Hi. I'm Anna. I like games.
I also happen to -really- like the David Filoni Clone Wars cartoon. There are parts of the series that I very much disliked, and parts that I adored from the start. However, upon rewatching it in order to catch up to properly appreciate Rebels, I've noticed that several episodes I didn't care for the first time really stuck with me this time. The Ryloth episodes aren't so bad when you're not looking at them from the viewpoint of "you royally screwed that planet up," and the Nightsister representation was as close to spot-on as you can be without rancors.
Said Nightsister episodes introduce a new character, Savage Opress. When I first watched this series a couple of years ago, I was relatively unimpressed with him. With a few years of RP experience behind me, I've come to the realization that he should be much nearer and dearer to my heart for several reasons. He feels incredibly familiar to me now, and as I was watching the end of his second episode, I suddenly understood why: Savage Opress is Fabula Cavataio.
I haven't done a character essay in a couple of entries, so this is mostly going to be that. Me gushing over the similarities between a character who I didn't pay any attention to before now, and a character that I have recently returned to her roots. Those roots were pretty different from where she ended up just a few months later. Call it "character development" if you want, but the end result was something almost unrecognizable. A shy, tempered monk of the hyperspace lanes was nothing like the bloodthirsty marauder that first walked out of Petra Cavataio's temple on Dathomir. I blame my own love of drama for that, of course.
Savage Opress was a strong warrior, probably with innate Force sensitivity considering how he could break stone with his fists before even being enhanced or trained. His status as a male on Dathomir left him subservient, and when he was chosen to be a proper warrior, he was taken before the Mother Superior and enchanted with Dark Side magic. His purpose was to serve a female as her champion, valued as a tool or a pet more than an actual person. Sounds like a crappy life, but then, it's not all that uncommon on Dathomir.
Fabula Cavataio, at least here on Chaos, was a frozen clone of Mother Superior Petra Cavataio's daughter. She was revived with Dark Side magic to be a strong warrior, and between that magic and her own natural Force affinities, she broke a stone dias with her bare hands within minutes of awaking. Her purpose in life was to serve the Mother Superior as her champion, and since she was a pale reflection of Petra's real daughter, she was treated as little more than a tool or a pet for the short time that Petra even bothered to interact with her.
Both of them are fueled by sheer, -unfathomable- anger, naturally given to uncontrolled mood swings between fear and hatred at the drop of a pin. From this anger, both derive truly terrifying physical strength and combat prowess, though they lack any of the finesse or complicated powers shown by their peers. Both take and shrug off blows that would leave lesser warriors incapacitated with nary a concern.
And, rather tellingly, both are extremely susceptible to mental manipulation. Before and after his transformation, Savage was controlled by Nightsister influence without any visible resistance. He was so weak to it that he gladly killed one of his closest friends simply on command, and changed allegiance without more than a Force trigger. Fabula, likewise, was made weak-willed by her mother in order to be a more controllable force...and to actually have a way to stop her from tearing her to pieces if she rebelled. Turns out when you make a beast, the best way to keep it under control is to assert your superior mind over its proto-consciousness.
Because that's what they are. Savage and Fabula may be Force users, and may have a kind of instinctive cunning to them at times, but neither is the brilliant tactician or the visionary admiral one would look to for guidance in a war. No, they're the siege engines. They're the ruthless monsters you loose upon an unsuspecting enemy line. All power, no panache. If you ask Savage to bring back the King of Toydaria alive, you'd best be prepared when he drags a corpse in by the ankle. When you ask Fabula to take the hide of a Corbos leviathan, it would behoove you to expect that that hide might be ever so slightly damaged. "Restraint" isn't something an animal learns without severe motivation.
It amazes me that a character I had no strong opinion of years ago is now so fun to watch. I wasn't interested in a flat side character used and eventually discarded as a plot device and shaped by his relationships with others. But I am quite interested in a character with so many similarities to my flagship, and in seeing someone else's take on the concept that I've been enjoying for a couple of years.
Well. Minus the boobs.
