APPLICATION! ( thewake_rp )
Personal Information
Name: Inky.
Age: Nineteen years old.
Personal LJ: strahtan
Email / AIM / MSN: treble.calamity@hotmail.com, or encachettex3@aim.com.
Current Character(s): None!
Character Information
Character Name: Tahno.
Fandom: The Legend of Korra.
Source: Not so much for the "obscure fandom" part, but I figured that I'd give you a clip of one of the probending matches, just so you can envision it better! ( Except, well, this match was kinda sorta rigged. But you'll get my drift, haha -- ; ) http://youtu.be/8cdskDUV_8s?t=10m10s
Character History: ( I'm sure I've covered everything in this bio, but if you want to know anything else -- if there is anything I missed -- please direct yourself here! )
Little to nothing is known about Tahno prior to his first appearance in the series; there isn't much to be said on the matters of his childhood, or his family. There is speculation that he comes from a place called Foggy Swamp, but there has yet to be any real confirmation of that. One of the first things we learn about Tahno is that he is a pro-waterbender -- and, in addition to that, he is the captain of a pro-bending team called the "White Falls Wolfbats". In Republic City (the city in which the series takes place), pro-bending is a popular spectator sport in which two teams, each made up of three pro-benders, attempt to either: a) claim as much of the ring as their "territory" as they can before the time limit runs out, or b) knock the members of the opposing team off the ring entirely, into the water that lies below. The three benders on each team will have control of one of the three remaining major elements -- earth, water, and fire (in LOK, air is something like a "lost" type of bending, being that the only air benders that are alive live in isolation). In other words, both teams will have one bender who bends fire, one who bends water, and one who bends earth. Both teams have one half of the ring to call their own "territory" at the start of the match, and each of those halves of the ring are divided into three parts called "zones". Players from both teams start in zone one (that is, the zone closest to the center of the ring) at the beginning of the match, and as the match goes on, they attempt to knock the opposing team back into zones two and three, and should they get their opponents far enough before the time limit ends, off the ring altogether.
As stated before, the object of the game and the way to win the match is by either knocking all opposing team members off of the ring, or by gaining the most territory before the time limit ends. And, also stated before, Tahno is a pro-waterbender and captain of a pro-bending team, the White Falls Wolfbats. Prior to the start of TLOK, the Wolfbats won the pro-bending championship three years in a row, and they were more than determined to make this coming championship their fourth win in a row.
Tahno's first appearance occurs in a Water Tribe-styled restaurant in Republic City, called Narook's Seaweed Noodlery. Of course, he's not seen alone -- much the opposite. Tahno appears to have had something of a "private room" rented out in the restaurant, and inside it, he has seated himself and his so-called "posse". This "posse" consists of himself, the two other benders in his pro-bending team, and quite a few women that do nothing short of fawning over him. His first appearance is also his first actual encounter with the Avatar of the time -- Avatar Korra. This is particularly important because previously, Korra agreed to become a part of one of the probending teams opposing his -- The Future Industries Fire Ferrets. While they had not actually faced off yet (they still had quite a few matches to go to see if they'd even make it far enough to go against each other), there was much tension between the two teams. This is justified enough, seeing as how the Fire Ferrets had the Avatar on their side, and seeing as how Tahno and the WolfBats were extremely skilled .. and overly confident/cocky. After a brief stare-off between the two, Tahno decides to approach the Avatar tauntingly. In this encounter we see his utter confidence in himself, and his cockiness in regards to the probending championship and his team's track record. He makes it a point to refer to the other team as "losers", and when Korra insinuates fighting him then and there, he goes on to instigate it -- going so far to tell her that he'd "give her the first shot". Of course, fighting the waterbender would mean disqualification for the Fire Ferrets, so rather than give in to his taunts, Korra uses something of a .. "scare tactic". That tactic turns out to be whistling for her polarbear-dog, Naga, to poke its head through the window and scare the pro-waterbender with a fierce growl. Suffice it to say it scares Tahno enough to make him exit the restaurant in a hurry, alongside his crew -- though, not before eliciting a scream at about the same pitch as a girls' would be.
