NameMarasaru Hisao, The Drunken Monkey
Mara is a Buddhist demon who personifies unwholesome impulses. Saru means monkey.Mah-ruh-sah-roo Hee-sowAge27
AppearanceFor a drunkard, Hisao isn't too bad to look at. He's certainly not
handsome, though he gets by on a certain boyish charm that has saved his neck on numerous occasions. Hisao is a few inches shorter than most men, with white hair, a dark grey eye, and a simple cloth eye-patch over where the other should be. Aside from his upturned nose and ears that have been described as 'chimplike', he has fairly masculine features -- Tanned skin, a pointed jawline, a lean frame, and callused, tough hands.
Like most vagrant winos, Hisao carries the smell of sake with him wherever he goes, which is uncoincidentally paired with a hollowed gourd he keeps strapped to his side, a relaxed stance, and an empty coin-purse. He does little in the ways of masking his lifestyle, and rarely bathes anywhere but streams. He wears a simple brown yukata and black pants, although he foregoes undershirts, shoes, or belts any more complicated than the rope tied around his waist.
PersonalityOutwardly, Hisao is a jovial, drunken party animal, if something of a slovenly vagrant. He is a smooth talking jokester who is quick to make friends with the shadier citizens the group encounters, and is generally described as "street-smart" rather than "book-smart". He isn't especially slow or quick to violence but will solve a problem with words or his fists depending on whether his opponent is more numerous, bigger, or stronger than him, and has very little problem with running away and living to fight (and drink) another day.
Aside from drinking, Hisao has a deep appreciation for poetry, and would probably fancy himself a wandering bard if he knew what
bard meant. Though he does not write them down, he has written several haikus and ballads in his mind, and easily memorizes songs, stories, and just about any information set to a rhythm. Aside from begging and stealing, Hisao funds his drinking habit reciting his poems on the streets.
In his most personal, private moments, Hisao is decidedly less jolly. While he enjoys his lifestyle, he is aware of his social standing as an addict and outcast, and is quite lonely. He blames himself for sabotaging the opportunities for sobriety he has been met with, and has a very low opinion of himself as a whole, believing (arguably rightfully so) that he is a treacherous, worthless drunk. This is reflected in his slovenly appearance, recklessness in regard to his personal safety, and his constant drinking. Words rarely hurt him; Nobody thinks so lowly of Hisao as
Hisao.
HistoryHisao was born into the lowest of castes, the hamlet-dwelling handlers of the dead, Burakumin. The son of two slaughterhouse workers, Hisao had little in the ways of opportunities growing up. His teenage years mostly involved working as an underling for the local crime boss and later as a member of The Blue Obi Gang, spending his earnings on liquor and little else. This continued throughout most of his life until his mid-twenties, with Hisao having developed into an alcoholic too unreliable to employ for robberies and other nefarious schemes -- After a highway robbery was foiled by Hisao being disarmed by the gang's victim, who then used Hisao's sword to kill another member, Hisao was beaten within an inch of his life by his fellow Blue Obis and left for dead under a bridge.
After his expulsion from the gang, Hisao was taken in by a kindly monastery where he stayed for about six months following his brutalizing to heal, before ultimately going mad from the lack of drink and leaving in the night, stealing and later selling one of the temple's golden statues to fund his habit. Since then he has lived as a wanderer, living mostly off of panhandling and stealing when safe opportunities arise.
His most recent robbery unexpectedly ended in drunkenly tripping over a piece of slightly exposed stone on the road and knocking himself out, waking up in custody. As his victim was the son of the local daimyo, Hisao's future does not look like it will be any brighter than his past.
StrengthsDrunken MasterThough not necessarily a master, Hisao has unintentionally become extremely proficient in two styles; Drunken Boxing and Drunken Staff. His style is one of confusion and redirection, frequently changing direction mid-swing, pausing to drink, and rolling on the ground to evade attacks. He is constantly bending over backwards, swaying to either side, or leaning for his staff to support him at seemingly impossible angles, all of which instill confusion in his opponents. This leaves Hisao as an incredibly hard-to-hit target, which is made even harder considering how dirty he fights -- The Drunken Monkey is no stranger to spitting high-proof alcohol into the eyes of enemies, bone-shattering kicks to the groin, and other "techniques" any samurai would consider dishonorable.
As a result of having trained in his binge-drinking filled youth, Hisao becomes increasingly skilled as he drinks, fighting in a downright sloppy and slow-moving manner when sober, and becoming a one-man gang as he becomes more and more intoxicated. When he is completely blind drunk, Hisao can perform feats that border on supernatural -- Running on walls, disarming trained swordsmen, and kicking dents into trees. Although he sold his sword years ago, he keeps a walking staff with him at all times, though he rarely uses it unless he is fighting someone armed. Aside from his staff and his fists, Hisao has been known to frequently use improvised weapons such as broken bottles, rocks, his vomit, the sheathes of swords, and just about anything that is within reach.
Son of WukongHisao can straight up talk to monkeys. Some guess it's because he's a drifter who sleeps under the trees as he travels, and encounters a lot of monkeys. Others might guess it's through some sort of divine intervention, and that Hisao has been given a gift by the legendary Monkey King. They would both be wrong, as Hisao simply had a pet monkey as a boy.
Friends in Low PlacesDepending on how much he's had to drink, Hisao can make a terrific negotiator for the group. He is good with reading people, knows all of the unspoken social cues of Tsukishima's criminal underworld, and seems to always know what kind of energy and attitude to display to certain kinds of people, a skill he has picked up as a beggar. Though this skill applies to people from all walks of life, Hisao is particularly skilled in his natural element, talking with low-ranking criminals.
WeaknessesLook Out for Number OneHisao has a bad track record for team playing. He was kicked out of a gang for his drunken mistake making him responsible for the death of a member, and stayed with the monks who had nursed him back to health until he was strong enough to steal and sell one of their priceless artifacts. Whether Hisao is loyal to himself or to drinking, Hisao has always been on Hisao's side, not his group's side. Whether this holds true for our group will remain to be seen.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. HeinekenIn the plainest of terms, Hisao is too much of a drunk to reliably do things functional people can. While his martial ability increases with his drinking, his social graces plummet. Sober Hisao knows when to run from a fight, when to bow, and when to place a well-timed joke, while Drunk Hisao lacks all of this knowledge. When he is drinking, which is pretty often, Hisao runs the risk of starting fights, falling flat on his face, getting caught stealing, giving away secret information, and other easily avoidable mistakes.
Stoopid MonkyHisao cannot read or write. While this ordinarily presents few problems, his inability to read a map or road sign makes travelling in cities more difficult without Hisao being supervised. This also makes Hisao a poor source of information, given that everything he knows is by word of mouth or assumption.
Likes• Kindly old women
• Salted plums
• Dango
• Incense
Dislikes• Stairs
• Tea
• Clowns
• Losing sleep
ThemeIron Rod 
Member
DELETED9742,
mickilennial,
Kuro,
Dark Cloud,
Mae
