Post by Galihan on Jan 29, 2008 21:02:11 GMT -4
Shinigami
Name:
Daichi Minoru (last, first)
Gender:
Male
Age:
2121
Division:
12th
Rank:
Captain
Physical Description:
A middle aged man, appearing in his mid-late forties or early fifties. His hair is a dark gray with various hints of lighter grey hair indicating the undeniable truth that he in in fact growing past his youth, which tied back into a ponytail that reaches down his back to about his shoulder blades along with medium-length layered bangs reaching down the sides of his face that give him a stylishly handsome appearance despite his age. His skin is a tad pale in complexion, and covered in shallow wrinkles, mainly noticeable under his soft eyes, which sometimes appearing to be a watery blue on occasion but are most commonly recognized as grey which symbolizes wisdom and only adds to his appearance. Overall, his face is often considered relaxed and builds his reputation as an enjoyable, respectable individual.
His build is somewhat frail-looking considering his light bone structure, but over top of that is a well-built physique of well trained muscles, reflecting his more youthful days when he was more reckless and in his physical prime. Of course that doesn't mean that he has began to weaken with age, if anything his long life of constant training and devotion to his ambitions has only hardened him into a mighty warrior hidden under the surface of a man of discovery and adventure. The greatest clue to determining his strength from his appearance is, like every man, told in the stories of each scar on his body. His entire body is covered in numerous scars he earned on and off the battlefield, the most noticeable, memorable and significant ones being a large scar on his back and another where he was stabbed in the chest, both from a very long time ago. Overall he appears to resemble the kind of person who has lived taking the journey of the curious mind, the peaceful path of discovery and intellect, but has still at the same time taken part in many reckless detours down the path of violent encounters and dangerous scenarios who shouldn't be taken lightly under any circumstances.
He wears the uniform of a shinigami captain, black kimono and hakama with white obi sash, tabi socks, and haori, his particular haori being lined on the underside with a dark layer of brown. Typical attire for someone his authority, but he still dons additional garments unlike most other shinigami. He wears long black gloves covering his hands and most of his forearms, but at the same time are open at the fingers giving his ten digits air to breathe and feel the world within his touch. One of the more technological articles in his wardrobe include pair of highly advanced goggles which either angle from around his neck or rest on his forehead when he isn't actually wearing them to cover his eyes, which is to say quite often whenever he is busy at work in his laboratories conducting meticulous experiments or producing ridiculously complicated machinery. The goggles contain powerful recording devices that are able to record and analyze complicated data patterns at a rate faster than the average mind can comprehend, and translate any pattern of spirit energy into a complicated language that can be read by his own Squad 12 officers afterwords to study any scenario, enabling Minoru to create virtual simulations for his non-combat-orientated squad to gain combat experience without actually risking their lives in battle.
Under his haori, he wears a rather stylish white jacket resembling a lab coat, which is a common sight for most people affiliated with Squad Twelve to be wearing. The jacket dons a plunging v-neck which opens outwards at the bottom and is adorned with a basic black trim. In hindsight, that sounds awfully similar to the undershirt worn by Aizen post-defection, except minus the red sash, but I'm not in the mood to redesign his uniform just because he has a good sense of fashion. His bronze zanpakuto hangs from a chain connected to a belt loop on his labcoat over the left hip.
Personality:
Minoru is a character of many words. He is a man of knowledge, and is in constant search of answers by observing his surroundings. If something interests him, he will devote many hours just to learn even a tiny and seemingly useless detail. If something doesn't interest him it often will require a person or group of people with considerable authority or who he just gets along with in order to prompt him to do so, be it his fellow captains, his own seated officers, or the feared Seireitei Women's Society, whose dreaded fury he dare not provoke. He can act childish despite his age and responsibilities as a captain when it comes to his initiative to get his ass into gear but once he does do anything he always does so with such confidence and precision that he can succeed at nearly any task with relative ease.
He is a very peaceful and patient man at first glance, enjoying to relax and think. If one was to see him he may often appear to be asleep while pretending to meditate but he is in fact awake and usually lost in thought. He is in constant thought, analyzing his environment and always trying to solve some sort of mental puzzle. He is also often either seen toiling over dangerous chemicals, tinkering with advanced gadgets, writing large works of poetry, history and fiction, or tending to his vastly huge garden/arboretum which contains thousands of rare and exotic plants and trees that exist only in Soul Society, such as his personal favorite, the carnivorous Reaperlily tree, which feeds on live hollows for sustenance. Such trees actually are rather common within his arboretum, as well as on his personal estate and in the courtyards of the Squad 12 barracks. They emit a sweet, rich fragrance that smells of reiatsu, allegedly tricking hollows to approach the trees and then are devoured by the large flowers on its branches. While very few have actually seem the act of a hollow being eaten alive by a tree, those who have admit it is a sight to behold.
When he is passionate for something, namely gathering information on whatever topic he may be interested in at the moment, he pursues it relentlessly even if at the cost of his own life. When in battle, he is a cautious and careful person who focuses on a strong and solid defense that rarely fails, and later will move onto a reckless and violent offensive to crush and overwhelm his tired enemies off guard. He is a very proud person who will risk his life to protect anything he holds dear, be it his creations, his subordinates, or his friends, even if doing so will put him against other captains or against Soul Society itself. Ultimately the nobility of Seireitei hate him for the most part but he is still loved and adored by Squad Twelve and his family, the Daichi clan, led by his older brother Masudara.
When he doesn't have a personal stake in the matter, he will fight to preserve life and to maintain peace and progress. His absolute greatest fear is stagnation, that the world has nothing more to teach him and nothing will ever change, that progress will not continue. His biggest annoyance is senseless destruction and violence that causes recession in progress and hinders development. He is so fascinated by change forward that he will watch ice melt, grass grow, leaves change color, and snow fall with ever so much attention to detail that he can remember the most trivial details of almost any situation he's ever been in as if it were happening before his very eyes.
