[hider=Asuma Obokata]
[color=FFD700][h3][u][b]Basic Information[/b][/u][/h3][/color]

[color=FFD700][b]Name:[/b][/color] 
[INDENT]Asuma Obokata[/INDENT]
[color=FFD700][b]Nickname/Alias/Etc:[/b] [/color]
[INDENT][i]Sparkles[/i] (much to his bemusement)[/INDENT]
[color=FFD700][b]Gender:[/b] [/color]
[INDENT]Male[/INDENT]
[color=FFD700][b]Age:[/b][/color] 
[INDENT]22[/INDENT]
[color=FFD700][b]Height:[/b] [/color]
[INDENT]A tiny bit under 6ft.[/INDENT]
[color=FFD700][b]Weight:[/b] [/color]
[INDENT]Around 85kg[/INDENT]
[color=FFD700][b]Home District:[/b] [/color]
[INDENT]Starrybank, White Coast.[/INDENT]

[color=FFD700][h3][b][u]Appearance[/u][/b][/h3][/color]

[color=FFD700][b]Hair Color:[/b][/color]
[INDENT]Black[/INDENT] 
[color=FFD700][b]Eye Color:[/b][/color]
[INDENT]Light green, with flecks of brown.[/INDENT] 
[color=FFD700][b]Ethnicity:[/b][/color]
[INDENT]Japanese-American[/INDENT] 
[color=FFD700][b]Physical Appearance:[/b][/color]
[INDENT]Asuma stands at just under six-foot-tall and is of a reasonable lanky build. His muscles are toned but not overly large as a result of mostly stamina based training; his gym instructor says he has a ‘triathletes body’. Whilst his Japanese heritage is still distinct in his looks, his father’s semi-western genes have clearly had some impact, as he has a wider squarer jaw and paler skin like his father. His eyes, which he clearly got from his mother, always look sincere due to the way his eyebrows are naturally shaped. His black hair is always kept relatively short and is spiked up (or rather roughed up) at the top. Just below his hairline he wears his red and white paisley bandana which, along with the scar that stretches from his right cheek bone to the bottom right corner of his jaw, makes him easy to recognise. He tends to also sport a short neat beard, more as a result of his laziness than any fashion sense.[/INDENT] 
[color=FFD700][b]Attire:[/b] [/color]
[INDENT]The first thing most notice about Asuma is the headband he permanently wears. Its design is nothing particularly unique, it’s just a simple red and white paisley pattern. However, it has a lot of sentimental value to Asuma and so even if he has to take it off he’ll usually keep it on him or close by. Other than that you’re likely to find him wearing fairly loose fitting light clothing during the day, such as linen or silk shirts and shorts. This is because he’s still climatised to the artic weather from his time at Academy 218. In the evenings or when the weather gets colder, he’s likely to switch his shorts for a pair of jeans and add a jacket to the mix. [/INDENT]

[color=FFD700][h3][b][u]Personality[/u][/b][/h3][/color]

[color=FFD700][b]Innate & Outward Personality:[/b][/color]
[INDENT]The first thing that most tend to notice about Asuma (after the headband) is how laid back he is. He’s the kind of person who doesn’t seem to put an awful lot of energy into anything he does on a normal day-to-day basis, especially where serving coffee is concerned. This often makes him appear bored, and again this is especially true where serving coffee is concerned. Whilst he can get pretty annoyed, he does his best to keep a calm exterior. This is perhaps more as a result of his training and is wish to keep his abilities in check than anything else. As both the kind of person who doesn’t like to be in the spotlight, and someone who’s very curious, he’s far more likely to sit back and listen than he is to talk. When he does talk he’s more likely to be asking questions than giving answers, though certainly not in a particularly assertive way.

