Do you have any advice on how I can play Jude better? Please, tell me here!

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( PLAYER ★ INFORMATION )

NAME: Alisa
AGE: 25
CONTACT: Alisa_Makora on plurk and AlisaMakora on AIM, or PP this journal
CURRENT CHARACTERS & LATEST AC: N/A

RESERVATION LINK: Here

( CHARACTER ★ INFORMATION )

NAME & AGE: Jude Mathis, age 15.
CANON & CANON POINT: Tales of Xillia (Canonpoint: Post Game)
CANON INFORMATION: Jude's article on the Tales Wikia
Tales of Xillia on the Tales wikia

PERSONALITY:

Jude is a pretty interesting character in how he presents himself: outwardly he can be rather mature, levelheaded and incredibly intelligent for only fifteen years of age. One of the earlier skits in the game actually has him commenting that he's still working on his thesis..... while on the run, even though he's an X marked criminal and there's a high chance of him already having been thrown out of medical school for his crimes in aiding Milla. His fascination with learning can be downright eager at times, and he's earned the joking title of 'Do-Gooder Honor's Student' from Alvin thanks to it, even aiding a scientist in his research on Spirit Climes at one point out of sheer curiosity. He values knowledge, that much is clear even very early on in the game.

His skills of observation and eye for detail also showcase a sharp mind. He ends up getting the party out of tight spots with his quick thinking a few times throughout the game, such as the events in Kiljara Seafalls where he notices a hidden monster that they proceed to awaken for a quick distraction to get Milla out of Presa's hold, and in Bermia Gorge where he acts as bait for a guard, dodging arrows shot at him while Milla and Alvin sneak in take out the guard from behind.

When it comes to the party dynamics, Jude is often the straight man, and one of the more level headed members of the group in many scenarios, evening out Milla's sheer determination at times. This does not, however, mean Jude doesn't act his age: He bickers with his childhood friend often, and their conversation are equal parts chiding and teasing at times, while he's very easily the butt monkey of the group at times when it comes to Alvin and Rowen: he's teased by them often, most obviously when it comes to some of his lacking in life experience. They seem to enjoy making Jude squirm.... which can ultimately be rather easy if the right buttons are pushed.

"You might say I'm nosy or naive, but I just can't leave you alone."

Something Jude is often scolded for is his 'do-gooder' nature, and indeed, he can't really deny that it's a trait of his even when he's called out on it. When he sees someone who needs help, he reaches out to them without hesitation, but while this might not be all that remarkable a trait at first, Jude's role in Tales of Xillia at first is ultimately one of a kid who gets in way over his head just trying to help, before his admiration of Milla and his desire to help her in her mission begins.

"Alvin: Heh, I see. He believes he got himself into this mess, so now he has to put on a brave face.
-
Alvin: You thought you were doing the right thing, and now you're on the run. That's a pretty tough lesson for a kid your age.

Jude: Yeah, but I brought it upon myself."

Jude's kindness is at times just as much a character flaw as it is an admirable trait. His desire to help people can backfire at times, such as helping Milla which led to him becoming an X marked wanted criminal, or bringing Elize, a small child of twelve along with them when he sees how poorly she's being treated in her village, yet hurting her feelings by trying to find her somewhere and someone safe to leave her with, in spite of how abandoned this made Elize feel. Because he is so eager to help people, he sometimes doesn't quite think things through in spite of his naturally level headed nature, and therein Jude is still very much just 15 years old. While at his canonpoint this isn't as pronounced and he is more likely to think things through and be more responsible about following through with helping others properly, his meddling nature isn't much faded, and indeed, even a year later in Xillia 2 he's still rather prone to helping people on the fly enough to joke lightly about it.

"Leia: I think he's just eager to get involved with other people somehow.
Milla: I get it... he wants to feel needed. That's why he's so helpful.
Leia: Exactly. He would never do anything to push people away. But the Jude who came back with you isn't quite the same Jude who left."

To understand why Jude is how he is, we have to consider how he grew up. Jude grew up in the small town of Leronde, where his parents were the only two doctors in town. Naturally, this meant they were often busy.... and Jude, often lonely. The desire for friends and companionship led to Jude going out of his way to help people even as a child, though this eager to get involved attitude more often led to him being bullied and taken advantage of as a child. Jude at his core wants to feel needed, to have purpose, and after meeting Milla, while this helpful attitude didn't leave him, it was tempered. He learns to slowly make more determined choices, not just the ones that will please others, thanks to Milla's influence.

Milla's influence on Jude's development is something that cannot be underestimated, and ultimately it can be said meeting Milla that fateful day in Fenmont would be a catalyst for Jude's overall growth as a person. While Jude was going to medical school prior to the game, he was doing it not entirely of his own desires: it's commented on in both Xillia and in it's sequel by Jude himself that while he likes helping people, his heart was never fully in his decisions prior to meeting Milla, including his career path... and it's easy to see why.

There's a string of sidequests in the game that illustrates this development of Jude's most excellently: Early in the game in Leronde, where Jude's parents have a clinic, the party can arrive during an emergency when Derrick, Jude's father, is out... which leads to Jude deciding to step up to the plate to diagnose the critical patient. When he discovers the course of treatment could potentially kill the patient if he is wrong, Jude falters, unable to stick by his diagnosis with the thought that he might be wrong and end up killing the man. Derrick arrives and ultimately steps in to save the man's life, but he chides Jude for his lack of decisiveness: a critical skill for a doctor is the ability to make tough choices and take responsibility for them no matter the outcome, and Jude failed there.

