IV | Thomas Arclight

maesterlicious

photonics

It's simplest to say that IV's personality is hardly what it seems. One moment he acts one way, and another moment, he's different depending on to whom he's speaking to and what the situation is like, but he's driven by the same thing.

What most people get to see of him is the same personality that he's famous for, which is him being kind and gentle, always willing to give his fans attention, usually in the form of compliments (during duels) and autographs, claiming that 'fanservice' is his motto, which in his case is just a matter of giving his fans the attention they ask for. He always wears a smile and comes off as noble, slow-tempered and well-mannered when he's like this, but in some cases it becomes clear that it's only an act. This side of him is a result of needing some sort of advantage over people, a cry for attention (seeing as he gets as much attention as he gives) and a desperate need for validation.

The side of him that comes out when he isn't playing nice is much more abrasive, cruel and quick to anger. He snaps at everyone, including his family, and he in general just seems very angry. That isn't to say he doesn't care about his family, because he truly does. He simply has a difficult time in showing it, and sometimes chooses not to if it means showing that he has no weakness. He's particularly fond of his younger brother and worries more about him than anyone else, though he has a certain affection for his older brother as well.

IV takes joy in the pain of others, often wanting others to suffer as he has, even if the sort of pain he inflicts on people isn't what he himself has been put through. Usually this manifests in the way he duels. Number 15: Gimmick Puppet - Giant Killer's effect is the ability to destroy an opponent's monster and give his opponent damage equal to that monster's Attack, and he abuses the effect immensely, referring to it as his 'true fanservice'. Beyond that though, if his opponent's Life Points reach zero by the time he's done abusing his monster's effect, he still attacks them directly and takes great joy out of seeing them suffer at his hands. And if something stops him from having his way in a duel, he gets frustrated that things aren't going his way, and claims that his fanservice is ruined and attempts to try to 'show it' again by fighting back harder.

IV also has a tendency to be over-dramatic, typically just to show off more than anything else and capture more attention from others. He tries to make himself seem like he's important, like he's actually worth something, so he acts full of himself more often than not. He's impatient, he's crude, and he's overall, to put it simply, an asshole. But why does he come off that way?

It's to hide his insecurities at the very core of his being.

As a child, Thomas was the kind of kid that would tease his younger brother, Michael, and get a bit jealous when Michael would get something from their father that Thomas himself didn't. And with their older brother, Christopher, being the one that took after their father the most (in both appearance and interests such as science), Thomas ended up getting overlooked in favor of his other two brothers. Their mother wasn't around by the time Michael was part of the family, so it was just their father taking care of three kids on his own, which meant a lack of decent parenting at any point of his childhood, and with his selfish, attention-seeking nature part of him since birth, it didn't bode well for his development growing up.

By the time he was twelve years old, their father disappeared and while Chris was old enough to take care of himself, he wasn't old enough to take care of Thomas and Michael, and they ended up sent to an orphanage to stay, which presumably didn't help matters at all in Thomas' case. He didn't know how to be a good older brother and suddenly he had to make sure that himself and Michael were taken care of in a whole new place with other kids that Thomas didn't know and probably didn't like, so there was a struggle there, especially with still being so young.

Once they were pulled out of the orphanage upon their father's... somewhat return, it was then that the family took on pseudonyms. Michael took on III, Thomas took on IV and Christopher took on V. However, IV ended up quickly growing a certain attachment to the number 4 (he gets offended at some point that Number 4 is a Number he isn't using and at the fact that it's a jellyfish), and likely as a coping mechanism.

Why? To help himself differentiate from Thomas and IV - his father, going by Tron now, had been instructing IV to do a lot of things, and all because IV wanted to find a way to make his father proud, find some way to make sure that Tron would even give him some sort of compliment, IV carried out the acts without a second thought to how cruel they were. The person that he became was no longer Thomas Arclight, someone that had been selfish, but innocent. Instead, he was simply IV, a two-faced teen that will do almost anything he's told, no matter how severe, failing to think of the consequences until it's almost too late.

