Charles F. Xavier (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
oxbridgethegap) wrote2014-06-07 06:27 am
oxbridgethegap) wrote2014-06-07 06:27 am
Consignment Application
CHARACTER INFO.
✖ Character Name: Xavier, Charles F.
✖ Canon: X-Men: First Class / Post-First Class
✖ Character Appearance: Here
✖ Character Age: 30
✖ Pick A Number: First: 944, Second: 962
✖ Canon Setting:
The world that Charles lives in is very similar to the real world, and even has the events of the movie set around real events like the Cuban Missile Crisis. The most noticeable difference is, of course, the existence of mutants. As Charles explains in the first movie, mutants are the next step in the evolution of humans. To the non-mutants of this Earth, Charles' theories are just that--theories. Mutants are a new enough concept that even Charles, who dedicates his PhD research to this subject, is surprised to find so many of them throughout the movie. It becomes clear that while mutants existed, most of them have chosen to conceal what they are, keeping the world in the dark--at least, until the very end of the movie.
Something that deeply affects the setting is the time period in which this movie takes place. Fear of the new and unknown is a constant with human history, but this sentiment is heightened even more in America during the Cold War. This America has a deep fear of nuclear war with the Soviets, and the tension that runs between the two nations is something that the antagonist Shaw, another mutant, takes advantage of.
Though the discovery of mutants is very new in the First Class film, mutant oppression already begins to show its hand and affect the way the characters of this universe think. There is an extreme emphasis on "being normal" or at least appearing to be normal, even amongst the mutants themselves. The most obvious examples would be Raven and Hank, who immediately connect because of the appearance their mutations give them. With Hank constantly being called "big foot" by a fellow mutant, and Raven being told she'd "never be deemed beautiful" in her natural blue form by Hank, it's no wonder that they (and other mutants) would put such priority on "looking" normal and trying to fit in.
But, obviously, simply looking normal doesn't cut it either, even this early on. Mutants are still "freaks" to other people, like the government officials that they're trying so hard to help. It's incredibly degrading the way that they're treated, so much that Angel says she prefers men looking at her with her clothes off than some government officials look at her as a mutant. This conscious, intentional shunning of the mutants plays a huge part in the mutant and non-mutant relationship in this film. It leads to Angel, thinking she won't ever belong with humans, defecting to Shaw's group of mutants. It leads to the Soviet and American navies teaming up in an attempt to wipe them out in Cuba. (When any of the American government officials spare a thought for the people on the beach, they only think of Moira, who is a non-mutant.) And most importantly, it sets up a precedent for the mutants being regarded as "threats" that need to be controlled or wiped out.
Both of these themes (normalising and/or controlling mutants) continue throughout the X-Men films. The Mutant Registration Act introduced by Senator Kelly in the first film, the attack on Xavier's school in the second, and the creation of the Sentinels in Days of Future Past are all examples of the continuing hostilities between the mutants and non-mutants. It's also obvious that even those who don't aim to kill the mutants still are a long way from accepting them as they are. The "cure" created to eliminate the effects of the x-gene is the main example of this, and says a lot about the way mutants are viewed. Rather than helping the mutants understand the powers they are born with, non-mutants would prefer to make them "normal" again.
Though the tension between the Americans and the Soviets does play a huge role in the First Class film, there were other politics important to the setting and time period of the film. Particularly: the Civil Rights Movement with Martin Luther King Jr. at the forefront. In a way, it's important to note the Lincoln Memorial that acts as a backdrop to Charles and Erik's conversation in one scene, serving as a reminder the way it did for those present at Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech (also given in front of the monument). Though Lincoln accomplished something great when he abolished slavery, the struggle of the African Americans continued on, just as the struggle of the mutants did. There are undoubtedly parallels between the two movements--they both focus on appearances and on discrimination against those considered "different". Most importantly, the Civil Rights Movement emphasised nonviolence and peaceful protest, showing the mutants that recognition could be won without bloodshed.
