Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Character Creation and Discussion

[Comartemis]

Alright, I may as well make this official so the vets know I'm serious about this:

Zero is going to be my first long-term character, mostly because I want to get at least one character who's completely hack-free, but also because I expect my workload to increase dramatically over the weekend and into the next few weeks.

Zero's basic character design is a combat cyborg created by Albert W. Wily for the TSAB ruling council. Wily intended to create the "ultimate" combat cyborg by utilizing vastly different technology from what Jail was using, and may or may not have succeeded depending on how the character ultimately performs. Regardless, Wily was killed by his creation prior to the events of StrikerS and Zero's whereabouts are currently unknown, both to the bureau and to myself; we'll have to see how his background plays out.

As a combat cyborg, Zero has nothing in the way of magic, but makes up for it with highly advanced technology and a wide array of equipment and abilities, most of which will be drawn from his appearances in the MMX and MMZero games, but some of which will be adapted Nanoha-tech. Expect to see at least a low-powered AMF field replacing a barrier jacket, and AMF tech incorporated into Zero's signature beam sabers. The specifics of the tech behind Zero himself will be drawn from Erico's "The Collected Studies and Physics of Mega Man". I encourage anyone who's interested to take a look at this "fic" and see if there's anything in there that would directly contradict Nanoha canon. I doubt there will be any problems here, though.

Zero's preliminary capabilities include superhuman strength and speed (not so much the latter), expert swordsmanship, extreme agility provided by his jet boots, and possibly the ability to learn and utilize the IS's of other cyborgs. All of these will be pulled directly from Zero's performances in the Mega Man games, save for the AMF tech as mentioned previously.

Wish me luck, guys, and feel free to toss out advice if you've got it.

[Wibbles]

Originally Posted by Comartemis

Alright, I may as well make this official so the vets know I'm serious about this:

Zero is going to be my first long-term character, mostly because I want to get at least one character who's completely hack-free, but also because I expect my workload to increase dramatically over the weekend and into the next few weeks.

Zero's basic character design is a combat cyborg created by Albert W. Wily for the TSAB ruling council. Wily intended to create the "ultimate" combat cyborg by utilizing vastly different technology from what Jail was using, and may or may not have succeeded depending on how the character ultimately performs. Regardless, Wily was killed by his creation prior to the events of StrikerS and Zero's whereabouts are currently unknown, both to the bureau and to myself; we'll have to see how his background plays out.

As a combat cyborg, Zero has nothing in the way of magic, but makes up for it with highly advanced technology and a wide array of equipment and abilities, most of which will be drawn from his appearances in the MMX and MMZero games, but some of which will be adapted Nanoha-tech. Expect to see at least a low-powered AMF field replacing a barrier jacket, and AMF tech incorporated into Zero's signature beam sabers. The specifics of the tech behind Zero himself will be drawn from Erico's "The Collected Studies and Physics of Mega Man". I encourage anyone who's interested to take a look at this "fic" and see if there's anything in there that would directly contradict Nanoha canon. I doubt there will be any problems here, though.

Zero's preliminary capabilities include superhuman strength and speed (not so much the latter), expert swordsmanship, extreme agility provided by his jet boots, and possibly the ability to learn and utilize the IS's of other cyborgs. All of these will be pulled directly from Zero's performances in the Mega Man games, save for the AMF tech as mentioned previously.

Wish me luck, guys, and feel free to toss out advice if you've got it.

Try making up your own character.

[Comartemis]

Try making up your own character.

*Points at previous attempts, all of which are riddled with hacks*

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

Originally Posted by Comartemis

*Points at previous attempts, all of which are riddled with hacks*

Then start nerfing the haxx points back.




It doesn't take a super genius man.

[ghazghkull]

Originally Posted by Comartemis

*Points at previous attempts, all of which are riddled with hacks*

More like they're not well thought out. All of your characters, I'm willing to bet took you only 5 hours max per character.

A good character, or at least the start of a good character at least takes a few days to hash out. For me, my character Hayato took me about a week to type up, and then another 2 weeks of tweaking. Farukon was a lucky shot and I got it done in a week with almost no tweaking. Rue's still under construction, but that comes as I come up with more ideas for her as I work on my story.

