![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
bravenewworld Application
PLAYER INFO
Name: Kiwi
Contact Information: PM this journal, or![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
gundamkiwi on Plurk
Time Zone: Pacific Standard (GMT -8)
Characters Played: None!
CHARACTER INFO
Character Name: Garrett Hawke
Character Canon: Dragon Age 2
History: Dragon Age Wiki
The land of Thedas is your basic Sword & Sorcery, fantasy RPG world - it has magic and dragons and dwarfs and elves. And humans. Elves and humans born with magic are known as mages, and have a sensitivity and connection to the Fade, a sort of alternate-dimension dream-land where malevolent demons and benevolent spirits live. Because of this connection, mages are susceptible to coercion and corruption via demon. A mage who is corrupted by a demon becomes what is known as an abomination, a powerful, emotionless monster that has the ability and will to slaughter as many innocents as it can get its nasty goopy hands on.
Naturally, this potential for mass destruction has a tendency to make mages unpopular. There are a couple of safeguards in place in the countries of Ferelden and in the Free Marches, which concerns Our Hero, and they are thus:
The first is what is known as The Circle - each country has at least one Circle, and usually more. Part boarding house, part prison, all known mages must remain within their Circle (for their own safety and for the safety of non-mages) or face death at the hands of the templars.
Which brings us to the second of the safeguards - the templars. The templars are a religious order of non-magical humans (so far, I don't think we've ever seen an elven templar) who, through the use of mystical training and the ingestion of lyrium (a substance which is inherently magical, and also horribly addictive) control the mages, and, when the situation calls for it, kill them.
A rogue mage living outside of the Circle is what is known as an apostate, and is a templar's natural enemy. And that, gentle reader, is what brings us to the topic of Our Hero.
Garrett Hawke is the oldest of three siblings. He is an apostate, as are his father and his younger sister Bethany. His other sibling, Carver, is perfectly ordinary and non-magical (although he wields a mean broadsword). Dragon Age II basically opens up with the family fleeing from the darkspawn hoard that attacked their quaint little village of Lothering. The darkspawn are nasty, twisted, blighted creatures that feed on fear and death and such, and feature much more prominently in Dragon Age Origins than they do in DAII. They're basically just a plot device at the beginning of the game to get events moving.
Anyway, the family, which now consists of mother, Hawke, Carver, and Bethany - father having died of an illness some years prior - manage to escape, although the darkspawn shortly catch up to them and manage to take Bethany out before the remainder of the family (plus two other survivors they have picked up along the way, one of whom is named Aveline and is plot relevant) are rescued at the very last second by adeus ex machina dragon who turns out to be a nice old lady wearing armor whose hair is done up in horns. Said nice old lady's name is Flemeth, and she's actually The Witch of the Wilds, and is also a lot more plot relevant in DA:O than she is in DAII, but, again, plot device; this story's not going to move itself! Hawke makes a bargain with Flemeth, and, in return for promising to deliver an amulet to some Dalish elves near Kirkwall, she assists him, his family (minus Bethany who died), and Aveline (minus her husband Wesley who also died) to a port town where they can catch a ship to the city of Kirkwall, where Hawke's adventures begin!
AU History:
The Hawke family lived a quiet, peaceful life on a farm near a small village somewhere north of Union. Garrett and his twin sister, along with their younger twin siblings Bethany and Carver, grew up happily in the care of their parents Leandra and Malcolm. In addition to farming the land and growing enough crops to keep them all fed, the family kept a fairly sizable flock of Mareep which provided both wool and electricity, and a small but significant income from the sale of said wool and electricity.
Tending the Mareep in the pasture became Garrett's task as he grew old enough to handle the responsibility. His father and the family's Herdier, Pebbles, trained him initially, until he was confident enough to take over the task and join Pebbles as the full-time caretaker of the flock. While he and Pebbles already had an excellent rapport to start, their teamwork became even better when he discovered he was a Shifter, and gained the ability to herd alongside Pebbles as a Growlithe.
The farm life was simple but busy, which meant Garrett rarely had time to practice his skills as an Enlightened or as a Shifter. He used his canine form effectively while herding Mareep, and rarely expended his elemental talents beyond starting the cookfire for his mother in the morning, or starting a campfire for himself on the long nights he spent out of doors with the flock.
He was camping one night with Pebbles as they often did in the summer when a strong, almost unnaturally violent storm swept suddenly over the pasture. As a man, he might have withstood the hugely forceful gusts of wind, but as a Growlithe, he was swept up and away, along with the entire Mareep flock and Pebbles. The lot of them were scattered in all directions, and when the wind finally deposited him on the ground, he landed with such force it knocked him out.
