illtemper: (s m i l e)
Niklaus Mikaelson ([personal profile] illtemper) wrote2020-10-11 01:29 pm

Application for Duplicity

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« « « OOC INFORMATION


Name: Kerry
Age: 34
Contact: [personal profile] halfbloodly
Timezone: GMT
Other Character(s): 3 other characters listed below. I got permission to app here. Also included, 2 pieces of activity for each of them which have not been used in a previous AC.
Rafaello d'Este | [personal profile] mordacita | One and Two.
Nathaniel Hawthorne| [personal profile] guylining | One and Two.
Michael Guerin | [personal profile] angrycowboy | One and Two.


« « « IC INFORMATION


Name: Niklaus Mikaelson
Door: Right - or whichever one makes him Dominant, if at all possible! I have two submissives already so would like to keep characters balanced if I can.

Canon: The Vampire Diaries / The Originals. Also CRAU from Fellden!
Canon Point: The Originals Season 3, Episode 20: Where Nothing Stays Buried, just after he's killed Lucien.

Age: 1000+
Appearance: Slim build, average height, dark blond hair and blue eyes.

History: Canon history: Wiki link.

CRAU Fellden history:

Klaus spent five months in Fellden. He went there by choice, having been told that all worlds across every Universe were dying, and that the Priestess, head of the Moon Faction on Fellden, could stop the decay. By joining her, Klaus was accepting that his own world would die, and meant to secure the survival of his family alone by aiding Moon.

When he first arrived, the state of Fellden was the calm before the storm. Klaus was itching to get into true fighting, and immediately volunteered to take action to help the cause. The Priestess sent him after a group of fledgling vampires, whose sire had been killed by Elves. Klaus won the loyalty of the fledglings by hunting down their sire's killer and feeding him to them. Afterwards, the fledglings joined the Moon Temple. While he was on the road home, word came that the Court of Stars had attacked. Klaus and his fledglings hurried back, and arrived in time to join the war effort - but not in time to prevent Stars from destroying part of the Temple. As a reward for his own efforts, however, the Priestess removed part of Klaus' doppelganger curse, allowing him to make Hybrids from the blood of Elves and Fae (both common species in Fellden) as well as that of the Petrova Doppelganger. She also gifted him with a winged panther, to serve as a mount and make his travel easier.

Never content to accept anything that feels like a loss, Klaus sought permission to seek out werewolves, intending to recruit any he found for the Moon Temple as well. He and Hayley Marshall, the mother of Klaus' daughter, worked together to follow up rumours of an old werewolf pack. They managed to make an initial contact, but the wolf pack were wary, having suffered discrimination in the past. Klaus was given the title 'Wolfspeaker' for his efforts, and was intent on gaining the trust of the wolves as he had the fledgling vampires.

At the same time, Klaus was also involving himself more deeply in the work of his Faction. He had ambitions to raise his influence with the Priestess, and sought a place at her side, as an adviser in war. Appreciating both his ambition and his loyalty, the Priestess made him High Lord of one of three fortresses in her Territory. Klaus called his the Last Hope, after his daughter, and made it a base for vampires, werewolves, and other supernaturals in the Moon faction.

As well as allying himself with Hayley, Klaus made several connections during his time in Fellden. Most notably, he developed a strong rapport with Mia Corvere, an assassin who had gained the Priestess' favour. Recognising each other's mutual talents for violence, and appreciating their shared motivation to the cause, the two grew to trust each other and developed a sexual relationship. Klaus was one of the few who knew Mia's real name, and she had an open invitation to visit his fortress. He also allied himself with V, another vampire working under Moon, as well as Tony Stark, Melisandre, and Clary Fray. He considered any Court of Stars-allied character as his enemy, but was particularly disliked by Korra and Coraline, with both of whom he clashed. He had an immediate liking for Rey, who he met at a neutral venue, but they came across each other during the war, and Rey's initial friendliness towards him quickly soured. Despite this, Klaus retained his admiration for her, not dissimilar to his feelings about Caroline and Camille in canon (though without the romance).

