Inspector Javert

CONTENT WARNING: This character deals with themes of successful suicide and suicidal ideation. Please proceed with caution if you are sensitive. Thank you!


OOC INFORMATION
Name: Larissa
Contact: chickenfriend discord @ chiknfriend
Age: I’m 36!
Other Characters: N/A

CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character Name: Javert
Age: Eternally 52 in looks (though he's hit several birthdays during his time in Ryslig previously and has existed for about 55/56 years)
Canon: Les Misérables (Novel)
Canon Point: Post-Suicide
Character Information: Javert’s Wiki Link

Personality: Javert is a walking paradox, his complete character far more complex than the sum of his parts. There exists in him several facets: the man on the surface, described by Victor Hugo in prose; the man shown to us, described by his actions and speech; and finally, the man he becomes the night he takes his own life.

Prior to his suicide, Javert was utterly devoted to the Law. His only joy was to uphold and enforce law and order. He hated crime with a passion – each criminal was just as bad as any other criminal in his eyes, and the severity of the crime committed or its extenuating circumstances mattered little. Javert was the type of man that would turn in his own child if he slit a throat or jail his own wife for theft without a moment's hesitation. He had extreme respect for authority and a blind faith in his superiors. He was hardworking and brutally honest to the point of abruptness. He possessed an eagle eye and always took care to tie his cases in a neat little bow; he left not a single question unanswered, not a single detail unexplained. He was just as harsh to himself as he was on everyone else; his admirable integrity and perseverance pulled him out of the streets, and he knew that one slip in his behavior, one blight in his record would throw him off his pedestal. That made him a fair man, at least, if not a kind one.

Javert's life was his work. He was not known to have much in the way of friends, and he had no family. He peered in on society from the outside with the full cognizance that he would never become a part of it. Yet rather than choose to destroy it out of some misguided revenge, he was strong enough to protect it as a police officer. He became an expert in France's criminal underbelly; he observed carefully from the shadows for any hint of transgression against well-to-do citizens. He did not indulge in any vices and outright denied himself human intimacy. He read in his rare free time strictly to educate himself. Every now and then, when he felt particularly proud of himself, he would take a pinch of snuff, thereby proving his humanity.

This was the man described to us. The man shown to us hinted at something more… feisty.

For enjoying the oft-begrudged work of a lowly police inspector did not mean he was simply another mindless robot to the government. In fact, unlike many of his bureaucratic colleagues, he had a rather dark, wry, and outright sassy sense of humor that extended its claws in the most dire of situations. He was flamboyant in how he executed his arrests, exhibiting a certain artistry that he strove to perfect. He gleefully banters with his quarry and the worst of his enemies, his tongue just as sharp as his unyielding nature. Most of his work was done with a spectacular flair for the dramatic. He behaved as if he was orchestrating his own personal circus of criminal captures. He positively delighted in his work, and his unique passion showed in his dedication and verve. But keep in mind that despite his eccentricities, Javert was a relentless perfectionist, always thorough, always fastidious, never delivering a criminal until he was absolutely certain he could pull off a grand dénouement and a solid case.

In terms of interpersonal relationships, Javert is a difficult shell to crack. It takes a hell of a lot to get close enough, but once he swears fealty, he abides by his promise with strict honor. This implies that it is, indeed, possible to squirm into a place in his heart, despite appearances, and hints at a certain amount of passion and sensitivity regarding loyalty and honor of his closest allies.

Yet on the night of his suicide, a convict named Jean Valjean -- a man whom he doggedly hunted across decades -- spared Javert's life, and something inside of him changed irrevocably.

All his life, Javert was unyielding and above reproach. He did not doubt. He was proud, he held his head high, completely assured and ashamed of nothing. But his black and white, very simple world fell out from beneath him in one fell swoop, and he no longer understood the universe in which he lived. His entire understanding of law, order, and the universe flipped inside out. A part of him realized that Valjean, a criminal, a man who he always believed deserved nothing better than perpetual hard labor, was a man worthy of veneration and respect for his mercy and the genuine good he had given the world. It was a criminal who was also a saint; a thief who was also a good man. It was a new shade of gray that colored every single interaction he ever had with a criminal, and opened up to him the possibility that criminals may have —dare he say—just and kind motivations. This horrified Javert, who could not integrate this new information with his world view. He could not arrest Valjean and deliver him to the law, his conscience would not allow it. He could not return to work without arresting Valjean, that made him unworthy of his badge. So what order should he have bowed to? The supreme being, God's authority, whom he never before considered very deeply?

Javert's two paths were impossible, irreconcilable. He rejected his options and selected a third out: resignation from work, resignation from the world, resignation to God. He killed himself.

Thus will begin Javert's experiences in Ryslig with a single narrowed eye begrudgingly open to the gray 'middle ground' between good and bad, right and wrong. He will still exhibit mostly the same (unpleasant) personality traits of the man he was in life, but now, he simply does not understand where he fits in this world, compounded by the frightening changes in himself that he will be doomed to endure. His first big struggle will be to work through his cognitive dissonance over his shattered world view, discover what it is he is meant to do and channel it productively. Presumably seeking out simple, menial work to occupy his body and mind in the meanwhile will be his first priority. After that, he will have to contend with his waning humanity as a horrific consequence of his life's failures.

Moving past his initial shock and post-traumatic stress, Javert will begin his ‘afterlife’/monster life as a deeply emotional and highly disturbed individual encased in iron-clad self control. On the outside, he is cold, calm, disarmingly self-assured, and always ready with a sassy quip. Yet inside he is a veritable mess, constantly second-guessing himself, constantly displeased, constantly confused... and fatalistically learning to accept his outcomes as a form of punishment for his oversights in the past.

After three and a half full years on Ryslig peninsula, Javert has come around to accept his station as a Monster against men. He slowly grew embittered against humanity through his own experiences fighting monster hunters and poachers, and lost faith that any one of the lost souls of Ryslig deserve anything less than misery, violence, and death. This is his punishment; this is all of their punishment. He pledged himself to the Fog and rose through the ranks to become one of Her most devout Priests, and in the process, suffered enough deaths to forget a sizable portion of his human life. He still retains the same personality traits through it all, and whenever he is reminded of the glimmers of humanity slumbering deep inside his heart, he must force himself to quash it with all the despair of someone who lost all hope in his future.

5-10 Key Character Traits:
- Self-destructive
+ Observant
- (Melo)dramatic
- Uncompromising
+/- Impassioned
- Severe
+ Sharp-witted
+ Dedicated
+ Principled
+/- Enigmatic

Would you prefer a monster that FITS your character’s personality, CONFLICTS with it, EITHER, or opt for 100% RANDOMIZATION? Either. I love surprises, but I’d love for it to be a great (but unexpected) fit or a completely off-the-wall conflict to cope with. Javert is a Vampire
Opt-Outs: Slime, Harpy, Pooka, Arachne, Troll, Naga Javert was sorted as Vampire and will return as a vampire.

Roleplay Sample:

Fourth Wall event with Robin
Fourth Wall with Rey
Fourth Wall with Hawkeye and Lup