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 Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 7:49 am
"The Limerick Leprechaun"
--"Bullocks! I'm no leprechaun, lad! An' I ain't from Limerick, neither."
This is the concept of Vaughen Gallagher, an Irish dwarf clown. Vaughen is a proud man with a physical deformity who has allowed himself to be humiliated in a clown suit, time and again, so that he may make a living.
Right now:
Most sections are filled out. I'm still coming up with ideas for him and will be adding them as I see fit. Critiques are loved as they will help add depth to my character <3
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Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 7:53 am
Don't worry if there are blanks or incompleted answers for now, as this is a work in progress.
The Man - The Midget
Name: Vaughen Gallagher
Title: The Limerick Leprechaun
Age: 19
Birthdate: September 8, 1827
Birth place: The area around Connacht, Ireland
Height: 3'7"
Weight: 75 lbs
Family:
Hugh Gallagher - father, 45
Eyes: Dark Green
Hair: Dusty red, slightly curled at the tips when it gets too long.
Body Description: Vaughen has a condition known to the modern world as Achondroplasia; to everyone in his world, he is a midget. At his best, his head reaches only to a grown man's waist. As in most dwarfs, his limbs are shortened, his head is normal size with a prominent forehead.
Bulky around the middle, he is short and stocky, with muscled, freckled and hairy arms that stand out from his body like a gorilla's. His face sports the beginings of a wiry red beard. His face is prematurely wrinkled and leathery from the sun and every bit of skin that has ever been exposed to sunlight is covered in dark brown freckles. His hands are rough and calloused; short stubby fingers end in dirty fingernails. Physically strong, but lacking in grace and dexterity, he can give the impression of an almost comedic masculine child. Laugh at him when he's not trying to be funny, and you can look forward to his fists meeting any vulnerable body parts.
Personality: Perhaps like many other circus members, Vaughen is a man with a grudge against the world. All his life, he has felt normal and been called a freak. He has been worn down at an early age. His face frequently shows no expression. He does not look you in the eye - that would require him to look up at you, and that is something he will not do. He is a dedicated, no-nonsense worker who doesn't goof around on the job. At least until he gets a few beers in him.
In romantic matters he is pessimistic, with little hope for future happiness in love - this is mainly because of his experience with normal-sized folks. He does not believe he will ever be accepted by them, and he has not even considered the fact that he may meet another dwarf in his lifetime. The only thing he looks forward to is getting falling-down drunk and maybe getting into a good fight now and again.
He is constantly trying to prove himself, and his worth as a human being. Just because he is short does not make him less of a man.
He hates having to depend on others, even though he must. And even though there are many things he cannot do, he will not admit to it. Often times he needs help getting into large chairs; eating at normal-sized tables is a challenge. The world is full of things on shelves too high for him to reach and many stairs he cannot climb. He tries to get along on his own as much as possible, and it is only when all other resources are exhausted that he asks for help.
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Likes: Bars, bartenders, beer, ale, Irish coffee - you get the idea. Also likes: Redheaded women, practical jokes, learning new and interesting stunts, cards, dice and betting
Dislikes: Potatoes, reading, large animals, cold and rainy weather, snotty "book learn'd" individuals
Hobbies: He can read, but no better than a small child - so reading is a dreaded activity. He dislikes sitting still, and will keep active as much as possible. Most of all, he enjoys learning new skills. Anything he sees that is strange and unusual, he will attempt. One thing he has been practicing is standing on his head. (One day he wants to be able to walk upside down on stilts with his hands.) He is motivated by two things: improving his act and therefore securing his posistion within the circus; and accomplishing feats no one expected him capable of.
Practical jokes interest him, and he is currently trying to build his skills in that area. Drinking games, as well as drinking by itself, are some of his favorite things to do. Card and dice games, checkers, and the occasional bet are also frequent activities. Basically, whatever drunk men do in bars, Vaughen enjoys.
