, fitting into a preconceived social dynamic that is centered on the convoluted caste system of Alternian Troll society. People of certain blood types are destined to certain jobs. People of lower castes are beneath higher castes. Non-Trolls are beneath trolls. The list goes on. His expectations of behavior are almost never met by others, causing Equius to become discomforted, blustery, pushy and upset. He chastises his castmates regularly for not behaving 'properly.' He becomes sensationalized when the behavior might in his mind be construed as romantic and frequently gives himself hot flashes that demand he get a towel (which is always a cue for everyone who knows him to tell him he's being an idiot and a creep, even if he's not coming onto him). He gets the wrong idea about everything regularly.

These hide-bound dynamics reach a nearly fever pitch when he is choked to death (Violent Death warning) by Gamzee Makara. In some ways he isn't even capable of bringing up a proper defense, because Gamzee is 'above' him and in embracing his violent nature, is fulfilling the role that he tried to get him to fulfill to a lesser degree in the above conversation. While he does try to protect Nepeta by telling her to stay away from the confrontation and has begun questioning troll society and its merits very slightly, he is not able during his life to actually get past this hide-bound nature, even as it kills him.

In Asgard, he began to finally start showing signs of really and actually being aware of the weaknesses of his society. He warned Nepeta about the Condesce arriving, and was already beginning to show cracks in the armor, so to speak. As time went on, he began to view others as no longer merely caste representations and think of them as people. Still, even as he did, he admitted that old habits die hard, but he was trying.

3) He has a temper.
There's not really any one example of this, because there are two things that will happen in almost any conversation with Equius. He will either misinterpret something and ask for a towel to wipe the sweat off of his brow, or he will get pissed off about something. The latter is by far the more common thing to happen. He's just a genuinely low-scale angry person. He gets mad about a lot of things, frustrated about the rest and he vents easily, growling at people in a sullen and annoyed fashion.

Interestingly, however, despite the propensity towards violence of the Troll race, Equius does not simply attack people regularly. This probably has more to do with the influence of Nepeta and that ongoing calming reality in the postlude of losing contact with her. The mere thought of 'what would Nepeta purr' is enough to make him stop short of attacking someone who doesn't swing the first punch (as Marisa did to him in Asgard), but he will gleefully shout in condescending fashion at anyone he meets.

This... uh... didn't change in Asgard. He's still an angry asshole. He probably always will be.

Deer Country Attributes

• Canon Powers:
Equius, being a troll, is a relatively cold-blooded creature who does not deal 'well' with frigid temperatures. He is physically the strongest of the SGRUB trolls, strong enough that any attempt to bend a bow will cause it to break, which has led to a great many broken bows because he is obsessed with archery. He is nevertheless skilled with the flail (Ok, look, he still uses the bow. It's just a flail now) and his fists and incredibly powerful, stronger than a human weightlifter, but only moderately so.

Equius is also the Heir of Void, A Title and Aspect which grand powers within the SGRUB game. The Heir, who is surrounded and supported by their Aspect, is a passive class that benefits from the Aspect in the most general and profound of ways. Void is the Aspect of Secrets, Nothingness, Darkness, Shadows and Separation. In actual usage, this caused Equius to have the ability to, when not really doing anything, seem to blend into the shadows and background, being alone within a crowd. He did this with alarming frequency, giving people a creepy feeling when they suddenly noticed he was there. He isn't invisible, just hard to notice if he's not drawing attention to himself. His power probably could have been further developed, but never did because of Equius' distaste for skullduggery, and so it only developed or could develop this far.

His power within Asgard Eventide is called Drawing Life, and will be incorporated into his bloodline power, essentially replacing it (as the two are identical)

• Blood Type: Darkblood (A dark blue glittering powder)
• Omen: A Muscular White Centaur named Aurthour with a handlebar moustache
• Blessed Day: November 1st
• Patron Pthumerian: The Tower
(Equius, being something of a brilliant inventor, is a good match for the Tower's nature of innovation, especially as he has come into his own within Asgard Eventide as a creator of items.)
• Blood Power Manifestation:
- Drawing Life: A power identical to that which he gained in Asgard Eventide from the patronage of the god of artists and artisans, Freyr. Equius can conjure into existence an object by drawing it on paper (or as he puts it, “Alchemizing it.”) This object can be one that has complex and moving parts, though Equius must understand the inner workings of the parts to be able to draw them accurately.

There is a Functional Limit to Equius' ability to create: He only has the stamina to produce so many items in a day. Simple items without moving parts, he can generally create about 12 per day. Items that have complicated and moving parts, he can only create 4 per day (essentially using 3 uses of his creation). These items are permanent once conjured, but any further creation requires something to augment his stamina.

