Rue
![[GM] John Avatar](http://orig15.deviantart.net/3a00/f/2012/323/8/3/sao_logo_2_by_iammrx-d5ljhvw.png){kind=logo}
Post by [GM] John on Feb 22, 2016 5:41:25 GMT
[PTabbedContent][PTab=«BASICS»]
CHARACTER NAME: KAITO
LEVEL: 4
GUILD: N/A
REAL NAME: KATSURO CARTER-MIZUSHIMA
AGE:: 23
RELATIONSHIP STATUS: SINGLE
ETHNICITY: CAUCASIAN
NATIONALITY: AMERICAN-JAPANESE
FACE CLAIM: KIRITSUGU EMIYA // FATE/ZEROAPPEARANCE
Kaito from the offset looks like what a healthy young man in the prime of his life would look like if he let himself go rather suddenly, perhaps even coming off as a Hikikomori. His charcoal grey hair seems only styled with his hands and is grown out and wild to the point of reaching close to long in length, down the neck and in front of his jet black eyes. Those eyes often times have a very pained looked to them, sunken and dark, and even more so while stuck in the predicament he’s in. He’s gone unshaven for some time but due to his mixed heritage, only a light scruff along his chin is all he can acquire. Long in limb, he could have at one point had a bit of a swimmer’s physique but the definition has eroded away somewhat from a diet of instant ramen and caffeine pills, and looking like he hadn’t been out of his room enough to get some sun on his skin, leaving a rather pale complexion. Despite all this, if he were to clean himself up, he’d probably be handsome young man if he didn’t have a permanent frown on his face and even when he does smile, it seems forced. It’s only when someone he cares about is happy that his own smile seems genuine.
Eye Color: Black
Hair Color: Dark Grey
Skin Tone: Fair
Physique: Lanky, Weak Tone
Height: 5'11"
Dominant Features: Unkempt Hair, Light Chin Stubble, “Sad Eyes”
Scars/Markings: N/APERSONALITY
Soft-spoken, humble but with a cynical streak that can flare every once in a while, Kaito comes off as a broken man looking to do the right thing but lacking the confidence to help himself first. A stark contrast to the “Sapphire Samurai” persona he played during the SAO Beta, what was once a cool, confident hero has reverted itself back to his true personality along with his true identity. Losing the friends he made in Beta to outside circumstance isn’t unfamiliar to him, as moving frequently as a child meant that long lasting relationships were an impossibility, that having a circle of close-knit friends will never be in the cards for him and while he keeps up acquaintances, Kaito’s afraid of making too close of a connection, especially in a world where death is one rare mob spawn away.
This hasn’t stopped him however from wanting to still help the player base when he sees them in trouble, especially the younger and/or inexperienced players both because of a need for these teens and kids to live the rest of their lives with their childhood still somewhat intact (as he has found being a grown-up is truly awful) and that they have the most to live for. But a revelatory accusation by his former friend Haruto has made him worried that his reasons are more primal and base. Having never had many childhood friends, Kaito’s “Sapphire Samurai” persona was a way to relive his childhood fantasies of superheroes young kids looked up to and idolized, to have those childhood memories online that he couldn’t in the real world too late in life. It was no surprise then that when Akihiko Kayaba outed the entire player base’s true identities that the twenty-something would be accused of being a pedophile or hebephile in light of Haruto’s sister’s infatuation with him and subsequent death because of his negligence. The possibility of that being true at first seemed unbelievable but certain facts made frightening sense to Kaito because of the difficulty in approaching people his own age and finding it easier to interact with kids, as well as the youth oriented media he took in featured pretty little heroines along with kid heroes. The possibility that because all of this isn’t “the real world” makes it perhaps not so bad has passed his mind once or twice now and it makes him mortified.
