Table of Contents
Much like my hopes and dreams, empty
OP
Hitman Mori Quam Foedari
Member
Seen
2 mos ago
D H A M P I R
"witty character quote here"
[ NAME ]
Miles Josip Ivan Željko Kadojkovic
[ HERO IDENTITY ]
Dhampir
[ NICKNAME/ALIAS ]
The Vampire of Castleburg
[ AGE ]
19
[ GENDER ]
Male
[ AFFILIATION ]
H.E.R.O. [Present]
The Dark Masks [Former]
The Dark Masks [Former]
[ APPEARANCE ]
At first glance, Miles looks like the type of person that doesn’t get out much. His skin is incredibly fair- not sheet white, but certainly lacking in melanin to say the least, and he burns very easily. He has raven black, wavy black hair that he keeps long enough for the bangs to fall over his face, often covering one of his two thin, ash-gray eyes. His build isn’t anything impressive either; Miles leans towards the thin side, not unhealthily so, but enough to keep him as one of the last picks during dodgeball in gym. Though not particularly muscular, he is fairly tall, standing at around 6'1".
His choice of clothes is often formal, with Miles finding comfort in suits and other types of prim apparel that one would see at a wedding or funeral. His hero suit is a similar-style black shirt and pants, though it is all covered by a cloak-like jet-black trenchcoat that engulfs his entire figure and flutters in the wind. Miles will occasionally wear a more casual get-up when wearing a suit is simply unbearable, but this occurrence is quite rare to see.
Miles has a certain rugged handsomeness to him, but it is often offset by a slight hunch and the dark circles that are perpetually under his eyes.
His choice of clothes is often formal, with Miles finding comfort in suits and other types of prim apparel that one would see at a wedding or funeral. His hero suit is a similar-style black shirt and pants, though it is all covered by a cloak-like jet-black trenchcoat that engulfs his entire figure and flutters in the wind. Miles will occasionally wear a more casual get-up when wearing a suit is simply unbearable, but this occurrence is quite rare to see.
Miles has a certain rugged handsomeness to him, but it is often offset by a slight hunch and the dark circles that are perpetually under his eyes.
[ PERSONALITY TRAITS ]
◈ B A S H F U L Despite his spooky physical appearance, unsettling superpowers, and chilling rumors about eating babies or whatever, Miles doesn't at all come off as a creepy vampire-man. On the contrary, Miles is a very reserved individual, soft-spoken, and easily flustered. He's far from antisocial; he would love to have more friends, but unfortunately, the rumors often make him an outcast among his peers, and instead of being fearful of reaching out to people, he's instead afraid people will dislike him.
◈ T E N D E R Miles is actually quite the sweetheart, liking soft things, fluffy things, romcoms, and Hello Kitty. Those that get to know him may find him to be quite chatty about those things and more, finding solace in having somebody that can understand who he is as a person. He's actually a very good friend and highly protective of those he's close to. He's also a (often hapless) romantic, enjoying gooey and mushy moments far more than most males his age find to be socially acceptable.
◈ L O W S E L F - E S T E E M Miles has dismal self-esteem and the bare minimum in self-confidence. He tends to think that others think badly of him and is rather pessimistic in general. Miles has a strong fear of rejection and struggles to approach other people, and thinks lowly of himself and his abilities, having a negative view of how he is perceived in his head. His powers are cool and all, but Miles often wishes he never had them. They do tend to be serious baggage.
◈ B E W A R E T H E V A M P I R E Miles is a very mild-mannered person most of the time, but when something he holds dear is in danger, or when he's had a little too much organic life energy to feed on, he enters a dangerous feeding frenzy, like a feral wolf, where nothing alive or dead is safe. Miles would like to tell people that a confession of true love will relieve him of this state, but this is really just a ploy to hear a confession of true love. In reality, one should just wait out Miles' rage. He'll run out of fuel eventually.
[ BIO ]
There are stories about vampires living in Castleburg, that prey on children as soon as the sun sets and leaves lifeless, bloodless husks scattered across the sidewalks of Watervale. These stories are mostly false. In fact, they are almost entirely false. However, there is a morsel of truth to these tall tales. While not as villainous as the fables suggest, there are vampires, and they do reside in the city of Castleburg. Miles Kadojkovic is one of them.
The Kadojkovic clan had historically resided for centuries in the rugged hills of the Učka mountain range in Istria, Croatia. Since the X-200 meteor reached Earth's atmosphere, the family had historically possessed a strange, dangerous set of powers that mirrored the stories of Jure Grando, a famous Balkan vampire. Josip "the Bloodsucker" Kadojkovic, the first of the clan to demonstrate these lethal powers, roamed the Adriatic coastline, preying on the Napoleonic French soldiers that were stationed there. His fame as a gleeful murderer-for-hire generated the clan a horrendous reputation but a lot of clout among the criminal underworld of the time, and when "the Bloodsucker" died his family and heirs retired to a massive castle in the mountains. Future generations of Kadojkovic "vampires" became mostly reclusive, living off of the great storerooms full of human blood and occasionally journeying into villages for a re-supply.
