Player Information
Player name: Freshy
Contact: deuil
Are you over 18: Yes!
Characters in The Box Already: N/A

Character Information
Character Name: Charles Francis Xavier
Canon: X-Men: First Class
Canon Point: The day before the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Is your character Dead, Undead or Alive: Alive!
History: Wikipedia page!
Personality:

Let's say you're born with a gift. An extraordinarily remarkable one, really, one that lets you know precisely what someone is thinking at any time, one that gives you access to everyone's secrets, one that can dictate what other people do and see and perceive, among other things that you're not even sure of, not yet.

Let's say you're born with this, and no one has a frame of reference for how you should use it, and you don't ask, because you know you're different. You can play God for as long as you keep yourself hidden, and let's be real: telepathy is very discreet.

You can probably abuse this power in a number of ways. And, well, it shouldn't be too difficult to see how it'd get tempting, right?

So, with that prelude in mind: Charles Xavier, telepath extraordinaire, doesn't play God.

There's a lot to be said about Charles and his powers, but this is the personality section and not an extensive laundry list of what he can and can't do (more on that later, though)-- it's the man that spawns as a result of his gifts that's probably far more compelling, and it all starts with a privileged boy from Westchester Country who'd known all his life that he can't be the only one.

The thing about Charles is, that for all the hypocrisies and lies that he can detect in people thanks to his mutation, he remains fundamentally, and at his core, a hopeful optimist. It's not too difficult to imagine why that might be: for a small child with absentee parents and a profound maturity that had everything to do with being able to read people and only partially to do with natural precociousness, he would have learned very early on in life that things aren't as simple as they seem. He would have found out that people were never wholly good or wholly evil, that the spectrum and breadth of people and their capabilities were the sum of their parts and not exactly just what they presented themselves to be. And, from that, is the hopeful man that Charles Xavier grows to be-- his fascinations with mutations notwithstanding, he believes that people are capable of change and growth, that everyone has the ability to be good, to do good. That doesn't necessarily mean that Charles thinks everyone is a good person, of course, but it would definitely have influenced his own desire to do good, to choose that path for himself after seeing the dark side of other people (not to mention that telepathy connotates a certain degree of empathy sharing-- why spread pain and agony, things that he's felt when he himself had no reason to, when he can do the alternative?). His sense of good and caring is solidified when Raven stumbles into his life, brilliant and gifted and blue, and his beliefs become somewhat more of a moral code.

Charles is, first and foremost, a protector-- sometimes he doesn't seem to understand what it is that he's protecting, or his own hypocrisies in pursuing it, but he strives to give people a place when they need it, offers calm in the face of turbulence. After all, his first reaction to seeing a mutant girl raiding his fridge isn't to be alarmed by her actions, but to ask her if she's alone, and his first reaction upon seeing a guy trying to exact revenge and almost drowning himself in the process is to tell him that he isn't alone. There's something to be said about the assertion behind those words, the running theme of loneliness that remains prevalent in his life as a mutant in plain sight. Charles reacts accordingly, asserting the idea of solidarity by constantly trying to give people (though this is mostly reserved for mutants) a place to belong with him, trying to give them a home; something he achieves quite literally later in his life. When he meets other mutants, finds them with his mind, his reaction is: "I could feel them. Their isolation, their hopes, their ambitions...we can help them."

It's almost like he doesn't even realize that he keeps on bringing up isolation as a running theme!!

Because, really, for all his virtues and all his morality, Charles can be a strangely awkward individual. Maybe because his telepathy affords him an insight into things that normal people have no chance of tapping into, there's a part of Charles that is convinced, to a certain extent, that he Gets It. This is almost hilariously untrue sometimes, like the time he outs Hank as being a mutant because wow great yes I now know that you are a mutant and therefore everyone here must, too, let me just casually mention how brilliant and mutant you are without confirming! For someone who can, you know, read minds, being wrong about something seems almost impossible. Confirmation comes in a quick press of his fingers against his head, which he uses as a way to socialize easily with girls, 'guessing' their favorite drinks to curry their favor. This is relatively harmless in the grand scheme of things, but his convictions about his aforementioned moral code and his belief system awards him with an arrogance that his new friend, Erik Lehnsherr, points out rather aptly over a game of chess. Charles is convinced, not erroneously (because there's really no right or wrong to someone's personal code-- someone should tell the both of them this, maybe it would have helped), that there will be people who will accept them as they are, as long as they choose to be the better man. And while it's easy for Charles to assert that, what he may not understand is that it's more difficult for others to wholly accept that mode of thinking. His slightly sanctimonious attitude about it might not help any, either.

In short, Charles' empathy dictates his generosity and his faith in mankind, but his arrogance keeps him a step detached from everyone. He'll grow into his role when he's older and balder, but during this movie, there's a startling immaturity to the future Professor X that keeps him locked in the realm of 'great intentions, slightly questionable execution'.

