[O.O.C.] Application for Kannagara
Oct. 29th, 2011 12:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lovehermadly[downloadable version with pictures intact]
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CHARACTER INFO
Character Name: Johann Faust VIII, commonly referred to as simply „Faust“. Some sources list his full name as „Johann George Faust VIII“, but I have found no mentions of middle name in the manga and therefore am going with the first version.
Canon: Shaman King
Point taken from canon: pre- chapter 39, right before meeting Yoh for the fight.
Age: 33
Gender: male. Although he doesn't look particularly manly, as noted by other characters.
~
Appearance:
Faust is rather tall, standing at approximately 5'11'' (180 cm) and very skinny due to malnutrition as he only eats the minimum to survive. His skin is very pale and his hair is a light shade of blond, cut rather short but long enough to be messy and at times cover half of his face. His eyes are light blue – electric blue, pupils usually contracted to tiny dots and his look appears somewhat glassy and indifferent thanks to the effects of morphine.
Due to chronic insomnia and already mentioned eating habits, he also has permanent dark bags under his eyes, and his lips have a blue-violet shade to it (so no, none of it is makeup and lipstick! It is all natural). He has small black dot-earrings in both ears, and what looks like a strange black tattoo band around his neck and upper arms.
Finally, his mid-body is different colour and is connected to normal looking parts with visible stitches; it was never explained whether it is just differently coloured skin of a Frankenstain part, or if he sew some sort of different material to himself to increase his durability in the Shaman Fights. It doesn't seem to inconvenience him in any way, though.
Faust usually wears a white doctor's coat and blueish surgeon's gloves, and a fancy pair of blue and black pants with lots of pockets, pouches, belts and whatnot. There are also rather plain black boots to add to this look.
He always carries Eliza's skeleton chained to his arm, often hidden under his coat (the skull is sometimes hidden in his hat), and at first appearance he has a halberd-like weapon which consists of a guilliotine blade fixed on a long presumably wooden handle. However, he isn't seen using it after Eliza's true spirit is called back.
When traveling, he wears a white overcoat with blue patches on the elbows which makes him look a lot bigger than he actually is (maybe because he keeps a skeleton inside it), held together by a belt with a round buckle. Along with that he wears an orange scarf and a white top hat complete with a blue band and... a flower (which sometimes appears as a four-leaf clover, varying from yellow to green in colour). He also often sports a suitcase when in this getup. He doesn't look very dangerous like this, no?
As the series progress, his clothing changes a little. As he cuts off his own legs to give it to Eliza (see more about it below), he no longer wears shoes (duh) and is instead seen in a wheelchair, usually covering his lower half with a blanket. The rest of his apparel seems to remain the same, however. The wheelchair appears to be personalized, and has a couple of IV lines attached to its back and sides. Also skeleton and medical equipment seem to now be kept in the wheelchair except for the skull which usually sits on Faust's lap – unless it is being animated and pushing the wheelchair.
Eventually, he learns to make himself some new legs using his late dog, Frankenstainy, and his „mana“ (see abilities section). Along with the same ole coat and doctor-y getup, that results in a rather grotesque sight. Once again, it doesn't seem to bother him the slightest, and he is even seen using the bone-legs when in the hot springs along with other people. After all, it's just comfortable to be able to walk, right?
Finally, a few times he can be seen in a fight-outfit that Anna had made for all of Yoh's team in the second round of the tournament, which includes a very weirdly styled European old-ages blouse and slightly different pants. For the most part however, he is seen in his primary coat and pants, plus the new boney legs.
Faust is quite unsteady on his feet, usually unable to get up by himself after being knocked to the ground – good thing oversoul helpers are always at hand. He often starts swaying when standing, especially if he's a little excited. Naturally, his walk, even back when he has legs, is quite unsteady – you could think of a very sick person, a very weak person, a person on drugs, and then add it all into one. Yup, magnificent.
He smiles and laughs a lot, appearing completely harmless, though the way he can smile innocently while saying terrible things can be quite a put-off. Generally, he is beaming or sporting a blank expression all the time, except for the instances of when he is thrown into murderous rage, usually that happens if someone insults Eliza. His appearance is generally friendly from first sight, being noted as 'not dangerous and not particularly manly, either'.
Background:
http://shamanking.wikia.com/wiki/Faust_VIII
Faust was born and lived in a small town (the architecture looks strictly traditional-German from the flashbacks, houses of two-three stories), in a family of doctors. While he is a direct descendant of Johann Faust I (also known as Faustus, check Goethe or legends for more), his family wanted nothing to do with their ancestor's black magic for generations and kept the secret of their roots to themselves. In fact, as Faust later mentions himself, his ancestor's „deal with the devil“ was nothing else but decision to take a part in the Shaman Fight back then, with Mephistopheles as his spirit ally. Unfortunately, the very devil he striked alliance with betrayed and torn him to pieces in the end.
Studying from very young age (in fact, looking at the timeline, he probably started from like 3-4 years old?), with his nose constantly in the books, especially medical ones, Faust never had any time for friends. There was only one person who, according to him, ever gave him a warm look or a kind word. And that person was Eliza, a girl year older than him who was his father's patient. She had an incurable disease and spent her days either home or in the clinic, so in return, Faust also was the only friend to her.
Faust became determined to find a cure for her illness, studying as hard as he could to become a doctor and then to keep improving, set on saving the one light of his life; of course, love bloomed early on. And eventually, he succeeded – after a whole of twenty years, he and Eliza finally found a cure. Everything promised to be just beautiful; they got married, opened a small clinic, bought a dog and a house on a bluff with a beautiful view.
Unfortunately, their happiness was not meant to last. Just a few months later, when Faust was out in town – in the English manga it is specified as their first night in their new house – a burglar broke into the house and shot Eliza dead. The bullet went right through her head. When Faust returned home and found, by his own words, „the only woman he ever loved laying on the cold floor with blood and brains oozing out of her forehead“, he simply broke. He desperately tried to save her, immediate operation and everything, but as he later said, he „could not defeat death“. All of his medical skills were useless. There was nothing to be done anymore.
