∫ meme info post.

[grumpei]

i'm no longer that little boy who played old maid with you years ago.

Character Information

Basics

NAME: Junpei Tenmyouji
CANON: Zero Escape
NICKNAMES: Jumpy (by Akane)
AGE: 22
GENDER: Male
SEXUALITY: Heterosexual
OCCUPATION: Private detective

History

Here's a link to his wiki page, until I have the time to write out a more detailed summary myself.

Personality

When we first meet Junpei in the first game in the series, he is the normal college student who winds up in the midst of a potentially deadly game, and that somewhat sums up his role. He is connected to the events of the story simply due to his childhood closeness with June, and it's that distance that allows him to piece together the events of the past and present. He strives to ensure that everyone gets out okay, using his strength and mental fortitude to fulfill his role as the game's protagonist and save the day. He is also willing to confront those whom he doubts, like Ace (in Safe) and Santa.

In the game, Junpei is both a manipulator and the manipulated. While he's unafraid to turn the tables in his favor via simple parlor tricks or a well-timed ploy, in the end, he plays into the hands of Zero. His love for June is quite possibly his greatest weakness, and it is used against him to force the conclusion of the game. He trusts her beyond what he should, even after the revelation of her true nature. But that doesn't mean that he isn't smart or clever; he's both, and it shows through his ability to solve the puzzles laid out in the rooms along with the help of the others.

Without a doubt, he is one of the most cheerful and silly characters in the cast, cracking jokes despite the severity of the cast's situation. His jokes are usually bad puns or simply ridiculous, but they keep his spirits up as well as those of the others'. But that doesn't mean that he doesn't take things seriously. He understands the gravity of their situation all too well, and that's why he's so determined to save June and the rest. He also manages to befriend a majority of the other hostages, with his good nature, usefulness, and (in the case of Clover) help from Zero. They come to trust him with their lives and with important information, which gives him the ability to move forward and unravel the puzzle.

Very much a good guy, Junpei offers help where it's needed, doing his best to ensure that everyone gets out alive. He strongly rejects any plans that save some while sacrificing others, although his main concern is June, Akane Kurashiki --his childhood friend and secret crush. But when it comes down to it, it didn't matter that the Nonary Game was set up to save Akane's life specifically. Junpei is the kind of guy who could never let a 12-year-old girl die. Even if, in alternate futures, she causes his death and misery, he would still save her.

In fact, when we meet him again in Zero Time Dilemma (the third and final game in the trilogy), the 22 year-old Junpei is still driven by his love for Akane Kurashiki. He's become more bitter in the intervening year, both as a result of being left behind by her and because of what he'd done in order to track her down, but even as he's proclaiming that he's "not playing the hero anymore," he's still seeking a way to get her out alive.

This is most notable in the sequence of events that starts with Junpei's Plan to collect enough X-passes (only awarded when an individual dies) to escape - he uses himself and Carlos as human meat shields to protect Akane from bullets, with the plan of shifting to an alternate timeline right before they die in order for the three of them to reunite with the necessary information. When they meet again in that alternate timeline, Akane chastises him for dying to protect her, saying she wouldn't want to live without him, and he promises never to do that again.... only to promptly look for a means of committing suicide when the X-passes don't work. Saving her is more important to him than his own life, or the lives of the others in the Decision Game.

He's also still as much of a dork as he was in the first game, despite trying to act all cool. He still makes dumb jokes that Carlos and Akane judge him for, in true Junpei fashion. He comes up with the hot mess of a plan discussed in the last paragraph, and in the initial timeline where they roll all 1's on the dice, his response is to get drunk and rowdy in celebration. And when proposing to Akane - one of the most important moments of his life - he messes up left and right and places the engagement ring on her right ring finger, causing her to laugh. He's seen a lot of terrible things during his year as a private investigator, but underneath it all, he's still the same boy from the Nonary Game.

...Of course, the Junpei we meet 46 years later in Virtue’s Last Reward has lost even more of his initial innocence and charm, now a gruff old man. He tends to be much less trusting than his younger self, a result of a lifetime of pain and suffering. While Junpei had had a normal life up until his 20s, one timeline branching off from the Decision Game (the "Outbreak" timeline) leads to the release of a deadly virus known as “Radical-6”. Radical-6 infected many people and drove them to suicide, eventually culminating with a mass suicide bombing plot that blew up 18 antimatter reactors and led to the relative destruction of earth.

Tenmyouji survived these events and fended for himself as a rare earth metals collector, digging through garbage to subside. He eventually took in an orphan whom he named Quark, raising him as a grandson and doting on him as the child he’d never had. In some ways, Quark took Akane’s place as Junpei’s most important person, but that didn’t mean he ever forgot her – indeed, his inability to let her go was the reason he and Quark wound up participating in the Nonary Game: Ambidex Edition, since he was promised a reunion with Akane afterward.

Even though he winds up hardened and less willing to trust, as a result of the difficult circumstances, he still retains some of his old personality in his old age. He still regularly makes stupid jokes and puns when with Sigma in puzzle rooms, and he’s just as willing to protect Quark as he was to defend Akane all those years ago. Most importantly, however, he still retains his inner determination to change things with his own power. He finally becomes disillusioned with Akane when he realizes that she’s more concerned with saving an alternate timeline than aiding their own, because he feels that she’s minimizing all of the struggles and victories of the survivors. He makes it clear that, just as his younger self did, he wanted to make the best future he could for himself and Quark with his own two hands.

And in the true end timeline from ZTD (the "Payoff" timeline), the VLR timeline never exists, and instead 22-year-old Junpei is able to join his fiancée in her quest to stop the fanatic threatening their world - aware of his potential 67 year-old self, and all of his alternate selves in alternate timelines, but thankful for the one he's in.

CODE BY TESSISAMESS

Preferences

☆ Shipping: m/f, generally other young adults around his age unless there's some sort of AU situation involved. Particularly interested in shipping him with an Akane.

☆ Characters I'd like to play against: I'd love to toss him against any 999 castmates or his team C buds! Also open to cross-canon, however.

☆ Situations I'd be interested in playing: For Junpei in particular, I'm interested in dealing with canon fallout, or AUs where he's still his silly self even without all the crazy. In general, I'm always a fan of hurt/comfort memes, soulmates & other AUs, texting memes (including tfln), as well as gen memes.

☆ Smut: Generally, prefer assumed CR (he's much more likely to be fooling around with someone he's in a relationship with than not). No nonconsensual situations.

Permissions

☆ Backtagging: Yes, more than welcome! I have a pretty busy schedule myself, so I can tend to take a while - so I'd never penalize anyone else for doing the same.

☆ Threadhopping: I'd generally prefer to avoid this, but depending on the case, could be allowable? Please let me know first.

☆ Fourthwalling: Please don't, unless for some reason that was the point of the thread and/or it was discussed beforehand.

☆ Contact: If you need to reach the player for any reason, please PM this journal or dewdrops.