Character Name: Hei. Canon: Darker than Black. Canon Point: End of season two.
In-Game Tattoo Placement: Here, as a band around the arm at the elbow. The base of the antlers fade into a gradient of stippling. Current Health/Status: Tired and hungry, but healthy. Age: Twenty-five. Species: Human/"contractor".
Content Warnings: Post-traumatic stress disorder, acute paranoia and anxiety, child soldiers, physical, verbal, and mental abuse, suicidal ideation.
As an alleged contractor — a being with great power, marked lack of emotion, and a proclivity for logical reasoning —, Hei is known to be a creature of apathy much the same as the rest. They hold notoriety in the series for being unfeeling liars and betrayers, designed by supernatural phenomena to obey only their strictest rational thoughts and an instinctual goal of self-preservation. Outwardly, he shows a staggering lack of empathy and compassion, devoid of most human decencies that keep him at an arm's distance from a world that's left him high and dry. Episode two shows us his understanding of these traits and an acceptance of what he's become in a helpful narrative exchanged between Chiaki, a woman he's stringing along to gather information, and himself. He describes contractors to her as inhumane monsters, killing machines, wolves in sheep's clothing.
Hei is certainly no real exception to his own words; he lies, he betrays, he kills. These are his sins as a morally grey assassin. He has done unspeakable things: murdered families, friends, and lovers — from humans to contractors and anything in between, all at the order of any employer who gets him what he needs to survive. The absolute viciousness with which he conducts himself and carries out sick acts have earned him the title "Black Reaper", sticking with him for over a decade.
What contractor label he's earned is, however, something of a sham. Retaining the abilities of a typical contractor thanks to the sacrificial fusion of his soul with his sister Xing's, Hei has adopted everything she could do without the setbacks she suffered in life. For him this means that he can experience great and debilitating emotions any human can, yet has no mandatory "payment" — a contractor's compulsive need to perform a specific task as punishment for using their gifts. He has one foot through each species' door, a double-life he's acknowledged (with agonizing effort) he'll have to struggle with. Thinking of this as a saving grace for his character would be unfortunately untrue; his deceptions have made him infamous. To hide being a forgery of a contractor for so long a time is impressive, but also makes him something of an enigma to those who are unlucky enough to cross paths with him.
He's nothing if not difficult to get along with, showing irrational outbursts which have confused both humans and contractors who tend to believe that he's a freak of nature. Hei is a bit of an oddball to those he meets, having several quirks — some examples being his insatiable glutton's appetite, eating more than ten courses of the same meal in one sitting, and a surprising affinity for cooking chef-grade food from several different countries (Chinese cuisine from home, Thai fried rice, several Japanese dishes, and Russian pelmeni to name a few). Being so fond of these things, he has an appreciation for the mundane as his life has always been tragic. Normalcy and the little pleasures in life, while hard to let go of his neuroses enough to enjoy, are like small miracles.
The tragedies he's experienced have left him a very split, unstable individual, riddled with depression and post-traumatic stress that both contribute to his night terrors and vivid hallucinations. He has a cripplingly low idea of his own self-worth and it makes him protective to the point of possessiveness over the people who can tolerate his disjointed behaviour. He fixates on things when his emotional control is chipped away at and when those closest to him have their lives endangered, his personality shifts one hundred and eighty degrees.
Hei has a wicked temper. He becomes irate, he growls, he makes and carries out very real threats in manic states commonplace contractors are incapable of dreaming of. He's extremely prone to panic and its frequent attacks. In season one's episode four, Hei discovers that a father had been testing his research on his daughter and using her as a glorified guinea pig and shows a great deal of disgust towards the man, saying, "If you're looking for forgiveness, you won't get it from me." As irrational as it is, he will go out of his way and risk his own life for the lives of innocent people who've had an impact on him. The torment they experience he blames on himself and has, on several occasions, pushed him into vengeful mindsets. He's hesitant to form bonds for understandable reasons, keeping people at arm's length. Yin, his dear friend and doll — an emotionless, passive medium capable of summoning spectres used in tracking and reconnaissance —, develops a profound connection with Hei and is treated with both great care and respect. He's not an unreasonable monster, working hard for and showing deference to the ones he wishes to protect.
So while initially he appears to have little to no qualms about doing dreadful things in order to get what he wants, over the course of the series his "half"-contractor reveal explains far more of his personality. Hei has a fair amount of feeling in him, which finally gives us a three-dimensional view of his character. From the outside we see the merciless murderer, the deceitful, selfish creature. Inside, at his core, we see the deeply troubled, traumatized child soldier who's been used, abused, and discarded myriad times for myriad things. He has an a bad streak of gullibility, falling into the manipulative traps of both women and men, stumbling into unwise partnerships when he should know better.
Amber and his own sister, two of his partners he fought beside in a South American war, used him several times in their plans for reshaping the world. At the end of the series, Japan is very nearly destroyed by his and Amber's hands when she tries to force him into using his abilities against humankind — which is thankfully subverted. Yet time and time again he walks into the same circumstances. Not a very bright boy, when it comes down to brass tacks.
He may show many degrees of intelligence, most often street smarts as he doesn't have any formal education, but he's often bailed out of several scenarios he couldn't otherwise handle on his own. Perceptiveness varies with him, but it's a very notable quality; in combat he's an unsurmountable opponent due to his constant vigilance and unique, improvised ways of strategizing. While very quick on the uptake, a disciplined learner who knows several different languages and adept acting skills, Hei has been known to let the human side of him bite off more than it can chew.
