Nanu (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ulaulakahuna) wrote2018-05-01 01:20 pm
ulaulakahuna) wrote2018-05-01 01:20 pm
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empatheias app
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Current Characters: edit: as of 01/06/19, Mipha |
miphasgraceCharacter: Nanu
Age: no canon age - I estimate over 40, under 60
Canon: Pokémon Sun & Moon/Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - specifically taken from Moon's storyline
Canon Point: Right before he lures Guzzlord into Resolution Cave.
Background: Nanu's Bulbapedia page
Personality:
The first time Nanu appears, it's as though he's a product of the gloomy atmosphere around him. Living on a route of perpetual, dreary rain and wearing a near-permanent facial expression of clear apathy, he could be the embodiment of the Dark-type pokémon he specializes in. The very first conversation he ever has with the eleven-year-old protagonist doesn't change this impression. He asks the protagonist if they're truly prepared to enter a ruined town overrun by delinquents; and, provided they are, he assures them that in the event of their death...
It sums up his character fairly well. Deadpan, dry, and morbid.
Just from a glance at his character, his uncaring attitude can easily be discerned. Wearing his uniform as a police officer, his jacket is untucked, unbuttoned, and has a tear in the collar. He wears the uniform's slacks, but walks around in flip-flops instead of dress shoes. His eyes are half-lidded, mouth settled into a frown, and he carries himself not with pride but with a noticeable slouch. And then he opens his mouth, and everything clicks into place.
Nanu doesn't put a lot of stock into himself. He doesn't put a lot of stock into anyone or anything else, either. Not once does he display any sort of excited enthusiasm, even on the rare occasion he lets his facial expression change. Deadpan is his norm and solitude is his wont. He's defeated before the protagonist even battles him. Getting dragged out of his home in order to take care of something elicits nothing but negativity, despite the fact that he's going along with it. It's safe to assume Nanu isn't exactly an optimist.
He airs complaints at the drop of a hat, usually appears alone and keeps other people at arm's length, and downplays his involvement in any matter by brushing off what everybody else says. Living so close to a rowdy gang of delinquents? He's not keeping an eye on them, he's just "crazy enough" to live there because the rent's cheaper. Asked to join the Elite Four as one of the region's strongest pokémon trainers? Hell no, he's already been roped into being an Island Kahuna, he's not going to add more work for himself. Has knowledge of top-secret information that only high-ranking agents in the International Police should have? Ehh, no one wants to hear about why that is, it's not important, don't mind him.
The term "Island Kahuna" refers to both a title and job Nanu holds, one that, unlike Police Chief, he did not sign up for. The region of Alola is tied to sacred traditions, most of which replace the pokémon world's normal "gym leader" system. Each of Alola's four islands has its own guardian deity, a capricious and enigmatic legendary pokémon who rarely makes itself seen. Revered with the title of "Tapu", these guardians preside over their respective islands and act as they see fit. Each Tapu chooses one person on their island; a powerful pokémon trainer with qualities deemed by the Tapu's whims. This person is dubbed the Island Kahuna, and the position cannot be turned down.
That's certainly the only way Nanu would ever take up such an important position.
While he doesn't badmouth the title of Island Kahuna, he doesn't hold it in high regard like his fellow Kahunas do. He shirks his duties as much as possible, completely forgets about important meetings, and doesn't go around introducing himself as the Island Kahuna to kids making their journey across Alola. He certainly doesn't care how that makes him appear to other people - he could care less about what they think. The title, and consequently, the job, are an obligation he has no choice but to be a part of, instead of an honor bestowed upon him by the sacred deity. Nanu's overall sour attitude and lazy work ethic aren't at all lessened by the grand importance put on his shoulders - in fact, it might as well amplify his desire to do absolutely nothing. He'd much rather relax at home than have to break up a dispute, clean the shrine to his island's Tapu, travel across the island to engage in a pokémon battle, do absolutely anything...
Even other characters remark on how unfit Nanu is to be an Island Kahuna...yet he was chosen anyway. The Tapu have keen senses and choose their kahunas on their own instinct. It's not unreasonable to think that Ula'ula Island's Tapu Bulu could recognize what kind of person Nanu really is as opposed to the lazy, beaten-down old man who most everyone else, including Nanu, sees him as.
There's a reason he's a police officer. There's a reason he stays close to Team Skull's headquarters, living the way he does. There's a reason he cracks his apathetic façade with a chuckle and a grin whenever the protagonist shows them their skill and their bond with their pokémon. Deep down, Nanu cares about pokémon and people, loathe as he is to admit it. And he's more than just a lazy slob, too - a man doesn't get to police chief without a damn good reason. There's far more than one mysterious hint he's not all he's made out to be, that he's in-the-know despite all evidence to the contrary.
People say he's a useless police officer. Why? Because he lives next to Team Skull and didn't do a thing about them. Well, that's not the entire picture. For one thing, his very first role in the game is to let the protagonist into Team Skull's town because they wouldn't allow them inside. He doesn't open the door; he makes Team Skull let them in. For a gang all about hating authority, breaking rules, and towering over others with feigned superiority, it's a big deal they obey a police officer and kahuna from just one word. While their full relationship is unknown, Nanu keeps a watchful eye over the town and the gang's members, some of which hang around outside his police station and take care of his Meowth. Later, he makes remarks that all but explain that letting Team Skull have their little town was a way to keep them in check, mitigate their damage. Nanu's not dense; he knew what he was doing, and what the gang's activities were doing to themselves.
