Vikare Ratite

Vikare Ratite
“~Time for a good old nosh! A yum-a-roonie! What ho!~”
Troll Call Card
Typing style	Starts and ends his sentences with a tilde, has a strange style of speaking.
Relations	Canary - Lusus
Live(s) in	Outglut, a subgrub of Thrashthrust on Alternia
Music	Thip of the Tongue ♫

Vikare Ratite is a young Alternian troll living in Outglut during the time period of Hiveswap and Hiveswap Friendsim. Vikare was first revealed during the Hiveswap Troll Call event alongside Boldir Lamati on January 17th, 2018. His bullet points were "absurd dreams of non-interstellar flight", "feet on the ground, head in the sky", and "huge Hatched 2 Dance stan". He was featured alongside Tagora Gorjek in Hiveswap Friendship Simulator: Volume Four. He was designed by Poinko.

Etymology

His first name could be a trollification of Vikar, a Norwegian king who was sacrificed to get the winds to fill the sails of his ships. It could also be trollification of "Icarus" (Etruscan: Vikare) character from Greek mythology who was the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, the creator of the Labyrinth. Often depicted in art, Icarus and his father attempt to escape from Crete by means of wings that his father constructed from feathers and wax. Icarus ignored his father's instructions not to fly too close to the sun; when the wax in his wings melted he tumbled out of the sky and fell into the sea, where he drowned. Ratite is the name given to classify large flightless birds, which his lusus was noted to resemble.

Biography

Vikare is a young troll with dreams on non-interstellar flight, but he keeps these dreams a secret and talks about his "dreams" of spaceflight that he is legally obligated to fulfill. He comes across the MSPA Reader's broken down spaceship and is seen salvaging some parts. He is interested in them, having never seen an alien before. When the player tells him about their plights to try and make a new friend, he becomes delighted and asks them about spaceflight.

Bad Endings

Vikare's first bad ending.

If the player tells him that they love spaceflight, he will be glad for their likeness in spaceflight. But he declares that there is nothing more to discuss, so he walks away with a “~Toodle-oo!~”

Vikare's second bad ending.

If the player tell him that airplanes exist, he will think that they are mocking him and ask them to leave.

If the player chooses to stay in his hive, Vikare will assume that the food they are really after is "food for the soul" and decide that he must show them his flying machine designs. But he thinks he needs to trust them more before showing them his sketches right away. He sets up a trust trial, blindfolding them and giving them directions to navigate his hive. After a while of following his instructions, the player accidentally crashes into something and falls back, almost unable to breathe. When Vikare comes to help them, they find that their nose is bleeding. He is astounded that they let him see their mutant blood, proclaiming it as the greatest trust of all. He gets out his drawings and watches as the MSPA Reader goes through them. They question why he uses bones, and he explains he has to make use of what's available to him, then states that he only uses the bones of culled grubs and lowbloods to make sure the player doesn't worry.

Vikare's third bad ending.

Vikare goes on about how at first he felt hesitant about telling them about his dreams of non-interstellar spaceflight, but feels good about it now that the player is looking at his sketches, thinking it was destiny for them to meet. The MSPA Reader feels good about this and feels confident that they are friends now, but then they go back and look at his sketches and reanalyze them. They start to panic and think that because of the similarities between troll bones and human bones, that Vikare could possibly use their bones for his planes. They ask if he's in the market for materials for his flying machine right now, but he doesn't understand their question. He thinks that they were looking for someone who fits the macho, bloodthirsty romantic hero type. He says that he thinks it's best if the player leaves since he sees that they can't be friends since he doesn't fit the type of trolls the they are looking for, causing the bad ending.

Good Ending

If the player chooses to go out to look for food, Vikare will inform them that they will need to get food for his lusus, the Canary (who is not a canary at all). Then they head out, and Vikare informs them about the specific type of food they will be getting for his lusus. The player decides to start up some conversations to try and lighten the mood and distract themselves from their injuries. They ask him why he's so interested in flying, and he responds by saying that nothing could be better than aviation. When the player asks about the similarities between that and spaceflight, he reacts with shock, saying that the two are completely different. He thinks that spaceflight is still fine (because it's the only way to satisfy the empire and the only way he'll be of use), but that it doesn't have the same spirit in it as non-interstellar flight. The player tries to find a way out, and notices a cluster of white flowers and points them out to Vikare. However, they notice that the leaves of the flowers aren't red and sulk, but Vikare cheers them up by saying that while it's not food for lusii, it's safe for them to consume. He feeds a leaf to the player, and they feel grateful for him since he actual found food for them to eat.

Vikare's good ending.

The player tries to connect with him, and realizes that the way he talks about space travel makes it seem more like an obligation than something he genuinely enjoys. They think of his dreams of flight is a compromise of what he has to do and what he wants to do, and ask him if he would rather not participate in space travel. Vikare reacts with shock, but before he can finish his thoughts the player hurriedly points to a random location where they "notice" a field of white flowers. He rushes to where they're pointing, and ends up falling off a cliff because they didn't look where they were pointing. They rush to where he fell off, and notice his broken leg. When they call for him, he speaks in an overjoyed way, exclaiming that he flew and asking the player how they knew that would happen. He is so overjoyed by his sudden and temporary flight that he calls the player his friend, leading to his good ending.

Personality and Traits

Vikare is very enthusiastic about his dreams of non-interstellar flight, but he hides it by being falsely excited about spaceflight due to it being a necessary obligation to be filled by bronzebloods. His hive is decorated with lots of posters emphasizing the excitement and adventure associated with space travel, and dozens of spacecraft models are strung from the ceiling. Despite all this, Vikare keeps posters of aviation hidden behind the former. 

He seems hesitant to share his true feelings about flying with others as mentioned in one of his bad endings and needs a great deal of trust before he can bestow his ideas for flying machines with others. He describes his sketches as being very close to his heart, which is why he's so hesitant on sharing them. He is also shown to be very emotional at times, best illustrated when he weeps after misunderstanding the player's implied question or when the player accidentally mocks his ideas of aviation.

Vikare has a strange way of speaking and makes lots of different facial expressions when conversing with the player. He uses lots of fancy and unfamiliar idioms and metaphors, to the point where not even the player understands a word he's saying. The player still finds his ecstatic nature charming, though, and tries to understand him the best they can.

Vikare has a lot in common with Jake English, most notably their love for adventure and travel, as well as the antiquated manner of speech. It should be noted that Vikare's voice has been described as the sort one would hear narrating a newsreel about World War II. 

Relationships

Vikare seems to be very close with his lusus, the Canary, and often goes out to forage food for him. The Canary seems to be very affectionate and close with Vikare as shown in a childhood photo of both of them.

Gallery

Vikare's character sprites from Hiveswap Friendsim

Vikare in the Friendsim Volume Four character select screen (right)

Vikare's initial design.

Another initial design.

Trivia

• According to the Extended Zodiac, his sign is Taurza, sign of the Revealer, making him a potential Derse Dreamer and Hero of Mind.
  • In his prototype designs, Vikare was shown with the signs Taurrius, sign of the Unmapped and True Taurus, sign of the Unfledged. These were prototype signs until his design was finalized.
• Vikare's lusus being an emu is a reference to his last name being Ratite, which is used to classify flightless birds.
• Sending Vikare off a cliff seems to be a reference to Tavros' FLARPing accident, though Vikare doesn't mind his injuries in the slightest.
• Vikare shares a lot in common with Jake English, including his love for travel and adventure, and his ornate manner of speaking. 
• Vikare is the first troll to have more than three endings in his route, the others being Chixie Roixmr, Tirona Kasund, and Stelsa Sezyat.