However, Faust wasn't going to give up, obsessed with bringing her back to life. He dug into all sorts of literature, searching for answers. Going mad from grief, he stopped sleeping and finally turned to his ancestor's secrets, entering the forbidden library in the basement which originally belonged to Faust I, and that was where he discovered the art of necromancy. (Which was a bit different from normal shamanism, but see the details in abilities section.) All of this search and then polishing his skills took him an all of eight years. Sometime during this he also dug out Eliza's skeleton, so he could be with her at least in this form.
He entered the Shaman Fight with one thing on his mind only; bringing his beloved Eliza back. While at that point he was capable to use his mana (once more; see abilities!) to create an oversoul from the skeleton which looked exactly like Eliza, it didn't have a soul as he didn't have the power to call spirits. It was, esentially, a pretty doll, however Faust would talk to it like it actually was the real thing. From the first matches, he earned quite the reputation, proving to be a psychopath and actually killing his first two opponents. The last one was the series' main protagonist, Yoh Asakura, whom he also severely wounded, not to mention Faust still won the match thanks to a clever strategy of draining the opponent's mana with an army of bare bones and only then letting out his real oversoul, armed with the halberd for the kill. Unfortunately, during that fight, Eliza's skeleton was damaged as Yoh cut her legs off right under the knees. Faust was about to kill him, however was knocked out by Tao Ren.
Later on, he is already seen in a wheelchair, as he cut off his own legs to give them to Eliza (it is never addressed why he couldn't use any other bones, though, as he can command them all the same no matter whom they belonged to. Consider it an act of madness). As he's qualified for the next round, he attends the ceremony with his oversoul pushing his wheelchair.
The next time he is seen when all the participating shamans are dropped out of a plane (which was, in fact, only the Patch tribe's oversoul, as they had no money for an actual plane). While everyone is panicking and trying to land safely, he merely falls past everyone, laughing and stating that he is so pumped with morphine that he will survive the impact, just sew himself up and be on his merry way. And, in fact, that was exactly what happened.
Later he is seen taking stitches out of himself, still partly in cast, singing merrily by the shore of a river. Soon after, he asks Yoh to let him join his team, because they're the only other shamans he knows and groups of three must be formed in order to advance. Anna decides he's going to be a good addition and places him in Yoh's team.
At some point afterwards, Anna uses her itako powers to summon Eliza's true spirit, thus realizing Faust's wish. At first, after speaking with her again, he contemplates joining her in the afterlife, however they reconsider, deciding to repay Anna and Yoh first. Now with Eliza as his spirit ally, Faust becomes much more powerful, managing to conjure up Giant Oversoul and eventually truly mastering the art of resurrection, that is, bringing back the dead so long as the body isn't destroyed beyond repair.
It can also be noted that upon being (somewhat) reunited with Eliza, he becomes more stable, more interested in reading medical books and honing his skills along with his somewhat brutal sense of humor rather than cutting unwilling victims open or similar things.
Eventually, Faust is killed while fighting one of the Patch tribe, Renim, on the gang's way to the Shaman King Sanctuary where Hao is sleeping. He asks not to be resurrected so that he could stay with Eliza in eternal slumber, however they both hang around as ghosts during the rest of the journey. After being consumed by Hao's evil spirit along with everyone else and once the Love Train appears, they are seen as the conductors. It is assumed that afterwards they return to the Great Spirit, although them (somehow) working in Funbari Onsen can be speculated.
Personality:
One of the main things to remember about Faust is his utter, complete and unconditional devotion to Eliza, his one and only true love. There is much more to it than meets the eye, though. First of all, it obviously points out that he is quite the romantic. Before life turned its ugly side on him, he definitely believed in 'happily ever after' – still does, in a way. Giving everything including yourself to the one you love is self-explanatory to him; for example, he doesn't mind getting hurt to protect or shield Eliza – even though she is a ghost and can not be injured, as displayed once in the manga... as well as when he gives her his legs. Generally, reviving Eliza or joining her in „eternal slumber“ and, therefore, living in union happily ever after seems to be his main and ultimate goal in life.
Faust is a very determined and dedicated person, his willpower described as „superhuman“. In fact, he is quite feverish, almost fanatical about everything that is important to him, not only his love for his diseased wife – though, ultimately, her well-being seems to be his main motivation for everything. He was and still is obsessed with medicine and various drugs, constantly studying and practicing to perfect his surgeon's brilliance. He often can be seen with an anatomy book at hand, and really dislikes interruptions while working. And, obviously, blood and similar sights mean nothing to him. However, it can't be forgotten that most of his obsession with the medical science comes from the fact that Eliza had a terminal illness at first, and he wanted to be a great enough doctor to find a cure.
Maybe unexpectedly, he also sometimes shows kindness and good morale, disapproving of using the living as dolls like some shamans do. He also actually enjoys saving lives as a doctor, and mentions having saved countless patients what brought him joy – even though he has no qualms about killing whoever gets in the way of his goals. Since beating death was something medicine wasn't able to do (but he dreamed about it even before Eliza's demise), he proceeded to try to enhance his medical skills with shamanism, his ultimate goal in life becoming what was, more or less, 'defeat of death'. As such, he cares little about higher 'right' and 'wrong'.
At the same time, he cares little about his own condition, as it has been mentioned he hasn't slept for over eight years, eats only the minimum needed to survive (and usually does that through an IV line), and seems to have little concern about any sort of harm that might come his way – at least when it's not life threatening.
