Armin Arlert / Ferdinand

( PLAYER INFORMATION )

Name: MJ
Contact:[email protected], @dickjokes on plurk
Are you over 17?: yep!
Characters in Forest Covered: not yet

( CHARACTER INFORMATION )

Armin Arlert/Ferdinand:
Canon:Attack on Titan (manga)
Canon Point:chapter 54 page 40 (safely retrieved from a decoy mission)
AU/CRAU: nope
Age:15
History: here
Personality: (This personality section should be noted to apply through Armin's selected canon point, though current canon would throw in additional caveats which I'll cover in detail if I should ever happen to canon update him!) Armin is a soldier in the Scouting regimen of the royal military, by far the most dangerous job in his home world. At first glance he may seem an ill fit for the job, standing at only 163cm and weighing in at 55kg soaking wet, he's the size and build of a petite woman. Or a scrawny young teenage boy, which he is! As a new recruit Armin has recently been through 3 years of vigorous training, so he's not quite as frail as he appears. While his frame is small, his weight is nearly all sinewy muscle. Even in spite of this, he's physically on the weak side. He has allergies and a tendency to wheeze after tough physical exertion, especially running. His balance and center of gravity are much better, due to his extensive training with equipment from his home world known as 3D maneuver gear, which is essentially a gas powered steel ropes propulsion system.

However, Armin chose the job for himself. While he froze up in his initial battle encounters, and often still does from time to time, he is aware of the high mortality rate and accepts the risks of his occupation readily. His actual strength lies in analytical and strategic skills, which have frequently saved the lives of his comrades and even entire operations that would have otherwise been given up as failures. Armin is careful about handing out fealty, because where his loyalty lies it is unshakeable, whether it's as a means to and end or genuine dedication. His opinion is that there's no way to win a war without great personal sacrifices, and even admires in his commanding officers the ability to switch off their humanity when it's necessary to stop thinking of their soldiers lives in favor of the objectives of the military and humanity as a whole.

It's a school of thought that's frequently given him difficulty when he wanted to emulate it so far, often finding himself thinking on his feet to assure the safety of his loved ones (Eren Yeager and Mikasa Ackerman.) He justifies this to himself in that they are more skilled and far more valuable than the others of their graduation year. This is an objective opinion that is backed up and shared by the commanding officers so it doesn't give him any trouble at this point. He frequently finds himself in situations that seem to require self sacrifice in order to guard these more important soldiers, a decision he readily makes -and too easily, according to Annie Leonhart and several others who have observed him doing so. In every situation so far he's been bailed out by someone, most often those he was trying his hardest to protect bending it back on him and protecting him instead, as they are both far more equipped to do so.

By nature, Armin is timid and unsure, with self esteem issues that come from many years of being bullied as a weak, intellectual child who expressed a worldview that was not only against the grain but actually illegal during his childhood. The ideals of freedom as a cause for humanity are very important to him, because he was raised in a society that existed solely within several layers of protective walls built to keep human eating giants (he will refer to them as Titans) out. His parents died due to a desire to leave these walls, leaving him to live with his grandfatherr, until the walls are breached. After which, Armin's grandfather was part of a group sent beyond the safe territory, ostensibly to recover the lost territory (but in actuality sent to die so that those still left within the walls could survive the overcorwding and famine conditions.)

Armin's family now consists of his childhood friends Eren and Mikasa. After these losses, he saw the life of a soldier as his only chance to make a difference in the world, and at the minimum recruitment age for the army (12) he traded in his refugee assignment working in the fields to enlist.

