keith keith, the liger man (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
secondnature) wrote2016-07-03 07:44 pm
secondnature) wrote2016-07-03 07:44 pm
APPLICATION.
CHARACTER INFO.
NAME: Keith
CANON: Voltron: Legendary Defender
AGE: 18-19.
APPEARANCE: Keith!
CANON POINT: Just as he's being dragged into a wormhole at the end of season one.
BACKGROUND: Official wikipedia | Official show website Fan wiki.
PERSONALITY: The first mention that the audience gets of Keith in the show is that he ended up being kicked out of the garrison for pilots because he had "disciplinary problems." These "disciplinary problems" define Keith in a lot of ways. While he isn't a walking, talking bad boy, he definitely has a hard time thinking of others, sticking to logical rules, and remembering that he shouldn't rush ahead in a mission while leaving everyone else behind. The lion that he pilots in Voltron is the red lion, and "red" is almost stereotypically his color: like the lion, he's brash, hot-headed, temperamental, and more inclined toward doing what comes naturally than thinking very far in advance. Similar to a red button that's always ready to cause trouble, he's ready to slam on that button himself and get rushing forward.
Impulsiveness and a desperation for a purpose in life truly defines Keith. Since he was orphaned at a young age, it's obvious that he's trying to make an identity for himself. At the garrison, he had been the best pilot, but washing out led him to having no direction. A feeling and nothing more led him to connecting the dots about a bunch of weird signals in the middle of nowhere that ended up leading him to saving an old friend from the garrison, Shiro, and ending up on the wild ride that would make him a Voltron paladin. If anything, his bayard is truly a weapon that exemplifies Keith to a "T"—always ready to slice to the point, he carries a sword and shield, ready to fight and protect himself on his own at all times.
Along with the impulsiveness, "ready to fight" is another defining trait for Keith. It's not that he picks fights with people all the time, but in the face of danger, he is both brave and courageous, almost to the point of not thinking twice about his actions. When he's up against a bunch of aliens, he thinks quickly in the fight and sends them all out into space, dropping down his mask to protect himself. It's this quick action that makes his lion wake up, respect him, and welcome him inside as its pilot. While he's brave, he's also pushy and angry when someone does something that he doesn't care for. For instance, when Pidge tries to leave the team to go find her family, he shouts her down for the decision, not thinking twice about the fact that he's being insensitive. He yells about how everyone has family (even if he, ironically, does not). The fact of the matter is that he doesn't know what she's thinking in that moment, and is obviously at least somewhat intensely connected to his role as a Voltron paladin already. He's not exactly the best at empathy for that reason.
That combative nature sometimes pairs poorly with his tendency to be a loner. He has a difficult time thinking of others, and he often finds himself alone. He trains alone, he sits alone, he broods alone—truthfully, he's a bit of a quiet, taciturn guy, though he's not opposed to speaking to other people. He's just not the chattiest of the bunch. On missions, he tends to go against everyone's better wisdom by rushing into situations alone. One time, he rushes into a scene full of fire even if it's incredibly dangerous, but it turns out to be a good thing because he finds out useful intel to help the rest of his team. Another time, he rushes into a room to find out exactly what was happening there, even if it was dangerous and impulsive. He ends up splashed with some mysterious yellow goo at the end of this and brushes it off. Part of that is because they're destined to rush ahead to the next destination, but he also just doesn't think to mention it because he absorbs it quickly. While planning their next mission, he suggests that they don't go save the princess they had been traveling with, believing that it might be too much of a suicide mission. In that way, he thinks of himself. But during that fight, he ends up relentlessly fighting the Emperor Zarkon (who's the main antagonist of the show) without any consideration that it might be both a futile fight and that his paladin buddies could probably use some help. He's too blinded by what he sees as necessary to stop, and he commits himself to what essentially becomes yet another solo mission alongside the other paladins.
A lot of this is likely because he's used to being alone, but it's hard to say. Keith doesn't talk a whole lot about himself. The bit of orphan information is only available on the Voltron website, which speaks volumes about the little bit he shows to the other people. Lance is emotional about his family, Hunk is jovial, and Pidge lost her family and is desperate to find them again. Meanwhile, Shiro is dealing with the loss of memories from being captured. All while this is happening, Keith is largely quiet, mouth shut with his arms crossed.
That's not to say that he doesn't have interactions with the other paladins or that he doesn't buy into the whole team experience. He absolutely does, and though he and Lance are "rivals" because of some idea that Lance got into his head, he comes to care about Lance and all the rest of the paladins. It's clear from the start that he respects Shiro because of his talent as a pilot, and he follows him … most of the time without any hesitation. He seems fine with the other paladins, Hunk and Pidge, though again, he's the quieter of the bunch, and most of his talkative turns involve him and Lance snipping pettily at one another. He engages in team-bonding exercises and seems happy about the whole situation at the end. He just struggles at using those exercises in practice, but he's definitely a part of the team. If he wasn't, he wouldn't be able to help them form Voltron regularly.
