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[ application: original characters ]
IMPORTANT! We are officially in endgame until August 31, 2020. Applications are on a rolling basis. There is a small "block" period from the 1st through the 4th of every month to allow a bulk of apps to be submitted, and then applications can be submitted at any time during the month. Notices will be sent out all at once after the first "block" period, and then between 24 hours to the end of the weekend depending on how many and our schedule. Applications are guaranteed to be processed during the weekends.
IMPORTANT: Only the following types of original characters are allowed to be applied for—
The following would not be allowed:
Before applying, please be sure to read the following:
We have compiled sample applications from our players to show what the mod team and the application moderators are looking for in terms of writing quality and depth. We hope you find these samples useful!
⌈ PLAYER SECTION ⌉
Player:
Contact: Journal/Plurk/AIM — anything to help identify since someone might share your name handle.
Age: You must be at least 13 years old to apply.
Current Characters: If a new player, just put "N/A"
⌈ CHARACTER SECTION ⌉
Character:
Age:
OC Type: Indicate whether this OC is a Pure, MMO, or Blank Protagonist type of OC. If it is a Blank Protagonist, indicate the canon here.
Point Taken: A sense of time when the character is taken. More applicable to MMO and Blank Protagonist OCs.
World Building:This is separate from the character's personal history. This section is to provide us with information about the character's “canon” in general. We will have no idea what kind of world that the character is coming from, and this is the only place we can learn about it. We don't want an encyclopedia, but we will need to know important details about it so that we can understand the culture the character is coming from and how that will affect how they think and behave. What countries are important? What kind of geography or political climate? Are there any social conflicts that would impact the character or would influence how they view others? For MMO and Blank Protagonist OCs, linking us to wikis will suffice, but feel free to add more to it.
Backstory: While we don't need a play-by-play, what we would like to see includes how the character lived, what choices they've made and why, what events occurred that developed them, and other important facts that will help us understand the character. For MMO OCs: Most MMORPGs will have a set storyline that the player character has the opportunity to play through. Keep in mind that rather there being a singular "Great Hero," all MMO OCs are to be seen as a part of a large group of heroes if you choose to follow the main storyline. Also keep in mind that all MMO OCs will have to follow their game’s canon lore. For example: A character could not save the NPC that canonly died, nor could a mission fail if it is set to succeed. However, your character could have died and or had difficulty fulfilling the mission. It is also possible that your character had no part in the overall game's story and had their own adventures in the world instead. Finally, there can be no romantic or familial relationships with named NPCs.
Personality: We're looking for how they think, why they act the way they do, their strengths, their weaknesses, their thought processes, their opinions, their conflicts, what makes them feel the way they do, their significant traits. When writing your character, be careful! We want to avoid characters that are the super invincible almighty hero that can do no wrong. The one who can charm anyone with a smile, can easily trick and deceive, has the power to bend wills with ease. All characters have flaws—no one is perfect. But more importantly, such infallible characters are not interesting to play and interact with. In short, the character should be realistic, balanced, and well thought out. If we feel that your character does not meet this standard, then we may ask for a revision or reject if it cannot be changed.
Abilities: If there are any particular abilities the character has supernatural or otherwise, list them here. Referencing to a wiki list is acceptable if applicable. However, if there are any particular abilities that need to be weakened or removed, note them here.
Alignment: Please refer to the Alignment entry to choose which alignment your character would most likely fall under. Include a brief (a couple of sentences max) just to help explain why you think your choice is the best fit.
Other: Anything else you'd like to mention.
⌈ SAMPLE SECTION ⌉
Sample: We have two sample requirements.
General Sample: We should see examples of the character's dialogue as well as some introspection or additional narrative to further show how you intend to write the character. This is the most important part of the sample and where most of the weight will be.
