killedsupers

CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character Name: Buddy Pine (Syndrome)
Age: 25
Canon Point: After being sucked into a jet turbine at the end of the movie.
Character Information: https://pixar.fandom.com/wiki/Buddy_Pine

Personality:
(TW: Child harm, mentions of abuse, murder, age-typical ableism)

Push and Pull. Day and Night. Black and White.

Syndrome and Buddy Pine represent two polarized sides of the same coin with Syndrome being the side people generally, if not always, first see when interacting with him. Loud, bombastic, and charismatic, Syndrome is the perfect emulation of what he thinks a superhero needs to be, taking cues from the way actual supers, specifically Mister incredible, acted towards the general public after studying them since his early youth. Syndrome easily commands attention wherever he goes using his bigger than life personality, using scripted responses, and using intentional behavioral cues that ultimately shape him to be the person that he is. One said example that comes to mind is how he acted when he attempted to save the day from his Omnidroid, playing the part of the hero perfectly.

Syndrome comes across as extremely affable at first glance, perhaps even a little goofy or silly at times in a way that creates the illusion of safety; it’s easy to disregard him as harmless if not a bit childish in his mannerisms. But underneath all that, there is an unspeakable amount of cruelty, coldness, and disregard for other people’s lives and their well-being, especially the lives of those with powers; he did not see supers as independent from their abilities, people who had lives outside from being superheroes with families and loved ones that cared about them. No — Syndrome viewed supers as symbols of an ideology he is fundamentally against, that of which only those with powers could be superheroes, and further representation of the pivotal moment in his life where Mister Incredible turned him down from being a sidekick in a heartless manner. He didn’t care if one, two, or twenty supers died to his Omnidroids throughout the duration of Project Kronos. To him, they simply should have been better than what they claimed to be, or should have never heeded the call to action from him at all! After all, they were able to turn down the work he gave them and were never brought against their own will. They all died doing what they have always done before supers went underground — trying to save the day.

Of course, Syndrome’s ability to prey on other’s weaknesses and manipulate them into taking self-destructive paths is legendary for this reason. It was he who offered them a chance to reclaim the lives that had been unjustly stolen from them and it was he who understood their nostalgia for the Glory Days, a time before they were banned. Any sliver of opportunity to experience the feeling of defeating evil or stopping things from going horribly wrong and saving lives was just the honey laced trap he needed to get the job done from his end.

However, this lack of empathy and sympathy does not just stop at supers. He delighted in the idea of killing children that he, at the time, did not know had powers for the sole purpose of crushing a trapped Mister Incredible’s spirit. Not that killing children, powers or no powers, is in any way justifiable, but this proves that he is comfortable taking the measures necessary to secure what he perceives to be a victory. Right after the hits of the missiles were confirmed and the jet Mister Incredible's family was in was terminated, Syndrome was not phased by an enraged Mister Incredible threatening to snap Mirage, his lover and right hand woman, in half. He only chuckled and dared him to go ahead and do it, knowing that he would be too caring of the life that he held in his hands to kill her. While luckily correct in his assumption, he showed no hesitation in using Mirage’s life to prove a point to his former idol and he absolutely saw no problem in it, being genuinely surprised when Mirage quit her position and her ties to him. Him trying to reassure her that it was all according to plan and that he knew he wouldn’t hurt her while trying to give her a kiss probably did not work in his favor.

This action, and a few following it due to his ego and emotions getting the best of him, were what led to his defeat. Yet overall, Syndrome is a calculating and ruthless chess master that thinks of every variable possible and plans accordingly. His innovative tech nullifies supers entirely using non-lethal methods, rendering them completely incapable of fighting back. Despite his specialization in advanced weaponry, Syndrome shows that he’s skilled in multiple areas of design outside of it: transportation, fashion, and architecture to name a few. He designed his own suit, designed his own island headquarters in a way that was both aesthetically pleasing and non-invasive to the surrounding nature, and designed vehicles like the pods that can transport personnel all across Nomanisan.

Even with all these accomplishments under his belt, Buddy remains a self-hating and insecure individual. Indeed, this is due to two things: a society that only seemed to place more value in those with abilities and his neglectful upbringing. His parents were emotionally distant and didn’t care what their son got up to when he went unsupervised out collecting spare parts for his inventions or when he tracked down Mister Incredible to propose joining him as a sidekick. He was invisible to them most of the time, and the moments that he wasn’t were always moments that made him feel extremely broken as a person. If you asked his parents what they thought of him, they’d say he was a problematic child and is the reason why they never tried having another kid; “One of them is already hard enough”.

