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Name: Remaix
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remaix
E-mail: cureremaix@gmail.com
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remaix
Timezone: CET
Current Characters in Route: N/A
Character
Name: Eliot Spencer
Series: Leverage
Timeline: S04E01 - The Long Way Down Job
Canon Resource Links:
Eliot at the Leverage Wiki
Leverage at Wikipedia
Personality:
"People are like knives. Everything's in context."
Firstly, Eliot Spencer is a very angry individual. Obviously that's not all there is to him, but if there's one emotion he shows a lot of, that's it right there. He's got a bad temper and it doesn't take a lot to tick him off. It's a stoic sort of anger, a lot of the time. When he's annoyed, that's when the anger isn't as quiet and he's perfectly fine with yelling or cursing at whatever managed to make him pissed. Usually another member of his team. It's when the anger gets serious that it quiets down. He doesn't yell or scream when that happens. But you bet that he gets violent.
Of course, it's not as if he isn't aware of this. Many people know that Eliot is a dangerous man, but no one knows it better than Eliot himself. He does everything he can to keep himself in control. As he says himself at one point, he "only use[s] violence as an appropriate response". Because while his job might mean that he needs to beat people up a lot, that doesn't mean he just goes crazy. Take out who you need to take out. No one else. He directs his rage at the people who deserve it and he makes damn sure that no one else gets caught in the crossfire. And even when he does get violent, Eliot always makes sure to keep an eye on himself, to make sure he never goes too far. It's clear even in his fighting style - he focuses on quick, precise blows to take out the opponent as fast as possible. He doesn't drag out the fight for its own sake. He just does what needs to be done, nothing else.
Outside the job, Eliot has an actual social life. That shouldn't be such an amazing thing to note, but when you compare him to the rest of the team... well... Nate's married to the job, Sophie would be the winner here if most of friends weren't generally fellow grifters, most of Hardison's friends are online and Parker... Parker is Parker. Really, it's surprising how well adjusted Eliot is. He's even pretty damn charming around women and has had many relationships in the past to prove it. There's definite signs that Eliot has a lot of respect for the women he's dated, though. He claims to know all their names and has picked up many interesting facts from them, proving he's at least listened to them enough for that.
While we never get to find out exactly all the terrible things Eliot's done in the past, it definitely wasn't pretty. Joining the Leverage team may seem like an attempt to make amends from the outside, but that definitely isn't it. Because, according to Eliot, he will always be that person. No matter how much good he does, he believes that that won't change. Nothing he does will allow him to atone. And he's okay with that. By doing good he isn't trying to balance out what he did, he's just doing what he can to make things a little better. Maybe his hands will never be clean, but that doesn't mean he can't use them to do some good anyway. Still, while he knows this, he doesn't talk much about the things he's done. Not so much for his own sake - he lives with his sins already and they can't hurt him worse than they're already doing. No, Eliot prefers not to talk about it with others because he doesn't want them to know. It's not something they'll be happier for knowing and he knows it'll change how people look at him, so he doesn't talk about it a lot. Not unless someone asks him first.
Despite all the rough edges he's got, Eliot does have one hell of a soft side. It's easy to dismiss him as just violent and angry all the time, because... well, he certainly does like to give that impression. But no. Eliot's incredibly protective. As the team's hitter, it's essentially his job to be, but he goes above and beyond. Eventually, that is. It's a bond that builds up over time, but once the team's been together for some time, he's there for them. He'd die for any member of the team and, perhaps just as important, he would kill for them. But the team's not all he protects. It's pretty common for Eliot to get protective of the people they help on the job too - especially kids. Harming a child is pretty much a one way ticket onto his shit list. Even the possibility of a child being in danger is enough for Eliot to drop everything, as shown when he forces Hardison to come along with him on a dispatch call (it's a long story) to a domestic disturbance, because there might be a child involved. He always takes time to talk to the kids, too. He listens to them, helps them with their problems and supports them.