Naivety doesn’t always end up being broken during one’s childhood, as sometimes one’s belief in people can be changed slowly as well. Kaito’s assumption that the players of Aincrad would buckle down and work on helping each other escape from the game’s clutches were only partially true as while there’s quite a number of players are rushing towards becoming stronger, how they’re going about it has sometimes shocked and disgusted him. From the distrust of strangers on the field, the disconnect between “Front Liners” and the tradesmen, merchants and those that couldn’t fight themselves to downright PVP murderers in their mitts, any sense of unity he assumed would occur has vanished from his mind. After nearly dying from a player killer’s blade and used by another player to get the drop on said PVPer, the event has hardened his heart yet strengthen his resolve. Most of the player’s he’d seen the most hubris and disdain towards their fellow players were the Front Liners themselves, as most of the pro gamers like himself seemed to care little for anyone that couldn’t reach their level and seemingly was willing to use anyone and anything to get their way. The events between Rue and Athena were enough to make him walk away from participating towards charging the level bosses as their own survival seemed to be the only thing they sought.
Personal Character Growth
But he hasn’t simply chosen to believe the world is full of darkness and cruelty and that everything was terrible. As for every arrogant and callous “l33t player” he has met, a half dozen less skilled yet potentially talented players have wandered into his life and changed him in some way. No, the world was not bright and beautiful and full of good but it wasn’t a dark and shallow place. Kaito could see the people of Aincrad like a night sky; dark, yes, but with flickering lights of hope and goodness waiting to glow brighter. So while he might feel less inclined to be so open with others in the near future and keep his cards close to his chest, he hasn’t given up hope in protecting and helping others, hoping to find the other "stars" like himself to light the way, the right way for everyone.LIKES
- Saimin Noodle Soup
- Sengoku-era history
- Game Theory & Design
- Suntory Whiskey
- Stability
- Generosity
DISLIKES
- Nori Seaweed
- Overly Sweetened Foods & Drinks
- Student Loans
- NerveGear (Due To Its Effects On The Gaming Industry)
- Selfishness
- Loneliness
[PTab=«CHARACTER»]
«QUICK REFERENCE»
«CHARACTER»
LEVEL: 4
EXP: 2930/4000
COL: 811
«STATS»
HEALTH: 65
ATTACK: 40 (6% CRIT)
DEFENSE: 50
«ATTRIBUTES»
STRENGTH: 3
AGILITY: 4
DEXTERITY: 3
ENDURANCE: 3
«TALENTS»
«CURVED BLADE MASTERY LV2»:6/10
«MAPPING LV2»: 1/10
«BLACKSMITHING LV3»: 1/10
«TAILORING LV1»: 6/10
[PTab=«SWORD ARTS»]
«LV 2. WIND BLADE» (0/10) EFFECT: 3 SWINGS 75%, 1 SWING 100%, CAUSING 1 TURN STUN (COOLDOWN: 3 TURNS) TRIGGER: THE WEAPON IS PULLED DOWNWARD, TIP TOWARDS THE GROUND AT A DIAGONAL, CROUCHING DOWN AS IF TO GATHER MOMENTUM FOR PUSHING OFF HIS BACK LEG WITH HIS FREE ARM UP IN A DEFENSIVE POSTURE, LEFT SHOULDER TOWARDS THE ENEMY, AS KAITO IS RIGHT-HANDED UNTIL THE WEAPON TURNS A GLOWING AZURE BLUE. DESCRIPTION: THE WIND SEEMS TO DIE FOR A MOMENT, SWIRLING AROUND KAITO AND HIS WEAPON, THE GUSTS HIGH-LIGHTED IN BLUE LIGHT BEFORE SUDDENLY PROPELLING HIM FORWARD AT INCREDIBLE SPEED. ANIME-LIKE SPEED LINES FOLLOW HIS CHARGE BEFORE TURNING INTO A SPINNING DERVISH OF SLASHES AND STABS, PUNCTUATED EACH BLOW WITH ITS NAMESAKE. “KA! ZE! NO!...” AND FINISHING OFF WITH THE WIND ENERGY THAT PROPELS HIM SURGING THROUGH HIS WEAPON, SENDING THE ENEMY FLYING AS IF HIT WITH GALE FORCE WINDS WITH THE FINAL SYLLABLE OF “HA!” | |
