Could you possibly give a rant/ character analysis of the trailblazer cause my character analysis skills aren't the best so I usually like to look at other people analysis though I haven't been able to really find much for the trailblazer my guess is primarily due to their past still being a mystery but If it is possible for you to do that or your thoughts about them as a character so far even without such crucial information about them
Honestly, we do have enough on them and their past that character analysis is perfectly possible. People just.. dont really bother, because they’re the player character ig.
But yes, yes I can absolutely do a character analysis. Itll be all over the place though lmao.
So, as a basis, lets just start with the Trailblazer off a first glance - the Trailblazer that basically everyone meets, and knows.
Trailblazer is goofy, kinda reckless - an understatement at times. They’re kind, but not overly so, they arent a pushover. They’re generally pretty quiet in all honesty, only opening up around people they know and like. They’re also blunt, albeit not as blunt as March. They in no way will hide if they dislike you.
They’re pretty arrogant at times, particularly about their own skills (in combat majority of the time, but absolutely not exclusively.) but they’re arrogant in the way where it’s kinda charming somehow, and mostly because they can absolutely back up what they say. Their arrogance is normally played for a laugh as well, like the whole ‘Famed Galactic Baseballer’ thing.
Trailblazer also has the tendency to tease. Thats not as major, but they do seriously like to tease their friends. March is like, the biggest victim of this lmao, they take basically every chance they can.
For the most part, honestly they seem like an open book. Its entirely fair to assume that that is who the Trailblazer is.
It is far from it. Dont get me wrong - all of that is apart of the Trailblazer. But as with anyone, theres more to them, and a lot more.
Anyone who gets to know the Trailblazer will come to find out that they are actually a pretty anxious, restless, and honestly aggressive person. They’re also like, seriously closed off.
Their arrogance is often carried by their anxiety- they’ve got the “scared of how people perceive” me type, not the “scared of talking to people” kind. They prop themselves up as the great galactic baseballer and nameless, because they want people to have a good perception of them. Better to seem arrogant than to seem.. anything else unwanted.
Their jokes come as apart of that anxiety too. They joke to make themselves feel better when things are hard, they joke because they want to make the people around them a little less stressed. Better exasperated with a stupid joke than stressing about things out of their control or upsetting, right? Hence why the jokes will stop at times. They’re just too tired. They want to, they’ll make attempts at times, but the forced jokes will fall flat. Its clear when they’re pushing themselves there.
They’ve always gotta be doing something. They dont like sitting still, they dont like waiting. It seems to get to them. That bits probably because of the past, in all honesty? Ill get to that. But yeah, they get roped into stuff because they’ve always gotta be doing something. Of course they need breaks. But hell, half the time those breaks are honestly forced onto them. Someone tells them to just go rest, and they realize how wiped they are. That or they’ll sit down and just pass out lmao.
And yeah, genuinely Trailblazer is aggressive. Not overly but like.. violence is often a wholly valid option in nearly and situation in their opinion. They like fighting. It’s generally fun to them. Like, Phainon & TB werent just training together so frequently because they were trying to get stronger - no those two are both the same typa combat junkie. Fighting is fun for them.
Up until they’re going through the horrors. But like, hell even then, you could argue theres still some form of adrenaline-rush fueled enjoyment they get out of it.
They’ve also got like, homicidal loyalty trained into them. You reach a certain level in your relationship with them, and tbh, yeah they’ll legit kill someone for you without much question. Sparxie genuinely nearly fucking died because Himeko made a joke about finishing her off bro.
And while Trailblazer isnt exactly closed off emotionally (like say, Himeko) they’re closed off about their problems. The Crew doesnt know what happens to them when they go off on their own, unless they specifically ask, or if its pertinent to know. For the most part they’ll not really bother hiding anything when asked, of course.
Except for anything specifically traumatic to them. Like their reaction to Firefly’s first death. They were in genuine shock. Black Swan & Acheron had to calm them down from what i’d say was a panic attack. They still end up shoving it down (either right away or when Black Swan comes back) because they couldnt really just stop and grieve.
They clearly werent okay. I mean they ended up pulling the lance out after that - which, really is something they do whenever they seem to percieve themself as failing to protect someone. And then like, look at their face when Firefly reveals themself as Sam.
Trailblazer pushes trauma down alot. They downplay their own trauma frequently if it does get brought up, often making it into jokes. (Such as the death jokes) Which is a coping mechanism and certainly not a healthy thing.
