sating | overjoyed application

Player

Name: Christy
Age: 25
Contact:

yeezus
Preferred Pronouns: Female
Other Characters: Handsome Jack @

Character

Name: Hannibal Lecter

Age: 45

Memory Option: One—Full AU

Established Status: Yes—Hannibal has been here for five IC years

Canon: NBC's Hannibal

Canon Point: Post-S3

Citizenship: Leithian

Job: Self-employed concierge doctor

Abilities
Hannibal is rather out of the ordinary, but he's at least not quite so strange that he needs this section all that much! Hannibal's abilities are largely intellectual, such as being an excellent doctor with an especially keen sense of anatomy, an excellent attention to taste and detail as a chef, or being an accomplished polygot. However, outside of being just a very intelligent person, he does have two things of note for this section:

- Eidectic memory — Hannibal's memory is photographic, which is a big reason why he's so accomplished in so many things. While it's not truly perfect, there's very, very little that Hannibal forgets. Memorization comes naturally to him.

- Sense of smell — Hannibal's sense of smell is extremely sharp to the point of being able to identify truly insane amounts of detail from tiny smells alone. For example, Hannibal discovered this talent as a boy when he smelled that a teacher of his had cancer before she knew she had it. Or for a more concrete example, Hannibal was able to figure out that a corpse came from a farm because he could smell the corn dust on it. It's insane.

Personality:
In short, Hannibal Lecter is the devil himself.

Of course, Hannibal wouldn't want you to know this, and it's part of what makes him so sinister. To most people, Hannibal Lecter is a kind, helpful, and rather pretentious man. He's an intelligent, insightful, and well-respected psychiatrist with a mild temperament. He has eccentric hobbies, such as a great love of art, music, and most of all, cooking elaborate gourmet meals, but his overall disposition is that of a good man. However, these aren't Hannibal's only hobbies. While these traits are all perfectly genuine parts of who Hannibal is, there's something absolutely evil hiding under the surface of that temperament that are dangerous to discover in ways that might not be as obvious.

Hannibal is a cannibalistic serial killer, which is evil enough in itself, but the reason that Hannibal ascends to a level that's beyond being a murderer has nothing to do with the physical danger he presents. Instead, Hannibal is dangerous because of how he can influence people, and it's this skill that makes him so devilish. Hannibal has a great skill in how he interacts with people, though you may not typically describe that as a skill. He has a great capacity to read and understand people, and this skill has been put to use in his work as a psychiatrist. He can see people for what they are before they can, and through conversation, he can lead them to accepting, improving, or otherwise acting upon whatever troubles them. And many times, he does just that. He's an extremely skilled psychiatrist, and he's well-respected because of his very genuine ability to help others. He's an excellent listener, and he takes very genuine interest in most of the people that come into his life, whether as patients or as friends.

However, the problem comes when Hannibal gets invested in someone, which is very different from interest. Because whatever may cause him to get invested in another person is rarely anything good. Because of his ability to see people and what they may be capable of, if something especially captures his interest, it's likely to be something just as dark as himself, and he wants to encourage that. And in Hannibal's mind, by doing so, he's truly helping that person. He understands that it'll hurt them or others, and he knows that it's considered wrong, but in those cases, Hannibal considers his help to be for the betterment of that person, which is above those things. So for example, when he sees the capacity to kill in someone, he'll tend to encourage it, especially if repressing that desire causes them distress. In his way, Hannibal believes he's helping them. But just as much, he doesn't particularly care what it may mean for that person to accept that darker part of themselves.

This is the way that Hannibal really tends to get into peoples' heads, because other characters comment that Hannibal has an uncanny ability to seem to be able to know what someone is thinking before they themselves do. He's able to see events and people seemingly differently from everyone else, and it allows him to be incredibly, uncannily manipulative. Even people that are fully aware of what Hannibal is and what he's capable of find themselves easily caught up in his web, because he has a great capacity to be subtle in what he does. For example, even when Hannibal is caught and in prison with limited contact with anyone, he's able to manipulate events that take place entirely outside of the prison to lead to his escape (and to him getting the boy, but I'll get to that). His manipulation is something that shouldn't be underestimated, because he's a true master of it.