He was awakened by a face-washing from a passing Houndour puppy. The Houndour had been caught in the same storm as Hawke, and was searching for its pack. The two quickly decided to travel together, as now that Hawke was awake he had no idea where he was, and could see no sign of his own family, or of his Mareep flock, or of Pebbles. They grew close as they traveled, and Hawke dubbed his new friend Sergeant. The pair searched together for several weeks, but were unable to find any sign of Sergeant's pack or of Hawke's village, farm, or family. They did, however, eventually stumble upon a horde of Grimer. At first they attempted to flee, but their escape was cut off, and the pair were quickly surrounded. Their attempts to fight were just as unsuccessful, as they were grossly outnumbered. Sergeant was badly poisoned in the crossfire, and as Hawke did his best to protect his friend and hold off further attacks, mentally preparing for a dramatic final stand, they were rescued by an enormous gout of fire descending from the sky!
A passingdragon Charizard had evidently seen the trouble the pair of fire pups were in from above, and had kindly swooped down to intervene. It chased off the Grimer horde with little problem, and paused long enough to chat with Hawke. It was unfortunately unable to do anything for Sergeant's poisoning then and there, but offered to take the pair of them to a place where they could get help. Concern for his friend overriding any other, potentially more practical requests he might have made caused Hawke to agree immediately. While he thought that perhaps the Charizard might return them to his village, where he knew he could get help, the fiery dragon Pokemon instead flew them to the outskirts of the city of Union.
With the poisoned Houndour cradled in his arms, Hawke has no time for things like apprehension or awe as he hurries into the largest human settlement he's ever seen, finding help for his friend overriding all other concerns...
It's at this point I'll be placing Hawke into the game, pending acceptance; once he's taken care of Sergeant, he'll be a bit lost for a while as he tries to figure out how to find his way home. Eventually, he'll decide that joining the Rangers and improving his natural skills will be his best bet for doing that, so that's where I'll be directing him from there.
ETA: Unbeknownst to Hawke, the storm that so easily displaced him also completely demolished the tiny farming village where he'd spent his entire life, scattering villagers and Pokemon alike in all directions. He may not ever find it again, but if he does, there won't be anything there worth writing home about.
***Note: Canonically there is only one elder Hawke sibling, whose gender and name are determined by the player. Garrett's unnamed twin sister in this section is the canonical female version of the DA2 protagonist, purposefully left ambiguous should anyone wish to app her in the future, AKA I really hope someone wants to app her in the future.
Canon Personality:
THE GUILT COMPLEX
When Hawke was about seven years old, his younger siblings - twins Carver and Bethany - were born. It can be assumed that Hawke didn't exactly have a normal childhood; with an apostate father, the small family was constantly on the move, constantly hiding for fear of discovery, and rarely in one place for very long. With the addition of the twins, his childhood - such as it was - was effectively over. As the elder sibling he had to be at least as responsible as his parents, and pull his weight when it came to taking care of the twins and making sure the family remained outside the detection of the templars.
He was closer to his father than to his mother, as, once it became obvious he had inherited his father's magic, he spent a lot of time with Malcolm learning to control his abilities, and then with Bethany as well, once her own magical abilities developed. While this arrangement meant he was very close to both his father and sister, it also created a divide between Hawke and his mother and brother, the only non-magical members of their family.
Malcolm died of a wasting illness when Hawke was in his early twenties, leaving the burden of protecting the family not on the surviving parent's shoulders, as might be expected, but on his eldest child's. At the beginning of the game, when the family is fleeing their ravaged home, it's obvious Leandra defers to Hawke's leadership, up to and including blaming him for Bethany's death.
I'm not kidding. "Why didn't you stop her!?" were her exact words. How exactly Hawke was supposed to prevent the ogre that had picked up and crushed Bethany (who had stepped in front of their mother to protect her) from picking her up and crushing her Leandra didn't say. And while she did apologize later, that instant of passionate maternal blame had far more effect on Hawke than he ever let on, and continued to affect him for years afterward.
This manifests most obviously in two ways: Way the first is pretty straightforward - Hawke is a heavy drinker. Although, since he does have a small group of good friends who also drink, he mostly comes across as a social drinker, the fact is that he's an alcoholic. While he is a generally jovial and happy drunk, he gets pretty cranky if he goes too long without a drink.
The second way his guilt keeps him in check and dictates his actions is shown in the way he sticks his neck out for his friends, as a motley handful of people he met in Kirkwall have become his surrogate family. He couldn't save Bethany; it was his fault she had died. If he had been faster, or closer, or had turned around in time, she would have lived. Probably. So he would make sure none of his other important people ever die on his watch.
SER SASSYPANTS
Hawke takes no shit from nobody.