There we get to the fact that he is, in fact, quite insane. However he also seems aware of it himself (saying things like „my madness“), what would suggest that in reality it's not so much of an actual mental illness but just a combination of his obsession with Eliza's revival and drug effects. He constantly injects his body with morphine so that he could immediately repair any damage he receives in fights, and also possibly to dull any pains he might be feeling due to his poor physical state and malnutrition. He is prone to traditional fits of maniac laughter and excitement to kill whoever has managed to tick him off – once again, he seems perfectly fine with people insulting him, however one word about Eliza he doesn't like and he'll go on a rampage, where bloody murder just isn't enough of a punishment for the offender. When it doesn't concern her though, he is scientific, detailed and patient.
Faust can sometimes be rather tactless and blunt, also self-aware or ironic. He can maintain a scientific approach in situations where it doesn't seem all too fitting – or it's just not a particularly good sense of humor. He sometimes tends to belittle whomever he is talking about, or point out improper things, completely misreading the situation.
Generally, to strangers and from first sight he usually appears quite friendly and polite, smiling and laughing – it's when you actually know more that it gets creepy. His greeting manners are also perfectly intact. He generally maintains a rather cheerful demeanor, without any regards to what the situation is calling for, what also makes him look more crazy than other people. At the same time it can be noted that he never tries to hide anything about himself, including having a skeleton in his coat; he simply doesn't wave it around unless introductions are needed – after all, if someone meets him, they should also meet his lovely wife. He is also the type who can say the most horrible of things with a sweet smile, which he wears constantly.
He is also generally fond of order and cleanliness, although obviously it's not that big of a surprise coming from a (former) doctor. He's always ready for work, and carries a suitcase with various medical equipment and wide choice of scalpels and more creepy instruments in it.
His movements can often be staggering, swaying or overly dramatic, though probably all of it can be blamed on the drugs – without which he likely wouldn't be able to function anymore. He tends to use exaggerated hand gestures, randomly start monologue-ing, or make weird faces. It also appears he is well-read, not only in medical literature but also the classics and poetry, as well as history and what relates to his own family, shown quoting Goethe's „Faustus“ and some other piece of classical literature at one point and another. (He also looks like a Hamlet parallel on one of the manga volumes, see picture.)
Faust also seems to have a knack for music. There is a number of songs he had composed himself, including „My True Love“ and „Funbari Hot Springs“ hymn. He is often humming under his nose, or, in private moments, even singing out loud – dramatic gestures included.
Abilities/Strengths:
Human and medical abilities and strengths include:
・ practically maniacal willpower and stubbornness;
・ brilliant surgeon skills. Faust, despite his mental instability, is a great doctor and is capable of fixing up practically any sort of physical injury, except for the fatal ones;
・ complete immunity to pain. Due to that and the previously mentioned medical brilliance, he is capable to perform operations on himself right on the battlefield, including sewing up cuts, securing twists and, at some cases, even replacing broken bones. At one point in the manga, explaining that it takes less time to mend that way, he rips out a broken tibia out of his own leg and replaces it with a new one he got from the graveyard, then nicely sewing it all together and standing within minutes.
・ efficient strategy skills and good general knowledge; he is essentially a bookworm and an academic, so to put it simply, quite bright. He was also able to come up with battle plans that helped him to defeat opponents with more experience and shamanic power.
・ he's also capable of creating songs, both words and music.
A quick explanation: shaman's own „mana“ is a sort of shamanic power unit (like „chakra“ for Naruto ninjas?). When used up, it restores itself after a while. It can be focused on certain objects to connect them with ghosts, what forms an „oversoul“ that can be used as a weapon. The weapon's strength is based on the power of the ghost, the shaman's „mana“ and his mental ability. Most shamans chose one particular ghost, their „spirit guardian“.
Faust's power can be divided into two basic categories, second of which he only gains later on in the manga when he does obtain Eliza's true spirit as an ally.
The powers that he can wield all by himself (will work in Kannagara), and that only use up his own „mana“ and can be boosted by random hand-waveable spirits such as those of leaves or stones or flowers and similar things, include:
・ „necromancy“, which is, basically, animating bones or dead corpses with mana, without actually reuniting them with their souls, in other words, creating mindless puppets or „zombies“ that will do the caller's bidding. On a basic level, it has no visual effect and expends very little mana, making the skeletons and such able to move on their own. It also provides a great distraction.
・ „reanimation“, which is the same „necromancy“, only performed on a higher level. More mana gets expended, and it forms an actual visualization of the object in focus. On the right, you see what becomes of a human skeleton with a weapon when it is reanimated. Still, this pretty doll still has no will of her own and spiritually isn't different from the moving skeletons and zombies; however more mana means that this artifact is a lot faster, stronger and can not be harmed by un-shamanic means, thereofore being more efficient in a fight. (Of course, early-series!Faust claims it to be real necromancy and the actual Eliza.)
It can also be noted that the animated skeletons can be used and directen in a variety of ways, including „bone shell“ when a number of them come together to form a shield, and „calcium giant“, which uses up a full graveyard worth of bones and nearly all of Faust's mana to create a giant, 20-ton-weight skeleton. That is his strongest guardian-less attack.
Upon being reunited with Eliza and therefore finally being able to use a real human ghost in his magic, Faust becomes quite mor powerful and masters a number of new abilities (he will not be able to use these at Kanna, unless we get a ghost!Eliza or the mods decide to grant him that power for an event or something), most important of which are:
・ „giant oversoul“, nicknamed „Mephisto E“, which is essentially a giant Eliza with a demonic aura, batwings and a set of scary medical equipment attached to her. She is as powerful as she is big, although still maintains Eliza's original personality traits. For example, she wipes Faust's forehead for him, although doesn't speak unlike when she's in a normal-sized Oversoul mode.
・ being able to form new legs for himself at the same time as maintaining „Mephisto E“, although arguably this only uses his own mana, simply he didn't have a reason to use this before he chopped his own limbs off.
