The Count of Monte Cristo [COMPLETED]

[THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO]

THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO




"Cupitor impossibilium"
(Latin; "one who desires the impossible")

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Alias: Jaime
Other Characters: B. Chase Davidson, Medea Kekelidze
Rewritten City Found Via: another site, long ago.
Contact: Email is best, then PM.
Comments: Monte Cristo is easily the most difficult character I write for - anywhere. That's on RC, on other sites, and in my stories and novels. No character challenges me quite as much as Emcee. And I enjoy it... what does that say about me?!
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00I. full name Edmond Dantès, bka René Constantin Renaud, the Count of Monte Cristo; alias Lord John Wilmore, Sinbad the Sailor, Monsieur Antonello Zaccone, and others
0II. canon The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas, père
III. years of age Others usually guess his age as being between thirty-five and forty; he is actually forty-three years old.
0IV. orientation Heterosexual
00V. social status Elite
0VI. occupation Investment specialist

00I. play by James Caviezel
0II. body type Tall and slender with a subtle muscle tone
III. height Six foot two
0IV. eye color Dark brown
00V. description
Monte Cristo is either adored or hated by everyone he comes across. That is, one either finds him extremely pleasant and modest despite his wealth, or one becomes jealous of his pleasantness, modesty, and wealth. His appearance only adds to that divide - his oval face is comprised of rough angles that lend a sort of ferocity to his features, especially in the rare event that he actually shows emotion. His green eyes exude an air of confidence, but if one looks closely enough, one might notice a hint of sadness, or anger or amusement, depending on his mood. His voice alternates between soft and musical to coarse and sharp, the result of having been underused for the better part of fourteen years.

Others have remarked that, in combination with his cold demeanor, Monte Cristo's pale skin, dark hair, and dark eyes lend him the affect so typical of fictional vampires. A businessman, he prefers suits or dress shirts with dark khakis. He is most often seen wearing dark-colored clothing, seemingly because he knows that darker hues accent his eyes. His clothes are always perfectly pressed and ironed, and there is always the faint scent of cologne and freshly-washed and pressed fabric about him.

00I. overall personality
Monte Cristo is usually a very warm and good-natured person, on the surface at least. He smiles often, though it is slightly less than genuine and sometimes very condescending. He is an expert at small talk, and can make anyone feel welcome. This ability gains him the trust of others, a trust that he sometimes (not always) manipulates to his own profit. He has no problem conning people, but only does so to those who have wronged him. He has a moral code, but it is very different from what society considers "moral."

He is a master manipulator, able to read and play to the emotions and motivations of others. Moreover, he is sly, and gets by pulling off such feats as manipulation and puppetry by using his charm and his apparent transparency to his advantage. "Apparent" because in no way is the Count transparent; he pretends he has nothing to hide, and allows others to come just beyond arm's reach of him, telling them of his hobbies and even the methods he uses in his work and his daily life, but he seldom mentions his past. It is as though this being with the nearly superhuman mind appeared out of nowhere.

As he is a very well-respected and obscenely rich investment specialist, Monte Cristo is something of a celebrity, a reluctant Warren Buffet. While he does enjoy entertaining guests and arranging large, ostentatious gatherings from time to time, he does not enjoy seeing his own photo or reading about himself in the paper. A very private person, he prefers to choose those he lets into his life, and being a socialite detracts from that preference. While he pretends that politics bore him, he has quietly supported politicians on occasion, and follows the news religiously so he remains well-informed.

0II. strengths Monte Cristo is brilliant, innovative, manipulative, and nearly fearless.
III. weaknesses He is too emotionally invested in his personal decisions, is too afraid of the past that haunts him, and too cold for others to really relate to. He also has a bit of a God complex.
0IV. goals
Monte Cristo is a workaholic. He is already rich; what he strives for by working so much is a release from idle time. He would much rather be busy than bored. The work exercises his mind; for now, that is all he needs, consciously. Within the unsearched depths of his mind, he knows he needs to allow others into his life, and make deeper connections. There's still a touch of pain left in him from the old days, holding him back. This is what he most needs to conquer.

