I'M IN YOUR STONEHENGE

oh god how did this get here i am not good with computer

Player Name: Des
Player Journal: deathdesu
Reserve: Here
Contact: deathdesu or Des#0723 on Discord


Name: C. Seto Rosenkreuz
Canon: Yu-Gi-Oh: The Duelists of the Roses
Assumed Canon Point:
True Canon Point: Ending of the White Rose story.

History: On the Yugioh wiki - but this is missing a lot of information, so here's a TV Tropes and my transcripts of the game on the red rose chapter and the white rose chapter. (It's not a complicated story, this will be a short read.) Also uhhh I don't have a better place to put this so in the interest of headcanon transparency, if anyone asks about the Rose Duelist, I might allude to my version of the character, so here's an app I made for her for another game ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Personality: C. Seto Rosenkreuz is a version of Seto Kaiba from an alternate history where the Wars of the Roses in England were conducted with Duel Monsters (but the kind where the magic and monsters were real, similar to Shadow Games.) As it turns out, though, he only has a few traits in common with him, and he also represents a legendary figure named Christian Rosenkreuz. His role ties the events of the Rose Wars in with the Ancient Egypt aspect of original Yugioh, as the historical Rosenkreuz was known for gaining esoteric knowledge on a pilgrimage to the middle east.

Like his counterpart, Rosenkreuz is all about the power and glory. Given the backstory that we are introduced to him with - he's the military leader of the Rose Crusaders, who have been completely dominating the Wars of the Roses for the Yorkists thanks to his prowess in sorcery - this would already seem to check out. However, his ambitions are far greater than that, something that is veiled both thinly and surprisingly effectively. Nobody really buys it when he says he and his Rose Crusaders aim to create a Utopia, and the Lancastrians are 100% convinced he's evil, but they still limit their impressions to the Rose War and Richard III's intentions, and don't suspect a thing about him working for his own agenda or what he is really after.

Well let me tell you! His plan is to basically find a godlike being and make it contract with him so his family will have eternal glory and rulership. Apparently, his family legacy has just been centuries of pissing off ancient card gods by unsealing them and re-sealing them when it doesn't turn out right. His knowledge comes from a book that was written by Priest Seto, which he presumably found in a ruin sometime on an early pilgrimage and became obsessed with emulating it. His dedication to this mission is interesting, as it shows stalwart loyalty to his own family (another trait he shares with Kaiba), despite the fact that he does not appear to actually have one other than his ancestor and some vague talk about "his descendants", and so in his case the concept of bloodlines is emphasized more than personal bonds. But despite that and the fact that the pact he seeks technically seems to involve world domination, he never speaks in terms of "yes I will be the king of all mankind!!", it's the future of his family that he is chiefly concerned about. So there is some real caring for family things beneath all the narcissism; if he doesn't have one yet, he definitely intends to get one, so you could see him as a bit of a paternal figure in that regard.

Anyway, Rosenkreuz has done a fair share of pissing off card gods in his past, and so it is business as usual when he attempts to achieve it using the legend of the Rose Duelist. What we see here is that his tactics involve a good deal of manipulation. Using Richard so that his quest would have noble backing, he pushes the Lancastrians until they are forced to summon the Rose Duelist as he planned. From there, he manipulates the Rose Duelist no matter what side they are on - in the White Rose chapter, he gains their cooperation with belittling the other side and a smooth talking appeal to their pragmatism, and in the Red Rose chapter, he exploits the idea of a "worthy opponent", acting out the part in order to draw out their full power so he could fuel his spell and sacrifice them. Needless to say, he doesn't shy away from using deception or any underhanded moves. He holds in a lot of crazy under his usual distinguished character - when he's finally able to let his freak flag fly, expect ham. He also tends to be significantly more rude to people whom he doesn't expect to get anything out of, such as people who are already his enemies.

Rosenkreuz is very well-read on legends and magic, and is rivaled only by the High Druid Simon in this regard - it's implied he was his teacher whom he back-stabbed, but that's neither here nor there. He clearly continued his studies on his own, as he knew even the summoning spells that Simon had not taught him. Other than dueling, the spell he uses the most is a powerful barrier. Also (based on the historical/legendary figure he represents, but it makes sense) he's a Doctor before he became a Crusader. One can presume he is versed in (medieval) medicine as well. He carries around ancient books with him and even writes a manuscript of his own at the end of the red rose chapter. On the other hand, he can be sneaky about revealing what he knows and does not know - he pretended he didn't know the same spells as Simon until the last minute, throwing him off so he could seal his deal with the Rose Duelist. Even with his wealth of knowledge, he would probably try using force first, because that suits him just as much and reveals less about him.

Though he is highly feared in battle by himself, Rosenkreuz also excels at supporting his men. If a person is on his side, he will actually help them out and treat them incredibly well. He seems to be pretty well liked by all of the Yorkists. At least, nobody ever seems to complain about him as a boss, and more than one makes a point of mentioning that he taught them their best tricks in battle. When the Rose Duelist allies with him, he is honored and genuinely plans to keep his promise to send them home. Interestingly, however, when he summons Manawyddan for the first time in the white rose chapter, he says "all will be ours for the taking!!!" implying that he would even share his glory and power with the Duelist! Wow! Now you would think that would be a lie, but after the ritual fails and Manawyddan turns on them, he is honestly apologetic for the trouble caused, and gives the Duelist a white rose pendant that they can show his descendants for favors in the future - which as he intends to have them continue to seek the Guardian, may amount to the same thing in his mind. If not, though, he intends to have them help however they can. You have to admit it's a nice gesture! It also shows an unexpected humble side, but probably not one that would last long.

