App for gargleblasted
OOC:
Name: Freshy
Are you over 16?: Yes!
Personal LJ: fresh_debonair
Email: fresh.debonair@gmail.com
Timezone: EST
Other contact: AIM- sleepingslaves, Plurk- deuil
Characters already in the game: Basch, France, and Holmes
How did you find us?: You cannot get rid of me
IC:
Character name: Maito Gai / Might Guy, but I'm going to go with the former because it sounds slightly less dumb than MIGHT GUY
Fandom: Sasuke Naruto / Naruto: Shippuden
Timeline: around chapter 522, when Gai joins up with Kakashi's Division during the Shinobi World War arc.
Age: 30
~*Magical*~ abilities and strengths:
Since this section requires some explanation regarding ~special ninja abilities~, it'll be prefaced with a mini glossary of useful terms pertaining to Naruto canon! I'll keep it relatively brief, so no worries.
~*~What You Need to Know to Become a Ninja~*~
1) Taijutsu. Taijutsu taijutsu taijutsu. Think like, Jet Li and Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee combined into one glorious bowl-cut clad ninja who can kick some serious ass using his fists alone. This guy is so fast, so intense, that he literally breaks through the limits of atmospheric pressure-- hard enough that his punches catch on fire. Suffice it to say that he could probably split the sea with the intensity of one of his axe kicks and then be able to turn around and strike a fabulous pose.
2) Opening seven out of his 'Eight Gates' in order to make himself go harder, better, faster, stronger. Simply put, the Eight Gates system refers to the eight gates in an individual's chakra channel that limit the amount of chakra flow one's body can tolerate. They're like limiters that keep tabs on how much chakra you can use at one time, like levees limit water flow to prevent floods. The gates restrict free flow of chakra, but it also protects the body from exerting itself past its limit and causing serious damage.
Now, it takes some serious talent to open even one out of the eight gates in order to boost one's stats above normal, but Gai can open seven of them, and he would probably be able to open the eighth one if it didn't mean certain death. Even opening five out of the eight gates can lead to serious injury-- muscle tears being the most obvious-- but Gai has enough control and discipline over his own body that he can keep on using special taijutsu moves without grievous damage to himself. This guy is one serious badass.
The downside to opening so many gates is that it leaves the subject out of commission for several hours, days, or weeks, depending on how fast they're able to recover after taxing their body beyond its limits. Gai is pretty remarkable in that he's able to recover after a few hours, enough to get up and fight again even after opening seven out of his eight gates.
3) We don't ever see Gai using much of ninjutsu or genjutsu, but seeing as he can dispel enemy genjutsu, it's implied that he can also use it against someone if he wants to. As for ninjutsu, he chooses not to use it for the benefit of one of his students' training, but he definitely has the ability to utilize it when he has to. For example, he uses the aforementioned Kuchiyose no jutsu to summon a giant ningame/turtle.
4) Gai has crazy powers of perception, observation, and foresight, allowing him to anticipate his opponent's attacks just by focusing his attention on how they're moving their feet. This is mostly utilized against his eternal rival, Kakashi, but more on that later.
5) THE POWER OF YOUTH. With sheer determination, willpower, and passion, Gai can do insane things like 500 laps around his village on his hands. This is totally a magical power.
I'll spare you an explanation of all of his currently known techniques, but they're all awesome and some of them involve entering into a scene majestically through walls or doors by executing a running kick. He can also do all those generic ninja things like running through trees and walking on water, no big.
But just in case, for a more comprehensive list of his techniques, I'll steer you towards this handy site, since it lists all of his taijutsu moves and whatnot!
How would they use their abilities?: To train all the people who want to learn from him, and to do ridiculous things like 1000 laps around the Thor when he feels REALLY MOTIVATED, which is 99.99999% of the time. He'd also fight to protect people and to do the greater good, but he'd also fight if anyone wanted a friendly spar! He's an energetic and enthusiastic kind of guy, so he'd do a lot of training during his free time, even if he isn't strictly required to fight and do missions constantly like he is back in his world.
Appearance: Behold: the biggest GQMF in all of Naruto.
Sporting his trademark bowl-cut, intensely bushy brows, and his legendary MAITO SUIT complete with vest and stylish orange legwarmers, Gai really does live up to his reputation as "Konoha's Sublime/Great/Majestic/Noble Green Beast". Standing at a little above 6 feet, he radiates athletic passion and youthful fervor, wearing his Shinobi headband around his waist proudly like a champion belt.
Background/Personality:
The first and foremost thing to start out with when embarking upon an explanation of Gai is the concept of youth-- a fitting beginning considering that Gai was, in fact, a little kid at one point in his life. And he wasn't just any little kid, but a self-proclaimed loser who was most likely dubbed talentless by his peers at the ninja academy in Konohagakure/Konoha village. Very little is actually known about Gai's younger life beyond the simple fact that he was an underwhelming student: where his genius classmate, Hatake Kakashi, graduated the ninja academy at age 5 and rose in the ranks to become a chuunin at age 6, it took Gai 2 years after Kakashi to graduate even the preliminary academy, and even longer to become a chuunin, finally granting himself the privilege to wear the chuunin vest at age 11.
(Quick summary of ninja rankings here: academy students are the lowest on the ladder, then you graduate the academy to become a genin, pass the chuunin exams to become a chuunin, and then eventually work your way up to becoming a jonin, if you're skilled enough. The strongest shinobi in the village is awarded the title of 'kage', and the kage in the village of Konoha is called the 'Hokage'.)
But the lag time in promotions aside, Gai was hardly deterred by the fact that it took him 5 years later than Kakashi to achieve his chuunin status. Calling himself a 'genius of effort/perseverance', Gai resolved to grow strong by casting himself in the way of shinobis with natural talent, living his youth to the fullest and being true to his passionate spirit by establishing a hot-blooded rivalry with someone who was always known to be better than him. What better way to hone his skills than to find someone who could elevate his motivation? And who better a candidate to choose for his eternal rivalry than the elite of elites, the son of the village hero, genin-at-5-and-chuunin-at-6, Hatake Kakashi?
From the moment he first challenged Kakashi, he knew that they would be rivals for life. And that was pretty much the way it actually went down, if you could consider an extremely one-sided rivalry and intense rock-paper-scissors matches to be the criteria for 'rivals for life'. In any event, Gai's track record against Kakashi is currently set at 50 wins to 49 losses, with him in the lead: he often quotes this as proof of his intense rivalry, and cites it as evidence that he's come far enough to have pulled ahead of a naturally-born genius like Kakashi. In reality, most of their matches have been things like the aforementioned rock-paper-scissors competitions (3 out of 5!!) or simple short-distance races-- not a good measure of skills against skills at all. That's mostly due to the fact that Kakashi always seems far less invested in Gai's random challenges than Gai wants him to be. But really, Gai's dedication and insistence upon their rivalry is what's important to him, and the fact that he asserts that their rivalry exists at all has made him the passionate and focused man that he is.
And, well, if Kakashi is more interested in reading porn than engaging in a conversation of fists, SO BE IT. He'll be pumped for the both of them.
But Gai's passion for challenges aside, true to his ambitions of becoming a genius of perseverance, Gai shed his old mantle of loserdom and went on to become a highly skilled jonin, renowned for his expertise and complete mastery of taijutsu. Since becoming a jonin is by no means guaranteed for all chuunin, this really was a testament to Gai's marked improvement from his childhood. However! This definitely didn't mean that Gai would fall into the pitfall of complacency, of course not! His youth was (and still is) eternal, and his days of passion and fervor would only increase in potency when he took on three freshly-graduated genin students under his wing. Their names were Hyuuga Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee, the latter of whom would eventually become his most beloved student, and Gai's own Way of the Ninja (or, in other words, his purpose in life).
But let's not get ahead of ourselves! First things first.
Gai's first meeting with said Rock Lee happened far before Lee was even his own student, and ultimately didn't have anything to do with speaking face-to-face: Gai's first encounter with Lee was through Lee's given nickname in the ninja academy as the class's token 'hot-blooded loser'.