«LV 1. LIGHTNING TRAP» (0/10) EFFECT: 1 SWING AT 200%, HAS A 50% CHANCE TO CAUSE PARALYSIS (25% AGAINST PLAYERS/BOSS) TARGET HAS A 25% CHANCE TO CURE PARALYSIS AND GAINS AN ADDITIONAL 25% EVERY TURN. TRIGGER: KAITO LEANS HIS BODY BACK AS IF POISED TO CHARGE, THE TIP OF HIS WEAPON POINTED FORWARD THE ENEMY WITH HIS ARM PULLED BACK WITH HIS HAND NEAR HIS FACE, HIS FREE HAND (IF AVAILABLE) POINTED WITH TWO FINGERS EXTENDED IN THE SAME DIRECTION. DESCRIPTION: CRACKLING ENERGY BEGINS TO FORM AROUND KAITO'S PERSON, ELECTRICITY BUILDING WITH STATIC PULSES ACROSS HIS BODY, CHARGING INTO HIS WEAPON UNTIL IT BEGINS TO RUPTURE BOLTS ALL ALONG THE BLADE AS IF LIKE A TESLA COIL. AS IT FINALLY CHARGES WITH ITS BLADE TURNING A FAMILIAR BLUE, HE CHARGES AT HIS TARGET WITH LIGHTING FAST SPEED, YELLING OUT ITS NAME OF "RAIMIN!" AND EITHER STABBING INTO OR SLICING THROUGH THE TARGET, ITS OWN ELECTRIC TENDRILS ERUPTING FROM THE BLADE AND ENVELOPING AROUND THE ENEMY, CAUSING THEM TO CONVULSE AND CLENCH TIGHT AND UNABLE TO MOVE THEIR MUSCLES. | |
UNUSED SWORD ART SLOT EFFECT: TRIGGER: DESCRIPTION: | |
UNUSED SWORD ART SLOT EFFECT: TRIGGER: DESCRIPTION: | |
UNUSED SWORD ART SLOT EFFECT: TRIGGER: DESCRIPTION: |
[PTab=«INVENTORY» (5/10)]
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[PTab=«EQUIP»]
[PTab=«TITLES»]
[PTab=«GUILD»]
[PTab=«HOME/SHOP»]
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[PTab=«BIOGRAPHY»]
Katsuro entered the world of Aincrad as one of the lucky ones with a Beta Key to his name, spawning into the floating castle as Kaito, a handsome, cerulean haired young hero that during his first moments in the game was to be “saved” by a group of friendly players who weren’t aware of the “last blow gets the spoils” rule, realizing that was probably why they were getting yelled at for helping. Getting a sense that these were players that were either inexperienced in MMOs or at least younger than their avatars suggested, he went over the basic rules that they were missing with them. When brought up that he was like the missing “brains” of their group, he realized what these players were roleplaying: Haruto, “The Crimson Knight of Justice”, a red-headed heroic looking young man with a “main character” design. Kabuto, “The Green Giant”, seven and a half feet tall with dark flowing hair and muttonchops and armored like the beetle of his namesake. Sαkurα, “The Angel of Battle”, a demure and beautiful female duelist with long blonde hair and pink eyes the color of her namesake (though the name she wanted was taken so fast, she had to replace the “A’s” with the Greek symbol). And “The Golden Girl” TigerLily, a brunette haired young tomboy and dagger user with a penchant for yellow scarves.
Realizing what they were doing and liking the idea himself, Katsuro asked if he could join them as Kaito, “The Sapphire Samurai” to round out their Sentai Team. And for most of the rest of the Beta, the player base was subjected to the silly but well-meaning “Aincrad Rangers”, striking poses before heading into battle, jumping into the fray with other players but making sure they had the final blow, while taking in sights and sounds of this amazing world. Although the Beta lasted quite a while, with these new friends it felt like the release date was just around the corner. With agreements on where they were going to meet up and when on Launch Day, the opening of Sword Art Online couldn’t come any quicker for him.