History:
Hated, feared and jeered at by the inhabitants of his poor village, Vaughen ran away to a travelling circus at the tender age of nine. There was nothing else in the world he could consider doing. His height made him useless on his father's tiny farm; his short, clumsy fingers kept him from doing any kind of detailed woodworking, carpentry or leathermaking. His father was not a terrible man, only work-weary and detached. Vaughen's mother died giving birth to him, and his father never could become attached to his only son who would never be a man, in his eyes.
Vaughen worked mucking stalls (when the animals were absent) and tending animals (small ones) for five years, learning tricks of the trade from older men in their spare time. He slept in the animal cages and got whatever leftovers and hand-me-downs the older performers could spare. As he began to learn the ropes of the circus biz, he was promoted to ticket-taker. (He would stand on a stool in a booth so he could reach, and also so that he was not trampled in the crowds.) Six months later, when one of the regular-performing clowns retired from old age, Vaughen was slowly worked into the show until he, too, became a regular. The bosses soon found his freak-show appeal was worth more than his mediocre skills at comedy, and for this reason, was he allowed to continue on the stage. Audiences loved to see a tiny man dressed in ridiculous outfits, having pies thrown at him while juggling apples.
While Vaughen was not ideally happy, he was eating well and now had his own room to sleep in. It was enough for him to survive, and he was fairly settled.
But one night when he was seventeen, Vaughen got into a drunken brawl with the boss's nephew, giving him a broken nose, a few cracked ribs and a black eye. In a rage, the manager fired him. He was no longer welcome in the circus that had taken him in, and given him a home and a family for years. Packing his few things, Vaughen angrily stomped off into the night. He had nowhere to go and little money left from his paycheck, having spent most of it on the alcohol that had gotten him drunk that night. Since then he has survived by stealing or begging food, sleeping in barns, and if he has any luck, earning a coin or two by putting on a pathetic one-man show to people so desperately destitute as to call it entertainment. He has been searching for another circus troupe to join, ever since. It is the only thing he knows.
Costume / Makeup: His outfits have changed depending on the type of skit or show that he is asked to perform. He is always dressed in goofy, mismatched, oversized attire, like an eccentric hobo, and he does not always wear face paint. He never uses wigs.
His boss once convinced him to dress up in an all-green outfit, and then proceeded to introduce him in the sidshow as a real-life leprechaun. While Vaughen tried to put up with it for as long as he could, it was so degrading he finally put an end to that. Now, if you ask him where his pot of gold is located, be prepared for an altercation.
If he uses makeup, it is very little, mostly to exaggerate his eyes and mouth with certain facial expressions, depending on what the situation calls for. However, makeup is a girly thing to him, and he doesn't like to use it.
It is always very difficult to find clothes to fit him, and because most of his clothes are hand-me-downs, everything is baggy on his thick frame. Suspenders and belts are put to good use, but nothing can substitute for a good tailor. His oversized clothing sometimes works to his advantage. It emphasizes his small stature and contributes to the "goofy" look that draws an audience's laughter. His shoes, too, are always three sizes too big; clomping around on stage, tripping over his own feet like a child in his father's clothing is one of his perferred methods to draw laughs.
How he would act in the Cirque environment:
Vaughen was born into a completely normal world, where he was the freak. This is what made him shun the company of others. In an environment where just about everyone else was considered a freak as well, however, he would find a type of companionship never before considered possible, and become very social. He loves a good time - the rowdier, the better - but won't open up to anyone he doesn't trust. As tough as he seems on the outside, he is actual quite sensitive about his height, and will compensate for his shortcomings (no pun intended) with as much manliness as he can muster. Don't ever tell him he can't do something. You need that heavy chest moved across the room? He won't hesitate in attempting to pick it up all on his own.
Vaughen has a narrow view of the world. Being from a small village full of average, boring people, the people and creatures of the Cirque would be fascinating and endearing to him. Vaughen is fairly open to new experiences and people, and accepting of those that society considers different. He would be intensely curious of all the new worlds and backgrounds of those around him. He hopes to find other clowns who can teach him things he's never tried before.