Emotion Sample: This is our "game setting" requirement. Essentially we want to ensure that you have a basic grasp of the game's premise, especially with the use of emotions. It can be a small scene, even incidental to the main sample. A reminder that apathetic characters will also create effects, such as loss of color, surface distortion, holes forming. This section doesn't have to be lengthy, but the effect must be clear for us to see.
The emotion sample can be part of the general character sample. If so, please link directly or directly quote that portion so that it's easier for us to quickly find it.
The samples can be "written" in three different ways and you can choose which one will work best for you:
Format wise, you can use either [ brackets ] OR narrative prose. We do require that the writing at least be coherent, have proper sentence structure, and is mostly grammatically correct (we realize that writing styles can be loose/creative in [ bracket ] form so we're giving a bit more leeway). One last suggestion we have is try to have the character interacting with the environment and try thinking of the sample less of a narrative piece but more like a post or thread prompt you might make in the game. That will help the sample show not only how you will write the character, but also how you will play them in practice.
Questions: If you have any questions, ask them here.
Clean copy and paste form here:
IMPORTANT: Only the following types of original characters are allowed to be applied for—
- Pure OC. These are the typical kind of OC that everyone is familiar with. They are characters that are the player's own creation with their own world that is also of the player's design. There is zero relation to any pre-existing canon.
- MMO OC. MMOs, or Massively Multiplayer Online games, particularly those with a lot of roleplay and character build-up, have existing world building and lore that they have to follow. These characters are created by the player and can have their own story, but they have to follow the rules of the game lore. We consider "main hero" characters as those who are one of many in a great group that influenced the storyline, rather than the singular Great Hero character. This is to help multiple MMO OCs from the same game to have stories that mesh well together. In the sake of fairness to current FFXIV OC players and consistency with previous mod teams' decisions, we do not currently allow FFXIV Warriors of Light.
- Blank Slate Canon Protagonists. For our criteria, these types of characters are those which you control throughout the game and essentially make the player the main character. They may have a name and a couple of personality traits, but everything else is up to the player to interpret. Examples of these are most of the main characters from Dragon Age, Skyrim, Pokémon, etc. Important: Please note that this category ONLY pertains to the protagonists of canons. This does not allow side characters or other support NPCs as they have set stories and personalities. This section has nothing to do with how much headcanon is used and is only about the purpose and design of the protagonist character.
The following would not be allowed:
- Fanon/AU OCs. Characters that are based off pre-existing canons or an alternate version of the canon. We would not allow these OCs not because we are against them on principle, but it could cause unwanted confusion and complications with current existing casts. This type of OC would have needed to be allowed from the very beginning so players would know what they were getting into.
- Game Native OCs. Currently the game is not ready for such a type of character, as it would introduce other complications and worldbuilding that the interested player would have to be aware of. In addition, it would require more close connection with us the mods than we are currently ready for.
Before applying, please be sure to read the following:
- Read the Rules and the Game Information.
- RETURNING PLAYERS! You only need to submit any old application. Does not matter how long ago, as long as it was accepted and you have good standing (ie, not banned), it will be valid.
- Suggestion: Find some character sheets that have questions directly related to character building. These will help flesh out your application and give some guidelines as to how to write about your character.
- Feel free to use the most recent test drive both for practice as well as to use for samples. IMPORTANT! If you submit threads as samples, you must submit the application with that character journal. This is the only way we can ensure that the samples are from you and not someone else.
- Linked samples must have been made within the past year.
- You may apply for up to two characters per cycle.
- Do not plagiarize. If we find that the information provided was directly taken by either another player or some other source material, the application will be rejected immediately. If we find this after processing the application, we will revoke the application and have you removed from the game with potential ban.
- Reusing your own applications from other games is allowed. We only ask any original written samples to conform to our game. That is, we don't want to read samples that are set specifically for another game's premise. Note: this does not apply to threads linked from other games used as samples.
- If you are rejected, you cannot reapply for the same character for two weeks. However, you can apply for a different character in that same period.
