Description

Personality

Mell is relaxed. When it comes to everything in his life, from his friends to his family to his profession to his ideology, he adopts a relaxed and easy-going stance that quite often totally infuriates those that get to know him. It's not that he doesn't care about things; he loves his friends and family deeply, he is fascinated by and enthusiastic about his alchemical practice and he does feel quite strongly about certain moral and social issues. It's just that his general positive, unconcerned outlook on life means that he very seldom gets agitated, anxious or infuriated by anything. It might also be attributed to that fact that, despite being a rather confident and self-assured person, he doesn't have an ounce of pride in the sense that he will react to being insulted or beaten. While these may sound like positive traits, they also have negative results, most often manifesting in a lack of motivation. If something doesn't interest him or appeal to him in any way, the chances of him doing it for the sake of abstract, nonsensical concepts like "duty", "loyalty" or "dignity" are almost none. He is loyal to his friends in the sense that he cares about their feelings and will do what he can to help them and bring them happiness, but at the same time if he feels like one of them is in the wrong he won't lie about it or take their side simply because of his connection to them. Mell is also something of a womaniser, but not really in the sense that he is a philanderer, going from one woman to the next compulsively. Nor does he give himself to unnecessarily chivalrous behaviour, he just tends to enjoy the company of women quite a lot, and when he develops an attraction he tends to get very attached, and rather quickly. He can be rather charismatic when he feels like it.

Equipment

The Jelly Knuckles are Mell's weapons of choice, a pair of gauntlets of his own design that make use of his own invented material, Tempered Jelly, or Gelite. The weapons are jointed, with interlocking sections that cover the forearms, hands and the bottoms joints of Mell's fingers. They are composed of a wooden framework that holds in place three plates of green Gelite, one on the outer forearm, one on the back of the hand and one on the knuckle. The nature of Tempered Jelly means that it combines stiffness with elasticity, and it has the capacity to reflect blunt force to an almost preternatural degree. A foe who swings a club and has their attack blocked by a Jelly Knuckle must be extremely careful that their weapon isn't jerked out of their hands by the powerful rebound, and if they are used to block a kick they stand a good chance of throwing the attacker entirely off balance. The same material also gives enhanced force to Mell's attacks, as he has learnt to compensate for the elastic power of his weapons and thus turn it to his advantage in throwing punches that literally send foes flying. However, aside from attacks with blunt weapons, the defensive capacity of the Knuckles are limited. They can stop an average swing of a sword, although not without leaving a gash in the Jelly that weakens its abilities, but especially sharp weapons will feel little to no resistance from the jelly and wood, and piercing weapons as simple as a fired arrow will go through them with ease. Thus, Mell must be careful in gauging his foes offensive abilities.

His second most frequently used weapon is his Forest Slingshot, a common weapon that he has modified by replacing the rubber strips with those of Gelite. The main notable thing about his use of this weapon, however, is that which he uses for ammunition: A miniature tame Chu Chu called Modo. Modo belongs to a rare breed of the jellies known as Golden Chu Chus, which differ from other species in that they have a much thicker elastic outer shell and always take a simple spherical form. The breed normally travels and attacks by rolling and bouncing, and the larger, older ones are almost indestructible to even the greatest piercing weapons. Modo is only about two inches in diameter, and seems to have ceased growing entirely, hence the fact that Mell has taken to using him as ammunition. When fired at any mid-range target, (an experience which doesn't bother Modo in the slightest,) Modo will respond by spinning himself in mid-air to increase accuracy and striking force, and then upon hitting the target he will immediately set about bouncing and rolling his way back to Mell, a process that usually takes seconds. Mell does care a great deal about his little pet bouncing ball, however, and thus will be very careful about firing him in situations where he might be in danger of getting lost of destroyed. He carries a bag of deku seeds for such situations where he doesn't want to risk Modo.

Aside from these two main weapons, Mell carries a Mogall Sword, an unadorned but sturdy shortsword crafted by his father, the likes of which is used throughout Mell's home and the neighbouring villages. Although he usually only draws it to slay monsters against whom his knuckles will be ineffective, he takes great pride in wielding it, as he does in wearing the greaves and brigandine that his father also crafted for him. He also usually carries a rucksack containing, among other things, basic alchemy tools, food and medical supplies and an enchanted lantern.

History

The first son of blacksmith Mont Mogall and his wife Hildy in the small forest settlement of Stonehead Village, Mell was a precocious child who from a young age explored the local forests with his friends Taff and Tanie. His father was a serious man, though, and although he did not discourage his son from his idle pleasures he also set him to work helping him out in the forge at the early age of 10. Mell didn't complain, though, as at that age he was fascinated by the way his father crafted useful, beautiful and long-lasting pieces from a few hours of raging heat and stirring blows. It was a similar fascination that led him to the reclusive scientist Unchao, who lived at the edge of his village, and his small ranch of bizarre slime creatures, the Chu Chus. Unchao was a researcher of the common creatures, exploring their behaviour, biology, many various breeds and the many applications of the precious jelly cores that grow inside them. Mell wished for the researcher to accept him as an apprentice, but Unchao was sceptical until the young man saved his life when he was trapped by a horde of monsters in the nearby Dewdrop Cave, where the scientist often travelled to find new specimens. After that point, Mell balanced his time quite adeptly between helping in his father's forge, assisting Unchao with his research and relaxing with his friends, something he always seemed to somehow find time for.

It was at the age of 18 that Mell first happened upon the substance that he would come to call Gelite. Succeeding in both stabilising the normally volatile Chu Jelly and adapting it to a consistency in which it might have applications in the fields of armour and weaponry, Mell would expend a year or so more refining the substance and experimenting with its applications before he would create his current signature weapons, the Jelly Knuckles. Sadly, the discovery's reception in the village was lukewarm. Although he was pleased with his son's achievements, and appreciative of the substance's value, Mont Mogall was too concerned by its weaknesses and the fact that it couldn't be combined with metal, and thus refused to integrate the Tempered Jelly into his work as a blacksmith. Likewise, although Mell managed to convince his teacher that the substance was a worthy use of Chu Hearts, Unchao's specialisation in potion-making and medicinal uses of Chu Jelly meant that he couldn't do much more than congratulate his apprentice on his discovery.

When Mell heard of the new war brewing between the Northern Realms and a new alliance of the Southern tribes, he knew that this was not only a chance to bring Gelite to the world, but also to bring a new weapon to the Sacred Alliance. He decided to move to Castle Town and open his own Smithy where he would craft and sell items, both of steel and of his own invented substance. When he reached the Hylian capital, though, he realised that the money he'd saved up in his old home wouldn't nearly be sufficient for such an endeavour. Thus, he altered his plans to include a short intermediate period in which he would work as a mercenary, seeing the world and earning the money he'd need to properly get his work off the ground. He now moves between Castle Town, Lake Town, Kakariko Village and Seamaw Bay, seeking work and adventure and supporting himself on his own two fists.