Admiral ZEX (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
be_discreet) wrote2014-02-14 12:36 pm
be_discreet) wrote2014-02-14 12:36 pm
Entry tags:
CRUX app
PLAYER INFO
Name: Alana
Age: 24
Time Zone: Central/GMT -6
Contact Information: AIM: aranamitouma / Plurk: alanahikarichan
Other Characters Played:
CHARACTER INFO
Name: Admiral ZEX
Canon: Star Control 2
Age: Unknown; definitely no younger than 40-something, probably not older than 80-something
Appearance: (now co-starring some biology technobabble)
ZEX looks like a VUX!
VUX, for reference, look like this:
This is, uh, about the only canon image of VUX, so from about the waist down they are a complete mystery. However! I have theories!
Due to some great investigative gaming (thank you Zarla), we have a resource for what the VUX homeworld is like, and where their cities are located (the cities being the silver-white dots on the map at the bottom of the shot):
The oceanic cities and costal cities, very low atmospheric pressure (compared to Earth), and aggressive weather, along with the general... tentacular nature of the VUX, suggest to me that they are an amphibious species that originally resided mostly in the ocean, and cities on land are mostly a concession to technology being more easily worked outside of the water. On the other hand, what little we see of their interior design (chairs at desks, basically) also suggests that they are of vaguely bipedal form-- so possibly originating from something that went from ocean to land, then back to ocean, somewhat like the evolution of terrestrial whales? They just haven't gotten around to evolving back to torpedo-shape yet.
Working from these assumptions, and because canon ain't tellin' me otherwise, I propose a mature VUX who looks something like this:
(click to embiggen, if you really wanna see all my shitty sketch up close)
Bipedal, with wide flipper-like feet and a strong webbed tail for propulsion, and dorsal gill slits (visible in the left image here) for oxygen exchange† while submerged. Bam. We gotta VUX over here.
Extending from this, the tendrils surrounding the VUX face could easily be construed as sensory organs-- which, to be honest, they already look like-- for sensing current and temperature, and the trunk-and-tounge combo... well, if I was assuming a terrestrial creature, I'd say an insecivore diet would be likely, so I'll propose a crustacean- and mollusk-based diet (allowing for space crustaceans and mollusks) as a staple for VUX.
Also: gonna throw out VUX as being generally slightly larger than humans as a thing, and pin ZEX at about 6'9 to 7' tall, before tendrils. Not too big to exist in human spaces, but big enough to be noticeable.
†: This does assume they use oxygen as their primary respiratory gas, which is... well, possible, since there's oxygen present on the planet, though the atmosphere suggests a methane-based respiratory system is more likely. But I am willing to handwave this vigorously because the complications of ZEX being unable to breathe the ship's air would be... complicated. :V
History:
Linky link. Also, the species as a whole for background reference.
I will drag out the headcanon for display if you want more, because... yeah, not a whole lot there.
Canon Point:
look it's just really fun to bring in characters who think they have just died okay-- i mean.
Immediately post-death!
Personality:
A surface read of and/or introduction to ZEX gives a definite image of what kind of person he is: a confident man, resting on the flirtatious edge between charming and creepy, with a hint of patronizing for flavor. Take, for example, his own introduction of himself:
Due to the way he talks, he comes across mostly as benign and fairly chatty, willing to expand at length in his answers to any questions asked, and-- while perhaps a little too interested in flattering humans-- pretty much safe. He doesn't want to hurt you, or anyone else!
This is pretty much exactly the persona he wants to put forward! Not that it's not also true, but there's definitely more going on with him.
Underneath that superficial charm, ZEX is brilliant, more than a little bitter, and somewhat less than honest.
He doesn't often lie outright (though he does that too, on a couple occasions), but he intentionally leans the truth in his favor and ignores little things he doesn't care for, such as that most people wouldn't like to be kidnapped and collected against their will, or that he was really really good at killing humans when the VUX were still at war with them-- no, he's all false modesty and oh-that's-in-the-past. He blames his exile on the bigotry of his countrymen (who are, admittedly, pretty bigoted), without once hinting that he could in any way be slightly less than noble for wanting to bang non-sapient creatures and that they might be kind of right about him being a skeevy pervert. At times, he slides into outright manipulative:
This is pretty much complete bullshit, and at odds with his bitter complaints about how the rest of the VUX are "closed-minded fools" who consider his views poisonous and him incurably perverse. Sure, they gave him his own planet just to keep his socially unacceptable interests out of their tendrils, but they're so much worse than he is, those bigots, and he would rather distance himself from his own species than try to see things from their perspective.