・ „Eliza Operieren“, which is basically the upgraded version of the original „giant oversoul“; it maintains the power and amount of mana of the giant version, however is reduced in size and therefore a lot thicker. A bunch of equipment is operated by Eliza herself, later on she and Faust „connect“ to make it stick out of his own back instead. This is also an „armor-type“ oversoul, as in it can be worn and protects the user from physical damage.
・ true resurrection, „Ultra Senji Ryakketsu - Jugon Zonshi“. Faust actually becomes able to revive the dead by reuniting the bodies with their departed souls – unless the body is damaged beyond repair. It also works for healing wounds and even regrowing lost limbs, however it expands a lot of mana and Faust, not having a huge reserve of it to begin with (12500, while, in comparison, at that time of series Asakura Yoh has a whole of 108000), can only perform it a couple of times in a short while.
Weaknesses:
・ really poor physical condition and morphine addiction;
・ mental instability;
・ narrow-mindedness and blind stubbornness when it comes to certain things, like;
・ anything to do with Eliza;
・ most of his shamanic powers are useless unless he has bones in disposal, the more the merrier, except it can be quite hard to get in most locations.
Defining Quote(s):
„And now, to punish the enemies of science who dared to hinder my research.“ - Faust, after Yoh frees a cut-open Manta from his examination.
„„When I say to the moment, „Stay, thou art so beautiful!“ then mayst thou fetter me straightway.“ So read the original Faust's pact with Mephistopheles. Ironic, nein?“ - Faust, upon reanimating Eliza
„But Faust... really isn't a bad guy, you know? I think he's just too focused. His love for his lost Eliza and his obsession with medicine turned him into what he is.“ - Manta, about Faust
„I've seen what Faust can do first-hand. He's powerful. His willpower and determination are superhuman.“ - Anna, about Faust
„Two weeks ago, a shaman killed another in a match. We checked his background. He's a bloodthirsty killer.“ - Silva, about Faust
„A pleasure to meet you. I'm your opponent, Faust VIII. I hope you'll go easy on me.“ - Faust, to Yoh as they first meet
„But he does seem friendly. Not very manly looking, either.“ - Yoh, about Faust
„I smell it! This one reeks of death!“ - Amidamaru, about Faust
„Heh heh... When we Germans set out to do something, we do not easily admit failure. We finish what we start.“ - Faust, upon telling about his battle against death
„Ah, a surgeon's hands are his life! But I will not let you damage them~“ - Faust, in a fight
„Nheh heh... You have a doctor right here!“ - Faust, in response to a cry for a doctor
„Ah, what a wunderschöner moon! Its influence seems to be easing my madness...“ - Faust
Other:
His voice is quite different in the anime ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqZPY1ZADo4 ) and the dub ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_bJHk6tp2k ). I personally imagine it to be either somewhere in the middle or more like the former.
OH AND. HE LIKE. DOESN'T SLEEP. I'm intending to just have the effects of Kannagara, Tree or Gods making him fall asleep from time to time so he could have dreams, because otherwise he just... wouldn't. Hopefully that works.
No, I have no idea how he managed to stay alive, either. Let's say that his shamanism has a mild healing effect which is enough for him to remain functioning in friendly environment as long as he's not receiving extra damage or something.
Also, since he is coming to Kannagara pre-Yoh and before he ever had a chance to see the real Eliza again, he will be pretty much off the bat. His humanity will be shoved further aside and he will likely do plenty of creepy things that won't be exactly those of a 'good' guy. Just so you know. Ahaha.
Action Writing Sample:
[The Hitomi flickers on, showing what looks like Himorogi. It's already evening though, and the sky is gaining darker tones; the tree remains perfectly still. A tall figure can be seen approaching in slow steps before stopping under the tree and looking around.]
[It's a man in a huge white raincoat, wearing a scarf and a white top hat with a flower attached to it, carrying a suitcase. Not much of his face can be seen, although it's clear he has light blond hair and pale blue eyes. He looks a little disappointed.]
This doesn't look like... Yokohama cemetery, was it? It appears we're going to be late, Frankenstainy.
[A yipping of a dog can be heard, however it doesn't come into sight. The man now looks a little concerned and gazes around. It was true that he already had all the wins he needed to advance, but missing a match would just make him feel like he wasn't doing all that he could, and that would be unsettling. No, he had to finish what he started. Completely.]
And the metro line is gone, as well, leaving us in these... plains. Isn't that strange?
[He finally notices the device on the ground and blinks, before carefully reaching out and picking it up with one gloved hand, bringing it closer to his eyes to inspect it.]
Hmm... is this some new kind of a pager? But who would leave such a thing laying about so carelessly.
[He eyes it, frowning a little bit though his gaze remains strangely vacant. His pupils seem retracted more than it would be normal, like a sick person's.]
Could be some sort of a telephone, too, but --
[He turns it in his hand a little, poking here and there, and probably pushes some buttons as the feed goes off.]
Third Person Writing Sample:
The music starts playing again and he laughs softly as he takes her hands and guides her around the white, tiled floor. He doesn't care about the musicians nor the lovely, almost shining environment they're in; all that matters is right in front of him, in his arms, lovely Eliza who smiles at him, whispering soft words. Her beautiful hair flies as they spin around, caught in the dance and in each other's presence.
„We finally did it, my love,“ he says silently, looking her right in the eyes as they waltz around what looks like a luxurious, all-white lobby, in front of a staircase which is decorated by two angel figures. It doesn't matter where or when, all that matters is that they are together. How it should always be. How it will always be.
No more illnesses threatening to take her away from him, no more worries. Not even death. What does any of those things mean in the face of love? „I've been dreaming about this day,“ she whispers back and lays her head on his shoulder, and he kisses her golden locks. The music turns softer and the dance slows down. He can feel her warmth against his body, she is such a delicate, fragile young woman but it's alright because he will always be there for her. Even when they'll be locked in the endless dance in front of the heaven's gate.