Really, Eliot is always quick to take up the role of an older brother when he warms up to people. It's pretty much the role he takes up in the team, first with a lot of resistance, then grudgingly, and finally fully accepting of the position.
His relationship with Nate is perhaps the rockiest. Eliot has respect for Nate, as he is the leader of the team and a cunning one at that. But when things go south or Nate goes too far, he doesn't hesitate to call him on this. Perhaps it's because Eliot knows what it looks like when someone goes downhill that gives him a good understanding of the choices Nate makes. As Eliot doesn't want him to go down that road, he tries to keep him off it. Still, that doesn't mean he'd ever abandon Nate. He's with him, all the way. When Nate asks him to do something, he does it. Not without question, of course, but he does it. While Nate might be closest and on most equal footing with Sophie, Eliot often behaves like something of a number two to him. As the mastermind, it's Nate's job to have a plan. And as the hitter, it's Eliot's job to keep everyone alive during the plan.
Meanwhile, Eliot's relationship with Sophie is far more equal. They might not be as close as some of the other members, but there's still a relationship there. The two often behave more like friends than family. They like to tease each other a lot, though the other is always ready to take revenge when that happens. It's not as intense as the bickering that goes on between, say, Eliot and Hardison, as it never lasts for that long. While Eliot gets annoyed by a lot of her quirks - though really, everyone's quirks annoy Eliot - the two are often friendly and even help each other out when they need to take on each other's roles, something they both take some pride in. Sophie is delighted to help out Eliot when he's not as confident grifting early on and Eliot is very pleased when Sophie uses his tips when she needs to get violent. Even if the target of that is a certain hacker. Speaking of him...
Eliot and Hardison bicker. A lot. "Damn it, Hardison!" is Eliot's go-to catchphrase for a reason. No one frustrates him like Hardison does and the two have a kind of rivalry that goes on for... basically the entire show. But while at first they simply don't get along, as the entire team gets closer, so do they. The rivalry definitely develops into a friendlier one over time, something closer to what you might see between siblings. Eliot might threaten to hurt Hardison all the time, but when the hacker is actually in danger, he's quick to come to his rescue. After Hardison gets locked inside a coffin and then saved, Eliot immediately hugs him and tells him to never do that again. They care. Neither one of them would admit it, at least definitely not easily, but they really care.
However, while Eliot feels he needs to look after Hardison, that's not the case with Parker. Because Parker is someone Eliot relies on. And, in turn, Parker relies on him. They're definitely like siblings and, like all good siblings, this means they annoy each other. A lot. But while Parker's weirdness gets on his nerves quick and he's always the first person to complain about her, Eliot's also the one with probably the best understanding of her. When she needs it, he listens to her and helps her out any way he can. He takes the time to teach her about food, to help her find something she can enjoy outside of stealing. It's while he's doing this that he opens up to her a lot, because if she needs him to be open, he will be. They've both had rough lives and they both know the world isn't that great of a place. That life has tough choices and if you want to survive you can't always take the nicest option. But he's also quick to reassure her that it doesn't make her a bad person. They've got a connection that's different from the other ones on the team, which definitely makes them very close. Parker really is Eliot's little sister and if you harm her... well, god help you.
Really, while Eliot definitely starts out as a grump with no patience for the team's antics, he warms up a lot. He opens up more, even relaxes around them and lets down his guard a little. That soft side of him shows up more and more as he gets closer to the team and learns to respect them. All in all, he presents himself as just a gruff hitter, but anyone who cares to look will see that there's much more than that there. So yes. People really are like knives. Different contexts show different sides of Eliot.
Strengths/Weaknesses:
"You know, people underestimate you, Eliot."
"That's kind of the point."
