Michael (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
pleurigloss) wrote2018-09-06 07:40 pm
pleurigloss) wrote2018-09-06 07:40 pm
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lastvoyages
User Name/Nick: Gwen
User DW:betterdeadthanred
E-mail: isthereair@gmail.com
Other Characters:Eugene Roe Cal Kestis, Richie Tozier
Character Name: Michael
Series: The Good Place
Age: Literally ageless.
From When?: Season 2, Episode 3, "Dance Dance Resolution" - Because Michael is difficult to kill, it's going to require a bit of an AU to get the Admiral involved. While rebooting the neighborhood (ultimately 802 times), let's say Shawn gets wind of Michael going behind his back, pulls him from the neighborhood and is in the process of retiring him when the Admiral offers to bring him on board as an inmate.
Inmate/Warden: Inmate - Michael is a literal demon whose sole purpose in (after)life is to torture humans. He enjoys his job and gets great pleasure from forking with the people he picked to test pilot his neighborhood reconcepting.
Arrival: Michael decides to take the Admiral up on his offer instead of facing retirement (the Eternal Shriek) at the hands of his boss, Shawn, for failing in his experimental new neighborhood.
Abilities/Powers: Michael is functionally immortal, as he's a being that doesn't exist on the same level of existence as humans, which makes him basically immune to death or maiming. The exception to this is Retirement, known as the Eternal Shriek:
In Season Four, it's revealed that when not wearing his human skin suit, Michael's true form is "a 6,000-foot tall fire squid. I have tentacles. There’s teeth everywhere. I’m on fire and my neck is long. And there’s a smell and lots of juice. There’s so much juice."
Let's say on the Barge, he's restricted to his human appearance. However, there is no evidence that having a human body means he can bleed, needs to use the bathroom, or otherwise do as humans do (although he can eat), and I'd like to preserve that on the Barge because giving him an actually 100% real human body seems like something that's better saved for an amusing flood.
As an Eternal Being, he can also see in nine dimensions (although this doesn't really have many practical applications and is just used as a comedy thing on the show), and can also process information more quickly than a human. He says he can read all of Earth's literature in about an hour and makes a really artistically detailed sketch in a few seconds. Again, I'd like to preserve these because there isn't really a strategic benefit to having them in a way Michael would be able to harm another person on the ship.
Plus, all of his powers as an Architect only work in his neighborhood, so without that and without Janet, there's not much he can really do besides go about his business. No memory wiping, reality distortion, or construction abilities for Mike on the Barge.
Personality: Michael is a good liar. When we first meet him, he's friendly, unassuming, maybe even a little cute and excitable, just so happy to finally get his chance to build the perfect afterlife for so many deserving, wonderful people! And he gets to watch it all happen! Isn't that great? And when stuff starts falling apart, he plays the part of kicked puppy very well, moping about and worrying about facing retirement should his neighborhood fail.
But that's all a lie.
Well, sort of.
A lot of what Michael presents as in season one is genuine - the best lies have a lot of truth in them, after all. When he tells Eleanor that his future rides on the success of this neighborhood, he's being 100% honest, it's just, you know, this is actually the Bad Place. The real Michael has some sharper edges to him, with a mean sense of humor fitting for a literal demon. He's witty, sarcastic, and sharp, especially when he feels like he's fully in control of a situation.
On a good day, Michael is extremely confident, well put together, and very knowledgeable. Although he isn't entirely all knowing like Janet, he's got access to a lot of information about the human world and the people living it in, and being tortured in the afterlife. He can speak eloquently on a number of subjects and also can read the entirety of the world's literature in about an hour, so he's extremely intelligent compared to most humans. He's also consumed a fair amount of human media, and knows a lot of dirt on various historical figures, all of whom are in the Bad Place. He's also generally good at rolling with the punches and appearing relatively unflappable, although his patience is wearing thin with the situation back home because his experiment keeps failing.
Despite the pleasure he takes in ruining people's afterlives, Michael is genuinely very interested in human culture. A lot of the statements he makes early on - like appreciating how humans can take something great like ice cream, and ruin it just a little so they can have more of it - are actually genuine. It's part of why he wanted to be a part of the experiment instead of letting the other demons run the show. Architects usually don't get to have such a long term relationship with the humans they're torturing, and Michael's experiment is letting him get up close and personal with the creatures he knows a lot about, but hasn't actually gotten to experience anything with before. It's kind of a horrible Little Mermaid story.