People say he's mean and grouchy. Why? Well, it's fairly obvious. He's blunt, speaks his mind tactfully yet without worry as to what another person might think of him because of it. He lives on his own and shoos other people away and treats social interaction like a chore. But while that makes him grouchy, it doesn't mean he's a bad person, nor does it mean he's incapable of feeling anything other than apathy or annoyance. In fact, he's even capable of a smile!
His positive emotions surface when, predictably, he senses something he likes. Someone's pride in their pokémon. Engaging in, and even getting defeated in, a pokémon battle with someone who gives it their all. Watching and helping someone become stronger and give the respect they deserve. The protagonist gets to see his lopsided grin whenever they defeat him in battle - and he's no pushover. When the protagonist becomes Champion of the Alola region, a party is thrown, and despite his loner tendencies, Nanu attends. Not only does he gladly give the protagonist congratulations, to the joy of one of his fellow kahunas and his honorary niece, but he even performs his goofy Z-Move (a type-specific, power-imbuing dance move for pokémon battles) just as the others do, albeit in private, with a good-natured grin to boot. There's plenty of things that can make him smile, chuckle, and offer his often gallows humor - it just takes some time to get to know him, and the right circumstances to lure it out.
All of that being said, how did he end up this way? Nanu may have been a gloomy person from the day he was born, he may have specialized in Dark-types right off the bat, but there's still a sense of melancholy that comes from him underneath the apathy. Old acquaintances of his, who show up in the post-game story, imply to the protagonist that Nanu wasn't always this bad. It's one of these same acquaintances who explains why, and the other who brings out Nanu's protective side. They're members of the International Police - Looker (a detective who has appeared in previous games, usually enlisting the help of the protagonist for his cases) and Anabel (once the leader of an elite battle competition center exclusively in Pokémon Emerald, now an adult employed as an agent, and Looker's superior).
To explain, some storytelling is required... Nanu used to be in the International Police, himself. He was Looker's superior as well as partner, and both Looker and Anabel describe him as used to being a top officer and elite agent. Ten years before the events of Sun & Moon, he, Looker, and an unnamed third, female team member, were on a mission in the very same Alola region. They were tasked with tracking down an Ultra Beast - pokémon-like, alien monsters that are unwillingly transported to this world via a wormhole - and eradicating it. Ultra Beasts are incredibly strong and destructive; they rampage through anything in their path, hunting for the source of energy their wormholes give off in order to get back home. If anything else went or came through such a wormhole, they end up radiating that energy.
And, as it turns out, the only reason Interpol assigned their third team member was because she had been through a wormhole herself. She was giving off that energy. She was serving as nothing but bait. The beast they were tracking down - a "Guzzlord" - is essentially a bunch of chomping mouths on legs, and the bait served the purpose Interpol forced on her. She was killed on that mission, by that beast, under Nanu's leadership.
Furthermore, just after their mission went belly-up, Nanu and Looker found Anabel on the shore of one of Alola's islands. She was unconscious, and when she came to, she could remember barely anything but her name. The International Police put her under observation and discovered Anabel, too, had fallen through a wormhole and radiates the very same energy.
It's unknown how long Nanu stayed on the force after that mission, but it was long enough for Anabel to develop respect for him, and develop some sort of teacher-mentor relationship before he split. But there's no doubt that Nanu left because of the mission and how his employers handled it. They knowingly gave him an agent with no combat training for the sole purpose of luring out an incredibly dangerous beast, and she paid the price. Even if it wasn't his decision, no amount of petty reassurances could erase the guilt that would arise from watching her die at the
As luck would have it, Ultra Beasts infest Alola again, and despite no longer being an International Police Officer, Nanu still has some mysterious ties inside the organization. He shocks both Anabel and Looker by showing up and providing information, all the while keeping track of their progress and willingly going through the work to keep up with them. That fateful mission years before left a mark on him, not just in the form of guilt or depression, but a disillusionment of Interpol and their inner workings. He doesn't think anyone ever told Anabel about it, yet she's luring Ultra Beasts all the same. What's worse is that they recruit the protagonist, an eleven-year-old who, during the course of the game, went through a wormhole themself.
And here's where you know Nanu means business: he volunteers to bring work onto himself, and doesn't complain about it. Oh, he complains about something, alright - Interpol and how terrible they are for doing this yet again. For the final Ultra Beast running amok in present day, Nanu refuses to let Anabel, already exhausted, die at the hands of the beast. And the very same Ultra Beast from ten years ago, to boot. No, his sense of moral justice and protection completely override his laziness and apathy to spur him into action, luring the same beast that caused his present-day melancholy in Anabel's stead. To strip it down to the bare basics, Nanu will willingly put himself in the path of a monster that caused decade-long trauma, guilt, and disheartenment in order to protect those he - whether he admits it or not - loves, in some way or another.
