Age
15...probably.
Sex
Excellent Girl Gamer MALE!
Appearance
Nero doesn't look any bit off-putting because of his Quirk. He's completely human-looking, with a shade of green in his eyes that's a bit dark, but that's it. A Causasian-Asian youth with nothing too special about him. He is pretty average in height, for his age, neither too tall or too short. His physique is pretty decent, though, like someone who's into physical training or parkour. Actually, parkour is probably the reason why the lean body and decent stamina on this boy. He's obviously prone to exercise, or at least alot of movement to get from Point A to Point B.
As far as looks go, he has a few going on, but he has a downside, maybe even a severe one. The way he looks at people is like he's expecting the worst from you. Nero doesn't have a pleasant look about him. It's more like he's waiting for the other shoe to drop. It could get worse than that, but generally he has a bad attitude. Not as in everything is doom and gloom, but he laughs at people's expense and he smiles more about sneaky, tricky things than he does have a genuine smile. He's not a nice guy, but then when you consider what he's come up from, you can understand why.
It should be pointed out that he's already got a few scars on his body from prior...happenstance. Also, it should be noted that he's been known to wear a Jason Voorhees mask from time to time.
Personality
Not how I usually handle this.
GOOD TRAITS:Strong-WilledOne of the most-important things about Nero's life is that he has been put through a severe test of his will to live, and so far it hasn't been broken. It may be out of stubborn determination or spite or some desire to even the score with whoever he thinks is responsible for his life, but one thing you can be certain of is that he's not going to go down easily. Basically, some of the trials you put him through now will be 'Same shit, different day' to him, with a topping of 'Fuck off' right in the middle. Everything from people giving him a hard time to actual mental manipulation is going to hit a wall of 'Nope!'.
Cunning'Streetwise' might also be an acceptable term, but it goes farther than that. Nero knows 'street' because he's been on that enough in his life. He knows the score after only having to look at a thing quickly and acting accordingly. It makes his instincts sharp and his quick and silent movements better-timed, meaning he sneaks around a situation - physically and mentally - better than others. It doesn't mean that he's more tactically gifted, but if you need a cunning plan... Well, you get the idea.
CynicalNo, I'm serious. This is actually a positive trait. Cynicism is the state of being realistic about the world around you, not believing that things will automatically work out because usually, they don't. (This is in constrast with pessimism, which is the belief that everything will turn to shit, regardless of evidence.) Life requires a little micro-management, a bit of overwatch. In Nero's case, it makes him more prepared for a bad situation to occur, if it's going to occur at all. It's more that he's grown accustomed to dealing with scum, but as people and as scummy situations. He can see bad shit coming and he will handle it without even batting an eyelash. It's a case of 'Yeah, I've been here before', then dealing with it.
BAD TRAITS:Ill-TemperedNero isn't exactly a get-along guy. The most you can generally get out of him is cooperation because he hasn't got any better ideas and that the consequences suck. Generally, he doesn't put his trust in other people, because they've let him down, and he doesn't believe in waiting, because he's lived in a world where hesitation can cost you a great deal. So, getting him on your side of things can be hard if it doesn't suit him, and if you screw up, he will bring that shit up and laugh in your face. And if you cross him... If you actually find something to cross that he cares about...there will be violence.
Under-EducatedWhereas he might be clever at things like survival, sneaking around, and a few dubious practices...Nero is a regular Yusuke Urameshi when it comes to academics. He's been on the streets and he has not been trying to further himself too deeply on anything that did not impact it. If you gave him a bunch of math textbooks while he was out there, he'd say 'Yeah, that'll keep me warm, later on. Huh? Read 'em? What the hell for?'. So, he is a little behind. Like...he's able to grasp things, learn things, but trying to catch up is gonna piss him off.
ViolentPut simply, most problems in his life that existed before now could be quickly solved by beating its face in. You're hungry and you have no legitimate means to solve that, so you knock someone out who HAS food that can afford to get MORE food. Now, you have food, yourself. It's a bit 'Murder The Hypotonuse' thinking, but the truth of the matter is that Nero hasn't killed anyone yet. He wants people to do what he tells them when he threatens violence, not turn into a bunch of bodies. At any rate, his line of thinking is pretty straightforward. If you beat the problem senseless, it stops being a problem.
Quirk
ShadowCallHe was actually going to name it Shadow
Bane, but that would actually make it the opposite of what it was, so...yeah. Anyway! Straight from the darkness, from his own shadow if he has to, Nero pulls forth a dark energy which takes on physical characteristics. It becomes a physical force that he's been able to use to both protect himself and harm others. Initially, he was just using it to hide, because it was dark and he would hide in dark places, very hard to see. After a while, though, he realized that his covering was effectively an armor, a membrane that holds up against attacks and makes him look kind of ethereal, though he's still THERE. Experimenting with this, he had been able to form weapons that last a short while before his ability to hold them solid breaks. They tend to do so
especially if he throws them, but they render harm before shattering, at least. Nero has even managed to create a shadowy chainsaw, even though machines are WAY MORE complex than blades and clubs. He is probably even more capable than this, but he has yet to assert himself in that way.