Sound familiar? Because it should.
Unable to use ninjutsu or genjutsu and less than remarkable at taijutsu, Lee was known in the academy as the boy who would never become a proper ninja, let alone a good one. However, much like Gai, the option of giving up never really occurred to Lee-- closing his ears (quite literally) to his classmates' constant jeering, his first words as a genin under Gai's tutelage was that his goal was to prove that he could become a great ninja, even without the ability to use ninjutsu or genjutsu. Though Neji, Lee's fellow teammate and a reputable genius from the respected Hyuuga clan, berated Lee for holding such ridiculous notions ("you can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu. you can hardly even call yourself a ninja."), Gai responded to Lee's passionate outcry by telling him that he could surely achieve his goals through determination and hard work. If Neji was the naturally gifted one of his three students, then Lee could form a passionate rivalry with him, much like he'd done with Kakashi-- after all, that was what youth was about, wasn't it?
And thus, team Gai was formed. Comprised of one genius, one loser, and the poor girl caught between two polar opposites, it seemed like Team Gai would have a long way to go before becoming a cohesive team; and that was the case at times, with Lee consistently challenging Neji, only to be thoroughly beaten and later fussed over by Tenten ("Neji is a genius, when will you learn, Lee?"). While Gai valued each of his team members, it wasn't too difficult for him to take a special interest in Lee, the determined not-quite-ninja who could only rely on his taijutsu to keep up with the other two. Gai would often watch Lee train from the crack of dawn to ridiculous hours at night, kicking the same tree over and over or doing pushups until he couldn't do any more. But even with all the hours Lee spent trying to become stronger, his faith was prone to wavering every time he was easily bested by Neji, or after an elementary fumble during their shinobi missions. And one day, Gai found Lee amidst his usual training routine, discouraged and disheartened by the fact that no matter how hard he tried, he never seemed to improve. This was when Gai asserted to Lee that Lee was no loser: no, Lee was a genius in his own right, a genius of hard work and effort, much like he was when he was younger. Lee responded to this with doubt and fear, to which Gai responded sternly:
"those that don't believe in themselves don't have the right to persevere."
Gai, with all his own experiences in the past and all his belief in his students, told Lee that he remembered what Lee had said on his first day as a genin-- that he wanted to prove that he could become a great ninja without ninjutsu or genjutsu. Telling Lee that he found that to be a fine goal worth pursuing, Gai added, in true hotblooded fashion, that Lee should go straight down the path that he'd chosen for himself.
"Be someone who I can watch over with a smile on my face!"
And with those inspirational words, Lee went on to train ever harder under Gai's supervision, and Gai responded to his student's eagerness to learn by teaching him every bit of taijutsu knowledge that he had. Many a manly tear was shed, many a day passed with Gai and Lee running passionately into the setting sun.
Ah, youth.
In any event, Gai took a year after his students' academy graduation to give Lee, Neji, and Tenten a bit of experience before letting them take the chuunin exams: the logical next step in their rise to full-fledged ninjadom. The chuunin exams, a rigorous test to determine which genin were eligible to rise in ranks, could only be taken with the team jonin's sanction-- Gai, deeming his students ready to take on this challenge, gave them permission to enter. Amusingly enough (and much to Gai's surprise), another team that was given permission to take the chuunin exams happened to be none other than Gai's eternal rival Kakashi's team, comprised of three freshly-promoted genin students by the name of Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura. Though Gai warned Kakashi that Kakashi should have given his students more time to enjoy their youth and engage in training, Kakashi wound up entering Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura in the same chuunin exam that Gai signed his team up for.
Gai's involvement during the chuunin exams was relatively low-key... or, well, as low-key as Gai could ever really be. He made his actual first appearance in the manga during the exams, when he appeared to chide Lee on almost using a forbidden technique against Uchiha Sasuke. Said appearance involved entering the scene dramatically on the back of a summon turtle, punching Lee in the face, and then shedding manly tears as he proceeded to forgive his beloved student for his transgression. This happens a lot with Gai.
His other appearances during this time have mostly centered around his efforts to protect or oversee his students' progress: he was there when Neji fought his cousin, Hyuuga Hinata, and was consequently one of the many jonin who had to stop Neji from dealing irreversible damage to her. He was there when Tenten lost to a shinobi of the sand (a shinobi from Sunagakure, located in the Land of Wind which is a neighboring country to the Land of Fire, where Konohagakure is located), Temari. And he was also there when Lee fought another shinobi of the sand by the name of Gaara, who proved himself to be incredibly strong. While Lee fought valiantly, and while Gai gave Lee progressive permission to increase the strength of his attacks (at the expense of using forbidden techniques that would take incredible tolls on Lee's body; i.e.- opening five of the eight gates), Gaara ultimately overpowered Lee and heavily injured him. For a moment, it seemed as if Gaara would deliver a finishing blow, but Gai stepped in before Gaara could do any more damage, proclaiming that Lee was his beloved student and that Lee had already proven himself to be a great ninja.
However, Lee's severe injury from Gaara's onslaught and the physical strain from having used so many forbidden techniques proved to be fatal in a completely different way-- as the medics took Lee away, they told Gai that while Lee would recover, he would never be able to fight as a ninja again. The damage was done, and the news was crushing to Gai, who regretted having pushed Lee so far and for not stopping him before all this could happen.
And since this is getting ridiculously long, and since I'm technically only on volume 11 of this entire series as of right now, LET'S SPEED THINGS UP.
A month later, the chuunin exams picked up from where it left off, with its remaining contenders pitted against each other in a tournament match. Since Neji was still an eligible candidate to become a chuunin, Gai, along with a still-injured Lee, went to cheer him on. The fights seemed to be going quite swimmingly, with intense battles all around, until the Big Baddie of the series, Orochimaru, decided to interrupt everything by implementing his plan to Ruin All the Things. This operation, in a nutshell, involved Orochimaru forming an alliance with the shinobi of the sand (e.g.- Gaara, Temari) to overthrow and destroy Konohagakure. Gai, being a jonin, threw himself in the ranks of battle against Orochimaru and the baddies to protect Konoha. Teaming up with Kakashi to Defeat All the People, he also issued a challenge to see which one of them could defeat more enemy ninja-- considering that there were more important things to worry about, Kakashi's level of caring about this challenge was probably close to zero. But Gai suggested it anyway, because Gai is Gai and motivation is the spice of life.
The denouement of this whole fiasco was the death of Konoha's Hokage, Naruto defeating Gaara through the power of shonen, and an uneasy ripple through the shinobi society thanks to Orochimaru doing what he does best: Ruining All the Things, and Creeping on All the People. With Uchiha Sasuke slowly beginning his Descent Into Madness, Orochimaru's general Evil Machinations, and the rise of a shady organization called the Akatsuki, things suddenly started to go from bad to worse. Gai was involved in warding off two members of the latter threat, Uchiha Itachi (Sasuke's brother, dishonorably discharged from Konoha due to his killing of his entire clan; it's complicated) and Hoshigaki Kisame, who had come to see how Konoha was surviving without a Hokage. Managing to fend them off momentarily(and dropping Kakashi off at the hospital afterwards), Gai pursued both Itachi and Kisame after they left Konoha, only to narrowly miss them and instead kick one of the three legendary ninjas, Jiraiya, in the face. Later, hearing from Jiraiya that he was planning on bringing the other of the three legendary ninjas (sannin), Tsunade, back to the village to nominate her for Hokage status, Gai requested that Jiraiya bring her to Konoha as soon as possible-- Tsunade was renowned not only for her incredible strength, but also for her talent in medical ninjutsu. Obviously, Gai was thrilled to hear that Jiraiya would be bringing Tsunade back, in hopes that she could heal Lee so that Lee could be a ninja once more. He really loves that kid, okay.
