[Application] Luceti | Jude Mathis

[withoutdoubt]

PLAYER

Name: Mel
Journal Username: peachdango
E-mail: peachdango@gmail.com
AIM/PLURK: peachdango for both
Current Characters at Luceti: N/A


CHARACTER

Name: Jude Mathis
Canon: Tales of Xillia
Gender: Male
Age: 15
Wing Color: Black

Canon Point: Before the fight with Gilland
Canon Point Explanation: It's before Milla's death, which was a huge catalyst for the majority of Jude's development in the game. I'd just like to have the chance to play him from there, and possibly see a little development here in Luceti before potentially canon updating him in the future.
History: Aselia Wiki | Game Plot

Personality:
"If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

Trying to come up with a fancy way to begin this personality section is hard considering just how normal and not-flashy Jude is. He's just your average honors med student with your average stereotypical honors med student characteristics. Hardworking, altruistic, responsible, intelligent, calm, relaxed, committed to his studies despite being chased down as a wanted person... Oh, have I mentioned he's only fifteen-years-old too? Yeah. Jude's incredibly mature for his age. The way he speaks is very adult-like, the way he communicates with people is very adult-like, and even his perspective on the world is pretty adult-like. He's just very much not what you would expect from such a young boy. He doesn't even understand the appeal of sports! Which he admits isn't very manly of him. But he's still interested in their cultural perspective. Likewise, as Milla asks him what Alvin means by needing to keep his mystique for ~his ladies~, Jude just says, "They say men with secrets are attractive, or something. I'm not exactly the right guy to ask."

What a nerd.

Now, Jude's very coolheaded and responsible. When he's dragged into the situation with Milla being chased down by the authorities, he keeps his cool and figures that since he brought it upon himself anyway, it's his responsible to get out of it. No big deal. He doesn't freak out or even get hotheaded over it at all. Instead, he retains a very "well, that happened, oh well, time to fix it" attitude. After telling Milla he wants to go with her to destroy the Lance of Kresnik, he says, "But it's too late to cry about it now. It's not like I can turn back time." He just faces the situation he put himself in and accepts his fate. Being so calm, he also just does things one step at a time. Throughout the game, he doesn't really think of what he's going to do after destroying the Lance of Kresnik. When Leia questions him on it, he basically says he'll figure it out whenever they get there. If anything, he just wonders what Milla's going to do.

In this aspect, he's also very much unlike the typical idealistic Tales hero. He's realistic, and recognizes the conflicts that surround him and the dangers in things. When Milla decides to set off and leave Jude behind, he points out how it'd be dangerous for her to leave and destroy the Lance on her own. Despite him saying that like your typical protagonist, however, even he he hesitant to ask and go along with her at first. He's definitely not one to dive head-first into an abyss (hah) without first contemplating it. He even does fear battle and understands its consequences. But he recognizes that it's either the enemy or him, so he pulls through.

On the note of responsibility, he not only takes it for himself, but also over others. When Milla injures her leg, he declares that he'll take care of everything for her, from cooking to making her bed. He even goes as far as to carry her across the Sapstrath Highroad once the horse she had been riding runs off. Additionally, in the case of Elize, he's determined to take on the task of finding a home for her himself (despite hardly even knowing her), rather than dumping the burden on Milla.

In this sense, he can also be called a do-gooder. Because he totally is. And everyone calls him out for it. He doesn't take it poorly or anything, though. He comments on it, saying, "Everyone teases me for being a do-gooding honors student, and maybe they're right. I just can't let things like this go." Not even caring about people's comments on the fact, he truly is an altruistic kiddo just wanting to help people in need out. While he's not really concerned with the situation he brought upon himself, he's constantly concerned with other people's well-being. When fleeing from Hamil, he considers going back to make sure the people there are okay, and then insists on taking Elize with him. He's persistent with those concerns too, seeing as how he was so fixated on finding his professor in the beginning of the game once he realized something was fishy. And despite Cline's fatal wound, Jude does his best to try and heal him, as futile as it obviously was and proved to be. Even if someone tells him not to do that sort of thing, he does it anyway, especially if no one else is going to give it a shot.