Trailblazer knows that the Express (and people in general) tend to kinda worry about them more than others. They’re reckless, and certainly has their moments of brashness. They’re also an amnesiac, and the newest crewmember.
They dont like worrying people. So… They bottle things up and push onwards, trailblazing ever forward.
basically lowk taking an aspect of the trailblaze and making it toxic, yes.
In all honesty, the keeping things bottled up seems to basically just be an evolution of their past habits mixed with their desire to not have people worry about them.
Trailblazer in the Hunter days is seemingly about as talkative as Blade.
While with Blade its partially being more of a quiet person and partially brooding; TB’s quietness seems like a mix of their natural inclination to be quiet, and also a struggle with communication verbally.
The Stellaron Hunters are able to read Trailblazer as well as their scripts, and there is a reason for that. TB wasnt mute, but words werent their strong suit. Hence, the Hunters adapted to be able to read them in other ways.
Trailblazer of today is canonically not that different from the Trailblazer of yesterday. Like, from the sounds of it, the biggest change honestly seems to be that they’ve ended up significantly less introverted. (Ill still argue they’re an introvert. The dont fuck with people they dont know unless its their buddies buddy, or they’re roped into spending significant time with someone. Which is real as fuck.)
Oh, and they probably dont like not having anything to do as a remnant of the past. In between scripts & missions is often times waiting. And alot of it.
Hell, between recruiting Firefly and recruiting Blade, from the looks of it centuries seemed to have passed. Blade’s recruitment happened around the same time Dan Heng was picked up by the Express. (Silver Wolf & March’s recruitment seems to coincide with each other as well Which Totally Means Nothing)
Trailblazer likely hates waiting, because they’ve done that already.
Trailblazer’s current relationship with the Stellaron Hunters is also interesting. Blade & Silver Wolf have genuine relationships with the Trailblazer. Meanwhile when it comes to Kafka & Firefly, they’ve honestly spent such little time, that their relationships are just echoes of the past.
All relationships are haunted by the ghost of Trailblazer’s old self of course. But we see Blade & Silver Wolf building relationships based on who they are now. Trailblazer doesnt have that with the other two.
Trailblazer has a really.. complex relationship with their past as a Hunter - up until 4.2 at least.
They’ve kinda been aware, in all honesty, since the beginning i’d argue. They’ve known they have some tie to the Hunters from the beginning. Their only memories involve Kafka, and honestly its always shown to be more of a ‘they’ll remember you’ in the way where they know her, they know who she is, but the reason why, anything of their past, their shared past, is a blank. All that they can remember before Dan Heng and March, is Kafka and Silver Wolf waking them up.
Trailblazer’s not stupid, far from it. Between Silver Wolf popping up on the Express seemingly with the sole purpose of bothering them, Kafka on the Luofu, Blade recognizing them, Firefly being Firefly.. they’re able to put together pretty easily that their relationship far extends the connection that is seen at a first glance, that they’re more than a tool to the Hunters.
Their response to this? Ignore it. It causes problems for them emotionally and logically.
Trailblazer is trying to adhere to the Image of what a Nameless is, for awhile. They’re the newbie, they want to live up to the trust the crew’s got in them. Being formerly apart of a interstellar criminal group isnt really aligned with it.
Trailblazer’s response towards anything vaguely related to their past or past self pre 3.x is generally just kinda.. endure it in the moment, ignore it later.
Its not actually until 3.0, where they’re confronted by the genuine depth of their connection to the Hunters where things start changing.
3.0 confirms what Trailblazer’s quietly suspected for awhile. They were a Hunter, and a fully fledged one. They went on missions, they lived alongside the others. They cant really ignore it anymore can they?
They’re conflicted about it still. Like I mentioned earlier: how people perceive them scares them. Part of it is honestly because of how they reflect on the express. Dan Heng’s report of 3.0 described them as looking somber after the whole memory event.
Trailblazer cant ignore it anymore.. internally. They sure as hell dont have to bring it up, and they sure as hell dont. They still dont know how they feel about it after all. Yes. They care for the Hunters. That only ever increases. But the whole.. interstellar criminal thing..?
Its put quickly on the backburner because Amphoreus. But at the same time, Amphoreus also plays a big part into their genuine acceptance of their past, with everything they see and experience there.
They also become a bit more trigger happy post Amphoreus. If anything i’d say probably closer to the past tbh.
