OOC: Character Notes
Simply because I am an airhead who is prone to forgetting things, this is just a list of extra info and things about my muse that I really should be keeping track of. Y'all can read it for amusement if you're bored, or want to know a little more about TST!Heihachi since a lot of this doesn't come from his canon self. This post will be updated whenever I'm not feeling lazy occasionally. Also, if there's anything specific you'd like to ask about Heihachi (or if you happen to notice that I've said something that doesn't mesh with what's on this list) then mention it here!
Family: Heihachi is the oldest of five siblings, with a younger brother and three younger sisters. The closest in age is his sister Himiko - born three years after he was - who possessed a fiercer disposition and was also set to become a samurai and join the military when she was old enough. He doesn't actually know if she managed this since by the time she reached the right age he'd already been assigned and found it difficult to stay in touch, and since leaving Ivona he hasn't tried to contact his family at all. He assumes (optimistically) that they're all still alive and doing well, and they (also optimistically) don't actually believe that he's dead despite him having disappeared some years back.
Sword: Unlike most samurai families, Heihachi's sword is not any kind of family heirloom. In fact he forged it himself, and it's the only piece of metalwork with any real artistry that he's ever done. It's a little heavier than a standard sword, and while it's not a masterpiece or particularly valuable, it is perfectly suited to his style and very well cared for. The only times he doesn't have it on his person are when he's sleeping and when he's eating in a semi-formal setting (his mother had very firm ideals about not wearing swords at the dinner table).
Teru teru bozu: This is the official name for the little cloth doll that hangs off the end of his sword. It's a charm that you're supposed to hang from windows to encourage good weather, and if it happens to rain then it means that the doll has betrayed you and you're permitted to cut off its head. Heihachi originally picked up the habit of making them back in his hometown, Solare, which was notoriously plagued by bad weather, but since coming to Vohemar he's a little more vindictive about enforcing the tradition given his new stance on 'traitors'. If he doesn't have one on his sword, that's likely because it's just rained and he hasn't made a new one yet. 8|
The weather dolls are typically made out of a white square of cloth with a ball of stuffing to make the head and a loop of string around the neck to hold it in place. Heihachi also draws little faces on them - a different one each time to give them a little personality. A careful observer, however, would notice that the faces don't actually stay consistent, and are prone to changing expression a lot more often than Heihachi changes the dolls. The most feasible explanation for this is because they're connected to his sword which is where the soul of a samurai resides, and are thus a reflection of his inner self...although for this to be true one would have to believe that Heihachi's soul is prone to a lot of wicked smirking. Alternatively, the observer can assume that they're just going crazy.
Specialties: Though Heihachi did sign on as a mechanic and this position typically means a lot of maintenance work, Heihachi's real passion as an engineer is building things. His particular specialty is actually weapons, which is an odd contrast with his general avoidance of fighting.
Swimming: Can't swim to save his life (as was put to the test when the ship flooded). D: He's never been near a body of water large enough to warrant learning and never thought he'd need to (Ha ha, irony).
Prejudices: On a whole, Heihachi is extremely easy going when it comes to class and race. He's never had a problem with demi-humans, magic users, people with strange physical afflictions, and he gets on bizarrely well with beggars, whores and other undesirables. The only kind of people he doesn't like are bandits and merchants, both of which technically fall into the same category of people who exploit others for the sake of their own greed. And of course there's traitors, but that deserves its own novel of explanation.
Morse code: Heihachi learned this back when he was in the Ivonian military. Because the unit he was assigned to was small and everyone had to pitch in to help keep things running, he was often assigned to radio ops, and this was the standard they used for sending messages back when communications technology wasn't quite so great (IE: before the journals).
Ivona: It goes without saying, especially after the Peace Talks debacle, but Heihachi does not advertise the fact that he's from Ivona. On the off-chance that he's asked, he will be as evasive as possible without actually lying about it. Gorobei is currently the only person who knows.
Scars: The only scar of note that Heihachi has is the one he got at Kanna. The bandits who were sieging the village were using bombs, and Heihachi was standing next to one of the catapults as it exploded. He took a fairly large piece of shrapnel to the lower left side of his rib cage, but this has mostly healed over. He's also got a collection of small ones on his hands and arms, but these mostly come from sword training and incidents with machinery.
