LIFEAFTR APP

[armamenta]

cw: body horror for this entire app
Player Information
Name: Redd
Age: 29
Contact: pokerap | Discord: pokerap#0934
Current characters: Yeager | Tales of Vesperia | scythegun

Character Information
Name: Jack Krauser
Series: Resident Evil
Appearance: Normal and mutated (warning for body horror in the last one)
Age: 32
Canon Point: After "dying" in the battle with Leon
Transferring From: Trustfell round 5 (trustfelled)
Canon History:

Krauser @ Resident Evil Wiki | @ Project Umbrella | Las Plagas | Dominant Species Plagas | Krauser's abilities (these all come with a warning for body horror, because Resident Evil)

These links are provided for extra detail in case you have any questions this app doesn't answer, but the first two are the most important here! Everything else will be explained in the app.

Canon Personality:

The first thing to note about Jack Krauser is that he's a mercenary. He's also mercenary as hell, in that he's the sort of person who cares about himself first and foremost and will do whatever he deems is necessary to complete his mission. The mission is important, certainly; whether that mission is defeating monsters or kidnapping the president's daughter doesn't really matter to him. Morals aren't exactly a priority here. Krauser is a man who will almost always fulfill his mission without complaint, but that doesn't mean he's just your run of the mill soldier. He has his own priorities, and sometimes they involve getting a sample of a parasite and then proceeding to inject it straight into his blood.

So maybe the most important thing to note about Krauser is that he's insane. Power is something Krauser desires more than anything else, born out of a fear of losing his ability to protect himself and continue to be useful. Losing the use of his left arm severely impacted his personality, and he grew to hate the US military and loathe just how useless he became. The only way to overcome that was power - the sort of power the viruses provided. This was his "start of darkness" as he calls it, and his descent into madness was rapid.

That's not to say Krauser was an upstanding and sane man before, however. No, Krauser's always been a little on the weird side. He focused exclusively on his job within the army and what mercenary work he could pick up on the side. His social skills are lacking, to put it lightly. He doesn't see any problems with telling a traumatized girl that yeah, all the people she was near are dead now. He's blunt and doesn't temper himself in any way, and he usually gets to the point quickly. That isn't to say it's all bad on the social front, however. He's also capable of making friends and spouting shitty one-liners when he probably shouldn't, but his terrible sense of humor dips into black comedy and around like-minded individuals he's perfectly fine. A little weird, but that's not exactly all that surprising since he's from Resident Evil.

That isn't the only weird thing about Krauser. He's also lacking in the morals department, and he never really had a strong sense of that to begin with. Krauser enjoyed serving in the military and had no problems killing; even killing the infected civilians during Darkside Chronicles doesn't bother him at all. He also tells Leon that they need to put Manuela down before she loses herself to the virus, even though she showed no signs of that and was still a mostly normal teenager. Killing isn't an issue, and by the time Resident Evil 4 rolls around, Krauser is gleefully assisting with his boss' plans, and that includes kidnapping and joining a cult, so you know. Morals aren't exactly a thing here.

While Krauser isn't in the military anymore, some parts of it have clearly stayed with him. He always does what he can to accomplish his mission, he will absolutely put himself in harm's way to do that, and he doesn't give up. Ever. He gets up after his heart literally explodes and keeps going. Going along with this, Krauser is also almost completely fearless, especially by Resident Evil 4. He isn't afraid of getting himself into terrible situations like dealing with an insane cult, he's not afraid of any of the monsters said cult has created, and he's not afraid of dying or even killing an old buddy (hi, Leon). Even before the fourth game he was strangely fearless despite facing off against B.O.W.s, monsters he previously hadn't believed existed. He was willing to fight all the way to the end, even after taking a spike to the arm that would eventually render his left arm useless.

That isn't to say he was completely fearless back then, however. Krauser's "start of darkness" happened because he was terrified that he was going to die. He couldn't protect himself anymore and had to rely on Leon for help. He didn't fully understand the power of what they were up against, and seeing Javier's transformation into a massive monster that could easily crush them terrified him. He began to realize that the world was a much darker place than he'd realized before, and viruses like the one infecting Javier and Manuela were the way forward. That was what he was seeking and it would give him the power he needed. So he sought that out, and when given the opportunity, of course he was going to shove parasites into his blood. It makes perfect sense.

