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OOC Information:
Name: Zero II
Are you over 15? Sure am!
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endlessnine
Current characters in the game: Yuri Lowell | Tales of Vesperia
IC Information:
Name: Jude Mathis (reincarnation will remain the same)
Canon and Medium: Tales of Xillia
Age: 16 (as of Xillia 2) | 15 reincarnated
Preincarnation Species: Human, though he a mix of two different kinds of humans due to having a mom and a dad from different worlds. His mom is the magical kind of human, his dad is not. It's confusing, whatever, he's human, haha!
Preincarnation Appearance: here!
Any Differences: No difference. He just wears more modern clothes.
Starting Location: Locke City
Preincarnated History: Jude was a boy born in a small town to two doctors. Growing up, due to how busy his parents were, they never really had the chance to be a family. He also had a friend who's family owned an inn and was often with her, though he recalls her being a bully growing up. In fact, he was bullied a lot growing up due to being 'weak'. He couldn't use strong magic, and other kids made fun of him for it. He was always getting hurt and beat up, but he always came home with a smile on his face. Meddling in business that he didn't need to, he wound up in trouble more than anyone would know.
So that was his childhood. Tired of his boondocks neglected life, he went off to medical school to study to become a doctor. He did this before he was 15 and it's mentioned he had a birthday or two. So he was 13-14 when he ran off to med school. (Don't ask me how their education system works there. It's fucked up) It's there, in Fennmont, that he met Milla who turned his life upside down. Following her like a lost puppy, he started a journey more or less because he idolized the woman who called herself 'Maxwell'. Though it's because he got caught up with her he ended up a wanted criminal for 'breaking into a lab' when he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
In fact, the entirely of Tales of Xillia can be described as Jude following Milla like a lost puppy and getting into trouble. And also finding his conviction, but I suppose that is not enough for the rest of this history part.
So, along the way he meets Elize who he decides he wants to help. Getting Milla's permission to take her along, he seeks to find her a kind guardian to take care of her.
Oh yeah, and then there's Alvin who betrays him like a million times in the course of the story, but to mention every time that happens and Jude forgives him, we'd be here all day while I write a PhD essay on it. Eventually, Jude does get to the point where he hates Alvin and finally learns, after he shoots his childhood friend, Leia.
Story, story, right.
Here you go, Tales of Xillia - Jude's history the lazy version
- The Party meets Cline and Driselle
- Cline finds out Nachtigal is doing human experimentation
- Cline is killed when he decides to rebel against Nachtigal
- Milla gets caught and eventually paralized from the legs down
- Jude grows a pair and confronts his dad to heal her
- He goes against his dad's wishes and enters a mine to find a crystal that would heal Milla
- Jude goes off on a journey again against his dad's wishes
- Meets a clan in Xian Du and ends up in a typical Tales of Coliseum Tournament
- Finds out Exodus is really trying to murder Milla
- Finds out Teepo is just a device that speaks Elize's thoughts
- Goes to Kanbalar to tell the king of Auj Oule that a war against Rashugal would mean a tragedy would occur in the world.
- Becomes enemies with the king of Auj Oule
- They face Nachtigal and he is killed.
- The Lance of Kresnik is used and they find out there are two worlds!tales of you need more originality, i swear
- The group splits up and Jude meets a spirit named Muzet claiming to be Milla's elder sister.
- Gilland forcibly takes over Kanbalar and Rashugal.
- Allies with the king of Auj Oule
- The Lance of Kresnik is used against Reize Maxia
- Finds Gilland and kills him so he doesn't abuse his power
- Muzet attacks the group, and Milla sacrifices her life to save everyone by sacrificing her mana to the Lance of Kresnik.
- Jude goes berserk, refuses to eat, and basically about keels over and dies until he gets to beat the crap out of Alvin after he tries to kill him and Leia.
- Ends up enemies with the king of Auj Oule again because Jude is getting in the way of his plans.
- They go and face the real Maxwell.
- Milla comes back!!!!!
- Gaius, the king of Auj Oule ends up trying to figure out a way to destroy spyrix technology which would mean that would end the world of Elympios as they know it since they rely on Spyrix.
- Jude decides he wants to save both worlds.
- So he does.
- Then Milla ends up becoming the real Maxwell.
- And Jude becomes a real doctor and decides to study Spyrites (artificial spirits).
- To be continued in Tales of Xillia 2 which I have not played nor do I wish to read spoilers for.
More of an extensive history are located in these links
Reincarnated History: Jude is the son of an American man and a Chinese woman who are both doctors. His dad is a family doctor who specializes in Alternative Medicine such as Naturopathy and Acupuncture, while his mom is a pediatrician. Being Chinese-American isn't easy growing up, especially with a very American name like 'Jude Mathis', and especially when get got his mother's more Chinese looks than his father's Caucasian looks. Getting bullied because he was 'different' wasn't too uncommon for the boy, to the point that he often got in fights. His dad, unhappy with his son being a weakling, decided to get him some Kung Fu lessons so he would at least learn to protect himself. And that's all he would ever use it for, to protect himself, even though he could cause a world of hurt to anyone who tried to take him on.
