APP • empatheias

[caduceusangel]

⌈ PLAYER SECTION ⌉
Player: Ayame
Contact: minako134
Age: 34
Current Characters: N/A


⌈ CHARACTER SECTION ⌉
Character: Dr. Angela "Mercy" Ziegler, MD-PhD.
Age: 37
Canon: Overwatch
Canon Point: Post-Recall

Background: Mercy's Wiki.

TL;DR: Upon gaining notoriety as a prodigy in the field of medicine in Switzerland, Angela was later brought to international organization Overwatch as head of medical research, to aid in assisting those terrorized by violent omnics around the globe. She used Overwatch's advanced tech to create a Valkyrie suit that allowed her to more easily swoop in to offer her aide. After Overwatch head Jack Morrison and Gabriel Reyes had a falling out, and the world watched the Overwatch Swiss headquarters' destruction, Overwatch was disbanded, and Angela left in order to pursue helping crisis areas around the world, though she continued to pilot her Valkyrie suit when it was necessary. In the timeline of the beginning of the video game, Angela receives a recall notice for all Overwatch agents around the globe. It is immediately after receiving this recall that Angela was taken to Empatheias.

Personality:

A note:

The video game's head writer, Michael Chu, stated in an interview that "Ziegler ultimately left Overwatch due to being conflicted with the organization's militaristic methods", but to be truthful, this is not consistent with the character shown in the digital comic Uprising. Angela clearly believes in intervention.

If we ignore Michael Chu's comment in that interview, the rest of Mercy's character lines up just fine; when asked to join Overwatch, she was at first hesitant because she was conflicted with the organization's militaristic methods, but still saw the potential for the organization to do an incredible amount of good thanks to their vast resources and tech. She left Overwatch only after the Swiss headquarters exploded, and while in-game she does comment "Overwatch was shut down for a reason: maybe it should stay that way", I believe she refers not to Overwatch's militaristic methods, but to the fragility of the leadership team and the corruption that the organization let grow over the years. She is still personally anti-conflict, but is a realist about what it takes for her to be able to do the most good sooner.

Angela's greatest motivation is helping those in need in a world broiling in conflict. The path taken to achieve that goal hasn't been simple, though, and she's had to make some choices. Her parents taken by war when she was a young age, Angela was staunchly opposed to militarism and violence...but was forced to reconsider her politics when Overwatch offered her the chance of a lifetime. Though she had been given access to some level of tech upon becoming head of surgery at a prominent Swiss hospital, it paled in comparison to Overwatch's fantastic resources as a global organization. Recognizing the increased amount of aide she could provide with their help, her choice was clear.

But that didn't mean she would be a doormat to whatever Overwatch might get up to. One example of Overwatch's goals clashing with her own came in the form of the appearance of Overwatch agent Torbjorn Lindholm's schematics for a firearm version of Angela's own biotic technology she'd developed. Angela made it clear this was a slippery slope to her technology being used for offensive purposes, which she had not signed up for. This incident shows also just how astute Angela was to recognize what was happening, given that these schematics were indeed used to create one Overwatch agent Ana Amari's sniper rifle later on. Her perceptiveness is incredibly strong.

It's noteworthy that Angela would speak up about this publicly, also, due to her relationship to Torbjorn; she was a long-time family friend of the Lindholms, and often spent the holidays with them, having no family of her own. Angela consistently shows no qualms about voicing criticism even to those she is close to, something that could be interpreted as "tough love". Even though she feels close to Overwatch agent Reinhardt Wilhelm, or perhaps because she feels close to him, she nags him during in-game missions about his choices to continue fighting in his old age, and about his agreement to apprentice Torbjorn's daughter Brigitte.

In the comic "Uprising", Angela is depicted speaking her mind again to Overwatch's head, Jack Morrison, her senior officer, but more than just not caring at all about rank, the scene also shows another side to Angela's motivations. When Jack reveals that the UN has continued to ban Overwatch from stepping in on a violent omnic attack happening in London, Angela voices her belief that Overwatch was made to help people, not to sit on the sidelines. It's clear from this conversation that Angela now has come to accept that in order to reach those in need, action must be taken, even if that action is offensive in nature. It also reveals a rebellious side, as she agrees to take the unsanctioned mission that Jack then dispatches to London, against the UN's orders. Even if it will make her an enemy of the leaders of the world, she would rather risk it so that she can save more lives.