Well, that's not entirely true, he takes a lot of shit from his friends, but they're allowed, because they're his friends. Slap him in a situation where he has to talk to the most important people in the city, though, and he'll sass his pants off till the cows come home. Or something. Knight Commander Meredith and First Enchanter Orsino are bickering in public again? Break it up with a flippant remark about releasing sexual tension. The Viscount needs someone to rescue his son from that damn qunari that keeps "kidnapping" him? Subtly indicate that the viscount's son is an adult who is more than capable of making his own life choices. ...And then go find him anyway because Rewa~rd~
To strangers and acquaintances Hawke often appears to be a fairly vapid, shallow individual whose only concerns are coin and drink, and who appears entirely incapable of taking anything seriously, ever. The thing about Hawke, though, is that he's not a hero. Not in his own mind, at least. He never set out to make a difference in the lives of thousands of people or make a name for himself in any sense of the word. He's just this ordinary (though extraordinarily handsome~) guy who all of these big, important people have somehow decided is going to save them from corruption or blood magic or total annihilation. His method for dealing with these big, important people just happens to be sass. Maybe if he's sarcastic enough at them, they'll realize how many stupid things they're saying and figure out a way to fix their own damn problems! Not that that has ever worked so far, but he can still dream!
THE ELDER BROTHER
Hawke's relationship with his brother Carver is rocky. Carver, resentful of what he perceives as paternal favoritism, seems determined to be bitter and whiny about being lost in his older brother's shadow, and is resistant to Hawke's attempts to reconcile. Despite the huge chip on his shoulder and his penchant for whining, and despite the fact that he is not and never has been as close to Carver as he was to Bethany, Hawke loves his younger brother a great deal and tries to accommodate him as much as he can...which lead them both into the Deep Roads, an enormous series of vast, underground passages inhabited by darkspawn. Their goal was VAST WEALTH BEYOND ALL IMAGINING, so they joined up with a pair of dwarf brothers - Varric and Bartrand Tethras - and journeyed underground.
Long story short, while they were adventuring underground, the younger Hawke was infected with what is known as "The Taint," a nasty, wasting condition contracted by too much exposure to darkspawn blood. The only way to counter the taint and survive is to become a Grey Warden (the Wardens are basically an order of individuals who make a living fighting off darkspawn and occasionally warning about coming blights, who deliberately infect themselves with the Taint in a way that doesn't kill them using a sooper seekrit ritual. CONVENIENT, YES?)
LUCKILY, Hawke was able to deliver his ailing brother to a convenient group of Grey Wardens and convince them to help him. The only real down side was that Carver had to go away to live with the Wardens, so Hawke never saw his little brother again*
Even though Carver didn't die, Hawke still feels he failed to protect him. The passive-aggressive letters Carver had sent home from time to time, and the cold reception he'd received from his mother upon returning home without his younger brother only served to reinforce Hawke's sense of failure.
Hawke has a tendency to adopt the "Big Sibling" role with children and teenagers. He's more likely to be sincere with kids, and pulls out the sass as a means to make them smile or laugh, rather than as a weapon of mass irritation. In the game he is given a quest by a smuggler acquaintance to track down some goods from a bungled job. Upon locating the goods, he discovers that the man chosen by his acquaintance for that particular mission is just a teenaged boy whose parents are dead and who has younger sisters to look after. Instead of recovering the shipment for his acquaintance, he gives it to the kid and tells him to get the hell out of Kirkwall, and to take care of his sisters. He forfeits payment for the job and lies to the woman who asked for his help about the fate of the goods, covering for the kid.
He acts similarly in the interest of other children he encounters throughout the game - notably, by rescuing a kidnapped elven girl from the insane son of a very rich and powerful aristocrat. While the aristocrat who initially hired him to "bring the man in alive" was set to pay him a handsome amount of money for doing so, when Hawke learned that the criminal in question had a history of kidnapping, molesting, and ultimately murdering elven children, he elected to bring the man to justice upon confrontation, instead of allowing him to pass into the hands of the courts where he would ultimately receive nothing more than a slap on the wrist.
THE CHAMPION
Everyone has vices and flaws, even decent guys who generally work for the betterment of the people around them!
Hawke is kind of a lot vain. He spends a ridiculous amount of time on his personal appearance every morning, fluffing his hair and styling his beard just so. Since he's so proud of his looks, he's delightfully easy to tease, especially in regards to his beard. Even an offhand suggestion that it might be uneven can send him running to the closest mirror to investigate, and suggestions that he shave all or part of it or try styling it differently are usually met with sulking and pouting.
He's an adult, I swear!
Additionally but unrelated, Hawke is also kind of a raging alcoholic. If he has a problem he doesn't feel emotionally equipped to deal with and there is a tavern available, chances are very good that he will be in that tavern and he will be wasted. On the plus side, he's generally a happy drunk! While he's not picky about his drink as a general rule, since his move to Kirkwall he has cultivated an unfortunate passion for ale that tastes as though it's been watered down with dog piss.
Speaking of dogs, Hawke happens to exhibit all the loyalty of one. He consistently has the backs of all of his close friends - who he considers to be his adopted family - throughout the game. He'll lend a hand with pretty much anything he's asked to do...from helping the romantically inept Aveline snag the man she's had her eye on, to slogging through the sewers at another friend's request collecting crystallized rat urine.
