Elliot "actual disney princess" Craig

Player Information
Name: Yuff
Age: 31
Contact: neutronstar
Other Characters: None!

Character Information
Name: Elliot Craig
Canon: The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
Canon Point: During the timeskip between Cold Steel 1 and Cold Steel 2. Right before he graduates from the Music Academy, so a couple months before CS3 starts.
Age: 19
History: History! The wiki's a hot mess, so I wrote my own.

A couple notes since Cold Steel has choices that changes certain scenes, so for Elliot:

Class VII were good students and completed all tasks given to them during field studies.

Rean attended all of Elliot's regular bonding events in CS1 and CS2.

However I won't say who Rean picked as his closest bond, and leave that up for any Reans that might app. The biggest difference is that if Rean choose Elliot, there was a period of time where it seemed like something could happen between them- but Rean was too dense to pick up on Elliot's many, many hints (he told him he was "the one" and wrote him a SONG. A SONG BRUH) and then Crow dying & everything else going to shit kinda put a real damper on that so nothing really came of it. If Rean didn't pick him, then Elliot still harbored feelings for him, but absolutely nothing came of it.

Personality:
In a military school class full of strong personalities, Elliot is an oddity. When you first meet him, he comes off as a rather timid and nervous person. Early in the series, he'd get easily scared or startled in new situations. From his tiny stature to his gentle demeanor, there's nothing about him that indicates he'd be good military material, much less part of a class that played a crucial role in stopping a civil war.

Sweet and kind are two words you can use to describe Elliot. He's nice to everyone he meets, and always tries to see the good in people. He's quick to give words of encouragement to his friends, or lend them an ear if they need someone to listen. If someone needs help, he'll agree to help with very little prodding. If there's not a clear answer to how to help a person, he'll fret about what to do to help them out, even when he has his own issues. Even when his own sister's being held hostage? He shows concern for Jusis, whose wracked with guilt from his family's involvement. He tells Rean that they need to rescue her not just for his sake, but for Jusis too.

Elliot doesn't enjoy fighting, so he tends to avoid if he can. When bullied at school for being a commoner, he reacts by not saying much and letting his friends do the talking. Even during battles, while his friends will shout intimidating boasts or threats at their opponents, Elliot is more inclined to politely plead them not to fight (it never works). At first, he resented the idea of attending a military because he had no desire to fight. It's only after making many great friends and having several world broadening experiences does he grow to appreciate his time at Thors.

That's not to say he's by any means a saint. He's quick to moan and groan about unpleasant tasks, muttering under his breath or complaining to friends. On occasion, he'll even say snarky remarks, though they tend to lack bite compared to his more snarky friends, erring more on the side of gentle ribbing. He has a tendency to lie or omit the truth on occasion, though it's usually well meaning. As a teenager, he easily gets embarrassed and annoyed by his father and sister's doting. As an adult, he activately thwart their attempts.

At the start of the series, one of Elliot's biggest flaws is his low self-confidence. He's convinced he's the weakest of his friends and holding the group back. At first, this had some merit, as he was the only one in the class with no previous experience of combat and it shows. He gets easily winded and scared at the idea of encountering monsters. Yet as time goes on, he grows stronger and less fearful. Eventually he grows strong enough to fight on the same level as his friends, but his confidence takes much longer to improve. Even as an adult, he still carries a strong amount of modesty about his own skills and contributions.

Part of his confidence issues are a result of his background. Being the son of the famous "Craig the Red", a man so fierce he rides tanks like personal hover-board, there was an expectation that Elliot would follow his mighty big footsteps. But as he got older, it became clear that he didn't have any of his father's physical abilities. Thus he's seen as something of a disappointment to many. This bothers Elliot enough that he hides his father's identity from his classmates for several months. When the truth comes out thanks to his older sister, he admits it: "Well, I'm not surprised you didn't peg me as Olaf Craig's son. I was kinda hoping you wouldn't find out...". While it's made clear that his father loves him? The idea that he doesn't live up to other people's standards still bothers Elliot a great deal.

But the other part of his confidence issues? Comes from the fact that Elliot is a perfectionist when it comes to stuff he's passionate about. He holds himself to a very high standard, and is always pushing himself to do better. He doesn't just practice his violin, he'll practice his violin all day and then laments that the lack of soundproofing in the dorms prevents him from practicing all night too. When the class decides to put on a music concert for the cultural festival and puts Elliot in charge of the rehearsals, he goes into full drill sergeant mode and refuses to let anyone leave until they have a perfect run-through. He brings the same attitude towards his battle ability. Not because he's passionate about fighting, but because he's passionate about the people around him and wants to help them as much as possible.

While his perfectionist tendencies never go away? Over the course of the series, Elliot gains more confidence from his experiences. He goes from a meek kid who frets about making it through every monster fight to a young man who talks about finding a way to end a civil war so he can pursue his own dreams. This newfound confidence seeps into many aspects of his life. It gives him the strength and conviction to live his life how he wants, instead of how other people think he should live it. In one of his bonding scenes, he even speculates that maybe this was his father's intention all along:

"He wasn't against me going to the music academy because he was against me pursuing a career in music. He didn't want me to lock myself into it. He wanted me to be able to decide for myself just what path I wanted to follow. And more importantly, he wanted me to have the strength do so, even if people around me tried to stand in my way..."