A lot of stuff happened after this that had nothing to do with Gai, but ultimately Tsunade came back to the village to take her spot as Hokage. Overjoyed that Lee would now get his chance at properly recovering, Gai requested that Tsunade take a look at his student to see if he would get better...
...and the response from Tsunade was that Lee should give up on becoming a ninja. Definitely not the answer that Gai was looking for. And neither was the news that even if Lee decided to go through with the operation, the success rate would be around 50%, if even that.
DEVASTATION ENSUED.
Caught in the mire of bad news, Lee fell into a depression-- understandably so, considering that he was told that: a) he should give up on the one dream he ever had for himself, b) if he chose to keep on keeping on, there was an incredibly high probability of him dying, and c) ALL THE BAD THINGS IN THE WORLD HAPPEN TO HIM. Pained to see his student in such emotional turmoil, Gai confronted Lee to convince him to receive the operation, telling him that he was sure that all the self-imposed discipline and sheer determination that Lee had built up for himself would bring success. All of Lee's hard work, Gai believed, could never be for naught. And thus, if ever it should happen that Lee died (which, in Gai's eyes, was impossible... or so he told himself), Gai would die with him: because by this point, training Lee to become a great ninja had become Gai's own personal goal. Stating firmly that they were both idiots who could only live for their dreams, Gai embraced Lee and promised that he would be with him to the end.
And here, we all wipe a manly tear in honor of their youthful bond.
Things happened, and lo and behold, the surgery was a success. All of the manly tears were shed yet again, and Gai resumed his hot-blooded training with his disciple (and we can all assume that he'd been training Neji and Tenten during this time, as well).
Three years pass after this, and we have no idea what happened in between these years that Naruto spent training under Jiraiya outside of Konoha. But post-timeskip is where Naruto: Shippuden begins, and this is consequently the longer half of this series, since it's still...ongoing. Once again, I feel like I should speed things up.
Anyway! During these three years, Lee, Tenten, and Neji managed to pass their chuunin exams, with Neji progressing even further to joninhood. Even though they were technically experienced enough not to be dubbed Gai's students anymore, they remained in each other's company as Team Gai (probably for convenience's sake, and because they'd all become pretty attached to each other), and continued to do so until they were given another mission: help Kakashi and his team (Team 7, comprised of Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto) retreive Gaara from the Big Bads (the Akatsuki). By post-timeskip, Gaara'd mellowed down considerably (which is an understatement considering that the last time Gai'd confronted him, he'd been trying to kill Lee) and had become the Kagekaze (the kage of the Land of the Wind), so getting him back from the evil clutches of the Akatsuki was actually quite the important mission.
On their way to meet Team 7, Gai re-encountered Hoshigaki Kisame, who he'd fought way back when Kisame'd shown up at Konoha to be all HEY GUYS WHAT'S GOING ON HERE. Wanting to take a bit of revenge on Gai for being in their way the last time they'd met, Kisame (predictably) attacked him, only to be met with a "...have I met you before?" Now, just as a bit of reference for those of you who haven't read Naruto: Kisame has a face that's pretty hard to forget. Like, think of a guy with blue skin, fish-looking eyes, and things that look like gills on his face, and you have Kisame. He's not exactly someone you forget about in a hurry once you meet him, because this guy is Pretty Weird, even for Naruto standards.
Gai reunited with this guy and pretty much just went "I'm bad at remembering faces."
This is further proof that Gai is the best character in this entire series, BUT ANYWAY. After Kisame and Team Gai engaged in the preliminary 'I'll show you my jutsus if you show me yours', Kisame trapped Gai's students in water prisons, nearly drowning Tenten. This is where Gai went "oh no you don't", and he then proceeded to kick the shit out of Kisame using his Morning Peacock technique, which involves hurtling himself in the sky and punching his enemy so fast that his fists catch on fire. With that done, he rescued his team and went to check Kisame's body, where he found that he hadn't actually been fighting Kisame, and that it'd been a body double all along.
Well. With that interruption aside, Gai finally caught up to Team 7 and then promptly dispersed again in order to disable a barrier that was blocking the entrance to the Akatsuki's hideout. In doing so, they triggered a trap that forced them to fight clones of themselves, which was a challenge until Lee gave a hotblooded shonen speech about how he wanted to grow stronger with each passing moment, and that surely they were stronger now than they had been even thirty minutes ago. With that rousing mantra, they successfully defeated their doubles and reunited with Kakashi and the others who had retrieved Gaara from the Akatsuki.
On their way home, Gai discovered that Kakashi was too worn out from the repeated use of his Sharingan to walk properly, which resulted in the best Naruto moment of all time: let the visuals speak for themselves, since no words will ever be sufficient enough to describe this moment of beauty.
However, after this high point in the series, Gai and his team don't make much of an appearance in the main story. You get to see a glimpse of Gai mourning the death of his colleague, Sarutobi Asuma, and he briefly made an appearance in what's known as the Pain Arc where he came back to a destroyed Konoha. His first real forays back into the story happened in the most recent arc, however, where he was sent to an isolated island in the Land of Lightning to keep an eye on Naruto.
(Note: a lot of things have happened between when we last really saw Gai and now, so to summarize the story quickly: Naruto has a nine-tailed fox sealed inside of him, and the real main villain, Tobi/Uchiha Madara, wants the power of the nine-tails to raze the world. In order to prevent Tobi/Madara from getting to Naruto, Gai and a bunch of other Shinobis (Aoba and Yamato being the most prominent ones) were assigned to bodyguard him. )
After recovering from a bout of intense seasickness that he experienced due to the boat ride that got him to the Land of Lightning, Gai and his team set out to find Naruto at the Falls of Truth. Hearing that the Falls of Truth summoned one's inner demon so that it could be conquered, Gai took on the challenge, only to be confronted by something that he called a 'pufferfish'-- in reality, it was Hoshigaki Kisame yet again, and yet again, Gai couldn't identify him as someone he'd met in the past. However, recognizing that this 'pufferfish' was an enemy and therefore a threat to Naruto, Gai chased Kisame across the island to prevent him from sending out intel regarding Naruto's whereabouts to the Akatsuki. After an intense battle involving Gai opening his Seventh Gate (this is A Big Deal), Gai defeated Kisame and held him hostage in order to gain intel. Kisame, on the other hand, saw that there was very little he could do against Gai and the others at this point, and chose to commit suicide before letting them take information from him. Seeing this act of self-sacrifice, Gai felt deep respect for his fallen adversary and vowed that he would never forget him, finally calling Kisame by his name.
After this heartfelt display of manly acknowledgement, Gai passed out from opening so many of his Eight Gates in one standing. Kind of ruined the moment, but understandable.
An undetermined amount of time later, the Shinobi World War started out in full with all the nations banding together in a Shinobi Alliance against Tobi/Madara, who was the common threat. Gai was placed in the Third Division under Kakashi's leadership, still suffering from the aftereffects of opening the Seventh Gate. Several hours later, however, he reappeared in top condition once more to start kicking some undead ass, since it just so happened that one of the antagonists, Kabuto, thought it would be a great idea to revive all the dead people from the series and pit them against the Shinobi Alliance.
And this is where I'll be taking him from, so END HISTORY SECTION. Aren't we all glad that that's done and over with?
As for Gai's personality, Gai is, in the fewest words possible, a dynamic person. Wearing his heart on his sleeve and expressing his emotions in the most passionate and direct way possible, it's easy to say that Gai isn't that complicated to figure out-- crying comes easily to him when he wants to share in joyous moments, laughing is as natural as it comes when he feels happiness, and bravado is second nature when he wants to motivate his students. But nothing about his emotions and his outward appearances are false: what you see is what you get, and whether or not his high-intensity is something you enjoy or feel repelled by, it's 100% Gai and 100% true to the way he feels. Embarrassment or shame regarding the things that he feels passionately about seems to be far from Gai's mind, and that's been something that he's made abundantly clear since he was just a child, challenging the elite Kakashi despite his own obvious deficiencies. That's not to say that he doesn't feel bad when he's bested, or that he's just a pointless optimist-- rather, it's that he takes the losses and turns it into motivation for the future, taking the hits and remembering the pain for the next time he issues a challenge, turning bitter memories into his strength to go on. It's precisely because he was a loser that he's gained so much determination now, and that dynamism and willingness to roll with the punches has made Gai the passionate (and admittedly successful) Noble Beast of Konoha. His confidence in himself stems from his belief that only those that believe in themselves have the capacity to persevere, and the veracity of that claim is not up for debate, in Gai's eyes. If you're the only person that has the capability of holding yourself back, he probably believes that you shouldn't be holding yourself back at all.
