route_29 App

Player
Name: James
Personal Journal: trilies
E-mail: trickeryandlies@yahoo.com
AIM/MSN: trilies
Timezone: pacific
Current Characters in Route: none

Character
Name: Joker
Series: Kuroshitsuji
Timeline: After his death
Canon Resource Links: History, character death

Personality: Joker the Ringmaster has quite the loud presence when he's in his element under the big top, and he fills his name out well. With a smile on his face, he's loud and booming as he introduces act after amazing act. Behind the scenes, he's a little less loud but no less in charge, and certainly not lacking his smile. The rest of the first tier members seem to have some rough sides, from the dismissive and even violent acrobatic duo, to the brusque Beast. Joker is notable to be quite openly friendly and welcoming to most of the people he speaks to throughout the circus. When Dagger and Beast are fighting Sebastian, he stops the battle not by martial means but by doing a circus trick to give Beast some flowers. This probably speaks loads of both how good at dealing with conflict Joker has become in his role of leader and how much he cares about the other first tier members.

Because goodness does Joker care. Behind his laughter, he is at his core an intensely caring individual. It's certainly not the Sailor Moon kind of caring, because Joker possesses the kind of intense caring that can make him do truly horrible things for the sake of people who that caring is directed towards. He shows sympathy towards Ciel when the young boy claims he lost his eye in an accident, and states that the circus was created to give the rest of them- those with growth disorders, missing limbs, and who didn't fit into missing society- a place where they would fit in. The circus was meant to be a place where they could be celebrated, although it wouldn't be easy going. If it means keeping the children from the same kind of painful background as him safe and fed... He won't kidnap children or lead them to death gladly, but he'll do it still, forcing himself to smile even if it hurts him and makes him hate himself. It's clear that he takes no pleasure in subjecting the children to such horrific deaths, protesting when Baron Kelvin tells him to put on a show. Still... Desperation and caring can make a dangerous mix.

That area is where both his more outgoing side and his serious side are born from. In the circus, he seems to be considerably happier. However, upon returning to Baron Kelvin's manor, we see him change. There's still some joking to start with as he exchanges things with Ciel while leading him to the dining room. However, when he first answers the door, he's not smiling and welcomes Ciel and Sebastian in like a proper butler should. He doesn't even think before he reacts to Ciel aiming a gun at the Baron, not afraid to point a sword at a child. Joker may not want to do terrible things, but some people matter more than others to him- those who are close to him and those who share such a miserable background. It's like he says in Chapter 32- he knew from the start that doing Baron Kelvin's work was despicable, but sometimes you have to steal from the world when it's already stolen so much from yourself.

Those three things basically make up Joker- someone who is honestly friendly and wants to help those who need it to most, but cares so deeply that he won't be afraid to hurt others in his decisions if that's seemingly the only way things can go. There are a few other things, such as how he's fairly honest with himself regarding what he does even if he isn't honest with others, and how he isn't ashamed to pettily rub salt in a wound for some last revenge. (Also chapter 32, when he reveals to Ciel that the other circus members are venturing to his house to kill everyone there.)

When it comes to coping mechanisms, Joker tends to lean on one in particular: just keep smiling. After so many years, it's probably the performer in him. When you're in the spotlight, you have to put on your best expression. He learned a long time ago that when you smile and laugh, other people tend to follow just out of nature and polite habit. When they're too busy smiling and laughing, they often can't investigate too closely into what's really going on with the person who started it. This is good for a performer who needs his audience to smile, and it's good for a man with a very dirty job to do. The problem is that when you do something too much, sometimes it leaks into other aspects of your life. At first it just starts out with smiling for a performance, and then smiling so that the authorities don't get wise to what the circus' real purpose is. All that is well and good (sort of, not really) until Joker starts to smile so that he keeps himself distant to the other members of those he even calls his family. As their leader, Joker has to take on the worst of the decisions and the most of the responsibility. So that they can do what they need to easier, the smiles come out again. So they don't worry, so they think everything is alright. In the process, this has made Joker become somewhat distant even for all his friendliness and genuine care for those close to him. It's hard for Joker to open himself up to so much as the idea of intimacy.

Strengths/Weaknesses: Joker has managed to grow into quite the jack of all trades, something which is born from his duties as the ringmaster of a circus and also the butler of a nobleman. While some are not explicitly stated, they can be guess due to this duel background.

On the circus side of things, being the ringmaster means having a considerable amount of duties. Everyone looked to Joker when it came to managing performances (unless he was out), which shows he has a good feel when it comes to the entertainment and how to keep such a hectic space running smoothly. He also has to have a good eye for spotting talent, although sometimes his job is made easier if individuals are particularly blatant. Being a manager of sorts also means that he has to be able to temper the many contrasting personalities that a circus has, knowing how to stop arguments. The most valuable skill of a ringmaster is how to keep all eyes on you, entertain the crowd, and direct their attention to where it needs to go. This makes him quite good at dealing with people, and he has a naturally loud voice after so long in the business. Presumably, he has leftover skills from when the circus was smaller and people had to dabble in various other areas. He can certainly juggle, that much is certain.