He is a very kind and understanding person, able to listen to anyone's problems and is very supportive of his underlings' ideas and dreams, as he understands that respect is a two-way system. Meaning he'll be nice unless you yourself are unfriendly or rude to him, then he can be an absolute asshole who can pick away at people and make even the most snobbish person feel low and insignificant. He also tends to have no qualms badmouthing people he doesn't like, people who are incredibly violent and destructive, and especially people who are too conservative and refuse progress to occur naturally.
He believes that there are three types of people, defenders, destroyers, and developers. The defenders seek to preserve the universe as it is and are a threat to future progress as they are so concerned with honor for tradition that they fear progress and refuse nature from take it's course, Minoru dislikes these people, (Soifon, Komamura) but does still respect them should they deserve it, (Yamamoto, Byakuya). Then there are barbarians who only seek thier own death and that of those around them, who cause society to move backwards though either actions of pure violence (Kenpachi, Nnoitra) or people who seek total overthrow of the current system (Aizen), these destroyers are sometimes needed to spark progress forward when it becomes too static and Minoru will be weary of these kinds of people until they make their moves and then will try to stop them once they go too far. The developers, people like Minoru, seek to see society progress forwards and wish for nature to be ever changing for the better, Minoru wishes that everyone was like this and respects anyone who is (Urahara, Kyoraku, Ukitake)
History:
Minoru was born over 20 centuries ago into the Daichi household, one of the many lesser noble families in Seireitei. He was the 3rd of 5 sons in the family so he never was expected to become the head of the family, if ever at least not for a long time. With this knowledge over his head, Minoru wasn't ever raised with the same strict responsibilities as his older brothers and was often more free to do as he wanted to do as in his childhood. He rarely had much parental guidance whatsoever, and would often be gone for days at a time playing in Rukongai with other kids his age, but was always smart enough to never go any further than the 2nd or 3rd districts.
When Minoru was roughly eight or nine in appearance (his actual age closer to 20 years,) his father killed and succeeded by his eldest son, Musau, as not only the head of the household but also as the a Captain in the Gotei 13. Now 2nd in line out of 5 to become the next clan leader, Minoru felt the lash of discipline for the first time in his life. He was on rather bad terms with his eldest brother from that point on, sure their father never paid any attention to Minoru, but for Musau to take advantage of his failing health and kill him was uncalled for.
After a decade or so, Musau gave up on Minoru and left him to go about his life with more freedom seeing as he wouldn't ever have the responsibility to run the household. Minoru wasn't able to focus on his duties because he began having dreams unlike he'd ever dreamed before. He dreamed of a mysterious, endless maze of a castle, filled with courtyards of giant beautiful gardens of ponds and smooth stone. He could hear a voice echoing from the centre of the maze, calling his name. What did it all mean?
In order to find the meaning of these dreams, he decided to leave Seireitei and explore Soul Society's farthest reaches. One night, when while wandering Rukongai, Minoru witnessed the murder of one of his old friends at the hand of another who had both forgotten him from years ago when he'd play here as a kid. In desperation out of what he did, the old friend also tried to kill Minoru so he wouldn't tell anyone of what he witnessed. He was angry that his former friend would attack him, scared that for the first time in his life he was in danger of dying.
He panicked and tried to run, but was cut deeply in the back by the attacker's blade. He tried to crawl away, bleeding in pain, but has kicked in the ribs, flopped over on his back. Unbearable pain met only with even more as he was pierced in the chest, cold steel just missing his heart. He knew he was going to die, he was sure about it. How could he live after this? Then it was as if everything began to stand still, he was sure this was death.
He felt heavy, barely able to move at all, yet the pain and bleeding were gone. He opened his eyes and he was in the the middle of a barren garden in what appeared to be some sort castle under siege. The ground withered and craggy, dry and dusty. The air full of ash and smoke as the building around him burned. He wondered if this was Hell, or some sort of purgatory. No, it couldn't be the afterlife, that's what Soul Society was for... this was the world from his dreams. The endless castle maze with the beautiful garden courtyards, but something was destroying this place. The world itself was crumbling, burning to ashes, dying with him. He then heard the voice again, it was calling his name, summoning him. He followed the booming, deep voice to it's source.
It appeared to be some sort of large spire of sharp stones, it was alive, some sort of monstrous tortoise. It called it's name to Minoru, but all the boy heard was silence. Then he felt the pain, it was faint but somehow he knew he was alive, he closed his eyes listening to the giant stone creature's voice and when he reopened them, his voice stilled echoed in his head, he stood on his two feet behind his opponent who thought him for dead.
In Minoru's hands he held a gleaming blade of solid bronze, it's shiny brown hilt warm in his trembling hands. He Breathed deeply, calmed himself, and screamed the name of his once friend. He turned, wide-eyed, shocked as he found the man he was sure he just killed stand before him, blade in hand. Minoru charged, a downward slash knocked his foe of balance, a horizontal swing aimed low cuts his hand, disarming him while removing two of his fingers. Clenching his hand, his opponent ran into the night. They never met again. Sheathing his blade in it's matching bronze saya, he collapsed into sleep.
When he came to he saw the face of his brother looming over him, a disappointing scowl that quickly changed into a smirk of acceptance. He suggested that his brother enroll at the academy to learn how to control his power. He took up the offer and was sent to the Shinigami Academy, aced the entrance exam twice and soared through the classes with flying colours, but wasn't able to graduate until 8 years in the academy in total, two years longer than the norm. In this time he was developed his overly curious mind for science and didn't respond well to the authority of his superiors, preferring to do what he wanted, when and how he wanted to do it.
His behavior led to him getting held back for one year at the academy when he was in his 5th year when he spent over a week nonstop sitting in the academy courtyard, watching flowers grow while under different spiritual pressures. While the flower touching his hand for 8 straight days grew at a faster rate, it died soon after he removed it to scratch his other arm. When his instructor tried to get him back to class and stop his stupid experiment, Minoru told him to quit being such an annoying tight-ass and to go bore some freshmen to death. When sent to the headmaster, he simply repeated what he said, walked out, and left Seireitei for a few months.
In Rukongai he recorded his findings and studied a great range of topics such as the properties of death stone and it's direct contact with human souls, the strength and personality each individuals corresponding to their potential to have shinigami powers, the rate traffic of new arrivals to Soul Society and the growing population of Rukongai, and the increasing amount of shinigami recruitment and Soul Society's increasing conflict with Heuco Mundo.