For a few hundred years, this lifestyle worked wonders until the 2040s, when the Croatian government, with the backing of the regional Balkan hero company, decided that its trans-peninsular train would be built directly through the Kadojkovic Kastle. Two birds with one stone- build a fancy choo-choo train, and get rid of any pesky vampires all in one fell swoop. At this point, the patriarch of the family, Josip Kadojkovic III, decided that he was not able to fight off an entire company full of superheroes, and so he, along with his pregnant wife, abandoned the Croatian mountains for the American city of Castleburg, settling down in Watervale, where Miles was born, named after his mother (Mila), father, grandfather, and great-grandfather in that order.
There are many perks to being a vampire, but one of the pitfalls is the constant craving for blood. The Kadojkovics had, traditionally, settled this urge with violent, bloody murder. This worked just fine in an underdeveloped, rural region of Southeastern Europe, but did not work in a high-tech American city filled with patrol officers, patrol robots, and many more superheroes than Croatia could ever hope to see. Thankfully, Josip Kadojkovic found a very optimal solution: there were a number of blood banks across the city, with plenty of potential fuel for the family. All it took was a quick and easy break-in, and voila! Both Josip and his son, who inherited his power, had enough food to last a while. By day, Miles' father worked a paralegal, and by night, he would break into blood banks, hospitals, and the occasional morgue, and drain them of their stock.
One can see how the vampire rumors started. All across the holonet, rumors of a vampire clan that stole blood circulated across the city. They were even (falsely) accused of some (likely mafia) murders in Watervale. It was a sensation and paranoia that gripped the entire community. Some would relish in the attention, but Miles did not. He was never much of a boastful type, always preferring a nice book over the spotlight, especially when the spotlight involved a crime spree and a few murders that his family (to his knowledge) didn't even commit.
Miles' father Josip remained unperturbed, though. He would likely still be robbing medical facilities across Castleburg of its plasma if it wasn't for his archnemesis- severe rheumatoid arthritis that made it difficult to walk, let alone silently and effortlessly rob banks. To provide for the family, Miles decided to don the cloak in a very strange and illegal form of a coming-of-age ritual. He didn't enjoy this one bit, but neither did his father, and he needed to live somehow. It was a victimless crime anyway! How hard could it be?
As it turns out? Very difficult. Maybe it was because his father was just that much better as a faux-villain than Miles was, or maybe it was because Castlebug's police department finally decided to step up to the plate. Whatever the case may be, Miles' attempt to follow his father's footsteps lead to him being loaded with 17 plasma stun shots and thrown into the back of a police hovercraft.
Before Miles' family could come to bail their teenage son out, however, another woman, one with dark hair and a cool look, approached him, and spouted out a surprising amount of information about his life, information that even the most dedicated holonet true-crime sleuths would never know in a million years. The woman then introduced herself as Alexis Montagne, the Director of HERO, and gave Miles an offer- join her organization, get out of jail, get a good job, and never have to rob another god damned blood bank again; or enjoy what would inevitably end up as the insides of a juvenile detention facility. There was only one real answer there.
And so Miles, under the identity "Dhampir" became a superhero of sorts. Though very gifted, he's remained mostly under the radar as is, though some holonet sleuths have begun to speculate that perhaps the Vampire of Castleburg may have turned to the side of good. Maybe those computer-bound losers are good for something after all.
The Kadojkovic clan had historically resided for centuries in the rugged hills of the Učka mountain range in Istria, Croatia. Since the X-200 meteor reached Earth's atmosphere, the family had historically possessed a strange, dangerous set of powers that mirrored the stories of Jure Grando, a famous Balkan vampire. Josip "the Bloodsucker" Kadojkovic, the first of the clan to demonstrate these lethal powers, roamed the Adriatic coastline, preying on the Napoleonic French soldiers that were stationed there. His fame as a gleeful murderer-for-hire generated the clan a horrendous reputation but a lot of clout among the criminal underworld of the time, and when "the Bloodsucker" died his family and heirs retired to a massive castle in the mountains. Future generations of Kadojkovic "vampires" became mostly reclusive, living off of the great storerooms full of human blood and occasionally journeying into villages for a re-supply.
For a few hundred years, this lifestyle worked wonders until the 2040s, when the Croatian government, with the backing of the regional Balkan hero company, decided that its trans-peninsular train would be built directly through the Kadojkovic Kastle. Two birds with one stone- build a fancy choo-choo train, and get rid of any pesky vampires all in one fell swoop. At this point, the patriarch of the family, Josip Kadojkovic III, decided that he was not able to fight off an entire company full of superheroes, and so he, along with his pregnant wife, abandoned the Croatian mountains for the American city of Castleburg, settling down in Watervale, where Miles was born, named after his mother (Mila), father, grandfather, and great-grandfather in that order.
