Alfredo

Alfredo, also known as Vadraal Aran, is a longtime original character of mine I created sometime in 2015. Initially made as a Skyrim character and became more prominent as my Hunter in Destiny 2, he has morphed into a multi-fandom OC for me to use as I see fit, because sometimes the best kinds of self-care are putting your beloved blorbos in not just better games, but games that are better for you.

Alfredo is a very important comfort character to me, and I've conjured up a ton of lore and thoughts about him over the years since I've created him. I've carved out this part of my website to dedicate to him.

Please note: There will be unmarked spoilers where applicable.

About Alfredo

Personality

Alfredo is a softspoken, gentle giant of a fellow. Though his towering height and glowing eyes make for a rather menacing mug, there’s very little to fear when Alfredo is around. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and goes out of his way to provide a helping hand however he can, to almost blind naivety. He is passionate about the people and things he loves, and isn't afraid to show his affection through kind words, gifts, or actions. In combat, if he's by your side, he'll make sure you're safe above all else.

He is autistic, and his special interest - fashion - is persistent throughout his various iterations. He oftentimes has difficulties articulating his thoughts, so he "prefers to let his clothes (and others) do the talking for him". How he presents himself aesthetically is important to him.

Appearance

Alfredo is a tall fat man with greyish-green skin; downturned orange eyes with long, thick brown lashes; and waist-length dark brown hair. He keeps his hair either down, or up in a long ponytail or loose, thick braid. In most of his iterations, he has numerous geometrical tattoos throughout his body.

As with his special interest, he is very interested in experimenting with fashion - oftentimes when he goes out, no two outfits are the same (unless it's a banger).

Additional Info & Trivia

• His favorite seasons are autumn and winter - he loves the ability to layer clothes, and enjoys celebrating the various festivities that come with the season.
• He is a decent cook, but a terrible baker - he prefers measuring by feeling and taste testing, not by actual measurements.

Meta Trivia

• I originally created Alfredo (when he was just Vadraal, alongside his sister, Hlerli) sometime in 2014. This makes Alfredo my oldest active OC.
• His original name, Vadraal Aran, was chosen while dicking off playing Morrowind and finding the Aran Ancestral Tomb. It has nothing of note, but considering that no other Arans exist in the games, it's his city now.
• Similarly, Alfredo was chosen as his name in his Destiny iteration upon pressure after having named my at-the-time Warlock Fabio (later Othello) to give him a similar fitting Italian "meme name". Alfredo was settled upon because the dish of the same name is delicious, even if the kind that's commonplace today is a bastardized American take on fettuccine al burro. I don't care.

TV Tropes

I was inspired by Whiona's TV Tropes page for her OC Zaya, and wanted to do the same with my own funny head blorbos.

General

• Big Beautiful Man: Exactly what it says on the tin - guy's fat, and a capital P Prettyboy. Despite his love for fashion and aesthetic, he's hardly the self-absorbed sort.
• The Fashionista: Exactly this in Destiny, more subtly in other iterations.
• Gentle Giant: It's literally in his bio. Guy's huge both in width and height, and can seem pretty scary looking what with the dark hair and glowing orange eyes - but he's nothing if not compassionate.
• Handicapped Badass: Alfredo is autistic across all iterations - turns out autistic swag doesn't hinder you from killing Worm Gods.
• Nature Lover: Alfredo derives much of his inspiration through the natural world, and as a Hunter in Destiny, is rather knowledgeable and quick to catch the ways of the world. Moreso In Harmony with Nature in the Elder Scrolls, what with his Skaal mother.
• Nice Guy: Played straight - he's kindhearted to an almost sickeningly sweet degree, and it's fairly difficult to get on his bad side. Sometimes delves into Stupid Good territory, much to the chagrin of his allies.
• Sibling Team: In Destiny, this is with Othello (though not by blood). In The Elder Scrolls, this is played straight with Hlerli.
• Team Chef: Alfredo has a knack for cooking, and almost always has something on-hand in the field if his group needs it. Just don't ask him to bake anything.

