Post by Jukuma on Nov 30, 2008 3:45:28 GMT -4
Shinigami
________________________________________
Name: Yasuo Funanori. (Yasuo is a common Japanese name, while Funanori is translated literally as "Sailor")
Gender: Male.
Age: 273 years old (21 in appearance).
Division: 5th division, Inner Defense.
Rank: Vice-Captain.
Physical Description:
Tough-looking, Yasuo is a person who has little concern on how he looks like and doesn’t trouble himself with his image more than he cares about what to have for dinner. He has short, dark blue messy hair that he barely takes care of, which is not too noticeable thanks to a black bandana he rarely takes off in public except for important meetings, in which it would be found a lack of respect. He has dark amber eyes and a scar extending vertically on his right cheek which, together with the bandana, enhances his similarity to a pirate when wearing both, earning him many nicknames from his colleagues. Although his uniform hides it, he has quite an athlete build, which combined with his 6´0´´ height, makes him a capable fighter when it comes to close physical combat. The overall result is an averagely attractive man open for much criticism and not much success among women.
Yasuo dislikes the Shinigami outfit because it is unoriginal and, more importantly, because he doesn’t feel comfortable when wearing sleeves. He used to put up with it out of respect to his superiors and for the reason that his bandana was already pushing the dress code far enough; but one of the first actions he took in the matter when he got his last promotion as vice-captain was ripping off the sleeves. He is right-handed, so his zanpakuto hangs on the left side of his hip so that it is more comfortable and fast for him to unsheathe it. Because he can’t dress the way he wants (except for slightly modifying the shinigami outfit) and nor can he go out of Sereitei with a gigai due to his position as a 5th squad member, he has no sense of fashion and would never go unnoticed among humans. In the odd occasions that he visits his family over at the outer area of the Soul Society, he dresses with commoner clothes so that he doesn’t call too much the attention; of course, no sleeves included in the outfit.
Visual Reference.
(I claim full credit for the illustration and therefore have the right to use it as I desire...always wanted to say it
)
Personality:
Yasuo is a person who enjoys all types of jokes, from gags to sarcasm, and knows how to take one directed to himself, which he had to learn due to his looks. But when it comes to coming up with yarns, he lacks quick reflexes and more than once has came up with a good joke hours after the right timing. This, however, doesn’t affect his image as a friendly person open for discussions that will probably never have a logic end to it, this being because of his tendency of changing subjects constantly even though there is no relation between them. Another significant trait of his is the complete and exaggerated lack of shyness; his fame of extrovert is mostly based on the informal way he treats people he doesn’t know closely by giving them nicknames or just mentioning subjects that are supposed to be private. He still knows when to be respectful and formal to others, and when it comes to honouring his superiors, especially Captains, he demonstrates devotion and politeness that scratch the line of ass-kissing. Besides superiors, women are also an exception to his usually unreserved manners, not because of being sexist (which he is accused of quite often), but because he does not understand them and therefore finds it impossible talking to them about a common interest; as a result, the only women he talks to are either part of his family or superiors he finds necessary to address. When carrying out a mission, his attitude doesn’t suffer any drastic changes aside from becoming considerably ruder with his companions (equal or lower rank) and tending to get irritated if they can’t catch up with the rest of the team.
Not being the brightest person to exist, Yasuo is considerably uninformed in subjects that are either obvious or necessary to others like mathematics, sciences or history. But his biggest terror is reading; although he does know how to read, his speed is poor and his attention spam short, so, at the end of the reading, he hasn’t learned anything new. He doesn’t seem to mind it, but that may be because he is unaware of his own ignorance and this has closed many doors for him when the time came to choose a squad, as such skill was of great importance in some of the teams (12th Squad, Research and Development, being the perfect example). Despite all this, he has a great ego and is constantly overestimating himself and, even though he does deserve some merit for obtaining the 3rd seat, he expects people to respect him as a superior being for that.
Although his history and personality may suggest a different thing, he dislikes serious violence when it is directed to humans or other shinigami; no hesitation is shown against hollows or any other specie, though. His favourite food is fish and the occasional meat, but never gets closer than 2 meters to vegetables, which he claims is “what animals eat!”. He enjoys hanging out with people who, like him, enjoy jokes and can take one; but finds even more amusing teasing the stereotypical shy guy of few words to the point most of the people he socializes with in his squad are like that. His greatest interest is the sea and one of his many dreams is to navigate in the ocean when he finds a way to visit the human world. His main objective, however, is gaining recognition in the whole Seireitei by seizing the Captain position in his squad and, although fully aware such thing may require for him to kill his own superior at some point, he has never shown any signs of uncertainty to such idea.
History:
Early life in the Human World
Yasuo was born as the third and last son of a poor family in the Sengoku period of Japan, a time of turmoil and constant conflict in the country, when unity and peace had no meaning at all. Being raised as a will-be samurai by his father in a small settlement of little importance in the war, Yasuo grew learning the ways of respect and judgment.
The bond Yasuo shared with his brothers was limited to blood and there rarely was any interaction between them, as he was just an uninteresting samurai still in training. Out of all of his siblings, Yasuo had an especially close relationship with his older sister, Hanako, 6 years above him. Because she was a woman, Hanako, unlike her brothers, never received any kind of training in combat and was expected to take care of most of the housework. Funny enough though, the one who would protect Yasuo from any kind of conflict would be her.
Death and Wandering
Yasuo’s days among the living were few, as he died at the young age of 10 years old when the whole town was massacred during one of the many internal confrontations, his entire family being one of the first to die. No one was able to survive the assault and every building in the once tranquil town was burned to ashes. But the real terror would come when the vast amount of newborn souls attracted another army: an army of hollows eager to feast on the recently dead inhabitants.
Yasuo was taken away by his older brother and sister (the remaining one was devoured along with their parents) as far away of the town as possible, escaping from the hollows for some time. The three wandered around the country together, trying to figure out what had happened but with no results. Eventually, they were located yet again by one hollow and this time the oldest brother was devoured in a failed attempt to defeat it. Aware that they could not challenge that creature, Hanako instead ran away and hid Yasuo in a cave while she went on a different direction. Although successful in drawing the hollow’s attention elsewhere, in the end she was also devoured and her little brother remained the only survivor in the family.
