Personality: Neku isn't exactly what you would call a social butterfly. By first impression alone, he is aloof, spiteful and withdrawn. Watching him walk through Shibuya, he's the epitome of seclusion - head down, headphones on and blasting, hands buried in his pockets. There's no contact with anyone around him; he's completely shut off and in his own little world.
At least, that's how Neku is before he's quite literally caught in the crossfire and thrown into the Reaper's Game.
At the beginning of the game, Neku is still this way. He had gone out of his way to keep his social attachments to a minimum, and as a result, he isn't canonly known to have many friends, if any at all. Other people only drag you down and friends only end up hurting you, so why even bother? People only seem to be there to push their values on him, but he was perfectly content with his own world. He didn't need outside influence. The world beyond his headphones and his music could just stay where it is.
After being thrust into the Reaper's Game, Neku was forced to partner up with someone or be erased. He didn't like it, but in order to survive, he was forced to bear with it. It was necessary. Due to circumstances beyond his control, he ended up playing for a solid three weeks in a row instead of just one week - each week bringing a different partner, a different set of players. And, with each other person that he encountered, Neku felt himself begin to open up. After all, he needed to trust his partner in order to succeed, right? And the more Neku began to place his trust in other people... the more he realized that other people weren't so bad. They weren't just annoying sources of noise. He began to care about them, about their wellbeing. He was changing, and it showed.
When Shiki alone was returned to life and subsequently made to be Neku's entry fee - the most important thing to a player - the very next week, he fought tooth and nail to make sure he didn't lose. That same week, he had suspected Joshua of killing him and even accused him of such, only to learn that Minamimoto had been his killer. But before Neku even had a chance to apologize, Joshua took a blast that would otherwise have killed Neku, sacrificing himself. During the next week, he felt an extreme amount of remorse for not being able to tell Joshua he was sorry. The third week, Beat defected from the Reapers just to save Neku from being erased due to the lack of a partner. With Beat at the risk of being erased within five days, Neku gladly went with him to find the Composer and put a stop to all of this.
And, at the end of the third week, when Joshua revealed himself to be the mastermind behind it all, it nearly destroyed Neku. Joshua had been the one person like himself, the one person he really could consider a true friend, and he'd been completely betrayed. Joshua gave Neku a choice, though - shoot Joshua, become Composer and do what he wished with Shibuya, or leave Shibuya to erasure at Joshua's hands. But, in the end, he couldn't do it. At the beginning of it all, he'd been prepared to sacrifice Shiki's life in order to escape the game. But when it came down to shooting someone he had considered a friend versus letting the city be completely erased... he couldn't fire the gun. Luckily, this change in Neku, who had once been so shut-off from the rest of the world, prompted a change of heart in Joshua, who stayed his hand in the end and returned them all back to life. If someone like Neku could change that much, surely the entire city could change as well.
At the end of it all, Neku came away from the Game with a completely different perspective on the people and world around him. No longer did he think of other people as annoying and in his face - having someone to reach out to, to spend time with and get to know... it made him happy. Happier than he'd ever been by himself. And expanding his horizons, extending his world out beyond himself... wasn't so bad. And having friends definitely wasn't so bad.
Flavor Abilities: None! Neku is a normal, everyday teenager post-game.
Suitability: Considering the changes that Neku went through during the game, I feel like it would be interesting to play with him being shoved into yet another survival-type situation, but this one forcing him into isolation and distant communication than coming to rely on others physically with him. After three weeks in the Reaper's Game, he had it drilled into him to trust his partner - and other people by extension - though it's still a work in progress, and I'd like to see him deal with that in an environment where he's thrown right back into going it alone most of the time. ... also, I played him at a_facility for a long while, and I just can't resist throwing him into a psychological horror situation. The muse is used to that sort of thing, sob.
RP Samples:
[ network ]
[Losing track of time is surprisingly easy, Neku has found. For all that he's tried, obsessively looking at the tablet and trying to figure out how long it would take to get back to shelter before cutoff, he's lost time in looking for something to eat. But he hasn't eaten all day. He's starving and cold, and like hell he's going to let both get the better of him.
But it's too late. He didn't find anything usable, and now, he's trapped outside. None of the buildings have any entrances he can get into, not even a hole in the wall or a basement stairwell to huddle in. Shibuya never has winters this bad, and even with the coat on, it isn't doing much to keep out the cold. If he can't find some way of finding heat, he isn't going to make it through the night.
... relying on other people... is still something kind of new. But if he's going to survive this, he has to try. He doesn't want to die from exposure. Not after all he's been through.]
... h-hey. So, uh. Is... is anyone else stuck out here?
[A shiver wracks his body, and he curls in more on himself, closing his eyes for a moment.]
Anyone else n-not from a place that's used to this kind of weather?
[ action ]
Finding a place to stay is Neku's biggest goal at this point in time. Rather, finding a decent place to stay, one that has a chance at warmth and not starving and maybe even some running water if he's really lucky. Because hey, it's been too long since he could actually shower. He could probably use one, even if it is a cold one. Actually finding a place like that, though, seems to be a slim chance, if not flat out nonexistent.
Or, it was. But this place he's standing in now seems to be just what he's looking for. A nice fireplace, some wood...! Maybe this place is abandoned. Maybe someone meant to use it and then just... didn't. He's pretty sure no one is here. But how long has this firewood been sitting out? ... maybe it would be safer to check, just in case.
Keeping his bag on him, Neku moves through the house, first focusing on the kitchen before other areas. If whoever lived here last left some food in the cabinets, he's going to take it. He can take jabs all day long about how skinny he is, because back at home he just didn't care, but here he really, really could use something on his bones. Cold isn't too kind on him.