It's still an interesting contrast with the main canon Seto, for whom pride seems to stand above all else and places him into an obsessive rivalry with Yugi. Rosenkreuz does have some pride, but never to a fault, and he doesn't care a lick about his own version of Yugi, Henry Tudor. This is partly because he did not deal with Henry on a personal level and his troops never held a candle to his own, but his lack of rivalry also extends to the red rose duelist - he pretends to seek out power equal to his, but really was using the typical Duelist Pride as bait and only cared about it as a spell component. But a truly prideful person would likely not lie on their own pride, and so it seems that he will discard his at a moment's notice if it will serve his ends. As a result, he is calmer and more versatile, if terrifyingly so.

Here is how I would boil his traits down in ten words:

Erudite - He is a big ole nerd for esoteric things from all around the world, and excels as both a doctor and a general. He's pretty intellectual, yeah.

Loyal - Not to Richard, of course, but he is loyally following his family legacy stretching back from ancient Egypt. After the events of the White Rose Chapter, he pledges eternal loyalty for that family to the Rose Duelist.

Distinguished - Rosenkreuz is highly feared and respected by all duelists in the war of the roses. He also carries himself with plenty of dignity and grace, err, when he feels like it.

Silver-tongued - Employs convincing arguments with somewhat honeyed words to get the Rose Duelist on his side. On the flip side of this, he can cut someone down with words very easily as well.

Megalomaniac - His life's work is pacting with this card guardian, which he describes as "eternal glory", but considering that he is following the path set before him by Priest Seto in Forbidden Memories, it seems that means "world domination" as well. Either way, he is obsessed with acquiring power.

Stubborn - Pissing off card guardians has never worked, and will never work.

Manipulative - His entire involvement in the Wars was a gambit to push the Lancastrians to summon the Rose Duelist so he could then convince them to his side or force them to duel him, either way enabling him to summon Manawyddan Fab Llyr.

Favorable - Very agreeable to friends, would probably give them whatever they wanted as long as it wasn't a conflict of interests.

Dramatic - Particularly when making VILLAIN SPEECHES!!!! in the Red Rose Chapter. The many exclamation points in the text make him come off particularly hammy.

Confident - Though not excessively prideful, he rarely doubts himself and never his purposes.

Memories:

1. Any and all actual meetings with Richard III or depictions of his face.
2. Studying under Simon McMooran.
3. Reading his ancestor Egyptian Seto's manuscripts.
4. Summoning Manawyddan Fab Llyr with the Rose Duelist.
5. Giving the Rose Duelist his pendant as proof of eternal gratitude and familial loyalty.

Possessions:
1. Blue-Eyes White Armor - What he normally wears.
2. White Rose Cards - 8 in total, these are half of the game's macguffins. My head-canon post on the Rose Cards explains in more detail how they work, supported by canon but not directly stated. Generally speaking though, Rosenkreuz uses them to create magic barriers, and they are the only cards here that he doesn't need a deck leader in order to use. Any of his monsters that have a military rank can be used as a deck leader - higher ranks are more powerful and have more effects.
3. Blue Eyes White Dragon - A medieval rendition of the monster card, decorated on the edge with 3 bars and 3 stars to indicate that the dragon holds the rank of Secretary of Defense in his duel army.
4. Shadow Spell - A trap that, when activated, spellbinds its target and makes them unable to move, as well as reducing their strength by 1000 points (compared to base stats that's a very significant amount.)
5. Magic Jammer - A trap that neutralizes an opponent's magic spell or ritual.
6. Negate Attack - A trap that neutralizes an opponent's physical attack.
7. Lord of D. - A monster that, while defending, can render dragon type monsters immune to the effects of magic. It is decorated on the edge with two stars, indicating that it is a First Lieutenant.
8. Swordstalker - A monster that gains 100 attack points depending on how many monsters are in the graveyard. It is decorated with 1 star and 3 bars, naming it as a Brigadier General.
9. Gift of the Mystical Elf - A spell that restores 1500 life points (a little over a quarter of health, so decent recovery.)
10. Judge Man - A strong monster with no other abilities. It bears 3 stars that prove it is a Captain.

Physiology: Nothing really out of the ordinary, he's just a regular human.

Motives: Rosenkreuz doesn't give a shit about the lives of people who are not in his inner circle, so he would be satisfied with killing just to get all of the stuff he's lost (items, memories, powers) and retire from the game. As long as he has the advantage over everyone else, he's confident in defending himself. I could probably find a reason for him to kill for most motives that are out there.

Sample: Here he is being a big grump on the TDM

Killer or Victim Consideration: If he gets rolled, I'd prefer him to be a killer!

Fabricator Consideration: I think you should give someone else a shot at Fabricator, but if for some reason you don't have any volunteers whatsoever, Rosenkreuz is all for making deals with the devil and could very well straight up initiate such a thing himself. Just straight up offer his services in exchange for getting all of his powers back.