| Sebastian | |
| The Emmys | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Gender | Male |
| Hair | Dark brown |
| Eyes | Gray |
| Episode Eliminated | "TBA" |
| Place | TBA |
| Relationship | Elena (one-sided on her side) |
| Family | Mother, stepfather, stepsister Josie |
| Friends | Risty, Victor |
| Enemies | Donna, Wes, Minerva, Monique |
Sebastian Luse will do anything to win and thinks one step ahead of his competition. The Gambler always has a trick up his sleeve and will do whatever is necessary in order to come out on top.
Biography[]
Living just outside of Las Vegas, Sebastian’s life has always depended a little bit on chance. His mother works in a casino and had been so much of a gambler that she had originally courted Sebastian’s father because of a bet, unaware that he was actually a smooth conman who left town immediately after seducing his way into her heart and her pockets. Sebastian was raised by his mother, though he has inherited traits from both of his parents: he is always up for a game and is naturally lucky, but, if all else fails, he is a master at manipulating the situation to go his way. Though isn't as much of a cruel hustler as his father, he sees everything as a game that he has to win, whether it is through meticulous strategy or a bold risk. Highly intelligent and observant, Sebastian can easily figure out exactly which strings to pull to make everything happen according to his plans. Even if it seems as though he is taking a chance, he usually is prepared for any outcome and has thinks quickly enough to smooth talk his way out of any sticky situation. Sebastian claims he never cheats and always keeps his clever planning to himself, though he knows that he will always be more of a puppet master than a pawn.
Sebastian sees Total Drama Island: For Your Entertainment as another game that he will win. It’s an elimination game, after all, so his ability to manipulate others is practically a golden ticket to the finale.
During For Your Entertainment...[]
...
Audition Tape[]
The video began by showing a crowd of teenagers sitting around a table in what looked like somebody’s basement, a bunch of lava lamps and tacky lights dimly illuminating the room. The young man sitting at the head of the table gave the camera a smirk.
“I’m Sebastian Luse, and welcome to our under 21 underground casino, currently located in Billy Masterson’s basement.”
A freckled boy to Sebastian’s left gave the camera a wave. “That’s me!”
“Nobody cares.” When Billy opened his mouth to protest, the other teens interrupted him in support of Sebastian’s statement. Billy pouted, and Sebastian began to shuffle the deck of cards in front of him, keeping a calm face while he showed off his tricks. “It’s only fitting that my audition tape is shot here, as I tend to see the world as a game. And I never lose. Just ask anybody.”
The camera turned back to Billy Masterson, who nodded rapidly. “He must have some lucky charms hidden on him or something, because I don’t think I’ve ever seen Sebastian fail at something.”
A few of the other teens murmured in agreement as they pulled MP3 players, video games, money, and gift cards out of their pockets and tossed them to the center of the table to serve as their wagers in the pot.
“See, I’d consider myself to be a bit of a strategist.” Sebastian said as the other players started the game, hands and cards moving around on the table. “But don’t assume that I’m just another Heather. She used dirty tricks, while I prefer to use subtlety to make things go my way. Heather treated the competition as a war, but I like to see it as more of a game of chance …”
One of the players called for everybody to reveal their hands. Despite the fact that it didn’t seem like he was paying attention, Sebastian lowered his cards to reveal that he had won the game. He gave the camera a smirk as the teenagers around him groaned in defeat.
“It just happens that the odds are always in my favor.” Sebastian raised an eyebrow and then leaned in to collect his winnings.
Trivia[]
- Despite the fact that the story has several antagonistic characters, I consider Sebastian to be the main antagonist.
- I had always considered Sebastian to be the unofficial leader of The Emmys. Even after the merge, most of the contestants assume that he always knows what he is doing despite how ridiculous the situation. This is why I found it ironic that nobody listened to him when he tried to take a military approach in Fire Insults at Will.
- Sebastian's character was always intended to be biracial, but in his original design his skin wasn't dark enough to make it obvious. When it came to the final redesign, I ended up scrapping his light-colored hair in favor of something more natural, though he kept his light eyes.
- I was never fond of strategist characters, so when I started coming up with ideas for Sebastian's character as a strategy-based antagonist I knew I had to made him unique enough to be interesting. He became a smooth-talking character to separate him from the colder strategists. The gambling and cards motif was an idea that I was trying to turn into another character, but after some changes I decided to give it to Sebastian instead.
- Sebastian's pre-merge alliance was only given so much emphasis because of Elena's obsession with it. The alliance was originally supposed to have little focus on it, making most of Sebastian's involvement with many of the early eliminations something that was never explicitly pointed out until later in the story.
- The fact that characters like Monique and Wes think that Sebastian is practically omnipresent (or that he is everywhere and hears everything) is one of my favorite jokes to play up. Sebastian makes connections to figure out what is going on behind his back a lot faster than most of the other players, which is how he seems to know everything.
- Sebastian claims that he never cheats, but he never states that he is completely honest either. His actions are often based on tricks and deals, which is dishonest but not technically outright cheating.
- Sebastian's interactions with Donna are supposed to be rather ambiguous as to if they are motivated by romantic interest or just for strategy. Though many characters assume that he only wants her in his alliance because he is attracted to her (and Sebastian himself even plays this up at times) there is a strategic reason for most of their interactions.
- The fact that Sebastian dislikes Wes wasn't created just because of Donna, and I never intended for it to come off as an attempt at a love triangle (though other characters seem to think it is). Wes is the only Emmy male other than Sebastian who is skilled athletically and makes it far in the game, so Sebastian naturally would target him for elimination at some point. They also have very contrasting personalities, as Sebastian is a strategy-fueled realist while Wes is more of an emotionally-based idealist.
- I consider Sebastian's friendship with Risty to be his only true friendship on the show. Though this interaction was rather minor, it was very easy and felt natural to write. Unlike with Victor, Sebastian had no desire to vote Risty off even though she was a major threat both physically and socially.