Neku Sakuraba | The World Ends With You
At least, that's how Neku is before he's quite literally caught in the crossfire and thrown into the Reaper's Game.
At the beginning of the game, Neku is still this way. He had gone out of his way to keep his social attachments to a minimum, and as a result, he isn't canonly known to have many friends, if any at all. Other people only drag you down and friends only end up hurting you, so why even bother? People only seem to be there to push their values on him, but he was perfectly content with his own world. He didn't need outside influence. The world beyond his headphones and his music could just stay where it is.
After being thrust into the Reaper's Game, Neku was forced to partner up with someone or be erased. He didn't like it, but in order to survive, he was forced to bear with it. It was necessary. Due to circumstances beyond his control, he ended up playing for a solid three weeks in a row instead of just one week - each week bringing a different partner, a different set of players. And, with each other person that he encountered, Neku felt himself begin to open up. After all, he needed to trust his partner in order to succeed, right? And the more Neku began to place his trust in other people... the more he realized that other people weren't so bad. They weren't just annoying sources of noise. He began to care about them, about their wellbeing. He was changing, and it showed.
When Shiki alone was returned to life and subsequently made to be Neku's entry fee - the most important thing to a player - the very next week, he fought tooth and nail to make sure he didn't lose. That same week, he had suspected Joshua of killing him and even accused him of such, only to learn that Minamimoto had been his killer. But before Neku even had a chance to apologize, Joshua took a blast that would otherwise have killed Neku, sacrificing himself. During the next week, he felt an extreme amount of remorse for not being able to tell Joshua he was sorry. The third week, Beat defected from the Reapers just to save Neku from being erased due to the lack of a partner. With Beat at the risk of being erased within five days, Neku gladly went with him to find the Composer and put a stop to all of this.
And, at the end of the third week, when Joshua revealed himself to be the mastermind behind it all, it nearly destroyed Neku. Joshua had been the one person like himself, the one person he really could consider a true friend, and he'd been completely betrayed. Joshua gave Neku a choice, though - shoot Joshua, become Composer and do what he wished with Shibuya, or leave Shibuya to erasure at Joshua's hands. But, in the end, he couldn't do it. At the beginning of it all, he'd been prepared to sacrifice Shiki's life in order to escape the game. But when it came down to shooting someone he had considered a friend versus letting the city be completely erased... he couldn't fire the gun. Luckily, this change in Neku, who had once been so shut-off from the rest of the world, prompted a change of heart in Joshua, who stayed his hand in the end and returned them all back to life. If someone like Neku could change that much, surely the entire city could change as well.
At the end of it all, Neku came away from the Game with a completely different perspective on the people and world around him. No longer did he think of other people as annoying and in his face - having someone to reach out to, to spend time with and get to know... it made him happy. Happier than he'd ever been by himself. And expanding his horizons, extending his world out beyond himself... wasn't so bad. And having friends definitely wasn't so bad.
Flavor Abilities: None! Neku is a normal, everyday teenager post-game.
Suitability: Considering the changes that Neku went through during the game, I feel like it would be interesting to play with him being shoved into yet another survival-type situation, but this one forcing him into isolation and distant communication than coming to rely on others physically with him. After three weeks in the Reaper's Game, he had it drilled into him to trust his partner - and other people by extension - though it's still a work in progress, and I'd like to see him deal with that in an environment where he's thrown right back into going it alone most of the time. ... also, I played him at a_facility for a long while, and I just can't resist throwing him into a psychological horror situation. The muse is used to that sort of thing, sob.
RP Samples:
[ network ]
[Losing track of time is surprisingly easy, Neku has found. For all that he's tried, obsessively looking at the tablet and trying to figure out how long it would take to get back to shelter before cutoff, he's lost time in looking for something to eat. But he hasn't eaten all day. He's starving and cold, and like hell he's going to let both get the better of him.
But it's too late. He didn't find anything usable, and now, he's trapped outside. None of the buildings have any entrances he can get into, not even a hole in the wall or a basement stairwell to huddle in. Shibuya never has winters this bad, and even with the coat on, it isn't doing much to keep out the cold. If he can't find some way of finding heat, he isn't going to make it through the night.
... relying on other people... is still something kind of new. But if he's going to survive this, he has to try. He doesn't want to die from exposure. Not after all he's been through.]
... h-hey. So, uh. Is... is anyone else stuck out here?
[A shiver wracks his body, and he curls in more on himself, closing his eyes for a moment.]
Anyone else n-not from a place that's used to this kind of weather?
[ action ]
Finding a place to stay is Neku's biggest goal at this point in time. Rather, finding a decent place to stay, one that has a chance at warmth and not starving and maybe even some running water if he's really lucky. Because hey, it's been too long since he could actually shower. He could probably use one, even if it is a cold one. Actually finding a place like that, though, seems to be a slim chance, if not flat out nonexistent.
Or, it was. But this place he's standing in now seems to be just what he's looking for. A nice fireplace, some wood...! Maybe this place is abandoned. Maybe someone meant to use it and then just... didn't. He's pretty sure no one is here. But how long has this firewood been sitting out? ... maybe it would be safer to check, just in case.
Keeping his bag on him, Neku moves through the house, first focusing on the kitchen before other areas. If whoever lived here last left some food in the cabinets, he's going to take it. He can take jabs all day long about how skinny he is, because back at home he just didn't care, but here he really, really could use something on his bones. Cold isn't too kind on him.