CALEB HARCOURT

HISTORY

Caleb was born and raised in Lavender Town, Kanto, where he grew up alongside his older brother Zev Harcourt. Zev was Caleb’s role model and mentor for the entire first half of his life. Despite the fact that Caleb always knew something was "off" about Zev, he was very reliant on Zev and continued to look up to him, going so far as to defend him when other kids or young adults bullied Zev/complained about him.

In high school, Caleb was very popular, a member of both the soccer team and the swim club. He also took up martial arts due to Zev. After graduating, Caleb attended Saffron College where he majored in Anthropology and minored in Archeology. He struggled with academics, however, due to undiagnosed ADHD and depression, and ended up dropping out of college in 2012. He got a job with the Saffron City Police soon after.

During college, Caleb got in with "the wrong crowd" - friends who dragged him into a life of drugs, alcohol, and crime. This escalated as Team Rocket began to gain power in the region. Caleb was coerced into joining the organization by both his friends and his brother’s prowess as a hitman. Zev and Caleb soon became ingrained in Rocket; they stayed with the organization even after their own parents lost their lives to the takeover.

Caleb was a member of Rocket's secret police, betraying the Saffron League Officers as part of the takeover. While he did participate in acts of violence he now deeply regrets, Caleb was constantly toeing the line of disobedience within Rocket due to his moral compass. When asked to assassinate a League politician and his entire family, for example, Caleb refused to kill the children. This lead to a severe beating in which Caleb was nearly killed himself.

In 2018, Caleb was assigned to a mission involving infiltrating the Kanto Resistance, a group of guerilla fighters trying to end the Rocket takeover. Caleb was supposed to give up their headquarters to Rocket, but he ended up developing romantic feelings for one of their leaders, a man named Leo. Unbeknownst to Caleb, there were other Rocket agents assigned to the same mission; they reported Caleb's insubordinate behavior and captured the Kanto Resistance leadership despite Caleb's best efforts to protect them. As punishment, Caleb was then forced to execute Leo and the other Kanto Resistance leaders or else be killed himself.

This was the last straw for Caleb. In early 2019, he fled Kanto, escaping to Slateport City, Hoenn. He told no one of his leaving, not even Zev. He changed his surname to Sharpe and attempted to put the Kanto war behind him and start a new life, but for two years he struggled to overcome his guilt and depression. Finally, in 2021, he got a job with the Slateport Rangers at the behest of former captain Tam Fawley, who saw in Caleb the potential to do some good in the world despite his grief and self-hatred.

In November of 2022, Caleb took part in defending Littleroot Town during the League's operation to divert Meteno from destroying Hoenn; despite his Rocket background, Caleb fought against Rocket during the operation. Unbeknownst to the League, the man Caleb fought during Littleroot was his brother, Zev Harcourt. Zev had followed Caleb to Hoenn, convinced the League had kidnapped him and forced him to leave Rocket. Caleb realized that this was the reason Rocket assassins had not come for him yet for his betrayal: Zev had taken his name off the Rocket hit list.

After Littleroot, Caleb went back to using his true last name (Harcourt).

See CURRENT PLOTS below for the current state of the ongoing conflict between Zev and Caleb.

PERSONALITY & TROPES

Caleb is a friendly, sociable, honest guy who tends to form attachments rather quickly, especially with people who make him feel valued and cared for and/or people who can relate to the traumas he has experienced throughout his life. Despite having a peaceful soul oriented towards fairness and justice, Caleb was coerced into a life of crime and violence from a fairly young age due to his susceptibility to the affections of others, both friends and family. Caleb lives with a tremendous amount of guilt related to his dark past, and though for a time he escaped into alcoholism and isolation because of that emotional pain, he has now begun the difficult, but necessary, process of healing. If there is one thing that Caleb desires above all else, it is redemption, which ultimately must come from a place of self-forgiveness.

Caleb's primary motivations in life are:

• Redemption
• A sense of belonging
• A life of freedom and adventure
• Escaping his past

Caleb's character is based on the following tropes/inspirations:

• Redemption Quest
• Dark & Troubled Past
• The Anti-Hero
• A twisting of the Protective Older Brother trope; Caleb is the younger brother of the sociopathic Zev Harcourt, who has always been highly possessive of Caleb
• The relationship between Caleb and Zev is also inspired by the relationship between the brothers Vash and Knives in the manga/anime Trigun (and its various iterations)

CURRENT PLOTS

SLATEPORT RANGER
Caleb is an Elite Ranger out of Slateport, working under Razz Kingsman. He recently took part in the faction conflict POSTDORMITUM in the Ultra Deep Sea, where the League failed to recover the Seal Stone. He is currently involved in various missions related to the protection of Hoenn's citizenry from dangerous anomalies - such as rogue Paradox Pokémon - as well as continuing to work against the schemes of Team Rocket.

He is currently participating in the GOODBYE GALAR raid, in hopes of helping the League protect the legendary Pokémon Zacian and Zamazenta from Team Rocket and the DRK Triad.

