toyska | Info

TARTAGLIA

THE BASICS

NAME Tartaglia "Childe" Ajax
AGE Roughly 24
BIRTHDAY July 20th
GENDER Cis male
SEXUALITY Bisexual
CURRENTLY IN ???

HEIGHT 6'0" // 184 cm
BUILD Toned and thin; much stronger than he looks but definitely not buff.
HAIR Red/orange
EYES Blue
FEATURES Childe has no light in his eyes! They're dead, fam. This dude's got problems. Other than that, he has lots of scars all over his body, but they're all under his clothes. He wears a red mask in his hair (or on his face if he's fighting you, sometimes), a red earring in his left ear, and a Hydro vision on his right hip; most of these he will never remove.

HOMETOWN Morepesok, Snezhnaya
MOTHER (unknown, presumed alive)
FATHER (unknown, alive)
SIBLING (unknown, older sister)
SIBLING (unknown, older brother)
SIBLING (unknown, older brother)
SIBLING Tonia (younger sister)
SIBLING Anthon (younger brother)
SIBLING Teucer (younger brother

TARTAGLIA "CHILDE" AJAX

Born "Ajax" in a small seaside village in the land of the Cryo archon, Childe was once a shy young boy who quietly dreamed of following in his father's footsteps as an adventurer. Now, as the youngest Harbinger under Her Majesty the Tsaritsa of Snezhnaya, he serves as his archon's personal vanguard while pursuing his endless thirst for battle. His "name" is Tartaglia, but he mainly goes by his alias of "Childe", which means "young master". (公子 in Chinese and Japanese.)

The following lore is spoilers for Genshin's Liyue archon questline, and is censored in white font. BEGIN SPOILERS. During the Liyue archon quest, Childe introduced himself to the Traveler as a Harbinger with the alias "Childe". Under the pretense of helping them prove their innocence regarding the murder of Rex Lapis (Liyue's archon), he manipulated them to gain information. His true goal was gaining access to Rex Lapis's vessel in order to obtain the gnosis (the "heart of god") for the Tsaritsa. (The Cryo Archon is collecting the gnoses of the 7 archons of Teyvat, though her goal remains unconfirmed.) Childe, however, was unaware that he himself was being manipulated: by Rex Lapis himself, alongside his fellow Harbinger La Signora. When he realized the gnosis was missing, he fought the Traveler in a fit of pique, revealing the full extent of his powers. After his defeat, he acknowledged that the Traveler had no way of stealing the gnosis and concluded that Rex Lapis must still be alive. In a last-ditch effort to try and lure him out, Childe utilized powerful magic sigils to unleash an ancient god and threaten the safety of Liyue Harbor. However, the people of Liyue joined together with the Adepti (ancient guardians of Liyue) to defeat Osial; as they were able to save the city by themselves, Rex Lapis did not appear. Afterwards, Childe discovered that his friend Zhongli had secretly been Rex Lapis all along, and that he had used Childe to test whether or not Liyue could survive on its own. Satisfied with the results of his test, Zhongli stepped down from his position as Geo Archon and willingly gave his gnosis to La Signora, much to Childe's chagrin. END SPOILERS.

Childe's last in-game appearance took place in Inazuma during patch 2.2. Childe crossed paths with Xinyan, the Traveler, and a paper charm spirit named Shiki Taishou to investigate a mysterious domain crafted for battle. While Childe enjoyed the experience, he eventually admitted to the Traveler that he was in Inazuma to investigate the disappearance of another Harbinger (who was not present in the domain). Childe also appeared in Snezhnaya in A Winter Night's Lazzo, an interlude video that took place either shortly before or after that event. His current whereabouts are unknown.