Going along with his do-gooder personality, he has a very "it's the inside that counts attitude," focusing on personality before looks when it comes to judging people. He's sure to get to know someone first before making a judgment on them, whether good or bad. When it comes to Milla, he doesn't let the fact that she's Maxwell warp his opinion of her. The reason he takes such a liking to her is because of her strong personality, rather than her title. Also upon hearing Alvin's comments on how good it is that Milla didn't decide to take a male form, Jude expresses that it wouldn't have mattered to him either way. He just likes Milla for the person she has proven herself to be. The same goes for all of the friends he meets during his journey, whom he comes to understand and really care for. Even when they're setting off to fight Nachtigal, Jude recognizes that since he's a dear friend of Rowen's, Rowen may not want to fight him. And he even tells Rowen as much, saying that if he decides not to, that's totally understandable. He just wants his friends to be okay and not force them into anything, or as previously mentioned, judge them without knowing them completely first.

Piggybacking on his previously mentioned maturity, Jude's not sheltered at all despite his age. He's extremely knowledgeable on all sorts of subjects, especially when it comes to the history of Rieze Maxia. He doesn't even miss a beat (most of the time) when Alvin attempts to get him all worked up with his jokes and innuendos. Jude just knows what's going on.

The key word is "most of the time."

Jude can still be pretty dense. He kind of casually dumps the fact that he's going to let the "perfect stranger" (as Alvin puts it) take Elize in. Even the smarty pants honors student can be inconsiderate sometimes. When it comes down to it, as mature as Jude is, he truly is just a kid. Between his dependency on Milla and his occasional slip when picking up on cues (both explained later in the "weaknesses" section), he really is just a fifteen-year-old boy. At least it can be endearing sometimes though, such as when he shouts "ECHOOOO!" just to see if his voice would echo in some place the party finds themselves in (to which Alvin says he feels way to old to do such a thing himself). He can also be a little nosy, such as when he butts into Elize and Leia's girl talk solely because he happened to be sitting there. He didn't really pick up on it being a private conversation and just... went right in and insults Leia, saying that her joke of calling Elize hot is lame, and then calling her out for saying Teepo couldn't start a fashion trend since there's only one of him. Even after the girls flat out tell him to stop butting in, he says, "Well, don't set me up by saying nonsensical things!" Later in the game, Rowen comments on how prudent Jude has become. Alvin says he must have just been freakishly born that way, but Milla disagrees and instead agrees with the old man. Despite how mature he comes off to be, Jude just still has a lot of growing up to do during the beginning half of the game.

It's also worth noting that Jude has an awful lot of Daddy Issues back at home. He has some issues with both his parents considering how neglected he feels with their constant work, but most of his contempt is directed toward his father. All he wants is to be accepted and treated like an adult, neither of which he gets with how antagonistic his father is toward him. Because of this, Jude hardly even talks to him. It's even part of why he left home for Fenmont to begin with. His dad is constantly pressuring him to become like an adult, but doesn't treat him like one at all despite his maturity. If anything, he views Jude's growth as negative, especially when it comes to Milla's assertiveness rubbing off on him. He sort of talks back to his father, and when he (his father) refuses to do the procedure to heal Milla's legs, Jude just does it himself. Once he does, despite its success, he's reprimanded for it -- to which Jude just blatantly states, "I tried unlike you, dad" (and going off of that, it's worth noting that despite his softness, if Jude's mad, he's mad, as shown also when Alvin calls him cute after one of his many betrayals, and Jude just says, "Stop that I'm angry with you"). Now while he does seem angry about his relationship with his father, it's clear that he's really hurt. Fortunately, by the end of the game, that changes during a sidequest in which his father finally shows his acceptance.

Also he quotes Howe's Egg Principle a lot. All the time. I'm sure he has dreams about it too. Maybe on Easter he paints eggs and names them Howe, then raves about the theory.

He totally has a boner for it.

(I kid.)

Strengths
Looks can be deceiving when it comes to this kiddo. He may be tiny, but he still packs quite the punch -- literally. After being bullied for being such a softie when he was little, Jude trained in martial arts, often practicing with (and losing against) Leia. Over the years and throughout his journey he has become quite a skilled fighter. He also (unsurprisingly) has a few minor healing artes at his disposal. A whole list of his artes can be found here.

