Gillion Tidestrider

"'Howdy, bitch; I'm a fish!' -Gillion's opening line in the song 'Hole in Your Heart.'"

Gillion Tidestrider is a Triton paladin/sorcerer and one of three co-captains of the Riptide Pirates. He is played by Slimecicle, aka Charlie.

Appearance
Gillion is a triton with blue-green skin with light markings and chin length, dark seaweed green hair with lighter green highlights. On the top of his head lays a crown of blue coral that sprouts from his hair. He also has finlike ears that point out of his hair.

In nearly every episode, he is seen wearing dark armor over a dark sleeveless turtleneck and baggy pants; his arms are exposed, and he is often barefoot. On his hip, he has a bubble of water that carries his pet Pretzel, a frogtopus that he adores and trusts deeply.

When using his paladin magic, such as his smite, his eyes glow a light blue and his hair and coral crackle with lightning-like energy.

After the Loffinlot Arc, a crescent moon tattoo with the initials "NK" below it appear on his wrist due a deal made with the "Wish Doctor," Niklaus Hendrix.

Titles
Gillion is known often for jumping into battle and introducing himself by his full name and a series of titles either bestowed to him or self proclaimed. As of yet his full title is:


 * Gillion Tidestrider, Champion of the Undersea, Hero of the Deep, The One, Singer/Songwriter of Gillion and the Tidestriders hit single "Hole in Your Heart", Pigeon Lord, Moisture Master, Horse Tamer, Defenestrator of the Adulterous, Friend of Dugan, Walking Fish, Fish, Dirt Eater, Chum of Chibo and Chums, Co-Captain of the Riptide Pirates, Co-captain of the Albatross, Companion of Pretzel, Paramount Champion, Knighter of Julian That One Time, Serpent Rider, Friend of Duke D Dukem Duke of Duke, Eater of Grass, Beater of Ass, Capitalism Hater, Royalty Assassinator, Sufferer of the Spice, Weed Eater, Slayer of Evil, Loffinlot Liberator, Fruitninja, Eater of Sand, Co-Captain Gil of the Riptide Pirates, Juice Enjoyer, Fishy.

Personality
Gillion is a strong and courageous man who throws himself into danger with no hesitation. He has no qualms with being hurt (and almost seems to encourage it), and he loves to fight, seeming to revel in the violence at times. When fighting, he tends to get overly excited or become somewhat wild. At times, he is oddly eager to have violence inflicted back on him, such as suggesting to others to be hit in retaliation on more than one occasion. While circumstantially, such as when he and the other Riptide Pirates are fighting an enemy or monster, this comes from a place of wanting to protect others, it also comes off masochistic at times.

Everything Gillion does is done with complete confidence that it is the right action to take. Additionally, if he truly believes he needs to do something (which is often), he will (half-jokingly, perhaps) proclaim it is his "destiny" to do so. He is stubborn in that he will not listen to others if he really feels the pull to do something, and will even run off on his own at times or "go off script" of plans. He can, therefore, be described as somewhat impulsive, as well. His drive to do whatever he feels is right, regardless of the circumstances or even consequences, also likely comes from a deep-rooted sense of duty and need to be helpful instilled in him by the Undersea Elders in his training. He is the "chosen one" of the Undersea, after all. His strong desire to right any wrongs that cross his path, and shoulder any burdens, even if they do not involve him in any way, is what he likely feels to be the epitome of being a good person - and the person he must be, because he is important and chosen, and therefore, it is his god-given responsibility to do so.

Like any good Paladin, Gillion has a fairly rigid black-and-white morality that separates good from evil, and he has a difficult time understanding moral grayness. While he is kind with those who are definitively "good" and those who are close to him, if one is determined to be truly evil he believes getting rid of said evil - killing them - is easy and the best action to take. He is often confused when he cannot decipher if someone is definitively good or evil with his Divine Sense. He holds a deep dislike of lying and can barely physically do it himself, and if he finds one he trusts has lied to him, his honor and pride becomes terribly damaged. Regardless of this, he deeply cares for his friends and those he looks up to, forming close relationships with certain people extremely quickly. This can include Jay and Chip, but also Marshall John, Caspian and Aslana. He seems to like people, in general, quite a bit.

Gillion seems to put on a persona of grandeur and is joyous most of the time, and seems to stamp down negative emotions and/or distance himself from said emotions in general. He keeps up this high-energy, confident mask even under many instances of distress. He only speaks quietly when discussing actual things that likely bother him, such as when he talks about the Undersea's prophecy in Episode 63: Farewells.

Background/History
Gillion was born in the Trench, the capital of the Underseas. His relatives are right now mostly left unnamed and unmentioned, the only two family members mentioned so far being his sister Edyn and his grandfather Finn. Although in Episode #50 he quickly asked if Oliver would leave him of for training like his parents did, though the topic was quickly brushed off. He presumably had started with an interest in the studies of the Undersea and more, as in Finn's flashback in the Black Rose Pirates oneshot a young boy named Gillion is mentioned, one of Finn's students who looked up to him and who lit up when given a tome by Finn. His scholarly interests were more than likely snuffed out or lost at some point in his earlier years though, as during the events of Riptide he is not a scholar but a paladin and a fighter.

Gillion is also involved in some form of a destiny, though what this prophecy is exactly is still unknown. He trained for it most of his life, living in a palace and council chambers away from friends and family. His sister, Edyn Tidestrider, was allowed to visit him often, but much of his "free-time" was still dedicated to training. In the months leading up to when he was sent away from the Undersea, the cause being a banishment after he attacked a Navy officer during negotiations (said in Episode #52), Edyn was prevented from seeing him, and his whereabouts or what happened to him were left in the dark.

Gillion first met and joined Chip and Jay Ferin's pirate crew after the two were already together for a bit, out on the sea when they found Gill floating aimlessly in the water, on his back looking up at the sky. He was pulled onboard by Chip in an effort to keep him safe, and from then on traveled with the two humans up until the current events of Riptide.

Notable Items
[WIP]

Whalebone Longsword
Unnamed as of now, it was a gift from his elders in the Undersea. He appears to have a strong connection with the weapon, often mourning its loss after the confrontation with Jayson Ferin in episode #53.

Golden Lotus
The Golden Lotus is a shifting golden blade and Gillion's current weapon. It was gifted to him by Caspian in episode #57 after their arrival at Allport.

Chip
Main: Relationship between Chip and Gillion Tidestrider

Trivia

 * In Gillion's level 3 and 4 character sheet, he was listed as 5'1". In his level 5 character sheet, this has been changed to 5'9".
 * Gillion's first appearance was in the Black Rose One-shot as an NPC within Finn Tidestrider's flashback to his time in the Undersea.
 * In a tweet made by Gillion's player, Slimecicle, he was confirmed to be canonically asexual.
 * Pretzel, Gillion's pet frogtopus, was gifted to him by his sister, Edyn, shortly before she would rarely see him again (presumably due to training with the Elders), implying that she has been (literally) attached to his hip for quite some time.

Art References