While Gai is definitely what you'd call overdramatic and overboard, he's also highly dependable and a great ally to have. Underneath the thick layer of corniness and over-the-top enthusiasm is a man that never breaks his promises, adheres rigidly to self-imposed rules, and values trust and commitment above everything. He's well-known for his trademark 'nice guy pose', where he solidifies his promises with a wink, a wide smile (his teeth always make that characteristic anime ping), and a thumbs-up. Once Gai makes the 'nice guy pose', his policy is never to back down on whatever statement he'd accompanied the pose with-- be it a promise to do 500 laps around Konoha on his hands, or to die alongside Lee if his surgery were to fail. Even if no one expects Gai to keep his word (especially concerning his self-issued punishments like doing 10000 pushups with 10 boulders on his back), Gai lives by this self-imposed 'My Rules' philosophy, believing that even if the completion of these ludicrous tasks are arduous and exhausting, that it'll be good training for the future. Besides, once someone flashes someone else such a confident pose, they should always strive to follow through on whatever they've promised.
In addition to his 'My Rules' mantra, the concept of 'youth' is something that's impossible to separate from Gai's persona. Believing that life should be lived to its fullest, Gai strives to encourage everyone to live youthfully-- the actual word here is 'seishun', which evokes images like running dramatically into the sunset, having manly fights and crying manly tears afterwards as you're making up, training while the 'Eye of the Tiger' plays in the background...
...you get the idea. Once again, Gai doesn't have a problem with being in-tune with his emotions, because stifling yourself is, in his eyes, a waste-- a waste of emotions that you could be sharing with others, and a waste because you could certainly grow and become even stronger by acknowledging all the things that you feel. He's not incapable of being serious, however, and in combat situations, Gai can be alarmingly ruthless. During the Shinobi War arc, for example, when one of the ninjas hesitate to fight after seeing a close comrade fall, Gai tells him rather sternly that there's no time to mourn, and that these things happen during a war. He approaches battle as seriously as he approaches his self-imposed rules, and that's nothing to joke about.
Subscribing wholeheartedly to the trope of 'overenthusiastic teacher', Gai has all the confidence in the world when it comes to his students and their abilities, proclaiming his pride in them as loudly and passionately as any teacher could be expected to do so. Lee is, in particular, the apple of his eye, and Gai is as passionate about making Lee's dreams come true as he is about his own goals-- in fact, the two are one and the same, which shows in the way he teaches Lee forbidden techniques despite the repercussions that they might have. HE JUST LOVES THIS KID SO MUCH. He's also prone to punching Lee passionately in the face and then bursting into tears afterwards, which is met with a lot of linefacing and sighing from his other two students, Neji and Tenten. But despite all the hemming and hawwing he gets from the other two, Gai is attentive to them and prizes them both, valuing Neji's quietly developed determination despite his family problems (because trust me, Neji does have them) and Tenten's eagerness to be a weapons master and her own person.
In short, Gai is corny, old-fashioned, incredibly stubborn, and overdramatic, but that makes him incredibly dedicated, loyal, and kind of strangely inspirational in his own right. He's a good guy to have around, and he's definitely not someone you get bored with anytime soon.
Why should that character be in this game: N/A!
Why do you want to continue their history here: N/A!
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: N/A!
Have you read up on how the game works?: Of course 8))) The Guide Plugin is called FlamingFerret, and Gai can either work actual jobs, mooch off of Kakashi, or steal, the latter of which he would never even contemplate 8((((((
1st person sample:
[the feed turns on with an audible BANG, the video switching on to a flurry of papers and documents, raining down upon the scene and obscuring the figure standing a few feet away. you can't see him clearly, not yet, but it's not hard to hear him-- he's talking pretty loudly, after all.]
This must be a genjutsu of some kind...! Curse the enemy for playing such underhanded games! I'm the Noble Green Beast of Konoha, and I refuse to be bested by such a cheap trick of the mind...!
[another audible bang of a fist crashing against a desk, and the papers fall to the ground to reveal a very... unique-looking Shinobi wearing green spandex and orange legwarmers. hello Thor, meet Maito Gai.
he faces the Guide (revealing an incredible pair of supremely bushy brows and a rather fabulous bowlcut) and then closes his eyes tightly, holding his hands in standard 'DISPEL GENJUTSU' position.]
Release!
[there is now silence as Gai waits for the genjutsu to melt away. it...doesn't...]
...Release!!
[another rousing moment of silence, and Gai cracks one eye open in a disappointing show of THIS DID NOT WORK.]
I...impossible...
[and there is clear surprise on his face before the feed shuts off. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE, GAI DOES NOT UNDERSTAND...]
3rd person sample:
Gai supposed that suspension of belief was something he'd have to get accustomed to while he was stuck on this so-called 'space station'. After all, he'd already seen wave after wave of unfamiliar-looking creatures that called themselves 'Vogons' (he could hardly tell any of them apart from each other, but then again, he doubted that anyone really could), and all the polished surfaces and reflective walls were far from anything he'd ever seen in the familiar twists and turns of Konoha. It would be hard getting used to the fact that he was resting idle here, especially considering that the last things he remembered before finding himself here were the bits and pieces of chaos and turmoil, the urgency that came from war-- but he knew that the frustration and confusion would have to settle, and that they would have to be channeled into something more useful, because they would simply be bothersome if left to stew inside.
He foresaw hours and hours of training ahead of himself, not only to make sure that his emotions would be put to rest, but to make sure that he would not be any less prepared when he would eventually find himself back to his own world. Because he had no doubt in his mind that he would go back, no matter what the aliens told him otherwise: baseless optimism, perhaps, but he had always told himself (and anyone that would listen, namely Lee) that there was no way that one's years of efforts could be for naught. Everyone in his world had been fighting, had been dying and bleeding for a common cause that they had finally agreed upon-- Gai couldn't just accept that all of that determination could have been reduced to space ash, to rubble someone far away from where he currently stood.
And while that was foremost on his thoughts, so was the fact that his students seemed to be alarmingly absent from the ship. If the world had been destroyed, and if his students hadn't been salvaged...
...no, he refused to believe that, either. Neither Neji nor Tenten nor Lee could have fallen under the hands of such a cruel trick. They were strong, his team, and he would wait for them to get here so he could greet them with a smile and maybe some tears (alright, a lot of tears)-- after all, it wouldn't do for the teacher to lose faith, not so early on in the game.
To no one in particular (but mostly for his own benefit), Gai made the 'Nice Guy' pose, knowing that this highest form of a promise was something he would hold to, until the day came that he would see his students and fight alongside them once more.
Questions?: no siree!!
Did you put your characters name and fandom in the subject: YOUTHFULLY
Name: Freshy
Are you over 16?: Yes!
Personal LJ: fresh_debonair
Email: fresh.debonair@gmail.com
Timezone: EST
Other contact: AIM- sleepingslaves, Plurk- deuil
Characters already in the game: Basch, France, and Holmes
How did you find us?: You cannot get rid of me
IC:
Character name: Maito Gai / Might Guy, but I'm going to go with the former because it sounds slightly less dumb than MIGHT GUY
Fandom: Sasuke Naruto / Naruto: Shippuden
Timeline: around chapter 522, when Gai joins up with Kakashi's Division during the Shinobi World War arc.
Age: 30
~*Magical*~ abilities and strengths:
Since this section requires some explanation regarding ~special ninja abilities~, it'll be prefaced with a mini glossary of useful terms pertaining to Naruto canon! I'll keep it relatively brief, so no worries.