- Those accepted must fill out all of the required entries within a week to be considered part of the game. Otherwise, we will consider it a revocation of the application.
- Fill out the form and comment to this entry! All applications must be posted directly to this entry; no linked-in applications allowed.
We have compiled sample applications from our players to show what the mod team and the application moderators are looking for in terms of writing quality and depth. We hope you find these samples useful!
- Sun Wukong (RWBY)
- Luke Skywalker (Star Wars)
- Goro Akechi (Persona 5)
Player:
Contact: Journal/Plurk/AIM — anything to help identify since someone might share your name handle.
Age: You must be at least 13 years old to apply.
Current Characters: If a new player, just put "N/A"
Character:
Age:
OC Type: Indicate whether this OC is a Pure, MMO, or Blank Protagonist type of OC. If it is a Blank Protagonist, indicate the canon here.
Point Taken: A sense of time when the character is taken. More applicable to MMO and Blank Protagonist OCs.
World Building:This is separate from the character's personal history. This section is to provide us with information about the character's “canon” in general. We will have no idea what kind of world that the character is coming from, and this is the only place we can learn about it. We don't want an encyclopedia, but we will need to know important details about it so that we can understand the culture the character is coming from and how that will affect how they think and behave. What countries are important? What kind of geography or political climate? Are there any social conflicts that would impact the character or would influence how they view others? For MMO and Blank Protagonist OCs, linking us to wikis will suffice, but feel free to add more to it.
Backstory: While we don't need a play-by-play, what we would like to see includes how the character lived, what choices they've made and why, what events occurred that developed them, and other important facts that will help us understand the character. For MMO OCs: Most MMORPGs will have a set storyline that the player character has the opportunity to play through. Keep in mind that rather there being a singular "Great Hero," all MMO OCs are to be seen as a part of a large group of heroes if you choose to follow the main storyline. Also keep in mind that all MMO OCs will have to follow their game’s canon lore. For example: A character could not save the NPC that canonly died, nor could a mission fail if it is set to succeed. However, your character could have died and or had difficulty fulfilling the mission. It is also possible that your character had no part in the overall game's story and had their own adventures in the world instead. Finally, there can be no romantic or familial relationships with named NPCs.
Personality: We're looking for how they think, why they act the way they do, their strengths, their weaknesses, their thought processes, their opinions, their conflicts, what makes them feel the way they do, their significant traits. When writing your character, be careful! We want to avoid characters that are the super invincible almighty hero that can do no wrong. The one who can charm anyone with a smile, can easily trick and deceive, has the power to bend wills with ease. All characters have flaws—no one is perfect. But more importantly, such infallible characters are not interesting to play and interact with. In short, the character should be realistic, balanced, and well thought out. If we feel that your character does not meet this standard, then we may ask for a revision or reject if it cannot be changed.
Abilities: If there are any particular abilities the character has supernatural or otherwise, list them here. Referencing to a wiki list is acceptable if applicable. However, if there are any particular abilities that need to be weakened or removed, note them here.
Alignment: Please refer to the Alignment entry to choose which alignment your character would most likely fall under. Include a brief (a couple of sentences max) just to help explain why you think your choice is the best fit.
Other: Anything else you'd like to mention.
Sample: We have two sample requirements.
General Sample: We should see examples of the character's dialogue as well as some introspection or additional narrative to further show how you intend to write the character. This is the most important part of the sample and where most of the weight will be.
Emotion Sample: This is our "game setting" requirement. Essentially we want to ensure that you have a basic grasp of the game's premise, especially with the use of emotions. It can be a small scene, even incidental to the main sample. A reminder that apathetic characters will also create effects, such as loss of color, surface distortion, holes forming. This section doesn't have to be lengthy, but the effect must be clear for us to see.
The emotion sample can be part of the general character sample. If so, please link directly or directly quote that portion so that it's easier for us to quickly find it.