This isn't to say that he totally loves and admires humans. He frequently complains about how stupid they are, or how badly they're designed, or how gross behavior like kissing is (you're just mashing your food holes together, it's not for that!) and has to be reminded repeatedly that humans = good after he joins Team Cockroach, but the weird bits of human culture like gum balls, paperclips, and getting excited over ugly stuffed animals from crane games fascinates him. He experiences moments of pure joy when he gets to finally try out things like suspenders.
Michael is also a bit of a control freak, largely by necessity. Making sure his neighborhood runs smoothly isn't only a point of pride for him, but it's a matter of life and death, as if Shawn realizes he's screwed up, he's getting retired. But even though he lets the other demons in on this secret, allowing them to even use it as a bargaining chip with him after his pull point, he never really gets serious about bringing them in as equals in an attempt to restabilize his vision. Michael's always the one who pulls the plug and has the grand vision of where things are going, and he never really relies on anyone but Janet - who is essentially a glorified magical computer program - to dig himself out of whatever hole the humans have put him in this time. It also means he can be a little bossy, as he's kind of gotten used to being the man in charge and isn't looking to give that up.
As he's used to being an immortal being who's existed since the dawn of the universe, he can also be very arrogant and impatient. The idea that someone else might be better than him at something or that a task might not come naturally makes him feel petty and threatened, which can lead to him acting out like a kid trying to needle a teacher instead of admitting they don't know the material. Even when trying to be on his best behavior, Michael's default is to torture people, and he does genuinely like doing it. When he feels wronged, he's more than happy to trick someone into a little psychological torture, or just being straight up an immature brat and pushing a plant off an end table. Lashing out is usually his gut response when he's unsettled, but if he's a little calmer, he's happy to twist the situation to make the other person look bad or feel stupid themselves, as seen with Chidi and the Trolley Problem.
This emotional immaturity can also be seen in his attitude about his own death and mortality. From this pull point, Michael has never really sat and seriously considered the fact that he, Michael, is theoretically just as mortal as a human in that he can technically die via retirement, a really truly horrible punishment for architects who fail. Unlike a human, he hasn't had the chance to slowly come to terms with our own mortality and the fact that we could literally die at any point for almost no reason. When he has that realization, the crushing weight of accepting that truth first sends him into a depression spiral where he thinks everything is meaningless, and then sends him into a full on mid life crisis because life is fleeting and if he stops moving, he has to think about death. It baffles him that humans can just go about life with this realization without being totally forked up by it. Although he does snap out of it eventually, it's a good look at how he reacts under stress and when presented with a complete new unknown.
This is a trait he actually shares with Eleanor: they both would rather either ignore problems they cause, run away from them, or find a way to deflect everyone's attention from them so they can move on without really examining and living with the consequences of their actions. Michael sees a lot of himself in his worst human test subject, something that both frustrates him and eventually (well past this canon point) endears him to her. Michael is used to instant gratification and a literal reset button whenever things get hard or too complicated to deal with, and not having that to fall back on on the Barge will be frustrating for him.
Like all Eternal Beings, Michael has a very black and white sense of right and wrong, and thus is extremely judgmental. In his universe, there literally is a point system that categorizes individual actions based on how much good or bad they put into the world. With this system, it's possible to genuinely rank and grade human behavior, and a punishment or reward is doled out to them when they die. This is just factually correct in Michael's universe, so he fully believes that remaining loyal to the Cleveland Browns might get you into the Good Place, but paying to see California funk-rock band the Red Hot Chili Peppers in concert definitely means you're going to the Bad Place. He approaches any discussion of human behavior with this mindset. For example, in Season 2, while reading Les Misérables, his homework assignment for Chidi says "Everyone in this story sucks and belongs in the Bad Place. The thief is bad. The officer chasing him is bad. All the whiny prostitutes are bad. Plus, they're all French, so they're going to the Bad Place automatically."
This is not Michael making a joke or trying to be funny, it's genuinely how the system works, which is repeatedly demonstrated in canon. The humans realize this isn't fair - stupid stuff like sports teams or uncontrollable things like where you were born shouldn't be reason to send you to hell to be tortured for eternity, obviously - but the Eternal Beings don't see it that way because that's just how it is and they didn't make the rules, so stop whining. Basically all other Eternal Beings except Michael haven't really had interest or opportunity to study human behavior up close in millennia, and are happy to accept the system as is. Michael is too at this point in canon, but he has a perspective that allows him to change his mind and slowly step back from the black and white morality, plus open himself up to the idea that people can change themselves for the better if given the chance.
