"You're hiding" Mark Lynch tells Owen in the midst of discovery; that he is inside of an underground Weevil fight club. The atmosphere is oppressive, only lost hope and despair can be found here. And yet he does not react. He does not utter another word. The feeling of despair resonates deep down in that hunk of grey matter of his. All of those emotions pent up inside his eyes. He knows. Not a word is uttered afterwords. This is [Doctor] Owen Harper in a nutshell: A person who is constantly in hiding. Emotions constantly on the run from everyone else. No one should know and why should they?
Right of the bat we are introduced to Owen as the cheeky one of the Torchwood III bunch. The medical officer who dons a number of funky buttons on his lab coat and has absolutely no control over his tongue. Being with Torchwood, an organization whose identity i is left in the dark from the rest of the public, Owen has learned to accept that his job is his life. Once you're in, you're in. No turning back. Any ties you have with the outside world will become severed. Fortunately (and unfortunately), that severance with the world is the reason Owen took the position in the first place. In this case, it is the loss of the one person who he truly loved.
He is your textbook case of a womanizer. While it does not encompass who Owen is entirely, love and his relationship with love covers a majority of his character narrative. Owen keeps it real; he loves sex. If he had to make a top 5 list of favorite things he enjoys most in life it would be 5.) Farting (still in contest with burping) 4.) Drinking 3.) Eating 2.) Sleeping 1.) Shagging. There is nothing better than having a go on an indiscriminate night. The feeling is indescribable unlike any other. But at some point, the whole shtick becomes more of an escapist act. A means to get away from the harsh truths of his reality. Before he even engages in an affair with Gwen Cooper, most of the women who he has slept with were merely a one-night fling. Nothing too intimate.
Love is such a precarious concept. His flirtatious nature, as mentioned before, is not for the sake of finding love more so than to feel it for the moment. For this you would have to trace it back to his childhood. First, his father was practically out of the picture. Secondly his mother has openly admitted that while she can love him it does not mean that she is obligated to like him. Already we can see this to be a precursor of things to come in Owen's adulthood. To love someone without having to like them could arguably be made parallel towards the different affairs Owen puts himself in a nearly night-to-night basis. While he can flirt all he wants he knows at the end of day it will never last.
But he is very capable of loving someone. Owen is your typical romantic; capable of wooing someone with the right choice of words and/or actions. The problem-- his fear rather has to do with idea of losing them. He has already lost his fiance. The one person who he shared very intimate feelings for. The one who he thought he was going to spend the rest of his life with.
But she left him.
In the case with Diane Holmes: Throughout the span of one week, Owen had fallen completely head over heels over her. He had never taken any one else out on extravagant dates like a five-star dinner and dancing under the moonlight. Somewhere deep down lied the same affection Owen once shared once upon a time. Like-- This is it! This is the one he could imagine being with for a long while.
And yet she left him.
It could be implied as a result of his childhood that there was no point for Owen to learn how to handle his emotions. He doesn't reach out for help. He hides-- puts up a front. Those emotions however do have an affect on him. Ask him if he is fine and will more than likely have the words "I'm fine" seethe through his teeth as he walks away. Such a cavalier exterior is enough to push any person away. There is much more emotional torment happening within though. So much so that it has a tendency to unleash itself when Owen reaches a certain threshold. Like that time when he had the golden opportunity to open the Rift to not only bring Toshiko and Jack back from 1941 but to bring Diane Holmes, the woman he fell in love in less than a week, back to him. Of course it's a selfish move but hey-- everyone wins, yeah? What's a little crack in the time-space continuum go to do with anything? Obviously this is not the right move to make but Owen is stuck. Torn between doing nothing or worsening the status quo. Do whatever it takes to bring his team but most importantly bring her back.
There is a deep loyalty embedded in that forthright, cynical and sarcastic attitude of his. At times he is stand-offish but there is much more at play here. He knows what it feels like to be unheard. To be isolated from the rest of the public sphere. He may not know every single Torchwood member's life in great detail however he understands what is at stake for all of them. This is not like any other job you can just pick up with ease. They see things that are incomprehensible; both beautiful and downright vile. Torchwood is the first line of defense when dealing with unknown phenomena and yet Owen cannot tell a single soul about it. Billions of people living on this rock and there is not a soul who he can share the emotional baggage with. So it becomes only natural to grow a deep attachment with his teammates despite not expressing such sentiment. More often than not he lets his actions speak for themselves (even though he is a real priiiiick).
Between having to chase around aliens, opening up the dead and writing a buttload of medical reports, at his very core, Owen is a doctor. The only difference is that he does not deal with patients anymore. After all that's been said about Owen's cynical nature there is an affection for human life which pulls him around by the heartstrings. When introducing Gwen to the rest of the, he addresses Owen by only his first and last name. To which Owen retorts "That's Doctor Owen Harper." A reminder to his boss and whoeverthehell the new girl is that he spent years at university to practice medicine; not to be locked up in some space-age hub doing alien autopsies for the rest of his living days. He takes his role as a medic very seriously. Even during in the heat of combat if one of his teammates gets injured, the next instinctive move is to clear the room from any danger and address the injury. Human life outweighs human curiosity.