There are many perks to being a vampire, but one of the pitfalls is the constant craving for blood. The Kadojkovics had, traditionally, settled this urge with violent, bloody murder. This worked just fine in an underdeveloped, rural region of Southeastern Europe, but did not work in a high-tech American city filled with patrol officers, patrol robots, and many more superheroes than Croatia could ever hope to see. Thankfully, Josip Kadojkovic found a very optimal solution: there were a number of blood banks across the city, with plenty of potential fuel for the family. All it took was a quick and easy break-in, and voila! Both Josip and his son, who inherited his power, had enough food to last a while. By day, Miles' father worked a paralegal, and by night, he would break into blood banks, hospitals, and the occasional morgue, and drain them of their stock.
One can see how the vampire rumors started. All across the holonet, rumors of a vampire clan that stole blood circulated across the city. They were even (falsely) accused of some (likely mafia) murders in Watervale. It was a sensation and paranoia that gripped the entire community. Some would relish in the attention, but Miles did not. He was never much of a boastful type, always preferring a nice book over the spotlight, especially when the spotlight involved a crime spree and a few murders that his family (to his knowledge) didn't even commit.
Miles' father Josip remained unperturbed, though. He would likely still be robbing medical facilities across Castleburg of its plasma if it wasn't for his archnemesis- severe rheumatoid arthritis that made it difficult to walk, let alone silently and effortlessly rob banks. To provide for the family, Miles decided to don the cloak in a very strange and illegal form of a coming-of-age ritual. He didn't enjoy this one bit, but neither did his father, and he needed to live somehow. It was a victimless crime anyway! How hard could it be?
As it turns out? Very difficult. Maybe it was because his father was just that much better as a faux-villain than Miles was, or maybe it was because Castlebug's police department finally decided to step up to the plate. Whatever the case may be, Miles' attempt to follow his father's footsteps lead to him being loaded with 17 plasma stun shots and thrown into the back of a police hovercraft.
Before Miles' family could come to bail their teenage son out, however, another woman, one with dark hair and a cool look, approached him, and spouted out a surprising amount of information about his life, information that even the most dedicated holonet true-crime sleuths would never know in a million years. The woman then introduced herself as Alexis Montagne, the Director of HERO, and gave Miles an offer- join her organization, get out of jail, get a good job, and never have to rob another god damned blood bank again; or enjoy what would inevitably end up as the insides of a juvenile detention facility. There was only one real answer there.
And so Miles, under the identity "Dhampir" became a superhero of sorts. Though very gifted, he's remained mostly under the radar as is, though some holonet sleuths have begun to speculate that perhaps the Vampire of Castleburg may have turned to the side of good. Maybe those computer-bound losers are good for something after all.
[ MISCELLANEOUS ]
◈ What HERO has provided Miles and his father is synthetic blood, specially produced in a lab for them. It looks like overly syrupy cartoon blood and, according to Miles, "tastes like somebody mixed real blood with prune juice." It's still better than having to commit crimes on a routine basis to eat, however.
◈ Though Miles technically engaged in what could be classified as a cannibalistic act for a number of years, he grows visibly angered and flustered at the meer mention of the word 'cannibal,' as well as the words 'cannonball,' 'carousel,' 'countable,' and any word that sounds similar to 'cannibal.'
◈ Miles has achieved Grandmaster ranking in Alliance of Heroes, a virtual reality MOBA game. In short, he's extremely good. He doesn't talk about this with any of his colleagues, though, out of fear of being considered a nerd.
[ RANKING ]
B+
[ POWERS ]
Miles' powers have been termed as Vampirism. This grants Miles access to a few, related powers.
◈ Life-Force Draining One of his two most notable powers, Miles is able to drain the life energy of organic beings in close proximity to him. This draining both causes those that are near him to feel light-headed and much weaker, as well as gives Miles a significant power boost, making him faster, stronger, and more deadly in general. Enough life-force draining will eventually become fatal, but Miles has never gone to those extremes- nor could he, as the physical toll that would take on Miles would cause him to pop like a tick. Miles can also use life-force draining to heal wounds, though the process is very slow and painful.
◈ "I Drink Your Blood" The power that Miles' family earned a bad rap for, Miles does have two razor-sharp fangs that he can use to drink the blood of others. Unlike his life-force draining, Miles must have some form of blood replenishment on a routine interval, otherwise he will grow progressively weaker and eventually perish. Organic blood makes Miles extremely powerful, though, causing him to physically swell in size and making him an actual menace to fight, and will also heal him much more effectively than with synthetic blood or life draining. Too much blood, though, and Miles becomes a rampaging maniac.