+ Hitter: Eliot is one of the best hitters in the business. No, really, he's damn tough, skilled in various forms of martial arts. He takes out thug after thug while barely even breaking a sweat. Often armed thugs. He can get overwhelmed, obviously, but it takes either a lot of canon fodder or someone really skilled for that to happen. And it's not just the fighting he's good at. Being a hitter involves knowing how to take a beating too. His stamina is excellent and his determination when fighting means that even if he's being pummeled, he'll still last a long time.
+ Grifter: While Eliot is obviously a skilled fighter, that's not the only thing he's good at. When he really tries, Eliot is a very capable grifter. He can lie and act convincingly enough to string along a mark. And when he tries, he knows what hook to use. Plus, he's charming and that's always useful for when you're trying to get someone to trust you. It's not a skill he would boast about, since he's much better at it than he himself realizes. Officially, he's the second best grifter in the team.
+ Sharp: Eliot is crazy good at noticing little details that no one else would. Seriously, how many people out there know how to identify a weapon from the sound of the gunshot, that someone is ex-CIA from their stance, or a classified military satellite intercept from the sound of the static? Eliot pays attention and he knows how to put the smallest clues together, although to him it's very obvious. Distinctive, one might say. He's also very skilled at thinking on his feet, something that comes in handy a lot. Plans can go south quickly and when that happens, Eliot is good at going with the flow and working with this.
+ Various skills: The biggest of these is cooking. No, really. Eliot's surprisingly passionate about food. It's something he takes very seriously. Hell, if he really wanted to, he could very easily become a professional chef. He knows his food, he knows how to put together menus. He even knows a good deal about wines and how to combine them with the right food. Insulting his cooking is, in fact, another way to quickly get Eliot to dislike you. Other things he's good at include just about any sport he tries, singing, guitar playing and he's got a knack for languages. They come in handy a lot, especially the languages he knows.
+/- Loyal: He might be slow to warm to people, but when he does, Eliot has their back for good. He will do anything to keep them safe, even if it means that he'll be worse off himself. The fact that he's so protective is a very good thing for the people who fall under that protection and a very bad thing for anyone who threatens them. The times Eliot comes closest to going too far is when a member of the team is in danger. Whatever it takes means whatever it takes. Even if what it takes is something very terrible. Because he doesn't want to lose the people he cares about. If that means damning himself more or getting seriously hurt, that's fine with him. Taking one for the team is what he's good at.
- Bad temper: Seriously, it doesn't take much to set Eliot off. Something very small, like someone acting weird, is enough to set him off. Anything more serious than that and... well... that's about when you want to get as far away from Eliot as possible, because he's not exactly quick to forgive. Any of the bad guys the team goes after in the series can attest to this. Assuming they're not still in the hospital after Eliot was done with them. God help you if you're a thug and spill coffee on him, because he'll be cleaning blood and teeth from his shirt afterwards.
- Closed off: Lots of people put up walls around themselves. Eliot's walls are twice as tall, made of steel, with barbed wire over the top and probably dogs waiting at the other side. Sure, he'll listen to the people he connects with, support them if he can. But he doesn't share much about what's on his own mind and definitely won't bring up any emotional troubles he might have. Eliot prefers to deal with his problems quietly and stays quiet about them unless someone drags it out by force. Many of his personal issues, like for example his past with Aimee or how he used to work for Damien Moreau, aren't brought up by Eliot himself. They're only revealed due to outside interference and if they hadn't become relevant, he likely would never have talked about them at all.
- Slow to trust: The bond he's got with his team is incredibly close, that's for sure. But that took years to build. He definitely wasn't open or warm with them at the start. That's not to say he'll be cold and distant with everyone he talks to, heck, he'll be downright warm and friendly around kids or people he likes. But actual, real trust? Nah. That takes a while. Not helped by the fact that Eliot doesn't really want it to build. He's resistant to it. Yeah, he's just stubborn like that.
- Not tech savvy: Yeah... No member of the team is as good with computers as Hardison, but that's not saying much. But Eliot's probably the worst. He might not be dumb, but he really is not good with computers or... anything more complicated than a simple phone, really. This is the guy who, when told by Hardison that they needed to reboot something, asked if that meant he had to kick it. Yes. Really. So... definitely bad with tech, yeah.