The samples can be "written" in three different ways and you can choose which one will work best for you:
- Test Drive. You can utilize our test drive to cover both requirements of the sample. So long as there is enough character portrayal and a scene with an emotional reaction, be it within the prompt or done during the thread, then it can be used for both.
- Link out + Written. You can link to threads/entries from other games, memes, or museboxes to show character portrayal, and then write an additional short scene for the emotion portion of the sample.
- Original Sample. You can write a complete sample that shows both character portrayal and a scene involving emotion use. This can be one sample or two separate samples. If you opt to write an original sample, you are welcome to use any prompts from any of our Test Drives, Intro Logs, Task Board, and even past events. You are also free to change things up and are not restricted to any of these prompts. They are just here to help offer ideas.
Format wise, you can use either [ brackets ] OR narrative prose. We do require that the writing at least be coherent, have proper sentence structure, and is mostly grammatically correct (we realize that writing styles can be loose/creative in [ bracket ] form so we're giving a bit more leeway). One last suggestion we have is try to have the character interacting with the environment and try thinking of the sample less of a narrative piece but more like a post or thread prompt you might make in the game. That will help the sample show not only how you will write the character, but also how you will play them in practice.
Questions: If you have any questions, ask them here.
Shadow | City of Heroes OC
Player:Imp
Contact:impiousimp at plurk
Age:29
Current Characters:n/a
Character: Shadow/ Mathieu Carver
Age: 12
OC Type: MMO; City of Heroes.
Point Taken: A few months after Dark Astoria Event
World Building:
http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Paragon_City
http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Rogue_Isles
Backstory:
The world of Primal Earth was once just like any other world, relatively normal, with the notable exception of the long forgotten myths of the ages that have been shown to be true, most notably by a pair of stalwart friends seeking a cure for a life-threatening illness shortly after WWI. The two stumbled upon the Well of the Furies, and in drinking from it, they gained the god-like powers of the incarnate. The two friends also discovered the fabled Pandora’s Box, which instead of containing all the world's plague and disease, contained all of the golden light of creation, and all of human creativity from the past millennia. Once released, it began the new golden age of superheroes. The two friends went their separate ways, later becoming Statesman and Lord Recluse.
Today, superheroes are so prevalent that there is an entire economy based around them in Paragon City, the home to many of the greatest heroes Primal Earth has ever seen, from Numina and Manticore in the Freedom Phalanx, to hundreds of everyday men and women gifted with god-like abilities fighting for truth, justice and freedom against hoards of vicious criminals. Paragon itself had suffered a serious blow at the hands of the aliens known as the Rikti. The city set themselves up with a series of war walls around each borough constructed with the very technology the Rikti had used against them. Circa 2007, Paragon City took down the mothership and isolated it in it’s own sector of the city, inviting many heroes to take their heavily guarded fortress down once and for all.
Meanwhile, across the sea, the Rogue Isles fester with all manner of villainy, ruled by the iron fist of Lord Recluse and his Arachnos organization. Ruled by anarchy and chaos, the rogues and villains gather there, making it an extremely dangerous place. Civilians would rather bow their heads than risk provoking a supervillian, or their ruling power, lest they be stolen away in the dead of night. Everyone here is aware of the war zones scattered along the coast, the ultimate showdown of Recluse’s evil might, and Statesman’s righteous heroism. The world awaits the conclusion of the conflict of these age old enemies.
Mathieu Carver was born in the isles, a young son to a magically inclined family. His grandfather was a powerful wizard, retired but formerly an informant in the magical underworld for the Midnighter’s Club. Hiis mother, meanwhile, was a skilled potion maker and alchemist. His father was a petty crook, trying to make it into the big leagues and pull off a few good heists so they could leave the isles behind them. When Mat was five he disappeared, forcing the family to move into a more modest living arrangement.