~*~What You Need to Know to Become a Ninja~*~
- Jutsus: basically a fancy term for a ninja skill. Jutsus come in three broad categories which consist of Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, and Genjutsu-- more on this later!
- Chakra: what you need to do most jutsus. You 'mold' chakra by tapping into both your spiritual and physical energy, and then you channel said chakra though the 'chakra channels' in your body so you can release/use it in some way, shape, or form. In fewer words, it's your power level, and it differs from person to person.
- Taijutsu: literally translating to 'body skill', taijitsu is the only one of the three categories of jutsu that doesn't strictly require the use of chakra. You can obviously use chakra to make your PUNCHES STRONGER!!!111! or something to that extent, but if you want to go for the bare-bones, MY FISTS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS! combat, taijutsu is the way to go. Gai is an expert in all things taijutsu.
- Ninjutsu: pretty much what it says on the tin-- jutsus for ninjas, shortened to 'ninjutsu'. Ninjutsu usually require the use of something called 'hand seals', which are just fancy movements of the hand to indicate which ninjutsu you're going to utilize. Examples of ninjutsu include: breathing fire, making clones of yourself, making walls out of sand/earth/water/most elements, and making houses.
- Genjutsu: this mostly deals with creating illusions, and aim to attack the opponent's mind over their body (though that's not to say that your enemy can't take the opportunity to beat you down while you're having a badtrip).
- Kuchiyose: your basic summoning jutsu. You can summon anything from animals to ninja weapons using this technique. This goes under the category of ninjutsu, but I felt like it warranted a separate category because it's so specific.
1) Taijutsu. Taijutsu taijutsu taijutsu. Think like, Jet Li and Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee combined into one glorious bowl-cut clad ninja who can kick some serious ass using his fists alone. This guy is so fast, so intense, that he literally breaks through the limits of atmospheric pressure-- hard enough that his punches catch on fire. Suffice it to say that he could probably split the sea with the intensity of one of his axe kicks and then be able to turn around and strike a fabulous pose.
2) Opening seven out of his 'Eight Gates' in order to make himself go harder, better, faster, stronger. Simply put, the Eight Gates system refers to the eight gates in an individual's chakra channel that limit the amount of chakra flow one's body can tolerate. They're like limiters that keep tabs on how much chakra you can use at one time, like levees limit water flow to prevent floods. The gates restrict free flow of chakra, but it also protects the body from exerting itself past its limit and causing serious damage.
Now, it takes some serious talent to open even one out of the eight gates in order to boost one's stats above normal, but Gai can open seven of them, and he would probably be able to open the eighth one if it didn't mean certain death. Even opening five out of the eight gates can lead to serious injury-- muscle tears being the most obvious-- but Gai has enough control and discipline over his own body that he can keep on using special taijutsu moves without grievous damage to himself. This guy is one serious badass.
The downside to opening so many gates is that it leaves the subject out of commission for several hours, days, or weeks, depending on how fast they're able to recover after taxing their body beyond its limits. Gai is pretty remarkable in that he's able to recover after a few hours, enough to get up and fight again even after opening seven out of his eight gates.
3) We don't ever see Gai using much of ninjutsu or genjutsu, but seeing as he can dispel enemy genjutsu, it's implied that he can also use it against someone if he wants to. As for ninjutsu, he chooses not to use it for the benefit of one of his students' training, but he definitely has the ability to utilize it when he has to. For example, he uses the aforementioned Kuchiyose no jutsu to summon a giant ningame/turtle.
4) Gai has crazy powers of perception, observation, and foresight, allowing him to anticipate his opponent's attacks just by focusing his attention on how they're moving their feet. This is mostly utilized against his eternal rival, Kakashi, but more on that later.
5) THE POWER OF YOUTH. With sheer determination, willpower, and passion, Gai can do insane things like 500 laps around his village on his hands. This is totally a magical power.
I'll spare you an explanation of all of his currently known techniques, but they're all awesome and some of them involve entering into a scene majestically through walls or doors by executing a running kick. He can also do all those generic ninja things like running through trees and walking on water, no big.
But just in case, for a more comprehensive list of his techniques, I'll steer you towards this handy site, since it lists all of his taijutsu moves and whatnot!
How would they use their abilities?: To train all the people who want to learn from him, and to do ridiculous things like 1000 laps around the Thor when he feels REALLY MOTIVATED, which is 99.99999% of the time. He'd also fight to protect people and to do the greater good, but he'd also fight if anyone wanted a friendly spar! He's an energetic and enthusiastic kind of guy, so he'd do a lot of training during his free time, even if he isn't strictly required to fight and do missions constantly like he is back in his world.
Appearance: Behold: the biggest GQMF in all of Naruto.
Sporting his trademark bowl-cut, intensely bushy brows, and his legendary MAITO SUIT complete with vest and stylish orange legwarmers, Gai really does live up to his reputation as "Konoha's Sublime/Great/Majestic/Noble Green Beast". Standing at a little above 6 feet, he radiates athletic passion and youthful fervor, wearing his Shinobi headband around his waist proudly like a champion belt.
Background/Personality:
The first and foremost thing to start out with when embarking upon an explanation of Gai is the concept of youth-- a fitting beginning considering that Gai was, in fact, a little kid at one point in his life. And he wasn't just any little kid, but a self-proclaimed loser who was most likely dubbed talentless by his peers at the ninja academy in Konohagakure/Konoha village. Very little is actually known about Gai's younger life beyond the simple fact that he was an underwhelming student: where his genius classmate, Hatake Kakashi, graduated the ninja academy at age 5 and rose in the ranks to become a chuunin at age 6, it took Gai 2 years after Kakashi to graduate even the preliminary academy, and even longer to become a chuunin, finally granting himself the privilege to wear the chuunin vest at age 11.
(Quick summary of ninja rankings here: academy students are the lowest on the ladder, then you graduate the academy to become a genin, pass the chuunin exams to become a chuunin, and then eventually work your way up to becoming a jonin, if you're skilled enough. The strongest shinobi in the village is awarded the title of 'kage', and the kage in the village of Konoha is called the 'Hokage'.)
But the lag time in promotions aside, Gai was hardly deterred by the fact that it took him 5 years later than Kakashi to achieve his chuunin status. Calling himself a 'genius of effort/perseverance', Gai resolved to grow strong by casting himself in the way of shinobis with natural talent, living his youth to the fullest and being true to his passionate spirit by establishing a hot-blooded rivalry with someone who was always known to be better than him. What better way to hone his skills than to find someone who could elevate his motivation? And who better a candidate to choose for his eternal rivalry than the elite of elites, the son of the village hero, genin-at-5-and-chuunin-at-6, Hatake Kakashi?
From the moment he first challenged Kakashi, he knew that they would be rivals for life. And that was pretty much the way it actually went down, if you could consider an extremely one-sided rivalry and intense rock-paper-scissors matches to be the criteria for 'rivals for life'. In any event, Gai's track record against Kakashi is currently set at 50 wins to 49 losses, with him in the lead: he often quotes this as proof of his intense rivalry, and cites it as evidence that he's come far enough to have pulled ahead of a naturally-born genius like Kakashi. In reality, most of their matches have been things like the aforementioned rock-paper-scissors competitions (3 out of 5!!) or simple short-distance races-- not a good measure of skills against skills at all. That's mostly due to the fact that Kakashi always seems far less invested in Gai's random challenges than Gai wants him to be. But really, Gai's dedication and insistence upon their rivalry is what's important to him, and the fact that he asserts that their rivalry exists at all has made him the passionate and focused man that he is.
And, well, if Kakashi is more interested in reading porn than engaging in a conversation of fists, SO BE IT. He'll be pumped for the both of them.
