Submitted by Kieran on Tue, 04/22/2003 - 19:26
Posted in
Character Name: Kieran Harte
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Birthdate and Location: 05/12/1978 - Belfast, Northern Ireland
Group Affiliation: None
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Description
Kieran is 5'8" and has short, light-colored hair. His smile is endearing to women and his perfectly oval gray-blue eyes add a mysterious allure to his persona. Although he is an amicable and polite individual and blends in easily in any social gathering, Kieran has a darker, melancholic and violent side that inevitably causes him to be alone. His athletic build is usually dressed in clothes (Prada and Hugo Boss, of course) that are any shade of gray and sometimes black.
History
A Soul is Born
Kieran was raised in a large, tightly-knit family on the rural landscape of Northern Ireland. The Harte family were strongly devoted to the Catholic Church and thus instilled values (some of which were strict) into their children. The Harte women were thankful to the Church that none of the Harte boys took the path of the IRA as the children grew up in the Catholic-Protestant conflict backdrop. In an act of their faith, the Harte children devoted their spare time from school and home chores to aiding local churches.
Kieran was the oldest of the Harte children (there were 24 boys and girls) and at times resented the responsibilities placed upon him by his father and uncles. However, he found solace in conversing with Father Aidan who was five years older than Kieran. Father Aidan represented an avant-gardist movement in the Northern Irish priesthood which emphasized self-fulfillment and purity over community. Over the years, Kieran and Father Aidan became inseparable. Through Father Aidan, Kieran developed a passion for boxing. For him, it was a way of escaping the strenous responsibilities of the farm and family life. Kieran dreamed of making his own destiny where neither his parents nor his family were there to guide him in every step. For years they trained together until Kieran decided to enter a tournament in Dublin. Father Aidan did not accompany him as it was frowned upon by the senior fathers.
Against his father's and eldest uncle's wishes, Kieran went to Dublin. Alone. It was just as he wanted it. He only wanted to be alone for certain events in his life. He thought to himself as he boarded the bus to Dublin, "I will finally be my own man, you know. It's about time, I tell ya. I'm not going to be their helping hand any longer. It's time they took over. Please God, give my parents the strength to accept the path that I've taken. Reassure them that I'm not going anywhere, I'll only be gone for a little bit." At that moment, he had quietly questioned whether he was being selfish for leaving his family at such a time. He knew they were having problems with the local patrons. There were talks of protection taxes by the local mafia and fears of an expanding heroin trade into areas only the countryside offered. It was Father Aidan who reassured Kieran that these were simply fears. The IRA had recently declared a ceasefire and was rumored to be basing operations in Col
At night, on that same day, the Harte family gathered at the St. Patrick's Holy Church (the same church where Father Aidan resides) to celebrate Grandfather Harte's retirement from the family business. It was a joyous occasion marked by Kieran's absence. The festivities were interrupted at 11:33 by a gang of tall, hooded, long-coated individuals. The Hartes were scared as they were only able to see the glowing red eyes underneath the hoods. Those two seconds of fear were the last feelings that they would ever feel.
Bruised and battered, Kieran sniped at himself for the lack of inexperience that he showed at the Dublin tournament. He rued returning home as he knew he would be seen as a failure. Rather, than seeing his family first he went to St. Patrick's to seek solace in Father Aidan. His arrival at the church would forever mark his life. That was the defining event in his manhood. The church was in pieces. The air was thick with smoke and the stench of charred bodies.
Kieran was emotionless and at a loss for words when a figure approached him. The detective explained to him what had happened two nights ago. They had retrieved most of the bodies that were not burned.
"Oh my God," Kieran had thought to himself. For three days he had locked himself inside his house at which point he decided to go to the morgue to look at his family one last time. The same detective crossed paths with Kieran in the morgue and decided to tell Kieran that there were too many questions left unresolved. The bodies that were not charred had puncture wounds. Secondly, the detective was dumbfounded as to why a powder formed the letter R in at the church's entrance. Tests confirmed that the powder was heroin. Thirdly, three priests were unaccounted for, including this one priest who accompanied a friend to Dublin for a competition. Kieran was taken aback as he realized that the detective was Father Aidan and that Father Aidan did not accompany him to the tournament.
The Soul Fades
That fateful encounter with the detective in the morgue convinced Kieran to look into his family's massacre on his own.
For three years, he searched across Europe until he met a beautiful woman in Prague. They fell in love and were engaged to be married. The night before their wedding, Kieran's fiancee was found dead outside a burning confessional. Kieran was aghast when he saw familiar puncture wounds in her throat. At this moment, he denounced his faith and vowed vengeance on the ones who took anything that mattered to him away.
On a stopover in London, Kieran came across a hotel registry which had the name Damien Brennan. He knew that name, as it was Father Aidan's ring name when he boxed in his younger days. He broke into Brennan's room to find it empty except for bottles of a thick, reddish liquid in the fridge. Kieran later found out from the hotel's concierge that Mr. Brennan was headed to New York. Kieran followed suit hoping to get some answers from Father Aidan.
The Soul Disappears
Kieran arrived to New York, a troubled man. His stay in London was welcomed by hooded individuals he later found out were vampires. It was here that he learned how to kill them. However, in New York, it was different. Devoid of any emotions or sensations and a yearning for answers, Kieran developed a pleasure for pain. He came close to losing his life after a vampire drank from him before he staked his assailant. The feeling of being drank was intoxicating. He hadnt felt alive since his fiancee died three years earlier.
Slowly, Kieran developed a desire for being drank. Before he'd stake a vampire, he'd seduce the vampire into drinking from him.
In Colorado, Kieran encountered a female vampire who had a striking resemblance to his fiancee. Seduced by her allure, Kieran was almost convinced in drinking from her until he heard her utter "Damien..." He threw her out the window, sparing her life for some unknown reason. He followed the vamp to LA assuming (hoping) that Father Aidan was there, somewhere close.
Kieran is an emotional wreck. He set out to avenge his losses and then fell into a dangerous game of chase with the mysterious Damien Brennan/Father Aidan. This all became secondary to Kieran's essential void, emptiness. He could not feel anything. He needs to feel alive and the only way to do that is the lure and dangers of the chase. He desperately needs the shadowy figure, but does not know what he'll do should he ever finally encounter him. He needs vampires as much as he wants to kill them. The same creatures who took life away from him also give it to him. He knows this and it is driving him insane, the debate between devil and angel never cedes.
His mission is never clear, it is always compromised and new questions add onto his list of unanswered questions. This is especially so since his encounter in Colorado, where the opportunity to be sired was tempting. Too tempting. Ultimately, he refused, at a price. Despite his denouncement of the Church, there is still a part of him that remains devoted to it. It is this part that keeps him from crossing the blurred line that he created, a line so blurred that there is no distinction between good and evil.
Items
A short, brown jacket (leather, European-style motorcycle jacket, not the Harley-Davidson kind).
A broken gold cross.
Five throwing knives hidden along the right breast of his jacket.
Powers
Kieran has more vulnerabilities than powers.
His skill in boxing, kickboxing, tae-kwon do and muay thai make up for his lack of powers. Furthermore, he has strong deductive skills which allow him to be one step ahead of the game from people who have power.
He is incredibly agile and a fast runner. Kieran is stong in comparison to other mortals and is able to keep his ground against vampires and some demons. His high threshold for pain and cunning allow him to be even stronger.
Actor
The part of Kieran Harte is played by Colin Farrell.