Unlike other demons, Michael appears genuinely irritated, bored, or grossed out by some of the behavior that really defines the Bad Place. Even after the reveal that he's a demon, he doesn't lean in to fart jokes or revel in baser chaos like turning food into spiders once you put it in your mouth. He likes to think of himself as more cultured and sophisticated in the way he tortures people, not resorting to things like repeatedly playing "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" or asking a woman if they're pregnant or just fat. He's kind of bored with the system, which is part of why he's decided to so radically redefine what torture and the Bad Place actually can be.
Interpersonal relationships between Eternal Beings are a lot different from human relationships. Michael doesn't really have any friends, nor has he ever had friends, but this fact doesn't really bother him because he's not human and it's just not a part of his experience. Because of this, he also doesn't have much of anything resembling empathy, despite the aforementioned commitment to the concept of morality as defined by the rules of his universe. It's only after he starts getting closer to the humans that he starts gaining true empathy and realizing he cares about Janet and the four humans in his neighborhood. The capacity for it is definitely there, but he hasn't made that leap yet.
Barge Reactions: As an Eternal Being who literally lives in hell, a lot of the horrible stuff the Admiral can throw at passengers won't necessarily bother Michael at all. He's more likely to be frustrated by floods or events that cause minor inconveniences than one where they're actively being tortured. He might be annoyed in the moment that it's interrupting his Friends rewatch, but he won't really be scared or scarred by a lot of the darker stuff the setting has to throw at him.
However, when he hits the point of realizing he is, in fact, sort of mortal, or any time he has to confront the fact that he can be hurt, he will not respond well and might even descend into a point of thinking everything is meaningless, as he's literally never needed to confront his own mortality before. The funk will be serious and possibly morph into a really awkward mid life crisis style breakdown, but he can be coaxed out of it with the right touch.
He will probably be a bit of a pain in the ash for his warden. Michael is going to be really frustrated by his lack of ability to summon whatever he wants for whatever he's doing and will take to pestering his warden for it. He's also going to be totally dismissive of the Barge's own redemption system, because most of the people here as inmates are going to go to the Bad Place when they get back home anyway. His world's rules just don't mesh well with the idea that change can happen after you die, so it will take a lot to show him that people can actually change in a meaningful way on the ship. He's also going to be stubborn with folks who try to argue with him about his version of the afterlife. They might say that's not how it works where they're from, but his response is always going to be "What proof do you have?" Unless they've been to their world's version of an afterlife, Mike's going to 100% believe that there's a Good Place/Bad Place situation going on in their world too, they just don't know about it yet, and he'll therefore argue that the Barge is stupid and pointless because inmates are never going to change enough to undo the city they blew up, the younglings they murdered, or how much they loved the New York Yankees.
Unlike other inmates, he's not going to have any grand designs of taking over the ship or causing harm to the passengers beyond verbal quips and tear downs. He's not violent or so ambitious that he'd want control of the ship, but he will probably loudly critique the Admiral's idea of torture and stack him up against the things he's been trained to do back home.
He's also going to be really pissed off to hear he - or a version of him - was here before should it come up, because it feels like the Admiral is pulling the same thing he's been doing to his four human test subjects, and relinquishing any control is a huge point of irritation for him. He didn't make anything resembling progress the last time he was here either, so we're still starting with square one on the redemption front.
Path to Redemption: Michael might be an actual demon, but he definitely has the ability to learn and empathize with other people, even to the point of considering them genuinely close friends he'd be willing to sacrifice himself for. The trick for his redemption on the Barge is getting to that point where he begins to really care about people, and gaining that empathy is going to open his eyes to what he really needs to work on changing.
The biggest thing he has to come to terms with is that the Bad Place/Good Place system is fundamentally flawed. There are people who probably deserve to be tortured forever, but people who are just kind of crappy like Eleanor, Chidi, Jason and Tahani probably do deserve a better afterlife. Morality is a lot more complex than the current system allows, and once he comes to genuinely accept that, he has a shot of going home to revamp the afterlife system again in a way that's more fair to the humans who have to experience it.
This might be a little tricky to hammer into him, because at the end of the day, Michael does have a moral compass, it's just extremely, extremely polarized. Another challenge is that he's from a universe where he knows exactly what's waiting for people in the afterlife, so he's likely to be completely dismissive of anyone trying to convince him that he needs to look at things in a different way. He also needs to break some of the belief that a lot of this stuff is just predestined or predetermined (i.e. not every French or Floridian person is immediately going to the Bad Place) and showing him that people have the capacity to change will be important as well. Getting him to a point where he understands that will help him make that realization that the system is pretty broken and in need of a major re-haul.
