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star_ocean_fanAsk the Star Ocean Character - Bacchus D-79
Welcome back, my fellow Star Ocean friends and fans! Today, our guest on the sixth installation of Ask the Star Ocean Character is Bacchus D-79 of the Morphus and crew member on The Calnus. Hello, Bacchus!
Bacchus: Greetings, Miss Dragonfly.
Thank you so much for taking the time to come and chat with us today. And you don't have to call me Miss Dragonfly. I don't stand on ceremony or formality. /smiles/
Bacchus: It is my pleasure, but it would be going against protocol to call you anything but Miss Dragonfly. Answering questions for those curious about all things is something I quite enjoy. I may not always have the time to do so, but there is nothing quite like that intellectual thirst to keep one going.
This is quite true. How did you decide to become a medical scientist? Or do the Morphus operate like the Eldarians and test for latent abilities?
Bacchus: /shakes his head/ No, we Morphus do not test for latent ability. I believe most Morphus are born with the love of science and that never quenched thirst for knowledge. As a child, I always felt drawn towards medicine and the scientific applications that could be used in order to better understand how diseases work and the best ways to cure them.
Wow. That's quite a mouthful . . . You really love what you do, don't you?
Bacchus: Indeed.
What was it like working with Crowe on the Cardianon mothership?
Bacchus: It was quite an interesting experience. Mr. Crowe is a very passionate man yet also cool headed. He can see reason, even if it is not the course of action he wishes to follow. He and Mr. Edge are similar in that way, though I admit to spending more time as a member of Mr. Edge's crew than Mr. Crowe's.
That's quite all right. They say it's the first impressions that last the longest, and Crowe undoubtedly left a very strong impression on you.
Bacchus: He leaves a strong impression on everyone he meets.
This is quite true. How long have you and your wife been married?
Bacchus: She and I wed in a traditional Morphus ceremony when we were quite young . . . it's been around thirteen Earthling years, I believe, since we were wed.
Wow. That's quite amazing.
Bacchus: She is amazing, though I do not always understand why she stays with me.
You travel a lot.
Bacchus: Yes and thus I am not able to give her the affections she so clearly deserves. I feel I have failed as a husband at times.
From what I understand, that's actually normal for marriages. That reminds me, what was it like to be on The Calnus, watching everyone eat Reimi's baked goods? Are you able to eat normal food?
Bacchus: Not in this form, no. However, it was quite interesting to observe the gusto with which everyone ate her cooking. I am most curious to find out if Miss Reimi's cooking is as good as my Freesia's.
I've often wondered what a cook off between Reimi and another excellent cook would be like . . . We're almost out of time here. A few more questions, if you don't mind?
Bacchus: Not at all.
What are your thoughts on what Tamiel was trying to do on Roak? Are you like Faize and don't believe that demons can exist or do you believe that they exist and can be resurrected?
Bacchus: Those are some interesting questions to be sure, ones I have thought upon and that do require more time for thought. However, given our current time restraints, I will answer as best I can.
Bacchus: I do not agree with what that strange man was trying to do. Killing innocents in order to resurrect a demon to bring about the end of the world is simply despicable, and I am quite glad we were able to prevent him from doing so. As for the existence of demons and the possibility of them being resurrected through ritual, anything, I feel, is quite possible with the use of symbology. It, along with science, can be used for good and for ensuring justice or for bad and ensuring chaos and anarchy. I believe Mr. Faize was not wrong to not believe, but I also feel that not believing led for him to head down the wrong path as not believing caused him immeasurable grief.
How does that feel to know that Faize was suffering like that and never told anyone?
Bacchus: It is not a pleasant feeling. I will leave it at that.
Fair enough. Now for some questions from our audience members. Mrs. Nox asks, how much can you bench press?
Bacchus: Hmmm . . . this I am unsure of . . . I have never . . . bench pressed, as she puts it. I am now intrigued to find this out myself.
You'll have to let us know when you find out. Finally, our last question comes from agarfinkel, who asks what did you look like before you became a cyborg?
Bacchus: Like any other Morphus. (Interviewer's note: I've come up with my own description of Bacchus in the story Wizards, Warriors, and Rogues - Chapter Two, which I will be posting to fanfiction.net in the next few weeks. If you're curious about what I think he looks like, check that story out!)