So obviously Krauser has quite a few issues, but we haven't even touched on one of the bigger ones. Krauser is incredibly envious of others. He wanted Leon's position of power and the trust Leon had gained from the president, he wanted to know everything Leon did and not be kept in the dark until the last moment on an important mission. He wants Wesker's physical strength and intelligence and is willing to put his life on the line to protect the man who gave him back his usefulness. He's envious of Ada's supposed closeness with Wesker (even though he refuses to acknowledge that). He's still envious even after obtaining Plagas for himself, but he's chilled a little now that he has power. Only a little, though. He's still real mad at Ada.

Unfortunately, it doesn't end there. Krauser's also fiercely protective, which could be a good thing if he didn't take it to such extremes. Like everything else about Krauser, however, of course it's taken to the extreme. Wesker is both Krauser's boss and somewhat of an idol, and he will not let anyone betray his boss. Including and especially Ada. Krauser has no reason to suspect her of anything, yet he claims she's going to betray Wesker and that she couldn't possibly understand their boss like Krauser does. Ada obviously has way more experience with Wesker, but Krauser is more or less an attack dog, getting mad when anyone says anything halfway negative about him, or even implies that they might understand Wesker better than Krauser himself. This fiercely loyal and protective behavior could extend to others (and does in the CRAU) but Krauser's boss is always going to be incredibly important to him, no matter what.

Krauser's personality isn't all negatives, though. Sure, it's mostly negatives, but on a positive note, Krauser is genuinely capable of caring about people and looking out for them in his own way, even without the insane guard dog behavior. He does like both Leon (during Darkside Chronicles) and Manuela, and does attempt to keep them safe. He's blunt and often thoughtless in what he says, but that doesn't change the fact that he does and can care about other people. Listen, I didn't say it was a good positive trait, but it's worth pointing out.

Finally, Krauser is immensely practical, at almost all times. Sure, "practical" isn't always equivalent to "sane", but given what he believes most his actions do come across as "practical". Completing his mission objectives is one thing, but Krauser also does put priority on the almost military-like efficiency of clearing out areas and working as a team. When he was in the military he was exceptionally skilled and even led soldiers, which means he's capable of more than he really shows off in the games. He's not really a leader by nature, however, and does prefer following Wesker's orders. He does what he can and adapts to new situations pretty easily when he's not losing the use of his arm and becoming completely useless.

Krauser strikes a weird balance between being incredibly selfish and being willing to do everything he can for someone else. Sure, that someone else is a bioterrorist and yeah, Krauser could probably do better, but he's absolutely one hundred percent devoted to Wesker and will do everything he can for him. If it results in his death, then sure. If it means faking his death and then turning around and doing whatever is necessary to join a crazy cult then yeah, he's on it. The only thing that really stops Krauser in his tracks is the fear of being useless, and now that he's got Plagas in his blood, he doesn't need to worry about that. He's absolutely crazy, but immensely devoted to those who have earned his trust.

Personality Shifts:

Trustfell was a multi-round murdergame, in which every week someone would turn up dead and there would be an investigation into their death and a trial held to find the killer. Trustfell also contained a memory loss element; all characters woke up believing they were at an earlier canonpoint and through the course of the game regained memories until they were caught up to their real canonpoint.

This was understandably very confusing for Krauser, since he believed he was from early on in Darkside Chronicles, just after rescuing Manuela from the aquatic B.O.W. that attacked him and Leon. His true canonpoint is the same one listed here, after his "death" in the battle against Leon in Resident Evil 4. It was obvious there were some changes physically - his face was scarred and he was coughing up blood, not to mention the increased strength, speed, and endurance. (These abilities were kept in Trustfell, but they were nerfed for the duration of the game to lesser levels.)

Naturally, Krauser was not happy waking up in a strange new place with a bunch of civilians, no weapons, and some weird shit happening to his body. He spent a lot of time being really mad at the Transmitter, the person running the game. She confirmed that she hadn't done anything to their bodies, but Krauser and Nachetanya (from Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers) bonded over her missing arm and his scarred face, which they blamed the Transmitter for anyway (for a little while, at least).

