Thancred Waters

NAME: Snarky
AGE: 28
CONTACT: wildzubat
CHARACTERS IN GAME: N/A


CHARACTER NAME: Thancred Waters
AGE: Somewhere between 32 and 35
CANON Final Fantasy XIV
CANON POINT Just as he's leaving at the end of patch 4.3
HISTORY:
Wiki link!

Three notes b/c the FF wiki is ... a thing that needs editing:

1. The wiki incorrectly states "While he maintains the eyepatch is purely aesthetic and that the eye is still functional, in the rare instances it is visible it is seen to be notably silver instead of the original brown, implying that there may be some undisclosed injury to it."

Thancred asserts no such thing about the eyepatch but rather speaks evasively about it, saying only things such as that women like battlescars and otherwise not touching on it. I presume the eye is functionally blind, though possibly still light sensitive given that he continues to wear a bandanna over it. Despite Thancred's lack of explanation, depending on where the player character goes in an eventual dialogue fork, Y'shtola mentions that she finds his ability to compensate for the injury to his eye impressive. It was probably fighting a monster on the mountainside. Although his character model does not reflect this, I like to imagine that he also has some scarring around it, covered by the cloth.

2. The wiki fails to mention that when the party fights the Warriors of Darkness, using their and the Warrior of Light's crystals of light, they are able to give enough power to Hydaelyn to both teleport them to an aetherial realm and to restore Minfilia - in the form of the Word of the Mother - to bodily form. The Warriors of Darkness come from one of the reflections of the source world (the world the game takes place in), and their world has grown so filled with Light that it risks being lost. Hydaelyn agrees to send Minfilia as her emissary with the Warriors of Darkness back to their own world to do what she can to save it before it's too late. After confirming that Minfilia must go alone, Thancred tells her to make him proud, and although she promises to return one day, it is unknown if she ever will.

3. The wiki thus far only covers events up to the end of patch 3.5, so here is a quick and dirty summary of what follows in 3.55 through 4.3 as it pertains to him:
In the aftermath of Papalymo's sacrifice to trap Shinryu, the Warrior of Light teams up with Cid and Nero to use an ancient Allagan weapon Omega to defeat the primal. The ensuing battle breaks the shell and disperses the last of Papalymo's aether, causing the tattoos on Yda's neck to disappear. This prompts her to reveal that the actual Yda died six years ago, and that she is actually Yda's younger sister Lyse. The other Archons were aware of this but had agreed to keep the act up at Papalymo's behest.

Lyse decides to fight for the freedom of Ala Mhigo from Garlemald's oppression, and the rest of the Scions determine to assist her -- and later to expand their efforts to free Doma from imperial rule as well to help inspire more to the cause. After all, if one occupied territory can regain independence then surely that bodes well for others trying the same. Accordingly, the Scions split up, with most of them accompanying Lyse. Thancred and Urianger, however, stay behind - Urianger to watch over the Waking Sands and Thancred to assist with back end work, so to speak.

Thancred does not reenter the active fray until some time later when Krile is captured by Garleans and taken to the Magitek Research Facility in Ala Mhigo, for research associated with her Echo. Upon learning of her abduction, Thancred leaves to track her down, infiltrating the Magitek Research Facility to find her. Unable to rescue her on his own, he meets up with the rest of the Scions and the allied forces who have taken back more of Ala Mhigo to share what he's learned. He then assists both with Krile's rescue and with the retaking of the capital of Ala Mhigo.

In the end, the Resistance, the Eorzean Alliance, friends from Doma and the Warrior of Light & Scions of the Seventh Dawn together successfully drive the Garleans from Ala Mhigo, liberating it. Thancred reflects that Minfilia - no, Ascilia (her real name) - and her father would be pleased to know their homeland was at last free again. In the wake of the triumph, Lyse gathers the Scions to inform them that she will be leaving their organization to take up a leadership role with the resistance and help with rebuilding her home - and as such, she can no longer claim the neutrality their organization is supposed to hold. However, they all assure her that she is part of their family regardless and that they'll always be around to help her if she needs.