And that does it for this segment. Tune in again when I interview Peppita Rosetti from Till the End of Time!
Note for dreamwidth, livejournal, and facebook friends, I go by Dragonfly Moonlight on fanfiction.net for posting and reviewing fan fiction, including the Ask the Star Ocean Character segments. I have a poll up in regards to the Star Ocean fan event. Please take the time to find me there and and vote! Thanks!
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Dream Houses, Part Six - Bacchus D-79
If Bacchus and his wife could settle on an actual planet, instead of living in an apartment complex on En II, I think it's something they both would do and in a heartbeat. It would be a very small house, maybe big enough for them to raise a few children (no more than three), and to grow a variety of plants and raise animals. Not so much as like a farm but more like a retreat. This patch of land would be an observatory for Bacchus, who I can see would love to have such a place just for the sake of science alone. Yes, he does the mining in the game, but that's with his cyborg form and not his . . . squishy form.
The house itself would be a simple affair and follow a rather logical pattern, as it were. Two stories, at the most, with a place for Bacchus to conduct his observations and his research as well as a lab where he could analyze the data he collects. I don't think he'd do anything super ostentatious, like Reimi, Sophia, and Deputy Director Shimada. Rather, I see him more on the same level as Maria and Meracle - something simple and functional and where his wife could feel happy and at home.
*********************************************************************************
Character Facts
Bacchus's last name is actually Dexley.
His date of birth is May 5, and his Earth astrological sign is Taurus.
His wife's name is Freesia.
Japanese Voice Actor: Hiroki Yasumoto
English Voice Actor: Travis Willingham
Item Creation Stats:
Smithery 7
Cooking -8
Alchemy 2
Artistry -2
Engineering 10
Crafting 3
Sense -8
Considered the galactic champion of runic chess until Edge beats him (and yes, I'm saying runic chess) and likes to ponder about things on the commode.
Bacchus's other areas of specialty include robotics (increased chance of gaining an item from robotic enemies) and mining.
There is no toy for Bacchus.
********************************************************************************
Character Study - Bacchus D-79
Name: Bacchus D-79
Real Name: Bacchus Dexley
Age: 32
Height: 7'0" (as a cyborg - chances are, he's just as tall as a squishy Morphus)
Weight: 516 lbs
Eye color: blue
Hair color: unknown
Weapon: mounted arm cannon
Field of study: medical science
Favorite food: Unknown
Quote: As a humble scientist, I would like nothing more than to answer your questions.
From the game manual: A scientist who has transformed himself into a cyborg, a decision made of his own volition. He has a strong sense of justice, but does not allow it to affect his emotions. While he still retains his original, biological brain, the conclusions he reaches are sometimes devoid of emotion. Since the full mechanization of his body, he has labored to master all fields of mechanical engineering. He has the ability to use optical camouflage to conceal himself.
First of all, I must commend Travis Willingham for sounding so much like Robert Wagner with Bacchus. Until I visited both imdb.com and the Star Ocean wikia site, I would have sworn up and down that it was Robert Wagner. Kudos to him
Now, for the dissection of Bacchus.
It's quite clear from the moment Bacchus appears to rescue Edge, Reimi, Faize, and Lymle that he is quite the unique Star Ocean character because he is that cyborg. No other character is a complete cyborg like Bacchus (even Precis from Star Ocean 2 isn't a cyborg). He wears this stoic expression on his face and has a no-nonsense attitude about him, which lends a great deal of credibility to his strong sense of justice characterization from the manual, the strategy guide, and in-game dictionary. The only downfall to this is that he looks more like Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story than anything original.
The Buzz Lightyear comparison aside, Bacchus is actually a fun character to observe. He's like an older yet more mature and wiser version of Faize, and he can be easily flustered. Speaking with Welch shortly after escaping the Cardianon mothership's suicidal warp into unknown space. As most The Last Hope players know by this point, when you head into item creation with Bacchus for the first time, Welch appears with cardboard costumes of a French maid and a surfer girl/little sister, and it does something to Bacchus. He is rendered shocked and speechless. Someone at the Star Ocean wikia said disturbed by what she was doing, but I don't see it, personally. I think the French maid and surfer girl/little sister outfits were unlike anything he had ever seen before and therefore just couldn't process it properly.