Destiny 2

• Action Fashionista: VanguardVogue is a fashion house dedicated to Guardian fashion - Alfredo himself is almost always dressed to the nines in and out of combat. He's notorious for pissing off his friends from always taking time to change his outfits any time he goes out - and will happily do the same for your Guardian. Obviously overlapping with Bling of War, since that's his job.
• Aerith and Bob: Applicable up until Illi Aran and discovers his identity before being risen as a Lightbearer - in-universe, he was named Alfredo (and Othello, Othello) by a woman in the settlement he and Othello protected prior to the Red War, after her deceased sons. An odd name in a world with Awoken named Uldren or Zavala.
• Battle Couple: With Phoebe, as part of Fireteam Vale. A fierce Titan and a crafty Hunter make for quite the force to be reckoned with.
• Cool Starship: Doubly so, what with his flashy ship being modified with various luxuries like heated seats and an entertainment compartment just for Camellia. Using all that Guardian glimmer for good causes.
• Child Prodigy: In his first life, as Vadraal Aran - he was immensely skilled in his mother's craft - so much so that he had forged Wish-Ender for Sjur Eido while not even reached his teenage years. Though, having a mother that just so happened to be the Awoken Queen's forgemaster to apprentice under helped accelerate things.
• Death is Cheap: A benefit of near-immortality through Ghosts. In order to gather armor from Trials for reference material, Alfredo and friends commit to the cowardly practice of "Bungie Jumping" in Trials (they kill themselves with explosives or jumping off cliffs over and over again to force a lose state).
• Family of Choice: Alfredo is this with Othello - "brothers" that are risen together, stay together.
• Until Othello's disappearance in Forsaken, that is.
• Fighter, Mage, Thief: Fireteam Vale has always had only one Guardian of each class at a time - Alfredo being the Hunter.
• Friend to All Children: He has a soft spot for kids but especially so in his Destiny iteration - helping care for the Eliksni young during Season of the Splicer while the rest of Fireteam Vale were dedicated to fighting the Vex.
• Sickeningly Sweethearts: Mutually with Phoebe, to the ire of Ley and any other Guardians in the fireteam.
• The Quiet One: Up until the events of Forsaken, Alfredo is mostly nonverbal and allows his ghost Camellia to speak in his stead. The trope no longer applies after the events of Forsaken, though he remains rather introverted.
• Retired Badass: He voluntarily retires from Vanguard service during the events of Lightfall to dedicate his time to his craft at VanguardVogue (and to his wife-to-be Phoebe, assuming she is alive).
• Space Elves: Awoken are like this already, but Alfredo - as well as Othello, Phoebe, and Ley - take it a step further having actual elf ears in their designs.
• The Undead: All Lightbearers are more or less space zombies, after all.
• Took A Level in Badass: In Destiny, Alfredo and Othello are first risen right before the Red War - when all Lightbearers lost their Light abilities - and claw their way to becoming respected Guardians.
• You Said You Couldn't Dance: All Guardians are blessed with the innate talent to bust a move, and Alfredo's no exception. He's rather embarassed by it, though, and avoids it when he can.

Elder Scrolls

• Big Little Brother: Being half Nord, he towers over his siblings.
• Brother-Sister Team: The brains to Hlerli's brawn.
• Continuity Nod: He's a descendant of the Aran family, which has an ancestral tomb in Vvardenfell.
• Family Business: Sort of - Vadraal and Hlerli support their father's pursuits with the East Empire Trade Company.
• Humble Parent, Spoiled Kids: Inverted. Vadraal and Hlerli are aware of the privileges bestowed upon them by their father's position with the East Empire Trade Company, and attempts to forgo them entirely during the events of Skyrim. Their father Indaryn, however, is less so. Overlapping with I Am Not My Father.
• The Medic: To Hlerli's Barbarian Hero. As a healer, he is dedicated to the art of Restoration, and spends much of his time making sure that Hlerli's murderhobo antics don't get her killed.
• Reluctant Warrior: Vadraal's Elder Scrolls iteration is less than interested in violence than his other iterations.
• Small Parent, Huge Child: Vadraal takes on his Skaal mother's towering height.