Miscellaneous Talents: Heihachi can cook! Not complicated dishes, but he's had to fend for himself for quite a long time and knows all the basics. Naturally, he makes really excellent rice. Thanks to Gorobei he also knows basic sewing too. He'll make a great waifu for someone. He also knows very basic first-aid; the kind that's just supposed to hold people over until they can see a real doctor.
Money: Heihachi is almost perpetually broke, but at the same time he's never had a problem with money. He always has just enough to get by. If he somehow winds up with extra, he either spends it on something he really needs or spends it on someone who needs it more, and in return if he's ever slightly short on cash he either finds an opportunity to work of his debt or miraculously winds up with extra, usually due to the kindness of strangers. His karma just happens to balance perfectly on all things financial.
Tolerance: Heihachi doesn't drink often, though he's got pretty good constitution for someone of his size. It's very easy to get him tipsy, but he can stay in that state for a long time before getting well and truly drunk.
Journal: For as long as the journals have been commercially available, Heihachi's had one. He did have one back at Kanna (and is probably the only one of the Seven Samurai who did), and if one were to dig deeply into the archive of its memory banks you would find records of both that time and a very brief, vague description of the event where his unit was killed that is fairly implicating to his role in it. These entries are very difficult to hack, but not entirely unhackable as they were made back when Heihachi was less adept at the journals. Heihachi also keeps backups, so these entries were salvaged when his journal was trashed in the Badlands crash.
Brawling: Despite his short stature, Heihachi is quite good at fighting without a weapon, even against much larger, heavier opponents. He's not officially trained at it, but a reluctance to draw his sword has lead to him to pick up a few tricks in hand-to-hand combat. His style, if you could call it that, is a mix of akido, dirty bar-fight tactics, and quick-thinking tricks to subdue an opponent.
Sleeping habits: Heihachi's neither a morning person or a night person. He can keep himself awake quite easily at both ends of the day, though in peaceful times he's more likely to wake up early to finish his work that much sooner, and in serious times he's prone to working well into the night.
Stress: When times are tough, Heihachi falls back into two habits. He works until he drops and he makes lots of rice. When things are really bad, he tends to forego the rice. If there's something unpleasent weighing on his mind he'll also usually resort to working, though this is because he often finds that if he lets a problem sit in the back of his subconcious for a while he'll come to some sort of answer without having to focus on it.
Family: Heihachi is the oldest of five siblings, with a younger brother and three younger sisters. The closest in age is his sister Himiko - born three years after he was - who possessed a fiercer disposition and was also set to become a samurai and join the military when she was old enough. He doesn't actually know if she managed this since by the time she reached the right age he'd already been assigned and found it difficult to stay in touch, and since leaving Ivona he hasn't tried to contact his family at all. He assumes (optimistically) that they're all still alive and doing well, and they (also optimistically) don't actually believe that he's dead despite him having disappeared some years back.
Sword: Unlike most samurai families, Heihachi's sword is not any kind of family heirloom. In fact he forged it himself, and it's the only piece of metalwork with any real artistry that he's ever done. It's a little heavier than a standard sword, and while it's not a masterpiece or particularly valuable, it is perfectly suited to his style and very well cared for. The only times he doesn't have it on his person are when he's sleeping and when he's eating in a semi-formal setting (his mother had very firm ideals about not wearing swords at the dinner table).
Teru teru bozu: This is the official name for the little cloth doll that hangs off the end of his sword. It's a charm that you're supposed to hang from windows to encourage good weather, and if it happens to rain then it means that the doll has betrayed you and you're permitted to cut off its head. Heihachi originally picked up the habit of making them back in his hometown, Solare, which was notoriously plagued by bad weather, but since coming to Vohemar he's a little more vindictive about enforcing the tradition given his new stance on 'traitors'. If he doesn't have one on his sword, that's likely because it's just rained and he hasn't made a new one yet. 8|
The weather dolls are typically made out of a white square of cloth with a ball of stuffing to make the head and a loop of string around the neck to hold it in place. Heihachi also draws little faces on them - a different one each time to give them a little personality. A careful observer, however, would notice that the faces don't actually stay consistent, and are prone to changing expression a lot more often than Heihachi changes the dolls. The most feasible explanation for this is because they're connected to his sword which is where the soul of a samurai resides, and are thus a reflection of his inner self...although for this to be true one would have to believe that Heihachi's soul is prone to a lot of wicked smirking. Alternatively, the observer can assume that they're just going crazy.