Still, it's clear that Keith hasn't always been properly socialized, which leads to him not looking like the brightest bulb on the team. In truth, it's that he's very bad at picking up social cues, reading exactly what someone wants from a situation, and he's not very good at carrying a conversation at any given moment. While he has that rebellious loner streak, it's likely because he knows nothing else. It makes him come across as shortsighted, but it's clear that he's not an unintelligent guy. He can take care of himself, puts together all the clues to find Shiro, and has a knack for coming up with clever strategies on the fly. His narrow-mindedness is the result of his lack of socialization and poor grasp of social cues, but it can sometimes make him come across as overly direct or selfish.
ABILITIES:
General piloting: Called the "best pilot at the garrison," Keith is fairly talented, able to fly through an asteroid belt later on with his lion robot without running into too much trouble. He manages to end up accomplishing the goal of stopping another talented pilot with his lion there, as well.
Giant Lion Robot Piloting: An attention of his previous talent, he's the pilot for the red lion, which requires someone who can handle a lion that is the fastest, temperamental, and requires a mind that almost acts on intuition and nothing else. (Or does, really.)
General resilience and combat training: He takes to fighting naturally, and seems to not be able to be taken down easily. He manages to pilot his robot against Emperor Zarkon, even if Zarkon is able to handle most of the robots with ease. Zarkon mentions that he fights like a "galra" because of his ability to give him a good fight. Yes, he's inside of his lion, but it speaks volumes about him, especially in contrast to other hand-to-hand combat scenarios he finds himself in. (See notes below for further thoughts on this!)
Swordplay: Although he is likely very new to wielding a sword, it comes naturally to him. He is able to hold his own fairly well against a simulation that goes haywire and seems like it's on the relentless attack.
Covert field work: "Espionage" isn't exactly the right word for this, but he takes to field work rather easily, creeping up on guys during a mission, and he moves subtly and quietly during another one. He's rather good at improvising on the spot.
Note related to abilities: Keith shows signs of having some intense ability to relentlessly fight, absorb weird goo and look vaguely purple before it goes away, and even have superpowered intuition (when he goes to the middle of nowhere to look for Shiro, he says he felt "drawn" there). It's not clear if any of these things mean that he has special powers or is less than human since we just don't know yet. That said, Keith doesn't know either, but I thought I'd mention it.
INVENTORY:
Paladin armor: All paladins come with armor that they use in battle. It protects them, and they can even handle being shot out into space as long as they bring their masks down. The armor is pretty durable that way.
Bayard: Each paladin gets a special bayard that turns into a weapon specific to him. Keith's turns into a sword, along with a shield that's given to all paladins.
NAME: Keith
CANON: Voltron: Legendary Defender
AGE: 18-19.
APPEARANCE: Keith!
CANON POINT: Just as he's being dragged into a wormhole at the end of season one.
BACKGROUND: Official wikipedia | Official show website Fan wiki.
PERSONALITY: The first mention that the audience gets of Keith in the show is that he ended up being kicked out of the garrison for pilots because he had "disciplinary problems." These "disciplinary problems" define Keith in a lot of ways. While he isn't a walking, talking bad boy, he definitely has a hard time thinking of others, sticking to logical rules, and remembering that he shouldn't rush ahead in a mission while leaving everyone else behind. The lion that he pilots in Voltron is the red lion, and "red" is almost stereotypically his color: like the lion, he's brash, hot-headed, temperamental, and more inclined toward doing what comes naturally than thinking very far in advance. Similar to a red button that's always ready to cause trouble, he's ready to slam on that button himself and get rushing forward.
Impulsiveness and a desperation for a purpose in life truly defines Keith. Since he was orphaned at a young age, it's obvious that he's trying to make an identity for himself. At the garrison, he had been the best pilot, but washing out led him to having no direction. A feeling and nothing more led him to connecting the dots about a bunch of weird signals in the middle of nowhere that ended up leading him to saving an old friend from the garrison, Shiro, and ending up on the wild ride that would make him a Voltron paladin. If anything, his bayard is truly a weapon that exemplifies Keith to a "T"—always ready to slice to the point, he carries a sword and shield, ready to fight and protect himself on his own at all times.
Along with the impulsiveness, "ready to fight" is another defining trait for Keith. It's not that he picks fights with people all the time, but in the face of danger, he is both brave and courageous, almost to the point of not thinking twice about his actions. When he's up against a bunch of aliens, he thinks quickly in the fight and sends them all out into space, dropping down his mask to protect himself. It's this quick action that makes his lion wake up, respect him, and welcome him inside as its pilot. While he's brave, he's also pushy and angry when someone does something that he doesn't care for. For instance, when Pidge tries to leave the team to go find her family, he shouts her down for the decision, not thinking twice about the fact that he's being insensitive. He yells about how everyone has family (even if he, ironically, does not). The fact of the matter is that he doesn't know what she's thinking in that moment, and is obviously at least somewhat intensely connected to his role as a Voltron paladin already. He's not exactly the best at empathy for that reason.