There is also a vicious streak within him, a byproduct of his vengeful days, and he has not decided whether to stifle it or own it. At the moment, he toggles between the two; soon, he knows, he will have to choose one. It is a choice between logic and intuition, head and heart; he knows he is a dark and devious individual, but, being the icon that he is, is it wise to let the world know it?

00I. notable family & friends
Louis Dantès - father (deceased)
Marie Dantès - mother (deceased)
Mercédès Mondego/Hererra - former fiancée
Haydèe Pasha - close friend and former servant
Richard Plantagenet - best friend, though not in the traditional sense
0II. overall history
Edmond Dantès was born in Marseilles, France. His mother died following his birth, leaving his father to raise him. Father and son both mourned the loss of Marie Dantès for many years, and that grief, among others, still colors Edmond's demeanor today. Louis Dantès homeschooled his son, as he believed that having practical skills would be more vital than learning the finer points of literature, mathematics, science, and the like. Instead, he brought Edmond up to be a career sailor, as Louis himself had been.

Though this unconventional education hampered Edmond's ability to meet a variety of children his age, Edmond did make friends with his neighbors, and grew close to a young girl from a nearby Catalan fishing village, Mercédès. When they were sixteen years old, they began to date, and quickly decided that they would marry as soon as they could. But Edmond and his father were poor, and their pride would not allow Edmond to marry before he could support a family. So, at seventeen, Edmond began to work as a commercial sailor, a job that kept him away from home for months at a time.

Finally, just before he turned nineteen, Edmond had earned and saved up enough money to see the wedding through and keep a wife financially secure. Not only that; he would also be made captain of the ship he worked on, Pharaon, following the death of its more recent captain at sea. This was a happy time for Edmond, but no so much for some of his acquaintances.

A man named Danglars, a sailor alongside Edmond, envied Edmond's upcoming promotion. Additionally, Fernand Mondego, a cousin to Mercédès, wanted to marry the beautiful fisherwoman himself, and as Edmond was at sea, incessantly asked her for her hand. Upon Pharaon's return to Marseilles, Danglars formulated a plan. He knew the former captain had asked Edmond to deliver a letter for him, and that the recipient of that letter, an enemy of the French government exiled to the island of Elba, had given Edmond a letter to deliver to Paris in turn. He wrote an accusatory letter which Fernand delivered to the authorities; quickly, on the night of his engagement dinner, Edmond was arrested and thrown in jail.

Now it was possible Edmond might have been freed, as the prosecutor, named Villefort, actually felt sorry for him. However, as it turned out, the letter Edmond was meant to deliver was addressed to Villefort's father, who sympathized with the exile. He had Edmond sent to prison, where Edmond spent fourteen years in a dark, dank cell at the Chateau d'If. Missing Mercédés, his father, and his life, Edmond resolved to starve himself, until a botched escape attempt brought another prisoner to him, a man named Faria. Faria had dug through the wrong wall and almost broken into Edmond's cell instead of through to the outside. The two became friends, and Faria, being well educated, taught Edmond everything he knew, from astronomy to toxiclogy to accounting to etiquette, before succumbing to a mortal hereditary disease. He and Edmond had planned to escape together; as he died, Faria insisted that Edmond continue, and search for the treasure of Monte Cristo once he was free.

Faria had once worked for a rich cardinal who had an ancestor, a count, who had stowed away a ton of gold and jewels, worth billions in present-day euros, and the location of the treasure had been passed down through the family for use in case the family's real fortune should ever dwindle. Faria's cardinal had died, and the cardinal's son; the latter had had no children, so he gave the secret to Faria, who passed it to Edmond. Instead of using the plan they had had in place, Edmond decided to escape by swapping his body and Faria's, so they would bury him in the prison graveyard. As it turned out, the prison's graveyard was the Mediterranean Sea. Fortunately, having brought a blade with him, Edmond was able to cut himself free of the body bag and swim until he was rescued by a ship.

