"In life, the road to darkness is a journey, not a light switch." -Lex Luthor
Name:Valentin Haddock
Nickname(s): Val
Age: 19
Sex: male
Birthday: 28th august
Zodiac Sign: Virgo
Gemstone: Sapphire
Origin: Denver, moved to Celeste very recently
Bloodtype: A-
Height:6'4ft
Bodytype: premade
Hair: premade
Eyes: premade
Fashion: primarily suit shirt and cravat and black jeans. He normally wears loafers with this.
Demeanor: premade
Personality Traits:
Megalomaniac
"Did you think you could stop me? Did you think your futile efforts would amount to anything but an ant trembling before a storm? Bow before me! Down on your knees and pray for mercy! Mwuahahaha! Ahahaha!"
If there is one word to sum Valentin's whole personality into a neat bundle, then this is that word. Nothing is too good for Val, no goal out of his reach, no grand scheme beyond his imagining. If anything there are more things that are beneath his notice than those that truly 'equal' his splendour and time. On an everyday level, he is cocky, headstrong and arrogant. He sees his schemes and plans long-spanning into the future, his vision of the world is entirely coloured by what he 'will make it' instead of what it is; when he acknowledges the universe around him, it is in its failings, the world's inability to understand his grandeur.
His plans do not 'fail' he merely encounters 'setbacks' to his brilliant ideas. And his ideas can be very brilliant, but they always serve his greater purpose, his dreams and aspirations have no limit to them, and he cares little for the boring people he has to quash under his regime in order to climb over their bodies.
It isn't certain when his natural confidence became hubris, when he went from the childish belief that anything was possible to the iron-hearted desire to achieve his every wish, but it doesn't take a genius to notice that half of his schemes and plots are very... public affairs. He likes to make a show of his triumphs, he wants to gloat and cackle in glee over those who have tried to stop him, only to be beaten down again. He loves an audience to stare in amazement as he cripples the jock who gave him a wedgie in kindergarten, he needs the shock, the amazement, the awe from others--- basically, he has Daddy issues.
Skilled
"Yes, I benefited from the best education and upbringing money could buy. It is only natural that I can ride a horse and shoot a bow, joust, play chess and read Latin."
Some people have a natural talent for... most things. Val can sketch a decent witness account, read the Greek classics in the original format and he was on the debating team. The term overachiever is only the surface of this. He is a quick study, an articulate learner and applied to whatever it is that he is supposed to be learning. From the art of seduction, to the fine discipline of Wing Chun he is quick to become proficient and excel above others. What this means is that his skill base is a little staggering to those that do not know him, he speaks and reads four languages, he rides horses and can talk about the breeds of dogs. His core interests are business related, mostly to stocks and the management of companies, so any skills he has otherwise are generally a result of their usefulness to his corporate advantage. He's got no idea about science-fiction or the latest fashion in fantasy novels; he couldn't beat someone in a game on the computer and he doesn't know much about cooking or where to hire videos from, but the hobbies of the rich and bored? Oh, he knows those well.
Self-destructive
"That's right, Laugh! Laugh all you want! You have won this little victory, but tomorrow is a new day, and I will crush you! I will return from this defeat!"
It isn't easy to pin down what spirals of mad schemes Val has planned at any given time, but when they do start to go wrong, when things are awry, one disturbing factor comes to the fore; Val has a self-destructive streak. If it means causing one of his siblings distress, or putting a dampener on his father's day, Val would light himself on fire. He doesn't think of himself as destructive or self-defeating, but he has no problem being the bad guy. He seems to like it when lovers tell him what a good thing he wasted by cheating on them, his existence is validated when his deep emotional connections are severed, when the girl throws water in his face and storms off, ranting about his waste of 'their relationship.' Most of the time he doesn't even realize he is sabotaging a perfectly good thing, he just does it. He tells his enemies his plans, often 'inadvertently' revealing too much and allowing them the chance to foil his well-laid traps. As though he likes the taste of defeat, because ultimately, he can never win the one thing he wants the most.
Perseverance
"Don't you ever give up?"
Val is stubborn like a mule. He is the sort of person who just keeps coming back from every hit, every defeat, every failure, he rises up again. He does not know the meaning of giving up, he does not back down, he never gives in. He isn't stupid, when a project fails due to a gaping logic hole, or his giant death-bot is destroyed he doesn't immediately try the exact same thing again, he learns from his mistakes and improves on the death-ray, approaches the fort from a new direction, makes sure the red off switch is not on his doom device, etc.
The thing is, no matter the obstacle, he will always try to find his way around it. He does not take defeat as a final mark, he does not accept second place when next year, he can take first place. This does make him a bit obsessive on particularly hard odds, because he will simply keep going until they have been crushed. In terms of relationships, he simply does not give up until he gets that first date, he likes to work his way into their heart and then screw it all up from there. He is a stubborn, overbearing, must-have it his way kinda guy. But this is also one of his most positive aspects; he doesn't give up easily, he is willing to fight for what he wants, and he is dedicated to his goals, some people admire such qualities in a man.
Control Freak
"Alright, let me drive now, you'll only get us lost. Yeah, I know there's a GPS but I don't want you to drive us off the road if the GPS is wrong."
