Complaints Wanted - Rudolph Hardin

[Sanguine415]

Description:

Though of thick chest and wiry limbs, Rudolph has seen better days. Standing at an even 6', even the bundles of sinew granted by decades of labor haven't made the man look healthy. Numerous pock marks and wrinkles adorn his brow and cheeks, and his head is dotted with scabs and scars courtesy of endless night's shaves with rusty razors and cracked mirrors. His bald head is voluntary, a simple node of "Easier to fit the helmet, less for folks to grab."

 

Backstory:

Old Rudy Hardin grew up in a rundown apartment down the street from a butchery. With a mother off seeking her next fix in some errant slum, his doting grandmother took the responsibility of his primary care. Pa was a proper drunk, but he came home from time to time when the bills needed paying, and Grams always left a seat open for him at dinner.

His young childhood went by with little incident, Rudy was average in just any aspect of schooling one could expect, never the son to pick a fight that he couldn't avoid. He'd figured by that point that he would join his father in construction, and why not? He was no doctor, as a given, and certainly no scientist. If thick arms gave him a paycheck and a present father, that was the way of it.

Graduating without incident, he found his way into the construction business quick enough. Odd as it was, his father did start showing up to more dinners, and Grams was always around to chastise Rudy for not being some kind of doctor. Yet, for all the errant tugs and struggle, Rudolph was content. This was the closest he'd managed to a normal family rhythm, and that was enough.

No surprise, then, that tragedy struck the simplest man. Around his twenty third birthday, Grams passed away suddenly, a victim of a peaceful death from a long, fulfilled life. While his father disappeared into his work once more, Rudolph took solace in any proper intoxicant he could find. No kind of jolly drunk, an altercation at a local bar broke out between him and a rowdy patron, a senseless bout of violence, and for Rudolph, a release from the pent up frustration and simple "unfairness" that he felt of his Gram's death. One broken mug and a dead drunk later, Rudolph was taken away in cuffs.

The courts were quick if nothing else, Rudolph was sentenced to twenty years for one count of second degree murder. It wasn't long before he found himself working as a penal miner, picking away every hour he could of the decades he would lose. Along the way, he made the acquaintance of one Jeremiah Freeman, a proper criminal by any other name, but a friend in chains. The decades wore down any presence of youthful spirit, and a cynic was born of bad luck, worse circumstances, and the efficiency of the legal system.

Freedom decades later gave ol' Rudy little joy. He'd spent near half of his life picking away in the chains of the law, and for what? A drunken brawl that could have been prevented if he hadn't been so damn disgruntled. A good thwack with a wooden spoon could have sorted him out, but he'd been off crippling his liver on stale beer and misery. The grumbling of Rudolph's stomach was quick to interrupt moping, and having had his share of work experience behind bars, he sought employment as a miner. That path took him to employment by NT, along with a reunion of sorts with his good friend Jerem.

 

Personality:

Dry and bitter, Rudolph's most content when insulting another over the headset, and in general has distaste for anyone that sees the job as more than a paycheck. Time inside and out has worn him down thin, and he's long since lost any genuine savor in day to day living. Sarcasm is one of his few remaining lifelines, along with gumbo and the familiar sound of a pick hitting the rock.

Edited August 27, 2014 by Guest

[Rusty Shackleford]

Now this... this is nice. A grizzled everyman who just wants to earn his pay for the day and go home, wherever that might be. The backstory really gives a sense of who this character is, the flavor text and the personality sections are short and succinct. No exaggerated frills, no unnecessary details or over-dramaticized sob stories. The only thing I'd suggest is adding a bit information as to the origin of this character, i.e. what planet he was born on, which city, etc.

[Sanguine415]

Only thing I came up blank on when I was writing him up, figure I'll find something to place down in his history.

[incognitojesus]

Rudolph, the everyman.

I like him.

I also like when he's talking to his miner counter-part...Jeremiah Freeman, I think?