Note: Where there is crossover with characters in Duplicity, I will maintain an opt-in post for Klaus talking about those he knew in Fellden.

Personality:

Negative traits in red, positive traits in green.

Klaus has a reputation as one of the most dangerous, violent and ruthless vampires who has ever lived. This is a reputation he has cultivated, preferring for the most part for people to fear him. He has little to no regard for human life as a general rule, and though he can and does feed from blood bags, he has shown a preference for feeding directly from living humans. He regularly kills those he feeds upon, and on many occasions has compelled humans to stay in his house and offer their veins to him on command. On top of this, he's sadistic; he enjoys torturing those who anger or betray him, and considers himself an expert at causing pain to his victims. When asked by Caroline to spare Tyler's life, he reminds her that he has a reputation to maintain, and many characters refer to him as a psychopath because he is known to be cruel, sadistic and violent. Klaus seems to view being feared as synonymous with being respected; for the most part he would prefer to be feared than liked, and he has few true friends. For hundreds of years he was a reclusive loner, to the point that many believed he was a legend and not real at all.

Behind this persona is a considerable amount of emotional baggage from Klaus' youth. The middle child of seven children, Klaus was the only one of his siblings to be violently abused by his father Mikael. Having suffered beatings at Mikael's hands, Klaus grew up both desperately seeking his approval and feeling that his father would never love him. This only worsened when, upon making his first kill as a vampire, Klaus triggered his werewolf side and it was revealed that Mikael was not his natural father at all. In addition, Klaus' mother turned her back on him at her husband's urging, and cast a painful curse on him which bound his werewolf side, preventing him from accessing his hybrid powers. For abandoning him, Klaus killed his mother, and spent the next thousand years on the run from his father who was determined to kill him. He has since had to fight and kill both his mother and Mikael multiple times, as they both resurrected to try and kill him. These broken relationships and history of abuse would colour Klaus' attitude for as long as he was alive, with his resulting emotional state being magnified through his vampirism. As Caroline would later deduce:
"Your father didn't love you, so you assume that no one else will either. And that's why you compel people or you sire them or you try to buy them off…you don't connect with people."

Caroline is right. Over the course of his long life, Klaus has grown into a hostile, angry person who seems hungry for power so that he cannot be killed, and desperate for loyal companions who won't leave him like his family has. In his first few seasons of The Vampire Diaries, he frequently compels vampires to get what he wants, and creates hybrids which are sired to him and thus supernaturally forced to be loyal to him. He's extremely paranoid, having genuine trust for very few people, and tends to expect betrayal even from the few he allows into his inner circle. On many occasions Klaus' expectations have been proven true; even Elijah and Rebekah, the family members to whom he is closest, have turned their backs on him at various points in time. However, in this respect Klaus is his own worst enemy, since their rejection of him has generally been prompted by his own behaviour towards them; he is overly controlling, attempting to steer the course of his siblings' lives along with his own. He expects his wishes to be obeyed, expects that his siblings will abandon other people and interests in favour of him, and when his expectations are not met, he punishes them – sometimes by killing, or removing the memories of people they love, sometimes by stabbing them with silver daggers which desiccate them. Since his actions tend to be fuelled by his own paranoia, it becomes a self-perpetuating circle; his paranoia pushes people away and makes them more likely to act against him, which to his perspective proves his paranoia correct. This is a cycle that Klaus never really overcomes, and is perhaps his greatest weakness.

