[hider=King Gamba] [center][h1][b]King Gamba[/b][/h1] [img]https://i.pinimg.com/564x/7c/6d/a1/7c6da16d418d314e13b84e54edcf67ee.jpg[/img] [hr][hr] [h2]⦋ [b]Ancient[/b] || [b]Beninese[/b] || [b]Egun Who Presents Male[/b] ⦌[/h2] [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNipYUFxw14[/youtube][/center] [h3][b]APPEARANCE & PERSONALITY[/b][/h3][hr] [indent] Gamba’s inhabited body is exceedingly muscular and strong, chosen by his former subjects amidst a sea of others, King Gamba’s body is not his own as Gamba himself is a disembodied egun. The body Gamba possesses no unique non-human qualities itself and functions like any other body It does have several veve’s of Ogoun scrawled across it. Said body is centuries old, as is Gamba, and over time Gamba’s inhabited body has turned him into a volatile and arrogant spirit. Believing his body indestructible, Gamba will not hesitate to engage anyone who challenges him and will sometimes engage those he perceives as much weaker than himself. When brought to reason--whether through words or defeat--he is not prone to continuous antagonizing of one who he saw as a victim. Fiery as he is, centuries as an egunn--venerated ancestor and watcher and protector over practitioners of the Santeria religion--also make him loyal and compassionate toward those he considers allies. [u][b]PERSONALITY TRAITS [/b][/u] [indent]Brave Arrogant Wise Stubborn Traditional Brazen Likes mentoring people Protective [/indent] [u][b]BACKSTORY & MOTIVATION [/b][/u] [indent]Some several hundred years ago, there existed a Dahomey king named Chibueze Baako; Baako was regent of many regents of the Dahomey people of West Africa and was among the nation’s first kings. He attains his throne in reaction to one of the founders of the nation. Adebayo was greedy and selfish; Baako, though he ruled a much smaller portion of the land, was quite opposite. Under king Adebayo, Dahomey conquers and spreads among the neighboring nations, but Adebayo conscripts men for war, breaks up families, and hoards the growing wealth of his people. Young Chibueze Baako, son of advisor to king Adebayo, begins--alongside his father--plotting against the Adebayo. It takes many decades, and in that time Chibueze joins Adebayo’s army and with his father’s military training, Baako becomes a formidable warrior and strategist. He and his father spend close to ten years gathering allies to battle the massive Dahomey army and overthrow the king. With the backing of the largest sect of Fon nationals and the aid of the smaller Adja and and Bariba tribes, Baako leads a revolt against the Dahomey king and his men. Baako and many of the Fon people are killed as well as the Adja and the Bariba; though, and the revolt is ultimately a failure. Baako and his men are hailed as heroes and deal a great blow to Abedayo and his power base..Unfortunately for Baako, his failure means he is tortured and killed alongside his father. He is hailed as a hero by the local population, and his legend grows in the coming centuries. As the true details of Baako’s rebellion are lost to time and fact becomes folklore and folklore becomes national myth, Baako’s spirit awakens after centuries of dissonance and wandering. When the transatlantic slave trade begins and many West Africans are sold or captured and brought to the Carribean en masse like never before, they bring their folklore and myths with them. Among those is Baako’s rebellion. When Carribean slaves are denied religious practice, they form their own syncretic religions--African belief systems coded in and as Catholic Christian practices--and Baako becomes a patron saint alongside many other African folk heroes. And so, when Santeria forms in the Carribean and migrates to Cuba during the latter half of the 19th century, Baako’s followers and worshippers appraise him a deity and conduct a ritual to bring Baako’s spirit back to life. It is sacrificial and--during that time--untested; in Santa Clara, Cuba, its strongest warrior offers himself as tribute. Baako’s spirit is evoked and possesses the body of the warrior. Reborn, Baako assumes control of this new vessel and--with some convincing of who he once was--Baako is elected the nation’s leader and establishes his own kingdom once again. He takes on a new moniker as well--Gamba, or, ‘warrior’ in Shona. Gamba, indebted to the Santeria