Character Name: Nathan "Nate" Drake Series: Uncharted Gender: Male Age & Canon Point: Fifteen & Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, mid-chapter 3, while running away from Marlowe's agents and before being cornered Entry position: Cadet Requested Sponsor: Carbuncle History:Uncharted Wiki! Moredeets (two separate links) on this particular canon point.
A bit of VIII world history to account for the "made your way to Balamb Garden": Upon finding himself in Balamb instead of Cartagena, Nate was both relieved that there was no longer anyone shooting at him, and a little disgruntled by having to learn to adapt to a new place. He blended in with some success until he was caught stealing food. The Balamb town council, trying to punish him, realized no one in town knew him, and Nate didn't know enough about the world for his story about being a tourist to hold up, so the council deduced that he was an off-worlder. Without a guardian around, Nate was sent to the recently returned Balamb Garden so that someone would take responsibility for him, with the proviso that he still complete his community service for the theft.
So, really, he didn't so much "made his way to Balamb Garden" as he was dragged there by the authorities.
Abilities & Physical Abnormalities: He's pretty good at parkour, he's fluent in Spanish as well as English, and and he fluently reads Latin, but usually nothing superhuman.
His Limit Break is Nate's Super Moves in PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale (which probably isn't part of his canonical history and if it is, is way past this canon point):
Crisis level 1: Nate summons a propane tank from nowhere, throws it, and shoots it (did he not have a gun before? he has one now). BOOM.
Crisis level 2 and 3 (I'm merging the middle two levels because PSASBR had three levels of Super Moves; also his level 3 Super is overpowered): Nate summons a huge stone pillar from nowhere and pushes it over on top of whoever's in the way.
Crisis level 4: Nate summons the El Dorado sarcophagus from nowhere (are we sensing the theme of PSASBR), which releases a virus that afflicts the enemy party with the Zombie status and does significant physical damage to them. (This is an VIII-verse adaptation of what in PSASBR turns everyone into zombies which can then be one shotted. See what I mean about overpowered?) All these summoned objects disappear within a few moments.
Personality: (As Nate is only shown at this age for a two chapter flashback, I'm backing some stuff up here with examples from later in canon, because you can see the seeds of some of his traits at this age.)
At this canon point, Nate is living on the streets and has been for some time. This means that his first reaction to strangers or at least strange adults is A) caution, and B) distrust. He is not used to people showing him kindness, and tends to suspect them of ulterior motives and/or actually call them crazy for it; he also has to test his boundaries with people, as demonstrated when, with a free meal and soda in front of him, he only sarcastically thanks his benefactor and even makes a swipe for his beer.
However, he's gotten from the US to Colombia on his own (note: I assume he's American given his accent when speaking English), which has probably at some point involved trusting and even being friendly to someone. (I really don't think he walked the whole way, especially at the US-Mexico border.) It's likely that these moments of trust have been on instinct, as he later comes to trust them in later life (though his instincts are by no means infallible, as Nate gets backstabbed by friends sadly often throughout the games). As an adult he's easygoing with his friends and willing to chat to strangers even in the face of a huge language barrier, and I headcanon that though his current caution is trained, extroversion comes more naturally to him - the third game's guide book lists his greatest fear as being left alone.
Surviving on the streets is here and now and day to day, and Nate, like many street kids, has a chronic inability to think ahead. He follows whims without any thought for the consequences: Let's follow this random man, let's climb up the side of a building to watch him, let's investigate this thing I just stole while I'm at the scene of my crime. Later in canon, "I didn't think that far ahead" all but becomes one of his catchphrases and he never has a plan B, let alone a plan C. On the upside, he is adaptable and resourceful: His clothing may be dirty but they fit him fairly well, indicating Nate's figured out how to get hold of his basic needs, and he even has two bags, a journal, and a pencil. When he robbed someone and they threatened to call the cops, he was quick to turn the situation around, pointing out that "[the police] might wonder why a middle-aged tourist is following young boys down alleyways". Later in canon he canfight with anything he can get his hands on, be it a grenade launcher, a tank, or a fish.
Investigating things in dangerous positions is also a part of his being curious to a fault. A lot of the whims Nate follows come down to wanting to know more about something, even if this distracts him from what he was trying to find out in the first place. He loves trying to figure out the meanings of the holes in history and learning new things about the past (as an adult he tells someone that "every time we find something that (...) proves there are things about the past [archaeologists] don't understand or never imagined, that makes me happy") and he's willing to ask questions and commit crimes to do so. If he's interested in something, he does his best to learn everything he can about it.
