![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
application;
Player: Jelle
Contact:
Age: 27
Current Characters: n/a
Character: Haruka Tenou
Age: 18
Canon: Sailor Moon
Canon Point: End of the manga
Background: wiki link.
Personality: If Haruka Tenou had to be summarized quickly, the best you could probably do is to say she's like the wind.
Practically anyone's first impression of her would be that she's just incredibly cool. She seems to be capable of so many things: she's a racer who frequently wins races, she's a great piano player, she's really handsome. She used to live in an apartment with a $100,000 rent which she treated like it was nothing. She went to school in a private helicopter. Everywhere she goes, she seems to have fangirls following her. The anime version of the show even accentuates that aura about her by often making everything turn watercolour with rose petals and swooney music whenever she (and Michiru) pop up.
Not to mention she seems like a pleasant person to be around. Haruka's personality seems incredibly easy-going and nonchalant. She's playful and loves to make light jokes. Not to mention that she seems to flirt with every single cute girl around. But that's exactly the wind-like thing about Haruka: if anyone were to pay actual real close attention to her behaviour without the rose-coloured filter that seems to cover it all, it'd almost all seem a little too airy. Although she flirts with Usagi, the moment she walks away and Michiru gets annoyed with her for it, Haruka says, "She's still just a kid. She was cute, though." Nothing about the first impression that Haruka gives off seems to be 100% genuine - there's the impression that just like the wind she could disappear or disperse at any time. It's all show and no substance. Although Haruka has gotten better about it recently, there's no denying that there's still traces of this attitude lingering within her.
That wind-like quality about her also explains how Haruka seems like she's capable of and perfect at so many things. It's just because she kept hopping from hobby to hobby when she was younger. Running, car racing, playing piano, paragliding - she tried everything out, hoping to get some satisfaction, but she never got it. In her own words, nothing seemed like a match for her. Like she was trying to run away from something even she herself didn't know, Haruka just kept trying out new things in order to distract herself.
Even her identity seems like it's always shifting and changing. There's emphasis put in the manga time and time again on the fact that Haruka has both male and female qualities, and at first sight a lot of people don't seem to know whether she's a man or a woman. And even Haruka seems to think of herself that way. When Usagi asks her if she's a man or a woman, Haruka says: "Man, woman.. Why should something like that matter?" She's as flighty and ever-changing as the wind itself.
But there's a lot more to Haruka beyond those surface-level impressions. The bad news is that most people never get beyond that initial level. Sure, Haruka has some people she trusts, like her partner Michiru, her fellow outer soldiers Setsuna and Hotaru, her princess Usagi and even the other inners later on, but often Haruka seems to try and shut people out from truly getting to know her inner thoughts. Despite all the attention and fangirls, Haruka doesn't seem to have any genuine friends during the Infinity arc. Usagi even remarks that Haruka is standing by the concert hall's wall by herself during Michiru's recital. And in one of the sidematerial audio poems, Haruka seems to admit that it's a conscious effort on her part: "In little light, my planet of isolation makes even myself freeze over. Before I met you, I was a pirate, taking for my own everything I liked in the world that I could see. I was a queen, leading all those around me." Haruka is certainly not antisocial - she loves teasing people and playing with them and loves the attention - but it takes a lot of trust for her to let people in beyond that, to see her vulnerabilities and insecurities.
Part of that attitude comes from Haruka's duty. She's constantly well aware of her mission as Sailor Uranus and takes it very seriously, and that fact can make her go from acting playful to deadly serious in an instant, like a soft breeze suddenly turning harsh and strong. During their past life in the time of the Silver Millennium Haruka's task, just like the other outer soldier's was to protect the Moon Kingdom from afar. And in their current life, as they try to protect the world from the prophecy of ruin, they still seem to take the "from afar" part to heart. The moment they get in contact with the inner soldiers during the Infinity arc, Haruka constantly tells them to not get involved with them. "If you go home now you'll be safe, but if you get in our way again, I won't show you any mercy." "Make no mistake. We have no intention of fighting alongside you. I don't remember telling you we're allies." "You'll just get in the way." She repeats it over and over. This is their mission, this is something she has taken upon herself, and no one else beyond the other outer soldiers is allowed in. Her attitude can be incredibly stubborn when it comes to that, not to mention ruthless. They know they have to kill Sailor Saturn to save the world from certain death, and if that takes the murder of an innocent girl who just happens to house the reborn spirit of Sailor Saturn, then Haruka says she's prepared to carry that out. Her treatment of the inner soldiers when telling them off during that time also gets to that level, considering she challenges them (playfully) to practice judo with her, but then immediately slams Makoto onto the ground and suddenly says incredibly seriously: "I mean, if she can't even do that, how is she supposed to protect those who are important to her?"
