Siren's Pull Application
(ETA: I have no idea what I did to screw up the HTML but it'll be fixed at some point when I'm less sleepy.)
Player Information
Character Information
General
Canon Source: Black Jack
Canon Format: Manga (original manga by Osamu Tezuka than ran 1973-1983)
Character's Name: Black Jack (actual name Kuro'o Hazama)
Character's Age: Mid-20s.
What form will your character's NV take? A black leather-bound journal on the outside, but the inside has a video screen and various buttons.
Abilities
Character's Canon Abilities: None of Black Jack's abilities are superhuman. He's considered a miracle worker as a surgeon, but it's simply because he's very knowledgeable in matters of human anatomy and various procedures.
Conditional: If your character has no superhuman canon abilities, what dormant ability will you give them?
I would like for Black Jack's dormant ability to be X-Ray vision. Specifically, he will have the ability to see through skin and detect the state of one's inner workings. This ability does not work on non-sentient objects; he can't see through buildings or vehicles or anything like that. Also, when this ability first kicks in he will be unable to control when it is off or on for quite sometime. Eventually he will get a hang on how to switch between normal vision and X-ray.
Weapons: He's been known to throw scalpels when in a pinch.
History/Personality/Plans/etc.
Character History: Character Personality:
When most people first meet Black Jack, they form the impression that he's a greedy, selfish man with a nasty attitude. This is no fluke, as it's exactly the sort of impression that the doctor wishes to give. With the exception of his assistant, Pinoko, he is very much a loner and a hermit. It's hard to pinpoint exactly why he's taken on this personality, but it's very likely that it's the result of a lifetime of being an outcast due to his scars. He's decided to play the role others assign to him due to his appearance, henceforth guarding his heart from any further hurt. As much as he tries to pretend he's cold to the world, there are many times he lets the mask slip. Usually this takes the form of his fatherly attitude towards Pinoko or in finding some way to help people who are truly in need and unable to pay his outrageous fees. The latter is almost always done in such a way that he can deny he's truly being benevolent. To those that don't take his advice or have selfish motives, however, he shows little mercy. The same can be said about his attitude towards the men he considers responsible for his mother's death and his own disfigurement. Time has not healed that particular grudge, and there is a story in which one of the men (whom he did surgery on) dies and he experiences great rage at the fact his attempt to cure him so that he might properly punish him was in vain. Needless to say, there is a great amount of bottled up anger in Black Jack, in spite of the air of calm superiority he attempts to hide beneath.
While he is a very smart man, the doctor is also incredibly stubborn and still has much learning to do. There have been many instances in the stories in which his own refusal to see things more than one way have resulted in a patient's life being lost. While most of the time he can fix those that come to him, he does not always have the right answer, and those instances always seem to leave him in a state of deep melancholy. Typically, he will try and hide this from most people, saving his frustrated displays for when there's nobody around. All the same, his mistakes haunt him, even once it seems that he's gotten over the failure.
Then there are matters of the heart. Several women have fallen for or attempted to woo him, but Black Jack is very vocal about how he finds romance to be a waste of time and an unneeded distraction. Beneath that excuse, however, is the fact that Black Jack considers himself unworthy of their affections. Although he often puts on a cocky persona, the truth is that he harbors quite a bit of self-loathing. He pushes people away in order to keep himself from hurting them and possibly out of a fear of rejection. If he rejects them first, he won't have a chance to get attached and have his heart broken. This behavior was likely spawned from his first failed romance with Megumi Kisaragi; someone he still pines for to this day.
While it rarely shows itself to anyone but Pinoko, Black Jack also does have a playful side. There was a story in which a woman wanted a relative cured, and he told her in a lecherous manner that if she didn't have the money she would need to pay him with her body. The woman was desperate, and in spite of clearly being very distraught at his words, showed up ready to give him what she thought he wanted. In truth, he meant that her relative needed one of her kidneys in order to recover, and didn't reveal this to her until the very last minute.