His main historical interest is English explorer Sir Francis Drake. Nate is not actually his descendant as he claims, but he takes refuge in this identity, to the point of using his surname as his own (his real surname is never revealed; we can only assume that Nate is real) and stealing his ring, as a way to escape his own personal history. Even when it's pointed out to him that Sir Francis Drake doesn't have children, Nate is so desperate to hide in his identity that he's quick to handwave it by pointing out the explorer could have had illegitimate children or, later in canon, simply saying "history can be wrong". He dislikes talking about his own real history, closing up at mentions of his family and only hinting at having lived in an orphanage. Nate is so scared of admitting who he really is that even about ten years from this point, asking him about his family only gets posturing at being a ronin, and the only reason we know about his parents at all is because another character volunteers this information rather than Nate himself.
A few things I couldn't fit elsewhere:
Nate tends to comment to himself on the ridiculousness of his situation: "And now they're shooting at me?!"
While his sarcasm at this point is generally him being a brat to someone he doesn't really know, he later shows a dry sense of humor that I'm willing to headcanon came out of this.
He enjoys outsmarting people (or at least thinking he has), grinning when he pulls the "young boys down alleyways" handwave and also when he sleight-of-hands Sir Francis's ring.
Despite living on the streets, Nate has likely avoided violence until this point: He's shocked when an agent chasing him falls off the roof to his death, and hesitates to shoot another who has him at gunpoint. As much as he knows he can get by on his own, he doesn't know if he's capable of violence, let alone deliberately killing someone.
His first response to physical obstacles tends to be climb it. When someone he's following enters a building, he doesn't try to break or sneak in, he climbs up the side of a neighboring building and onto that one. When men with guns start chasing him, he doesn't go to the street, he goes for the rooftops.
What are your plans for the character in-game? With this ridiculous canon point, I'm keen to see how Nate develops without being basically adopted by Sully and becoming a treasure hunter. How well is this street kid going to adjust into education? Let's find out.
Anything else? TEENAGE BOYS
Nate folded his arms, staring sullenly out the window as the car left Balamb town. He couldn't believe he'd gotten caught after all these years. Maybe that old man was right - maybe he really did telegraph all his moves.
More than that, he couldn't believe he was being sent to - he focused for a moment on what the councillorwho was driving him was chattering on about - a mercenary school instead of juvie. He certainly didn't mind not going to jail, but that didn't mean he wanted to be sent back to school, either. If he'd been a little more careful and spent some more time in the library figuring out this place out, he would have been fine on his own in Balamb. Besides, a mercenary school sounded messed up. They taught kids to do anything for pay here? He could end up like one of those guys in suits who were chasing him over the rooftops in Cartagena.
He could still hear the scream of the one who'd fallen off the roof, obviously less used to heights than he was. That guy had died for a kid with a ring, on the orders of a crazy lady?
"Yeah, that happens around here," the councillor said. "That's why we're driving you to Garden instead of making you walk."
He flashed her a confused look, and she nodded to the window: Some distance from the road, there were two huge blue bug-things attacking a girl. Alright, maybe his face had reacted to the thought of the dead suit and the councillor'd thought it was about this.
Then the girl held out a hand and one of the bugs suddenly caught fire. Nate jumped, as much as he could in a seatbelt.
"Holy crap!"
"Language," the councillor said mildly. "She must be a cadet or SeeD: Para-magic's a SeeD specialty. You'll learn all about that at Garden if you choose to enroll."
"Magic..." Nate murmured, craning his head to watch the girl and the bugs as they drove away. That could be interesting - and useful, if he ever found himself shot at again.
"And whether you study or work there, they'll give you free meals," the councillor added. "So you won't have to steal food any more."
Huh.
Mercenary school might be worth a try, then, at least for the food and info.
What do you prefer to be known as? Nathan Drake. [Beat.] Nate. How old are you? What does it matter? ... Okay, fine, fifteen.
Do you have any history in combat? Do you count people shooting at me? If so, have you ever killed? [a little urgently] No. [Look, that guy falling off the roof was totally an accident, okay?]
i) How do you feel when you get involved in some project that calls for immediate and rapid activity? [snort] Feels like every day.
ii) Do you organize and initiate leisure activities? Uh, my 'leisure activities' don't take much 'organization', but sure, let's go with that.
iii) What role do you take when working in a group? [half-glare] I don't work in groups: I do just fine on my own.
iv) How talkative are you around other people? Just enough to get by. [Unless you get him started on Sir Francis Drake...]
v) What three things would you want to have with you on a desert island? State your reasoning. Food. Water. Shelter. I'd say those are three pretty important things wherever you are.
vi) Is it important to be liked by a wide range of people? Nah. As long as you can stay out of each other's ways, it doesn't really matter how much they like you.
vii) When the odds are against you, is it worth taking a chance? I wouldn't be here talking to you if I hadn't.
