Earth Pony Professor Cogsworth [Ready]

[ProfessorCogsworth]

Roleplay Type: Mane RP

Name: Professor Tink Cogsworth (just call him Cogsworth or Cogsy...)

(Artwork by our very own Starburst)

Sex: Male

Age: Stallion (on older Stallion though)

Species: Earth Pony

Eye colour: Blue

Coat:

[colour=#808080]"No, I will not bathe today, I bathed yesterday, I don't have time! I don't care if I'm covered in grease, it is the sign of an inventor...wait, nooooooo!" [/colour]

_{The Professor shortly before being dragged off by his servant to bathe.}

Grey, though usually covered in smear stains of grease, oil and other manner of machine fluids. It is fairly unkempt most of the time unless his servant has gotten a hold of him and successfully dragged him away from his workshop, dumping him into the bath.

Mane/Tail:

[colour=#808080]"Gah Nanny, why didn't you tell me my mane was on fire?!"[/colour]

[colour=#800080]"well you look so engrossed in yer inventin' I didn't want to interupt..."[/colour]

_{A typical conversation before the Professor made a practical choice...}

Both mane and tail are a bright white, though not through ageing, this is the hallmark of the Cogsworth family. The mane is tied back into a Pony tail (no pun intended) to keep the hair both out of his eyes and away from any lit flames he's working on. He made that mistake one too many times, the last time he was so engrossed in his work it took him a good five minutes to notice the acrid smoke the burning mane had produced, leaving him nearly bald for some time.

He has an unkempt beard and moustache, though this is also a fire hazard he see it as a requirement of any kind of Professor to have some kind of facial hair. He will trim it to stop it becoming too much of a health risk but otherwise he will leave it alone to do as facial hair is wont to do.

Physique:

Now while he is of a fairly slender, non-muscular build the key feature to his physique is the fact he wears a metal prosthesis that he crafted himself after losing the leg in an accident. This means he has a signature footstep hard to mistake for anyone else (clunk, clop, clop, clop, clunk, clop, clop, clop etc.).

Residence:

Somewhere in the dark and nasty region, where nobody goes there stands an ancient Manor.

Deep within this mildly damp place lives Professor Cogsworth

[colour=#808080]"Hello!"[/colour]

And Nanny, his overworked servant who lives upstairs

[colour=#800080]"Professor, dinner is ready!"[/colour]

But Nanny's cooking is nothing compared to the horrors that lurk beneath the trapdoor.....

[colour=#808080]"Wait a minute, my workshop is down there, are you saying it is full of horrors?"[/colour]

Well it could seriously do with a tidy, I mean there is stuff everywhere!

[colour=#808080]"Tidy it up, never! I'll never find anything if I do, now begone narrator!"[/colour]

_{Alright fine Professor...I'll do it the boring way...}

Cogsworth manor resides deep within the Whitetail Woods. A tall imposing building in a state of semi-ill repair. The manor house was last lived in by his Grandfather, Crafter Cogsworth, who left the house to the family. Sitting on a jagged outcrop of a cliff, casting a long shadow over the forest below when the sun begins to set. The ancestor who had this built had a mild case of delusions of grandeur, not uncommon with people not use to vast sums of money. A single tall circular turret jutts out from the middle of the roof, as if in a vain attempt to copy the vastly grander palace of Canterlot, leading to the family to refer to it as Cogsworth 'castle' and not the proper title of Cogsworth Manor.

The flickering lights, loud bangs and occasional slightly maniacal laughter would make any adventurer think this was a haunted house...sadly for them the scariest thing in the house is Nanny's "Tuesday pie surprise" (the surprise is that it is served on any day but Tuesday...and contains hot sauce).

A path leads from the house to the bottom of the cliff on the less sheer side, winding down the slope, the paved cobblestones of the path giving way to the mud and grass at the bottom. This area was probably once a beautiful meadow, however years of the Cogsworth family residence, not to mention the Professors own experimentation, have led this to be a muddy, blast crater filled area since it is the only space available for the testing of larger devices. This has left some of the trees charred and leafless with the occasional bit of metal flung into them, further promoting the look of a 'cursed and haunted place' to any Pony approaching it from the bottom.

Obviously the fairly remote location means he rarely gets visitors. Away from civilisation it is a great place to test his many inventions, especially the steam powered ones which have a tendency to explode due to the undue stress he puts them under. The local wildlife has learned to keep well away from the castle, not just due to the inventions but the fact that Nanny takes no guff from anyone or anything (and she is big and tough enough to batter most things into submission if they even think of attacking the Professor).

