philalexandros | Fleeting youth of glory,

PLAYER INFORMATION

Player Name: Eddie
Are you 18+?: Yes
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Strengths:

Loyalty. This is, without doubt, Hephaestion's most important personality trait. When they first appear, Alexander's companions are introduced in broad strokes according to their roles, with Hephaestion shown not only as his bodyguard, but also as reliable enough to look after Alexander's sword as he bathes, as well as being the one person who always knows Alexander's whereabouts in some capacity or another. Having grown alongside Alexander and most of the other members of the cavalry, his loyalty is never questioned, even when they begin to actively look for traitors amongst the group — the possibility of him intentionally hurting Alexander never comes up. Furthermore, while almost everyone that ends up joining Alexander does so either out of some ulterior motive or because they have an idealized vision of his quest, Hephaestion does so because he cares for Alexander as a person.

Focus. Hephaestion is easily the most serious of the companions, having such an intense concentration when it comes to getting things done that he can come off as boring because of his inability to relax while in the middle of something. In turn, this has made him both a great soldier and a musician, and he's noted to be well above average in anything he puts his mind to.

Secrecy. As a result of being a good listener, Hephaestion often finds himself acting as a confidant and advisor for others, which at some point someone realized could be useful for gathering information and decided to encourage. Of course, this wouldn't work if people stopped talking around him, and so Hephaestion has learnt to be extremely careful about what sort of things he says and more importantly, to whom he says them.

Weaknesses:

Prejudice. In the mind of a Macedonian free man, there's no one as good as someone from Macedon. This manner of thinking can be observed in all social strata, from soldiers refusing to fight alongside people from subservient states due to considering them savages, to nobility believing that a prince born of a foreign queen is a less worthy heir than one whose parents are both Macedonian. While members of the cavalry are more open-minded than the average soldier, thanks in no small part to Alexander's fascination with foreign customs, the fact remains that they're expected to be able to kill when ordered and to destroy cities that can't be subdued — Hephaestion barely spares a thought for any of the people he kills, raises no objection when they attempt to destroy Babylon to frame the Athenians, and finds himself unfazed by slavery.

Indifference. While it's not hard to catch Hephaestion's attention, getting his interest is another matter entirely; though he'll ultimately agree to do basically anything for someone close to him out of either politeness or to support them, it's very easy for him to get lost inside his own mind when it's something he doesn't particularly care about. Since he has very little interest in chasing women or heavy drinking, this often makes him hard to be around in the kind of festive environment the Macedonians favor, with him opting to provide entertainment with his lyre instead.

Withdrawnness. Generally speaking, Hephaestion has a good sense of his own skills, and so is pretty confident in both his abilities and his opinions. However, when it comes to his feelings, he'd rather keep them close to his chest. Whether because he'd prefer not to be an inconvenience, or because he doesn't want to deal with the uncertainty of not knowing how others will react, in more than one occasion Hephaestion has changed the direction of a conversation before it gets too personal. This is most obvious in his relationship with Alexander, which other people acknowledge as being very close and potentially romantic, but that Hephaestion himself does not put into words even when others address their own feelings for Alexander.

Fatal Flaw:

Devotion. While his loyalty and desire to protect those close to him is portrayed as a positive trait , Hephaestion goes a step further — he's not only ready to a die himself for a cause he knows to be wrong for the sake of said loyalty, but he's also willing to sacrifice the entire world if necessary. Upon finding that Alexander is prophesied to destroy the world and will most likely be responsible for the demise of everything he loves, rather than attempt to convince him to abandon his quest, Hephaestion doubles down and decides to support him to the last consequences.

Ultimately leading to his death when he takes a blow meant for Alexander, Hephaestion's devotion is his fatal flaw because it's a destructive drive that supersedes both logic and emotion.

Driving Force:

Alexander's happiness. As best friend and closest companion to the king, Hephaestion's purpose in life is making sure that Alexander achieves his dreams, and so he aspires to be the kind of person most useful for it. From studying strategy so that he can act as an advisor during battles, to playing the lyre because Alexander enjoys it, Hephaestion's motivation can be summed as "How likely is this to help Alexander, either now or in the future? And if it won't help him, how likely is it to please him?"

Patron:

Apollo. Hephaestion is an artist, often compared by those close to him to famous musicians of old due to his skill with the lyre; likewise, he's described as both agile and graceful, fighting with throwing knives and gymnastics rather than the bulky weapons and hand-to-hand combat preferred by other Macedonian soldiers.

GAME INFORMATION

Setting Suitability:

Due to the nature of his canon, Hephaestion is already used to fighting against both humans and supernatural forces of various kinds, and since he comes from a pseudo Greek setting, he can use the similarities between Greeks and Romans as a parting point to adapt to his life in the game.

Sample: link