before you interact:

content warning:

mature and triggering topics will be prominent here.  if you are easily triggered, you should hardblock me.  general content warning for abuse &* neglect of children, murder, violence, self-harm, cursing, smut, domestic violence, exploitation, blood, emotional & sexual manipulation, power dynamics, toxic relationships, & dark/grey morals.

written by milo.

he/they.  twenty-nine.  central timezone.

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 height:  6'
 eye color:  green
 hair color:  auburn
 scars:  self-harm marks on arms, legs, chest, and abdomen. scars from lashings on the backside of his entire body. *in later verses, burn marks on his hands and skin.
 notable features:  freckles. sideburns.
 faceclaim:  Nicholas galitzine myers briggs:  ENFJ.
 enneagram:  3w2
 zodiac:  scorpio
 alignment:  chaotic neutral

 name:  prince Hans Westergaard of the southern isles
 age:  twenty-two (22) in the first film, twenty-five (25) in the sequel
 species:  human (assumed) ; spirit of fire
 gender:  cis male. uses he/him pronouns
 orientation:  bisexual aromantic
 residence:  the southern isles, a land far south of arrendale.
 occupation:  13th heir to the throne. naval officer of the southern isles. stable-hand.
 social class:  royalty -- high upper class
 status:  *thread dependent.  in every verse, he is an abused, heavily neglected prince -- in later verses, he is stripped of his title. he is later revealed to be the fire spirit (in place of Bruni)

page nav:   background  &.  portrayal  &.  additional information.

• i. the beginning

 born 13th son  of king Anders and queen Mary, Hans was born as nothing but the spare to the spare to the spare to spare to the ---- you get the point. this might seem silly, were his family not entirely composed of awful people well known for murder, manipulation, and scheming to no end. all save one -- his mother. queen Mary took to Hans immediately, as he was perceived as quite sick as a child. see, he always had a fever. it was a source of great concern to his caretakers -- the fussing over him caused him to cry quite a bit, figuring something must be wrong. his mother was a comfort during these fits, which took her away from the rest of the family frequently. he had the fever for the first three years of his life! no one could figure out what was wrong -- until one day, a crying outburst left his mother horrifically scarred. he'd burst into flames, nearly killing her with his fit of screaming and crying. what were they to do with a toddler capable of combusting into flames? in a family such as his, it meant keeping him in a cellar under the castle where they'd keep a prisoner!so there he was kept, only the most sympathetic maids daring to care for him for months. he was considerably well mannered for a child subjected to such a horror -- seemed the trauma of hurting his mother left him so scared of himself that he could understand being locked away, even as a three year old. he was eager to be allowed to join his siblings in the castle -- to have a childhood. he was not allowed to be near his mother or any other family during his time in the cellar. everyone flinched away from him. it was not difficult to break his spirit into someone who begged to be trained to not be dangerous.

• iii. the training

 by twelve,  Hans has suffered unfathomable abuse at the hands of his siblings and father. one of their favorite activities is testing how far they can push his pain tolerance before he can't help but burst into flames. when he burns them, he is punished by being put back into the cellar for days without food. to try and combat their attempts to hurt him, he takes to cutting his body where no one can see -- how deep can he go before the flames react? if he can prove he can take the abuse from others, he can at least take away their fun. he learns to not flinch. he learns to keep the flames in, even under torture. he nearly dies once before his father speaks up."you are useless and pathetic and weak and no son of mine. you could turn these brothers to ashes and yet you refuse. you prove no worth by dying. go ahead and die -- waste your potential. you will amount to nothing either way."it sparks something in him. there is no mother here to keep him kind and quiet. Lana has long since been pulled away from him as punishment. his father is cruel, but he is right. Hans will amount to nothing without sinking to their level. so, he learns how to harness his power instead of swallowing it. he picks up sword fighting, but his real power requires no weapon. by the time he is twenty-one, he is nearly untouchable in true combat. who is to compete with him and his inferno? even his brothers refuse to put a hand on him. they've simply taken to ignoring his very existence. he does not sink to their level in every way -- does not plot against them or threaten their reign. he has easier goals than taking down the whole family without the world finding out of his murders.why not seek out another kingdom to rule? one that wouldn't require him to use his powers for force. turns out, there's a crown being handed to a princess that has never even shown herself to the people of her kingdom before! shy and unmarried. an easy target. not to mention there's something pulling him north.

• ii. the descent

 they started wielding his power the moment they found a way to stop his outbursts.  of course, training a toddler is no easy task. still, Hans was eager to be able to see his mother. gloves were made -- the same maker of Elsa's gloves, he'll later discover. they are fire-resistant and hide the burning fever his skin always radiates. he is a fast learner. he takes to the calming exercises easiest, seeing as he's most worried of hurting anyone. when they move on to trying to control and wield his powers, he becomes hesitant. why learn to fight with these powers? that would hurt people. they don't push the issue at first -- simply get him stable enough to rejoin the family ------- mostly so they can produce him to the public, ecstatic about their son finally beating the nasty sickness he's endured since birth.it's devastatingly revealed that the queen and three nursing maids succumbed to burns they'd suffered in the horrible fire a year ago in the nursery. the one Hans caused, though the king does not say this. it is taken as a chance to say the eldest son, Augustus, was a true hero for at least saving his smallest, weakest brother from the flames.life does not get easier from here.without his mother, Hans only finds kindness in a few people. one kind soul is a girl who works in the castle named Lana. she is the daughter of one of the cooks. she finds his powers to be fascinating -- how he roasts marshmallows is useful, not scary! and then one brother, lud, is not his friend, but he is the least likely to try and take his life ---- which has now become an active threat to the little fire hazard. Hans is unwilling to use his powers to hurt anyone, so he becomes such an easy target. he is a danger to the family -- he needs to be snuffed out.

