Tubo

Tubo
Type	NPC
Actor	Matthew Mercer
Character Information
Name	Tubo
Creature type	Humanoid
Race	Halfling
Class	Monk
Languages	Common
Place	Zadash; Wildemount
Connections	The Cobalt Soul (member); The Knowing Mistress (follower)
Profession	monk
Status
Status	Alive
Appearances
First seen	11x06
Last seen	11x06
Episode count	1

Tubo is a halfling monk working for the Archive of the Cobalt Soul, a library in Zadash. His monk archetype is the Way of the Cobalt Soul, published in Critical Role: Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting. As an NPC, Tubo is played by Matthew Mercer.

Description

Appearance

Tubo is a halfling with very dark skin, very short widow's peak hair and a very calm smile.

Personality

Tubo is very well respected within the Archive. He is level-headed under pressure and remains calm and in control at all times. However, even his patience grew somewhat wearied by Beau, showing signs of frustration by her third day of training. He shows great confidence in his abilities as a teacher, able to deduce how much time he will need to train Beau from a single sparring match.

His teaching methods differ greatly from Beau's previous tutors, Dairon and Zeenoth. Being less aggressive than the former but far more practical and less scholarly than the latter. He is less aggressive than Dairon, making it a point to not inflict pain when sparring with his pupil. The only time he put her in harm's way is when he and two other monks fire arrows at her, but by that point he had completed her training and he was sure she would be able to deflect their attacks, once again showing his calm confidence in his own abilities as a teacher and in the skills of those he teaches. However, he is also far less forthcoming than Dairon, enjoying making his students guess at what he is trying to teach them before showing them, such as when he told Beauregard to read books or when he was teaching her to exploit the truth from a captive, which causes frustration for him when Beauregard isn't keen to play along. He also adhered to teaching students practical skills through studying books as is common in the Cobalt Soul Archive whereas Dairon preferred direct methods that her troublesome trainee would find more engaging.

Biography

Background

Beauregard had seen Tubo around the Archive in the past but never directly interacted with him as he was on a level far above her and wasn't even sure what position he held within the Archive.

11x06

On Zeenoth's recommendation, Beauregard reluctantly agreed to seek out Tubo for training whilst Dairon was away. Tubo took Beau to the formal training grounds beneath the Archive and told her to show him what she's got. They sparred for a bit so he could test the limits of her capabilities. He dodges and parries her blows with little effort and his calming smile on his face. He then overwhelmed her with his own assualt, however, unlike Dairon he never hit hard enough to inflict pain. Only ever doing enough to throw her off balance. From this brief match he says he only needs four days with her to take her skills to complete the next stage of her training.

Beauregard agreed and Tubo announced the first day would involve lots of reading books. Beauregard was extremely disappointed. But as she was reading, Tubo told her to focus on what she was trying to find and learn from the books. He instructed her not just on how to read and research but to focus her spiritual energy on the specific things she was searching for and taught her quick ways to improve her investigation abilities.

On the second day, he took Beau back to the training ground and show her how to use her ki at the moment of impact to give of a localised wave of spiritual energy, allowing her to break through the defences of things that were not meant to be touched by mortal hands and bypass the mundane protections, essentially making her fists magical. Beau chose to take this enlightenment to mean she was now a "Ghostpuncher."

On day three, he sat Beau in a chair in the chamber and told her to tell him a secret. She was obstinate and he grew frustrated. He delivered a series of quick hits to her clavical, the side of her throat and underneath her chin that only hurt a little. He proceeded to ask her questions about her youth and family history she wouldn't normally disclose and outside of stopping speaking at all, Beau found the blows she recieved leave her on the verge of giving up the information. He teaches her the technique to pull information from unwilling individuals and extort the truth from them.

On the fourth and final day, he showed Beau how to blend her ki with adrenaline bursts to give herself a moment of reactionary time. After hours of rigorous training he declares it is time to show what she has learnt. Two monks drop from the ceiling, passing Tubo a bow. The trio of monks fire at Beau but she is able to use Tubo's training to catch all three arrows at the same time, gaining only minor nicks. Tubo declares her training complete and said that Dairon was right about her being an apt pupil. He then said that their time was done, he had things to do and four days with her was more than enough. Beau showed no resentment towards Tubo's weariness with her, saying that she got that reaction a lot.

Trivia

• Since Beauregard didn't directly interact with Tubo until her four days of intense training with him she (and the community) technically never learnt what Tubo's actual position within the Cobalt Soul Archive was. However, given that he taught Beau combat, investigation and interrogation skills it is highly likely he was an Expositor.

References

Art: