Character Questions: Callie Ann
Full name: Callie Ann Maddox (Callie Ann is one name)
Nickname: Callie (personal preference), Cal (unique nickname by her older brother; only Benji can call her that), General Maddox (when she ran The Edenian Freedom Fighters and Special Forces), Drill Sergeant Maddox (Current rank in Special Forces), The Iron Maiden of Edenia (Moniker during her time running the Freedom Fighters)
Occupation: Drill Sergeant of Special Forces, Messenger of the Elder Gods
Appearance: Formerly, I used to say that Callie looks like Zelina Vega since MK11's cast used face capturing. I'll stop doing that now. Callie Ann is a Blasian Woman (leaning more on the Black side regarding facial features) with dark brown hair usually tied in a low ponytail. She's barely above average height with a respectable B-size bust. She's athletic regarding body sculpture, a natural conclusion from leading two militaries. The most unique feature of her facial appearance is her eyes. Callie has purple eyes. As if her irises were personally formed with amethysts. Whenever she activates Hawkeye, her eyes glow. We learn later that her eyes being purple is a Mark of this.
Age: 22,029 but looks like she's in her late twenties. Callie and her brother share the same birthday, but they're a thousand years apart so Callie says they're twins in spirit.
Mannerisms: A far cry from her brother, Callie's cocky, confident, and bold. Her smart-mouth tendencies have been toned down immensely from when she was a teen. It does rear its head once in a while. As the Freedom Fighters and Special Forces leader, she commanded and demanded respect from her soldiers, earned after Black Monday. Like Benji and Mai, Callie's very charismatic. Unlike her brother, she makes good use of it. Her enemies (like Tanya) despise her for that very reason. Normally, she's the more lax member of the Maddox Family. Ask her, and she'll comedically say that her brother's a stick in the mud and that he loosened up only by becoming a husband and later, father. She gets her relaxed personality from her mother as the Maddox Family was always confident and calm. But she doesn't add in the elitist behavior her grandparents or grandaunts exhibited.
What does he/she wear?: A well-documented tomboy (much to Mai's disappointment) since the only role model she had as a child was her only brother. Add being a military girl, you're one sex organ away from calling Callie a guy. It only makes sense for her wardrobe to reflect this. In a casual setting, Callie typically wears a tank top with her hair down, an armband, or wristbands with fatigues on her legs and combat boots. Her Revolver is holstered on her right leg, and her Combat Knife that Benji personally made is holstered on her left boot. This is what she normally wears now. During times of war or serious strife, Callie puts on a black duster with the left sleeve missing. The reason why was because of her former lover, Skarlet. During their third confrontation, the Blood Mage swiped her left sleeve, causing it to hang. She ripped the sleeve off in anger (since Benji made it for her). But she uses that to her advantage since she hides her pocket pistol in the right sleeve. Whenever she uses her Repeater Rifle or any other Rifle, Callie slings them over her shoulders.
Favorite color: Purple
What is he/she good at?: Callie is a woman of many talents. Her time with the Freedom Fighters taught her how to use swords, spears, and a bow and arrow. Eventually, she would prefer using a dagger and later a combat knife. Thanks to being a Scout, she knows a thing or two about stealth. As the leader of the Freedom Fighters, she learned about strategy and became a master. Her time as General of the Freedom Fighters taught her a cornucopia of leadership skills. After moving to Earthrealm and integrating into the Special Forces, she learned even more about war tactics. As a Sniper, she learned to pick Targets of Interest, make picks, and find perch points. She also learned how to work in teams, and learned how Spot. Thanks to a tip-off from her former superior officer, she learned to use Repeater Rifles and hunt animals in the wild. As a hobby, she taught herself how to play the piano to calm her down from the stresses of military life. Also, she has the ability of Hakweye which she inherited from her father. When activated her already insane is amplified, signified by her purple eyes glowing brightly. She also knows how to construct firearms from separate parts. She perfectly represents mixing Edenian fighting abilities with Earthrealm ones, making Callie arguably the best hand-to-hand fighter in the cast.
