[CENTER][COLOR=SLATEGRAY][B]C H A R A C T E R   C O N C E P T   P R O P O S A L[/B][/COLOR][h1][b][color=3865A9]A N I M A L M A N[/color][/b][/h1][hr][img]IMAGE/BANNER[/img][h3][sup][sub][color=3865A9]BUDDY BAKER ♦  STUNTMAN/LEAD GUITARIST ♦  SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA ♦  THE RED[/color][/sub][/sup][/h3][img]https://i.postimg.cc/m2M4jt2F/Adjustments.jpg[/img]
[/CENTER][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3][color=3865A9]C H A R A C T E R   C O N C E P T:[/color][/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr]
[CENTER][sup]"As seen on TV!.. What do you mean you don't own a TV?"[/sup][/CENTER]
[INDENT][INDENT][i]The Pacific Northwest is home to many a dreamer and Buddy Baker is proud to call the city of San Diego his home. Engaged to his high school sweetheart and getting to follow his dreams of silver screen stardom as a stuntman during the weekdays and the lead frontman for a cover band during the weekends, it seemed that everything was going Buddy’s way. However, this level of comfort fermented a social life filled with heavy action. If he wasn’t partying during his free time, he was certainly trying to start one in his studio apartment. While the binge drinking that came with his lifestyle was certainly putting a strain on his body, it would be nothing compared to the infection he would get from a friend’s yacht party. What started as a mild fever he had dismissed as the common flu ended with Buddy in an ICU ward in a deep coma. 

Fever dreams wracked his mind, ranging from aliens dissecting him while he was awake to an argument with a script writer who claimed himself to be god. One particular dream was quite vivid, with a goat-like humanoid dressed like a judge speaking to the addled Buddy in tongues while standing on a podium made of exposed flesh. The only line he could understand was a plight: “Help us preserve our world.” Without much to lose and wanting the dream to be over, Buddy haphazardly said yes. At that very instant, he awoke in his hospital bed with a severe headache and an even worse itemized bill waiting for him. Over the next few days, both of those things would change his life but only the former would bring about power. You see, Buddy Baker now had the ability to detect animal life, understand their emotions with extremely debilitating empathy, and even temporarily copy their attributes and abilities. It was a nightmare for someone who just wanted to be cool and party. 

Speaking of nightmares, those odd dreams of goatmen continue even to this day. They have been more lucid than before yet it always starts with a lecture he can’t understand and ends with the same plight asking Buddy to preserve the world. Again, not cool at all. 
 [/i][/indent][/indent]
[INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3][color=3865A9]C H A R A C T E R   M O T I V A T I O N S   &   G O A L S:[/color][/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][INDENT][INDENT][i]So I actually haven’t been on RPG for quite some time but a good friend of mine had told me about this and the setting really just sparked some inspiration in me. I specifically love playing as Animal Man because he feels like a perfect surrogate for an everyman that finds himself in a fantastical situation. Though he has powers, Buddy always felt like a street-level hero and rarely got involved with world-ending threats. He seeks purpose and validation while also unable to truly comprehend the severity of what he’s gotten into. Not just in his new role as a superhero but also as a family man. I try to take inspiration from various sources, with Lemire’s and Morrison’s runs being the main ones. My immediate goal will be for Buddy to understand what the hell his dreams mean while long term goals are going to be shaped by player interactions. [/i][/indent][/indent]
[INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3][color=3865A9]C H A R A C T E R   N O T E S:[/color][/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][INDENT][INDENT][i]
The Red – A nebulous and otherworldly dimension that is apparently sentient. It is the source of Buddy’s powers. It is controlled by the Parliament of Limbs, a group of humanoid animals in powdered wigs and ceremonial robes.
 
Ellen Frazier– Buddy’s highschool sweetheart and fiancée. Works as a storyboard artist.

Socks – a cat given form by The Red. Can telepathically communicate. 

Silenos - a member of The Parliament of Limbs assigned to oversee Buddy's growth. Takes the form of a humanoid goat.
[/i][/indent][/indent]
[INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3][color=3865A9]S A M P L E   P O S T:[/color][/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][INDENT][INDENT][i]Blood, guts, gore and goats. It was the same every night. From the moment he closed his eyes to the second he smashes his alarm’s snooze button, Buddy Baker was stuck in a literal red wasteland that conveniently smelt nothing like how it looked. There was only one other thing with him in this dream who primarily spoke in a language he didn’t understand. Like any person standing before a member of the judiciary system of an unfamiliar land, this both scared and infuriated him.

“C’mon, I know you can speak English! Hell, I can even understand a bit of Spanish if you prefer that!” Buddy had exclaimed his frustrations. The being merely stared at him for a moment before continuing its demonic diatribe from a fleshy podium. Defeated by bureaucracy, Buddy simply sat down and started drawing on the mushy ground with his finger as if he was a kindergartner ignoring his teacher. First, came the shapes but then came the rudimentarily drawn animals from those shapes. A bunch of circles for the body, triangles for ears, and lines for the whiskers and limbs. Much to his surprise, an actual cat manifested in front of him as the flesh of the ground took form.

“Hello, Buddy Baker. I am your creation given life. Your inner psyche has given me the name Socks.” It spoke but not with its mouth. Rather, the thoughts instantly came to Buddy’s mind. 

“… You know, this isn’t really that weird compared to everything else that has happened recently.” Before Buddy could continue to process what had just happened, the goatman had spoken the magic words and he awoke in a world not made of rotting meat but sure did smell like one. However, his apartment had one major change. The black cat from his dreams had suddenly appeared in front of him with a pet bowl in its mouth.

“Hey! Give me back my bowl!” Buddy would exclaim, beginning his day with a chase around his bachelor’s pad. 
[/i][/indent][/indent]
[INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3][color=3865A9]P O S T   C A T A L O G:[/color][/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][INDENT][i][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5161574]#1.01: Meat and Greet[/url][/i]
[i][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5166122]#1.02: The Crimson Room[/url][/i]
[i][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5169395]#1.03: Skullduggery[/url][/i][/indent]