App!
Character name: Ayato Naoi
Fandom: Angel Beats!
Timeline: Post graduation
Age: Teenage...ish. 15 or 16 years old.
~*Magical*~ abilities and strengths: Naoi is dead! Despite this, he still still functions like a normal human boy in almost every way. This means he still has needs such as eating and sleeping, but when he sustains an injury, he eventually heals from it completely, and at a far quicker pace than "normal" people. This includes fatal injuries; if someone in Angel Beats is is injured to the point of death, they seem unconscious for a short period of time until they wake up feeling perfectly fine. No maiming too great, no death too gory to wake up feeling dandy from.
Since he's a bit of a bag of crazy and had years of free time on his hands, Naoi also learned how to hypnotize other people. He does this primarily by looking someone in the eyes and making a suggestion. Usually it is seen to be something ridiculous such as making someone believe they are less useful than a clothespin or used toilet paper, but he can also use hypnosis for more serious purposes.
It is mentioned that Naoi has been using his powers for years, for things such as hypnotizing various NPC's to do things that he wants them to, like following him around school like a posse or as meat shields when people try and fight him/someone needs to die and take one for the team. He can also put these powers to work for more nefarious purposes. Since "fitting in" with a normal high school life or realizing that you are at peace and have no regrets means being "obliterated" or passing on, Naoi has hypnotized regular humans with souls into believing that they are at peace and has forced them to move on.
However! His hypnosis can also be helpful, such as being used to help someone recover their forgotten or suppressed memories. He doesn't have access to their memories, only the ability to help them recover them.
How would they use their abilities?: He'd probably use hypnosis to make various NPC's give him free food or other small commodities that he wants, or have other people do chores for him. I'd of course ask other players before doing any sort of hypnosis related things!
Appearance: Naoi is a bit shorter than average, with a slim build. He has an androgynous short, fringed haircut with dark green hair, and gold eyes. When he uses hypnosis, his eyes turn red. He's physically in good shape, as he's seen being able to hold his own with a pair of Heckler & Kosch USP pistols against attacking enemies. Unlike other members of the SSS, Naoi wears the default school uniform, probably because it lets him wear an awesome hat at a jaunty angle. I'm really pretty terrible with describing appearances, so have a picture too.
Background: Since Angel Beats! takes place in the afterlife, Naoi is obviously dead, but because it's a canon full of depressing things, I'll go over Naoi's life before he wound up as one of the living challenged.
Naoi was born as one of the twin sons of a highly respected potter. He grew up in the shadow of his brother, as his brother had amazing natural talent and was following in their father's footsteps. He spent his childhood mostly alone in dark rooms, playing handheld games while his brother competed in and won pottery competitions. Nobody placed any hopes on his future, not even his parents.
One day, as the two boys were playing, the tree branch they were on gave out from under them. Naoi survived the fall, but his brother did not. After the accident, Naoi assumed his brother's life, and everyone else believed that he was the one who had died. From then on, Naoi went through rehabilitation to regain his skills that were lost in the fall. However, since he didn't have natural talent for being a potter as his brother did, his father only scolded him and forced him into hours and hours of training. Naoi continued to try and become useful and have a meaningful life, because he didn't want to go back to being alone.
Eventually, he did win second place in a pottery show, but he still couldn't reach his brother's level. His father scolded him, but Naoi was determined to continue working hard and become an excellent potter.
Soon after, his father became terminally ill, to the point that he was bedridden and unable to speak. Naoi took care of him, even though neither of them would continue with his training. He realized that he didn't have the skills to have his own studio, or even support himself for the rest of his life. He realized that he, Ayato, had truly died the same day as his brother, and that his entire life had been fake; he didn't matter at all, and had never really meant anything since his brother had died.
Some years after this, obviously, Naoi died in an unspecified but probably soulcrushing way. Thus he ended up in the afterlife world of Angel Beats!
Beeeefore I keep rambling, I'll go over how things work in Angel Beats! When someone that's of high school age dies, whether from an accident or illness but never by suicide, and they have strong regrets about the life they led, they "wake up" from dying in the school setting of the show. There are academic buildings, dorms, buildings for athletic and extracurricular activities; everything one would expect from a huge boarding school.