◈ Hypnosis Miles has yet to unlock the full scope of this power, but according to Kadojkovic family tales, any that drinks the blood of another will be able to control their mind. Miles has yet to drink the blood of another person (that he knows, at least) and has thus yet to experiment with this ability. However, the mental mutation that his power has caused does make Miles functionally immune to hypnosis, provided that it isn't a drug-induced form of mesmerism.
◈ Weaknesses Daylight is a weakness of Miles'- while he doesn't shrivel up like a raisin upon contact with the sun, he is stronger at night than he is during the day and can absorb more life energy at a time with no sun. (He also burns very easily, but that's more a product of too many video games than it is genetic superpowers). Miles' true weakness, however, is silver- contact with silver causes Miles' skin to burn like flash paper, and a large enough piece of silver is enough to easily bring Miles to his knees. Miles is also weak to beheading and being staked through the heart- not because of the vampirism aspect, but because either of those things would kill anybody.
[ PHYSICAL STRENGTH ]
■■■■■■■□□□
7/10. Contingent on Miles getting some life energy in his system, his strength vastly outstrips a regular human and even that of many metahumans. Without the advantage of any nearby organic beings to take advantage of, Miles falls to a normal old 2.
[ AGILITY ]
■■■■■□□□□□
5/10. Miles with enhancements is quite agile, able to move much faster than an average human. Regular Miles with no organic beings is still a half-decent runner, to be fair, but only at a high-school track level.
[ INTELLIGENCE ]
■■■■■□□□□□
5/10. Miles is fairly bright, to be fair, and is surprisingly clever. While certainly not stupid, he is also definitely not a genius and does not have any collegiate-level knowledge, though if it weren't for HERO he could certainly get into university if he wanted.
[ DESTRUCTIVENESS ]
■□□□□□□□□□
2/10. Miles has very few mechanisms of actually dealing damage outside of sucking up some blood and socking them over and over again, which isn't exactly effective.
[ LETHALITY ]
■■■■■■■□□□
7/10. Anybody that can consume your vitality is going to be pretty scary when it comes to human lives. The one drawback is the time and effort it takes for Miles to leech somebody of all their life energy.
[ ENDURANCE ]
■■■■■□□□□□□
5/10. Miles' enhancements don't last permanently, obviously, but it's enough to get him through a firefight when he needs. His stamina overall is pretty decent except in bed
[ EFFICACY ]
■■□□□□□□□□
2/10. Miles' powers are severely limited by the fact he needs some form of organic life to enhance himself, and a decent supply of actual blood to be able to remotely compete with anything above the B-tier. Lock him in a stone room, and he's literally helpless.
[ SKILLS ]
he's a mega nerd [wip will do later]
[ EQUIPMENT ]
Miles is in ownership of an energy sword gifted to him by HERO that he calls "Crimson Vengeance." Its edgy name is matched by the equally edgy fact that it has some of Miles' own blood in it, allowing him to control the sword fluently with a tiny microchip implanted in his brain and make it do all sorts of neat tricks.
OP
Hitman Mori Quam Foedari
Member
Seen
2 mos ago
| NAME |
Maya Kobayashi
| AGE |
17
| MENTOR |
Katana
| APPEARANCE |
Maya has what has often been described as 'good genes' by those close to her. Maya has flawless rose beige skin and long, wavy locks of glistening chocolate brown hair. She stands slightly above the average female height at five foot six inches, with a muscular, wide-shouldered build. Her facial features are distinctly oriental, with thin, dark brown eyes complemented with a buttony nose and red lips often curled into a sly simper. Maya has an impressive build befitting an athlete, but much to her dismay, her more feminine characteristics never really developed to the extent that she'd have liked. Ah, well. You can't have it all.
Maya was never really a fashion queen. T-shirts, jeans, sweatpants, shorts, and anything else that screams 'casual' pretty much make up her wardrobe. She's not a big fan of skirts or dresses, preferring something she can move in freely over more traditionally feminine clothes.
Maya's armor prototype design, though the actual design ended up being slightly less bulky, and the primary color being more of a crimson color instead of fuchsia. The idea still stands, though. The armor is thick enough to withstand modest punishment, but is also lightweight enough to allow Maya to maneuver pretty easily.
Maya was never really a fashion queen. T-shirts, jeans, sweatpants, shorts, and anything else that screams 'casual' pretty much make up her wardrobe. She's not a big fan of skirts or dresses, preferring something she can move in freely over more traditionally feminine clothes.
Maya's armor prototype design, though the actual design ended up being slightly less bulky, and the primary color being more of a crimson color instead of fuchsia. The idea still stands, though. The armor is thick enough to withstand modest punishment, but is also lightweight enough to allow Maya to maneuver pretty easily.
| BIO |
To speak about the story of Maya Kobayashi, one has to address the legacy of her family. Maya’s father, Tom Kobayashi, comes from a fairly humble background- his family were Japanese immigrants that arrived in San Francisco just prior to World War 2 and, despite being interned during the war, were able to find business success and rose to the middle class. One of their grandchildren and Maya’s father, Tom Kobayashi, ended up entering the film industry and has worked as an agent for several big-name stars. He lives a comfortable life, one where he gets the chance to travel a lot and make good money. Still, nothing too far out of the ordinary.