Krauser also met Albert Wesker (Resident Evil films) who was listed on Krauser's profile as someone he liked. He had no memory of that, of course, but the two hit it off rather well and during a private conversation, Wesker explained what Plagas was (also mentioned on Krauser's profile) and helped him learn how to use that power. This resulted in Krauser mutating his arm, which they were both understandably a bit concerned about, but thankfully that's something Krauser can undo at will.

For the first four weeks, Krauser had very little to do. He was used to going out on missions or taking on jobs whenever he had spare time and he really wasn't fond of sitting by and doing nothing, just waiting for this to be over or for someone to try to kill him. Even though the Transmitter introduced motives starting the second week, none of them bothered Krauser. This included the motive involving hostages (his were Manuela and Leon, for some reason he couldn't figure out). So instead of dealing with the possibly traumatizing nature of the game, Krauser ignored it and did his best to not go crazy from boredom.

The one thing that kept everyone on their toes even if they weren't worried about the motives were the memories. Every week all of the characters in the game would regain one of their lost memories. (This includes those who died.) Krauser started from an early canonpoint and had to remember a lot over the course of two months, and while he was left with many questions, he honestly wasn't all that messed up by his memories. Starting from such an early canonpoint did do a lot to help him warm up a little bit to some people early on, but he quickly settled into the more self-serving and cold personality from Resident Evil 4. (Not that he was really all that sociable to begin with, but it helped a little bit.)

He didn't exactly mean to befriend anyone in the game, but he managed that anyway. Wesker was obviously the one he was closest to; they often spent their nights sparring and ended up sharing a room so Krauser could make sure Wesker didn't turn into a zombie at night and risk killing everyone him. They had a standing agreement that should Wesker turn, Krauser would put him down. It wasn't really for the safety of everyone in the building, but rather because Wesker didn't want to be a mindless zombie like that. Aside from Wesker, Krauser also befriended Nachetanya and Rin Tohsaka (Fate/Stay Night), though he was still fairly distant from both of them.

The murder during the fourth week turned out to be committed by Nachetanya, who was hiding her specific brand of crazy from most people in the game. Krauser took this as a personal slight, primarily because she didn't tell him she was crazy. He was also mad because he'd completely believed her act and never once questioned it, and he likes to think he's less gullible than that. After that, he vowed not to get close to anyone in the game.

Too bad he already was close to someone, and week 5 happened to be even worse.

On that Thursday night, Wesker lied to Krauser about his motivations and went out to kill someone. Krauser was under the impression that Wesker was going to die either way and had no idea that Wesker actually had something much worse in mind. He thought Wesker was doing this in order to let the execution mechanic handle him so they wouldn't have to worry about a zombie outbreak. Krauser stayed in his own room (after moving his things out of Wesker's) and waited for morning, and when he arrived on the scene, it was with a machete. Wesker was impaled by a statue (an item that Krauser had regained, not that he'd wanted it or anything) and was definitely going to die, but everyone was trying to get information out of him first. Krauser told them all to back up and waited for Wesker to pass (had he killed Wesker himself, he would have been responsible for the murder). Unfortunately, he waited just a bit too long, and Wesker turned after dying; he didn't manage anything before Krauser took his head off. After that he retreated to his room to let the others finish up investigating. (The people who witnessed this were under the impression Krauser did this to prevent zombie Wesker from killing them all, so for a brief moment, Krauser was the hero of the people. He didn't correct any of them. Ever.)

During the trial, it was revealed that Nozomi Kaminashi (Keijo!!!!!!!!) was responsible for Wesker's death. It wasn't as though she had gone after him or even meant to kill him, however, and she had a recording to prove that Wesker's plan was to turn everyone in the building into zombies, starting with her. She had defended herself, and in the process knocked the statue onto Wesker. She'd also been injected with some of Wesker's blood, and was definitely going to turn into a zombie. After the group had voted for both her and Krauser (as he was responsible for killing the zombie, which still counted as a kill according to the rules), both of them were sent into the execution pit. Nozomi turned into a zombie and Krauser killed her, only to end up going up against the Wesker from his world that he remembered. It wasn't the real version, just a fake, but it still killed Krauser.

