Keith

Keith is the one of the major characters of *Tales Of New York City* franchise. He is the supervisior of Felidae.

## **Personality**

Keith is hotheaded and temperamental, much like his (former) lion, which makes it hard for many to work with him. Known to be an orphan, Keith has trouble opening up and connecting with others aside from Shiro, who has acted as a mentor and guide for him; Keith quickly seemed to forget his fellow classmates once expelled from the Galaxy Garrison. He spent most of his time after his expulsion living alone in a shack out in the desert and searching for the source of strange energy he felt, leading him to explore a nearby range of mountains. It was in these mountains that he learned of the existence of the Blue Lion once Shiro returns from his captivity in the Galra Empire and fellow Garrison cadets assist in the Lion's discovery.

While Keith is imbued with a sense of justice and bravery, this can manifest itself in a stubborn personality, making him someone who refuses to back down from a fight despite any warnings from his teammates that he should flee. This can put him in situations far beyond his comfort zone but cause him to achieve impressive feats. This trait is best witnessed during his battle with Zarkon, who was using the Black Bayard to push Keith and the Lion beyond their limits. Normally extremely perceptive, Keith's fiery personality sometimes causes him to forget crucial details of his missions, such as being so focused on destroying enemies that he forgot the Balmera was a living creature and that he had to be careful to not cause any damage to it in battle.

Despite his tendency to jump into battle, Keith can be quite calm and cautious at times. This can be seen in his wariness of the local Arusians, taking a while to warm up to the friendly aliens before trusting them completely. Keith is quick-witted, making many deadpan remarks and observations at other's expense, particularly Lance's, who believes Keith is his rival. Even with constant provocations from Lance, Keith shows only disinterest in a rivalry and makes attempts at bonding and working together with his entire team. Keith is truthfully as goofy and free-spirited as the rest of his teammates; it just takes a little longer for the somewhat stoic Paladin to show this. He has laughed freely at Hunk's jokes and enjoyed the food fight during training, throwing plates of goo onto Allura and Coran's faces while laughing wildly, and over time, warms up to the team to crack friendly jokes of his own. Keith is notably fond of the outdoors, finding the quiet of the forest and wild lands to be enjoyable.

Keith is in possession of a blade bearing the symbol of the Blade of Marmora with no idea about its origins. After noting similarities between it and one that Ulaz wielded, Keith began to suspect he was part Galra or being used by Zarkon to track the team, causing him to become more reclusive from his teammates and more sympathetic towards Galra rebel fighters. When his Galra heritage was revealed, he felt dejected due to Allura's hatred of the Galra extending even to him, and while frustrated and hurt, did not fault her for it. Luckily for Keith, Allura came to terms with her own suffering and feelings towards the Galra, making amends with him by stating that she considered him and the Paladins her new family, and what is important in a person is who they are, not their blood. Keith has expressed an interest in searching the universe for his Galran relatives once Voltron was no longer required, showing that he wished to continue his journey of self-discovery and know more about his Galran roots.

Keith does have some issues with trust. Due to his mother leaving him as an infant and his father's death when he was still a small child, Keith had some serious barriers that he kept up around his friends and teammates, which initially impeded his abilities as a leader during the first few missions as the head of Voltron. Due his emotional trauma, Keith attempted to be off-putting in an attempt to spare himself the pain of possible rejection.

Keith embodies the Red Lion's elemental affiliation of Fire in his hotheaded personality, fierce instincts in battle, and often incendiary humor and remarks. But like fire, Keith's impulsive and explosive tendencies can be harnessed as a valuable tool and weapon to ensure the survival and victory of his friends and innocents.

Keith's mixed heritage seems to have had an affect on him. After discovering his Galran heritage, Keith began to volunteer for increasingly dangerous assignments from the Blade of Marmora, seeming to feel the need to attach him to the closest connection he had to his biological family. Keith often felt the need to prove himself to his commanding officer and mentor, Kolivan, while simultaneously disregarding orders to put the mission first.

Keith shares key characteristics with his Galran mother, Krolia, including a protective streak, a tendency to be impulsive, and a habit of incorporating his own emotional agenda into his missions against the advice of senior officers such as Shiro or Kolivan.

Following his reunion with his mother, Keith matured considerably over his two years in warped space. Having finally discovered the reason why his mother left him was for his protection, Keith finally made peace with his past on Earth. Keith was known to have been close with his father, and now having known his mother, he is far more at ease with his heritage, feeling at peace at last.

Keith's latent leadership abilities came to surface along his journey, though he is less decisive and more aggressive as a leader than Shiro, though he is quickly calming down into a leader of great skill, as noted by the Black Lion who only allows born leaders to partner with it. In this sense, his personality is cooling down from a raging fire to a strong and powerful whirlwind. Keith's leadership style embodies the more aggressive traits of the Black Lion.

Since returning from the Quantum Abyss, Keith's ability to connect to Black's consciousness directly seems to be indicative of his newfound maturity. He was able to calmly and decisively lead the Paladins against Lotor and his Sincline mech. No longer possessed by his manic and frenetic mindset in battle, Keith is now a leader come full circle in his journey of self-discovery. It can be seen that he no longer is as anxious or aggressive in his leadership style, able to master control over himself enough to see through the eyes of the Black Lion, a feat only displayed among the current generation of Paladins by his predecessor, Shiro.

In essence, Keith's journey in Legendary Defender is one of "forming the head", to paraphrase his Defender of the Universe counterpart. While the original series presented viewers with a fully-formed 30-something Keith who was "specially trained and sent by the Alliance" as a well-balanced exemplary leader, here Keith is being shown undergoing the trials and tribulations necessary to forge such a leader, like a blade made much stronger from being tempered in heat and cold. Thus far Keith's experiences and performance have given much promise that his inner struggles will at last crystallize into a beacon of hope, like grim percussion replaced by the clarion call of a trumpet.

## **Appearance**

Slender, fair skin, black hair, blue-grey eyes.

* ATTIRE:

Black and blue shirt and white pants.

## **Allies**

* Sarada Uchiha
* Sokka
* Max
* Zoe Drake
* Aiger Akabane
* Nate Adams
* Korra
* Kronk
* Sakura Uchiha
* Sasuke Uchiha
* Sophie Hatter
* Sōsuke
* Meelo
* Himawari Uzumaki
* Mei
* Ame
* May
* Boruto Uzumaki
* Rex Owen
* Pema
* Mel
* Kidd Summers
* Delia Ketchum
* Ash Ketchum
* Umi Matsuzaki
* Kaguya
* Tenzin
* Beast Boy
* Ino Yamanaka
* Tenten
* Hinata Uzumaki

## **Enemies**

* Menma Uzumaki
* Kushina Uzumaki
* Minato Namikaze
* Capo
* Chrome