Name: Cobalt (or Avali w/e you prefer) Age: 18+ Contact:coba1t Other Characters: NA Interests: Action always vibes with me, plot and close character development (positive and/or negative) are my absolute jam. Political intrigue is one of my weaker points, but honestly, it’s all part of the adventure.
CHARACTER
Name: Gabranth Canon/OC: Dissidia Final Fantasy Canon Point: Opera Omnia, post act 2 Journal:archademode Age: 36 (+ ∞ )
Canon World
Standard aerial fantasy world fare: magic, swords, guns, magic guns, traditionally styled armor rather than anything modern, airships that look like boats, etc etc. From that world— known as Ivalice— Gabranth is essentially swept up after death and reborn in Final Fantasy’s canon version of a panfandom rp game: Dissidia.
Dissidia has two gods: one committed to the idea of respite who summons more traditional ‘hero’ types, one who prefers power over all else and only summons those who have unmatched strength. Traditionally, the summoned heroes and villains are forced to fight to the death, and when all of one side’s forces are slain, the world is reset, memories are stolen to fuel a higher power, and the whole cycle repeats itself all over again. Infinitely.
(It gets more complex than this, since Square Enix doesn’t make plot lines in any shape but funnel cake knots, but for simplicity’s sake that’s the whole of the setting.)
。the Archadian Empire invades and destroys Gabranth’s homeland. His elder brother, Basch, flees to the nation of Dalmasca, abandoning both his mother and Gabranth, and leaving them to fend for themselves in a war torn land.
。their mother dies prematurely. Gabranth enlists in the military and rises to the highest rank— Judge Magister— serving as the Emperor’s right hand.
。Gabranth— disguised as his brother— slips inside the Dalmascan palace during the chaos of a skirmish and assassinates the king with an intentional witness. Dalmasca falls, and Basch is imprisoned and sentenced to death for treason.
。Basch endures imprisonment, eventually escaping captivity. Meanwhile Gabranth diligently serves the Emperor by reporting on the eldest prince, Vayne Solidor, who is cunning, ruthless, and difficult to comprehend. For the sake of protecting the younger prince, Larsa, the two attempt to keep one step ahead of danger.
。the Emperor is discovered dead with Vayne at his side, who dissolves the senate and claims the empire now has need of a strong leader. He singles out Gabranth, challenging his loyalty to him, with the knowledge that Gabranth had been feeding information about him to his father. For the sake of ensuring the young prince Larsa still has an ally at his side who isn’t under Vayne’s sway, Gabranth concedes, and proves his loyalty to Vayne by slaying the only other Judge Magister that had challenged his right to rule.
。weighed down by remorse and resentment, Gabranth tracks down Basch and his companions, attempting to goad and strike out at them in the name of the dead, ‘who are owed their debts’ (a standard he holds himself to as well). The others refuse, and rebuke his wrath, claiming that the dead are simply gone, and there’s no point in continuing a cycle of revenge.
。Basch and his allies infiltrate the capitol to stop Vayne’s campaign: Gabranth intercepts them one last time, but is ultimately defeated. Afterwards, witnessing Vayne knocking his own brother Larsa unconscious, Gabranth turns on Vayne and attacks him, nearly undoing his former emperor before being violently struck down. When Vayne attempts to land the killing blow, Larsa uses crystalline magic to stop him, and Vayne instead limps away.
。Gabranth dies from his injuries shortly thereafter, relieved to know that his brother will protect Larsa in his stead.
。Gabranth is resurrected in Dissidia to serve the god Chaos alongside a host of other borrowed souls. Instead, after unknowable cycles of conflict, Gabranth refuses to serve the gods and their war, and is cast outside the bounds of the world itself as punishment. He names himself Hell’s Watchdog, and in one notable cycle passes judgment on Chaos, condemning him to eternal sleep for the ‘multitudes who were summoned by you, only to perish in your name’.
。he eventually meets his brother again in Dissidia. Rather than attack, Gabranth instead saves Basch and his allies, working alongside them for the sake of preserving the multiverse.