But most of the things he did that his father asked of him, he would do when no one else could see. IV built a name for himself, made himself a famous professional duelist, and that's where his gentle persona comes into play. He tricks others into thinking he's sweet and kind when all he really wants to do is pull the strings and have control over something, since he clearly has no control over his life. There's a bit of irony to be had in his deck archetype, being puppet-based, when in the end IV was the puppet being controlled by his father.

Though, everything he does puts a strain on his mental state and he occasionally has moments where he'll suddenly burst into laughter like he's lost his mind. He laughs at others, taunts them for caring so much about their family despite having shown that he cares about his own. He sometimes has complete breakdowns when things are suddenly revealed to him that had remained hidden. He has a tendency to speak before thinking, which is why things remain hidden from him regarding certain plans for revenge, such as when he was instructed to duel Rio Kamishiro but was never told that one of his cards was rigged to catch the field on fire to harm and potentially kill her (though she ended up in a coma, thanks to him managing to be a decent human being and saving her life). But other things, like the careful placement of his cards so they would fall over right before a tournament match against Ryouga Kamishiro, all so Ryouga could be accused of cheating and lose the final match that won IV the tournament and brought shame to Ryouga's name? That, he was fully aware of and did willingly, and even beyond that, he continued to taunt and tease Ryouga about what happened to his sister.

He likes to think he's in control of others, saying just the right things to get the reactions he wants out of people, but the truth is that Tron controls him and is capable of doing the exact same thing to IV. All it takes is a few carefully placed words about how Tron feels about him to set IV off in a rage, regardless of whether they're from Tron himself or someone else. All in all, he has abandonment issues abound, issues revolving around his father, and even as III, IV and V, he still deals with the idea that III and V are better sons than himself, and it's a struggle he deals with quite often.

And while this doesn't necessarily pertain to the canon point I'm taking IV from, he is capable of wanting to become a better person as well as feel remorse for his past transgressions. He even manages to be less of an asshole than previously, but he's still rather full of himself and retains his flair for the dramatic, no longer attempting to use that gentle persona he used to deceive others previously.

Barian Crest - The Barian crests are sort of conduits to allow humans (the Arclights) the ability to use some Barian powers. When their father had disappeared and come back in the form of a child, he brought with him Barian powers in the form of a crest, and shared those powers with his sons to help him exact his revenge. IV's specifically is on his right hand, purple in color and resembles lightning/fire, likely an indicator of his personality as a whole. However, this crest doesn't appear unless he's using the power or he wills it to be. His crest is also a direct link to his soul - if he loses a duel while using any of his Numbers, his soul because exhausted and he'll go into a comatose state. The abilities listed below are all possible due to this crest.

Portals - IV can open Overlay Networks (an important part of dueling in ZEXAL in which players must 'open' Overlay Networks in order to summon their Xyz Monsters - it's mostly a flashy game mechanic during the duels, but with Barians and Astral beings, it's a whole other story), which then dematerializes its owner or another crest owner from one place and manifests them to another place, much like a portal. It is unknown if other people that aren't Barians/Astral beings or do not have some kind of Barian/Astral power within them are able to use these portals, but it's likely impossible.

Protection - If someone has an ability that allows them to take Numbers cards away from IV, the crest will protect him and his cards, deeming it impossible to take them. However, if a Sphere Field is active (a special arena made of a giant ball of energy that simulates the parallel worlds that either 'encases' Numbers cards or grants various abilities to the one that activates it), the crest can't protect IV's Numbers.

Dueling

     D-Gazer Tattoo - D-Gazers are what most people on Earth use as a means to view a duel via the linked Augmented Reality system. However, the Barian crest allows IV to be able to duel without using one, and instead creates a purple tattoo over his left eye. It also changes his eye color from magenta to blue.

     Number Resistance - The crest allows IV to resist the temptation to give into his deepest desires that the Numbers impose on most people when they're held. Because of this, IV is able to hold a few very powerful Numbers without worrying about having his control of himself taken from him.

Others - IV is able to disappear on a whim in a gust of wind - it's unexplained exactly how, but it's easy to assume that it's just a matter of thinking of a nearby place (within 200 yards) to 'teleport' to, and it seems to be used as a means of a flashy escape far enough to either stay out of sight or make a portal for a longer distance travel.