religion, travels the world proselytizing and spreading the word of its miracles. As an egun, or venerated ancestor, Gamba uplifts the powers and wonders of fellow egun (dead humans whose spirits were guides for the living in the Santeria religion) and along the way he encounters resistance. Resistance which he crushes with the might of his fists and his newfound mysterious power. To this day, Gamba travels the world preaching the word of the Santeria and bringing enlightenment to heathens. And, as an egun himself, has sworn to protect the defenseless and the weak and (if he can) convert them. It is in his travels between the continents that he picks up more technical fighting styles, primarily Kipura and Nubian Wrestling. [/indent] [/indent] [h3][b]FIGHTING STYLE & ABILITIES[/b][/h3][hr] [indent][u][b]FIGHTING STYLE [/b][/u] He is raw power manifest and refined through centuries of training. While he has some competence in the ‘western’ martial arts (western boxing, greco-roman wrestling), he prefers the catches, grappling, and throws of Nuba Wrestling in combination with the more contact-oriented Kipura father branch of Brazilian Capoeira. Nuba wrestling has all the locks, grapples, and slams of greco-roman wrestling, but is far less formal and Gamba uses its freeform to chain kicks into sudden grapples or headlocks or slams, etc. The Kipura African dance art is predecessor to the one found in Brazil and focuses less on rhythmic dance and camaraderie and more on the use of one’s legs as modes of debilitating an opponent’s joints (knees, ankles, etc). It maintains the same dance-style found in Capoeira. King Gamba prefers to use use his Kipura and wrestling in combination and is at his best when he is able to juggle an opponent for sustained periods of time and chain--or end--his combos with devastating kicks and throws. Lending to the nature of his offense, he uses unorthodox angles and fight patterns to try and freeze or outright confuse his opponent. [/indent] [u][b]SPECIAL MOVES & TECHNIQUES [/b][/u] [indent][u]■Ougun’s Offering[/u] [indent]Subtle pulses of ki radiate from Gamba’s legs--and the kicks in this chain hit like steel--as he exits the opening stance of Kipura dance, and he glides across the ground in a flurry of spins and twists while on his hands. If/when he reaches his opponent, he first goes to sweep their legs and if they jump, he chains into his next move. If the opponent does not jump, Gamba evades sideways. [/indent][/indent] [indent][u]■Ougun’s Wish[/u] [indent]From a sweep, if the opponent has left their feet, Gamba transitions into a standing spinning kick similar to that of a horeskick, aimed at the opponent’s unprotected legs after they have leapt. If successful, the opponent should be leaning slightly forward and--if they do not brace themselves--about to land face first into the ground. From here, he transitions into his next move.[/indent][/indent] [indent][u]■ Ougun’s Command[/u] [indent]With the twisting motion complete, and his opponent still in mid air, Gamba grabs his opponent’s head and drives it crown-first into the ground with a devastating smash. He does it hard enough for their bodies to bounce back up, where he will finish the chain.[/indent][/indent] [indent][u]■Ougun’s Might[/u] [indent]Both of Gamba’s feet cease flashing ki subtly and glow bright and hot; he flips backwards, ki-infused feet smashing into his bouncing opponent and sending them skyward--or backward, depending on how well he connects. It is a devastating move which can crack face plate armor and, if one is unprotected, bruise some bones.[/indent][/indent] [indent][u]■Rising Toss[/u][/indent] [indent]Gamba closes the distance on an opponent with some subtle aid from his ki and boosts his speed; he is hoping to get the opponent to move or use a high-ranged attack so he can slip beneath it and slide on his back toward them, where he will twist up and onto his hands, plunging his feet into their chest to send them flying.