Another weakness is his temper. As a werewolf, Klaus has a naturally aggressive, violent and angry temperament. These traits were heightened by his transformation into a vampire, and they fuel his general sadism, making him a formidable enemy. He is prone to acting on impulse when angered, something which his stepfather Mikael strongly criticised. When challenged, he responds with strength and aggression, and won't hesitate to threaten, maim, or kill. When betrayed, he'll hold grudges for centuries, and will not only hunt down his enemies, but also their friends, families, and anyone they love. This was seen when he murdered the family of Katerina Petrova, after she turned herself into a vampire to prevent him from draining her blood to break his mother's curse. Despite the fact that he had planned to kill Katerina, he saw her actions as a betrayal and sought to punish her. When, eventually, he found her in Mystic Falls, he opted not to kill her immediately but planned to keep her alive for years while he made her suffer. He is unforgiving and brutal, quick to attack, and his grudges have a long memory. He also shows very little patience when angered, expecting results to be delivered quickly. He is not someone who likes to be kept waiting, and the longer it takes for him to see results, the angrier he will become.

However, Klaus is also very calculating and intelligent. Despite his intemperance, and despite his reputation for violence and cruelty, he's known as a great strategic thinker. His paranoia is a strength in this regard, helping to ensure that he never makes just one plan; Klaus has backup plans for his backup plans, always ready with another option in case the first defies him. This penchant is seen from his very first plotline, when Damon Salvatore rescues the vampire and werewolf he had hidden away for use in breaking his mother's curse; Klaus reveals that he had alternatives hidden elsewhere, having expected that someone would get in his way. Although he trusts hardly anyone at all, he will happily make deals and temporary alliances even with his enemies, if it serves a greater purpose. This is evidence that even though Klaus has the aggression of every werewolf, and the heightened emotional state of every vampire, he will place strategy above emotion in order to get what he wants, thus showing a penchant for pragmatism. He's the type of person who would not hesitate to make a deal with the devil in order to achieve his ends – though, more often than not, he is the devil with whom others make deals.

Despite having cultivated a fearsome reputation, Klaus does have a more vulnerable side which comes out when he's around the people he cares for. When it comes to them, he is devoted and loyal, and he's afraid of losing them. Initially that meant his remaining siblings, especially Rebekah and Elijah, but also Kol, and to a lesser extent Finn. The three of them once promised that they would stand by each other "always and forever", a vow which has woven them together through time. They have had long periods apart when his siblings have at various points left Klaus' side as a result of his various cruelties. However, even when he has 'daggered' them, he keeps them with him, keeping them in coffins and locking them safely away. Klaus' greatest fear is being left alone, which is why he's so determined to make other hybrids once his curse is lifted; he doesn't want to be the only one of his kind in the world, and he's afraid of eventually losing his family for good. His attachment to his siblings is shown when Stefan Salvatore steals their coffins in order to have leverage over Klaus. In spite of Klaus' fears, time and again, the siblings come back together, and when they are eventually joined by their sister Freya, Klaus extends "always and forever" to her despite having distrusted her at first. His siblings are, initially, the only people Klaus appears to care about aside from himself, even though that doesn't prevent him from trying to control or punish them. He's constantly afraid of losing them, yet in his anger and paranoia, he is the one who pushes them away. It is their vow that keeps bringing them back together after every fight, always and forever.

However, Klaus also shows attachment to certain others over time. He views Marcel as family and as an adopted son, despite them alternating between being friends and enemies over time. He also views Stefan Salvatore as something of a surrogate brother, after having formed a strong friendship with him while Stefan's humanity was turned off in the 1920s. Klaus has done great harm to both Marcel and Stefan over the years, both hurting them personally and hurting people they love. Despite this, he admits to Stefan that he doesn't want to kill him because part of him is still hopeful that his friend will return, and their last parting shows them on amicable terms. He also always thinks of Marcel as his family even when they are enemies, still viewing him as his son even after he has spent five years being tortured as his captive. The event leaves him hungry for vengeance but still does not kill off his attachment to him. As well as this, Klaus shows a gentler side of himself to women such as Caroline Forbes and Camille O'Connell. He falls in love with both of them, despite other characters thinking that Klaus was incapable of real love. With both Caroline and Cami, Klaus shows a desire to be understood and known as something more than a villain. It's to them that he shows his love of art, and attempts to explain his motivations. He appreciates their honesty and intelligence, liking that they challenge him and don't simply disregard the terrible things he's done. Klaus appears to want them to see him as someone who can be redeemed, and they are some of the only people who are able to talk him into showing mercy of any kind. It should be noted that even with their influence, he still tends towards cruelty and he will not always do what they want him to. However, he has been known to go against his nature for them, such as when he agrees to drop his grudge against Tyler and allow him to return to Mystic Falls to be with Caroline. He will also act quickly to protect them, such as when he saved Caroline from the Town Council rather than Rebekah.

