Name: Elizabeth Santiago
Stage Name: Copper
Date Of Birth: July 9th, 1991
Starsign: Cancer
Copper is a young percussionist from Michigan who
is picked up by a scout at Misfit Music, and called to audition for a part
in the company's new band. Amiable and easygoing at first glance, she possesses
a wicked temper to match her naturally red hair, and deep down an insuppressable
will for mischief. However, she is also the one who keeps her bandmates
together in many ways by ensuring they remember their common goal. Copper
is reluctant to sing, so she tends to leave lead vocals to her bandmates
to squabble over. The eldest of the group until Garnet's arrival, she is
sometimes looked upon as a 'big sister' and often assumes that kind of role
within the band. Copper never graduated from High School because
she contracted cancer in her final year, and because of the amount her mother
laid out to pay for her medical care is determined to raise funds herself
to pay for any further schooling after she finally gets her diploma. She
works for a while as a hairdresser and is the one who dyes the streaks into
an unsure Nancy's hair.
Although hesitant at first to reveal it when she
realises she is auditioning at Misfit Music, Copper is the daughter of former
Hologram Raya Alonso, who has since become quite a name in the film industry,
both for acting and collaboration on soundtracks. Copper's beloved father,
Esteban, a film director, died of a brain tumour when she was fifteen, and
she misses him greatly. Since his death, her bonds with her mother have been
built up and the Santiago family are very closeknit.
Copper's family are of Mexican and Spanish origin, with her mother's family
originating from Cancun and her father's from Valencia. Born a redhead,
Copper's stage name is also the childhood nickname given her by her father.
Though these days the family mostly speak English at home, Copper is equally
fluent in Spanish, as are her brothers and sisters, for this was the first
language she was spoken to in. Despite this, though, she has no distinctive
accent, unlike her mother, which is a result of going to school with mostly
non-Spanish speaking students back in Detroit.
Copper is probably the sweetest member of the band,
in terms of nature and temperament. She is extremely perceptive towards the
needs and feelings of others, and takes a special interest in helping Nancy
overcome her stagefright, a fact which later helps the two to become friends.
Copper's gentle charm also appeals to Aaron Pelligrini,
who develops a crush on her almost from the moment they first meet, and
they can perhaps be said to have the most settled relationship of them all
in Jewel's World..
Copper is also good with computers, and she and her
brother Luis run their mother's fanpage back in Detroit. It is she who helps
Aaron to resuscitate the battered Synergy and
she often chats online with her family after she moves to Los Angeles.
Copper's gentle nature also helped her to recognise that Synergy was more
than just a computer.
Copper's dream as a child was always to be a lawyer,
with percussion merely a hobby, but after her illness and her failure to
graduate, she decided to take her chances with the music industry and soon
finds that, despite the rowing of Nancy and Sylva,
she loves her new line of work.
Copper is also the prettiest member of the band,
though she herself would be the last to lay claim to it, and she is often
embarrassed by tabloid remarks to that effect. Neither shy or too forward,
Copper is the Jewel most suited to smoothing over difficult situations, whether
within the band or outside it. Slow to criticise and quick to forgive, it
is hard for people not to like her, although when something upsets her or
gets her worked up, she tends to feel it very deeply and it can take time
for her to see things in a rational light.
Despite her closeness to both Sylva and Topaz, it is Nancy with whom Copper develops her closest
friendship. Though she does her best to keep out of any kind of Diablo/Jewel
rivalry, it is impossible for Copper not to know how much Stefana hates her, and it troubles her accordingly.
She is a romantic at heart, dreaming of happy endings and traditional white
weddings, though her own path to happiness is not quite so smooth.
Copper the doll was made from a Darci and re-rooted
(though I'm dying to make another, I can't get hold of the bait :S). I was
determined not to customise a Raya and in any case, Darci's skin tone fit
the bill just fine. Copper isn't meant to resemble her mother anyhow, so
it worked out well using this doll for the bait. And mention has to be made
of her drum kit - this actually belongs to my sister (who plays percussion)
- she bought it when she and the group she used to play with were touring
Australia and she kindly leant it to me for the photo!