~
CHARACTER INFO
Character Name: Johann Faust VIII, commonly referred to as simply „Faust“. Some sources list his full name as „Johann George Faust VIII“, but I have found no mentions of middle name in the manga and therefore am going with the first version.
Canon: Shaman King
Point taken from canon: pre- chapter 39, right before meeting Yoh for the fight.
Age: 33
Gender: male. Although he doesn't look particularly manly, as noted by other characters.
~
Appearance:
Faust is rather tall, standing at approximately 5'11'' (180 cm) and very skinny due to malnutrition as he only eats the minimum to survive. His skin is very pale and his hair is a light shade of blond, cut rather short but long enough to be messy and at times cover half of his face. His eyes are light blue – electric blue, pupils usually contracted to tiny dots and his look appears somewhat glassy and indifferent thanks to the effects of morphine.
Due to chronic insomnia and already mentioned eating habits, he also has permanent dark bags under his eyes, and his lips have a blue-violet shade to it (so no, none of it is makeup and lipstick! It is all natural). He has small black dot-earrings in both ears, and what looks like a strange black tattoo band around his neck and upper arms.
Finally, his mid-body is different colour and is connected to normal looking parts with visible stitches; it was never explained whether it is just differently coloured skin of a Frankenstain part, or if he sew some sort of different material to himself to increase his durability in the Shaman Fights. It doesn't seem to inconvenience him in any way, though.
Faust usually wears a white doctor's coat and blueish surgeon's gloves, and a fancy pair of blue and black pants with lots of pockets, pouches, belts and whatnot. There are also rather plain black boots to add to this look.
He always carries Eliza's skeleton chained to his arm, often hidden under his coat (the skull is sometimes hidden in his hat), and at first appearance he has a halberd-like weapon which consists of a guilliotine blade fixed on a long presumably wooden handle. However, he isn't seen using it after Eliza's true spirit is called back.
When traveling, he wears a white overcoat with blue patches on the elbows which makes him look a lot bigger than he actually is (maybe because he keeps a skeleton inside it), held together by a belt with a round buckle. Along with that he wears an orange scarf and a white top hat complete with a blue band and... a flower (which sometimes appears as a four-leaf clover, varying from yellow to green in colour). He also often sports a suitcase when in this getup. He doesn't look very dangerous like this, no?
As the series progress, his clothing changes a little. As he cuts off his own legs to give it to Eliza (see more about it below), he no longer wears shoes (duh) and is instead seen in a wheelchair, usually covering his lower half with a blanket. The rest of his apparel seems to remain the same, however. The wheelchair appears to be personalized, and has a couple of IV lines attached to its back and sides. Also skeleton and medical equipment seem to now be kept in the wheelchair except for the skull which usually sits on Faust's lap – unless it is being animated and pushing the wheelchair.
Eventually, he learns to make himself some new legs using his late dog, Frankenstainy, and his „mana“ (see abilities section). Along with the same ole coat and doctor-y getup, that results in a rather grotesque sight. Once again, it doesn't seem to bother him the slightest, and he is even seen using the bone-legs when in the hot springs along with other people. After all, it's just comfortable to be able to walk, right?
Finally, a few times he can be seen in a fight-outfit that Anna had made for all of Yoh's team in the second round of the tournament, which includes a very weirdly styled European old-ages blouse and slightly different pants. For the most part however, he is seen in his primary coat and pants, plus the new boney legs.
Faust is quite unsteady on his feet, usually unable to get up by himself after being knocked to the ground – good thing oversoul helpers are always at hand. He often starts swaying when standing, especially if he's a little excited. Naturally, his walk, even back when he has legs, is quite unsteady – you could think of a very sick person, a very weak person, a person on drugs, and then add it all into one. Yup, magnificent.
He smiles and laughs a lot, appearing completely harmless, though the way he can smile innocently while saying terrible things can be quite a put-off. Generally, he is beaming or sporting a blank expression all the time, except for the instances of when he is thrown into murderous rage, usually that happens if someone insults Eliza. His appearance is generally friendly from first sight, being noted as 'not dangerous and not particularly manly, either'.
Background:
http://shamanking.wikia.com/wiki/Faust_VIII
Faust was born and lived in a small town (the architecture looks strictly traditional-German from the flashbacks, houses of two-three stories), in a family of doctors. While he is a direct descendant of Johann Faust I (also known as Faustus, check Goethe or legends for more), his family wanted nothing to do with their ancestor's black magic for generations and kept the secret of their roots to themselves. In fact, as Faust later mentions himself, his ancestor's „deal with the devil“ was nothing else but decision to take a part in the Shaman Fight back then, with Mephistopheles as his spirit ally. Unfortunately, the very devil he striked alliance with betrayed and torn him to pieces in the end.
Studying from very young age (in fact, looking at the timeline, he probably started from like 3-4 years old?), with his nose constantly in the books, especially medical ones, Faust never had any time for friends. There was only one person who, according to him, ever gave him a warm look or a kind word. And that person was Eliza, a girl year older than him who was his father's patient. She had an incurable disease and spent her days either home or in the clinic, so in return, Faust also was the only friend to her.
Faust became determined to find a cure for her illness, studying as hard as he could to become a doctor and then to keep improving, set on saving the one light of his life; of course, love bloomed early on. And eventually, he succeeded – after a whole of twenty years, he and Eliza finally found a cure. Everything promised to be just beautiful; they got married, opened a small clinic, bought a dog and a house on a bluff with a beautiful view.
Unfortunately, their happiness was not meant to last. Just a few months later, when Faust was out in town – in the English manga it is specified as their first night in their new house – a burglar broke into the house and shot Eliza dead. The bullet went right through her head. When Faust returned home and found, by his own words, „the only woman he ever loved laying on the cold floor with blood and brains oozing out of her forehead“, he simply broke. He desperately tried to save her, immediate operation and everything, but as he later said, he „could not defeat death“. All of his medical skills were useless. There was nothing to be done anymore.