Cynicism doesn't get in the way of his bedside manner. That cheekiness of his doesn't stray too far though, using that award-winning sarcasm of his to crack a smile out of someone. Not to be a prick (for the most part) but to show them that everything is going to be okay. So don't worry; call him an asshole all you want as long as you are alive. That is all that matters. If there is even a 0.1% chance of the person surviving then he is willing to play with those odds.
Such perseverance is one of his shining strengths but it also has its drawbacks which end up hurting Owen. Death and suffering are ideas he does not like to see inflicted on others. There are instances that yes-- you have to pull the trigger but those are under very extreme circumstances. Not unless his team or any other helpless person is in danger. It affects him whenever he sees someone die. He can hide his emotions very well but those pangs of guilt will not leave him.
This is partially tangential however one thing to note about Owen is his appearance. The team in general keeps a clean and modern appearance for a job that requires you to live and breathe Rift Activity on a 24/7 basis. Owen likes to consider himself very well-groomed; face moisturizers, pomade, nice smelling cologne, fashionable clothes that fit his body type-- whatever help his outer appearance to be aesthetically pleasant. Even when he is working down in his lab area, the lab-coat he wears has fun little pins on the lapel. Owen embraces his youth and lets that reflect with what he wears on a daily basis.
He prides himself in being high-maintenance. From the car he drives to how every inch of fabric in his wardrobe perfectly fits his wiry figure. Food? Loves it. While he does enjoy your occasional comfort foods there is also a taste for meals that are more rich and decadent. Unless, of course, when work gets in the way. It doesn't mean he is unwilling to get down and dirty when the moment calls for. Just don't expect him to be a happy camper when ordered to spend the night in the woods.
Abilities/Powers: No powers or abilities. Maybe being a real brilliant medical doctor having to study alien life and whatnot but nah-- he's prrretty human.
Items/Weapons: the clothes on his back as well as... [1] pistol [1] medipack
Owen Harper | Torchwood | (reserved expired) {1/2}
Contact Info:
e-mail; deka[dot]gadget[at]gmail[dot]com
plurk; nerdorific
aim; positronicswitch
Other Characters Played: N/A.
Requested Apartment: N/A.
Character Name: Owen Harper
Canon: Torchwood
Canon Point: Post-Reset
Background/History:
→ Canon Background
→ Character Background
Personality:
"You're hiding" Mark Lynch tells Owen in the midst of discovery; that he is inside of an underground Weevil fight club. The atmosphere is oppressive, only lost hope and despair can be found here. And yet he does not react. He does not utter another word. The feeling of despair resonates deep down in that hunk of grey matter of his. All of those emotions pent up inside his eyes. He knows. Not a word is uttered afterwords. This is [Doctor] Owen Harper in a nutshell: A person who is constantly in hiding. Emotions constantly on the run from everyone else. No one should know and why should they?
Right of the bat we are introduced to Owen as the cheeky one of the Torchwood III bunch. The medical officer who dons a number of funky buttons on his lab coat and has absolutely no control over his tongue. Being with Torchwood, an organization whose identity i is left in the dark from the rest of the public, Owen has learned to accept that his job is his life. Once you're in, you're in. No turning back. Any ties you have with the outside world will become severed. Fortunately (and unfortunately), that severance with the world is the reason Owen took the position in the first place. In this case, it is the loss of the one person who he truly loved.
He is your textbook case of a womanizer. While it does not encompass who Owen is entirely, love and his relationship with love covers a majority of his character narrative. Owen keeps it real; he loves sex. If he had to make a top 5 list of favorite things he enjoys most in life it would be 5.) Farting (still in contest with burping) 4.) Drinking 3.) Eating 2.) Sleeping 1.) Shagging. There is nothing better than having a go on an indiscriminate night. The feeling is indescribable unlike any other. But at some point, the whole shtick becomes more of an escapist act. A means to get away from the harsh truths of his reality. Before he even engages in an affair with Gwen Cooper, most of the women who he has slept with were merely a one-night fling. Nothing too intimate.
Love is such a precarious concept. His flirtatious nature, as mentioned before, is not for the sake of finding love more so than to feel it for the moment. For this you would have to trace it back to his childhood. First, his father was practically out of the picture. Secondly his mother has openly admitted that while she can love him it does not mean that she is obligated to like him. Already we can see this to be a precursor of things to come in Owen's adulthood. To love someone without having to like them could arguably be made parallel towards the different affairs Owen puts himself in a nearly night-to-night basis. While he can flirt all he wants he knows at the end of day it will never last.