Personality
Formerly furious: in life, Gabranth was livid enough to be cruel to his enemies beyond measure. Scoffing at concepts like forgiveness and compassion, softer emotions were the realm of someone other than him (if he was cutting and embittered, those he shielded would be free to show mercy or indulge in kindness without risk of being torn apart). You could say there’s nobility in it, but the reality was that he never truly learned how to cope with his own internal strife, which only led him to lashing out more and more as his world crumbled around him.
Still, infinite time has done what a lifetime in Ivalice could not: calmed Gabranth down enough to consider more than his own resentments. In Dissidia’s original storyline, Gabranth pushed back against an eternity of war, and stayed dutifully in a hellish nightmare to ensure no one else would suffer the same fate. In Opera Omnia, when he encounters both Vayne and Basch, Gabranth shows no anger, instead immediately reaching out to ensure they survive a trap designed to imprison them indefinitely— knowing full well that Vayne had killed him in their original world, and that he still held feelings of resentment for the brother that had abandoned him.
Loyal: There is nothing more important to Gabranth than the concept of honor in a given word, and each instance in canon of what could be seen as betrayal is always instead proof of commitment to his prior vows: swearing to the Emperor that he would protect Larsa superseded even his own affection for his closest companion, Drace. His promise to Drace before executing her drove him to near madness, but also influenced his final decision to turn on Vayne, despite having sworn loyalty to him.
Stern, not cruel— until he loses his temper: While it’s true that Gabranth is a victim of his own emotions, when major plot points aren’t going down, Gabranth is a remarkably disciplined man: he never would’ve been swept up by the Emperor if his days were spent being reckless 24/7, and when shown speaking to those he respects, he removes his helmet and speaks with calm, docile clarity.
That said, when he holds less than an ounce of respect for someone— or views them as reprehensible— there’s no measuring the distance he’d go to make them suffer for perceived sins.
Dislikes being purposeless/unmoored: Helplessness, uselessness— few things send Gabranth spiraling out of control as any and all feelings of inadequacy. It’s an issue that likely started when his brother left, built up in layers afterwards, but there’s no doubt it still has a home inside of him even after all this time.
Twins: In spite of the hatred Gabranth harbored, he and his twin Basch are hauntingly similar: both felt most at ease within a life of military service, both utilize magic in the exact same way, both use near identical fighting styles, and both are absolutely horrible about resolving their own personal issues.
Strengths & Weaknesses
STRENGTHS:
Physically strong: a life of strict military training, coupled with the demands of serving as the Emperor’s own personal guard and shield— not to mention wearing a full suit of armor during every waking moment— has left Gabranth as an absolute powerhouse. He relies on brute force in combat, not agility or stealth, and prefers to take his hits head on.
Natural endurance: again, big suit of armor. Lives in it 24/7. This one is fairly self explanatory for anyone that’s even worn thick clothing for longer than a few minutes while going upstairs.
Strong force of will: in Dissidia, those who have incredible willpower can shape the world to their liking, and those souls are purposefully summoned by the ‘hostile’ gods, such as Chaos and Spiritus— Gabranth was one of them. The man literally endures an eternity of hell just to act as a guide for any wayward souls that might also be cast out of Dissidia, guiding them back to redemption and life. Really, if you can handle that, you can handle anything.
Magical aptitude: Traditionally speaking, Gabranth can charge his blade with a blackened vortex of compressed void energy, scorching flame, or wind, allowing it to detonate with force or surge forward in combat. Combining these attacks creates far more volatile results, but requires substantially more effort spent to pull off (by Thedas’ standards Gabranth’s abilities would be more akin to weapon enchantments or single elementally charged attacks: short bursts of power, rather than a constant surge of magical energy).
