The Year App
Apr. 21st, 2017 06:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ragnarssonPlayer Information
Player name: Shade
Are you over 18: Y
Prexisting Characters: N/A
Character Information
Character Name: Ivar "The Boneless" Ragnarsson
Canon: Vikings
Canon Point: Episode 4.18
History: Wiki link!
Personality: First and foremost, the thing that has shaped Ivar's personality the most is his disability. Born in a time and culture where being able-bodied meant everything, he was born with nothing. Everyone told his parents to abandon him in the woods, and indeed, his father tries to. As she would do so many times throughout his early life, his mother rescued him.
In his early childhood, Ivar knew he was different, but it didn't bother him too much. He had his mother, his brothers, and for the brief moments he was around, his father. His mother doted upon him, giving him all sorts of special attention while neglecting her other children. Ivar became extremely spoiled, a trait that would follow him into adulthood. By the time he was five years old, this began to change. He realized he wasn't like the other children. He was an outcast from them. This was heightened during an incident that showed his developing personality. Ivar wanted to play with the other children, but they were ignoring him. When the ball was finally tossed to him, another child tried to take it away from him. Frustrated and upset, Ivar picked up an axe and slammed it into the boy's head, killing him instantly.
While Ivar initially appeared horrified by his act, he was assured by his mother that it was not his fault. He soon got over it. This early act of brutality marked that there was something very wrong with Ivar. There was the budding personality of a psychopath in the making. It was marked by another incident in which his niece Siggy drowned. Rather than show a proper response, the young boy laughed and said, "Who cares?" It's shown early on that Ivar doesn't care about most people and very few of them are real to him.
Ten years down the road, Ivar has turned into a very brutal and angry young man. Everyone judges him as soon as they take a look at him. Most Vikings think he's less than nothing or outright mock him. It's formed a huge chip on his shoulder and his anger is now his primary motivating force. He pushes himself to not just be as good as other Vikings like his brothers, but to be even better than they are. But he's purposeless, wandering about without a specific idea of where his life is going to head.
This changes when his father Ragnar comes back into his life after being absent for ten years. Ragnar is the first one to push him and make him think beyond just dragging himself around for the rest of his life. He becomes motivated and pushes himself to be better than he's ever been. It's also the first time in a very long while he allows himself to love anyone. He should be angry with his father, and to an extent, he is. But Ragnar is charismatic and believes in Ivar, more so than anyone else ever has. So Ivar grows close to his father in a short amount of time, giving the man his love, and more importantly, his loyalty.
But then Ragnar dies. And his mother Aslaug dies too. So Ivar is left along without the two people he loves most in the world. But rather than curl up and cry about it, he's furious. This is where a big part of his personality will be formed. His rage is what will sustain as he plots revenge. He plots with his brothers to take on all of England. While his brothers refuse to let him lead the army since he's got no battle experience, Ivar is shown to be a very brilliant military strategist. He works things out, like successfully predicting the moves of an army and their leader that he had never seen before.
His personality is best summed up in three words: brutal, clever, and cruel. He will tear anyone who gets in his way apart. Whatever he wants, he will get, if he has to steamroll over everyone in his path to get there. Even his own brothers aren't safe from that side of him. He's also very clever. This comes from being less mobile than other people, something that allows him to pause and analyze instead of rushing in as most Vikings do. He reads people and gets inside their heads. Ivar is also pathologically cruel. He's vicious to his enemies, giving one of them the blood eagle, the worst Viking punishment ever thought up. Even his family isn't safe from him. He kills his own brother in a fit of anger.
However, while Ivar may act wise beyond his years and act like a man, he's still a young teenager. He's shown to have very little self-confidence and what he does have can crumple like a house of cards at the slightest blow. He hates above all things to be pitied and feels like that's all anyone will ever give him. When he's with a woman for the first time, he expects her to turn him down, and when she agrees, it goes disastrously. He's shown for the first time to be vulnerable, hurting and embarrassed. He never shows this side to anyone, preferring to show only a tough front that can't be cracked to the world.
Items on your character at canon point: One set of archaic clothes: shirt, vest, pants, and boots. A pair of leather arm braces that help him get around. One throwing axe. Two knives.
