App to scorched
In Character Information
character name: Hayato Gokudera
Fandom: Katekyo Hitman Reborn
Timeline: End of chapter 282. After arriving back to the past.
character's age: 15... 16 ish
powers, skills, pets and equipment:
Gokudera makes and maintains his own dynamite himself, and in battle, throws it (either 8, 16, or 24 at a time) at his enemies. He's a skilled mathematician, and is often referred to as a "genius" in the manga, who scores perfect on every test with seemingly little effort. He's also fairly skilled at playing the piano (though his "best" work was created while he was young and under the influence of his sister's poison cooking).
He's fairly agile, can throw a good punch, but has the strength of a typical human teenage boy. What he lacks in power he makes up for in his quick wits and explosives.
Gokudera always has dynamite on his person, thus his nickname "Smoking Bomb". He can pull out massive amounts of it with a flourish of his arms, and it's a mystery where he keeps it. Along with his dynamite, he also carries cigarettes and a lighter (both are used to light the fuses for his weapons).
It's important to note that although dynamite is highly dangerous, most often than not in the beginning of the series, it does nothing more than intimidate people and create scorch marks. If he blows anything up on a street, nothing substantial will be damaged. His dynamite only does real damage in battle by wounding his enemies and knocking over items to create a more complex battlefield.
The most important item Gokudera carries with him is his Vongola Storm Ring, an item he earned in the Ring Battle Arc of the series. It marks him as Tsuna's Storm Guardian, and later in the series, proves to be a useful tool as it channels his Storm flames.
The Storm Flame's property is destruction/disintegration. By itself, the flame can eat away almost anything at incredible speeds, breaking it down despite its makeup, unlike typical fire.
During the trip to the future, Gokudera receives a series of box weapons (a weapon kept in a small box that is opened with a dying will flame such as his storm flame). The first is an arm cannon that can fire dynamite, storm flames, a combination of both, or cartridges loaded with any other flames. After opening the first box, he receives a backpack full. The second box contains a kitten with storm flames in its ears (and is only useful in battle if it is fed sun flames to make it grow into an adult. Then it's basically a giant leopard) that Gokudera adores and affectionately names Uri.
He has a hard time opening the rest of the boxes, and only does when he discovers that he possesses four other flames: sun (activity/growth), lightning (hardening), rain (tranquility), and cloud (propagation). Combined with the storm flames, Gokudera unlocks the boxes, which are a series of shields that rotate around him, and even one that he can ride on like a flying disc. This combined system of shields and mixed shots from his storm cannon, he titles Sistema C.A.I (Sistema Cambio Arma Instantaneo).
Unable to go back to the past lugging around an interchangeable set of 16 box weapons, Gokudera appears with his basic boxes as rings (four skull ring for each flame, his Vongola ring, and even a small Uri ring). Though it is never explained which boxes are rings, it's safe to assume that one ring can act as storage for the rest considering the boxes themselves could be used simply as storage devices. He calls on his Sistema C.A.I. later in canon simply by screaming it out.
canon history:
Gokudera is the bastard son of an Italian mafia boss and a young half-Japanese pianist. He's claimed to be the legitimate son between his father and his wife, and could only see his real mother a few times a year. She wasn't allowed to tell him about his true origins, and taught him to play the piano. When he turned three, she stopped showing up altogether.
What he never knew was that his mother had a disease, and because she knew she was going to die, refused his father's marriage proposals. She apparently died while on her way to give him a gift, and the car ran off the road and over the side of a cliff.
Little Gokudera went on playing the piano, and at his first recital, his half-sister made him cookies. It turned out that they were poisonous (which was accidental), and he ate them before playing. Despite his sickness, the audience loved his music and his father encouraged him to eat the cookies before every recital. After his sister learned she had the ability to make anything into poison, she fed young Gokudera different kinds of deadly concoctions, and basically used him as a guinea pig on a regular basis. His mind and body scarred from all of her attacks, Gokudera can no longer look at his sister's face without becoming ill.
Gokudera's only role model seemed to be the doctor that worked for his family, Trident Shamal. Despite being a drunken womanizer (and a terrible influence to the tiny mafioso), Dr.Shamal was a skilled hitman who used mosquitoes to inject his enemies with incurable diseases. Not wanting the little boy to copy all of his techniques (he'd already stole his hairstyle), Shamal demonstrated dynamite's potential in battle. Awed by the display, Gokudera immediately took to the weapon and began terrorizing other children with it.