The truly legendary tale comes from Maya’s mother- Kanako Akuma, the eldest daughter of Ichiro Akuma, the heir to the Akuma clan. The Akuma clan is an immensely wealthy Japanese family of old money, their legacy dating back to feudal times, where the family served as a powerful daimyo, or feudal warlord, of a decent plot of Honshu. The Akuma clan was notoriously brutal, not hesitating to use torture and lethal force to achieve their goals. The slaughter of the Oshiro clan in the 16th century was especially disturbing, with the 7 men of the Akuma family sneaking onto their estate in the dead of night and murdering every single man, woman, and child on the premises. It was a horrific slaughter of an entire family, and these sins would come with a hefty price. A curse.
All 7 blades used in the Oshiro Massacre were possessed by oni spirits and cursed. Though the weapons were strengthened by magic beyond the comprehension of any blacksmith or weapon expert, if the owner ever committed an act of evil, with or without the blade, the demons that it held would be released and claim the wielder's life as well. 6 of the 7 men in the clan would soon meet that horrible fate. One fell on his sword, one drowned, one tortured by a rival warlord, one eaten by a pack of wolves, and the last two slain by each others' hands in a duel. The remaining patriarch of the family resolved to not fall victim to the curse, and so his blade was sealed in a crypt deep within the Akuma palace.
It laid there for centuries, as the Akuma family entered the banking industry, becoming a modestly powerful zaibatsu (a family-owned conglomerate) in the process. Still, the looming threat of the last cursed sword, named ブラッド・ムーン (Buraddo mūn), or "Blood Moon," lingered over the family. One wrong mistake, one irredeemable sin, and the demons held for centuries inside the blade could come for blood. As Ichiro Akuma, the modernt patriarch of the family, focused on running the family business, his daughter, Kanako, fell in love with an American man, Tom Kobayashi, and made plans to elope and move to America to start a family there. Ichiro would never have approved this marriage, but unfortunately, he had other more pressing concerns to worry about. It was discovered, only a day after Kanako announced her intentions to leave Tokyo, that the Akuma Banking Corporation had committed major fraud and had stolen millions of dollars from its customers, and just a week later, Ichiro Akuma was crushed in a brutal car accident. Kanako mourned the loss of her father, but this news meant that she could finally be with the one she loved.
The two lovebirds departed for New York, New York only a half a year after meeting, and Kanako quickly became pregnant with Maya. Maya immediately took after her father in many ways. She was lively, spunky, energetic, and bold. She did well in school, but her strong suit was athletics. She was the type of girl to play every sport in school, and excelled at them all. She ran in track, played volleyball, played softball, and dabbled in cross-country, but her passion was in martial arts. Maya was incredibly well-versed in aikido and also practiced other sports.
Simply put, Maya was really, really good at almost everything, and it never got to her head. Hah, just kidding, it definitely got to her head. Maya had, and still has, a very high opinion of herself. But Maya was never a bad person; on the contrary, Maya has always been incredibly genuine and protective. Very protective. She picked fights with bullies, drug dealers, criminals, anybody. Maya had a hot head and the skills to back it up. She got into trouble, enough trouble to get her yelled at and even suspended, but never enough trouble to stop her from her action.
By the time she was a junior in high school, Maya had it all; championships in martial arts, lots of friends, good enough grades; she was practically an all-American dream. Things changed when the strange, dapper Japanese man arrived at the door with a suitcase. As it had happened, Ichiro Akuma had left a will. THe piece of paper had remained hidden in his study for decades, sandwiched between a number of other legal documents, and stowed away in a cardboard box after his passing, only recently re-opened. In this will, he did something no Akuma had done for hundreds of years. In his spite for the daughter that ran away with the American, he had requested the cursed sword be moved from its resting place into the hands of his heiress, Kanako.
Kanako tried to get rid of the sword, but ancient curses don’t go away that easily. Every time she threw it in the trash or over a bridge or into a fire, the blade always returned, in perfect condition, to her mantelpiece. Eventually, Kanako accepted the burden of the cursed blade. She considered herself an upstanding citizen, after all. If her predecessors could stave off the curse for so long, surely she would have no problems.
What bothered Kanako was how interested her daughter was in the sword. Maya asked far too many questions about the funny blade on the mantelpiece. She even asked to take it to school one day, an offer that was firmly rejected, for good reason. What was far more disturbing than Maya’s interest in the sword, though, was the sword’s interest in her. Maya would sometimes find the sword in her backpack, or under her bed, or in her closet. It was almost like the sword was flirting with her. Getting into her mind. Soon, the sword did begin to speak with her, and Maya began to speak back. No, she isn't crazy (though she certainly thought herself to be at first). The demon within the sword, after being held in the vault for centuries, finally had the chance to hunt once again, and the demon saw something in Maya that it had never seen in generations of the Akuma family. A desire to be an avenger, an agent of peace. It was a perfect partnership, almost symbiotic. The demon held within the blade craved the blood of the guilty, and Maya desired to protect the innocent.
