A supporting character that makes his debut in Book Four, Kyle Hardy is a master thief out to ensure both his survival and the survival of those he cares about.
Appearance
Hardy is a five foot, ten inch human with distinctive caramel brown eyes and salt-and-pepper hair, which is usually hidden underneath a beret or some kind of cap.
He dresses in dark blues and blacks to help him blend into the night, and often carries a hook with him that makes it easier for him to lift things from out of reach places.
Background
Born from a prostitute forced to sell her body to survive on the Roads of Gaia, Kyle had a very early exposure to the unfairness and cruelty of life. Angry at the indignities his mother had to suffer to keep a steady income, Hardy quickly found a friend in the art of thievery, stealing to balance out his mother’s income and try to make life a little more bearable for themselves.
When Myst began her campaign against all humans, Hardy and his mother survived through the various means Hardy had learned to escape angry victims of his stealing. Managing to avoid demi-wolves, Hardy continued his work in the shadows, letting the demi-wolves, dragons and humans fight each other, and then scavenging whatever he could from the battlefields.
Eventually, however, Hardy learned of human sanctuaries where other humans had managed to hide away from the demi-wolves or dragons. Interested in their methods of survival, Hardy began stealing from these sanctuaries, finding it to be a lot easier to lift things from places that only had humans to deal with rather than monsters.
Though this would soon change, as one of his usual targets would happen to have a new protector. One that wasn’t exactly human, but one that Hardy would find could still be manipulated or tricked like one.
Abilities
- Master Thief – a lifetime of stealing to survive has made Hardy an expert in stealth, infiltration and, of course, taking whatever doesn’t belong to him.
- Skill in manipulation – a side effect of his life of crime has led Kyle to understand and decipher personality quirks, which help him in conning or tricking others.
- Hook Cane – his preferred weapon is a sickle who’s hook end can be used for lifting out-of-reach items or to hook onto and swing from perch to perch. He rarely uses the hook for combat though, preferring to either stealth or talk his way out of situations.
Personality
While bitter about his lot in life, Kyle covers up any bitterness with a smooth and suave front, acting affable and charming to those he meets and passing himself off as a man who loves the simple things in life. A ladies’ man at heart, he’ll tend to insert flirtatious dialogue into his speech patterns, and knows how to use his looks to get what he wants.
However, underneath the charm is a man who has been hurt by the world and is lashing out in his own reserved way. While he’ll try to be affable about it, he has zero trust for authority figures or the law (seeing as how they did nothing to help his mother), and tends to see people with too much money as corrupt by default.
Despite his anger, however, he has a firm grip on his emotions and doesn’t let his past fully guide him. He fully believes in doing no harm to anyone if he can help it, and while his understanding of ‘corrupt’ is a bit blurred, he still does his best not to steal from those who can’t afford it.
He likes to stylize himself as a sort of ‘Robin Hood’ figure, and admittedly has the skill and even some of the motive to back it up (as most of what he gets goes to his mother or to a group of kids that he watches over). However, circumstances might lead him to discover that not all authority figures are corrupt, and that sometimes, the law can be there for a good reason.
Stories Involving Him
- Of Scales and Fur – Wing
- Of Scales and Fur – Phoenix (Minor but important role)
- Of Scales and Fur – Jackknife (Is brought into the story by Logan as a possible ally for Jack, though as a thief, one shouldn’t fully trust Kyle’s alignment to stay the same)
Trivia
- Kyle Hardy’s name is derrived from Selina ‘Catwoman’ Kyle from the Batman mythos, and Felicia ‘Black Cat’ Hardy from the Spiderman comics.
- He also draws inspiration from the Sly Cooper franchise, which will be referenced through his use of the hook cane, and attraction to Valerie Fawkes, as both are inspired by two of the main characters in the series.
- Kyle’s recommended voice actor would be Malcolm Ray, specifically his performance as Nicodeme ‘Nico’ Savoy from Lackadaisy.
- Kyle would want his recommended theme music to draw inspiration from the James Bond theme, as James Bond is his favorite character – specifically the Pierce Brosnan version.