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TLV Application
Oct. 30th, 2024 08:41 pm[Application for TLV]
User Name/Nick: Kota
User DW: waningsunflower
E-mail/Plurk/Discord/PM to a character journal/alternate method of contact:
Other Characters Currently In-Game: Jacob, Sheehan, Justine, Godric
Character Name: Iago
Series: The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice
Age: 28
From When?: After Othello’s death, Iago is taken, tortured, and executed
Inmate Justification: Iago’s morals are so warped that he doesn’t see he did anything wrong, despite literal murder. He has lied and manipulated the people around him into death for apparently no good reason (pettiness, the reason is pettiness).
Arrival: He would agree to come.
Abilities/Powers: Other than being a very good soldier and a very good liar, he’s just bog standard human
Inmate Information:
On the outside, Iago is a very friendly and amicable man. He is referred to as “Honest Iago,” as most of the people in his life see him as the epitome of truth. They go to him with their secrets and he takes those secrets willingly. Even Othello, the man he advises and the man who trusts him most of all, sees nothing wrong with him. To them, he is the perfect man, incapable of wrongdoing and the person to go to with problems.
Beneath this mask lies a deeply insecure man. Iago craves power and control yet feels perpetually undermined, especially by what he perceives as personal slights—chief among them being passed over for a promotion he felt entitled to. This perceived betrayal served as the catalyst that unleashed his carefully concealed bitterness and ignited his need to assert his dominance. His outwardly perfect persona protects him from suspicion, but it also feeds into a sense of smug satisfaction: his ability to deceive and manipulate those who think so highly of him.
But his mask is all part of his manipulation. Presumably, before the play takes place, Iago had done nothing wrong, or at least had done nothing severe enough to warrant consequences.. It had all been leading up to this event, this feeling of overwhelming bitterness that drove him to do such horrible things. When he had been passed up for a promotion, it was as if that small slight was the push he needed to show who he truly was.
Above all, Iago is considered to be mostly amoral. He is not evil in the sense that he does things for the wrong reason or even for selfish reasons. In many ways, he is worse than that. There is no rhyme or reason to his actions, only speculation. He is a sadist, he was bitter, he thought his wife was cheating on him. None of these valid reasons for going to such extremes. Additionally, they do not explain why he waited so long to show these tendencies. He does what he does for the simple reason that he can, which makes him a very, very dangerous man. With no triggers and no motivation, he is difficult to control. He enjoys seeing others in pain by his own hand and likes the thrill he gets out of controlling them completely.
To add to this dangerous aspect is the amount of intelligence he possesses. Iago studies people. He remembers everything about them and stores those observations away for later use. He knows what buttons to push, what weaknesses to exploit, and what strengths to avoid. He remembers secrets, lies, promises, loves, hates. He knows how to be everyone’s friend and avoid suspicion.
His wife, Emilia, represents another disturbing facet of his character. She was once part of his life, yet he held no hesitation in discarding her when she no longer served his purposes. Her loyalty to him, even when it came at a personal cost, was ultimately her undoing; the moment she became an obstacle, Iago eliminated her with cold efficiency. This betrayal reveals his profound lack of attachment and capacity for cruelty, even toward those who loved him. For Iago, relationships are tools, to be used or disposed of as needed, devoid of any genuine care or connection.
That lack of love for her, though, is a testament to his inability to actually see her as a person. Arguably, the ones who suffered the most at Iago’s hands were Emilia and Desdemona, though most of it was behind the scenes, on his own. They were merely pawns in his game of revenge and sadism. Not only did he convince Othello to kill Desdamona, but he also embarrassed her and ruined her name in the process, all while keeping his own hands publically clean. Some might say that he had a love for Othello and this was the reason, but, like most attempts to rationalize his behavior, it was not the only one.
Path to Redemption: Because of his broken or missing morality, there is no use in pleading with the “human” part of him. He shows no empathy for anyone, except when it suits him to seem so. Getting him to relate to other people will only lead him to learning how to manipulate them better.
