Canon Point: March 2016; the night before his 8th Hollowend kill, immediately after Hettie shows up to his office drunk and makes a move on him
Appearance: 5'7; you know what charlie day looks like by now bc i'm trash!!!!! In general Harlan looks more composed and, uh, clean than charlie kelly or newt (i.e. he's an actual adult human). The main differences are that he's not constantly covered in mystery filth, he doesn't perpetually look like he just woke up in an alleyway, and he's capable of dressing himself. Speaking of, currently wearing: plain black t-shirt, red flannely button up thing, black leather jacket, jeans, leather belt, very practical no-nonsense undies, black socks, and those like work boot things that are actually classy shoes. Also, he has a tattoo? Tattoos? Idk, his left thigh is all covered in self-inflicted black dots. At a glance, it looks like an incomplete-yet-precise geometric design of some kind. It's his murder tally. Harlan would sooner DIE than let anyone see this so it likely won't come up but also this is TEN so.
Personality: very likable until he's very not, is (maybe surprisingly) pretty emotional but his compulsions help him to keep himself in check (said emotions are usually anxiety and anger)
Backstory: Quick world explanation: Hollowend is a town in an AU version of Earth where supernatural/magic stuff exists. Actual supernatural stuff is relatively rare, but its existence is common knowledge (for example, running into a vampire in line at the store is about as rare and exciting as running into someone from another country; it's neat, but not earthshattering). Hollowend is a convergence point for supernatural folk, so there's a higher population of magical beings than average. There's no real reason for this. It's just a town, idk.
Harlan is from not-Hollowend. Harlan is not his real name. He never knew his dad. His mom was a witch. He's a warlock. He inherited her influence multiplier. She was abusive. He killed her. He started killing people to see if he could get away with it. He tells himself the killing is still just a test. He can't use his influence on himself.
Notes on his actual murder cycle are here because I was like, I'll write a quick summary! and then two+ pages happened.
Important things that have happened by his canon point: Hettie has not solved the eye mystery; Julek is still being a cat at Sebastian (and Harlan knows this); Emilio's wife is still a rabbit; Harlan has killed seven people in Hollowend and he's planning to kill another the following day; Ms. Gilmoor briefly kidnapped Julek, which led to him releasing all the werewolves; Hettie showed up drunk at his office and tried to get in his pants
Notable Traits: --he's a serial killer, that is important --he is a warlock, that is also important --his specific brand of magic is that he has an insane amount of influence, that is the most-most important; rules for that at the bottom --has OCD that he manages to hide pretty well (or does he? maybe he just constantly tells people "you didn't see that shut up"), mostly related to numbers and stuff being orderly; he does things in threes --super super SUPER hates being touched do not touch him don't do it --knows ASL for reasons --has killed roughly 75-80 people (he knows the exact number but fuck it for right now) --pretty good at math --avoids drugs, legal or illegal, that alter his state of mind or could lead to an addiction; he's busy --stripping him of his control in a situation is the fastest way to send him spiraling; if this happens, he'll quickly lose control of himself too, so cue some violence --basically he's going to be a hot mess on this island everyone including him is super fucked
Starting Inventory: --hatchet >8) --digital watch on his left wrist --lighter for reasons --pen and notepad --wallet (literal monopoly money) --cell phone, keys, blahblah boring adult stuff
Influence Magic Rules: In a nutshell: he can convince anyone of anything. This is how he keeps getting away with murder. He's actually been arrested like a billion times but he uses his influence to weasel out of it. This ability is super nerfed in TEN (the opposite player gets to pick when it works and when it doesn't) but here are some general rules about how his magic works in canon:
--He has to actually speak for the magic to work. Usually. It can works when he writes stuff, but it takes way more energy and is way less reliable. Words in the air only happen once, whereas written words are there forever and can be read repeatedly, in which case the magic will weaken. In general, writing has too many variables. --It's not mind control. He can't force anyone to do anything, just to believe anything. For example, he couldn't command his mother to hang herself, but he could convince her that she wanted to commit suicide. Just an example that is related to nothing. --The stronger the original belief, the stronger Harlan's magic needs to be to override it. For example, it would be nearly impossible for him to convince someone to commit suicide if they didn't already suspect, even in a very small way, that their life was not worth living. For example. --It's easier for him to deploy particularly large lies (see example above) when the victim is either wrapped up in a bunch of smaller lies and/or is already vulnerable in some way. It's classic manipulation but turned up to 11. --The magic does wear off after awhile, but the victim wouldn't be aware that they had been under a spell. It's more like slowly realizing that they misremembered/forgot something than regaining sudden clarity. --All of the above mostly depends on how much effort Harlan puts into each lie. That said, he can only control how much power he puts behind his words, like one of those sliding power scales in a golf game or something. He can't specifically control when the magic will wear off or how effective the spell will be in the first place. He can make an educated guess based on the variables, but he's not always right.