Tl;dr: Hawke's a helper! :'D
He's also something of a magpie - totally wrong kind of bird, given his family name, but it's the most effective descriptor of him. During the first part of the game, Hawke's focus was to raise enough money to enable himself and his brother to join the Deep Roads expedition. To facilitate this, he developed a habit of picking up and collecting piles of nearly worthless junk. He got to be quite good at it, and never dropped the habit once he'd finally struck it rich. Unlike the magpie, however, he doesn't allow the junk to accumulate; he sells on what he can, even if a particular piece is worth nothing more than a few coppers, and disposes of the rest. The only things he keeps are useful items, such as swords and armor that also have emotional value, either to himself or to his friends.
So, to summarize, Hawke is one sassypants asshole who is loyal to his friends and actually generally a pretty good guy. When you need someone to get shit done and don't mind a pile of sarcasm, Hawke is your man. Unless you want to oppress people (be they mages or slaves), in which case, you're probably dead already. Oops.
*Until the end of Act II for like five minutes.
AU Deviation:
The biggest difference is going to be the level and amount of guilt Hawke has re: his family. In canon he witnessed the violent deaths of his younger sister and mother, and endured the wasting death of his father. In the AU, he was separated from his family, and he has no idea whether they're alive or dead. While he does blame himself for not being able to find them, he also has no reason to think that they might be dead.
Not having had to deal with maternal blame for the death of one sibling and the near-death of the other, or with self-blame for not having been able to save either his father's or mother's lives, his desire to drown himself in the bottle is significantly smaller as well. While he does enjoy a good drink after a hard day's work, he doesn't treat alcohol as a psychological crutch.
Overall, because in the AU his experience with the greed and corruption of other people is limited to nonexistent, the cynicism he developed living in Kirkwall is basically nonexistent here. While he's always been open and friendly to strangers and new acquaintances, his enthusiasm will not be paired with private caution or suspicion as it would be in Kirkwall.
Basically what this boils down to is Hawke is a super friendly, easy-going, and confident guy who has very little real-world experience and is still kind of wet behind the ears at the ripe old age of 24. Welp.
Canon Abilities: Hawke's canon spells
As a note, these spells become available to Hawke as he levels up in the context of the Dragon Age game in a fairly similar fashion to the way Pokemon learn new moves as they level up. The only reason there aren't more fire spells on that list is because that list contains all of the fire spells available for him to learn. :'D
Enlightened Abilities: Level 8 Shifter - Fire type / Growlithe / Flash Fire ability
As a Shifter, Hawke's abilities, strengths and weaknesses will pretty closely follow what's already in place for Growlithe. He'll be starting off with the usual Bite/Roar/Ember/Leer combo which is typical for his level, as well as the Egg Move Morning Sun. He'll gain new moves at the appropriate levels as he proceeds through the game.
As Growlithe only evolves once instead of twice, I'm aiming for Hawke's Pokemon form to evolve somewhere between level 45 and 50 with the application of some stressful or life-threatening event. OR if someone chucks a Fire Stone at his head. I'm not too picky, as long as the Fire Stone chucking happens in an off-the-wall and potentially embarrassing manner for Hawke. As an Arcanine, in addition to the nice stat boost, he will gain the incredibly vital ability to store food (and possibly small Pokemon such as a Lillipup) in his mane, which he will be able to access later once he shifts back into human form via his beard.
I am absolutely the most serious RP'er ever, I promise.
Starter Pokémon: A level 5 Houndour named Sergeant
Notes/Special Considerations: N/A!
SAMPLES
First-Person:
A match made in Heaven...or in Hell.
A fateful meeting of beards
Third-Person:
Hawke's heart was in his throat in much the same way his stomach was dragging along somewhere by his ankles. As the latter was a result of his current physical position astride the back of a friendly and helpful Charizard, that sensation was secondary to the former, which was brought on by gut-wrenching worry for his friend. He had Sergeant firmly wedged between his front and the Charizard's back as the three of them flew swiftly through the sky.
A very small part of him was distantly upset that he wasn't enjoying the incredible view more, but he was too focused on the poisoned puppy to attend to it. He knew poisoning was a thing that occurred, and had dealt with it first hand as a matter of course as a shepherd. Sometimes, no matter how carefully he and Pebbles directed, the flock would disturb a nest of Ekans or startle a hive of Beedrill. He had always been equipped to deal with the occasional poisoning before today, which may have had something to do with why Sergeant's condition was so upsetting. He knew what the little Houndour needed, and he knew how to administer it, but he was unable to do so.