In school, he got amazing grades, though mostly due to his strict father often harping on him, expecting great things out of him. That also got him made fun of and a lot of misconceptions that his dad was the Chinese one, since only Chinese parents were this harsh on their kids, right? Still, he was amazingly normal aside from his lack of conviction and assertiveness. Due to being able to observe people very well, he was able to please his peers and thus learned to do things in such a way that they would leave him alone. His mom noticed he never came home with friends, nor did he really have any, thus making him a pretty lonely kid growing up. At school he was the do-gooder honor's student who only did things to please everyone and didn't know what he really wanted to do.
Though he did know one thing, he did like helping out others. Thus, he wanted to become a doctor, though not because his parents were, but because he wanted to be one. Studying hard in middle school, he ensured he got good grades, straight A's even so he could get into Locke City School of Science. Even though he was in an academic school, he was still made fun of for being a 'honor's student' and not living out his high school life. Now he's a sophomore at the school, still sustaining his straight A's.
First Echo: Tier 1 - Item. Because of his ever worrying mother knowing about him sticking his nose where he doesn't belong and she at least wants him to defend himself, she got him a pair of gauntlets to fight with. With those given to him, he ended up getting his Tyrant Fists, one of his pair of bracers in the game.
Preincarnation Personality: Perhaps the best way to start off explaining Jude is to say how exceptionally normal he is. Sure, he’s some sort of boy genius, but he’s naturally going to be good at medicine when both his mother and father run a clinic and are doctors themselves. The only thing exceptional about him is that he is some sort of medical prodigy and is an honors student. But even that title gets him made fun of a lot. As a child, he was often made fun of and bullied. Coming home with bruises wasn’t an uncommon thing, but one thing his parents noticed is that he was always smiling. Having a soft heart earned him a nasty reputation among children, but one thing about Jude is that he's quite the martyr. Though because of being bullied, he learned martial arts, however as he explains it, he learned self-defense. Jude isn’t one to be violent and actually mentions he’d rather not fight. It’s even noticeable that while he can fight, he’s used to being on the defensive and can dodge things. He also makes mention that he’s not very manly, and often cowers at that as if he does have some scars for not acting like a man. Not to say he’s girly at all, but he’s no stereotypical boy. Though he will chime up when someone does say something sexist to him, such as he has girly handwriting or if it’s mentioned he did something girly. That is when he takes offense, though usually he never backs down or talks back to others.
When it comes to his parents, he’s not exactly thrilled with them. He mentions that he feels like he was neglected because of his parent’s work; they are both doctors after all. However they never really had time to be a family outside of the clinic, which is the primary reason he goes off to medical school, since while he can probably learn more interning at his own family’s clinic, he does wish for more social interaction and probably wished to escape the violent life he lived in Leronde.
To escape his father who treats him like a child, because he often does act like a child. At least, he used to be unable to commit to his decisions he's made and take responsibility for them when things go bad.
Truth be told, he was just a go with the flow kind of guy who knew what he had to do to please others.
Until he met Milla.
Milla is what changed the foundation of his life and his very meaning of living. If he hadn't had his chance encounter with her, he'd likely still be in his cycle of people pleasing and do-gooding to get by. After all, he's good at that. Reading people and knowing how they tick is a handy trick a doctor needs to know, after all. And because of his broad knowledge, he's not really taken aback by the different kinds of people in the world. From the most saintly to the perverts, he understands a little too much for a boy his age. However, it's quite clear he hasn't experienced much on his own given some of the naive ideals he has.
He tries to act a lot older than he is most of the time, for better or for worse. The do-gooder who always knows how to act in front of others to please them. He's aware of this nature of his, and almost appears to find it a weakness himself, but he feels compelled to fulfill the altruistic acts that he does. There's also the fact that he appears to have a naive trust in Alvin for a majority of the game, which slowly does turn to hatred -- however he never once shows such emotion to him.
Though this brings about a rather positive point about Jude is he is a very strong catalyst to bring about the best in others. Being that 'do-gooder' and 'always knowing what to say' can actually be the most beneficial thing he can do in critical situations. In this sense, he has helped people find their paths and convictions. While others may not be dependent on him, many of the things he's said have never been thought to be a bad idea. After all, he thinks logically, and given his intelligence just knows how people work. Funilly enough, he's not really sure how he himself works until crises hit him hard. However, he learns a lot about himself from said crises and learns from his mistakes fairly quickly. This is when his maturity shows, that for such a young person, he's almost been forced to grow up at such a young age thanks to the circumstances he's been put in.
On to his altruism, he has a difficult time turning a blind eye to those in need. Such as a little girl who is held prisoner in a city that he wants to take care of and find a better home for her. It's a surprise to Milla and Alvin when he essentially kidnaps the girl from her prison and takes them along in their journey. But he finds it to be a part of his mission and takes it really seriously. However, he appears to have a lack of communication skills when it comes to what he wishes to fulfill in the end. While in his head, he feels like he's doing something great, he sometimes appears to have a lack of empathy for others. Such as telling said little girl he's going to essentially unload her on a random stranger. In his head, of course, the situation works out, however outloud he clearly doesn't explain himself and it comes out completely wrong.
