Rad Rider-Kamakura, Orb Noble

[Rad 0]

General

 

Full name: Rad Rider-Kamakura

Nickname: Rad

Age: 24

Gender: Male

Race: Natural

Occupation: Psychologist, Aspiring Officer/Pilot

Birthplace: United Emirates of Orb

Citizenship: Orb

Personality: While the general perception is that Rad Rider is the epitome of nice, it is part of his grand act. His mastery of human thinking and emotions has allowed him to perfectly control his own feelings and manipulate those of others, by taking on any personality he needs to be, at any time. He can be kind and gentle to those who are downtrodden in one second, then harsh and condescending to those who are arrogant the next. A firm believer in the Neo-Machiavellian philosophy of, "The end justifies the means, so long as the end is for the greater good of Orb," Rad is willing to take on any role that will help further the interests of his native land.

Position/Rank: Representative of Orb, Second Lieutenant

 

Appearance

 

Height: 5'7" (170 cm)

Weight: 150 lbs. (65 kg)

Hair Colour and Style: Short blond hair that's neatly trimmed and flows lightly like feathers in the breeze. Curiously, no matter how much it gets messed up, it always returns to a tidy position when left to it's own devices.

Eye Colour: Sea blue, which reflects the wondrous ocean that surrounds his beloved home of Orb - an ocean that can turn from tranquil to fierce without warning, and change back just as quickly.

Identifying Marks: Rad takes care of his appearance with borderline obsession, as he knows the importance of making a good first impression. As a result, his most striking feature is his entire look: more than a few have said that the most fitting description of him is 'royalty', with the word 'bishounnen' (pretty boy) coming a close second, as he has been mistaken for a girl on more than a handful of occasions.

Skin Tone: Lighty tanned, a result of a gentle mix of the tropical sun of Orb, and the artificial lightning on Persepolis.

Build: Surprisingly, his build is more feminine than the average male, and his clothing just enhances his curves, making it the number one reason he gets mistaken for a female.

Clothing: Rad is enamored with the blue and white color scheme of the FREE Forces uniforms. To that extent, he has paid to make his entire wardrobe similar, and is usually garbed in an ensemble consisting of a set of barely fitting shirt and pants with matching cloak and boots that makes him look even more regal than he already does. The cloak is kept from blowing away by a thick black belt that has a silver buckle. On the buckle, the logo of Orb is engraved, with the word 'Duty' right below it.

Handiness: Right-handed

Other: He has a wide vocal range, and can speak normally even when he emulates the tone of a female.

[align=center][shadow=red,left]Rad Rider[/shadow]

Ky Kiske (Guilty Gear) © Sammy[/align]

 

Background

 

Mother: Torrie Rider-Kamakura (2nd-generation Coordinator, Distant Orb Nobility)

Father: Matthias Rider (Natural, Retired Orb Veteran)

Siblings: None

Wife/Girlfriend: None, but Rad secretly hopes to find a girl who wouldn't mind her boyfriend being hounded by other girls and, on rare occasions, save him from other guys who mistake him for a girl. He also hopes he'll find her in the military as well, so she'd understand his idealistic sense of duty, but still have a mind of her own and the confidence to tell him if she disagrees.

 

Personal History:

Having lived through the harrowing Bloody Valentine Wars of 71 and 73, Rad decided that he would use his inherited intelligence – one that allowed him to quickly learn anything he set his mind to learning – to understand why humankind acted the way it did. He spent most of his adolescent life learning about how the human mind works and, in doing so, gained unparalleled understanding of the intricacies of social interaction and human emotion. This fascination with psychology developed into an obsession, and soon enough he had learned everything he could on the subject before he even took his first college course in that field. His studies revealed that psychology was not simply an academic pursuit; it had practical applications as well, with the most important being politics. Rad had concluded that the wars he had lived through were, in their simplest form, a matter of one side trying to force its ideals on the other. It was quite evident all throughout: Naturals against Coordinators, Earth Alliance against ZAFT, and even his beloved Orb against those two factions. All of these conflicts, Rad hypothesized, occurred because mankind could not let go of their individual ideals and beliefs.

 

Browsing through mankind's history on the matter proved his hypothesis time and time again, eventually leading Rad Rider to discover a simple yet often overlooked truth: those who are unwilling to adapt, do not survive. Though that truth was frightening in itself, what really frightened Rad was knowing that Orb, the bastion of idealism and resistance to change, would eventually fall because of it’s own inability to sway with the times. He could not, and would not, let that happen, but although he had the intelligence to know what needed to be done – that much was certain – he also needed wisdom in order to know when the time to act was right. Wisdom, as his books said, came only from experience.

 

As he had already mastered the science of psychology, Rad spent his undergraduate years experimenting with those around him, reinventing himself to suit every possible situation he could come across. He excelled in etiquette, public speaking, performance and even fashion, for he knew long ago that impressions counted for far more than what was commonly believed, knowledge that Rad could easily put into practice, given his striking inherited beauty. Though already a darling student in primary and secondary school, his popularity grew drastically in college, from the first day he was a freshman, all the way through the years he was taking his Masters degree. At one point, he was the Student Council President, ‘Romeo’ in their annual Shakespeare theatre, Debate team captain, Senior Peer Counselor, and even Student Ambassador of Orb, all at the same time. It seemed as though Rad was on everybody’s lips, whether they loved him or hated him. There was no one around who did not have an opinion of him.