As a note: at this point in his canon, he and everyone else is essentially unaware that the system is so broken that no human has actually made it into the Good Place in hundreds of years. While that might come up in a flood or event, I'm fine with Michael returning home none the wiser, and I don't think that info would make it into Michael's file. He doesn't need to fully understand every flaw in the current system to be redeemed, and I'd rather he spend his time here focusing on the idea that the standards are insane vs. the system is incredibly broken, if that makes sense. I think learning to forgive the smaller things (place of birth, sports team affiliation, favorite band, etc.) is ultimately more important to his redemption as a person, as that's what gets him invested in saving humanity to begin with.
History: Michael on The Good Place Wikia
Sample Journal Entry:
Well, [Michael says, clapping his hands, shit eating grin on his face.] That was something, wasn't it?
[He's sitting at his desk in his office - what passes for his cabin on board the Barge - and rests his elbows on the surface, lacing his fingers together as he provides his customary review of the most recent port they've visited.]
You know, when I first accepted the Admiral's offer, I honestly thought there wasn't anything he was going to be able to show me that I hadn't already thought of myself. I mean, sure, his sample size is a lot bigger than mine was, but putting everyone in a contained space so they'd torture each other whenever the slightest grain of sand got in the way of them getting along? It's not that different.
But boy, that port was pretty great. Really made me feel like I was back at home.
In fact, that might be my only complaint. As far as originality goes, this port was a little- [He wiggles his hand in the air, a clear sign of being average, at best.] Meh, but classic torture still has its uses, doesn't it?
I have to admit, I was a big fan of the ghosts that represented everyone's worst fears. You know, hearing your mom tell you you've always been a disappointment, or getting confirmation that you were, in fact, wasting your life getting your PhD in some field literally no one cares about, say... moral philosophy. Just for example. Very classic. Retro. A little simplistic, maybe, but when well executed - which it was - it can still be very effective. Maybe I'll try to work that into my Neighborhood when I get back home.
So overall, I'd give this one a 7 out of 10. Room for improvement, but a very solid effort on the part of the Admiral. Can't wait to see what he cooks up next.
[That's not sarcasm, he's genuinely excited.]
Inferior Janet- [His warden, he means his warden.] Any chance you can get a round of frozen yogurt that's just gone slightly off for everyone?
Sample RP:
Life on the Barge is - quite frankly - extremely boring for an Eternal Being. Yes, the library's basically endless and Michael's learned by now that he can bully his warden into requesting basically any Earth television show he might be interested in binge watching on any given day, but it's not really enough to keep someone who's been around since the literal dawn of time occupied.
Ports, on the other hand... Now, ports are fun.
Especially when it involves going to a version of Earth that's familiar enough territory to help most of the humans on board get over any homesickness and Michael a chance to get up close and personal with certain human things he's seen and heard so much about, but never actually experienced.
Like Lenscrafters. Ordering a set of pencils on Amazon, paying extra for overnight delivery and receiving it in a box that's four times its size and filled with non recyclable packing peanuts. Picking up a prescription at a drive through pharmacy. Visiting a restaurant that has ten pages of completely unrelated foods on the menu. Costco.
After a lengthy negotiation with his warden that he needs a Costco card, Michael finds himself wandering the magical aisles of wholesale products you probably don't need, but are going to stock up with anyway. I mean, who knows when you'll need 64 cans of creamed corn? Or a keg big enough to keep an entire college football team occupied for an all night rager? Might as well pick up some terrible souvenir t-shirts that say "I went to Hackensack, New Jersey, and all I got was this Lousy T-Shirt" while you're here too, and the cheapest hot dogs with free refills on soda. You're already getting more things then you could ever possibly need, what's a couple thousand empty calories?
That's where he can be found, parked in the food court with his bags full of unnecessary purchases (including some bulk boxes of paperclips), basically radiating pure joy as he tears into another hot dog.
Special Notes: I'm planning on a hard reboot for Michael, with no memory of his past time on the Barge, for further frustration with the Admiral because now he's doing to Michael what Michael did to the humans.
User DW:
betterdeadthanredE-mail: isthereair@gmail.com
Other Characters:
Character Name: Michael
Series: The Good Place
Age: Literally ageless.