Take, for example, his relationship with Raven. Raven is the one person in Charles' life that Charles doesn't have access to via his telepathic ability, the one person he expressly promised he wouldn't read. There's no doubt that Charles loves her immensely, adoptive sister that she is, and yet he doesn't seem to realize why it hurts her when he uses his abilities in public but tells her not to, tells her to love herself when he can't seem to understand why she's so "concerned with her looks", tells her that her using her abilities in public is a 'mistake that doesn't bear thinking about' while he's so comfortable with his own telepathy. He doesn't seem to understand, that when he displays his mutation to CIA operatives, it can be dismissed as a 'magic trick', while Raven's... well, they're not so generous. He loves Raven, and he cares for her and he cares about her and she's his best friend, but his affections aren't synonymous with sensitivity. He's convinced that it's enough, to some extent, and it's only when it's too late that he really realizes the extent to which he was wrong.

Similarly, Charles has a strange relationship with humans, who he both accepts and patronizes without seeming to really understand that he does. He has absolute faith in cohabitation (partly because he has to believe it, he can't go into something like this halfheartedly), and yet he knows he's not the same as them, which verges on hypocrisy. He uses mutations as a pickup line, almost as if he's trying to get the people around them to acclimatize to the idea, to find it 'sexy' and not abhorrent, and brandishes the idea of choice while also acknowledging that normal people might not 'know better'. Charles isn't a saint, not by a far stretch-- he's a good person, but he hasn't matured into it.

But even despite his flaws, the one thing that can be said about him above everything else, is that he cares. He tries his utmost so that people will trust him, because that's important and essential. He's content to put himself in situations where he can be of help, where he can protect people and try to understand them and keep them from the agony that they might experience otherwise. His lack of certain social graces notwithstanding, he's dedicated to the people that are around him, acting as a mentor and teacher when he needs to.

And come on, let's be real-- he's Professor X.

In the end, Charles is a team mom not just out of necessity, but through his own choice. And that's a grace that he's willing to extend to everyone, an affection he has for humanity in general.

Because, as we mentioned before: Charles Xavier doesn't play God.


Abilities/Strengths and Weaknesses:

Oh boy, here we go...

Charles is, to put it succinctly, a telepath. One of the strongest in the world, in fact, even though he still hasn't grown into the "holy shit godmode we actually need a separate secret operative in case this asshole goes rogue" stage of his telepathic career. In the briefest list possible, to avoid a dissertation on the things Charles can or cannot do, here's a list for your convenience:

1) The ability to read minds. Quick and easy! He can figure out your character's life history in a matter of seconds, but he'll respect privacy if need be. Maybe.

2) Psychic coercion: he can basically tell you to do something in your mind, and you'll, uh. Do it. Basically what it says on the tin.

3) Memory wipe: also what it says on the tin! He can make you forget things, and it stands to reason that he can probably implant memories in the same vein.

4) Perception alteration: he can make you see things that aren't there, can make you perceive things a different way, etc. In the movie, he cloaked himself and the rest of the passengers in a van with this trick.

5) Mental projections: the ability to talk to people via telepathic link, share emotions and feelings and memories and experiences.

6) Psychic possessions: he can take over someone's body via mind link, jfc this guy

7) Mutant detection: can tell if you're a mutant, sorry Hank...

Basically this list, in varying proficiencies at his stage in the movie. Mutants like Emma Frost can block his telepathy, given that she has more experience in using it, and Charles is still figuring out tricks of his own.


Samples
Network/Action Spam Sample: Thread sample!

Prose Log Sample:

The world might end in less than 24 hours, and Charles Xavier is playing chess.

It's strangely apt, and more than a little ironic, he thinks, as he moves one pawn to its death, sets up Erik's knight for slaughter-- just a few minutes ago, Erik called him naive, arrogant, and he's mulling over it with a quiet stiffness that shows in the way he braces himself against his armrests, takes a bit more time to move his pieces along the checkered board.

Charles isn't ignorant to the fact that Shaw would like to move mankind the way Charles is maneuvering his hand at chess, that humans will play their own cards against a tangible threat if Shaw takes that first step. There are no neutralities in this game, there are sides, and Charles isn't blind to the reasoning behind Erik's assertions that they need to find a place to stand. Erik was forced to play a part, was warped and weathered because of it, and Charles has seen-- felt-- that. It does pain Charles to know it, more than Erik may know.

Accordingly: Erik takes Charles' bait, sacrifices his knight and shoves his bishop forward like a man who has nothing more to lose, limbs torn and bloody, tired of this game but determined to win it. And despite his sentiments, despite his empathy, Charles retaliates and sets up a block, protects the heart of his ivory army from his friend's rage.

Erik is vehement, and Charles is melancholy. Resolved.

And in the end, after the kids have gone to sleep and Moira has turned in for the night, after Charles moves his last hand and Erik tips his ebony king in surrender, Charles hopes that his friend will understand. He hopes that Erik will understand that this isn't a game to be won, that people, much like mutations and history, require patience and perseverance.

He hopes that Erik will see that a broken chessboard can always be rebuilt, realigned, put together.

A smile, and Charles gets up.

"Goodnight, my friend. We have a long day ahead of us."