Player Information

Name: Crystal
Age: 27
Contact Info: provenance
Other Characters: n/a

Character Information

Name: Niklaus Mikaelson
Canon: Vampire Diaries-verse
Age: >1,000
Gender: Male
Canon Point: The Originals, mid-3.06, “Beautiful Mistake”
Background Link: »»
Inventory: The clothes (including a light jacket), shoes, and necklace he was wearing. I also have a list of his inventory before I dropped, if he’s allowed to still have those items. On his person was the coat he was given, a grey wool scarf, men’s winter boots, mittens, a quill pen, a steak knife, and a jagged piece of wood. He had food rations, a blanket, a fork, a butter knife, a palm-sized notebook, and a black wash cloth in his backpack. He also had a pillowcase where he carried a green toothbrush, mint-flavored toothpaste, rubbing alcohol, a box of blue and pink bandages, scissors, three white candles, two rubber erasers, a can opener, and a paint brush.

Personality:

"Over the course of my life I’ve encountered no shortage of those who would presume to speak of good and evil. Such terms mean nothing. People do what is in their best interest, regardless of who gets hurt. Is it evil to take what one wants, to satisfy hunger, even if doing so will cause another suffering? What some would call evil, I believe to be an appropriate response to a harsh and unfair world."

Klaus grew up under the constant physical and psychological abuse of his father. Though Mikael's viciousness was directed towards all of the Mikaelson clan, the brunt of it always fell on Klaus' shoulders. The absence of Klaus’ anger and strength of willl (qualities his mother magically suppressed) spurred incredible resentment and brutality from Mikael. Even before then, he despised his son: beating Klaus from an early age and at least once to the point of near-death. He would call him pathetic, weak, and essentially worthless. Later, after Mikael learned Klaus was born out of the adulterous union of his wife, Esther, and a werewolf named Ansel, his father had another reason to hate him: he was a werewolf, and therefore an abomination.

Esther, who was a very powerful witch, turned Mikael, Klaus, and his siblings into immortal vampires so they could protect themselves against the werewolves who lived in their village. She also performed a spell to suppress Klaus' werewolf side at Mikael's behest. Spurred by rage after learning the truth of his parentage and heritage, Klaus killed his mother and kept this secret from his siblings for centuries out of fear of hatred and abandonment. These paranoias have continued to haunt him and drive him to extremes, as did the continuing threat of Mikael. Their father chased them down for centuries with the purpose of killing them for being the monsters he created. Klaus eventually succeeded in killing him first.

The world was harsh and unfair to Klaus from the beginning and so he became both harsh and unfair to not only survive it, but to conquer it. As a child of abuse, he chases a constant need to be the most powerful, for only then might he feel safe, respected, wanted, and loved unconditionally. As a monster living in a supernatural world for over a thousand years of bloodshed and war, he prescribes to the belief that only the most powerful may live with any semblance of security and only the most powerful can and should take that security. This has shaped him into the person and the monster he's become: impulsive, narcissistic, and ruthless. As his sister Rebekah puts it, they are broken, damaged things: always and forever cursed to live without hope. But they didn't get to that point through Mikael's terrorism alone. Much of their anguish and pain has been committed by Klaus himself. Klaus' motivations stem from his desire for total allegiance, but also his desire for love and family. Unsurprisingly, these two warring but related desires often make these things impossible for Klaus, who tries to force both. (Not to mention as a child of abuse and an abuser himself, Klaus has a warped view of love and family.)

Many times in Rebekah's case, Klaus has gone to extreme lengths and actions to "protect her from herself," including but not limited to slaughtering her romantic interests. According to Klaus, these men were not worthy of Rebekah's love or devotion, and more importantly they could be not trusted, especially during a time when they were on the run from Mikael. Klaus is not an overly sentimental person, but many people and things hold value to him, and arguably Rebekah the most, before the birth of his daughter. He is her constant, as she is his. She has stood by him longer and better than his brothers. This is something Klaus is wont to acknowledge, but Rebekah is someone he holds terribly dear. So terribly dear that his reaction to what he perceives to be her disloyalty or folly is severe. Recently, he has been told that she betrayed him to their father decades ago; as punishment he attempted to kill her, but revealed instead that he simply wanted her to know the pain of betrayal he felt. He let her go and in effect exiled her from their home so she could finally live a life free of him.

