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empatheias
Player: Riddle
Contact:
Age: 30
Current Characters: N/A
Character: Earl Ciel Phantomhive
Age:
Canon: Kuroshitsuji / Black Butler
Canon Point: After the events of volume 22.
Background: The chapters thus far. Everything to chapter 107 is valid for his canon point.
Personality: Ciel will claim, quite adamantly, that he, thanks to one tragic, abusive month (wherein he lost his family), is a different person entirely from who he used to be. The exact details of what sort of abuse the young Earl endured are a mystery, but said abuses were traumatic enough (as if seeing his dog, mother and father slain weren't enough) that he left his childhood innocence far behind. By the time he called for Sebastian, he had let his despair and his hunger for revenge consume him. There simply was no room for hope. Besides, if hope, faith and ideas of that ilk truly existed, why didn't anyone (god or otherwise) answer his pleas for help? Clearly the world is a dark, unfeeling place and if he wants to avenge himself (and perhaps his family), he must think as the world does and be utterly ruthless.
Under Sebastian's tutelage, he has transformed himself (in record time) into a true Earl of Phantomhive; a true Watch-Dog for Queen Victoria. There is nothing he wouldn't do for Her Majesty and some might question why. For him, it is a point of pride; he is a Phantomhive and part of the Phantomhive and they have served royalty for many generation. However, besides that connection, Ciel wants to make his presence public and alluring to those who murdered his parents and kidnapped him. He wants them to come to him and then, oh then, he will make his final orders to Sebastian.
Thus, for the most part, his public persona is antagonistic, demanding and cold. He can act a part if need be to get information - as seen when he becomes Smile in the circus - but once he drops the act, it is easy to see that he is intensely focused on his goals. There are few in existence that are as ambitious and driven as Ciel Phantomhive. If he closes a case, anything that happens on the way are merely means to an end. He feels no remorse over them because he simply doesn't allow himself to feel emotions that may weaken his resolve.
However, though he keeps a rigid control over himself, there is a side to him, carefully kept under lock and key, that is terrified of the covenant he has made with a demon and disturbed (deeply so) over what crimes he has committed. In the Emerald Witch arc, his weakest side is revealed when he is exposed to a sometimes deadly gas. All he can do is cry, scream and hide - particularly when Sebastian is near - and he acts very much like a child (like when he refuses food and will only drink milk with honey in it). Said side obviously embarrasses him and he does admit, at the end, that said persona is always part of him - which is a far more mature response than he has given in the past when questioned about his childish tendencies (mostly by Sebastian). (Before, he claimed it didn't exist; that he couldn't be a true child anymore. But that obviously isn't so.)
After he recovers from the effects of the gas on his body and psyche, he reveals his astute cunning - the part of him that he seems to cherish the most. The person he wants to be is the person he will most often display - unless he is hiding his identity or afflicted by events that remind him of the past or gravely injured. It also seems like the persona he favors the most - the controlled, ambitious, cunning lover of Her Majesty and games - has been adopted from what he recalls of his father, Vincent Phantomhive. Tanaka too (the previous butler) instructs him at times in how his father would handle certain situations, which helps him build said persona even more.
For good or ill, he has chosen the path that will lead to eternal damnation. Nothing and no one can alter his path or undo what has been done. He cannot let himself get too close to anyone for that reason - even his fiancee Elizabeth - and he must stand tall (figuratively) in the face of foes who have been members of the Underworld for far longer than he has been alive. He trusts he will stand as their equal - and then better with Sebastian's aid - but it is clear that, inside, Ciel is an utter mess; someone who is torn against himself and never, ever satisfied.
He is a child, but he can't be. He is bound to a demon for vengeance, but that frightens him to his core. Even if he achieves his ultimate goal of getting said vengeance, the child side of him will only be more terrified. He cannot truly win, but if that is so, at least he can make what time he has left worthwhile and remove some vermin from the world.
Abilities: He isn't a bad shot with his pistol, he is a well-educated English noble*, he can be sly and cunning depending on the wants/needs of Her Majesty Queen Victoria and he uses his childish wants/needs as business opportunities (who knows better what children want than a child, after all). More to the point, he seems to see the cases Victoria gives him - and those he stumbles on himself - as "games". When a game is interesting, he will prolong it. When it loses his interest or leads him into pain/discomfort, he will order Sebastian to end it abruptly and usually burn/get rid of the evidence.
*His education thus far includes: riding a horse/shooting birds/other hunting quarry, dancing, fencing, art, music (the violin), various etiquettes (business, dining and otherwise), history, Latin and other (not dead) languages (he can speak fluent French for example). I also assume he has lessons in mathematics as that would be essential for running a business.
Alignment: Peromei: Ciel has experienced much despair and he does not believe in pure, genuine hope any longer. However the emotions are two sides of the same coin, are they not? He may have more hope for his future than he allows himself to acknowledge, though, of course, he knows how it will end. Sebastian's fee must be paid in full.
Other:
General Sample: Amulets and Sailors.
Emotion Sample: Emotional escalation and cats with manes.
Questions: