Franken is a character based on the 'Skulduggery Pleasant' series of books by Derek Landy.
"You want to know the difference between you and me? I make this look good...and I can summon fire. Now that is cool."
Franken is a 2,854 and a third year old boy from Ireland. The 2,854 and a third refers to the rough sum of ages of all the different limbs and organs that he was put together with. He wears long trench coats and thin scarfs and fingerless gloves which Skulduggery constantly reminds him, makes him look like a homeless person. Most of his garments were made by Ghastly so they protect him from lots of hard knocks, being shot at and attacked with knives. He works for the Irish sanctuary along with Skulduggery and Valkyrie and even joins them on the occasional investigation but usually just runs into them what he does his own assignments. He rarely gets given long investigations but he usually ignores that and does them anyway which doesn't make him too popular but he gets the job done which is all he cares about. He knows no-one else is really interested in being friends with him so he just goes and stops the bad guy. He doesn't make any mortal friends because of second-life syndrome and they will be distracting when he's on a mission if they call him on his phone for example. Annoyingly, people his age seem to want to be his friend on some occasions despite his off-putting scars and attitude. He gets irritated that just because he visits the same cafe every few days, the workers think he is approachable and have to try to talk to him each time when he is trying to hide his face and avoid attention. Even when they leave him alone, some psychopath or criminal decides that now is the best time to commit a crime so Franken is called on to deal with it. Sometimes, he just wants to drink in peace.
He lives in a fairly small apartment through usually just finds an abandoned building and camps out there as it makes him harder to track and he can't be bothered to go back home if he is in the middle of an investigation so finds somewhere nearby to stay in. Almost all of his equipment is stored in a secret safe-house which he visits every now and again to prepare. When actually at his residence and not currently investigating anything, he will be watching movies or reading to catch up on his knowledge. His apartment, while small, contains everything he needs to get by as well as several secret tunnels for escape purposes, connecting to useful places. He tries to get involved with holidays like Christmas and Birthdays but either gets them mixed up or decides that they are stupid and doesn't get involved. He doesn't like Halloween because he doesn't like children approaching him for sweets and can't understand why he can't give them a severed hand or bone. He has spent a lot of his time learning what is ethically correct to do and yet still finds issues with some rules and guidelines which he will break on occasion.
Personality[]
Just like his friends, Franken uses a lot of sarcasm and dry humour but also usually acts as a voice of reason in Skulduggery and Valkyrie's bickering. He is pretty casual in the face of danger but will get serious when he has too. He will freely joke around even when critically injured and encourage his friends on. He is pretty carefree and friendly but becomes serious when innocent people get involved. He knows how to take his job seriously but not treat any of his enemies that way. He doesn't like the fact that he looks 16 despite being the age that he is which means he isn't allowed drive and most people don't trust him based on his looks. He likes to plan with his friends but go out alone to do his part. He has shown that he is capable and will adjust to changes in plans so long as he is told what he should be doing otherwise he'll just wing it. He takes an interest in old artifacts even though China is a far more aggressive collector but he gets what he can while fighting off her attempts to 'liberate' his belongings. He likes to collect souvenirs of his trips and battles and display them in his home. He has to keep them in a secret room in case someone tries to rob him, which is very likely to happen, from both allies and enemies.
He treats his enemies as much respect he thinks they deserve (which normally isn't a lot) and will not seem scared of them at all. He talks to them like a casual acquaintance and doesn't really pay attention to them unless it is really serious. He is pretty thick skinned when it comes to people throwing insults at him, because he's got good friends by him who he can depend on (most of the time) and he has more to worry about than what people think of him. He is quite accepting of people even if he doesn't understand the way hey think or act. He can normally come up with some sort of remark anyway. He takes an interest in modern culture and asks Valkyrie about it a lot. He spends a lot of his free time watching films, listening to music or reading. He doesn't like some aspects of modern society as he has lived in the past and prefers it when things were like that. He doesn't see why people would want to change. He also doesn't understand things that are slowly creeping into fashion with people his age (the age he looks) especially things like text speak and social media. He heavily relies on Valkyrie to fill in gaps in his knowledge since Skulduggery isn't very reliable. He was so out of sync with the world during the last 100 or so years that he is very keen about catching up through pop culture that he will often ask his enemies when facing them if they know of a certain film or if a song is any good but they never seem to give him an answer. One possible reason for this is because he will often hear about popular films and books while investigating and not have time to write the names down or research them so will be asking foes on 'The Hungry Games' or 'Barry Potter' which just adds to the confusion. He also mixes up some expressions, for example saying 'like trying to find a pin in a haystack' rather than 'needle in a haystack'. He will also have a small rant if something annoying has happened to him recently. He likes to quote movies in appropriate situations just because he can. He sometimes even gets the quotes correct.
He spends a lot of time wandering the city and learning and will often just do things because he wants to which normally leads to trouble. He doesn't like people coming up and talking to him. Skulduggery normally looks a bit weird so people stay away but when he isn't there people seem to find him approachable, usually until they see the scars and stitches which normally stops any conversation but he still finds it a pain in the neck. He dismisses people who ask about his injuries as he cannot explain the real reason to mortals. Often clients are put off by the fact he looks like a child when he is sent by the council but he is firm and doesn't take any nonsense from them. This especially happens if he is in another country as not many have seen someone who looks so strange. He manages to keep them in check while not starting tension between them. This is good as he likes to travel a lot although the sanctuary's monitoring severely limits how far he can go. As he is legally too young to drive, he either walks of takes the train while sometimes finding trouble whichever method he uses. But as he likes to say, it gives him more stories to tell even if no-one bothers to listen. While he may seem carefree and ignorant of any problems, he is simply taking everything in his stride and giving people hope by remaining confident and will take on other peoples problems in this way whether it be serious to the world or just to them. He isn't particularly interested in having a normal life but enjoys experiencing things that mortals do and getting the fun out of both worlds. Despite being carefree, he is also disgustingly cynical as pretty much everything like crowds or noise or children irritate him which will lead him to moan about it. He speaks his mind which can make for awkward conversation. During some missions, he has been forced to use certain etiquette so can be formal and polite if the situation calls for it. However, that only lasts until something eventually goes wrong and he is attacked in which case anything goes. He will say what he likes and if he needs to use a piece of expensive tableware to throw at someone or a 100 year old table as a shield, he will do it and worry about the consequences later. He'll get moaned at but he argues that its really a choice between their lives and a piece of furniture and they should think about that.
Past[]
Franken came into being when some delusional mages tried to put together an ultimate being to fight in the war. However, they used a brain with a moral compass and he turned on them after they explained to him what he was. He went out and saw the horrors of the war when he was forced to take sides and fight and went into hiding from many, many years after. During his time in the war he encountered a man named Bane Wathful who he fought multiple times but vanished as the war reached its conclusion. The magic in him kept him young for all that time he was in hiding and finally came out a long time later but knew nothing of the new world. He heard the name 'Skulduggery' and remembered it from rumours in the war so he headed to the sanctuary to find more information. He decided to join to try and find him wasn't trusted but was sent on some missions and was finally accepted after he completed them. He was treated with suspicion but he just assumes its because of what he is. He has heard that there were a few rumours about him floating about. He took the name Franken after realising he didn't know his given name and thought it appropriate to what he was after reading Mary Shelly's novel. The Elder council doesn't trust him and gives him either extremely hard missions or boring jobs and then put the responsibility on Skulduggery to take him down if he does anything remotely suspicious but Skulduggery gives him more room to work with and puts more faith in him while making fun of his appearance whenever he wants. Valkyrie is friendlier since she doesn't know much about him but is still a bit uneasy around him since she is still learning. Since they look around the same age, he likes teaming up with her. The fact that she doesn't constantly make jokes on his appearance helps as well. She is also pretty knowledgeable and is helping him fit in to society.
Powers[]
Since Franken's arms, legs and most organs are taken from other mages and magical creatures, Franken possesses both Elemental and Adept magic. Like most mages, he can sense magic reasonably well and can follow magic trails but usually mages can cover them up if the have any sense. He likes to use fire and air and his adept ability enhances his physical attributes like speed and strength as well as allowing him to fade into shadows and become more powerful in the dark. He doesn't like when people say that he is like a vampire because he is very different to them. He doesn't pull his skin off for a start. His eyes change colour at night as they contain werewolf DNA which gives him better vision. His arms and legs look like they belong to him and don't look like a mish-mash of random parts but you can see the lines and stitches along his arms, legs and chest. In the war, he found a gauntlet from a murdered Dead-Man and kept hold of it. During the war, he went in search of an extremely powerful sword which helped him defeat a captain but once it spilt blood, it would go after more be it friend or foe. Franken then stole two pistols from the sanctuary to use instead but Skulduggery frowns upon him using them so he sticks to magic when with him. These pistols are not lightweight either. They hit hard and could probably break the wrist of any normal person but Franken wields them like they weigh nothing. He likes to collect magic weapons and will actually use the ones he gets rather than locking them away to look at. Some of these weapons are mentioned in myths and Franken decides to try and bust the myth which can lead to trouble. If a weapon is claimed to turn whatever it slashes to dust, he will check if it is true.