FIRST IMPRESSION

(reddit voice) Childe is just a guy. Friendly and charismatic, Childe doesn't hide his love of battle, nor his flair for drama and theatrics; however, he typically comes off as quite laid back and unbothered by people's opinions of him. He enjoys his hobbies--fishing, performance arts, cooking--and he likes most people, regardless of whether or not they like him back. He's generous with his money and loves sharing drinks with his companions (as a Snezhnayan, he can hold his liquor very well). He values his family more than anything and will gladly talk about them with anyone who asks; he is also very fond of children, and will go out of his way to make them happy.

Childe is very much the "just doing my job" type of person. While he's loyal to his Tsaritsa and her cause, his true agenda is simply the constant pursuit of strength. In his own words: "It is not victory that I seek, but improvement. I want to become sharp as a blade, to the point where others fear me. [...] Only those who wish for an end will find one. I was born to fight, and as long as I draw breath, there will be no end to my purpose." Thus, while being Fatui means he doesn't trust easily and will manipulate and betray others for the sake of his duty, he does not see anything personal in such actions, and--while he may be grouchy about it--ultimately doesn't hold it against others who might do the same to him.

That being said, it's unlikely any of this (besides his love of battle) will come out right from the start. Childe isn't aggressive; he's mainly interested in strong people who enjoy fighting like he does, and he won't involve civilians or innocents in bloodshed and schemes unless he thinks he must. He is very much morally gray, but in the words of his Japanese VA, "As long as you let him have fun, he will always be in a good mood."

APPEARANCE

Childe is tall and lean, with short, bright reddish-orange hair and blue eyes that, notably, lack any shine to them. He is often smiling, and he typically appears relaxed, though people with lots of combat experience will probably recognize that he is always slightly on-guard and extremely aware of his surroundings. Childe favors practical yet high-quality clothing; he is extremely rich, but has a strong military background. His usual outfit is grey, black, and red, and his undershirt is also red. Outside of this outfit, he similarly wears neutral colors, sometimes reds (rarely, blues), but he generally sticks to long-sleeved shirts, slacks, and boots. Notably, he often purposely exposes some of his stomach. (There is no canon explanation but I assume it's because he wants people to try and stab him there so he can fight them for fun.)

THE ROLE

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PERSONALITYTYPEINFO

PERSONALITY

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VISUALS

SOUNDTRACK

♫ Fight For My Survival The Phantoms

I will overcome
And I refuse to run
I'm gonna fight for
My survival, yeah

♫ Young and Menace Fall Out Boy (cover by: Jonathan Maiocco)

Woke up on the wrong side of reality
And there's a madness that's just coursing right through me

♫ Lovely Billie Eilish and Khalid (cover by: Forte A cappella)

Oh, I hope someday I'll make it out of here
Even if it takes all night or a hundred years
Need a place to hide, but I can't find one near
Wanna feel alive, outside I can't fight my fear

♫ Bad Royal Deluxe

I broke so many bones
But none of them were ever my own
They were an army, I was alone
I broke so many bones

♫ Can't Stop Me Now Oh The Larceny

Ain't afraid to bare my soul, ain't afraid to walk on coals
Hear the thunder when I step, you know where to place your bet
I'm burnin' like a house on fire, cuttin' like a razor wire
I ain't gonna tell no lies, I ain't gonna apologize

♫ Soldier, Poet, King The Oh Hellos (cover by: Jacob Cook)

There will come a soldier
Who carries a mighty sword
He will tear your city down
Oh lei, oh lai, oh, Lord

♫ Villain Stella Jang (cover by: dongdang)

So many shades of gray
Oh, how can you still not know?
Good easily fades away
Think twice before you like me

♫ Dirty grandson

Do you have enough love in your heart
To go and get your hands dirty?
It isn't that much but it's a good start
So go and get your hands dirty

♫ Terrible Things April Smith and the Great Picture Show

I know that I'm afflicted
But who could have predicted
The monster that I've become

♫ I'm A Wanted Man Royal Deluxe

If you ask me to change
I don't know if I can
I'll always be who I am

♫ My Way Frank Sinatra (cover by: Chase Holfelder)

Regrets, I've had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course
Each careful step along the byway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way

OOC PERMISSIONS

Format?