Elder Scrolls

He is the bastard son of Indaryn Aran, a trader of the East Empire Trade Company, and Ingmi, a Skaal Frostcaster. He and his older sister, Hlerli, are travelers that often take on courier jobs for the EETC. Vadraal took on the worship of the Divine Stendarr, and considers himself a healer.

In solitude, he worships Lady Dibella, and expresses an interest in textiles and the arts. His love of the arts falls at odds with the utilitarian teachings of Stendarr.

Events of Skyrim

Vadraal joined Hlerli in what seemed like an easy payday - a simple courier job bringing their father's merchandise from Bravil to Markarth. Taking a detour into the Jerall Mountains, they find themselves in the crossfire between a Stormcloak raiding party and an Imperial ambush - and are carted away to Helgen with the Stormcloaks for their execution. Alduin appears, Helgen's in chaos, they make it out, et cetera et cetera.

During the events of Dawnguard, he rejects Lord Harkon's gift, and a strain is brought upon his relationship with his sister as she accepts the gift wholeheartedly. He joins the Dawnguard to fight the vampire menace, who in time helps Hlerli and Serana defeat Lord Harkon.

Vadraal opted out of joining Hlerli in her adventures in Solstheim in her face-off with Miraak (with whom Serana joins her), and instead invest his time into perfecting his skills in alchemy. He would amass a small fortune from buying and selling potions and ingredients across Skyrim, and buy a plot of land in Falkreath to build his home. He occassionally goes on adventures with travelers, reliving his days with his sister.

Dragonborn AU

In the alternate universe where Vadraal is the Last Dragonborn, rather than Hlerli, Vadraal takes the title with hesitation.

Screenshots

None

Destiny 2

Alfredo is an Awoken Hunter-Warlock and creative director of VanguardVogue, a prominent fashion house in The Last City dedicated to Guardian fashions. As a Guardian, he partakes as a sherpa in raids, and teaching newly risen Hunters the ropes in the Cosmodrome.

As of the Vanguard’s presence on Neomuna, Alfredo is no longer an active duty Guardian. He spends his days working on the next breakthrough in Guardian fashions, supporting Vogue-1’s goal of VanguardVogue usurping Eververse’s throne in the market of Guardian aesthetics. He lives with his fiance, Phoebe, in a little apartment in the Peregrine District.

Build

He is predominantly a Nightstalker, and tends to play a support role - disappearing into the shadows to revive his fireteam during tight situations. He is also often delegated to Gunslinger for DPS purposes during raids. He dual classes as a Warlock Dawnblade.

His weapon of choice is the sniper rifle Succession, a hard-hitting, auto-reloading sniper rifle suited to his height and preference for Kinetic weapons. Alfredo has no preference for Exotics, and often switches between them depending on fireteam needs and aesthetic desires. His insistence on maintaining aesthetic integrity is a frequent point of contention with many who join him in a fireteam, however - because you can't fight space aliens if you ain't cute.

History

Alfredo was first risen on Earth roughly two years before The Red War, deep within an Eliksni stronghold next to his "brother", Othello. During their adventure to the Last City, they found a remote village and planned to briefly aid them before returning to their journey. It is from this village they meet Thadya, a Titan from the days of the Iron Lords and a fearsome Sunbreaker of the Praxic Order, and Fireteam Vale was formed. However, their rest upon arriving in the Last City would be cut short as Dominus Ghaul led an assault upon the city and capturing the Traveler, ushering the events of the Red War.