Such communication errors for him can both be hilarious and hurtful. In the hilarious side of things, he has no problem mentioning a woman is insanely pretty. Of course, any other party is going to assume it means he has the hots for them, but he claims he's objectively speaking. This brings us to the fact that Jude is only a 15 year old boy, and he is going through puberty. While it's unknown exactly what kind of things he's experienced and read, he can understand some sexual subtext and innuendo. Such as bondage and what it refers to someone being a 'catcher'. However made up words and euphemisms, such as bazongas, or spirits and humans 'direct-tethering' and the innuendo behind those is completely lost on him. Allowing us to believe that while there is a typical teenager in him, there's still that hint of naivete.
Given he's a doctor in canon, he often has traits that involve being the caretaker of the group. He's always looking after others, and because of how much he cares for Milla, he's almost always aware of her condition. Of course, his concern also reaches out towards his childhood friend, Leia, who was sickly as a child.
When it comes to Leia, we see a few facets of Jude that we don't see otherwise -- such as a sarcastic side, and the brotherly side of him. As childhood friends, it's obvious that Jude sees Leia as a strong girl which is why he makes some insensitive jabs at her, though he doesn't mean them rudely. In fact, it's obvious that he doesn't mean them in such a rude fashion, just that he's probably more honest with Leia than he is with anyone else in the group. He mentions trying not to get mad at Leia as children because he didn't want to eat mabo curry every night when they decide to make up, or even mentioning that he forgets her birthday because it's not practical information he needs to know. All in all, he's completely unaware of Leia's feelings towards him and hurts her feelings on multiple occasions though he does not mean to.
Though on the opposite end of the spectrum, we see the caring side of Jude, where he knows how she ticks and is able to handle her energy. He overly cares for her and is often looking out for her well-being because she was sick as a child. So while one could interpret his attitude towards Leia as often cold, in fact, it can be said that because of how close they are to each other as friends, they don't pull any punches. Leia is probably the one and only person that Jude doesn't even try to be careful or a people pleaser around, thus showing us his more true side.
On to his family. His relationship with his father is bad from the get go, as it's shown he's not too fond of him. It's already bad he feels neglected, but his father's hostile attitude towards him only makes his view of his old man worse. He wants to be accepted, but it seems like that's the last thing that's happening. Throughout the course of the game, his father tells him that taking responsibility for his decisions is what it means to become an adult. Though Jude does take responsibility, but in a fashion that appears to infuriate his father. It's mentioned that thanks to Milla he's learned to become stronger and talk back to his father, since they've never seen him so bold before. At one point, Jude even gets slapped by him for going against his orders, to which Jude's retort is 'I tried, unlike you, Dad.' While puts on a strong face in front of his father, once he's gone, one can tell he's hurt by his father's nonacceptance of his accomplishments. That perhaps all he really wants is to be recognized by him, and be seen on equal footing. Not as a child.
Back to Milla. Jude only starts off traveling with her because he feels like he needs to finish what he began. Alvin mentions that he's acting like a mature adult, even though he's likely scared. Hiding his feelings isn't exactly hard for Jude to do. It appears he wears his emotions on his sleeves, but it's in fact the opposite -- he hides his hurtful emotions behind a smile or a positive attitude. Being a martyr is easier for him than letting those negative emotions loose. It's better to be what everyone else wants him to be as opposed to being an inconvenience for everyone. Though thanks to him hiding his emotions, he's able to keep calm and composed even in the most dangerous of situations. While most boys his age would panic in a fight, Jude is able calm himself and figure out ways to escape battles. He, in fact, saves the party a few times thanks to his calm, logical outlook during a battle, such as saving Milla from Presa by having Alvin shooting an octopus camouflaging as a rock, or using spores to create an effective smoke screen. He's not a tactician of any sort, but yes, he can be a powerful ally in battle if only for his ability to think logically and escape dire situations.
However, Milla often questions his convictions, and helps to open his eyes that, yes, he's allowed to make decisions that others don't like. Though a strong presence like her is something he's not used to. It first starts off as simple admiration with a crush, then slowly evolves into a nearly unhealthy obsession with her. However, one could also describe it as a deep love for the girl. Still, she quickly becomes his mission -- his very reason for living. Thinking about being separated from her starts to scare him, and he even starts making excuses to stay with her, such as thinking it should be his mission to protect her once their journey is over.
However, his obsession nearly becomes fatal after her sacrifice to save everyone. This is where we see the worst in Jude. There's a sense of co-dependence in him that he needed her to simply live, and he would have died if not for the care of his close childhood friend, Leia. (There's also the fact that Muzet dug into that psychological wound as deeply as she could, and that didn't help his condition whatsoever.) After he sees Leia's selfless acts to protect him, and Alvin's conviction to kill Jude just so he could go to his home world, he came to realize that he needed to start making his own decisions. That Milla would be disappointed in him if he threw his life away -- one of the many lives she strove to protect.
His co-dependency is apparent from the beginning when he's not really sure what path he should take for himself. Studying to become a doctor was pretty much a given, since as mentioned, both his mom and dad are doctors. It was almost expected of him. The only thing he did on his own was his altruistic acts that got him hurt and teased by his hometown friends. Even starting his journey was an act of altruism since all he wished to do was congratulate his professor for earning a prestigious award. It's shown that he's afraid of death, but he quickly finds something he fears more than death --and that's losing Milla. Of course, when that occurs, he appears to no longer fear death. He looks death right in the eye from both starving himself and having a gun pointed to his head. Until the point he finally realizes he needs to think for himself, he's never really made his own decisions in confidence. Naturally, he's made them, but he always sought guidance when he could. A lack of confidence in himself is another weakness of his, though it's one he's recognized and is working on.
