GB APPLICATION
Character name: Madarame Ikkaku
Fandom: Bleach
Timeline: End of Deicide arc.
Age: Hundreds of years old, but not specified. Looks around his mid-20s, somehow passed for a high school student?
~*Magical*~ abilities and strengths:
Shinigami or soul reapers are the psychopomps of the Bleach world. They send souls of humans to the afterlife, which is called Soul Society. Soul Society is the afterlife! It's a massive place with 80 districts in each cardinal direction (Rukongai) and the city in the center, called Seireitei or the Court of Pure Souls. That's where all the shinigami are. Their main job also involves fighting hollows, which are corrupted souls.
Shinigami are divided into 13 divisions in a military kinda format and they're ranked by strength. They each have a zanpakutou, or soul cutter, which is pretty much a sword with powers and a personality. Each one of them also has reiatsu, or spiritual energy. Currently, Ikkaku's ranked third in the 11th division under Zaraki Kenpachi, who's the only captain not to have bankai. It's cool, though, because he does.
Oh boy. Now bankai is the final release of the soul cutter. Each one has an initial release-- shikai-- and a final one, which only the strongest shinigami have reached with a buttload of hard work and training. Ikkaku's soul cutter is called Hoozukimaru, and his initial release is a spear that can break into a three-sectioned staff. His bankai is-- well, this.
He won't use his bankai, though. Ikkaku wants to stay in Kenpachi's division, and he only uses it when no one but Renji and Yumichika are looking. He can use shunpo, or flash step, but also rarely does unless he can drag out the fight like that. Like most shinigami, he can sense reiatsu, and he's got pretty huge amounts of it himself.
How would they use their abilities?: Mostly picking fights (for fun!). But if someone pisses him off, he'd use it to get them to back off, too.
Appearance: Tall at around 6'0", light for his height and for how much muscle he packs. Bald. Will tell you he shaves his head. Usually wears his shinigami uniform which is mostly black with some white underneath. Doesn't wear socks. Has little red tattoos at the corners of his eyes. Massive scar down the left side of his chest because Ichigo's a bitch.
Background/Personality:
Ikkaku's a pretty friendly and mellow guy most of the time! He likes to fight, likes to drink, likes to party. He'll be completely 100% at home in a testosterone-charged pissing-contest environment. ... his best friend is sort of effeminate and fruity. His captain is a badass. His vice captain makes the entire world her chewtoy. He's good with tools. He's kind of a doormat where his captain and vice captain are concerned, but otherwise Ikkaku's a terror.
Like the rest of his division, Ikkaku's a confrontational meathead. Unlike the rest of his division (and that's including captain, vice-captain and Yumichika), he can be a hardass when it comes to training and drilling and getting stronger, especially when it's his subordinates being weak or lazy.
He has a strong code of honor and sticks to it. He respects people who're strong and keep fighting even when they're about to fall over. He never, ever backs away from or surrenders a fight. Ikkaku sort of has a deathwish. He doesn't really WANT to die, but he knows that if he does, he won't regret it as long as he goes down fighting under Kenpachi's command.
Ikkaku's pretty bright-- when it comes to fighting, anyway. He thrives on flexibility and being able to adapt to any situation, watching and strategizing... but only when it's more fun for him. And seriously, he'll do a lot of things for a good fight. Even handicapping himself to fight on the same level as his opponent. He's not too hard to piss off or work up, either! Just challenge him. Or call him bald. He doesn't like to take fights personally, and would rather be laughing and... drinking with his opponent, but he does know when to get serious and crack down.
He likes to blend in rather than stand out, hovering somewhere above-average but just below extraordinary. Ikkaku does just enough work to be out of menial-tasks range but just below vice-captain (though most of that work ends up going to him anyway because lol, Yachiru doing paperwork).
He's loyal to Zaraki Kenpachi. That's it. He sticks around in Seireitei because Kenpachi hasn't left, but if he did, you can bet Ikkaku won't be far behind.
