First up is the Eternal Rain team’s rookie protagonist, Toki Shimizu. She’s an earnest girl who gives her all but never quite seems able to measure up in academics or athletics. So, when she’s suddenly thrown into a mission where she has the fate of whole worlds on her shoulders along with her teammates’ lives and hers at stake, she grapples with fear and insecurities about her own abilities. Early squabbles within the ragtag team don’t help as criticism of her obvious lack of strength chips away at her already-low self-esteem. Spurred by Reka’s courage and support from Kita and Mara, Toki is determined not to be a burden, and she grows to the point where her teammates can depend on her in return.
Second is the Eternal Storm team’s emotional core, Shiori Hikichi. Shiori looks up to her older sister, Kita, and is even more inspired by what she sees during what was meant to be a fun trip to the Water Gate with Kita, Toki, her sister, Atsuko, and their Keyholder friends. But when the innocent trip takes a dangerous turn, Reka risks his life to protect Shiori and Atsuko and nearly dies when the team gets caught in a battle and he hasn’t recovered enough to withstand the brutal attack. Not wanting to put anyone in danger like that again, Shiori trains hard and tries her very best to protect her teammates when she herself becomes a Keyholder.
Next is the L&F’s reluctant co-leader, Tristan, in Pet Projects. A failed experimental human-animal hybrid with severe asthma, he was thrown away by more people than he cares to count, and he struggles with a fear of abandonment and low self-worth as he now tries to start a new life with his found-family, Shay and the L&F. He often pushes himself trying to prove his worth, trying to be strong, but always fearing deep down that he’s not strong enough to protect anyone and not worthy of being called a leader. When a harrowing battle ends with Veli injured, seemingly confirming his fears, it takes a whole lot of reassurance from Shay and a journey back to his roots to help Tristan to fully realize that physical strength does not define his value.
And last is Khalil Evans from the dis-colour roleplay, who was already introduced in a previous post. That post discussed how Khalil suffers from panic attacks after coming out of an abusive home environment. Any situation that makes him feel cornered or subconsciously reminds him of his trauma can trigger one – and unfortunately, in the correctional facility that he finds himself in, those situations happen all too often. The debilitating attacks leave him feeling like a liability, and his worst fear is that he won’t be able to protect his found-family in the facility. It’s with a stubborn tenacity that he’s able to overcome his powerlessness in order to help his friends.
Whether they struggle with a lack of physical strength or battle psychological scars, these underdogs are able to overcome their weakness through grit, hard work and support from friends so that they can support the people they care about in return.
