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[tenthofthatname]

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□ Name: Caspian X, King of Narnia, Lord of Cair Paravel, and Emperor of the Lone Islands, also called Caspian the Seafarer and Caspian the Navigator
□ Journal: tenthofthatname
□ Series: Chronicles of Narnia
□ Canon point: In the beginning of Voyage of the Dawn Treader, shortly after Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace show up in Narnia
□ History: http://narnia.wikia.com/wiki/Caspian_X
□ Personality:

Caspian’s childhood was rather sheltered, partly because his uncle was intent on getting on his good side, but also because his nurse doted on him and never let him see the people around him who wished him harm. It wasn’t until after his uncle dismissed her that he even realized that not everyone in his life always had his best interest at heart. As a result of this, he has a somewhat split view of himself. On the one hand, he believes that people in general will like him and that they will be looking out for him. On the other hand, his uncle’s eventual betrayal made him realize that people do occasionally ulterior motives, and he sometimes can’t stop himself from looking for them. This has led him to have a number of insecurities around his kingship and to wonder from time to time if people are truly loyal to him or if they are simply looking to be in his favor.

His nurse’s—and later his tutor’s—stories about Old Narnia instilled in him a very high ideal for how Narnia could look, and he wants to be a king worthy of those stories. Very few people get the chance to make their childhood fantasies come true, but Caspian’s was given to him with the help of some of the people who populated those fantasies. He very much wants to live up to that responsibility, and he is consistently worried that he isn’t and that he would be a disappointment to Aslan, the high kings and queens, and his father.

Sending Caspian’s nurse away was the first family betrayal that Caspian was subject to. It got much worse from there, of course, and Caspian does not take those betrayals at all well. In the middle of a raid on his uncle’s castle, he discovers that his uncle had killed his father, and he immediately goes to find and kill his uncle.

Despite that rashness, he has a desire to do what is right that harkens back to the stories he grew up on. When he is actually faced with the opportunity to kill his uncle, both then and after Miraz’s duel with Peter, he chooses not to. Because it would not be the honorable thing to do.

He has a very deep-seated sense of pride that sort of ties in to his insecurity. He wants people to be loyal to him, both because he thinks he deserves it and because their loyalty will be proof that he deserves it, and he very much wants that proof. So while he is perfectly content to go incognito in a situation where he knows the people he’s with do respect him as king (if only theoretically), in situations where the people are not offering him the respect he feels he (or wants to) deserves, he will demand that it be given. He reminds people of his position as king in order to remind himself of it.

He does strive to be honorable and to do what is right, but he is still only 17 years old. So there are times when that pride and insecurity can overcome his desire to be a good man and a good king. This can be seen in situations like the moment on Deathwater Island when he and Edmund discover the water that turns anything it touches to gold and there is a brief moment where, partially worked on by the magic of the place, give in to their greed and each demand to claim the land for Narnia under their own name. When you know that you owe your kingdom to another ruler who is still living and still revered, it can be hard to escape that insecurity and come to a place where you are comfortable enough in your own merit to occasionally allow people not to give you the honor you think your position demands. This pride and arrogance does not make Caspian any less honorable. It just makes him a teenager thrust into a position of power.

This is a trait that carries over into his kingship from his battle for the kingdom. When he goes to battle against his uncle’s army, he knows he can’t do it on his own, and he calls for the help of the kings and queens of old, expecting them to be old and venerable. What they are instead are children not much older than he is. Despite this fact, they manage to rally the troops and lead them to victory. This feeds into Caspian’s insecurity again. He couldn’t manage to lead the army because he was young and inexperienced, but Peter, who is his age, does manage it. During the war, this leads to a fair bit of posturing between the two of them, vying for power and authority and respect and not able to see that they both can have them easily.

Meeting Aslan is for Caspian—as for so many others—a transformative experience. In the lion’s presence, he sees his own flaws for what they are: challenging but not unbeatable. And after this experience, when he sees his pride and what it does and is able to feel gratitude rather than resentment toward the Pevensies, he is left on his own to rebuild a kingdom.

It is in the process of rebuilding Narnia that he starts to understand just why it was that Peter and Edmund were able to do what he could not. They had the experience of running Narnia and the support of each other. Using this example, he set up his own rule with trusted advisors around him to help him along the way. The stress and responsibility of repairing and governing a kingdom mature Caspian and give him a greater confidence in himself and his abilities, but they also teach him to be more willing to rely on others. And that insecurity he grew up with never quite goes away, which is why he still covers it occasionally with machismo.

For all that he is a good man and a good king, he has a tendency to be somewhat superficial. While they’re not the center of his reign or the most important thing to him, he does like to have beautiful things around him. This extends from the rebuilding of Cair Paravel to the people he falls in love with. He’s struck by Susan’s beauty the first time he meets her, and he eventually falls for the star’s daughter just as quickly and for just as little reason. (In contrast, he is relieved to escape engagement to the Duke of Galma’s daughter who squints and has freckles.) Again, as king, he feels he deserves these beautiful things. Though he does at least make some attempt to judge people on merit as much as on appearance, this extends far more to men than to women. This is mostly a by-product of his culture, in which women were not expected to be as productive or (in Caspian’s view) useful as men. This superficiality can sometimes cause him to leave his better judgment behind when tempted with beauty (or glory or wealth), but he is usually able to overcome those temptations and make the right decision. (And when he isn’t, a quick visit from Aslan usually sets him straight.)

□ Age: 17
□ Gender: male
□ Appearance: 6’1; dark, shoulder-length hair; beginnings of a beard; brown eyes. He tends to dress in the manner of a renaissance-era nobleman. Something like this: http://narniafans.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/vdt-narniafans231.jpg
□ Abilities/Powers: Caspian is a baseline human with particular skills in swordplay, diplomacy, navigation, and sailing.
□ Personal Items:
-sword
-clothes (a few breeches and several tunics)



□ First Person Sample:
[The image that comes across the network is of a simple, first level apartment, the voice that speaks possessing a refined, British accent, somewhat formal in tone and diction.]

I confess myself uncertain about this means of communication. Surely we all come across as madmen, mumbling to ourselves when, in fact, we are carrying on conversations across the span of the city. It seems it must be magic, but a very common sort of magic that any at all may have access to. I wonder, are there any here who come from worlds with a similar sort of magic? I have not come across such before, though I would not be surprised to discover such as spell exists in my own home.

[There’s a good, long pause as Caspian gathers his thoughts.]

Forgive me, I’m getting ahead of myself. I am Caspian X of Narnia, and it seems we are to be neighbors.

□ Third Person Sample:

http://theloonybin.dreamwidth.org/10025.html?thread=4516905#cmt4516905