Buddy is the side that Syndrome tries to hide away because he perceives Buddy as unlikable and as a weakness. Unlike Syndrome, Buddy is soft-spoken, polite, and a bit awkward. In the short “Jack Jack Attacks”, Buddy appears at the end in a non-threatening manner asking if the residence is Parr’s, showing none of the traits you would associate with Syndrome except a witty sense of humor and some charisma. Overall though, the two of them cannot be separated from each other.

Buddy needs Syndrome, and Syndrome needs Buddy to exist. Whether he realizes it or not is another question and topic entirely.

5-10 Key Character Traits: Narcissistic, mercurial, cynical, enthusiastic, insecure, creative, self-destructive.

Would you prefer a monster that FITS your character’s personality, CONFLICTS with it, EITHER or 100% RANDOMIZATION? Either!

Opt-Outs: None!

Roleplay Sample: Ryslig Test Drive:

There is pain. Immeasurable amount of pain. A pain that comes from bones being crushed and muscles being shredded into ribbons as he’s sucked into the jet turbine. He tries to scream but smoke rushes into his lungs instead and then there’s heat, so much heat, and so much pain and so much—

He’s coughing up sand and seawater now, a gap in his memory from the before and the present. Syndrome remembers darkness, the rush of wind against his skin, the car being thrown at him, but he doesn’t remember being pulled out from the abyss that he found himself in, the rough waves of the ocean like hands dragging him out from the blackness and back into consciousness. Syndrome’s eyes burn from the salty water, and he tries to rub the sting away instinctively with the back of his gloved hands, but all it does is get sand in that he tries to frantically blink away. It is here that he realizes that the mask that has covered his face is gone, taken from him either by the same unknown force that brought him here or by the angry currents of the sea.

When his eyes are finally cleared, he is able to properly look around him, seeing lights in the far distance. Refuge, possibly. Safety. Explanations. Shakily, he gets up on his feet, swiping away his wet hair from out of his face and behind an ear. His cape, still intact, flows behind him in the harsh winds of the beach, and he begins to make his way towards the lights, hoping that nobody sees him like this.

Link: https://graveyardsmash.dreamwidth.org/51808.html?thread=24255840#cmt24255840

Syndrome:

“He didn’t,” Syndrome says as casually as possible, very much aware that Koyanskaya knows more than she is letting on. He doesn’t mind or necessarilhold it against her, a fox is a fox. Besides, it’s best to pretend to be on her side. Keeps Moriarty and her both happy until Syndrome decides it’s time to shake things up.

“What exactly is he then?” Syndrome crosses his legs, placing his hands on his lap. “You probably already are familiar with how I feel about those with powers of any kind.”

His brows deepen in feigned indignation.

“And here I thought I’d be working for an ordinary old man if I were to have accepted his offer! Moriarty is one of the greatest masterminds of all time in literature. A shame. I’m more upset about not being able to say that I met the real deal rather than being tricked, honestly!”

He laughs. It’s empty, with no mirth, and his expression settles back into the one he had previously. However, this time, the bitter anger is real.

“Moriarty thinks he can toy with me when I’m not one to be toyed with.”

He narrows his eyes at her, quiet for a moment, before abruptly smirking.

“Do you have any good information on Starscream by any chance?”


Buddy:

He hums, nodding his head in understanding.

“Unlike myself. I had my own network and organization back home. A facility on a private island in the southern Pacific Ocean. I preferred to oversee everything closely. Less room for errors that way.”

He sighs.

“I had everything before my defeat,” he murmurs. “Power, money, a lover. Things went horribly wrong and I ended up here. Hated this place for a very long time. But James...”

Buddy pauses. His eyes have become watery.

“James made me feel special and like it was all worth it in the end. They said they’d come back for me, if we were separated. They haven’t.”

He shifts his eyes down, unable to look at Moriarty. His omnidroid beeps, an arm extending out to place metal claws on Buddy’s shoulder reassuringly. What he says next is barely audible;

“Maybe I am just not good enough. I wasn't good enough in my world. Why would it be any different here.”