Returning to Aincrad in his beginner armor and weapon, things didn’t seem too different, except for the much busier Town of Beginnings, quickly meeting up with the Rangers as everyone looked just like he remembered… except for TigerLily who seemed a bit taller, her face a bit more feminine and… a bit bustier. At first Kaito assumed that she was beginning to grow out of her tomboy phase but that was quickly forgotten when she and Haruto, who turned out to have been her brother, got into an altercation again, batting about his avatar’s head before grabbing Kaito and asking him for help in an item drop to start her “Ranger Suit.” The fact they were doing this by themselves told him something he had suspected for a little while: that Lily might in fact have a crush on him. He hadn’t told the group yet his real age and were seemingly friends through their online personas only (except for Haruto and Lily.) Not wanting to hurt her feelings for trying her hand at dating for the first time, he played along and even enjoyed just chatting with her about stuff that wasn’t about the game proper.
However, that was broken abruptly while grinding boars when a new rare mob, a War Hog, abruptly appeared and gored TigerLily in the process. Such a difficult fight out of nowhere was at first considered pretty interesting but it left her with a bleeding status effect that didn’t go away over time and neither of them had thought to bring any bandage items with them. Realizing that the nearest town was maybe too far away to reach in time, Lily and Kaito said their farewells and that he’d meet back up in town when she revived so the team could work together to bring down that War Hog. But as her body disintegrated, a haunted look seemed to come over her as if something was greatly wrong and disappeared into pixels. A little unnerved by that, he began to return to town when a Whisper from Haruto asked him what happened between the two of them that she’d want to log out. Not understanding what he meant, he looked at his Friend’s List to see that, indeed, she was Offline and before he could fully suggest a failure of the Nerv Gear or Day One system drops, he was transported straight to the Town of Beginnings like everyone else in the game that fateful day.
Transported into the same close proximity with the rest of the Rangers, TigerLily still not with them, the ghostly avatar of Akihiko Kayaba flying above the city changed everything; the declarations of the “new rules” and the news articles of those who had perished already. As well as the Mirrors teleported in their hands as the truth was revealed to everyone. Haruto wasn’t too far off from his avatar, just sized up to be an older teen; but Kabuto turned out to be shortish, chubby boy and Sαkurα being a petite blonde boy as well. None of them looked over the age of 14… so when their blue haired ally turned into an older, disheveled man, the implications were obvious and the mask of confidence was destroyed.
In reality, Katsuro Carter-Mizushima was a 5th year college student whose life was “destroyed” before he even had a chance to join the work force. Being born in Hawaii from a father in the military and a Japanese Ex-Pat, most of his life he moved from school to school, island to island, either due to district restructuring or his father’s upward employment resulting in him moving to other military bases. This finally reached a head when Katsuro was 11 and his father was redeployed to Okinawa, where his cultural divide as well as racial mixing made him an oddity in a land where conformity was king. Having not had many friends growing up, he delved into more solitary activities, both geeky like gaming and Japanese history, as well as well as more sporty like kayaking, paddle-boarding and swimming in general.
He knew he wanted to make video games at an early age thanks to many games coming out at the time emphasizing player creativity but the Japanese education system was furiously brutal compared to back home. Sacrificing a lot of free-time and even his health at times, Katsuro was able to get into the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology for computer science and 3D modeling… only to have the rug pulled from under him halfway through his undergraduate degree with the release of the Nerv Gear, sending “The Big Three” scrambling for answers and a competitor for a machine built seemingly in secret and only using first party software at first. Katsuro watched the news in horror as his potential employers went belly up trying to push 3D headset and glove technology that paled in comparison or went mobile or simply left the industry while they still had revenue. And to finally add insult to injury, his parents, not understanding that he knew next to nothing about the workings of this new technology, had bought him the system for “research” and fun. For the past year after he got the machine, the young man had seemingly given up, having barely left his dorm room except for food and to keep at least a passing grade by showing up in class when he absolutely needed to. Sword Art Online, despite being the thing that had ended the potential of a lucrative and respected career, was his only escape and the Aincrad Rangers were what was keeping him, at least on the surface level, happy.