The role of a butler also means being able to manage things around the manor very well, especially considering the fact that Baron Kelvin's estate seemed to be populated by mostly children and no other real staff. While those children did seem to be decent at simple manual labor (pushing the Baron around), more skilled actions seemed beyond them. This implies that Joker had to do a lot of things himself, such as cooking such rich and lavish food. Suiting any decent butler from his period of time, Joker has good knowledge about various wines, food quality, proper tableware, and other such things.

Besides those two things, Joker has also shown himself to be a competent enough fighter or at least very quick on his feet. He managed to be at the Baron's side in an instant when Ciel pointed a gun at his head. Not as fast as Sebastien, of course, but it's been shown in canon that most humans fall short of the demon butler. He seems to prefer blades, and in fact had a hidden knife in his fake arm.

Speaking of the fake arm, he will quickly rid of himself of it almost immediately upon arrival into Johto and thus be restricted to his one real arm. Joker has had much of his life to have to adjust to this disability, and it won't take him very long to get back into the old habits he once had. Still, he'll have trouble with some things due to this.

A more personal weakness is the lengths to which Joker will go to if he feels like he has no other choice. Because of Baron Kelvin's support over him and the others (providing them with just about everything, even their fake limbs), Joker felt like he had no choice but to do truly horrible things like kidnapping children and leading them to their deaths. It's a very ugly side to an otherwise good person.

Besides his own painful and ugly desperation, Joker also has one other flaw that ended for him quite fatally in canon. You couldn't quite call him a bleeding heart. He still has his own neck (and the necks of those he cares for) to keep an eye on. Unfortunately, Joker is only human. If someone is in a rough spot and especially if they seem to be seen as an outcast in some way, Joker has shown himself to let his heart rule instead of his head. All Ciel had to do was tell him that he was in an accident when he was young, and Joker immediately felt sympathy towards the boy because of his own brutal past. After his death, Joker will try and not be so easily lead... But it likely won't work too well considering his nature.

Still, just because Joker can be sympathetic doesn't mean he can't just as easily be selfish and ruthless. Back on his world, caring for far too many people could get yourself killed at best, and the rest of your loved ones at worst. He'll be nice from time to time, in fact he'll be nice and friendly a good deal of the time! However, his focus is on himself and his circus family. There won't be any hesitation if he has to choose between an outsider and 'me and mine'. He might feel guilty of course, but he's hardened himself enough to ignore that guilt enough so that he can keep on going. Joker might call this a strength, but others would very easily call it selfishness. (He wouldn't deny that, either.)


Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Trainer
Starter: Mime Jr.
Password: Holland Daze

Samples
First Person Sample: And a good afternoon to all of you in Johto!

[For all that he's been here who knows how long- (142 checks of the network, desperately hoping to see another familiar face, hoping they make it over the hills just like him)- Joker still pronounces the word 'Johto' a bit strangely. It's just too foreign on his tongue for him to say it naturally, really.]

[Just like usual, Joker is smiling right into the camera. Performer habits, and all that.]

I was hopin' one of you kind folks could answer a little inquiry of mine. I just happened to notice that some of our Pokemon friends happen to resemble animals from England. Now, I've seen more than a bit of cats while I've been here, but I was wondering if maybe anyone had seen any cats that were a bit..

[And here he takes one hand, palm horizontal and flat and facing down, to raise it low to around... four feet.]

Bigger. Perhaps with a mane, if you understand me!

Third Person Sample: It was the fiftieth time, possibly, that Joker had checked his Pokegear.

Logically, he was quite aware of how little help that would really do. There wasn't a magic number that would make Beast or Doll or Dagger or any of the others appear here in this strange place as well. From what he could tell from talking with so many others, there wasn't any real rhyme or reason to who came here. It just... happened.

Joker knew well enough how cruel life could be with its tricks. His missing arm was testament to that. Hell, his death was evidence. Still... Damn it all, he wished it wasn't just up to random fate. He wished there was some sort of person he could barter with. God knew that he would have done anything, no matter how heinous, to see the rest of his family in this place. It wasn't perfect, because no place was, but it was the best thing he had ever seen for most of his life. Beast would adore it. Against his will, thoughts of their last conversation snuck back into his mind...

The PokeGear was snapped shut, the light vanishing from Joker's face and leaving him in Darkness. Taking a deep breath, he stood up and away from the cave wall he had been sitting against. No. Now was not the time for that sort of thing. Not while he was sitting in this miserable old cave, following on rumors of some sort of rare Pokemon that supposedly lurked in the waters of this place. Forcing his face to smile came to him easier than water. Joker had spent a lot of his years making himself smile even when he didn't care to and, besides, he didn't want to frighten his partner. The Mime Jr. popped out from the Pokeball with a cheery little noise which became considerably less cheery when it noticed Joker's emotions.

Pretending as though he didn't have an empath right besides him, Joker just laughed and scooped up the little Pokemon in his good arm. "Well, it looks like it's going to be a long day, isn't it? But no one can ever say we aren't determined. We'll find it sooner or later." With that said, he continued his way through the caves, still smiling and keeping an eye out for Zubats.

If he just smiled enough, sooner or later fiction would become fact. To anyone wandering through the caves, they wouldn't be able to tell the difference.