Truly complicated items such as a motorized vehicle, an android body, or the like, would require several days to completely fabricate the number of parts necessary to assemble an entire creation. A full modern appliance (such as an oven or washer/dryer) might be crafted from parts 1-2 times a day, while a full automobile might take close to a week to assemble, and something as complicated as an android's body or a tank could take multiple weeks to a month (and require moderator permission). Such a creation would have to then have a fuel supply, or be created capable of using moon power.

Writing Samples

One: Network
[Not this crap again. He'd spent two years dealing with this rubbish after dying. Apparently the idea of the afterlife and corpse parties was to be denied him yet again. He had almost been ready to see what all the supposed fun was about with those. Aradia had spoken well of the endeavor after all, had she not?

Bah, whatever. He would get to the bottom of this immediately. Obviously he was here because someone needed a strong arm for something. Why else?]

D --> I am e%tremely tired of playing at these games
D --> I spent the last sweep of my e%istence c00rdinating military endeavors
D --> While I am perfectly STRONG enough to find my f00ting in yet another f00lish game
D --> That is e%pressly not the point and whatever cr00ked deal brought to this latest diversion is unsolicited and undesirable
D --> It would beh00ve you to e%plain the situation immediately and forthwith so that I may have some STRONG words with whoever is responsible
D --> Also
D --> Why was I a squid
D --> I am not royalty
D --> Cease this blasphemous behavior at once

[Glob, he hoped that gilled idiot Eridan didn't prove to be here. If he was stuck in yet another world with only that whining primadonna to talk to, he would punch something. Probably Eridan.]

Two: Log
The sound of ringing anvils was like music to his ears. The whirring of power tools sang to his soul. Equius was at home in this place. He was just standing in the midst of the market, everyone quietly ignoring the sweaty beefcake of a troll as if they didn't even see him, and he didn't care. He could smell the blood mingled with the sawdust, and it was a little intoxicating even if it was also kind of irritating that so much of the industry here relied on blood. That felt a little sacrilegious really, but he was picking up that it wasn't 'like that.'

But what made him smile, in a fang-toothed, gnarled and growly sort of way was the fact that they were making things here. He didn't have to pull teeth and twist limbs to convince people of the need for proper armaments and the kind of equipment that people would use for the destruction of their foes. He could see a man affixing some fiendish looking claw to a collapsible arm assembly and he just wanted to cry, but he wouldn't. Strong men didn't cry. It was, however, a beautiful thing to see so many tools being prepared for war, even if there was no true war going on. There was always something that needed killing, and here? They made the things to do that killing.

And he? He was going to show them how this was done.

Grinning, he stepped forward, causing people to blink and go around him with nervous looks as they seemed suddenly aware that he wasn't 'someone else's problem' but actually there. He waltzed into a foundry and called out. “Who is in charge of this facility! I require employment!” He... was going to need to work on that attitude of his still.

The Player

• Player Name: Latroma
• Player Age: Over 18
• Player Contact: latroma, latroma#8410 on Discord, or PM
• Permissions: Here

Other Characters

Vira-Lorr | Record of Agarest War (onerthes)
Neopolitan | RWBY (threelayers)

Link to Character 1 overall AC: Here (Vira-Lorr)
Link to Character 2 overall AC: Here (Neopolitan)
Link to Character 3 overall AC: Here (Larxene)

Oh for the love of... I thought I posted this already. Anyway, How's my Driving. Feel free to drop anything you like down here. Anon is enabled, no IP Logging and all comments initially screened.

Character Name; Equius Zahhak
Canon; Homestuck http://www.mspaintadventures.com/ (Source information on Equius: http://mspaintadventures.wikia.com/wiki/Equius_Zahhak
Canon Point; Immediately after "Seeking the Highbl00d" (In which Equius is killed by Gamzee Makara
Age; 6 Sweeps (The creator of the Homestuck Universe writes through the character Vriska that this is considered roughly the age of sexual maturity, and listed as about 13 human years.)

House; Discussion Below

Personality;
On the surface, Equius Zahhak is a difficult troll to get along with, which is saying something given the nature of Alternian society and its violent, xenophobic and conquest-obsessed tendencies. He is a man who is nearly obsessed in all interactions with having a perfect grasp of the local pecking order, the structure of society and the precisely correct interactions between people that are the most appropriate. As such, he is one of those Trolls least prone to "trolling" others, causing relatively little trouble to those with whom he interacts and not generally pestering the humans that those Trolls in Karkat's group meet unduly. However, despite the fact that he is rarely a schemer, does not swear and can be helpful at times due to his mechanical skills and prodigious strength, Equius is widely regarded as one of the more unpleasant, disagreeable and disturbed of the trolls.