Being separated from his family irremediably due to fate’s decision, Yasuo remained apparently forever hidden in the cave as a ‘plus’, scared that the hollows would attempt to devour him again. Many tales were spread of how there was a haunted cave where, sometimes, when the night was darker, you could hear a kid crying, calling for his family, begging for some monsters to give them back. Once the rumor spread and the Shinigami (who until then thought there were no survivors of the massacre) found him, he was finally transported to the Soul Society, holding no memories of the events that took place in his life and forgetting all of the teachings learned throughout it.
Arrival in Rukongai
Once in Soul Society, he was found and adopted by an old couple that saw him wandering around the Inuzuri part of the Rukongai, obviously lost. Being considerably far away from the Sereitei, Yasuo found himself growing in an environment of upheaval even more violent than the time when he was alive, which, as a result, made him grow in a very different way than in life. He had to learn how to defend himself with his new older brother, Taiki, who had lived in the area for many years and taught himself how to survive the hard way.
Not long after arriving to this new world, Yasuo began to illustrate the symptoms of a strong soul, most importantly the presence of hunger, which forced him and Taiki to steal food from time to time. When his new family discovered this trait of his, he was told wonderful stories of how brave warriors living in the center of Soul Society, in the Sereitei, protected the innocent in both worlds by fighting against monsters called ´hollow´; although very interested in the subject and greatly excited about he being able to posses such power, Yasuo didn’t leave the Rukongai, being aware that, once his sibling left, it would be up to him to protect his parents and a growing number of younger brothers and sisters.
The day eventually came that Taiki left the family to find one of his own, leaving behind his sword to Yasuo, promising him that, as long as he lived in Inuzuri, he would need one of those. For many years, that’s how things worked out, and Yasuo adopted the role of “family guardian”, engaging in many fights due to the situation in the place they lived in and, despite being beaten up many times, no harm was done to other members of the family and his gain of experience in battle was remarkable. Life in Inuzuri remained like that until the next generation in the family was self-sufficient and Yasuo saw no more reasons to stay in Rukongai, finally deciding to assist to the Shinigami Academy, join a squad and earn a long desired recognition in the whole Soul Society. Before leaving, he named the sword Taiki gave him as Hogosha (“Guardian”) and passed it on to the next oldest brother.
The Shinigami Academy
Although not unwelcomed, Yasuo had serious issues adapting to the new life and companions due to his origins in Inuzuri, lacking the basic manners many of his classmates counted with and his intimidating, extroverted personality, misunderstood as a badass method of scaring people. His unpleasant lack of respect towards his teachers and seniors also earned him many beatings and the sense of revere was carved in him forever through discipline.
Although not following any official fighting style, his experience gained during the years in Rukongai, his strong physical build and his outstanding reflexes made him an exceptional student in sword fighting classes, only inferior to very few classmates who did count with a lot of training prior to joining the academy. Kido was an area he had to struggle with; although he was able to cast the techniques correctly, his control over them was, and even now is, very poor, missing the target for several meters in every attempt. In order to counter that, Yasuo usually uses kido at a close distance so that it is harder to miss the target, but that tactic didn’t earn any sympathy from the evaluators, and so he would always fall behind his classmates.
Despite never overcoming such obstacle and not having the top scores in anything among his class, he applied to the 1st Squad, thinking (or knowing) it is the one with the strongest fighters among the 13 Divisions. His lack of knowledge and kido mastery made him fail utterly and he had to apply to another group. He was also unsuccessful when applying to the 8th Squad for his lack of all-rounded tactics. Finally, he managed to get into the 5th Squad as a regular Shinigami, but without much enthusiasm, having in mind it was his third choice.
Fresh meat in the 5th Squad
As the 5th Division is in charge of the Inner Defense in Soul Society and there are not many fools that would challenge such a great force, Yasuo found himself among few colleagues and even less work to be done, yet another disappointment to the list. To his surprise, however, the members were considerably friendlier to him than back in the academy, probably because of being more used to the inhabitants of Rukongai thanks to their position, and that motivated him to stay.
It was around that time that the reputation of a certain hollow named Slasher, known in Sereitei for annihilating 11 Shinigami during one of their expeditions in the human world, began to grow and became known among the regulars of many divisions, as it also had a huge reward upon its head. This remained as unimportant information to the members of the 5th Division in the beginning, since business out of Soul Society didn’t concern them; but when the next two victims died in Rukongai, things changed whether they liked it or not…
Ladder to success
Many groups of the 5th Division were placed in different areas of the Rukongai, Yasuo and other five regular Shinigami being just one out of them. For weeks, the attempts were futile and there were no signs of Slasher appearing in any of the areas. Assuming the hollow had gone back to Hueco Mundo, defenses were weakened more and more until, eventually, those groups became single guardians with the petty mission of informing of any abnormalities regarding Slasher; none of them was the Captain or Lieutenant.
When yet another victim appeared, the 5th Division decided to take serious measures on the matter and switched tactics to mobile troops to look for the hollow, each consisting of 6 Shinigami, one of which was among the top 10 seats. Yasuo’s group, having the 9th Seat among them, was the first to encounter Slasher, and the results were simply bad. The hollow killed everyone in the team but Yasuo, who managed to defeat it, but receiving the scar on his cheek during the battle.
As a result of killing Slasher, Yasuo’s reputation grew exponentially not only among the members of his division, but also among other Squads. He was awarded with the reward money, which he sent to his family in Rukongai. But most importantly, he received the 9th Seat rank in his division, which was one step closer to fulfilling his objective of becoming a Captain.