Cyrene and her genuinely unconditional support, faith, and adoration was also a major factor in the development regarding TB & SH. If she can know everything they do, about them, the Hunters, the past, what rhe Hunters (they) are known to have done.. and possibly know even more than themself; and still hold that level of belief & care for them… then maybe they dont have to be so afraid.
3.8, Trailblazer basically seems to come to a decision on how they personally feel about the Hunters. Which is basically: Fuck it, they care for these people, and they were one of them.
Even though they’ve accepted that, they still are mixed on it being public knowledge. Its messy. It could hurt the Express.
4.0 is when the very slow development with Trailblazer’s little arc there gets moved from a back-burner to pressure cook as high as the damn thing can cook. We can thank Yao Guang for that.
The face Trailblazer makes in response to Yao Guang’s lil blackmail at the end of 4.0.. its not someone who’s scared about their past being revealed. No, its someone who’s surprised, and then seemingly annoyed. That’s their past. She has no right to go digging, or use it against them.
But yeah. That will totally be something able to be used against them, as long as they’re actively hiding it.
4.1 & 4.2, we see just how blatant their anxieties about being perceived are. And it’s an anxiety used quite genuinely against them. Half of tne Phantasmoon Games is a popularity game, and damn does Fulwish know how to play dirty.
Trailblazer kept pulling the phone out in 4.2, and i wanted to shake them by the shoulders everytime because it was not a helpful endeavor! Then Asat made his appearance, separated TB from everyone and that sure as hell didnt help. They were already struggling with how much everyone was hating on them and the Express because of them (not really). Himeko was back down the tower fighting alone. They’re tired, stressed, anxious, and all of a sudden alone. Separated from 3 people they care abojt and a new friend.
The only reason that Trailblazer didnt end up losing then and there, is because Silver Wolf has ‘perfect timing’ (she was 100% watching both tb and blade bc she’s lowk an attached worried mess and im not taking criticism there ive covered this) and already wanted to beat Asat’s ass as is.
forever standing by the belief Silver Wolf meant TB (and probably Blade) when she said ‘my data’ there, yes im ignoring the IPC Wolf thing Pearl pulled out. I have a found family agenda to uphold, thank you.
In all honesty, its then where Trailblazer’s lil arc regarding their opinions on their past comes to a head.
Did you see how relieved Trailblazer was to see her? That’s their best friend (one of two), and she just saved them (and countless others).
Trailblazer doesnt want to let the perceptions of others hold them back anymore. This doesnt mean that they’ll be wholly unbothered, ofc, thats not how anxiety works.
But following the Fulwish fight, Trailblazer makes zero attempt to hide their relationship with the Hunters any further. Honestly the entire crew already knew (maybe sunday, he’s still a lil lost with everyones backstories and just kinda rolling with it all ngl) and if anything they’re probably just relieved that TB’s let go of something weighing on them.
Because it has been. But look at them in the post 4.2 quest with Silver Wolf and Tingyun. Probably the most relaxed they’ve been since the hellweeks start.
Trailblazer doesnt just seem different because of the Elation, but because they’ve gone through a milestone in character growth. You know, the kind that’d honestly be accompanied by a outfit change if it were anyone but TB lmao. They’ve finally let go of something that’s been stressing them out since the start. They cant control peoples perceptions, only the them they present to the world, they know that and understand it now.
Okay im gonna lessen up on the Hunters or else this is gonna become a very different post lmaooo.
Trailblazer is as ive mentioned, genuinely very intelligent. They persona they show to the rest of the world hides that - including from a large portion of the playerbase unfortunately - albeit not purposefully.
Trailblazer’s kinda jack of all trades in terms of intelligence. Practical, emotional, strategic, philosophical, street smarts, academic.. they are not stupid.
They work alongside 4 separate geniuses, they’re the only one to do so. Ruan Mei barely acknowledges anyone outside of the other Geniuses unless dragged into it. Trailblazer’s the main exception there - her catcakes exceeded expectations, and genuinely apart of that is the result of the Trailblazer’s influence and rearing of them.
They’re good with technology, that was established as early as Belobog, and they’re good with figuring out technology and how to fix and use it on basically every world we’ve been too.
Like, genuinely the majority of puzzles we have are regarding Trailblazer just fixing smth broken, or making something work for them.. basically just manually hacking.
Herta also lowk treats them more like a student than an assistant or employee in my opinion. ‘Little one’ Herta you’re supposed to be a tsundere, your ‘gaf’ side is showing. But yeah, Herta has already acknowledged their intelligence. Interesting or not, she wouldnt keep someone stupid on as an assistant.