Later in the game however, Jude slowly develops that conviction he lacks by following Milla's guidance and example, standing by decisions that include saving a patient's life after a brain injury in a continuation of that sidequest, and standing up alongside Milla and the party to offer a solution to conflicts of the game.... a peaceful one, one that would help both worlds equally rather than sacrificing one for the other. It was riskier, linking the welfare of both worlds by dispelling the schism, but it was also one that would sacrifice no one. Jude himself would go on to research spyrite alongside Helioborg's research team, putting his all into seeing that the promise they'd made would become reality.

COURT ALLIANCE & REASONING: Seelie. Jude has an honest, kind personality, the kind of person who wants to help people both in general as well as a whole. Dubbed a 'Do-Gooder Honor's Student' in jest by the group, he can often be a tad too eager to help just about anyone, in fact. He is the type of person who seeks to follow through on his words, especially at his canonpoint-- He spends a good portion of the game trying to find his path and own conviction, loyally following Milla and making it his goal to help her, and by his canonpoint this has become more: he will give his all to the goals he's chosen to pursue, to the promises he's made, to his duties, both because he cares sincerely for people and because he's found his path in life-- his 'Mission', alongside Milla, to see that humans and spirits can live in harmony in their world.

ABILITIES:

• Martial Artes: Jude is fairly skilled in martial art(e)s, preferring to use his fists and protective gauntlets to fight over other sorts of weaponry. At his canonpoint (end of game) he is noted to excel in some areas of combat, and for a medical student is now rather used to it. A particular skill of note for him is his ability to read his opponents moves extremely well and react-- dodging and darting behind them in a feint type special move dubbed 'Snap Pivot'.
• Spirit Artes: Jude, like all Reize Maxians, is capable of spirit artes-- canonically their world's version of magic, formed through a pact with spirits in exchange for mana which Reize Maxians produce naturally through a specific lobe in their brain called the mana lobe. He's got a wide range of elemental spirit artes that work in conjunction with his martial artes, as well as a handful of medical artes to heal wounds, though he is notably not as functional as an artes based healer in combat as Leia or Elize. A list of both his martial artes and spirit artes can be found Here, though as a note the 'Linked artes' are inaccessible without both a partner and two Lilium orbs (A type of combat aid that allows the sharing of thoughts with a partner in combat) between them.
• analytically skill: Jude's intellect is a boon in several ways, both in the amount of information he seems to absorb like a sponge and in his ability to read and react to critical situations.
• medical knowledge: Jude's a trained medical student. Though he's 15, in Reize Maxia this isn't unusual: He and Leia are both educated in medical practices (Leia as a nurse in their hometown of Leronde), and he's attending what seems to be his last year of medical school in Fenmont according to game dialogue. He's even seen fretting about his thesis paper during the game. Thanks to this, he has a decent amount of medical knowledge, both in the use of spirit artes for healing and in more conventional forms of medicine and even some therapy, as well as some practical experience.

INVENTORY:
-The clothes on his back
-his gauntlets
-A simple cord necklace with a blue glass ball wirewrapped as a pendent that has sentimental value.

( WRITING ★ SAMPLES )

NETWORK SAMPLE:

--s it working? [Was it on? He couldn't quite tell.. the kind of long distance communication they'd described this device being capable of was pretty amazing, but it was pretty strange talking into a locket. He taps the locket for a moment, curious, before he realizes if it is on that the tapping was probably going to sound grating to the ears of anyone listening and he stops.]

Hello? [Well, only one way to find out then.]

My name is Jude Mathis.... I'm hoping to see if anyone I know might be here. [Should he call out for them by name, or not....? He wasn't sure, but his own name would get their attention, right?]

And if not.... could anyone tell me a little about the library I saw earlier? Is it open to everyone to check out books from?

[He really hoped so.]

LOG SAMPLE:

After arriving in the Drabwurld and settling in, it hadn't taken very long at all for Jude to seek out and locate the library. In his mind, alone as he was, he needed to plan out his actions, and the first order of business.... the first order of business would be to get answers, right?

This wasn't like that time in Elympios... He hadn't been alone then, they'd been able to plan their next course of action together. This time, he had to go it alone without everyone, and the idea was a little daunting to Jude. That was why, Jude thought, he needed information before he started making his own inferences about the situation.

The library though, was huge. While he'd make a point to head towards the historical section first, the sheer size of the room is impressive enough to draw him elsewhere in the facility as well, and it isn't long before he's got several stacks of books piled precariously high on a table, not all of which bearing the contents he'd originally set out to search for.

Looking at the stack of books after his last trip around the shelves, Jude feels a small hint of embarrassment creep into his chest, and heat in his cheeks. Maybe he'd overdone it....? Most of the books were what he'd set out for, but a good fourth were texts that had caught his eye as he'd walked through the stacks.

He settles in to read soon enough though, mentally justifying some of the extra texts as necessary if he'd be here a while. He didn't want to be dragged into this war.... He had so much he needed to do back in his world. But if he was going to be regardless, he wanted to know why.

After a while of reading, his thoughts turn pensive. His fingers seek out the outline of the pendent around his neck, tucked beneath his shirt, almost unconsciously. He'd told her.... He'd told Milla he would be fine without her. He wasn't going to let her down just because he'd been dragged into another conflict, this time alone.