But of course, this is the less obvious way in which Hannibal is dangerous. There's the much more famous and immediately repulsive one, which is the fact that Hannibal takes great enjoyment in murdering people and taking body parts from his victims so that he can either eat them or feed them to other people. He's the infamous Hannibal the cannibal, and Hannibal truly feels no guilt over what he does. However, he does consider himself an elegant and purposeful killer, so to himself, none of the people he's killed are ever without a reason. These reasons can sometimes be petty, such as when Hannibal notes that "whenever possible, one should always try and eat the rude," and keeps a rolodex of business cards with the names of people who have personally slighted him, but other times, the reasonings are more logical. If someone threatens him (or someone he does genuinely care about) in some way, then Hannibal's response will always be to kill, and sometimes viciously. He's just as adept in the ways of how to kill people as he is in his manipulations, and in his idea of a perfect scenario, these events overlap.

The connecting string between the person that Hannibal presents himself as to most versus the monster underneath is always hedonism, after all. Hannibal's primary goal in life is nothing but amusement and pleasure, and these show in both aspects of his life. He enjoys manipulating people for the entertainment of it and the satisfaction of seeing his curiosity about what they might do answered, but he also enjoys things like literature for the intellectual pleasure they provide him. As such, everything in Hannibal's life is a pursuit of pleasure. Granted, his definition of pleasure can be grotesque, but it doesn't always have to be. He enjoys things like parties where he can socialize with people perfectly normally just as much as he would enjoy being questioned by the FBI. He never wants to be bored, and so he does everything he can to assure that he never is.

It's this aspect of his personality that makes him so easily charming. Hannibal is eccentric, but he's undeniably charismatic. He's an extrovert (albeit a quiet one), and he takes such genuine interest in people that it's very easy to be drawn in. Yet even so, what makes the illusion of normalcy so convincing is that Hannibal isn't without flaws in that outward part of his personality. His pretentious and petty nature shows just as much there. He absolutely despises rude people, and often has to do a lot to barely veil that dislike, and his intellectual pursuits are also something he has no problem showing off. He'll one-up people that insult him out of spite, and he very clearly enjoys doing so. He also doesn't really have any interests that are "down to earth" in the sense that even with his normal hobbies like cooking or music, he tends to pick the most lucrative and elaborate versions of things as his favorites. Nothing Hannibal ever does is simple, and he takes no small amount of pride in that fact.

These traits encapsulate Hannibal as a whole, but there is one, specific point that's worth mentioning, and that's Will Graham. In NBC's version of the Hannibal stories, Will Graham is essentially Hannibal's turning point. Hannibal has been killing people for many years, but it's not until he meets the FBI profiler with an empathy disorder that he ever had any hope of being caught. And it wasn't because of Will's empathy at all—It was because Will Graham captured Hannibal's interest in a way no one else ever had. That was in no small part because of Will's empathy disorder, but in short, Hannibal fell in love with Will.

Will's empathy disorder gives Hannibal a chance for something he deeply, deeply desires, but also had never thought was actually possible, and that's the capacity for someone to understand him. He craves understanding, and in some ways, his darker hobbies are an expression of that. To Hannibal, his kills aren't unlike a painting, and they're meant to reflect the mind of the artist. He doesn't crave understanding for forgiveness or anything like that, but he simply wants someone to truly see him for what he is, good, bad, and everything in between. And throughout the course of the show, Will is able to do just that. It's what makes Hannibal's interest in Will nothing short of obsessive, because he deeply craves for Will to accept him. Their relationship is complicated (to say the very least), but Hannibal is definitely deeply in love with Will because of that sense of understanding and eventually acceptance that comes with him. That, and he's kind of charming for a weird, antisocial dog thief. But of course, it's aso worth noting that Will's acceptance doesn't come from anything like an ideal, returned love. It only comes from years of Hannibal's gaslighting, manipulation, attempts to kill Will, and the deaths of many people around him. Hannibal's love is always dangerous and bloody, but Will decides that being with him is better than the alternative.

