Katsuo!

[KATSUO]

KATSUO

Age: 25

Gender: Male

Orientation: Bisexual (He doesn't care, but he's not really interested, yet, either)

Race: Yuki Kitsune Hanyou (Half Snow Fox Demon)

Occupation: Thief, Scavenger

Looks Aren't Everything

Birthmark(s): None

Scar(s): Slashes on his back from a whip.

Appearance:
Despite his age, Katsuo appears to be around ten to twelve-years-old. Although, he is tall for his appearant age, it's never noticed since he is rarely seen with other children. One characteristic that's not very noticeable, but can still be seen, is the fact the boy is on the rather skinny side due to lack of food. He travels a lot, so he's mostly muscle with very little fat. He's, also, rather tan from being outside most of the time.

Katsuo has bright snow white hair on his head, with two canine ears poking straight up from the top of his head. The ears are usually straight up and listening closely to everything around him. To accompany his cool look, Katsuo has two blue eyes that always have a childish spark to them. On his face, Katsuo usually has a bandage of some sort to cover cuts he usually gets from tripping or walking into something. He's usually smiling or smirking, and is rarely seen with a different expression.

Katsuo has a large tan blanket he wraps around himself to make a make-shift cloak or cape. On the bottom of the sheet, it appears that giant caterpillars had tried to eat through it. The blanket is old and one of Katsuo's most treasured items since it used to belong to his mother. He had managed to fold it so the blanket has a hood he'll pull over his head from time to time. The blanket is made from the fur of another artic fox demon, so it can withstand a lot of stress, hard to tear, and is an excellent insulator.

Underneath his 'cloak', Katsuo wears a long sleeved brown kimono shirt that loosely hangs down to the bottom of his hips. He wears a belt around his waist that holds two packs, one on both hips. Underneath, he wears black pants that are tucked into a pair of brown boots at are buckled tightly to prevent them from falling off. Katsuo had used the buckles instead of laces, because he thought they were more effecient.

Poking out from under Katsuo's long shirt, a rather sleek white tail is often wrapped around his leg so it isn't wagging and is hidden by his make-shirt cloak. He has sharpened teeth made for tearing, and sharpened finger nails he often chews on.

When Katsuo loses his temper, or is knocked unconscience during a crisis, his eyes start glowing and his pupils turn into slits. The white of his eyes turn a pale blue and his fangs and nails become longer. The tip of his tail turns a dark gray, along with the tip of his ears. If mad enough, his fur and hair will turn gray and another tail will form.

During the time when half breeds turn into a human, Katsuo's hair will turn black and his eyes will turn dark brown. He'll lose his ears and tail, and his nails and fangs will shrink to human standards.

What's Beneath the Skin

Personality:
Rambunctious and rowdy, Katsuo is the type of kid you can't ignore... No matter how much you want to. He can be a bit irritating to even the most tolerant of people when he's at the highest point of his energy. Due to his appearance, he is treated like a child, so that's how he acts. He is innocent to most of the worlds evils, and still in the 'girls are icky' state of mind. Despite his lack of knowledge, though, he's constantly gloating about being something one day that everyone will talk about. He wants to grow to become a well known and famous person, and he doesn't particularly care what he's famous for.

Katsuo is cocky and self confident, so confident, he runs into battles head first and thinks later. He usually regrets doing that shortly after, and hides to reanalyze his situation. After that, he manages to find a way out of most situations. Katsuo is witty and observant, despite the fact he can act like an utter fool at times. His temper often gets in the way and hides his true intelligence that foxes are usually well known for. He's managed to trick a few of the lesser demons into giving him shares of their foods, although, he still hasn't managed to trick the older, wiser, and more intimidating youkais of the land.

Katsuo is a strategic kid, and can figure out how to manipulate most common people after a while of observing. He only does this to get something he wants, and not just for fun. He can entertain himself without tricking some poor fool with his impressive imagination. He often gives himself small tasks to do, and doesn't quit until he's done, and works hard until the end. He tells others about he can defeat anyone who steps in his way, but when a strong youkai appears, Katsuo tends to cower in fear rather than step up to the plate.