The other notable feature of the manor are the two large metal rods that stick through the roof, designed to conduct lightning down into the workshop, the only way the Professor can procure electricity in such a wild location, unfortunately he has no idea just what to do with it when it arrives, it usually just leads to whichever invention he has hooked up to it exploding due to the insane voltage produce by lightning.

Occupation: Professor, Tinkerer, Inventor and in another life would be considered somewhat of a mad scientist (though he is far too good natured for all the shennanigans that type gets upto).

Cutie Mark: Two interlinked cogs. This is practically the Cogsworth family mark, each family member has some variation of this due to their heritage as tinkerers and inventers usually around the application of cogs and gears. In the tradition of the Cogsworth family he earned his when he successfully made his first invention (that actually worked), a wind up clockwork toy which he gave to his father as a gift.

This was his crowning moment, he had spent months working on this little clockwork pony for his Father's birthday, putting all his effort and sweat into making it, having to sneak out of the house to work the metal delicately into the shape of a prancing pony. Saving up all the money he could to buy the best wood he could find, the best polish, everything was to be perfect. Scouring shops for broken clocks for gears and cogs, though most people just looked at him oddly, they were just going to be thrown out and this weird, grease covered little foal was willing to pay for them?! Who were they to argue.

The smile on his father's face, the moment of recognition that he had finally achieved something a Cogsworth could be proud of was reward enough but his ultimate and unexpected reward was his cutie mark, making his parents doubly proud of their son.

History:

[colour=#800080]"Professor, are you sure this will work?"[/colour]

[colour=#808080]"Frankly Nanny I have no idea...but it'll be fun finding out!"[/colour]

_{Said just before the Professor lost his leg....}

The Cogsworths have always been a tinkering family, rarely actually getting an invention 'onto the market' but more happy to forever remain in the experimental stage of design, making enough money to get by, though one of their ancestors hitting it off big with some invention allowing the family to have Cogsworth Manor constructed. Nobody in the family can quite remamber what this 'amazing invention' was though, a shame because they could still be making money off it today...

Tink Cogsworth was born into this family and showed his aptitude from a young age, going so far as to take apart his own toys and try to put them back together into more interesting items (though usually failing). His parents did make the wise choice to not live within the ancestral Cogsworth home and instead lived in Canterlot, much closer to the best schooling they could find.

While the young Cogsworth was intelligent he lacked the social graces of his peers, he was by no means 'cool' (infact he was -20% cooler than any of the other ponies in his class). This led him to be a tad antisocial, rarely making friends and instead focusing inward on both his studies and his inventions (the exploding bubblegum he invented in his colt years was not the hit with the fillies...or anyone who liked having nice teeth for that matter).

The years rolled by and he blossomed into a Professor with a lack of an indoor voice (Though some say his Professorship was given to him simply to get him out of Canterlot as fast as possible in order to bring property prices back up, explosions and shouty neighbours tend to lower them) and he decided that now, since Grandfather Cogsworth had passed away, it was his duty to move into the ancestral home. The people of his street in Canterlot rejoiced (out of earshot) when the cart left with all his belongings...no more would they suffer him banging away on metal day and night or possible injury by flying shards of metal.

The Professor was quick to hire a member of staff since he found he could not both invent and cook for himself at the same time (he'd tried, it wasn't pretty) the only one to actually make it to Cogsworth Manor went simply by the name of Nanny (she'd applied for another job and got the address of the two jobs mixed up, she also wrote her job title in her name space on the application form and didn't want to correct the Professor). This slightly chubby Mare, standing as tall as any Clydesdale, able to lift seemingly vast amounts of weights, was perfect for the Professor. She was someone who could do a lot of the heavy lifting as well as cook for him (even if he is the only one able to eat her food, he burnt his tastebuds off years ago).

However Nanny also has problems with doors...she goes through them rather than opening them, this is an improvement from when she first arrived, she went through walls instead. Still who needs doors anyway? They just get in the way! Well apart from the front door...that needs to be replaced, need some kind of privacy.

The Professor lost his leg while trying to create a 'Steam Propelled Vehicular Transportation'. He had the prototype ready, the coals had been burning all morning, he flicked the switch and BOOM, it exploded because the Professor had forgotten to turn on the safety valve and the pressure was just too much for the boiler. Nanny rushed him to the nearest hospital where he remained for some weeks, when he arrived home he found the lack of a limb a bit of an annoyance, so instead construct a metal removable replacement.

And here we are, right up until the modern day. The Professor resides within his home, tinkering, inventing, causing explosions and he couldn't be happier...