Not long after that, Yasuo was finally able to hear his zanpakuto’s name and, growing even more in strength, he ranked up fast and steadily until attaining the 3rd Seat. After serving for less than 10 years in that position, which was enough time for him to master his zanpakuto's basic techniques, he challenged the previous Vice-captain, Higa Yuudai. During the fight, Yuudai's zanpakuto was destroyed by Yasuo, which made the pirate-like shinigami rank up to lieutenant and forced the previous one to withdraw as a shinigami, as the sword was irreparable. Although many people think his golden era has already faded, he is still confident that he will earn an even higher position and won’t quit until everyone in Soul Society knows his name.
Additional Info: Although not the same when it comes to jokes, Yasuo has amazing reflexes he greatly exploits during battles.
General
Name: Shirogarasu (“White Crow”).
Spirit Description:
Pretty much like its name suggests, Shirogarasu resembles some sort of white abstract crow made of an unknown fire-like material, with vacuum serving as his eyes. Despite looking like a non-solid being, it is capable of touching and interacting with the environment that surrounds it, like standing on top of trees and even lifting rocks, at least in its inner world. It is capable of flying for undefined time, but usually refrains from doing so when talking to Yasuo. Shirogarasu is unable to speak through its peak, as it is unable to imitate the human language, but can communicate with the user through telepathy and seems to understand anything the wielder says. Its inner world takes the shape of a never-ending night with a star-covered sky covered by even darker trees that private anyone under them from seeing the constellations. Shirogarasu is always standing on top of the hilt of a sword thrust vertically on the ground which has the same appearance as the Shikai form.
It is not very friendly with Yasuo because he believes his egocentric personality will be a serious drawback, leading to the zanpakuto never to unleash its true power. Shirogarasu takes battle as the most serious thing in existence and will only accept victory no matter who the enemy is. It tends to appear in the outer world to scold Yasuo whenever he is losing. It has a serious issue of excessive pride.
Sealed: In its sealed form, Shirogarasu’s shape is not very different from most of the other zanpakutos with the exception of a slightly more curved tip; it measures the average 3’1”. The hilt is silver and has a long clotting ointment.
Shikai
Activation Phrase: Rise above the skies, Shirogarasu.
Appearance:
Yasuo sheathes the sword and exclaims the activation phrase, then draws the weapon out again while a blue light covers the changing edge. When the blue light disappears, Shirogarasu’s Shikai form is revealed. The edge of the sword, previously resembling a simple katana, becomes shorter and even more curved in the tip and tribal patterns appear in the side opposite to the edge. The hilt changes almost completely, keeping only the ointment in common to its previous shape. The overall image is extremely similar to the sword pirates used during the XVIII century, adding one more similarity Yasuo shares with them. Because of the weapon’s ability, this shape is not used in battle very often.
Abilities:
Tenko (Switch (v.)): Shirogarasu’s main ability; it consists on changing the shape of the blade to another one as long as the zanpakuto has been in contact with it at any point in time (cannot copy other “soul reapers”). The shapes Shirogarasu can take through this ability are limited to swords and knives, meaning it can’t transform into spears, bows or other weapons without the same type of edge; furthermore, he can only set three blades (without counting the initial one) for quick summoning, while any other would need an hour of deep concentration to find and cast, meaning the amount of different swords he can call in the middle of a battle is 3. This skill allows Yasuo to adapt to any kind of battle, letting him use big weapons like the zanbato to break through strong defenses or the dirk for fast attacks; it is thanks to this talent that Shirogarasu has a potential for close combat that is hard to keep up with. Before the sword can take on a shape, the user must murmur “Tenko” and then the zanpakuto will modify the blade automatically to the desired one.
Size Alteration: A technique used to complement with the “Tenko” ability; it allows changing the size of the sword by driving reiatsu in it, the final length depending on how much it received. In order to keep the sword in a modified length, Yasuo has to throw his reiatsu into the sword in a constant basis and the necessary amount per time will increase the bigger/smaller the sword becomes. The limit in size is 2m (6’6”), which can only be maintained for 4 posts before returning to its original size automatically..
Genkai Oru (Limit Break): A skill Yasuo is capable of performing that allows him to break through the 2m limit of the weapon extension by driving enough reiatsu to overpower the limit barrier; the sword will always become automatically 8m long. Although greatly destructive, the weight of the weapon is too much for Yasuo to lift, so he needs to be in good position to use it to begin with, like in the air over the enemy or having enough initial speed before transforming. Even then, “Genkai Oru” is a very slow and predictable technique, being useful only against motionless or equally slow targets. This skill is limited to 5 times per battle as long as Yasuo's reiatsu was intanct up to that point.
Bankai
Not mastered yet.
• [58] Summoning of the Tracking Sparrows- Tracks and locates any spiritual force the user focuses on. To activate it, the user must draw a circle on the ground, cut into four parts with a specific character in each. The incantation animates the circle, causing various numbers to appear within until the specific set is found. The number set seems to be a variation on longitude and latitude.
*Incantation: Heart of the south, eye of the north, finger of the west, foot of the east, arrive with the wind and depart with the rain.*
• [61] Six Rods of Prison Light - Summons six thin, but wide, beams of light that slam into a target's midsection, holding them in place.
*Incantation: Carriage of thunder. Bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six.*
• [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! *
• [63] Twin Lotus blue Fire, Crash Down - Essentially a doubled version of #33, this spell fires two shots of blue fire with greater potency than the single-shot variety. This spell is equally as difficult to cast and control as Raikôhô, therefore they both share the same number.
*Incantation - Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens.
NOTE: Yasuo has very little control over his own techniques, which leads to him irremediably missing the target from long distances. That applies to all of the kido above.
Other Characters: N/A.
Roleplay Sample:
Yasuo’s eyes opened slowly just to be welcomed by absolute darkness. His head was spinning and he felt dizzy, but worse, he didn’t remember what he was doing in that obscure and evil place. With great effort, Yasuo stood up and searched blindly for something to lean against, at least until his eyes grew used to the lack of light in the area. With his arms extended in front of him, he soon came in contact with what he thought was a tree, but the darkness was so dense that, even though it was in front of him, he wasn’t able to see it clearly. Leaning his back against the mysterious tree or whatever that thing was, the Shinigami tried to concentrate on remembering what was he doing there and why. In the end, the only thing he managed to accomplish was get a terrible headache that prevented him from thinking any further.