Katsuo has a horrible temper problem, and when he gets angry enough, he can lose control of himself and become an entirely different person. Due to the lack of experience, Katsuo cannot control his demonic side, which takes over after he loses control. He becomes more of a little devil and his intelligence is much more noticeable. He has been known to play mind games with people, and make deals or bets. He becomes deceptive and crueler, almost merciless, acutally. The only thing that gets him out of this state of mind is running out of energy, or someone manages to talk some common sense into the hanyou's mind.

Strengths:

• Self Confident - Katsuo is not easy to put down due to how much faith he has in him self. Any insult thrown his way is easily casted aside as he reminds himself that being weak is just what everyone wants.
  
• Determination and Passionate - Katsuo, once finding his goal, is determined to see it through to the end. He will put everything off to the side in order to achieve his goal, and he puts all he's got into following it. Any task he receives is rarely ever disregarded by him. He loves challenges, after all.
  
• Creative and Smart - Despite his ignorance for the darker things in the world, Katsuo is fast to pick up on things. He knows how to read and write, and has learned a lot of tricks over the years just by watching how it plays it out the first time.
  
• Observant and Fast thinker - Under stress is when Katsuo thinks best. He loves being put to the test, and gets a huge kick out of discoveries. When in a battle, he usually acts first, and then backs off, hides, and thinks.
  
• Isn't picky or bias - Katsuo doesn't have an opinion on most things. He's just a child, so things that most people are against, he doesn't particularly care about. He tries to be friend youkais, hanyous, and humans alike. The best part, though, is Katsuo will eat practically anything, since he never knows when he'll get his next meal. Although, he prefers his food cold or luke warm at the most.
  
• Manipulative and Adorable - Face it, you'd want to hug him, too! Katsuo knows he's cute, and he isn't afraid to use that to his advantage. Katsuo had spent days perfecting his puppy dog eyes, and the art of fake crying to get sympathy gifts. He's used it on women all the time, and is alive to this day because of it.

Weaknesses:

• Lack of battle experience and self control - Katsuo has rarely ever entered the line of battle, so he has little experience. Although, with a mixture of temper and confidence, Katsuo has a lack of control over himself and will jump into battles he can never win. He still has bruises from the last time he got into a fight with a stronger demon.
  
• Tempermental and Quick to act - A deadly combination with his lack of battle experience. Katsuo, when losing his temper, will launch into a battle without thinking first. He usually learns his lesson after getting knocked onto his ass, and will run off to rethink his tactics. He usually runs away at this point, due to the injury, though.
  
• Trusting and Easilly Manipulated - Katsuo doesn't have a problem with trusting people, especially women. Due to this, though, and his temper, he's easy to trick into doing things. Just challenge him, and he'll jump at the chance to prove himself to the world. He knows how great he is, and won't let anyone tell him other wise.
  
• Ignorance - Katsuo is book smart, and has common sense, but he is unaware of how serious the troubles of the world are. Katsuo never had 'the talk' either, so all he knows is, girls have bigger chests then men, and he can't look at them. He doesn't understand that most demons out there are the 'fight to the death' type, and Katsuo assumes that fighting is just a game.
  
• Talks the talk, but sometimes can't walk the walk - Katsuo likes stories and fables of great heroes who have slain great beasts. He will brag about being able to defeat anyone in his way, but when it comes down to it, there are times Katsuo is too much of a coward to do it. Due to his fear of the more powerful youkais with human forms, everytime he comes across them, he'll turn timid and flinchy. He'll say he can fight them, but when put to the test, he freaks out.

Fears:

• Claustrophobic - Due to being stuck in a cage, before, Katsuo has mental melt downs when stuffed in small dark spaces. He has lost control on several occasions in an attempt to get out of it.
  
• Giant spiders - Gigantic... Venomous... Aracnids. Need I say more?
  
• Powerful Youkais - Due to stories he's been told about some of the more ruthless demons, Katsuo is very intimidated by most of the higher classed demons. He will turn from his usually loud and proud self, and become timid and soft spoken. Katsuo will turn submissive and try his hardest to keep from being irritating.
  
• His father - Despite the fact his father is a human, Katsuo is very intimdated by the man due to past experiences. Despite Katsuo's usually cocky and outgoing attitude, Katsuo is intimidated by his father as much as he is intimdated by higher classed youkais.
  
• Whips - Past experiences send Katsuo into a frenzy when he sees whips. He'll do anything to get away from them, often times getting in trouble in the process.
  