- Paranoid: Well. Yeah. Eliot's been in a dangerous business for a long time and that changes how you perceive things. In his case, it's left him more than a little paranoid. He pretty much always expects the worst. Those trust issues mentioned earlier? Yeah, you bet that ties back into this. It's not that he thinks everyone is out to get him, it's simply that when you're in a business as dangerous as he is, there are certain risks you can't afford to take. And that's a mindset that's not easy to shake.
Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Team Rocket member
Starter: Mankey (level 15) and Houndour (level 5)
Password: Apple Strudel
Samples
First Person Sample: [As the video feed starts, it's not actually focused on Eliot at all. Instead, it's his Primeape and a Machop on the screen. That part's not so odd.
Less normal? The Primeape is currently holding the Machop in a chokehold.]
That's it, you're doing great, just like that. [That'd be Eliot's voice.] Just gotta- Wait, why's that light...
[And that's when the feed suddenly goes all over as Eliot shifts his PokéGear. This gives everyone a good look at his face while he examines it. As he does, his expression shifts from confused to very annoyed.]
Damn it, how'd it turn on? Just trying to record, not broadcast this to everyone and their- You know what, fine.
[Annnnd the video turns once again, back to the two Pokémon and their struggle. Though by now, the Machop's surrendering.]
See that? That's a proper chokehold, right there. Cut off blood and air... It'll knock someone out no problem if you get the positions for your arms right. [He lets out brief, low laugh.] You don't wanna screw that one up when you're trying to take a guy out quiet, I tell you. Gotta be sure you do it right when you're-
[And then he stops. Because... oh. Right. There's kids on this network.]
-under... attack. Which is the only time you'll need that. For... self defence. Look, don't try this at home.
Third Person Sample: He has an exit strategy.
It's something he realizes is ridiculous, as he carefully yet quickly dices some onions. He's on kitchen duty at Goldenrod's Rocket base, a job very well suited to him. He's worked with bad guys before, he cooks a lot, figures he'd eventually combine the two. Trying to take down the organization from within is... actually also not that new. But even if this is the base of a dangerous criminal organization, he knows it's silly to have an exit strategy ready.
The odds of there being any real danger here anytime soon are low, pretty damn close to zero. For now, anyway. The safety, the charming, brightly colored, annoyingly cheerful safety of this place has been shoved down his throat since he got here.
But Eliot has an exit strategy. Because he always has an exit strategy.
He knows the best route out the building. And the second best, the third best, even the fourth. He knows how to best get the innocent kids who got roped into this out before anything can happen to them - they're the priority in every plan.
At this point, he's not sure if it's because of paranoia or the instincts he's honed over the years. Maybe both. Probably both. Either way, the reason he knows it's ridiculous to still be thinking that way is that this isn't the world he knows. It's got some danger, but nothing like back home. Yet he can't get his mind to accept that fact. It's not that he sees monsters around every corner, like some kind of nutcase. It's just that for a long, long time, he couldn't afford to assume there weren't. That mindset has saved his life on numerous occasions. And, more importantly, the lives of his team too.
Maybe that's what's keeping him from ever letting his guard down, even here. Because even if this place was as safe as people say, even if he didn't have anything to worry about, he couldn't afford to believe that. It wasn't a chance he could take. He knew from experience what happened when you weren't prepared for the worst.
So he always has a plan in case things go south. Everywhere he goes. And he sure as hell doesn't let his guard down, not while he's this close to Team Rocket. You never know in advance when you're gonna need your guard to be up.
He finishes up the onions, moves on to the tomatoes. Quick slices. If someone comes at him from behind, he can get at them easily with the knife. It's not precise, but it's effective. If that fails, a blow to the solar plexus will take care of most people.
Maybe it really is paranoia. But he's just fine with that.
