APPLICATION;

[hisfinestact]

PLAYER INFORMATION
Your Name: Riko
OOC Journal: riko
Under 18? If yes, what is your age?: No
Email + IM: riko.tropes [at] gmail.com, plurk: fulgurite
Characters Played at Ataraxion: Kasumi Goto, Tommy Conlon

CHARACTER INFORMATION
Name: Jaime Lannister
Canon: A Song of Ice and Fire
Original or Alternate Universe: Original
Canon Point: The end of A Feast for Crows
Number: RNG me, please!

Setting: World of A Song of Ice and Fire @ Wikipedia
History: Jaime is the second child of Lord Tywin Lannister, Lord of Casterly Rock and Warden of the West, having been born slightly after his twin sister Cersei. Throughout his childhood, he and Cersei were very close, and Jaime eventually developed romantic feelings for his sister which she, at least, seemed to reciprocate. They eventually began an incestuous relationship.

When Cersei and Jaime were nine, they're younger brother Tyrion was born, and their mother died in the process of giving birth. Although Cersei, partially as a result of their mother's death, grew to hate and resent Tyrion, Jaime had a warm relationship with his brother through most of their lives.

A few years after Tyrion's birth, Jaime was assigned as squire to Lord Sumner Crakehill and had to leave Casterly Rock. He was very successful as a squire, winning his first tourney at age eleven and proving himself a skilled swordsman. At fifteen, during a battle with a band of outlaws, Jaime saved the life of Lord Crakehill and distinguished himself enough that he was knighted on the field by Arthur Dayne.

On his return to the capital, however, Cersei revealed that their father was planning to marry him off to Lysa Tully. She persuaded him to join the Kingsguard -- the protectors of the royal family who are forbidden to own land, take wives or father children -- in order to prevent the marriage and stay close to her. And so Jaime became the youngest knight to be appointed to the Kingsguard, in part because the king at the time -- Aerys Targaryen II -- wanted to annoy Tywin by breaking his marriage deal and stealing the child he'd seen as his heir. Furious, Tywin left the capital, taking Cersei and Tyrion with him, and leaving Jaime to serve in his new post.

Unfortunately, Aerys was insane and cruel, and Jaime was forced to stand witness to increasingly horrific events during his time at court. He became disenchanted and bitter about the role of a knight and dealt with the things that went on in court by retreating into himself. Aerys's insanity, combined with his son's kidnapping of a noble woman from the north, eventually sparked a rebellion, led by lords Robert Baratheon, Ned Stark, and Jon Arryn. Jaime was forbidden from joining the army, instead held at court as leverage over his father and forced to watch as Aerys descended further into paranoia and cruelty.

After Aerys's son was defeated in battle and killed, Aerys began to devise a plan to burn the capital rather than let it be captured by the rebels. When his chief advisor spoke out against him, he was burned to death. At around the same time, Tywin called his bannermen and marched to King's Landing, in apparent support of Aerys. Once inside the city, however, they turned on the king. Aerys commanded Jaime to kill his father, but Jaime drew his sword on the king and killed him instead, earning him the nickname "Kingslayer" despite the fact that he still believes this to have been his finest act.

Jaime insisted to his father's men that they should wait to proclaim a new king, and he remained seated on the throne until Ned Stark arrived at the head of Robert's army. Robert was eventually proclaimed king and pardoned Jaime for his service to Aerys, allowing him to remain a member of the Kingsguard.

In the time following the rebellion, Cersei was married to Robert and returned to King's Landing, where she and Jaime once again began their relationship. She gave birth to three children, all believed to be Cersei and Robert's but secretly the children of Cersei and Jaime.

After the death of Jon Arryn, who had acted as Robert's chief advisor, Robert takes his court, including Cersei, Jaime, and their eldest son and heir to throne Joffrey, to the north to ask Ned Stark to take up the post. During their stay, Bran Stark, the second youngest son of Ned, catches Jaime and Cersei having sex at the top of tower. Jaime and Cersei spot him, and Jaime pushes him from the window of the tower, intending to kill him to protect their secret. Bran does not die, however, and instead lapses into a coma.

Ned Stark accepts the post of Hand of the King, in part to keep an eye on the Lannister, who he does not trust, and to investigate what role they might have played in the death of the last Hand. As a result of his investigation, Ned discovers Cersei and Jaime's incest and learns that Joffrey is likely their son, not Robert's. At around the same time, Ned's wife Catelyn, attempting to avenge Bran, kidnaps Tyrion. To avenge his brother, Jaime attacks Ned in King's Landing and then leaves to join his father on a march on Catelyn's childhood home.

In King's Landing, King Robert dies from a hunting wound, Cersei promotes Jaime to Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, and Ned's attempt to reveal Jaime and Cersei's incest and prevent Joffrey from taking the throne lands him in the dungeon. Ned's oldest son, Robb, raises his men to march on the capital to free his father. On their way, they engage and defeat Jaime's army, taking Jaime hostage.