• Fire or Burns - Katsuo's whole entire existance rest on him staying cool. If he gets too hot, he'll start to melt down. He becomes useless during the summer, and sometimes hibernates like a bear does during winter. He's easily sun burnt and can pass out if he's kept to warm.
  
• His Demon Side - Even though he's tried ot master it, Katsuo fears the demon in him more than anything. He's lost control a few times, but never did any damage to someone before. Only, that was because the people ran out of the way fast enough. He fears one day he'll lose control of it completely and hurt someone beyond repair. Katsuo fears that because of the demon inside of him, he'll become known as a monster. He hates being called that, and has had melt downs due to the name being directed at him too many times.

Being a Part of Me

Items: Two bags at his hips that contain...
On his left hip; Money he's stolen, scavenged/stolen food, and toys and trinkets he's gathered along the way.
One his right hip: Marbles that he modified with fox magic to act as smoke bombs, give off poisnous fumes, sleeping powder, or just to hit people with them. His blowgun tends to stick out of the pouch.

Weapons:

• Blowgun; A foot long hollowed out demon bone that Katsuo received when he was younger from a boy who used to live in a demon slayer village. Katsuo launches his marbles out through the tube and with the condensed air, sends the marbles flying at very deadly speeds. Especially when you mix in the fact Katsuo has freezing cold breath, the marbles are more fragile and bound to break upon impact.
  
  
• Marbles; Small glass spheres that Katsuo had spent most of his time making. He takes rocks he finds, and after using the small bit of fox magic he knows, is able to turn them into small bombs. They're under a lot of pressure, so if hit at the right angle, the marbles will go off in his pocket.To prevent the explosion from happening, Katsuo had taken part of his 'cloak' and made a small bag for the marbles. If they went off, they'd go off safely in the bag.
  
  

  Title of Marble	Marble Color	Ability	Use
  Dokusatsu	Purple	Poisonous gas	Poison enemies and cause damage.
  Enshi	Gray	Smoke Bomb	Disable view for the enemy to land a sneak attack, or escape.
  Konsui	Pale-Green	Sleeping Powder	Put an enemy to sleep, or drowsy at least
  Zenshou	Red	Small Explosion	More of a distraction rather than an attempt to cause damage.
  Kasui	Silver	Spikes	When broken, it'll explode with small spikes that lodge into the skin
  Kashoku	White	Bright Light	To momentarily blind an enemy

Abilities:

• Yukiyake (Snow Burn) - Katsuo causes an item he touches to freeze and creates a mirror effect. The icey item will reflect the sun's light, and increase the temperature of anything it hits. It's similar to what happens when a kid holds a magnifying glass over an ant. The closer the person, and more skin showing, the bigger the burn.
  
  
• Koori Kiri (Ice Mist) - Katsuo freezes the moisture in the air and causes a very cold mist to appear. It disables vision and is great for escaping from battles, or sneaking up on enemies. Katsuo uses this as distractions, so he can fire one of his marbles and not get caught off guard while doing so.
  
  
• Reika (Below Zero) - Katsuo's hands will lose body heat and turn a blue hue. They can freeze almost anything they touch that is at a luke warm temperature. He can only freeze a small section at a time, though, but he has managed to freeze spots in water before to catch a fish or two. He is currently practicing trying to freeze warmer objects so he can be able to freeze and break weapons in a battle.
  
  
• Koori Oni (Ice Demon) - Not an ability Katsuo has by choice, but when he loses control, he goes into a demonic state. Katsuo's powers increase to an astonishing level, increased speed, and a higher pain tolerance. His body temperature drops even lower, and he is able to freeze things with much more ease.
  
  
• Fox Magic - Katsuo knows only a little bit of this mysterious magic, but knows enough to shrink things down and hide them inside of the marbles he uses. It makes carrying things around a lot easier, as well.
  
  
• Ice Breath - Because of Katsuo's lower body heat, his breath is chilled. By focusing his energy, he can transfer energy into his breath and freeze anything within a few feet of his mouth.

Flaws:

• Hot Temperatures - Katsuo's powers rely on cooler temperatures. On hot days, Katsuo is very sluggish and prefers to bathe in water to keep himself cool. If Katsuo is burned, it takes a very long time for the burn to heal and the pain lasts longer then a burn usually would.
  
