OOC ☼ Application: vatheon

[onlymydiabound]

[ Player Name ] : Fetchie
[ Personal DW ] : made_in_wonder
[ Age ] : 23
[ Timezone ] : EST
[ Other Characters ] : None here!

[ Character's Name ] : “Thief King” Bakura
[ Character's Age ] : 14
[ Series ] : Yu-Gi-Oh!
[ Canon Point ] : Mid-timeskip – between witnessing the Kul Elna massacre & robbing Akhenamkhanen’s tomb

[ History ] :
(Note: Everything that comes after the Kul Elna massacre is headcanon, created as necessary to fill the time gap and develop Bakura’s abilities to a realistic level given his age.)

Bakura comes from a version of ancient Egypt (circa 1340 BCE) in which magic exists, and a dark god named Zorc Necrophades seeks to use its power to cross from the afterlife into the everyday world. Bakura grows up in ignorance of magic at first, in a village called Kul Elna – also known as the “village of thieves”. Kul Elna had been established as a village of tomb builders, built on the side of the Nile closest to where Egyptian royalty buried its dead (known today as the Valley of the Kings). With time, however, the temptation of burial riches became too great, and the village was abandoned by the state as having “gone bad”.

Representatives of the throne return to Kul Elna one day, however, to perform a ritual. Zorc Necrophades set forth instructions on how to create seven magical artifacts, the Millennium Items, in a tome translated by royal priests in the nick of time: Egypt stood on the brink of invasion. The Pharaoh, Akhenamkhanen, orders his brother Akhenaden to forge the Items, uninformed of the ritual's cost - 99 human lives. Akhenaden chooses to keep this sacrifice a secret, and selects the villagers of Kul Elna as his sacrifices.

Soldiers invade Kul Elna and slaughter every man, woman, and child they find, gathering the “sacrifice” necessary to create the Items. Only Bakura manages to escape, hiding from the massacre – but watches as his family and friends are all put to death by the Pharaoh’s men in order to perform this “shadow alchemy”.

The ritual goes on for days. Once the soldiers leave, Bakura remains in a state of shock, venturing forth days later to find food, water, and help from the closest village. Traumatized, he has difficulty expressing what’s happened to him – and no one’s listening, too overjoyed that the Pharaoh and his priests, armed with new miracle weapons called the “Millennium Items”, have singlehandedly repelled the attackers and kept Egypt safe.

Upon hearing these Millennium Items be described, Bakura understands what he’d witnessed and inadvertently, in reaction to the news, summons his ka – half of his soul in monster form, something only people with tremendous powers of magic can do. (The particulars of ka as a whole, and Bakura’s specifically, are explained under “strengths/weaknesses”.) This ka, Diabound, lashes out against the villagers who hadn’t listened – and who’d been so overjoyed at the Items’ creation – and Bakura flees the town, confused but certain he no longer has a home.

He grows up as a wandering orphan and thief, drawing his ka out inadvertently in moments of great stress – though never quite understanding how or why this creature consistently appears to help him out. He also begins to develop a critical mind, seeing the populace at large loving and worshiping their King and his “justice” to the extent they’ll refuse to believe any of Bakura’s claims – and those that bother listening shrug him off, since who cares what happens to the village of thieves?

Making a living as a thief, Bakura doesn’t have the leisure of settling down any one place – nor does he feel a part of a society that worships the King who ordered his village’s execution, so while he begins to open up in public and speak to others, trying to learn more about the Millennium Items, he chooses to remain an outcast instead of seeking a place to belong. His life as a thief – as the last thief in the village of thieves – becomes a calling in its own right, and he begins to consider it a profession for which he is eminently suited.