AS FOR BACKGROUND: Ikkaku died sometime, and ended up in one of the higher-numbered districts of the Rukongai in Soul Society. He was a prickly guy back then, constantly picking fights and living for the thrill of his next adrenaline rush. He met Yumichika (who's now his associate, subordinate, and by all counts his oldest and closest friend) and then, after already traveling with him for a while, ran into Zaraki Kenpachi in one of those outer districts (unspecified, but probably in the high-70s or 80), who handed his ass back to him. Zaraki Kenpachi's this massively powerful monster of a guy who's now the captain of the 11th Division, after having killed the previous one (fairly, even!).
After begging for death and being denied, Ikkaku decided to track Kenpachi down. It began with looking for another fight, but eventually evolved into a dogged sort of loyalty. Yachiru, the vice-captain, is sort of Kenpachi's surrogate daughter. Yachiru's strong, fast, and regularly makes Ikkaku her chewtoy. She outranks him, so there's not much he can do about it, but they're pretty close-- Ikkaku even put the wheels on the scabbard of her sword for her because she's so short it would drag on the ground otherwise.
He learned bankai some decades before the beginning of the series, taught Renji (a former subordinate, now lieutenant of the 6th Division) how to fight, and has since stayed in the 11th Division by keeping his bankai a pretty badly-kept secret because he doesn't want to get promoted out of the 11th. When Ichigo (main character) & co. invaded Soul Society (to save Kuchiki Rukia, who was on death row for passing her powers on to him, but it was actually just a ploy by Aizen, who's an evil captain with aspirations of godhood who I won't get into here) he was the first guy Ichigo fought. Ikkaku lost, and then Kenpachi (who lives for a good fight) fought Ichigo and lost but sort of forced a draw. Of course, Ichigo gets Kenpachi's attention so he decided to help them out for another chance to fight Ichigo. So naturally Ikkaku was right behind him.
He broke off to fight Iba (another former division-mate, but his old rank is unclear) when two captains and their lieutenants tried to cut them off, and he and Iba didn't take it seriously at all, turning the fight into a competition to see who had to be the gofer to fetch more sake instead.
After Aizen defected and there was an arrancar (massively overpowered hollow made up of a bunch of smaller, weaker hollows that Aizen manipulated to his advantage) threat in Karakura Town (Ichigo's town, and apparently some sort of spiritual nexus), Ikkaku was one of the vanguard sent to keep an eye out on the area and back Ichigo up. He fought one on the first night, killed him by using bankai, and then spent the rest of the month hanging out in KKT until Orihime (one of Ichigo's group who busted into SS to save Rukia) got kidnapped, at which point the shinigami assigned to Karakura were called back.
In the fight against Aizen, SS officials called for the real Karakura Town to be moved to Soul Society with a fake one in its place, where the shinigami could fight Aizen without worrying about collateral damage. The mechanism keeping the fake KKT in place was four pillars, one of which Ikkaku was assigned to guard. Another arrancar was assigned to break his down, and because of his unwillingness to use bankai, Ikkaku got his ass kicked.
Luckily, Iba charged in and fixed the pillar with a stopgap measure while Komamura (Iba's captain who actually also happens to be a wolf) bailed the both of them out against the arrancar. And then Iba punched Ikkaku in the face for being irresponsible. Komamura heard him mention that he knows Ikkaku knows bankai, but decided to let him get away with it for some unknown but probably stupid reason. As of the end of that arc, Ikkaku's alive, but afterward, who the hell knows?
Why should that character be in this game: For OCs only.
Why do you want to continue their history here: For characters from other games only.
For applicants considering an alternate version of a character already in game, please use this as your chance to explain the key differences between your character and the one already in play:
Have you read up on how the game works?: Online with the FlamingFerret, he can take missions, do independent work or steal from people! ... but he probably wouldn't bother with the latter.