But now the real work begins - rebuilding a broken nation from the ashes of long-term occupation. Lyse organizes a meeting with the leaders of various factions within Ala Mhigo, including the local Ananta beast tribe, which itself is divided in two. Unfortunately, one part of the Ananta attempts to disrupt and take control of the proceedings by summoning their primal and attempting to temper all who are gathered there. The Warrior of Light and a few others with the Echo fight back and protect the assembly from the primal. Thancred assists with defeating the tempered Ananta guards. The day is saved, and the negotiations proceed.

Thancred sticks around, helping with rebuilding efforts and with setting up the salt mines once more, until news filters in about Zenos maybe not actually being dead. Thancred suggests checking on Zenos' grave, whereupon the party discovers it is empty. They proceed to speculate, and Thancred suggests there may be Ascian involvement. After all, Ascians are quite capable of possessing corpses as well as the living.

The Scions gather to share the news and discuss what to do next. Alphinaud had earlier left to be an emissary to the Garleans, and in light of the likelihood he'll be walking into great danger as well as the need to keep tabs on the Ascians, Thancred decides to infiltrate the Garlean Empire from the west, sneaking in to both spy and help Alphinaud in whatever way he can. And it is just as he is leaving for this task that he finds himself here instead.

PERSONALITY:
Thancred is a hot mess with a guilt complex who tries to pretend he isn't by being a (sometimes) stoic workaholic who speaks both bullshit and sarcasm fluently. He wears wit and bravado as shields to hide his true feelings from those he does not trust. Intelligent, charismatic, personable and resourceful, he can be a good actor when he wants to be - important as his main occupation and role within the Scions of the Seventh Dawn is basically espionage and info gathering. He most often presents himself as a bard, a scholar, and/or a "man of refinement", even if at present he is in need of a good shave...

Outside of his work (which consumes most of his life really), his main hobbies are his cover as a bard (he does enjoy poetry and storytelling and playing with language), carousing, and flirting with women (mostly - he has a time or two had a potentially flirty comment for a male, including the Player Character if he is male; that said, his main interest seems to be very much women). While at times this proves useful to his work - a lover is more apt to let secrets slip, after all, and connections of any sort can be of value - at times it also can be a detriment, if he gets distracted or if one woman grows jealous when witnessing or suspecting him showering affections upon another. He has crushes at times as well, some fleeting and others more lasting - though it's hard to tell quite how much of it is for show and the sake of maintaining an image. Some certainly is, but not all - he does indeed enjoy himself, after all! -- though it is worth noting that since his extended time alone in the wilderness, he has rather toned down his flirtations and tendency for distraction. There has been too much going on that is far too serious for him to let himself be sidetracked, and he has had much to work through besides.

In any case, although he is highly competent at what he does and uses his words, charms and smiles as shields and obfuscation, beneath lies a large knot of grief and pain and guilt. He holds himself to at times unreasonably high standards and judges himself harshly when he fails to live up to them - moreover, he is always keenly conscious of the idea that he should have done better than he did. Acted sooner, made a different decision, done or not done a particular thing, and then maybe he would have saved this person. And although at one point he professes "the past is the past, and there is naught to be gained from reliving your mistakes," he nonetheless has a tendency to do just that. It's been 15+ years since a monster getting loose at a parade killed Minfilia's father, but to this day Thancred still feels responsible for not preventing it - and that is hardly the only or even the biggest of his failures (both alleged and true).

Additionally, he feels responsible for things done with his body even though they were not by his will when he was possessed by Lahabrea. Although he in truth was a victim, taken advantage of due to depression and overworking himself, he nonetheless still feels guilt and responsibility for the terrible things Lahabrea did. And he's still reaping the consequences of this occurrence besides - being possessed and then having the possessor forcibly ejected left his aether damaged, and Y'shtola's Flow spell, although it saved their lives, further damaged it to the point that he can no longer teleport or make use of other magic that he could before. He does not let on whether or not he is bothered by this but just deals with it and carries on.

"I have fought tooth and nail for the people I hold dear--done everything in my power to save them...and I have failed."