All the characters that died woke up in a mirror version of the hospital, though this time it was more decayed. They were surrounded by all the others who had died during the game. Krauser spent the majority of his time here practically glued to Wesker's side, though their initial conversation was very difficult. Neither of them thought Krauser deserved to die for that, and Wesker was mad that Krauser had gone and done the stupid thing and gotten himself killed (which is very fair, but Krauser is notorious for doing stupid things). Krauser was also angry at himself for hesitating, showing a moment of weakness he never should have allowed. If he'd taken Wesker's head off before he turned, it's like Krauser wouldn't have been executed. He was also aware that if he had remained with the living, he would have done something stupid within a week or so, because Wesker was really the only person who could manage to keep him somewhat sane there. Losing Wesker would have been devastating, which is exactly what caused him to hesitate in the first place. Wesker and Krauser did eventually patch things up with each other and also with Nozomi, who tried really hard to set the two of them up on a date. (Krauser didn't realize it was a date at first, and then suddenly recognized that he might actually have feelings for Wesker and the whole thing was a mess.)

Most of the people in deadland were having problems figuring out what to do with themselves, knowing that they'd remain here forever since they couldn't exactly die again. Wesker was definitely having issues like this, and Krauser did his best to help. His best wasn't very good, but he did try at least. He didn't reach out to many of the others beyond superficial conversations, but he really did put forth an effort to look out for Wesker and keep him safe (from walking into the void, which was probably the only way to die again). This was at least partially due to selfishness; he didn't want anything to happen to Wesker and focusing on Wesker's problems meant he didn't have to address his own. So he didn't! Any sort of existential problems he was having post-death went completely ignored in favor of doing what he could for Wesker. Eventually he and Wesker ended up agreeing to be together, and while neither of them really acknowledged it, they were actually pretty happy dating, even though the situation was pretty awful in general.

Krauser did also manage to befriend Arietta (Tales of the Abyss) and Felicia (Fire Emblem: Fates), who were both soldiers in their worlds. While he didn't exactly mean to befriend them either, he actually did end up helping Felicia a bit with some of her own issues regarding usefulness. Which is saying something, because Krauser's really weird on the usefulness front.

In the end, there were only eight people left alive, but they confronted the Transmitter - who turned out to be a teenage girl (Alex from Oxenfree) and a bunch of souls controlling her (the Sunken, also from Oxenfree) - and worked out a compromise. They'd obtain bodies for the Sunken and in return, they were allowed to go free. It turns out the entire thing had been held in virtual reality, so all of them were woken up afterwards, including those that had died.

Krauser's plans were to follow Wesker initially, until they had secured the bodies necessary for the Sunken. After that, he and Wesker would return to his world, to hopefully reunite with Krauser's boss, the other Wesker. While he didn't exactly see it as going well, he couldn't just turn his back on his boss now that he had the opportunity to return. With that said, Krauser wouldn't dream of leaving without his Wesker, however, and his Wesker didn't have anything to go home to. Okay, it's possible he could return to an earlier point in time, but as far as Krauser's concerned, that isn't an option because Wesker's boss treated him terribly and Krauser doesn't like that. So he's definitely planning on dragging Wesker with him.

In terms of personality, Krauser didn't really change all that much. He's still fiercely loyal to those who have earned his trust, he's just made a few more friends now and would gladly kill for them. Does that mean he's learned nothing from the murdergame experience if he's still willing to resort to murder immediately? Well, you can't have everything. He is more willing to branch out and get to know civilians, and he's more willing to listen to their problems (if it means avoiding his own). He's a little less stabby than he was in Resident Evil 4, if only because two months of following strict rules that prevented murder will do that to a person. While he might not be traumatized like some people who went through the game, he definitely does have some changes that have turned him into a different person. Not a good person, but a different one.

Abilities:

Krauser comes with quite a few skills and abilities, and a good amount of them are thanks to injecting himself with the Dominant Strain of Plagas (as you do). I'll start with his more mundane abilities present in Darkside Chronicles and move up to zombie powers after that.

