[h1][center][color=Silver][u]MARVEL: KNIGHTS OF NEW YORK[/u][/color][/center][/h1] [h3][color=Red][b][center]Master of Kung Fu[/center][/b][/color][/h3] [center][i][img]https://cms-assets.tutsplus.com/uploads/users/30/posts/17274/final_image/final1.jpg[/img][/i][/center] [h3][center][u][color=Red]CHARACTER BIO[/color][/u][/center][/h3] [color=Goldenrod][b]Real Name: [/b][/color] Zheng "Shang Chi" [color=Goldenrod][b]Age:[/b][/color] 27 [color=Goldenrod][b]Gender:[/b][/color] Male [color=Goldenrod][b]Powers, Abilities, and Gear:[/b][/color] Although possessing no superpowers, Shang-Chi has a lifetime of combat training behind him and is an expert in all known forms of terrestrial martial arts, enabling him to equal and even best many superhumans. He is highly revered as the "Master of Kung-Fu.", arguably being one of, if not, the most advanced Martial Artist on earth. Although he prefers to fight empty-handed, Shang-Chi can also formidably use any martial arts weapon and is skilled at improvising weapons out of ordinary objects in his environment. Shang's mastery of chi allows him to disperse physical trauma across his entire body (as opposed to accumulating at any single point) and strike with enough force to break through reinforced steel. On many occasions, he has also demonstrated the ability to dodge bullets from automatic weapons after they've been fired. Shang-Chi is usually seen with a pair of bracers made of an unknown material, but known to be durable enough to deflect bullets. Shang-Chi is a master of meditation and relaxation techniques as well, allowing him to receive psychic premonitions, limit the spread of toxins in his blood stream, and render his pain receptors insensitive. While possessing no superhuman senses, Shang-Chi is highly attuned to his surroundings thanks to his training and having spent most of his life thwarting his father's assassins. He is able to pinpoint the breath sounds and heart beats of silent aggressors, as well as the distant loading of firearms by gunmen. Due to his training, Shang-Chi is also less susceptible to mental attacks than most humans. [color=Goldenrod][b]Origin:[/b][/color] Shang-Chi, who's name can be interpreted as "Rising of the Spirit" was born in Honan province in China, son to a wealthy international crime lord named Fu Manchu and an unknown American woman genetically selected by his father. Trained privately by the greatest masters of various disciplines, Chinese and otherwise, Shang had limited contact with his parents. When he did see his father, his father told him that all of his training was being directed toward some sort of great humanitarian goal, as his father manipulated Shang into thinking that he was a philanthropist. When the time finally came for Shang to face the outside world and carry out this mission, he was transported to England, where his mission was assassination. He knew nothing other than to honor his father with complete loyalty, so after stealthily sneaking into his target's home, he killed who he thought was an evil man in one swift strike. British secret agent Sir Dennis Nayland-Smith arrived on the scene in time to catch Shang, but of course couldn't keep him there. Shang later sought out his mother, now living in London, who then told him the truth about her former husbands life of crime and evil. At that time, Shang swore to become his father's enemy, and do whatever it would take to topple his evil empire. Shang-Chi became a regular ally of Sir Denis Nayland Smith and worked with him on missions for MI-6, British intelligence, and later for Freelance Restorations, Smith's own independent agency. Shang-Chi ultimately contributed to his father's apparent death in a confrontation at the Honan retreat. His "Elixir Vitae," which had allowed him to live and remain in his physical prime for many decades, was no longer sufficient to maintain his youth. Rapidly aging, his father needed his son's blood to restore his physical vitality. Yet, Shang-Chi wrested away the blood-filled test tube and spilled it on the ground. His father seemed to spend his last minutes of life frantically licking it up when the retreat was demolished by an explosion set off by other aides of Smith. Shang-Chi escaped, but his father was assumed to have been killed. Due to the guilt of this loss, he withdrew from the life that he formerly knew and traveled the world to find his own path. Recently, this has led him to the "City that Never Sleeps", New York. While originally this was a place that he was just going to be passing through, the growing level of crime and vanishing of this city's hero seems to have taken a toll. Seeing the Police of the land struggling, Shang decided to use his talents for good... [h3][center][u][color=Red]STORY INFO:[/color][/u][/center][/h3] [color=Goldenrod][b]High Concept:[/b][/color] What I plan to do for Shang-Chi's story is to bring a character that heavily questions ethics as we know them. An example would be, if you were to ask other people what's right and wrong, they may give you their definitive answers based on their perspective in life. With Shang, being that his whole life was effectively a product of deception, his answer would be that he doesn't have all of the answers. This isn't to say that he's more or less an Anti-Hero, but that he's a lighter shade of grey between black and white. Something else I'd also add on, would be the fun, classic, "Kung-Fu" movie action that Shang-Chi basically lived his entire life through. Does this mean that there will be constant high-flying moves and exaggerated gestures? To a degree, yes. That aspect will be kept to a lower key, but they will be there. [color=Goldenrod][b]Motivation and Conflict:[/b][/color] The driving force behind the character of Shang-Chi, as I interpret it, is that of actually trying to find a purpose for himself. All the while, he'd also coping with the guilt of all the people that he hurt, stolen from, and killed in his father's name under the farce of being an agent of good. He isn't going to be all mopey about it, like Batman or something, but there will be bouts and flashbacks from time to time. [color=Goldenrod][b]Notes:[/b][/color][hider=Midnight] Shang currently operates in the former alias of his adoptive brother M'Nai, Midnight[Sun]. Although he possesses the sword, as pictured, he doesn't use it often as he largely prefers hand-to-hand combat. [img]https://img00.deviantart.net/6930/i/2012/019/0/c/snake_eyes_by_lian0013-d4mysaz.jpg[/img] [/hider] [center][h3][u][color=Red]PLAYER INFO:[/color][/u][/h3][/center] [b][color=Goldenrod]Player Name:[/color][/b] DC the Dragon [b][color=Goldenrod]Preferred Contact Method:[/color][/b] PM or Discord [b][color=Goldenrod]Why [i]This[/i] Character?:[/color][/b] Shang-Chi has always been a favorite character of mine when I first started getting into comics growing up. He's always been a pretty obscure character and continues to be today. So, even though I may never make it to some kind of team that handles his comics or anything like the MCU, I would like to portray his character here in some sort of consolation for a character that has made it to my Top Five out of all of Marvel's heroes. [b][color=Goldenrod]What Can You Bring to the RPG?:[/color][/b] What I can bring, as I've been told, is a sense of characterization. That I can get into the head of my character and actually go about things as them, instead of trying to mold them into a branch of myself.