All-in-all, Jude is just a young teenager who happened to get in over his head one day by being the do-gooder he is. If he wasn't involved in his adventure with Milla, he likely would have continued on his studies, passively doing what he could to get by. He wouldn't have experienced the pains he did, but he also would not have grown like he did as well. As much as it hurt Jude to lose her, Milla was the best thing that happened in his life and she became his rock and his role model. All he wanted to do was learn to be brave and decisive like her -- and slowly but surely, he's learning to do just that. To become an adult that everyone can recognize.
Any Differences: The first and most massive difference will be the lack of Milla in his life means he lacks any thing in regards to being self-confident. He has nothing like that of the sort and thus has a low-self esteem overall. Everything he does is to only please his father and maybe please the people around him so he can avoid trouble.
A second most obvious one is that while he aspires to be a doctor, he is not a 15 year old medical student so he doesn't have the prestige he does in Tales of Xillia thus he doesn't have as much motivation. While yes, he wants to be a doctor, people just see him as some kid who's trying to be like his parents and don't take him too seriously. So basically, while he was already pretty normal, he's even more normal now. Just a normal 10th grade kid who gets straight A's. Maybe people will take him seriously when he is in his residency in ten years. So he responds to people in that way, and tries not to annoy people in that sense.
A third, due to the world's lack of danger (or previously lack of danger), he didn't get involved in dangerous things and have to be a do-gooder as much as he was in Xillia. While he still wants to help people, he isn't as inclined to butt into their matters or 'save them'. Also, because this world doesn't rely on magic, he's not seen as 'weak'. While he was previously bullied, once he learned self-defense, it was game over for the bullies. So they went to verbally abusing him instead, and he just put up with it. Sure, while he might break up a fight or two or ten... it isn't going to get him in as much trouble as it did in his original life.
Lastly, he is much more afraid of his dad in his reincarnated form than he was in his original life where stood up to him and figuratively said 'fuck you, Dad!' His dad is a driving force in his life, and as mentioned in the first paragraph of differences, he does what he can to please him since he can't run off right now like he could in Xillia.
Abilities: To start off, people of Rieze Maxia have what's known as a mana lobe. This allows people to channel mana from spirits and convert it into artes. Jude is no exception. However, it's crucial to state that while Jude is Rieze Maxian, he is also half-Elympion. Elympions are people who do have mana lobes, but due to the lack of using it, it's very undeveloped so they cannot produce mana thus they're unable to use magic. Because of this, Jude has a lower level of spirit artes he can use as opposed to those who are full Rieze Maxian. However, of what he can use, he implements in his fighting style wisely -- such as adding earth and fire spirit artes to punches, and wind and water spirit artes to kicks. Given he's a doctor, he is also capable of healing and remedying status inflictions.
When someone is fighting with him (known as 'linking' in canon), Jude has a skill known as 'Restore', that allows him to heal his partner when they fall. He is also capable of reviving his partner if they're knocked down and their health reaches zero (basically a free revive... and yes it can get really OP). Also when linking, he can combine his artes with another and their artes are capable of evolving into a much stronger arte.
As for his fighting style, he studied martial artes, and is quite skilled at it. While he may not have a black belt, he's certainly capable of landing precise and direct hits, and is also able to meld his style depending on who he is fighting with, making him extremely versatile. He's shown to be a bit acrobatic as he's able to stand on his hands and kick enemies up in the air, usually to an aerial ally to finish the enemy off.
Lastly, he has a unique skill called the 'snap pivot', where if he's able to dodge an enemy attack at the last minute, he is able to pivot around the enemy instantaneously to their unguarded backside and counter attack.
Roleplay Sample - Third Person: Test Drive!
Roleplay Sample - Network: Handwritten:
[The letters are curly and pretty in a neat cursive. In fact, the reader right away will believe a girl is writing this just due to how the handwriting looks.]
I've seen people write letters like these in class with these numbers on top, pretending they're one of you 'Numbered'. Watching them, they await some sort of response, then get upset that the 'numbers' they randomly thought up weren't real. This isn't a game, is it?
I'm not even sure if the numbers I thought up are real, either, but I suppose now is a good time to see if this is the real deal.
My name is Jude Mathis. I'm a pretty ordinary 10th grader at the Locke School of Science. When my mom gave me some gauntlets to use as a weapon just in case I got caught up in something, I got a different pair that looked entirely different. At the same time, these numbers popped into my head. My dad took a look at me since I did have a pretty bad headache from it all, too, and thinks I'm just being a 'stupid kid hallucinating that I'm one of you heroes.' Oh yeah, my dad's a doctor, so that's what I mean by 'he took a look at me'.
I'm not sure how this works, but please write me back if this is all real. I keep thinking I see a network, but maybe I'm just hallucinating that.
Thanks.
Any Questions? If you need to clear up any lingering questions or concerns, here's the place to do it.