Despite the efforts of Cersei and Tyrion, now de facto in power in King's Landing, Jaime remains captive in the Riverlands for quite a long time as Robb refuses to trade Jaime for his sisters. When Catelyn hears that her two youngest sons might have been killed in an attack on Winterfell, she releases Jaime and puts him in the charge of her knight, Brienne of Tarth, to be taken to King's Landing to trade for her remaining children.

On their way, however, they're ambushed by Vargo Hoat and the Brave Companions who used to fight for Tywin but who have switched sides and now fight for Robb Stark. To keep Jaime from causing trouble, among other things, the Companions lop off his sword hand. The pain and following infection knock Jaime out, and he doesn't fully recover until they reach the castle of Harrenhal where he can be healed by a former maester.

Distraught by the loss of his hand but on his way to recovery, Jaime manages to talk Lord Roose Bolton, Hoat's superior, into sending him back to his father in King's Landing by promising to speak well of Bolton. Bolton, however, has no intention of letting Brienne leave. Jaime leaves Harrenhal with an escort but on his way, he has a nightmare -- an attack of conscience -- and forces his host to turn around and return to save Brienne. Once she's been retrieved, they head out again.

By the time they reach King's Landing, a lot has changed. Robb and Catelyn Stark have been murdered and so has King Joffrey, supposedly by Tyrion. Jaime has a conflicted reunion with Cersei, who finds him more changed than she'd like. Tywin tries to convince Jaime to give up his post as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard and become the proper Lannister heir again, but Jaime refuses. To fulfill his oath to Catelyn Stark, Jaime gives Brienne his sword, Oathkeeper, and charges her with finding the missing Sansa Stark and keeping her safe.

He also arranges to free Tyrion, who has been imprisoned for regicide. However, during Tyrion's escape, Jaime confesses that years ago, acting on Tywin's instructions, he allowed his brother to be tricked into thinking his then-wife was a prostitute who had only married him for his money. Furious, Tyrion lies and says he murdered Joffrey. He also tells Jaime that Cersei has been unfaithful to him in his absence. The brothers part on bad terms, and Tyrion murders their father in revenge on his way out of the country.

After Tywin's death, Jaime and Cersei continue to become further estranged from each other. He attempts to provide counsel as best he can, but Cersei eventually orders him to leave the capital to take Riverrun, one of the last holdouts that still proclaim loyalty to the Starks. Jaime leaves and takes Ilyn Payne, the king's headsman who long ago had his tongue ripped out, with him as a means of secretly practicing fighting with his left hand.

On his way to Riverrun, Jaime stops briefly to visit his cousin Lancel who admits to sleeping with Cersei while he was held captive by the Starks. Deeply betrayed and arguably heartbroken, Jaime proceeds to Riverrun. He attempts to barter a trade with Brynden Tully who holds the castle but is unsuccessful. Instead, Jaime strikes a deal with Edmure Tully, the captive lord of Riverrun, and releases him in exchange for the surrender of the castle.

As the siege is being lifted, Jaime receives a raven from Cersei, begging for him to return to King's Landing and aid her because she has been imprisoned by the zealous new head priest for a number of crimes. Jaime instructs the letter to be burned.

Personality: Jaime is a character who goes through some fairly profound metamorphoses throughout his life, as his experiences put distance between his world view and the world views of his family.

In his youth, Jaime was young, brash, arrogant, and not particularly serious about anything. He was a brilliant soldier and didn't try to be humble about his skills. His time in the Mad King's court did something to temper those traits, by forcing Jaime to finally grow up and quite quickly, but when he emerged on the other side as a regicide, looked down on and judged by all, Jaime took those qualities and wrapped them around himself as a shield. Externally, he remains glib and irresponsible and apparently unconcerned by serious matters. Although he likely has the potential to be charming, he generally doesn't use it. Unlike Tyrion and Cersei, Jaime isn't inclined toward lying and manipulating; he prefers to say what he means, most of the time, confident that frequently people won't take him seriously anyway.

Internally, however, is a different story and complicated by the fact that Jaime's view of himself is actually almost as skewed as the rest of the world's view of him. Jaime thinks of himself as a soldier, first and foremost, not particularly skilled or interested in or patient with the kind of politics that absorb his siblings. Despite still believing that Aerys's murder is his finest act, Jaime also does feel conflicted about the fact that he broke his vows to guard the king and thinks that he is without honour now. He's cynical and ironic in his reflections on himself and the people around him -- except when he's very much not.

Because, as noted, not all of Jaime's self-perceptions play out as he thinks they do in practice. He's smart, though not as smart as Tyrion or Cersei in objective terms, but, especially after his escape from captivity, he's not as inclined to being directed by his emotions as his sister. He can play the game just fine when he chooses, even if it's still not exactly to his taste. And though he continues to believe that he has shit for honour, it's hard for that to be entirely true when honour still has such importance to him, as much as he tries to pretend he doesn't care. The Kingsguard and what it's supposed to stand for, his oaths and seeing them fulfilled, these things have genuine meaning to Jaime, but he's still fumbling to find a way to balance all the various demands the world seems to place on him in order to be a Good and Honourable Person.

