gamora (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
zenwhoberi) wrote2012-08-18 11:56 pm
zenwhoberi) wrote2012-08-18 11:56 pm
futurology; app
CHARACTER INFO.
NAME: Gamora
CANON: Marvel Cinematic Universe
AGE: 25 (Zehoberei years; it's unclear exactly how these correspond to Earth years, but, rest assured, she's definitely an adult)
APPEARANCE: Image here!
CANON POINT: Post- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2
BACKGROUND: Gamora @ MCU wiki
PERSONALITY:
Gamora is a survivor — many of the building blocks that form her personality have a foundation in this simple fact. From the time she was a child, after witnessing the murders of her parents and the genocide of her entire race by the interplanetary warlord Thanos, after subsequently being "adopted" as his daughter, she has only known the harshest of realities. While canon is sparse on the details of her early life, we know a few things: she was subjected to sustained abuse and torture, turned into a living weapon by training and (most likely nonconsensual) cybernetic modification, and at some point over the years, attained the status of being Thanos's "favorite". This wasn't exactly an environment full of love and support, wasn't one where personal relationships or expression of emotions were encouraged; only the hard could survive, could win the fight and make it to the next day.
Thus, what has resulted in Gamora is this: a tough, distant, seemingly cold woman who doesn't trust easily and tends to keep her vulnerabilities close to the chest. She has a reputation that precedes her; another character once commented that "anyone who's anyone knows who [she] is," and that's not without reason. A capable warrior and assassin, she's ruthless against her enemies, and will take life if she has to. She's measured with her words, tending toward straightforward and blunt conversation, and generally isn't in the practice of mincing them to spare feelings — because of this, she can often come across as harsh or abrasive. For the most part, she is also as measured with her actions as she is with her words, not tending toward impulse like many of her teammates (though there are exceptions to this). She knows she must be careful, must keep her guard up at all times, and that survival, at least in her experience, is often aided by a certain detachment from one's emotions.
Gamora, however, largely doesn't succeed at said emotional detachment. Anger is something that's easily accessible to her, and she tends to react to many frustrations and challenges with it — she'll toss a malfunctioning weapon to the ground, yell at someone who's acting like an idiot, and throw things at her friends when she wants them to stop fighting. Anger may be a default because, beyond the trivial, she harbors so much of it; a great deal of that is directed toward Thanos and everyone associated with him for killing her family and ruining her life, but there is also an undercurrent of it in her complicated relationship with her adoptive sister, Nebula, a relic of them being pitted against one another for their survival as girls. But anger isn't all that she can tap into. Her smiles are easier to come by than one might initially think at first glance, particularly the longer she's free from Thanos's clutches, and she often reacts to new places, as well as stories told to her, with a quiet wonder and curiosity.
And, ultimately, the cruelty of the life she's been forced to lead can't erase what is fundamentally at her core: a large, compassionate heart. Despite the fact that the universe has clearly done her no favors, she cares about life, and wants to do everything in her power to spare innocents. She simply couldn't stand by as Ronan and Thanos plotted to destroy an entire planet and kill billions of people in the process, and that was the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak, for her to take her chance to gain her freedom. If it'll save lives, Gamora is willing to make personal sacrifices; she'll risk arrest to go back to a planet where she's wanted to help save it from a threat, and she'll even risk her own life. This is clearly an important value to her, as she regards others who are not willing to do the same as "despicable" and "dishonorable."
While she possesses a general trait compassion, her heart particularly centers around those few she has become close to, and through those relationships, she is slowly relearning how to live her life as a person, rather than a weapon. Without a family to call her own, Gamora considers her fellow Guardians of the Galaxy to have this status in her life; she loves them deeply and would do anything for them, including rush headlong into clear danger to help if one of them is in trouble. Her capacity for softness, as well as a growing comfort in acknowledging and directly expressing emotions, emerges around these individuals she's close to, particularly Groot and Peter. By the time of Vol 2, Gamora has developed something of a maternal relationship with Groot (who, in his reborn state, is now a child), looking out for him in battle and comforting him when he's upset. Over time, she's formed a close friendship with Peter, and it's clear that there's a foundation of trust between them, as well as a certain developing sense of openness; she remembers personal stories he's told her, encourages him to take a chance on building a relationship with his father, and warms to the idea of letting him into her personal space. There are nascent romantic feelings there as well, which she eventually acknowledges as she lets down another layer of emotional walls.
