Nil

Nil was formerly a Carja soldier who fought for Meridian during the reign of the Mad Sun-King Jiran. He fought in two significant battles, the Battle of The Daunt and a skirmish at Cinnabar Sands. During the latter battle, there apparently were no survivors. Nil's role in both these battles is unclear.

When Jiran's son Avad ascended the throne, he began to weed his father's loyalists from the army. Subsequently, Nil confessed to war crimes and was sentenced to serve two years in Sunstone Rock, the Carja prison, for his crimes.

At some point after being released from Sunstone Rock, Nil adopted the name he currently uses. Neither his real name nor any of his former aliases have been revealed.

Nil first introduces himself to Aloy, quite agreeably, as 'just a traveller, with a bow, a concern about the state of these lands and a missing partner'. She finds him outside a bandit camp and he offers her his aid in clearing it out, though his reasons are nothing close to philanthropic. Simply put, Nil is a man who lives for the rush of killing other people. He is a Carja soldier right down to his core, but certainly not brutish along with it. In conversation, Nil is charismatic and charming - a courteous, articulate man whose eloquence provides a convincing cover for his blood-lust.

As a Carja soldier he is typically combative, but the way that he speaks of war and the joy he finds in seeing the spark of life leave a dying man's eyes ranges over into the realm of the sociopathic. Though he does not murder indiscriminately, he will target those that can be viewed as entirely disposable, such as bandits for whom no tribe will mourn the loss. This could be seen as Nil holding to some peculiar, old-fashioned code of honour, as he never kills civilians, 'innocents', and neither does he threaten Aloy (even while asking her to fight him later in the game). After fighting for the mad Sun-King Jiran (a war lost against his son, Avad), Nil willingly admitted to war crimes and served time in Sunstone Rock prison (a 'fair trade', he says), but after being released he does not venture to join the Shadow Carja (a splinter of Carja still supporting the ideals of Jiran), but rather strikes out alone to rid the land of 'unsavoury' people. He travels for some time with a partner, who dies imprisoned in one of the bandit camps. When he meets Aloy, he is searching for this partner, and after finding him dead continues to appear each time Aloy begins to target a camp. In some strange way, he chooses her as his new partner in these ventures, though she never approves of the way that he views the necessary evil of killing the bandits. In her words, Nil is doing the right thing, but for all the wrong reasons.

The Carja vigilante can be disarmingly respectful and even friendly, and is unfailingly reliable when it benefits him. He remains clear-headed and capable even in pressingly adverse situations, but doesn't approve of the way that Aloy tends towards stealth attacks rather than simply running in and creating panic. Even while speaking pleasantly, Nil's relaxed personality covers a startling level of aggression which he directs into opportunism and activities which would be viewed as criminal were it not for the nature of the people he decides to commit them against.

His love for violence and warfare even surpasses his regard for his own life, and he will willingly throw himself into conflicts which put him into insurmountable danger. He will challenge Aloy to a battle to the death knowing beforehand that she could defeat him, and if she refuses his challenge, will show up at the final battle in the knowledge that the odds are severely stacked against them and he may not survive. Despite this, Nil does not appear to be suicidal. He views himself as a tool, a weapon to be used as the world sees fit, and if he dies... then so be it. Nil finds a kind of order in what he chooses to do. Otherwise, he is an untamed thing that simply wipes out life in the places it roams through, and that does no good to anyone at all.

Nil is a challenging person in all respects. On the surface, his motivations seem very clear - he just wants to kill people without consequence - but his other actions speak to a level of thought beyond that simple drive. Killing is easy, Nil does it well, and he does it (mostly) alone. He is incredibly self-sufficient and practical, thorough in anything he chooses to do (though what he chooses to do tends to be murder), though the fact that he continues to track Aloy down and insists on accompanying her in short parts of her journey shows a small need for human company. As a soldier he would have never been alone, in prison he would not have been alone, and as a hunter he has no real wish to be constantly alone either.

How he expresses himself can be contradictory and confusing, but he is doubtlessly a dynamic and shrewd man who focuses on what he wants and aims to get it, regardless of the cost.

Nil has no supernatural abilities, but he is a highly skilled and proficient hunter and soldier. His skills lie in the bow for range, and knives for close combat.

AGE: Unknown
HEIGHT:5'11"
BUILD: Slim
HAIR: Black
EYES: Grey
APPEARANCE: Link
STATUS: Single
OCCUPATION: Former solider/vigilante

BACKTAGGING: Y
4TH-WALLING: Y
THREADJACKING: Y
MIND READING: Y
FIGHTING: Y
ROMANCE: Y
INJURY: Y
KILLING: Y - ask first!