"I just need to try harder!"
Name: Tikal Putt
Nicknames: Tiki (from Lilli), Teeks (from Manic)
Species: Echidna
Gender: Female
Age: 16
Alignment: Neutral Good
Stats: Physical: 5 | Mental: 9 | Luck: 7
Height: Slightly shorter than average
Build: Underweight
Residence: No permanent home; travels with her tribe
Occupation: Priestess
Likes: Getting approval, natural beauty, quiet, fresh breezes, colourful flowers (and making flower crowns), peace.
Dislikes: Yelling or aggressive arguing, people hurting each other, unnecessary destruction, having to drive.
Hobbies/Talents: She has a natural nack for organization, most evident in her ability to make beautiful flower arrangements. Prior to the break-up of their tribe, she also excelled with arts and crafts of various kinds. Additionally, Tikal also has a beautiful singing voice, but doesn't use it very often to keep from annoying her father. Dancing occupies much of her time while she's on her own as well.
Played By: Leda
Theme: "Soaring" (opening theme of Kiki's Delivery Service)
Personality
Tikal could probably be best summed up by saying she's a people-pleaser. Although she's not really one to aggressively take on problems, she does at least let her opinions and recommendations be known. However, she does this in a rather round-about way; due to all of the strife caused by her father, Tikal spent much of her life struggling to maintain peace. Her father Pachacamac, who put the "rage" in "outrageous", moulded her into one that becomes rather timid should a heated dispute arise, but aside from those instances, Tikal takes care of herself fairly efficiently. She appreciates the simple, natural elements of life, and works hard to help preserve them from those that do not understand. All around, Tikal is a very caring, giving, and self-sacrificing individual.
Unfortunately, she rarely sees that in herself; after a decade of listening to her father berate her, Tikal has very little confidence in herself. For the most part she views herself as incompetent, lazy, selfish, and a burden on the people around her. Though she's very forgiving of the mistakes of others, the slightest mishap of her own accord can easily send her into a downward spiral, even without Pachacamac's criticisms. She appreciates kind words when she receives them, but never really believes them; more often Tikal thinks that there's some critical bit of information that the person doesn't have that prevents them from "seeing her for what she really is."
Despite the devastating effect her father's had on her self-esteem, however, Tikal appears to have an endless supply of hope. Her outlook somehow manages to stay positive even in truly dark situations, and no matter how lowly she thinks of herself, she never seems to give up. More than anything, Tikal thrives on the approval of others, especially from Pachacamac.
Abilities
Physical
As an echidna, Tikal is a natural digger, and also has no trouble curling into a ball. She's light on her feet and nimble, along with excellent balance, as she has a lot of love for dance. Her ability to climb is exceptional, between having had to climb trees, rock walls, and other steep inclines in her constant hunts for food to gather. Tikal is also a fair sprinter.
Learned
Tikal is VERY smart, having spent much of her time reading before (and whenever she could after) the coup. She accels at map reading and navigation, is an average swimmer, and very keen on reading people's body language for the words they're not saying. This could be assisted by her spiritual powers, which are exceptionally strong. Although she's unable to manifest this talent into any kind of physical form, she is able to perform divinations (see Anything Else? for more info) and wind whispers without trouble. Having lived as a nomad for so long has also taught her important survival skills, such as foraging and making fire.
Weaknesses
Physical
Unfortunately, Tikal's lifestyle has given her a lot of problems. At any given time, she's usually underfed, overworked, and sleep-deprived in one way or another. This then leads to additional problems, such as low stamina, muscle weakness, and in extreme cases, fainting spells (which luckily are rare). She has very little stored fat, which becomes problematic both in terms of energy, and with regard to surviving under conditions where there's nothing to forage. The constant stress and anxiety of her life also have physical side effects, most notably digestive problems, sleep disruption, and throwing off her natural biological cycles.
Her immune system is particularly weak as well, between her stress levels, poor nutrition, and her own genes working against her. Like her mother, Tikal is a somewhat sickly person; it's not uncommon for her to have colds, stomach aches, ear infections, and a plethora of other ailments at any given time. It's very likely she's carrying some parasites as well.