He may be hung up on his past. He may be disillusioned with some of humanity, using people and pokémon the way they do. He may be the gloomiest man you'll ever meet, complaining like a cantankerous old man at every inconvenience and seeing the darker side to everything. It's not that he gave up on making the world a better place, as he willingly joined Alola's police force. He willingly kept watch over Team Skull. He willingly joined the second Ultra Beast task force, not only just to protect Alola, but to prevent the protagonist from becoming another tragedy, and taking on the burden of facing a decade-old nightmare in Anabel's stead.
So, sure. Nanu's grouchy. He's got a morbid sense of humor, and a lazy work ethic. But he's still trying to help the world be a little better underneath the depressing reality, even if it'd be like pulling teeth to get Nanu to admit it.
Abilities: Nanu has no supernatural abilities, nothing that would set him apart from a normal human being. He does, however, have several skills that can be inferred from his time at Interpol, as well as his current employment;
- Investigative skill - as a former elite agent at Interpol, Nanu is a skilled detective with a keen sense of observation. Piecing together a puzzle of a case comes naturally to him, as do information-gathering and interrogation techniques. (Whether or not he finds something worth overcoming laziness for is another thing altogether, of course.)
- Combat training - as mentioned by Looker, agents have a form of combat training that is separate from pokémon battling. This skill has likely waned considering he retired from Interpol a decade ago, however as he is currently a police officer, some basic training has stuck with him.
- Stealth - he can sneak up on somebody like nobody's business. On a more serious note, he was likely undercover a lot during his Interpol years, and knows how to blend into the background to obtain information.
In addition, he has a few pokémon battle-specific skills;
- Top pokémon trainer - taking his personality out of the equation, there's a reason he's Island Kahuna. He's one of the top trainers in Alola, serving as a sort of 'gatekeeper' for kids making their trainer's journey across the islands. He has a team of Dark-type pokémon, which specialize in underhanded attacks like sucker-punches, and knows how to utilize them to their fullest potential for the best strategy. He is on par with the Elite Four.
- Z-Crystal - the black crystal on his necklace is a 'Darkinium-Z' crystal, and the bracelet on his left wrist is a 'Z-Ring'. When inserted into the bracelet, the Z-Crystal can be used in conjunction with Nanu and his pokémon. Z-Crystals require a brief dance called a 'Z-Move' in order to be activated (different for each type), which takes the power and will from the trainer and bestows it on the pokémon. The pokémon then performs an ultra-powerful attack based on the type; in this case, Nanu's pokémon performs a move called 'Black Hole Eclipse'. It's a devastating move and causes much more damage to an opponent than a normal, un-powered move. These moves can only be used once per battle.
Alignment: Peromei. While he shares a number of aspects in Daimonia, I feel that Peromei is more accurate while taking his canon point into account. Emotions such as misery, guilt, regret, and pessimism will always be mainstays of his character, and having been taken from a crucial moment in canon, they'd be amplified at the moment of his arrival in empatheias's world. Uncertainty, dread, and even shades of giving up will be fueled by that as well, and they wouldn't have far to go from his usual self regardless.
Other: Nanu will be bringing his full, 5-pokémon battle team. I have an entire page for them here! Alas, his eight house Meowth must be left behind...
General Sample:
Emotion Sample:
[Nanu had been pacing the same road for a while now, a slow trudge along an empty back-street. It hadn't been but a few days since he had "arrived" - even the thought makes him scoff - and yet the same worried thoughts swirl in his head. He still has all of his memories - he thinks. Names, faces, events.... It doesn't seem like there are chunks missing. And yet...]
[Had he fallen through an Ultra Wormhole, himself? Had he left behind everyone in Alola, there one second and gone the next? Right on the verge of catching that beast's attention - he was right there, and then... And then...]
[...He always thought everything would be better off without him. But not like this. Not this way. Not right then.]
[As the images of Guzzlord stomping free filled his mind, the air around him grew thick, weighing down on his already-hunched shoulders. His vision grew dark; the fact that it was midday with not a cloud in the sky is what snapped him out of his reverie to discover it wasn't his eyes playing tricks on him. There was the sun, high in the sky - yet it was like a filter engulfed him, his immediate surroundings, in tandem with the nearly oppressive atmosphere.]
[Ultimately, it's the dead grass under his feet that forces Nanu to take a deep breath let out a heavy sigh, and sit down on a nearby bench. There's little use in worrying about such things, he knows. Yet it's difficult to stop all the same. Leaving behind his..."world", at such a crucial moment, is going to weigh heavy in his mind for a long time to come - if he's truly stuck in this place forever. There's nothing he can do about that, nor anything he can do to return home.]
[The air around him gradually becomes less suffocating as he talks himself down. With resignation forcibly pushing back the melancholic worry, the darkness lifts in brief flickers, like a dying lightbulb. But he merely trades in one feeling for another. The world underneath his feet seems less saturated, less alive.]
Well... [he mutters to himself, standing from the now nearly grayscale bench.] ...at least I'll be able to see my way back.
Questions: None at the moment!