Stronger even than these feelings, however, are Klaus' feelings for his daughter Hope. Before she was born, Elijah believed that the child would be his brother's salvation, and would bring goodness out in him. Klaus changed significantly because of Hope, as his focus gradually turned from increasing his own power to ensuring safety for her. Despite having initially wanted to take Marcel's place as vampire king in New Orleans, Klaus later shows himself willing to leave altogether with Hope and Hayley, and at one point tells Marcel that his whole family will go into exile rather than stay and fight with him for power. He also becomes less reckless and more in control of his temper, at one point even being the one to hold Elijah back from reacting angrily when it would generally be the other way around. In the later seasons, when due to magical interference he has to stay away from Hope, Klaus goes on a rampage through Europe giving the impression he's gone crazy – only for Caroline to correctly deduce that he's actually been killing anyone who he thinks might be a danger to Hope, thus protecting her from afar. From being a character focused entirely on himself, on his own power, his own loneliness and his own advancement, Klaus becomes willing to sacrifice everything for his daughter. For her, he's willing to leave the New Orleans that he fought for and go into the world alone, apart from the family he's fought to keep with him. Eventually he even gives up his life for his daughter, after spending a thousand years fighting to preserve it. Because of Hope, he also develops a strong attachment to her mother Hayley, initially just a one night stand for Klaus. Klaus goes from not trusting her and wanting to distance her from their daughter, to wholly trusting her not only with Hope but with the lives of him and his siblings, too. Hayley is brought into Klaus' inner circle not because of how he feels about her, but because of Hope, and he protects her as fiercely as Camille. He is even willing to get on his knees before Lucien, who wants to kill him, in order to save Hayley. This is an abandonment of pride and reputation that Klaus never would have allowed before Hope was in his life. Though he remains a violent, dangerous killer, he will do anything to make sure his daughter is safe. His change is encapsulated by the promise he makes to Hope as a baby:
"All those who have loved me have lived to regret it, but I do know this, my littlest wolf. I will do right by you."

Hope's influence is powerful. It is his relationship with her that brings Klaus' personality full circle. Once the boy unloved by his father, Klaus is determined to be the father that Hope deserves – the father he never had himself.

Powers and Abilities:

Klaus is a vampire/werewolf hybrid. He therefore has all the powers and abilities of a vampire and werewolf in his universe. However, he is also an Original Vampire, one of the first that was ever created, and thus one of the five vampires from which all others were created. This makes him stronger than base level vampires, and his werewolf side makes him stronger than other Originals.

Abilities
  • His body doesn't age, and heals rapidly from any injury.

  • He has enhanced strength, speed, agility and durability, all of which are at a significantly higher level than other vampires (who are already far stronger and faster than humans). Each of these are further enhanced when he calls upon his werewolf side, which he can do as will. He has been shown to defeat and kill around 20 ordinary vampires by himself.

  • As well as being able to call upon his werewolf strength, he can also fully transform into a wolf. He does this rarely because it's painful - it requires breaking every bone in his body. However, he can transform at will and is not forced to do so on the full moon as a normal werewolf would be.

  • He can create other vampires through his blood - if someone has it in their system and then dies, they will reawaken in transition. To complete the transition, they need to drink human blood. In canon, he could only create other hybrids if he could feed a transitioning werewolf the blood of the Petrova doppelganger, due to the curse placed on him by his mother. In Fellden, the Priestess altered this so that he could also make them with the blood of Elves or Fae. Note: I would manage an opt in post for turning PCs.