From When?: Season 2, Episode 3, "Dance Dance Resolution" - Because Michael is difficult to kill, it's going to require a bit of an AU to get the Admiral involved. While rebooting the neighborhood (ultimately 802 times), let's say Shawn gets wind of Michael going behind his back, pulls him from the neighborhood and is in the process of retiring him when the Admiral offers to bring him on board as an inmate.
Inmate/Warden: Inmate - Michael is a literal demon whose sole purpose in (after)life is to torture humans. He enjoys his job and gets great pleasure from forking with the people he picked to test pilot his neighborhood reconcepting.
Arrival: Michael decides to take the Admiral up on his offer instead of facing retirement (the Eternal Shriek) at the hands of his boss, Shawn, for failing in his experimental new neighborhood.
Abilities/Powers: Michael is functionally immortal, as he's a being that doesn't exist on the same level of existence as humans, which makes him basically immune to death or maiming. The exception to this is Retirement, known as the Eternal Shriek:
Michael: It's an extreme form of punishment. We call it "The Eternal Shriek". My soul will be disintegrated, and each molecule will be placed on the surface of a different burning sun. And then my essence will be scooped out of my body with a flaming ladle and poured over hot diamonds, and then what's left of my body will be endlessly beaten with a titanium rod.
Tahani: Like a piñata. [Indicates a piñata she has made in the form of Michael]
Michael: Yes, except you have the string around my waist, but instead it will definitely be around my genitals.
Tahani: Like a piñata. [Indicates a piñata she has made in the form of Michael]
Michael: Yes, except you have the string around my waist, but instead it will definitely be around my genitals.
In Season Four, it's revealed that when not wearing his human skin suit, Michael's true form is "a 6,000-foot tall fire squid. I have tentacles. There’s teeth everywhere. I’m on fire and my neck is long. And there’s a smell and lots of juice. There’s so much juice."
Let's say on the Barge, he's restricted to his human appearance. However, there is no evidence that having a human body means he can bleed, needs to use the bathroom, or otherwise do as humans do (although he can eat), and I'd like to preserve that on the Barge because giving him an actually 100% real human body seems like something that's better saved for an amusing flood.
As an Eternal Being, he can also see in nine dimensions (although this doesn't really have many practical applications and is just used as a comedy thing on the show), and can also process information more quickly than a human. He says he can read all of Earth's literature in about an hour and makes a really artistically detailed sketch in a few seconds. Again, I'd like to preserve these because there isn't really a strategic benefit to having them in a way Michael would be able to harm another person on the ship.
Plus, all of his powers as an Architect only work in his neighborhood, so without that and without Janet, there's not much he can really do besides go about his business. No memory wiping, reality distortion, or construction abilities for Mike on the Barge.
Personality: Michael is a good liar. When we first meet him, he's friendly, unassuming, maybe even a little cute and excitable, just so happy to finally get his chance to build the perfect afterlife for so many deserving, wonderful people! And he gets to watch it all happen! Isn't that great? And when stuff starts falling apart, he plays the part of kicked puppy very well, moping about and worrying about facing retirement should his neighborhood fail.
But that's all a lie.
Well, sort of.
A lot of what Michael presents as in season one is genuine - the best lies have a lot of truth in them, after all. When he tells Eleanor that his future rides on the success of this neighborhood, he's being 100% honest, it's just, you know, this is actually the Bad Place. The real Michael has some sharper edges to him, with a mean sense of humor fitting for a literal demon. He's witty, sarcastic, and sharp, especially when he feels like he's fully in control of a situation.
On a good day, Michael is extremely confident, well put together, and very knowledgeable. Although he isn't entirely all knowing like Janet, he's got access to a lot of information about the human world and the people living it in, and being tortured in the afterlife. He can speak eloquently on a number of subjects and also can read the entirety of the world's literature in about an hour, so he's extremely intelligent compared to most humans. He's also consumed a fair amount of human media, and knows a lot of dirt on various historical figures, all of whom are in the Bad Place. He's also generally good at rolling with the punches and appearing relatively unflappable, although his patience is wearing thin with the situation back home because his experiment keeps failing.
Despite the pleasure he takes in ruining people's afterlives, Michael is genuinely very interested in human culture. A lot of the statements he makes early on - like appreciating how humans can take something great like ice cream, and ruin it just a little so they can have more of it - are actually genuine. It's part of why he wanted to be a part of the experiment instead of letting the other demons run the show. Architects usually don't get to have such a long term relationship with the humans they're torturing, and Michael's experiment is letting him get up close and personal with the creatures he knows a lot about, but hasn't actually gotten to experience anything with before. It's kind of a horrible Little Mermaid story.
