CANON HISTORY: Right here!
CANON PERSONALITY: Rosalind Lutece, in her early years, focused her studies on how atoms behaved in gravity. She discovered she could infinitely suspend one in midair-- a feat that could, theoretically, be extended larger and larger, until she could arrange for an entire group of atoms to be suspended. Rather than fall immediately to the ground, she could make it so that an apple could float forever. Or, you know. A city. Whichever!

She wasn't the only person studying such a phenomenon. As she experimented with her atoms, she discovered someone else had discovered this: herself, from another universe. But this wasn't Rosalind Lutece, but rather Robert: a male version of herself whose only difference was the single chromosome. Both Rosalind and Robert were delighted by this discovery and immediately set about trying to get to one another. Using their shared atom as a crude morse code, Rosalind and Robert spoke, each of them pouring all their efforts into being able to open a door between the universes. They eventually succeeded, and Rosalind brought Robert over to her world, claiming he was her twin brother. I explain this because much of the nuances of Rosalind's personality comes comparing her to Robert: someone like her, and yet not.

At first glance, Rosalind comes off as nothing more than aloof and cold. She speaks crisply and arrogantly to the player, saying things she knows he won't understanding, guiding him in as cryptic and unclear way as possible and taking clear cold amusement at his confusion. Her voice is clipped and her entire countenance suggests that she'd rather not be here at all. Through nickelodeons and journal entries found throughout the game, we can see that most of the city of Columbia regards Rosalind much the same way. Their resident scientist is a genius, no doubt, but she has no charisma, no smiles, no laughter or teasing jokes. She stands in sharp contrast with the city's other inventor, Jeremiah Fink, who presents each invention with a song and dance. She doesn't bother with any of that; she simply makes others aware of her inventions and retreats back into her own world, offering few explanations.

And to a certain extent, this isn't an inaccurate picture of Rosalind! Calm, analytical, and coldly indifferent to others, Rosalind is only concerned with two things in life: her scientific work and Robert.

But a peek into her childhood and personal journal entries reveals a softer side. Shunned by society thanks to her decidedly unfeminine choice in career, Rosalind retreated back into her own world. Science was firm and compliant, a steady fallback: an atom was an atom no matter what you did, after all, and it was far more reliable than people. Much of her coldness and decided apathy towards people comes from here: after years of distancing herself from people and forcing herself to be the picture of emotional control, after years of being mocked for not becoming a housewife and mother, Rosalind finds it difficult to care about anyone but herself. She wears her cold arrogance like a shield and refuses to give an inch no matter what, because an inch could become a mile so easily. We see this as she stands in contrast with Robert, who cares just a little more about the people around them. He's more carefree, too: in one scene, observed from a distance, we see Rosalind and Robert passing the time idly. Robert juggles, while Rosalind stands stiffly apart, staring in clear disapproval. In her world, such emotional indulgence could not be allowed, but Robert had never had to develop such defenses.

Morally, she could be classified as chaotic neutral: she really is only in it for herself. She doesn't mind working for a delusional, ultra-religious politician who routinely swindled both his flock and members of Congress; he funds her research gladly, and that's all that matters. She's self-aware enough to realize her own fault when his lies and sins get out of hand ("I sit in judgment -- but then again, it was I who built the stage"), but doesn't particularly care one way or another. So what if her meddling with time and space lead to the death of thousands? She's with her Robert, and that's all that matters. The only reason she even bothers to try and fix things at all is because Robert issues her an ultimatum: help or he'll leave her forever. It's only out of selfishness that she agrees.

That being said, she does care for one person: Robert gets her utmost devotion and love. Rosalind is revealed to have spent ages caring for the man, even when he was feebleminded and near death. Despite the fact he was no longer of use to her as a scientific mind, she loves him, and stays by his side, giving him her own blood to keep him alive. It's with Robert we get most of Rosalind's other personality traits: we see she's quick to anger, especially when she loses (whether in petty games or more serious matters); we see she can be quite sarcastic and glib, toying with language and making wry little remarks; we see she's also desperately, incredibly lonely-- enough that she's willing to attempt (what she sees as) a practice in futility again and again, simply for the chance to stay by Robert's side.

Rosalind is repeatedly and pointedly presented as one half of a duo, paired with her "brother", Robert. And while Robert is the optimist, the golden boy, the one who always sees a happy ending, Rosalind is the realist. Where he sees potential, she sees only inevitable failure. They're foils to each other again and again, and it paints Rosalind in the darker light: she's been disillusioned since early on in life, and has it ingrained in her that most things end badly.

SKILLS/ABILITIES: In canon, Rosalind is described as being something both alive and dead, all at once: her atoms are scattered across time and space, rendering her into a being that's entirely immortal, as well as having the ability to leap through both time and space with ease. While I don't expect she'll be allowed to regain most of these abilities, I'd like to request that she be able to eventually, far down the line, regain the power of teleportation within Recollé's universe.

She's also a genius! And I do mean genius: by age 17, she'd both discovered a way to keep atoms from falling, thus defying gravity; through this discovery, she'd also made contact with another universe. By age 22, she'd made an entire city fly (you know, as you do in your early twenties). The point being: Rosalind's insanely smart.