Name: Zero II
Are you over 15? Sure am!
Contact:
Current characters in the game: Yuri Lowell | Tales of Vesperia
IC Information:
Name: Jude Mathis (reincarnation will remain the same)
Canon and Medium: Tales of Xillia
Age: 16 (as of Xillia 2) | 15 reincarnated
Preincarnation Species: Human, though he a mix of two different kinds of humans due to having a mom and a dad from different worlds. His mom is the magical kind of human, his dad is not. It's confusing, whatever, he's human, haha!
Preincarnation Appearance: here!
Any Differences: No difference. He just wears more modern clothes.
Starting Location: Locke City
Preincarnated History: Jude was a boy born in a small town to two doctors. Growing up, due to how busy his parents were, they never really had the chance to be a family. He also had a friend who's family owned an inn and was often with her, though he recalls her being a bully growing up. In fact, he was bullied a lot growing up due to being 'weak'. He couldn't use strong magic, and other kids made fun of him for it. He was always getting hurt and beat up, but he always came home with a smile on his face. Meddling in business that he didn't need to, he wound up in trouble more than anyone would know.
So that was his childhood. Tired of his boondocks neglected life, he went off to medical school to study to become a doctor. He did this before he was 15 and it's mentioned he had a birthday or two. So he was 13-14 when he ran off to med school. (Don't ask me how their education system works there. It's fucked up) It's there, in Fennmont, that he met Milla who turned his life upside down. Following her like a lost puppy, he started a journey more or less because he idolized the woman who called herself 'Maxwell'. Though it's because he got caught up with her he ended up a wanted criminal for 'breaking into a lab' when he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
In fact, the entirely of Tales of Xillia can be described as Jude following Milla like a lost puppy and getting into trouble. And also finding his conviction, but I suppose that is not enough for the rest of this history part.
So, along the way he meets Elize who he decides he wants to help. Getting Milla's permission to take her along, he seeks to find her a kind guardian to take care of her.
Oh yeah, and then there's Alvin who betrays him like a million times in the course of the story, but to mention every time that happens and Jude forgives him, we'd be here all day while I write a PhD essay on it. Eventually, Jude does get to the point where he hates Alvin and finally learns, after he shoots his childhood friend, Leia.
Story, story, right.
Here you go, Tales of Xillia - Jude's history the lazy version
- The Party meets Cline and Driselle
- Cline finds out Nachtigal is doing human experimentation
- Cline is killed when he decides to rebel against Nachtigal
- Milla gets caught and eventually paralized from the legs down
- Jude grows a pair and confronts his dad to heal her
- He goes against his dad's wishes and enters a mine to find a crystal that would heal Milla
- Jude goes off on a journey again against his dad's wishes
- Meets a clan in Xian Du and ends up in a typical Tales of Coliseum Tournament
- Finds out Exodus is really trying to murder Milla
- Finds out Teepo is just a device that speaks Elize's thoughts
- Goes to Kanbalar to tell the king of Auj Oule that a war against Rashugal would mean a tragedy would occur in the world.
- Becomes enemies with the king of Auj Oule
- They face Nachtigal and he is killed.
- The Lance of Kresnik is used and they find out there are two worlds!
- The group splits up and Jude meets a spirit named Muzet claiming to be Milla's elder sister.
- Gilland forcibly takes over Kanbalar and Rashugal.
- Allies with the king of Auj Oule
- The Lance of Kresnik is used against Reize Maxia
- Finds Gilland and kills him so he doesn't abuse his power
- Muzet attacks the group, and Milla sacrifices her life to save everyone by sacrificing her mana to the Lance of Kresnik.
- Jude goes berserk, refuses to eat, and basically about keels over and dies until he gets to beat the crap out of Alvin after he tries to kill him and Leia.
- Ends up enemies with the king of Auj Oule again because Jude is getting in the way of his plans.
- They go and face the real Maxwell.
- Milla comes back!!!!!
- Gaius, the king of Auj Oule ends up trying to figure out a way to destroy spyrix technology which would mean that would end the world of Elympios as they know it since they rely on Spyrix.
- Jude decides he wants to save both worlds.
- So he does.
- Then Milla ends up becoming the real Maxwell.
- And Jude becomes a real doctor and decides to study Spyrites (artificial spirits).
- To be continued in Tales of Xillia 2 which I have not played nor do I wish to read spoilers for.
More of an extensive history are located in these links
Reincarnated History: Jude is the son of an American man and a Chinese woman who are both doctors. His dad is a family doctor who specializes in Alternative Medicine such as Naturopathy and Acupuncture, while his mom is a pediatrician. Being Chinese-American isn't easy growing up, especially with a very American name like 'Jude Mathis', and especially when get got his mother's more Chinese looks than his father's Caucasian looks. Getting bullied because he was 'different' wasn't too uncommon for the boy, to the point that he often got in fights. His dad, unhappy with his son being a weakling, decided to get him some Kung Fu lessons so he would at least learn to protect himself. And that's all he would ever use it for, to protect himself, even though he could cause a world of hurt to anyone who tried to take him on.