Tahno is shown briefly later on in the episode as he walks to the lift that would take him to the ring for his next match. He passes Korra and the Fire Ferrets in the prep room just outside the arena after their match, which they won, propelling them to the finals. His confidence doesn't seem to waver regardless of the fact that he's about to go against another team -- and, at the same time, it doesn't seem to occur to him that his teams' title of "three year probending championship winners" could easily be stolen from him. Rather, he relishes in the apparent "failure" that he sees in the Fire Ferrets -- again calling them "losers" and going so far to say that the room they were in "smelled" of their mediocrity. When challenged for his taunting by Korra, he feigns fear, but it's blatant that he's teasing them once again. The WolfBat's actual match against the opposing team lasts only a matter of a minute or so -- the opposing team falls and the WolfBats advance to the championship, along with the Fire Ferrets. Their next match is, obviously, against each other. However, this one does not exactly go according to plan, for a multitude of reasons.
During the match between the Wolfbats and the Fire Ferrets, Tahno (as well as his teammates) use illegal/illegitimate moves to win against the Fire Ferrets. For example, they use headshots, which are against the rules to begin with. And, in addition to that, Tahno and his earth-bending teammate combine their skills into one single and combined attack. Meaning, his teammate broke and bent one of the earth-discs provided for him to bend on the field, and Tahno submerged it in his waterbending and used the combination to attack the opponent. This isn't allowed because of the danger that ensues it; the pressure of the water being bent at the person combined with the force and solidity of the earth-disc is enough to severely injure a person. In fact, it had happened on occasions before. However, despite his blatant ignorance of the rules of probending, the referee allows the match to go on and even rules in the WolfBats' favor -- leading to the assumption that he was paid off. The match ends in the WolfBats' win, making them winners of the championship four years in a row.
However, they don't get much time to celebrate, due to what happens almost immediately after they are declared the champions. Amon, -- a man who has the ability to and intends to remove bending entirely from Republic City -- along with his Equalist group (that's just the name for the people that follow him) attack the guards guarding the arena, the announcer -- even some of the spectators. Amon is able to get to the ring with ease, despite the extra protection that was provided by the police force. He approaches the championship-winners, and out of fear, Tahno attacks him desperately with his waterbending .. but to no avail. Amon is far too quick and is able to evade the boy's moves with ease; not only that, but Tahno is terrified at this point, which affected his precision and aim greatly. In essence, he was attacking wildly -- a tactic that rarely works, this case not being an exception. It is then that Amon approaches the proud team captain, and takes his bending away permanently, along with his teammates' .. despite Tahno's pleading and begging.
Tahno is seen briefly after the event, looking disheveled and crestfallen. His hair, which is usually styled perfectly, is messy and tangled, and he has bags beneath his eyes. He has a brief meeting with Korra, in which he explains that he'd gone to practically every healer in Republic City in hopes that one of them would have to key to returning his bending. However, his search was fruitless; whatever Amon had done to him was permanent, and he would no longer be bending .. he would no longer be doing the thing he took the most pride in. He then tells Korra he needs to "get Amon" for him, and she agrees. This is the last we see of Tahno at this point.
Considering one of the ideas of this RP -- that is, a characters' powers being taken away -- I intend to take him just prior to the probending tournament in which he loses his bending. However, if this is unacceptable, please let me know, and I'll take him afterwards! I really do hope it won't be a problem.
Character Personality: The first thing that should be noticed about Tahno's personality -- or rather, the first thing that comes to mind -- is his confidence, going hand-in-hand with his persistence. Tahno doesn't exactly know when to back down, and this is probably because he feels that he can't actually be beat. This is in regards to practically any subject -- in bending, in romancing woman, in .. well, anything. He thinks very highly of himself, so it's only natural that he would act this way; you could probably go so far as to say that he views himself as a "perfect" being. Tahno also seems to relish in the failure of others -- or, what he considers to be failure -- in actuality, whoever it is he's antagonizing is probably not a "failure" at all. In addition to that, he does not hesitate to point out a persons' flaws, regardless of who that person is, and this is because of his narcissistic tendencies. He's very conceited, and thinks only the best about himself .. especially when it comes to his physical appearance. He's also very confident in his own water-bending skill, as I said before; he refers to himself as a "pro" on multiple occasions, and as such, he offers what he calls "private lessons" to those willing to learn "how a real pro bends". It's actually widely speculated that his lessons aren't really "probending" lessons at all, and that he only offers such lessons to females .. which, of course, only means one thing.