Abilities/Powers/Weaknesses & Warping:
HUMAN ABILITIES — Olympian-level skill in athletics and acrobatics, can sprint long distances, wall-climb, and perform backflips with ease — Expert in hand-to-hand combat, knowing several styles of martial arts taught to him in South America by General Leonard Maxley — In peak physical condition, giving him marked agility, power, and enough speed to dodge bullets at near point-blank range — A trained dancer, lending to his loose flexibility, graceful reactionary dodging, and insane muscle control — Surprisingly durable and takes hits like a champ, pulls a foot-long stake of wood out of his shoulder and moves on — Has impressive dexterity, using daggers as grappling hooks and both melee to ranged weapons — Human abilities said to be so advanced that he can take on a contractor without his powers with little physical strain — Extremely good cook, chef-level culinary skills — Can eat anime-protagonist-levels of food in one sitting, which is super relevant and important
MOLECULAR MANIPULATION — Generates and discharges electrical currents powerful enough to alter matter on a quantum level (Power warp: may completely backfire or fluctuate if his output gets above a certain voltage) — Conducts electricity through resources available to him, such as water, metal, and physical contact — Can disables technologies with this ability, like computer-programmed locks, lights, and anything electrical affected by a powerful electrical current — Can wipe short-term memory with strong shocks applied to the base of the skull (Power warp: with permission from another player, both Hei and his target will get their short-term memories wiped, confusing the hell out of them for alarmingly upsetting and possibly hilarious results) — Alters chemical makeup using "special particle luminance", which can transform humans into contractors with enough energy output (Power warp: with permission from another player, both Hei and his target will lose all illogical thoughts, emotions, and feelings for others for an impermanently short time) — Changes volatile substances into stable compounds, i.e. gunpowder, drugs/poisons, chemicals (Power warp: may alter substances into something more or less dangerous and/or potent than initially planned) — It does not have a stamina limit, using his ability over and over and over without noticeable fatigue — When coupled with a meteor fragment, he was powerful enough to destroy a large portion of South America almost effortlessly (I recommend that this be nerfed entirely as it can be game-breaking, unless it becomes somehow plot relevant and you guys want to use it, I don't mind either way!)
WEAKNESSES — He's so dumb, he's just a dumb-ass who makes terrible decisions and needs help all the time — Prone to panic attacks and delusions that can cripple him both socially and in combat — Has a volatile temper, keep poking and prodding and he will lose his head and make a fool out of himself — Short-range fighter, limiting him greatly in battle and making him useful only in close quarters throw-downs and on recon missions — Alcoholic who quit cold turkey, but once an alcoholic always an alcoholic and he has many more reasons to start the habit up again — Despite being in his ability section, he has human limits where durability and stamina is concerned; wear and tear shows — Verbally and physically abusive, insults even those closest to him and backhands several people multiple times
Inventory:
His outfit, a pair of daggers, and a belt with embedded metal wire.
Player Name: Froot. Player Age: Twenty-seven. Player Contact: frooting, frugivorous#0874 on Discord.
Other Characters In Game: N/A. In-Game Tag If Accepted: Hei: Froot. Permissions for Character: Here. Are you comfortable with prominent elements of fourth-walling?: Absolutely. What themes of horror/psychological thrillers do you enjoy the most?: Tension, the buildup when you know the hammer's going to drop but you don't know when, getting thicker and thicker until you feel extremely uncomfortable. Mystery, the confusing twists and turns that leave you reeling. Psychological thrillers are my all-time favourite, but I love anything uncomfortable. This includes extreme violence, slasher type scenes, gore, creepy crawlies, and any other horrible thing under the sun. Is there anything in particular you absolutely need specific content warnings for?: Nothing at all. Additional Information: The soul of Hei's sister Xing was forced into him and now he operates with two, which in turn fuels his abilities. If at any time there's someone who can sense souls or events that could have an effect on souls, this will go doubly for him, and if Xing's soul is torn away from him he may lose his powers entirely. Canon's iffy on this, but I'll do whatever sounds more interesting!
Edited (took away the crossbow!) 2019-12-08 02:42 (UTC)
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DEERINGTON—
IN CHARACTER
Character Name: Hei.
Canon: Darker than Black.
Canon Point: End of season two.
In-Game Tattoo Placement: Here, as a band around the arm at the elbow. The base of the antlers fade into a gradient of stippling.
Current Health/Status: Tired and hungry, but healthy.
Age: Twenty-five.
Species: Human/"contractor".
Content Warnings: Post-traumatic stress disorder, acute paranoia and anxiety, child soldiers, physical, verbal, and mental abuse, suicidal ideation.
History: World and character (both easy reads).
CRAU History and Impact: N/A.
Personality:Abilities/Powers/Weaknesses & Warping:Inventory:Writing Samples: Here and here.
OUT OF CHARACTER
Player Name: Froot.
Player Age: Twenty-seven.
Player Contact:
Other Characters In Game: N/A.
In-Game Tag If Accepted: Hei: Froot.
Permissions for Character: Here.
Are you comfortable with prominent elements of fourth-walling?: Absolutely.
What themes of horror/psychological thrillers do you enjoy the most?: Tension, the buildup when you know the hammer's going to drop but you don't know when, getting thicker and thicker until you feel extremely uncomfortable. Mystery, the confusing twists and turns that leave you reeling. Psychological thrillers are my all-time favourite, but I love anything uncomfortable. This includes extreme violence, slasher type scenes, gore, creepy crawlies, and any other horrible thing under the sun.
Is there anything in particular you absolutely need specific content warnings for?: Nothing at all.
Additional Information: The soul of Hei's sister Xing was forced into him and now he operates with two, which in turn fuels his abilities. If at any time there's someone who can sense souls or events that could have an effect on souls, this will go doubly for him, and if Xing's soul is torn away from him he may lose his powers entirely. Canon's iffy on this, but I'll do whatever sounds more interesting!