[Keroko]

Originally Posted by Justin_Brett

Because all your examples of him having character are what powers he has and motivations, and some of the latter haven't been totally explored yet. Those aren't fleshing him out in and of themselves. Can you name some personality traits he has on their own?

Motivation is a core part of a character, it's what makes them do what they do, their drive, their goals, how you can possibly claim this isn't even part of his character is beyond me. Motivation in great part defines a character. Fate was defined by her motivation to please her mother, the Wolkenritter were defined by their motivation to save Hayate and so on and so on.

Powers, while in and of themselves are not are part of a character, the method of obtaining them and the effects they have are. In Thoma's case, the powers not only led to him meeting Lily and gaining someone to take care of, but also led to the exploration of his past, his face to face meeting with death, recognizing that power can have devastating consequences and his new goal of mastering it lest he hurts those he loves.

You want growth? In not even twenty chapters Thoma went from a boy who was just out there to put his past to rest and join the Nakajima's, to a boy who had to protect a girl, to a boy with a pained past faced with the possible perpetrators right in front of him, to a boy faced with his own death and the choice to become a murderer or die, to the boy who took the bullet and decided his own life was not worth the life of others, to a boy who was saved and now works his hardest so that his powers will never hurt those he loves.

Seriously, looking back on things Thoma is a freaking maelstrom of character growth compared to most characters in the Nanohaverse.

You want personality traits? He's one of the bravest guys out there, knowingly choosing his own death over the pains his survival would cause others. That's an act of bravery and sacrifice right up there with Reinforce.

He's persistent. Even in the face of all he's been through, he's still pushing on.

He's kind and selfless, taking care of people he barely even knows even at the cost of his own life, and asking for no reward.

He's understanding, rather than accuse the Hucks of pure evil or taking the moral high ground because he took the choice they didn't dare to, he understands what they've gone through. One can argue that this understanding goes beyond simple understanding and into the realm of naivety (and I would be inclined to agree, a personality trait doesn't always need to be a positive one after all)

He's stubborn, rather than just letting the past slip away quietly and live with the Nakajima's, he goes of on a trip, breaks into ruins and still decides to try and solve everything himself even though he's in waaay over his head.