But he is very capable of loving someone. Owen is your typical romantic; capable of wooing someone with the right choice of words and/or actions. The problem-- his fear rather has to do with idea of losing them. He has already lost his fiance. The one person who he shared very intimate feelings for. The one who he thought he was going to spend the rest of his life with.
But she left him.
In the case with Diane Holmes: Throughout the span of one week, Owen had fallen completely head over heels over her. He had never taken any one else out on extravagant dates like a five-star dinner and dancing under the moonlight. Somewhere deep down lied the same affection Owen once shared once upon a time. Like-- This is it! This is the one he could imagine being with for a long while.
And yet she left him.
It could be implied as a result of his childhood that there was no point for Owen to learn how to handle his emotions. He doesn't reach out for help. He hides-- puts up a front. Those emotions however do have an affect on him. Ask him if he is fine and will more than likely have the words "I'm fine" seethe through his teeth as he walks away. Such a cavalier exterior is enough to push any person away. There is much more emotional torment happening within though. So much so that it has a tendency to unleash itself when Owen reaches a certain threshold. Like that time when he had the golden opportunity to open the Rift to not only bring Toshiko and Jack back from 1941 but to bring Diane Holmes, the woman he fell in love in less than a week, back to him. Of course it's a selfish move but hey-- everyone wins, yeah? What's a little crack in the time-space continuum go to do with anything? Obviously this is not the right move to make but Owen is stuck. Torn between doing nothing or worsening the status quo. Do whatever it takes to bring his team but most importantly bring her back.
There is a deep loyalty embedded in that forthright, cynical and sarcastic attitude of his. At times he is stand-offish but there is much more at play here. He knows what it feels like to be unheard. To be isolated from the rest of the public sphere. He may not know every single Torchwood member's life in great detail however he understands what is at stake for all of them. This is not like any other job you can just pick up with ease. They see things that are incomprehensible; both beautiful and downright vile. Torchwood is the first line of defense when dealing with unknown phenomena and yet Owen cannot tell a single soul about it. Billions of people living on this rock and there is not a soul who he can share the emotional baggage with. So it becomes only natural to grow a deep attachment with his teammates despite not expressing such sentiment. More often than not he lets his actions speak for themselves (even though he is a real priiiiick).
Between having to chase around aliens, opening up the dead and writing a buttload of medical reports, at his very core, Owen is a doctor. The only difference is that he does not deal with patients anymore. After all that's been said about Owen's cynical nature there is an affection for human life which pulls him around by the heartstrings. When introducing Gwen to the rest of the, he addresses Owen by only his first and last name. To which Owen retorts "That's Doctor Owen Harper." A reminder to his boss and whoeverthehell the new girl is that he spent years at university to practice medicine; not to be locked up in some space-age hub doing alien autopsies for the rest of his living days. He takes his role as a medic very seriously. Even during in the heat of combat if one of his teammates gets injured, the next instinctive move is to clear the room from any danger and address the injury. Human life outweighs human curiosity.
Cynicism doesn't get in the way of his bedside manner. That cheekiness of his doesn't stray too far though, using that award-winning sarcasm of his to crack a smile out of someone. Not to be a prick (for the most part) but to show them that everything is going to be okay. So don't worry; call him an asshole all you want as long as you are alive. That is all that matters. If there is even a 0.1% chance of the person surviving then he is willing to play with those odds.
Such perseverance is one of his shining strengths but it also has its drawbacks which end up hurting Owen. Death and suffering are ideas he does not like to see inflicted on others. There are instances that yes-- you have to pull the trigger but those are under very extreme circumstances. Not unless his team or any other helpless person is in danger. It affects him whenever he sees someone die. He can hide his emotions very well but those pangs of guilt will not leave him.
This is partially tangential however one thing to note about Owen is his appearance. The team in general keeps a clean and modern appearance for a job that requires you to live and breathe Rift Activity on a 24/7 basis. Owen likes to consider himself very well-groomed; face moisturizers, pomade, nice smelling cologne, fashionable clothes that fit his body type-- whatever help his outer appearance to be aesthetically pleasant. Even when he is working down in his lab area, the lab-coat he wears has fun little pins on the lapel. Owen embraces his youth and lets that reflect with what he wears on a daily basis.
He prides himself in being high-maintenance. From the car he drives to how every inch of fabric in his wardrobe perfectly fits his wiry figure. Food? Loves it. While he does enjoy your occasional comfort foods there is also a taste for meals that are more rich and decadent. Unless, of course, when work gets in the way. It doesn't mean he is unwilling to get down and dirty when the moment calls for. Just don't expect him to be a happy camper when ordered to spend the night in the woods.
Abilities/Powers: No powers or abilities. Maybe being a real brilliant medical doctor having to study alien life and whatnot but nah-- he's prrretty human.
Items/Weapons:
the clothes on his back as well as...
[1] pistol
[1] medipack