empirica app

[gn002]

➺ PLAYER

Name: Alma
Age: 26
Preferred Contact Method: baklava
Current Characters: N/A

➺ CHARACTER

Character Name: Lockon Stratos (Neil Dylandy)
Character Age: 24
Canon: Post-death, episode 23, though he will be arriving with his eye injury healed (and alive, obviously)
Canon Point: Self explanatory.

History: Wiki link

Personality: Neil Dylandy, codename Lockon Stratos, is undeniably the glue that keeps the Gundam Meister team cohesive and working together. He fulfills the role of big brother quite easily with his easygoing and calm nature. This nature is something of a facade, however, presumably put on to hide the more ugly side of his personality.

This isn’t to say that his cheerful and laidback attitude isn’t genuine-- he is simply the type of person to conceal his emotions for the sake of those around him. The type to seethe and internalize his grievances. This is in stark contrast to the three other meisters on the team, who very much wear their negative emotions on their sleeve. Lockon genuinely comes to care for his team, and was one of the people repeatedly offering advice and kind words of encouragement. He’s friendly to the entire crew. He easily jokes around to try and break tense moments. He comforts a sad Feldt and gives her classified information about himself in the hopes of helping her feel better. For these reasons, Lockon gains the trust and respect of the rest of the crew.

As stated earlier, however, this easygoing nature isn’t the complete picture of who Neil Dylandy is. At times, it seems as though the appearance of this happy-go-lucky guy is more important for him to maintain, rather than risking his teammates finding out how truly lonely he is. In that respect, Neil may actually be the most distant of the meisters, holding people at arms’ length with such subtlety that they never realize how little they know of him. In one particular scene, for example, he intentionally plays a recording of a woman’s voice in the background during a radio transmission with Celestial Being, just to make the crewmembers think he was at some sort of party. In reality, he was alone in his car, secretly on his way to visit his parents’ graves.

Their deaths are the reason for Lockon’s emotional turmoil. They died because of a KPSA suicide bombing, an event which Lockon witnessed firsthand as a child. He has never been able to get over the trauma of that event, and that day created emotional scars that never heal. Ever since that fateful day, Lockon has committed his entire life and purpose to the cause of bringing peace to the world. He is, however, equally driven (perhaps even moreso) by the thought of avenging his family. It is for this reason that the mere mention of terrorists is enough to make Lockon lose his cool, and the anger he lets slip is both uncharacteristic and unhinged. The viewer is given these brief glimpses that all is not right in the world of Lockon. All of the Gundam meisters are broken or tormented for one reason or another-- Lockon is just the best at hiding it.

It should come as no surprise, then, that upon finding out that Setsuna was once a member of KPSA, Lockon nearly shoots him. This is well after they establish a relationship of trust and comradery. This scene also demonstrates that he isn’t completely unreasonable, however. He understands that Setsuna wants to atone for his past sins, and that he isn’t that type of person anymore. Convinced of Setsuna’s good intentions, he backs down and laughs it off.

The irony of “fighting for world peace” does not escape him, and he addresses this point multiple times in canon, acknowledging that being a Gundam meister makes him a hypocrite. And it does-- the Gundams are viewed as weapons of war, tools to inspire terror into nations and people and bully them into withdrawing their own military power. He responds to these accusations by promising to atone for his sins later, once world peace is actually realized. On the battlefield, he withdraws his emotions when it comes to fighting the enemy. He doesn’t hesitate to pull the trigger and eliminate whoever stands in the way of Celestial Being’s cause.

His loyalty and desire to protect his friends is greater than his sense of self-preservation. This is made clear by the selfless way he puts himself in danger to protect Tieria, rendering himself blind in one eye due to the injury. This is also very reckless, of course, a trait which he also possesses. He may not be the hotblooded shounen protagonist, but he gives Setsuna a good run for his money.

Unfortunately, anger and recklessness are the perfect recipe for tragedy. They are exactly what lead to Lockon’s demise. Blinded by rage, he foolishly heads into a dangerous battle alone and lets his anger butt his judgment. It is in this heartbreaking scene that we get a glimpse of just how angry and troubled Lockon has been this entire time. His very last words as he looks down on planet Earth are “Hey, you people down there. Are you happy with the way their world is? As for me, I hate it”.

His death affects the crew in a profound way. This is because, as stated earlier, he was beloved and respected by the entire crew. He was Setsuna’s constant partner in battle, and a strong grounding force for the young meister.. He was Allelujah’s friend, someone who was willing to joke around with him to ease the atmosphere. And lastly, Lockon was one of, if not THE major reason Tieria began to gain and understand human emotions. Even after his death, Lockon continued to be a guiding force and inspiration for the meisters and the Ptolemy crew.

Power & Abilities: Lockon is a normal human with no powers, but he does possess exceptional skills and abilities. The first and most obvious is that he is incredibly skilled at piloting the Gundam Dynames, implying that he would be comfortable piloting almost any type of mobile suit or mecha. His expertise in the mechanical side of these machines also inspired the development of the GN-006 Cherudim Gundam in canon.

His preferred method of fighting, whether in a mobile suit or on two feet, will always be long-range shooting and sniping. Dynames is a machine made to support the melee Gundam, Exia, from afar. It makes sense, given that his code name is a play on words (“Lock-on”), that his most notable skill is his exceptional marksmanship. His role is that of a sniper, and he has a vast array of knowledge in all types of firearms. In battle simulation tests, Lockon scored 90% accuracy in marksmanship.

However, in a pinch, Lockon isn’t too shabby at close-range fighting, either. He is proficient in hand-to-hand combat, both in and out of a mobile suit.

Inventory: Lockon’s special item will be his orange Haro, as well as a handgun. He will arrive in his piloting suit.

Game Plan: I expect that unless given motivation to, Lockon will wholeheartedly support the actions of the Empire. He is not a proponent of war, and would be fully aware of the hypocrisy of fighting for the side of imperialism, but as has been shown in canon, he will always fight for the side of “peace”. The insurgency force would be too similar to terrorism for him to support them, and nothing gets Lockon more riled up than terrorists. At least initially, he would follow orders well and only seek reward when it benefits his combat ability (and thus his ability to serve the Empire).

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