Lastly, Vivio ver. Ghaz took me about 3 days of writing, reviewing, and revising before I had posted her.

Instead of dishing character after character who are haxxed, stick to the one character, and revise him as people comment. It works out a lot better that way, and it helps you sort out the various kinks in your character, and how the creation process works on this particular forum.

[Comartemis]

This character's more interesting than my previous attempts. Now how about some useful suggestions? Like where to fit Zero into canon? Or problems with the tech? Something I can make use of instead of "go back and do it again"?

[Wibbles]

Here's Spada's preliminary profile:

Spoiler for Spada:

Name: Spada C. Testarossa
Age: 13
Home Planet: Earth
Hair Color: Blonde
Family: Lucius E. Testarossa (father), Marian Lacrima (mother), Fate Testarossa (cousin)
Eye Color: Reddish-brown
Elemental Affinity: Electricity
Magic Style: Mid-childan (although his device is modified to allow a cartridge system)
Magic Color: Yellow
Device: Volticca (rapier)
Personality: Confident, competitive
Likes: Competition, video games
Dislikes: That stupid grin Lucius gets when he's winning

That's all for now.

[Kha]

Originally Posted by ghazghkull

A question, are there any issues of alien mages?

Because if that's the case, I've got an idea I want to try out :3

Clearly not. I've created Xealot, and he's nowhere near humanoid but is a 2 armed 4 legged Tyrannid.

Going closer to humanoid aliens, I've got Hone Onna, the friendly Necron. Heck, even all the OCs get to battle Necrons during StrikerS in CrosyS as a sampler for what's to happen in future.

Originally Posted by LimitedEternal

I miss something here?

UC Gundam joke.

Originally Posted by LimitedEternal

Heh, you're lucky it's not a 50+ episode epic story.

That said, they have entire production teams working on an entire series start to finish, so I get how daunting it is. Nothing for it but to go.

And they didn't have a mentally unsound director at the helm...

Originally Posted by LimitedEternal

And this is bad because...?

...because the fic was a Grand Theory fic, and not a fanservice fic...?

Originally Posted by LimitedEternal

Get Blizzard to make it free and I'll be there in a heartbeat. Until then...not on your life.

Hell no. I'd never play WoW if it's free. Imagine all the loss of quality there'd be.

Originally Posted by LimitedEternal

I know damn well that's a crack picture. I also know you're the king of crack. By that logic...

:3

Originally Posted by LimitedEternal

Eh??? When'd you do that???

Ever heard of Thomas Kluize...?

Originally Posted by Comartemis

This character's more interesting than my previous attempts. Now how about some useful suggestions? Like where to fit Zero into canon? Or problems with the tech? Something I can make use of instead of "go back and do it again"?

I can help with story, but I don't want to write your story for you. That's why we're asking you: What do you want to do with your OC?

[ghazghkull]

Originally Posted by Kha

Clearly not. I've created Xealot, and he's nowhere near humanoid but is a 2 armed 4 legged Tyrannid.

Going closer to humanoid aliens, I've got Hone Onna, the friendly Necron. Heck, even all the OCs get to battle Necrons during StrikerS in CrosyS as a sampler for what's to happen in future.

Then Belkamaster is a go for production! :3

BTW, what the heck are you doing here on the forums, but not on the IRC?

*Punts Kha into the air*

Get your ass in it. We need our daily dose of hilarity! :3

[Kha]

Originally Posted by ghazghkull

Then Belkamaster is a go for production! :3

BTW, what the heck are you doing here on the forums, but not on the IRC?

*Punts Kha into the air*

Get your ass in it. We need our daily dose of hilarity! :3

*grumbles about IRC sucking the life out of the thread and logs in*


And in other news, WE ARE NOW LIVE!!!

Guildportal coming up next!

[ghazghkull]

Originally Posted by Kha

*grumbles about IRC sucking the life out of the thread and logs in*


And in other news, WE ARE NOW LIVE!!!

Guildportal coming up next!

Sucking the life out of the thread you say? Are you starting to side with Keroko or something

[Comartemis]

I can help with story, but I don't want to write your story for you. That's why we're asking you: What do you want to do with your OC?