Character Summary:

[colour=#808080]"Summaries a Pony like me? Impossible I say good sir!"[/colour]

_{The Professor when asked to sum himself up in not so many words...}

The Professor is kind hearted and kind of loud but can grow obsessed with his latest idea, ignoring food, sleep and the company of others to see it through to the inevitable explosive finale. His inventions are either too complicated to make the task simpler (his hoof cranked rotary clothes cleaner actually takes more effort than simply washing clothes by hand for example) or just plain impractical at times, no sane pony would want the Steam Propelled vehicular tranport device, it just sounds dangerous and who needs it anyway? A Pony has legs, wings or can move faster by use of magic and the vehicle isn't that much quicker than a moving at a simple trot. Stronger Earth Ponies are more than enough to carry goods over long distances and Pegasi make for much better (and faster) delivery of goods.

However to the Professor it is his pride and joy, a sign of triumph in the face of adversity, rebuilt from the pieces of a folly that cost him his leg. A testiment to the Professor sometimes stubborn minded ideals that everything can be fixed, whether though tinkering with cogs, gears and boilers or through the use of friendship and magic.

Ideas constantly swirl about his head, often leading him to drift off mid-conversation as his brain formulates a design, giving the impression he is absent minded. This is quite the opposite he is too focused, just not on the conversation he is having at that particular moment to the point of suddenly just bolting from a conversation with the briefest of goodbyes or frantically begin searching for quill, ink and paper. Though thankfully he has yet to simply run down a street in bathtowel yelling "Eureka!", nobody wants to see that, not even the Professor (not with his flowery bathtowel at least, little phases the Professor but that would bring a blush to his cheeks if he saw himself).

Still anyone who is brave enough to explore that deep into the Whitetail Forest well be welcomed, receive a meal and a place to stay for as long as required though they might not be getting the best sleep if the Professor is in one of his moods, few will put up with the clanging, banging, shouting and occasionally dull whump as something goes boom either outside or in the lab.

[ProfessorCogsworth]

Ok Application is now ready!

[starswirlthebearded]

Not a bad app... not a bad app at all... Just a few things... I'd like to point out (Please keep in mind that I am not a RP help staff, and my word has no actual authority, so if you do not like the sound of something feel free to wait for the input of a RP Help Staff member). I'm just trying to help as much as I can and give my personal opinion

First off... numerical age. Doesn't matter if it is approximate, those are a no no. Saying "Older stallion" would work better. Just remember, we don't know how ponies age, or if their years correspond to human years. So it is best not to include it at all.

Next... The prosthesis leg... I'm honestly not sure if that is in keeping with the current tech level of Equestria. We have seen nothing like it before. Disabilities are usually not allowed, but each situation is different. Honestly, the bigger problem I see is that it is a legitimate functioning prosthesis. At the very least tone it down a bit. It just looks and sounds to me too futuristic. Overall for this part, I'd ask a RP Help Staff their opinion on it if you can.

Residence: Why does he and his family live in the Everfree forest? What need do they have to live there? It is the most dangerous place in all of Equestria that we know of. Why would a family raise kids there? Why would anyone build a castle there? Now if it had some deep meaning to their profession I'd understand, but being inventors that would make it more difficult for them. The lack of ability to get parts or tools easily without braving the most feared forest in Equestria containing the most dangerous animals doesn't seem too wise for a family of inventors. If they were a family of herbalists I'd understand, as that would make sense, but inventors... I'm sorry, but I just don't see the logic in that. Basically being in the Everfree forest makes little sense and makes certain things harder for your back story (like how could he get to the hospital braving that forest with a nanny carrying an injured stallion. Even Twilight, the most magical mare in Equestria was turned to stone, and she wasn't carrying anyone). I'd suggest perhaps the Whitetail Woods if you really wanted seclusion. (BTW, I know Luna's castle or whatever is there, but that was likely built over 1000 years ago. We don't know the nature of those woods at that time. But we do know it was abandoned. We also know that it got destroyed... So a few generations likely wouldn't put it on the same time frame as the possibility of the Royal Castle being built)

Lack of a cutie mark story is a huge issue, probably the biggest. Read your app twice to see if I missed it, and it is simply not there. What event granted your character his cutie mark? What did he discover about himself that made it appear? This is very important. Your residence might not get this app delayed or the prosthesis for that matter (again, those were just opinions), but no cutie mark story certainly will! Please be sure to include that

"Hand cranked" I don't think ponies have hands... Just change all those to "hoof" and that should take care of that.

I'd also remove the reference to Brian Blessed. It isn't necessary. Explaining that he is kind hearted and loud should be sufficient enough without referencing a real life actor.

