"Captain" Wilhelm Burnell
Biography
Note: This profile is meant to give a broad description of his general character across 'verses.
Specific guises / AUs will get their own profiles in time, complete with rough outlines for their chief uniting plot concepts.
Whether said concepts see full realization or not, they can serve as the basis for good exchange content regardless.
You may also want to note that there is a general TW for religiously-motivated self-harm and self-torment, particularly of the genital variety. This is especially true in the Priest continuity.
Mind the warning for implied child abuse/exploitation as well, and nuanced religious themes generally.
Wilhelm Burnell is a man of mixed Anglo-German ancestry, with both a strong Puritan streak and perhaps a dash of aristocratic nobility in his distant lineage. He appears in several different forms, limited to three main ones at present: a level-headed actor in either the modern day or the 1960s-70s, a fanatical priest (of either Lutheran or Catholic provenance), and even an emperor of a vast domain. What unites all three of these disparate incarnations is a background of trauma, as well as a broken childhood filled with painful truths that Wilhelm would rather deny than confront head-on. He is a dour, pessimistic soul at the best of times, whose belief in the needs of the greater good surpasses his faith in humanity in his less stable continuities.
Regardless, he is a man of strong moral fiber and devotion, and always seems to have at least some aspect of religious faith present in his life. Unlike similar zealots, he is no hypocrite in his martyr-flavored settings. In terms of exacting standards, he holds himself to the absolute highest, even to the point of it being unhealthy. His actor guise enjoys the soundest mind, relatively speaking, and yet even then he carries great self-imposed burdens upon his shoulders and seems to often be depressed.
Deep beneath his hidden troubles and misgivings, Wilhelm longs for comfort, emotional safety, and loving care, three things that his family largely failed to grant him in the form he craved. However, it isn't easy for him to admit to these needs, especially when they're being offered by those he despises and distrusts. It's no wonder, then, that he tends to put his faith in higher powers and lofty abstract ideals as opposed to fallible mortals.
Some of his woes may point to why certain acts of magic are so effective on him, but that, perhaps, is a tangle to be explored another time, and by other means.
Relationships
Lothar Burnell (Father)
Wilhelm remembers his father as being a man of quiet and stable convictions, a practical provider who held family values foremost in his mind. The truth behind Wilhelm's rosy memories is far murkier and more unpleasant, though it must be said that Lothar rationalized his questionable actions as simply "pragmatic." He never really liked his son all that much anyway, and showed the most favor to his daughter.
Rosemary Burnell (Mother)
She did what she could for Wilhelm, but admittedly he scared her. There was a seriousness about him that reminded her far too much of her ill-fated brother, a frightening religious zealot who wandered off into the woods to live dressed in furs and sackcloth among the animals before being committed. She didn't have high hopes for his life beyond childhood, and wondered if it would be good for him to even live that long.
Ricarda Burnell (Sister)
Ricarda was always fond of her older brother, and liked to hang around him even when cross-sex friendships were frowned upon by her peers. Still, she never quite understood him. He was frequently quiet and distant, and didn't seem to be as fond of rough-and-tumble outdoor games and manual tasks as she was. While she loved to carry out tomboyish building projects in the yard, her brother would often be under a tree somewhere, reading a religious text and poring over its meaning whenever he wasn't playing with immaculately-kept toy steam shovels. Small wonder, then, that he moved on to airier things in life while she remained behind to carry on a more grounded trade.
???
A friend of Lothar's on some professional basis. He and Lothar in tandem are responsible for almost all of Wilhelm's issues to this day.
Valeria Sommerset
"WITCH!"
...But in all seriousness, Wilhelm has exceptional difficulty coming to terms with how this woman makes him feel. She is a libertine, heretical, free-spirited and careless, all things that he cannot in good conscience allow himself to be. So why is it that he is drawn to her, again and again, regardless of lifetime? Perhaps they are marked in some way, fated to be entwined forever...or perhaps it is all the fault of a malicious, covetous hex.
Appearance
Complexion:
Weathered, beige-ish tan.
Facial features:
A hard, sober expression tends to be his default. One of his eyes is blind, apparently due to a hereditary cataract disorder...or so he claims. At times he has a few rough patches of stubble, but he keeps clean-shaven mostly.
Hair:
His hair is always kept buzzed short in a militaristic hairstyle; he sometimes shaves it off completely for ritualistic reasons, but he allows it to grow back over time.
Body:
A toned and strong, yet lithe man. Neither skinny nor large in any sense of the word, Wilhelm is nonetheless fighting fit and carries the muscular rewards of a hard life.
In his extremist guises, his fingernails and toenails are blackened, not by polish but by old injuries. In these 'verses, his hands and feet have sustained numerous self-inflicted wounds, and bear the bruises and disfigurements to show for it. Only in his actor guise is he largely free of such marring.
He shaves his chest hair, but may sometimes leave his armpits and other hairy areas alone. It varies depending on his mood and level of religious fanaticism, however. At his most extreme, his body might as well be completely waxed.
Fashion Plate:
He tends towards the sober and respectable in whatever guise he's in. He is an extremely conservative dresser, and you will not find him caught dead in anything "suggestive," at least by his own choice. If he's in a desperate situation and relies on a benefactor to clothe him, it might be possible to see him in such outlandish getups as band tees and vintage/retro bowling shirts. And if he's a prisoner, well...he might not have much choice regarding his wardrobe.
Religious garb in particular suits him, especially robes and cassocks. His outfits can look quite drab in his more "zealous" guises, as at that point his frothing extremism begins to override his senses and modesty takes on a different meaning to him (namely, anything that wouldn't violate sumptuary laws in his eyes is good to go). If he's gone full zealot in an antiquarian era, he may wear little more than ragged robes.
Though he doesn't want anyone to know it, he keeps himself locked in a chastity belt. Note that this is only in his already extremist guises...his actor self would be mortified and bemused at the idea of wearing one pre-zealotification.
Trivia
Hobbies:
Reading scripture, glowering at strangers with his good eye, listening to radio sermons, pipe smoking/taking snuff, infrequent hunting and shooting, being a judgmental and prudish Puritan revivalist.
Favorite Food:
Hearty German fare, tea, tea cookies/biscuits, milk, peppermint candy, strong black coffee.
Voice:
Distinguished yet incredibly desperate and fanatical. He has a faint German accent due to his upbringing abroad, as well as strong English enunciation. Think the voice listed below, but with a little more of a Germanic lilt.
Canonical Voice Origin:
Victor Saltzpyre by Tim Bentinck
Other Interesting Universal Facts:
- He isn't a frequent drinker, and stays away from it for moral reasons. However, during those rare past occasions when someone got him drunk, he seemed to become almost childishly happy and literally forgot about his troubles.
- Sometimes he has a "tramp stamp" or a similar arcane branding. Sometimes. And it is obvious who gave it to him.
- He doesn't become embarrassed easily, but when he does, it hits him hard.
- He has no tolerance for sexual abuse nor harassment, and if he witnesses such a thing happening to someone else, he will intervene however he can.
- He detests when people pronounce his name in the English fashion. Always and forever, it is to be "Vilhelm" in his presence.