Around the age of twelve or thirteen, Bakura encounters a group of priests capable of drawing out their own ka. He realizes that’s what he’s been doing this entire time and trains in secret, eavesdropping on the priests and magicians’ magic lessons until he, too, is capable of bringing Diabound forth at will. Elated by this discovery and spurred on by the chance to thumb his nose at his society, Bakura begins stealing from the dead as well as the living, robbing tombs of minor officials for gold and other finery. (Time spent among the educated classes also helps him refine his own thinking, and he begins to enjoy the idea of throwing others’ logic back in their faces.)

When he feels he’s prepared, he heads back to the Valley of the Kings in preparation for some larger-scale desecration – tomb robbing in ancient Egypt could be seen as worse than murder, for in disrupting a tomb the robbers disrupt the deceased’s status in the afterlife. When a trap activates, sealing Bakura into a tomb he targeted, Diabound gains the ability to pass through solid stone, taking Bakura with it to safety. Elated at this marvelous new power, Bakura continues robbing villages along the Nile to survive, but ventures across the river to the Valley a few times more, cleaning out tombs of viziers and queens. He’s not quite ready for the traps in Pharaohs’ tombs just yet.

But he’s starting to have a good feeling about his chances.

[ Personality ] :
First and foremost, Bakura is a thief – cunning, unpredictable, selfish, and bold. He exults in his chosen “occupation” to the point that he’s turned theft into a form of societal commentary; to him, it’s not enough to call a thief simply someone who steals from others. Instead, he views being a societal outcast (and for that matter, someone who actively seeks to destroy that society) as part and parcel of the thieving life. “To a thief,” he boasts in canon years later, “anything you can see is something you can steal.” Nothing’s worth having to Bakura unless he takes it from someone else; the thrill he clearly receives from his thefts reveals him actively glorying in his own abilities, embracing all he can do and pushing himself to his limits with an optimism that borders on recklessness. He’ll even go so far as to claim that he’s “King” of Thieves, despite his age – and King of Thieves, to Bakura, is a wonderful thing to be.

Ask him what makes him “King of Thieves”, however, and you’ll receive surprisingly clever political rhetoric. In ancient Egypt, the king or Pharaoh was viewed as a god on Earth, ruling over a culture structured around the concept of ma’at – the Egyptian word for “order” is the same as the word for “justice”. As the only survivor of the Kul Elna massacre, who then has to live seeing the man who ordered his village’s execution worshipped as a God of justice, Bakura’s soured on the concept of justice in general. Rather than outright declaring justice doesn’t exist, he chooses to twist the Pharaoh’s “arguments” against him – declaring himself King of Thieves, for example, or outright asking what, exactly, one has to do to be “good”.

That he honestly believes his own actions to be just is doubtful: Bakura does what he needs to for the sake of his revenge, and to take said revenge he intends to “steal the world” – starting with debunking the concept of ma’at. So long as the Pharaoh and his priests die, and Egypt falls into chaos, it doesn’t matter if someone else wins the war of words (or later on, if the old Pharaoh dies and his son inherits the throne – Bakura has equal-opportunity hate for what the Pharaoh represents). Everything he does as “King of Thieves” is a carefully conducted performance, an ode to his own ego but also to the downfall of “just” society. And hidden behind the spectacle, at the end of the day, it’s enough if the people he hates all suffer and die.

He’s equally calculating in his risk-taking. Bakura won’t hesitate to run from a fight he can’t win, but he picks them carefully to avoid such situations. Even his most “reckless” behaviors are carefully planned – and he’s great at thinking on his feet in a fight, viewing his surroundings as potential aids in combat. He loves nothing more than springing a trap, or baiting enemies into a fight, and walking away unscathed.

And Bakura picks a lot of fights – so long as he’s performing, selecting representatives of the system he despises to unsettle, provoke, and (sometimes) ultimately kill. For day-to-day affairs, however, being King of Thieves out to steal the world rather puts a damper on one’s social life. Bakura can be eloquent, even charming, in social situations – but he’s never seeking an actual connection, just a way to pass the time (and hopefully mess up someone’s thinking about one of his pet topics). More often than not, however, he keeps to himself, coming across as sullen and short-tempered with people for whom he has no use. He’s also still a street punk at heart: he swaggers and snarls with the best of them, flirts mostly unsuccessfully with attractive women, eats like a pig (burping once he’s done), and scratches where he itches no matter where he’s sitting. Cunning he may be, but civilized he’s not.