Lastly a word of caution and warning... While inventor ponies are welcome, they are always reminded to keep a proverbial lid on their inventions. Try and not go overboard. Keep in mind the tech level and you should be fine. I'm honestly not sure how the help staff will respond to the inventions or the adverse effects those inventions had on your character. I don't really see an issue with them, but it is always best to ask just in case. I honestly think the flying machine and the prosthesis MIGHT be pushing it, but they might be alright. I'm simply not sure. You'll have to wait for RP Help Staff input on things like that.

Now I know that seems like a lot, but I honestly love the app. There are a few things that can be fixed and improved upon, but otherwise I really like it and hope to see the good professor in RP soon

[ProfessorCogsworth]

1) The Prosthesis.

I will point out that the idea of a Prosthesis has been around since medieval times and actually quite complicated designs were made (right down to having fingers that could be adjusted), here is an example of an actual medieval prosthesis:

These were made by the individuals and would vary in quality from simple wooden legs to full on poseable arms and legs that could move, even if they get the user a limp due to the effort of having to swing the leg forward themselves. Pony tech level is at least around American civil war era, they have steam engines, even if they're unreliable. For civil war prosthetics they get even more advanced, notice the leg in the middle. This would be what Professor Cogsworth is like.

Infact if you look at the character picture his is even more basic. He also doesn't treat it as an 'angst vehicle'. There is no 'oh woe is me' stuff going on, he lost a limb and fashioned a new one, if asked about how he got it he is more likely to laugh and shake his head and simply express it as "the results of an inventor's folly".

2) The Vehicle:

The key point here is that as long as man has existed, the dream of flight has also existed, I imagine an Earth Pony would very much love to take to the skies. Though I will remove the remark that it could have flown. Judging by the style of the train seen in the show (since it looks like a more advanced steam train and not the earlier versions) then steam tech is around the mid-1800s.

(The John Bull, first operated in 1831, note how similar it looks to the train featured on the show)

There are cases of successful steam powered flight around that era, including a steam powered helicopter making a flight over Paris. Only capable of short distances admittedly, incredibly ungainly in flight and certainly not designed for mass production. Mind you this is a problem of the show in that it has 'schizo-tech' where technology levels seem to be all over the place.

Still I am willing once more to compromise and change it to a steam powered land vehicle if the RP helper suggests too which the show has shown exist with Flim and Flams machine.

As for the other suggestions, I am making those changes now.

[starswirlthebearded]

As I said I'm not sure. Though a thought occurred to me. We've seen a flying machine. Pinkie's bike flying machine. So that MIGHT pass, but if it doesn't I'm happy that you are understanding enough to change that to land based, which is actually directly referenced in the lore archives for technology. However, the reason we haven't seen prosthesis is because there isn't disability. So I'm not sure that part of it will pass more than the prosthesis. But again, it sort of works. So it might be alright. Again I'm no RP Help Staff. I'm basically just a user who read things a lot.

So basically, if they allow the disability, I see no reason why they'll disallow the prosthesis, especially given your explanation. The steam powered flying machine is touchy, but it might work. Which is again, why I said you should contact an RP Help Staff. These two points are sort of a grey area in my experience.

Good luck And hopefully everything is allowed If not I'm sure you'll think of something awesome for your character!

[Mojo]

Hi Professor Cogsworth!

Ok, as one who has many older stallions in his RP 'corral', I must say I do love this character!

And Starswirl gave you some excellent pointers, thank you for implimenting them!

All of the required fields are filled, and I can accept your illustrated 'explanation' for his artificial leg.

We'll just have to see if the Senior RP staff will accept it as well.

[ProfessorCogsworth]

Yay thanks Mojo!

Now it is just the question of waiting for approval....and choosing which ideas for threads I had...curse me and my many ideas.

[Rosewind]

I've really enjoyed reading this application. I think your character is unique, entertaining, and avoids a lot of traps that are easy to fall into with character design that WoE demands. Before I stamp this, I would like you to remember that while inventor characters are fun to play, you help us keep the technology level in check by being careful about what you have your character make and introduce to the roleplay. With that out of the way, have a

[ProfessorCogsworth]

Yay thanks!

Now just wait for me to be an officially sanctioned Roleplayer!

I think I shall do my original idea for a series of topics called: There and Back Again: A Pony's tour: (current locations).

Basically Professor Cogsworth is going to visit a few locations, starting with Canterlot I think.

[starswirlthebearded]

Congrats Prof!

[ProfessorCogsworth]

Ty Starswirl

[ClockChime]

congrats...