The general perception of Equius' odd behavior stems from his fanatic obsession and how it pertains to the Hemospectrum, the elaborate system of Troll political heirarchies and castes based upon the color of an individual troll's blood. Equius hails from a 'royal blue' or indigo caste, one of the two highest echelons of nobility for those trolls who live on land. He views with absolute strictness the need for each person who is a member of their caste to behave according to their task, their role and their position in the pecking order. He expects that it is the duty, the privilege and honor of all beneath a troll of higher standing to obey them, and absolutely expects one of higher station to live up to their high social standing and order those beneath them with confidence and propriety. While this sounds like simple elitist aristocratic sensibilities for one in the highest ranks, Equius displays an unnerving obsession in situations that he perceives to be exceptions to this common rule of law within Alternian society with being ordered around by those who are beneath his standing.

In particular, he displays an almost erotic thrill when being ordered by a lesser, especially by those of the lowest ranks in the heirarchy. This tendency is seen in a pronounced and disturbing fashion through his interactions with Aradia Megido and Karkat Vantas, both of whom (while Karkat hides his blood color zealously) are clearly beneath him and one of whom (Aradia) is at the absolute base of the Hemospectrum. He commands Aradia during a situation where she is placed with authority over him to command him, sweating all the while and repeatedly demanding a towel so that he can mop his brow, fuming about the scandal of it all. It is difficult to say just how perverse Equius is with this almost erotic attitude towards Dominance and Submission, down to the smile on his face when he is choked to death by Gamzee Makara, but the general perception of most Trolls and humans is that he seems incapable of not being at least a little perverse in almost all of his conversations. The lack of his ever consummating this fascination, however, implies that his fascination and perverted habits are more intellectual than physical.

Other trolls, notable amongst them being Sollux Captor, generally view Equius with considerable distaste, both for his seemingly creepy obsession with being in 'scandalous arrangements' and for his tendency to treat almost everyone of a lower standing than the next caste beneath him (and thus Vriska Sekret) with utter contempt, calling them "Gutterbloods." He bosses people around with alarming frequency, insulting those who he deems to be his right to do so with.

Amongst Equius' other notable personality traits is his temper, which is somewhat legendary among the other members of Karkat's group. For a troll who rarely actually vents in public, Equius has a pronounced habit of flying into rages. He uses his considerable mechanical skill just to produce robots strong enough to withstand his massive strength in staged cage matches wherein he lets out all of his frustrations. Mounds of destroyed and devastated robots litter his private quarters and any location wherein he spends any length of time. His rages, while pronounced, are extremely controlled. It would not do for a man of his standing to simply fly off and sully its fists with blood that is beneath it, and so he actively relies upon his moirail, Nepeta Lejion, and upon these displays of destroying created and inanimate objects to calm himself. When these fail, he accepts the destructive tendencies of others as substitutes, such as Aradia's more destructive tendencies when she served as his controller during the game session in which he worked with Karkat Vantas. He obsesses over being a physically perfect specimen of Troll society and body builds to keep his physique at pristine condition. A side effect of this, and of his martial focus upon what he proclaims to be the "Noble Art of Archery" is that he has never been able to demonstrably use a bow correctly. He has so trained himself and is so prone to devastating rages that he snaps those bows he wields in half and is forced normally to operate with his fists.

Equius is a perfectionist par excellence. Not only is he obsessed with his own physical prowess, but also with his mechanical arts and with physical beauty by his standards. One of the two most gifted amongst the trolls in the crafting of machinery, he is a master of hardware (where Sollux could be considered a master of software). He fashions robotic masterpieces almost as a force of habit, the mountains of failed constructs he destroys in his rages being nothing more than imperfect wretches in his mind. Constructs such as Vriska's arm and Tavros' legs are far more the sorts of masterpieces he values, works of art that are intended to operate as complete replacements for living tissue. However, the magnum opus of his creations is the "Aradiabot," a construct intended to house the dead soul of Aradia Megido. His obsessive fascination with her causes him to pay exceptionally careful attention to the construct, using the finest of materials and pouring his own color of blood into the robot to give it the royalty he feels it deserves. His views of beauty and constructed beauty are idealized, with the female form being feminized to extremes (though with an obsession still for physical prowess and strength), and with the male form being muscled and chiseled as his own, seen in the numerous muscle-bound art portraits he compulsively gathers.