1st person sample:
[ Feed switches on, upside down. Pause. Now it's right side up! Pause again. A finger jabs at the screen a few times, then the entire feed turns into a blur when Ikkaku smacks it against his palm.
It stops eventually, and the video pans back up to his face, looking thoughtful this time. ]
Callin', ah. Soul Society. Anyone read? This is Madarame Ikkaku, Eleventh Division, Third Seat--
[ Pause again. Inhale. Exhale. There's a flash of something in his expression. Apprehension, maybe. He understands the situation, but does it really need to be said that he doesn't like it one bit? ]
Captain? Yumichika? Hey, brat, you here?
3rd person sample:
Ikkaku eyed the ball pit, hastily reminded himself that he was a little too old to be even paying attention to that stuff. Besides, the only reason it even caught his eye in the first place was because the lieutenant would've already been neck-deep in it and he was so used to watching out for stuff like that that he couldn't not notice. Whether or not she was actually around was totally and completely irrelevant.
What if someone else was already in there? What if she had started chewing on them before he could intercept her? It was force of habit. Not even a vague spark of interest.
Yeah. That's right. Just watching out for the poor bastards stuck on this ship, should the little pink nightmare decide to make her grand entrance. He shifted Hoozukimaru to his shoulder, cracked his neck a few times and then ducked into the arcade section, picking out a station that looked a bit like an arena. Which was right up his alley, wasn't it?
Fighting games were exactly what he needed right now. Wouldn't do to get rusty and lose his edge; if Captain showed up, he'd be paying for it with a week or two of being unable to lift his arms above his shoulders without feeling like they would fall off. And until he found out exactly how strong the fighters on the ship were, Ikkaku wasn't about to go picking fights when all he wanted to do was trash something for a few hours.
He idly pushed a few buttons before stepping up, standing closer to the edge of the platform than the center, cautious only because he had no idea what the hell setting he had just picked. Knowing this place, About to screw you in every way you know and several you don't seemed to be a distinct possibility.
Questions?: NO?
Did you put your characters name and fandom in the subject: YES
Fandom: Bleach
Timeline: End of Deicide arc.
Age: Hundreds of years old, but not specified. Looks around his mid-20s, somehow passed for a high school student?
~*Magical*~ abilities and strengths:
Shinigami or soul reapers are the psychopomps of the Bleach world. They send souls of humans to the afterlife, which is called Soul Society. Soul Society is the afterlife! It's a massive place with 80 districts in each cardinal direction (Rukongai) and the city in the center, called Seireitei or the Court of Pure Souls. That's where all the shinigami are. Their main job also involves fighting hollows, which are corrupted souls.
Shinigami are divided into 13 divisions in a military kinda format and they're ranked by strength. They each have a zanpakutou, or soul cutter, which is pretty much a sword with powers and a personality. Each one of them also has reiatsu, or spiritual energy. Currently, Ikkaku's ranked third in the 11th division under Zaraki Kenpachi, who's the only captain not to have bankai. It's cool, though, because he does.
Oh boy. Now bankai is the final release of the soul cutter. Each one has an initial release-- shikai-- and a final one, which only the strongest shinigami have reached with a buttload of hard work and training. Ikkaku's soul cutter is called Hoozukimaru, and his initial release is a spear that can break into a three-sectioned staff. His bankai is-- well, this.
He won't use his bankai, though. Ikkaku wants to stay in Kenpachi's division, and he only uses it when no one but Renji and Yumichika are looking. He can use shunpo, or flash step, but also rarely does unless he can drag out the fight like that. Like most shinigami, he can sense reiatsu, and he's got pretty huge amounts of it himself.
How would they use their abilities?: Mostly picking fights (for fun!). But if someone pisses him off, he'd use it to get them to back off, too.
Appearance: Tall at around 6'0", light for his height and for how much muscle he packs. Bald. Will tell you he shaves his head. Usually wears his shinigami uniform which is mostly black with some white underneath. Doesn't wear socks. Has little red tattoos at the corners of his eyes. Massive scar down the left side of his chest because Ichigo's a bitch.