But that last part reveals something about Haruka as well. Yes, her methods of doing is are way too harsh, but there seems to be a good intention behind those words. She isn't just doing that to Makoto to humiliate her, no, she seems to want to get the seriousness of the situation through to the inner soldiers. They have to be strong to protect their princess. And Haruka does care about that, because behind all of her harshness about their mission, she's actually much more of an emotional person than you might imagine. Although she tells Usagi multiple times that they can't work together and to stay away from her, Haruka still - in contrast to her very own words - keeps seeking out Usagi again and again to interact with her. She literally goes back to the place she first met Usagi and when she sees her, Haruka says: "Since your friends told me not to go near you, I doubt I'll be coming to this place anymore. But I was hoping I'd run into you." Haruka is still soft at heart, and when she cares about someone, she starts caring very deeply. In fact, it's Haruka who, out of the three outer soldiers during the Infinity arc, seems most troubled whenever Usagi pleads for all of them to work together. Usagi chases Haruka all the way back to her apartment at one point, and when Usagi pleads from the other side of the closed door, Haruka really does look conflicted, despite trying so hard to keep up her cold and harsh front as Sailor Uranus. At one other point when Usagi looks sad about it, she even says: "Don't make such a face at me, princess." Haruka's very core, her heart, is much, much softer than Haruka would like it to be, since she needs to be strong for their mission's sake.
But that core is only shown to the people she trusts the most. And it's obvious who Haruka lets in the most of all: of course that's her partner and soulmate Michiru. It's like the two of them are halves who can only form a complete circle together. It's only with Michiru that Haruka seems to sometimes let go both of her flirty nonchalant side and her harsh dutiful side to just be who she is at her deepest core. It's only with Michiru that Haruka talks about her worries, her insecurities. It's Michiru who keeps Haruka strong. It's only thanks to her that Haruka is able to keep going strong for their mission. It wouldn't be an exaggeration that without Michiru by her side during the first arc they appeared in, Haruka would have been completely lost. In an audio poem Haruka admits that "the cowardly me was killed by you." It's only thanks to her complete trust in Michiru and the fact she can show her vulnerabilities to the other that she can truly become strong.
But even though Michiru is the person Haruka opens up the most to, she still has close bonds with others that bring out 100% genuine sides of herself. It's easily visible in the way she acts with her little makeshift family of her and Michiru and Setsuna trying to raise Hotaru together. She really treats Setsuna like family. She treats Hotaru as if she's her own actual daughter. She's fun and playful in a way she fully means and enjoys. (This is also clearly shown in the division of tasks within said family - while Michiru and Setsuna are said to do stuff like the child rearing and taking care of Hotaru's health, Haruka is described as being in charge of "play time".) Like I said before, when Haruka cares, she truly cares. She jokes around with people, gets very protective of them (ironically enough she gets jealous of Michiru even seeming to flirt with others, despite Haruka's own habit of flirting with every girl ever), and occassionally even acts like an oversized child. (She can be cocky and childish, and at one point she gets actually pouty and says "And we almost had them, until somebody got in the way." Real mature there, Haruka.)
Just like the wind, Haruka can be incredibly strong at one point, and weak the next. She can seem flighty, but also intense. She constantly seems to switch from one thing to another - from man to woman, from racer to pianist, from mature adult to petulant child, from familywoman to soldier. But at least one thing seems to have changed from her early days: she has now at the very least found stability in those she cares about.
Abilities: listed here on the wiki!
Alignment: Piphron. Partially due to duty and partially due to personality, Haruka is always keenly aware of the fact that threats could be around any corner, and is usually the first among the sailor soldiers to jump to suspicion and doubt of new people they meet.
Other: n/a
General Sample: here.
Emotion Sample: here.
Questions: n/a