But Gai's passion for challenges aside, true to his ambitions of becoming a genius of perseverance, Gai shed his old mantle of loserdom and went on to become a highly skilled jonin, renowned for his expertise and complete mastery of taijutsu. Since becoming a jonin is by no means guaranteed for all chuunin, this really was a testament to Gai's marked improvement from his childhood. However! This definitely didn't mean that Gai would fall into the pitfall of complacency, of course not! His youth was (and still is) eternal, and his days of passion and fervor would only increase in potency when he took on three freshly-graduated genin students under his wing. Their names were Hyuuga Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee, the latter of whom would eventually become his most beloved student, and Gai's own Way of the Ninja (or, in other words, his purpose in life).
But let's not get ahead of ourselves! First things first.
Gai's first meeting with said Rock Lee happened far before Lee was even his own student, and ultimately didn't have anything to do with speaking face-to-face: Gai's first encounter with Lee was through Lee's given nickname in the ninja academy as the class's token 'hot-blooded loser'.
Sound familiar? Because it should.
Unable to use ninjutsu or genjutsu and less than remarkable at taijutsu, Lee was known in the academy as the boy who would never become a proper ninja, let alone a good one. However, much like Gai, the option of giving up never really occurred to Lee-- closing his ears (quite literally) to his classmates' constant jeering, his first words as a genin under Gai's tutelage was that his goal was to prove that he could become a great ninja, even without the ability to use ninjutsu or genjutsu. Though Neji, Lee's fellow teammate and a reputable genius from the respected Hyuuga clan, berated Lee for holding such ridiculous notions ("you can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu. you can hardly even call yourself a ninja."), Gai responded to Lee's passionate outcry by telling him that he could surely achieve his goals through determination and hard work. If Neji was the naturally gifted one of his three students, then Lee could form a passionate rivalry with him, much like he'd done with Kakashi-- after all, that was what youth was about, wasn't it?
And thus, team Gai was formed. Comprised of one genius, one loser, and the poor girl caught between two polar opposites, it seemed like Team Gai would have a long way to go before becoming a cohesive team; and that was the case at times, with Lee consistently challenging Neji, only to be thoroughly beaten and later fussed over by Tenten ("Neji is a genius, when will you learn, Lee?"). While Gai valued each of his team members, it wasn't too difficult for him to take a special interest in Lee, the determined not-quite-ninja who could only rely on his taijutsu to keep up with the other two. Gai would often watch Lee train from the crack of dawn to ridiculous hours at night, kicking the same tree over and over or doing pushups until he couldn't do any more. But even with all the hours Lee spent trying to become stronger, his faith was prone to wavering every time he was easily bested by Neji, or after an elementary fumble during their shinobi missions. And one day, Gai found Lee amidst his usual training routine, discouraged and disheartened by the fact that no matter how hard he tried, he never seemed to improve. This was when Gai asserted to Lee that Lee was no loser: no, Lee was a genius in his own right, a genius of hard work and effort, much like he was when he was younger. Lee responded to this with doubt and fear, to which Gai responded sternly:
"those that don't believe in themselves don't have the right to persevere."
Gai, with all his own experiences in the past and all his belief in his students, told Lee that he remembered what Lee had said on his first day as a genin-- that he wanted to prove that he could become a great ninja without ninjutsu or genjutsu. Telling Lee that he found that to be a fine goal worth pursuing, Gai added, in true hotblooded fashion, that Lee should go straight down the path that he'd chosen for himself.
"Be someone who I can watch over with a smile on my face!"
And with those inspirational words, Lee went on to train ever harder under Gai's supervision, and Gai responded to his student's eagerness to learn by teaching him every bit of taijutsu knowledge that he had. Many a manly tear was shed, many a day passed with Gai and Lee running passionately into the setting sun.
Ah, youth.
In any event, Gai took a year after his students' academy graduation to give Lee, Neji, and Tenten a bit of experience before letting them take the chuunin exams: the logical next step in their rise to full-fledged ninjadom. The chuunin exams, a rigorous test to determine which genin were eligible to rise in ranks, could only be taken with the team jonin's sanction-- Gai, deeming his students ready to take on this challenge, gave them permission to enter. Amusingly enough (and much to Gai's surprise), another team that was given permission to take the chuunin exams happened to be none other than Gai's eternal rival Kakashi's team, comprised of three freshly-promoted genin students by the name of Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura. Though Gai warned Kakashi that Kakashi should have given his students more time to enjoy their youth and engage in training, Kakashi wound up entering Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura in the same chuunin exam that Gai signed his team up for.
Gai's involvement during the chuunin exams was relatively low-key... or, well, as low-key as Gai could ever really be. He made his actual first appearance in the manga during the exams, when he appeared to chide Lee on almost using a forbidden technique against Uchiha Sasuke. Said appearance involved entering the scene dramatically on the back of a summon turtle, punching Lee in the face, and then shedding manly tears as he proceeded to forgive his beloved student for his transgression. This happens a lot with Gai.
His other appearances during this time have mostly centered around his efforts to protect or oversee his students' progress: he was there when Neji fought his cousin, Hyuuga Hinata, and was consequently one of the many jonin who had to stop Neji from dealing irreversible damage to her. He was there when Tenten lost to a shinobi of the sand (a shinobi from Sunagakure, located in the Land of Wind which is a neighboring country to the Land of Fire, where Konohagakure is located), Temari. And he was also there when Lee fought another shinobi of the sand by the name of Gaara, who proved himself to be incredibly strong. While Lee fought valiantly, and while Gai gave Lee progressive permission to increase the strength of his attacks (at the expense of using forbidden techniques that would take incredible tolls on Lee's body; i.e.- opening five of the eight gates), Gaara ultimately overpowered Lee and heavily injured him. For a moment, it seemed as if Gaara would deliver a finishing blow, but Gai stepped in before Gaara could do any more damage, proclaiming that Lee was his beloved student and that Lee had already proven himself to be a great ninja.
However, Lee's severe injury from Gaara's onslaught and the physical strain from having used so many forbidden techniques proved to be fatal in a completely different way-- as the medics took Lee away, they told Gai that while Lee would recover, he would never be able to fight as a ninja again. The damage was done, and the news was crushing to Gai, who regretted having pushed Lee so far and for not stopping him before all this could happen.
And since this is getting ridiculously long, and since I'm technically only on volume 11 of this entire series as of right now, LET'S SPEED THINGS UP.
A month later, the chuunin exams picked up from where it left off, with its remaining contenders pitted against each other in a tournament match. Since Neji was still an eligible candidate to become a chuunin, Gai, along with a still-injured Lee, went to cheer him on. The fights seemed to be going quite swimmingly, with intense battles all around, until the Big Baddie of the series, Orochimaru, decided to interrupt everything by implementing his plan to Ruin All the Things. This operation, in a nutshell, involved Orochimaru forming an alliance with the shinobi of the sand (e.g.- Gaara, Temari) to overthrow and destroy Konohagakure. Gai, being a jonin, threw himself in the ranks of battle against Orochimaru and the baddies to protect Konoha. Teaming up with Kakashi to Defeat All the People, he also issued a challenge to see which one of them could defeat more enemy ninja-- considering that there were more important things to worry about, Kakashi's level of caring about this challenge was probably close to zero. But Gai suggested it anyway, because Gai is Gai and motivation is the spice of life.
The denouement of this whole fiasco was the death of Konoha's Hokage, Naruto defeating Gaara through the power of shonen, and an uneasy ripple through the shinobi society thanks to Orochimaru doing what he does best: Ruining All the Things, and Creeping on All the People. With Uchiha Sasuke slowly beginning his Descent Into Madness, Orochimaru's general Evil Machinations, and the rise of a shady organization called the Akatsuki, things suddenly started to go from bad to worse. Gai was involved in warding off two members of the latter threat, Uchiha Itachi (Sasuke's brother, dishonorably discharged from Konoha due to his killing of his entire clan; it's complicated) and Hoshigaki Kisame, who had come to see how Konoha was surviving without a Hokage. Managing to fend them off momentarily(and dropping Kakashi off at the hospital afterwards), Gai pursued both Itachi and Kisame after they left Konoha, only to narrowly miss them and instead kick one of the three legendary ninjas, Jiraiya, in the face. Later, hearing from Jiraiya that he was planning on bringing the other of the three legendary ninjas (sannin), Tsunade, back to the village to nominate her for Hokage status, Gai requested that Jiraiya bring her to Konoha as soon as possible-- Tsunade was renowned not only for her incredible strength, but also for her talent in medical ninjutsu. Obviously, Gai was thrilled to hear that Jiraiya would be bringing Tsunade back, in hopes that she could heal Lee so that Lee could be a ninja once more. He really loves that kid, okay.