✖ Character History: The Professor (Only First Class information is relevant)
✖ Character Personality:
When Charles is first introduced as an adult, he's very flippant about using his powers, treating them as an aid to pulling women in bars. Yet he's quick to anger with his adopted sister Raven when distress makes her hold on her disguise slip a little (her eyes change colour). The short argument that follows paints Charles as a hypocrite; Raven's observation that it’s “fine as long as the mutation is invisible” like Charles’ telepathy is a very good way of describing it. Because Charles’ power can be used freely without notice—and even if it is noticed, he can quickly remedy the situation—he does not have an understanding of Raven’s feelings regarding her outer appearance. Charles admits as much when he tells her that he doesn’t understand why she’s “awfully preoccupied” with her looks...even while he actively encourages her to hide her blue skin. This, coupled with Charles’ own preoccupation with appearances (in society’s eyes), becomes a point of contention between the siblings as the film develops. Charles’ inability to connect with Raven on this point is a strange oversight on his part, considering his abilities, but makes sense when linked to a few other traits of his.
One such trait would be Charles’ sense of honour. Though his boundaries and morals can, admittedly, be grey when it comes to his telepathy, he does refrain from probing deeply into someone’s mind while happily giving himself access to the surface thoughts. The way he handles certain interactions indicates he values having consent, unless he believes using his abilities are necessary (i.e.: lives are in danger). While Charles does threaten to read Raven’s mind near the end of the film, he keeps himself from doing so out of respect for his promise to her, even when their altercations get more and more heated. A quick peek into her mind would probably give Charles enough information to work things out with Raven, but he opts to talk to her, giving her the chance to explain her feelings instead. Charles extends the same courtesy to Erik, as well, when they first meet, despite him being a complete stranger. It’s only when convincing Erik to let go of Shaw’s submarine (before he drowns himself) that Charles pulls up the memories. Even then, the choice is Erik’s to make: instead of forcing Erik to release the submarine, Charles takes the time to speak to him mentally. Charles’ sense of honour makes another appearance while he and Erik are training on the Xavier mansion grounds. Despite having seen a good portion of Erik’s memories already, Charles makes a point of asking him for permission before delving in again. With that, it becomes clear that Charles operates under some sort of moral code, though it probably doesn’t make sense to anyone but himself.
Stubbornness is another trait that contributes to Charles’ troubles with the other characters. While standing by one’s beliefs can generally be considered a good thing, Charles sometimes has too much self assurance, making it very difficult for him to compromise with the others. When he firmly believes himself to be in the right, very few things will get him to change his mind. In these instances, Charles can come across as arrogant or patronising—as Erik points out—even when he doesn’t mean to. This generally stems from his unwillingness to hear the other side of the argument. Again, this trait shows itself the most often with Raven and Erik. For Raven, Charles cannot comprehend her desire to be accepted in her blue skin because it wars with his desire to “be a part of society,” as Raven puts it. For Erik, killing for revenge, as well as aligning themselves against the “lesser humans,” are both ideas that Charles cannot condone. As a result, he resists their attempts to sway him from his initial opinions, making it seem inconsiderate of their feelings, when this is not the case.
His many shortcomings aside, there’s a reason even Erik and Raven, the two who quarrel with Charles the most often, still care for him. Once he has the chance to grow a bit, Charles shows that he has an abundance of empathy, optimism, and generosity to balance out his negative traits. Despite his earlier fun-loving, devil-may-care attitude, Charles immediately reorganises his priorities as soon as Moira brings the situation with Shaw to his attention. He’s very responsible once it comes down to it, and the well-being of the mutants he and Erik discovered out-weigh his own enthusiasm for learning about their abilities in the end. Though he and Erik spent so much time looking for the others, Charles was reluctant to risk their safety after the CIA base was attacked. Since the younger mutants wanted to stay—and also had nowhere else to go once the base had been destroyed—Charles opened his home to them, making sure they knew they were welcome there (“This is yours?” – “No, it’s ours.”). In addition to that, Charles also took on the responsibility of helping his new students grow into their abilities. While it’s true he and Erik needed the extra help bringing Shaw’s plans to a close, Charles still displays an admirable amount of patience and optimism, helping them overcome any obstacles they run into.