SEEKING:

• Other League Rangers who would like to do missions with Caleb, preferably relevant to the ongoing siteplot/anomalies
• Other League government officials/politicians/Elite Four/Gym Leaders who would like to partner up with a Ranger to do missions, preferably relevant to the ongoing siteplot/anomalies
• Training buddies of all kinds, really

NAUTICA
In late 2022, Caleb met the infamous angelo vestri of Nautica. Intrigued by Angelo's life of adventure and independence, Caleb has begun to consider leaving the Rangers and formally joining Angelo in his various expeditions and artifact recovery endeavors. Caleb's original dream before getting sucked into a life of crime was to work in archeology and anthropology; becoming friends with Angelo has re-inspired him to pursue his former goals.

Caleb is tired of being a cog in somebody’s else's larger wheel; he yearns for more freedom to be independent and adventurous.

SEEKING:

• League-affiliated characters looking to explore the rifts (either via a formal Wilds expedition or the Into the Wild mission)
• League characters or Rockets with civilian identities that have some connection to academics, the Natural History Museum, and other archeological/anthropological endeavors

A TALE OF TWO BROTHERS
When Caleb fled to Hoenn, he did not realize that his brother, Zev Harcourt, followed him. Zev mistakenly thought that Caleb had been kidnapped by the League and sought to return him to Team Rocket. Zev took Caleb's name off the Rocket Hit List to give himself time to bring Caleb back to both Rocket and Kanto. The two clashed for the first time at Littleroot in November of 2022, which revealed to Caleb Zev's presence in Hoenn, and ended with a tentative truce between them.

Unfortunately, the Battle of Dewford in April 2023 led to Caleb stabbing Zev, an act that was very much inevitable due to the lifetime of trauma and manipulation that Zev had inflicted on Caleb. Zev viewed this act as a betrayal of their brotherhood. Since then, Zev has vowed to hurt Caleb by destroying his life and everything he holds dear; he put his name back on the Rocket hit list, and has encouraged other Rockets to aid him in his quest to hurt Caleb.

Luckily for Caleb, Isaac Merlo warned him that Zev and Rocket have started to hunt him down. Caleb is now on the defensive…

SEEKING:

• League Rangers/Officers/Elite Four/Gym Leaders/government officials that wish to aid Caleb in defending himself against Zev and Rocket (bonus points if they are also Avatars...Zev is part-Avatar now...)
• Rockets who wish to attempt to assassinate or capture/torture Caleb for Zev (*please DM to work out details)

OTHER PLOT HOOKS

PAST CONNECTIONS

• Former members of Kanto Rocket who might have known him
• Friends from his childhood
• Friends from his college years (prior to dropping out)
• Exes and former flings

NEW CONNECTIONS

• League-affiliated friends and allies (Rangers or otherwise)
• Enemies (preferably Rockets who are aligned with Zev)
• Mentors in the academic world (archeology/anthropology focus preferred)
• Training partners/people who can help him get stronger (Zev is a part-Avatar now, RIP…)
• Casual flings
• Long-term romance/shipping (*will depend on character chemistry, if interested hit me up to thread and we'll see where it goes!)

CURRENT RELATIONSHIPS

ACQUAINTANCES/COLLEAGUES

• Aurelie Lefevre - Talented bladesmith. Bought a knife from her. Thinks she is cool.
• ana fell - Isaac's girlfriend. Feels obligated to protect her. Not sure what to think of her attitude, but she always seems to make him feel better about himself...
• Gunner Graves - Thinks he's kind of intense, but reliable. Jealous of his relationship with Gideon
• GIDEON GRAVES - Respects him a lot, and wishes to work more with him in the future through his museum
• Hailee Jacobs - Fellow Slateport Ranger. Cute
• Kieran Roth - Newer Slateport Ranger. Seems quirky, but nice.
• kyle lopez - Super chill. Would like to work with him again sometime
• Noah Camus - Fellow Slateport Ranger. Seems nice.
• Razz Kingsman - New Slateport Ranger Captain. Former Rocket defector. Respects him

FRIENDS

• angelo vestri - Close friend and confidant. Trusts him with his life
• ollie morales - Childhood friend-with-benefits who's just a friend now...or is he?
• Orion Lykos - Fellow Slateport Ranger. Former close friend. Things are complicated due to Caleb being a Rocket defector
• Rowan Wrynn - Fellow Rocket defector who also has a brother who wants to kill him. Can relate. Likes him a lot

FAMILY

• Isaac Merlo - like the younger brother he never had. Wishes to protect him at all costs
• Zev Harcourt - Caleb's older brother. Complicated. Currently his enemy.

LOVERS

• TBD!

OTHER

• BARNABY FINCH - Enemy he'd like to fuck...
• @rosie - Former almost-girlfriend. She broke his heart by betraying him; he found out she's been working for Zev to spy on him behind his back. Tragically, she had developed genuine romantic feelings for him, too...but now it's too late. Or is it...? Only time will tell...