Unfortunately, the optical camouflage isn't something that we get to see right away. We do see it on the alternate Earth but not until Edge is trying to rescue Reimi from the military base. For being a very smart guy, it's actually a dumb maneuver to not pull out the optical camouflage sooner, but it was how the game needed to flow so . . .
From in-game dictionary and strategy guide: A native of En II of the Morphus race, though his cyborg body makes it impossible to guess what he once looked like. While his brain and spinal cord are taken from his original body, the remainder is an artificial structure originally developed for medical purposes, covered by an armored shell made from arcantite alloy. Bacchus was formerly a medical scientist, but he was infected with a previously unknown strain of stone sickness while conducting research on the virus. As his real body began regenerating, he modified and strengthened the replacement body, turning it into a powerful battle machine equipped with a variety of weapons. Two energy generators in the chest provide power for all of his equipment. As one might guess from his appearance, he is straitlaced, doggedly logical, and generally unsociable, but he hides a warm, passionate side as well.
We learn much about Bacchus almost right from get go with few exceptions. For some things, private actions need to be triggered (like learning about Freesia). Bacchus, for the most part, is a Morphus of very few words. I agree with the straitlaced and doggedly logical parts. Generally unsociable? No. He may not be like Meracle, Lymle, and Reimi when it comes to being bouncy, happy, and running up to someone they're happy to see, but, if he's approached, he socializes. He talks. Playing the game of runic chess with Edge (and then Reimi) proves that to me.
Bacchus is what we would call a nerd. He is a thinker. He likes to pontificate on problems that maybe no one else would ever consider, and he likes to have the answers.
As I said earlier, Bacchus is like a wiser, older, and more mature version of Faize. He's fourteen years older than the young Eldarian and thus has seen much. His experiences make it marginally easier for him to accept tragedy and that some things can happen when logic dictates that it shouldn't happen. Refer back to the game with Tamiel's attempt at resurrecting Asmodeus for this one. Never once did Bacchus agree with Faize on how impossible it was to resurrect a demon or a fiend, and Faize didn't believe it to be possible.
Bacchus isn't exactly closed off to viewing events through the eyes of others. He quite enjoys Edge's enthusiasm for space exploration, even though the Morphus, as he explains it to Edge, have already taken that first monumental step into space, long before he was ever born.
From the in-game dictionary: Bacchus has a wife on En II, who he hasn't seen since his cyborg modifications, largely due to being busy on assignment. This occasionally leads to bouts of depression, as Bacchus (who loves his wife dearly) is convinced that she has lost her affection for him.
Yes, Freesia's actions baffle Bacchus, who is a more the kind of guy to use logic to solve his problems rather than listen to his heart at times. He's afraid that, with all of the tinkering and modification that he's done to himself in his pursuit of destroying the Grigori, he's tinkered away his heart and thus is losing pieces of himself, but this little insecurity of his proves that it isn't happening. He's a very smart man. I'm sure that's what drew Freesia to him in the first place.
And the fact that he does suffer bouts of depression over his wife isn't surprising for me. To me, that says he misses her, that he thinks about her as much as he tries to unravel complex and simple problems, and he wants nothing more than to return home and be with her. In this, I liken him to any military service member who spends the holidays on tours in other countries, walking the walls and taking the risks so that their fellow countrymen and the citizens of the country they're in can sleep better at night and just be safe. Of course, when it comes to his wife throughout the game, he's a bit of a coward and doesn't reach out to her at all. That I can chalk up to as insecurity. He's afraid that he's losing her yet she baffles him with her stubbornness to stay in their marriage.
I actually believe that Bacchus and Freesia balance each other out quite nicely. Of course, we only see Freesia for a few moments so it's really hard to say what kind of a woman she really is, but we know that she loves Bacchus and she truly does miss him. (Gain Bacchus's ending for that.)
There is actually a lot of wiggle room when it comes to exploring Bacchus's character. What led him to become a medical scientist in the first place? What was it about Roak and the stone sickness that drew him there in the first place (and thus ended up turning him into a cyborg)? What does he actually look like? Why did he accept the mission to eliminate the Grigori? Was it because logic dictated that he do so? Was he told by EX that it was his duty? The reasons, the possibilities are endless.