Background/Personality:
Ikkaku's a pretty friendly and mellow guy most of the time! He likes to fight, likes to drink, likes to party. He'll be completely 100% at home in a testosterone-charged pissing-contest environment. ... his best friend is sort of effeminate and fruity. His captain is a badass. His vice captain makes the entire world her chewtoy. He's good with tools. He's kind of a doormat where his captain and vice captain are concerned, but otherwise Ikkaku's a terror.
Like the rest of his division, Ikkaku's a confrontational meathead. Unlike the rest of his division (and that's including captain, vice-captain and Yumichika), he can be a hardass when it comes to training and drilling and getting stronger, especially when it's his subordinates being weak or lazy.
He has a strong code of honor and sticks to it. He respects people who're strong and keep fighting even when they're about to fall over. He never, ever backs away from or surrenders a fight. Ikkaku sort of has a deathwish. He doesn't really WANT to die, but he knows that if he does, he won't regret it as long as he goes down fighting under Kenpachi's command.
Ikkaku's pretty bright-- when it comes to fighting, anyway. He thrives on flexibility and being able to adapt to any situation, watching and strategizing... but only when it's more fun for him. And seriously, he'll do a lot of things for a good fight. Even handicapping himself to fight on the same level as his opponent. He's not too hard to piss off or work up, either! Just challenge him. Or call him bald. He doesn't like to take fights personally, and would rather be laughing and... drinking with his opponent, but he does know when to get serious and crack down.
He likes to blend in rather than stand out, hovering somewhere above-average but just below extraordinary. Ikkaku does just enough work to be out of menial-tasks range but just below vice-captain (though most of that work ends up going to him anyway because lol, Yachiru doing paperwork).
He's loyal to Zaraki Kenpachi. That's it. He sticks around in Seireitei because Kenpachi hasn't left, but if he did, you can bet Ikkaku won't be far behind.
AS FOR BACKGROUND: Ikkaku died sometime, and ended up in one of the higher-numbered districts of the Rukongai in Soul Society. He was a prickly guy back then, constantly picking fights and living for the thrill of his next adrenaline rush. He met Yumichika (who's now his associate, subordinate, and by all counts his oldest and closest friend) and then, after already traveling with him for a while, ran into Zaraki Kenpachi in one of those outer districts (unspecified, but probably in the high-70s or 80), who handed his ass back to him. Zaraki Kenpachi's this massively powerful monster of a guy who's now the captain of the 11th Division, after having killed the previous one (fairly, even!).
After begging for death and being denied, Ikkaku decided to track Kenpachi down. It began with looking for another fight, but eventually evolved into a dogged sort of loyalty. Yachiru, the vice-captain, is sort of Kenpachi's surrogate daughter. Yachiru's strong, fast, and regularly makes Ikkaku her chewtoy. She outranks him, so there's not much he can do about it, but they're pretty close-- Ikkaku even put the wheels on the scabbard of her sword for her because she's so short it would drag on the ground otherwise.
He learned bankai some decades before the beginning of the series, taught Renji (a former subordinate, now lieutenant of the 6th Division) how to fight, and has since stayed in the 11th Division by keeping his bankai a pretty badly-kept secret because he doesn't want to get promoted out of the 11th. When Ichigo (main character) & co. invaded Soul Society (to save Kuchiki Rukia, who was on death row for passing her powers on to him, but it was actually just a ploy by Aizen, who's an evil captain with aspirations of godhood who I won't get into here) he was the first guy Ichigo fought. Ikkaku lost, and then Kenpachi (who lives for a good fight) fought Ichigo and lost but sort of forced a draw. Of course, Ichigo gets Kenpachi's attention so he decided to help them out for another chance to fight Ichigo. So naturally Ikkaku was right behind him.