What I want is for Zero to eventually take up a place in RF6, which doesn't disband after StrikerS in this fanon. His speed would make him an ideal candidate for Stars 5 or 6, the Guard Wing, if we follow my earlier idea of recruiting new mages to round out the squads. He'd also be a possible love interest for Subaru if you're not into Suba/Tea.

Zero's early history still needs to be worked out, but his discovery follows the general plot of Mega Man X, with Subaru briefly playing the role of Sigma before ousting the Maverick Virus from her systems. What happens after he joins up, I'm not entirely sure. Possibly another round with Jail and Friends; I wouldn't put it past Scag-kun to set up multiple contingency plans, which would probably mean more clones set to begin flash-growing in hidden, remote labs if he doesn't check in on them every so often.

Zero has the potential to become another Ace, but for the time being he's just a close-combat oriented cyborg with a pair of beam sabers.

[arkhangelsk]

Originally Posted by Comartemis

This character's more interesting than my previous attempts. Now how about some useful suggestions? Like where to fit Zero into canon? Or problems with the tech? Something I can make use of instead of "go back and do it again"?

If you make or import a character, it is your responsibility to write out his techno-tactical characteristics, not for us to research scattered papers and figure out how he might be successfully imported for you.

Let me put it this way. Write him out in such a way I can believe he can exist in the Nanoverse without ever having read a single piece of Megaman.

[Wild Goose]

Originally Posted by Comartemis

This character's more interesting than my previous attempts. Now how about some useful suggestions? Like where to fit Zero into canon? Or problems with the tech? Something I can make use of instead of "go back and do it again"?

I'm curious, Comartemis: did you even read any of the profiles I posted? Did you not see MASTER CHIEF JOHN-117 and Johnson inserted into the Nanohaverse?

Chief. And Johnson. It can be done.

A.J. Ivanovich, Sergeant Major of the Order
- Spell List


Master Chief John-117, Non Comissioned Officer of the Order
- Abilities, Skills, & Spell List



Consider my main OC, Franz Jaeger. I have been working on the prototype that became Franz for at least 2 years, then I junked everything, took some core traits, and recreated Franz. Franz's original profile was the result of a couple of weeks of thought and planning; good, alright, but not really stand out. The Alpha profile, however, for Franz 8 years older, was the result of several months of work, analysis, writing excercises, and much, much thought into how my OC would develop into this period of time.

I even killed off his fated pairing too.

Franz's spells are a mix of canon abilities and some that I've created myself, but all stick to within the confines of canon. Franz is also an A+ mage, he's not even classed as a Striker, and apart from Sheba's lead OC, he's the only named OC on this thread who uses Storage Devices. That I know of.

He gets by through guts, determination, hot blood, and 26 years of combat experience: 5 as a cop in a planetary version of Iraq, and 21 years of black ops. Not through hax. Read his profile. Read the OFM stuff. This is a crapload of backstory that Kagerou and I put together (well, he builds the foundations and I remodel the house).

Originally Posted by arkhangelsk

If you make or import a character, it is your responsibility to write out his techno-tactical characteristics, not for us to research scattered papers and figure out how he might be successfully imported for you.

Let me put it this way. Write him out in such a way I can believe he can exist in the Nanoverse without ever having read a single piece of Megaman.

Yeah, this is pretty much how you're supposed to insert charecters from other universes, or to make homages; Signum is a Lamia Loveless homage, aftereall.

[Comartemis]

I'm curious, Comartemis: did you even read any of the profiles I posted? Did you not see MASTER CHIEF JOHN-117 and Johnson inserted into the Nanohaverse?

Chief. And Johnson. It can be done.

I gave Johnson's profile a brief skim, yes.

I have been working on the prototype that became Franz for at least 2 years, then I junked everything, took some core traits, and recreated Franz.

[PhoenixFlare]

Originally Posted by Comartemis

What I want is for Zero to eventually take up a place in RF6, which doesn't disband after StrikerS in this fanon. His speed would make him an ideal candidate for Stars 5 or 6, the Guard Wing, if we follow my earlier idea of recruiting new mages to round out the squads. He'd also be a possible love interest for Subaru if you're not into Suba/Tea.

