not_tsukasa - Profile (original) (raw)

Character: Elk
Series/Fandom: .hack//first four games
Original or Template version: Original
Marked: No
Residence: Coronet House, Jamestown Street, Template

Age: 13
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Sexuality: Undecided

Appearance: Elk is small and fragile-looking, with pale skin, wide crimson eyes, and short, somewhat messy pale blue hair. On his cheeks are two green markings that look roughly like "F"s, with the two 'prongs' pointing towards the edges of his face. He wears a navy blue hat on his head, with small red gemstones inlaid around the brim. Elk's outfit is a navy blue robe with gray sleeves, a red turtleneck area, and what looks to be brown pants that almost reach to his ankles underneath. Over this robe is a short-sleeved, navy-blue vest with a gray hoodie. There are two thin, very close-together white stripes going down the center of this vest, and a dark green sash is tied around his waist. For shoes, Elk wears very plain, dark brown boots that rise to a few inches above his ankles. He also wears dark brown, fingerless gloves. Elk often has a sad or nervous look on his face, but he has been known to smile sometimes.

Personality: He is quiet, occasionally stammers, and overall very shy. Elk doesn't trust others easily and is often stunned when others show him kindness out of the blue. He apparently has a difficult time believing in himself, and is always worried about others' opinions of him. Elk is passive and dependent on others - specifically his dear friend Mia, who he is absolutely devoted to. Without her, he is quite lost. He is very emotional and still immature, as he is still a kid, but he has some trouble expressing his feelings due to his shyness. He is somewhat cowardly and selfish, but can and will break those habits if he feels he needs to. When truly upset (i.e. after Mia's death,) he tends to lash out slightly before completely withdrawing and going off to be alone. However, Elk is fiercely loyal to his friends and would willingly take a fatal (or at least coma-inducing) hit for them. His main goal in joining The World was to become a better person, although in the end he is never able to. Still, he does try to change and at least acknowledges that the way he is now isn't the kind of person he wants to become.

Abilities/Strengths: The Wavemaster class is the main magic class of the original version of The World, proficient in every kind of magic within the game (healing magic, magic that damages enemies, etc.) Furthermore, they are the only class capable of using fourth-level summon magic, which is the most powerful kind of magic in this version of the game. Psychologically, Elk may not seem to be very strong and doesn't trust others easily. However, when someone actually gains his trust, Elk proves a fiercely loyal ally, unafraid to fight and even risk death for the ones he's loyal to.

Weaknesses: Being a Wavemaster as well as still being young, Elk is physically frail and slow. He is unable to keep up with faster people (often leading to him pleading for others to wait up,) and can only take a few hits in battle before falling. Wavemasters are only able to equip light armors, which means that said armor does little if anything to improve his lacking physical defense. Furthermore, in the original version of The World, each class's skills were dependent upon their equipment - so if Elk's weapon and armors are stolen, he's in really, really big trouble. Elk also has difficulty expressing his feelings and is often worried about what other people think of him, both of which are definitely weaknesses. His attachment to Mia definitely counts as a weakness, as he is very dependent on her presence and without her, he becomes emotionally unstable...not to the degree that he does in the future, but the instability is still there. He's selfish and something of a coward. Not only that, but he has difficulty believing in himself and difficulty believing in others.

History: Elk is very much a character in an online game; offline, he is a shy kid who joined up in an attempt to change himself. Upon first joining The World, a cat-looking player named Mia befriended him and became very, very dear to him. He became very jealous when Kite, wielder of the Twilight Bracelet, attracted Mia's interest. In an attempt to make her pay attention to him again, Elk brought Kite to an area and tried to get him to hand over the Bracelet. This did not go as planned, and upon entering the area's dungeon, the two found Mia fighting with a Data Bug - one of the threats and irregularities in The World, and something only the Twilight Bracelet could take care of. Upon the Data Bug's defeat and a talk with Mia, Elk realized that they were still friends and he rejoined her once more, forming an unsteady friendship with Kite in the process.

Things did not stay peaceful for long, though. As Kite continued to take down the Eight Phases - creatures that sent players into comas and seemed intent on annihilating The World - Mia quickly became unstable, first losing her ability to speak coherently. Elk believed it to simply be a problem with her headset, and was able to ignore it at first...but as time went on, Mia started acting strangely, and there were holes in her memory. Elk and Kite were both very concerned and tried to help her, but were unable to do anything. After some time had passed and her condition continued to worsen, Elk found himself unable to contact Mia at all. Desperately, he searched through The World in an attempt to find her. Out of concern, Kite offered him a place within the Anti-Wave operation (the Cursed Wave being the overall name for the troubles going on within The World,) and he was given a vaccine program that could be used to trap the Cursed Wave.

However, Elk soon left the operation due to a particularly tragic incident - namely, Mia's death. He found her curled up in the lowest level of a dungeon, where she asked him who she was. Elk cheerfully answered that she was Mia, to which she revealed that she did not exist outside of The World. As Kite hurried toward them, Mia began her transformation into the Sixth Phase, Macha and screamed for Kite (or perhaps, both of them) to stay back and pleaded with them not to look at her. As Elk looked on, horrified, Mia apologized to him and finally became the Sixth Phase, transforming the area into a battleground as she did. By Macha/Mia's will, Elk was teleported back to the beginning of the dungeon. He hurried back to the area, and arrived just in time to see Mia, once more in her usual cat-person form, dying in Kite's arms. He tried desperately to heal her, but to no avail. She regained consciousness for a few moments before her death, and thanked Elk. Then, she disappeared, becoming little fragments of data that flickered off into the sky. When Kite tried to speak in the aftermath, Elk yelled at him to leave him alone and teleported away.

Elk didn't reappear for a long time; meanwhile, Kite and his friends took on the next few phases as the data corruption (and coma cases) increased. Finally, when Kite took on the final Phase, Corbenik, Elk reappeared - just in time to take a coma-inducing hit aimed at Kite. His last words as the hit got to him were an apology for his selfishness. It is this action of Elk's that allows Kite to defeat Corbenik, save The World, and revive the coma victims...Elk himself was brought to Template mere moments after finishing his apology to Kite.

[This is a role-playing journal for template_rpg by delphinova.
Elk is (c) Namco Bandai.]