When he got bored of his studies, no, more like just tired of his lack of resources, Minoru decided to rejoin the academy in order to get back into Seireitei (his eldest brother having surely disowned him by now taking away the family resources from him.) He re-applied to enter the academy himself, aced the entrance exam (again,) and graduated 3 years later, becoming the 5th seat of squad 12. He quickly completed his many research projects with the impressive facilities the Shinigami Research Institute provided him with. As his creative, open view of the worlds and the sciences continued to advance him through the ranks until he was the squad's new Lieutenant after about a century in the Gotei 13.
More centuries passed, and Minoru spent most of that time conducting research on hollows in the realm of the living where he conducted some experiments on hollows as well as studying a few Quincy and even a Bount. He became interested in the immortal humans but only gathered traces of evidence that hinted at their existence, unable to ever find a second specimen to study. He gave up on them and began studying the existence of shinigami-hollow hybrids: Arrancar and Vizard. He theorized that an artifact had once possibly existed which was able to forcibly sever the boundary between shinigami and hollow, but no actual records of it's creation, location, or even it's very existence were to be found in all of Soul Society, like it had been erased from existence.
By the time Minoru was at just over 1000 years old, an invasion of the human world was launched from Heuco Mundo. Many shinigami died in the battle that ensued, some of which included the current captain of Squad 12, and both of Minoru's older brothers. In this event Minoru gained use of his Bankai and even defeated multiple Arrancar, including their leader, the Diez Espada. Afterwards Minoru was almost immediately promoted to the new caption of Squad 12, the new chief director of the Shinigami Research Institute, and the 18th head of the Daichi clan.
Years passed on, and Minoru had once again continued to research things he found interesting. He explored Soul Society, the living world and even Heuco Mundo on a few instances. He studied the spiritual anatomy of a handful of live specimens including several types of spirits such as 4 Gillian Menos (all had developed a dominant personality,) 2 Adjuchas Menos (both were rather difficult finds deep within the depths of Heuco Mundo,) 3 Arrancar (including the Nueve Espada,) 1 Vizard (who was captured almost immediately after being taken over,) 2 more Bount (whom he found both by chance,) as well as many more he was unable to capture alive.
He also funded numerous projects, one very recently involved the creation of a batch of Modified Souls and personalized combat Gigai designed to fight hollows, but it was canceled and most of the finished products were flagged for termination. Captain Daichi secretly smuggled the last batch of Mod Souls he created and their Gigai out of Soul Society and scattered them over the world in order for them to protect the living over the course of the 20th century.
This course of action was frowned upon when he was found out by the Commander General and the Central 46 Chambers a decade later. They had Minoru under strict surveillance and revoked his privileges to leave Seireitei for 5 years. He was fortunate to have such a good service record and reputation, having been sparred the Sōkyoku and simply placed in the Shrine of Penitence for 7 days, and was placed on advanced surveillance as well as had his privileges to leave Soul Society suspended for 5 years afterwards. It has been another whole decade since then. It is now the present.
Additional Info:
General
Name:
Kame Ekihachuu (kame=turtle/tortoise, eki=lizard, hachuu=reptile)
Spirit Description:
Kame Ekihachuu takes the physical form of a mix between a horned lizard and a giant tortoise. He is over twice as large as the average giant tortoise at about 8 ft long, and weighs just under 1 tonne. His face and large shell are encrusted in large stony spines, his entire body is covered in dry, cracked stone-like scales reflecting his old age. He speaks very slowly in a deep monotone voice. He is very patient, sluggish in his movements yet incredibly powerful in the mind, is wise and perceptive and able to remember years of knowledge like it was recent.
Sealed:
Kame Ehihachuu's sealed form is smaller and slimmer than the average zanpakutō, it's blade slightly dull and worn from many years of wear. The handguard is made of tarnished bronze, and shaped like the letter 8, or an "infinity" sign depending on how you look at it. It's blade is straight and partially double-edged, making it resemble a chokutō style blade used long before katanas were forged in Japan. The saya (sheath, scabbard, however you wanna call it, it's properly called a saya concerning Japaneses blades,) is also made out of a hard, tarnished bronze, and elegantly decorated with fine engravings and intricate patterns.
Shikai
Activation Phrase:
"Wait patiently, Kame Ekihachuu."
Appearance:
The entire blade transforms into an entirely-bronze cutlass and the blade grows larger with a curved prong sticking out of the fully sharpened end which can catch the blade of opponents. Being a cutlass, a thorny basket-hilt forms to protect Minoru's hand.
Abilities:
Kame Ekihachuu possesses a very interesting constant ability which is in constant effect while in shikai. The blade produces a field of delayed time passage around Minoru, dramatically slowing down the speed of everything within a 4 foot radius asides from himself. For anyone inside the delayed time field, everything outside the field and Captain Daichi seem like they are moving at least twice as fast as before when it is themselves that are in fact slowed down.
This does not however affect the force of which something is moving, as it is not actually slowed down, just time itself is taken more time for any motion to take place. An attacker's sword may seem like it is moving slowly and could not cut at such a speed, but it will still cause the exact damage as a blade moving faster than the eye can see because it is not actually moving slowly. Anything caught partially inside the time field will be completely effected.
This ability is very beneficial for Minoru, as it allows him to be patient and able to prepare his parries and defenses while requiring less reaction time, but other being with a considerable amount of spiritual pressure can resist the affects of the field, beings of equal strength or higher are less affected by the slowed time.
Kame Ekihachu also has an offensive attack, fires a small beam of energy from each spike on the basket hilt which can damage anyone who gets hit. The basket hilt then falls off and allows Minoru to grasp the sword with both hands, which allows for much more power.
Bankai
Activation Phrase:
"Bankai, Furuikikou Kame Ekihachuu. (furui=ancient, kikou=armour)
Appearance:
Furuikikou Kame Ekihachuu transforms into a pair of floating turtle shell-like bronze shields. The first one is the giant defensive shell, it is large, twice the size of Kame Ekihachu's spirit form's shell, covered in thousands of short spikes and floats above Minoru. The second shell is small, no larger than twice the size of Minoru's fist. It is covered in dozens of deadly spikes, and floats around Minoru's right hand, moving as he moves his hand.