Abilities: Ivar has immense upper body strength from literally crawling around most of his life. According to showrunners, he has brittle bone syndrome, so in order to get around, he's either got to move himself using only his arms, or wait around for someone willing to carry him. Being without the use of his legs didn't keep him from learning how to wield weapons and he's shown to actually be better at archery and with a throwing ax than three of his brothers. He can also wield a sword well enough to end in a tied draw with one of them too. He's very intelligent, and despite being young, can devise military strategies good enough to win battles.
Strengths and Weaknesses: One of Ivar's greatest strengths is that he's very intelligent. Whereas most other Vikings are all about just attacking something until they knock it down, he'll be the one looking around for a battering ram instead. Being somewhat immobile means he has more time to think and figure out both how people and things work. He's very good at this and even his brothers take note of his skill at figuring out battlefield strategies.
Ivar is also extremely loyal to those he cares about. There aren't many that fall into this category, but the love he feels for his mother and father are a great motivator for him for most of the series. When he finds out his mother is dead, he challenges her killer to single combat, even though it might mean his own death. When that doesn't work, he plots with Ubbe, his older brother, to bring her down, even though they know their oldest brother Bjorn will try to stop them. When his father dies, Ivar works with his brothers, with whom he doesn't always have the best of relationships, purely because he wants revenge as badly as they do. He wants to avenge the death of the only man who ever believed in him, and before all the gods, he'll get it if he has to raze all of England to do so.
Another trait he has is love. While it may not be obvious, given his cold and otherwise psychopathic personality, Ivar is capable of loving a very few select people. This love gives him the motivation to do anything for them. If his mother or father asked anything of him, he'd do it without questioning it, because they were two of the only people who cared about him. This fuels a desire for revenge that leads him to leading the biggest Viking army ever to England, all to honor his father. To a lesser extent, he does also care for his brothers, save for Sigurd. It's not obvious considering how he usually insults them, but actions speak louder than words, and he tends to be more at home around them than he is with other Vikings.
The last good trait Ivar has is his determination. Other people in that particular time period and in his position, in his own words of being "a cripple and a reject", might have just wallowed in self-pity. Ivar decided early on that not only was he going to be a true Viking, but he was actually going to be better than others at certain things. That's why he works so hard to learn combat weapons and to be smarter than everyone else around him. He figures if he does all this, people will respect and fear him. Even if he can't be physically the same as everyone, he can still be great. All he needs to do is be pointed in the right direction and he'll let nothing stop him from achieving his goals.
One of Ivar's worst qualities, by his own admission, is his anger. While it might be a good quality for a Viking warrior to have, it does make it hard to form meaningful relationships. He's got a huge chip on his shoulder. Everyone he meets is someone he expects to not take him seriously, pity him, or talk down to him because of his physical problems. Therefore, everyone is a potential enemy rather than friend. His anger runs in two forms: either the temporary white hot fury that will be discussed in the impulsive section or the slow burning kind that makes him hold onto grudges until the end of time. Both tend to get him into trouble.
The second bad quality is that he's quite literally psychopathic. There's just something a little bit wrong with him emotionally. Even as a small child of no more than five or six, he impulsively kills another boy because he was frustrated over a game they were playing. He doesn't react to things appropriately, laughing when his niece dies, and not caring about the slaughter of the Vikings in Wessex. He flat out admits he likes killing far more than even the warrior society he's surrounded by does. Between his anger and his cold, uncaring nature, even his brothers, whom he does love to some degree, are rightfully afraid of him.
He's also got a very sharp and acerbic personality. Ivar prefers to keep everyone at arm's length away from him and he does so with a combination of a sharp tongue and violent actions. While this is ostensibly is to prevent himself from getting hurt, it does mean that he eventually ends up pushing most people away sooner or later. He's got almost no friends and even his brothers are eventually pushed away by how he acts.
The last weakness he has is being impulsive. Caused partially by the qualities above, Ivar is extremely impulsive when he gets upset or angry. Even as a young boy, this caused someone's death. As an adult, he makes several attempts on his brother Sigurd's life because of a feud between them, before finally succeeding. Immediately after, he looks shocked and sorry, but taking a life can't be undone. Neither can the occasional cruel, biting things he says out of anger.