He spent a few months on the ship, using his sailing skills, until the ship happened by the island of Monte Cristo. Faking an injury on the island, he remained behind after the ship left, and was able to locate the cardinal's treasure. Once a poor sailor, then an imprisoned traitor, Edmond was now one of the wealthiest men in the world. He used the beginnings of this new fortune, part of which he had converted into money and put into a savings account, to return to Marseilles and try to locate his family. Using several aliases, he found Louis Dantès had died, his former boss was on the fast track to bankruptcy, and Mercédès had married Fernand, who had then taken on the "hereditary" title of Count de Morcerf.

As Edmond had begun to consider himself an emissary of Providence, he set out to reward those who had helped and loved him in his former life as Edmond Dantès - now considered dead - and punish those who he learned had been behind his false imprisonment. Using his new education, his natural mental prowess, and his discovered fortune, he saved the life and business of his former employer, bought his father's old house, and performed other anonymous acts of kindness in the community. By the same methods, he exacted revenge, taking on the title "Count of Monte Cristo" (and a seldom-used false identity, René Renaud) to immerse himself among his enemies, all of whom had risen to high statures after his imprisonment. Slowly and imperceptibly, he deprived these enemies of the things they held dear. He manipulated the media and the stock market, timed events perfectly to alter what each target saw and missed, coloring each individual's perception of this mysterious Count. Cruelly he drew out their suffering, picking at each man piece by broken piece. One man lost his fortune; another, his sanity; another, his life.

These were games to Monte Cristo, games of justice and vengeance. Not until he accidentally nearly killed one of his own friends did he realize he had overstepped his boundaries. He was not a hand of Providence, just a man tainted by his hatred and pain. Having reached this realization after accomplishing almost all he needed to do, he left France and traveled around the world to clear his mind. Eventually he settled down in New York City, where he began an investment business to grow his fortune and give himself something productive - supposedly - to do. He occasionally has periods where he reverts to his former self, especially when angered or upset; until recently, these moments had not resulted in any more violence or destruction.

III. sample post

The woman looked up as Monte Cristo approached the ticket booth. "Welcome to Madison Square, how may I help you?"

The tiredness in the woman's voice did not miss Monte Cristo's notice. He smiled and made his request as politely as possible. "Good afternoon, Miss-" he looked at her name badge- "Jalisa, may I speak with your supervisor?"

The woman rolled her eyes and sighed. "He at lunch. You wanting to buy tickets for somethin'?"

Monte Cristo gave her another winning smile, laced with a touch of humor and condescension that lit his green eyes. "I would like to purchase several tickets, I suppose. I want to buy out the venue for a night, and I was told to come and speak with someone here."

Blinking, the woman gave Monte Cristo a sideways look. "You want what now?"

"A friend of mine is having a birthday this week, and I need a venue for the concert we are putting on. Is there someone-"

Jalisa had already turned around in her chair and was calling to someone behind her. "Amy, get Jerry for me." Monte Cristo heard the we've-got-a-crazy tone under her words.

Jerry soon appeared at the window. The woman said something to him in a low voice; then Jerry turned his attention to the customer. "Why don't you step inside for a moment?"

Monte Cristo followed Jerry to an office. The desk was very messy, as was the computer's desktop. Monte Cristo predicted that Jerry had not gotten around to updating the events calendar yet.

"So, which day did you need?" Jerry asked, looking at the events calendar, ready to respond with "that day's taken."

"The night of the sixteenth. Mr. Car-"

"That day's taken," Jerry responded. "We've got a Jay-Z concert that night."

Monte Cristo smiled again, though his patience was growing thin. "Yes, I know. Mr. Carter and I discussed that, and he agreed to move his concert to another night. His people called yours at ten A.M. this morning."

Jerry frowned and looked at his desk. As if by magic, he now noticed the message written in a rushed script on his Post-It pad. "Oh, um, of course! I just wanted to make sure you weren't some poser. I'll make the arrangements immediately, Mr. Cristo."

"Thank you." The supervisor's unintentional shortening of his last name earned the man another smile, a smile that did not reflect in Monte Cristo's eyes.

SYR INTEGRA of CAUTION 2.0 created this, modified by Yols with Shakespeare lines.

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ACCEPTED

Yay Monte Cristo. I LOVE him in "Person of Interest" Jk! lol