He’s also got a ways to go, particularly when compared to his future self. Because he hasn’t learned everything about the Millennium Items yet, or much about how to control his ka Diabound, Bakura’s anti-Pharaoh arguments haven’t developed to their fullest extent – he can’t use the Items’ own abilities as part of his argument, nor has he decided to steal the Items back (corrupting his own soul beyond measure in the process – the Millennium Items strengthen the darkest urges of their bearers, something he’s yet to discover). As is, he’s limited to arguments against justice and Kings in general – though he makes remarkable headway with those alone.

Being a fourteen-year-old boy, as well, his emotions rule his head a bit more than the Bakura of his early twenties depicted in canon. Fourteen-year-old Bakura has every intention of being the clever one, the one who goads others into making the first move: this, as mentioned, is how he’s most comfortable fighting. But he can still be goaded more than he’d like to admit, with a sharp temper, sharper tongue, and overconfidence in his own abilities. (At least he learns from his mistakes.) His youth also means fewer people take him seriously, which he’ll use to his advantage on a good day, then resent the next. Even though he exaggerates his bluster for dramatic effect, there’s still a part of himself that’d love to be everything he proclaims he already is. He’ll get there, he tells himself – he just needs some time.

In short, he’s still a teenage boy, moody and growing up into his own skin. Bakura just happens to delight in his own possibilities, fueled by hatred but enjoying the lifestyle he’s been first born, then thrust by circumstance, into adopting. “One thief will steal the world!” he proclaims years later. “Just you wait….” For now, he just happens to be waiting himself, and there’s plenty to do in the meantime to prepare.

[ Strengths/Weaknesses ] :
For organization’s sake, I’ll divide this into “ka-based” and “general”.

Ka-based Strengths/Weaknesses

✔ As mentioned, Bakura can summon a monster known as his “ka” – half of his soul in monster form. Bakura’s ka is called Diabound, and currently looks like this. (As Diabound technically resides within Bakura’s soul, I’m assuming that, like a Persona, it’s exempt from the “no summons” stipulation in the FAQ).

✔ Ka grow with the strength of their owner’s heart, and rely on the rest of that person’s soul (their “ba” or life force) for energy. They gain special abilities in accordance with that person’s desires. Diabound’s powers are therefore focused on stealth and combat. A breakdown between physical and magical abilities follows:

Physical
- Strong coils
- Poisonous fangs
- Incredible speed
- Basic flight (though not very well when wrapped around Bakura)

Magical
- Wall phasing*
- Dispelling magic (crisis situations only)**

*Diabound can move through solid surfaces effortlessly on its own. When carrying something (or wrapped around Bakura), this takes some more doing, and thereby places a strain on Bakura's ba, though Bakura doesn’t think of it in such terms.

**This ability will become "Spiral Wave", Diabound's special attack, which according to Thief King in canon "blows away my enemies and dispels all magic cast upon me". Since his understanding and control of Diabound is incomplete, Bakura cannot yet activate this ability at will. Instead, Diabound activates it independently if Bakura's life is in danger or his ba undergoes an extreme emotional strain.

✔ Since ka grow with the strength of the owner’s heart, Diabound will “evolve” if Bakura significantly develops or matures over the course of his stay in Vatheon – or, alternatively, if he becomes corrupted. (I don’t plan on evolving Diabound except in extreme circumstances, however – and am equally fine with an “evolution freeze”, fixing Diabound at the strength and powers it had upon arrival.)

✔ Ba, additionally, is not an absolute, one-time-only expenditure: just as people heal from emotional wounds, Bakura can replenish his ba given time.