Mat didn’t much care for the family arcane business, and usually kept his mouth shut about it and his grandfather’s history. He instead took an interest in the things his father taught him, like sleight of hand. This was a skill which his grandfather Bastien cultivated by introducing him to the concept of stage magic, which was more appealing to Mat but with little practical application. Thus it came to everyone’s surprise when the boy was confronted by a being of magical light, Orion. Orion introduced himself as a long dead warrior given new life and form, that of a lion, by the Well of the Furies. He had chosen his descendant Mathieu to be his vessel to someday return to the battlefield upon the arrival of “The Coming Storm”. Eve and Bastien were not exactly thrilled by the news, but given how enamored Mat was with the entity, they gradually accepted the idea.
It was around that time that Mat turned 10 that he began to hang around with other kids in the community that were his age. Some were orphaned children of villains, a few were naturally powered, and others were just normal kids like he was sans the lion companion. The existence of these children did not go unnoticed by those keeping tabs on the metahuman population and those interested in exploiting them. A subsidiary of Arachnos, a sort of evil school for gifted youngsters called Nest Academy, had the resources and the incentive to do so. As far as Arachnos was concerned they were responsible for producing the next generation of super villains to fight on Lord Recluse’s behalf.
A trap was set for the group of kids as a ‘routine’ contraband investigation was issued for their area, and the kids were sent off towards the coast to play. They didn’t expect anything, at least until Orion was snagged by a specialized containment field used to trap the spectral pirates that haunted another area of the island. Once he was taken care of, a powerful psionic was then deployed to knock the kids unconscious. From there, they were loaded onto a carrier ship and sent off towards Cap Au Diable, another island in the system.
Upon their arrival, a magical specialist named Thaddeus was called down to examine Mat and Orion to see what was to be done about them. They found that Orion was too powerful to control on his own, and Mat was powerless without him, but it was clear that they shared a powerful arcane connection. Through further research, it was determined who Orion was and what his purpose with Mat truly was, so they decided to speed things along with a little of their own magic. Using a powerful spell and a number of other magically inclined staff, they chose to infuse Orion with the essence of an umbral beast in order to take control of him and his power, while still using Mathieu as a vessel. Using their most powerful spells, they forcefully merged the two.
The results of this unnatural fusion were quite traumatic, forcing the boy’s body to warp and morph to a different configuration, accommodating a more predatory anatomical structure. A happy medium between man and beast, the transformation left the boy unconscious for a week. When he came to, it was to a new and changed body that he would have to relearn how to use. Time, however, was not a luxury his new captors were willing to afford him.
He learned quickly what the consequences of bonding with Orion would have been, were he corrupted or not. The two individuals were gone, a single consciousness leaving Mat to wonder which thoughts were his and which were Orion’s. There was a heavy presence in his mind likewise, the darkness, counterbalanced only by what was left of Orion’s strong spirit, protecting Mathieu’s soul, in a sense. Were it not for that, there was probably nothing stopping the boy from embracing the darkness wholeheartedly.
If that wasn’t a headache enough, he was frequently put into what appeared to be a courtyard inside a fortress along with others. Power inhibitors were used to insure the youths couldn’t kill each other with their powers but still allow them to figure out a pecking order. The only solace he could find was that his friend Emile, an older boy with sonic powers, was more than willing to look out for the poor kid as he readjusted.
After months of learning to co-exist with others, Emile and he were decently settled though neither of them had much interest in the training. The only difference between the two was that Thaddeus had Mat under his thumb. Thaddeus had a strong ability to control the boy with his power over the dark essence that he had instilled in him. Any order given to him, Mat was compelled to obey. There were some notable exceptions such as his refusing to kill a prisoner scheduled for execution, for which he was reprimanded harshly. For his punishment, Thaddeus had simply trapped the boy in his own shadow for a few days, leaving him completely isolated from his friends or sensual stimulation. This power over him made him easier to handle, but it bred a strong dislike for authority in the boy. He hated every minute of it.