Character Plans: The very first thing that Black Jack will likely do is try and find a few clients in order to get himself some money. He's used to a world where people find HIM due to his reputation, so it will be a bit of an adjustment to actually have to advertise his work. He's grown accustomed to having a great deal of money back home, and will want to be financially comfortable as soon as possible in this new environment.
He will not seek out work in any hospital, instead working out of wherever he lives. Even in a new place, he has little desire to be under the restraints of any medical establishment.
Appearance/PB: http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb287/Gurenn/Favorite%20anime%20characters/Osamu%20Tezuka%20Star%20System/Black%20Jack/77869.jpg
Writing Samples
First Person Sample
[There is no awkward mucking about for THIS first broadcast. The video opens with the NV's owner seated at a desk, hands folded before him and a stern look on his face. The man is made all the more imposing by his appearance; he wears a long black cape, and even more eye-catching is the large scar running down the side of his cheek and separating Caucasian skin from dark brown.]
Good day. I'm Black Jack.
I'm not going to waste time with pleasantries. No need to bother me with the usual stuff you go over with new arrivals, either. I've done my own sniffing around and have the gist of what's going on. [He waves a hand dismissively.]
To be blunt, I got used to a certain class of living back home, and if I'm going to be stuck here for an unknown amount of time I'd like to get my bank account up to a nice healthy amount in as little time as possible. [There's a smug grin here, as if daring anyone to make something of his shallow concerns.] Since my reputation doesn't exist here, I'll need to do something very out of the ordinary and advertise my services. Hopefully, only briefly.
There are four things you should know about me and my work. First, I'm a surgeon. Second, I'm unlicensed and will only work out of my home or the patient's. I have no interest in working for any hospital or getting a license, so spare me your lectures on either subject. Third, I'm not cheap. I don't work on charity, either. If you don't have the money for my fees, don't waste my time with sob stories. On the other hand, I don't care what you do for a living. I've treated royalty and crime lords. Your business is no business of mine, as long as you can pay.
Fourth, however, is that if everyone else has told you that curing you is impossible, I'm famous for making them eat their words. [Another smile, this time more on the mischievous side.]
I'll be waiting.
[And just as suddenly as it started, the transmission abruptly ends.]
Third Person Sample
Had he really gotten so used to not being alone? When had that happened, exactly?
It'd been a week since he'd ended up at that baseball diamond. A week since he'd had to start from scratch with the bare minimum of equipment and no word of mouth to bring patients to him. Just a week. Yet, as he looked around the mostly bare walls of the apartment he now called home, it felt as if it'd been much longer.
He still sometimes expected her to be there. In the early morning, he found himself creeping about quietly, as if he still was trying not to rouse the sleeping little girl. It wasn't until he had properly woken up that he realized he was going through the ritual for an empty apartment. It was just him, there. Him and his thoughts.
Walking through the streets, he'd see children and their parents. They weren't too keen on the oddly dressed, scarred man staring at them. He wouldn't even realize he was doing it until they hurriedly walked away from him, at which point all he could do was pretend he wasn't phased. That he wasn't thinking about how much they reminded him of Pinoko just then. No, he was better off without her nagging or clingy behavior. Better able to concentrate on work.
When he had work, that is. The populous of Siren's Port was not as won over as he'd hoped by his broadcast. Newcomers were not easily trusted to start with, and one that looked as menacing as Black Jack wasn't going to win them over so easily. He would just have to bide his time until the first big spender came to him -- then, the word-of-mouth publicity could start.
Eating alone wasn't as pleasant as he'd remembered, either. Sitting on a piddly little table with a bowl of instant ramen and a can of disgusting cheap beer was how he spent his typical dinner now. No Pinoko chattering on constantly over whatever silly subject was on her mind at the time. Just the sound of the clock ticking on the wall and silverware colliding with his plate.
At least, in the privacy of this apartment, he didn't need to worry about putting on the smug facade. Here, he could throw the now empty can against the wall in frustration.
Here, he could cry.