He also has a habit of, incredibly briefly, summoning swords for a few seconds at most comprised purely of elemental magic. Nothing else, ever. Just like...seven big swords. 0 creativity points for Gryffindor.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
WEAKNESSES:
Emotionally charged: Gabranth’s true potential tends only to manifest when he’s boiling with either hatred or rage. Without it, his movements flag in comparison, and his speed seems almost bullish in nature. While he’s attempted to adapt to letting past angers die down, Gabranth often finds himself lacking in combat without anger driving his own actions.
Flounders without purpose: an independent thinker he is not. His logic is almost as brutish as his favored style of combat, and while he’s by no means an incapable meathead or a witless himbo, Gabranth tends to lean heavily on all-or-nothing trains of thought. He adopts a given purpose as literally as possible, and if it’s abruptly tugged from him or proven to be false, his momentum sputters to a brief halt. Truth be told, he just wants someone else to hold the reins.
Holds grudges: slight this man and he’ll never forget it. He puts elephants and their penchant for remembering everything to shame, easily. What’s more, Gabranth often uses that resentment as fuel for tracking whoever caused it down, so, you know.
Don’t make him mad if you can help it.
Stubborn: listening to persuasive arguments is for losers. Gabranth quite often needs both a substantial amount of thinking time, and a repetitive cycle of being told the same thing before he’ll accept it over his own beliefs— unless of course you’re his current leader, in which case your word is law and he’ll be damned if he fails to see it through.
Big sad: he’s dead, he’s tired, he retains the knowledge of more time than anyone should rightfully have, and though he’s reconciled with his brother enough to cooperate with the man, the two have never managed to resolve their painful familial issues directly. It means he can at times be withdrawn and difficult to reach when duty isn’t in play, and there’s no recollecting the last time he’d ever laughed or smiled.
But who needs that when you’ve got a tireless burden to shoulder, right?
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
Suggested Nerfs
Close range elemental magic is his forte, and anything long distance would never really work: someone standing more than three lengths away could easily be struck by a forceful detonation, but knocking something out of a second story window or sniping someone at a distance would be absolutely out of the question.
...Also characters in Dissidia can just fly around for some weird reason, so we're just going to forget about that because it's mega dumb.
Gabranth | Dissidia Final Fantasy | Rifter
Name: Cobalt (or Avali w/e you prefer)
Age: 18+
Contact:
Other Characters: NA
Interests: Action always vibes with me, plot and close character development (positive and/or negative) are my absolute jam. Political intrigue is one of my weaker points, but honestly, it’s all part of the adventure.
Name: Gabranth
Canon/OC: Dissidia Final Fantasy
Canon Point: Opera Omnia, post act 2
Journal:
Age: 36 (+ ∞ )
Canon World
Standard aerial fantasy world fare: magic, swords, guns, magic guns, traditionally styled armor rather than anything modern, airships that look like boats, etc etc. From that world— known as Ivalice— Gabranth is essentially swept up after death and reborn in Final Fantasy’s canon version of a panfandom rp game: Dissidia.
Dissidia has two gods: one committed to the idea of respite who summons more traditional ‘hero’ types, one who prefers power over all else and only summons those who have unmatched strength. Traditionally, the summoned heroes and villains are forced to fight to the death, and when all of one side’s forces are slain, the world is reset, memories are stolen to fuel a higher power, and the whole cycle repeats itself all over again. Infinitely.
(It gets more complex than this, since Square Enix doesn’t make plot lines in any shape but funnel cake knots, but for simplicity’s sake that’s the whole of the setting.)
History
LINKS: FF12 | Dissidia
。the Archadian Empire invades and destroys Gabranth’s homeland. His elder brother, Basch, flees to the nation of Dalmasca, abandoning both his mother and Gabranth, and leaving them to fend for themselves in a war torn land.
。their mother dies prematurely. Gabranth enlists in the military and rises to the highest rank— Judge Magister— serving as the Emperor’s right hand.
。Gabranth— disguised as his brother— slips inside the Dalmascan palace during the chaos of a skirmish and assassinates the king with an intentional witness. Dalmasca falls, and Basch is imprisoned and sentenced to death for treason.
