Adkins is derived from Adam, meaning of the red earth. If this is too indirect of a color-name, I will change his last name to Brown. [hider=Thomas]Name: Thomas Adkins Sex: Male Age: 41 Phenotype: Human Kingdom: Atlas Appearance: [img]http://blog.cheaperthandirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Wolrd-War-1-Bristish1.jpg[/img] At present he is almost never seen in public without his gas mask on. Personality: Thomas is almost never happy or sorrowful; rather he’s perpetually in a state of begrudging acceptance. He never learned proper etiquette and as a result is foul mouthed and has little patience for formalities. He’s always ready for action, which has the effect of leaving him on edge and uncomfortable in normal settings. His outlook is pessimistic and this is a fact he doesn’t mind sharing, especially when he sees someone who he feels is out of touch with reality. On rare occasions he will display his strange and dark sense of humor, but most of the time he is serious. Only a few things actually rile him up, and he will forgive a lot of offenses, but displays of cowardice or hesitation in battle are inexcusable in his mind. Thomas has no overarching goal or plan beyond surviving until the next day, and that survival instinct is what shapes his entire philosophy of life. Biography: Thomas’s family lived far from civilization, the nearest settlement was a poor mining town , built on a dust deposit. The only opportunities were working in the mines or manning the fortifications that held off the Grimm. His parents worked long hours in the town, and left him to be raised by his elderly grandfather during his youth. Thomas’ grandfather was a veteran of the great war. He grew up around war and violence, and passed those stories on to Thomas. In school Thomas got into a lot of fights with kids from the town, and his academic performance was poor. After all, he saw no value in academic learning, whereas fighting had a sort of primal appeal to him. Every year the dust mine grew emptier, and Grimm attacks at the perimeter grew stronger. After his grandfather passed away Thomas felt lost, but he found purpose again at the local Atlas military station. Although he was too young to join as a full soldier at this point, he could perform menial tasks and learn from the soldiers, who taught Thomas discipline and stoicism. When he turned old enough he applied to the academy, because he saw it as the next logical step in his path. The dedication and persistence he showed was enough to get him admitted to the Atlas academy. Atlas Academy taught Thomas discipline and stoicism. He struggled in some of the more academic classes, but always earned high marks during combat assessments. Even though he focused on his studies and had little social life, this was probably the happiest time in Thomas’ life. After graduating he did the only thing that made sense to him, and enlisted in the Atlas military. His commanding officers honored his quest to defend his homeland and stationed him at outpost that guarded the dust mine. The situation in his hometown started bad and never got any better. Every Grimm attack led to more casualties, more suffering, and more Grimm. The frontlines were a perpetual meat grinder, where soldiers were just another resource to stem the tide. Thomas survived endless assaults and counterassaults, which hardened him even further. The commanders weren’t concerned about casualties, even artillery barrages that annihilated their own soldiers were acceptable as long as it kept the Grimm at bay. Thomas could mark the passage of time by how long it had been since his unit had been resupplied and by how many of his comrades had died. After a while the generals made a decision that the town was no longer worth protecting (possibly related to the depletion of the dust mine), and pulled out any assets deemed valuable. The order to retreat never reached Thomas, and in the end only he was left. All of the others who had fought alongside him had long since disappeared or been killed in battle, leaving him alone in the ruins. He scavenged around and survived for years, completely isolated from the rest of humanity. His life was without purpose or direction, just driven off an impulse to survive. His isolation was broken when he encountered a group of salvagers risking their lives to explore the ruins. In exchange for his help navigating the area, they offered him passage back to civilization. He accepted, because it finally occurred to him that there was a world outside of this warzone. His years and experiences on the battlefield still haunted Thomas in civilian life. He lacked any skills other than fighting and had no support network. All the years of war have left him uneasy with peace and the comforts of everyday life, and given him little in the way of moral guidance. Knowing that his present outlook on life fit better in the rough and tumble land of Vacuo, it lacks the rigidity of Atlas and has ample opportunities for one with his skills. At present, he lives a reclusive life and takes jobs from anyone who needs someone who can fight, without any goal beyond simply surviving until the next morning. Aura Color: Reddish Brown Semblance: Insensibility When he's on the cusp of losing consciousness and has exhausted his ability to endure, he can force himself to get up and keep fighting. He doesn’t heal or recover from his accumulated injuries at all, it merely dulls his pain allows him to endure beyond his normal limits of durability. The strain on his body means that it takes him several hours to recover, he cannot do it again until he has had this time to recover. Weapon: War Requiem [hider][center][img]http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/046/a/9/warhammer40k_dkok_shotgun_by_elysiantrooper-d5v14f4.jpg[/img][/center] [/hider] It’s a large bore shotgun, large enough that it can also fire off smaller grenade rounds. They aren’t as powerful as full grenades, but it adds versatility. There is a knife that serves as a bayonet attachment, which looks like this. When detached grip also functions as brass knuckles. [img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/M1918_Trench_Knife.jpg[/img] Favors: Finding new uses for old items Simple furnishings Dark humor Poetry Disfavors: Upper class people Wastefulness Disrespect for soldiers Showing off Small talk Affinities: He’s very durable even without his semblance and is physically strong. He never hesitates in battle, and fights at an intense pace that wears people down. His wild brawling style makes his attacks unpredictable because of their unpolished nature. Thomas is especially fond of headlong charges with shotgun fire transitioned into brutal grappling at close range Faults: Thomas has very poor agility, and doesn’t even bother trying to dodge. His fighting technique is sloppy and inaccurate, and he is less effective at long range. Overall, he tends to rely on brute force rather than smart planning. Theme Song: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezFNIyyGT2o]The Armed Man[/url][/hider]