In school, he got amazing grades, though mostly due to his strict father often harping on him, expecting great things out of him. That also got him made fun of and a lot of misconceptions that his dad was the Chinese one, since only Chinese parents were this harsh on their kids, right? Still, he was amazingly normal aside from his lack of conviction and assertiveness. Due to being able to observe people very well, he was able to please his peers and thus learned to do things in such a way that they would leave him alone. His mom noticed he never came home with friends, nor did he really have any, thus making him a pretty lonely kid growing up. At school he was the do-gooder honor's student who only did things to please everyone and didn't know what he really wanted to do.
Though he did know one thing, he did like helping out others. Thus, he wanted to become a doctor, though not because his parents were, but because he wanted to be one. Studying hard in middle school, he ensured he got good grades, straight A's even so he could get into Locke City School of Science. Even though he was in an academic school, he was still made fun of for being a 'honor's student' and not living out his high school life. Now he's a sophomore at the school, still sustaining his straight A's.
First Echo: Tier 1 - Item. Because of his ever worrying mother knowing about him sticking his nose where he doesn't belong and she at least wants him to defend himself, she got him a pair of gauntlets to fight with. With those given to him, he ended up getting his Tyrant Fists, one of his pair of bracers in the game.
Preincarnation Personality: Perhaps the best way to start off explaining Jude is to say how exceptionally normal he is. Sure, he’s some sort of boy genius, but he’s naturally going to be good at medicine when both his mother and father run a clinic and are doctors themselves. The only thing exceptional about him is that he is some sort of medical prodigy and is an honors student. But even that title gets him made fun of a lot. As a child, he was often made fun of and bullied. Coming home with bruises wasn’t an uncommon thing, but one thing his parents noticed is that he was always smiling. Having a soft heart earned him a nasty reputation among children, but one thing about Jude is that he's quite the martyr. Though because of being bullied, he learned martial arts, however as he explains it, he learned self-defense. Jude isn’t one to be violent and actually mentions he’d rather not fight. It’s even noticeable that while he can fight, he’s used to being on the defensive and can dodge things. He also makes mention that he’s not very manly, and often cowers at that as if he does have some scars for not acting like a man. Not to say he’s girly at all, but he’s no stereotypical boy. Though he will chime up when someone does say something sexist to him, such as he has girly handwriting or if it’s mentioned he did something girly. That is when he takes offense, though usually he never backs down or talks back to others.
When it comes to his parents, he’s not exactly thrilled with them. He mentions that he feels like he was neglected because of his parent’s work; they are both doctors after all. However they never really had time to be a family outside of the clinic, which is the primary reason he goes off to medical school, since while he can probably learn more interning at his own family’s clinic, he does wish for more social interaction and probably wished to escape the violent life he lived in Leronde.
To escape his father who treats him like a child, because he often does act like a child. At least, he used to be unable to commit to his decisions he's made and take responsibility for them when things go bad.
Truth be told, he was just a go with the flow kind of guy who knew what he had to do to please others.
Until he met Milla.
Milla is what changed the foundation of his life and his very meaning of living. If he hadn't had his chance encounter with her, he'd likely still be in his cycle of people pleasing and do-gooding to get by. After all, he's good at that. Reading people and knowing how they tick is a handy trick a doctor needs to know, after all. And because of his broad knowledge, he's not really taken aback by the different kinds of people in the world. From the most saintly to the perverts, he understands a little too much for a boy his age. However, it's quite clear he hasn't experienced much on his own given some of the naive ideals he has.
He tries to act a lot older than he is most of the time, for better or for worse. The do-gooder who always knows how to act in front of others to please them. He's aware of this nature of his, and almost appears to find it a weakness himself, but he feels compelled to fulfill the altruistic acts that he does. There's also the fact that he appears to have a naive trust in Alvin for a majority of the game, which slowly does turn to hatred -- however he never once shows such emotion to him.
Though this brings about a rather positive point about Jude is he is a very strong catalyst to bring about the best in others. Being that 'do-gooder' and 'always knowing what to say' can actually be the most beneficial thing he can do in critical situations. In this sense, he has helped people find their paths and convictions. While others may not be dependent on him, many of the things he's said have never been thought to be a bad idea. After all, he thinks logically, and given his intelligence just knows how people work. Funilly enough, he's not really sure how he himself works until crises hit him hard. However, he learns a lot about himself from said crises and learns from his mistakes fairly quickly. This is when his maturity shows, that for such a young person, he's almost been forced to grow up at such a young age thanks to the circumstances he's been put in.
On to his altruism, he has a difficult time turning a blind eye to those in need. Such as a little girl who is held prisoner in a city that he wants to take care of and find a better home for her. It's a surprise to Milla and Alvin when he essentially kidnaps the girl from her prison and takes them along in their journey. But he finds it to be a part of his mission and takes it really seriously. However, he appears to have a lack of communication skills when it comes to what he wishes to fulfill in the end. While in his head, he feels like he's doing something great, he sometimes appears to have a lack of empathy for others. Such as telling said little girl he's going to essentially unload her on a random stranger. In his head, of course, the situation works out, however outloud he clearly doesn't explain himself and it comes out completely wrong.