However, Faust wasn't going to give up, obsessed with bringing her back to life. He dug into all sorts of literature, searching for answers. Going mad from grief, he stopped sleeping and finally turned to his ancestor's secrets, entering the forbidden library in the basement which originally belonged to Faust I, and that was where he discovered the art of necromancy. (Which was a bit different from normal shamanism, but see the details in abilities section.) All of this search and then polishing his skills took him an all of eight years. Sometime during this he also dug out Eliza's skeleton, so he could be with her at least in this form.
He entered the Shaman Fight with one thing on his mind only; bringing his beloved Eliza back. While at that point he was capable to use his mana (once more; see abilities!) to create an oversoul from the skeleton which looked exactly like Eliza, it didn't have a soul as he didn't have the power to call spirits. It was, esentially, a pretty doll, however Faust would talk to it like it actually was the real thing. From the first matches, he earned quite the reputation, proving to be a psychopath and actually killing his first two opponents. The last one was the series' main protagonist, Yoh Asakura, whom he also severely wounded, not to mention Faust still won the match thanks to a clever strategy of draining the opponent's mana with an army of bare bones and only then letting out his real oversoul, armed with the halberd for the kill. Unfortunately, during that fight, Eliza's skeleton was damaged as Yoh cut her legs off right under the knees. Faust was about to kill him, however was knocked out by Tao Ren.
Later on, he is already seen in a wheelchair, as he cut off his own legs to give them to Eliza (it is never addressed why he couldn't use any other bones, though, as he can command them all the same no matter whom they belonged to. Consider it an act of madness). As he's qualified for the next round, he attends the ceremony with his oversoul pushing his wheelchair.
The next time he is seen when all the participating shamans are dropped out of a plane (which was, in fact, only the Patch tribe's oversoul, as they had no money for an actual plane). While everyone is panicking and trying to land safely, he merely falls past everyone, laughing and stating that he is so pumped with morphine that he will survive the impact, just sew himself up and be on his merry way. And, in fact, that was exactly what happened.
Later he is seen taking stitches out of himself, still partly in cast, singing merrily by the shore of a river. Soon after, he asks Yoh to let him join his team, because they're the only other shamans he knows and groups of three must be formed in order to advance. Anna decides he's going to be a good addition and places him in Yoh's team.
At some point afterwards, Anna uses her itako powers to summon Eliza's true spirit, thus realizing Faust's wish. At first, after speaking with her again, he contemplates joining her in the afterlife, however they reconsider, deciding to repay Anna and Yoh first. Now with Eliza as his spirit ally, Faust becomes much more powerful, managing to conjure up Giant Oversoul and eventually truly mastering the art of resurrection, that is, bringing back the dead so long as the body isn't destroyed beyond repair.
It can also be noted that upon being (somewhat) reunited with Eliza, he becomes more stable, more interested in reading medical books and honing his skills along with his somewhat brutal sense of humor rather than cutting unwilling victims open or similar things.
Eventually, Faust is killed while fighting one of the Patch tribe, Renim, on the gang's way to the Shaman King Sanctuary where Hao is sleeping. He asks not to be resurrected so that he could stay with Eliza in eternal slumber, however they both hang around as ghosts during the rest of the journey. After being consumed by Hao's evil spirit along with everyone else and once the Love Train appears, they are seen as the conductors. It is assumed that afterwards they return to the Great Spirit, although them (somehow) working in Funbari Onsen can be speculated.
Personality:
One of the main things to remember about Faust is his utter, complete and unconditional devotion to Eliza, his one and only true love. There is much more to it than meets the eye, though. First of all, it obviously points out that he is quite the romantic. Before life turned its ugly side on him, he definitely believed in 'happily ever after' – still does, in a way. Giving everything including yourself to the one you love is self-explanatory to him; for example, he doesn't mind getting hurt to protect or shield Eliza – even though she is a ghost and can not be injured, as displayed once in the manga... as well as when he gives her his legs. Generally, reviving Eliza or joining her in „eternal slumber“ and, therefore, living in union happily ever after seems to be his main and ultimate goal in life.
Faust is a very determined and dedicated person, his willpower described as „superhuman“. In fact, he is quite feverish, almost fanatical about everything that is important to him, not only his love for his diseased wife – though, ultimately, her well-being seems to be his main motivation for everything. He was and still is obsessed with medicine and various drugs, constantly studying and practicing to perfect his surgeon's brilliance. He often can be seen with an anatomy book at hand, and really dislikes interruptions while working. And, obviously, blood and similar sights mean nothing to him. However, it can't be forgotten that most of his obsession with the medical science comes from the fact that Eliza had a terminal illness at first, and he wanted to be a great enough doctor to find a cure.
Maybe unexpectedly, he also sometimes shows kindness and good morale, disapproving of using the living as dolls like some shamans do. He also actually enjoys saving lives as a doctor, and mentions having saved countless patients what brought him joy – even though he has no qualms about killing whoever gets in the way of his goals. Since beating death was something medicine wasn't able to do (but he dreamed about it even before Eliza's demise), he proceeded to try to enhance his medical skills with shamanism, his ultimate goal in life becoming what was, more or less, 'defeat of death'. As such, he cares little about higher 'right' and 'wrong'.
At the same time, he cares little about his own condition, as it has been mentioned he hasn't slept for over eight years, eats only the minimum needed to survive (and usually does that through an IV line), and seems to have little concern about any sort of harm that might come his way – at least when it's not life threatening.
