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Deerington App
Jan. 12th, 2019 10:10 pmIN CHARACTER
Character Name: Steve Rogers
Canon: Marvel Comics / TRN641 aka Secret Empire
Canon Point: Captain America: Steve Rogers #11; Attempting to assassinate Erskine
In-Game Tattoo Placement: a little behind his ears, one on each side
Current Health/Status: So Steve is said to be extremely sickly, but he is elsewise in normal health for him. His only specifically mentioned ailment is his asthma, but he is implied to have several, to an extent that euthanasia was suggested.
Age: 21
Species: Human
History: Here
Personality: So let's start with what everyone knows about this universe: Steve Rogers is Hydra. However, while Hydra is something that he's come to believe in, I don't think it is his defining attribute at this point in his life. What Hydra is, as portrayed prior to its association with Hitler / the Thule Society / the Nazi Party (which does not happen until very late into Steve's exposure to Hydra) are very vague. We know they value strength, and that The Keep uses cult-like methods of control, such as “creative expression not intended to glorify Hydra” being a punishable offense. We also know that if not for Elisa's endorsement that they considered Steve worthless and someone that should have been euthanized.
The phrase “this is not how the world ends” is repeated as a staple of Hydra belief, which is strange for the things it implies about the Hydra of Steve's world, and importantly, thus just what it is that Steve believes in. Okay, so a tiny bit of history: in Earth-616, SHIELD and Hydra are ancient institutions. There were two organizations of wise-men that sought to protect the world, the Shield in the East and the Spear in the West. The Brotherhood of the Spear is allegedly corrupted by aliens, to the point that the Brotherhood of the Shield refers to them just as “The Beast”. Short version: Brotherhood of the Spear is bad, Brotherhood of the Shield is... well, less-bad.
The Brotherhood of the Shield, however, are the ones with a focus on saving the world. The men that stand in the gap and prevent catastrophe. The call “this is not how the world ends” dates back to at least 2620 BC, and the formation of the Order. It is not associated with the Brotherhood of the Spear, aka pre-Hydra, in the same way. Also, when HydraCap is brought to Japan in an attempt to shield him from the influence of the cosmic cube as the Allies rewrite history so that it is their side which wins WWII, he meets Nostradamus and Isaac Newton. Who are both in 616 continuity members of the Brotherhood of the Shield.
So what does this actually stay? It implies that the origins of Hydra in TRN641 do not come from the Brotherhood of the Spear, but from the Brotherhood of the Shield. They are not an alien-corrupted evil influence, but an organization which believes that they and only they are capable of doing what must be done to protect the world. “Peace through strength” is a phrase that HydraCap uses much later, in regards to what he sees as the true beliefs of Hydra. So, to summarize: yes, Steve does believe in Hydra, but this is as a pre-Nazi organization that is willing to do whatever it takes to preserve the safety of the world. That is what Steve believes in.
And even then, it's clear that this devotion is not without qualms. We see him as someone that quietly breaks rules-- from his artistic pursuits, to sneaking out at night with Helmut, and generally behaving in ways that seem more normal and less like cultish adherence. There's also what we see of Steve when he's sent back to Brooklyn, the way that while stubborn when it comes to his attempts to enlist, the waitress where he works speaks of him as someone sweet and caring. And when her purse is stolen, Steve chases the culprit down, getting himself beat black, blue and bloody just to be able to return it to her. It is this demonstration which convinces Erskine that Steve is the young man that he's looking for in Project Rebirth, but Steve's retelling of the event makes it clear that he had no knowledge of this.
He did it because it was the right thing to do.
And at his canonpoint, his loyalty to Hydra comes into direct conflict with what he sees as “doing the right thing”, when he's told to kill Erskine. He's unable to do this, and it is instead his handler and best-friend-in-the-whole-world Helmut Zemo who instead kills the doctor, and tells Steve that as far as Hydra knows, everyone must think that he did it. Despite who Hydra has spent the past fifteen years trying to turn him into, Steve still has a good heart. He is still someone that cares about people, that wants to fight for the people, that believes he's on the right side of history, in part because he's been indoctrinated to the idea of Hydra as a force for creating peace and security.
