There are no laws on Ceres

OOC

Handle: Ca
Contact: PM!
Over 18? Y
Characters Played: Frank Castle

THE CHARACTER

Character Name: Josephus Miller
Series: The Expanse
Canon Point: 2.05 “Home” (at/around time of his death)
Character Age: ~45
Background: Here.

Personality: Detective Joe Miller is smart and capable, but he’d hate for anyone to know it. He’s spent most of his career with Star Helix Security doing the bare minimum to get by. He’s often tasked with “off the books” cases to handle discreetly for some extra cash on the side and he takes bribes from people to keep their businesses from falling under scrutiny by the law. He has a surprising amount of loyalty for someone who appears to only be looking out for his own interests and he forms attachments to others swiftly and deeply. He can read other people’s motivations and characteristics easily, but he isn’t good at relating to them on their level. His mind is analytical rather than social and many of his relationships have fallen by the wayside because of this. Miller may appear to others as unfeeling or unsympathetic, but the opposite is true, he’s merely terrible at showing it. He sees his own feelings as a weakness and buries them in copious amounts of alcohol and overinvestment in his work.

When Miller’s boss gives him Julie Mao’s case, he immediately falls down the rabbit hole of his own obsession. He will do anything to uncover the truth and so even when she tells him to stop pursuing it and that there’s no more monetary gain to be had from the situation, he doesn’t care. He drops everything to find Julie, and leaves the only life he’s ever known. A life of routine and relative safety that he’s lived without ambition up until now. He grew up as a ward of the state and met a fellow orphan who convinced him they should become cops together, but when Sematimba started discovering Star Helix’s true ties they cut him loose and they do the same thing to Miller when he refuses to drop the case. When Semi leaves, he gives Miller his hat and tells him “not to lose his head” like he did and Miller wears the hat ever since that day even though he doesn’t seem the sentimental type. People make fun of him for it and say he dresses like an Earther, but it’s obvious he doesn’t care or take into account what other people think of him.

Miller’s mind makes connections that most people’s do not, which makes him an excellent detective when he applies himself. Even those who have known him a long time don’t know how smart he is, though it’s harder for him to hide his compassion after a certain time. His new partner at the start of the series, Havelock, is surprised when he spares a kid who’s stealing water to resell on the black market. He gives him a lecture instead of hurting him or bringing him in. It’s also known that he cares deeply for children and feels he missed his chance to have his own. This is probably related to ex-girlfriend and fellow cop Octavia Muss, whom it’s obvious he still has feelings for, but when she starts to act as though she could be interested again he’s too immersed in the case and so he rejects her ultimately to spare her feelings. Miller shows overt anger and contempt for Jules-Pierre Mao (Julie’s father) for not supporting and protecting her, likely because he had no parents of his own and missed his own chance to be a father himself. This is a factor that further cements Miller’s hold on this case, his own abandonment issues fueling his need to know what happened to Julie.

As we see aboard the Rocinante, Miller craves to belong to something even if he isn’t proficient at being part of a team. Though he is clearly happy upon being welcomed onto the crew, he immediately defies Holden and gets himself kicked out not long after. He is a man who follows his own agenda unwaveringly and will not be derailed by anyone, no matter what position of authority they think they might hold over him. He has little to no use for hierarchy and always does precisely what he believes is right in any given moment. For example, when he defies Holden to murder the scientist Dresden, there is zero hesitation. It’s obvious he made that decision the moment he saw him and never wavered from it. He has a rock solid code of (personal) morality and judgment and his mind runs in-the-moment logical assessments that he abides by no matter what. This makes him an efficient and clever leader and strategist, but it’s difficult for him to justify his decisions to others or delegate to a team which is why he works best alone in the end.

When Miller goes to Eros the last time to blow up the docks so no one else can get hurt, he knows instantly that he’s the one for the job. Everyone else from the Roci (and Diogo) are young and have their lives ahead of them, whereas Miller feels he’s squandered his life. In his final moments we see his true nature, a self-sacrificing and deeply depressed character who cares deeply for others but has no regard for himself. His life is a drop in the bucket and he knows it and so it isn’t something he visibly wrestles with or hesitates over, he only does what is needed to save the Earth at that moment. He also needs the closure that will come from finding Julie at last and when he finally does, he is at peace and ready to die. Miller is a strange and sad character, but he is an important one. He does things others aren’t capable of or skilled at to move the story along.

Powers/Abilities:

Detective skills: recon/surveillance, gathering clues, solving mysteries, marksmanship etc.

Languages: fluent in English & Lang Belta

Physical/Combat: his bones never achieved full density from a lifetime in low gravity and he has bone spurs on his spine. he is stronger than he appears and has basic fighting skills. most likely this will be next to useless against anyone who grew up in real gravity.

Power Nerfs (if applicable): N/A

Inventory:

Martian vac suit

gloves & mag-boots

undergarments

Julie’s picture & necklace

his hand terminal (phone)

weapon: Chiappa Rhino

Incentives: Honestly, all he wants is to go back and die for real. Sad, but true. Miller basically has a martyr complex and genuinely wants to die, even if it’s for a good cause. He believes his death made a greater impact than perhaps it did (and there is a large faction of people who would agree with him back on Tycho/in the Belt.) If the Orbiters assure him that being here won’t disrupt what he did to save Earth then he’ll find it hard to argue with. By the same token, if they were to eventually give him clues or skills to solve the mystery of the protomolecule he’d be quicker to get on board. Even if these were misdirections or false hope, he’s that desperate to make a difference in his universe and to ensure no other universe goes the way his did.

SAMPLES

Here! Let me know if you need more I have tons.