Owlriel
MegaraFoxfire
Martian
MelancholyThe Return of the Hatto-san!
NAME: Kuroda, Hakuro
AGE: 17
GENDER: Male
ARCANA: Fortune
APPEARANCE:
Kind of like this. It's a good picture, but not quite there. Hakuro is a young man (5'9"), seemingly of Japanese descent with light skin and short black hair. He is actually from Okinawa, originally, and he has grayish eyes. His build is fairly-average, but he does do alot of running, jumping, and climbing, per his usual outdoor activities that we'll get into later. The odd bruise, bump, or scrape would not be unusual a sight on him, though Hakuro would tell you himself that he could've been alot worse off.
Generally, his attire will be a mix of certain popular styles alongside the decidedly normal and mundane. Hakuro doesn't tend to stick out much on average, despite some decent looks, but that is because the usual thing that draws attention to him is the clothes he wears while traveling around and doing activities for the Hatto Ken Ko-to (Hat-And-Coat) website. He dresses in the hat and coat combo seen on traditional Japanese investigators, especially in shows. It's a theme that he adopted, and so people find him more recognizable when in-character than his normal street clothes.
PERSONALITY:
Hakuro does not live to just be his alter-ego, the traveling Hatto-san, but he has noticed that the eccentric behavior (which he does for fun and content) does tend to draw people in more than his usual self. It's not exactly something he wrestles with. It's more a case of something he's gotten into to alleviate boredom, a bit of harmless escapism. Well...sort of. Let's start at the beginning. When you're a kid and you don't get many permanent friends, you tend to feel isolated from society. The reason why will be explained more in history, but needless to say, Hakuro needed his imagination in overdrive to pass the time. This feeling was what led him to want to travel around and live away from home, reaching out to others, to know many more people and see many more things. He wanted to take it all in while he still had the chance. The eccentric behavior came later, mostly as a laugh, but it led to other things.
For instance, Hakuro tended to use his activities to investigate things around the areas he found himself in. Some of these were harmless, others might've gone a little too far, but no real harm was done. He'd lucked out. The point is that he likes to have his finger on the hub of what's going on, and that means sneaking around, picking up rumors and possible intrigue. He doesn't do anything terrible with it, but he has, on occasion, been the bearer of news, both good and bed. He has also been known to play jokes on others, and is generally giving because the life he leads has him comfortably well-off. Being morally-decent, but sometimes offbeat and up for a laugh, can lead to some strange and amusing situations...which is how he likes it.
SHORT BIOGRAPHY:
The reason for it all is quite simple. He was bored. There were other reasons, but boredom was the first to bat because of where he lived and how his life was set to be. Hakuro was born on one of the Okinawan islands, an area which is isolated from the island of Japan and, in fact, any mainland at all. It is a tiny speck on the Southern Hemisphere of the entire world, this island, and it is here that the Kuroda family owns a modest and marginally-successful inn resort. Mainly, it's a place to stay while you take in the beaches and the natural beauty and landscape of the island, but for Hakuro it was just home, as well as work. Fortunately or unfortunately, this place was his inheritance, meaning that once he came fully of age, he would have to run it.
That didn't weigh on him as much as you'd think. Not as a kid. No, as a kid, he began to wonder if the ocean might swallow him up before he got to see much of the world. (Imaginations will do that to you.) Hakuro had to get creative with activities to keep him amused, since the only friends he would have close by was any of the few people actually living on this island...and, of course, guests. That didn't leave him with much, but as his parents tended to notice these effects on him, they agreed to help him out. Once he was old enough to travel on his own, he could explore Japan and take in all the things that he was missing. As a rule, he had to keep up his education, though, and he couldn't put himself in financial debt, which includes bad trouble with the police.
It was one particular train trip, where he was in a hat and trenchcoat, that another passenger asked him what he was doing. He said "I'm traveling incognito.", to which the passenger replied "No you're not. You're traveling in hat-and-coat." as a joke, and they just got to talking during the ride. This led Hakuro to believe that this breakout journey for himself could be shared by others. They might find it entertaining. Why not? He did. So began the Hatto Ken Ko-to website, or The Traveling Hatto-san, as some fans called him. His antics as a character in video and podcast became...known. He wasn't super popular, but he had followers, people who enjoyed themselves. That was all well and done, of course, but he DID need a central area to continue his education.
This is where he entered the Fujihama area. It was small, relaxing, and out of the way. When he removed the hat and the coat, he wasn't recognizable because he seemed normal-looking without it. He arrived in town about a year before our current events, so Hakuro has been established as someone around town, though he spends time traveling up and down the train lines, sometimes, or catching a ride somewhere. It's his thing, just as rumormongering is his thing. He is one of the people who saved a recording of the Prime Minister's death, and every now and then, he puts his mind to it. What happened to him? Was he ragged because of something that was done to him? Or was this degenration something natural to HIM? Like with his travels and his other investigations, Hakuro wanted to know.
TRIVIA: Hakuro tends to equip himself like some sort of private eye. No gun, but a pen, notepad, cellphone for recording, and the like are usually on his person for these things. Another item he carries with him is an American quarter dropped by a tourist. He prefers to flip a coin whenever a decision that isn't easily resolved crosses his path, and just abides by the toss accordingly. It's quicker that way. He has an internet fan following of a few thousand people who like his exploits, as well, and...he doesn't like spiders.
OTHER: Hakuro has a VERY long contact list. His activities put him in contact with alot of people, here and there. Sometimes, when you need something, he might know someone to call.
Also, I could have any number of cool themes for Hakuro in general. I don't want to be stapled down to one. But for battles, I like to make this one as his default.