Character Profile Series #04: Summer Rath

Welcome back to our weekly Character Profile Series! This week, we take a look at Summer, the tough tomboy and most laid-back member of the Undead Darlings crew. Let’s examine her basic stats and talk about why they are what they are!

 

Basic Stats
Blood type: B+
Height: 5’6” (~168 cm)
Weight: 50 kg (~110 lbs.)

So we added both versions of measurements to height and weight, but to keep being weird we switched which one is in parentheses. Enjoy!
 

Why B+? It’s another semi-rare blood type in the US (around 9 percent) that is associated with many traits that help to define Summer’s boisterous personality. We chose B+ for Summer because “being positive” is one of her most apparent personality traits. Going a bit further, her key personality traits (based on Japanese blood-type culture) are: she is an active doer, she is strong (mentally and physically), and she is excitable.

Why 5’6”? This is an average height, and as such, can be easily identified with by others. As an athletic girl, her height proved more beneficial in certain sports more than others. Which sports she fancied is knowledge that Reggie will have to find out for himself…  

What about 50 kg? It’s roughly 110 pounds, putting her in the “heavier” weight class compared to the other girls her height. Since muscle weighs more than fat, her athleticism is the main cause for this. Still, it’s lighter than normal folks because of the side effects of becoming one of the undead. She attempts to exercise in order to keep her muscles from atrophying and rotting away, but who knows if it has any effect.

Character Relationships
Pearl: “She needs to grow some balls.”
Jordan: “I won't lose to her!”
Kairi: “Brains and brawn!”
Cici: “I kinda feel bad for her…”
Emily: “What a joke. I could take her.”

We made a basic character relationship chart for everyone in the game, written as the character, so that we could best assign roles in event scenes. Who would say what, who would chime in or be critical of the speaker, et cetera. Such a small effort yields characters who don’t have to voice their motivations or feelings; rather, they come out organically based on the conversation’s topics.

Fun Factoids

• The number on Summer’s outfit is 72. Japanese wordplay is used here; 72 can be read as “なツ (natsu)” which means “Summer.” Cool, huh?!

• Summer comes from a lower-class family: a single father and three brothers; two older and one younger. This has forced her to grow up as “one of the boys,” so many times the things she says would not feel out of place among a group of guys making perverted jokes. If you get to know her better, perhaps she will tell you what happened with her mother…
• Along with her older brothers and father, they run a small family business selling Brazilian juice smoothies, paying homage to her mother’s Brazilian heritage. The business is named Juice Jitsu.

• Summer is originally from the northeastern part of the United States, so she uses a bit of Jersey/Philadelphia vernacular at times. If you come across a word she uses that you don’t quite recognize, that might be why!
• Having had some unhealthy relationships in the past, Summer uses humor as a shield to keep people at a distance; particularly boys. Trust is the hardest thing for her to have for others, often resorting to mind games and even physical challenges as a means to make others prove themselves to her. Will you, as Reggie, be able to earn her trust no matter what she throws your way?
• She really likes olive oil. It’s a unique quirk, but that’s just how it is with her. It’s sort of like Benjamin Buford “Bubba” Blue and his love for shrimp. Blue, coincidentally, is also the name of her family’s dog.

Undead Scars
Summer has suffered the most when it comes to physical damage, most likely due to her more aggressive nature. The more obvious damage is the exposed rib jutting out of her jersey, but the initial scar is the large bite on her thigh. However, the bite on her leg does not look human… Will Reggie earn her trust enough so that she will share the whole story with him?!

Gameplay with Summer
Summer is the powerhouse of the party. A high-strength character, she can use heavier weapons and lighter weapons alike. This does not mean that she is a tank, however. She is a lot more aggressive than defensive, so she cannot soak up damage for too long. A bit of a berserker, in that regard.

Her offensive Skills are primarily physical in nature. She does not learn very many elemental Skills, so it’s important to keep her in a party where that weakness can be mitigated. Also, having a high number of physical Skills means Summer will be integral to accessing many Linked Skills involving weapons.

Sub-events with Summer are not high in number because she is outspoken in a large number of key story events, but she does play a secondary role in others’ sub-events. That said, due to her strength and Skill Link potential, she is worth having in the party whenever you want to maximize damage to foes.

Thank you SO much for coming to read up on Summer, everyone! Next week we will cover the fifth character you meet in the game, who also happens to be the most complex character to define without spoiling her story arc. We are talking about the ditzy, endowed, and mysteriously contradictory Cecilia “Cici” Fontaine!