Specialties: Though Heihachi did sign on as a mechanic and this position typically means a lot of maintenance work, Heihachi's real passion as an engineer is building things. His particular specialty is actually weapons, which is an odd contrast with his general avoidance of fighting.
Swimming: Can't swim to save his life (as was put to the test when the ship flooded). D: He's never been near a body of water large enough to warrant learning and never thought he'd need to (Ha ha, irony).
Prejudices: On a whole, Heihachi is extremely easy going when it comes to class and race. He's never had a problem with demi-humans, magic users, people with strange physical afflictions, and he gets on bizarrely well with beggars, whores and other undesirables. The only kind of people he doesn't like are bandits and merchants, both of which technically fall into the same category of people who exploit others for the sake of their own greed. And of course there's traitors, but that deserves its own novel of explanation.
Morse code: Heihachi learned this back when he was in the Ivonian military. Because the unit he was assigned to was small and everyone had to pitch in to help keep things running, he was often assigned to radio ops, and this was the standard they used for sending messages back when communications technology wasn't quite so great (IE: before the journals).
Ivona: It goes without saying, especially after the Peace Talks debacle, but Heihachi does not advertise the fact that he's from Ivona. On the off-chance that he's asked, he will be as evasive as possible without actually lying about it. Gorobei is currently the only person who knows.
Scars: The only scar of note that Heihachi has is the one he got at Kanna. The bandits who were sieging the village were using bombs, and Heihachi was standing next to one of the catapults as it exploded. He took a fairly large piece of shrapnel to the lower left side of his rib cage, but this has mostly healed over. He's also got a collection of small ones on his hands and arms, but these mostly come from sword training and incidents with machinery.
Miscellaneous Talents: Heihachi can cook! Not complicated dishes, but he's had to fend for himself for quite a long time and knows all the basics. Naturally, he makes really excellent rice. Thanks to Gorobei he also knows basic sewing too. He'll make a great waifu for someone. He also knows very basic first-aid; the kind that's just supposed to hold people over until they can see a real doctor.
Money: Heihachi is almost perpetually broke, but at the same time he's never had a problem with money. He always has just enough to get by. If he somehow winds up with extra, he either spends it on something he really needs or spends it on someone who needs it more, and in return if he's ever slightly short on cash he either finds an opportunity to work of his debt or miraculously winds up with extra, usually due to the kindness of strangers. His karma just happens to balance perfectly on all things financial.
Tolerance: Heihachi doesn't drink often, though he's got pretty good constitution for someone of his size. It's very easy to get him tipsy, but he can stay in that state for a long time before getting well and truly drunk.
Journal: For as long as the journals have been commercially available, Heihachi's had one. He did have one back at Kanna (and is probably the only one of the Seven Samurai who did), and if one were to dig deeply into the archive of its memory banks you would find records of both that time and a very brief, vague description of the event where his unit was killed that is fairly implicating to his role in it. These entries are very difficult to hack, but not entirely unhackable as they were made back when Heihachi was less adept at the journals. Heihachi also keeps backups, so these entries were salvaged when his journal was trashed in the Badlands crash.
Brawling: Despite his short stature, Heihachi is quite good at fighting without a weapon, even against much larger, heavier opponents. He's not officially trained at it, but a reluctance to draw his sword has lead to him to pick up a few tricks in hand-to-hand combat. His style, if you could call it that, is a mix of akido, dirty bar-fight tactics, and quick-thinking tricks to subdue an opponent.
Sleeping habits: Heihachi's neither a morning person or a night person. He can keep himself awake quite easily at both ends of the day, though in peaceful times he's more likely to wake up early to finish his work that much sooner, and in serious times he's prone to working well into the night.
Stress: When times are tough, Heihachi falls back into two habits. He works until he drops and he makes lots of rice. When things are really bad, he tends to forego the rice. If there's something unpleasent weighing on his mind he'll also usually resort to working, though this is because he often finds that if he lets a problem sit in the back of his subconcious for a while he'll come to some sort of answer without having to focus on it.