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earthshine) wrote2021-07-12 04:02 pm
⊚ apocalypse how application.
Character Name:
Takashi Shirogane
Age:
25
Canon:
Voltron: Legendary Defender
Canon point:
Season 2: Episode 3
History:
Personality:
>> Reliable. He fits the role of the classic leader: tall, broad, and commanding. Shiro has this presence about him that fosters respect and a desire to follow, which has served him well from Galaxy Garrison to becoming the Black Paladin. He’s calm and collected, very much aware of the responsibility that follows him. He knows others put a great deal of trust in him and he respects that, treasures it even. So he continually pushes himself to every limit in order to ensure himself worthy of his position. He has high-expectations as a result; mostly for himself, but also from those that fall under his command. Decisive and disciplined, he runs a tight ship and rarely strays from his focus. He’s immensely effective in that way, which makes him a juggernaut of an opponent on the battlefield or at the helm of command.
>> Supportive. Through his considerate nature, he connects easily with others. He’s a genuinely kind soul; one who is filled to the brink with patience and empathy. No matter what he himself is going through, he’s never too tired or too busy to lend an ear, a shoulder, a hand ( snerk ). He’s sensitive to the struggles of others, perhaps as a result of his own trials in life and as such, he wants the people around him to be comfortable and ( as much as a war will allow ) happy.
>> Disciplined. Shiro is, in a word, disciplined. Patience yields focus afterall. Furthermore, he is extremely practical. He has a tactical mind and a pragmatic military background, making it easier for him to make the tough ( sometimes unpopular ) calls. So when the chips are down, Shiro doesn’t allow himself to become flustered. He keeps a level head and goes through a mental check-list of options. He’s very much the type to always defy the odds and turn an otherwise hopeless situation around on its head. He doesn’t quit; he fights until he physically can’t fight anymore. Nonetheless, he does see reason. Once it settles that a particular fight is over, he cuts his losses with a compromise or a retreat on the idea of living to fight another day.
>> Stubborn. He’s much more accustomed to being the rock to others. He has a very set mindset of being self-sufficient and of not needing to be protected. As such, he internalizes a lot of his troubles and traumas. If asked, he usually shrugs off the concern with a dark, ill-timed joke or a flat out denial. That stubborn nature that prevents him from showing weakness is what has propelled him through life: from rising in the ranks at Galaxy Garrison to surviving the gladiator pits. He learned early not to show too much vulnerability and instead, has always set his mind to a goal, gritted his teeth, and made it a reality, despite the obstacles laid out before him. However, recently ( after a few humbling experiences ), he’s become better about letting others share the burdens weighing heavy on him. He’s still reluctant to ask too much though. At least in the means of accepting help for his insecurities and traumas. He does ask and expect a lot from those around him when it comes to other things, such as behavior. He has a surprisingly short fuse for childish antics ( Lance + Keith bickering ) or illogical ramblings ( Slav, he’s looking at you ). Shiro gets stuck in his head sometimes: always analyzing, always weighing possibilities. So he, sometimes, gets set in an idea of how things are supposed to be or how they are supposed to play out, which makes him difficult to satisfy or convince if things stray too far from his own perspective.
>> Selfless. It sounds good, but he pushes it too far. Winning the war means everything when the universe is at stake. Focused on that, he downplays his own significance. As long as the team survives, as long as Voltron can continue to fight, he doesn’t necessarily care what happens to himself along the way. Some of this lack of concern for himself stems from an early life diagnosis. With a degenerative disease diagnosis weighing heavy on him, he grew up knowing his body will give out on him far sooner than his age calls for. That’s why he’s so comfortable with the idea of his own death. Out of this, he's come away with a motivation to do something good and productive and meaningful with his short life, meaning that he devotes most of his energy into helping others.
Suitability:
Shiro will interact with ADI and other NPCs for the same reason he took up mantle as leader of Voltron: something greater than himself is in motion and if he chooses to do nothing, people will suffer. Shiro is very much about helping others and protecting the innocent. So standing by and letting the world be consumed to the point of everyone being stuck in a personalized hellscape? Yeah, no. Shiro will do whatever it is he needs to do to provide assistance to avoid this fate, even if it comes at a cost to himself.