  
• Inexperience - Katsuo never fights seriously, and hasn't even been in many serious battles. He's fought from time to time for food and such, but he's never actually gotten himself stuck in one of those life or death situations.
  
  
• Hanyou - Due to only being a half demon, Katsuo only has half the strength of a usual demon. On the full moon, he becomes extremely vulnerable since turns human. All of his strength and abilities he relies on disappear and his body temperature goes up to a normal range, resulting in him feeling abnormally hot.
  
  
• Demon Side - Something that should be a strength, becomes a fault for Katsuo because of his inability to control it. His demon side is basically another part of him altogether. Katsuo rarely ever tries to activate the demon in him, because he knows it'd only result in tragedy. He would harm anyone in his way when in demon form, even those he cares about.
  
  
• Temper - When Katsuo loses his temper, he can't think clearly and all of his control goes out the window. He will start yelling, instead of fighting, and has been beaten around a few times thanks to his horrible temper.
  
  
• Sensitivity - Because he is part fox demon, Katsuo is much more sensitive to sounds, smells, and other things. Sometimes his own marbles will back fire on him because of the abilities they contain.

From Whence I Came

Family:

• Mitsukai (Mother) - Mitsukai is a full fledged snow fox demon from a foreign land. She came to Japan for a while with her brother to try and find others of her own kind. She met Katsuo's father, Nekura, and brought great help to him. Their relationship grew quickly, and they became romantically involved. The romance was short lived, though, for Mitsukai had to move to a colder climate once spring came. When she had Katsuo, she had to return him to Japan to be with his father instead of keep him like she wished. Her brother said carrying a half demon child was dangerous for both them and the baby. ALIVE
  

  

  
  
• Nekura (Father) - Nekura was a farmer whose crops had been failing him and he was on the verge of having to give up food with winter coming. One day, though, he met Mitsukai, who helped save him from starvation by using her abilities to keep his garden plenty with food. He grew to trust her, but woke up one day to find her gone. Feeling betrayed, Nekura grew a strong resent for all demons when before he was merely afraid of them. When Katsuo arrived at his door step with no explaination, he ignored the child's existance and left him in the hands of his sister. ALIVE
  

  

  
  
• Amai (Aunty) - Amai, Nekura's younger sister has always been the sweet heart of her family. While her brother shunned people, Amai opened her arms. When Katsuo was left at her brother's door step, she was the first one to even pick him up. Katsuo is closest to his aunt then anyone else. He often will mention his Aunty to people he meets, talking about all the sweets she used to give him. Amai is like a mother to the little hanyou, she even was the one who named him. UNKNOWN
  

  

  
  
• Toukan (Uncle) - Toukan, Mitsukai's older brother is cold to anyone who isn't a higher class youkai. He travels around with his younger sister a lot, and was extremely irritated when she made them stop at Nekura's home. Toukan forced Mitsukai to leave, claiming spring was too hot for them too tolerate in Japan. When he learned she was pregnant with a halfbreed, Toukan warned his sisters of the dangers. It was more out of protection for her, and the fact he wanted nothing to do with Katsuo. ALIVE
  

  

  
  
• Kenbo (Pet/Tutor) - Kenbo is an old cat demon whose vainity cost her greatly. After insulting an illtempered priestess and boasting her looks, the lustful neko was turned into a small black cat. All of her demonic abilities were locked away and she is not allowed to transform back until she can find someone she thinks is a better person then herself. When she met Katsuo, she was tricked into becoming his tutor, and can be often times found lounging on his shoulders and arguing with the young halfbreed. He never stops surprising her, though. ALIVE
  

  

History:
Katsuo's story starts on the last of the cold nights of winter. His mother's sad eyes as she set him down on his father's door step before she vanished into the wind like mist. Katsuo broke into cries, but was ignored by his father, only to be saved by Amai. She tried to convince Nekura into accepting his son, but Nekura was dead set on never admiring Katsuo's existance. Katsuo's mother, Mitsukai, had left Nekura without explaination, making Nekura feel betrayed. He grew a cold bitterness towards most people and resentful towards the very hanyou he helped create.