And this leads me to my next point of interest in regards to Tahno's personality: he's very charming when it comes to dealing with women. You could call him suave, in that sense. He knows (or at least, he thinks he knows) just what to say to have women coming to him. He doesn't do well with rejection -- mostly because it doesn't happen 99.9 percent of the time. That .1% is because of Korra; Tahno had offered her one of these little "private lessons" previously, in the Water Tribe-styled restaurant where they'd first met, and she pretty much declined him. This isn't something that typically happens to Tahno -- usually, he has women head over heels for him, or "a woman on either arm" (a perfect example of this are the women that follow him and his probending team around). Still, while he does not handle rejection very well, he is persistent, and the idea that "every woman wants him, every man probably wants to be him" gets him to brush it off and try again. While it is true that he might get a bit disgruntled at first, he'll get over it. And then chances are that, pretty soon, he'll be attempting to sway that same girl again.
Overall, Tahno is very sly, and while people don't actually consider it very often, he's pretty intelligent. He knows what he's doing, and he's able to mask what he's thinking so long as he isn't provoked or upset. He's able to appear very cool and collected normally, but in reality, it's not terribly hard to provoke him and have him "freak out". It's not exactly easy either, but saying or doing just the right thing enables you to dig into him and have him snap. In TLOK, we've only seen this happen once so far, and that was during the championship match against the Fire Ferrets. When he does snap, it's not a pretty sight -- his usual "cool, calm, pretty boy" demeanor disappears in favor of his anger and a lot of funny faces that he makes.
All of this isn't to say that he's rude or extremely crabby or "just plain mean" -- really! It sounds like it, but .. he's just overly confident in himself and his skills, and it leads him to say or do things that aren't entirely nice. It doesn't exactly help that he enjoys taking shots at other people's confidence, either .. and that those shots aren't the nicest things, as you could probably imagine. He could probably get along well with a person if the chemistry was right, but it would definitely be rocky at the start.
Powers and Abilities: Tahno is a master of bending when it comes to dealing with water. He considers himself nothing short of a "pro", and makes sure that all know of his expertise. Of course, he's able to back up his words with his actions. He is quick, precise, and very much what any great waterbender should be. Yes, he did rig the championship match and he did use illegal moves, but that doesn't necessarily mean he has to. Tahno has shown he's very skilled in waterbending, despite the cheating he did in the finals, and so it's strongly believed that he doesn't necessarily have to cheat to win anything. In fact, it's believed that he was simply desperate in winning this final tournament match, because he didn't want his team to lose their title.
Samples
Network: I really don't think they have any idea who it is they're dealing with. Those Fire Ferret losers .. They really believe they have a chance at winning the championship. It's cute. Adorable, actually.
It's just too bad that things won't be going their way tomorrow night. I'll make sure they realize just who it is they decided to cross paths with .. and that they regret it.
Still. The ah-vatar joining forces with that kind of team. And turning me down, no less. It's a shame. Really, it is. After all, if she'd agreed ..
I could've made her into a pro.
Third Person: Usually, after a pro-bending match, Tahno would go out and celebrate. He would stroll around the brightly lit streets of Republic City with his teammates, a slew of fans and followers and love-struck women following. They would cheer, they would scream the name of their team out into the night sky, -- "Wolfbats! Wolfbats!" -- they would laugh and chatter and shove each other playfully. Well, all except Tahno; the screaming and jumping just wasn't his style. No, he'd bask in the success, bask in the adoration and the encouragement he was being given with a smirk on his face and his usual saunter. After that, they would go to Narook's Noodlery, to the room Tahno usually had rented out for the crowd, and eat and drink the night away.
Tonight was no different.
Sitting in the center of the bench-seats, the Wolfbat captain had people at both his sides talking at him, not even to him .. Most of these people being women. "Tahno, you were amazing!" "Your waterbending was flawless!" "The Wolfbats can't be beat!" "You'll definitely go to the finals and win this championship too!"
He laughs, waves a hand lazily, and suddenly excuses himself. "All the success in here is getting to be a little intoxicating. I'm gonna step out for some air. Try not to miss me too much."
Once outside, he leans against the wall of the restaurant, a sigh escaping his lips. 'Winners, four years in a row.' It was exciting, really. Though he already knew the joy of winning, -- he'd experienced it three times, at that -- he couldn't help but relish in it as he was. Not just because he'd be winning, but because this time .. He'd have the joy of bringing her down.
Korra. The Avatar. The girl who'd blatantly mortified him in front of everyone, with that beast she called a pet. His lips curled in disgust as he mulled the memory over, but he shook his head. The smirk returned to him, as if on cue.
'But it doesn't matter. Even if those losers do try their best, in the end .. It's not going to even matter.'They would win. It was already decided.
The waterbender looked up into the night sky, and a chuckle escapes his lips.
"We'll see how good you really are, Ah-vatar."