Name: Remaix
Personal Journal:
remaixE-mail: cureremaix@gmail.com
AIM/Plurk/Etc.:
Timezone: CET
Current Characters in Route: N/A
Character
Name: Eliot Spencer
Series: Leverage
Timeline: S04E01 - The Long Way Down Job
Canon Resource Links:
Eliot at the Leverage Wiki
Leverage at Wikipedia
Personality:
"People are like knives. Everything's in context."
Firstly, Eliot Spencer is a very angry individual. Obviously that's not all there is to him, but if there's one emotion he shows a lot of, that's it right there. He's got a bad temper and it doesn't take a lot to tick him off. It's a stoic sort of anger, a lot of the time. When he's annoyed, that's when the anger isn't as quiet and he's perfectly fine with yelling or cursing at whatever managed to make him pissed. Usually another member of his team. It's when the anger gets serious that it quiets down. He doesn't yell or scream when that happens. But you bet that he gets violent.
Of course, it's not as if he isn't aware of this. Many people know that Eliot is a dangerous man, but no one knows it better than Eliot himself. He does everything he can to keep himself in control. As he says himself at one point, he "only use[s] violence as an appropriate response". Because while his job might mean that he needs to beat people up a lot, that doesn't mean he just goes crazy. Take out who you need to take out. No one else. He directs his rage at the people who deserve it and he makes damn sure that no one else gets caught in the crossfire. And even when he does get violent, Eliot always makes sure to keep an eye on himself, to make sure he never goes too far. It's clear even in his fighting style - he focuses on quick, precise blows to take out the opponent as fast as possible. He doesn't drag out the fight for its own sake. He just does what needs to be done, nothing else.
Outside the job, Eliot has an actual social life. That shouldn't be such an amazing thing to note, but when you compare him to the rest of the team... well... Nate's married to the job, Sophie would be the winner here if most of friends weren't generally fellow grifters, most of Hardison's friends are online and Parker... Parker is Parker. Really, it's surprising how well adjusted Eliot is. He's even pretty damn charming around women and has had many relationships in the past to prove it. There's definite signs that Eliot has a lot of respect for the women he's dated, though. He claims to know all their names and has picked up many interesting facts from them, proving he's at least listened to them enough for that.
While we never get to find out exactly all the terrible things Eliot's done in the past, it definitely wasn't pretty. Joining the Leverage team may seem like an attempt to make amends from the outside, but that definitely isn't it. Because, according to Eliot, he will always be that person. No matter how much good he does, he believes that that won't change. Nothing he does will allow him to atone. And he's okay with that. By doing good he isn't trying to balance out what he did, he's just doing what he can to make things a little better. Maybe his hands will never be clean, but that doesn't mean he can't use them to do some good anyway. Still, while he knows this, he doesn't talk much about the things he's done. Not so much for his own sake - he lives with his sins already and they can't hurt him worse than they're already doing. No, Eliot prefers not to talk about it with others because he doesn't want them to know. It's not something they'll be happier for knowing and he knows it'll change how people look at him, so he doesn't talk about it a lot. Not unless someone asks him first.
Despite all the rough edges he's got, Eliot does have one hell of a soft side. It's easy to dismiss him as just violent and angry all the time, because... well, he certainly does like to give that impression. But no. Eliot's incredibly protective. As the team's hitter, it's essentially his job to be, but he goes above and beyond. Eventually, that is. It's a bond that builds up over time, but once the team's been together for some time, he's there for them. He'd die for any member of the team and, perhaps just as important, he would kill for them. But the team's not all he protects. It's pretty common for Eliot to get protective of the people they help on the job too - especially kids. Harming a child is pretty much a one way ticket onto his shit list. Even the possibility of a child being in danger is enough for Eliot to drop everything, as shown when he forces Hardison to come along with him on a dispatch call (it's a long story) to a domestic disturbance, because there might be a child involved. He always takes time to talk to the kids, too. He listens to them, helps them with their problems and supports them.