Such communication errors for him can both be hilarious and hurtful. In the hilarious side of things, he has no problem mentioning a woman is insanely pretty. Of course, any other party is going to assume it means he has the hots for them, but he claims he's objectively speaking. This brings us to the fact that Jude is only a 15 year old boy, and he is going through puberty. While it's unknown exactly what kind of things he's experienced and read, he can understand some sexual subtext and innuendo. Such as bondage and what it refers to someone being a 'catcher'. However made up words and euphemisms, such as bazongas, or spirits and humans 'direct-tethering' and the innuendo behind those is completely lost on him. Allowing us to believe that while there is a typical teenager in him, there's still that hint of naivete.
Given he's a doctor in canon, he often has traits that involve being the caretaker of the group. He's always looking after others, and because of how much he cares for Milla, he's almost always aware of her condition. Of course, his concern also reaches out towards his childhood friend, Leia, who was sickly as a child.
When it comes to Leia, we see a few facets of Jude that we don't see otherwise -- such as a sarcastic side, and the brotherly side of him. As childhood friends, it's obvious that Jude sees Leia as a strong girl which is why he makes some insensitive jabs at her, though he doesn't mean them rudely. In fact, it's obvious that he doesn't mean them in such a rude fashion, just that he's probably more honest with Leia than he is with anyone else in the group. He mentions trying not to get mad at Leia as children because he didn't want to eat mabo curry every night when they decide to make up, or even mentioning that he forgets her birthday because it's not practical information he needs to know. All in all, he's completely unaware of Leia's feelings towards him and hurts her feelings on multiple occasions though he does not mean to.
Though on the opposite end of the spectrum, we see the caring side of Jude, where he knows how she ticks and is able to handle her energy. He overly cares for her and is often looking out for her well-being because she was sick as a child. So while one could interpret his attitude towards Leia as often cold, in fact, it can be said that because of how close they are to each other as friends, they don't pull any punches. Leia is probably the one and only person that Jude doesn't even try to be careful or a people pleaser around, thus showing us his more true side.
On to his family. His relationship with his father is bad from the get go, as it's shown he's not too fond of him. It's already bad he feels neglected, but his father's hostile attitude towards him only makes his view of his old man worse. He wants to be accepted, but it seems like that's the last thing that's happening. Throughout the course of the game, his father tells him that taking responsibility for his decisions is what it means to become an adult. Though Jude does take responsibility, but in a fashion that appears to infuriate his father. It's mentioned that thanks to Milla he's learned to become stronger and talk back to his father, since they've never seen him so bold before. At one point, Jude even gets slapped by him for going against his orders, to which Jude's retort is 'I tried, unlike you, Dad.' While puts on a strong face in front of his father, once he's gone, one can tell he's hurt by his father's nonacceptance of his accomplishments. That perhaps all he really wants is to be recognized by him, and be seen on equal footing. Not as a child.
Back to Milla. Jude only starts off traveling with her because he feels like he needs to finish what he began. Alvin mentions that he's acting like a mature adult, even though he's likely scared. Hiding his feelings isn't exactly hard for Jude to do. It appears he wears his emotions on his sleeves, but it's in fact the opposite -- he hides his hurtful emotions behind a smile or a positive attitude. Being a martyr is easier for him than letting those negative emotions loose. It's better to be what everyone else wants him to be as opposed to being an inconvenience for everyone. Though thanks to him hiding his emotions, he's able to keep calm and composed even in the most dangerous of situations. While most boys his age would panic in a fight, Jude is able calm himself and figure out ways to escape battles. He, in fact, saves the party a few times thanks to his calm, logical outlook during a battle, such as saving Milla from Presa by having Alvin shooting an octopus camouflaging as a rock, or using spores to create an effective smoke screen. He's not a tactician of any sort, but yes, he can be a powerful ally in battle if only for his ability to think logically and escape dire situations.
However, Milla often questions his convictions, and helps to open his eyes that, yes, he's allowed to make decisions that others don't like. Though a strong presence like her is something he's not used to. It first starts off as simple admiration with a crush, then slowly evolves into a nearly unhealthy obsession with her. However, one could also describe it as a deep love for the girl. Still, she quickly becomes his mission -- his very reason for living. Thinking about being separated from her starts to scare him, and he even starts making excuses to stay with her, such as thinking it should be his mission to protect her once their journey is over.
However, his obsession nearly becomes fatal after her sacrifice to save everyone. This is where we see the worst in Jude. There's a sense of co-dependence in him that he needed her to simply live, and he would have died if not for the care of his close childhood friend, Leia. (There's also the fact that Muzet dug into that psychological wound as deeply as she could, and that didn't help his condition whatsoever.) After he sees Leia's selfless acts to protect him, and Alvin's conviction to kill Jude just so he could go to his home world, he came to realize that he needed to start making his own decisions. That Milla would be disappointed in him if he threw his life away -- one of the many lives she strove to protect.
His co-dependency is apparent from the beginning when he's not really sure what path he should take for himself. Studying to become a doctor was pretty much a given, since as mentioned, both his mom and dad are doctors. It was almost expected of him. The only thing he did on his own was his altruistic acts that got him hurt and teased by his hometown friends. Even starting his journey was an act of altruism since all he wished to do was congratulate his professor for earning a prestigious award. It's shown that he's afraid of death, but he quickly finds something he fears more than death --and that's losing Milla. Of course, when that occurs, he appears to no longer fear death. He looks death right in the eye from both starving himself and having a gun pointed to his head. Until the point he finally realizes he needs to think for himself, he's never really made his own decisions in confidence. Naturally, he's made them, but he always sought guidance when he could. A lack of confidence in himself is another weakness of his, though it's one he's recognized and is working on.