There we get to the fact that he is, in fact, quite insane. However he also seems aware of it himself (saying things like „my madness“), what would suggest that in reality it's not so much of an actual mental illness but just a combination of his obsession with Eliza's revival and drug effects. He constantly injects his body with morphine so that he could immediately repair any damage he receives in fights, and also possibly to dull any pains he might be feeling due to his poor physical state and malnutrition. He is prone to traditional fits of maniac laughter and excitement to kill whoever has managed to tick him off – once again, he seems perfectly fine with people insulting him, however one word about Eliza he doesn't like and he'll go on a rampage, where bloody murder just isn't enough of a punishment for the offender. When it doesn't concern her though, he is scientific, detailed and patient.
Faust can sometimes be rather tactless and blunt, also self-aware or ironic. He can maintain a scientific approach in situations where it doesn't seem all too fitting – or it's just not a particularly good sense of humor. He sometimes tends to belittle whomever he is talking about, or point out improper things, completely misreading the situation.
Generally, to strangers and from first sight he usually appears quite friendly and polite, smiling and laughing – it's when you actually know more that it gets creepy. His greeting manners are also perfectly intact. He generally maintains a rather cheerful demeanor, without any regards to what the situation is calling for, what also makes him look more crazy than other people. At the same time it can be noted that he never tries to hide anything about himself, including having a skeleton in his coat; he simply doesn't wave it around unless introductions are needed – after all, if someone meets him, they should also meet his lovely wife. He is also the type who can say the most horrible of things with a sweet smile, which he wears constantly.
He is also generally fond of order and cleanliness, although obviously it's not that big of a surprise coming from a (former) doctor. He's always ready for work, and carries a suitcase with various medical equipment and wide choice of scalpels and more creepy instruments in it.
His movements can often be staggering, swaying or overly dramatic, though probably all of it can be blamed on the drugs – without which he likely wouldn't be able to function anymore. He tends to use exaggerated hand gestures, randomly start monologue-ing, or make weird faces. It also appears he is well-read, not only in medical literature but also the classics and poetry, as well as history and what relates to his own family, shown quoting Goethe's „Faustus“ and some other piece of classical literature at one point and another. (He also looks like a Hamlet parallel on one of the manga volumes, see picture.)
Faust also seems to have a knack for music. There is a number of songs he had composed himself, including „My True Love“ and „Funbari Hot Springs“ hymn. He is often humming under his nose, or, in private moments, even singing out loud – dramatic gestures included.
Abilities/Strengths:
Human and medical abilities and strengths include:
・ practically maniacal willpower and stubbornness;
・ brilliant surgeon skills. Faust, despite his mental instability, is a great doctor and is capable of fixing up practically any sort of physical injury, except for the fatal ones;
・ complete immunity to pain. Due to that and the previously mentioned medical brilliance, he is capable to perform operations on himself right on the battlefield, including sewing up cuts, securing twists and, at some cases, even replacing broken bones. At one point in the manga, explaining that it takes less time to mend that way, he rips out a broken tibia out of his own leg and replaces it with a new one he got from the graveyard, then nicely sewing it all together and standing within minutes.
・ efficient strategy skills and good general knowledge; he is essentially a bookworm and an academic, so to put it simply, quite bright. He was also able to come up with battle plans that helped him to defeat opponents with more experience and shamanic power.
・ he's also capable of creating songs, both words and music.
A quick explanation: shaman's own „mana“ is a sort of shamanic power unit (like „chakra“ for Naruto ninjas?). When used up, it restores itself after a while. It can be focused on certain objects to connect them with ghosts, what forms an „oversoul“ that can be used as a weapon. The weapon's strength is based on the power of the ghost, the shaman's „mana“ and his mental ability. Most shamans chose one particular ghost, their „spirit guardian“.
Faust's power can be divided into two basic categories, second of which he only gains later on in the manga when he does obtain Eliza's true spirit as an ally.
The powers that he can wield all by himself (will work in Kannagara), and that only use up his own „mana“ and can be boosted by random hand-waveable spirits such as those of leaves or stones or flowers and similar things, include:
・ „necromancy“, which is, basically, animating bones or dead corpses with mana, without actually reuniting them with their souls, in other words, creating mindless puppets or „zombies“ that will do the caller's bidding. On a basic level, it has no visual effect and expends very little mana, making the skeletons and such able to move on their own. It also provides a great distraction.
・ „reanimation“, which is the same „necromancy“, only performed on a higher level. More mana gets expended, and it forms an actual visualization of the object in focus. On the right, you see what becomes of a human skeleton with a weapon when it is reanimated. Still, this pretty doll still has no will of her own and spiritually isn't different from the moving skeletons and zombies; however more mana means that this artifact is a lot faster, stronger and can not be harmed by un-shamanic means, thereofore being more efficient in a fight. (Of course, early-series!Faust claims it to be real necromancy and the actual Eliza.)
It can also be noted that the animated skeletons can be used and directen in a variety of ways, including „bone shell“ when a number of them come together to form a shield, and „calcium giant“, which uses up a full graveyard worth of bones and nearly all of Faust's mana to create a giant, 20-ton-weight skeleton. That is his strongest guardian-less attack.
Upon being reunited with Eliza and therefore finally being able to use a real human ghost in his magic, Faust becomes quite mor powerful and masters a number of new abilities (he will not be able to use these at Kanna, unless we get a ghost!Eliza or the mods decide to grant him that power for an event or something), most important of which are:
・ „giant oversoul“, nicknamed „Mephisto E“, which is essentially a giant Eliza with a demonic aura, batwings and a set of scary medical equipment attached to her. She is as powerful as she is big, although still maintains Eliza's original personality traits. For example, she wipes Faust's forehead for him, although doesn't speak unlike when she's in a normal-sized Oversoul mode.
・ being able to form new legs for himself at the same time as maintaining „Mephisto E“, although arguably this only uses his own mana, simply he didn't have a reason to use this before he chopped his own limbs off.
