Manuel Nordenskiöld

An intense railway driver who considers himself the supreme ferryman for the living, as well as the dead. He has an obnoxiously loud voice, as he’s accustomed to yelling over the harsh din of the station. The realm of ghosts is apparently both his kingdom and his curse.

...at least his trains are always on time?

• Keeping out of the sun and basking in the moonlight isn’t simply a personal preference. Due to his albinism, his body is extremely sensitive to UV radiation.
  • The color of one’s eyes reflects their Chroma. Manuel is no exception to this rule, but large specks of light red and blue can be seen due to weak pigmentation in the iris.
• His nickname - Manuel - comes from how often he works with electronics and machines. Whenever he isn’t engaged with locomotive business, he’s studying another piece of technology from an instruction manual. He is determined to coalesce his rather old-fashioned field with the innovation of the future.
• Around the time he entered high school, Manuel became a notorious delinquent. He got into fights all the time, posturing confidently and warning his opponents that he was possessed by an ‘evil spirit’. This usually only pissed them off more.
• Rather than going home after work, Manuel usually sleeps either on his trains or at the nearby station. He claims this is for safety purposes - not of the trains, but for their potential victims.
  • Manuel is convinced that the trains he works with are haunted. He shares ghost stories of them moving on their own and tricking unsuspecting civilians into climbing aboard, only to take them to their doom. Therefore, he feels that it is his duty to manage them, as he is a self-proclaimed SOVEREIGN OF ALL IN THE PASSAGEWAY TO DEATH
• One of his side interests is marine biology; more specifically, mammals who are either semi or fully aquatic. Ironic, as he can’t swim.
• Not one to be out-done, Manuel often butts heads with similarly boastful personalities, such as childhood friend Jenny Faire. Despite having a deeply collaborative relationship, they can’t help but challenge each other in order to prove their own superiority.
  • The current score is in Jenny’s favor due to an impromptu ‘who can better recite the periodic table by heart‘ competition.
  • Though he’ll never admit it, he admires how her craftsmanship skills best him every time. Whenever she’s working on his train, he tries to observe in secret.
• Engines and engineering in general is a passion of his. He’ll spend time admiring his trains’ diesel-electric locomotive as if he’s watching a television.
  • He hopes to visit Germany one day due to its prolific mechanical engineering industry.
• In contrast to his grandiose personality, his Specter is very polite and docile. As he mans the front of the train, it can be seen wandering around the carts, assisting people with their luggage and performing other services. Its presence helps calm down the passengers who are unsettled by their conductor.
• One of the strongest characters in Chromasynth’s cast, Manuel trains his muscles every day by virtue of his labor-intensive occupation. However, it’s largely centralized in his upper body. He cares little for his legs.
• Swearing to never be overcome by personal matters and ‘earthly temptations’, Manuel avoids vices related to romance and sex. It appears to be a strange, yet proud kind of celibacy - as if the life of a conductor is akin to that of a knight loyal to their calling.
  • He once reprimanded Jenny after she tried to change in front of him. She doesn’t see the big deal.
• The VIGOR Value allows one to channel their innate energy in something they can wield. It can materialize in a variety of ways; light, electricity, heat, or even kinetic energy. With enough discipline, a user can give its energy its own form - a being made purely by and of the power of Chroma.
  • Manuel regularly employs his Value in his line of work. Whether he’s surrounded by sparks or ghostly apparitions, passengers agree that he gives off an incredibly menacing aura.
• His father was a train conductor who juggled his job and fatherly duties by bringing Manuel with him wherever he went. As a result, Manuel got ‘trained’ from a very young age, allowing him to enter the profession himself as soon as he could.
  • His tolerance around (and predilection for) strong volume stems from his years practically living on trains. Even without a locomotive near him, his ‘conductor voice’ booms for all to hear.
  • To this day, he can only sleep soundly on a moving vehicle. After all, the RHYTHM OF THE WHEELS WERE MY ROCKING CARRIAGE WHEN I WAS BUT A HEARTY INFANT!
• Unchanged since childhood is his favorite movie - a Christmas film about a mysterious train bound for the North Pole. He finds the winter environment nostalgic, as it resembles where he grew up.
• Rigid and following the schedule no matter what, Manuel thoroughly sweeps the station as the train is set to depart. If he finds some stragglers, he will hoist them over his shoulder like potato sacks and toss them into their respective compartments. People would complain, but he’s surprisingly courteous about it.
• All of his trains have names. The convention is similar to how racehorses are named, for some reason.