The Charizard had promised that a human town was not all that far away, and she seemed to have been correct. While Hawke wasn't sure exactly how long it had been - time had stretched and contorted into an unfocused haze of near gut-wrenching fear - the Charizard was landing almost before he realized she was doing so. He stumbled off her back a bit clumsily, gathering Sergeant into his arms and trying not to mind the way his friend's sharp talons dug through the thin fabric of his shirt and into the skin of his stomach and shoulder. With short but effusive thanks, he bowed shallowly yet politely to their rescuer, mindful of Sergeant's head nuzzled against his neck and shoulder. She gently acknowledged his gratitude, and equally gently used her snout to push him away, towards the city.
Any other time, he would have been worried about appearing ungrateful. He would worry about it in hindsight, probably. But right now the sick Pokemon in his arms was the only thing he was worried about, so he turned quickly toward the (very large) city and began hurrying toward the gates.
Name: Kiwi
Contact Information: PM this journal, or
Time Zone: Pacific Standard (GMT -8)
Characters Played: None!
CHARACTER INFO
Character Name: Garrett Hawke
Character Canon: Dragon Age 2
History: Dragon Age Wiki
The land of Thedas is your basic Sword & Sorcery, fantasy RPG world - it has magic and dragons and dwarfs and elves. And humans. Elves and humans born with magic are known as mages, and have a sensitivity and connection to the Fade, a sort of alternate-dimension dream-land where malevolent demons and benevolent spirits live. Because of this connection, mages are susceptible to coercion and corruption via demon. A mage who is corrupted by a demon becomes what is known as an abomination, a powerful, emotionless monster that has the ability and will to slaughter as many innocents as it can get its nasty goopy hands on.
Naturally, this potential for mass destruction has a tendency to make mages unpopular. There are a couple of safeguards in place in the countries of Ferelden and in the Free Marches, which concerns Our Hero, and they are thus:
The first is what is known as The Circle - each country has at least one Circle, and usually more. Part boarding house, part prison, all known mages must remain within their Circle (for their own safety and for the safety of non-mages) or face death at the hands of the templars.
Which brings us to the second of the safeguards - the templars. The templars are a religious order of non-magical humans (so far, I don't think we've ever seen an elven templar) who, through the use of mystical training and the ingestion of lyrium (a substance which is inherently magical, and also horribly addictive) control the mages, and, when the situation calls for it, kill them.
A rogue mage living outside of the Circle is what is known as an apostate, and is a templar's natural enemy. And that, gentle reader, is what brings us to the topic of Our Hero.
Garrett Hawke is the oldest of three siblings. He is an apostate, as are his father and his younger sister Bethany. His other sibling, Carver, is perfectly ordinary and non-magical (although he wields a mean broadsword). Dragon Age II basically opens up with the family fleeing from the darkspawn hoard that attacked their quaint little village of Lothering. The darkspawn are nasty, twisted, blighted creatures that feed on fear and death and such, and feature much more prominently in Dragon Age Origins than they do in DAII. They're basically just a plot device at the beginning of the game to get events moving.
Anyway, the family, which now consists of mother, Hawke, Carver, and Bethany - father having died of an illness some years prior - manage to escape, although the darkspawn shortly catch up to them and manage to take Bethany out before the remainder of the family (plus two other survivors they have picked up along the way, one of whom is named Aveline and is plot relevant) are rescued at the very last second by a
AU History:
The Hawke family lived a quiet, peaceful life on a farm near a small village somewhere north of Union. Garrett and his twin sister, along with their younger twin siblings Bethany and Carver, grew up happily in the care of their parents Leandra and Malcolm. In addition to farming the land and growing enough crops to keep them all fed, the family kept a fairly sizable flock of Mareep which provided both wool and electricity, and a small but significant income from the sale of said wool and electricity.
Tending the Mareep in the pasture became Garrett's task as he grew old enough to handle the responsibility. His father and the family's Herdier, Pebbles, trained him initially, until he was confident enough to take over the task and join Pebbles as the full-time caretaker of the flock. While he and Pebbles already had an excellent rapport to start, their teamwork became even better when he discovered he was a Shifter, and gained the ability to herd alongside Pebbles as a Growlithe.
The farm life was simple but busy, which meant Garrett rarely had time to practice his skills as an Enlightened or as a Shifter. He used his canine form effectively while herding Mareep, and rarely expended his elemental talents beyond starting the cookfire for his mother in the morning, or starting a campfire for himself on the long nights he spent out of doors with the flock.
He was camping one night with Pebbles as they often did in the summer when a strong, almost unnaturally violent storm swept suddenly over the pasture. As a man, he might have withstood the hugely forceful gusts of wind, but as a Growlithe, he was swept up and away, along with the entire Mareep flock and Pebbles. The lot of them were scattered in all directions, and when the wind finally deposited him on the ground, he landed with such force it knocked him out.
