character survey

[incogneto]

Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy?
No idea how tall Erik is supposed to be in the films, but Fassbender is 6' 0"/1.83M and McKellen is 5' 11"/1.80M so I assume around there. I like averaging, and I like ceilings instead of floors, so 6' it is! In the comics he's apparently a gigantic 6' 10", so I don't feel too bad about going up a teensy bit. He is fit but not stacked, athletic but still thin.

2. How old is he?
Birthday is February 6th, 1931 so he is 31 in First Class (+ 42 in DoFP)

3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch?
Tall, imposing, shoulders back, that type of thing. He carries himself with extreme importance and confidence.

4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?
Fit, in shape, apparently a small child but he really grew into it. No illnesses, no conditions, has been described as a cockroach.

5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?
Uh, graceful? Fluid? Do all my characters move like this...? He "walks like he's wearing a cape," and mostly he is wearing a cape LOL but basically very I don't know, superhero? With an added touch of sly classic villain, clearly. Y'all better know what I'm talking about.

6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror?
I think it's safe to say in-universe he is considered attractive. Like okay, obviously both Fassbender and McKellen are attractive guys and even if they weren't, the X-Men would be "hollywood homely" at worst, but I think he's actually supposed to be good-looking. He understands that he's what most people would consider attractive, considering his choice of wardrobe, styling, and exercise, so obviously he cares at least a little about his appearance. He dresses on-trend down to the sunglasses, though later gives no fucks and comes up with the worst color combination for a serious costume ever. But anyway I don't think he looks in the mirror and thinks "damn I am one fine motherfucker;" I think there is a serious disconnect. But I also think he's always battling some sort of internalized loathing whether he means to have it or not, so it's probably due to his extremely deep-seated personal issues.

7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?
On the full scale of things he's pretty light, but he's not that pale? Like he's got a healthy complexion, I think he would have many scars that are not visible on his person unless he is unclothed.

8. Describe his hair: color, texture, style.
Like a medium-dark mahogany, straight to wavy, deeply parted and mostly slicked back in FC, will be shorn short in DoFP. Later in life he will have hair that is silver as fuck.

9. What color are his eyes?
Good. God. Okay, no one can decide on whether they're green, blue or grey. McKellen's eyes are more obviously grey-blue but I honestly like the idea of green, like a sort of blueish muted seaglass color, more like Fassbender's. Anyway, I prefer an official "green" but don't care what anyone chooses to call them because honestly they're different in all the lights so.

10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features?
Yeah, he's got a tattoo on his arm that reads 214782, due to his time spent at Auschwitz-Birkenau. AFAIK the real numbers only went up to 200000 or so, but obviously they can't use a real number on him! That said, I don't think the number itself should have any bearing on what time he arrived in the camps since it's made up. However, it's not on his chest, nor is it printed (it's freehand) which gives a better timeline, but I'm not too clear on that so IDK.

11. What are his chief tension centers?
Between the eyes, top of his back between the shoulder blades, wrists.

12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does he have six of the same suit?
Well, he's supposed to be sort of a chameleon in FC so he has multiple suits, casualwear, "hip" casual wear... muted in color until he has his own personal change in which he emerges like a butterfly in garish purple-red like... I don't know why he thought any of it was a good idea. He was doing so well? Somehow he can coordinate all his outfits except the one he thinks is truly himself. Also in the comics he has a whole wall of dorky as shit helmets, and considering he has at least 3 separate ones in movie canon, I like to think he also just really enjoys making dorky fucking helmets.

13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them?
Yes! They are generally tailored to fit, esp. his costume. The one caveat is that he wears flared pants in the 70s and they're ugly and look polyester and don't even have pockets and I

I CAN'T i can't deal with this I'm chalking it up to the 70s. Everyone made bad fashion decisions it's okay but Erik why a fucking ascot I mean skjNEKJA

Anyway, I'm not sure they're carrying this over for DoFP but in the original trilogy and in FC he's generally pictured with high collars, or at least wears them enough for it to be like, a thing.

14. Does he dress the same on the job as he does in his free time? If not, what are the differences?
Uhhh he does later, but right now not really? He only puts on the costume occasionally.

15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando?
Uh I think briefs were actually fashion-forward in the 60s (I confess I know very little about underwear trends) because of the tightness? Anyway yeah, I think he'd actually prefer boxer briefs if they were an option. As for color/print/etc idk fucking purple, he loves purple.



Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?
Medium, smooth, with a whispery quality to it. Earthy? It changes when he speaks different languages too, like I think he has more upper teeth speaking French and more lower teeth speaking German and English, so it has a different... sound quality? But I can't describe it in detail b/c I'm not good at that and there are only very specific scenes so I don't want to say it's like that all the time. If that makes sense? But like, when I speak Chinese my pitch rises. So it's sort of like that, except I'd want to spend more time listening to him speak to figure it out. Obv this is based off Fassbender who is actually fluent in German.

2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate?
Softish-to-normal, evenly, slow-ish? In the translation into German he talks like spitfire fast, it's so bizarre. He speaks very evenly! No hesitation, no fillers. Very serious-like, much more lilting when he's trying to be funny.

3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?
I can't judge his German, French or Spanish but his English is somewhat Irish accented although it's supposed to be North American I guess? Like it's mostly North American maybe? It's really the end of words and consonants I think, IDK I'm not good with Irish accents but someone's review of it once was that Fass sounds American through the whole movie except the beach scene in which he's suddenly Irish. I didn't think it was jarring like that, I didn't even think his accent sounded Irish, just like, weirdly unAmerican but trying so hard.

4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency?
Fluent in German, French, Yiddish, Polish, at least conversational in Spanish. Still not sure whether he meant cowboys or gentlemen walking into the bar in Argentina, or whether or not that's appropriate slang. Oh and obviously he speaks English fluently, though I like to play with that sometimes and have him question some sayings and Americanisms? At least I think I do, but I'm American so obviously I probably slip a lot and make him sound too American sigh. He also sometimes uses slang... weird? Not sure if because language or because he's just a strange guy.

5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations?
When he's dying, sometimes it's hard to think in English and I like to think he switches to German. Likewise if he wakes up from a vivid dream in which he's speaking German, it might be hard to switch back immediately. I also like to think he'd switch for words he doesn't know... Maybe if he doesn't know a word in French he defaults to Polish, maybe if he doesn't know a word in Spanish he defaults to French. Things like that? Or pet names, I think he might find ridiculous sounding coming out of his mouth in English but perfectly acceptable in German, or French maybe.

6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words?
Uh well there was that speech on the beach but I don't think that was a very good speech so... Jury's out on that one.

7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change?
I'd say eloquent. Terrible speech aside that's what they're going for anyway. I don't think this would change, if he would get flustered he would probably just shut up. He's like... very confident in speaking other languages, even if he doesn't know them that well, would probably make a great language student, wants to practice all the time.



Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart?
I think he is supposed to have genius-level intellect but good God he is stupid. His EQ is like -50. He has a great aptitude for learning! But he also, you know, didn't attend school for a good chunk of his childhood. Definitely more street-smart than book smart but I wouldn't count him out for that either, though for certain he isn't a scholar or academic. He is, however, an analytic thinker and a problem solver type of guy, probably enjoys lateral thinking exercises.

2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate?
He would prefer a plan but isn't averse to do-first think-later, and is often impulsive anyway and plans are more like guidelines. Usually not thrown when things go his way, and would rather ask forgiveness than permission.

3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?
Thought process: illogical, messed-up, pessimistic, crazy. He's got like forty things going on in his head at once and his mind is probably like... a mine-infested hedge maze of batshit insane. He has an extremely negative viewpoint on the macro level, and on the micro level he can be very optimistic about people! he's also got one very big goal in his head and the way he gets there seems to be like KEEP TRYING SHIT UNTIL YOU DIE! (and then don't stop!)

4. What kind of education has the character had?
Not a good one. The oldest he could have been attending school is 14 but he was probably taken out before then.

5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about?
Metal. There's a whole lot about movies Erik being metallokinetic instead of magnetic but I think that's pretty dumb, magnetism is much more interesting to work with. He'd be interested in learning about that, and also mutants. And also might try recruiting mutants.

6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert?
......Pass... Just kidding. It's difficult? He can be an extrovert but I think that's kind of a mask. He's kind of walled most people out yet keeps open arms for mutants... sort of... he's weird.

7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?
Driven, melancholy, fucking rage levels of over 9000 at all times. He has different levels of rage from like slow-burning rage (always) to homicidal rage (easily achieved) to mass murderer rage (surprisingly also easily achieved). On a scale of 1 to butthurt, he is constantly assapocalypsed.