Despite his father's coldness, though, Katsuo grew happily in the care of his aunt, Amai. Amai, Nekura's younger sister, treasured the child, due to an ailment that prevented her from having her own children. She grew close to Katsuo, and he tried to call he mommy for a while, but Nekura would scold him every time he did. Katsuo started calling her Aunty, instead, and helped her with the farming. Due to Katsuo being full of more energy then most children, he would constantly get in trouble during his attempts to entertain himself. Every time he got in trouble, his father was always there to chew him out without a moment's mercy. There was times he smacked Katsuo, but Amai would usually convince him to not use violence.

One day, Amai was sick and Katsuo was left to tend to the plants with his father. In an attempt to impress his father, Katsuo tried using his ice abilities to water most of the plants, only to freeze them and kill a majority of the plants he froze. Nekura, who was already irritated with Katsuo before, lost his temper and dragged the hanyou back to the house. Forcing him on his knees and taking his shirt, Nekura used a whip and snapped it several times on Katsuo's back, barely grazing the skin, but definitely leaving bruises. Katsuo never used his abilities near the plants, again, but grew determined to perfect his abilities. He began practicing until he dropped to avoid his father's rage the next time he tried to use the powers in front of him.

Katsuo began to become more like his father, short tempered and selfish. Amai tried to convince Katsuo he had no need to prove himself, and that's when the boy's confidence began to rise. He stated "I don't need to prove I'm great, I know I am. I want him to know that I'm great, too, though!"

So, Katsuo worked and worked, until finally managing to control the ice's temperature. The ice would come out and melt as soon as it came in contact with the ground because of the right energy put into it. Katsuo basically became a portable sprinkler, but when he showed his father the trick, Nekura paid barely any mind to it. Just a nod and he walked away. Katsuo was satisfied with it, though.

Weeks later, Amai became sick, agian, and this time, became sicker and sicker. Nekura even became noticeably worried for his sister. It was the middle of winter, yet, her temperature was rising. Katsuo, in an attempt to cool her down, used his ice breath to spray her with cold water. Shortly afterwards, though, she went into an even worst condition and couldn't stop shivering. Nekura was enraged by the turn and accused Katsuo for the worsening of her condition.

He dragged Katsuo to the barn and brought the whip out, again and forced Katsuo violently to the ground. Nekura was relentless this time and the whip dug into Katsuo's skin, cutting him open and the wounds were deepened with every whack. Finally, Nekura dropped the whip and left Katsuo to suffer and went to tend to Amai. Katsuo grew a great fear of his father from the relentless hits and didn't leave the barn for the next two days to let the cuts start closing.

Katsuo stumbled weakly into his home and paused when he saw his aunt was gone and his father was sitting in a corner silently. Katsuo backed up and looked around, not being able to find his aunt, he cried for his father to explain his aunt's where-abouts. Nekura never spoke a word, but just sat silently away from Katsuo. Katsuo was thrown into depression and in an attempt to get away from everything, he decided to run away. He stole food from the fields and left without uttering a word of his plan to his father.

A year later, Katsuo was only thirteen-years-old, and began learning to survive on his own. He travelled the country, convincing children he was a friendly demon that brought 'hope and luck' in order to get food scraps. He began to learn how to trick the blunt youkais into getting their kills, even the kills that were human. When you starve, you have no choice in what is on the menu.

Along the way, Katsuo came across a cat stuck in the river. He was about to leave it without a second though until it started yelling at him... In Japanese. Katsuo, amazed by a talking cat, saved the cat from drowning and came to discover it was a cursed cat demon, stuck forever as a house-cat sized form, until she found someone she thought was better than her.

Katsuo laughed at the woman's comical reasoning of being cursed, and told her he could find someone that could impress her if she promised to help him perfect his abilities. Kenbo, the cat, was hesitant with the idea but went along, figuring she had no other choice. She provides a voice of reason for Katsuo, but is very often ignored when Katsuo is faced with a challenge.

As the two travelled together, Katsuo came up with his marbles on his own, and other tricks, but his powers still required the old cat's advice. She, also, began to aid in his tricks to get food and sympathy items from the fools they often came by. They seemed to be in harmony... Minus the times they'd quarrel about training and finding Kenbo's "impressive person".