Powers/Abilities:
>> Hand-to-Hand Combat: Well, for starters, he does have a hand up ( heh pun ) in close combat, because his right arm has been replaced with a piece of tech ( we’ll get into that ). Aside from the upgrade, he’s built like a brick house ( a year playing gladiator in an alien ring and ultimately becoming “the champion” has a way of building the stamina and strength better than any old gym would ). Physically strong, surprisingly fast on his feet, and equipped with a tactical brain, he’s lethal. Brutal even.
>> Upgraded Right Arm: He lost his right arm during his captivity with the Galra ( it’s not entirely clear how he lost his arm, but he does make an off-hand comment in a flashback about how “they already took his arm” while he’s strapped to an operating table ). Either way, he’s been fitted with a cybernetic prosthesis mid-bicep on his right arm. It packs a punch. The increased strength is only the beginning though. Activated, it emits a purple glow and if he focuses the energy, he can actually cut through walls, doors, droids, most anything. He can also focus that energy to burn hotter and melt substances, such as steel. Furthermore, it can work as a power source ( he powered a control panel of a Galra cruiser that crash landed on a planet, by activating his arm and placing it on the panel ).
>> Piloting Skills: He’s the Garrison’s Golden Boy. One of the few people who can out-fly him is Keith. He trained in the fighter class and eventually became an astronaut. Since then, he’s flown around in a sentient lion.
>> Lion Bond: It’s not really relevant to this game since the lions obviously aren’t there but Shiro does mention in canon ( and it’s been displayed numerous times ) that if paladins have a strong enough bond with their lion, their lion will respond to them by coming to their aid.
Entity Affinity:
>> The Flesh
Picking this entity for Shiro due to his PTSD surrounding his time as a prisoner of the Galra Empire. There, he was forced to fight as a gladiator in deathmatches as entertainment. He earned the title Champion somewhere in the span of that year. Body laden with scars and hair gone partially white from stress, Shiro feels somewhat disconnected from who he once was, especially now that his right arm isn’t even his own. Haggar and her druids used to experiment on him in-between matches and at some point, replaced his right arm with a cybernetic prothesis. Haggar boasts that she “made him stronger” and while Shiro, regretfully, acknowledges that there is usefulness to be found in having an upgraded arm, he hates how his consent never came into play. He was forced into becoming a human weapon and he’s yet to make peace with that.
As a side note of his PTSD, when confronted with a particular stimuli, he freezes up or goes into a panic. In the beginning, when he was fresh from captivity and adjusting to being a paladin, he was doubting his ability to lead because of the various instances of his attacks. By season 2, he seems much more comfortable with himself, but it is doubtful that he has completely settled those demons.
Also, in general, he’s had body issues for years. He was diagnosed with a degenerative disease ( canon never specifies what disease it is or when he was diagnosed, but based on clues, it seems to be Becker’s Muscular Dystrophy ). Those with BMD have progressive weakness of the muscles that can lead to requiring a wheelchair later in life. They have a mean age of death in the mid-40s, mostly due to heart failure from dilated cardiomyopathy. So, Shiro already had some resentment for the cards he’d been dealt in life with his body. After the alien abduction, it’s only made worse.
>> The Eye
Shiro has a bad habit of not being forthcoming with certain information involving himself. For example, he never wanted anyone to know about his BMD. Also, he doesn’t talk to the Voltron team about his PTSD ( very briefly, he mentions being made to fight in gladiator pits, but he doesn’t talk about the trauma he’s still working through ). He very much likes to project a certain image for himself: strong, capable, dependable. He loves helping others and talking them through their problems, but on some level, he doesn’t want to be known himself.
Beyond that, there’s pockets in his memory from the year spent as a prisoner. As much as he wants to fill in all the blanks, he’s also afraid of what he might uncover ( for example, when Sendak references Shiro’s time as a prisoner and how he’s now a broken soldier, Shiro loses it ). Sometimes it’s better not knowing the full extent of pain and damage done to a person.
>> The Slaughter
He’s found himself in a galactic war, up against an alien empire. The threat of violence and death is constantly hanging over him. He fears the day that one or all of the paladins fall in battle and the last hope for the universe is snuffed out. They’ve been incredibly lucky thus far but he knows that luck can’t hold out forever. It’s not just the battles though. Part of him fears being taken captive again and being subjected to deathmatches again or worse, experimentation. To this day, he still doesn’t rightly know what Haggar had planned for him when her druids fitted him with the cybernetic prothesis. Maybe her work isn’t finished -- maybe she has more in store for him.
Inventory:
>> Black paladin armor/flight suit.
>> Galra arm.
Samples:
Noctium Log - Chatting with Allura