Really, Eliot is always quick to take up the role of an older brother when he warms up to people. It's pretty much the role he takes up in the team, first with a lot of resistance, then grudgingly, and finally fully accepting of the position.
His relationship with Nate is perhaps the rockiest. Eliot has respect for Nate, as he is the leader of the team and a cunning one at that. But when things go south or Nate goes too far, he doesn't hesitate to call him on this. Perhaps it's because Eliot knows what it looks like when someone goes downhill that gives him a good understanding of the choices Nate makes. As Eliot doesn't want him to go down that road, he tries to keep him off it. Still, that doesn't mean he'd ever abandon Nate. He's with him, all the way. When Nate asks him to do something, he does it. Not without question, of course, but he does it. While Nate might be closest and on most equal footing with Sophie, Eliot often behaves like something of a number two to him. As the mastermind, it's Nate's job to have a plan. And as the hitter, it's Eliot's job to keep everyone alive during the plan.
Meanwhile, Eliot's relationship with Sophie is far more equal. They might not be as close as some of the other members, but there's still a relationship there. The two often behave more like friends than family. They like to tease each other a lot, though the other is always ready to take revenge when that happens. It's not as intense as the bickering that goes on between, say, Eliot and Hardison, as it never lasts for that long. While Eliot gets annoyed by a lot of her quirks - though really, everyone's quirks annoy Eliot - the two are often friendly and even help each other out when they need to take on each other's roles, something they both take some pride in. Sophie is delighted to help out Eliot when he's not as confident grifting early on and Eliot is very pleased when Sophie uses his tips when she needs to get violent. Even if the target of that is a certain hacker. Speaking of him...
Eliot and Hardison bicker. A lot. "Damn it, Hardison!" is Eliot's go-to catchphrase for a reason. No one frustrates him like Hardison does and the two have a kind of rivalry that goes on for... basically the entire show. But while at first they simply don't get along, as the entire team gets closer, so do they. The rivalry definitely develops into a friendlier one over time, something closer to what you might see between siblings. Eliot might threaten to hurt Hardison all the time, but when the hacker is actually in danger, he's quick to come to his rescue. After Hardison gets locked inside a coffin and then saved, Eliot immediately hugs him and tells him to never do that again. They care. Neither one of them would admit it, at least definitely not easily, but they really care.
However, while Eliot feels he needs to look after Hardison, that's not the case with Parker. Because Parker is someone Eliot relies on. And, in turn, Parker relies on him. They're definitely like siblings and, like all good siblings, this means they annoy each other. A lot. But while Parker's weirdness gets on his nerves quick and he's always the first person to complain about her, Eliot's also the one with probably the best understanding of her. When she needs it, he listens to her and helps her out any way he can. He takes the time to teach her about food, to help her find something she can enjoy outside of stealing. It's while he's doing this that he opens up to her a lot, because if she needs him to be open, he will be. They've both had rough lives and they both know the world isn't that great of a place. That life has tough choices and if you want to survive you can't always take the nicest option. But he's also quick to reassure her that it doesn't make her a bad person. They've got a connection that's different from the other ones on the team, which definitely makes them very close. Parker really is Eliot's little sister and if you harm her... well, god help you.
Really, while Eliot definitely starts out as a grump with no patience for the team's antics, he warms up a lot. He opens up more, even relaxes around them and lets down his guard a little. That soft side of him shows up more and more as he gets closer to the team and learns to respect them. All in all, he presents himself as just a gruff hitter, but anyone who cares to look will see that there's much more than that there. So yes. People really are like knives. Different contexts show different sides of Eliot.
Strengths/Weaknesses:
"You know, people underestimate you, Eliot."
"That's kind of the point."