As time moved on he became more accepting of his circumstances, and the fact that he felt distinct from either Mat or Orion, but those two parts contribute to the whole. He choose to take on the name his peers had been calling him, Shadow, as a moniker for his current form. Straight to the point and simple, just like he prefered it.
Then came Mot, a long forgotten god of death and destruction. It sought to consume everyone and everything, if its reach were to escape the confines of Dark Astoria in Paragon. Word got out that some heroes were seeking to bind him so he would be forever trapped in his prison within the warwalls in Astoria. Lord Recluse himself sent and order down calling for every able bodied superhuman to join the fight in Dark Astoria, fighting alongside the heroes against a common enemy. The kids at the Nest where all left behind with minimal supervision..
It would have gone fine, except one of Mot’s corrupted tendrils breached the walls of the fort and killed the base’s power source and the power inhibitors, meaning there was nothing stopping the kids from retaliating. Most of the kids fought against Mot’s minions, driving them off and defending what little they had, others turned against the staff who had held them here against their will. Throughout the fight, Shadow was forced to stay near Thaddeus’ side, as the man chose to stay behind to watch over the Nest. It seemed as though they were pushing back until a spined tendril arced into the air and slammed down toward the two. Shadow was grazed but dodged the brunt of the blow with his quick reflexes. His eyes fell upon his controller, as the man begged, then commanded the boy to save him. He actually might have, but be it through his own willpower or Thaddeus’ rapidly fading power, Shadow just stood there and watched as the tendril sunk further into the ground, pulling the man down with it.
Finally free, the boy sent a rallying cry to the others, to bust out through the wall while they could and earn their freedom, but only a few, including Emile, followed through with him, and only after clearing the path. If the world was going to end, Shadow figured he’d go out on his own terms. The night was long and bloody, but suddenly, everything stopped. The hoard of monsters and tendrils seemed to melt away into the ground, leaving the kids grateful that they still had their lives. Most of them split away, either doubling back to the hives to check on things or going out on their own. Shadow, Emile, and two others, however, simply boarded the nearest ferry and headed to Nerva Archipelago. Not exactly safe, but they could figure something out.
They made their home in a cave in the jungles of Nerva. Their biggest problems being the Longbow base to the south and the Circle of Thorns to the north, but the cave they chose to inhabit was well-isolated from either camps. They made a base inside an old forgotten pirate ship that they fixed up to fit their own needs. From here, they managed to live pretty securely, though without most luxuries one might hope for.
Part 2
Mathieu was considered a happy and easygoing kid, despite the poverty he grew up in. He was sweet and considerate, but also adventurous, boisterous and reckless. Orion meanwhile, was a proud old warrior, intelligent, valiant and confident. He served to offer his charge wisdom and curb that unbridled energy into something useful. As Shadow, he bares many of these qualities in different proportions. He is twelve years old and still searching to figure out what and who he is supposed to be. For a boy who once had a destiny, he has to carve a new path out of what he has now.
Intellectually he has falls back on the philosophies of his parents. Magical methods, traditional learning [through books] and practical experience. He has his interests, such as the skills his father taught him in cards, or the herbalists and cooking his mother taught him, all practical skills you need to survive out in a lawless world. So his interests are usually pragmatic and utilitarian. Learn about the world, have an advantage in combat, and always know who your friends are. Due to childhood opting out of what little television there was, he tends to enjoy books and comics, but mostly non fiction.
He tends to be easy going at home, lazy and eager to relax, as is a tendency common in cats. In fact, many of his habits lean feline, from sleeping to his nearly strict carnivorous diet. At times, his instincts can get ahead of him, dropping his attention in favor of sudden movement, or sound, as well as stalking behaviors and hunting behaviors. He barely flinches at the thought of hunting his own food, and given his diet he usually only cooks for one, but is sometimes conscientious of others, glimmers of his old human self emerging from the depth of his psyche to share among his friends if he thinks what he made is good enough to share.