  • He has telepathic abilities. He can enter other minds so long as his is stronger than theirs; given his relative strength to others in his universe, this is most people. He can communicate telepathically, and can manipulate dreams and create mental illusions. He can also see the other person's memories without their consent. Usually this power requires touch to be successful, though Original Vampires have been shown to be able to telepathically communicate over a short distance. Note: I would manage an opt in post for the use of this power on PCs.

  • He can compel others to obey him, including other vampires, though not other Originals. Compelling requires eye contact, and will not work if the person he's attempting to compel is taking the herb vervain. Note: I would manage an opt in post for the use of this power on PCs.

  • He has near immortality, and can only be killed in three ways; through being staked by wood from an ancient white oak ash tree, through the venom from an Upgraded Original (the only creature more powerful than Klaus), or through thorns magically infused with the blood of an Upgraded Original (a weapon created by one of his enemies). He will heal from all other injuries, and is not affected by toxins or diseases.

  • His blood is the only known cure for a werewolf bite, which kills baseline vampires and poisons other Original Vampires.

  • He has enhanced senses of hearing, sight and smell.

  • He experiences emotions more powerfully than humans.

  • As a hybrid, he is not burned by the sun and can walk in it without help from a Daylight Ring.

  • He's an extremely skilled hand to hand fighter with extensive experience over more than a thousand years of life. He is rarely matched in physical combat; the exceptions are his father Mikael and his brother Elijah, though he has defeated them both.

  • He's known for his high intellect and is a keen strategist, generally able to stay several steps ahead of his enemies. He has contingencies for his contingencies, and because of his general paranoia, he always builds in scope for his allies to betray him. It's difficult to outsmart him, though both his paranoia and his temper can sometimes get the better of him.

Weaknesses
  • He can be permanently killed by the white oak ash stake, and the venom of an Upgraded Original.

  • Klaus is weak to the herb vervain (it burns him, and also prevents him from compelling people), and to wolfsbane, which burns him due to his werewolf nature.

  • He's vulnerable to magic and Dark Objects, some of which are powerful enough to cause him serious pain.

  • Some poisons can affect him, if they are tailored to work on an Original - especially through magic.

  • If he is completely drained of blood he will be desiccated, which renders him unconscious and makes him appear like a corpse. He will heal and function again as normal if he is fed blood.

  • He can be injured, he just heals quickly. More severe injuries will slow him down, and breaking his neck will render him temporarily unconscious. However this will only delay him, as he will quickly heal again. Similarly, ordinary stakes will hurt him, though they will not desiccate him as they would other Originals because of his hybrid nature.

  • He can't enter another person's residence unless he's invited. After he is invited once, the invitation cannot be rescinded.

  • Witches once created silver daggers which, when dipped in the ash from a white oak ash tree, could desiccate an Original. As a hybrid, Klaus is immune to silver and the daggers did not work on him; however, when a witch turned the silver into gold, it did desiccate Klaus. Only one dagger was made gold, and was destroyed by another witch shortly after being created.


Inventory:

  • A polaroid of his family, which in Fellden was spelled to resist flame, fire, and any other physical damage. Whenever Klaus holds the photo, he re-experiences happy memories he has of the family members in the photo.

  • One of his mother Esther's grimoires - specifically the one which has the daylight ring spell inside.

  • Papa Tunde's Blade, a dagger created through magic and thus considered a Dark Object. The dagger would kill anyone who was normally killed by being stabbed through the heart. Those who can survive that, like Klaus, will find the dagger burrowing into their chest and leaving them in a physical coma, while it causes excruciating pain and mental torture. It was created specifically for use on Klaus, though he has since taken possession of it and used it on others. It is extremely difficult to overcome, though it can be done with extreme force of will.


Samples: Communicating, Thinking (and communicating).