Considering the rigidity of his interactions with others, Equius is a frequently confused individual. Disrespectful and guttural trash of lower castes are easy for him to handle. His reactions to Terezi Pyrope and Sollux are good indicators of his ways of handling those who are beneath him and match what he considers to be 'gutterblood' tendencies. However, when dealing with individuals of lower castes who are not only respectful and appropriate (such as Nepeta), but also display what he considers to be educated and refined manners, or when dealing with those of higher station who are somehow behaving in a fashion beneath their station, he becomes increasingly confused. Towards the latter, he is constant in his attempts to berate them for their lackluster standards, apologizing constantly as he does. Notably among these is Gamzee Makara, though frequently he is also disgusted with the foppish and servile behavior of Eridan Ampora, who he views as a natural rival due to animosity between sea and land dwellers, but also weak-willed and spineless at times. Towards the former, he is decidedly uncomfortable, frequently fantasizing about being ordered around by them, mopping his brow almost incessantly and almost ordering or commanding them to order him.

The two primary relationships that have the largest impact on him are Aradia and Nepeta. In many respects, the latter is the classic example of a stable Moirail relationship. Both of the two express pity towards what they see in each other as moral weaknesses (his stodginess and confusion in interpersonal interactions, and her flippancy, silliness and obsession with romance, roleplaying and feelings). Nepeta is the one person with whom he has a stable relationship, who he goes out of the way to protect, to advise and only orders when he believes it to be for her own good and protection. Nepeta is also perhaps the only person that Equius never seems to flirt with (in the awkward, dominance/submission-laden way he flirts), the relationship being very close to true friendship, combined with all the sort of tolerance that lifelong friends often demonstrate for difficult behavior. Aradia, however, is a tempestuous and complicated relationship. Equius is nearly obsessed with her, willingly going along with Vriska's ill-fated attempts to gain power in the group because of the opportunity to create a perfect metal body for Aradia's dead spirit to be housed in. He fuels it with his own pristine color of blood to make her the highborne Troll that he believes a woman of her tact and poise deserves to be, and to place her just over him and permit her to order him around without scandal. He programs the robot to love him, which results in a backfire as she descends into a rage, destroys the robot's heart and then beats him before kissing him. In some ways theirs is a relatively natural 'kismesis' (hate-romance or rivalry romance), though it is hard to say how clearly Aradia returns his affections in the long-run. He does tend, however, to idolize her as a sort of ideal Troll, one who should have been born much higher in the Hemospectrum than she was, and one he wanted to make higher.

Equius' relationship with non-trolls is a fairly limited affair. It is marked mostly by a rabid curiosity for the culture of humans and for the way in which their society establishes its hierarchy of authority. Most of his conversations in this vein are with Dave Strider, but he appears aware that he is being teased throughout, and does not ultimately take them very seriously. He appears to consider the human species to be degenerate and beneath the Troll race, and shows the same sort of twisted fascination with being ordered around by humans he considers worthy, particularly Dave.

Samples;
Network Sample;
[If he was to seriously consider serving amongst these humans, Equius required a better understanding of their social structure. His unfamiliarity had caused him problems in the past, and their tendency towards inappropriate behavior was positively scandalous. Settling himself on a bench in the arena, he tapped out the question while watching a few of Vanaheim's troops practicing their archery, keeping a towel handy just in case.

Somehow, he had a feeling this conversation would only make him sweat more.]

D --> So long as I am trapped within this realm I wish to better my understanding
D --> If I am to be subjugated under the authority of the decadent masses and the humans who lead in this city I must know several things
D --> In any army a proper comprehension of the power structure is e%tremely important and no such comprehension can be had without first elucidating how this structure is formed
D --> I would ask whomever of the humans could best e%press the nature of human authority and how it is established
D --> I have spoken in the past with humans but find that their e%planations have always lacked a certain genuineness I e%pect of proper compatriots
D --> Do not take me for a f00l
D --> I have e%tensive experience in deciphering elaborate ploys and deceptions and will know if I am being deceived

Log Sample;
Equius stood alone in the rain. The chill of the air did not affect him. He had strived against the elements countless times in the past and he would never be one to admit the slightest bit of weakness. No, there were more important things to be concerned over under the circumstances.

The house was in front of him, a healthy five stories in height. He looked up at it, the statue of Hel standing out before the location austerely, offerings placed before her. Equius swallowed, feeling a sweat beginning to come on again. "I require a towel," he muttered to himself, brushing a strand of soaking hair out of his face and making a note that he would need to pull one from his gym bag when he was inside.

First, he would have to go inside. He had heard she was here, living in this building amongst all of these other guttertrash, lowlifes and filth. She was a peasant, but of far greater and noble stock than her blood would normally make Equius think, a thought that always made him uncomfortable. However, more importantly, there was something about her presence that he needed to confirm.

She was alive. The thought of it had him riveted there, not quite able to bring himself to walk into the house. He was unsure, though he would not admit it. Aradia always made him feel confused like this, and he hated it even as he could not help but wish more of it.