The school is populated by classes full of other students, but though they look and act like humans, they're soulless creatures that are basically meant to show the newly arrived dead students how they're supposed to act, i.e., as average high school students. These students are referred to as NPC's, and if a human with a soul arrives and acts like them, following a model school life such as going to class and participating in clubs, they'll be "obliterated", that is, they'll disappear and pass on. This is because the purgatory-like school life is giving them a chance to spend time having the normal youth experience that they didn't get to have while alive. In order to avoid passing on, the human characters with actual souls have to act out of "balance", that is, refuse to behave like proper students in class if they attend at all, refuse to join or participate in clubs, and generally find ways to go against the norm being carried on by the NPC's.
The members of the students that act against the norm and fight their fate are called, collectively, the SSS: Shinda Sekai Sensen, or Afterlife Warfront. Their leader is called Yuri, and she leads the battle against the student council president, who is called Angel by them, as she has superhuman powers and they don't know her real name. Angel's purpose seems to be to try and get the normal human students to fit in and act like they should, so they are constantly confronting her when she tries to interrupt their activities. This leads to operations like the SSS throwing a school concert with their all-girl diversion band and shooting and fighting Angel as she tries to enforce the rules. One of the members that particularly stands out in the SSS is a boy named Hinata, who is generally outgoing and friendly.
As Angel is the student council president, she naturally has a vice president on the council with her. This is where Naoi comes in! He serves as the student council vice president, and because he attends classes and never acts any different from the NPC's, everyone assumes that he is an NPC like the other students.
One day, the SSS decide to interrupt "Ball Day", which is apparently the students playing baseball all day because, why not. The SSS is participating without signing up or having a formal team; instead they simply gather themselves together and join in however they want, so as to disrupt the games and ruin Angel's plans of having them fit in.
Things go according to plan in that the playing order and games are disrupted, but eventually, Angel, Naoi, and a team composed of the starting lineup for the baseball team challenge them. He continues to act like a normal NPC as the NPC team challenges the SSS and beats them, so nobody suspects that he is anything different.
The next operation the SSS launches is to disrupt exams and make it look as though Angel has done terribly on every single test. This way, her prestige will go down in the eyes of the students and faculty. Since the operation is a success, Angel is removed as president and Naoi takes her place.
Shortly after this, due to Angel no longer being a deterrent, Naoi forces the SSS into a "introspection room", which is basically a prison cell, to reflect on their actions as punishment for acting in ways that normal students don't. This surprises the SSS, who have never faced repercussions for their actions before.
To test out the new boundaries of what they can do, the SSS start doing things like playing mahjong in class, sleeping on desks, chatting and ignoring the students, and other various activities. Naoi shows up with some NPC's trailing after them, and puts the people that don't immediately run away into one of the prison-like rooms. Later, Yuri sees him on the rooftop, punching and kicking a couple of NPC's that aren't offering any resistance. As beating the hell out of other students isn't exactly normal NPC behavior, Yuri is understandably concerned.
When Otonashi and Angel leave class and eat a meal together, which is against the rules of the school code, Naoi arrives and apprehends them. He locks them in a super secure prison cell and goes on to... start massacring NPC's and the members of the SSS alike.
While locked away, Yuri contacts Otonashi and reveals that Naoi wasn't an NPC and that he is a normal human with a soul just like them. She tells him that he's been able to continue acting like an NPC and doing normal student activities by committing violence against the NPC's in the background where nobody could see. Since they allowed him to become president, he's gained the freedom to act as he wants.
As a result, his massacre is basically one-sided since he has no problem killing or hurting the NPC's, while the SSS refuses to hurt them. When Otonashi and Angel finally break out of the cell and find everyone else, Naoi has either maimed them to the point of non-resistance or killed them. He's been using the NPC's that he hypnotized to act as meat shields or henchmen to protect himself as well.