Which is really the sum of everything for Hannibal. In one part, he's a perfectly genuine, if someone odd man. He's charming, friendly, and always willing to help others. He doesn't hesitate to hear people's problems and try to help them through their darkest times, and he may even do so by extending the kind of care that means bringing them a homecooked meal. He's intelligent and thoughtful, and in every way, it's no surprise that he attained the success as a psychiatrist he had. Of course, this is why it comes as such a shock when someone finds out what Hannibal truly is. None of it is disingenuous, but there's always been a sinister undertone that you never noticed. Finding out what Hannibal is means looking back at every conversation and every meal you've had, because he so easily hides what he's capable of just out of sight, but there were always hints. But figuring out what he is also isn't a simple task with a simple solution. He does his best to hide it, but even when he's discovered, you may end up dead or trapped by the noose of events he's been manipulating around you the entire time.

So all of that said, Hannibal proves that it's not always better the devil you know.

AU History:
For a full history (since I wrote it out for my own reference...), see this post.But as it's quite long, have some bullet points:

The Lecter family was one of the first families to settle on Leith, being of minor and non-threatening Qreshi ability. The family has enjoyed respect on Leith and Qresh both but previous generations have leaned towards more radical True Leithian sentiments

As a consequence, the Lecter estate was attacked when Hannibal was quite young and the estate's family and workers were slaughtered save for the two children, Hannibal and Mischa. The attackers attempted to use the children as bargaining chips to escape consequences, but weren't successful and were instead barricaded on the estate unable to leave. They eventually killed Mischa and cannibalized her, and this including feeding her remains to Hannibal.

After escaping, Hannibal was found and raised (but not adopted) by distant members of his family that lived on Qresh instead (but still had little status themselves). His aunt and uncle raised him on Qresh, which is why he's quite intellectual, well-mannered, and pretentious.

As a young adult, Hannibal studied medicine, and while in schooling, took the opportunity to very silently take revenge on the people that had killed his family that were still alive. This is what developed him towards being a serial killer, since he enjoyed the pleasure of killing.

After finishing his higher education, Hannibal reclaimed his estate and reestablished the Lecter family's name under his own image as the new head of the family. Hannibal quickly gained respect and admiration with all circles for being well-mannered but not radical like previous generations. Hannibal started in medicine, but because of his skill, became a concierge doctor to the very wealthy, which has given him respect and recognition in higher social circles without the political threat of having any sway (or interest) in becoming one of the Nine.

In the meantime, he also provided charity work to Westerley, and occasionally used this as a cover to kill and eat people. On Westerley, a serial killer became known as "the Ripper," and while some Enforcers worked on this case, it was considered a relatively low priority

Hannibal eventually met one of the Enforcers on the case when Will Graham showed up in a Leithian hospital, nearly gutted by a killer he had been pursuing. Hannibal saved Will's life and out of amusement in knowing that he was on his case, stayed to talk with him. Hannibal quickly became infatuated with Will after because of his empathy disorder.

It began a few years courtship where Hannibal was obsessed with Will, though Will didn't quite return the sentiment. Eventually, Will also found out who and what Hannibal was, but after plenty of struggling about that, eventually decided that being with Hannibal was a happier prospect for him than trying to get justice for Hannibal's crimes. This was in no small part because of Hannibal's own manipulation.

Eventually, they got married, and this is quite a scandalous and juicy piece of gossip in Hannibal's social circle. He personally loves it. Nowadays, Hannibal and Will live on his Leithian estate, Hannibal is still a doctor, and he also still kills people. Will is aware, and though he doesn't delight in it, he tolerates it.

Original History:
Here

Inventory:
N/A — Hannibal won't be bringing anything with him.

Samples:
test drive meme!

Miscellaneous Notes: my taste in characters sucks and i'm real sorry