It's no wonder that Angela is such a strong-headed woman; she certainly would've had to be in order to become head of surgery at a prominent hospital. It takes someone with unwavering determination and a strong will to dive one's hands inside a patient's chest cavity, and Angela did it all at a much younger age than most. However, unlike some of her colleagues who got into surgery for the glory, she joined in order to have the tools to save any patient who came under her care. Her decision to join Overwatch wasn't unlike this choice. If it would let her reach more people, she would do it.

Angela is self-aware of her tendency to criticize. In one in-game character interaction, former Overwatch agent Genji Shimada gifts her with chocolates, admitting ashamedly that they aren't Swiss chocolates, and Angela responds with an overly-dramatic "*sigh* I suppose it will have to do..." but then her voice becomes softer and you can hear a grin come through when she continues, "...Thank you, Genji."

She's also self-aware at what a workaholic she can be, and does what she can to remember to take breaks whenever possible, however short they may be. She never did shake her habit from her time working in the hospital of not coming home for a night at a time, and works through the holidays year-round. She laments not having more time-off, but she could never bear abandoning her patients or her team in need. She'd never abandon anyone.

She has a knack for nosiness. If she's not reminding smokers that cigarettes are bad for their health, she's checking in on those with prosthetics or chronic conditions, suggesting restorative surgery if she thinks it might help a person's daily life. Overall, she switches freely between cheerful and nagging in most interactions with others. Even though she knows much of her advise could fall on deaf ears, she can't very well stay quiet about it either.

Abilities:

When Angela dones her Valkyrie suit, she adapts the codename "Mercy" and is able to save more victims of natural disaster or war in one swoop compared to an entire team of EMTs.

(I agree with Overwatch's writers that Mercy's Resurrect ability is in-game only, and not a part of the main storyline. While she did save ex-Overwatch agent Genji Shimada from near death, there is no official record of any time of actual death that she saved him from. Mercy will not have her Resurrect ability for the purposes of Empatheias.)

Mercy's Valkyrie swift-response suit gives her the ability to fly a short distance in any direction every few seconds, as well as glide for any amount of time. While airborne, her suit stretches out large glowing wings, making her easy to spot in the sky for victims trapped in rubble below, as a beacon of incoming help.

With the suit, Mercy carries her Caduceus Staff and a sidearm Caduceus blaster. The staff is the most crucial part of her kit. Activating it on someone wounded, she can restore their health quickly, and re-activate it on consecutive wounded just as quickly. The staff is also capable of activating a boost on the recipient that will allow any weapons they use to do more damage. Her Caduceus blaster fires projectile energy pulses.

The Valkyrie suit also has a slow, self-healing effect on the suit and Mercy herself, so long as she stops receiving incoming damage for one second.

If needed, Mercy can activate her suit's Valkyrie mode at a clutch moment, which unlocks the suit's full capacity to fly freely through the sky, and much quicker. It increases the range of effectiveness of her staff and the energy power of her blaster, as well. The mode can only last a short time, less than half a minute.

Overall, the Valkyrie suit is significantly less armored, compared to other battle suits worn by Overwatch agents around the globe, in favor of heightening the suit's flying capabilities and Mercy's maneuverability. The drawback is that she is vulnerable while in combat; it would only take a few precise hits to take her out of the fight.

Alignment: Thras - After losing her parents to war at a young age, Angela harbors not just a fear of dying herself, but a fear of losing others close to her and becoming alone. Her anti-war politics are a result of this fear. Making the voice to join Overwatch took some bravery on her part, but also was borne from her fear of losing her close friend Torbjorn, when he lost his arm on a mission before then. It also takes a lot of bravery to become a surgeon, but she wielded her scalpel so well as to become head of the department.

Other:

n/a

⌈ SAMPLE SECTION ⌉

General Sample: TDM

Emotion Sample: TDM (in the E-2 section)


Questions:

n/a