Maya's first foray into vigilantism was accidental. There was a robbery going on at a community bank that Maya had spotted walking home from school one day. The girl immediately ran over, drawing the sword that had conveniently manifested itself inside her backpack, and stepped into the building. Several armed career criminals versus one girl with a sword. Shouldn't have ended poorly for the crooks. but it did. They were cut down like trees, Blood Moon doing what it did best- spilling blood. It was a rush of adrenaline for Maya. She knew she was destined for bigger and better things. This was the start of something bigger and better.
She was taken to jail, of course, but she was hardly in the cell for an hour before she was picked up by Katana, a vigilante hero that Maya idolized. Maya adopted a suit of armor and a new persona as "Demonslayer." For a few months, she preyed on common criminals. Robbers, murderers, your usual street scum. Maya knew she was ready for more, though, and Katana agreed. Maya, or Demonslayer, had more than enough talent to be working on more than just street vigilantism, and some exposure to a team would likely work wonders for a girl that was definitely developing a bit of an ego.
No matter how powerful and scary the demons are, rest assured, Demonslayer will be there to cut them to ribbons.
The truly legendary tale comes from Maya’s mother- Kanako Akuma, the eldest daughter of Ichiro Akuma, the heir to the Akuma clan. The Akuma clan is an immensely wealthy Japanese family of old money, their legacy dating back to feudal times, where the family served as a powerful daimyo, or feudal warlord, of a decent plot of Honshu. The Akuma clan was notoriously brutal, not hesitating to use torture and lethal force to achieve their goals. The slaughter of the Oshiro clan in the 16th century was especially disturbing, with the 7 men of the Akuma family sneaking onto their estate in the dead of night and murdering every single man, woman, and child on the premises. It was a horrific slaughter of an entire family, and these sins would come with a hefty price. A curse.
All 7 blades used in the Oshiro Massacre were possessed by oni spirits and cursed. Though the weapons were strengthened by magic beyond the comprehension of any blacksmith or weapon expert, if the owner ever committed an act of evil, with or without the blade, the demons that it held would be released and claim the wielder's life as well. 6 of the 7 men in the clan would soon meet that horrible fate. One fell on his sword, one drowned, one tortured by a rival warlord, one eaten by a pack of wolves, and the last two slain by each others' hands in a duel. The remaining patriarch of the family resolved to not fall victim to the curse, and so his blade was sealed in a crypt deep within the Akuma palace.
It laid there for centuries, as the Akuma family entered the banking industry, becoming a modestly powerful zaibatsu (a family-owned conglomerate) in the process. Still, the looming threat of the last cursed sword, named ブラッド・ムーン (Buraddo mūn), or "Blood Moon," lingered over the family. One wrong mistake, one irredeemable sin, and the demons held for centuries inside the blade could come for blood. As Ichiro Akuma, the modernt patriarch of the family, focused on running the family business, his daughter, Kanako, fell in love with an American man, Tom Kobayashi, and made plans to elope and move to America to start a family there. Ichiro would never have approved this marriage, but unfortunately, he had other more pressing concerns to worry about. It was discovered, only a day after Kanako announced her intentions to leave Tokyo, that the Akuma Banking Corporation had committed major fraud and had stolen millions of dollars from its customers, and just a week later, Ichiro Akuma was crushed in a brutal car accident. Kanako mourned the loss of her father, but this news meant that she could finally be with the one she loved.
The two lovebirds departed for New York, New York only a half a year after meeting, and Kanako quickly became pregnant with Maya. Maya immediately took after her father in many ways. She was lively, spunky, energetic, and bold. She did well in school, but her strong suit was athletics. She was the type of girl to play every sport in school, and excelled at them all. She ran in track, played volleyball, played softball, and dabbled in cross-country, but her passion was in martial arts. Maya was incredibly well-versed in aikido and also practiced other sports.
Simply put, Maya was really, really good at almost everything, and it never got to her head. Hah, just kidding, it definitely got to her head. Maya had, and still has, a very high opinion of herself. But Maya was never a bad person; on the contrary, Maya has always been incredibly genuine and protective. Very protective. She picked fights with bullies, drug dealers, criminals, anybody. Maya had a hot head and the skills to back it up. She got into trouble, enough trouble to get her yelled at and even suspended, but never enough trouble to stop her from her action.