Sample
Prose/Action Sample: With Konoe on the TDM
Player name: Shade
Are you over 18: Y
Prexisting Characters: N/A
Character Information
Character Name: Ivar "The Boneless" Ragnarsson
Canon: Vikings
Canon Point: Episode 4.18
History: Wiki link!
Personality: First and foremost, the thing that has shaped Ivar's personality the most is his disability. Born in a time and culture where being able-bodied meant everything, he was born with nothing. Everyone told his parents to abandon him in the woods, and indeed, his father tries to. As she would do so many times throughout his early life, his mother rescued him.
In his early childhood, Ivar knew he was different, but it didn't bother him too much. He had his mother, his brothers, and for the brief moments he was around, his father. His mother doted upon him, giving him all sorts of special attention while neglecting her other children. Ivar became extremely spoiled, a trait that would follow him into adulthood. By the time he was five years old, this began to change. He realized he wasn't like the other children. He was an outcast from them. This was heightened during an incident that showed his developing personality. Ivar wanted to play with the other children, but they were ignoring him. When the ball was finally tossed to him, another child tried to take it away from him. Frustrated and upset, Ivar picked up an axe and slammed it into the boy's head, killing him instantly.
While Ivar initially appeared horrified by his act, he was assured by his mother that it was not his fault. He soon got over it. This early act of brutality marked that there was something very wrong with Ivar. There was the budding personality of a psychopath in the making. It was marked by another incident in which his niece Siggy drowned. Rather than show a proper response, the young boy laughed and said, "Who cares?" It's shown early on that Ivar doesn't care about most people and very few of them are real to him.
Ten years down the road, Ivar has turned into a very brutal and angry young man. Everyone judges him as soon as they take a look at him. Most Vikings think he's less than nothing or outright mock him. It's formed a huge chip on his shoulder and his anger is now his primary motivating force. He pushes himself to not just be as good as other Vikings like his brothers, but to be even better than they are. But he's purposeless, wandering about without a specific idea of where his life is going to head.
This changes when his father Ragnar comes back into his life after being absent for ten years. Ragnar is the first one to push him and make him think beyond just dragging himself around for the rest of his life. He becomes motivated and pushes himself to be better than he's ever been. It's also the first time in a very long while he allows himself to love anyone. He should be angry with his father, and to an extent, he is. But Ragnar is charismatic and believes in Ivar, more so than anyone else ever has. So Ivar grows close to his father in a short amount of time, giving the man his love, and more importantly, his loyalty.
But then Ragnar dies. And his mother Aslaug dies too. So Ivar is left along without the two people he loves most in the world. But rather than curl up and cry about it, he's furious. This is where a big part of his personality will be formed. His rage is what will sustain as he plots revenge. He plots with his brothers to take on all of England. While his brothers refuse to let him lead the army since he's got no battle experience, Ivar is shown to be a very brilliant military strategist. He works things out, like successfully predicting the moves of an army and their leader that he had never seen before.
His personality is best summed up in three words: brutal, clever, and cruel. He will tear anyone who gets in his way apart. Whatever he wants, he will get, if he has to steamroll over everyone in his path to get there. Even his own brothers aren't safe from that side of him. He's also very clever. This comes from being less mobile than other people, something that allows him to pause and analyze instead of rushing in as most Vikings do. He reads people and gets inside their heads. Ivar is also pathologically cruel. He's vicious to his enemies, giving one of them the blood eagle, the worst Viking punishment ever thought up. Even his family isn't safe from him. He kills his own brother in a fit of anger.
However, while Ivar may act wise beyond his years and act like a man, he's still a young teenager. He's shown to have very little self-confidence and what he does have can crumple like a house of cards at the slightest blow. He hates above all things to be pitied and feels like that's all anyone will ever give him. When he's with a woman for the first time, he expects her to turn him down, and when she agrees, it goes disastrously. He's shown for the first time to be vulnerable, hurting and embarrassed. He never shows this side to anyone, preferring to show only a tough front that can't be cracked to the world.
Items on your character at canon point: One set of archaic clothes: shirt, vest, pants, and boots. A pair of leather arm braces that help him get around. One throwing axe. Two knives.