After the events of the Red War, Othello and Alfredo established VanguardVogue alongside Vogue-1, a mysterious Exo woman that took great interest in the two. Vogue-1 handled the business side, while the "brothers" would serve as the creative minds - designing fashions and doing their part in protecting Humanity. Upon the arrival of the Leviathan and their clan's subsequent raid, Othello took significant interest in Emperor Calus's beliefs, something that would bring cause for division between the two.

After the murder of Cayde-6, the death of Uldren Sov, and the curse on the Dreaming City, Othello disappeared without a trace. From thereon out, he sought to do anything in his power to reunite with Othello. At the same time, he grew invested in the home of his people, the Reef, and sought to aid in the end the Taken Curse. It is in these efforts that he, alongside his clan, aided in the hunt for the Last Ahamkara - Riven of a Thousand Voices. It is through his raid team's dedication - and killing Riven ad infinitum - that they are knighted Rivensbanes.

On being titled Rivensbane, Alfredo learned of his origins before his resurrection as a Guardian - as Vadraal, son and prodigy of the forgemaster of the Queensguard, Nilen Aran. Though Nilen did not take kindly to finding that a Guardian wears her son's likeness, they shared a bond for their interests in the well being of their people (and, of course, the minutae of weapons and armor). Alfredo chose to don Vadraal as his name - though he continued to refer to himself as Alfredo to other Guardians. Nilen then offered Alfredo the option of "returning to his studies", and to succeed as her successor. He declined this offer, as though he is committed to returning the Dreaming City into the home it once was for the Awoken and to protecting Humanity from whatever dangers they face.

Fireteam Vale would then take on the Exo Warlock, Peach-6, as Othello's replacement. She would remain in their company until the events of Shadowkeep, where during an expidition in the Scarlet Keep her Light would be snuffed out. Alfredo would choose to dual class as a Hunter-Warlock until after the events of Zero Hour, where a novice of the Cryptarch, Leyendecker, is resurrected as a Lightbearer and becomes a Warlock. He chose to join Fireteam Vale, so long as they aided the Cryptarchy in acquisition missions to discover artifacts. They would perform expiditions across the system, helping uncover critical artifacts to further the Earth Cryptarchy's understanding of Humanity's history.

During the events of Beyond Light, Alfredo and Ley would gain access to the powers of the Dark - Stasis - in betrayal of Thadya. They fought, and ultimately, Thadya exited from Fireteam Vale permanently, and swore they would repent for their transgressions. Once again minus a fireteam member, Alfredo and Ley would take on various New Lights as their third, aiding them in learning the ways of becoming a Guardian. They would soon discover their new Titan deep in the halls of a Hive nest in the Tangled Shore - Phoebe, a rogue Lightbearer that sought to sell his Ghost to the Spider when her assault turned sour and they were trapped, her own Ghost stolen by the Hive Matron his fireteam was set to kill. With their powers combined, they would take down the Hive Matron and free her Ghost. They would soon cross paths again, and Phoebe would join Fireteam Vale.

During the events of Lightfall, Alfredo discovered that Othello had become Calus's Shadow of Earth, and sacrificed himself and his Ghost to serve the Cabal Emperor - and further, to serve the Witness. He then personally takes it upon himself to take Calus down.

The Astral Ultamatum

The Astral Ultamatum is a pivotal event for both Phoebe and Alfredo. During the events of Lightfall, Phoebe is offered an opportunity by a group of prestigious clans to join them in taking the fight to the Witness directly. On discussing the opportunity, Alfredo fervently refused - the Witness was too big of an unknown to take on, even by a group of highly skilled Guardians. As fireteam leader, she overruled his decision and proceeded with joining the clan in the raid. Alfredo, unwilling to allow her to take on such a suicide mission alone, joined her, all while Ley refrained due to committments with the Cryptarchy.

In the assault on the Witness, Phoebe throws a Solar Hammer in an attempt to distract it. This, however, ruins the assault, and the Witness takes advantage to "remove them".