viii) Do you consider yourself to be an impulsive person? ... I never really thought about it that way, but yeah, I guess so.
ix) Would you agree that planning things ahead takes the fun out of life? No: It's not that it takes the fun out of life; it's that there's no point to planning ahead any further than your next meal. Everything can change on you in a second. Now is more important.
x) Do you like surprises? Depends on the surprise.
xi) Do you sometimes wonder if there is something wrong with you? [almost a little too quickly] No. Next. Question.
xii) Do you consider yourself to be smarter than your superiors, and disagree with their decisions? That depends on who my superiors are and what decisions they're making. Of course I'm gonna disagree with 'loitering' laws.
xiii) Lastly, how do you feel about cabbages? They're gross, but I'll eat them if there's nothing else around.
Nathan "Nate" Drake | Uncharted (reserved)
Name: Caryl
Journal:
Contact:
Character Name: Nathan "Nate" Drake
Series: Uncharted
Gender: Male
Age & Canon Point: Fifteen & Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, mid-chapter 3, while running away from Marlowe's agents and before being cornered
Entry position: Cadet
Requested Sponsor: Carbuncle
History: Uncharted Wiki! More deets (two separate links) on this particular canon point.
A bit of VIII world history to account for the "made your way to Balamb Garden": Upon finding himself in Balamb instead of Cartagena, Nate was both relieved that there was no longer anyone shooting at him, and a little disgruntled by having to learn to adapt to a new place. He blended in with some success until he was caught stealing food. The Balamb town council, trying to punish him, realized no one in town knew him, and Nate didn't know enough about the world for his story about being a tourist to hold up, so the council deduced that he was an off-worlder. Without a guardian around, Nate was sent to the recently returned Balamb Garden so that someone would take responsibility for him, with the proviso that he still complete his community service for the theft.
So, really, he didn't so much "made his way to Balamb Garden" as he was dragged there by the authorities.
Abilities & Physical Abnormalities:
He's pretty good at parkour, he's fluent in Spanish as well as English, and and he fluently reads Latin, but usually nothing superhuman.
His Limit Break is Nate's Super Moves in PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale (which probably isn't part of his canonical history and if it is, is way past this canon point):
All these summoned objects disappear within a few moments.
Personality:
(As Nate is only shown at this age for a two chapter flashback, I'm backing some stuff up here with examples from later in canon, because you can see the seeds of some of his traits at this age.)
At this canon point, Nate is living on the streets and has been for some time. This means that his first reaction to strangers or at least strange adults is A) caution, and B) distrust. He is not used to people showing him kindness, and tends to suspect them of ulterior motives and/or actually call them crazy for it; he also has to test his boundaries with people, as demonstrated when, with a free meal and soda in front of him, he only sarcastically thanks his benefactor and even makes a swipe for his beer.
However, he's gotten from the US to Colombia on his own (note: I assume he's American given his accent when speaking English), which has probably at some point involved trusting and even being friendly to someone. (I really don't think he walked the whole way, especially at the US-Mexico border.) It's likely that these moments of trust have been on instinct, as he later comes to trust them in later life (though his instincts are by no means infallible, as Nate gets backstabbed by friends sadly often throughout the games). As an adult he's easygoing with his friends and willing to chat to strangers even in the face of a huge language barrier, and I headcanon that though his current caution is trained, extroversion comes more naturally to him - the third game's guide book lists his greatest fear as being left alone.
Surviving on the streets is here and now and day to day, and Nate, like many street kids, has a chronic inability to think ahead. He follows whims without any thought for the consequences: Let's follow this random man, let's climb up the side of a building to watch him, let's investigate this thing I just stole while I'm at the scene of my crime. Later in canon, "I didn't think that far ahead" all but becomes one of his catchphrases and he never has a plan B, let alone a plan C. On the upside, he is adaptable and resourceful: His clothing may be dirty but they fit him fairly well, indicating Nate's figured out how to get hold of his basic needs, and he even has two bags, a journal, and a pencil. When he robbed someone and they threatened to call the cops, he was quick to turn the situation around, pointing out that "[the police] might wonder why a middle-aged tourist is following young boys down alleyways". Later in canon he canfight with anything he can get his hands on, be it a grenade launcher, a tank, or a fish.
Investigating things in dangerous positions is also a part of his being curious to a fault. A lot of the whims Nate follows come down to wanting to know more about something, even if this distracts him from what he was trying to find out in the first place. He loves trying to figure out the meanings of the holes in history and learning new things about the past (as an adult he tells someone that "every time we find something that (...) proves there are things about the past [archaeologists] don't understand or never imagined, that makes me happy") and he's willing to ask questions and commit crimes to do so. If he's interested in something, he does his best to learn everything he can about it.