Welcome back, my fellow Star Ocean friends and fans! Today, our guest on the sixth installation of Ask the Star Ocean Character is Bacchus D-79 of the Morphus and crew member on The Calnus. Hello, Bacchus!
Bacchus: Greetings, Miss Dragonfly.
Thank you so much for taking the time to come and chat with us today. And you don't have to call me Miss Dragonfly. I don't stand on ceremony or formality. /smiles/
Bacchus: It is my pleasure, but it would be going against protocol to call you anything but Miss Dragonfly. Answering questions for those curious about all things is something I quite enjoy. I may not always have the time to do so, but there is nothing quite like that intellectual thirst to keep one going.
This is quite true. How did you decide to become a medical scientist? Or do the Morphus operate like the Eldarians and test for latent abilities?
Bacchus: /shakes his head/ No, we Morphus do not test for latent ability. I believe most Morphus are born with the love of science and that never quenched thirst for knowledge. As a child, I always felt drawn towards medicine and the scientific applications that could be used in order to better understand how diseases work and the best ways to cure them.
Wow. That's quite a mouthful . . . You really love what you do, don't you?
Bacchus: Indeed.
What was it like working with Crowe on the Cardianon mothership?
Bacchus: It was quite an interesting experience. Mr. Crowe is a very passionate man yet also cool headed. He can see reason, even if it is not the course of action he wishes to follow. He and Mr. Edge are similar in that way, though I admit to spending more time as a member of Mr. Edge's crew than Mr. Crowe's.
That's quite all right. They say it's the first impressions that last the longest, and Crowe undoubtedly left a very strong impression on you.
Bacchus: He leaves a strong impression on everyone he meets.
This is quite true. How long have you and your wife been married?
Bacchus: She and I wed in a traditional Morphus ceremony when we were quite young . . . it's been around thirteen Earthling years, I believe, since we were wed.
Wow. That's quite amazing.
Bacchus: She is amazing, though I do not always understand why she stays with me.
You travel a lot.
Bacchus: Yes and thus I am not able to give her the affections she so clearly deserves. I feel I have failed as a husband at times.
From what I understand, that's actually normal for marriages. That reminds me, what was it like to be on The Calnus, watching everyone eat Reimi's baked goods? Are you able to eat normal food?
Bacchus: Not in this form, no. However, it was quite interesting to observe the gusto with which everyone ate her cooking. I am most curious to find out if Miss Reimi's cooking is as good as my Freesia's.
I've often wondered what a cook off between Reimi and another excellent cook would be like . . . We're almost out of time here. A few more questions, if you don't mind?
Bacchus: Not at all.
What are your thoughts on what Tamiel was trying to do on Roak? Are you like Faize and don't believe that demons can exist or do you believe that they exist and can be resurrected?
Bacchus: Those are some interesting questions to be sure, ones I have thought upon and that do require more time for thought. However, given our current time restraints, I will answer as best I can.
Bacchus: I do not agree with what that strange man was trying to do. Killing innocents in order to resurrect a demon to bring about the end of the world is simply despicable, and I am quite glad we were able to prevent him from doing so. As for the existence of demons and the possibility of them being resurrected through ritual, anything, I feel, is quite possible with the use of symbology. It, along with science, can be used for good and for ensuring justice or for bad and ensuring chaos and anarchy. I believe Mr. Faize was not wrong to not believe, but I also feel that not believing led for him to head down the wrong path as not believing caused him immeasurable grief.
How does that feel to know that Faize was suffering like that and never told anyone?
Bacchus: It is not a pleasant feeling. I will leave it at that.
Fair enough. Now for some questions from our audience members. Mrs. Nox asks, how much can you bench press?
Bacchus: Hmmm . . . this I am unsure of . . . I have never . . . bench pressed, as she puts it. I am now intrigued to find this out myself.
You'll have to let us know when you find out. Finally, our last question comes from agarfinkel, who asks what did you look like before you became a cyborg?
Bacchus: Like any other Morphus. (Interviewer's note: I've come up with my own description of Bacchus in the story Wizards, Warriors, and Rogues - Chapter Two, which I will be posting to fanfiction.net in the next few weeks. If you're curious about what I think he looks like, check that story out!)