Depending on the outcome of the Astral Ultamatum, any number of timelines occur: where Phoebe dies and Alfredo does not; where Alfredo dies and Phoebe does not; where they both perish; and where they both escape alive. Regardless of the outcome, many from the clans perish during the event.

Should they both live, Alfredo refuses to continue serving as a Guardian and lambasts Phoebe for her reckless choice in joining the suicide mission. Though they remain together, it is through the Astral Ultamatum that their relationship becomes strained. He continues his work with VanguardVogue, and invests himself into his own fashion line, Aran Atelier.

Should Phoebe perish, Alfredo is stricken with grief - he believes her death was his responsibility, that he did not commit to his duty as a Guardian as he should have, and allowed his best friend and partner to die. He becomes withdrawn from his fellow Guardians, drowning himself in his own work before abandoning the Last City - and Humanity entirely - to return to the Dreaming City and recommit to the apprenticeship he had in his previous life under Nilen Aran. He eventually succeeds Nilen as Queensguard Forgemaster, aiding the Awoken Queen in their peoples' pursuits.

Relationships

He is a member of Fireteam Vale - originally consisting of him, his brother Othello, and the fireteam leader, Thadya. When Thayda left the fireteam due to her allegiance to the Praxic Order in the events of Beyond Light, Alfredo became the acting fireteam leader of Fireteam Vale until Phoebe became a fully-fledged Guardian, who then took the mantle from him.

Fireteam Members

• Othello: Awoken Warlock Dawnblade. His "brother", whom he loves and misses dearly. He, with Alfredo, were the artistic minds behind VanguardVogue.
• Thadya: Human Titan Sunbreaker. An ancient Titan whom has garnered a lot of respect for being a skilled Crucible sweat. He respected Thadya for her prowess in battle and her skills as a tactician. Their friendship was severed with the adoption of Stasis powers - Thadya believes Alfredo and the rest of the fireteam were "corrupted" by the Darkness and must be cleansed by her hand alone. Alfredo thinks she's a little too enthusiastic to her allegiance to the Praxics.
• Leyendecker: Awoken Warlock Voidwalker. A no-nonsense apprentice Cryptographer and bookworm. The two bond over a love in Golden Age history, even if Alfredo's interest is generally limited to their aesthetic ventures.
• Phoebe: Awoken Titan Sentinel. A pirate Lightbearer with a penchant for violence turned Guardian. They grew an attachment to one another from their experiences working together, and are now inseparable partners.

Other Characters

Canon

• Commander Zavala: Awoken Titan, Titan Vanguard, and Leader of the Vanguard. Alfredo holds significant respect for the Titan Vanguard. He is also part of his weekend knitting club.
• Ikora Rey: Human Warlock, and Warlock Vanguard. Though as a New Light he held distrust for Ikora, he grew to respect and admire her.
• Cayde-6: Exo Hunter, and the last Hunter Vanguard. Despite being the Vanguard of his class, Alfredo held a low opinion of Cayde, deeming him "too uncommitted" for the title. In time, he grew to understand why he was how he was.
• Mara Sov: The Awoken Queen. Though he understands that his Queen has a more esoteric role in the paracausal chess at play, he is embittered by his Queen's apparent abandonment of their people and their home.
• Eva Levante: Fashion extraordinaire of the Last City, and coordinator of events. He holds a deep level of admiration for Eva and the role she plays to the Last City and Humanity at large.

Fanmade

• Vogue-1: Exo Titan. A mysterious figure with an obsession for wealth and fame, and the operations director of VanguardVogue. The two maintain camraderie, though her and Alfredo often don't see eye to eye.

Screenshots

Art

Here is an archive of all my art of Alfredo :) Art not made by me will have credits underneath as well as in the caption in Lightbox.

General

Destiny 2

Elder Scrolls

None :(

Fashion Dreamer is pretty devoid of lore, so here is just a gallery of various outfits I've made/received for Alfredo.

Screenshots with Art

Just Screenshots