This isn't to say that he totally loves and admires humans. He frequently complains about how stupid they are, or how badly they're designed, or how gross behavior like kissing is (you're just mashing your food holes together, it's not for that!) and has to be reminded repeatedly that humans = good after he joins Team Cockroach, but the weird bits of human culture like gum balls, paperclips, and getting excited over ugly stuffed animals from crane games fascinates him. He experiences moments of pure joy when he gets to finally try out things like suspenders.
Michael is also a bit of a control freak, largely by necessity. Making sure his neighborhood runs smoothly isn't only a point of pride for him, but it's a matter of life and death, as if Shawn realizes he's screwed up, he's getting retired. But even though he lets the other demons in on this secret, allowing them to even use it as a bargaining chip with him after his pull point, he never really gets serious about bringing them in as equals in an attempt to restabilize his vision. Michael's always the one who pulls the plug and has the grand vision of where things are going, and he never really relies on anyone but Janet - who is essentially a glorified magical computer program - to dig himself out of whatever hole the humans have put him in this time. It also means he can be a little bossy, as he's kind of gotten used to being the man in charge and isn't looking to give that up.
As he's used to being an immortal being who's existed since the dawn of the universe, he can also be very arrogant and impatient. The idea that someone else might be better than him at something or that a task might not come naturally makes him feel petty and threatened, which can lead to him acting out like a kid trying to needle a teacher instead of admitting they don't know the material. Even when trying to be on his best behavior, Michael's default is to torture people, and he does genuinely like doing it. When he feels wronged, he's more than happy to trick someone into a little psychological torture, or just being straight up an immature brat and pushing a plant off an end table. Lashing out is usually his gut response when he's unsettled, but if he's a little calmer, he's happy to twist the situation to make the other person look bad or feel stupid themselves, as seen with Chidi and the Trolley Problem.
This emotional immaturity can also be seen in his attitude about his own death and mortality. From this pull point, Michael has never really sat and seriously considered the fact that he, Michael, is theoretically just as mortal as a human in that he can technically die via retirement, a really truly horrible punishment for architects who fail. Unlike a human, he hasn't had the chance to slowly come to terms with our own mortality and the fact that we could literally die at any point for almost no reason. When he has that realization, the crushing weight of accepting that truth first sends him into a depression spiral where he thinks everything is meaningless, and then sends him into a full on mid life crisis because life is fleeting and if he stops moving, he has to think about death. It baffles him that humans can just go about life with this realization without being totally forked up by it. Although he does snap out of it eventually, it's a good look at how he reacts under stress and when presented with a complete new unknown.
This is a trait he actually shares with Eleanor: they both would rather either ignore problems they cause, run away from them, or find a way to deflect everyone's attention from them so they can move on without really examining and living with the consequences of their actions. Michael sees a lot of himself in his worst human test subject, something that both frustrates him and eventually (well past this canon point) endears him to her. Michael is used to instant gratification and a literal reset button whenever things get hard or too complicated to deal with, and not having that to fall back on on the Barge will be frustrating for him.
Like all Eternal Beings, Michael has a very black and white sense of right and wrong, and thus is extremely judgmental. In his universe, there literally is a point system that categorizes individual actions based on how much good or bad they put into the world. With this system, it's possible to genuinely rank and grade human behavior, and a punishment or reward is doled out to them when they die. This is just factually correct in Michael's universe, so he fully believes that remaining loyal to the Cleveland Browns might get you into the Good Place, but paying to see California funk-rock band the Red Hot Chili Peppers in concert definitely means you're going to the Bad Place. He approaches any discussion of human behavior with this mindset. For example, in Season 2, while reading Les Misérables, his homework assignment for Chidi says "Everyone in this story sucks and belongs in the Bad Place. The thief is bad. The officer chasing him is bad. All the whiny prostitutes are bad. Plus, they're all French, so they're going to the Bad Place automatically."
This is not Michael making a joke or trying to be funny, it's genuinely how the system works, which is repeatedly demonstrated in canon. The humans realize this isn't fair - stupid stuff like sports teams or uncontrollable things like where you were born shouldn't be reason to send you to hell to be tortured for eternity, obviously - but the Eternal Beings don't see it that way because that's just how it is and they didn't make the rules, so stop whining. Basically all other Eternal Beings except Michael haven't really had interest or opportunity to study human behavior up close in millennia, and are happy to accept the system as is. Michael is too at this point in canon, but he has a perspective that allows him to change his mind and slowly step back from the black and white morality, plus open himself up to the idea that people can change themselves for the better if given the chance.