He spent a lot of time training with Skulduggery and Ghastly in hand to hand combat so he is competent with fighting mortals or in situations where he can't use magic or weapons. He has also studied and is competent at mixed martial arts. These involve boxing and Taekwondo. He has considerable strength to go with his speed and agility, allowing him to wield weapons with ease and take down enemies bigger and heavier than him. He also makes use of his environment when fighting, throwing enemies into dumpsters and fuse boxes. It helps that he is a quick learner as well so he spends less time learning moves and more time using them in a fight. Because his body is a mess of creatures, he is unable to go through the 'surge' which means his magic cannot advance to specialize in either adept or elemental. Though this means his magic could be considered weaker due to this, his versatility makes up for that as he will always have a trick up his sleeve. His style isn't to go in guns blazing but can take care of himself when things kick off. He prefers to plan before going in and making sure things go his way. He doesn't much care if he gets seen but he can do stealth pretty well when necessary. He doesn't like setting traps that kill the enemy straight away. He likes to meet them head on and fight them if it comes to it. He upholds the secrecy of magic by not using it around mortals although that has put him in some tricky situations where expert subtly and violence have managed to save him. Despite not really liking the council, he does respect it's rules and tries to keep magic hidden. He doesn't get anyone involved that don't need to be despite any arguing. He feels responsible for them and doesn't want that holding him back. Having incompetent people with him will only get in the way and they are an easy target for enemies.
Likes/Dislikes[]
Franken likes walking. He'll do it a lot. He'll even run sometimes as well. He'll usually wander aimlessly, making him hard to track. He also likes potato waffles. He'll eat them at any cafe that sells them. He doesn't really like being punched in the face. It tends to happen a lot though which upsets him a bit. He doesn't particularly like being told what to do if he thinks that is the wrong thing to do. He likes to go about things in his own way. He also has taken a liking to detective work after solving a few cases. He likes fitting all the clues together then usually punching the guilty person in the face. He finds it very satisfying. He likes puzzles and is pretty good at deduction and problem solving. He knows to use his brain before his fists. He doesn't like looking younger than he is because no-one takes him seriously and treat him like a teenager. He is sometimes targeted by street criminals because he likes going out at night and it irritates him that he has to be stopped because people think he should hand over his money or get hit in the face. He has wasted 5 minutes on several nights beating up criminals and it puts him off walking. He doesn't like that fact that they act so tough but take everything he says as an insult they try to punch him. He also takes an interest in magical creatures and goes out to kill them. He doesn't count himself as a Monster Hunter even though he does what they do. He doesn't like hunting with others and prefers to go out on his own. He doesn't like having a recognisable face as it gets annoying that people remember him and it makes him a bit easier to track if mortals see his face. Skulduggery has suggested he use a facade but Franken doesn't like the way it feels. He does try to hid his face under hoods and scarfs but those are limited in what they do. He doesn't like open areas as they make him vulnerable because some people have no sense of decency and try and trap him somewhere where he cannot use any environment to his advantage. He likes built up areas where he can jump off walls and over things. He doesn't like funerals. It means that someone has died, that someone wasn't quick, strong or smart enough to survive and that his job gets people killed. It is saddening. He has been to one too many funerals than he would like.
Strengths/Weaknesses[]
Franken was designed to be a perfect being with no weaknesses. While this remains mainly true for physical weaknesses, he is still lacking experience in fighting different kinds of opponents. While he did fight against many of the evil mages in the war, he still doesn't know a lot about the generals and powerful warlocks so needs Skulduggery to fill in the gaps in his knowledge or he will not know what he is up against. He is also quite ignorant of the modern world so can get confused fairly easily but is working to fix that. The restraints put on him by the sanctuary and himself means he is at a disadvantage when fighting with innocents around as he must not hurt them.