・ „Eliza Operieren“, which is basically the upgraded version of the original „giant oversoul“; it maintains the power and amount of mana of the giant version, however is reduced in size and therefore a lot thicker. A bunch of equipment is operated by Eliza herself, later on she and Faust „connect“ to make it stick out of his own back instead. This is also an „armor-type“ oversoul, as in it can be worn and protects the user from physical damage.
・ true resurrection, „Ultra Senji Ryakketsu - Jugon Zonshi“. Faust actually becomes able to revive the dead by reuniting the bodies with their departed souls – unless the body is damaged beyond repair. It also works for healing wounds and even regrowing lost limbs, however it expands a lot of mana and Faust, not having a huge reserve of it to begin with (12500, while, in comparison, at that time of series Asakura Yoh has a whole of 108000), can only perform it a couple of times in a short while.
Weaknesses:
・ really poor physical condition and morphine addiction;
・ mental instability;
・ narrow-mindedness and blind stubbornness when it comes to certain things, like;
・ anything to do with Eliza;
・ most of his shamanic powers are useless unless he has bones in disposal, the more the merrier, except it can be quite hard to get in most locations.
Defining Quote(s):
„And now, to punish the enemies of science who dared to hinder my research.“ - Faust, after Yoh frees a cut-open Manta from his examination.
„„When I say to the moment, „Stay, thou art so beautiful!“ then mayst thou fetter me straightway.“ So read the original Faust's pact with Mephistopheles. Ironic, nein?“ - Faust, upon reanimating Eliza
„But Faust... really isn't a bad guy, you know? I think he's just too focused. His love for his lost Eliza and his obsession with medicine turned him into what he is.“ - Manta, about Faust
„I've seen what Faust can do first-hand. He's powerful. His willpower and determination are superhuman.“ - Anna, about Faust
„Two weeks ago, a shaman killed another in a match. We checked his background. He's a bloodthirsty killer.“ - Silva, about Faust
„A pleasure to meet you. I'm your opponent, Faust VIII. I hope you'll go easy on me.“ - Faust, to Yoh as they first meet
„But he does seem friendly. Not very manly looking, either.“ - Yoh, about Faust
„I smell it! This one reeks of death!“ - Amidamaru, about Faust
„Heh heh... When we Germans set out to do something, we do not easily admit failure. We finish what we start.“ - Faust, upon telling about his battle against death
„Ah, a surgeon's hands are his life! But I will not let you damage them~“ - Faust, in a fight
„Nheh heh... You have a doctor right here!“ - Faust, in response to a cry for a doctor
„Ah, what a wunderschöner moon! Its influence seems to be easing my madness...“ - Faust
Other:
His voice is quite different in the anime ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqZPY1ZADo4 ) and the dub ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_bJHk6tp2k ). I personally imagine it to be either somewhere in the middle or more like the former.
OH AND. HE LIKE. DOESN'T SLEEP. I'm intending to just have the effects of Kannagara, Tree or Gods making him fall asleep from time to time so he could have dreams, because otherwise he just... wouldn't. Hopefully that works.
No, I have no idea how he managed to stay alive, either. Let's say that his shamanism has a mild healing effect which is enough for him to remain functioning in friendly environment as long as he's not receiving extra damage or something.
Also, since he is coming to Kannagara pre-Yoh and before he ever had a chance to see the real Eliza again, he will be pretty much off the bat. His humanity will be shoved further aside and he will likely do plenty of creepy things that won't be exactly those of a 'good' guy. Just so you know. Ahaha.
Action Writing Sample:
[The Hitomi flickers on, showing what looks like Himorogi. It's already evening though, and the sky is gaining darker tones; the tree remains perfectly still. A tall figure can be seen approaching in slow steps before stopping under the tree and looking around.]
[It's a man in a huge white raincoat, wearing a scarf and a white top hat with a flower attached to it, carrying a suitcase. Not much of his face can be seen, although it's clear he has light blond hair and pale blue eyes. He looks a little disappointed.]
This doesn't look like... Yokohama cemetery, was it? It appears we're going to be late, Frankenstainy.
[A yipping of a dog can be heard, however it doesn't come into sight. The man now looks a little concerned and gazes around. It was true that he already had all the wins he needed to advance, but missing a match would just make him feel like he wasn't doing all that he could, and that would be unsettling. No, he had to finish what he started. Completely.]
And the metro line is gone, as well, leaving us in these... plains. Isn't that strange?
[He finally notices the device on the ground and blinks, before carefully reaching out and picking it up with one gloved hand, bringing it closer to his eyes to inspect it.]
Hmm... is this some new kind of a pager? But who would leave such a thing laying about so carelessly.
[He eyes it, frowning a little bit though his gaze remains strangely vacant. His pupils seem retracted more than it would be normal, like a sick person's.]
Could be some sort of a telephone, too, but --
[He turns it in his hand a little, poking here and there, and probably pushes some buttons as the feed goes off.]
Third Person Writing Sample:
The music starts playing again and he laughs softly as he takes her hands and guides her around the white, tiled floor. He doesn't care about the musicians nor the lovely, almost shining environment they're in; all that matters is right in front of him, in his arms, lovely Eliza who smiles at him, whispering soft words. Her beautiful hair flies as they spin around, caught in the dance and in each other's presence.
„We finally did it, my love,“ he says silently, looking her right in the eyes as they waltz around what looks like a luxurious, all-white lobby, in front of a staircase which is decorated by two angel figures. It doesn't matter where or when, all that matters is that they are together. How it should always be. How it will always be.
No more illnesses threatening to take her away from him, no more worries. Not even death. What does any of those things mean in the face of love? „I've been dreaming about this day,“ she whispers back and lays her head on his shoulder, and he kisses her golden locks. The music turns softer and the dance slows down. He can feel her warmth against his body, she is such a delicate, fragile young woman but it's alright because he will always be there for her. Even when they'll be locked in the endless dance in front of the heaven's gate.