Harlan Halliday | Hollowend
Canon Point: March 2016; the night before his 8th Hollowend kill, immediately after Hettie shows up to his office drunk and makes a move on him
Appearance: 5'7; you know what charlie day looks like by now bc i'm trash!!!!! In general Harlan looks more composed and, uh, clean than charlie kelly or newt (i.e. he's an actual adult human). The main differences are that he's not constantly covered in mystery filth, he doesn't perpetually look like he just woke up in an alleyway, and he's capable of dressing himself. Speaking of, currently wearing: plain black t-shirt, red flannely button up thing, black leather jacket, jeans, leather belt, very practical no-nonsense undies, black socks, and those like work boot things that are actually classy shoes. Also, he has a tattoo? Tattoos? Idk, his left thigh is all covered in self-inflicted black dots. At a glance, it looks like an incomplete-yet-precise geometric design of some kind. It's his murder tally. Harlan would sooner DIE than let anyone see this so it likely won't come up but also this is TEN so.
Personality: very likable until he's very not, is (maybe surprisingly) pretty emotional but his compulsions help him to keep himself in check (said emotions are usually anxiety and anger)
Backstory: Quick world explanation: Hollowend is a town in an AU version of Earth where supernatural/magic stuff exists. Actual supernatural stuff is relatively rare, but its existence is common knowledge (for example, running into a vampire in line at the store is about as rare and exciting as running into someone from another country; it's neat, but not earthshattering). Hollowend is a convergence point for supernatural folk, so there's a higher population of magical beings than average. There's no real reason for this. It's just a town, idk.
Harlan is from not-Hollowend. Harlan is not his real name. He never knew his dad. His mom was a witch. He's a warlock. He inherited her influence multiplier. She was abusive. He killed her. He started killing people to see if he could get away with it. He tells himself the killing is still just a test. He can't use his influence on himself.
Notes on his actual murder cycle are here because I was like, I'll write a quick summary! and then two+ pages happened.
Important things that have happened by his canon point:
Hettie has not solved the eye mystery; Julek is still being a cat at Sebastian (and Harlan knows this); Emilio's wife is still a rabbit; Harlan has killed seven people in Hollowend and he's planning to kill another the following day; Ms. Gilmoor briefly kidnapped Julek, which led to him releasing all the werewolves; Hettie showed up drunk at his office and tried to get in his pants
Notable Traits:
--he's a serial killer, that is important
--he is a warlock, that is also important
--his specific brand of magic is that he has an insane amount of influence, that is the most-most important; rules for that at the bottom
--has OCD that he manages to hide pretty well (or does he? maybe he just constantly tells people "you didn't see that shut up"), mostly related to numbers and stuff being orderly; he does things in threes
--super super SUPER hates being touched do not touch him don't do it
--knows ASL for reasons
--has killed roughly 75-80 people (he knows the exact number but fuck it for right now)
--pretty good at math
--avoids drugs, legal or illegal, that alter his state of mind or could lead to an addiction; he's busy
--stripping him of his control in a situation is the fastest way to send him spiraling; if this happens, he'll quickly lose control of himself too, so cue some violence
--basically he's going to be a hot mess on this island everyone including him is super fucked
Starting Inventory:
--hatchet >8)
--digital watch on his left wrist
--lighter for reasons
--pen and notepad
--wallet (literal monopoly money)
--cell phone, keys, blahblah boring adult stuff
Influence Magic Rules:
In a nutshell: he can convince anyone of anything. This is how he keeps getting away with murder. He's actually been arrested like a billion times but he uses his influence to weasel out of it. This ability is super nerfed in TEN (the opposite player gets to pick when it works and when it doesn't) but here are some general rules about how his magic works in canon:
--He has to actually speak for the magic to work. Usually. It can works when he writes stuff, but it takes way more energy and is way less reliable. Words in the air only happen once, whereas written words are there forever and can be read repeatedly, in which case the magic will weaken. In general, writing has too many variables.
--It's not mind control. He can't force anyone to do anything, just to believe anything. For example, he couldn't command his mother to hang herself, but he could convince her that she wanted to commit suicide. Just an example that is related to nothing.
--The stronger the original belief, the stronger Harlan's magic needs to be to override it. For example, it would be nearly impossible for him to convince someone to commit suicide if they didn't already suspect, even in a very small way, that their life was not worth living. For example.
--It's easier for him to deploy particularly large lies (see example above) when the victim is either wrapped up in a bunch of smaller lies and/or is already vulnerable in some way. It's classic manipulation but turned up to 11.
--The magic does wear off after awhile, but the victim wouldn't be aware that they had been under a spell. It's more like slowly realizing that they misremembered/forgot something than regaining sudden clarity.
--All of the above mostly depends on how much effort Harlan puts into each lie. That said, he can only control how much power he puts behind his words, like one of those sliding power scales in a golf game or something. He can't specifically control when the magic will wear off or how effective the spell will be in the first place. He can make an educated guess based on the variables, but he's not always right.