Lewis. R. Thornton
"That feeling of when you're too young to be taken seriously as a professor but too old to relate to the students, that's like, my entire existence."
Details
Full name: Lewis Redmond Thornton
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Occupation: Wildwood University, Professor of Philosophy
Color Code: #9F0000
Appearance
Lewis has a somewhat small build, being only around 5'4" (
"5'4.6"!!!") tall with a constant look of being either being exhausted or being in an existential crisis. Often time mistaken for a student, he wears his staff ID around his neck constantly so visitors and freshmen can know "Prof. Thornton" is referring to him. Despite claiming to not care (the ID card
only being a practical thing), he seems to make attempts to look more "academic", his glasses are decorative.
Personality
Somewhat expected for a philosophy professor, Lewis is pretty eccentric, despite looking perpetually exhausted or high (He claims he is "high on philosophical inquiry".), his lectures are quite popular with the student body. He tries his best to make little things interesting, usually filling lecture slides with 6 months outdated memes, jokey "free" questions on exams, and handing out candy on Halloween lectures, even creating a "Winter Halloween" to be fair to the winter semester students.
Even though Lewis tries his best to play the cool hip professor role, and genuinely enjoys it in his daily life, it doesn't change the fact that he is deeply pessimistic, and deeply fears the more complex aspects of society due to past experiences. Years of studying ethics, sociology, and philosophy never changed his slightly airheaded nature. He is constantly pursuing a world and answers that are unreachable and is exhausted by it greatly.
As a younger man Lewis was much more reserved and quiet, he was a bit colder, sometimes harsh and brutally pragmatic. He was often described as seeming "antagonist-like" by his peers, despite his desperate attempts for virtue and morality. Over the years he made great attempts to move away from such unfeeling reputations, including his study of ethics and moral philosophy. But some of that harshness had remained, yet to be weathered away by time and books.
Backstory
Lewis Redmond Thornton never expected to become a philosophy professor for the majority of his life, after all, he had much more grandiose dreams.
From a young age, Lewis was considered many things, "gifted", "prodigy", and "antisocial personality disorder" were just a few, he was quiet, intelligent, and of course, "mature for his age". Having graduated high school at the age of 16, Lewis pursued his life's passion of biochemistry in university, then going on to medical school. Lewis had always thought that he would follow that path and become a doctor, if not for his girlfriend of 5 years, becoming an anti-vaxxer. She managed to convince his parents as well. After being thoroughly throttled by the break-up, Lewis was then offered to take part in a "lifestyle brand" start-up, by his medical school colleges nonetheless. Finally, with being offered recruitment by one of his professors into one of the state's biggest malpractice scandal, Lewis became totally disillusioned.
Still being quite young for his place in the world, Lewis was naturally confused why people he thought he knew, whom were educated and rational people, could act so suddenly in such irrational ways. He searched for answers in the only way he could, academics, by studying ethics and philosophy, as he decided to quit medical school and instead work on a master's degree, then a doctorate's degree, eventually landing a job in a university where he could stay away from the "real world" that so deeply troubled him.
Motivation
A bit jaded from his former stagnant life, a new one in a brand new world seems like an interesting prospect, but still somewhat pessimistic about the ordeal. Due to the fact that this new world likely suffers the same issues as the old one if they share most base abstract concepts and social constructs.
Wants to try his best to keep the students out of trouble.
Practical Skills
Medical school days are far behind him but could probably stitch a wound or dilute a chemical when push comes to shove. More current knowledge points are on institutional design, rational inquiry, and political philosophy. Knows how to weaponize misinformation and lack of information. And of course public speaking and education experience.
Magical Abilities
Being a mind over matter type of person (probably out of necessity), Lewis prefers magic that focuses on inquiry, logic, and information, such as illusionary and detection abilities. His extensive interdisciplinary training also allows for a high level of abstract thought and distinct perspectives on various things, which totally includes magic, if it were real.