He was awakened by a face-washing from a passing Houndour puppy. The Houndour had been caught in the same storm as Hawke, and was searching for its pack. The two quickly decided to travel together, as now that Hawke was awake he had no idea where he was, and could see no sign of his own family, or of his Mareep flock, or of Pebbles. They grew close as they traveled, and Hawke dubbed his new friend Sergeant. The pair searched together for several weeks, but were unable to find any sign of Sergeant's pack or of Hawke's village, farm, or family. They did, however, eventually stumble upon a horde of Grimer. At first they attempted to flee, but their escape was cut off, and the pair were quickly surrounded. Their attempts to fight were just as unsuccessful, as they were grossly outnumbered. Sergeant was badly poisoned in the crossfire, and as Hawke did his best to protect his friend and hold off further attacks, mentally preparing for a dramatic final stand, they were rescued by an enormous gout of fire descending from the sky!
A passing
With the poisoned Houndour cradled in his arms, Hawke has no time for things like apprehension or awe as he hurries into the largest human settlement he's ever seen, finding help for his friend overriding all other concerns...
It's at this point I'll be placing Hawke into the game, pending acceptance; once he's taken care of Sergeant, he'll be a bit lost for a while as he tries to figure out how to find his way home. Eventually, he'll decide that joining the Rangers and improving his natural skills will be his best bet for doing that, so that's where I'll be directing him from there.
ETA: Unbeknownst to Hawke, the storm that so easily displaced him also completely demolished the tiny farming village where he'd spent his entire life, scattering villagers and Pokemon alike in all directions. He may not ever find it again, but if he does, there won't be anything there worth writing home about.
***Note: Canonically there is only one elder Hawke sibling, whose gender and name are determined by the player. Garrett's unnamed twin sister in this section is the canonical female version of the DA2 protagonist, purposefully left ambiguous should anyone wish to app her in the future, AKA I really hope someone wants to app her in the future.
Canon Personality:
THE GUILT COMPLEX
When Hawke was about seven years old, his younger siblings - twins Carver and Bethany - were born. It can be assumed that Hawke didn't exactly have a normal childhood; with an apostate father, the small family was constantly on the move, constantly hiding for fear of discovery, and rarely in one place for very long. With the addition of the twins, his childhood - such as it was - was effectively over. As the elder sibling he had to be at least as responsible as his parents, and pull his weight when it came to taking care of the twins and making sure the family remained outside the detection of the templars.
He was closer to his father than to his mother, as, once it became obvious he had inherited his father's magic, he spent a lot of time with Malcolm learning to control his abilities, and then with Bethany as well, once her own magical abilities developed. While this arrangement meant he was very close to both his father and sister, it also created a divide between Hawke and his mother and brother, the only non-magical members of their family.
Malcolm died of a wasting illness when Hawke was in his early twenties, leaving the burden of protecting the family not on the surviving parent's shoulders, as might be expected, but on his eldest child's. At the beginning of the game, when the family is fleeing their ravaged home, it's obvious Leandra defers to Hawke's leadership, up to and including blaming him for Bethany's death.
I'm not kidding. "Why didn't you stop her!?" were her exact words. How exactly Hawke was supposed to prevent the ogre that had picked up and crushed Bethany (who had stepped in front of their mother to protect her) from picking her up and crushing her Leandra didn't say. And while she did apologize later, that instant of passionate maternal blame had far more effect on Hawke than he ever let on, and continued to affect him for years afterward.
This manifests most obviously in two ways: Way the first is pretty straightforward - Hawke is a heavy drinker. Although, since he does have a small group of good friends who also drink, he mostly comes across as a social drinker, the fact is that he's an alcoholic. While he is a generally jovial and happy drunk, he gets pretty cranky if he goes too long without a drink.
The second way his guilt keeps him in check and dictates his actions is shown in the way he sticks his neck out for his friends, as a motley handful of people he met in Kirkwall have become his surrogate family. He couldn't save Bethany; it was his fault she had died. If he had been faster, or closer, or had turned around in time, she would have lived. Probably. So he would make sure none of his other important people ever die on his watch.
SER SASSYPANTS
Hawke takes no shit from nobody.
Well, that's not entirely true, he takes a lot of shit from his friends, but they're allowed, because they're his friends. Slap him in a situation where he has to talk to the most important people in the city, though, and he'll sass his pants off till the cows come home. Or something. Knight Commander Meredith and First Enchanter Orsino are bickering in public again? Break it up with a flippant remark about releasing sexual tension. The Viscount needs someone to rescue his son from that damn qunari that keeps "kidnapping" him? Subtly indicate that the viscount's son is an adult who is more than capable of making his own life choices. ...And then go find him anyway because Rewa~rd~
To strangers and acquaintances Hawke often appears to be a fairly vapid, shallow individual whose only concerns are coin and drink, and who appears entirely incapable of taking anything seriously, ever. The thing about Hawke, though, is that he's not a hero. Not in his own mind, at least. He never set out to make a difference in the lives of thousands of people or make a name for himself in any sense of the word. He's just this ordinary (though extraordinarily handsome~) guy who all of these big, important people have somehow decided is going to save them from corruption or blood magic or total annihilation. His method for dealing with these big, important people just happens to be sass. Maybe if he's sarcastic enough at them, they'll realize how many stupid things they're saying and figure out a way to fix their own damn problems! Not that that has ever worked so far, but he can still dream!