✖ Character Powers & Skills:
POWERS
Telepathy: As a mutant, Charles' ability centers around the mind and what it contains: thoughts, memories, as well as its functions (such as motor and sensory control). Due to both the level of his power and the broadness of it, Charles' telepathy serves many purposes throughout the film.
✗ Mind-reading: The ability to reach into another person's mind and know exactly what they are thinking. Considering Charles' range and power, he likely catches stray thoughts from his surroundings without trying to, especially if the thoughts are "loud" and focused.
✗ Thought projection: The ability to "speak" into someone else's mind and communicate with them mentally. Charles uses this frequently, often when the person is not in the room with him or if their current setting doesn't allow for normal speaking.
✗ Memory access: The ability to see another person's memories, and the ability to erase them. With Erik, Charles was able to look for a specific type of memory (a happy one) and bring it to Erik's attention. With Moira, at the end of the film, Charles pin-pointed her memories of the school and erased only those.
✗ Empathy: The ability to understand what another person is feeling. This goes hand in hand with his ability to find memories. When he "sees" another person's memories, Charles seems to experience them as the person experienced them. For example, he tells Erik that he "felt his agony" when referring to the horrors Erik had to endure in Sebastian Shaw's hands.
✗ Mental Signifier: The ability to recognise minds and pinpoint specific ones. While Charles uses this ability consciously to find his comrades at times, he also seems to register the presence of other minds subconsciously. It's only because of this ability that Charles was able to sense Erik in the water when they were pursuing Shaw for the first time.
✗ Sensory control: The ability to experience the senses through another person and the ability to control what sensory information another person can receive. Charles uses this ability to "eavesdrop" (listening in on Emma and the Russian official's conversation) and to shield him and his comrades from potential threats. While tracking Shaw in Russia, Charles was able to keep the guards from seeing their military party in the back of the vehicle.
✗ Motor control: The ability to completely control the body of another person. The milder form of this ability would be implanting suggestions to convince a person to do something. Charles uses this ability sparingly, and only in dire situations, such as preventing nuclear war. The most prominent example of this would be him controlling the Soviet naval official to fire upon their own ship. When Charles exercises this ability completely, the person he was controlling doesn't have any memory of their actions when Charles releases them.
SKILLS
Marksmanship: Though he's never shown actually shooting anyone, Charles at least demonstrates he knows how to handle and use a pistol. Since he prefers using his telepathy to carry out their missions for the government, it's safe to assume he probably isn't a great shot, but can at least use the weapon when it's necessary.
Stealth: New as he is to working with the CIA, Charles picks up on the importance of stealth immediately. Most of his information is gathered through his telepathy, but there's skill in the way he uses his mutation; instead of barging in and making things worse
CHARACTER SAMPLES.
✖ First Person POV: Test Drive Thread
✖ Third Person POV:
It's lonely in the study, Charles thinks to himself one day. Though the boys--Sean, Alex, and Hank--are still about somewhere on the grounds, the school feels emptier. There are two rooms near his that are now empty, have been empty since that day in Cuba, and Charles feels the silence keenly whenever he passes by them. There's another room that's empty too, now that Charles has sent Moira away. Charles feels that absence as well, along with Angel and Darwin's--two other mutants who he's lost too soon after they were found.
How many more will be lost by the time the rest of the world accepts us?
The knock on the door surprises him. "Enter," he calls, startled from his thoughts. The middle-aged man who enters the study is unfamiliar to him, and immediately, Charles feels something uneasy settle in his gut. "What can I do for you..." Charles trails off, voice purposely light as he wordlessly asks for his name.
"I would like to keep my name off the record for now, Mr. Xavier," the man replies, neatly side stepping Charles' question. "After Cuba, you can understand why some of us would prefer to keep this conversation quiet."
So the man works for the government, Charles guesses, settling back into his chair with a carefully blank expression. It's the only explanation, when the government is too worried about mass panic to release information about the mutants just yet.
