Christopher Dowling

NOTE: I NEED TO UPDATE THIS BECAUSE I'VE MADE SOME SLIGHT CHANGES SO STAY TUNED

Modern setting: 

Christopher is a (British) university student studying a degree in Acting. While throughout his life he has been spoilt rotten by his wealthy parents, he is severely lacking in their emotional support and presence, as they have been mostly absent due to heavily travel-based careers. Because of this, Christopher has grown up with a taste for being the centre of attention in social situations, which, when at university, makes it incredibly difficult for him to settle on side-character roles (and as a result he often messes this up, but instead blames the teachers).

Despite his self-centred, ostentatious sensibilities, Christopher managed to form a friendship with Nadia (nicknamed Ardee), another university student studying for a Fashion and Textiles degree, and then later became friends with Sasha, Nadia's long time friend and girlfriend. He is very good in social situations and is naturally likeable at first, but people often realise that when they try to get closer, he's just... A huge dick.

Internally he genuinely cares for his friends, but struggles to open up, talk to them on an emotional level, and admit to his own issues. He often refuses to believe he has imperfections, and uses attention to fuel his own self esteem and avoid/forget about his problems.

Fantasy setting:

Overview: Charming but primarily egotistical and power hungry sky pirate, in charge of a treasure hunting airship he bought after running away from an arranged marriage set up by his rich noble parents

A lot more dangerous, a lot more aggressive, even more of a dick

----

-Born into nobility, spoilt, lots of toys, most likely raised by nannies/servants while his parents attended to other matters 

-big imagination, read fairytales and stories with pirates

-had a pet borzoi called Parfait

-as he grew older he grew more tired of the environment he was in, found the people in his family's social circle boring, shallow and uninteresting, never made any close friends (instead learnt how to keep up appearances and get on their good sides without actually caring for them)

-began to sneak out and visit bars and other places at night, interacting with people there

-he used this to hone his social skills to get money or possessions and other things out of people, he enjoys being flirty, flamboyant and charming because it gets him attention 

-based on his own self confidence (he hasn't lost much in his life, so he's confident he won't now), but is very mistrusting of others, doesn't let anyone get too close because of his experience with his family's social circle being sleazy fucks

-he knows people shouldn't trust him (but he wants them to), so he doesn't trust them first but plays on the façade

-one night he meets someone at the bar/tavern he frequents at, who challenges him to a card game (placing bets)

-he loves this kind of thing, so he accepts

-the two of them return to this game every time he visits, and it becomes a thing they both do together 

-he finds out her name is Nadia, and she is exceptionally good at this card game so he keeps playing to beat her, but he starts to enjoy the company of it (it becomes less about betting)

-they start to talk more and more through this game, and he realises that someone actually wants to get to know him rather than talk with him about frivolous things and boast like the people in his family's social circle do

-Nadia spoke of travelling and highwaymanship and adventure and it sparked a fire within him he hadn't felt since reading storybooks as a child

-one evening she's not there at the tavern, and he starts to feel genuine concern because she's always been there every night he's visited

-the bar is a mess and is almost empty due to some sort of fight

-he finds wanted posters of her and realises that she may have been apprehended due to her being a highwaywoman/criminal

-he heads to the town prison to find her, wondering if he could bail her out 

-however by the time he tries to find her in prison she's murdered the guards and bolted off

-it takes him a few nights but he finds her using contacts made during their gambling sessions

-he realises she's still pretty injured and has an infection--She's not dirt poor but she's not very well off either, but if she can't work she can't care for herself 

-he tries to act cool about it but he's worrying and goes off to steal some medicine from home for her

-And then as she recovers they don't even have to meet at that bar/tavern anymore, they just hang out

-And it feels so weird to Christopher to actually care so strongly for someone but he likes it and it grounds him

-He's not thinking so hard about ulterior motives, he doesn't have to be such an actor/performer

-but he still finds it hard to open up

-One time he gets caught sneaking out by his parents (he's 16/17) and they don't get to see eachother properly for a year until he's 18 and able to go where he pleases

-however in this time he learns basic sword fighting skills from his mother

-Then when he turns 18 his parents try to get him married and he hates that

-His family is trying to introduce him to young rich kids and stuff and he's just really cold and uninterested and looks down upon them

-so he decides to grab some riches from his parents and run, his mind filled with blind ambition and adventure

-He tries looking for Nadia but he can't find her (She was forced to move bc it wasn't safe to stay there, she's already been apprehended once)

-he hires a crew and navigator and searches for information on treasure, getting by with gambling and charm (which at times lands him in deep trouble), and so he travels from place to place, also half searching for treasure

-he gains a hunger for looting

-Then just by chance while stationed in a port town he finds Nadia in a tavern, playing cards

-he offers for her to come join him on his aeronautical adventures

-she's hestitant at first, --she doesn't know if he's a capable fighter

-guards find her in the tavern, and they're forced to fight their way out and escape on his ship (Nadia figuring her chances might be better now)

-through their sailing she's noticing how much colder he is to his crew and how he's been getting hungrier and hungrier for wealth 

To the point that he's terrorising and attacking other ships

-And she's getting pretty concerned about it bc it's getting more and more dangerous

-his behaviour has changed since she gave him a handmirror as a gift after their reunion

-he's grown more focused on reputation and power than treasure hunting

-And one night (after meticulous planning, and arguing) he decides he wants to attack a floating, travelling casino to steal the loot from it, establishing himself as even more notorious

-it goes horribly wrong and the casino is set on fire (one of his crewmates, Vivian, tries to stop him, so he kills/badly hurts them, but they have magical powers and so they started the fire), and Christopher is forced to evacuate but loses Nadia and some of his crew members along the way due to areas being blocked off from falling fiery beams

-he assumes she's dead, but she escaped on a life boat from the casino as she saw his ship sail away

-he's wracked with guilt and anger he can't properly let out or digest, and becomes more reckless

(Turns out the mirror is enchanted and creates a connection to a demon which has been goading and fuelling him to reach for more power)

-aaaand that's where it stops at for now, but the story can be shaped in different ways or added to depending on where or when I'm using him