。Basch endures imprisonment, eventually escaping captivity. Meanwhile Gabranth diligently serves the Emperor by reporting on the eldest prince, Vayne Solidor, who is cunning, ruthless, and difficult to comprehend. For the sake of protecting the younger prince, Larsa, the two attempt to keep one step ahead of danger.
。the Emperor is discovered dead with Vayne at his side, who dissolves the senate and claims the empire now has need of a strong leader. He singles out Gabranth, challenging his loyalty to him, with the knowledge that Gabranth had been feeding information about him to his father. For the sake of ensuring the young prince Larsa still has an ally at his side who isn’t under Vayne’s sway, Gabranth concedes, and proves his loyalty to Vayne by slaying the only other Judge Magister that had challenged his right to rule.
。weighed down by remorse and resentment, Gabranth tracks down Basch and his companions, attempting to goad and strike out at them in the name of the dead, ‘who are owed their debts’ (a standard he holds himself to as well). The others refuse, and rebuke his wrath, claiming that the dead are simply gone, and there’s no point in continuing a cycle of revenge.
。Basch and his allies infiltrate the capitol to stop Vayne’s campaign: Gabranth intercepts them one last time, but is ultimately defeated. Afterwards, witnessing Vayne knocking his own brother Larsa unconscious, Gabranth turns on Vayne and attacks him, nearly undoing his former emperor before being violently struck down. When Vayne attempts to land the killing blow, Larsa uses crystalline magic to stop him, and Vayne instead limps away.
。Gabranth dies from his injuries shortly thereafter, relieved to know that his brother will protect Larsa in his stead.
。Gabranth is resurrected in Dissidia to serve the god Chaos alongside a host of other borrowed souls. Instead, after unknowable cycles of conflict, Gabranth refuses to serve the gods and their war, and is cast outside the bounds of the world itself as punishment. He names himself Hell’s Watchdog, and in one notable cycle passes judgment on Chaos, condemning him to eternal sleep for the ‘multitudes who were summoned by you, only to perish in your name’.
。he eventually meets his brother again in Dissidia. Rather than attack, Gabranth instead saves Basch and his allies, working alongside them for the sake of preserving the multiverse.
Personality
Formerly furious: in life, Gabranth was livid enough to be cruel to his enemies beyond measure. Scoffing at concepts like forgiveness and compassion, softer emotions were the realm of someone other than him (if he was cutting and embittered, those he shielded would be free to show mercy or indulge in kindness without risk of being torn apart). You could say there’s nobility in it, but the reality was that he never truly learned how to cope with his own internal strife, which only led him to lashing out more and more as his world crumbled around him.
Still, infinite time has done what a lifetime in Ivalice could not: calmed Gabranth down enough to consider more than his own resentments. In Dissidia’s original storyline, Gabranth pushed back against an eternity of war, and stayed dutifully in a hellish nightmare to ensure no one else would suffer the same fate. In Opera Omnia, when he encounters both Vayne and Basch, Gabranth shows no anger, instead immediately reaching out to ensure they survive a trap designed to imprison them indefinitely— knowing full well that Vayne had killed him in their original world, and that he still held feelings of resentment for the brother that had abandoned him.
Loyal: There is nothing more important to Gabranth than the concept of honor in a given word, and each instance in canon of what could be seen as betrayal is always instead proof of commitment to his prior vows: swearing to the Emperor that he would protect Larsa superseded even his own affection for his closest companion, Drace. His promise to Drace before executing her drove him to near madness, but also influenced his final decision to turn on Vayne, despite having sworn loyalty to him.
Stern, not cruel— until he loses his temper: While it’s true that Gabranth is a victim of his own emotions, when major plot points aren’t going down, Gabranth is a remarkably disciplined man: he never would’ve been swept up by the Emperor if his days were spent being reckless 24/7, and when shown speaking to those he respects, he removes his helmet and speaks with calm, docile clarity.
That said, when he holds less than an ounce of respect for someone— or views them as reprehensible— there’s no measuring the distance he’d go to make them suffer for perceived sins.