You know the sort of manager who hands you some forms to be filled in and then stands next to you, watching you like a hawk while you fill in your name, and offers to then 'do it for you' because you made a spelling error? The sort of person who cannot sit in the passenger seat of... anything.... without giving you directions or instructions on how to turn properly, OR the guy who makes an appointment and then calls that morning, ten minutes before, five minutes before, then shows up ten minutes late just to make sure you waited for him. Val is that guy. He is the sort of guy who would quite calmly bug his girlfriend's phone or read his friend's diaries so that he can know their most intimate thoughts and use these to control them. The kind of person who would invite a girl to a party and then deliver her dress to her and pick out the jewellery, not for any interest or thought about her, but because she is now an extension of him and all his things must be the best. He is a little bit of a mixture of an arrogant p***k and paranoid corporate backstabbing b*****d; if he isn't in complete control of his environment, someone else might take control of him!
Mastermind
"No, no, that simply won't work you snivelling fools! I anticipated that you might bring the meteor-rock to shut down the machine and lined this entire facility in lead-- rendering your plan to shut down the relay-output useless!"
His schemes might be grand, his personal life might be a mine-field of mental disorder, he might have a god complex, he might be the most arrogant, overbearing b*****d you have ever met, but sadly, he is actually capable of pulling most of these insane ideas off. He is very smart, very capable, and the hardest lump of this to swallow is that he /knows it/ . Since a young age it has been very apparent that he is a cut above most of his peers, unfortunately he comes from a family of over-achievers so this alone has done nothing to distinguish him. All his life he has been competing against his brothers and sisters in attempts to prove himself better and stronger than the others. He is always designing his schemes to outsmart those as smart as him, this can lead to the obvious loopholes that an everyday man might walk right through. He could be easily accused of over-thinking many of his problems. But without all his driving need for showmanship and the adoration of others, he can conceive of truly grand ideas, when they are not tied into his own sense of self-justification and goals. He has a practical mind and is often found tinkering on different projects, depending on the time of day and the current attention he has. He isn't a scientist or a computer expert, he is a schemer. He is quite happy to use others in his goals, understanding that the pyramids didn't build themselves.
Hobbies:
Horse riding: nothing clears the mind like a good run on a wild animal. When he can't get the time to go to his usual stables, he mounts his Kawasaki bike and rides that. He likes a long ride to clear his mind of stress and formulate plans.
Going clubbing : First, yes, he is too young to be going into clubs or drinking in the US, but as with most rich folk, he likes to wave some money around and get special treatment. He has been busted twice in a club, neither time merited an appearance from his father, but did get him a rather bothersome lecture from his maid. He likes pretty much anything he shouldn't be doing, especially the fast and loose rules of heart-numbing music and semi-naked women vying for his kind of attention (the rich and bored)
Wing Chun: Said to be one of the few martial arts that hasn't been completely corrupted by sporting arenas and the lure of cash for exercise, one of the few true martial arts left in the world that has not had its teeth ripped out. Originally designed by a woman, it was the women's form of protection in a time when China was budding with different styles. Most modern forms are 'showmanship' styles, designed for flashy, quick movements designed to impress (think Jackie Chan)-- Val is a little more serious about his 'sport' than all that, and goes to a common, tiny centre in the back-alleys of the city to be trained by an old, ill-tempered old woman. Ms Chan may in fact, be the only human that Val has any respect or like for. But he hides it well. A year ago, her lease ran out and an anonymous benefactor bought it for her and paid an extra five years to stop her from moving out and off. Although the benefit of her staying may have been entirely selfish motivations for a selfless act.... regardless, Val has been training for almost eight years now, so he is getting good.
Favourite Food: Pepper steak. with sautéed mushrooms and lightly whisked garlic mash potatoes. From the leading restaurants, of course.
Least Favourite Food: hard candies (lollipops, fruits, etc. any hard-boiled candy)
Family:
James IV Harmon Haddock: (49) Mr Haddock of Haddock Industries is a well aged man with a taste for vintage cars, young women and flashy parties. His current wife (number 8 ) is a young 27 year old receptionist with a D cup. He drinks a scotch at exactly five o'clock every afternoon and he plays golf with the Mayor, when he's in town long enough to care. His house in Denver is as ostentatious as he is, more of an English manor than a house, really. He is a busy man with four sons and a daughter (somewhere, why don't you ask the maid? Maggie would know, she pays attention to the children) from a variety of marriages and six ex-wives happily living in their settlement homes. He spends 80% of his time managing his vast empire, which has grown and expanded to almost ridiculous wealth and fortune on a global scale. He is busy with his first two sons and the management of their 'destiny' to care much about his third son, unless Valentin suddenly brings home the Holy Grail or takes down some serious competition, he can do whatever he wants with his monthly stipend. A man is only as good as his achievements in life, and his successor had better achieve a lot. When he isn't studiously ignoring his offspring, James actively sets the kids against each other in corporate and family matters, hoping to see the strongest emerge victoriously. He is a very poor father and the kind of human being that has little regard for those who don't have their own private jets.
Carly Haddock: (deceased, mother) his mother, James' fourth wife, and perhaps one of the luckier of them, passed away in a car accident. It put his father off driving for almost three months (a record of some sort) and put Val in the hospital for almost as long. After his mother's death, he received her annual pocket money as well as his own (supposedly his father's way of showing some 'affection') and was shipped off to boarding school.
Brothers and sisters: Val has three brothers, two older and one younger, and a seven year-old sister. None of the siblings live in the same house, none of them speak to each other unless it is to manipulate or cajole the other into doing something for or against their father. Often they find themselves directly at odds with one-another, in particular those that play the stock markets have to contend with their father setting rival companies up and watching how his children play it out. Their relationship with Val is virtually non-existent as family and more on the scale of rivalry.
School: St. Michaels.
Grade: final year
Favourite Subject: politics
Least Favourite Subject: art
Job: he plays the stock market a little with his pocket money, but doesn't do anything so crass as work for a living, silly common habits, pssh.
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