Character Info
Character's Name: Kurogane (黒鋼). [Real name: Youou)
Nicknames [unfortunately] include: Big Puppy, Kuro-chan, Kuro-rin, Mr. Black, Kuro-chi, Kuro-tan, Kuro-pin, Kuro-pi, Kuro-pu, Kuro-pippi, Kuro-min, Kurogane-chi, Kuro-bun, Kuro-sama, Kuro-pii, Kuro-mi, Kuro-mu, Kuro-pon, Kuro-myuu, Kuro-run, Kuronpu, Kuro-ru, Kuro-wan, Kuro-wanta, Kuro-wankoro, Kuro-wanko, Kuro-poppo, Kuro-ryun, and Kuro-daddy.
Series: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles
Canon Format: Manga
Character's Age: Unknown, but he is assumed to be in the early to mid 20s range.
What form will your character's NV take? If you’re familiar with the scouters in Dragonball Z, that’s pretty much exactly what Kurogane has. This would be handy as he has already had experience with such a device at the prison he was trapped in before arriving at Siren’s Port (see Previous RP History for explanation).
Abilities
Character's Canon Abilities: As a dangerous ninja, Kurogane is obviously strong and fast, much more than the average person. His punch alone is capable of shattering walls. He’s also trained himself to look for flaws in his opponents and to be aware of his surroundings; thoughtful and quiet by nature anyway, this perceptiveness is not difficult for him. Certainly, Kurogane is a threat no matter what, but with a sword he is significantly more dangerous. He is a very skilled swordsman, and his sword is his most prized possession. Giving one up is always very, very hard for him. In the official Tsubasa Character Guide, Kurogane’s fighting prowess is rated a perfect 500/500, which pretty much sums up his strength and abilities.
Dormant Ability: Heightened senses of hearing, smell, and sight, as well as slightly more pronounced eyeteeth. Basically, Kurogane's dormant abilities can all fall under the single category: "Wolf Senses."
His normal, crummy human senses of sight, smell, and hearing? Those will enhance over time until they are as good as a wolf's.
Once Kurogane's dormant abilities have fully kicked in, he'll be able to smell various things from over a mile away, he'll be able to track people/things by their scent, and he will be able to tell who or what was in an area up to three days past their leaving if conditions are good enough to leave scents alone.
His hearing will likewise become enhanced. A human's normal range of hearing is 20kHz but his will increase to 80kHz like that of a wolf. This means he will be able to hear things up to 6-10 miles away depending on background noise and the density of the area. He will also be more sensitive to high-pitched noises that normal people wouldn't be able to hear. :B
As for his sense of sight, it won't be much different distance-wise, just more sensitive. By this I mean that he will be able to detect much smaller movements than normal human eyesight typically allows. Example: with their sensitive eyesight, wolves "are able to detect even the slightest movements of very small animals, such as a mosquito, at a distance of more than ten feet" (Reference). He won't see things in the distance any clearer than if his eyesight had remained unaffected by the Pull; it's just closer movement that will be easier to spot.
In addition, his canine teeth will extend ever so slightly so that they are noticeably pointy. This is the only physically-visible change that will occur.
I know it sounds like a lot, but it's really just "wolf senses."
Weapons: Kurogane acquired a sword in Marina Asylum (previous RP) after some time there without any weapons. Since characters are allowed to bring a "frequently used weapon that was not on them at the time they were pulled," I’d like to switch out this regular sword for the sword Ginryuu, his family heirloom. Ginryuu is very important to Kurogane and he’ll be pleasantly surprised at its reappearance.
History/Personality/Plans/etc.
Character History: Tsubasa Wikia.
Point in Canon: Post-Ch. 169.
Long story short, Kurogane just received a robotic arm to replace the one he cut off.