Dislikes being purposeless/unmoored: Helplessness, uselessness— few things send Gabranth spiraling out of control as any and all feelings of inadequacy. It’s an issue that likely started when his brother left, built up in layers afterwards, but there’s no doubt it still has a home inside of him even after all this time.
Twins: In spite of the hatred Gabranth harbored, he and his twin Basch are hauntingly similar: both felt most at ease within a life of military service, both utilize magic in the exact same way, both use near identical fighting styles, and both are absolutely horrible about resolving their own personal issues.
Strengths & Weaknesses
STRENGTHS:
Physically strong: a life of strict military training, coupled with the demands of serving as the Emperor’s own personal guard and shield— not to mention wearing a full suit of armor during every waking moment— has left Gabranth as an absolute powerhouse. He relies on brute force in combat, not agility or stealth, and prefers to take his hits head on.
Natural endurance: again, big suit of armor. Lives in it 24/7. This one is fairly self explanatory for anyone that’s even worn thick clothing for longer than a few minutes while going upstairs.
Strong force of will: in Dissidia, those who have incredible willpower can shape the world to their liking, and those souls are purposefully summoned by the ‘hostile’ gods, such as Chaos and Spiritus— Gabranth was one of them. The man literally endures an eternity of hell just to act as a guide for any wayward souls that might also be cast out of Dissidia, guiding them back to redemption and life. Really, if you can handle that, you can handle anything.
Magical aptitude: Traditionally speaking, Gabranth can charge his blade with a blackened vortex of compressed void energy, scorching flame, or wind, allowing it to detonate with force or surge forward in combat. Combining these attacks creates far more volatile results, but requires substantially more effort spent to pull off (by Thedas’ standards Gabranth’s abilities would be more akin to weapon enchantments or single elementally charged attacks: short bursts of power, rather than a constant surge of magical energy).
He also has a habit of, incredibly briefly, summoning swords for a few seconds at most comprised purely of elemental magic. Nothing else, ever. Just like...seven big swords. 0 creativity points for Gryffindor.
WEAKNESSES:
Emotionally charged: Gabranth’s true potential tends only to manifest when he’s boiling with either hatred or rage. Without it, his movements flag in comparison, and his speed seems almost bullish in nature. While he’s attempted to adapt to letting past angers die down, Gabranth often finds himself lacking in combat without anger driving his own actions.
Flounders without purpose: an independent thinker he is not. His logic is almost as brutish as his favored style of combat, and while he’s by no means an incapable meathead or a witless himbo, Gabranth tends to lean heavily on all-or-nothing trains of thought. He adopts a given purpose as literally as possible, and if it’s abruptly tugged from him or proven to be false, his momentum sputters to a brief halt. Truth be told, he just wants someone else to hold the reins.
Holds grudges: slight this man and he’ll never forget it. He puts elephants and their penchant for remembering everything to shame, easily. What’s more, Gabranth often uses that resentment as fuel for tracking whoever caused it down, so, you know.
Don’t make him mad if you can help it.
Stubborn: listening to persuasive arguments is for losers. Gabranth quite often needs both a substantial amount of thinking time, and a repetitive cycle of being told the same thing before he’ll accept it over his own beliefs— unless of course you’re his current leader, in which case your word is law and he’ll be damned if he fails to see it through.
Big sad: he’s dead, he’s tired, he retains the knowledge of more time than anyone should rightfully have, and though he’s reconciled with his brother enough to cooperate with the man, the two have never managed to resolve their painful familial issues directly. It means he can at times be withdrawn and difficult to reach when duty isn’t in play, and there’s no recollecting the last time he’d ever laughed or smiled.
But who needs that when you’ve got a tireless burden to shoulder, right?
Suggested Nerfs
Close range elemental magic is his forte, and anything long distance would never really work: someone standing more than three lengths away could easily be struck by a forceful detonation, but knocking something out of a second story window or sniping someone at a distance would be absolutely out of the question.
...Also characters in Dissidia can just fly around for some weird reason, so we're just going to forget about that because it's mega dumb.