As for his brilliance... well, that is mostly an informed ability-- we're told and told about it, but it's not something the game really displays. However, he does seem completely confident in his abilities, willing to go out in his own fighter to try and kidnap the Captain, and aghast at the idea that he wasn't fully prepared to take aboard the biggest, scariest, most vicious animal in the known universe. In fact, I'd say he's... perhaps a little blinded by his success, to the point where he assumes he is and always will be the best at everything and cannot fail, though that's going to be a little shaken up in-game by having just been eaten by the biggest, scariest, most vicious animal in the known universe before arrival.
Abilities/Powers/Skills:
He is a tactical genius, a confident Intruder pilot, a collector and caretaker of a wide variety of dangerous wildlife. He probably also has an ingrained sense of fashion and style, since that's a really big thing for the VUX, even if he generally rejects the society that he came from.
Physically, and due to my biology supposition above, I'm going to say he can breathe underwater, though if this will ever be relevant is as of yet unknown; he's also probably trained in various non-spaceship-based combat skills, such as LASER GUNS! and whatever the VUX consider martial arts. He's been in retirement for a couple decades, though, so those might well be rusty.
Also, VUX as a species canonly have a highly sensitive sense of sight.
Weaknesses:
VUX as a species have highly sensitive eyesight! This can be to their detriment, too-- especially as they have only one eye. Put the one out of commission, and they can't see at all, y'know?
Also, overconfidence, but that's up in personality.
Special Items:
None!
RP Sample:
Test drive meme!
Also, a longer Bakerstreet thread, if you wanna count that.
Name: Alana
Age: 24
Time Zone: Central/GMT -6
Contact Information: AIM: aranamitouma / Plurk: alanahikarichan
Other Characters Played:
CHARACTER INFO
Name: Admiral ZEX
Canon: Star Control 2
Age: Unknown; definitely no younger than 40-something, probably not older than 80-something
Appearance: (now co-starring some biology technobabble)
ZEX looks like a VUX!
VUX, for reference, look like this:
This is, uh, about the only canon image of VUX, so from about the waist down they are a complete mystery. However! I have theories!
Due to some great investigative gaming (thank you Zarla), we have a resource for what the VUX homeworld is like, and where their cities are located (the cities being the silver-white dots on the map at the bottom of the shot):
The oceanic cities and costal cities, very low atmospheric pressure (compared to Earth), and aggressive weather, along with the general... tentacular nature of the VUX, suggest to me that they are an amphibious species that originally resided mostly in the ocean, and cities on land are mostly a concession to technology being more easily worked outside of the water. On the other hand, what little we see of their interior design (chairs at desks, basically) also suggests that they are of vaguely bipedal form-- so possibly originating from something that went from ocean to land, then back to ocean, somewhat like the evolution of terrestrial whales? They just haven't gotten around to evolving back to torpedo-shape yet.
Working from these assumptions, and because canon ain't tellin' me otherwise, I propose a mature VUX who looks something like this:
(click to embiggen, if you really wanna see all my shitty sketch up close)
Bipedal, with wide flipper-like feet and a strong webbed tail for propulsion, and dorsal gill slits (visible in the left image here) for oxygen exchange† while submerged. Bam. We gotta VUX over here.
Extending from this, the tendrils surrounding the VUX face could easily be construed as sensory organs-- which, to be honest, they already look like-- for sensing current and temperature, and the trunk-and-tounge combo... well, if I was assuming a terrestrial creature, I'd say an insecivore diet would be likely, so I'll propose a crustacean- and mollusk-based diet (allowing for space crustaceans and mollusks) as a staple for VUX.
Also: gonna throw out VUX as being generally slightly larger than humans as a thing, and pin ZEX at about 6'9 to 7' tall, before tendrils. Not too big to exist in human spaces, but big enough to be noticeable.