And that does it for this segment. Tune in again when I interview Peppita Rosetti from Till the End of Time!
Note for dreamwidth, livejournal, and facebook friends, I go by Dragonfly Moonlight on fanfiction.net for posting and reviewing fan fiction, including the Ask the Star Ocean Character segments. I have a poll up in regards to the Star Ocean fan event. Please take the time to find me there and and vote! Thanks!
******************************************************************************
Dream Houses, Part Six - Bacchus D-79
If Bacchus and his wife could settle on an actual planet, instead of living in an apartment complex on En II, I think it's something they both would do and in a heartbeat. It would be a very small house, maybe big enough for them to raise a few children (no more than three), and to grow a variety of plants and raise animals. Not so much as like a farm but more like a retreat. This patch of land would be an observatory for Bacchus, who I can see would love to have such a place just for the sake of science alone. Yes, he does the mining in the game, but that's with his cyborg form and not his . . . squishy form.
The house itself would be a simple affair and follow a rather logical pattern, as it were. Two stories, at the most, with a place for Bacchus to conduct his observations and his research as well as a lab where he could analyze the data he collects. I don't think he'd do anything super ostentatious, like Reimi, Sophia, and Deputy Director Shimada. Rather, I see him more on the same level as Maria and Meracle - something simple and functional and where his wife could feel happy and at home.
*********************************************************************************
Character Facts
Bacchus's last name is actually Dexley.
His date of birth is May 5, and his Earth astrological sign is Taurus.
His wife's name is Freesia.
Japanese Voice Actor: Hiroki Yasumoto
English Voice Actor: Travis Willingham
Item Creation Stats:
Smithery 7
Cooking -8
Alchemy 2
Artistry -2
Engineering 10
Crafting 3
Sense -8
Considered the galactic champion of runic chess until Edge beats him (and yes, I'm saying runic chess) and likes to ponder about things on the commode.
Bacchus's other areas of specialty include robotics (increased chance of gaining an item from robotic enemies) and mining.
There is no toy for Bacchus.
********************************************************************************
Character Study - Bacchus D-79
Name: Bacchus D-79
Real Name: Bacchus Dexley
Age: 32
Height: 7'0" (as a cyborg - chances are, he's just as tall as a squishy Morphus)
Weight: 516 lbs
Eye color: blue
Hair color: unknown
Weapon: mounted arm cannon
Field of study: medical science
Favorite food: Unknown
Quote: As a humble scientist, I would like nothing more than to answer your questions.
From the game manual: A scientist who has transformed himself into a cyborg, a decision made of his own volition. He has a strong sense of justice, but does not allow it to affect his emotions. While he still retains his original, biological brain, the conclusions he reaches are sometimes devoid of emotion. Since the full mechanization of his body, he has labored to master all fields of mechanical engineering. He has the ability to use optical camouflage to conceal himself.
First of all, I must commend Travis Willingham for sounding so much like Robert Wagner with Bacchus. Until I visited both imdb.com and the Star Ocean wikia site, I would have sworn up and down that it was Robert Wagner. Kudos to him
Now, for the dissection of Bacchus.
It's quite clear from the moment Bacchus appears to rescue Edge, Reimi, Faize, and Lymle that he is quite the unique Star Ocean character because he is that cyborg. No other character is a complete cyborg like Bacchus (even Precis from Star Ocean 2 isn't a cyborg). He wears this stoic expression on his face and has a no-nonsense attitude about him, which lends a great deal of credibility to his strong sense of justice characterization from the manual, the strategy guide, and in-game dictionary. The only downfall to this is that he looks more like Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story than anything original.
The Buzz Lightyear comparison aside, Bacchus is actually a fun character to observe. He's like an older yet more mature and wiser version of Faize, and he can be easily flustered. Speaking with Welch shortly after escaping the Cardianon mothership's suicidal warp into unknown space. As most The Last Hope players know by this point, when you head into item creation with Bacchus for the first time, Welch appears with cardboard costumes of a French maid and a surfer girl/little sister, and it does something to Bacchus. He is rendered shocked and speechless. Someone at the Star Ocean wikia said disturbed by what she was doing, but I don't see it, personally. I think the French maid and surfer girl/little sister outfits were unlike anything he had ever seen before and therefore just couldn't process it properly.
