kagehira

Edgar was born into a family of wealthy aristocrats. He was surrounded with praise for his artistic talent from a young age, and believed that it was a symbol of him being loved. He considered himself very fortunate; however, the praise he was given wasn't honest or motivated by love, but instead by self-interest and greed. The beauty of his life was fake.

Because Edgar was passionate about art from a young age, his family hired a teacher to develop his talents: Mr.Sarai. Edgar develops a suspicion that his mentor does not have his best interest at heart. Instead, he believes that Mr.Sarai is only interested in using Edgar's art as a means through which to influence and control him.

Eventually, Edgar receives a letter that instructs him to try painting with blood. Framing it as "real" art when Edgar already held his doubts about his mentor, Edgar decides to follow the instructions. Now with his own vision of art, Edgar becomes further disillusioned with the true intentions of both his mentor and the people around him. Suspicion turns into full-blown paranoia. At this point Edgar is no longer satisfied with using his own blood to paint; he begins to outsource it from others. Simultaneously, his paintings begin "screaming and crying on the walls, just as noisy as those people..." The screaming paintings suggest that he experiences hallucinations based on his experience with murdering those people, Tell-Tale Heart style.

Ultimately, Edgar’s deductions end with him using the same letter opener that was used to kill Mr.Sarai to open his invitation to Oletus Manor.

Edgar's personality is described by his original creator as being "arrogant, paranoid, and neurotic." Today we're going to talk about why he is those things, starting with his arrogance.

"Master Valden is the student with the most artistic talent I've ever seen!"
Edgar is arrogant, but he's that way for a reason. Ever since his childhood, he was showered in praise for everything he did—assured that he could do no wrong. Every word was agreed with, and every painting was a masterpiece. As a child, he truly believed that this praise was a sincere expression of love. Seeing things that way, he grew arrogant, but he also slowly began to understand his worth to other people. With time, he came to realize that it may not have been him, necessarily, who they were praising. Rather, they were trying to gain the favour of somebody who possessed influence and wealth. This gave way to a different sense of arrogance; instead of flourishing under the affectionate praise of those around him, he began to resent it. He felt that their hollow words were sickening, and rather than being better than them because their praise declared it so, he was better than them because they were so lowly as to stoop to empty flatteries.

"Eventually, I understand how many lies people can tell only for a little benefit."
However, in learning that the praise he received wasn't sincere, he also felt that he learned the true nature of the people around him. It wasn't a matter of one or two insincere people around him, after all—it was almost everyone. He developed an instinctive distrust of the motives of others. Kindness was no longer seen as kind, but greedy, and compliments became nothing more than shallow lies told for their own self-satisfaction. No matter what relationship he held to you, unless you were one of two exceptions, the assumption became that if you were speaking to him positively, you were only doing so in order to try and use him. The circumstances under which he developed his distrust of others were reasonable, but his actual application of his assumptions can begin to creep into paranoia.

"I don't care about anything but art."
So people are selfish and full of lies. They're self-interested, and no matter what sort of beautiful adornments they use to conceal their true selves, the truth lying underneath is ugly. The art that he's been producing all this time capturing that beauty, that has been so praised, is also dissatisfying to him after this realization that reality is ugly. The implication of the "real" art that the letter he received promised him was an art that captured this truth, hence why he began to paint with blood. Edgar values this art more, even, than the people around him, who are worth about as much as the dirt beneath his feet for all their covetous natures and narcissism. That's probably why he didn't feel so bad when he killed them, ultimately, using their blood as a gentle red. When he receives another letter from the one who taught him the true nature of art, he accepts the invitation to Oletus Manor in pursuit of artistic inspiration.

➔ Artistic Sensitivity
➔ Aesthetic Resonance
➔ Intuition
➔ Self-Fulfillment

➔ What does your character consider to be their top three strengths?
He's honest, for one. He's also a genius, and the only one who understands "true" art. He has a strong sense of dignity, and he won't stoop to others' level.

➔ What do others consider to be your character's greatest weakness?
He's a bitch. Talking to him, you would think that he doesn't filter his words at all, he just goes right in for the kill. Functionally this means that nobody wants to be near him or work with him if they can help it. Realistically it also means that even if he wanted to be nice, he may struggle with how exactly to go about that.

➔ What are your character's three greatest fears?
Falling for dishonesty, being used by others, losing one of the few things precious to him.

➔ What would your character choose for a last meal?
Something light, because he doesn't gorge himself like those other gluttonous nobles. Probably still something annoying to prepare though, because he is used to being spoiled.

➔ Has your character ever killed? If so, how did that affect them? If not, how would it affect them?
Ultimately, he believed that his actions were justified. Besides, they were more useful as paint than people anyway; it isn't as though they said or did anything of value. It may have given him more certainty in himself, more faith in his vision of art, as it's a very "no turning back now" event to happen.

➔ If your character was given one selfish wish, what would it be?
It would probably be something along the lines of the inspiration to create his greatest masterpiece—that's why he went to the manor, anyway.