Abilities:
The time-delay field that surrounds Minoru is now 3 times as large and twice as powerful, reducing even beings of equal or higher strength to him to a sluggish crawl and most beings weaker than him to a helpless, seemingly complete stop. If anyone gets caught in the field they must focus giant amounts of spiritual energy in order to resist being slowed down which would be better used to fight.
The large defensive shield floats around the radius of the time field, able to create a wall-like defense. It is nearly impervious to most attacks be it from kido, zanpakutō, cero, but is not indestructible, and can be damaged if enough power is applied long enough. It can also drop around Minoru, protecting him in a dome and firing it's spikes in every direction able to skewer everything in the area. This attack, usable only once per battle, weakens the strength of the shield dramatically after use. Each individual spike slows down time slightly for whoever gets pierced or a short period (one post,) the more spikes impale a target the more it will be slowed down (say ten spikes=hals speed.) The further you are from the dome when the spikes launch, the better chances you have of avoiding more of them.
The smaller shell is used for attacking, able to launch sharp spikes at enemies like a cannon to impale enemies outside of Minoru's defense, which instantly regow after being fired. The small shell is also able to serve as a last ditch defense, letting Minoru directly slash anyone who gets caught in between him and the defensive shell with the spikes which can each grow into about the length of a sword.
Shunpo: A shinigami technique allowing the user to move faster than the eye can see.
Hado # 63: Thunder Roar Cannon: Fires a massive wave of yellow energy at a target.
*Incantation: Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle! *
Bakudo # 9: Strike: Engulfs a target in red light, paralyzing them completely
*Incantation: Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini! Look upon yourself with horror and then claw out your own throat!*
Bakudo # 55: Mirror Wall: A more powerful version of Mirror Door, creating a clear glass-like barrier which is difficult to break from both sides.
Bakudo # 80: Mirror Cage: An even more powerful version of Mirror Door, which forms a clear box around a target. It is nearly impossible to escape from the inside but is can be broken from the outside with decent effort.
*Incantation: Wither and rot in your cage you sick animal.*
Other Characters:
Takeshi, Unseated, not assigned to a squad as of yet.
Tsuno Azuka, Squad 2 Vice-Captain
Iko Chiyo, Squad 7 Vice-Captain
Galihan Umbra, Rouge Arrancar
Daniel Conrad, NWO Battle Operative
Roleplay Sample:
Back outside the white fortress of Las Noches, Minoru decided he was done with this opponent and wanted to move onto someone else. He could tell that this Vasto Lorde named "Shirakarite" was becoming desperate and didn't seem to care about killing the captain as much as just being a diversion. Minoru began to run towards Shirakarite with his large bronze zanpakuto raised above his head, which came down quickly to strike another flying blade launched at him. Minoru disapeared using shunpo and reappeared right before the Vasto Lorde, who instantly began to slow down because of the effects of Minoru's shikai.
"I'm done with you, so game over."
Minoru swung his sword down again at Shirakarite and it clashed with the blades on the hollow's arms, Minoru stepped back from the lock and again lunged forward, striking with a powerful punch to the hollow's head using the basket hilt of his zanpakuto as a spiky and hard metal boxing glove. Shirakarite stumbled back, pieces of his white armor chipped and covered in small fractures. Minoru lunged again, clashing blades with the hollow with increasing ease as the field of delayed time passage seeping from his zanpakuto was making it more and more difficult for the opponent to not get slowed down.
"Hold still while I try something out on you, okay?"
Minoru asked mockingly and with his left hand thrusted into his opponent one of the silver stakes he brought along from Soul Society designed to drain a hollow of it's power. The moment the sharpened metal rod pierced the white armor of the hollow, just above the hole on his chest, a powerful surge of energy erupted from the weapon and large amounts of reiatsu began to drain from the body of the target and get absorbed by the stake, which again erupted a wave of scrambled reiatsu as the target collapsed into the sand, appearing to be paralyzed in pain.
Increasingly large amounts of reiatsu began to drain from the fallen menos followed by large surges of increasingly powerful scrambled energy until Minoru decided to remove the experimental device from the chest of the hollow. The energy reiatsu within the hollow was at this point, for lack of a better term, utterly messed up, and left in a scrambled mess that tried desperately to reorganize itself but was left too weakened. Minoru examined the blood of the hollow on the stake, and looked behind him, a glare of irritation in his usually soft eyes that he couldn't hold for long against his two subordinates.
"Kazue, Hana, why did you two decide to follow me here? Did I not ask that you oversee regular operations, and that you stay put in the command room? You guys know I need you two to keep things in order when I'm gone."
He tried to raise his voice to scorn the two, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Heck he often couldn't help but laugh when he saw the two together, one wearing a black tunic closer resembling a modified variation of a Quincy's outfit, the other resembling a cute, yet scantly-clad little girl and was the object of desire for all but the few who knew the truth about him.
"And god-dammit can't you two kids at least dress normally, if just when in out here! Especially you, Hana, you look like a young female arrancar even from where I am, some Squad 11 idiot would have probably attacked you by now if you weren't clung to Kazue's arm like you are right now."
Ultimately he was just worried about the two, as they were practically his sons, okay, more like his son and daughter, but anyways he didn't want them to get in any harm and wanted to protect them. He decided to leave Shirakarite where he was, who wasn't in any condition to fight, but could prove a nuisance if he regained his strength.
"Wither and rot in your cage you sick animal, Bakudo # 80, Mirror Cage."
With a wave of his hand, a large clear cube of energy materialized around the vasto lorde so Minoru would be able to capture the defeated opponent and bring him back to Soul Society to study in a maximum security cell later. He proceeded to enter Las Noches itself, signaling Kazue and Hana to come with. He also handed his vice-captain the spirit phone from his pocket, which had been recording the entire data from the battle so Kazue could analyze it in detail later.
"Since you two are already here, just stick close and pay close attention, record whatever you think is important so we can have something to once we bring those kids back to Soul Society."