But now the 23 year old man was standing in a crowd with a group of children that once called him their friend, with the red headed Haruto’s feelings of betrayal at all of them but especially at “Kaito.” If this was true, his sister was dead, because of him, because of laziness, because of being unprepared even though he was the “expert” and demanded to know what exactly he must have been doing by himself alone with Lily. Not caring how loud he was, he cursed at Kaito, labeling him a pervert and a pedophile loudly to anyone nearby who wasn’t still in shock at Kayaba’s reveal. Stumblingly making futile attempts to explain himself, the young boy with hate in his eyes told him never to contact him again or else he would kill him and ran, helping to cause the surging riot of players trying to escape in a panic. Losing sight of Kabuto and Sαkurα in the crowd, not knowing what to say either, everyone went their separate ways.
Ostracized by his former friends, no hope for the future and the one man that took it away also trying to kill him as well as 10,000 other players, Kaito wanders to find a purpose and meaning, still feeling a need to help others but only in small ways. “The Sapphire Samurai” was now just a wandering ronin, doing the only thing he knows how to do: survive the game’s challenges with others along the way.
Background Updated
Surviving is not enough. Surviving is not living. As to simply survive means to do whatever it takes to live, regardless of anyone else.
That was what Kaito had seen in the past few months as Floor 2 finally opened up, still no contact from his old friends and only a little success in making new ones. As players who had the real world experience to back them up in Aincrad began to pull away from the herd, a breed of players, “Front Liners” had begun to form as the backbone to the assault on the first Floor Boss, as the very young, the old and the unexperienced were left to either fend for themselves back in the Town of Beginnings or hopefully use their talents in item crafting to keep food in their digital bellies. While there might have been others who were different, Kaito saw seemingly a reoccurring personality of players who felt higher in stature and breed to those who were levels below them, that if they weren’t pulling their weight they weren’t helping at all. And if it wasn’t that, then it was seemingly trying to take advantage of these “noobs” with selling basic information of where enemy types might more likely drop an item they need. And in the process, those that couldn’t fend for themselves tried to while away their troubles with in-game events and parties to try and forget their situation.
This finally came to a head when the whispers of PVPers began to filter through the Town of Beginnings began to reach his ear, at first thinking it couldn’t be possible, not with how potentially serious their situation was. But Kaito was wrong as a killer calling itself Razor split open his neck while another player took advantage of him being targeted to attack her back. The tactic wasn’t what drew him to rage but the fact it was never explained nor warned to him by a seemingly Machiavellian player much younger than him. At that moment, she became the face of the very kind of person he’d come to hate in these past few months and revealed the truth: that when Kaito asked of Aincrad, “Are we not all in this together?” the answer was a conclusive, “No, no we are not.”
But before he could wander into littlest dive bar, down the darkest alleyway in the Town of Beginnings for how many more months before the outside world pulled the plug, a chance encounter with one of his rangers, Kabuto, revealed that his original beliefs were not completely gone and could still have some use. True, Kabuto wished to be a Front Liner himself along with the young friends he had made but he wanted to prove to be useful to this world. And so Kaito too wanted to find where he could prove most useful too, as a chance encounter working as the bodyguard for a group of lower level craftsmen wanting to get to the next floor to build the higher level wares began to form an idea in his head. Perhaps the “Aincrad Rangers” were still needed in Sword Art Online…
[PTab=«FRIENDS»]
Kitferge Empty Empty
[/PTabbedContent={width:550px;color:#FFFFFF;background-color:#FFFFFF;overflow: auto;border: #FFFFFF 0px solid;text-align: justify;font-family: times;font-size: 9pt;color: #FFFFFF}]RAZZ ♦ ADOXOGRAPHY