He broke off to fight Iba (another former division-mate, but his old rank is unclear) when two captains and their lieutenants tried to cut them off, and he and Iba didn't take it seriously at all, turning the fight into a competition to see who had to be the gofer to fetch more sake instead.
After Aizen defected and there was an arrancar (massively overpowered hollow made up of a bunch of smaller, weaker hollows that Aizen manipulated to his advantage) threat in Karakura Town (Ichigo's town, and apparently some sort of spiritual nexus), Ikkaku was one of the vanguard sent to keep an eye out on the area and back Ichigo up. He fought one on the first night, killed him by using bankai, and then spent the rest of the month hanging out in KKT until Orihime (one of Ichigo's group who busted into SS to save Rukia) got kidnapped, at which point the shinigami assigned to Karakura were called back.
In the fight against Aizen, SS officials called for the real Karakura Town to be moved to Soul Society with a fake one in its place, where the shinigami could fight Aizen without worrying about collateral damage. The mechanism keeping the fake KKT in place was four pillars, one of which Ikkaku was assigned to guard. Another arrancar was assigned to break his down, and because of his unwillingness to use bankai, Ikkaku got his ass kicked.
Luckily, Iba charged in and fixed the pillar with a stopgap measure while Komamura (Iba's captain who actually also happens to be a wolf) bailed the both of them out against the arrancar. And then Iba punched Ikkaku in the face for being irresponsible. Komamura heard him mention that he knows Ikkaku knows bankai, but decided to let him get away with it for some unknown but probably stupid reason. As of the end of that arc, Ikkaku's alive, but afterward, who the hell knows?
Why should that character be in this game: For OCs only.
Why do you want to continue their history here: For characters from other games only.
For applicants considering an alternate version of a character already in game, please use this as your chance to explain the key differences between your character and the one already in play:
Have you read up on how the game works?: Online with the FlamingFerret, he can take missions, do independent work or steal from people! ... but he probably wouldn't bother with the latter.
1st person sample:
[ Feed switches on, upside down. Pause. Now it's right side up! Pause again. A finger jabs at the screen a few times, then the entire feed turns into a blur when Ikkaku smacks it against his palm.
It stops eventually, and the video pans back up to his face, looking thoughtful this time. ]
Callin', ah. Soul Society. Anyone read? This is Madarame Ikkaku, Eleventh Division, Third Seat--
[ Pause again. Inhale. Exhale. There's a flash of something in his expression. Apprehension, maybe. He understands the situation, but does it really need to be said that he doesn't like it one bit? ]
Captain? Yumichika? Hey, brat, you here?
3rd person sample:
Ikkaku eyed the ball pit, hastily reminded himself that he was a little too old to be even paying attention to that stuff. Besides, the only reason it even caught his eye in the first place was because the lieutenant would've already been neck-deep in it and he was so used to watching out for stuff like that that he couldn't not notice. Whether or not she was actually around was totally and completely irrelevant.
What if someone else was already in there? What if she had started chewing on them before he could intercept her? It was force of habit. Not even a vague spark of interest.
Yeah. That's right. Just watching out for the poor bastards stuck on this ship, should the little pink nightmare decide to make her grand entrance. He shifted Hoozukimaru to his shoulder, cracked his neck a few times and then ducked into the arcade section, picking out a station that looked a bit like an arena. Which was right up his alley, wasn't it?
Fighting games were exactly what he needed right now. Wouldn't do to get rusty and lose his edge; if Captain showed up, he'd be paying for it with a week or two of being unable to lift his arms above his shoulders without feeling like they would fall off. And until he found out exactly how strong the fighters on the ship were, Ikkaku wasn't about to go picking fights when all he wanted to do was trash something for a few hours.
He idly pushed a few buttons before stepping up, standing closer to the edge of the platform than the center, cautious only because he had no idea what the hell setting he had just picked. Knowing this place, About to screw you in every way you know and several you don't seemed to be a distinct possibility.
Questions?: NO?
Did you put your characters name and fandom in the subject: YES