[/indent] [indent][u]■Damballah’s Grip[/u][/indent] [indent]Gamba goes about working his way toward the opponent using his Kipura and suddenly takes the fight to its feet; he stands and blocks and feints until he can catch one of his opponent’s extended limbs; he grabs that limb (if an arm, he takes control of the wrist and pulls his opponent toward him; if a leg, Gamba slips his shoulder beneath the back of his opponent’s knee while he still has control of the leg and hoists his opponent into the air and then slams his opponent on his back). [/indent] [indent][u]■Damballah’s Coil[/u][/indent] [indent]After slamming his opponent from Damballah’s grip, he flips on one hand and drops both knees into his opponent’s gut. From this quasi-side control position, Gamba reigns elbows onto his opponent’s head or a series of knees into his opponent’s side.[/indent] [indent][u]■Sango Suplex[/u][/indent] [indent]Gamba uses a series of Kipura kicks and transitions while on his hands to slither his way behind his opponent where he hops to his feet and wraps his arms around his opponent’s waist. He lifts his opponent and bridges himself so that he can slam the opponent head first into the ground in a traditional suplex. It can cause someone to be dazed. This starts a Slam chain.[/indent] [indent][u]■Sango’s Song[/u][/indent] [indent]Gamba, with his hips still bridged, pushes off of his feet and uses a burst of ki to help himself tighten his grip on his opponent’s waist while they are dazed, he flips himself over his opponent so the two are shaped like a ball; Gamba plants his feet and uses another burst of ki to snatch his suplexed adversary from the ground and into the air again; Gamba then tosses his opponent skyward and catches his opponent’s feet--Gamba slams his opponent face-first into the ground again. This leads into a juggle which will allow him to end the Slam chain.[/indent] [indent][u]■Sango’s Savagery[/u][/indent] [indent]Gamba leaps into the air and lights his right foot with ki; Gamba then performs a [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj0DJwJGpzs&feature=youtu.be]quexada[/url] and smashes his foot into his opponent’s skull while his opponent is in mid air.[/indent] [indent][u]■Lucumi Dance[/u][/indent] [indent]Gamba feints several [i]esquival[/i] or side-escapes and uses this to set up chains, slams, or takedowns.[/indent] [indent][u]■The Man With the Steel Limbs[/u][/indent] [indent]The one time where Gamba constantly uses his ki; it hardens his hands and feet to that of steel, and they hit with the same ferocity. This only lasts a few minutes each time he uses it and has a moderate cooldown.[/indent] [u][b]SUPER MOVES [/b][/u] [indent] [u]■Hail the King[/u][/indent] [indent]The Ougoun veve on King Gamba’s back grows, its tendrils spreading down his arms and across his chest. Gamba’s eyes glow white, and for the next minute, he is able to Planewalk; that is, allow his true nature to take over and become untraceable to the human eye. When he attacks his opponent, however, they will be able to see his disembodied being, but in the form of their worst nightmare.[/indent] [indent][u]■The Stone the Builder Set[/u] [indent]Gamba’s egun essence pulls itself from its body and covers Gamba with it; for the short time this is active, he automatically deflects ranged attacks using the tendrils of his veve (but for each ranged attack deflected, the time which this super is active is shortened) and takes half-damage from a physical barrage.[/indent][/indent] [indent] [u]■Egun Blessed: The Soul Cleanser[/u] [indent]Gamba digs both feet into the ground, its surface cracking beneath his weight; the Ougun veve stretches and covers his body from head to toe. His eyes turn white once more and so does the actual Ougun veve on his back. For the duration of the Special, Gamba gains the strength and defense of Ougun himself; even punching the air will cause bursts of wind to feel like bludgeoning hammers as they travel toward his opponent from up close or at a distance. He becomes highly resistant to other demonic, shadow, and angelic attacks, and is able to cause great harm to ghosts, demons, imps, angels, and other forms of ethereal being.[/indent][/indent] [u][b]WEAKNESSES & LIMITS [/b][/u] [indent]Against long range fighters he struggles a lot. Even fighters who can keep him at mid-range can prove difficult as he does not stop moving and is always looking for a way to get to his opponent and may tire. Many of his moves also require a great deal of set up to execute and against someone who does not need so much time, Gamba will also strain.[/indent] [h3][b]OTHER[/b][/h3][hr] [indent][indent]He sometimes carries a machete.[/indent][/indent] [/hider]