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tba;

If you'd rather not interact with Higgs, which is understandable because he's an absolute bastard, let me know here! He can be pretty uncomfortable, so just drop me a line and I'm more than happy to respect that. Comment screening is on.

Player Information

Name: Michelle
Age: 27
Contact details: sweetstacks
Other characters: none!

Character Information

Name: Higgs Monaghan
Canon: Death Stranding
Canon Point: Just before his and Sam's confrontation on the Beach.
OU/AU/CRAU/OC: OU.
Age: Unspecified, but likely in his forties.

World Information: First of all, I'm extremely sorry because Death Stranding is just Like This. From the wiki--

In the near future, mysterious explosions have rocked the planet, setting off a series of supernatural events known as the Death Stranding. With spectral creatures plaguing the landscape, and the planet on the verge of a mass extinction, it's up to Sam to journey across the ravaged wasteland and save mankind from extinction.

And that's pretty much the jist of the world. An explosion wiped out the world and a lot of its population, leaving very few settlements. Porters--deliverymen, essentially--are valuable players in the world. They connect people together; the world is far too dangerous to venture out alone, and if you die?

Your body literally explodes and leaves a crater if it's not incinerated. Thanks, Kojima.

Personal History: Spoilers within.

Personality: Once upon a time, there was a porter named Higgs Monaghan. Higgs, as a porter, was genuinely happy to help people--to forge those connections. He, before Amelie's influence, wanted to do nothing but help people. His philosophy very much centered around equal give and take: He helped people, they took care of him, too. Even then, Higgs fancied himself a leader--really, he thinks he's the best leader. The only leader.

That may be why he's so easily swayed by power. Higgs grew up feeling powerless, so when he comes across those with powers greater than his? Yeah, he wants to use them for his own good. Unfortunately, he's easy to use himself when that power calls to him. Which is the catalyst for how starkly he changes: Higgs no longer wants nothing more than to help people. Rather... Higgs is a selfish, cruel, manipulative man.

He also very, very deeply hates himself. He feels little by way of genuine connection, and so he has no qualms about hurting people... and doing it in the worst ways possible. Higgs revels in his power, the sway he has over others--and he has quite a bit of that. Really, he hadn't been wrong to think that he'd be a good leader. He's charismatic, forward thinking, high meticulous and calculating. He's a smart man; he knows how to get under people's skin and get them to do what he wants. That's not to say he doesn't have slip-ups--his inability to not fuck with Sam is what leads Sam to realize that he's playing into Higgs's hands.

Above everything, Higgs is a fatalist--which is why he's so willing to do such awful things. He sees everything as pointless, leading to the sixth extinction event. But he fancies himself superior to everyone, and he's more than happy to lord that over everyone--especially Sam. Strangely enough, though, traces of that eagerness for connection remain. It's possibly why he's so hellbent on making Sam's life hell--he feels a connection to him. And, of course, Amelie--she's the only one Higgs'll listen to. Because beneath the charismatic and cruel exterior, Higgs is a man who deeply, deeply hates himself, who knows that without his powers, he has nothing. Higgs is acutely aware of that... which is possibly why he flaunts what he does have.

He still has a hell of a lot of fun doing it, though.

Key themes: Life, death, connections

Main Motivation: To bring about the sixth extinction event. (Yikes!)

Skills: Chiralium control: He can create any item as he wishes. He can also create monsters and amplify his weapons.
Weather manipulation: He can, quite literally, make it rain wherever he wants.
Telekinesis: Self-explanatory; he can also levitate himself.
Teleportation: He uses it frequently--this is, presumably, because of his connection to Amelie's beach.
Precognition: Another self-explanatory one. He seems to have been able to see his own defeat.

Item: His golden mask.

Sample: here!

Notes: I'm deeply sorry for this man.