He does respond to responsibility and power. Though it is not a main motivator to him, Iago has a super inflated view of himself and simply expects power and control to come to him, rather than it being earned. By taking away privileges and responsibilities, it is more likely that he will realize that he is not in control. This lack of control might seem harsh, but he needs to fall into line first, to respect another person’s authority, before he can even begin a journey of redemption.
Iago will treat the Barge as an extension of his own world. He will start out lying, continue lying, and try to manipulate his way through it for, sometimes, sheer entertainment. Forcing honesty on him through magical means will only make him creative or shut down completely, as he did at the end of the play. Iago needs to be guided through this journey, not forced or pulled. It will take a warden with patience, a firm hand, and a sense of humor to get through to him.
A laid back or lax sort of warden probably will not see much progress with him. A warden that is too friendly or familial, while fun, is going to have an uphill battle ahead. But someone who can hold him accountable, relate to him, and trust him, will work wonders.
History:
[Partly from the Wikipedia page and mixed in with my own additions and deletions.]
Iago’s history before Othello matters very little to him as a person. Because not much is revealed in the play about said past, we can only assume that he had a very standard life for a soldier in Italy. It is suggested that Othello and Iago were friends before they worked together and that friendship continued on, though the dynamics of it changed completely.
After becoming his trusted advisor and serving with him for many years, Iago claims to have been unfairly passed over for promotion to the rank of Othello's lieutenant in favor of Michael Cassio. Iago plots to make Othello demote Cassio, and thereafter to bring about the downfall of Othello himself. He had an ally, Roderigo, who assisted him in his plans in the mistaken belief that after Othello was gone, Iago would help Roderigo earn the affection of Othello's wife, Desdemona. After Iago engineered a drunken brawl to ensure Cassio’s demotion, using Cassio’s weakness to alcohol against him, he set to work on his second scheme: leading Othello to believe that Desdemona was having an affair with Cassio. No longer is his motivation pure bitterness against Cassio. He had changed his eyes from Cassio to Othello, feeling that the man had betrayed him, so he was simply returning the favor.
This second scheme is more involved than the first. He persuades Cassio to use Desdemona as a go between. As Cassio was stripped from his rank by the embarrassment he caused Othello, Desdemona seems to be the perfect person to try and sway his point. At least, that is what Iago told him. However, this only arouses suspicion that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio and furthers Iago’s plans
To increase the success of this plan, Iago manipulates his own wife, Emilia, into taking from Desdemona a handkerchief that Othello had given her; he then tells Othello that he had seen it in Cassio's possession. Once Othello flies into a jealous rage, Iago tells him to hide while he (Iago) talks to Cassio. Iago then leads Othello to believe that a bawdy conversation about Cassio's mistress, Bianca, is in fact about Desdemona. Mad with jealousy, Othello orders Iago to kill Cassio, promising to make him lieutenant in return. Roderigo, unfortunately, had given Iago gifts for Desdamona, which Iago had kept himself. Knowing that Roderigo could not live because of that, Iago then engineers a fight between Cassio and Roderigo. Roderigo is killed by Iago’s own hand and Cassio is merely wounded.
Towards the end of his life, Iago’s plan appears to succeed when Othello smothers Desdemona, who is innocent of Iago's charges. When Emilia arrives to check on her mistress, she discovers Othello’s misdeed against Desdemona and begins to reveal Iago. Before she can give him up completely, Iago kills her and she falls silent. He runs out of the room, but is eventually brought back. Even after being threatened with torture and execution, he refuses to speak any more than to confirm what Emilia has already said. He watches Othello kill himself and fling himself upon Desdemona. Iago was then taken and tortured for information, found guilty, and subsequently killed.
Sample Network Entry: TDM
Sample RP: TDM
Special Notes: This is a retired character and one that I played many years ago, so I give myself permission to app him for a new arc. He is coming straight from canon and does not have any memories of his time on the Barge. New pb, new username, new leaf, baby!!