• iv. the fallout

it had been a good plan. marry Anna, kill Elsa. well, his first idea had been to marry Elsa, but she was so much harder to get to. Anna was sunshine and optimism and saw that kind charm in him that he wore to mask the bitter thing he'd become over the years of training. he conceals the real horrors, but he bonds with her in ways he hasn't since he was a child with Lana. it's a fascinating surprise when Elsa's powers are revealed. he's already established his intention to marry Anna at the moment, so he cannot switch course back towards Elsa. she is handled the same as he -- scorned, scared, dangerous. but, she's created the ideal to put himself in the exact opposite light -- her ice is dangerous, but his fire? his fire can melt the mess she has made. he'll prove that after she has fallen for the death of her sister.plans fail. he's never been the true schemer in his family. they are not surprised he has returned a failure. he is thrown to the horses. stripped of any claim to the throne he might have had if his family died. they make to intimidate him into cowering as a child once more, but... well. his powers have gone a bit haywire since Elsa learned to control hers.he can't keep a grip on his powers. worse than that, they've started burning him. he's always been immune to the flames -- now? his hands burn. his arms burn. he has stopped the fire before it goes farther, but he knows he will not survive a full combustion. he has to look for answers. nothing points him anywhere -- at least not from any books.something calls him north again. it continues for three years of shitty sleep. she sounds like a siren, distant and inaudible to anyone else. with no source of information available he has to call on arrendale. see if Elsa hears it too. ,

• basics of Pyrokinesis

• additional skills of note

 piano:  learned from the age of five. he was a bit of a prodigy and picked it up easily. it was the only thing his father ever praised him for, given it could entertain guests.
 multilingual:  he knows English, French, Norwegian, Swedish, German, and Dutch.
 speed reading:  exceptionally fast reading came in handy when he spent most of his time alone.
 sword fighting:  not his strongest skill, but he can get by.
 manipulation, lying, acting:  raised amongst the worst, it was not hard to pick up these traits. he lost the part of him that was against all of these things a long time ago and instead became one of the best at it by using his previous kindness as a mask. he changes his personality to make anyone around him feel at ease and understood.
 pain tolerance:  he could go through torture and not flinch given what he has endured since being a toddler.
 high intelligence:  books have a vast collection of knowledge. he spent a lot of time reading on top of time with private tutors. his father would not let him be stupid on top of weak.
 sea navigation & sailing:  he can sail small or large vessels. it is one of his only escapes away from his family.

• personality

 Hans was not born the man he became.  unlike his family, Hans had the best chance of becoming a kind and gentle man given he was his mothers favorite. had she survived, he might have stood a chance. she was a marriage for riches -- she felt no love for her husband their entire marriage , which is justified given his abuse to her and their children. she was intent to have at least one child be safe from his intimidation and influence, so she prayed desperately for the final chance. she got Hans. he would be her demise, but not without her influence on him.Hans tried his best to remain kind and to cause as little harm as he could while growing up, terrified of his powers killing anyone like they had. he was smart and charming and sweet -- a stark contrast to his brothers and father. it made him popular with the kinder staff in the castle. of course, they kept disappearing after a while of befriending him. no one stuck around. ( he has no idea these people were removed in hopes of making him bitter and distrusting. )it is difficult to say when exactly he cracked and truly became 'evil.' if you asked him, he'd say he always has been and he was just pretending not to be. it isn't as simple as that, but mainly it's just not true. where Elsa was fed understanding and compassion and hope for her powers and their control, Hans was pushed into needing them to defend himself -- to use them to hurt people no matter who they were -- that his powers were the only good thing about him. both knew fear, but one was taught early on that fear was a good thing.powers aren't enough on their own, though. they might be, for a hostile takeover. for longevity as a ruler, he did have to learn from his father. if the people know you're evil, they will not follow blindly. as far as the world knows, their family is warm and happy and generous. any murder or fraud or theft is done by third parties who will not lead back to the royal family. a vast fortune came with Mary, and it is used mainly to pay off people to shut them up.Hans learned to use his brain even more than his powers. any meathead can kill someone. can they convince everyone that they are kind and noble and honest? can they become exactly who someone needs and can trust implicitly? can they maintain that without slipping up? Hans doesn't have to work hard to get those traits -- he was those things before he turned cold.once his plan is foiled, his personality takes a hard turn. he no longer pretends to be charming and steadfast and honest. he becomes snarky and jaded and sarcastic, making sure his words hit as hard as they can. he has no reason to lie now that the world knows of his murder attempt. all he has left is the secret of his powers. those can come with being known as heartless.