Mental
Tikal is something of a pushover, and easily manipulated if guilt is even lightly sprinkled into a conversation. She's prone to self-doubt, and has a devestatingly low amount of self-esteem. With so much reliance on outside approval, the inkling that she's made a mistake could potentially bring her to her knees and leave her groveling for forgiveness.
Between having an extremely poor example set by her father, followed by a very long period of isolation with him, Tikal is extremely naive with regard to psychology. Her view seems to center around a very black-and-white idea of people being "good" or "bad". Her lack of social interaction, coupled with the dictator-esque leadership of Pachacamac, has also led to Tikal being incredibly gullible; she'll believe just about anything she hears.
She's also a terrible pilot of just about any vehicle. This is in part why she's become so good with maps and directions instead.
Pre-RP History
Tikal was born to parents Pucca and Pachacamac, but was not to know one of them for long. Only 4 short years into the puggle's life, her mother was lost to illness, before she really got a chance to know her. Tikal's scattered memories of Pucca became even more jumbled in the face of life with her father alone.
Born into the same echidna tribe as her cousin Lilli, Tikal was raised alongside of her. Her home life was not particularly pleasant, due to the volatile nature of her father, Pachacamac. Tikal was subjected to the relentless hollering, arguing, and occasional fighting her father would instigate, as he demanded the respect (and subsequent obedience) of the rest of the tribe, whether he deserved it or not. When she was 7, Tikal began testing the waters of trying to ease the conflicts, but for the most part this only won her more of her father's ire for not only interfering, but daring to disagree with him. To escape this, Tikal spent as much of her time as possible with Lilli's family. While in the calmer environment, she was able to come more out of her shell and focus on her interests, as well as her spiritual training under the guidance of her aunt.
When the tribe was eventually broken up by Robotnik's forces, Pachacamac escaped with his daughter — not necessarily because he cared about keeping his child, but moreso he didn't want to lose the services of her divinations. Tikal found herself trapped within her father's iron grip for three more years, until she received a blessing in disguise: Tikal performed a divination in secret, and discovered that danger was not far off. Prepared with this foresight, she was able to slip from her father's grasp in the confusion of a Swatbot attack, luckily without getting herself captured. Unfortunately, Pachacamac was able to track her back down within the same day — but not before Tikal unexpectedly encountered her great great grandfather, Athair. The three echidnas now travel Mobius as a group.
Post-RP History
Their track record since they've been in the game.
Crossover History
Their track record in the crossover.
Affiliates
| Pachacamac the Echidna | Tikal's father, who has raised her alone since the death of her mother. Tikal is terrified of his ire and desperate for his approval. |
| Pucca the Echidna | Tikal's late mother. Died of a debilitating illness when Tikal was still a puggle. |
| Lilli Putt | Tikal's beloved cousin, whom she was raised alongside of. Thinks of her like a sister. |
| Athair the Echidna | Elder of the Putt tribe, and Tikal's great great great …. grandfather. Tikal feels pressured to please him, yet calmed by his presence. |
| Manic the Hedgehog | A boy in the central region Tikal's group crossed paths with. Tikal's grown rather fond of him. |
Misc. Info
As if she's not already sweet enough to induce pancreatic cancer, Tikal also has dimples. The bigger the smile, the deeper they sink.
Thanks to the constant pressure put on her by Pachacamac, Tikal has several ticks, nervous twitches, and other anxiety-related habits that frequently surface. The most common one is wringing her hands together, sometimes until they're raw.
Tikal's divinations come from stone readings. She doesn't always use the same set of stones, but they also can't be just any rocks she happens upon. For lack of a better description, each particular stone has to "speak" to her to produce a readable divination. Upon gathering her rocks, Tikal must then build a divination ring, whether it's drawn in the dirt or created in the gras with twigs. Cupping the stones in her hands, Tikal prays for the answer to her question, then drops the stones in the ring and divines the answer. If she's made an error, the divination does not come. Gamewise, this will be determined with a dice roll (1 = divination, 2 = no answer).
Categories
Putt Tribe, Indoles, Thropes, Semi-Canon Characters, Tikal Moment
