Darth Chagrin
Darth Chagrin
Full Name: Herton Harpsil Melton
Faction: Galactic Empire
Rank: High Colonel (Director of the Information Office)
Species: Human
Homeworld: [Classified]
Gender: Male
Age: 51
Height: 1.86 m
Force-Sensitivity: Non-Force Sensitive
Voice Sample: Charles Gray
Personality
Within the framework of the Empire, Melton's values are simple and threefold: professionalism, order and loyalty. He expects respectful conduct from his subordinates and offers the same to his superiors. He believes strongly in the chain of command, and while not above taking suggestions from subordinates, is strictly intolerant of insubordination. He is pedantic regarding both results and methods, with a generally compulsive character in matters of organisation and tidiness. While personally old-fashioned, Melton is not adverse to using state-of-the-art technology. He is not concerned with human cost except in economic terms; mercy is irrelevant. Owing to a background of killing and cold business, Melton is highly desensitised to atrocities. He has little to no qualms with administering torture, committing murder or using deception, though he holds betrayal among Imperials as a very serious offence. Betrayal of non-Imperials is not a concern if there are no consequences; usually he is only interested in maintaining relationships while they are beneficial to the Empire.Melton has a mostly sardonic sense of humour that he can find in many things. He has been emotionally unstable for many years, and has taken great steps to conceal and suppress this fact. A combination of drugs and mental conditioning were used in his earlier years to outright repress his issues, but over time he began to eschew these in favour of a practiced demeanour of almost unnatural calm and control. This persona, amiable if slightly condescending, has been successful to the extent that very few know the truth of Melton's condition, most believing him to be the unflappable being he is. As much as he would like it to be, this facade is not perfect; he may occasionally leak feelings of anger or suffer minor sadistic urges with the correct prompts.
A social snob, Melton finds substantial common ground with the concept of Imperial High Culture. He is elitist, not so much with respect to biological factors such as sex or race (with a few exceptions), but in terms of power, intelligence and social status. A social Darwinist at heart, Melton believes in the prestige of strength and the rule of the strong and has little sympathy for the suffering. He considers both power over material and power over others a form of strength. Melton views the Empire as a bastion of glory and strength, and non-Imperials as either tools, threats or obstacles to the magnificence that the Empire will impose on the galaxy. He carries a strong faith in the Empire's ideals and an equally strong belief that the Empire will succeed in its goals, idolising the original Empire and figures such as Grand Moff Tarkin. Accordingly, he is contemptuous of facsimiles of the Empire such as the First Order, whom he believes are creating a mockery of the Imperial ideal.
Biography
Herton Harpsil Melton was the son of a powerful crime lord on Nar Shaddaa who made his money in illegal trafficking. Gifted with wealth in his childhood and unable to sympathise with the plight of those worse off than himself, Herton's avid interest in history mixed wonderfully with his social Darwinist view on life to foster an admiration for the Galactic Empire. He viewed democracy as a stagnant system that forced the strong to drag along the weak instead of putting them to use, and came to see the succession of attempts at a Galactic Republic to be inherently doomed and foolish.When he was young, Herton's mother was killed in a feud between his father and the Hutts, a traumatic event which initiated Herton's hatred of the Hutts and caused him to become emotionally unstable. Prone to lashing out and or being withdrawn, he attempted to treat his symptoms with drugs and various forms of mental conditioning, including the torture of subordinates who failed him or his father. However, he concluded that these methods were wasteful and that he could do better. He fostered an impossibly calm and composed persona that he would keep for life, and the emotional wildcard within him abated for a time.
Unfortunately, as all things must be, Herton's newfound persona was challenged when the Hutts won the crime war against his father, killing him and taking his head. Herton fled Nar Shaddaa and sought a new life in the wider galaxy, opting from then on to be known by his last name in the belief that he needed to carry on his father and family's legacy. After spending several years as an assassin (and suffering a relapse of drug addiction to treat his emotionally tenuous state), Melton tracked down and massacred the Hutt family that was responsible for destroying his own. This placated his emotional issues to a significant extent and over time he was able to virtually eliminate his dependency on drugs.
Afterward, Melton sought an organisation that resembled, or could be reshaped, into the image of the Empire that he had idolised from youth; he discovered the First Order and joined its navy. Melton ascended the ranks through dedication and competence, becoming one of Admiral [member="Tanomas Graf"]'s Rear Admirals. Over time, however, he came to share Tanomas Graf's disillusionment with the First Order. Believing that this was not the Empire he had idolised, he joined Admiral Graf in defecting to the Galactic Alliance, but only for a time. When Graf obtained the Avenger, Melton served onboard the ship and thus followed his subsequent defection to the Imperial Remnant. There, Melton decided he had tired of military combat; he chose not to continue a career in the Navy and instead opted for service in Imperial Intelligence. Accordingly, when the Imperial Remnant was reformed into the Galactic Empire, he became part of the Imperial Security Bureau.
Strengths & Weaknesses
(+) Military Training: Having served in the Imperial military before, Melton is proficient in unarmed, melee weapon and blaster combat.
(+) Intellectual Ability: With a high level of education, deep general knowledge of the galaxy and its many aspects, considerable experience in a number of fields, and inherent cunning and intelligence, Melton specialises as and prefers to be an intellectual worker.(+/-) Amoral: Melton isn't bound by notions of morality. A pragmatist having only one ideal (that of the Empire), he has Machiavellian tendencies and believes that the ends justify the means.
(-) Past His Prime: Though still fit, Melton's best years of physicality are behind him and he is no longer as active as he once was, having tired of military combat. His physical attributes and fighting ability have atrophied to an extent.
(-) Emotional Instability: Melton is an emotionally unstable man, historically leading him to utilise a combination of drugs and mental conditioning to combat his problems. Currently, he makes use of a controlled and unflappable persona, an act developed over many years of practice.