[Like this for in-person threads], like this for text threads but you don't have to match me.

Backtagging?

Yep!

Threadjacking?

In general yes, especially out in public/during chat threads etc.; otherwise just ask first!

Fourth-walling?

Occasionally OK for laughs, but please ask first.

Off-limits?

I'm typically fine with most stuff that's IC for the character, but please do warn for/ask about the standard sensitive content so that we can work stuff out.

Shipping?

Thumbs up! M/F/NB all fine. We can just see where the CR takes us, though admittedly Childe is kind of tough to ship with, so I make absolutely no promises. Should it come up, though, I'm fine with FTB/handwaving smut threads or writing them out, whichever.

Negative CR?

If it shakes out that way, of course that's fine! Please note, of course, the IC/OOC divide: My views as a player are not at all the same as Childe's IC opinions or actions. If you ever have any concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Opt-out?

If for any reason you'd rather not interact with Childe and/or me, please let me (or a third-party like a mod) know so that I can accommodate you! No questions asked, no worries.

IC PERMISSIONS

Physical affection (platonic or romantic)?

In general yes, though whether or not Childe will actually allow it depends on the CR and the character.

Physical violence?

For fights/spars/etc., yes! I just ask that you hit me up first so we can figure out how we want stuff to go, but Childe loves fighting and he will gladly engage most of the time. We can also handwave if you don't want to write it out! I'm also okay with non-permanent injuries, but again, let's talk about it first.

Death/killing?

I won't say a hard no, but I do ask that you reach out first so that we can plot things out and discuss in advance.

Mind-reading/psychic stuff?

Yep that's fine! Just let me know so I can give you stuff in my meta tags.

IC triggers/offensive topics?

Uh... none that I can think of??? Oh I guess don't talk shit about his family or he'll be Unhappy. But otherwise he's mostly /shrugs.

HISTORY

NOTE 1: This page contains spoilers for Childe and Genshin. Click away if you don't want to see them!
NOTE 2: Most of the following lines were copied and pasted from his Wikipedia page. These are basically just his character stories rearranged.

Childe was born in the seaside village of Morepesok. Back then, he was known neither by the names Tartaglia nor "Childe," as the Fatui call him, but as Ajax, named by his father after some hero's tale. He and his father would cut holes open upon frozen lakes before sitting beside them and tending to their fishing lines. This was no easy task, and would sometimes take the entire morning. But whether it was chiseling away at the thick ice or the long waits in between catches, he was always accompanied by his father's unending tales of adventure.

These were stories of his father's adventures from when he was young, and they became the future that Tartaglia secretly envisioned for himself. So he would pay close attention, putting himself into the shoes of the protagonist of those tales, immersing himself fully in them even as they waited for a fish to bite.

When he was 14, he fled his monotonous life at home with nothing but a shortsword and a bag of bread in hand. He got lost in the snowy forest and was pursued by bears and wolf packs. Eventually, he lost his footing and fell into a bottomless crack in the earth's surface, ending up in the Abyss. There, he witnessed the endless possibilities of another ancient world. There, he would meet a mysterious swordswoman...

Or perhaps one should say that this dark realm had sensed the burning ambition in this boy's heart.

As far as I'm concerned... even though all children will come to know the truth, fantasy should be prolonged wherever possible.

Over the course of three months, the swordswoman taught Tartaglia how to pass through the Abyss unhindered, and more importantly, nurtured the ability to stir up endless havoc from within Ajax's trouble-mongering nature. It was during this time that Childe gained his ability to transform into Foul Legacy (likely something he learned from Skirk). It is also likely that it was around this time that Childe gained his Vision, though this has not been confirmed.

No one knows what happened within that darkness during those three months, since Ajax has never spoken of this to anyone. It is also unclear how he managed to escape. When his worried mother and sisters finally found him in that forest, only 3 days had passed in this world.

