Erich Köhler
From Wiki Resolution
Contents |
[edit] Summary
The alcoholic chain-smoking Grumpy Bear of the London Seals. Or at least that's what Tinka would tell you.
Erich vehemently denies most of it, because he may be grumpy and he may chain-smoke, but he's most certainly not a bear, and alcoholics go to meetings, dammit.
[edit] Basics
Age: 26
Birthdate: May 21, 1973
Zodiac: Gemini
Occupation: retail clerk, freelance photographer
Languages: German, Russian, English, French, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Czech, Slovak
Religion: atheist
[edit] History
Erich was born in East Berlin in 1973, and grew up under the reign of the GDR. His father worked for the GDR's secret police, the Stasi, and was a diehard supporter of the communist state, but Erich rejected his father's philosophy from an early age, mostly as an act of personal rebellion in response to an extremely strained relationship. He stayed quiet about his politics, however, as he recognized the consequences that would come with saying anything about it.
He recognized his abilities as a child, and took full advantage of them. By the age of 13, he was offering his help in transmitting messages for an underground anti-socialist group. He was very successful, as his perfect memory meant that even long and complicated messages could be delivered without a hard copy and with no chance of error, reducing the possibility of detection; besides that, his age made him much less suspect.
Erich didn't really have a life's goal in mind - he had a few hobbies, photography first among them - but he mostly just knew he didn't like communism, didn't like the Soviets, and didn't like the GDR - and positively hated his father. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, he was there, part of the mob (and snapping pictures when he could manage a good shot), and when he later got around to developing the film he realized that once Germany reunified, he really had no idea what to do with himself. He had done well enough in school, but he didn't really care about science or mathematics, or much of anything else he'd learned.
He moved out of his parents' house at the first opportunity, but remained in the newly unified Berlin for a few years, sharpening his photography skills and taking a lot of pictures that mostly focused on documenting the changes in lifestyle being experienced in the east. In 1994, he decided to leave, and started hitchhiking across Europe and taking a hell of a lot of photographs along the way. He ended up in London a few years later with not much money and way too much undeveloped film, and managed to find both a retail job that made him a modest living, and a few new friends in the artistic community who didn't mind letting him use their darkrooms.
Since then, he's remained in London, and he's managed to save up enough to convert a back room in his flat to a darkroom of his own. He's currently still trying to figure out what to do with himself, but in the meantime, he just lives day to day. And smokes. And drinks. And takes pictures.
He'll figure himself out eventually, he thinks.
Since he found out about this whole end of the world thing, he's mostly just hung around arguing with Tinka over his smoking and drinking habits, and wondered why the Angels don't seem to even try to blow shit up in London. And had his moments of hilarious mental instability as Stephen fucks with his memories and makes him forget things.
[edit] Personality
Erich is a cynic - a fairly good-natured one, but he has a dim view on life in general and he rarely expects the best possible outcome (or even a fairly good one) of anything. He tends to be pretty grumpy most of the time, although he does have a softer side; he'd rather pretend it's not there, but one good woobie face from Tinka is often enough to make him relent a bit.
The sheer weight of all the memories he's dragging around is a constant mental strain, and it takes a certain degree of focus for him to keep everything straight in his head. This is most noticeable when he first wakes up in the mornings (Erich is not a morning person), as it often takes him a couple of hours to get his mind together enough to speak coherently in one language; he also sometimes loses it when he's feeling severe mental strain for whatever reason.
Between that and the fact that his powers mean his emotional baggage is always crystal clear in his memory and right in his face, he's developed something of a self-destructive streak, and he's completely unapologetic about his bad habits. He's probably an alcoholic (he insists that you're not an alcoholic unless you go to meetings) and he's a two-pack-a-day smoker. He also readily admits that he's tried other, less legal drugs, although he didn't make a habit of any of them.
Overall, he's pessimistic, a bit too casual about his own mortality, and he insists that he doesn't care. He doesn't hate his life enough to go out and stop it, but nor is he really attached enough to it to fix everything wrong with it. He might be finding reasons to care, finally...
...but he's not really sure if they're good enough yet.
[edit] Powers
Perfect memory. Which he is quick to tell you is nowhere near as awesome as it sounds.
[edit] Relationships
lol later.
[edit] 20 Facts
Coming once I find where I saved them.
[edit] Other
Erich is played by Iris, and his journal may be found at whyitried. His PB is Gilgamesh from Fate/stay night, who is property of Type-Moon.