Brief summary of previous RP history: Kurogane was yanked into Marina Asylum (originally on Inksome, then moved to InsaneJournal) right after receiving his brand new robotic arm. He was more than a little confused but he is a fast learner and the situation was easy enough to understand to someone used to going to different worlds. There were several people that he knew (aka castmates) already at the prison, including Fai. As he and Fai came to the prison from different timelines, this sort of “time variation” won’t be surprising at Siren’s Port either. Fai eventually disappeared from the prison, leaving a secretly very worried Kurogane to an empty apartment. After a horrible computer error on part of the prison’s AI overlord, Kurogane was turned into a child, which oddly enough resulted in him moving in with a pirate (Eustass Kid) and after things went back to normal he never got around to leaving because he was secretly lonely. Just like it happens in canon, Kurogane’s metal arm was slowly rejected by his body, causing great pain and bleeding; fortunately, Kurogane was talked into having the prison AI fix it and it now functions at its best, completely repaired and compatible with his physiology. Eventually, the ninja joined up with an inmate-run defense force and acquired a sword. This made him very pleased. Aside from this, the most recent thing which impacted Kurogane was being forced to participate in an embarrassing Valentine date auction. Grr.
Character Personality: As a tall, looming shadow with red eyes and a nearly-permanent scowl, Kurogane usually seems highly unapproachable. The ninja is clearly a novice when it comes to dealing with people, as he can’t quite care enough to devote himself to getting good at it (that's how it seems, at least); he doesn’t usually even bother with the struggle of being polite, and often gives the impression of growling more than actually talking to someone. This is one of the reasons that Kurogane was given the alias “Big Puppy” by the mage Fai, one of his companions.
When socializing, Kurogane would prefer to be silent and watchful, or simply blunt. His social awkwardness tends to come off as rough but he is a serious person by nature and fooling around doesn’t go hand-in-hand with him; nor is he the politest person you’ll ever meet. This does not mean that he is completely without compassion.
Though he started his journey unwillingly and angrily, he grew attached to Syaoran, Fai, Sakura, and even Mokona over time, finding his place in their journey. His coarse manner of speaking and behaving did not change much, but he made it clear on several occasions that he would kill - which would result in a weakening of his own strength - to keep them safe. More than anything, Kurogane does not want to lose the people he comes to care about. His horrific past of losing both his parents and all of the people living in Suwa are the reason for this inner fear, and also why he wants to be strong - so that he can protect others.
Kurogane’s protective streak shines the brightest, perhaps, when it comes to Fai. The two constantly bicker, fight, and threaten (on Kurogane’s part), yet when it came down to saving Fai’s life, Kurogane gave no second thought to becoming the “bait” to vampire!Fai (meaning Fai would have to feed off of his blood); later on, the ninja made an even bigger sacrifice by cutting off his own arm and leaving behind his sword to save Fai from doom.
And yet, despite all of the seriousness that Kurogane displays, he has quirks just like anyone else. For instance: he has an extremely short temper and is therefore easily annoyed. When provoked, his reactions could be described as funny by some, but most would rightly consider them frightening and run for their lives.
Growing up in Japan, he has humorous difficulty in using utensils other than chopsticks when eating. A Neanderthal may have better luck with a fork than poor Kurogane.
There’s also the slightly geeky side of the dark man that enjoys reading ninja mangas. He liked them so much that he actually became slightly obsessed with them, and tried to find them in every world that he and the others travelled to.
Personality development in previous game: By the time that Kurogane arrived at Marina Asylum, he’d already undergone significant personal growth in the series. While at this RP, he didn’t change behavior-wise, though he was a bit more social than normal while trying to figure out the prison, a way to leave, etc. Due to strange events in the prison (such as being temporarily transformed back into a child), Kurogane eventually grew closer to several other inmates, trusting them and watching out for them like he did with his previous traveling companions (aka his canonmates: Fai, Syaoran, Sakura, and Mokona).
Character Plans: Kurogane will want to find a way to go home. He’s sick of being transported around - without his world-hopping companions, specifically. It’s possible he’d join up with one of the island’s factions just to be more aware of what they are doing in their efforts surrounding the core.
Appearance:
■ Kurogane’s false, metal arm.
■ The typical ninja outfit of Mr. Black.
■ As an added bonus, have a Kuro-woof and a Syaoran.
He’s really, really tall and twiggy. In my last game, I had him guessed at a height of 6’7” because he towers over even the tall people in his series and the just-under-average-for-his-height weight of 196lbs. This is, of course, just me trying to assign numbers to a guy who wasn’t given them officially.