Daniel Witwicky was the son of Spike and Carly Witwicky in the old animated Transformers movie, intended to be the new child sidekick for the Autobots as Spike had gotten too old with the time-jump from the 1980s to 2005.
Now it's 2034 on the game, and clearly he's grown up... but how, exactly? The new Daniel has requested that Daniel's currently-inadequate +finger and never-converted build be redone, but apart from wanting to change his "Fibs" skill for something less childish, he's open to suggestions.
Thanks to Daniel's complete lack of canon appearances at this age, the length of time he's gone unplayed, the changes to the Earth Defense Corps (which he was once a part of) and how much rewriting his quote and note would need in any case, his new player and I have a very free hand with his portrayal. This morning I came up with a set of suggestions for four different concepts for the new Daniel which I hope will inspire him. I'm posting them here in case they give ideas to other potential Human applicants! And to post what I've been up to today, of course.
(Mass Effect players will recognize these as being a Renegade/Paragon/Class set of choices.)
Don't have too much time to work on character staff jobs today because I'm going off in a while to have lunch with Primus (or half of Primus, anyway), who's in town for Dragon*Con. Looking forward to it!
Civilian Rebel Daniel -- This Daniel has been through enough in his youth that he really doesn't want to have anything to do with the robot race war. He probably knows the Autobots better than any living human, and he's proud to call some of them friends, but his eyes are opened to their often-disastrous flaws as well. He's not sure if the Earth is better off for them being here. They seem to be the only thing that can stop the Decepticons, but the Decepticons follow them everywhere, and people still die.
He hates the Decepticons and knows both how murderous and how dopey they are. He's stayed alive as long as he has not by hiding behind the guns of the EDC; he knows that can't protect you (proven during the Long Night global plot where the Decepticons shut down everything electrical on Earth for about 72 hours and killed almost all the EDC personnel), nor through clinging to Rodimus' skirts, but by being cunning and stealthy and never letting anyone know where he sleeps.
Civilian Rebel Daniel's exo-vehicle mode is what appears to be a normal car, but which he has tricked out with hidden weapons and armor and other Cybertronian tech gifted to him by the Autobots and salvaged from a thousand battlefields. He doesn't go to the fight, but his inability to turn his back entirely on his friends in the Autobots keeps getting him caught up in their war.
Civilian Sidekick Daniel -- Sidekick Daniel is the movie's Daniel, just older. He's basically a cheerful and optimistic guy, tries to do the right thing, very loyal to his buddies (who happen to all be Autobots because he never really developed normal human relationships) and helpful whenever he can be. He believes in the Autobot Way of Life and tries to live up to the standard set by Optimus Prime, whom he remembers fondly as a sort of wise father figure.
Sidekick Daniel has no fear of the Decepticons and is prone to taunt most of them, like a kid poking a mean dog through a chainlink fence with a stick. He's confident in his ability to dodge and outwit them in any circumstance, and besides, his friends, the Autobots, will be by his side!
Sidekick Daniel's exo-vehicle mode is an updated version of the old EDC transforming exo-suit, a small robot/car. It is equipped to make battlefield repairs to the Autobots and has some combat ability, but it is most useful in frustrating and outfoxing the Decepticons.
EDC Veteran Daniel -- This Daniel has fought in the Machine War since he was basically drafted into it as a child through a combination of his father's Autobot sympathies and Hot Rod's irresponsibility. Having been a child soldier marks you, and Veteran Daniel has seen some shit... he wouldn't recommend it. He is possibly the Earth's most experienced soldier in what seems to have become an eternal conflict, and his expertise is highly valued by his superiors at the UN Special Peacekeeping Detachment: the Earth Defense Corps. Although he has not sought promotion in the EDC and remains an NCO, even generals seek his advice, and when he speaks everyone listens. He knows that if the Decepticons are ever going to be thrown off of Earth, the humans are going to have to be as fierce and self-sacrificing as the Autobots to do it. If anything, more so. He wishes some of the Autobots would take the struggle more seriously.
EDC Veteran Daniel hates the Decepticons with every fiber of his being, and he hates them all the more because he knows them so well. He knows that they could get all the energy they want from the sun, all the raw materials they want from dead planets, but Decepticons are cruel, and lazy, and wantonly destructive by nature. Each one of them is a walking gun, and they interact with the world by shooting it in the face. Mass murder is their idea of a fun night out. The other Earthlings need to wake up and act accordingly.
Veteran Daniel's exo-vehicle mode is a powered linear frame, the pride of the EDC's heavy infantry. It is a fifteen-foot-tall armored battlesuit light enough to be air-dropped from a VTOL. It magnifies his strength a hundredfold and is bristling with flak pods, breaching lasers, and other devices specifically designed to take down the most common Decepticon threats.
EDC Space Hero Daniel -- Brave, noble, confident and inspiring, Space Hero Daniel has taken every opportunity his unique upbringing offered him to become a man of the Galaxy. He's a paragon of what Earth can aspire to, a soldier and a diplomat both, and other species recognize "the Earthman-Daniel" as a strong advocate for Earth on the galactic stage. Many aliens see Earthlings as just another unfortunate dwarf-humanoid species whose valuable little planet, inherited from a much more successful, if more primitive, native species after a natural catastrophe, was unlucky enough to become a battleground for the Cybertronian Civil Wars. Although the Earthlings sometimes send envoys to beg for help from the Galactic Assembly, the Earthlings seem both unworthy of aid and a hopeless cause.
This version of Daniel is determined to change that perception. He champions the cause of the Autobots, which is also the cause of Earth and all planets like Earth that might happen to fall under the Decepticons' hungry gaze. Although he fights alongside the Autobots and the rest of the EDC, he doesn't restrict himself to only taking part in their actions; he has the experience and the resources to operate independently, and will take up any causes he feels are right, both large and small, whether or not Decepticons are involved. He doesn't hate the Decepticons, but he will do his best to contain their threat and the threat of people like them. Because of his wider-reaching morality, Space Hero Daniel is sometimes at odds with some of the Autobots and his own superiors, He recognizes no authority which is not just, generous and kind- he learned that from Optimus.
Space Hero Daniel's exo-vehicle mode is a sleek hardsuit, the best light-infantry powered armor that Human and Autobot science can make. It is capable of short flights under its own power in atmosphere, liquid or vacuum, and is only about twice the size of Daniel himself. With its enhanced strength he's able to wield a powerful proton-accelerator rifle with crackshot accuracy, and its ceramic surface is proof against most small arms, Its hands are dextrous enough that even wearing it, he can still pilot his jump-cutter, a small interstellar transport. Brainstorm assured him that his hardsuit's glossy black-and-white armor can even withstand the heat of unpowered orbital reentry, provided he maintains the proper posture and alignment relative to the atmosphere. Theoretically.
Spike and Carly Witwicky: heroes, friends, criminally-irresponsible parents.