That combative nature sometimes pairs poorly with his tendency to be a loner. He has a difficult time thinking of others, and he often finds himself alone. He trains alone, he sits alone, he broods alone—truthfully, he's a bit of a quiet, taciturn guy, though he's not opposed to speaking to other people. He's just not the chattiest of the bunch. On missions, he tends to go against everyone's better wisdom by rushing into situations alone. One time, he rushes into a scene full of fire even if it's incredibly dangerous, but it turns out to be a good thing because he finds out useful intel to help the rest of his team. Another time, he rushes into a room to find out exactly what was happening there, even if it was dangerous and impulsive. He ends up splashed with some mysterious yellow goo at the end of this and brushes it off. Part of that is because they're destined to rush ahead to the next destination, but he also just doesn't think to mention it because he absorbs it quickly. While planning their next mission, he suggests that they don't go save the princess they had been traveling with, believing that it might be too much of a suicide mission. In that way, he thinks of himself. But during that fight, he ends up relentlessly fighting the Emperor Zarkon (who's the main antagonist of the show) without any consideration that it might be both a futile fight and that his paladin buddies could probably use some help. He's too blinded by what he sees as necessary to stop, and he commits himself to what essentially becomes yet another solo mission alongside the other paladins.
A lot of this is likely because he's used to being alone, but it's hard to say. Keith doesn't talk a whole lot about himself. The bit of orphan information is only available on the Voltron website, which speaks volumes about the little bit he shows to the other people. Lance is emotional about his family, Hunk is jovial, and Pidge lost her family and is desperate to find them again. Meanwhile, Shiro is dealing with the loss of memories from being captured. All while this is happening, Keith is largely quiet, mouth shut with his arms crossed.
That's not to say that he doesn't have interactions with the other paladins or that he doesn't buy into the whole team experience. He absolutely does, and though he and Lance are "rivals" because of some idea that Lance got into his head, he comes to care about Lance and all the rest of the paladins. It's clear from the start that he respects Shiro because of his talent as a pilot, and he follows him … most of the time without any hesitation. He seems fine with the other paladins, Hunk and Pidge, though again, he's the quieter of the bunch, and most of his talkative turns involve him and Lance snipping pettily at one another. He engages in team-bonding exercises and seems happy about the whole situation at the end. He just struggles at using those exercises in practice, but he's definitely a part of the team. If he wasn't, he wouldn't be able to help them form Voltron regularly.
Still, it's clear that Keith hasn't always been properly socialized, which leads to him not looking like the brightest bulb on the team. In truth, it's that he's very bad at picking up social cues, reading exactly what someone wants from a situation, and he's not very good at carrying a conversation at any given moment. While he has that rebellious loner streak, it's likely because he knows nothing else. It makes him come across as shortsighted, but it's clear that he's not an unintelligent guy. He can take care of himself, puts together all the clues to find Shiro, and has a knack for coming up with clever strategies on the fly. His narrow-mindedness is the result of his lack of socialization and poor grasp of social cues, but it can sometimes make him come across as overly direct or selfish.
ABILITIES:
General piloting: Called the "best pilot at the garrison," Keith is fairly talented, able to fly through an asteroid belt later on with his lion robot without running into too much trouble. He manages to end up accomplishing the goal of stopping another talented pilot with his lion there, as well.
Giant Lion Robot Piloting: An attention of his previous talent, he's the pilot for the red lion, which requires someone who can handle a lion that is the fastest, temperamental, and requires a mind that almost acts on intuition and nothing else. (Or does, really.)
General resilience and combat training: He takes to fighting naturally, and seems to not be able to be taken down easily. He manages to pilot his robot against Emperor Zarkon, even if Zarkon is able to handle most of the robots with ease. Zarkon mentions that he fights like a "galra" because of his ability to give him a good fight. Yes, he's inside of his lion, but it speaks volumes about him, especially in contrast to other hand-to-hand combat scenarios he finds himself in. (See notes below for further thoughts on this!)
Swordplay: Although he is likely very new to wielding a sword, it comes naturally to him. He is able to hold his own fairly well against a simulation that goes haywire and seems like it's on the relentless attack.
Covert field work: "Espionage" isn't exactly the right word for this, but he takes to field work rather easily, creeping up on guys during a mission, and he moves subtly and quietly during another one. He's rather good at improvising on the spot.
Note related to abilities: Keith shows signs of having some intense ability to relentlessly fight, absorb weird goo and look vaguely purple before it goes away, and even have superpowered intuition (when he goes to the middle of nowhere to look for Shiro, he says he felt "drawn" there). It's not clear if any of these things mean that he has special powers or is less than human since we just don't know yet. That said, Keith doesn't know either, but I thought I'd mention it.
INVENTORY:
Paladin armor: All paladins come with armor that they use in battle. It protects them, and they can even handle being shot out into space as long as they bring their masks down. The armor is pretty durable that way.
Bayard: Each paladin gets a special bayard that turns into a weapon specific to him. Keith's turns into a sword, along with a shield that's given to all paladins.