CHARACTER NAME: Lord Asriel Belacqua AGE: Late-40s CANON: His Dark Materials CANON POINT: End of The Amber Spyglass ITEMS COMING ALONG:
1 x set of cold weather clothing
1 x rifle
1 x backpack + supplies (your standard adventuring/camping gear type deal)
Basically, though he's coming in from a later canon point, the items that would show up would be what he more or less had on him when he first crossed through at the end of Northern Lights/Golden Compass. That being a particularly significant moment for him in finally achieving that goal, it would leave an impression.
CONTENT WARNINGS FOR CHARACTER: mentions of murder, death, child death, war, organised religion
Lyra Silvertongue — Asriel has a spotty relationship when it comes to his daughter. His actions — especially his last act — show he did care for Lyra, but almost as a concept more than as a person. The child herself was a troublesome afterthought most of the time, but when framed as the product of his relationship with Marisa Coulter, Lyra was something exceptional. When it came to direct parenting, he was awkward at best, dismissive, and willing to sacrifice her friends at worst.
Marisa Coulter — Asriel and Marisa fell in love and carried on a passionate but turbulent relationship for the time that they were together. Unfortunately for everyone involved, Marisa was married to Edward Coulter at the time, and the discovery of their affair and the existence of the child that resulted from it would eventually lead to the murder of Marisa's husband and Asriel being stripped of his wealth and influence. Their paths would diverge from that point, with Marisa seeking to further her ambitions by working closely with the Magisterium and Asriel delving into increasingly heretical research. Despite this, when Asriel opened the rift on Svalbard, he asked Marisa to join him but also cautioned that he wouldn't spare another thought for her if she denied him... which she did. When Marisa eventually becomes his prisoner, Asriel gives her enough freedom that she steals his intention craft, so his warning turns out to be a lot of talk. Ultimately, Asriel loves her, but pride and many other complications make it especially chaotic.
Stelmaria — as Asriel's daemon, she strongly exemplifies the idea that a person's daemon is their better half. She is calm and reserved, whereas he can be fiery and quick to anger, and she isn't shy about doting on him when she feels it's necessary. Stelmaria also acts as the single crumb of paternal affection he has for Lyra, as she often rebukes Asriel sharply when he dismisses his daughter's abilities. Asriel adores her in return, and their interactions are some of the brief times he is willing to entertain feelings he would likely dismiss as overly sentimental in any other capacity.
CHARACTER PERSONALITY THROUGH KEY MOMENTS
(2+) POSITIVE EXPERIENCES:
Asriel is ambitious. Although he claims not to believe in things like destiny, Asriel does believe he will bring about great change in the world. He devoted his entire life to his open rebellion against the Authority. The angels even praised him as capable of assembling a force that had a real chance of prevailing, unlike the first time. Some would say that Asriel's ambition is also one of his greatest negative traits, as it has driven him to commit truly heinous acts to achieve his goal.
Asriel is objective. He judges others when their emotions or sentimentality get in the way and does not get emotionally attached to most things. He acts when faced with a loss or a setback, choosing to find an alternative path instead of getting bogged down in feelings. It's not to say that Asriel doesn't feel them, but his habit pushes them to the back of his mind because he has more important issues to consider. It's his burden as the visionary. Others see this and consider him cold and cruel, especially when he responds flippantly to the death of a comrade.
Asriel is intelligent. Beyond being a scholar, Asriel is an accomplished Arctic explorer and extremely knowledgeable in experimental theology, which is synonymous with theoretical physics in our world. He is limited by technology in his world, given that his technological developments leap forward at an incredible rate once he's able to travel to other worlds. It's unclear how Asriel manages this exponential growth, but one can assume that he can reverse engineer technology discovered in other worlds and consult with experts there.
Asriel is confident. He would certainly need to be to make the decision and follow through with his plan to attack and dethrone God. If he ever truly doubts what he's doing, he doesn't show it. Mostly, Asriel never wavers because he believes so solidly in the validity of the cause. However, he has a remarkable degree of self-assurance for someone who simultaneously has difficulty accepting his feelings.
Asriel is independent. Most of what Asriel did in the early days, he did on his own with only Stelmaria and his manservant Thorold at his side. Eventually, he abandons Thorold as well, but Asriel has a habit of leaving people behind when he no longer has a use for them. He does it mostly as a necessity, as he could not trust others to keep his secrets when he risked prosecution for heresy. Even so, he doesn't expect to do it all alone when it comes to preparing for the war and gathers others around him with valuable skills.
(2+) NEGATIVE EXPERIENCES:
Asriel is not above dishonesty. He maintained the lie that he was Lyra's uncle until she found out, and therefore could no longer deny it, and will engage in trickery and deceit if it means getting what he wants. He tricked Iofur Raknison when Mrs Coulter tried to have him held prisoner by the bears. Instead, Asriel set himself up in a private laboratory on the cliffs with all the necessary tools and supplies. If he can't do it with tricks, he'll do it with money and influence.
Asriel is ruthless. The prime example is his willingness to kill a child to harness the energy produced from severing their daemon, which would be atrocious enough on its own but doubly worse because he knew the child in question was his daughter's best friend. To Asriel, such an act is a small sacrifice for the greater good, and the end more than justifies the means.
Asriel is evasive. You could take this incredibly literally in that blowing a hole in reality and crossing into other worlds is the ultimate in escapist things to do, but this refers mostly to his inability to deal with his issues. Of which there are many. It's easier to work on whatever project he's working on than deal with feelings and interpersonal relationships. Circling back (once again) to his role as Worlds' Worst Dad — after involving Lyra in his plans to spy on the scholars during his presentation and potentially putting her at risk, given her tendency to run her mouth about things she shouldn't, Asriel lied to Lyra directly about her parents (again) and also refused to take her north with him because he had Things To Do.
Asriel is stubborn. Comically, laughably so after a point. He spends 2.5 books thinking he is definitely the Main Character of this story and aggressively in denial about the importance of Lyra. If he'd come around sooner, maybe things would have turned out differently for him, but Asriel will only believe something when he is good and ready to do so. As it's been said, Asriel is the only man who could confirm God's existence and still be an atheist.
DEER COUNTRY ATTRIBUTES
CANON POWERS:
None. Asriel is, for all intents and purposes, a standard human for his world. That means his soul manifests physically as a daemon, but other than that, he doesn't have much. His intelligence and gift for unconventional thinking are above average, but everything he accomplishes is due to research and exploration rather than some inherent gift.
BLOOD TYPE: Darkblood OMEN: Snow Leopard (technically just Stelmaria, his daemon) BLESSED DAY: 09 September PATRON PTHUMERIAN: Never Mind BLOOD POWER MANIFESTATION:
Asriel will initially focus on expanding his knowledge and working on mastering his blood magic abilities. At the same time, he will experiment with the different applications for them. Based on the things he built in canon, like the intention craft, he could do a lot with reality-warping and generally likes to find ways to develop new tools.
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「 deer country 」
CHARACTER BACKGROUND
CHARACTER PERSONALITY THROUGH KEY MOMENTS
DEER COUNTRY ATTRIBUTES
WRITING SAMPLES
THE PLAYER