Unfortunately, the optical camouflage isn't something that we get to see right away. We do see it on the alternate Earth but not until Edge is trying to rescue Reimi from the military base. For being a very smart guy, it's actually a dumb maneuver to not pull out the optical camouflage sooner, but it was how the game needed to flow so . . .
From in-game dictionary and strategy guide: A native of En II of the Morphus race, though his cyborg body makes it impossible to guess what he once looked like. While his brain and spinal cord are taken from his original body, the remainder is an artificial structure originally developed for medical purposes, covered by an armored shell made from arcantite alloy. Bacchus was formerly a medical scientist, but he was infected with a previously unknown strain of stone sickness while conducting research on the virus. As his real body began regenerating, he modified and strengthened the replacement body, turning it into a powerful battle machine equipped with a variety of weapons. Two energy generators in the chest provide power for all of his equipment. As one might guess from his appearance, he is straitlaced, doggedly logical, and generally unsociable, but he hides a warm, passionate side as well.
We learn much about Bacchus almost right from get go with few exceptions. For some things, private actions need to be triggered (like learning about Freesia). Bacchus, for the most part, is a Morphus of very few words. I agree with the straitlaced and doggedly logical parts. Generally unsociable? No. He may not be like Meracle, Lymle, and Reimi when it comes to being bouncy, happy, and running up to someone they're happy to see, but, if he's approached, he socializes. He talks. Playing the game of runic chess with Edge (and then Reimi) proves that to me.
Bacchus is what we would call a nerd. He is a thinker. He likes to pontificate on problems that maybe no one else would ever consider, and he likes to have the answers.
As I said earlier, Bacchus is like a wiser, older, and more mature version of Faize. He's fourteen years older than the young Eldarian and thus has seen much. His experiences make it marginally easier for him to accept tragedy and that some things can happen when logic dictates that it shouldn't happen. Refer back to the game with Tamiel's attempt at resurrecting Asmodeus for this one. Never once did Bacchus agree with Faize on how impossible it was to resurrect a demon or a fiend, and Faize didn't believe it to be possible.
Bacchus isn't exactly closed off to viewing events through the eyes of others. He quite enjoys Edge's enthusiasm for space exploration, even though the Morphus, as he explains it to Edge, have already taken that first monumental step into space, long before he was ever born.
From the in-game dictionary: Bacchus has a wife on En II, who he hasn't seen since his cyborg modifications, largely due to being busy on assignment. This occasionally leads to bouts of depression, as Bacchus (who loves his wife dearly) is convinced that she has lost her affection for him.
Yes, Freesia's actions baffle Bacchus, who is a more the kind of guy to use logic to solve his problems rather than listen to his heart at times. He's afraid that, with all of the tinkering and modification that he's done to himself in his pursuit of destroying the Grigori, he's tinkered away his heart and thus is losing pieces of himself, but this little insecurity of his proves that it isn't happening. He's a very smart man. I'm sure that's what drew Freesia to him in the first place.
And the fact that he does suffer bouts of depression over his wife isn't surprising for me. To me, that says he misses her, that he thinks about her as much as he tries to unravel complex and simple problems, and he wants nothing more than to return home and be with her. In this, I liken him to any military service member who spends the holidays on tours in other countries, walking the walls and taking the risks so that their fellow countrymen and the citizens of the country they're in can sleep better at night and just be safe. Of course, when it comes to his wife throughout the game, he's a bit of a coward and doesn't reach out to her at all. That I can chalk up to as insecurity. He's afraid that he's losing her yet she baffles him with her stubbornness to stay in their marriage.
I actually believe that Bacchus and Freesia balance each other out quite nicely. Of course, we only see Freesia for a few moments so it's really hard to say what kind of a woman she really is, but we know that she loves Bacchus and she truly does miss him. (Gain Bacchus's ending for that.)
There is actually a lot of wiggle room when it comes to exploring Bacchus's character. What led him to become a medical scientist in the first place? What was it about Roak and the stone sickness that drew him there in the first place (and thus ended up turning him into a cyborg)? What does he actually look like? Why did he accept the mission to eliminate the Grigori? Was it because logic dictated that he do so? Was he told by EX that it was his duty? The reasons, the possibilities are endless.