His strong fighting skills are complemented by his good reflexes, considering how his signature skill is "Snap Pivot," with which he can time a dodge perfectly and appear right behind his enemy for a counterattack. As far as the game's events go, he also dodges an arrow in a very Matrix!Neo-esque fashion by simply tilting his head at just the right moment.

While he is no Rowen, he's a fairly good amateur tactician, always coming up with plans that the party ends up rolling with and succeeding with. He figured out a whole plan to get a monster to charge at Presa in order to save Milla, and even had a solid backup plan (including Alvin getting into her blind spot) in case it failed, for example. Though there are numerous other times where he came up with plans that even Rowen said were their best bets.

Jude's also sharp, able to easily figure out that Isla was part of Exodus once he began putting one and one together. He also picked up on Alvin lying to Elize about not remembering Presa's real name, even though there really weren't any details to lead him to believe that. It's his perceptiveness that helps him keep up with the party and the events around them in general, even when it comes to innuendo, which he follows pretty well (though he sometimes doesn't as well, as explained below).

Being the softhearted boy that he is, Jude has a load of empathy. He's able to put himself into other people's shoes, even if they're the enemy, which is always a good trait to have in order to understand them. He does this notably when it comes to Muzet, since he understands how she must feel to not have anyone to follow anymore.

He's also able to look at the brighter side of bad things, and turn them into good things altogether. For example, in one skit he mentions how many calluses and scars are on his hands -- proof of all the fighting he has done with people, despite him not being entirely happy with that fighting. He sucks it up though, deciding that the the calluses are a good thing. To him, they're proof that he's striving to do the things he needs to do. Some others in the party even chime in, saying that they want calluses of their own! It's rather endearing and contagious.

He also has neat handwriting and is a good cook, though he bashfully points out that anyone can be a good cook with practice, anyway.

Weaknesses
Jude may be skilled with the artes at his disposal, but he's not invincible or as strong as Superman or anything. He's still susceptible to injuries, illnesses, etc., just like any other human being. It is worth noting that his artes aren't super powerful to begin with, especially in comparison to the other party members. His skills are limited as he lacks offensive spells, and he can only use short range healing and martial artes.

While he may be really bright, that's not totally the case when it comes to some select situations. Jude can be pretty dense at times. For example: he raves on about how much of an honor it is to fight alongside a legend like Rowen, to which Milla gets a bit huffy and asks how it feels for him to fight with Maxwell herself. But it goes completely over Jude's head. Additionally, when Leia asks him why he never responded to her letters, he bluntly said he just didn't know how to reply to the since they were all about her, and her penmanship was hard for him to read anyway. Likewise, upon saving Elize and Alvin, he states aloud that Teepo had just been a toy all along which... didn't exactly help with Elize's crying and sadness at all. After all, to her, Teepo wasn't a toy; he was her friend. Such a comment wasn't exactly the most tactful one immediately following her loss.

There's also the bit about direct tethering, though his ignorance on that subject could just be his naiveness showing. While he does pick up on a lot of innuendo, he's still a young boy who clearly doesn't pick up on all of it. This is also shown in his confusion over the term "bazongas" for, well, breasts.

Similarly, between his occasional denseness and more-than-occasional tendency to be a "do-gooder," he can give people the benefit of the doubt even when that benefit is far off from what actually happens. When Agria stomps on his face as he's passed out, he speaks to Rowen and Leia about it, suggesting that maybe she was just trying to say they got off on the wrong foot. That clearly wasn't the case though.