I also happen to -really- like the David Filoni Clone Wars cartoon. There are parts of the series that I very much disliked, and parts that I adored from the start. However, upon rewatching it in order to catch up to properly appreciate Rebels, I've noticed that several episodes I didn't care for the first time really stuck with me this time. The Ryloth episodes aren't so bad when you're not looking at them from the viewpoint of "you royally screwed that planet up," and the Nightsister representation was as close to spot-on as you can be without rancors.
Said Nightsister episodes introduce a new character, Savage Opress. When I first watched this series a couple of years ago, I was relatively unimpressed with him. With a few years of RP experience behind me, I've come to the realization that he should be much nearer and dearer to my heart for several reasons. He feels incredibly familiar to me now, and as I was watching the end of his second episode, I suddenly understood why: Savage Opress is Fabula Cavataio.
Yeah, I know. Not much of a resemblance.
I haven't done a character essay in a couple of entries, so this is mostly going to be that. Me gushing over the similarities between a character who I didn't pay any attention to before now, and a character that I have recently returned to her roots. Those roots were pretty different from where she ended up just a few months later. Call it "character development" if you want, but the end result was something almost unrecognizable. A shy, tempered monk of the hyperspace lanes was nothing like the bloodthirsty marauder that first walked out of Petra Cavataio's temple on Dathomir. I blame my own love of drama for that, of course.
Savage Opress was a strong warrior, probably with innate Force sensitivity considering how he could break stone with his fists before even being enhanced or trained. His status as a male on Dathomir left him subservient, and when he was chosen to be a proper warrior, he was taken before the Mother Superior and enchanted with Dark Side magic. His purpose was to serve a female as her champion, valued as a tool or a pet more than an actual person. Sounds like a crappy life, but then, it's not all that uncommon on Dathomir.
Fabula Cavataio, at least here on Chaos, was a frozen clone of Mother Superior Petra Cavataio's daughter. She was revived with Dark Side magic to be a strong warrior, and between that magic and her own natural Force affinities, she broke a stone dias with her bare hands within minutes of awaking. Her purpose in life was to serve the Mother Superior as her champion, and since she was a pale reflection of Petra's real daughter, she was treated as little more than a tool or a pet for the short time that Petra even bothered to interact with her.
Both of them are fueled by sheer, -unfathomable- anger, naturally given to uncontrolled mood swings between fear and hatred at the drop of a pin. From this anger, both derive truly terrifying physical strength and combat prowess, though they lack any of the finesse or complicated powers shown by their peers. Both take and shrug off blows that would leave lesser warriors incapacitated with nary a concern.
And, rather tellingly, both are extremely susceptible to mental manipulation. Before and after his transformation, Savage was controlled by Nightsister influence without any visible resistance. He was so weak to it that he gladly killed one of his closest friends simply on command, and changed allegiance without more than a Force trigger. Fabula, likewise, was made weak-willed by her mother in order to be a more controllable force...and to actually have a way to stop her from tearing her to pieces if she rebelled. Turns out when you make a beast, the best way to keep it under control is to assert your superior mind over its proto-consciousness.
Because that's what they are. Savage and Fabula may be Force users, and may have a kind of instinctive cunning to them at times, but neither is the brilliant tactician or the visionary admiral one would look to for guidance in a war. No, they're the siege engines. They're the ruthless monsters you loose upon an unsuspecting enemy line. All power, no panache. If you ask Savage to bring back the King of Toydaria alive, you'd best be prepared when he drags a corpse in by the ankle. When you ask Fabula to take the hide of a Corbos leviathan, it would behoove you to expect that that hide might be ever so slightly damaged. "Restraint" isn't something an animal learns without severe motivation.
It amazes me that a character I had no strong opinion of years ago is now so fun to watch. I wasn't interested in a flat side character used and eventually discarded as a plot device and shaped by his relationships with others. But I am quite interested in a character with so many similarities to my flagship, and in seeing someone else's take on the concept that I've been enjoying for a couple of years.
Well. Minus the boobs.