It's also worth noting that at the age of six, the methods they used ranged from brainwashing, physical punishment, restraints, being chased by aggressive dogs when he'd attempt to escape, and that he fought back against this for at least eight years. So while Word of God tried very hard to paint this as not brainwashing there is a pretty inescapable element of aggressive coercion to Steve's induction into Hydra.
Even when he chooses to stay, it is on this idea of the modern world as corrupt, illustrated by the treatment of the poor and disenfranchised. That they are being sold a lie, and that it is only through Hydra, through someone strong enough that this can be corrected. Kraken literally holds out his hand and offers small, sickly, shouldn't-be-alive Steve Grant Rogers an invitation to prove the others wrong, to be a great leader, and to save the world. His parents murdered, no one he can trust or believe in, and someone believes in him. And these are the sort of things that affect him. He's stubborn and determined, and physical abuses and intimidation do nothing to quiet his defiance, even as a child.
He does have insecurities about his physicality, but this seems to be somewhat less intense than in most other incarnations. By the age of fifteen Steve was considered a shining star based on his academic prowess, which Hydra clearly valued. His teachers praised his ability, he was entrusted with leading orientations-- this led to jealousy in his peers, but there is no indication that this was an intentional calculation. But when talking to General Phillips and Erskine, the way he talks about his limitations make it clear that this is still something that he doesn't just struggle with, but that he seems to fear it's the only thing people see about him.
Instead, Steve's largest insecurity seems to be about failure. There's the way that he talks to Helmut after his physical training, openly dejected. Daniel Whitehall watches and focuses on the fact that he keeps getting back up, but Steve seems unable to look past the fact that he couldn't complete the trial. Then there's how he writes to Helmut: worried about his possible failure due to not being able to get past being stamped 4F at the recruitment office. The way that he talks to him later, in clear distress for not being able to shoot Erskine. And while past his canonpoint, he holds the guilt of failing Helmut into the modern day.
His interactions with Helmut also lean toward the idea that the loss of anyone that he cared about would be completely devastating to him. Despite all of the Hydra trappings, he does care very intently about people. I think it says a lot about this incarnation of Steve that one of the ways they use to convert him to Hydra is to give him a friendship that is as important to him, if not moreso than Bucky is in the mainline continuity. People are very important to him, likely because of the loss of his parents at such a young age.
Abilities/Powers/Weaknesses & Warping: Steve's only superhuman ability is a resistance to direct mind control, although there is implication that this is not complete. Hydra is unable to use mind control to break/convert him, but there are implications that mental-tampering has occurred (he can't remember what happened to his mother in terms more specific than “something”, his clear physical distress in the scene with Erskine, etc).
Elsewise he is a petite, underweight, and sickly young man possessed of ridiculous levels of determination. His only real skills of note is his phenomenal academic and tactical skills, as well as a decent level of stealth, such that at the age of fourteen he had apparently learned how to slip past armed Hydra guards without being noticed. He is able to perform surveillance on military targets with enough finesse that he is not recognized later. It's implied that he has some training with a gun.
Inventory: Handgun (fully loaded), drawing pad, art pencils, photo of his mother, letter from Helmut, dogtags.
Writing Samples:
One
Two
OUT OF CHARACTER
Player Name: Jamie
Player Age: 25+
Player Contact:
Other Characters In Game: None
In-Game Tag If Accepted: Steven Grant Rogers: Jamie
Permissions for Character: Here
Are you comfortable with prominent elements of fourth-walling?: In short: yes. Not generally interested in the comedic “hey aren't you from a comic book???” stuff, but definitely curious about setting / psychological aspects.
What themes of horror/psychological thrillers do you enjoy the most?: To recap: it varies. But I love survival horror, I love a group working together against the horrific and the mysterious, I love the things that you find out about characters when they're put through that kind of strain. I love things that are spooky, the suspense of trying to track down the ghost or the monster and finding the special gold box before it eats your skin from your bones. I love situations that make people struggle and that reveal things about characters. I love supernatural and other magical horror that takes characters secrets or memories and makes them face them. I love horror and survival situations as vehicles for causing character development by taking them outside their comfort zone, basically.
Is there anything in particular you absolutely need specific content warnings for?: Child abuse, sexual assault, extensive gore (photos only), suicide, graphic self-harm.
Additional Information: None!