THE ELDER BROTHER
Hawke's relationship with his brother Carver is rocky. Carver, resentful of what he perceives as paternal favoritism, seems determined to be bitter and whiny about being lost in his older brother's shadow, and is resistant to Hawke's attempts to reconcile. Despite the huge chip on his shoulder and his penchant for whining, and despite the fact that he is not and never has been as close to Carver as he was to Bethany, Hawke loves his younger brother a great deal and tries to accommodate him as much as he can...which lead them both into the Deep Roads, an enormous series of vast, underground passages inhabited by darkspawn. Their goal was VAST WEALTH BEYOND ALL IMAGINING, so they joined up with a pair of dwarf brothers - Varric and Bartrand Tethras - and journeyed underground.
Long story short, while they were adventuring underground, the younger Hawke was infected with what is known as "The Taint," a nasty, wasting condition contracted by too much exposure to darkspawn blood. The only way to counter the taint and survive is to become a Grey Warden (the Wardens are basically an order of individuals who make a living fighting off darkspawn and occasionally warning about coming blights, who deliberately infect themselves with the Taint in a way that doesn't kill them using a sooper seekrit ritual. CONVENIENT, YES?)
LUCKILY, Hawke was able to deliver his ailing brother to a convenient group of Grey Wardens and convince them to help him. The only real down side was that Carver had to go away to live with the Wardens, so Hawke never saw his little brother again*
Even though Carver didn't die, Hawke still feels he failed to protect him. The passive-aggressive letters Carver had sent home from time to time, and the cold reception he'd received from his mother upon returning home without his younger brother only served to reinforce Hawke's sense of failure.
Hawke has a tendency to adopt the "Big Sibling" role with children and teenagers. He's more likely to be sincere with kids, and pulls out the sass as a means to make them smile or laugh, rather than as a weapon of mass irritation. In the game he is given a quest by a smuggler acquaintance to track down some goods from a bungled job. Upon locating the goods, he discovers that the man chosen by his acquaintance for that particular mission is just a teenaged boy whose parents are dead and who has younger sisters to look after. Instead of recovering the shipment for his acquaintance, he gives it to the kid and tells him to get the hell out of Kirkwall, and to take care of his sisters. He forfeits payment for the job and lies to the woman who asked for his help about the fate of the goods, covering for the kid.
He acts similarly in the interest of other children he encounters throughout the game - notably, by rescuing a kidnapped elven girl from the insane son of a very rich and powerful aristocrat. While the aristocrat who initially hired him to "bring the man in alive" was set to pay him a handsome amount of money for doing so, when Hawke learned that the criminal in question had a history of kidnapping, molesting, and ultimately murdering elven children, he elected to bring the man to justice upon confrontation, instead of allowing him to pass into the hands of the courts where he would ultimately receive nothing more than a slap on the wrist.
THE CHAMPION
Everyone has vices and flaws, even decent guys who generally work for the betterment of the people around them!
Hawke is kind of a lot vain. He spends a ridiculous amount of time on his personal appearance every morning, fluffing his hair and styling his beard just so. Since he's so proud of his looks, he's delightfully easy to tease, especially in regards to his beard. Even an offhand suggestion that it might be uneven can send him running to the closest mirror to investigate, and suggestions that he shave all or part of it or try styling it differently are usually met with sulking and pouting.
He's an adult, I swear!
Additionally but unrelated, Hawke is also kind of a raging alcoholic. If he has a problem he doesn't feel emotionally equipped to deal with and there is a tavern available, chances are very good that he will be in that tavern and he will be wasted. On the plus side, he's generally a happy drunk! While he's not picky about his drink as a general rule, since his move to Kirkwall he has cultivated an unfortunate passion for ale that tastes as though it's been watered down with dog piss.
Speaking of dogs, Hawke happens to exhibit all the loyalty of one. He consistently has the backs of all of his close friends - who he considers to be his adopted family - throughout the game. He'll lend a hand with pretty much anything he's asked to do...from helping the romantically inept Aveline snag the man she's had her eye on, to slogging through the sewers at another friend's request collecting crystallized rat urine.
Tl;dr: Hawke's a helper! :'D
He's also something of a magpie - totally wrong kind of bird, given his family name, but it's the most effective descriptor of him. During the first part of the game, Hawke's focus was to raise enough money to enable himself and his brother to join the Deep Roads expedition. To facilitate this, he developed a habit of picking up and collecting piles of nearly worthless junk. He got to be quite good at it, and never dropped the habit once he'd finally struck it rich. Unlike the magpie, however, he doesn't allow the junk to accumulate; he sells on what he can, even if a particular piece is worth nothing more than a few coppers, and disposes of the rest. The only things he keeps are useful items, such as swords and armor that also have emotional value, either to himself or to his friends.