Unlike other demons, Michael appears genuinely irritated, bored, or grossed out by some of the behavior that really defines the Bad Place. Even after the reveal that he's a demon, he doesn't lean in to fart jokes or revel in baser chaos like turning food into spiders once you put it in your mouth. He likes to think of himself as more cultured and sophisticated in the way he tortures people, not resorting to things like repeatedly playing "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" or asking a woman if they're pregnant or just fat. He's kind of bored with the system, which is part of why he's decided to so radically redefine what torture and the Bad Place actually can be.
Interpersonal relationships between Eternal Beings are a lot different from human relationships. Michael doesn't really have any friends, nor has he ever had friends, but this fact doesn't really bother him because he's not human and it's just not a part of his experience. Because of this, he also doesn't have much of anything resembling empathy, despite the aforementioned commitment to the concept of morality as defined by the rules of his universe. It's only after he starts getting closer to the humans that he starts gaining true empathy and realizing he cares about Janet and the four humans in his neighborhood. The capacity for it is definitely there, but he hasn't made that leap yet.
Barge Reactions: As an Eternal Being who literally lives in hell, a lot of the horrible stuff the Admiral can throw at passengers won't necessarily bother Michael at all. He's more likely to be frustrated by floods or events that cause minor inconveniences than one where they're actively being tortured. He might be annoyed in the moment that it's interrupting his Friends rewatch, but he won't really be scared or scarred by a lot of the darker stuff the setting has to throw at him.
However, when he hits the point of realizing he is, in fact, sort of mortal, or any time he has to confront the fact that he can be hurt, he will not respond well and might even descend into a point of thinking everything is meaningless, as he's literally never needed to confront his own mortality before. The funk will be serious and possibly morph into a really awkward mid life crisis style breakdown, but he can be coaxed out of it with the right touch.
He will probably be a bit of a pain in the ash for his warden. Michael is going to be really frustrated by his lack of ability to summon whatever he wants for whatever he's doing and will take to pestering his warden for it. He's also going to be totally dismissive of the Barge's own redemption system, because most of the people here as inmates are going to go to the Bad Place when they get back home anyway. His world's rules just don't mesh well with the idea that change can happen after you die, so it will take a lot to show him that people can actually change in a meaningful way on the ship. He's also going to be stubborn with folks who try to argue with him about his version of the afterlife. They might say that's not how it works where they're from, but his response is always going to be "What proof do you have?" Unless they've been to their world's version of an afterlife, Mike's going to 100% believe that there's a Good Place/Bad Place situation going on in their world too, they just don't know about it yet, and he'll therefore argue that the Barge is stupid and pointless because inmates are never going to change enough to undo the city they blew up, the younglings they murdered, or how much they loved the New York Yankees.
Unlike other inmates, he's not going to have any grand designs of taking over the ship or causing harm to the passengers beyond verbal quips and tear downs. He's not violent or so ambitious that he'd want control of the ship, but he will probably loudly critique the Admiral's idea of torture and stack him up against the things he's been trained to do back home.
He's also going to be really pissed off to hear he - or a version of him - was here before should it come up, because it feels like the Admiral is pulling the same thing he's been doing to his four human test subjects, and relinquishing any control is a huge point of irritation for him. He didn't make anything resembling progress the last time he was here either, so we're still starting with square one on the redemption front.
Path to Redemption: Michael might be an actual demon, but he definitely has the ability to learn and empathize with other people, even to the point of considering them genuinely close friends he'd be willing to sacrifice himself for. The trick for his redemption on the Barge is getting to that point where he begins to really care about people, and gaining that empathy is going to open his eyes to what he really needs to work on changing.
The biggest thing he has to come to terms with is that the Bad Place/Good Place system is fundamentally flawed. There are people who probably deserve to be tortured forever, but people who are just kind of crappy like Eleanor, Chidi, Jason and Tahani probably do deserve a better afterlife. Morality is a lot more complex than the current system allows, and once he comes to genuinely accept that, he has a shot of going home to revamp the afterlife system again in a way that's more fair to the humans who have to experience it.