Relearning to live life as a person, too, is a process that involves evaluating and reevaluating, being willing to make changes and extend forgiveness toward others, as well as oneself, and Gamora appears willing to put in the effort to do so. With the revelation of what concentrating on her own survival as a child did to Nebula, she begins to see her adoptive sister, as well as their long contentious relationship, in a new light; she herself was not the "good guy" in that scenario, but rather the bully that caused Nebula's abuse to worsen, and knowing this spawns some self-reflection. While she feels guilty about her part in this, she focuses her efforts on extending an olive branch to her sister and "trying to make it right," rather than drowning in self-loathing — that's not the way to move forward. There's clearly still a long way to go here, but Gamora's willingness to embrace not only emotion but also perspective sets her up to travel down a productive path of continued personal growth.
SUITABILITY: As a warrior and assassin by training turned Guardian of the Galaxy, Gamora is no stranger to working tough jobs and enduring potentially harsh conditions; she should have no problem with adapting to any environment she encounters or completing most any mission assigned to her. Furthermore, she has displayed a willingness to work with others to achieve a common goal, even if her complete trust may be more difficult to win. Though she would miss the gaggle of idiots she now considers her family and have some reservations regarding trusting an organization like ALASTAIR at face value, Gamora's trait compassion would move her to be invested in the plight of strangers, and thus she would be motivated to save the worlds she visits. No world should see the fate of her own home, and she would be willing to do everything in her power to prevent that.
ABILITIES: Over the course of her childhood, Gamora was trained as a Galaxy-Class Killer, and, consequently, became a capable warrior and assassin. She is skilled in hand to hand combat, having prevailed over her adopted sister, Nebula, in training every single time. Though she prefers to use a sword, Gamora is adept with all kinds of weaponry, ranging from knives to firearms. She is also able to pilot various types of spacecrafts without much difficulty.
Due to Gamora's natural Zehoberei physiology, she is much stronger than a human (in fact, she's able to lift a cannon from a crashed ship!), and has higher alcohol tolerance due to the presence of two livers. The cybernetic enhancements she received during her time with Thanos further augment her abilities beyond the capabilities of her species; among many things, she has been afforded enhanced vision, increased stamina, increased physical durability, and a regenerative healing factor that allows her to recover quickly from illness and injury. These enhancements, however, do not make her invulnerable, as she can still be seriously hurt and killed.
INVENTORY: Aside from the clothes on her back, Gamora would be arriving with her Godslayer, a retractable sword with a detachable knife connected to the hilt. It's capable of cutting through most metals, and possesses an energy core that makes it lighter to carry, but otherwise has no magical or special abilities.
NAME: Gamora
CANON: Marvel Cinematic Universe
AGE: 25 (Zehoberei years; it's unclear exactly how these correspond to Earth years, but, rest assured, she's definitely an adult)
APPEARANCE: Image here!
CANON POINT: Post- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2
BACKGROUND: Gamora @ MCU wiki
PERSONALITY:
Gamora is a survivor — many of the building blocks that form her personality have a foundation in this simple fact. From the time she was a child, after witnessing the murders of her parents and the genocide of her entire race by the interplanetary warlord Thanos, after subsequently being "adopted" as his daughter, she has only known the harshest of realities. While canon is sparse on the details of her early life, we know a few things: she was subjected to sustained abuse and torture, turned into a living weapon by training and (most likely nonconsensual) cybernetic modification, and at some point over the years, attained the status of being Thanos's "favorite". This wasn't exactly an environment full of love and support, wasn't one where personal relationships or expression of emotions were encouraged; only the hard could survive, could win the fight and make it to the next day.
Thus, what has resulted in Gamora is this: a tough, distant, seemingly cold woman who doesn't trust easily and tends to keep her vulnerabilities close to the chest. She has a reputation that precedes her; another character once commented that "anyone who's anyone knows who [she] is," and that's not without reason. A capable warrior and assassin, she's ruthless against her enemies, and will take life if she has to. She's measured with her words, tending toward straightforward and blunt conversation, and generally isn't in the practice of mincing them to spare feelings — because of this, she can often come across as harsh or abrasive. For the most part, she is also as measured with her actions as she is with her words, not tending toward impulse like many of her teammates (though there are exceptions to this). She knows she must be careful, must keep her guard up at all times, and that survival, at least in her experience, is often aided by a certain detachment from one's emotions.
Gamora, however, largely doesn't succeed at said emotional detachment. Anger is something that's easily accessible to her, and she tends to react to many frustrations and challenges with it — she'll toss a malfunctioning weapon to the ground, yell at someone who's acting like an idiot, and throw things at her friends when she wants them to stop fighting. Anger may be a default because, beyond the trivial, she harbors so much of it; a great deal of that is directed toward Thanos and everyone associated with him for killing her family and ruining her life, but there is also an undercurrent of it in her complicated relationship with her adoptive sister, Nebula, a relic of them being pitted against one another for their survival as girls. But anger isn't all that she can tap into. Her smiles are easier to come by than one might initially think at first glance, particularly the longer she's free from Thanos's clutches, and she often reacts to new places, as well as stories told to her, with a quiet wonder and curiosity.