He will get along fine with anyone who has a physical deformity and be distrustful of all the others at least at first, unless they prove themselves trustworthy.
Dwarf - Leprechaun - Freak
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Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 7:58 am
World:
Type A
Ireland, 1800s
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Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 8:01 am
The Little Laughingstock
Assorted skills:
-Small-item juggling
-Balancing acts (Plates on thin poles, balancing himself on chairs and circus balls)
-Physical comedy (pie-throwing, getting hurt, etc)
-Stilt-walking
-Whatever anyone else will teach him.
Vaughen likes to learn new skills and improve his acts, but his work is just that: work. While he does enjoy a good time and a good joke now and again, clowning around isn't his passion, just his job.
Vaughen isn't a professionally trained anything. Most of what he knows, he has taught himself or picked up bits and pieces from other circus clowns over the years. Juggling was the first skill he picked up, and something he's better at doing. First small leather balls, then fruits of different shapes, any small bauble he can get his hands on. He's done comedic skits with other, normal-sized clowns - often, as the butt of the jokes.
Though his skills are entry-level and few, he is a fast learner and will try anything once. He is in the circus because that is the only place he can make a living, and will do any job necessary to work his way up. Stardom is not his goal, but if it pays enough to keep him in good food and booze, he'll work as hard as a mule to get there.
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Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 7:32 pm
Stage 1 - Carnie
- He will take to any undesirable task without complaint and work as hard as possible to retain his posistion.
-Mucking stalls is a task he is used to, but he is not comfortable with being around large animals, due to his more likely chance of getting trampled or losing control of the animal(s).
-In his old circus life, he was used to clean in areas that were too small for most others to fit into or retrieve lost items - under bleachers, for instance.
-Vaughen will always be the first to volunteer for manual labor, eager to prove his "manliness" - even when the task may be too much for him to handle on his own.
Stage 2 - Castmember
- Vaughen thinks perhaps he can work his way onto the stage by being another clown's assistant in some capacity - either that, or by being strange enough in the sideshow to gain popularity.
-The tricks he wants most to become good at are juggling and acrobatics; because somehow people always love to see a short man doing flips on a trampoline or flying through the air.
-Tandem juggling with another person, balancing acts while juggling, simple acrobatic tricks, and comedic skits are what he is most interested in performing.
-He doesn't think he's a good enough showman to have his own act; rather, he'd like to work in a pair or team of clowns.
Stage 3 - Headliner
-Vaughen thinks little of reaching this stage, not believe himself capable of being a popular cast member. It all depends on the input he receives from the right people, whether or not he would be motivated to work hard enough at his act.
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Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 7:33 pm
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Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 7:38 pm
- reserved -
I think that should be enough reserved posts. ^^ If anyone has any first-impression opinions on my idea, or if it's already been done and I haven't caught that, feel free to let me know either here or through PM. <3
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Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 7:33 pm
He looks really good so far, though I am a little hesitant that aside from being a dwarf, he is stereotypically irish in appearance - which might be a good thing. Other than that, he looks like a really well thought out character and he should be a lot of fun in play. Everything has good motivations and that kind of thing.
I really like him! Good luck!
((And he and Wing Ting are the perfect height for each other, but their personalities are like, total opposites. xd ))
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Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 7:53 pm
Thanks for taking the time to read and critique my ideas <3 I did kind of want a stereotypical Irish manly-man...in the body of a little person, I thought it would be an interesting contrast. *shrug* But I will think on his appearance more, maybe I can make him more unique. ^^
That totally wasn't my intention, lol. But hey, opposites attract, right? XD
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Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 6:55 pm
Wing Ting is 3-foot-4, so he'd actually be taller than her.
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Cirque du Coeur Torve Captain
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Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 1:02 pm
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Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 1:01 pm
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