Yasuo wasn’t keeping track of the time he was spending in the same spot, but approximately 5 minutes after leaning against the tree, a sphere of vague light slowly descended from above the skies and stopped 3 meters away from Yasuo, standing on top of an object he hadn’t noticed earlier due to the darkness and that he was still unable to recognize. Blinded by the sudden appearance of light and still confused, the Shinigami covered his eyes with an arm and tried as hard as he could to not fall to the ground again.
“Funanori Yasuo, do not look away from me.” A voice sounded inside of Yasuo’s head and, strangely enough, it seemed to have an echo.
Maybe it was because his mind was still faint, but for whatever reason, the man obeyed that mystifying voice and slowly retired his arm to see the light, presumably also the source of the voice ringing inside of his head. In a more careful look, Yasuo saw that what he thought was a sphere was actually a bird covered in a white light, made of a material he was unable to identify, but that seemed like flames engulfing the creature. With his eyes now receiving more light, he was now able to see that the object he wasn’t able to distinguish seconds ago was actually a sword thrust vertically on the ground, serving as support for the bird-like being to stand on.
“State your purpose, Funanori Yasuo.” the creature demanded, and Yasuo noticed the bird’s mouth wasn’t moving as it spoke these words.
But as much as the Shinigami wanted to answer the question, he had no clue himself of what was going on, and even less was he able to start imagining why would he have any interesting in that world full of shadows or on that amorphous creature. He was about to explain everything to the bird thing when suddenly a lot of thought invaded his mind at the same time. He was starting to remember everything, but the vast amount of images that ran through his mind passed in such a disorganized way that he was just getting even more confused than before. Yasuo remained silent and didn’t answer the question the glowing creature stated for a whole minute.
“I told you to state your purpose, Funanori Yasuo.” the bird insisted again with an impatient tone, making quite evident it didn’t hold any concern for the Shinigami’s state of mind. “If you have no reason to be here, then leave and don’t come back until you can answer that question; my time has some value”.
“My purpose…” Yasuo murmured once he was able to organize all the thoughts in his mind and a confident grin appeared on his face. “Isn’t obvious? I am here to listen to your name, zanpakuto!”
“I see…” the sword replied, and it seemed pleased with the answer its owner had given. “I saw this coming, but tell me, why should I listen to your petition? What reason is there for me to share my power with you, Funanori Yasuo?”
“What kind of question is that?” the Shinigami asked with a puzzled expression. He hadn’t been expecting any kind of resistance from the zanpakuto to state its name, but here it was demanding a reason to lend its power to him, its owner. As if there even was the need of a reason! Smiling again, Yasuo explained with sincerity why he wanted to know the sword’s name. “Because you and I together would be invincible! You were there when I killed that hollow Slasher, and that was in your sealed form! Just imagine what we would be able to do if you simply…!”
“The way I see it, you defeating Slasher was pure luck” the sword interrupted, uninterested in anything Yasuo was proposing “. You were just the only survivor and the one to deliver the final blow to a tired hollow. There is no honor in that.”
“…” the Shinigami remained silent for a while and his smile faded, mostly because he knew there was some true to what the spirit was saying. “I’ve been training a lot in the past years; I think I deserve at least one chance.”
“If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be here to begin with” the zanpakuto claimed, but this didn’t bring back Yasuo’s smile “. I will test you, and f you are successful, maybe you will be able to hear my name.”
“Ok then, what are we waiting for then?”
As soon as Yasuo finished his sentence, the spirit waved its right wing vaguely and, instantly, the ground in the whole world started shaking. As unaccustomed as he was in dealing with earthquakes, the Shinigami lost his balance and fell to the ground almost immediately when the catastrophe began. Soon after, the thousands of trees that surrounded the area began to change shape and morphed into some sort of rectangular, silver boxes with keyholes in the center of their doors, glowing with the same weak intensity the bird spirit did. Once all of the boxes had changed their shape, the zanpakuto waved the same wing again and all of the boxes levitated and organized themselves in a line that got lost in the distance regardless of which direction Yasuo looked at. With shaky legs, the man leaned against one of the boxes to help himself stand up and looked curiously at the one in front of him.
“These boxes represent the many shapes I can take once my power is awakened, but for now only one of them will be filled with a blade, all of the others will be empty” the zanpakuto explained in an amused tone. “It is up to you, Funanori Yasuo, to fill each one of those boxes with a different blade.”
“That’s the test? And exactly how am I supposed to do that?!” Yasuo asked with surprised and yet irritated expression. He didn’t see any blades nearby to begin with and even if there were any it would take him an eternity to fill all of those silver compartments.
“No, that is not your test, but you will have to take care of that eventually” for some reason, Yasuo’s irritability just made the spirit more cheerful and pleased “I will hide this blade in one of those boxes” it proceeded with the explanation while pointing with its leg at the sword it was standing on. “, your task is simple: find it.”
“Are you freakin’ kidding me?!” Yasuo exclaimed, and his face no longer expressed irritation, but anger. “There are at least one thousand of those; it will take me an eternity!”
“You are allowed to go and come back as many times as you want, so feel free to take your time.” The zanpakuto continued explaining the rules, ignoring its owner. “But there is something else you should have in mind; unsheathe your sword.”
Hesitating in the beginning on whether he should obey it or not, Yasuo did as asked and pulled out the sword hanging on the left side of his hip. He saw with surprise that, although the hilt was there, there was no blade attached to it.
“That’s your key to open the boxes, but until the day you complete this task, you won’t be able to wield my blade again” the bird spirit explained “. Maybe that will give you some motivation.”
Yasuo took a second to calm down and keep his cool “Anything else?” he simply asked.
“Yes, you are allowed to ask me one question, but keep in mind there is only one right question. If the one you ask isn’t the correct one, I won’t answer it, and you can just try again.” The zanpakuto said, and with a fast movement of its wings, it flew towards the top of one of the glowing boxes while the sword previously acting as its support disappeared in a cloud of white feathers. “You may start whenever you want, Funanori Yasuo.”
