Heh, I figured I might have to revise something, but this is cool because now I know exactly what to fill in!
So since Izō has weird canon bullet points since he's not from the mainline story, it's a bit disjointed, but after the Legend of the Imperial Grail event (more specific info on that here!) he was resummoned to Chaldea with his memories. Given his nature — which is to say, he's not one to leap at getting himself involved in things — he mostly existed in the background for many of the events between when he was summoned and where he'd be coming from.
Usagi helpfully laid out a mini-timeline which I've cut down to a list of the events that had happened between when he was summoned and his canon point.
GUDAGUDA Legend of the Imperial Capital Grail
Halloween 4; ONILAND
Battle In New York
Christmas 5
Beni-Enma, New Year's
Valentine's
The Antiquated Spider Spins His Web
S I N
Yuga Kshtera - Lostbelt 4
Tokugawa Ooku
A Meihousou Most Foul
The ones I bolded are where he was directly involved, although that being said aside from the Imperial Capital he wasn't heavily involved in those either. For example, in the event related to Beni-Enma it related to renovating/running a hot spring resort so the bulk of his involvement with that was to... have a sweet free vacation! The Meihousou event was a singularity where they had to make a movie and he had a brief role at the beginning of the film (and then got mad because it was such a small part).
His canon situation being what it's like in general, there's not a whole lot of wiggle room in terms of shifting canon points event-wise, so I tend to look at it in terms of "Bond-level". Naturally, a Servant's bond levels go up the more time you spend with them! He is closest with Ayumi since she is the one who has ended up getting pulled into the GudaGuda events, and she's spent the most time with him. He knows Kiyoiri the least at this point, but all the others fall somewhere in the middle.
Izō's biggest issues relate to trusting and getting close to people, so having bonds with others is meaningful. That being said, he still copes with things very poorly and is always prone to backsliding into old habits because even with accepting people into his life this much, no one could say it means he's sorted out his deeper problems at all. He still has a not-insignificant part of him that continues to worry if this time might still end up like before where he was ultimately betrayed. His in-game Valentine's/Birthday dialogue is canon for them. Izō decides to celebrate with drinks and ultimately gets far too drunk, not only getting to the point where he's in such a vulnerable state that he starts crying about the past but ends up making himself sick as well. And the next day, he pretends like it didn't happen! So he still has a long way to go before he stands to make any real progress, but it does help him be somewhat more open than he would be if he had no one at all.
Plus, they're all kids! That would have helped him get along with them more easily, not because he's at all good with kids but because he's generally less suspicious of them than adults. He is at heart a kinder person than his outward personality (and actions) suggest, so he would feel more of a sense of responsibility than he might otherwise. He's not a guy you wanna ask for advice (and he really shouldn't give any, haha), but he knows what he's capable of. If it means putting himself between them and an enemy, he's willing to do that, whereas ordinarily, he might have preferred not to get involved (or demand payment). He's like your idiot big brother you can call in to kill beat up your bullies! Those are probably the biggest deviations within the AU versus the OU, especially when looking at how he reacted to the idea of getting "dragged in" to help sort things out during the Honnoji event. It bears mentioning that Honnoji isn't canon for them here in the AU, but the dialogue rather than the events still inform his characterisation in my mind, which is why I bring it up. But anyway! His response when Ryouma asks him to help out is, "why should I stick my neck out and deal with this?" and it takes coaxing on Ryouma's part (and a little reverse psychology poking at his pride) to get him to agree, and even then he complains all the way through the Ray-shift. Not to say he might not still complain if he's gotta do missions, but he has a personal stake in it that he wouldn't ordinarily. He goes from "why aren't you afraid of manslayers like me?" and "you should watch out because it wouldn't be funny if the dog you're feeding bites your hand" to "sorry that all I can do is kill for you, but if you have enemies I'll help you" which is a good start and if any of the kids were in trouble whoever happens to be threatening them would find out they suddenly have a problem. It's him. He's the problem and he's going to cause more on purpose??.
I hope that helps a little? If you need any more, let me know!
no subject
So since Izō has weird canon bullet points since he's not from the mainline story, it's a bit disjointed, but after the Legend of the Imperial Grail event (more specific info on that here!) he was resummoned to Chaldea with his memories. Given his nature — which is to say, he's not one to leap at getting himself involved in things — he mostly existed in the background for many of the events between when he was summoned and where he'd be coming from.
Usagi helpfully laid out a mini-timeline which I've cut down to a list of the events that had happened between when he was summoned and his canon point.
- GUDAGUDA Legend of the Imperial Capital Grail
- Halloween 4; ONILAND
- Battle In New York
- Christmas 5
- Beni-Enma, New Year's
- Valentine's
- The Antiquated Spider Spins His Web
- S I N
- Yuga Kshtera - Lostbelt 4
- Tokugawa Ooku
- A Meihousou Most Foul
The ones I bolded are where he was directly involved, although that being said aside from the Imperial Capital he wasn't heavily involved in those either. For example, in the event related to Beni-Enma it related to renovating/running a hot spring resort so the bulk of his involvement with that was to... have a sweet free vacation! The Meihousou event was a singularity where they had to make a movie and he had a brief role at the beginning of the film (and then got mad because it was such a small part).His canon situation being what it's like in general, there's not a whole lot of wiggle room in terms of shifting canon points event-wise, so I tend to look at it in terms of "Bond-level". Naturally, a Servant's bond levels go up the more time you spend with them! He is closest with Ayumi since she is the one who has ended up getting pulled into the GudaGuda events, and she's spent the most time with him. He knows Kiyoiri the least at this point, but all the others fall somewhere in the middle.
Izō's biggest issues relate to trusting and getting close to people, so having bonds with others is meaningful. That being said, he still copes with things very poorly and is always prone to backsliding into old habits because even with accepting people into his life this much, no one could say it means he's sorted out his deeper problems at all. He still has a not-insignificant part of him that continues to worry if this time might still end up like before where he was ultimately betrayed. His in-game Valentine's/Birthday dialogue is canon for them. Izō decides to celebrate with drinks and ultimately gets far too drunk, not only getting to the point where he's in such a vulnerable state that he starts crying about the past but ends up making himself sick as well. And the next day, he pretends like it didn't happen! So he still has a long way to go before he stands to make any real progress, but it does help him be somewhat more open than he would be if he had no one at all.
Plus, they're all kids! That would have helped him get along with them more easily, not because he's at all good with kids but because he's generally less suspicious of them than adults. He is at heart a kinder person than his outward personality (and actions) suggest, so he would feel more of a sense of responsibility than he might otherwise. He's not a guy you wanna ask for advice (and he really shouldn't give any, haha), but he knows what he's capable of. If it means putting himself between them and an enemy, he's willing to do that, whereas ordinarily, he might have preferred not to get involved (or demand payment). He's like your idiot big brother you can call in to
killbeat up your bullies! Those are probably the biggest deviations within the AU versus the OU, especially when looking at how he reacted to the idea of getting "dragged in" to help sort things out during the Honnoji event. It bears mentioning that Honnoji isn't canon for them here in the AU, but the dialogue rather than the events still inform his characterisation in my mind, which is why I bring it up. But anyway! His response when Ryouma asks him to help out is, "why should I stick my neck out and deal with this?" and it takes coaxing on Ryouma's part (and a little reverse psychology poking at his pride) to get him to agree, and even then he complains all the way through the Ray-shift. Not to say he might not still complain if he's gotta do missions, but he has a personal stake in it that he wouldn't ordinarily. He goes from "why aren't you afraid of manslayers like me?" and "you should watch out because it wouldn't be funny if the dog you're feeding bites your hand" to "sorry that all I can do is kill for you, but if you have enemies I'll help you" which is a good start and if any of the kids were in trouble whoever happens to be threatening them would find out they suddenly have a problem.It's him. He's the problem and he's going to cause more on purpose??.I hope that helps a little? If you need any more, let me know!