By the time she was a junior in high school, Maya had it all; championships in martial arts, lots of friends, good enough grades; she was practically an all-American dream. Things changed when the strange, dapper Japanese man arrived at the door with a suitcase. As it had happened, Ichiro Akuma had left a will. THe piece of paper had remained hidden in his study for decades, sandwiched between a number of other legal documents, and stowed away in a cardboard box after his passing, only recently re-opened. In this will, he did something no Akuma had done for hundreds of years. In his spite for the daughter that ran away with the American, he had requested the cursed sword be moved from its resting place into the hands of his heiress, Kanako.
Kanako tried to get rid of the sword, but ancient curses don’t go away that easily. Every time she threw it in the trash or over a bridge or into a fire, the blade always returned, in perfect condition, to her mantelpiece. Eventually, Kanako accepted the burden of the cursed blade. She considered herself an upstanding citizen, after all. If her predecessors could stave off the curse for so long, surely she would have no problems.
What bothered Kanako was how interested her daughter was in the sword. Maya asked far too many questions about the funny blade on the mantelpiece. She even asked to take it to school one day, an offer that was firmly rejected, for good reason. What was far more disturbing than Maya’s interest in the sword, though, was the sword’s interest in her. Maya would sometimes find the sword in her backpack, or under her bed, or in her closet. It was almost like the sword was flirting with her. Getting into her mind. Soon, the sword did begin to speak with her, and Maya began to speak back. No, she isn't crazy (though she certainly thought herself to be at first). The demon within the sword, after being held in the vault for centuries, finally had the chance to hunt once again, and the demon saw something in Maya that it had never seen in generations of the Akuma family. A desire to be an avenger, an agent of peace. It was a perfect partnership, almost symbiotic. The demon held within the blade craved the blood of the guilty, and Maya desired to protect the innocent.
Maya's first foray into vigilantism was accidental. There was a robbery going on at a community bank that Maya had spotted walking home from school one day. The girl immediately ran over, drawing the sword that had conveniently manifested itself inside her backpack, and stepped into the building. Several armed career criminals versus one girl with a sword. Shouldn't have ended poorly for the crooks. but it did. They were cut down like trees, Blood Moon doing what it did best- spilling blood. It was a rush of adrenaline for Maya. She knew she was destined for bigger and better things. This was the start of something bigger and better.
She was taken to jail, of course, but she was hardly in the cell for an hour before she was picked up by Katana, a vigilante hero that Maya idolized. Maya adopted a suit of armor and a new persona as "Demonslayer." For a few months, she preyed on common criminals. Robbers, murderers, your usual street scum. Maya knew she was ready for more, though, and Katana agreed. Maya, or Demonslayer, had more than enough talent to be working on more than just street vigilantism, and some exposure to a team would likely work wonders for a girl that was definitely developing a bit of an ego.
No matter how powerful and scary the demons are, rest assured, Demonslayer will be there to cut them to ribbons.
| ABILITIES / SKILLS / EQUIPMENT |
Maya does not have any superpowers. However, that does not make Maya not super in many ways.
When it comes to strengths, though, Maya’s greatest strength easily lies in the ancestral blade she has forged a connection with: Blood Moon.
Blood Moon is a katana and relic of the Akuma clan. It was forged by the legendary Japanese swordsmith Matsushita Sharaku specifically for the eldest Akuma leader, using only the finest metal and materials. While it is certainly a nice blade, the curse that it has been imbued with is what separates this from other regular swords.
- Master of the Sword. Maya trained in swordsmanship in her aikido training, and since obtaining Blood Moon has had many lessons in bladed combat, under master duelists such as Katana and others. Maya is extremely proficient with a blade, and while her preferred weapon is Blood Moon, she is flexible as a duelist and can use other swords without any major drop-off in skill.
- Expert Martial Artist. If you asked Maya, she would tell you she could "kick Batman's ass." This is not true. However, it is fair to say that Maya is a very gifted hand-to-hand combatant. She has trained in martial arts for a long time and has a deep theoretical and practical understanding of combat. She can certainly hold her own in a fistfight, but her preference is to be armed.
- Expert Acrobat. Maya isn’t a trained acrobat and only briefly did gymnastics, but some training from Katana and a healthy dose of good instincts has made her very agile and comfortable in the air. Maya can twist, flip, and move about gracefully. She’s not superhuman in this respect, nor some sort of circus trapeze artist, but she’s definitely nimble enough to make the most use out of her swordsmanship, able to dash about and find exposed openings to strike at.
- First=Aid Knowledge Maya is by no means a nurse, but even before the whole vigilante phase set in, she was a certified lifeguard and familiar with CPR. She has since made sure to be versed in various methods of first aid, and while she is far from a healer, she can still help stem any sort of wounds and, at the very least, stave off any major consequences as a result.
- First-Aid Knowledge. Aside from English, Maya is fluent in Japanese, having been taught by her mom as an infant. She is also proficient in Spanish, though she is not a fluent speaker at all.
When it comes to strengths, though, Maya’s greatest strength easily lies in the ancestral blade she has forged a connection with: Blood Moon.