General Info
Name:
Daichi Minoru (last, first)
Gender:
Male
Age:
2121
Division:
12th
Rank:
Captain
Physical Description:
A middle aged man, appearing in his mid-late forties or early fifties. His hair is a dark gray with various hints of lighter grey hair indicating the undeniable truth that he in in fact growing past his youth, which tied back into a ponytail that reaches down his back to about his shoulder blades along with medium-length layered bangs reaching down the sides of his face that give him a stylishly handsome appearance despite his age. His skin is a tad pale in complexion, and covered in shallow wrinkles, mainly noticeable under his soft eyes, which sometimes appearing to be a watery blue on occasion but are most commonly recognized as grey which symbolizes wisdom and only adds to his appearance. Overall, his face is often considered relaxed and builds his reputation as an enjoyable, respectable individual.
His build is somewhat frail-looking considering his light bone structure, but over top of that is a well-built physique of well trained muscles, reflecting his more youthful days when he was more reckless and in his physical prime. Of course that doesn't mean that he has began to weaken with age, if anything his long life of constant training and devotion to his ambitions has only hardened him into a mighty warrior hidden under the surface of a man of discovery and adventure. The greatest clue to determining his strength from his appearance is, like every man, told in the stories of each scar on his body. His entire body is covered in numerous scars he earned on and off the battlefield, the most noticeable, memorable and significant ones being a large scar on his back and another where he was stabbed in the chest, both from a very long time ago. Overall he appears to resemble the kind of person who has lived taking the journey of the curious mind, the peaceful path of discovery and intellect, but has still at the same time taken part in many reckless detours down the path of violent encounters and dangerous scenarios who shouldn't be taken lightly under any circumstances.
He wears the uniform of a shinigami captain, black kimono and hakama with white obi sash, tabi socks, and haori, his particular haori being lined on the underside with a dark layer of brown. Typical attire for someone his authority, but he still dons additional garments unlike most other shinigami. He wears long black gloves covering his hands and most of his forearms, but at the same time are open at the fingers giving his ten digits air to breathe and feel the world within his touch. One of the more technological articles in his wardrobe include pair of highly advanced goggles which either angle from around his neck or rest on his forehead when he isn't actually wearing them to cover his eyes, which is to say quite often whenever he is busy at work in his laboratories conducting meticulous experiments or producing ridiculously complicated machinery. The goggles contain powerful recording devices that are able to record and analyze complicated data patterns at a rate faster than the average mind can comprehend, and translate any pattern of spirit energy into a complicated language that can be read by his own Squad 12 officers afterwords to study any scenario, enabling Minoru to create virtual simulations for his non-combat-orientated squad to gain combat experience without actually risking their lives in battle.
Under his haori, he wears a rather stylish white jacket resembling a lab coat, which is a common sight for most people affiliated with Squad Twelve to be wearing. The jacket dons a plunging v-neck which opens outwards at the bottom and is adorned with a basic black trim. In hindsight, that sounds awfully similar to the undershirt worn by Aizen post-defection, except minus the red sash, but I'm not in the mood to redesign his uniform just because he has a good sense of fashion. His bronze zanpakuto hangs from a chain connected to a belt loop on his labcoat over the left hip.
Personality:
Minoru is a character of many words. He is a man of knowledge, and is in constant search of answers by observing his surroundings. If something interests him, he will devote many hours just to learn even a tiny and seemingly useless detail. If something doesn't interest him it often will require a person or group of people with considerable authority or who he just gets along with in order to prompt him to do so, be it his fellow captains, his own seated officers, or the feared Seireitei Women's Society, whose dreaded fury he dare not provoke. He can act childish despite his age and responsibilities as a captain when it comes to his initiative to get his ass into gear but once he does do anything he always does so with such confidence and precision that he can succeed at nearly any task with relative ease.
He is a very peaceful and patient man at first glance, enjoying to relax and think. If one was to see him he may often appear to be asleep while pretending to meditate but he is in fact awake and usually lost in thought. He is in constant thought, analyzing his environment and always trying to solve some sort of mental puzzle. He is also often either seen toiling over dangerous chemicals, tinkering with advanced gadgets, writing large works of poetry, history and fiction, or tending to his vastly huge garden/arboretum which contains thousands of rare and exotic plants and trees that exist only in Soul Society, such as his personal favorite, the carnivorous Reaperlily tree, which feeds on live hollows for sustenance. Such trees actually are rather common within his arboretum, as well as on his personal estate and in the courtyards of the Squad 12 barracks. They emit a sweet, rich fragrance that smells of reiatsu, allegedly tricking hollows to approach the trees and then are devoured by the large flowers on its branches. While very few have actually seem the act of a hollow being eaten alive by a tree, those who have admit it is a sight to behold.
When he is passionate for something, namely gathering information on whatever topic he may be interested in at the moment, he pursues it relentlessly even if at the cost of his own life. When in battle, he is a cautious and careful person who focuses on a strong and solid defense that rarely fails, and later will move onto a reckless and violent offensive to crush and overwhelm his tired enemies off guard. He is a very proud person who will risk his life to protect anything he holds dear, be it his creations, his subordinates, or his friends, even if doing so will put him against other captains or against Soul Society itself. Ultimately the nobility of Seireitei hate him for the most part but he is still loved and adored by Squad Twelve and his family, the Daichi clan, led by his older brother Masudara.
When he doesn't have a personal stake in the matter, he will fight to preserve life and to maintain peace and progress. His absolute greatest fear is stagnation, that the world has nothing more to teach him and nothing will ever change, that progress will not continue. His biggest annoyance is senseless destruction and violence that causes recession in progress and hinders development. He is so fascinated by change forward that he will watch ice melt, grass grow, leaves change color, and snow fall with ever so much attention to detail that he can remember the most trivial details of almost any situation he's ever been in as if it were happening before his very eyes.
He is a very kind and understanding person, able to listen to anyone's problems and is very supportive of his underlings' ideas and dreams, as he understands that respect is a two-way system. Meaning he'll be nice unless you yourself are unfriendly or rude to him, then he can be an absolute asshole who can pick away at people and make even the most snobbish person feel low and insignificant. He also tends to have no qualms badmouthing people he doesn't like, people who are incredibly violent and destructive, and especially people who are too conservative and refuse progress to occur naturally.