________________________________________
General Info
Name: Yasuo Funanori. (Yasuo is a common Japanese name, while Funanori is translated literally as "Sailor")
Gender: Male.
Age: 273 years old (21 in appearance).
Division: 5th division, Inner Defense.
Rank: Vice-Captain.
Physical Description:
Tough-looking, Yasuo is a person who has little concern on how he looks like and doesn’t trouble himself with his image more than he cares about what to have for dinner. He has short, dark blue messy hair that he barely takes care of, which is not too noticeable thanks to a black bandana he rarely takes off in public except for important meetings, in which it would be found a lack of respect. He has dark amber eyes and a scar extending vertically on his right cheek which, together with the bandana, enhances his similarity to a pirate when wearing both, earning him many nicknames from his colleagues. Although his uniform hides it, he has quite an athlete build, which combined with his 6´0´´ height, makes him a capable fighter when it comes to close physical combat. The overall result is an averagely attractive man open for much criticism and not much success among women.
Yasuo dislikes the Shinigami outfit because it is unoriginal and, more importantly, because he doesn’t feel comfortable when wearing sleeves. He used to put up with it out of respect to his superiors and for the reason that his bandana was already pushing the dress code far enough; but one of the first actions he took in the matter when he got his last promotion as vice-captain was ripping off the sleeves. He is right-handed, so his zanpakuto hangs on the left side of his hip so that it is more comfortable and fast for him to unsheathe it. Because he can’t dress the way he wants (except for slightly modifying the shinigami outfit) and nor can he go out of Sereitei with a gigai due to his position as a 5th squad member, he has no sense of fashion and would never go unnoticed among humans. In the odd occasions that he visits his family over at the outer area of the Soul Society, he dresses with commoner clothes so that he doesn’t call too much the attention; of course, no sleeves included in the outfit.
Visual Reference.
(I claim full credit for the illustration and therefore have the right to use it as I desire...always wanted to say it
)Personality:
Yasuo is a person who enjoys all types of jokes, from gags to sarcasm, and knows how to take one directed to himself, which he had to learn due to his looks. But when it comes to coming up with yarns, he lacks quick reflexes and more than once has came up with a good joke hours after the right timing. This, however, doesn’t affect his image as a friendly person open for discussions that will probably never have a logic end to it, this being because of his tendency of changing subjects constantly even though there is no relation between them. Another significant trait of his is the complete and exaggerated lack of shyness; his fame of extrovert is mostly based on the informal way he treats people he doesn’t know closely by giving them nicknames or just mentioning subjects that are supposed to be private. He still knows when to be respectful and formal to others, and when it comes to honouring his superiors, especially Captains, he demonstrates devotion and politeness that scratch the line of ass-kissing. Besides superiors, women are also an exception to his usually unreserved manners, not because of being sexist (which he is accused of quite often), but because he does not understand them and therefore finds it impossible talking to them about a common interest; as a result, the only women he talks to are either part of his family or superiors he finds necessary to address. When carrying out a mission, his attitude doesn’t suffer any drastic changes aside from becoming considerably ruder with his companions (equal or lower rank) and tending to get irritated if they can’t catch up with the rest of the team.
Not being the brightest person to exist, Yasuo is considerably uninformed in subjects that are either obvious or necessary to others like mathematics, sciences or history. But his biggest terror is reading; although he does know how to read, his speed is poor and his attention spam short, so, at the end of the reading, he hasn’t learned anything new. He doesn’t seem to mind it, but that may be because he is unaware of his own ignorance and this has closed many doors for him when the time came to choose a squad, as such skill was of great importance in some of the teams (12th Squad, Research and Development, being the perfect example). Despite all this, he has a great ego and is constantly overestimating himself and, even though he does deserve some merit for obtaining the 3rd seat, he expects people to respect him as a superior being for that.
Although his history and personality may suggest a different thing, he dislikes serious violence when it is directed to humans or other shinigami; no hesitation is shown against hollows or any other specie, though. His favourite food is fish and the occasional meat, but never gets closer than 2 meters to vegetables, which he claims is “what animals eat!”. He enjoys hanging out with people who, like him, enjoy jokes and can take one; but finds even more amusing teasing the stereotypical shy guy of few words to the point most of the people he socializes with in his squad are like that. His greatest interest is the sea and one of his many dreams is to navigate in the ocean when he finds a way to visit the human world. His main objective, however, is gaining recognition in the whole Seireitei by seizing the Captain position in his squad and, although fully aware such thing may require for him to kill his own superior at some point, he has never shown any signs of uncertainty to such idea.
History:
Early life in the Human World
Yasuo was born as the third and last son of a poor family in the Sengoku period of Japan, a time of turmoil and constant conflict in the country, when unity and peace had no meaning at all. Being raised as a will-be samurai by his father in a small settlement of little importance in the war, Yasuo grew learning the ways of respect and judgment.
The bond Yasuo shared with his brothers was limited to blood and there rarely was any interaction between them, as he was just an uninteresting samurai still in training. Out of all of his siblings, Yasuo had an especially close relationship with his older sister, Hanako, 6 years above him. Because she was a woman, Hanako, unlike her brothers, never received any kind of training in combat and was expected to take care of most of the housework. Funny enough though, the one who would protect Yasuo from any kind of conflict would be her.
Death and Wandering
Yasuo’s days among the living were few, as he died at the young age of 10 years old when the whole town was massacred during one of the many internal confrontations, his entire family being one of the first to die. No one was able to survive the assault and every building in the once tranquil town was burned to ashes. But the real terror would come when the vast amount of newborn souls attracted another army: an army of hollows eager to feast on the recently dead inhabitants.
Yasuo was taken away by his older brother and sister (the remaining one was devoured along with their parents) as far away of the town as possible, escaping from the hollows for some time. The three wandered around the country together, trying to figure out what had happened but with no results. Eventually, they were located yet again by one hollow and this time the oldest brother was devoured in a failed attempt to defeat it. Aware that they could not challenge that creature, Hanako instead ran away and hid Yasuo in a cave while she went on a different direction. Although successful in drawing the hollow’s attention elsewhere, in the end she was also devoured and her little brother remained the only survivor in the family.