Despite this, Asuma can be quite a motivated and serious individual, particularly when it comes to protecting others. With a strong sense of morals and ethics, he’s unwilling to stand by at watch when injustices occur, however small they may be. On more than a few occasions he’s called people out on their bs when they’ve been prejudice and displayed phobias of various types. As someone who wants to join RAVEN, he’s always looking for a chance to prove himself a hero – perhaps more to convince himself he’s capable rather than trying to convince anyone else.  [/INDENT] 
[color=FFD700][b]Hobbies/Interests:[/b][/color]
[INDENT]Swimming; working out; practising Wing Chun; clubbing; bowling.[/INDENT]
[color=FFD700][b]Skills/Talents:[/b] [/color]
[INDENT][list][*]Good hand-to-hand fighter: Years of practising martial arts and keeping his body healthy have left him with the ability to defend himself. Whilst certainly far from the best fighter, and certainly not on the level of combat trained individuals, his use of light flashes to dazzle his opponents often gives him an edge.
[*]Decent motorcyclist.
[*]Inquisitive: Asuma has always been inquisitive, and often he’s more than willing to go poking his nose into places he shouldn’t. He’s gotten quite good at getting into trouble. 
[*]Stealthy: His curious nature has also led to Asuma gaining a penchant for sneaking around. Although sneaking around doesn’t exactly play to his strengths where his powers are concerned.
[*]Some very basic Japanese: Asuma has picked up a little Japanese from his parents and can make a little conversation. Although he actually knows quite a few Japanese words, he struggles to string them together.[/list] [/INDENT]
[color=FFD700][b]Goals/Motivation[/b][/color]
[INDENT]Wants to join RAVEN and stopped events like Verthaven from ever happening again. [/INDENT]
[color=FFD700][b]History/Bio:[/b][/color]
[INDENT]
In short, Asuma Obokata was born and raised in New York. He was sent to Academy 218 when he was eight, where he stayed until he was twenty. During this time he fell in love with a girl called Maria, who unfortunately was blinded by Asuma during a drug fuelled accident. Maria, unable to continue her studies, moved back to Verthaven where she was a victim in the disaster. Since then Asuma has had the goal of joining NEST (now RAVEN), but has been rejected entry on two occasions. He has spent the last two years living in Baybridge, working in a coffee shop. 
[hider=Long version]Asuma Obokata was the second of three children born to Yamato and Reika Obokata, and their only son. His father, Yamato, is of mixed American-Japanese heritage and his mother, Reika, was actually born and raised in Japan before moving state-side. Both of his parents are stock brokers. The family was raised in New York City, and up until around the age of eight Asuma’s life was very average and uneventful. But it was around this age that his powers began to manifest and it became clear what his metahuman powers were. Short random uncontrollable bursts of lights were more than enough to dazzle and temporarily blind friends and family on a semi-regular occasion. Because Asumas parents wanted the best possible future for their son, given he was a metahuman, and wanted him to learn to control his powers, they decided to enrol him at an early age to an academy. Not willing to settle on any school however, they enrolled him to the prestigious Academy 218 off the coast of Alaska. 

Whilst it certainly wasn’t an easy transition for any child to go through, Asuma quite well and fairly quickly, no doubt because he was lucky enough to make quite a few friends off the bat. The excellent support of the teachers went a long way too. By the time he reached his teens Asuma had gained a very good level of control over his powers, and reached a point where instead of simply knowing how to turn them on and off, was starting to experiment with them. It was also around this time that he started dating a girl called Maria Patel, a fellow student who had the power to ‘see’ smells and fragrances. Although they were still both quite young, they became inseparable. 

Not long after Asuma turned fifteen, he and Maria managed to sneak off the island by hiding away on the ferry. They skived off school for an entire week so that they could fly to California and go to a festival, using money which they tricked their parents into giving them. It was at this festival that Maria brought Asuma his now trademark bandana, which he’s worn ever since. Unfortunately, it was during this festival, when Asuma was dumb enough to try some mysterious pills that he was offered, that a tragic incident occurred. Under the influence of some form of stimulant, Asuma got careless with his ability and ended up blinding Maria with a laser beam (think bad-ass laser pointer). Although the two of them were quickly taken to hospital, unfortunately it was too late to do anything to save Maria’s sight. Once NEST found out they promptly apprehended Asuma and sent him back to the Academy. Understandably Asuma was burdened with a tremendous amount of guilt and for a while stopped using his abilities completely. Maria on the other hand had moved back in with her parents in Verthaven while she became accustomed to her new disability. She still spoke to Asuma and claimed she still loved him, but unfortunately neither would ever get the chance to see each other again. 

Seven years ago, not long after the blinding incident, another tragedy had a big impact on the lives of Maria and Asuma – the Verthaven Disaster. Still not completely aware of what happened, nor does he have any idea what happened to Maria, Asuma knows that the only girl he’s ever loved died in that fateful event. Although there was nothing he could have done, Asuma still carries with him massive guilt because he knows that had she not been blinded, she would have never been there. Not the kind of person to simply wallow in self-pity, Asuma has instead made it his life goal to join RAVEN and do what he can to stop such disasters from ever happening again. A naive and simple goal perhaps, but one that he can stick by. 