He believes that there are three types of people, defenders, destroyers, and developers. The defenders seek to preserve the universe as it is and are a threat to future progress as they are so concerned with honor for tradition that they fear progress and refuse nature from take it's course, Minoru dislikes these people, (Soifon, Komamura) but does still respect them should they deserve it, (Yamamoto, Byakuya). Then there are barbarians who only seek thier own death and that of those around them, who cause society to move backwards though either actions of pure violence (Kenpachi, Nnoitra) or people who seek total overthrow of the current system (Aizen), these destroyers are sometimes needed to spark progress forward when it becomes too static and Minoru will be weary of these kinds of people until they make their moves and then will try to stop them once they go too far. The developers, people like Minoru, seek to see society progress forwards and wish for nature to be ever changing for the better, Minoru wishes that everyone was like this and respects anyone who is (Urahara, Kyoraku, Ukitake)
History:
Minoru was born over 20 centuries ago into the Daichi household, one of the many lesser noble families in Seireitei. He was the 3rd of 5 sons in the family so he never was expected to become the head of the family, if ever at least not for a long time. With this knowledge over his head, Minoru wasn't ever raised with the same strict responsibilities as his older brothers and was often more free to do as he wanted to do as in his childhood. He rarely had much parental guidance whatsoever, and would often be gone for days at a time playing in Rukongai with other kids his age, but was always smart enough to never go any further than the 2nd or 3rd districts.
When Minoru was roughly eight or nine in appearance (his actual age closer to 20 years,) his father killed and succeeded by his eldest son, Musau, as not only the head of the household but also as the a Captain in the Gotei 13. Now 2nd in line out of 5 to become the next clan leader, Minoru felt the lash of discipline for the first time in his life. He was on rather bad terms with his eldest brother from that point on, sure their father never paid any attention to Minoru, but for Musau to take advantage of his failing health and kill him was uncalled for.
After a decade or so, Musau gave up on Minoru and left him to go about his life with more freedom seeing as he wouldn't ever have the responsibility to run the household. Minoru wasn't able to focus on his duties because he began having dreams unlike he'd ever dreamed before. He dreamed of a mysterious, endless maze of a castle, filled with courtyards of giant beautiful gardens of ponds and smooth stone. He could hear a voice echoing from the centre of the maze, calling his name. What did it all mean?
In order to find the meaning of these dreams, he decided to leave Seireitei and explore Soul Society's farthest reaches. One night, when while wandering Rukongai, Minoru witnessed the murder of one of his old friends at the hand of another who had both forgotten him from years ago when he'd play here as a kid. In desperation out of what he did, the old friend also tried to kill Minoru so he wouldn't tell anyone of what he witnessed. He was angry that his former friend would attack him, scared that for the first time in his life he was in danger of dying.
He panicked and tried to run, but was cut deeply in the back by the attacker's blade. He tried to crawl away, bleeding in pain, but has kicked in the ribs, flopped over on his back. Unbearable pain met only with even more as he was pierced in the chest, cold steel just missing his heart. He knew he was going to die, he was sure about it. How could he live after this? Then it was as if everything began to stand still, he was sure this was death.
He felt heavy, barely able to move at all, yet the pain and bleeding were gone. He opened his eyes and he was in the the middle of a barren garden in what appeared to be some sort castle under siege. The ground withered and craggy, dry and dusty. The air full of ash and smoke as the building around him burned. He wondered if this was Hell, or some sort of purgatory. No, it couldn't be the afterlife, that's what Soul Society was for... this was the world from his dreams. The endless castle maze with the beautiful garden courtyards, but something was destroying this place. The world itself was crumbling, burning to ashes, dying with him. He then heard the voice again, it was calling his name, summoning him. He followed the booming, deep voice to it's source.
It appeared to be some sort of large spire of sharp stones, it was alive, some sort of monstrous tortoise. It called it's name to Minoru, but all the boy heard was silence. Then he felt the pain, it was faint but somehow he knew he was alive, he closed his eyes listening to the giant stone creature's voice and when he reopened them, his voice stilled echoed in his head, he stood on his two feet behind his opponent who thought him for dead.
In Minoru's hands he held a gleaming blade of solid bronze, it's shiny brown hilt warm in his trembling hands. He Breathed deeply, calmed himself, and screamed the name of his once friend. He turned, wide-eyed, shocked as he found the man he was sure he just killed stand before him, blade in hand. Minoru charged, a downward slash knocked his foe of balance, a horizontal swing aimed low cuts his hand, disarming him while removing two of his fingers. Clenching his hand, his opponent ran into the night. They never met again. Sheathing his blade in it's matching bronze saya, he collapsed into sleep.
When he came to he saw the face of his brother looming over him, a disappointing scowl that quickly changed into a smirk of acceptance. He suggested that his brother enroll at the academy to learn how to control his power. He took up the offer and was sent to the Shinigami Academy, aced the entrance exam twice and soared through the classes with flying colours, but wasn't able to graduate until 8 years in the academy in total, two years longer than the norm. In this time he was developed his overly curious mind for science and didn't respond well to the authority of his superiors, preferring to do what he wanted, when and how he wanted to do it.
His behavior led to him getting held back for one year at the academy when he was in his 5th year when he spent over a week nonstop sitting in the academy courtyard, watching flowers grow while under different spiritual pressures. While the flower touching his hand for 8 straight days grew at a faster rate, it died soon after he removed it to scratch his other arm. When his instructor tried to get him back to class and stop his stupid experiment, Minoru told him to quit being such an annoying tight-ass and to go bore some freshmen to death. When sent to the headmaster, he simply repeated what he said, walked out, and left Seireitei for a few months.
In Rukongai he recorded his findings and studied a great range of topics such as the properties of death stone and it's direct contact with human souls, the strength and personality each individuals corresponding to their potential to have shinigami powers, the rate traffic of new arrivals to Soul Society and the growing population of Rukongai, and the increasing amount of shinigami recruitment and Soul Society's increasing conflict with Heuco Mundo.
