Basic InformationMilitary Classification: Manuel-324
Current Legal Name: Manuel-324
Birth Name: Manuel Alejandro [REDACTED]
Alias: Demon, Assassin, General
Birthdate: March 24, 2531
Birth Place: Canada, North American Republic, Earth
Species: Human (augmented Spartan II super soldier)
Affiliation: UNSC, ONI, Legion
Physical DescriptionEthnicity: Hispanic
Eye Color: Dark brown, seems almost black
Hair Color: Black
Height: 6’10
Weight:
Prominent Features: Tends to have a serious expression on face most of the time, even when he’s not in a serious mood.
EquipmentPrimary weapon: Hybrid of the battle and assault rifles
Secondary weapon: Magnum
Other: Energy Trident
Armour Class: MJOLNIR Gen 2, Achilles variant
Armour Helmet: Achilles
Armour Color: Black, red visor
Armour Markings: Small Legion emblems on his shoulders
Details:
Previously Manuel wore the ODST variant of both MJOLNIR generations. With generation 1 his color scheme was red and white, with a gold visor. With generation two he switched to black armour with a red visor.
Relevant Combat DataSpecialty: Counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism, infiltration, assassination
Notable Combat Data: Manuel has grown more aggressive over the years, taking less and less prisoners. His aggression has yet to impede his ability to complete a mission, and so it was believed he could handle the Achilles armour.
Basic Personality TraitsDisposition: If one were to summarize Manuel in a few words they would be serious, smart, professional, a bit stubborn, a little bit competitive, and slow to open up to strangers.
Political Alignment: UNSC, Legion, seems to have some sympathy for Sapien Sunrise.
Notable Traits: Slow to open up but known to care fiercely for a select few. Recently underwent amnesia and so seeks out people who knew him in the past (previously he would avoid the subject).
Goals: Seeks to secure Humanity’s future safety
Fears: Failure, Humanity’s extinction, being unable to recover his memories
Analysis:Manuel’s story is one that involves traumatic loss at a young age, and as a result he clings to things that give his life order and purpose. Therefore life outside of military service is terrifying to him; he will not admit this because he is unaware of this phobia. There has never been a need for him to seriously consider a life beyond war due to his status as a Spartan and Humanity’s ongoing conflict against the Covenant species. His loyalty to the Legion, as opposed to simply the UNSC, stems from multiple factors.
- An almost zealous belief in the Legion’s ideology which states that Humanity will only be truly safe once all threats have crushed. This reason is the most recent one, having arisen as the ideology did during the post war years.
- Loyalty to fellow Spartans in the Legion because they are the closest thing he has to family. While relations with some have been strained at times, the collective history these Spartans can never be erased.
- Walter is the father figure of all Spartans in the Legion, including Manuel. Initially this was driving force behind Manuel’s loyalty but it waned throughout the years. However, as much as Manuel would hate to admit, it does linger somewhat in the back of his mind.
While the importance of these factors, relative to each other, have changed throughout Manuel’s life his personality has remained fairly consistent. In general he is level headed, professional, and serious with a bit of stubborness and competitiveness mixed in. He takes great pride in not only completing his work but also the quality with which he does. He also firmly believes in the concept of laws, orders, and rules so very rarely will he deviate from them. However at times he can demonstrate the stubborn and competitive sides to him, but he generally keeps this under control should he feel it interferes with orders. A good example of this is that Manuel rarely feels the need to be a leader; he is content to follow when he feels that his leader is competent. If Manuel feels no one is qualified in the absence of a leader, or that the current leader is incompetent, he will take charge to ensure the objective is met. The rarest side of Manuel you can see is him making a sarcastic comment or humorous observation. Manuel is slow to open up to strangers so if you see this side of them then he clearly trusts you a great deal even if he may never outright say so.