When they caught word of the war, Katsuo was completely unaffected, although Kenbo pressures him more and more into practicing his control. She knows he was very vulnerable into being captured, and due to a new protectiveness for the child, Kenbo is always nagging him into practicing more and pulling pranks less. Katsuo ignores her nagging though, and goes about the day like he wants, that is... Until they get into another fight and she begins clawing his eyes out.

One day, Katsuo was 20 years old by this time, Kenbo and him began arguing as usual. Kenbo finally lost control and snapped at him. She screamed "You should've never run away from home, because, even twenty-years-old, and you still need a father's scoldings!" Katsuo grew violently angry at the yell and felt his sanity fail on him.

He lost control for the first time and everything in sight was torn to shreds. He finally collasped because of a lack of energy, but had permanently frightened Kenbo. She became hesitant around Katsuo and eventually left his side due to drifting apart. When she decided to leave, though, her final words still rang in Katsuo's ears. "I'm proud to say I've met you, Katsuo... Thank you for being the person who impressed me."

Kenbo turned into her human form and ran off to continue life without the halfbreed. Katsuo misses his cat friend dearly, but continued on none the less. He's used to being alone, and spends most of his time training like Kenbo had requested he do.

How You Play

RP Sample:
"I dunno who you're looking at, but that sure as hell wasn't me" Katsuo replied cooly as the villagers glared at him. Behind them, a destroyed barn with several dead chickens wasn't a very hard thing to miss. Katsuo had been going on and on about how delicious the chickens looked, so when the destruction happened, the villagers knew just who to blame.

"Oh yeah, prove it, hanyou!" a man growled with great disdain. Katsuo's ears flipped back at the reply and he didn't look at all amused by the accusation at hand. He scoffed and stuck his nose in the air, as if he knew he was better than these people. Katsuo smirked, like the little devil he was, and replied "Simple, I was scamming some old man when this happened!"

"Scamming an old ma- You better have not tricked my father you... You!" a woman yelled this time, getting several yells to fill in the blank. Katsuo glared at the group with great disdain and ignored the accusations. He turned away from them and began to walk off, only to have a rock smack the back of his head.

"Don't you walk away! You're going to pay for this, dog-boy!" another person yelled, and Katsuo's ears shot straight up. He slowly turned to the group with darkened eyes. He growled like a wild dog and snarled "I'm a fox, not a dog! Don't you dare get me confused with some domesticated mutt!"

The villagers stared at Katsuo for a moment, before a few started laughing. Katsuo scoffed at the laughs and tried to walk, again. He was stopped, again, but this time it wasn't because a rock hit him. He heard the snap of a whip. Katsuo's heart began racing and he quickly turned around to see one of the stable hands walk up with a whip and a glare. Katsuo's whole expression paled and he felt like his mouth had been glued shut.

"Start rebuilding the barn, hanyou. I'm tired of your games and it's about time you got a punishment, brat" the man growled, snapping the whip towards Katsuo. Katsuo stood perfectly still, and merely nodded a little. He stumbled towards the barn, before dropping and starting to shake. The stable hand jumped a little at the reaction and the other villagers turned to him in confusion. "I didn't do it!" the man quickly replied as the villagers began arguing with each other.

Katsuo began to slide away, a little paralyzed by the sight of the whip. Once he felt he was at a safe distance, Katsuo got up and bolted as fast as he could. He paid no mind to where he was going, until smacking into the tree of a near by forest. Katsuo dropped to the ground, panting and still in a state of shock. Memories flashed in his mind, and he quickly grabbed his head.

"I'm not the demon" he whimpered, flopping back on the ground as he struggled to push the memories back down. "He is..." he whispered as the image of his father's death glare flashed in his mind. Katsuo tensed and closed his eyes, trying to recall something that would make the intimdating glare fade away. His heart skipped a beat when he felt a cold breeze brush over his face and his eyes flew open. He turned towards the source of the wind and he sighed quietly.

'Stop getting so excited everytime you feel something so cold... Your mother isn't coming back, father said so...' Katsuo thought to himself, but smiled a little. 'Doesn't mean I can't hope a little, though... She's out there, I know it' he thought, shaking his head as he leaned against the tree and tried to rest.

__________________________________________

How Did You Find Us?
Proboards Support forum; the Advertisement section!

How Long Have You Been Role Playing?
4-6 years, now

[REDEMPTION]

I want to RP with him now! But, sadly, I'll have to wait. Accepted!