+ Hitter: Eliot is one of the best hitters in the business. No, really, he's damn tough, skilled in various forms of martial arts. He takes out thug after thug while barely even breaking a sweat. Often armed thugs. He can get overwhelmed, obviously, but it takes either a lot of canon fodder or someone really skilled for that to happen. And it's not just the fighting he's good at. Being a hitter involves knowing how to take a beating too. His stamina is excellent and his determination when fighting means that even if he's being pummeled, he'll still last a long time.
+ Grifter: While Eliot is obviously a skilled fighter, that's not the only thing he's good at. When he really tries, Eliot is a very capable grifter. He can lie and act convincingly enough to string along a mark. And when he tries, he knows what hook to use. Plus, he's charming and that's always useful for when you're trying to get someone to trust you. It's not a skill he would boast about, since he's much better at it than he himself realizes. Officially, he's the second best grifter in the team.
+ Sharp: Eliot is crazy good at noticing little details that no one else would. Seriously, how many people out there know how to identify a weapon from the sound of the gunshot, that someone is ex-CIA from their stance, or a classified military satellite intercept from the sound of the static? Eliot pays attention and he knows how to put the smallest clues together, although to him it's very obvious. Distinctive, one might say. He's also very skilled at thinking on his feet, something that comes in handy a lot. Plans can go south quickly and when that happens, Eliot is good at going with the flow and working with this.
+ Various skills: The biggest of these is cooking. No, really. Eliot's surprisingly passionate about food. It's something he takes very seriously. Hell, if he really wanted to, he could very easily become a professional chef. He knows his food, he knows how to put together menus. He even knows a good deal about wines and how to combine them with the right food. Insulting his cooking is, in fact, another way to quickly get Eliot to dislike you. Other things he's good at include just about any sport he tries, singing, guitar playing and he's got a knack for languages. They come in handy a lot, especially the languages he knows.
+/- Loyal: He might be slow to warm to people, but when he does, Eliot has their back for good. He will do anything to keep them safe, even if it means that he'll be worse off himself. The fact that he's so protective is a very good thing for the people who fall under that protection and a very bad thing for anyone who threatens them. The times Eliot comes closest to going too far is when a member of the team is in danger. Whatever it takes means whatever it takes. Even if what it takes is something very terrible. Because he doesn't want to lose the people he cares about. If that means damning himself more or getting seriously hurt, that's fine with him. Taking one for the team is what he's good at.
- Bad temper: Seriously, it doesn't take much to set Eliot off. Something very small, like someone acting weird, is enough to set him off. Anything more serious than that and... well... that's about when you want to get as far away from Eliot as possible, because he's not exactly quick to forgive. Any of the bad guys the team goes after in the series can attest to this. Assuming they're not still in the hospital after Eliot was done with them. God help you if you're a thug and spill coffee on him, because he'll be cleaning blood and teeth from his shirt afterwards.
- Closed off: Lots of people put up walls around themselves. Eliot's walls are twice as tall, made of steel, with barbed wire over the top and probably dogs waiting at the other side. Sure, he'll listen to the people he connects with, support them if he can. But he doesn't share much about what's on his own mind and definitely won't bring up any emotional troubles he might have. Eliot prefers to deal with his problems quietly and stays quiet about them unless someone drags it out by force. Many of his personal issues, like for example his past with Aimee or how he used to work for Damien Moreau, aren't brought up by Eliot himself. They're only revealed due to outside interference and if they hadn't become relevant, he likely would never have talked about them at all.
- Slow to trust: The bond he's got with his team is incredibly close, that's for sure. But that took years to build. He definitely wasn't open or warm with them at the start. That's not to say he'll be cold and distant with everyone he talks to, heck, he'll be downright warm and friendly around kids or people he likes. But actual, real trust? Nah. That takes a while. Not helped by the fact that Eliot doesn't really want it to build. He's resistant to it. Yeah, he's just stubborn like that.
- Not tech savvy: Yeah... No member of the team is as good with computers as Hardison, but that's not saying much. But Eliot's probably the worst. He might not be dumb, but he really is not good with computers or... anything more complicated than a simple phone, really. This is the guy who, when told by Hardison that they needed to reboot something, asked if that meant he had to kick it. Yes. Really. So... definitely bad with tech, yeah.
