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P L A Y E R   I N F O R M A T I O N
Your Name: Polyserena
OOC Journal: polyserena
Under 18? If yes, what is your age?: Nope
Email + IM: violetsquirrel at gmail
Characters Played at Ataraxion: River Song, Lucy Jaggat

C H A R A C T E R   I N F O R M A T I O N
Name: Datak Tarr
Canon: Defiance
Original or Alternate Universe: Original
Canon Point: 1x12, not long after winning the election
Number: 151

Setting: Wiki link. In a nutshell: In 2046 there are several different species of alien refugees living on a heavily terraformed and rather inhospitable Earth alongside humanity. There are two main governing groups that control large sections of Earth: the Earth Republic (mostly human) and the Votanis Collective (mostly Votan, said to be ruled primarily by Castithans). The show focuses on the independent American frontier town of Defiance where the Votans and humans get on a bit better than most of the world, although there are still tensions.

Votans originate from different planets in the same star system and were forced to flee together in massive Ark ships when their system was destroyed. There was only room for a relatively small portion of people on the Arks, most perished. Furthermore, the Arks mysteriously exploded before everyone could be evacuated from them, meaning an even smaller percentage of Votans successfully made it to Earth.

History:
Datak Tarr was born into the lowest caste of a culture that takes circumstances of birth incredibly seriously. His family were poor and had no social standing, so he had to make money however he could, with nothing but an entrepreneurial mind and strong ambition to back him up. He ended up running a gambling outfit and likely getting involved in various other shady practices. When he was a teenager (Casthithans seem to age similarly to humans) word got out that the world was about to end and arks were being built to house those who could gain passage. Not everyone could be saved, only those Castithans who were of high caste, or who could afford a ticket. Datak managed to secure a ticket for himself as repayment for a large gambling debt.

Around the same time, he met a beautiful, high caste woman called Stahma. They fell in love, but she was promised to a suitably high caste and honourable Castithan man. In order to have a hope of marrying Stahma, Datak challenged her fiance to a duel. He accepted, but Stahma had already made her choice, and had her own plans. Her fiance never made it to his duel, instead finding himself flushed out of an airlock. Thus Stahma and Datak were free to marry and board the ark together to find a new world to live on.

Arriving on Earth with nothing, Datak and Stahma eventually settled in a town called Defiance, built over the ruins of the city of St Louis. Datak ran odds on back-alley brawls and hijacked vehicles for a living. They had a son, Alak, and eventually Datak was given the chance he needed to move up in the world. One of the head underworld figures, Hunter Bell, gave him a chance to run a proper fighting ring in a tent. Unfortunately for Datak, Bell didn't intend on paying him nearly as much as he thought he deserved. They fought, and although the fight was broken up before anyone could come to serious harm, Datak planned to kill Bell at a later date. But his luck held out and Bell disappeared before he could put his plan into action. He easily took over the fighting ring and expanded his empire over the next few years.

By the time Alak was about 16, the Tarrs were known as one of the two richest and most influential families in Defiance. The other was the McCawley family, who owned the mines that employed half the town. Datak had almost everything he'd ever wanted in terms of power. But what he really craved was legitimacy and respect, things that are difficult to achieve when ones' main industries involve betting on fights and blackmail. His best opportunity arose through his son. Alak was in love with Christie McCawley and intended to marry her. Datak disapproved of the idea of his precious son marrying a human girl, but Stahma reminded him that if they were married and Rafe and his sons were to die, control of the mine would pass to Alak and Christie. Datak agreed, and soon Alak and Christie were engaged.

On the other hand, Datak's life became more difficult due to the arrival of a battle hardened ex-soldier who managed to become the town's lawkeeper within a day of arriving. Despite fighting alongside Datak to repel an invasion of, effectively, alien supersoldiers, Nolan distrusted Datak from the moment he saw him. Datak became the easy scapegoat for anything unsavoury happening in Defiance, up to and including murder. Furthermore, Nolan's daughter Irisa disrupted a traditional Castithan execution, and was backed up by the human leaders of Defiance. Upset by the insult, Datak killed the criminal himself and left the body for Nolan to find.