Being separated from his family irremediably due to fate’s decision, Yasuo remained apparently forever hidden in the cave as a ‘plus’, scared that the hollows would attempt to devour him again. Many tales were spread of how there was a haunted cave where, sometimes, when the night was darker, you could hear a kid crying, calling for his family, begging for some monsters to give them back. Once the rumor spread and the Shinigami (who until then thought there were no survivors of the massacre) found him, he was finally transported to the Soul Society, holding no memories of the events that took place in his life and forgetting all of the teachings learned throughout it.
Arrival in Rukongai
Once in Soul Society, he was found and adopted by an old couple that saw him wandering around the Inuzuri part of the Rukongai, obviously lost. Being considerably far away from the Sereitei, Yasuo found himself growing in an environment of upheaval even more violent than the time when he was alive, which, as a result, made him grow in a very different way than in life. He had to learn how to defend himself with his new older brother, Taiki, who had lived in the area for many years and taught himself how to survive the hard way.
Not long after arriving to this new world, Yasuo began to illustrate the symptoms of a strong soul, most importantly the presence of hunger, which forced him and Taiki to steal food from time to time. When his new family discovered this trait of his, he was told wonderful stories of how brave warriors living in the center of Soul Society, in the Sereitei, protected the innocent in both worlds by fighting against monsters called ´hollow´; although very interested in the subject and greatly excited about he being able to posses such power, Yasuo didn’t leave the Rukongai, being aware that, once his sibling left, it would be up to him to protect his parents and a growing number of younger brothers and sisters.
The day eventually came that Taiki left the family to find one of his own, leaving behind his sword to Yasuo, promising him that, as long as he lived in Inuzuri, he would need one of those. For many years, that’s how things worked out, and Yasuo adopted the role of “family guardian”, engaging in many fights due to the situation in the place they lived in and, despite being beaten up many times, no harm was done to other members of the family and his gain of experience in battle was remarkable. Life in Inuzuri remained like that until the next generation in the family was self-sufficient and Yasuo saw no more reasons to stay in Rukongai, finally deciding to assist to the Shinigami Academy, join a squad and earn a long desired recognition in the whole Soul Society. Before leaving, he named the sword Taiki gave him as Hogosha (“Guardian”) and passed it on to the next oldest brother.
The Shinigami Academy
Although not unwelcomed, Yasuo had serious issues adapting to the new life and companions due to his origins in Inuzuri, lacking the basic manners many of his classmates counted with and his intimidating, extroverted personality, misunderstood as a badass method of scaring people. His unpleasant lack of respect towards his teachers and seniors also earned him many beatings and the sense of revere was carved in him forever through discipline.
Although not following any official fighting style, his experience gained during the years in Rukongai, his strong physical build and his outstanding reflexes made him an exceptional student in sword fighting classes, only inferior to very few classmates who did count with a lot of training prior to joining the academy. Kido was an area he had to struggle with; although he was able to cast the techniques correctly, his control over them was, and even now is, very poor, missing the target for several meters in every attempt. In order to counter that, Yasuo usually uses kido at a close distance so that it is harder to miss the target, but that tactic didn’t earn any sympathy from the evaluators, and so he would always fall behind his classmates.
Despite never overcoming such obstacle and not having the top scores in anything among his class, he applied to the 1st Squad, thinking (or knowing) it is the one with the strongest fighters among the 13 Divisions. His lack of knowledge and kido mastery made him fail utterly and he had to apply to another group. He was also unsuccessful when applying to the 8th Squad for his lack of all-rounded tactics. Finally, he managed to get into the 5th Squad as a regular Shinigami, but without much enthusiasm, having in mind it was his third choice.
Fresh meat in the 5th Squad
As the 5th Division is in charge of the Inner Defense in Soul Society and there are not many fools that would challenge such a great force, Yasuo found himself among few colleagues and even less work to be done, yet another disappointment to the list. To his surprise, however, the members were considerably friendlier to him than back in the academy, probably because of being more used to the inhabitants of Rukongai thanks to their position, and that motivated him to stay.
It was around that time that the reputation of a certain hollow named Slasher, known in Sereitei for annihilating 11 Shinigami during one of their expeditions in the human world, began to grow and became known among the regulars of many divisions, as it also had a huge reward upon its head. This remained as unimportant information to the members of the 5th Division in the beginning, since business out of Soul Society didn’t concern them; but when the next two victims died in Rukongai, things changed whether they liked it or not…
Ladder to success
Many groups of the 5th Division were placed in different areas of the Rukongai, Yasuo and other five regular Shinigami being just one out of them. For weeks, the attempts were futile and there were no signs of Slasher appearing in any of the areas. Assuming the hollow had gone back to Hueco Mundo, defenses were weakened more and more until, eventually, those groups became single guardians with the petty mission of informing of any abnormalities regarding Slasher; none of them was the Captain or Lieutenant.
When yet another victim appeared, the 5th Division decided to take serious measures on the matter and switched tactics to mobile troops to look for the hollow, each consisting of 6 Shinigami, one of which was among the top 10 seats. Yasuo’s group, having the 9th Seat among them, was the first to encounter Slasher, and the results were simply bad. The hollow killed everyone in the team but Yasuo, who managed to defeat it, but receiving the scar on his cheek during the battle.
As a result of killing Slasher, Yasuo’s reputation grew exponentially not only among the members of his division, but also among other Squads. He was awarded with the reward money, which he sent to his family in Rukongai. But most importantly, he received the 9th Seat rank in his division, which was one step closer to fulfilling his objective of becoming a Captain.
Not long after that, Yasuo was finally able to hear his zanpakuto’s name and, growing even more in strength, he ranked up fast and steadily until attaining the 3rd Seat. After serving for less than 10 years in that position, which was enough time for him to master his zanpakuto's basic techniques, he challenged the previous Vice-captain, Higa Yuudai. During the fight, Yuudai's zanpakuto was destroyed by Yasuo, which made the pirate-like shinigami rank up to lieutenant and forced the previous one to withdraw as a shinigami, as the sword was irreparable. Although many people think his golden era has already faded, he is still confident that he will earn an even higher position and won’t quit until everyone in Soul Society knows his name.