What is he/she bad at?: Callie has trust issues. It's hard to gain it from her and easy to lose it, and it's almost impossible to regain once it's lost. For nearly her whole life, Benji was the only person she could reliably trust. Over time, she's learned to distribute her trust to others. The peak of this was when she entrusted Kim to kill Reiko (which she did without a hitch) while only knowing her personally for twenty-seven years, even a smaller amount of time. But still, the amount of people she has complete trust in is small. And those people can be summed up as the main cast, and the people who directly answer to her in Special Forces. Anyone else is kept at safe distances.
What does he/she want?: Protect Earthrealm and (reluctantly) Edenia from the evils of the world.
What is his/her goal?: To keep her family (both blood and bond) safe.
What lie does he/she believe?: She can only trust a few to help her with her goals.
What flaw results from the lie?: Callie's well-documented trust issues.
What truth does he/she learn?: She can rely more on people outside her family to help with her problems.
What is his/her background?
What can I say about the younger Maddox Sibling that hasn't already been said? Callie was born to Mai in Edenia a thousand years to the day after her older brother. Growing up, she was a Daddy's girl since her father, Joseph Maddox, favored her over Benji. (He wanted a daughter, and Mai wanted a son) In their youth, she was very competitive with Benji. (Which was comedically one-sided as Benji didn't care) Then everything changed once Joseph was murdered and Mai went into hiding.
Benji stepped up as the older sibling and began working tirelessly to ensure they both didn't get killed. It was through this strife that Callie abandoned her rivalry-like behavior and admired her older brother for busting his ass for them. When able, she started to do the same. Eventually, the two would bond as every day passed, although each developed different ideologies to ensure survival. Since Benji delved into Medicine, he became a kind, caring, but brave young man after Mai. Callie, deciding to learn how to hunt monsters, became bold, confident, and reassuring. Each became introverted due to the way they lived their lives. They only had each other for this point their entire lives, and that is why they developed trust issues. Callie's was a lot worse than Benji's. Callie was cold, distant, and confrontational whenever she did anything without him. And that continued as she entered the Edenian Freedom Fighters thanks to Benji's current position as one of the Doctors and his position as advisor to the Royal Family. She quickly earned a reputation for being a phenomenal soldier, but at the same time for being Benji's little sister and for not being much of a people person. Callie didn't make many friends then, including Rain and Tanya. Her rise up the ranks was meteoric, and she was promoted to Scout after breaking the records for completing the pre-requisite test. She did this before Tanya and Rain even though they were both with the Freedom Fighters for longer. But after Black Monday, when most of the infantry was killed for ignoring her scouting reports save for one soldier, she and Benji befriended Ryuji. All the negative comments her peers had for her, including those where she was in her brother's shadow, were quickly axed. This sole act promoted her to Head Scout, the second in command, and the nickname 'Mama Bear'. However, the events gave her a small case of PTSD. Luckily, it never escalated. Eventually, the previous General retired and personally recommended Callie to be his successor despite Jerrod's insistence on picking someone else. (We all know why at this point) Still, he refused, stating that Callie was the best for the job. Jerrod held a Tournament among the entire Freedom Fighters and whoever made the podium would determine where they would go. First place would be the next General of the Freedom Fighters.