8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?
Suspicious, generally apathetic. He used to be much more enthusiastic ):

9. Is he more likely to act, or to react?
Actually, react. A lot of his big ticket shit is reactionary... He wouldn't have had missiles to shoot if they weren't shot at him in the first place, for instance. His actions are extreme, but they're very much usually responses to existing threats.

10. Which is his default: fight or flight?
Fight. Definitely fight. He perceives his problems as too persistent for anything else.

11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?
Dry wit? Pranks? (on other people) His humor is kind of weird because it sort of evolves but also doesn't. Like when he runs out in Russia: "good thing I'm not CIA!" what a fucking troll. I think later in life he just becomes a slightly more sophisticated troll who is capable of self-deprecation. IDK where was that scene about his helmet with Pyro? I think he is just less volatile in old age. Hilariously...

12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them?
Um I don't know but he really should. He probably does suffer from PTSD.

13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA uh there was that time he was asked to use his powers or his mom would die. And then his mom died. And then he got so mad he killed a bunch of Nazis and then was pseudo-fostered/raised by a psycho megalomaniac who experimented on him and later tried to cause world war iii! Not to mention all the times humanity has tried to wipe out his race, how many attempted genocides he's been on one end of (and twice on the other)... Possibly that time he almost drowned but ended up being saved by his future best friend/arch enemy, that time he totally accidentally crippled his best friend and then left him to die, that time he started up a terrorist organization, all those times he did terrorist things, abandoning his right-hand woman, you know.

14. What does he fear?
Cessation of the existence of his people.

15. What are his hopes or aspirations?
A world where no one has to suffer the atrocities he attributes to the entirety of humankind.

16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him?
Uhh... guess it depends on the person but I think it depends more on their reaction. I'm not sure there's something he'd want to hide from everyone alive, since I think Charles knows all his ~*~secrets~*~.



Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents.
Uh it was good and then they died.

2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?
Not in the movies, or I'm sure she would have been shown in the scene.

3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand?
He was closest with his mother, and I don't think there are any he can't stand.

4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them?
Yes! His first team and then the Brotherhood. The first group I guess he only really has kept Charles and Raven as part of his family, clearly he no longer is even friends with Hank or Sean, etc. Raven is easier since Brotherhood, Charles is.... Charles. Their relationship would take multiple "it's complicated"s.

5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet?
Oh good, a place to continue that thought. His best friend is Charles Xavier aka Professor X. I'd say "was" except that regardless of how bad their relationship got/gets off and on, they are still each other's best friends. Like, "I completely disagree with your political beliefs and that often results in huge morality crises that involve lots of people dying but I still want to play chess with you every once in awhile!" They met when Charles jumped into a large body of water to keep Erik from drowning by trying to pull him out using a strange octopus-like maneuver.

6. Does he have other close friends?
Shut up he has Raven ):... right............... guys............ guys he's so lonely.... He's so stupid...

7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people?
He barely gets along with people on his team. Like yeah he leads them and inspires them and then ? calls them pawns, leaves his good friends to die, you know. God he's such an asshole why do I play this jackass.

8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends?
Mutants in general, which trumps family. Apparently. And then family probably. And then Charles, which trumps everything else.

9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once?
Okay so this is unclear and straying into headcanon/adapted comic canon territory, but I like to believe he was married to Magda, his comic canon wife. They were married young and in the comics they raised a daughter but I like to avoid mentioning Anya in play since her role is to get fridged to cause angst and it's just unnecessary, though of course I love playing with Anyas when the opportunity presents itself sigh. Anyway, yeah so he's been married the once. And then he showed his powers and she ran away, but they never formally got divorced or annulled, but I think he finds her grave so. Technically. Widowed. Ouch.

10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse?
Hate. Resentment. Things like that. I already made this joke recently I can't do it again.

11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest?
First crush: Magda. Latest crush: stupid British asshole with floppy fucking hair.

12. What does he look for in a romantic partner?
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......... acceptance.....? He's not really looking anymore, in a very THAT SHIP HAS SAILED kind of way. I guess he might be open to anyone who would attempt to approach him, but that would take some convincing. Because you know. All those personal issues.