Abilities: Ivar has immense upper body strength from literally crawling around most of his life. According to showrunners, he has brittle bone syndrome, so in order to get around, he's either got to move himself using only his arms, or wait around for someone willing to carry him. Being without the use of his legs didn't keep him from learning how to wield weapons and he's shown to actually be better at archery and with a throwing ax than three of his brothers. He can also wield a sword well enough to end in a tied draw with one of them too. He's very intelligent, and despite being young, can devise military strategies good enough to win battles.
Strengths and Weaknesses: One of Ivar's greatest strengths is that he's very intelligent. Whereas most other Vikings are all about just attacking something until they knock it down, he'll be the one looking around for a battering ram instead. Being somewhat immobile means he has more time to think and figure out both how people and things work. He's very good at this and even his brothers take note of his skill at figuring out battlefield strategies.
Ivar is also extremely loyal to those he cares about. There aren't many that fall into this category, but the love he feels for his mother and father are a great motivator for him for most of the series. When he finds out his mother is dead, he challenges her killer to single combat, even though it might mean his own death. When that doesn't work, he plots with Ubbe, his older brother, to bring her down, even though they know their oldest brother Bjorn will try to stop them. When his father dies, Ivar works with his brothers, with whom he doesn't always have the best of relationships, purely because he wants revenge as badly as they do. He wants to avenge the death of the only man who ever believed in him, and before all the gods, he'll get it if he has to raze all of England to do so.
Another trait he has is love. While it may not be obvious, given his cold and otherwise psychopathic personality, Ivar is capable of loving a very few select people. This love gives him the motivation to do anything for them. If his mother or father asked anything of him, he'd do it without questioning it, because they were two of the only people who cared about him. This fuels a desire for revenge that leads him to leading the biggest Viking army ever to England, all to honor his father. To a lesser extent, he does also care for his brothers, save for Sigurd. It's not obvious considering how he usually insults them, but actions speak louder than words, and he tends to be more at home around them than he is with other Vikings.
The last good trait Ivar has is his determination. Other people in that particular time period and in his position, in his own words of being "a cripple and a reject", might have just wallowed in self-pity. Ivar decided early on that not only was he going to be a true Viking, but he was actually going to be better than others at certain things. That's why he works so hard to learn combat weapons and to be smarter than everyone else around him. He figures if he does all this, people will respect and fear him. Even if he can't be physically the same as everyone, he can still be great. All he needs to do is be pointed in the right direction and he'll let nothing stop him from achieving his goals.
One of Ivar's worst qualities, by his own admission, is his anger. While it might be a good quality for a Viking warrior to have, it does make it hard to form meaningful relationships. He's got a huge chip on his shoulder. Everyone he meets is someone he expects to not take him seriously, pity him, or talk down to him because of his physical problems. Therefore, everyone is a potential enemy rather than friend. His anger runs in two forms: either the temporary white hot fury that will be discussed in the impulsive section or the slow burning kind that makes him hold onto grudges until the end of time. Both tend to get him into trouble.
The second bad quality is that he's quite literally psychopathic. There's just something a little bit wrong with him emotionally. Even as a small child of no more than five or six, he impulsively kills another boy because he was frustrated over a game they were playing. He doesn't react to things appropriately, laughing when his niece dies, and not caring about the slaughter of the Vikings in Wessex. He flat out admits he likes killing far more than even the warrior society he's surrounded by does. Between his anger and his cold, uncaring nature, even his brothers, whom he does love to some degree, are rightfully afraid of him.
He's also got a very sharp and acerbic personality. Ivar prefers to keep everyone at arm's length away from him and he does so with a combination of a sharp tongue and violent actions. While this is ostensibly is to prevent himself from getting hurt, it does mean that he eventually ends up pushing most people away sooner or later. He's got almost no friends and even his brothers are eventually pushed away by how he acts.
The last weakness he has is being impulsive. Caused partially by the qualities above, Ivar is extremely impulsive when he gets upset or angry. Even as a young boy, this caused someone's death. As an adult, he makes several attempts on his brother Sigurd's life because of a feud between them, before finally succeeding. Immediately after, he looks shocked and sorry, but taking a life can't be undone. Neither can the occasional cruel, biting things he says out of anger.
Sample
Prose/Action Sample: With Konoe on the TDM