Additional Info: Although not the same when it comes to jokes, Yasuo has amazing reflexes he greatly exploits during battles.
Zanpakuto
General
Name: Shirogarasu (“White Crow”).
Spirit Description:
Pretty much like its name suggests, Shirogarasu resembles some sort of white abstract crow made of an unknown fire-like material, with vacuum serving as his eyes. Despite looking like a non-solid being, it is capable of touching and interacting with the environment that surrounds it, like standing on top of trees and even lifting rocks, at least in its inner world. It is capable of flying for undefined time, but usually refrains from doing so when talking to Yasuo. Shirogarasu is unable to speak through its peak, as it is unable to imitate the human language, but can communicate with the user through telepathy and seems to understand anything the wielder says. Its inner world takes the shape of a never-ending night with a star-covered sky covered by even darker trees that private anyone under them from seeing the constellations. Shirogarasu is always standing on top of the hilt of a sword thrust vertically on the ground which has the same appearance as the Shikai form.
It is not very friendly with Yasuo because he believes his egocentric personality will be a serious drawback, leading to the zanpakuto never to unleash its true power. Shirogarasu takes battle as the most serious thing in existence and will only accept victory no matter who the enemy is. It tends to appear in the outer world to scold Yasuo whenever he is losing. It has a serious issue of excessive pride.
Sealed: In its sealed form, Shirogarasu’s shape is not very different from most of the other zanpakutos with the exception of a slightly more curved tip; it measures the average 3’1”. The hilt is silver and has a long clotting ointment.
Shikai
Activation Phrase: Rise above the skies, Shirogarasu.
Appearance:
Yasuo sheathes the sword and exclaims the activation phrase, then draws the weapon out again while a blue light covers the changing edge. When the blue light disappears, Shirogarasu’s Shikai form is revealed. The edge of the sword, previously resembling a simple katana, becomes shorter and even more curved in the tip and tribal patterns appear in the side opposite to the edge. The hilt changes almost completely, keeping only the ointment in common to its previous shape. The overall image is extremely similar to the sword pirates used during the XVIII century, adding one more similarity Yasuo shares with them. Because of the weapon’s ability, this shape is not used in battle very often.
Abilities:
Tenko (Switch (v.)): Shirogarasu’s main ability; it consists on changing the shape of the blade to another one as long as the zanpakuto has been in contact with it at any point in time (cannot copy other “soul reapers”). The shapes Shirogarasu can take through this ability are limited to swords and knives, meaning it can’t transform into spears, bows or other weapons without the same type of edge; furthermore, he can only set three blades (without counting the initial one) for quick summoning, while any other would need an hour of deep concentration to find and cast, meaning the amount of different swords he can call in the middle of a battle is 3. This skill allows Yasuo to adapt to any kind of battle, letting him use big weapons like the zanbato to break through strong defenses or the dirk for fast attacks; it is thanks to this talent that Shirogarasu has a potential for close combat that is hard to keep up with. Before the sword can take on a shape, the user must murmur “Tenko” and then the zanpakuto will modify the blade automatically to the desired one.
Size Alteration: A technique used to complement with the “Tenko” ability; it allows changing the size of the sword by driving reiatsu in it, the final length depending on how much it received. In order to keep the sword in a modified length, Yasuo has to throw his reiatsu into the sword in a constant basis and the necessary amount per time will increase the bigger/smaller the sword becomes. The limit in size is 2m (6’6”), which can only be maintained for 4 posts before returning to its original size automatically..
Genkai Oru (Limit Break): A skill Yasuo is capable of performing that allows him to break through the 2m limit of the weapon extension by driving enough reiatsu to overpower the limit barrier; the sword will always become automatically 8m long. Although greatly destructive, the weight of the weapon is too much for Yasuo to lift, so he needs to be in good position to use it to begin with, like in the air over the enemy or having enough initial speed before transforming. Even then, “Genkai Oru” is a very slow and predictable technique, being useful only against motionless or equally slow targets. This skill is limited to 5 times per battle as long as Yasuo's reiatsu was intanct up to that point.
Bankai
Not mastered yet.
Shinigami Techniques
• [58] Summoning of the Tracking Sparrows- Tracks and locates any spiritual force the user focuses on. To activate it, the user must draw a circle on the ground, cut into four parts with a specific character in each. The incantation animates the circle, causing various numbers to appear within until the specific set is found. The number set seems to be a variation on longitude and latitude.
*Incantation: Heart of the south, eye of the north, finger of the west, foot of the east, arrive with the wind and depart with the rain.*
• [61] Six Rods of Prison Light - Summons six thin, but wide, beams of light that slam into a target's midsection, holding them in place.
*Incantation: Carriage of thunder. Bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six.*
• [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! *
• [63] Twin Lotus blue Fire, Crash Down - Essentially a doubled version of #33, this spell fires two shots of blue fire with greater potency than the single-shot variety. This spell is equally as difficult to cast and control as Raikôhô, therefore they both share the same number.
*Incantation - Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens.
NOTE: Yasuo has very little control over his own techniques, which leads to him irremediably missing the target from long distances. That applies to all of the kido above.
Additional
Other Characters: N/A.
Roleplay Sample:
Yasuo’s eyes opened slowly just to be welcomed by absolute darkness. His head was spinning and he felt dizzy, but worse, he didn’t remember what he was doing in that obscure and evil place. With great effort, Yasuo stood up and searched blindly for something to lean against, at least until his eyes grew used to the lack of light in the area. With his arms extended in front of him, he soon came in contact with what he thought was a tree, but the darkness was so dense that, even though it was in front of him, he wasn’t able to see it clearly. Leaning his back against the mysterious tree or whatever that thing was, the Shinigami tried to concentrate on remembering what was he doing there and why. In the end, the only thing he managed to accomplish was get a terrible headache that prevented him from thinking any further.
