Name: Shiba, Hato
Gender: Male
Age: 17 (real age 120)
Appearance: Hato stands at 5'9 and weighs in at around 155lbs. His purple hair is trimmed short down on the sides and kept a little longer on top, to create a lazy mohawk. The image is pretty accurate.
Personality: Meet your resident lazy swordsman, Hato Shiba. Even though he has a demon of many colors on his back he is the embodiment of sloth. He enjoys wasting away in the sun on a good day and relaxing under a warm blanket on a bad one. After his death, Hato lost his spark, he lost the color in his life and chose to live in a constant state of grey. He feels as though the "life" after death means just as much as life itself, and that you will not amount to any more than you did when you were alive. This thinking is what drove him first into a depression and then into a perma-high of laziness. He is not hard on taking orders and respecting authority comes natural, it is execution he lacks, most of the time the easy way is the best way (in his eyes). Hato would say; "Doing nothing is often the best thing in most situations, who are we to mess with the universe."
The only few times you can get him out of a nap and active is in combat. That flame he used to have while he was alive can be seen in his eyes, small it may be it is still there and comes alive in during the heat in combat. He is still a sloth, cutting corners, fighting dirty, not being an honorable combatant all so he can end things quickly and return to his grey haze. Cheap tricks and out of pocket gimmicks are no strangers to his fighting style, and his lethargic nature drives him to come off as disinterested and disrespectful to his enemies. Most of the time he can be seen yawning and with a rested glaze covering his eyes, in and out of combat. His actions are not a testament to his education or talent, the boy is smart, as reading is one of his few escapes left from his colorful reality, and his skill in some areas of combat cannot be denied but its application and execution that keeps him down.
Biography: Hat's human life was lived in a blaze of passion and color, he felt...well "alive". But after he died and came to the Soul Society he was left with a bitter taste in his mouth and chose to live out the rest of his existence in sleep. Hato woke in West Rukongai and lived out his first few years working little jobs that would only sustain him for weeks at a time and with whoever would take him in. He wanted nothing but to be left alone and to wander endlessly until it was his "time" again. Death at 17 left a bad impression on Hato and this only furthered his resolve to stick with his act of solitude, but that becomes a hard task after meeting the head of the Fallen Shiba clan.
She is a violent and brash woman who rocked Hato's fragile little world, she met him after he left his job and was on his way to find a place to rest his head. It was the middle of the night and from Hato's point of view it looked like she was being assaulted by three different men and something snapped in him, it was as if the little spark that was left in him went into overdrive and forced him into action. Now Hato, being the fool he was, did not know who she was nor could he recognize her strength, so when he made a scene to get their attention and ended up fighting the three of them to protect her "honor", it was all very funny to Kūkaku. What caught her interest was a flare of his reiatsu, he had a strong presence and she wanted that in her clan. After that night she would seek him out, no matter where he worked, and petition him into joining the Shiba Clan until finally, he did. Hato could not stand the constant bother she was and ended giving into woman's request, feeling like a weak fool for his lack of resolve.
His life with the clan was easy enough, he had duties was given an allowance and was not bothered much. Hato did not mind the minor training sessions and accepted most of the things he was taught. He also picked up his habit of reading while he stayed at the Shiba house. What Hato was not aware of was that Kūkaku was preparing him to join the Academy and become a shinigami. He had little interest in it, but Kūkaku had grown on him and become a new "mother" to him, so when she asked that he join, Hato could not refuse the woman who had pulled him out of his black pilgrimage, and into a sort of grey light (which he is still thankful for). On the day he left, Kūkaku gifted him with a purple sash that had their clans mark stitched on it, a memento to help him remember where his home is.
When he was accepted into the academy, Hato felt a sense of joy, something he had not been familiar with in a long time. As his lessons intensified, and training become more rigorous, Hato began to show skill in hakuda and zanjutsu. But his lack of control over his reiatsu slowed his progression. He graduated long after his peers did and without the skill to even use a kidō it was a slim graduation at that. Hato was told that the only reason he passed was due to his skills in other areas and his overwhelming reiatsu, but it was one of is teachers that reminded him that "a large bag of icing is only good if it can be used properly and not make a mess." During his time in training, he grew close to his zanpakuto, Iro no Akuma (even though he prefers not to use her), and it seemed as though she wanted him to graduate more then he did. They went forward and forged a strong bond, strong enough the Iro handicaps herself so Hato can properly use her Shikai.
Now a fresh Shinigami, still without a care in the world, Hata is trying his best to represent his clan and live up to expectations. He knows most think he should not even be in the Gotei 13, but that does not stop him trying to achieve his own personal goals. He wants to master control and for once be of some use to those around him, even that seems better than the lullaby sung by his bed or the seductive touch of his next reading.