Over the next weeks they had many more encounters, the most notable of which was when the mayor's sister was kidnapped and the Tarrs managed to use Datak's knowledge of the prime suspect to leverage a place for Datak on the town council. At one point Datak was also forced to rely on Nolan to save him from being kidnapped by a Casti war criminal.

In the meantime, as Christie and Alak's wedding drew near, her father sat down with Datak to tell him that he'd written Christie out of his will. He was happy for them to marry since it's what Christie wanted, but the Tarrs would never gain control over the mines. Datak tried to have the wedding called off, but when it became clear that it was going to occur with or without his support he eventually relented, showing up at the last minute.

Things between Nolan and Datak came to a head when Datak officially announced his intention to run for mayor in the upcoming elections. There was a mayoral debate held out in the open, and Datak (taking advantage of Alak's guilt over disobeying him by marrying Christie) had Alak arrange for one of his friends to shoot at the incumbent mayor with a paintball gun that looked indistinguishable from a real rifle. Sure enough, Nolan saw the boy taking aim and shot him dead with no warning. Datak followed up on the ensuing outrage by exposing the town to racist comments that Nolan had made regarding Votans in the past, recorded as part of a hearing. It worked: Nolan left town, and the mayor was severely discredited due to her previous support of him.

Soon it was election day. Between the success of his plan to discredit the mayor, and the fact that he had made a deal to win the support of the Earth Republic, Datak was fairly assured of winning. Things were complicated by Datak's discovery that Stahma had been cheating on him, but instead of killing her for the insult to his honour, he told her she could make things right by killing her lover. She left to do so as he waited to see the results of the election. Sure enough, he won, although by a narrow margin.

Personality:
As mentioned, Castithan society is divided into strict castes, or liro, and Datak Tarr was born into the lowest of the low. As a result he had no access to any kind of social suppport or (probably) education, and has had to almost literally claw his way up from the ground. His methods were often violent and he continues to reach for violence and intimidation as his first solution to almost every problem. It's usually Stahma who gets him to hold his horses until she can convince him there's a better way. Without her influence, he's a total thug. His legitimate business is running a fighting ring and his other activities include running a protection racket on many of the other businesses in Defiance and weapons smuggling.

Despite his methods, what Datak wants most out of life is respect. His marriage to Stahma allowed him to claim membership of the highest liro and that's the sort of life he intends to lead. A Castithan phrase that gets thrown around a lot on the show is, "Seeming is being." It doesn't matter how underhanded and violent Datak's methods are, if he appears to most to be a respectable pillar of the Defiance community then that's what he is. He spent his formative years getting pissed on by the higher liro and any kind of insult to his dignity reminds him of that time, which means he tends to react disproportionately to them. A good example of this is when Nolan pulls him out of bed in the middle of the night to accuse him of being involved with the kidnapping of the mayor's sister. He manhandles Datak in the middle of the street, in front of his family, and Datak refuses to help him specifically because of Nolan treating him like a low life. It's only when his wife convinces them to vote for him to have a place on the town council that he relents, and even then he tries to show up Nolan at every stage of helping him.

Datak has a complicated relationship with Castithan tradition. As a high liro pillar of the community, he professes only the great of respect for ways of life practiced on the homeworlds. But in reality, he's usually only interested in those aspects of it that are directly to his benefit. For example, he didn't have much to say about Alak marrying Christie against his wishes until he needed Alak to do something important for him. It's only then that he made Alak perform a traditional shaming ritual that included carrying out Datak's will to make things right again. Datak also uses Castithan law to wield power over others, for example pushing for another Castithan to be executed in a traditional manner for fleeing a battle. When challenged, he claimed it was for everyone's benefit but in private admitted that he just likes being the one who has the power to make such things happen.

His relationship with his family is also complicated. Castithan culture has a heavy emphasis on communal family bathing, where taking three baths a day is shorthand for wealth and luxury. Family discussions and arguments all tend to happen during baths. Despite the closeness this implies, Datak tends to either ignore Alak or view him as an extension of himself and his own will. He does care about Alak's happiness, but usually only after Stahma's reminded him that it might be something to consider. He expects Alak to grow up to be a strong Castithan man, worthy of succeeding him, and won't accept any other narrative for him.

He has a much more openly affectionate relationship with Stahma. That said, their relationship could arguably be seen as very unhealthy in human terms. In general, Datak takes the lead while Stahma supports him from the shadows. She does a lot of work to make him look good and keep everything smoothed over, for example distracting children with sweets while he breaks their father's fingers. Datak is allowed to, and in fact expected to, sleep with other people, but believes he's well within his rights to publically kill Stahma for doing the same. Humans who have seen the harsher side of the relationship have a tendency to underestimate Datak and Stahma as a team. And they do usually work together: Datak listens to Stahma more than anyone else. Tarr family schemes do tend to be a collaborative effort, and work far more effectively for it. That's how Datak's managed to make it to the top of the ladder without murdering too many people in public.

Abilities, Weaknesses and Power Limitations:
Castithans seem to be fairly similar to humans in terms of general physical ability. Datak's a pretty good brawler and knows his way around a knife, especially Castithan charge blades. He speaks perfect, very slightly accented American English as well as Casti and probably a few other Votan languages.

His main weakness is tending to get into trouble by not accepting any kind of insult to his honour or implication that he's less than respectable.

Inventory:
-One Castithan charge blade
-A nice jacket
-His sunglasses
-A bag of scrip (money)

Appearance:
Datak is portrayed by Tony Curran and a lot of makeup:


Age: In his 40s or so.

AU Clarification: N/A

S A M P L E S
Log Sample:
The worst part of the election was sitting around the radio, waiting for the result. It wasn't anything like Datak had imagined - he thought he'd have his family with him, for one thing. Sitting alone didn't project the sort of image he'd been working to build. But Alak had hardly spoken to him since the incident with his friend, and Stahma was off doing what was necessary to repair their marriage. Anger still curled in his stomach at the thought of it, but he knew he'd forgive her as soon as she'd proven herself. And then they would celebrate his victory together, as it should be.

Assuming that he did, in fact, win. All signs pointed to yes, but there was always still that chance. He'd done the best he could, made all the right deals, campaigned hard and thrown away lives to do it. He was certainly assured of the Votan vote, but humans were the majority and he needed them too. Still, a significant portion of human population owed him money and he'd made sure to let them know how they could repay part of it. For the rest, he'd have to rely on the methods of the Earth Republic representatives he'd been dealing with.

That deal still stung. He'd never expected to be signing away ownership of the mines to the E-Rep after trying so hard to gain control of them. But he just didn't have the numbers without their support, and at least this way he would gain a large cut of the profits. As Stahma had pointed out to him, given the choice between the mayoral office and the mines, it was only natural that he choose the former. It was where he deserved to be, after all.

And then he noticed that the radio was crackling with purpose rather than useless commentary. He held his breath when the announcer noted that the race had been close, but then his name was read out. As he was swept up into his supporters' celebrations, he wondered how he ever could have doubted himself.

Comms Sample:

[The man who appears on the network has either been rolling around in flour, or isn't entirely human. That's if his white skin and hair is anything to go by. He looks calm and speaks clearly, as if addressing a crowd.]

My name is Datak Tarr. I am informed that none of you are responsible for kidnapping me from my home. Be aware that the consequences will be... unpleasant, if I find it to be otherwise.

As you may have noticed, I am not human. While I am familiar with humans, I understand that few of you are familiar with Castithans. I would like to speak to any of you who are, as well as any other people who originate somewhere other than on Earth. [It's never too early to start finding people who may be sympathetic to his causes, after all.]

Finally, I find myself in need of someone with engineering skills. It seems as if there are no baths of a civilised size on board this ship, and I would like to see this remedied as soon as possible. I'm sure we can come to some sort of deal for payment.

[He smiles a little, well aware that the request will seem strange to the apes on board and wanting to seem disarming about it. It's a mask for his disgust at being unable to bathe properly since arriving.]