A lot of stuff happened after this that had nothing to do with Gai, but ultimately Tsunade came back to the village to take her spot as Hokage. Overjoyed that Lee would now get his chance at properly recovering, Gai requested that Tsunade take a look at his student to see if he would get better...
...and the response from Tsunade was that Lee should give up on becoming a ninja. Definitely not the answer that Gai was looking for. And neither was the news that even if Lee decided to go through with the operation, the success rate would be around 50%, if even that.
DEVASTATION ENSUED.
Caught in the mire of bad news, Lee fell into a depression-- understandably so, considering that he was told that: a) he should give up on the one dream he ever had for himself, b) if he chose to keep on keeping on, there was an incredibly high probability of him dying, and c) ALL THE BAD THINGS IN THE WORLD HAPPEN TO HIM. Pained to see his student in such emotional turmoil, Gai confronted Lee to convince him to receive the operation, telling him that he was sure that all the self-imposed discipline and sheer determination that Lee had built up for himself would bring success. All of Lee's hard work, Gai believed, could never be for naught. And thus, if ever it should happen that Lee died (which, in Gai's eyes, was impossible... or so he told himself), Gai would die with him: because by this point, training Lee to become a great ninja had become Gai's own personal goal. Stating firmly that they were both idiots who could only live for their dreams, Gai embraced Lee and promised that he would be with him to the end.
And here, we all wipe a manly tear in honor of their youthful bond.
Things happened, and lo and behold, the surgery was a success. All of the manly tears were shed yet again, and Gai resumed his hot-blooded training with his disciple (and we can all assume that he'd been training Neji and Tenten during this time, as well).
Three years pass after this, and we have no idea what happened in between these years that Naruto spent training under Jiraiya outside of Konoha. But post-timeskip is where Naruto: Shippuden begins, and this is consequently the longer half of this series, since it's still...ongoing. Once again, I feel like I should speed things up.
Anyway! During these three years, Lee, Tenten, and Neji managed to pass their chuunin exams, with Neji progressing even further to joninhood. Even though they were technically experienced enough not to be dubbed Gai's students anymore, they remained in each other's company as Team Gai (probably for convenience's sake, and because they'd all become pretty attached to each other), and continued to do so until they were given another mission: help Kakashi and his team (Team 7, comprised of Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto) retreive Gaara from the Big Bads (the Akatsuki). By post-timeskip, Gaara'd mellowed down considerably (which is an understatement considering that the last time Gai'd confronted him, he'd been trying to kill Lee) and had become the Kagekaze (the kage of the Land of the Wind), so getting him back from the evil clutches of the Akatsuki was actually quite the important mission.
On their way to meet Team 7, Gai re-encountered Hoshigaki Kisame, who he'd fought way back when Kisame'd shown up at Konoha to be all HEY GUYS WHAT'S GOING ON HERE. Wanting to take a bit of revenge on Gai for being in their way the last time they'd met, Kisame (predictably) attacked him, only to be met with a "...have I met you before?" Now, just as a bit of reference for those of you who haven't read Naruto: Kisame has a face that's pretty hard to forget. Like, think of a guy with blue skin, fish-looking eyes, and things that look like gills on his face, and you have Kisame. He's not exactly someone you forget about in a hurry once you meet him, because this guy is Pretty Weird, even for Naruto standards.
Gai reunited with this guy and pretty much just went "I'm bad at remembering faces."
This is further proof that Gai is the best character in this entire series, BUT ANYWAY. After Kisame and Team Gai engaged in the preliminary 'I'll show you my jutsus if you show me yours', Kisame trapped Gai's students in water prisons, nearly drowning Tenten. This is where Gai went "oh no you don't", and he then proceeded to kick the shit out of Kisame using his Morning Peacock technique, which involves hurtling himself in the sky and punching his enemy so fast that his fists catch on fire. With that done, he rescued his team and went to check Kisame's body, where he found that he hadn't actually been fighting Kisame, and that it'd been a body double all along.
Well. With that interruption aside, Gai finally caught up to Team 7 and then promptly dispersed again in order to disable a barrier that was blocking the entrance to the Akatsuki's hideout. In doing so, they triggered a trap that forced them to fight clones of themselves, which was a challenge until Lee gave a hotblooded shonen speech about how he wanted to grow stronger with each passing moment, and that surely they were stronger now than they had been even thirty minutes ago. With that rousing mantra, they successfully defeated their doubles and reunited with Kakashi and the others who had retrieved Gaara from the Akatsuki.
On their way home, Gai discovered that Kakashi was too worn out from the repeated use of his Sharingan to walk properly, which resulted in the best Naruto moment of all time: let the visuals speak for themselves, since no words will ever be sufficient enough to describe this moment of beauty.
Click to view
However, after this high point in the series, Gai and his team don't make much of an appearance in the main story. You get to see a glimpse of Gai mourning the death of his colleague, Sarutobi Asuma, and he briefly made an appearance in what's known as the Pain Arc where he came back to a destroyed Konoha. His first real forays back into the story happened in the most recent arc, however, where he was sent to an isolated island in the Land of Lightning to keep an eye on Naruto.
(Note: a lot of things have happened between when we last really saw Gai and now, so to summarize the story quickly: Naruto has a nine-tailed fox sealed inside of him, and the real main villain, Tobi/Uchiha Madara, wants the power of the nine-tails to raze the world. In order to prevent Tobi/Madara from getting to Naruto, Gai and a bunch of other Shinobis (Aoba and Yamato being the most prominent ones) were assigned to bodyguard him. )
After recovering from a bout of intense seasickness that he experienced due to the boat ride that got him to the Land of Lightning, Gai and his team set out to find Naruto at the Falls of Truth. Hearing that the Falls of Truth summoned one's inner demon so that it could be conquered, Gai took on the challenge, only to be confronted by something that he called a 'pufferfish'-- in reality, it was Hoshigaki Kisame yet again, and yet again, Gai couldn't identify him as someone he'd met in the past. However, recognizing that this 'pufferfish' was an enemy and therefore a threat to Naruto, Gai chased Kisame across the island to prevent him from sending out intel regarding Naruto's whereabouts to the Akatsuki. After an intense battle involving Gai opening his Seventh Gate (this is A Big Deal), Gai defeated Kisame and held him hostage in order to gain intel. Kisame, on the other hand, saw that there was very little he could do against Gai and the others at this point, and chose to commit suicide before letting them take information from him. Seeing this act of self-sacrifice, Gai felt deep respect for his fallen adversary and vowed that he would never forget him, finally calling Kisame by his name.
After this heartfelt display of manly acknowledgement, Gai passed out from opening so many of his Eight Gates in one standing. Kind of ruined the moment, but understandable.
An undetermined amount of time later, the Shinobi World War started out in full with all the nations banding together in a Shinobi Alliance against Tobi/Madara, who was the common threat. Gai was placed in the Third Division under Kakashi's leadership, still suffering from the aftereffects of opening the Seventh Gate. Several hours later, however, he reappeared in top condition once more to start kicking some undead ass, since it just so happened that one of the antagonists, Kabuto, thought it would be a great idea to revive all the dead people from the series and pit them against the Shinobi Alliance.
And this is where I'll be taking him from, so END HISTORY SECTION. Aren't we all glad that that's done and over with?