Shadow tends to have a generally negative self image, given that many people refer to him as a rat or a filthy mutt due to his unique coloring. Even in Paragon, many people regard those with animal attributes with a negative light, leaving this teen to view himself as somewhat inferior. He also finds the fact that he has not been able to track down his family as a sign that he is not adequate enough to find them. It is mildly depressing to him. He compensates for this by portraying himself as tough and capable, cocky, all to measure up to his peers and some imaginary mantle he believes he was supposed to step into as an adult under the guidance of Orion. He is neither Orion nor Mathieu any longer, so he is unsure of exactly what he is supposed to do.
While Shadow is generally wise in the way of getting along on his own in a dangerous town, there are times when he overestimates his own abilities and charges head first into a conflict. His candid direct method of speaking has also managed to get him into a fair bit of trouble as well, and he occasionally gets in over his head. If it is verbal or physical altercations, he usually needs to be put in his place before things escalate. Being the devil may care reckless youth that he is, he does have a need to explore and seek adventure, like always wanted to do as a child. That said, he’d rather get along on and do his own thing than get into needless trouble if he can help it.
In the year he was under the control spell he spent most of his time trying to resist his captor’s orders, to little to no avail. This seeded a deep distrust of both adults and those in authority over him. He rebels against what he perceives as propaganda, as what you’d expect from growing up in a place where there’s an hourly recording of Lord Recluse speaking about anarchy and villany. He typically prefers the company of those who are closer in age with him, but he will tolerate the company of adults. It’s just matter of gaining his trust that’s the true issue.
It’s in a fight when Orion’s influence takes hold. Rushing into battle, bullheaded and stubborn, he’ll take a hit for the innocent bystanders knowing he’ll be fine due to his healing factor. He fights with the confidence that he’ll come out on top, even if he loses, that’s just the attitude he goes into a fight with, doubts and hesitation are left at the door. He is tactically inclined for the most part, surveying the area before attacking, observing his opposition, unless the need to act is absolutely a priority he will spend the time he needs to get an advantage. Given his affinity for close range combat and melee, he tends to be less inclined to take on those who fight with long ranged weapons or long range super powers head to head. This requires use of his more stealthy powers. If victory is not assured even with sacrifice, he will make a tactical retreat in order to be able to fight another day. He’s nobody’s fool, although some of the actions he takes while in combat can be taken as thoughtless and reckless, and occasionally they are. It’s just that most of the time he’s not going into a fight without some knowledge of what he’s up against. This of course really only applies to Shadow on a good day, as there is a deep unsettling darkness within him.
The darkness inside him is due in part to the forceful infusion of darkness into Orion, and their subsequent bonding. However intelligent he can be in a fight can be overwhelmed by his innate need to fight, his desire to spill blood for the sake of it. He’s gotten used to it, built a tolerance to the urges to fight and found a way to temper his raw emotions over the past year, but it doesn’t always stop him from acting on it. Doing smaller more mischievous acts like petty crimes or stealing, or even just getting into petty squabbles tends to subside the urges he has for a time, but not for terribly long. He tends to be perceived as a troublemaker, a prankster, but really the last thing he wants to do is give in to the blood lust and fury. For him it’s not a matter of ‘if’ he loses control, it’s when.
Abilities:
Archtype: Brute
Shadow Control: Shadow possesses an array of abilities involving the control over darkness and shadows. Superficially he is able to change the shape and move shadows around, which is useful for diversions. His most notable skill, however, is his ability to teleport through the darkness, phasing into whatever shadow he can find be it day or night and moving through them as if they were transport tunnels. He is capable of seizing the shadows of others to immobilize them, so long as he has some sort of shadow to connect to.
Lastly, he is capable of storing things in his own shadow, sort of like dimensional storage. Not only does this mean he doesn't need a backpack, but he can also perform neat parlor tricks as well. As long as it's his shadow.