When he got bored of his studies, no, more like just tired of his lack of resources, Minoru decided to rejoin the academy in order to get back into Seireitei (his eldest brother having surely disowned him by now taking away the family resources from him.) He re-applied to enter the academy himself, aced the entrance exam (again,) and graduated 3 years later, becoming the 5th seat of squad 12. He quickly completed his many research projects with the impressive facilities the Shinigami Research Institute provided him with. As his creative, open view of the worlds and the sciences continued to advance him through the ranks until he was the squad's new Lieutenant after about a century in the Gotei 13.
More centuries passed, and Minoru spent most of that time conducting research on hollows in the realm of the living where he conducted some experiments on hollows as well as studying a few Quincy and even a Bount. He became interested in the immortal humans but only gathered traces of evidence that hinted at their existence, unable to ever find a second specimen to study. He gave up on them and began studying the existence of shinigami-hollow hybrids: Arrancar and Vizard. He theorized that an artifact had once possibly existed which was able to forcibly sever the boundary between shinigami and hollow, but no actual records of it's creation, location, or even it's very existence were to be found in all of Soul Society, like it had been erased from existence.
By the time Minoru was at just over 1000 years old, an invasion of the human world was launched from Heuco Mundo. Many shinigami died in the battle that ensued, some of which included the current captain of Squad 12, and both of Minoru's older brothers. In this event Minoru gained use of his Bankai and even defeated multiple Arrancar, including their leader, the Diez Espada. Afterwards Minoru was almost immediately promoted to the new caption of Squad 12, the new chief director of the Shinigami Research Institute, and the 18th head of the Daichi clan.
Years passed on, and Minoru had once again continued to research things he found interesting. He explored Soul Society, the living world and even Heuco Mundo on a few instances. He studied the spiritual anatomy of a handful of live specimens including several types of spirits such as 4 Gillian Menos (all had developed a dominant personality,) 2 Adjuchas Menos (both were rather difficult finds deep within the depths of Heuco Mundo,) 3 Arrancar (including the Nueve Espada,) 1 Vizard (who was captured almost immediately after being taken over,) 2 more Bount (whom he found both by chance,) as well as many more he was unable to capture alive.
He also funded numerous projects, one very recently involved the creation of a batch of Modified Souls and personalized combat Gigai designed to fight hollows, but it was canceled and most of the finished products were flagged for termination. Captain Daichi secretly smuggled the last batch of Mod Souls he created and their Gigai out of Soul Society and scattered them over the world in order for them to protect the living over the course of the 20th century.
This course of action was frowned upon when he was found out by the Commander General and the Central 46 Chambers a decade later. They had Minoru under strict surveillance and revoked his privileges to leave Seireitei for 5 years. He was fortunate to have such a good service record and reputation, having been sparred the Sōkyoku and simply placed in the Shrine of Penitence for 7 days, and was placed on advanced surveillance as well as had his privileges to leave Soul Society suspended for 5 years afterwards. It has been another whole decade since then. It is now the present.
Additional Info:
Zanpakutō
General
Name:
Kame Ekihachuu (kame=turtle/tortoise, eki=lizard, hachuu=reptile)
Spirit Description:
Kame Ekihachuu takes the physical form of a mix between a horned lizard and a giant tortoise. He is over twice as large as the average giant tortoise at about 8 ft long, and weighs just under 1 tonne. His face and large shell are encrusted in large stony spines, his entire body is covered in dry, cracked stone-like scales reflecting his old age. He speaks very slowly in a deep monotone voice. He is very patient, sluggish in his movements yet incredibly powerful in the mind, is wise and perceptive and able to remember years of knowledge like it was recent.
Sealed:
Kame Ehihachuu's sealed form is smaller and slimmer than the average zanpakutō, it's blade slightly dull and worn from many years of wear. The handguard is made of tarnished bronze, and shaped like the letter 8, or an "infinity" sign depending on how you look at it. It's blade is straight and partially double-edged, making it resemble a chokutō style blade used long before katanas were forged in Japan. The saya (sheath, scabbard, however you wanna call it, it's properly called a saya concerning Japaneses blades,) is also made out of a hard, tarnished bronze, and elegantly decorated with fine engravings and intricate patterns.
Shikai
Activation Phrase:
"Wait patiently, Kame Ekihachuu."
Appearance:
The entire blade transforms into an entirely-bronze cutlass and the blade grows larger with a curved prong sticking out of the fully sharpened end which can catch the blade of opponents. Being a cutlass, a thorny basket-hilt forms to protect Minoru's hand.
Abilities:
Kame Ekihachuu possesses a very interesting constant ability which is in constant effect while in shikai. The blade produces a field of delayed time passage around Minoru, dramatically slowing down the speed of everything within a 4 foot radius asides from himself. For anyone inside the delayed time field, everything outside the field and Captain Daichi seem like they are moving at least twice as fast as before when it is themselves that are in fact slowed down.
This does not however affect the force of which something is moving, as it is not actually slowed down, just time itself is taken more time for any motion to take place. An attacker's sword may seem like it is moving slowly and could not cut at such a speed, but it will still cause the exact damage as a blade moving faster than the eye can see because it is not actually moving slowly. Anything caught partially inside the time field will be completely effected.
This ability is very beneficial for Minoru, as it allows him to be patient and able to prepare his parries and defenses while requiring less reaction time, but other being with a considerable amount of spiritual pressure can resist the affects of the field, beings of equal strength or higher are less affected by the slowed time.
Kame Ekihachu also has an offensive attack, fires a small beam of energy from each spike on the basket hilt which can damage anyone who gets hit. The basket hilt then falls off and allows Minoru to grasp the sword with both hands, which allows for much more power.
Bankai
Activation Phrase:
"Bankai, Furuikikou Kame Ekihachuu. (furui=ancient, kikou=armour)
Appearance:
Furuikikou Kame Ekihachuu transforms into a pair of floating turtle shell-like bronze shields. The first one is the giant defensive shell, it is large, twice the size of Kame Ekihachu's spirit form's shell, covered in thousands of short spikes and floats above Minoru. The second shell is small, no larger than twice the size of Minoru's fist. It is covered in dozens of deadly spikes, and floats around Minoru's right hand, moving as he moves his hand.