As for Gai's personality, Gai is, in the fewest words possible, a dynamic person. Wearing his heart on his sleeve and expressing his emotions in the most passionate and direct way possible, it's easy to say that Gai isn't that complicated to figure out-- crying comes easily to him when he wants to share in joyous moments, laughing is as natural as it comes when he feels happiness, and bravado is second nature when he wants to motivate his students. But nothing about his emotions and his outward appearances are false: what you see is what you get, and whether or not his high-intensity is something you enjoy or feel repelled by, it's 100% Gai and 100% true to the way he feels. Embarrassment or shame regarding the things that he feels passionately about seems to be far from Gai's mind, and that's been something that he's made abundantly clear since he was just a child, challenging the elite Kakashi despite his own obvious deficiencies. That's not to say that he doesn't feel bad when he's bested, or that he's just a pointless optimist-- rather, it's that he takes the losses and turns it into motivation for the future, taking the hits and remembering the pain for the next time he issues a challenge, turning bitter memories into his strength to go on. It's precisely because he was a loser that he's gained so much determination now, and that dynamism and willingness to roll with the punches has made Gai the passionate (and admittedly successful) Noble Beast of Konoha. His confidence in himself stems from his belief that only those that believe in themselves have the capacity to persevere, and the veracity of that claim is not up for debate, in Gai's eyes. If you're the only person that has the capability of holding yourself back, he probably believes that you shouldn't be holding yourself back at all.
While Gai is definitely what you'd call overdramatic and overboard, he's also highly dependable and a great ally to have. Underneath the thick layer of corniness and over-the-top enthusiasm is a man that never breaks his promises, adheres rigidly to self-imposed rules, and values trust and commitment above everything. He's well-known for his trademark 'nice guy pose', where he solidifies his promises with a wink, a wide smile (his teeth always make that characteristic anime ping), and a thumbs-up. Once Gai makes the 'nice guy pose', his policy is never to back down on whatever statement he'd accompanied the pose with-- be it a promise to do 500 laps around Konoha on his hands, or to die alongside Lee if his surgery were to fail. Even if no one expects Gai to keep his word (especially concerning his self-issued punishments like doing 10000 pushups with 10 boulders on his back), Gai lives by this self-imposed 'My Rules' philosophy, believing that even if the completion of these ludicrous tasks are arduous and exhausting, that it'll be good training for the future. Besides, once someone flashes someone else such a confident pose, they should always strive to follow through on whatever they've promised.
In addition to his 'My Rules' mantra, the concept of 'youth' is something that's impossible to separate from Gai's persona. Believing that life should be lived to its fullest, Gai strives to encourage everyone to live youthfully-- the actual word here is 'seishun', which evokes images like running dramatically into the sunset, having manly fights and crying manly tears afterwards as you're making up, training while the 'Eye of the Tiger' plays in the background...
...you get the idea. Once again, Gai doesn't have a problem with being in-tune with his emotions, because stifling yourself is, in his eyes, a waste-- a waste of emotions that you could be sharing with others, and a waste because you could certainly grow and become even stronger by acknowledging all the things that you feel. He's not incapable of being serious, however, and in combat situations, Gai can be alarmingly ruthless. During the Shinobi War arc, for example, when one of the ninjas hesitate to fight after seeing a close comrade fall, Gai tells him rather sternly that there's no time to mourn, and that these things happen during a war. He approaches battle as seriously as he approaches his self-imposed rules, and that's nothing to joke about.
Subscribing wholeheartedly to the trope of 'overenthusiastic teacher', Gai has all the confidence in the world when it comes to his students and their abilities, proclaiming his pride in them as loudly and passionately as any teacher could be expected to do so. Lee is, in particular, the apple of his eye, and Gai is as passionate about making Lee's dreams come true as he is about his own goals-- in fact, the two are one and the same, which shows in the way he teaches Lee forbidden techniques despite the repercussions that they might have. HE JUST LOVES THIS KID SO MUCH. He's also prone to punching Lee passionately in the face and then bursting into tears afterwards, which is met with a lot of linefacing and sighing from his other two students, Neji and Tenten. But despite all the hemming and hawwing he gets from the other two, Gai is attentive to them and prizes them both, valuing Neji's quietly developed determination despite his family problems (because trust me, Neji does have them) and Tenten's eagerness to be a weapons master and her own person.
In short, Gai is corny, old-fashioned, incredibly stubborn, and overdramatic, but that makes him incredibly dedicated, loyal, and kind of strangely inspirational in his own right. He's a good guy to have around, and he's definitely not someone you get bored with anytime soon.
Why should that character be in this game: N/A!
Why do you want to continue their history here: N/A!
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: N/A!
Have you read up on how the game works?: Of course 8))) The Guide Plugin is called FlamingFerret, and Gai can either work actual jobs, mooch off of Kakashi, or steal, the latter of which he would never even contemplate 8((((((
1st person sample:
[the feed turns on with an audible BANG, the video switching on to a flurry of papers and documents, raining down upon the scene and obscuring the figure standing a few feet away. you can't see him clearly, not yet, but it's not hard to hear him-- he's talking pretty loudly, after all.]
This must be a genjutsu of some kind...! Curse the enemy for playing such underhanded games! I'm the Noble Green Beast of Konoha, and I refuse to be bested by such a cheap trick of the mind...!
[another audible bang of a fist crashing against a desk, and the papers fall to the ground to reveal a very... unique-looking Shinobi wearing green spandex and orange legwarmers. hello Thor, meet Maito Gai.
he faces the Guide (revealing an incredible pair of supremely bushy brows and a rather fabulous bowlcut) and then closes his eyes tightly, holding his hands in standard 'DISPEL GENJUTSU' position.]
Release!
[there is now silence as Gai waits for the genjutsu to melt away. it...doesn't...]
...Release!!
[another rousing moment of silence, and Gai cracks one eye open in a disappointing show of THIS DID NOT WORK.]
I...impossible...
[and there is clear surprise on his face before the feed shuts off. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE, GAI DOES NOT UNDERSTAND...]
3rd person sample:
Gai supposed that suspension of belief was something he'd have to get accustomed to while he was stuck on this so-called 'space station'. After all, he'd already seen wave after wave of unfamiliar-looking creatures that called themselves 'Vogons' (he could hardly tell any of them apart from each other, but then again, he doubted that anyone really could), and all the polished surfaces and reflective walls were far from anything he'd ever seen in the familiar twists and turns of Konoha. It would be hard getting used to the fact that he was resting idle here, especially considering that the last things he remembered before finding himself here were the bits and pieces of chaos and turmoil, the urgency that came from war-- but he knew that the frustration and confusion would have to settle, and that they would have to be channeled into something more useful, because they would simply be bothersome if left to stew inside.
He foresaw hours and hours of training ahead of himself, not only to make sure that his emotions would be put to rest, but to make sure that he would not be any less prepared when he would eventually find himself back to his own world. Because he had no doubt in his mind that he would go back, no matter what the aliens told him otherwise: baseless optimism, perhaps, but he had always told himself (and anyone that would listen, namely Lee) that there was no way that one's years of efforts could be for naught. Everyone in his world had been fighting, had been dying and bleeding for a common cause that they had finally agreed upon-- Gai couldn't just accept that all of that determination could have been reduced to space ash, to rubble someone far away from where he currently stood.
And while that was foremost on his thoughts, so was the fact that his students seemed to be alarmingly absent from the ship. If the world had been destroyed, and if his students hadn't been salvaged...
...no, he refused to believe that, either. Neither Neji nor Tenten nor Lee could have fallen under the hands of such a cruel trick. They were strong, his team, and he would wait for them to get here so he could greet them with a smile and maybe some tears (alright, a lot of tears)-- after all, it wouldn't do for the teacher to lose faith, not so early on in the game.
To no one in particular (but mostly for his own benefit), Gai made the 'Nice Guy' pose, knowing that this highest form of a promise was something he would hold to, until the day came that he would see his students and fight alongside them once more.
Questions?: no siree!!
Did you put your characters name and fandom in the subject: YOUTHFULLY