This, actually, is a sign of character growth from Klaus. Earlier on The Originals and The Vampire Diaries, Klaus has displayed a violent and methodical intolerance for most any and all betrayal. Klaus is not one to show mercy; he massacred all of his hybrids for daring to break away from their mystical enslavement to him. That is not to say Klaus can't be bargained or reasoned with, but it's never that he doesn't get his way somehow, some way. He is motivated, making all of his decisions for his survival and his family’s, but also often to assuage his own fear of being powerless and his insecurity of being worthless and alone. For instance, he spent centuries finding a way to break his mother's curse to become the first vampire/werewolf hybrid; to become what he was meant to be, to never feel powerless again, and to create more of his kind. Klaus also possesses an impressive knack for understanding people's desires, motivations, and capabilities, and the ability to see these people in the bigger picture and to manipulate situations to his desired outcome. And what he can't have through scheming, he'll take by applying force or vice versa.

There is a gentler side to Klaus, of course, but feelings and sentimentality are largely seen as weakness to him, although recently he has shown a greater acceptance of his own and in turn he has shown leniency and guilt. Becoming a father has changed Klaus and so has the trials and tribulations he has conquered with his brother, Elijah, and Rebekah by his side. At heart, through all Klaus' scheming and cruelty, is still the caring boy who values his family above all else, who merely wants to belong somewhere and be loved. Above it all, Klaus wants to create a home. And despite his selfishness and paranoia, he has moments of mercy and empathy. He wants those he cares about to be happy. Many a time he simply lacks the full selflessness to accept these things and the softer touch to usher in these changes.

The slow acceptance of his emotions/vulnerabilities and the realization of his destructive motivations/actions has never been more apparent since Rebekah left him and New Orleans behind. This has served as a turning point for Klaus, as has the birth of his daughter. For the first time in his long lifetime, Klaus has something to fight for that is not himself; someone to fight for whom he feels complete allegiance and love without doubts or paranoia. Hope is (and yes, Klaus is as subtle as an anvil here as per usual) his hope: for family, for acceptance, and for some semblance of a fulfilling life, though not a redeemed one. Hope is, as Elijah has put it, their family’s hope; she has united the Mikaelsons and her mother, Hayley, in a way nothing else has, arguably since they were first vampires. She is the home Klaus has always longed to create.

However, not even these recent events can alter Klaus entirely. He is still shaped and motivated in large part by his selfishness, by his pride, and by his wrath. He still punishes any betrayal with severity. For instance, in response to Elijah incapacitating him, Klaus brutally killed his paramor in front of him. He is not a good person though he may have a good heart; he chooses to not act like one, and is typically unconcerned about it until it negatively affects him. He often feels and expresses entitlement to such actions.

Klaus has shown this typical ruthless behavior to protect his family and his daughter from harm. He has killed his recently resurrected biological father to protect her because he didn’t know if he could trust him and couldn’t take the risk if that were the case, even though a loving father is all he has wanted his entire life. He has also shown moments of pain, remorse, gratitude, and vulnerability. He has put his family, and even his friends first in as many cases. He feels responsible in taking measures no one else will, claiming the “even dirtier work” and does it with calculation and effectiveness. He is willing to do anything at the price of his family, for his family.

Flavor Abilities: n/a

Suitability:

A humanized Klaus in Snowblind would face numerous difficulties, chief of all the separation from his infant daughter (who he only just successfully saved and brought home) and reconciling with his powerlessness. Suddenly being defenseless and vulnerable to others and to the environment will be an adjustment. (However, though he hasn’t been human for over a thousand years, he’s lived through rough-and-tumble times -- so he has the knowledge and experience to get by.) A character such as Klaus relies heavily on his strengths both literal and figurative; power has been Klaus’ armor for centuries, something he has sought after aggressively and used as a shield, both emotionally and physically. This strength is something he has considered and proved necessary to his and his family’s survival. Yet if Klaus is anything, he is resilient. He might not be able to compel others to his will or take someone’s head off with his bare hands, but he’s capable of more than that. He is ruthless and exacting, and will do everything in his power to survive, and to explore the town and area in hopes of finding answers, and eventually dismantling the truth of this place to find a way to destroy those responsible and to escape it. ‘Destroy’ is very key here, by the way. Nothing else would quench his wrath. He will do it by manipulation, through allies and enemies, and with every advantage afforded to him.

RP Samples:

Game Setting/Network Sample @ snowblindrpg
Prose Sample @ teleios