In a lot of ways, Jaime is actually a bit of a romantic, though he'd staunchly avoid recognizing that in himself. Love -- for Cersei particularly but for his family as a whole -- has been a guiding, central motivation for many of the things Jaime has done throughout his life, good and evil. It's also a bit of a blind spot for him, however, as his judgment and moral compass are both most easily compromised where people he loves are involved.

Jaime's journey through A Storm of Swords and A Feast for Crows do a lot to change his personality as well. As a character whose self-confidence and self-perception are so rooted in his martial skills, the loss of his sword hand is devastating for Jaime. It forces him to take a hard look at himself and reassess his priorities. He loses some of his irresponsible and carefreeness facade and becomes far more ready to take a critical eye to his own actions and the actions of his family members. This change in Jaime -- with a mirror change in Cersei -- is the final blow to their relationship, as they are each no longer the person that the other remembers. The discovery that Cersei was unfaithful during his capture and Tyrion's murder of their family are the final wedges necessary to split Jaime off from his family. While he remains proud of being a Lannister in theory and protective of his family conceptually, he's become bitter about what that means in practice -- though also somewhat nihilistic about it -- and jaded about people in general, given what the two people closest to him in the world proved themselves capable of.

Abilities, Weaknesses and Power Limitations:

Golden Knight | ABILITY. At one time, Jaime was one of the best fighters around, trained from a young age in a variety of different weapons. Although not as strong as some, he knows how to fight with speed and agility. His many years of experience as a squire and knight have given him a fighter's instincts as well and having led men into battle on more than one occasion, he has a good, if not superlative, knowledge of tactics and how to command.

Lord Commander | ABILITY. More recently, Jaime's main role has been as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. As less of a field job and more of a desk job, this has increased Jaime's skill in commanding men, thinking about personnel use, and running his group of knights. It has also forced him to try his hand at politics, which he may still not like much but which he's proven to be all right at.

Golden Hand | WEAKNESS. The biggest and most difficult weakness Jaime has to deal with, outside personality-related ones, is the loss of his sword hand. Not only has this put a big dent in Jaime's fighting abilities -- essentially requiring him to start over from scratch and relearn all his skills with his weaker left hand -- it has also proved to be a frustrating obstacles for more day-to-day tasks, like writing and eating, which have proved more difficult or almost impossible now that his dominant hand is gone.

Inventory: (1) golden right hand, (1) golden sword, (1) white cloak
Appearance: Jaime is blonde and green-eyed like most Lannisters. Although described as beautiful and nearly identical to his twin sister, Jaime grows out a beard during his captivity and then shaves his head to avoid being recognized while trying to make it back to King's Landing. By his pullpoint, it hasn't quite grown back in yet. In the TV series, Jaime is played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau who will be his PB in game.
Age: 34

AU Clarification:

SAMPLES
Log Sample: On his first day in Riverrun's dungeons, he told himself it was a relief, a welcome change from being dragged along interminably behind the Stark boy's caravan like a misbehaved kitchen boy. And though it was clear that the Tully gaoler was not the cleanly sort, his new accommodations still smelled noticeably better than the Northern host.

There was, after all, little to be concerned about. If the wolves were sincerely prepared to kill him, his head would've come suddenly and sharply detached the same day as Ned Stark's. Killing a man on the battlefield was one thing, but sticking a knife between the ribs of a chained prisoner was another, and the Stark boy, though brash and filled with Stark self-righteousness, was a boy still, nonetheless. Every day that passed made Jaime that much safer. And every day that passed would bring Cersei and his father that much closer to breaking the boy's army and ending this ridiculous rebellion.

On his sixtieth day in Riverrun's dungeons, he began to think of escape. Idly, mostly. Thoughts born of boredom and the fact that Jaime Lannister had never seen virtue in stillness when action was an alternative. There was a boy who came once a day to bring him scraps and water, enough to keep him from starving away. He'd open the door enough for only a crack of light, but Jaime thought he saw more fear than disgust in the boy's face, and fear could be worked with.

But then he thought of the necessity of fighting his way through the castle above and escaping through the Northern encampment beyond and even he had to admit that killing the few dozen men he'd likely manage would be small comfort when he was skewered in the belly by some wet-behind-the-ears trout.

On the two-hundredth day, he tried it anyway.

On the three-hundred and fifth day, he thought of Cersei and the smell of her hair and the feel of her mouth and in the darkness of the dungeon, she seemed farther away than she ever had, a dream fading away upon waking. He didn't cry, but he set his forehead upon his knees and shut his eyes

On the three-hundred and sixth day, the boy brought him a jug of wine.

Comms Sample: Example