The most interesting aspect of Manuel may be that he can be altruistically inclined and yet also lack sympathy. There a fairly obvious filter Manuel has in deciding who is on the receiving end of each behaviour, with people falling into one of two categories. Those he considers in need of his protection or his allies will see his altruistic inclination while those he considers his enemies will receive no sympathy from him; should Manuel think you have switched categories then his behaviour will abruptly change with you. With his new zealous embrace of Legion ideology, it seems he considers only Humans his allies and charges while the Covenant species are his enemies. Alien allies make Manuel uneasy as he finds it hard to forgive what they have done, but he will follow orders to stand down. On the other hand Human enemies are a source of great frustration for Manuel, as he has an almost naive belief that the alien threat should be enough to reunite Humanity, but once again he will follow orders (in a regretful manner).
While Manuel’s personality has remained more or less the same, his behaviour has differed throughout his life. There are three broad periods Manuel’s life could be split into: his early life with the Legion, his time with ONI, and his return to the Legion. Each period is punctuated by certain events, vastly affecting Manuel’s behaviour through magnification or minimization of certain personality traits.
As a young trainee and Spartan, Manuel wanted to be the best soldier he could be. His professionalism, competitiveness, and hard work ethic made him shine among Walter’s soldiers and Walter’s approval was perceived by a young Manuel as a sort of reward. During his early years Manuel carried out whatever orders were given to him and he was stubborn and determined enough complete the task at hand no matter the cost. It is only when he befriends his newest squad member that he begins to think of life’s value beyond military service and begins to reflect on his actions. It is here Manuel beings to morph from an unquestioning soldier to a person with his own free will. Just as he was beginning to imagine a life outside of war, traumatic losses to his squad at the hands of the Covenant quickly reminded Manuel that the war needed to be his singular focus. Almost as soon as Manuel broke out of his shell, he quickly receded into it.
By this point in time, the Great War was in full swing and Humanity was on the back foot. Traumatic losses like Manuel’s would impede most soldiers, but as a Spartan he was needed on the battlefield. In an attempt to manage it as best as possible, ONI and the Legion decided to fully integrate Manuel into ONI’s service. It seemed to work to lessen the blow, as less exposure to the Legion prevented any constant reminders of Manuel’s time there. It is here Manuel becomes proficient in infiltration and assassination, but his inability to quickly open up to others leads him to become a “lone wolf”. Although there were a few cases where Manuel surprisingly got along with non-Legionnaires, they were few and far between. What affected Manuel most during his time with ONI was seeing the Covenant’s destruction first hand and while on missions to assassinate leaders of the Covenant’s armies. These experiences, combined with his squad’s losses, would plant the seed for Manuel’s zealous embrace of the Legion’s ideology in the post war years.
Soon after the end of the war, Manuel returns to the Legion to serve under Walter once again. Upon hearing of their ideology, and already being familiar with the Legion, Manuel was convinced they were the ones that could really change things. When asked why he left ONI Manuel summarized his time at ONI as giving his life structure, but the Legion gave his life purpose. Such a willingness to accept the promise of purpose suggests Manuel was not in a sound emotional state. Given what he has seen and lost, it is not surprising that Manuel has leapt to Humanity’s defence in order to prevent such events from happening to others. The end result of Manuel’s zealous embrace of the Legion was that his fight against the Covenant resembled a
crusade.
With his recent amnesia, Manuel is much more relaxed now than he was prior to the incident. His personality remains fairly similar, but he seems slightly more open with people in an effort to find out more details about his past. In this regard, he slightly resembles himself right before he left the Legion. He also shows noticeably less zealousness against the Covenant; no doubt an effect of the lost memories. Regardless of the results, it will be interesting to see how Manuel reacts to recovered memories but it is hoped that he can emotionally detach himself from them in the same manner he detached himself from orders in his early youth. The amnesia has brought about a level of emotional stability for him; after everything it would be shame for him to lose it. How he proceeds from now is certainly worthy of being monitored; future updates to come.