†: This does assume they use oxygen as their primary respiratory gas, which is... well, possible, since there's oxygen present on the planet, though the atmosphere suggests a methane-based respiratory system is more likely. But I am willing to handwave this vigorously because the complications of ZEX being unable to breathe the ship's air would be... complicated. :V
History:
Linky link. Also, the species as a whole for background reference.
I will drag out the headcanon for display if you want more, because... yeah, not a whole lot there.
Canon Point:
look it's just really fun to bring in characters who think they have just died okay-- i mean.
Immediately post-death!
Personality:
A surface read of and/or introduction to ZEX gives a definite image of what kind of person he is: a confident man, resting on the flirtatious edge between charming and creepy, with a hint of patronizing for flavor. Take, for example, his own introduction of himself:
Ah... Human visitors! What a treat!
I am Admiral ZEX. Please do not be frightened. Unlike the rest of my species, I... enjoy humans.
You may know me by reputation, my leadership of VUX forces during the war with your Alliance.
I assure you that this behavior, a sad necessity of those times, belies a much kinder, gentler being.
Please be welcome! We can get to know one another... expand our interspecies relationship.
Due to the way he talks, he comes across mostly as benign and fairly chatty, willing to expand at length in his answers to any questions asked, and-- while perhaps a little too interested in flattering humans-- pretty much safe. He doesn't want to hurt you, or anyone else!
This is pretty much exactly the persona he wants to put forward! Not that it's not also true, but there's definitely more going on with him.
Underneath that superficial charm, ZEX is brilliant, more than a little bitter, and somewhat less than honest.
He doesn't often lie outright (though he does that too, on a couple occasions), but he intentionally leans the truth in his favor and ignores little things he doesn't care for, such as that most people wouldn't like to be kidnapped and collected against their will, or that he was really really good at killing humans when the VUX were still at war with them-- no, he's all false modesty and oh-that's-in-the-past. He blames his exile on the bigotry of his countrymen (who are, admittedly, pretty bigoted), without once hinting that he could in any way be slightly less than noble for wanting to bang non-sapient creatures and that they might be kind of right about him being a skeevy pervert. At times, he slides into outright manipulative:
I thought we had built some trust between us, different though we may be... but no, I perceive now the same bigotry and misunderstanding which brought our two species to war!
This was our chance to cement a good relationship between Human and VUX.
With my influence, the High Council could easily have been swayed to view the Human cause in a more favorable light.
This is pretty much complete bullshit, and at odds with his bitter complaints about how the rest of the VUX are "closed-minded fools" who consider his views poisonous and him incurably perverse. Sure, they gave him his own planet just to keep his socially unacceptable interests out of their tendrils, but they're so much worse than he is, those bigots, and he would rather distance himself from his own species than try to see things from their perspective.
You see, Captain, we are not all that different, you and I.
We are different from the majority of VUX, and so we, in VUX eyes, are both monsters.
As for his brilliance... well, that is mostly an informed ability-- we're told and told about it, but it's not something the game really displays. However, he does seem completely confident in his abilities, willing to go out in his own fighter to try and kidnap the Captain, and aghast at the idea that he wasn't fully prepared to take aboard the biggest, scariest, most vicious animal in the known universe. In fact, I'd say he's... perhaps a little blinded by his success, to the point where he assumes he is and always will be the best at everything and cannot fail, though that's going to be a little shaken up in-game by having just been eaten by the biggest, scariest, most vicious animal in the known universe before arrival.
Abilities/Powers/Skills:
He is a tactical genius, a confident Intruder pilot, a collector and caretaker of a wide variety of dangerous wildlife. He probably also has an ingrained sense of fashion and style, since that's a really big thing for the VUX, even if he generally rejects the society that he came from.
Physically, and due to my biology supposition above, I'm going to say he can breathe underwater, though if this will ever be relevant is as of yet unknown; he's also probably trained in various non-spaceship-based combat skills, such as LASER GUNS! and whatever the VUX consider martial arts. He's been in retirement for a couple decades, though, so those might well be rusty.
Also, VUX as a species canonly have a highly sensitive sense of sight.
Weaknesses:
VUX as a species have highly sensitive eyesight! This can be to their detriment, too-- especially as they have only one eye. Put the one out of commission, and they can't see at all, y'know?
Also, overconfidence, but that's up in personality.
Special Items:
None!
RP Sample:
Test drive meme!
Also, a longer Bakerstreet thread, if you wanna count that.