Beyond that, they are also obviously pretty emotionally intelligent. Arguably, i’d say they’re one of the most emotionally intelligent people on the Express.. and tbh the only rival for the title is really Welt.
Pushing down their trauma or nah, they’re still pretty in touch with their own, and they’ve always been shown to understand and empathize with others, even when they dont always want to. You need emotional intelligence to be able to form the kind of relationship Trailblazer is a natural at forming with people - the type built off mutual trust and faith.
Trailblazer is basically going into philosophical 1v1’s constantly against their will, its lowk pretty fucking funny ngl. They’re kinda forced to be able to handle philosophy. Trailblazer’s skilled at not only debating a philosophical standpoint, but also understanding the PoV of the other, without being swayed from their own belief. We see this with Sunday.
We wouldve seen it with Lygus, and we kinda did, but the pure vitriolic hatred Trailblazer felt for him kinda overrides that.
Trailblazer’s no strategic genius on the level of Jing Yuan or Cerydra.. but they’re still fucking skilled when it comes to strategy. But while those two’s type of strategy is based around tactics and planning things out, Trailblazer’s strategic strength comes in adaptability. They’re good at thinking good plans up on the fly. Hell, this is something that we know they’ve been good at since the Stellaron Hunter days!
Back in 3.0, we see Blade give the Stellaron Hunters that same HCQ code. And before that, we get the reason why. Things went awry on a mission, and the only reason Sam & TB got away as cleanly as they did was because of Trailblazer’s quick thinking.
Honestly, its fitting for their strategic strength to come in the form of quick thinking and adaptability compared to the Stellaron Hunter’s foresight and scripts, considering their existence as being untethered by fate.
Trailblazer is genuinely incredibly intelligent, in many ways. They’re also just kinda constantly in the presence of characters who are basically prodigies. Trailblazer’s more a jack of all trades.
They are however, one of the only characters who has actually conversed with Nous however. Even if it wasnt based in their intellect, and rather because of the role they play in the universe, thats not a feat to take lightly. (Also Herta deserves more credit for being Nous’ proxy there!!!) They were asked questions, by the Aeon of Erudition, where the answers were ones they and only they could provide.
And that leads into the Trailblazer’s relationship with Akivili, Terminus and the other Aeons.. which honestly is the most mysterious thing about them.
Of the aeons Trailblazer has interacted with in some fashion, 5/7 have verbally acknowledged them AS AKIVILI in some fashion.
Aha, Oroboros, and Nous all refer to them as Akivili in game. Fuli & Nanook have done so outside of it in videos. Trailblazer also gets the attention of Aeons… a lil too easy. Like the feat that got Xipe’s attention wasnt the most potent display of Harmony.. if anything you’d think it’d be Robin getting that glance. But nope. Nanook’s glance was also.. eerily peaceful for Nanook. Nanook’s glance is generally not something you want.. and TB walked away fine.
For fucks sake they got Qlipoth’s attention. Yes, they pulled a big Preservation moment.. but was it truly worthy of Qlipoth’s attention? Doesnt matter if it was or not, because they got it without meaning too.
They got the attention of an Aeon who canonically never glances away from their work.
Oh that glance ALSO ushered in the new Amber Era, we see the hammer fall in the scene. Qlipoth’s acknowledgment of the Trailblazer basically ushered in a literal new era. Thats fine, means NOTHING right??
Then theres the implications (atp can they even be called just implications) of Trailblazer being baby Terminus..
We have no idea why the Aeons see Trailblazer as Akivili. We dont know what they see, and i want to know desperately. I have my theories, but those are only theories.
Theres also the whole thing where they’re one of the few people (one of the few if only seemingly non-emanator people far as we know thusly) who are free to control their own fate. Which also ties back to their connection to Akivili & Terminus..
That whole situation is WAY more of a mystery than their past. Unless we’re talking Pre-Hunter past, if it exists ot nah. Honestly, we know a fair amount about their past, if from context clues and subtext alone! We have the framework, just not the details of it all. And hell, we keep getting more and more info on that bUT NOT THE STUFF WITH AKIVILI AND THE AEONS-
Okay, okay. Imma leave it off here before i work myself up. Also its 7am and i havent slept all night lmao. I could go on for agessss about TB, clearly. Im not keen on seeing if i could yap my way to the character limit lol. (I could.)
Hopefully this was along the lines of what you wanted? Or was at least helpful or enjoyable to read lol.