His main historical interest is English explorer Sir Francis Drake. Nate is not actually his descendant as he claims, but he takes refuge in this identity, to the point of using his surname as his own (his real surname is never revealed; we can only assume that Nate is real) and stealing his ring, as a way to escape his own personal history. Even when it's pointed out to him that Sir Francis Drake doesn't have children, Nate is so desperate to hide in his identity that he's quick to handwave it by pointing out the explorer could have had illegitimate children or, later in canon, simply saying "history can be wrong". He dislikes talking about his own real history, closing up at mentions of his family and only hinting at having lived in an orphanage. Nate is so scared of admitting who he really is that even about ten years from this point, asking him about his family only gets posturing at being a ronin, and the only reason we know about his parents at all is because another character volunteers this information rather than Nate himself.
A few things I couldn't fit elsewhere:
What are your plans for the character in-game?
With this ridiculous canon point, I'm keen to see how Nate develops without being basically adopted by Sully and becoming a treasure hunter. How well is this street kid going to adjust into education? Let's find out.
Anything else?
TEENAGE BOYS
Nate folded his arms, staring sullenly out the window as the car left Balamb town. He couldn't believe he'd gotten caught after all these years. Maybe that old man was right - maybe he really did telegraph all his moves.
More than that, he couldn't believe he was being sent to - he focused for a moment on what the councillorwho was driving him was chattering on about - a mercenary school instead of juvie. He certainly didn't mind not going to jail, but that didn't mean he wanted to be sent back to school, either. If he'd been a little more careful and spent some more time in the library figuring out this place out, he would have been fine on his own in Balamb. Besides, a mercenary school sounded messed up. They taught kids to do anything for pay here? He could end up like one of those guys in suits who were chasing him over the rooftops in Cartagena.
He could still hear the scream of the one who'd fallen off the roof, obviously less used to heights than he was. That guy had died for a kid with a ring, on the orders of a crazy lady?
"Yeah, that happens around here," the councillor said. "That's why we're driving you to Garden instead of making you walk."
He flashed her a confused look, and she nodded to the window: Some distance from the road, there were two huge blue bug-things attacking a girl. Alright, maybe his face had reacted to the thought of the dead suit and the councillor'd thought it was about this.
Then the girl held out a hand and one of the bugs suddenly caught fire. Nate jumped, as much as he could in a seatbelt.
"Holy crap!"
"Language," the councillor said mildly. "She must be a cadet or SeeD: Para-magic's a SeeD specialty. You'll learn all about that at Garden if you choose to enroll."
"Magic..." Nate murmured, craning his head to watch the girl and the bugs as they drove away. That could be interesting - and useful, if he ever found himself shot at again.
"And whether you study or work there, they'll give you free meals," the councillor added. "So you won't have to steal food any more."
Huh.
Mercenary school might be worth a try, then, at least for the food and info.
What do you prefer to be known as? Nathan Drake. [Beat.] Nate.
How old are you? What does it matter? ... Okay, fine, fifteen.
Do you have any history in combat? Do you count people shooting at me?
If so, have you ever killed? [a little urgently] No. [Look, that guy falling off the roof was totally an accident, okay?]
i) How do you feel when you get involved in some project that calls for immediate and rapid activity?
[snort] Feels like every day.
ii) Do you organize and initiate leisure activities?
Uh, my 'leisure activities' don't take much 'organization', but sure, let's go with that.
iii) What role do you take when working in a group?
[half-glare] I don't work in groups: I do just fine on my own.
iv) How talkative are you around other people?
Just enough to get by. [Unless you get him started on Sir Francis Drake...]
v) What three things would you want to have with you on a desert island? State your reasoning.
Food. Water. Shelter. I'd say those are three pretty important things wherever you are.
vi) Is it important to be liked by a wide range of people?
Nah. As long as you can stay out of each other's ways, it doesn't really matter how much they like you.
vii) When the odds are against you, is it worth taking a chance?
I wouldn't be here talking to you if I hadn't.
viii) Do you consider yourself to be an impulsive person?
... I never really thought about it that way, but yeah, I guess so.
ix) Would you agree that planning things ahead takes the fun out of life?
No: It's not that it takes the fun out of life; it's that there's no point to planning ahead any further than your next meal. Everything can change on you in a second. Now is more important.
x) Do you like surprises?
Depends on the surprise.
xi) Do you sometimes wonder if there is something wrong with you?
[almost a little too quickly] No. Next. Question.
xii) Do you consider yourself to be smarter than your superiors, and disagree with their decisions?
That depends on who my superiors are and what decisions they're making. Of course I'm gonna disagree with 'loitering' laws.
xiii) Lastly, how do you feel about cabbages?
They're gross, but I'll eat them if there's nothing else around.