So, to summarize, Hawke is one sassypants asshole who is loyal to his friends and actually generally a pretty good guy. When you need someone to get shit done and don't mind a pile of sarcasm, Hawke is your man. Unless you want to oppress people (be they mages or slaves), in which case, you're probably dead already. Oops.
*Until the end of Act II for like five minutes.
AU Deviation:
The biggest difference is going to be the level and amount of guilt Hawke has re: his family. In canon he witnessed the violent deaths of his younger sister and mother, and endured the wasting death of his father. In the AU, he was separated from his family, and he has no idea whether they're alive or dead. While he does blame himself for not being able to find them, he also has no reason to think that they might be dead.
Not having had to deal with maternal blame for the death of one sibling and the near-death of the other, or with self-blame for not having been able to save either his father's or mother's lives, his desire to drown himself in the bottle is significantly smaller as well. While he does enjoy a good drink after a hard day's work, he doesn't treat alcohol as a psychological crutch.
Overall, because in the AU his experience with the greed and corruption of other people is limited to nonexistent, the cynicism he developed living in Kirkwall is basically nonexistent here. While he's always been open and friendly to strangers and new acquaintances, his enthusiasm will not be paired with private caution or suspicion as it would be in Kirkwall.
Basically what this boils down to is Hawke is a super friendly, easy-going, and confident guy who has very little real-world experience and is still kind of wet behind the ears at the ripe old age of 24. Welp.
Canon Abilities: Hawke's canon spells
As a note, these spells become available to Hawke as he levels up in the context of the Dragon Age game in a fairly similar fashion to the way Pokemon learn new moves as they level up. The only reason there aren't more fire spells on that list is because that list contains all of the fire spells available for him to learn. :'D
Enlightened Abilities: Level 8 Shifter - Fire type / Growlithe / Flash Fire ability
As a Shifter, Hawke's abilities, strengths and weaknesses will pretty closely follow what's already in place for Growlithe. He'll be starting off with the usual Bite/Roar/Ember/Leer combo which is typical for his level, as well as the Egg Move Morning Sun. He'll gain new moves at the appropriate levels as he proceeds through the game.
As Growlithe only evolves once instead of twice, I'm aiming for Hawke's Pokemon form to evolve somewhere between level 45 and 50 with the application of some stressful or life-threatening event. OR if someone chucks a Fire Stone at his head. I'm not too picky, as long as the Fire Stone chucking happens in an off-the-wall and potentially embarrassing manner for Hawke. As an Arcanine, in addition to the nice stat boost, he will gain the incredibly vital ability to store food (and possibly small Pokemon such as a Lillipup) in his mane, which he will be able to access later once he shifts back into human form via his beard.
I am absolutely the most serious RP'er ever, I promise.
Starter Pokémon: A level 5 Houndour named Sergeant
Notes/Special Considerations: N/A!
SAMPLES
First-Person:
A match made in Heaven...or in Hell.
A fateful meeting of beards
Third-Person:
Hawke's heart was in his throat in much the same way his stomach was dragging along somewhere by his ankles. As the latter was a result of his current physical position astride the back of a friendly and helpful Charizard, that sensation was secondary to the former, which was brought on by gut-wrenching worry for his friend. He had Sergeant firmly wedged between his front and the Charizard's back as the three of them flew swiftly through the sky.
A very small part of him was distantly upset that he wasn't enjoying the incredible view more, but he was too focused on the poisoned puppy to attend to it. He knew poisoning was a thing that occurred, and had dealt with it first hand as a matter of course as a shepherd. Sometimes, no matter how carefully he and Pebbles directed, the flock would disturb a nest of Ekans or startle a hive of Beedrill. He had always been equipped to deal with the occasional poisoning before today, which may have had something to do with why Sergeant's condition was so upsetting. He knew what the little Houndour needed, and he knew how to administer it, but he was unable to do so.
The Charizard had promised that a human town was not all that far away, and she seemed to have been correct. While Hawke wasn't sure exactly how long it had been - time had stretched and contorted into an unfocused haze of near gut-wrenching fear - the Charizard was landing almost before he realized she was doing so. He stumbled off her back a bit clumsily, gathering Sergeant into his arms and trying not to mind the way his friend's sharp talons dug through the thin fabric of his shirt and into the skin of his stomach and shoulder. With short but effusive thanks, he bowed shallowly yet politely to their rescuer, mindful of Sergeant's head nuzzled against his neck and shoulder. She gently acknowledged his gratitude, and equally gently used her snout to push him away, towards the city.
Any other time, he would have been worried about appearing ungrateful. He would worry about it in hindsight, probably. But right now the sick Pokemon in his arms was the only thing he was worried about, so he turned quickly toward the (very large) city and began hurrying toward the gates.