Much to his continued annoyance though, he has now twice been rejected by RAVEN since leaving the academy. Both times he has been told that not only does he not have the right mentality and discipline, but they’ve cited the Maria incident as grounds to suggest he cannot be trusted with such an important role. Because of this he’s spent the last two years living in Baybridge, working as a barista in a coffee shop. He hopes that by being close to RAVEN HQ, he has a better chance of eventually getting recruited. [/hider][/INDENT] 

[color=FFD700][h3][u][b]Relationships[/b][/u][/h3][/color]

[color=FFD700][b]Family:[/b] [/color]
[INDENT][list][*]Yamato Obokata (father)
[*]Reika Obokata (mother)
[*]Kimiko Obokata (older sister)
[*]Takara Obokata (younger sister – metahuman)[/list][/INDENT]

[hider=Dynamics:]
[indent][h3]| [b]Jennifer Marissa Caspin[/b] |[/h3] | [b]Neutral[/b] | [b]Co-worker[/b] | [i]"Apparently she’s a metahuman like me. I hear she’s from Verthaven too. Perhaps I ought to get to know her..."[/i] |
[indent]Asuma and Jennifer both work at the [i]’Thanks a Latte Coffee Bar’[/i]. As far as he knows she’s the only other metahuman working there, but he’s never really had a good chance to speak to her due to them being on different shift patterns.[/indent][/indent][/hider]


[color=FFD700][h3][b][u]Abilities[/u][/b][/h3][/color]

[color=FFD700][b]Power Class:[/b][/color]
[INDENT]Elemental[/INDENT] 
[color=FFD700][b]Power:[/b] [/color]
[INDENT][color=FFD700][i]Light Generation[/i][/color]
Asuma is able to generate light from his body. Whilst he can theoretically shine light from any part of his body [color=696969][i](no comment)[/i][/color] he finds it much easier to focus energy through his hands. He is able to generate light of varying intensity and colour, depending on what the situation calls for. From acting as a human glow-torch in a dark-lit area, to pulsing intense light to blind his foes, there are a surprisingly wide range of applications. Using light in a more intense and/or focussed way tend to take more energy. For example, Asuma is able to focus intense infrared light in order to essentially cook his opponents, but this takes a massive amount of energy and will tire him out incredibly quickly. 

[color=FFD700][i]Light Absorption[/i][/color]
The amount of energy required to generate light is relatively high, and it’s only because Asuma is able to absorb light energy that he can use his powers. Otherwise he’d probably have to stuff down a silly amount of energy bars in order to function. However, this means that his abilities are kind-of a catch 22, as the more light he’s exposed to, the more energy he will have. But the more light he’s exposed to, the less effective his powers are. 

[color=FFD700][i]Laser Cutter[/i][/color]
Perhaps the most interesting and advanced application of his ability that he’s been able to use so far. By focusing a vast amount of light energy into a very small area he is able to make a tiny laser about an inch in length, which is able to cut through multiple materials including steel. The amount of energy and focus required means that at current, this application isn’t fit for combat at all. There’d be nothing stopping him from using it to break through a lock or something though.

[color=FFD700][i]Extreme Optic Conditioning[/i][/color]
His eyes seem to have a natural ability to adjust to extreme light conditions, otherwise he would have gone blind years ago.
[/INDENT]
[color=FFD700][b]Limits:[/b][/color]
[INDENT]As previously mentioned, his powers can take a lot of energy and focus depending on how he wishes to apply them. And whilst he can absorb light energy, his powers are less effective when more light is present. For example his pulsating flashes are great at blinding opponents in dark areas, but out in the open in the middle of a sunny day? Not so much, not without using more intensity anyway. The light energy isn't something he can store ridiculous amounts of either, as if he takes in too much his body is unable to handle it and can potentially go into shock. He also is unable to bend light, so get yourself a parasol or some decent shades and you should be alright.[/INDENT]
[color=FFD700][b]Weaknesses/Drawbacks:[/b][/color] 
[INDENT][color=FFD700][i]Indiscriminate Damage[/i][/color]
Whilst he can focus his light to a certain degree, it’s effects can often be fairly indiscriminate. On more than a couple of occasions he has temporarily blinded friends, family and colleagues; on one tragic occasion he even permanently blinded his girlfriend.

[color=FFD700][i]Radiation Burn[/i][/color]
Although Asuma seems to have a much higher tolerance to light radiation than most individuals, in great part because his ability to absorb it, he is certainly not immune to it. The more light energy he expels, particularly when focused in particular ways (e.g. when he uses his laser cutter), the more susceptible he is to the damage. Though he's never had any serious burns so far, that could be attributed to the fact that he's never been in a serious position where he's had to push himself. It should also be noted that whilst he's got a high resistance to light radiation, he's not got any particular resistance to standard heat radiation - so feel free to set him on fire. 
[/INDENT]

[color=FFD700][b][u]Other:[/u][/b] [/color]
[INDENT][list][*]He drives a bike which looks a lot like this: [url=http://powersports.honda.com/assets/flash/model/gallery/CBR300R_2015_03.jpg]Honda CBR300R[/url].
[*]He has a fear of rats and, ironically, anglerfish.
[*]He sometimes smokes when he’s under a lot of stress.[/list][/INDENT]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-z4sUKWd6Q[/youtube]
[/hider]