The truth is, Elliot's a lot more like his father than he realizes. Both of them are passionate perfectionists. General Craig's division is the best in the Imperial Army because he holds himself and his men to an incredibly high standard, just as Elliot does for music. Both of them are very open about showing their love and affection for the people in their lives. They both prefer to think long and hard on important decisions, rather than rush them. And as Elliot's confidence grows, they only grow to be more alike as much like his father, there's little that can stop him from pursuing what he wants.

Elliot is a guy whose easy to befriend, but can be hard to get to know. When he talks about himself, it tends to be on "need to know" basis. It takes months for his classmates to find out anything in-depth about his life. Most questions asked receive vague answers or a simple "don't worry about it". When you first go to Elliot's house during a field study, he won't even let the other party members into his bedroom at first. It's only when he's mentally ready to share that part of his life with his classmates does he let them in. He's not actually hiding any terrible secrets, and he doesn't have any real trust issues. He's just both self-conscious and a private person. If he can? He'd rather handle his problems himself instead of burdening other people with them. He does tend to know when he's in over his head, and is capable of asking of help if needed. It can just take a bit of time for him to bring himself to do it.

His main element is water in the gameplay mechanics, and it's an element that suits him well. Despite his nervousness and complaints, he adapts to new situations rather quickly. At the start of the school year he shows anxiety interacting with nobles. Yet by the next month, he's completely adjusted, much to Rean's surprise, as it takes other members of the class longer to adjust to differences within the class. He tends to go with the flow much easier than some of his classmates, yet is a lot stronger willed than people first expect. When the civil war breaks out, he flourishes. He becomes a gungho member of the party; ready to do whatever he can to help stop the war while helping as many people as possible.

Music is an absolute passion for Elliot. To him, music is an inseparable part of his life, an obsession. He's happiest when he's performing music. Rean says you can hear Elliot's pure love of music in every note he plays. In the game's social link system, most of his bonding events revolve around music in some way or another. When he's forced to flee Trista at the start of the civil war, he couldn't bring himself to leave behind his violin so he went as far as risk capture to retrieve it. By the end of Cold Steel 2, he's fully embraced his passion of music. He decides to work towards finding a way to use music to bring peace and heal people. Which sounds naive by our world's standards, but you're talking about a guy who can kill monsters and wake coma patients with fiddle playing. So you know....it's not completely implausible by his world's standards.

His current canon point sets him a couple years into canon and his own personal journey. He's grown a lot since his early days at Thors. The civil war and losing Crow was a turning point for him. He's a lot less hesitant, willing to pursue what he cares about relentlessly. While he still has anxiety, that'll never go away entirely, he's less willing to let it control his life. He's even shown to have developed a knack for a teaching like his sister - one of his side jobs is being a music teacher for kids.

Abilities & Skills: Most of Elliot's powers are magical-based so about 90% of it will be completely obsolete, but I'll still do my best to explain anyway.

In Zemuria there are 7 elements that make up all energy/magic in the world. There's four common elements: Earth, Fire, Water and Wind - and there's 3 rarer "higher" elements: Space (aka light), Time (aka dark), and Mirage (aka psychic/anything that doesn't fit in the other 6). Each of these elements have unique attributes and generally people have 1 to 2 elements they naturally lean towards (though with the right equipment they are able to use all 7). Every Zemurian has some capacity to use magic, but most require a special device called a "battle orbment" to do so and even that can only help so much for someone with low aptitude.

On the flipside, there are some Zemurians who are capable of using magic or powers of some type without an orbment (though they still use them because they're handy). These folks come in a wide variety such as witches of the Hexen Clan, the holy powered Dominions from the church, the tech-building Gnomes, etc. But perhaps the most mysterious group of them all are fucking bards.

You see, the "power of music" is very much a real thing in Zemuria, a real and mysterious thing. How does it work? We don't know. We do know that musicians through the series use music for all sorts of spells: putting people to sleep, mind control, healing, controlling giant beasts, summoning birds, turning your lute into a gun ... the sky's the limit.

Elliot's own brand of music power tends to center around healing and sleep spells. He can heal injuries, grant temporary regeneration, put people to sleep - or trap them in nightmares, and make sound proof barriers...somehow. His elements are water and space, and his magic power is second best in the game, only coming after Emma "I grew up in an actual witch coven" Millstein.

However this is all pointless since he'll be depowered.

What will stick around is his music proficiency. Elliot is a music genius and very adept at all things musical. He's able to memorize rhythms after hearing them once, and has sharp enough hearing to pick up on things others miss (it's not superhuman, it's just really good). He's best at violin and piano, but he also knows a wide variety of instruments. So yes, if folks need anything music related, they can call on Elliot.

And then not call him for anything else because without his magic he's as useful as a Magikarp.

Inventory/Companions:

ARCUS I: Elliot's battle orbment. Basically it's a flip phone that's powered by a water-element quartz boosts his healing power and gives him regeneration power for periods of time. When another ARCUS user is around, he can also form a combat link that let's him be aware of his partner at all time in battle and work in more sync. Though none of this matters since it's very much dead until he finds a power source.

Orbal Staff: A staff that's designed for people with high magic aptitude. When it works, Elliot uses it to shoot magic bubbles at opponents that completely ignore physical defense so they can pack a surprising punch. Elliot's staff has a special mode in which he can shorten the rod part and the head of the staff becomes a functional violin. But until he finds a way to power his staff, it's just a normal staff and stuck in staff mode because he uses magic to change the size oops.

Choice: Witch
Reason: Because he'd a sad noodle of a monster, lets be real here. Also yeah, magic is definitely more his thing.

Sample: TDM thread!