Abilities:
The time-delay field that surrounds Minoru is now 3 times as large and twice as powerful, reducing even beings of equal or higher strength to him to a sluggish crawl and most beings weaker than him to a helpless, seemingly complete stop. If anyone gets caught in the field they must focus giant amounts of spiritual energy in order to resist being slowed down which would be better used to fight.
The large defensive shield floats around the radius of the time field, able to create a wall-like defense. It is nearly impervious to most attacks be it from kido, zanpakutō, cero, but is not indestructible, and can be damaged if enough power is applied long enough. It can also drop around Minoru, protecting him in a dome and firing it's spikes in every direction able to skewer everything in the area. This attack, usable only once per battle, weakens the strength of the shield dramatically after use. Each individual spike slows down time slightly for whoever gets pierced or a short period (one post,) the more spikes impale a target the more it will be slowed down (say ten spikes=hals speed.) The further you are from the dome when the spikes launch, the better chances you have of avoiding more of them.
The smaller shell is used for attacking, able to launch sharp spikes at enemies like a cannon to impale enemies outside of Minoru's defense, which instantly regow after being fired. The small shell is also able to serve as a last ditch defense, letting Minoru directly slash anyone who gets caught in between him and the defensive shell with the spikes which can each grow into about the length of a sword.
Shinigami Techniques
Shunpo: A shinigami technique allowing the user to move faster than the eye can see.
Hado # 63: Thunder Roar Cannon: Fires a massive wave of yellow energy at a target.
*Incantation: Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle! *
Bakudo # 9: Strike: Engulfs a target in red light, paralyzing them completely
*Incantation: Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini! Look upon yourself with horror and then claw out your own throat!*
Bakudo # 55: Mirror Wall: A more powerful version of Mirror Door, creating a clear glass-like barrier which is difficult to break from both sides.
Bakudo # 80: Mirror Cage: An even more powerful version of Mirror Door, which forms a clear box around a target. It is nearly impossible to escape from the inside but is can be broken from the outside with decent effort.
*Incantation: Wither and rot in your cage you sick animal.*
Additional
Other Characters:
Takeshi, Unseated, not assigned to a squad as of yet.
Tsuno Azuka, Squad 2 Vice-Captain
Iko Chiyo, Squad 7 Vice-Captain
Galihan Umbra, Rouge Arrancar
Daniel Conrad, NWO Battle Operative
Roleplay Sample:
Back outside the white fortress of Las Noches, Minoru decided he was done with this opponent and wanted to move onto someone else. He could tell that this Vasto Lorde named "Shirakarite" was becoming desperate and didn't seem to care about killing the captain as much as just being a diversion. Minoru began to run towards Shirakarite with his large bronze zanpakuto raised above his head, which came down quickly to strike another flying blade launched at him. Minoru disapeared using shunpo and reappeared right before the Vasto Lorde, who instantly began to slow down because of the effects of Minoru's shikai.
"I'm done with you, so game over."
Minoru swung his sword down again at Shirakarite and it clashed with the blades on the hollow's arms, Minoru stepped back from the lock and again lunged forward, striking with a powerful punch to the hollow's head using the basket hilt of his zanpakuto as a spiky and hard metal boxing glove. Shirakarite stumbled back, pieces of his white armor chipped and covered in small fractures. Minoru lunged again, clashing blades with the hollow with increasing ease as the field of delayed time passage seeping from his zanpakuto was making it more and more difficult for the opponent to not get slowed down.
"Hold still while I try something out on you, okay?"
Minoru asked mockingly and with his left hand thrusted into his opponent one of the silver stakes he brought along from Soul Society designed to drain a hollow of it's power. The moment the sharpened metal rod pierced the white armor of the hollow, just above the hole on his chest, a powerful surge of energy erupted from the weapon and large amounts of reiatsu began to drain from the body of the target and get absorbed by the stake, which again erupted a wave of scrambled reiatsu as the target collapsed into the sand, appearing to be paralyzed in pain.
Increasingly large amounts of reiatsu began to drain from the fallen menos followed by large surges of increasingly powerful scrambled energy until Minoru decided to remove the experimental device from the chest of the hollow. The energy reiatsu within the hollow was at this point, for lack of a better term, utterly messed up, and left in a scrambled mess that tried desperately to reorganize itself but was left too weakened. Minoru examined the blood of the hollow on the stake, and looked behind him, a glare of irritation in his usually soft eyes that he couldn't hold for long against his two subordinates.
"Kazue, Hana, why did you two decide to follow me here? Did I not ask that you oversee regular operations, and that you stay put in the command room? You guys know I need you two to keep things in order when I'm gone."
He tried to raise his voice to scorn the two, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Heck he often couldn't help but laugh when he saw the two together, one wearing a black tunic closer resembling a modified variation of a Quincy's outfit, the other resembling a cute, yet scantly-clad little girl and was the object of desire for all but the few who knew the truth about him.
"And god-dammit can't you two kids at least dress normally, if just when in out here! Especially you, Hana, you look like a young female arrancar even from where I am, some Squad 11 idiot would have probably attacked you by now if you weren't clung to Kazue's arm like you are right now."
Ultimately he was just worried about the two, as they were practically his sons, okay, more like his son and daughter, but anyways he didn't want them to get in any harm and wanted to protect them. He decided to leave Shirakarite where he was, who wasn't in any condition to fight, but could prove a nuisance if he regained his strength.
"Wither and rot in your cage you sick animal, Bakudo # 80, Mirror Cage."
With a wave of his hand, a large clear cube of energy materialized around the vasto lorde so Minoru would be able to capture the defeated opponent and bring him back to Soul Society to study in a maximum security cell later. He proceeded to enter Las Noches itself, signaling Kazue and Hana to come with. He also handed his vice-captain the spirit phone from his pocket, which had been recording the entire data from the battle so Kazue could analyze it in detail later.
"Since you two are already here, just stick close and pay close attention, record whatever you think is important so we can have something to once we bring those kids back to Soul Society."