All-in-all, Jude is just a young teenager who happened to get in over his head one day by being the do-gooder he is. If he wasn't involved in his adventure with Milla, he likely would have continued on his studies, passively doing what he could to get by. He wouldn't have experienced the pains he did, but he also would not have grown like he did as well. As much as it hurt Jude to lose her, Milla was the best thing that happened in his life and she became his rock and his role model. All he wanted to do was learn to be brave and decisive like her -- and slowly but surely, he's learning to do just that. To become an adult that everyone can recognize.
Any Differences: The first and most massive difference will be the lack of Milla in his life means he lacks any thing in regards to being self-confident. He has nothing like that of the sort and thus has a low-self esteem overall. Everything he does is to only please his father and maybe please the people around him so he can avoid trouble.
A second most obvious one is that while he aspires to be a doctor, he is not a 15 year old medical student so he doesn't have the prestige he does in Tales of Xillia thus he doesn't have as much motivation. While yes, he wants to be a doctor, people just see him as some kid who's trying to be like his parents and don't take him too seriously. So basically, while he was already pretty normal, he's even more normal now. Just a normal 10th grade kid who gets straight A's. Maybe people will take him seriously when he is in his residency in ten years. So he responds to people in that way, and tries not to annoy people in that sense.
A third, due to the world's lack of danger (or previously lack of danger), he didn't get involved in dangerous things and have to be a do-gooder as much as he was in Xillia. While he still wants to help people, he isn't as inclined to butt into their matters or 'save them'. Also, because this world doesn't rely on magic, he's not seen as 'weak'. While he was previously bullied, once he learned self-defense, it was game over for the bullies. So they went to verbally abusing him instead, and he just put up with it. Sure, while he might break up a fight or two or ten... it isn't going to get him in as much trouble as it did in his original life.
Lastly, he is much more afraid of his dad in his reincarnated form than he was in his original life where stood up to him and figuratively said 'fuck you, Dad!' His dad is a driving force in his life, and as mentioned in the first paragraph of differences, he does what he can to please him since he can't run off right now like he could in Xillia.
Abilities: To start off, people of Rieze Maxia have what's known as a mana lobe. This allows people to channel mana from spirits and convert it into artes. Jude is no exception. However, it's crucial to state that while Jude is Rieze Maxian, he is also half-Elympion. Elympions are people who do have mana lobes, but due to the lack of using it, it's very undeveloped so they cannot produce mana thus they're unable to use magic. Because of this, Jude has a lower level of spirit artes he can use as opposed to those who are full Rieze Maxian. However, of what he can use, he implements in his fighting style wisely -- such as adding earth and fire spirit artes to punches, and wind and water spirit artes to kicks. Given he's a doctor, he is also capable of healing and remedying status inflictions.
When someone is fighting with him (known as 'linking' in canon), Jude has a skill known as 'Restore', that allows him to heal his partner when they fall. He is also capable of reviving his partner if they're knocked down and their health reaches zero (basically a free revive... and yes it can get really OP). Also when linking, he can combine his artes with another and their artes are capable of evolving into a much stronger arte.
As for his fighting style, he studied martial artes, and is quite skilled at it. While he may not have a black belt, he's certainly capable of landing precise and direct hits, and is also able to meld his style depending on who he is fighting with, making him extremely versatile. He's shown to be a bit acrobatic as he's able to stand on his hands and kick enemies up in the air, usually to an aerial ally to finish the enemy off.
Lastly, he has a unique skill called the 'snap pivot', where if he's able to dodge an enemy attack at the last minute, he is able to pivot around the enemy instantaneously to their unguarded backside and counter attack.
Roleplay Sample - Third Person: Test Drive!
Roleplay Sample - Network: Handwritten:
[The letters are curly and pretty in a neat cursive. In fact, the reader right away will believe a girl is writing this just due to how the handwriting looks.]
I've seen people write letters like these in class with these numbers on top, pretending they're one of you 'Numbered'. Watching them, they await some sort of response, then get upset that the 'numbers' they randomly thought up weren't real. This isn't a game, is it?
I'm not even sure if the numbers I thought up are real, either, but I suppose now is a good time to see if this is the real deal.
My name is Jude Mathis. I'm a pretty ordinary 10th grader at the Locke School of Science. When my mom gave me some gauntlets to use as a weapon just in case I got caught up in something, I got a different pair that looked entirely different. At the same time, these numbers popped into my head. My dad took a look at me since I did have a pretty bad headache from it all, too, and thinks I'm just being a 'stupid kid hallucinating that I'm one of you heroes.' Oh yeah, my dad's a doctor, so that's what I mean by 'he took a look at me'.
I'm not sure how this works, but please write me back if this is all real. I keep thinking I see a network, but maybe I'm just hallucinating that.
Thanks.
Any Questions? If you need to clear up any lingering questions or concerns, here's the place to do it.