Jude's most notable weakness is shown in the beginning half or so of the game, prior to Milla's death. He really looks up to Milla and follows in her footsteps, both literally and metaphorically. He learns a lot from her and takes after her, such as wanting to protect both humans and spirits alike and coping with difficult situations. Throughout their journey, he just becomes more and more like Milla, and more mature -- like Milla. Everything is Milla, Milla, Milla. While this growing maturity is great, his dog-like dependency on Milla is a huge flaw. He's still a child in that he has a tendency to become very dependent on people he admires or looks up to, to the point of him not entirely making his own decisions. For the majority of the game, he just follows Milla like a puppy, doing everything based on what she does. His over-dependency is exposed after Milla dies and he pretty much loses himself. He loses all motivation and energy to do anything -- at least, until Alvin shoots Leia and consequently snaps him out of it. From that point forward he sets forth to finish what Milla started, going as far as to resist the actual Maxwell. It's at this point that he also does fortunately learn that he needs to "make his own decisions in order to grow into the adult he wants to be," despite who he follows. He declares that no matter what respect he has for someone (at this point, he refers to Gaius), he can still defy their path and make his own. Of course, this childish dependency caused by Milla also does serve as a catalyst for him to grow entirely, but the fact still stands that this is a huge flaw of his during the beginning half of the game.

Unrelated, but it's also mentioned that linguistics isn't his strong suit at all.

Anything else?:
It's implied that he probably had a bed-wetting problem when he was little. D'aw.

SAMPLES (ALL SAMPLES MUST BE SET IN THE LUCETIVERSE)

First Person:
Gah... Why did this have to happen? [He speaks meekly, albeit quietly in dismay. Once he sees that the feed begins though, he picks up his voice.]

Hi. This is Jude Mathis. I usually go to the library to pick up new books to read, since most of them aren't ones I've ever seen before. A lot of them come from different worlds, which is pretty interesting. It's nice to read up on other cultures.

Today I did find something very particular from Rieze Maxia, though. Something kind of... personal, I guess. [Not going into details though nope nope.] So I was wondering: How do those books end up here? Do they just show up with us when we arrive, or stay or leave when we disappear? It seems a little odd, especially if they're not regulated. I can't imagine that they would just suddenly pop up on a bookshelf. Someone has to collect and put them up there, right? Which begs the question as to what stops them from putting up something more personal like a diary or journal...

So yeah. I was just wondering. And uh... If anyone finds anything written by any "Mathis," could you please give me it? Thanks.

Third Person:
It started as an average day.

Jude was going about some of his normal every day activities in Luceti—making some food, taking a walk around the village, visiting the clinic… After a while, he eventually found himself in the library. He visited the building of books many times during his stay in Luceti, always picking up new novels, encyclopedias, etc. to read. They were all so interesting, after all, seeing as how so many of them had come from worlds besides his or Elympios. It was fascinating to read up on the different cultures directly, or just get a taste of them indirectly through fictional stories and the like.

So on this particular day, he planned on returning the books he had finished reading during the past month and picking up some new ones. After completing the former task, he began wandering around the building, weaving in and out of each aisle in search of something that would catch his eye. At one point, he noticed a familiar name pop up. Mathis. How odd.

“I’m guessing there are other people in other worlds with the same last name as me.”

Neat. This, of course, peaked his interest, and so he reached to pull the book off the shelf and get a better look at it. See the title, read the summary in the back, check out author notes… You know, the usual stuff. Except what was not-so-usual was just how familiar this book actually turned out to be once he got a better look at the spine before pulling it out. Something about… a baby named Jude… and a bedwetting problem…

…Wait.

“W-what?! What’s this doing here?!”

No, no, no, no, no! Why was that there?! The library in Luceti was known for having books from other worlds, but why thats of all things?! Without even waiting for a moment, Jude decided that he absolutely had to get rid of this and dispose of it! Nobody should ever read such a thing. Nope, nope, nope. Not happening. So he quickly grabbed the novel, yanking it out of the shelf. Despite him getting ready to turn and throw it out somewhere, however, he still had one obstacle to face.

The falling bookshelf.

Considering how forcefully he had pulled the book off, he must have caused too much of a disturbance to the old bookshelf. And so it tumbled on top of him, scattering its contents everywhere and knocking the paperback in Jude’s hands away with them. Once he recovered from the fall, he immediately searched through the pile for the terrible thing, only to find his quest completely futile. There were just too many books on the ground now! Where would he even begin his search?!

Something like this would happen to him, huh? Great.

Time to get to work before someone arrives at the scene…