Callie stomped the entire tournament (Benji didn't enter as he was fine being a Doctor for the army) and became the next General. Rain got second and became Head Scout. Tanya got third, becoming Rain's second in command. The first thing Callie did was promote her brother to Battle Medic. She knew he was a monster in the field as she was if not a little less so and thought having an aware Doctor who doubled as a soldier would be beneficial. She was right, as casualties for the Freedom Fighters dropped significantly thanks to Benji's presence during battles. He could defend himself better than 95% of the entire army helped. Next, she ordered every Infantry Soldier to take the Scout's test, deeming that more eyes in the field scouting for threats beneficial. All of this was done when she was the equivalent of 19 years old to us. All of this fine-tuned the Freedom Fighters into arguably its deadliest iteration to date and earning Callie her infamous moniker 'The Iron Maiden of Edenia' and cementing herself as a legend of the realm alongside her Mother and Brother as they were the 'White Swan of Edenia' and the less kind 'Mad Man Maddox' respectively. Then the beginning of Gone, but Not Forgotten began. The Maddox Siblings after hearing firsthand of Jerrod's intentions with them after deciding to act against Shao Kahn, renounced their Edenian citizenship and fled for Seido, created The Resistance, then moved to Earthrealm. I don't need to detail the story since it's well-established.
Callie lives in California with her husband, Kung Lao. She takes pride in knowing she was one of his biggest motivations for humbling himself and becoming a much better person. She currently is a part of Special Forces as the Drill Sergeant meaning she trains the new recruits (who she horrifies personally without fail) and runs the Black Ops Division with Jax, Kenshi, and Kabal. Formerly Cyrax and Xan were members, but both were relieved of their duties since Cyrax joined Sub-Zero and Smoke by re-establishing the Lin Kuei and Xan's need for rest and moving to Edenia to work a more lax job. Whenever she isn't working she's adjusting to being a wife, an aunt, and most recently, a mother as Mulan Maddox is her daughter. She didn't think she'd be any of those things, but she loves her husband, spoiling her nieces and nephews, and being around her kid since Mulan is just a younger Callie who knows Kung Fu. (I joke of course)
Additional Questions for the younger Maddox Sibling?
Does Callie forgive herself for what happened to the Freedom Fighters under her?
Callie forgave herself after she learned of what happened to her men. Once she learned they became a chunk of the trees in the Living Forest, and after they all apologized for quickly abandoning her and Benji, she forgave herself for up and leaving.
How long did it take for Callie to adjust to being married?
It took some time. Callie had to readjust many of her personal beliefs when she got engaged. She had to spend more time with Lao and wear the engagement ring, even to work. She had to wear a wedding dress. (Much to Mai's enjoyment) After the wedding and the union were consummated, she had to get used to waking up next to him. For a while, Callie after waking up would leave the room instead of staying with him. Lao had to take things slow with her, although they became a wedded couple. Over time, she's gotten used to it, but I wouldn't be surprised if it took a couple of years.
What are the interactions like between Callie and Benji at this juncture?
Huh, this question has brought to my attention that I have rarely written a scene with just our two main protagonists since Arc III. They've been in the same scene numerous times, but never by themselves. I should make a note to change that soon. Anyway, Benji and Callie talk about their lives whenever they have a moment to themselves. He tells her about Jade, Sareena, and his kids. Callie tells him about Lao and work. Despite not living together anymore or not even living in the same realm, the two get along like this new chapter in their lives never separated them. If Callie weren't a workaholic, she'd visit Edenia more to see her brother, sisters, niece, and nephew. Then again, they're in Edenia. And Callie made her opinions on the place very clear.
(AD: A shame that she still won't let it go)
What is Callie's mindset going into this Arc?
Still deeply affected by Skarlet's death. Callie decided to cope (besides crying into Lao's arms whenever she had tears to spare.) by drowning herself in work - even more so. Normally, she wouldn't be in Special Forces HQ this often, but Skarlet's death and Cassie and Jacqui's growing incompetence allowed her to be there for extended periods. Those two make for perfect verbal punching bags, especially Cassie. Callie needs a way to get the anger out since she inadvertently saved Erron Black's life by aiming to disarm him, unlike Mulan who was shooting to kill him. If those two ever square off, the Outworld Cowboy will never be the same again, that's for sure. Hopefully, when Khameleon steps into her personal life, she'll provide more light at the end of the tunnel. Even though I don't think we'll let her or any of the cast members get to Yuan Lei's levels of dark, sad, and depressed, Callie's still in a bad spot mentally. She's done a phenomenal job masking it.