"It's terrible, what they tried to do you when you were only helping," the man continues, seemingly oblivious to Charles' scrutiny. "There are some who would like to help you and your cause, Xavier, if only you would help us in return. We, unlike the officials who turned on you, do not discriminate as long as you put your abilities to good use."
"I believe my students and I have had enough of working with the government for now, though it is kind of you to offer." Charles nods at the door, politely asking the man to leave. He and the boys have each other now; as tempting as the offer is, he does not think it's right for them, not when they're still learning how to fill the empty spaces Raven and Erik have left behind.
To his relief, the man stands and makes for the door with a resigned sigh and murmur of agreement. Just when Charles is expecting the door to close behind him, the stranger speaks up again, turning in the doorway.
"Just one more question, if you don't mind." He doesn't wait for Charles to agree. "You would do anything within your power to keep your students and any other mutants like them safe, wouldn't you? That was the impression I got."
"Yes," Charles says, looking up with a frown. "Of course I would."
Those are the last words he speaks before his world goes black.
CHARACTER ITEMS.
✖ Pick a Team: Red Team
✖ Reason for Joining the CDC: Though Charles didn't know what he was getting into specifically, he said "yes" because of his desire to help the mutants in his world. He'd recently been disillusioned by the American and Soviet navies both turning on the mutants after they stopped Shaw from starting a nuclear war, and would do whatever he can to create a safer world for the mutants, whether they are associated with his school or not.
✖ Mission Freebie: Nothing
✖ Personal Item or Weapon: his pistol
✖ Character Inventory:
Clothes:
- Blue suit
- White dress shirt & grey tie
Confiscated Items:
- Wheel chair
- Wallet with pictures of him & Raven
REVISIONS
Though the discovery of mutants is very new in the First Class film, mutant oppression already begins to show its hand and affect the way the characters of this universe think. There is an extreme emphasis on "being normal" or at least appearing to be normal, even amongst the mutants themselves. The most obvious examples would be Raven and Hank, who immediately connect because of the appearance their mutations give them. With Hank constantly being called "big foot" by a fellow mutant, and Raven being told she'd "never be deemed beautiful" in her natural blue form by Hank, it's no wonder that they (and other mutants) would put such priority on "looking" normal and trying to fit in.
But, obviously, simply looking normal doesn't cut it either, even this early on. Mutants are still "freaks" to other people, like the government officials that they're trying so hard to help. It's incredibly degrading the way that they're treated, so much that Angel says she prefers men looking at her with her clothes off than some government officials look at her as a mutant. This conscious, intentional shunning of the mutants plays a huge part in the mutant and non-mutant relationship in this film. It leads to Angel, thinking she won't ever belong with humans, defecting to Shaw's group of mutants. It leads to the Soviet and American navies teaming up in an attempt to wipe them out in Cuba. (When any of the American government officials spare a thought for the people on the beach, they only think of Moira, who is a non-mutant.) And most importantly, it sets up a precedent for the mutants being regarded as "threats" that need to be controlled or wiped out.
Both of these themes (normalising and/or controlling mutants) continue throughout the X-Men films. The Mutant Registration Act introduced by Senator Kelly in the first film, the attack on Xavier's school in the second, and the creation of the Sentinels in Days of Future Past are all examples of the continuing hostilities between the mutants and non-mutants. It's also obvious that even those who don't aim to kill the mutants still are a long way from accepting them as they are. The "cure" created to eliminate the effects of the x-gene is the main example of this, and says a lot about the way mutants are viewed. Rather than helping the mutants understand the powers they are born with, non-mutants would prefer to make them "normal" again.
Though the tension between the Americans and the Soviets does play a huge role in the First Class film, there were other politics important to the setting and time period of the film. Particularly: the Civil Rights Movement with Martin Luther King Jr. at the forefront. In a way, it's important to note the Lincoln Memorial that acts as a backdrop to Charles and Erik's conversation in one scene, serving as a reminder the way it did for those present at Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech (also given in front of the monument). Though Lincoln accomplished something great when he abolished slavery, the struggle of the African Americans continued on, just as the struggle of the mutants did. There are undoubtedly parallels between the two movements--they both focus on appearances and on discrimination against those considered "different". Most importantly, the Civil Rights Movement emphasised nonviolence and peaceful protest, showing the mutants that recognition could be won without bloodshed.
