Kif Kroker

NATIVE APPLICATION

Name: Jackie
Age: 33
Contact: Nadat on Plurk
Other Characters: Anders
Interests: I want to develop a character through their time here, see where they go without a mountain of baggage. Kif has some struggles to deal with in straddling two worlds, as well, the one of his people, and the one he's been hauled into thanks to Zapp's eccentricity, so it'll be interesting dealing with the racial issues found in Thedas through that.


Name: Kiflas Litwyn Croque (Kif Kroker in canon)
Canon/OC: Futurama
Journal: eternalsquire
Race: Elf
Nationality: Orlesian
Occupation: Squire
Mage or Non-Mage: Non-mage
Age: 24

History

Kif's canon history

Kiflas, Kif to his friends and unfortunately Chevalier Zapp Brannigan, is the oldest son of Huon and Nesiara Litwyn. They lived in the alienage with his five younger siblings, all girls, and generally kept their heads down. Both of his parents repaired leather goods, especially saddles, and Kiflas was trained to take over the family business.

That changed when he came upon a Chevalier who was at risk of dying from exposure out in the woods. Kif rescued the man because he's not going to just let someone die, and the man decided that didn't just mean they were best friends, it meant Kif had to work for him. As his squire. There was no safe way to turn Zapp down, which meant Kif was suddenly surrounded by a whole lot of humans who hated elves and each other. It did, however, give Kif and his family more safety than most city elves ever get, and enough money to give them a more comfortable way of life. For them, he puts up with Zapp.

He's more or less found his way among the other squires. Zapp has a reputation for being an idiot king among idiots, which means the other squires don't envy him. Kif has to do everything from scrub Zapp's back to lay out clothes, stand by while Zapp digs massive holes that Kif then has to extract him from to stand there and hold out the glove so that Zapp can pretend to know falconry while Kif does all the work.

Personality

Kif is meek, long-suffering, and protective. He doesn't enjoy his job, he doesn't enjoy Zapp's heavy lack of intelligence, but his life is better and the lives of his family which means he's willing to deal with everything he has to. He's seen a lot of city elves struggle, or be offed for amusement. Everything he does is to keep on going, and to protect his family. He doesn't have an over-inflated sense of self-importance, doesn't really view himself as deserving squire status. But he does have a duty to his family, and there's a vague, distant wondering about whether he has a responsibility to his people or not.

It's definitely vague, though, and tied into the meekness. Kif has spent his life living up to the expectations of others. His parents wanted him in the family business so he was; Zapp wanted him as squire so he is. Kif goes with the flow rather than fight for anything, leading to a fairly constant, very low-level dissatisfaction with everything. It's not enough for him to stop simply following in someone else's wake... yet. He doesn't have a reason for it. His life is better than the lives of many city elves, and his family better off.

One thing to note: the meekness isn't universal. Usual, yes, but when there's no one in authority around, Kif will voice his annoyance and vent.

Kif doesn't have much in the way of dreams or hopes, along with the lack of motivation for himself. He hasn't had much that challenges him, that knocks him out of his coasting. It gives him a little arrogance because his situation is pretty stable now. Really, the only thing that worries him is that Corypheus will destroy the not-quite-uncomfortable life he's made for himself here. ...Or that Zapp has made for him, but don't tell Kif that.


Opinions & Affiliations

Kif has Orlesian viewpoints, but he's not too strong on them. He looks down on Fereldans, doesn't get why the Dalish are so crazy about the great outdoors, views the qunari as little more than animals, figures mages should be in the Circles and Templars need to get back to their jobs. Humans are, of course, not as good as elves in his opinion.

Despite his racism, he doesn't put too high importance on it. He coasts. Making a fuss messes up his coasting.

Adaptation

Part of Kif's identity in Futurama is that he's the small, basically harmless alien who suffers alongside Zapp, serving him despite hating him. That could be reached by leaving him human... but it doesn't emphasize the disparity in their positions quite enough, or Zapp's ways of ignoring precedent and setting his own just because.

Making Kif an elf preserves his smaller stature, but it also puts him in a position where he's got some gratitude mixed in with the hatred. It keeps Kif by Zapp's side, because where else would he be? He's an elf in a world where humans are on top. It retains his alienness, his foreignness, his identity as something other than the majority like he has on the show - while there are a great many species on Futurama, the main cast is predominantly human, with one crustacean-esque alien and one robot. Kif lives in Zapp's world, subject to Zapp's whims and dumb decisions.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Kif has some sword skills, training toward Guardian spec but he's not there yet.

His real strength lies in smoothing things over and cleaning things up after they've become messy. He can talk himself and Zapp out of situations, assess what's going wrong and futilely suggest solutions before things go completely awry.

Other strengths are his loyalty and determination.

Kif's greatest weakness is fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of standing up for himself, fear of doing more than simply ride in Zapp's wake. He doesn't enjoy being stalled, but it's far more comfortable than what else might be out there. He's doesn't have especially strong opinions one way or another; he doesn't have a strong sense of himself, he's wishy-washy.

Inventory

A donkey with riding gear
A hawk with falconry gear
Several suitcases full of Zapp's fancy clothing
Two suitcases of matching fancy clothing
A suitcase of soaps and scents
1 broadsword

Motivation

His idiot Chevalier wandered this way for some reason and now he's here to keep Zapp from dying.



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