☣ Physical strength. Even before he injected himself with parasites and greatly increased his abilities, Krauser was incredibly strong. He's one of the most jacked characters in Resident Evil, a series full of jacked dudes. His training was due to being employed by the US military, though he also took on mercenary work when he had free time. He's since ditched the military and exclusively works for Wesker, but his training routine obviously hasn't suffered any.

☣ Leadership. This one's a bit weird since we don't see it in game, but Krauser led several military operations and apparently did just fine with pretty much everything he was assigned. When push comes to shove, he can take charge, he just doesn't usually do that anymore and instead follows Wesker's orders.

☣ Military training and weapons knowledge. Krauser has extensive knowledge on firearms as well as several ways to kill people unarmed. He actually tends to use knives; he's very skilled with those as well. He can also use a bow, of all things. Basically, Krauser's real good at killing people a lot and knows a lot about weaponry.

☣ Stealth. Obviously some of this was required on his mission with Leon, but Krauser also managed to fake his death and get away with it, along with kidnapping the President's daughter before Resident Evil 4. Never mind that it caused an international incident, the important thing is that he was able to do it in the first place!! He also tends to employ a more tactical fighting style, relying on his surroundings and even small robots capable of exploding, along with flash grenades to cover his escape when necessary.

That brings us to what I like to call Zombie Powers, aka the absolute bullshit Plagas has gifted Krauser with. I'll start with explaining Plagas itself. Unlike most of the zombie viruses in Resident Evil, Plagas is a parasite. There are different strains of Plagas, but the relevant one here is the Dominant Strain of Plagas, which is the one Krauser injected into himself like an absolute madman.

Those with the Plaga parasite are often incredibly aggressive, and while they will bite the player character, this doesn't seem to be something they do because they eat people. In other words, no, despite being a zombie, Krauser will not eat people. Plagas can be transmitted to others, but the only known way of that happening is through injecting someone with Plagas eggs. In other words, there's literally no way to spread these parasites, which I'm sure everyone absolutely appreciates because Plagas is disgusting.

It's also worth noting that the Dominant Strain of Plagas usually tends to mutate the infected horribly, ranging from consuming a person whole into some sort of plant-like monster to grotesque manipulation of the host's body. One example of this includes elongating the spine into a centipede-looking structure. In other words, Las Plagas is incredibly gross, but somehow Krauser's mutation is the least gross. (It's still gross.) It's never properly explained why Krauser's isn't nearly as massive and all-consuming, but I'll be operating under the assumption that Las Plagas took really well to Krauser.

As for the zombie powers:

☣ Superhuman strength, speed, and endurance. Krauser was already strong enough, but now he's much stronger than he ever could have been. His speed is increased as well, allowing him to move so fast it almost looks like he's teleporting from place to place. He does the fancy flashstep thing most Resident Evil villains do. He hits like a train too, so it's probably for the best not to get too close to him. He's also capable of taking a lot more damage than a normal human could. He survives his heart exploding, but he gets killed by the exact same thing, so that's a trick he can only pull once.

☣ Regeneration. Like many bosses in Resident Evil, Krauser can take a lot of punishment and his wounds heal quickly. He sustains a wound across his chest during the knife fight with Leon, and then the next time Leon runs into him he's sporting a scar there, fully healed from the battle. This also applies to the whole "heart exploding" thing mentioned above; he healed enough from that to be able to face Ada in battle (though he's from before that canon point).

☣ Increased jumping ability. This one is really specific, but Krauser is now capable of jumping much higher than any normal human. He can backflip upwards, by at least twice his height! Never mind that that doesn't make any sense, it's something he can do. That sums up all of his powers, actually.

☣ Mind control of those with Plagas. Another very specific power. Krauser and all those who carry the Dominant Strain of Plagas are capable of issuing commands to the others, essentially taking control of the lesser zombies you fight throughout your journey. While I doubt it would ever come up, I would like to remove this ability entirely. No one needs this?? Absolutely no one needs this.