And, ultimately, the cruelty of the life she's been forced to lead can't erase what is fundamentally at her core: a large, compassionate heart. Despite the fact that the universe has clearly done her no favors, she cares about life, and wants to do everything in her power to spare innocents. She simply couldn't stand by as Ronan and Thanos plotted to destroy an entire planet and kill billions of people in the process, and that was the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak, for her to take her chance to gain her freedom. If it'll save lives, Gamora is willing to make personal sacrifices; she'll risk arrest to go back to a planet where she's wanted to help save it from a threat, and she'll even risk her own life. This is clearly an important value to her, as she regards others who are not willing to do the same as "despicable" and "dishonorable."
While she possesses a general trait compassion, her heart particularly centers around those few she has become close to, and through those relationships, she is slowly relearning how to live her life as a person, rather than a weapon. Without a family to call her own, Gamora considers her fellow Guardians of the Galaxy to have this status in her life; she loves them deeply and would do anything for them, including rush headlong into clear danger to help if one of them is in trouble. Her capacity for softness, as well as a growing comfort in acknowledging and directly expressing emotions, emerges around these individuals she's close to, particularly Groot and Peter. By the time of Vol 2, Gamora has developed something of a maternal relationship with Groot (who, in his reborn state, is now a child), looking out for him in battle and comforting him when he's upset. Over time, she's formed a close friendship with Peter, and it's clear that there's a foundation of trust between them, as well as a certain developing sense of openness; she remembers personal stories he's told her, encourages him to take a chance on building a relationship with his father, and warms to the idea of letting him into her personal space. There are nascent romantic feelings there as well, which she eventually acknowledges as she lets down another layer of emotional walls.
Relearning to live life as a person, too, is a process that involves evaluating and reevaluating, being willing to make changes and extend forgiveness toward others, as well as oneself, and Gamora appears willing to put in the effort to do so. With the revelation of what concentrating on her own survival as a child did to Nebula, she begins to see her adoptive sister, as well as their long contentious relationship, in a new light; she herself was not the "good guy" in that scenario, but rather the bully that caused Nebula's abuse to worsen, and knowing this spawns some self-reflection. While she feels guilty about her part in this, she focuses her efforts on extending an olive branch to her sister and "trying to make it right," rather than drowning in self-loathing — that's not the way to move forward. There's clearly still a long way to go here, but Gamora's willingness to embrace not only emotion but also perspective sets her up to travel down a productive path of continued personal growth.
SUITABILITY: As a warrior and assassin by training turned Guardian of the Galaxy, Gamora is no stranger to working tough jobs and enduring potentially harsh conditions; she should have no problem with adapting to any environment she encounters or completing most any mission assigned to her. Furthermore, she has displayed a willingness to work with others to achieve a common goal, even if her complete trust may be more difficult to win. Though she would miss the gaggle of idiots she now considers her family and have some reservations regarding trusting an organization like ALASTAIR at face value, Gamora's trait compassion would move her to be invested in the plight of strangers, and thus she would be motivated to save the worlds she visits. No world should see the fate of her own home, and she would be willing to do everything in her power to prevent that.
ABILITIES: Over the course of her childhood, Gamora was trained as a Galaxy-Class Killer, and, consequently, became a capable warrior and assassin. She is skilled in hand to hand combat, having prevailed over her adopted sister, Nebula, in training every single time. Though she prefers to use a sword, Gamora is adept with all kinds of weaponry, ranging from knives to firearms. She is also able to pilot various types of spacecrafts without much difficulty.
Due to Gamora's natural Zehoberei physiology, she is much stronger than a human (in fact, she's able to lift a cannon from a crashed ship!), and has higher alcohol tolerance due to the presence of two livers. The cybernetic enhancements she received during her time with Thanos further augment her abilities beyond the capabilities of her species; among many things, she has been afforded enhanced vision, increased stamina, increased physical durability, and a regenerative healing factor that allows her to recover quickly from illness and injury. These enhancements, however, do not make her invulnerable, as she can still be seriously hurt and killed.
INVENTORY: Aside from the clothes on her back, Gamora would be arriving with her Godslayer, a retractable sword with a detachable knife connected to the hilt. It's capable of cutting through most metals, and possesses an energy core that makes it lighter to carry, but otherwise has no magical or special abilities.