 

His goal was achieved. Living as a veritable celebrity had given him the wisdom he sought, as he learned which actions and words were best for each situation. In fact, those that had an opinion of him had actually formulated them exactly as Rad intended them to. Manipulation and control of others came easily to him, and no one could tell whether he was being real or fake. Rad Rider had finally reached the level of adaptability he hoped for, and he vowed to use his unique ability to save Orb from itself. However, he could not do it by taking further studies and earning a Doctorate degree, as to do so would prove that he was not able to change and had thus failed his quest. As such, in a move that stunned everyone, especially his family, his first act as a Master of Science in Psychology was to enlist in the military. As he expected, he was deluged with questions, answering each as he had planned, saying that Orb’s defenders would benefit from the guidance of someone as qualified as he. Even in the light of intense media coverage, none suspected that Rad was fighting a lonely war to keep his nation from falling under the weight of it’s own faults.

 

All the while Rad was undergoing the enlistment process, a heart attack took the life of Harold Kamakura, who had represented the Kamakura family for the Orb Union's ruling aristocracy following the PEACE Treaty. The senior representative had never married, and was not known to have sired any heirs, and for a time it was thought that a new family of nobles would take the seat he left. Following his funeral, the aristocracy immediately commissioned the nation's genealogists to trace the Kamakura's family line, leading them to no less than Rad's mother, Torrie Rider-Kamakura. It turned out that among the remaining members of the Kamakura family, she was the closest relative the departed representative had, despite being more than three generations removed from him. However, Torrie Rider-Kamakura had made it clear that she was content in her life as a mother and a wife, and although she quickly admitted her noble roots, she knew that she did not have the qualifications to lead. For all intents and purposes, Torrie Rider-Kamakura had declined the seat of power. Of course, that meant her son would be next in line. That meant that Rad would be the next Kamakura representative of Orb.

 

Rad had thought he planned for any eventuality, but the announcement that he was slated to be among the ruling nobility took him by honest surprise. The FREE Forces uniform he had been issued had barely been sewed, and now he was to become a leader of his beloved nation. It took Rad a couple of days before he could make a final decision, but in the end, he understood that his personal quest to shield Orb from itself and it's enemies could only benefit from his serving both as a soldier and a diplomat. In a widely publicized inauguration, he accepted the position, changing his name to Rad Rider-Kamakura in accordance with the law of the land. However, he surprised the masses again when he refused an offer to promote him to a full Admiral, given his position in both Orb's government and military. He explained that he wished to prove himself worthy of any promotions that were to be given to him, to be treated no differently than the other loyal soldiers of Orb. Though this eloquent response earned him the respect and admiration of many, in reality, Rad was simply trying to ensure that he would always be in the best position to observe his nation.

Edited October 27, 2006 by Guest

[Valiant 96]

Great job. Rad's a pretty highflier eh? (pun intended)

[Vanguardian 0]

A Neo-Machiavellian, eh?  Well, I'm not sure what the "neo-" means, but I do know a little about Machiavelli as I have read "The Prince" back in the eleventh grade .  (I read it on my free time.  I'm not a book worm or anything, but the guy sounded really insightful when I caught a glimpse of a documentary my history teacher happened to be showing to another class).  What I learned and what many people overlook when speaking of Machiavelli is that he had also written something called "The Discourses," which conveyed his beliefs about the strengths of a republic over a sovereign ruler and how it is an ideal form of government.  From your character's bio, I wonder if he ever read "The Discourses" and if it would change his perspectives. 

 

Anyways, I, too, plan to introduce someone with Machiavellian beliefs, though he will be one who takes part in only battle and not politics.  In history good military leaders don't usually make good politicians and good politicians don't make good military leaders, so I'm wondering how your character will juggle both.  Even in Gundam SEED, Cagalli did pilot the Strike Rouge and Akatsuki, but when it came time she had to forget about being a pilot and focus on ruling Orb.  Rad better not get shot down in battle, that's for sure.

[Rad 0]

In history good military leaders don't usually make good politicians and good politicians don't make good military leaders, so I'm wondering how your character will juggle both.

 

As I wrote in the biography, Rad is well aware that "those who are unwilling to adapt, do not survive."

 

"Neo-" just means that he has adapted the basic philosophy with his own personal ideals and beliefs, making it "new". It implies that Rad does not follow Machiavelli's philosophies to the letter; if he did, he would have proven himself incapable of independent thinking, and would thus be a failure by his own standards.

 

As for "The Discourses", it would not change his perspectives. Rad did not aspire to be a leader of Orb, and Orb is already run by a civilian aristocracy, not by a sovereign ruler. Besides, an in-depth analysis of Machiavelli's works and their effect on his psyche would be too much (bordering on irrelevant) for purposes of a character biography.