Naoi seems surprised but unconcerned that they managed to break out, commenting that it took him years to create a cell to hold Angel. He orders Angel and Otonashi to return to their room, but they refuse and Naoi asks them if they really dare to rebel against God. He explains that he is God because he believes that the afterlife world they are in exists in order to decide who will become God. It's explained that your past memories must be horrible in order to arrive there, because that's the key to becoming God. As only those who have known such great pain are fit to become God, Naoi says that he reached the finish line.
When asked what he plans to do, he says that he will give peace to everyone else and have them move on. Because everyone else is still suffering from the painful memories they had when they were alive, he, as God, will give peace. Apparently this is something he's done before, because when you're a huge jerkass, you might as well go all the way.
Naoi has realized that being at peace and having no regrets is the key to moving on, so he hypnotizes Yuri into the start of a happy dream, so that she will vanish as well. While he is in the process of making her dream, Otonashi flips his shit and punches Naoi hard enough to knock him down. He screams and shakes Naoi while telling him that everyone had a real life, that every single life had a meaning and everyone lived as best as they could.
Otonashi grabs Naoi into a hug, and tells him that the life he lived was real as well, because he was the one who worked hard and fought to exist. Otonashi tells him that he can tell how hard he worked, and Naoi asks him if he accepts him as who he really is. Otonashi, through the power of an extended magical hug, tells him that he's the one in his arms and there's no one besides him that he could accept right now.
Naoi thinks that the words he wanted to hear most were ones accepting and acknowledging him. Since Otonashi has done so, Naoi begins to cry in this arms. It's very touching and not the least bit weird at all..........
After this, and there is no way to say it without making Naoi sound as creepy as he is, Naoi becomes Otonashi's number one fan/stalker/admirer/cheerleader. He joins the SSS, but doesn't actually get along to well with everyone, especially Hinata, who antagonizes him over his joining and his reaction to Otonashi's magical hug and speech. In order to deal with him, Naoi hypnotizes him into crying about him being less useful than a clothespin. When Otonashi arrives and scolds him, Naoi acts like an innocent schoolkid.
Yuri soons asks Naoi to restore Otonashi's memories. Naoi promises to be there supporting him, but Otonashi brushes him off. After Naoi successfully helps Otonashi recover his memories and he's had a chance to calm down, everyone decides to go fishing for food. On the way there, Otonashi wants to bring Angel along, but the SSS objects. While pointing out that Naoi, the current president is already with them, Naoi points out that he's God, and ignores objections that he isn't. He helps out with the fishing that everyone takes part in, but remains standoffish as well.
That night, a second, cloned Angel shows up, this one with red eyes and whose only objective seems to be to hurt the members of the SSS for breaking the rules. Angel manages to stop the clone, and while she is recovering, the SSS members discuss what is happening.
Naoi points out that the clone could have been created when Angel's greatest offensive instincts were in effect. This would explain why psycho Angel seems so bent on ending everyone.
Later, Angel is apparently kidnapped by evil Angel, and they reason out that she is in the deepest part of the former Guild, the weapons manufacturing base of the SSS. The first time Otonashi and the others went there, everyone but him and Yuri were killed getting there, and they expect it to be no less dangerous this time. Almost everyone, including Naoi, does die on the way to find her after promising Otonashi that he would be the next to go, but as per normalcy in Angel Beats!, he's shown to be fine after this happens.
Angel ends up rescued, and unbeknownst to everyone else but Otonashi, remembers everything that happened to her after her dramatic rescue. Otonashi and Angel talk and Otonashi realizes that he and Angel both want to help everyone move on from this purgatory once they've found peace. He makes a secret pact with Angel to help everyone pass on.
Hinata and Naoi realize what he is doing, and as they are arguing over who will help him, a Shadow with the necessary capital S, that is, a huge and terrifying shadowy creature, attacks Naoi. It completely covers him and he screams that something is coming inside (he means mentally but quessssstionable animeeeee), but Hinata and Naoi manage to fend it off.
Yuri discuses the Shadow's appearance with some of the SSS members, but while they are talking, more and more Shadows appear, and they are seen to multiply by NPC's being transformed into them spontaneously.
After the Shadows are defeated, everyone sees that another member of the SSS was completely overwhelmed by the Shadow's and became an NPC. After talking to him, everyone realizes that the Shadows are meant to turn everyone into an NPC, trapped forever in the afterlife.
Yuri announces that the Shadows are targeting all the normal humans, and everyone is told about Otonashi's plan to have everyone move on by finding peace. Everyone reacts angrily to this plan, but Hinata and Naoi both vouch for Otonashi's idea; Naoi tells everyone that Otonashi is the one that gave him back his human heart.
Yuri goes on to investigate the cause of the Shadows, and most of the SSS pass on. Still, there are Shadows that must be fought, so the remaining SSS members fight them while Yuri investigates. They managed to subdue the Shadows for long enough for Otonashi, Angel, Hinata and Naoi to save Yuri from being consumed by the Shadows. They continue to hold off another group as Yuri finally discovers the cause of them.
It was...a random NPC-like character, who realized that there was an "irregularity" in their world. The irregularity turns out to be good old fashioned love, and Yuri almost gives in to the boys offer to become God of the world, but then she's like screw that noise, and destroys the computers that are running the software that are causing the Shadows to appear.
Three days later, everyone but Otonashi, Yuri, Angel, Hinata and Naoi have passed on, and the NPC's have also vanished. Yuri had been unconscious for those three days, so they stayed behind so that she wouldn't be alone.
As a final farewell to the world, they hold a graduation ceremony, thanking each other for their work and the time they've spent together. After the ceremony, Naoi departs first.
Though he says he doesn't want to see anyone crying, he tearfully thanks Otonashi and tells him that he never would have found peace without him. And then, he passes on!
And presumably ends up on the Thor 8(
Personality: Naoi is. Kind of a dick. To basically everyone he meets except Otonashi, Naoi is an arrogant, condescending jerk. He has a pile of ego and a massive god complex, going to far to refer to himself as God pretty much every time he talks. He refers to other people as lowlifes or commoners, points out when they're acting stupid, regardless of if they are or not, and offers help and advice as if he's doing everyone else a favor. He's rather intelligent, and has spent free time reading, in addition to the fact that he's been attending classes in the afterlife for some time. He is able to deduce outcomes of certain events, and is able to piece together the reasons other, mysterious-to-other-SSS-members events have occurred.
As can be seen from the fact that he spent an unspecified number years beating up NPC's, Naoi also has a problem interacting with others on more than a superficial level; mostly he condescends and nitpicks. However, he does still participate in activities and go around with the SSS, so he doesn't totally hate people, he's just pretty bad at interacting with them at all. Even when he does do helpful things, he comes across as rude, so some of his helpful actions still seem to be less than friendly. When he's not being a jerkwad, Naoi pretty much keeps to himself, quietly observing and standing off to the side without saying anything. He's got quite a bit of patience, if he's in the mood to be patient, but if something angers Naoi, he is quick to let them know and act on it. Otonashi ends up scolding him because he resorts to hypnotizing Hinata into feeling bad about himself on more than one occasion.
Around Otonashi, Naoi is almost a totally different person. Because Otonashi is the first person that really accepted and acknowledged him, Naoi has an almost fanatical devotion to him. He changes his speech patterns, does anything he can to help Otonashi, and goes out of his way to be as useful as possible for him. Otonashi is also the only person that can scold or yell at Naoi. Since he is so devoted to him, Naoi acts basically like a creepy stalker towards Otonashi most of the time too, following him around and expressing his desire to be there for him. He also acts like a jealous bitch if he thinks certain other people are trying to be closer to Otonashi than he is. Totally normal friendship!!
Despite all his massive bitchery and egotistical behavior, Naoi is kind of lonely and awkward, but covers it up most of the time. He sobs into Otonashi's arms because he's so happy that Otonashi is treating him as someone valuable, and has no problem with telling people that Otonashi is the one who restored his feelings and human heart. He also cries when saying goodbye to Otonashi, so he isn't quite as tough as he appears the rest of the time.