Zero's early history still needs to be worked out, but his discovery follows the general plot of Mega Man X, with Subaru briefly playing the role of Sigma before ousting the Maverick Virus from her systems. What happens after he joins up, I'm not entirely sure. Possibly another round with Jail and Friends; I wouldn't put it past Scag-kun to set up multiple contingency plans, which would probably mean more clones set to begin flash-growing in hidden, remote labs if he doesn't check in on them every so often.

Zero has the potential to become another Ace, but for the time being he's just a close-combat oriented cyborg with a pair of beam sabers.

Welcome, though I should've said that much earlier. (I eye the thread without replying, sometimes.)

Creating character is difficult, no? Part and parcel of the real transition.

Now, RF6 doesn't disband? Canon states that it's disbanded after the JS Incident. While we don't particularly pick at minor stuff, conformation to canon is viewed as a staple here. Why don't you try to integrate Zero into the StrikerS's timeline and make adjustments from there? Still, if you insist, it's fine (for me, at least), but it'll be totally AU, then.

And really, you plan to use Zero with a plot for the future, but not a plot for the past? Difficult for us to help, then. I don't think a large part of us here has actually read Megaman, so we don't know which storyline you intend to follow. And how did Subaru acquire the Maverick Virus, which I think Wily is responsible for?

[Wild Goose]

Something a lot of people miss with the formation and disbanding of RF6 is that it's a totally logical move. RF6 was established to fulfil a number of roles: (1) Deal with Lost Logia incidents in a faster manner, (2) Test out new ways of doing things, (3) counterstrike force created in response to Carim's prophecy of an attack on the TSAB, intended to counter the attackers.

By the end of StrikerS, all roles had been fulfilled, all their objectives had been completed, and RF6 was thus disbanded. Precedent for this exists in the innumerable Task Forces that were created and disbanded by the US Navy during WW2, and groups such as Task Force 121, which was charged with hunting down Saddam, and disbanded after their mission was complete, the members being reassigned to various other theaters.

Comartemis: Yes, I spent that long on Franz. 2 years of work for using Franz in a seperate series of fanfics... which got junked, and him with it. And lemme tell you, he was a crapload more powerful in his original incarnation too... 3 elements, Eyes of Death Perception, Tracing... When I decided to take the best core traits of Franz and start over, I decided to make him capable, but not fuck powerful, in keeping with a new direction I wanted to move in.

It's all a matter of time, effort, and thinking. (Besides, look at his armor. ODST = Badass Normal.)

[Wibbles]

Here's the rough profile for Marian, the wife of Lucius (and the mother of Spada):

Spoiler for Mother:

Name: Marian Testarossa (formerly Marian Lacrima)
Age: 35
Home Planet: Earth
Nationality: Italian
Family: Lucius E. Testarossa (husband), Spada C. Testarossa (son)
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Brown
Magic Style: None (as she is unable to use magic)
Personality: Lindy-like
Specialty: Fencing (she was a master fencer, and passed her skills down to Spada)

[Jimmy C]

Originally Posted by TK3997

but expect me for one to BRUTALLY oppose any attempt to insert magic without some form of linker core into the fanon.

Magic without linker cores is somewhat implied in canon already. The training drone seen in StrikerS being my favourite example. I can't imgaine mages charging up those things for training and exam sessions. And RF6's holo-training field itself, you wanna say that's non-magical? Does Nanoha charge it up with magic from her LC before using it?
I could also add the Cradle's reactor core and the XV-class' main beam cannon, but that isn't neccessary. That the Bureau would "waste" magical energy on things like the drones and the training field means they have ways of generating magical energy without needing LC-active mages and the technology is at least as capable as our electric generation technologies.
The real question is why isn't the technology extended to the point where systems using stored magical energy (ie. magic batteries instead of electric ones) can be used by non-mages are widespread? Or perhaps everything on Mid that we might assume to be running on electricity or internal combustion engines is really running on magic?

[Tk3997]

Originally Posted by Jimmy C

Magic without linker cores is somewhat implied in canon already. The training drone seen in StrikerS being my favourite example. I can't imgaine mages charging up those things for training and exam sessions. And RF6's holo-training field itself, you wanna say that's non-magical? Does Nanoha charge it up with magic from her LC before using it?