Nero's abilities top out when concentrating on armoring himself or making weapons starts to hurt his head. Concentrating on keeping that together, especially while under attack, is a strain on the brain, like tensing a muscle. He's been able to extend that a bit with energy drinks and such, but that's only a temporary fix and he's worse off later. It's potentially very versatile, but Nero hasn't used it for anything other than protecting himself and hurting or scaring others. Also, the further away a shadow is from his personal self, whether he created it or not, the harder it is to do something with it, which is why his projectiles only last as long as hitting their mark, and then they're gone. That means that his range for these things is mostly throwing distance, or maybe a bit farther if he launches it with force, but still...while he could make a decent quarterback, he's not superhuman. Apart from this, light seems to be the REAL bane here. For while it might be alright in even direct sunlight, obviously a light-based power or something more directly forceful to the blackness or even his senses WILL cause problems. A full loss of concentration will cause the shadows he's created to disappear entirely, forcing him to start from scratch.
Skills
Ah, well this is a no-brainer, because the kinds of skills that Nero has a not knowledge-based, more-or-less stemming from experience and personally training himself. He is physically capable in the athletic sense - running, jumping, climbing, etc. - to the point where he is has done some hardcore parkour, some of it out of necessity. If you need someone to sneak around and be stealthy, he's also your man. He's had to train himself to do alot of that too. Basically, Nero is the Rogue 'round these parts. He is also capable of urban survival, that is...surviving on the streets without anywhere to live.
History
This is what you might call a cautionary tale, the warning to all...never to be deadbeat dad, or a bad parent in general. Nero was born half-Japanese and half-Greek, with little real understanding of the foreign heritage that he received because...his father ended up skipping out. He shirked his responsibility, decided he didn't want to raise a child, and he sure as hell didn't take any responsibility for the kind of kid he'd be unleashing on the world, Quirk and all. Nero's mother was a water manipulator, and nothing special at that. For a few years, she tried to raise him on her own, but there were...problems. Once he started standing on his own two feet, Nero became the type to rebel against everything, much like many children of that age. It wasn't easy to get him to behave. He was a brat. And just when things started to improve...in comes the Quirk.
There'd been fighting before, stuff she tried to ween out of him. He had a bad temper, the kind of impatience and intense feeling his father gave off. His attitude didn't so much as mature as...solidify when he started armoring himself up in shadow to make it harder for any of the kids to even defend themselves. He thought of it as a game, to see who could get the better of one another, but that was the wrong kind of way for any child to act. This came to a head when after his mother tried to scold him and get him on the right path, he gave her this look...so very much like his father...before armoring himself up and telling her to stop pushing him around. So...she did...by moving out, taking everything with her, and leaving him with nothing.
She couldn't take it anymore. She had no means to discipline him. Her power wasn't strong enough to, and she wasn't going to be dominated by this BOY, who might lash out if she tried to act through official channels. So, she left, and figured that foster child services would take over. Well...that would be the case if Nero allowed himself to be pushed into another situation where he wouldn't have any control whatsoever. However, over time...he'd learn to regret that kind of mistake, as living on the streets was tough work. He focused mainly on stealing and beating people for their stuff, which honestly was kinda' hard when you consider that other people have Quirks and all. That said, he focused on either handling a problem like that so fast that you don't have to worry about the Quirks, or learning how to tell how dangerous a person really was, just by looking at them.
This all lasted for a number of years, where he got use to it all, never trusting other people or depending on others for anything. He'd been through a few bad times, learned to laugh at things going poorly for others, especially if he tricked them into something. That said, he eventually found himself deliberately targeted...by a mind-reader. He'd heard talk of some kid that slipped in and out of the shadows, someone that even a clear day and floodlights couldn't stop the obvious shadow-based Quirk of. So, he spent some time looking vulnerable and like a patsy, waiting for the right time to floor him...and it came. Well, it was difficult because the kid was obviously good, but he could read his attacks and wear him down.
It took a while, but Nero was eventually exhausted, and this man said that he wasn't bad...but he could be better, and he could do some good for once in his life. Nero asked "Why the hell should I?", and the man told him that because he was just a boy on the streets, he was nobody, and he knew that Nero wanted to prove to everyone around that he could handle himself, that his way was right. It was a cheap move, playing on ego, because his stubborn attitude was born of a need to show that he was better, which led him to even prove how he could survive on his own instead of taking a handout. He asked the boy what he
really wanted, though, and on that answer came his induction into the academy.
Ambitions
All heroes are driven by something, and even less than cooperative hooligan heroes have something they want to achieve in life. Money, fame, their daddy's acceptance. Put their most cherished ambition here.
"What? Seriously? Aren't you the mind-reader?""Humor me."
"Alright, fine. You wanna know? My dad walked out on me before I even know who he was. Well, screw him! I don't need that jackass deciding my worth! And I don't need you to do that either! That's for ME to determine.""But you still have to prove it, Nero. People can't tell just by looking at you. That's why they look down on you. You have to
show them your worth, and I don't mean by chasing them down for wallets and stealing food because your hungry. No one will deny that you've survived, but people are always going to judge you poorly by the way that you've lived. Wouldn't you like to show that you're the better man?"
"You saying there's some way they'll have to accept me - lock, stock, and barrel? Some way they'll stop giving me hell about being me?""There'll have to be some adjustment. You won't have to steal to live, for one. It won't be easy, though. Think you can stand a challenge?"
"You know damn well I can, now get the hell out of my head and show me the way."To put it succinctly: Nero wants recognition and to be vindicated in the way that he operates.
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