The Teleportation and storage both require sufficient shade on his personal being to work. Should he use his storage in his pocket, it will end up the same place as everything else.
The teleporting requires shadows to use as a conduit. Likewise, too much light means he can't teleport, but without a little light for him to find an access point he can't teleport at all. Further, light weakens him overall. Just being in the sun or bright light makes him feel lethargic, and bright enough light is actually mildly painful.
Shadow's dark abilities grant him a resistance against psionics. Most psychics deal with the material, be it moving objects or accessing minds. All physical. Because the source of Shadow's powers are immaterial and outer worldly, psychics have a much harder time penetrating his mind. It's automatic for Shadow, a shroud of darkness over his mind which typical psychics would find incomprehensible and almost too difficult to a maze to navigate.
Likewise psychics would find it difficult to use telekinesis on Shadow as the negative energy unleashed by his powers are difficult to mentally latch on to. It's much easier to push away than to grasp onto and hold for any length of time.
Another odd quirk to his abilities is the ability to create channel his negative energy as shrouds around himself, which can then be passed on through physical contact to obscure vision or temporarily blind his foe for a few seconds, which is usually long enough to take his opponent down.
The drawback with all these powers is that the negative energy inside of him can influence his behavior in and out of combat. In combat, he can be thrown into a fury which
.http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Willpower
Shadow is capable of incredible feats of endurance and physical athleticism. With a moderate healing factor, resistance to physical pain and heightened animal senses, he is capable of holding his own for quite a while in most combat situations. He can’t heal instantly, but is quick enough to have him back on his feet within a day of a particularly nasty defeat; a few days to a week if he actually breaks something. This is generally thought to be linked to Orion, as opposed to his darker abilities. This also explains a degree of enhanced strength and speed as compared to regular lions. It’s hard to quantify just how strong he is, since while he can’t hold a car over his head he can lift one enough to get someone out from under it, and he tops out in speed running at around 50 mph, on all fours.
Likewise he is also very sturdy, able to resist damage from blunt force extremely well, as well as blades and guns to a certain extent. He can't stop someone from cutting his arm off, but mere cuts and slices into him won't slow him down too much. His greatest weakness again is light. Characters with light based projectile powers could easily take him down. Likewise, he does extremely poorly against long range weaponry with any caliber higher than that of a pistol or energy weapons/offensive magic of any kind.
Shape Shifting He can morph between a semi human form and that of a feral quadruped lion. His human form likewise also has many leoine features, they’re nearly interchangeable. In his feral form he can move faster on all fours, in his human/lion form he is more limber and agile.
Note: This transformation was inspired by the Stealth Panther transformation power.
Alignment: Thras
It was hard to choose since a few of them fit the bill in my opinion. Trust and Distrust would probably be my second choice given Shad’s history but I think I’m going to go with Fear and Bravery since he tends towards fearlessness but when he does feel fear it’s pretty intense.
Other:
Sample:
Test Drive: Sample 1
Sample 2 [The silhouette of a black cat could be seen, or looking something close to a silhouette of one, with glowing green eyes and black wisps rising from it’s hide. The image itself is hard to make out, as for some, telepathic projection does not come as easily to some as others. Telepathy was probably the worst possible means of communication for him.] Tell me this isn’t the only way to send messages here.
[The wisps flare up briefly, as his brows knit, then he takes a deep breath and shakes his head] I don’t know if I’m going to be up to using this much if it’s this hard to do.
But whatever. I’m Shadow, I’m a lion, get that fact outta your system mates. It’s not that big a deal.
Kay, so introductions over. that’s all I got. [And the image fades out.]
Questions:When I did the thread with Haru I wasn’t sure if a minor shape shift was a reasonable manifestation of emotion. Big cats actually can’t purr, but a slight change to the hyoid bone would enable him to be able to, which would be a manifestation of contentment.
But I wasn’t sure if that was what you were going for or if It’s a good idea or not. /shrug?
What says you?
Declined
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