It wasn't until he overheard a conversation about his real mother when he was eight that he learned about his illegitimacy. He blamed his father for his mother's death, ran away, and spent the next six years on the streets. While on the streets, he searched for a mafia family that would take him in, and was rejected nearly every time. The only family that sought him out was the Formazo family, who convinced him to blow up a concert to destroy the reputation of the largest mafia family in the world, the Vongola. Gokudera realized shortly after that it would also destroy the future of a man that had helped him on the streets. Scared and ashamed that he would do something so low, but desperately wanting to belong, the conflicted boy ran away. However, known to Gokudera as "Old Man," the Ninth boss of the Vongola family came to him and assured him that it wasn't his fault, and he was able to disarm the bomb in time.
Gokudera was later summoned by Reborn (Tsuna's home tutor) to Japan, where he met and challenged the Tenth Vongola boss (and main character of the series), Sawada Tsunayoshi. In the midst of combat, Gokudera failed his attack, dropping all of his lit dynamite, but Tsuna put them out and basically saved his life. From that moment on, he gave the Tenth his undying loyalty and proclaimed himself his right-hand man. During the daily life arc of the series, he focused on not only proving himself a capable subordinate, but a loyal friend. At one point, thanks to a malfunctioning weapon, he was turned into a child and saved Tsuna from an assassination attempt.
When an escaped mafia convict traveled to Namimori and began taking out the strongest people around the age of fifteen, Gokudera was able to take down his attacker. However, when Tsuna appeared, he became the new target, and Gokudera took the shot, suffering injuries from poisonous needles. Thanks to his ties with Dr. Shamal, he was able to get an antidote and fight alongside Tsuna. However, because he was not fully healed, he suffered both from the injury and the side-effects of the antidote in the midsts of combat and was taken down easily. Using the last ounces of his strength to rescue a fellow student, he was able to return to Tsuna, who was busy fighting the main opponent, Mukuro. Gokudera was possessed and forced to attack his boss, but was rescued when Tsuna defeated Mukuro.
After recovering, Gokudera, Tsuna, and their other unofficial family members resumed their daily lives until Tsuna and his close friends received Vongola rings. The leader of the Vongola's most renowned assassination team, the Varia sought after the rings. Xanxus, the Ninth Vongola's adopted son wanted the rings that would officially make him the Tenth Vongola. Each member of Tsuna's "family" would have to fight each member of the varia. Gokudera's opponent was Belphagor. Known as "Prince the Ripper", Bel's weapon of choice was throwing knives and he was known as a genius. After swallowing his pride, Gokudera sought the help of Dr. Shamal as his personal tutor. After being rejected by him, however, he began training on his own and nearly blew himself up trying to develop a new technique. Shamal refused to train him because he could not see the value of his own life. During their fight for the Vongola Storm Ring, Gokudera had to learn this lesson when it came between losing his match and walking away ringless, or dying. Tsuna assured him that they were fighting to have a bright future, not for honor, and Gokudera barely managed to escape the fight alive. With too few of Tsuna and his guardians having won their rings, Xanxus declared a final fight between the two potential bosses. Each Guardian was poisoned and had to fight for the antidote. The same student Gokudera had helped before returned the favor by giving him the antidote, then he proceeded to help his fellow guardians so his boss could fight and ensure their victory.
personality:
For Gokudera, being alone means being safe. Everyone he's ever cared deeply for has ended up hurting him, and if he opens up, he assumes he would be vulnerable to potentially more pain. Thus, AFFECTION IS BAD. The one and only exception is Tsuna. Because he views his boss as being inherently good, as someone who has accepted him and will need him, Gokudera happily puts loyalty before himself.
He proclaims himself the Tenth's right-hand man, and guards his position from anyone who gets close to the Tenth or threatens to take it (which is mostly everyone Tsuna associates with). He wants so badly to prove himself that he's nearly been killed on several occasions. So when he's hit by cars, poisoned, cut up in combat and nearly bleeding to death, he grins and brushes his problems aside.