✘ That said, Diabound’s biggest weakness is its reliance on Bakura’s ba for energy. If Diabound takes a hit, Bakura feels the pain where Diabound was struck, and the longer Diabound remains summoned the greater toll it takes on Bakura’s ba. (Wall phasing also drains ba.)

✘ Accordingly, when Bakura runs out of ba Diabound can no longer manifest – so to take out Diabound, one simply needs to target Bakura (and hope he doesn’t catch on/can’t respond in time).

✘ Killing Diabound, or exhausting Bakura’s ba, won’t necessarily kill Bakura. Killing Bakura, however, will kill Diabound.

General Strengths/Weaknesses

✔ Wickedly intelligent – perceptive, street smart, and able to hold his own in a debate. Bakura’s whole fighting style revolves around using his words and actions to provoke the opponent into making the first move.

✔ For his age, a very skilled thief. Nimble, fit, and good at sneaking into places (as well as able to hold his own in a fistfight, using his intelligence to find ways of compensating for his age and stature.)

✔ Unabashedly self-confident. Bakura loves who he is and what he does, and uses his egotism to help surmount any obstacle (though this also makes him a bit of a show-off).

✔ Doesn’t lie to himself. Bakura knows when he’s lying as part of his rhetoric, he knows deep down he cares most about taking his revenge. Throwing away morality makes it hard to phase him or confront him with the hypocrisy of his own actions – he’s being a hypocrite on purpose.

✔ Perseverance. Bakura never gives up – he’ll admit what about his previous plan was flawed and compensate with the next one. You cannot keep the “King of Thieves” down for long.

✘ Often moody and antisocial, with the occasional intense temper flare. Bakura can be quite the conversationalist, but he’s not looking to connect with others so much as to disturb them and leave them unsettled. He also could care less about decorum – in fact, it helps disturb people to be rude or boorish – so he’ll belch and scratch and lounge around in public like he owns the place.

✘ Total absence of morality. People who don’t interest him – who aren’t someone he hates or someone he likes (and there are very few of those around) might as well be non-entities to him, and he thinks next to nothing of murdering innocents to further his goals. (It rattles him a bit more at this age, though.)

✘ Willingly throws himself away in pursuit of his revenge. Though he hasn’t learned what he needs to make his specific, canonical self-destructive plan, Bakura’s okay with bloodying his hands or even driving himself insane if it proves his point or, more importantly, helps him upend others’ beliefs in Kings and justice – which in ancient Egypt might as well be the same thing. (He doesn’t like to think about it, but he’s no fool: given his choices, his life can’t end well.)

✘ Traumatized like no tomorrow. Though he’s yet to create a concrete plan for avenging his village, the horror of witnessing the Kul Elna massacre and being its only survivor colors everything he does. He’ll have flashbacks if placed in similar situations (he makes specific mention of still being able to hear the screams in canon), and talk of “justice” is practically a trigger for him.

✘ Notably here – he’s young. He talks the talk a lot better than he walks the walk, given that he’s just fourteen, though he’s not too proud to run once he recognizes he’s in over his head.

[ Other Important Facts ] :
Since Bakura hails from ancient Egypt (or a fictionalized version thereof), most objects in Vatheon will be foreign to him. Notably for daily interactions, he isn’t used to any sort of technology, most clothing will look really bizarre (kilts and skirts – no pants!), and since the average lifespan wasn’t as long he’s actually approaching formal adulthood for his culture – so he’ll be comfortable discussing sexual topics, etc, and may bristle more than usual at being treated like a child. Fortunately, he’s a fast adapter, and will handle the new culture and technology as best he can.

He also both is a homeless thief and determined to stick it to the man, so he rarely bathes despite eating onions and garlic whole. Apologies in advance.

[ Sample ] :
Dear Mun threads here and here!

[ Questions? Comments? Concerns? ] : Thanks again for considering this application! I’d be happy to provide any more information that’s needed, particularly about canon – I wanted to link a wiki but none I could find actually had canon events reported accurately. O.o;