13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any?
He has (in movies canon) Pietro aka Quicksilver and probably Wanda aka Scarlet Witch, because Pietro and Wanda are twins. Lorna/Polaris is unconfirmed and probably won't show up. Already went over Anya. Wanda's twins are Billy and Tommy but they probably won't make an appearance. Pietro has a daughter named Luna but she will definitely not show up. His relationship with his children is.... complicated. All his relationships are complicated. I'm just going to wait until this movie comes out to see how screwed up it is.

14. Does he have any rivals or enemies?
See: Best friend.

15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does he fall on the Kinsey scale?
1. Attracted to women (sort of?) but also to frustratingly adorable pacifist geneticists.

16. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him?
Not that important. It was probably important in his marriage, but otherwise probably as important as it is to his partner, related to how important his partner is to him.

17. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?
Turn ons: Mutant powers. Not gonna lie, a confident display of abilities or "abnormal" physical traits would be pretty hot. This doesn't extend to things that would fall under turn offs, like bestiality or bloodplay (sorry werewolves and vampires.) Turn offs: Apparently anyone under the age of 24. Weird bedroom habits: ? not sure



Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does he fit type?
The birthday I give him is not canon, but I thought he fit aquarius well so I based it around that. So I think he fits aquarius most of all the western signs, for leadership. The Chinese sign he falls under is metal horse (LOL? i didn't plan that i swear) and uh, wow! I'm actually a metal horse and um? I think he fits the trait better than I do at least, lol. Wanting change is a big one, but horses generally don't follow through, though metal makes them more disciplined in that (I'm more like a run of the mill horse and he's more metal, wouldya lookit that.) Horses are daring, graceful, hardworking, courageous and intense, and metal horses in particular are talented, resourceful, intuitive and productive... Yeah, this is a really good sign for him if I say so myself, go me!

2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his life?
Religious. He's jewish. I think anything he practices religiously he probably does so in memory of his mother... which is great, because I never know how religious to make him but it takes a lot of guesswork out when I can just pick and choose at will. I'm not very good at religion in general so uh, apologies to anything I fuck up wrt Judaism.

3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it?
Um. Just. Well. I. Can I skip this question. I'd like to think he does, but he keeps undermining himself. So. Thanks Erik.

4. How does he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?
Usually everything's a-okay. But don't you dare try to convince him that humans don't want to eradicate mutants and that humans are ok. THEY ARE NOT OKAY. There goes that rage.

5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them?
HA... HAHAHAHA... oh my god this meme. He hates all humans. Technically that's not irrational as he is completely right within his universe and humans keep trying to, you know. Kill him. And all mutants. And also, you know, he's a holocaust survivor so he's been there, done that, not exactly irrational. Just extreme.



Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?
Rich, because he stole money from nazis, not that anyone really blames him. Except the nazis.

2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him?
Well when he was a kid his family tried to flee to Poland and that didn't work out well. And uh eventually he might even run a country. So. Yeah, that's changed! Right now he's pretty rich, I mean he built an HQ for the Brotherhood with the money he stole.

3. Where does he live? House, apartment, trailer? Is his home his castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does he share it with others?
Some nondescript place that's supposed to be HQ. But home is in West Chester, in a large sprawling mansion.

4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend his money on?
Uh..... really shitty costumes.

5. What does he do for a living? Is he good at it? Does he enjoy it, or would he rather be doing something else?
Well now I suppose he's a terrorist. And before that, an assassin. HE'S REALLY GOOD AT BOTH OF THESE THINGS? :)?

6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time?
Interests and hobbies: breaking out of jail, playing chess with telepaths. Free time: ?? fucking shit up, more fucking shit up, destroying his relationships, and extra fucking shit up.

7. What are his eating habits? Does he skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?
Eats when he can, skips meals when he doesn't feel like eating, drinks alcohol socially, or just because. Beer with meals probably, or red wine, tries to keep kosher.



Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is his favorite:

1. Color? PURPLE. RED.
2. Smell? Vetiver, leather, steel.
3. Time of day? Dusk.
4. Season? Winter, but that's not his favorite season.
5. Book? HAHHAHA The Once and Future King.
6. Music? lmao "Love Love" by Take That! but also Mars by Holst.
7. Place? Single red pinpoints across a map of the world.
8. Substance? Metal.
9. Plant? Monkshood, alder trees
10. Animal? Sharks, brahminy kites.



END
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