- Paranoid: Well. Yeah. Eliot's been in a dangerous business for a long time and that changes how you perceive things. In his case, it's left him more than a little paranoid. He pretty much always expects the worst. Those trust issues mentioned earlier? Yeah, you bet that ties back into this. It's not that he thinks everyone is out to get him, it's simply that when you're in a business as dangerous as he is, there are certain risks you can't afford to take. And that's a mindset that's not easy to shake.
Pokémon Information
Affiliation: Team Rocket member
Starter: Mankey (level 15) and Houndour (level 5)
Password: Apple Strudel
Samples
First Person Sample: [As the video feed starts, it's not actually focused on Eliot at all. Instead, it's his Primeape and a Machop on the screen. That part's not so odd.
Less normal? The Primeape is currently holding the Machop in a chokehold.]
That's it, you're doing great, just like that. [That'd be Eliot's voice.] Just gotta- Wait, why's that light...
[And that's when the feed suddenly goes all over as Eliot shifts his PokéGear. This gives everyone a good look at his face while he examines it. As he does, his expression shifts from confused to very annoyed.]
Damn it, how'd it turn on? Just trying to record, not broadcast this to everyone and their- You know what, fine.
[Annnnd the video turns once again, back to the two Pokémon and their struggle. Though by now, the Machop's surrendering.]
See that? That's a proper chokehold, right there. Cut off blood and air... It'll knock someone out no problem if you get the positions for your arms right. [He lets out brief, low laugh.] You don't wanna screw that one up when you're trying to take a guy out quiet, I tell you. Gotta be sure you do it right when you're-
[And then he stops. Because... oh. Right. There's kids on this network.]
-under... attack. Which is the only time you'll need that. For... self defence. Look, don't try this at home.
Third Person Sample: He has an exit strategy.
It's something he realizes is ridiculous, as he carefully yet quickly dices some onions. He's on kitchen duty at Goldenrod's Rocket base, a job very well suited to him. He's worked with bad guys before, he cooks a lot, figures he'd eventually combine the two. Trying to take down the organization from within is... actually also not that new. But even if this is the base of a dangerous criminal organization, he knows it's silly to have an exit strategy ready.
The odds of there being any real danger here anytime soon are low, pretty damn close to zero. For now, anyway. The safety, the charming, brightly colored, annoyingly cheerful safety of this place has been shoved down his throat since he got here.
But Eliot has an exit strategy. Because he always has an exit strategy.
He knows the best route out the building. And the second best, the third best, even the fourth. He knows how to best get the innocent kids who got roped into this out before anything can happen to them - they're the priority in every plan.
At this point, he's not sure if it's because of paranoia or the instincts he's honed over the years. Maybe both. Probably both. Either way, the reason he knows it's ridiculous to still be thinking that way is that this isn't the world he knows. It's got some danger, but nothing like back home. Yet he can't get his mind to accept that fact. It's not that he sees monsters around every corner, like some kind of nutcase. It's just that for a long, long time, he couldn't afford to assume there weren't. That mindset has saved his life on numerous occasions. And, more importantly, the lives of his team too.
Maybe that's what's keeping him from ever letting his guard down, even here. Because even if this place was as safe as people say, even if he didn't have anything to worry about, he couldn't afford to believe that. It wasn't a chance he could take. He knew from experience what happened when you weren't prepared for the worst.
So he always has a plan in case things go south. Everywhere he goes. And he sure as hell doesn't let his guard down, not while he's this close to Team Rocket. You never know in advance when you're gonna need your guard to be up.
He finishes up the onions, moves on to the tomatoes. Quick slices. If someone comes at him from behind, he can get at them easily with the knife. It's not precise, but it's effective. If that fails, a blow to the solar plexus will take care of most people.
Maybe it really is paranoia. But he's just fine with that.