On top of the guilt that comes with letting people down (and letting himself down), Thancred also as mentioned carries a lot of pain with him. His life has been a hard one from the beginning. He grew up on the streets of a dangerous city full of cutthroats and pirates, where it is not uncommon (albeit somewhat less so over recent years thanks to attempts at reform and a bit more law and order) for the unwary to simply disappear, taken by slavers or pirates or any number of deaths. And a thief and rogue he might have remained, had not he gotten a lucky break, giving him the opportunity for a deep education and a chance at being something more. Although after his long sojourn in the wilderness he seems less uncomfortable with his origins (perhaps because he has abandoned many of the pretenses he once put forth in favor of simply wearing his steel openly both figuratively and physically), he nonetheless is not inclined to speak much about it save for occasional mentions when relevant (such as a remark to the effect that he can swim well and hold his breath a long time, thanks to his childhood).

Louisoix, the man who gave him that break, became something of a father figure and mentor to Thancred - someone whom he loved and looked up to. The head of his found family. But alas, Louisoix died, and recently Thancred has seen still more of those he cares about most lost in their efforts. And of particular note among those is Minfilia.

Minfilia was the successor to Louisoix in leading those who would save their land from the threat of Primals and so on. She also was a very dear friend and basically a younger sister to Thancred. They have been close, supporting each other for years, and although Minfilia is not technically dead, she has nonetheless gone to another world in a way he cannot follow. Therefore, he mourns her too and can but hope maybe someday she will be back. "She had so many dreams," he says of her, and he hopes to see them through in his own way. He also hopes to protect what is left of his family and do what he can to ensure their survival and success.

"You make your choice and you live with the consequences."

Nevertheless, despite the hardships and loss, Thancred never lets it stop him from moving forward. After all, their work is never ending, and even if there are times he has failed, there are times where he might yet succeed if he keeps going forward. Thus, he has a tendency to throw himself into work - both to live up to his own standards of what be done and as a coping mechanism. He's the sort of person who pushes his personal problems aside and buries them because there are more important things to do.

He tends to try to downplay his own injuries and mental struggles to others, preferring to present himself as capable and confident. (A scar is a sign of survival of some heroic action, appealing to maidens and a good source of stories and songs, after all!) Besides, he does not idle well and lying abed ill suits him. That said, after the extended wilderness episode, he falls into outright stoicism and silence at times in lieu of chipper deflection and hiding behind a curtain of words. To some things... there is just nothing for even him to say.

CANON POWERS: N/A || Thancred is blessed with the powers of bullshit, ridiculous acrobatics, dramatic entrances, and being super good at fighting with only one eye. None of these, however, are actually magical so far as we know. He's just really athletic and acrobatic. Once upon a time, he could cast some basic magic, but he lacks that ability now.
OTHER:



CRAU INFO: N/A
MAGIC ABILITY: Duplication - the ability to duplicate items. He would start off only able to do small, simple objects but if he practices, he can get better and be able to duplicate more - though never exceeding roughly his own size and weight.

He cannot duplicate anything living, and the size of what he can duplicate is inversely proportional to the complexity and density of the item. Also, the item must be contiguous. For example, he could duplicate a very large inflated balloon with ease, but an equal sized bowling ball would be more difficult, and an equal sized watermelon more difficult still. If he were to duplicate a tea kettle, if there is tea in it, he can duplicate the tea too, but if there is no tea in it, he'll only duplicate the kettle. Unfortunately, the copy of any food he duplicates will always generate at ambient room temperature. Which sucks if it's supposed to be piping hot or frozen or something.

ANY WEAPONS/MAGICAL ITEMS?:
Weapon: ONE (1) throwing knife
Other: ONE (1) pair of aether goggles through which one can observe patterns of magic/soulstuff flow and take measurements

ANY PETS?: A nutkin, which is basically a very cute grey squirrel. There's nothing special about it. It's just a cute squirrel that Thancred befriended while in the wilderness. Now it follows him around and serves to conveniently hop in front of stuff to censor things and save people from embarrassment or spoilers!


LINKED SAMPLE: here