Character Name: Mathilde
Sex: Female
Age: 18
Height: 4'7" (140cm)
Home Garden: Galbadia Garden

Appearance: Short, petite, and childlike in appearance, Mathilde has incredibly long red hair (usually worn in a pair of braids) and striking blue eyes, preferring to dress in brilliant reds and blacks.  Even in uniform, she has a pair of heavy leather 'ribbons' attached to the small of her back, which she uses as counterweights when swinging her weapon.  When not in uniform, she tends to wear clothing with frills, taking a bit of inspiration from gothic lolita fashion (but not quite going all-in, since she also likes comfort and mobility).  She wears a red choker with a golden cross on the front, and her preferred footwear is a pair of heavy, armored red boots - excellent for kicking and hiking.

Personality: Mathilde is a quiet, introverted young woman who prefers to reflect on her thoughts before speaking or acting.  She is often found reading a book or some other document instead of socializing, but it is more due to preference than any antisocial tendencies.  While curt, she can be quite friendly to those she likes, and has a reputation (well-earned) for going above and beyond for people of which she is particularly fond.  To those she calls friend, she prefers to be called "Mathi" (Mat-hi).

However, in battle, she is almost like an entirely different person.  Relentless, stubborn, and impulsive, Mathilde will sooner charge a stronger opponent than strategize.  Thankfully, she will listen to cooler heads and follow orders, and she is quite aware of her tendencies in battle, so she is, at least, improving in that aspect.  This will not stop her from walloping a dinosaur upside the head instead of retreating to get reinforcements, sadly.

She is also sensitive about her height and figure, wishing she looked more grown up instead of like a child.

Backstory/Personal History: The youngest daughter of an innkeeper couple, Mathilde grew up in the aftermath of the Ultimecia incident.  Her earliest memories were of a world that held a grudge against her and her countrymen, despite having done nothing to wrong them.  While most people would be bitter, Mathilde instead wanted to learn why.  She read every single book, every report, every news article about what happened that she could find, regardless of the source.  This is how she learned about Garden and SeeD, and how it was a group of SeeDs that ultimately ended the war and prevented a disaster of global proportions.

She learned much more than most, piecing together the information withheld from the public from the clues and evidence combined with the information available to the public.  This information is what made her wish to prove that Galbadia, too, could produce such potential heroes, and so she begged her parents to allow her to study at the reopened Galbadia Garden.  Six years of training and study passed as she refrained from taking the exam twice, wanting to be absolutely sure she was ready.

Having qualified for the exam for the third time, Mathilde felt ready to prove her worth.

Miscellaneous: Her preferred weapon is an enormous hammer.  Not just a big, hammer, oh no.  This hammer can compact itself into a staff for ease of transport, expand to have the head of the hammer twice the size of her own head, or sprout a spike on one end and a rocket on the other.  It functions through a combination of technological wizardry and actual wizardry.  She calls it Graf Eisen (Iron Count) and will hit you with it very, very hard.

She can also use it to fly briefly (rather chaotically, but she somehow manages to end up where she wants despite the path being anything but a straight line).

Your Guardian Force

Name: Alraune
Element: Earth/Poison/Charm

Appearance: The first thing anyone sees when they behold Alraune is a gigantic, pale red flower surrounded by thorny vines.  A second look, should the flower open itself, reveals a beautiful green woman with long leafy hair and eyes with irises that match the flower's petals.  Her ears are pointed, and a smaller flower blooms in her hair on the top of her head, as well as on her right wrist.  Vines delicately trace along her body, rooting her to the flower she resides within.  Besides her core body, within the flower also resides a sickly sweet nectar that has a very enticing scent.