B L O O D M O O N
Blood Moon is a katana and relic of the Akuma clan. It was forged by the legendary Japanese swordsmith Matsushita Sharaku specifically for the eldest Akuma leader, using only the finest metal and materials. While it is certainly a nice blade, the curse that it has been imbued with is what separates this from other regular swords.
- The Demon Within. Inside the blade of the sword is a demon that goes by the name Senshi. An oni that passed to the spirit realm, Senshi was given a new directive: curse the guilty and make them suffer. Senshi, while a less wicked demon, is still a demon, and has been more than happy to fulfill that purpose. While he has been forced to wait a while to get to taste the blood of the damned, his new wielder has given him more opportunities to do so than he has ever imagined. Senshi is capable of speaking from within the sword, and is also capable of teleporting the blade from place to place, though he can only do this once every hour or two. Senshi can also prevent others from wielding the blade, able to ignite the handle to be burning hot to the touch. He cannot stop the blade from being confiscated, however, at least until he can teleport away again.
- A Thousand Curses. Demons love their curses, and Senshi is no exception. Being cut by the blade of Blood Moon results in agonizing pain. Most people cannot withstand even the tiniest cut from Blood Moon and will immediately yield from the pain, though for many hardened villains, the curse of Blood Moon pales in comparison to what they've experienced in the past. The cuts from Blood Moon will also heal slower and get infected easier, and the scars that it leaves will never fade. Fabric or armor that is torn by the blade will strangely never be able to be stitched together, and any damage that is done can never be repaired. In short, Blood Moon has a creed of permanence, one that it enforces with every swing of the sword.
- Stronger, Faster, Better. The demonic presence of Senshi simply makes Blood Moon better than the rest. It is far more durable than other swords, slices easier, and feels lighter than other blades, meaning that Maya can use it more effectively than other swords and with less fatigue. Theoretically, according to Senshi, the blade is light enough that if swung fast enough can block bullets, though Maya, despite her skill in swordsmanship, is far from that feat as of yet.
- Trump Card. Blood Moon does hold one final secret, one Maya was told upon first inheriting the blade and one that she has held onto in the back of her mind just in case. If some calamity occurs and the situation seems dire, Maya can break the blade of Blood Moon and release Senshi from his centuries-old home. Senshi, being a powerful oni, is a capable fighter that could likely go toe-to-toe with even the most capable and famous heroes. The cost, however, is that for every second that Senshi is released onto the Earth, Maya will suffer the pain of all of the curses within the blade. The pain is likely to be unbearable and possibly even fatal, so Maya has been strongly against using Blood Moon in this way.
| LIMITATIONS AND WEAKNESSES |
- Only Human. Though at peak physical condition for her size and age, Maya is still only human, with no superhuman powers. She can't do anything beyond the grasps of her humanity.
- Pride Goeth Before A Fall. Maya has a bit of an ego. While not selfish, per se, Maya is definitely high-handed and has a lot of pride. Hitting at her pride is an easy way to draw Maya into an easy trap. She will blindly move to defend her own reputation (and the reputation of her friends, but most importantly her own) without thinking of the consequences.
- One Blade, One Creed. Maya is somewhat reliant on the use of Blood Moon. She can use other swords, but the difference in weight and practicality would require some time to get used to. Maya also can't shoot a gun to save her life and isn't much good with most other weapons. As such, if one can separate Maya from Blood Moon, she becomes a much easier target than if she is armed.
- Curse Of The Akuma Clan. While Senshi and Maya have a "good" relationship, so to speak, the curse that has always applied to the Akuma clan still applies to Maya. Committing any bad act- or framing Maya into committing a bad act- is a surefire way of turning the demon in the sword against her.
| NOTES |
- Maya's favorite animal is the horse. While never an equestrian person herself, she has always loved horses. Then again, it's not like there are people out there that don't like horses, right? Horses are awesome. If she was pressed to choose a second-favorite animal, it would be the dog. After that, it's a bit of a jumbled list. Truth be told, Maya loves all animals.
- Maya is an incredibly bad chef. The last time Maya tried to cook, it resulted in a fire that was thankfully put out with a fire extinguisher. Worst of all, she was just making eggs.
- Maya has crippling astraphobia, or a fear of thunder and lightning. Of course, nobody except her parents know that she curls up in bed sobbing during thunderstorms. Nor would she ever, ever tell anybody. This is an exceptional piece of blackmail.
- Maya is openly bisexual, having gone out in high school with both guys and girls. Maya has never been an extremely affectionate or romantic type, though, and relationships with her haven't always lasted long.
- Maya is notoriously a very sore loser, and has thrown temper tantrums over defeats. Fortunately, Maya doesn't lose too often at most athletic endeavors, but she has normally been competing against average shmucks and not a conglomeration of aliens, robots, metahumans, and Batfamily members. She might be in for a rude awakening upon joining Young Justice.
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