The TSAB has space ships remember and while Nanoha has magic it also has serious sci-fi elements. The gadgets also have shields of various sorts and beam guns despite being surrounded by a magic canceling feild. These kinds of things are probably possible with technology, but obviously illegal in most cases. They may allow minor exceptions in there own forces to allow simulated training like we see.

Given that the have shields and holograms already (unless you think all those nifty pop up windows and such are magical even when people with little know magic talent use them). It's just a hope skip and a jump to hardlight holograms for training.

I could also add the Cradle's reactor core and the XV-class' main beam cannon, but that isn't neccessary. That the Bureau would "waste" magical energy on things like the drones and the training field means they have ways of generating magical energy without needing LC-active mages and the technology is at least as capable as our electric generation technologies.

Again you assume these must be magical in nature and I ask why should it be? Again Nanoha has sci-fi elements and space ships with huge beam canons are hardly limited to being powered by magic...

The real question is why isn't the technology extended to the point where systems using stored magical energy (ie. magic batteries instead of electric ones) can be used by non-mages are widespread? Or perhaps everything on Mid that we might assume to be running on electricity or internal combustion engines is really running on magic?

First off this assumes mana can be easily stored in the massive quantities that would be needed to power a technically advanced civilization this is hard to prove and not assured. Take anti-matter it's power is extraordinary and yet it's highly impractical as a power source for any number of reasons it's hard to make, it's even harder to store, and extracting the energy from it in a useful form is a bitch as well (since that energy tends to take the form of flaming radioactive gamma rays)

We've seen some very small scale storage of mana in the form of cartridges, but these seem rather limited. First off the release from them seems explosives and instant you can't just use half of one it seems just like you can't use just half stick of dynamite, unlike say a real battery that you can drain as needed until it's empty. In this way cartridges are probably more like capacitors then generators or batteries they can provide a huge shot of energy, but for only a very short time. We also need to consider that the one time we see these acutally being made they're being charged by a mage... Evidence of other larger scale applications is extremely scarce the Jewel Seeds and Relics could perhaps be examples, but are certainly beyond any know groups ability to replicate, and even here it's still hard to tell if they're storing or producing magic energy.

As for assuming stuff we think runs on normal means is run by magic. Dude the motorcycle makes "vromming" noises... that ONLY way that makes sense is it runs on gas. They have helicopters that have the same sound as a modern gas turbine powered model, and they have airliners that look rather like modern ones. Basically there's almost no evidence to support that the stuff that seems to be running on normal power sources isn't, but plenty that it is.

Having said all this I now note that acutally sort of kind of agree with you I do think you CAN to some limited extent produce magical energy without a mage, but I include several limitations in that:

1-It's large scale too large to be feasible in any besides a fixed or ship mounted application much like a modern nuclear reactor, this is why at the high end the TSAB seems to have science fictional energy generation, but at the low end still seems to be burning gas the stuff just dosen't scale.

2-The energy produced while vast is also very raw and poorly formed compared to what a mage can do, control is also limited it's good enough for conversion into other forms of energy (at a fairly low efficiency) or raw destruction but using it in more complex spells is very hard.

3- Some limited mana storage is possible, but mana degrades over time if it's not consumed basiclly in the same ways batteries weaken over time only the effect is considerably more rapid. (IMO this makes sense since if not actively controlled and held together spells and such will simply dissipate, mana dose not naturally seem to want to concentrate and stay together of it's own free will at a level that has useful applications) . Linker Cores get around this natural loss by continually sucking more in from the environment and replacing the bleed much like the bodies other cells continually replace themselves. Simple mana-batts have no such mechanisms and so would need to be recharged often by a large reactor somewhat impractical in many applications.

A further calcification is that the original context of my post was more toward an individual mage able to use magic without a linker core. If some kind of technological mana production and storage system was shrunk enough to allow that I would again have issues with it, but if it's kept larger scale and somewhat limited I acutally think that indeed some technological mana production and limited magic is probably likely. That said this is also me attempting to keep to the tenants and spirit of the universe to some extent mages are a big deal and so are linker cores intern these are core elements of the verse and NOT to be casually ignored or tossed away without serious thought and justification IMO.