✖ Character Personality:
Erik and Raven are both incredibly important to Charles, though they each have different roles to play in his life. While the beginning of the film paints Charles as someone who has little difficulty fitting in with a crowd, it definitely wasn't that way when he was a child. Charles' own comments about his mother, and the absence of his father, hint at a lonely childhood in the Xavier's spacious home. As intelligent as Charles is, the burden of hearing other people's thoughts at age ten can become overwhelming, especially when the telepath has no idea what's happening. In that way, Raven's appearance so soon after Charles' abilities manifest allows her to become Charles' anchor and reassures him that something else may be going on. From believing he's the only one to realising there might be others out there like he and Raven, you could say his foster sister not only gives him a much-needed companion but also awakens the side of him that's curious to know more about mutants (though they weren't called that before).
In Erik, he finds someone who can be his equal, someone who can help him make his wishes for the mutants become reality. It's symbolic, the way that Erik is the only one Charles plays chess with, despite Hank being incredibly intelligent as well. He also sees in Erik someone who has so much untapped potential that he can't help but be drawn to it. Curiosity and the desire to push someone to their limits are both traits that Charles exhibits in the film--while he's studying the younger mutants' abilities and helping them train, in particular--and Erik appeals to both of them in spades. Though he doesn't pity Erik for his experiences, not exactly, Charles sees how the anger has limited what Erik can do with his mutation, and has a genuine desire to help his friend overcome that obstacle and continues to push him until he does.
Though Charles has a sense of honour when using his telepathy, much of that is also linked to both pride and curiosity. There are times where Charles does not actively go searching for information, and hears the thoughts of the people around him when they are emotional or loud enough to reach him. (i.e. him sensing Erik in the water and catching some backlash from whatever Erik was feeling at the moment). In those moments, he justifies it as simply an effect of his telepathy that would require extra effort to suppress. The other times, where he does graze the surface thoughts for information, it's out of a sense of curiosity when the target is someone of interest. Others might see it as an invasion of privacy, but Charles would argue otherwise when it comes to those surface thoughts, as they're information he believes he would have obtained somewhere down the line anyway. With the woman at the bar, simply asking her what she preferred would have given him the information he wanted; with Moira, she'd sought him out and would have eventually explained why. The best summary of this thought-process would be in his confrontation with Raven toward the end of the film, when he threatens to read her mind; she says "you promised you'd never do that" and he replies that until recently, he's never had to use his telepathy to know what she was thinking.
Charles is undoubtedly arrogant in the way he assumes things, but his skewed sense of honour does eventually come into play, specifically when he outs Hank to the other mutants. Given his surprise, it's obvious he'd thought it was something Hank had meant to share (again, information that would have been gained shortly). The way he seems to take a step back from helping himself to other people's thoughts after that--asking Erik for permission and keeping his promise to Raven until he's literally bleeding on the beach--implies he's genuinely remorseful about sharing what he'd deem as "private".
In the film, optimistic and oddly naive that Charles is when it comes to violence, in the end he does come to see that conflict (and violence) may not be as avoidable as he'd first believed. With America having just come out of War World II and in the midst of the Cold War, Charles embodies the peaceful, anti-war sentiment. Even so, his experience in Cuba has shown him that fear and hate makes people act irrationally, and that even the most rational attempts at peace might not work when people are actively perpetuating conflict. Because of this, he prefers to see the mutant and non-mutant situation as a misunderstanding rather than a war. Charles does not want to "choose" a side when he believes that they each see things too black and white. So while he will not stand by and watch people he thinks do not deserve it get hurt, he (and his students, so he hopes) will stay firmly in the middle, where extremists like Erik's group and the non-humans may one day be able to meet. Through this path, he would not have to compromise his own beliefs while also providing knowledge, guidance, and another opportunity to those who might otherwise feel they need to side one way or another.