Thus did Ajax's first adventure end, with his now-rusty shortsword in hand. Even after becoming a Harbinger, Childe was never able to return to that darkness.

By the time he returned home, the young man was no longer the same.

He was no longer frightened and hesitant but had become frivolous and confident. He acted as if this world revolved around him, and as if battle existed for his sake. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that Ajax had become a nexus of strife, for no matter where he went, fights and squabbles would follow — and he reveled in it. In the eyes of his father, that third son that he had so worried about had changed for the worse, bringing much uncalled-for havoc to the seaside village of Morepesok.

Ultimately, after a huge brawl was pacified with some difficulty and with some near-fatal misses, his father had no choice but to hand his beloved son over for conscription into the Fatui. He hoped that the strict military training of the Fatui could hone his son's temper, but wound up watching fully-armed troops getting the stuffing beaten out of them by a mere child. This was a great disappointment to his father, but it also caught the attention of Pulcinella, the 5th Harbinger.

Shocked by Ajax's great strength and curious about how he invariably became the eye of a vortex of discord, Pulcinella inducted Ajax into the Fatui under the pretext of meting out punishment, ordering him to start from the bottom and take up the duty of serving the Tsaritsa. His insatiable desire for conquest would thus be constantly satiated in fighting for the Fatui, and his ever-burgeoning ego would gorge upon the elation of vanquishing mighty foes...

Until at last, Ajax was chosen to be one of the Fatui Harbingers, donning the mantle of "Childe" Tartaglia and becoming one of the most powerful people in Snezhnaya. He is the youngest Harbinger in the history of the Fatui.

Even good guys lie and manipulate at times... and bad guys have their own doubts and misgivings.

As the youngest Harbinger in the history of the Fatui, Childe is hardly bound by convention, and plays by his own rules accordingly.

Though this lone wolf is not so well-received by his peers and is also at odds with their methods, his cavalier demeanor hides a responsible, watertight meticulousness. Be it exterminating all the dragons inside their lairs, venturing into a domain of extreme danger, or single-handedly overthrowing the territory of a nobleman... he not only keeps his promises, but does so with finesse and surgical precision. As the Harbingers' vanguard, Childe always appears in the vulnerable underbellies of Snezhnaya's enemy states, striking as a conflict is about to erupt.

While his fellow Harbingers prefer clandestine operations and staying behind the scenes, Tartaglia favors being front and center. As a result, Childe's coworkers are wary of him, while he holds them in disdain for their schemes and "intangible" methods. While he is easily capable of scheming, he only resorts to such approaches when necessary due to his straightforward nature. He also treats his subordinates less harshly than the rest of the Harbingers, stating that he doesn't use lethal force against the recruits in his care nor does he threaten any of them.

Tartaglia dedicates himself to those he cares about wholeheartedly. He is loyal to the Tsaritsa and holds her in high esteem, seeing himself as her weapon of war. He also cares deeply for his family; he sends money, gifts, and letters home often. Tartaglia is exceptionally proud of his three younger siblings and dotes on them frequently, especially his youngest brother Teucer — he is willing to lie and even put himself in mortal danger, so as long as it makes him happy. Childe explicitly asks the Traveler not to tell Teucer the truth about who he is and what he does; in his own words, he wants to protect his family from Snezhnaya's "darker side".

Tartaglia describes himself as "kind of a bad guy", living for the thrill of a fight and causing chaos. A warrior at heart, he constantly seeks ways to grow stronger, regardless of how he obtains said power. Tartaglia considers those who wish to become strong like him to be friends and takes pleasure in battling them on the battlefield. He lusts for combat and grows excited by fighting strong opponents, even if it could mean dying in the process. He uses bows because he is weakest with them, making his victories with them all the more exhilarating.