This might be a little tricky to hammer into him, because at the end of the day, Michael does have a moral compass, it's just extremely, extremely polarized. Another challenge is that he's from a universe where he knows exactly what's waiting for people in the afterlife, so he's likely to be completely dismissive of anyone trying to convince him that he needs to look at things in a different way. He also needs to break some of the belief that a lot of this stuff is just predestined or predetermined (i.e. not every French or Floridian person is immediately going to the Bad Place) and showing him that people have the capacity to change will be important as well. Getting him to a point where he understands that will help him make that realization that the system is pretty broken and in need of a major re-haul.
As a note: at this point in his canon, he and everyone else is essentially unaware that the system is so broken that no human has actually made it into the Good Place in hundreds of years. While that might come up in a flood or event, I'm fine with Michael returning home none the wiser, and I don't think that info would make it into Michael's file. He doesn't need to fully understand every flaw in the current system to be redeemed, and I'd rather he spend his time here focusing on the idea that the standards are insane vs. the system is incredibly broken, if that makes sense. I think learning to forgive the smaller things (place of birth, sports team affiliation, favorite band, etc.) is ultimately more important to his redemption as a person, as that's what gets him invested in saving humanity to begin with.
History: Michael on The Good Place Wikia
Sample Journal Entry:
Well, [Michael says, clapping his hands, shit eating grin on his face.] That was something, wasn't it?
[He's sitting at his desk in his office - what passes for his cabin on board the Barge - and rests his elbows on the surface, lacing his fingers together as he provides his customary review of the most recent port they've visited.]
You know, when I first accepted the Admiral's offer, I honestly thought there wasn't anything he was going to be able to show me that I hadn't already thought of myself. I mean, sure, his sample size is a lot bigger than mine was, but putting everyone in a contained space so they'd torture each other whenever the slightest grain of sand got in the way of them getting along? It's not that different.
But boy, that port was pretty great. Really made me feel like I was back at home.
In fact, that might be my only complaint. As far as originality goes, this port was a little- [He wiggles his hand in the air, a clear sign of being average, at best.] Meh, but classic torture still has its uses, doesn't it?
I have to admit, I was a big fan of the ghosts that represented everyone's worst fears. You know, hearing your mom tell you you've always been a disappointment, or getting confirmation that you were, in fact, wasting your life getting your PhD in some field literally no one cares about, say... moral philosophy. Just for example. Very classic. Retro. A little simplistic, maybe, but when well executed - which it was - it can still be very effective. Maybe I'll try to work that into my Neighborhood when I get back home.
So overall, I'd give this one a 7 out of 10. Room for improvement, but a very solid effort on the part of the Admiral. Can't wait to see what he cooks up next.
[That's not sarcasm, he's genuinely excited.]
Inferior Janet- [His warden, he means his warden.] Any chance you can get a round of frozen yogurt that's just gone slightly off for everyone?
Sample RP:
Life on the Barge is - quite frankly - extremely boring for an Eternal Being. Yes, the library's basically endless and Michael's learned by now that he can bully his warden into requesting basically any Earth television show he might be interested in binge watching on any given day, but it's not really enough to keep someone who's been around since the literal dawn of time occupied.
Ports, on the other hand... Now, ports are fun.
Especially when it involves going to a version of Earth that's familiar enough territory to help most of the humans on board get over any homesickness and Michael a chance to get up close and personal with certain human things he's seen and heard so much about, but never actually experienced.
Like Lenscrafters. Ordering a set of pencils on Amazon, paying extra for overnight delivery and receiving it in a box that's four times its size and filled with non recyclable packing peanuts. Picking up a prescription at a drive through pharmacy. Visiting a restaurant that has ten pages of completely unrelated foods on the menu. Costco.
After a lengthy negotiation with his warden that he needs a Costco card, Michael finds himself wandering the magical aisles of wholesale products you probably don't need, but are going to stock up with anyway. I mean, who knows when you'll need 64 cans of creamed corn? Or a keg big enough to keep an entire college football team occupied for an all night rager? Might as well pick up some terrible souvenir t-shirts that say "I went to Hackensack, New Jersey, and all I got was this Lousy T-Shirt" while you're here too, and the cheapest hot dogs with free refills on soda. You're already getting more things then you could ever possibly need, what's a couple thousand empty calories?
That's where he can be found, parked in the food court with his bags full of unnecessary purchases (including some bulk boxes of paperclips), basically radiating pure joy as he tears into another hot dog.
Special Notes: I'm planning on a hard reboot for Michael, with no memory of his past time on the Barge, for further frustration with the Admiral because now he's doing to Michael what Michael did to the humans.