☣ Arm mutation. Krauser's unique mutation takes the form of a sword and shield, changing his left arm (linked above in the appearance section). Krauser's left arm was rendered useless after the battle with a B.O.W. in Darkside Chronicles, but Wesker fixed his arm (somehow, we're not told how). The mutation only really changes his arm, though there are some cosmetic changes elsewhere. This arm - despite being absolutely massive - doesn't slow Krauser down at all and he carries it very easily. He's capable of using the arm as a sword, but it also works as a shield, protecting his upper body. The one vulnerability he has is that the shield doesn't protect his legs, and Krauser is just kind of weak to knives in general for some reason. Slice his legs a bit and he'll go down pretty easily; even a perfectly normal human can take him down with enough damage. It's also worth noting that Krauser can undo the arm transformation, returning it to a perfectly normal arm with no problems. If you'd like, I can put a limit on how frequently he can mutate and change his arm back to normal, since this is pretty overpowered. (Once a day, perhaps?)

As you can see, these powers are all pretty ridiculous. I am perfectly fine nerfing or removing anything you all feel is necessary! Since many of his abilities are built in, I would be fine giving him headaches for overusing his strength/speed/regeneration/etc.

Inventory:

☣ The clothes on his back, pictured above
☣ His knife
...that's it, everything else was in virtual reality.

Sample

Thread Sample: Trustfell intro thread & final Trustfell thread
These samples are obviously more than a year old, but they're here in case you'd like to check them!

Q&A:

If you could give up all emotions, both good and bad, would you?
[Krauser's got that knife out, and he's flipping it and catching it easily as he considers the question.] No. [It doesn't actually need any considering at all, really, it just takes him a moment to elaborate.] There's no point in it. If you give up your emotions, you give up what makes you a person. Might as well take the bad with the good and remain the way you are.

[...never mind that he intentionally shot himself full of parasites because he wasn't happy with the way he was, that's not the point.]

Is it more important to follow your own code, or the code of an authority above you?
Depends on the person, and on the authority. If you're following someone's orders and they're something you don't agree with, just how far are you willing to go for them? The answer varies.

Personally, I'll go to the ends of the earth for my boss. He's proven himself to me, and I share his vision. [...he has no idea what his boss' vision is, but he sure thinks he does.] I haven't had much of a "code" to begin with. I've always been a soldier; I'm just working for someone else now.

How do you think you measure up compared to your peers?
They aren't my peers anymore. [He doesn't seem to like the question, and there goes the knife flipping into the air again.] My "peers" were soldiers. They aren't the same as I am anymore. Plagas has made me different. Better. Stronger and faster than I ever could've hoped to be. I don't have any "peers" anymore.

[...Apparently the other people with Plagas don't count.]

Have you ever been in a situation where you had to strive for the moral high ground? If so, how difficult was it?
Strive for it? No. Why bother striving for something like that anyway? Morals just complicate things. [That's a terrible answer???]

What kind of person do you find worthy of respect?
Someone who can stick to their word, and who will put their all into achieving what they desire. It doesn't matter if it's something I don't personally enjoy or understand, as long as a person is willing to work to reach their goals, they're worthy of some respect.

There are very few who can match Wesker, though. I've never met a person quite like that.

[...He's talking about the one he met during the murdergame, but he doesn't elaborate beyond that. His tone alone conveys just how much he respects him.]

What is your greatest fear?
[That gets his eyes to narrow - and there goes the knife again.] I haven't had any reason to fear anything in years. [...two years.] There was a time when I was afraid. Of dying. Of losing everything that I found important. Of being useless. But that was a long time ago, and I don't have to worry about anything like that anymore. I'm far stronger than I ever would have imagined back then. It'll never happen again.

If you were given the chance to live forever while everyone around you died, would you take it? Why or why not?
[That's an interesting question, and he mulls over it for a moment, turning the knife between his hands.] ...No. Living forever holds no interest for me. I could carry out my boss' work, but I wouldn't want to see him die. I wouldn't want to be stuck like that, and the idea of leaving his ideals unfinished is irritating.

[...] I've got no interest in outliving Wesker either. [He doesn't elaborate on that.]

Besides, I don't know how long I have with Plagas. It could be years, it could be much less. Doesn't matter to me. I'll survive for as long as I can, and when I do die, I'll go out doing what I can to follow those that have earned my respect. [The Weskers, he means.]