Childe acts as the main antagonist in the Liyue plotline. While he initially provides the Traveler with funds and assistance, he warns them to be wary of spies and manipulation, ultimately proving that he himself was the one they were meant to be wary of. Childe had been ordered to conduct an operation in Liyue in order to acquire the gnosis of Rex Lapis; however, he ultimately learns that his true role was to be defeated by the people of Liyue as part of a larger plan. While he's clearly irritated about being used without his knowledge, he later tells the Traveler that he was simply fulfilling his role as a pawn. He says, "As for who wins, who loses, and how each side deals with consequences... I prefer to leave all that up to the ones playing the game," which reflects his outlook on his role as a Harbinger in general.

ABILITIES & SKILLS

Note: RP fights are, of course, just for fun, and this page is by no means an attempt to claim that Childe is undefeatable; As a player, I'm happy to discuss the outcome of a fight (and handwave it, tbh). However, since combat is central to Childe's character, I wanted to provide a detailed overview of his potential abilities just in case it happens to come up!

VISION: HYDRO

Childe can use his Hydro vision in a few different ways. For the full extent of his abilities, please see his Wiki page and his Phase 1 boss fight information. But for a general overview:

- He can imbue arrows with Hydro.
- He can manifest--arguably any weapon, but typically he sticks with twin blades (daggers/short swords) that he can combine into a double-headed spear.
- He can mark opponents with a Riptide mark that helps him target/teleport closer/etc.
- He can summon a Hydro shield.
- He can summon a massive whale/narwhal.

DELUSION: ELECTRO

Though he only uses it when he takes an opponent seriously, Childe can make use of Electro through his Electro Delusion. For the full extent of his abilities, please see his Phase 2 boss fight information. But for a general overview:

- He only uses melee weapons made of Electro in this form (his outfit changes to black, and he wears his mask on his face).
- He is much faster and hits much harder.
- He can mark opponents with a Riptide mark that does all of the above and, after a certain amount of time, creates a ring around his opponent and allows him to teleport directly to them with a powerful strike. This effect can be negated if he is hit hard enough to stagger.
- He can create an Electro shield.
- He cannot summon a giant electro whale. Probably.

TRANSFORMATION: FOUL LEGACY

As a last-ditch effort in only the most desperate situations, Childe is capable of what he calls the Foul Legacy Transformation. For the full extent of his capabilities in this form, please see his Phase 3 boss fight information; however, it is highly unlikely he will ever use this (unless we've plotted out the details and the aftermath, due to the massive toll it takes on his body). Nonetheless, for an overview:

- He can utilize both Hydro and Electro in this form.
- He's slower than he is with his Delusion, but he teleports a lot more.
- He is extremely large, and hits extremely hard.
- He can send Hydro and Electro strikes (slashes, hydrospouts, lightning clouds, etc.) towards his opponent from a distance.
- He can summon multiple Hydro arrows capable of AOE damage that essentially fill all but the center of his fighting venue.
- The Hydro whale is back.

ABILITIES: OTHER

In addition to the above, Childe has the following skills:

- Weapons mastery. Per his lore, "Many myths in Snezhnaya say that Tartaglia has been on the battlefield since he was 14 years old. Oddly enough, at that young age he already seemed to be a skilled slaughterer with mastery of many forms of martial arts." Childe enjoys fighting with a bow precisely because it is one of the few weapons he has yet to master, but in general, he is proficient in just about anything that exists within his world. He also greatly enjoys learning how to use new weapons and constantly seeks to learn from his opponents.
- Fishing, particularly ice fishing. Please fish with him he'll be delighted.
- Cooking, cleaning, general housekeeping. This list has taken an abrupt turn.
- Storytelling/performing. Childe is especially talented at entertaining little kids; in general, he canonically enjoys dancing and, according to his wiki, "Unlike other members of the Harbingers, who prefer to keep a low profile, Tartaglia will often go to watch public performances — occasionally even becoming part of the show himself."

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