Yasuo wasn’t keeping track of the time he was spending in the same spot, but approximately 5 minutes after leaning against the tree, a sphere of vague light slowly descended from above the skies and stopped 3 meters away from Yasuo, standing on top of an object he hadn’t noticed earlier due to the darkness and that he was still unable to recognize. Blinded by the sudden appearance of light and still confused, the Shinigami covered his eyes with an arm and tried as hard as he could to not fall to the ground again.
“Funanori Yasuo, do not look away from me.” A voice sounded inside of Yasuo’s head and, strangely enough, it seemed to have an echo.
Maybe it was because his mind was still faint, but for whatever reason, the man obeyed that mystifying voice and slowly retired his arm to see the light, presumably also the source of the voice ringing inside of his head. In a more careful look, Yasuo saw that what he thought was a sphere was actually a bird covered in a white light, made of a material he was unable to identify, but that seemed like flames engulfing the creature. With his eyes now receiving more light, he was now able to see that the object he wasn’t able to distinguish seconds ago was actually a sword thrust vertically on the ground, serving as support for the bird-like being to stand on.
“State your purpose, Funanori Yasuo.” the creature demanded, and Yasuo noticed the bird’s mouth wasn’t moving as it spoke these words.
But as much as the Shinigami wanted to answer the question, he had no clue himself of what was going on, and even less was he able to start imagining why would he have any interesting in that world full of shadows or on that amorphous creature. He was about to explain everything to the bird thing when suddenly a lot of thought invaded his mind at the same time. He was starting to remember everything, but the vast amount of images that ran through his mind passed in such a disorganized way that he was just getting even more confused than before. Yasuo remained silent and didn’t answer the question the glowing creature stated for a whole minute.
“I told you to state your purpose, Funanori Yasuo.” the bird insisted again with an impatient tone, making quite evident it didn’t hold any concern for the Shinigami’s state of mind. “If you have no reason to be here, then leave and don’t come back until you can answer that question; my time has some value”.
“My purpose…” Yasuo murmured once he was able to organize all the thoughts in his mind and a confident grin appeared on his face. “Isn’t obvious? I am here to listen to your name, zanpakuto!”
“I see…” the sword replied, and it seemed pleased with the answer its owner had given. “I saw this coming, but tell me, why should I listen to your petition? What reason is there for me to share my power with you, Funanori Yasuo?”
“What kind of question is that?” the Shinigami asked with a puzzled expression. He hadn’t been expecting any kind of resistance from the zanpakuto to state its name, but here it was demanding a reason to lend its power to him, its owner. As if there even was the need of a reason! Smiling again, Yasuo explained with sincerity why he wanted to know the sword’s name. “Because you and I together would be invincible! You were there when I killed that hollow Slasher, and that was in your sealed form! Just imagine what we would be able to do if you simply…!”
“The way I see it, you defeating Slasher was pure luck” the sword interrupted, uninterested in anything Yasuo was proposing “. You were just the only survivor and the one to deliver the final blow to a tired hollow. There is no honor in that.”
“…” the Shinigami remained silent for a while and his smile faded, mostly because he knew there was some true to what the spirit was saying. “I’ve been training a lot in the past years; I think I deserve at least one chance.”
“If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be here to begin with” the zanpakuto claimed, but this didn’t bring back Yasuo’s smile “. I will test you, and f you are successful, maybe you will be able to hear my name.”
“Ok then, what are we waiting for then?”
As soon as Yasuo finished his sentence, the spirit waved its right wing vaguely and, instantly, the ground in the whole world started shaking. As unaccustomed as he was in dealing with earthquakes, the Shinigami lost his balance and fell to the ground almost immediately when the catastrophe began. Soon after, the thousands of trees that surrounded the area began to change shape and morphed into some sort of rectangular, silver boxes with keyholes in the center of their doors, glowing with the same weak intensity the bird spirit did. Once all of the boxes had changed their shape, the zanpakuto waved the same wing again and all of the boxes levitated and organized themselves in a line that got lost in the distance regardless of which direction Yasuo looked at. With shaky legs, the man leaned against one of the boxes to help himself stand up and looked curiously at the one in front of him.
“These boxes represent the many shapes I can take once my power is awakened, but for now only one of them will be filled with a blade, all of the others will be empty” the zanpakuto explained in an amused tone. “It is up to you, Funanori Yasuo, to fill each one of those boxes with a different blade.”
“That’s the test? And exactly how am I supposed to do that?!” Yasuo asked with surprised and yet irritated expression. He didn’t see any blades nearby to begin with and even if there were any it would take him an eternity to fill all of those silver compartments.
“No, that is not your test, but you will have to take care of that eventually” for some reason, Yasuo’s irritability just made the spirit more cheerful and pleased “I will hide this blade in one of those boxes” it proceeded with the explanation while pointing with its leg at the sword it was standing on. “, your task is simple: find it.”
“Are you freakin’ kidding me?!” Yasuo exclaimed, and his face no longer expressed irritation, but anger. “There are at least one thousand of those; it will take me an eternity!”
“You are allowed to go and come back as many times as you want, so feel free to take your time.” The zanpakuto continued explaining the rules, ignoring its owner. “But there is something else you should have in mind; unsheathe your sword.”
Hesitating in the beginning on whether he should obey it or not, Yasuo did as asked and pulled out the sword hanging on the left side of his hip. He saw with surprise that, although the hilt was there, there was no blade attached to it.
“That’s your key to open the boxes, but until the day you complete this task, you won’t be able to wield my blade again” the bird spirit explained “. Maybe that will give you some motivation.”
Yasuo took a second to calm down and keep his cool “Anything else?” he simply asked.
“Yes, you are allowed to ask me one question, but keep in mind there is only one right question. If the one you ask isn’t the correct one, I won’t answer it, and you can just try again.” The zanpakuto said, and with a fast movement of its wings, it flew towards the top of one of the glowing boxes while the sword previously acting as its support disappeared in a cloud of white feathers. “You may start whenever you want, Funanori Yasuo.”