In spite of Armin's nerves getting the best of him often, and his tendency to dissolve into tears under pressure, he is actually very brave at heart. Even as a child, he often engaged his tormentors in battles of wits, much to their annoyance. He'd spout moral objections at them as well, in particular when they taunted him for never trying to fight back. To Armin, fighting back was a loss. It would put him under their command in a way, and bring him down to their level. He insisted he would rather take their taunts and beatings on the chin. He also stayed behind long enough when the city was under attack as a child to find a wall guard to help get his friends out when they fled toward their home and the wall breach rather than away to the safety of the next wall. Many times since, Armin's true bravery has shown through things such as standing between his friends and a firing squad, arguing their case. Even trembling and tearful, he gave such a heartfelt speech and impressive military salute under pressure that he caught the attention of a high ranking superior officer.

While Armin's cohort tend to regard him as harmless, often doing such things as ruffling his hair fondly or trying to carry his heavy equipment for him when he's struggling under it, those who have crossed the military in some way quickly learn that it isn't the case. His respect for authority is so great that on orders, he gives information that will lead to the capture and imprisonment of one of his fellow squad members from training, Annie Leonhart. He even helps to come up with not only one, but several plans to implement it. He is not however a very convincing liar, and Annie sees through the plan easily. She expressed her disappointment with him verbally before the confrontation, which prompts him to ask her why it was that she spared his life during a different situation when she had not one but two easy opportunities to kill him and get him out of the way. Annie isn't able to answer the question, but the result is that they are now at very clear odds and unshakably inclined to their respective, opposing goals.

This type of situation occurs again when it's discovered that Reiner and Bertholt are also Titan shifters (those humans with the ability to transform into titans.) In order to distract them he gambles on their concern for Annie, who had been apprehended by that point.

In short, Armin is timid, often fearful or tearful, (initially, though he's since become less so) and physically weak. But mental gymnastics suit him well and his strength of heart is often just as impressive as his superior skills of observation and intellect. He's also shown himself to be adept at information gathering, as he can keep even large reveals to himself until such a time that he can fully connect the dots and be certain of the hows and whys and relevance to the military of said situation. He's willing to put himself at risk in favor of protecting those (including in at least one instance someone who was not a childhood friend) who are of greater importance or use to the military than himself.

To most, he will come off as a quiet, bookish type with a gentle soul and an inquisitive nature. Friendly enough not to come off as reserved as he actually frequently is, because he's able to compartmentalize well and shrug off the soldier stance easily when he's not on duty.
Debt: The death of Eren Yeager*
Suitability: Armin won't believe that the witch has any bearing on his karmic debt, actually. He'll see it as a ruse (which presumably it is) but he also won't be in any hurry to get back to his own life. The world Armin comes from is not a kind one. It's so awful that he'd be alright with being kidnapped by spirits for a while, oops. Though he'd be most interested in the idea of the reward. Armin is the type who would willingly make a sacrifice if it might make the world better upon their return.

Previous Game Info: none

Inventory: (1) women's blouse (1) women's skirt (1) set of undergarments (1) set of women's boots, heeled. (1) wig, shoulder length, blond.

Abilities, Strengths, and Weaknesses: Armin is a normal human with no magical abilities whatsoever. He also has fairly poor physical abilities, though those have been boosted with his military training to a level they never would have reached naturally. However, when it comes to combat he's still a very weak choice, and is rated 2/10 on the instructor's scale for his battle prowess (or lack thereof.)

Things Armin rated highly in were tactical and judgement skills, and he rated above average on teamwork. In general his strengths lie in his thought process and his attention to detail and analytical abilities. He has no magic to fall back on, and physically is still more frail than his fellow soldiers. He's also got allergies and a tendency to wheeze during physical exertion. He's best suited to mental tasks instead of physical.

He is however respectful and courteous to his superiors, and friendly to his peers. Both of which might be valuable assets in the field of hospitality.

( SAMPLE )

Characterization Sample: here

*Eren, as you might've noticed, isn't actually dead. This debt is more like a sucker punch of guilt leftover from the first battle Armin was in, during which he froze in fear and thought he'd helplessly watched his best friend die. It didn't turn out that way, but it still weighs on him heavily. Not that he believes for even a minute that the witch can absolve him of it anyway. But working at a resort beats fighting titans any day, right?