Above all else, he's afraid of appearing weak. Gokudera picks fights regularly on the street, dresses tough, hates children, and dislikes most authority figures. In school, he's viewed as a rebel and a delinquent, and has no problem threatening the teachers if it means defending his boss. But for as rebellious as he seems, he is easily the smartest student in his class, often tutoring Tsuna after school. Because Tsuna has a hard time refusing anyone, Gokudera is constantly getting into fights with everyone around them, blowing up street corners, bedrooms, and strangling the five-year old resident hitman. To say Gokudera is dangerous for both his boss' health and sanity is an understatement, but he doesn't give up, and is always looking for some way to help (regardless of it's needed or not).
Beneath Gokudera's rough exterior, insults, foul language, and general cantankerousness is a kind-hearted boy who's afraid of rejection, who is smart, and easily excited by the abnormal. After being accepted into a family and securing his spot as the Tenth Vongola's Storm Guardian, Gokudera seems to accept the idea of having people who care about him, and he very much cares for them in return. However, to maintain his tough-guy appearance, he goes out of his way to be rude to everyone but Tsuna, and pushes them all away, literally waiting until no one can see before he shows real affection.
why do you feel this character would be appropriate to the setting?
Until he met Tsuna, all he'd known was hardship. Even though being Tsuna's right-hand man has put him into countless dangerous situations. He's been shot, poisoned, bullied, stabbed, and even possessed. He rolls with the punches, and takes joy in aiding the "famiglia" any way he can.
As long as he has something to fight for in Anatole, he can overlook the damage he takes, and continue to prove himself a capable fighter and valuable right-hand man to the Tenth Vongola boss.
Writing Samples
Network Post Sample:
[The audio starts with Gokudera clearing his throat]
Okay, just because I'm not the pilot doesn't mean I'm going to take orders. Let's get one thing straight. I don't like you people, and the only reason that I'm willing to cooperate is because it appears the Vongola has yet to set up a base in the area.
[The sound of his fingers pressing the numbers on his cell phone is loud beside the receiver and he curses beneath his breath as he finds that he STILL has no signal]
Once the Tenth is around, I'm leaving. But until then, stay out of my way. [The feed ends as abruptly as it started]
Third Person Sample:
Like riding a bicycle, making paper airplanes was something Hayato never forgot how to do. It’s all muscle memory in his fingers, strategically placed pinches dragged sharp and smooth with a flourish at the end each time. He grabs another piece, puts a fold down the middle, opens it, meets the upper corners to the inside crease once, then twice. He’s focusing intently on the menial task, keeping his hands busy while his mind works overtime. The cigarette he’d lit too long ago is pointing sideways out of his mouth, his teeth grinding down on the filter. Ash clings desperately to the tip of the burned paper as his lips move, precariously dangling as the slight habitual motion breaks it to reveal the red glow his lighter left behind. A drag rekindles the glow and the ash tumbles off when he gives the stick a sharp flick. It’s almost gone and for every cancer stick he lights, there are well over fifty paper airplanes that are added to the pile.
The teen licks his lips and glances over his shoulder, admiring the pile of paper planes in the cardboard box beside him. He leans back in his chair, rocking it on the hind legs while his feet settle on the desktop, pushing aside the glass ashtray brimming with mutilated cigarette butts. As he lights a new cigarette -the last one from his pack, he makes a mental note to buy more- he can remember exactly how Shamal had thrown the sticks. How… How come he couldn’t do the same thing? Frustrated, he moves his legs, rocking the chair back with a loud “thud!” before he sits straight. “Dammit, he better reimburse me for all this paper,” Hayato grumbles as he snatches another piece from the stack of printing paper standing beside him.
Maybe a box-full of paper airplanes is enough. His fingers feel stiff, and the bandages he used to cover the paper cuts and burns only hinder their movements further. With a growl, he pushes away from the desk once more and stands over his pile of targets. Pulling out a pair of reading glasses from the top desk drawer, Hayato bends over the box, squinting and measuring the distance from the nose of the topmost plane to the top of the box. It’s not nearly full enough! “Shit!” The curse disturbs his cigarette and it topples from its perch on his lips, landing inside the box and damaging all of his work, “Ah-fuck!!!” The teen practically dives in after it, flipping the box over as he fishes out the lit cigarette and promptly burns his palm. “GUAAAAHH!!”
The next day when he and the baseball idiot meet Tsuna outside to walk to school together and Yamamoto asks about his hand, he has to hold back snuffing out the first cigarette of the day on his big stupid, grinning face.