Former Life:Hato was raised in a normal two-parent household in Okinawa. He had a younger sister who adored him, parents who tried to make sure he could grow up to be a strong man and take care of himself. Most would think that being surrounded by the pressure of so much love would make diamonds, but in Hato's case, most would be wrong. He hated the looks of love and joy, the happy times and most of all the caring. The was never any spoken reason as to why Hato was just abrasive. He wanted the conflict, the pain, it made people seem more real to him then the "love" he was always getting. As he got older he quickly became a delinquent, fights, ditching class, dying his hair, everything from a-z, until his family had enough. After a normal day of being reprimanded after a fight, Hato went home to find his parents waiting for him. It did not take more than three minutes for an argument to occur, and Hato was loving the wide and frustrated hand gestures, the angry tones, the flame of furry in their eyes. In that moment he thought the color red looked good on his blank parents. After the climax of the argument, Hato left the house (which is normal in this case) and as he was leaving his father called his name while he stood in the middle of the street, unbeknownst to Hato a car was flying down the small road and hit him before he had a chance to register what happened. He died an hour later while in a small hospital in his hometown.
In its sealed state, Iro is a wakizashi with lavender bindings and Hato carries it at his hip.
Inner World & Spirit:Description: Hato's inner world is a giant lake as far as the eye can see with a that looks close enough to touch and that stays have risen in the sky. At the middle there lies a wooden walkway similar to the design of the Ugendō Quarters in the 13th Division. This walkway makes a square and at the center of this square is a small garden with a cherry blossom tree that stays in bloom. A small bridge connects the wooden walkways to the garden, the walkway forms a square around the garden and the water within the square has koi fish of different colors swimming around. The spirit that dwells within this world is Iro no Akuma. She is a small teenage appearing young girl that always wears brightly colored yakuta and has a glint of mischief in her eyes. She can be seen most time with her umbrella drinking tea under the cherry blossom tree or walking throughout the walkways.
Zanpakuto Personality:Iro is the representation of Hato's bottled up feelings. She is his vibrant, colorful, attitude that he does to show to everyone else. Iro helps him paint how he feels, the anger, the sadness, the passion, the love. All his feelings are shown through his spirit and her many shades. Iro is not an Akuma for nothing, she can be very mischievous and playful, not really taking things seriously and understanding the severity of the situation. One thing she and Hato share is the sin of sloth, both are lazy and see extra work as unnecessary. The girl loves to fish, one of the reasons Hato's inner world has a koi fish is so that she can fish for them, but she never catches any."Kessaku o kaku, Iro no Akuma" ("Paint a Masterpeice, Iro no Akuma")
After speaking the release command, his blade shines and takes on the purple second appearace.
Ability:
Iro no Akuma gives Hato the ability to agument his reiatsu with different elemental properties based off of color (i.e red is fire, yellow is air, blue is water). He can currently only apply the fire agumentation and even then due to his large amount of reiryoku and reiatsu he lacks contorl and focus so he ends up causing more harm then not. He has only be able to maintain his reiatsu (with help from Iro) to the extent that he can use Akai Oni (Red Demon), it is a simple slash the exples a large (and wasteful) amount of his augmented reiatsu that burns and scorches whatever it hits.
Abilities: Hato is showing promise as an adept hakuda practitioner and some talent for zanjutsu. His reiryoku and reiatsu are far above average but he lacks focus and this drove him to work harder in other areas so that he could be an asset in some way. Hato prefers to fight up close and personal to his enemies, sometimes even disregarding his zanpakuto altogether (if he does not need it). Despite his preference, Hato is a flexible fighter, often alternating between using his sword and his fist and attempting to catch his enemy off guard. If he can he prefers to end things quickly and smoothly before he is pushed into having to summon Iro. His hohō is average at best and due to his lack of control, he does not even attempt kidō spells.
Weaknesses: One Hato's biggest weaknesses is his lack of control over his reiatsu. This leads to major complications when using his zanpakuto and using any kidō spells. Even though he has an overwhelming amount of reiatsu he lacks the focus and precision it takes to properly manipulate it, this is the reason his progression with his Shikai is slowed and he is only able to use a single color. Aside from this, Hato is a lazy individual with a one-solution-fits-all kind of attitude, he likes to formulate plans on the go and is stubborn to boot. Most of the time making mistakes while going after little objectives instead of looking a the bigger picture.
Theme: Siege
Other: Iro helps Hato by regulating control over his reiatsu, this limits his ability to use more colors than red, thus stunting the use of his Shikai to its full extent.
This is a very good character sheet and as a whole it is accepted. However, because of the nature of the zanpakuto you are trying to create, it does have a chance to become very overpowered so I'm going to have to ask you to tread carefully with your progression. However, with that in mind, you're accepted so feel free to post it in the character section.