Name: Tod Vulpini
Age: 29
Skills/Traits:Evasion and cunning are skills Tod takes great concern over, and trains himself relentlessly on. He is brilliant in his feats, using guile and wit to throw those opposing him off and a persuasive tongue to get what he wants. Manipulation isn't the core of his being, though, and isn't a skill he's yet mastered, nor wants to, but it is among the arsenal of talents he does possess. However, lying and persuasion aren't exactly the same thing; Tod's a brilliant liar and it's gotten him out of a lot more situations than he can count. Most of his skills focus on escaping and talking his way out of things, or rather other people out of things. Tod's also a brilliant detective for someone of his profession. When making a case, finding every piece of evidence and twisting it around are of utmost importance. He's got a knack for scoping out an area, seeing certain things others don't and finding ways to skew evidence to benefit him and his client. Tod is relentless and determined to an aggravating point; he'll stop at almost nothing to win his battles.
Tod uses his intelligence almost exclusively for himself and to aid his cunning. There's not a trap he can't hop over or disarm, nor is there an escape route he can't find. Not many people get past his keen eyes or ears, even nose, as his sense of smell is better honed than most. What he lacks in fighting capabilities he'll always make up for with his near perfect vanishing act. Tod may not be the best shooter or CQC fighter, maybe not even lawyer, but he lauds himself for his extreme slipperiness. Not a cop nor criminal has harmfully touched a hair on his body. In fact, in his years alive, he's not once had to actually kill a person, as he's often the first to get out if things get too dangerous, and with whatever he came to get. Along with this, Tod is very perceptive of people's emotions, but isn't usually one to take advantage of them unless his job calls for it.
Personality: It is very easy to consider Tod a coward and, in his own right, he really is—he wouldn't dare deny it. Tod isn't one to stay if things get dangerous and usually isn't one to throw his own life out there for another's. In fact, he's never put himself in the position to actively save anyone's life and he doesn't intend to anytime soon. There are insecurities that lie within him and part of being a coward is one of those insecurities. Fighting of any kind, danger of any kind, he'd like to joke about being allergic to. There isn't anything he's more frightened of than being caught unprepared and without a plan of escape. Thoughts of those nature birth a paranoid mind and one often assaulted by an unnecessary need to take very unnecessary precautions. He'll always have a plan and he'll never deny that his plans are often for himself and are very much cowardly. Tod doesn't deny anything when it comes to himself because that's who he believes he knows the most.
In a world like today's, it's okay to be frightened or unsure of certain things. What frightens Tod the most is his inability to be selfless when put in a precarious situation. Him first and no one else. And to curb any desire to help someone in dire need of it, Tod refrains from ever putting himself in those situations. Sure, he'll give money to a homeless person, or help out with a charity fundraiser, he'll even give up everything he has for a stranger. But, when danger gets thrown into the mix, he suddenly can't think about anyone else but him. And he doesn't know why. He's even afraid to look further into it for fear of finding some kind of monster inside. So, he avoids the guilt, the burden, or the risk of having the responsibility of someone else's life in his hands by completely avoiding the situation altogether. Any talk of it, any mention, and any actual situation that could potentially put him in it. He wants nothing to do with saving any person if it meant putting himself at risk because he's afraid of what he'll choose and the consequences of his actions.
Aside from that, Tod is a very caustic individual, who's cautiously aggressive to those around him and in a very sarcastic, dry manner. He prefers a small company of people, rather than a large crowd vying for his attention. It's never easy to get to the very core of an individual, but it usually isn't much of a hassle getting to know the surface and maybe a few layers in—Tod is no exception, if people can get past the asshole demeanor he likes to put up. There's nothing more pleasing to Tod than infuriating people. Tod is very much an inhibitor and very much a bad influence if given the chance. Of course, Tod doesn't have many actual enemies who'd hunt him down for a quick buck, just a few hundred people who hate his guts and wouldn't do a damn thing to help him if he'd ever need it. The fact that he's good at what he does and sometimes what he's not allowed to do, doesn't mean jack shit to the people who would rather see him penniless on the streets.
Despite not being the most amicable of people, Tod has various redeeming qualities. Among those is his determination and will to get things accomplished, regardless of the consequences. He'll go to the extremes, even, if it means that much to him. This is usually how he helps people and it usually is very convoluted and roundabout. He needs compensation, but it doesn't have to be much to get him to do something. There's a thrill he gets when provoking anger out of people, but there's also an odd kind of rush he gets when helping people... in very odd fashions, of course. Tod has an image to uphold, even if that image is an ass. But, if asked, he won't deny that he cares. He hates denying things about himself and finds that lying about who you are is the greatest wrong one can do to oneself.
Even if that self is a touch morally conflicted.
History:Being born into a litter of children meant a whole lot of things, many of which Tod could have cared less for. As a child he was the rebellious one, the one who did things purely for the attention because he's only ever had the pleasure of neglect—a rebel among farm boys and strict parents. He was vastly different than the rest of his seven siblings, as was painfully obvious to anyone who knew him and not many people did. For the most part, Tod was alone and that's usually how he liked it. Bonding wasn't his specialty, something his siblings didn't quite understand, nor did they want to. Family time wasn't the same for Tod as it was everyone else; in fact, he loathed being forced to interact with others, much less his family. But, family was family, even if that meant a little differently to Tod. He loved them, just not in the same way..
The siblings he'd grown up with had found their place in the small town, some more successful than others. Academia was a strong point for Tod and a few of his siblings, but he had acquired a taste for something different than them. He'd a sense of adventure, or at least the need to leave the short boundaries of his small town. They'd staid close for college and came back afterwards, whereas Tod found his way across the country to study whatever he'd felt like. Despite the free ride, Tod had no direction and no sense of purpose. It started a bad habit of getting into weird emotional trends and he was soon diagnosed with clinical depression. It made for a bumpy ride in college, where semesters would go by with him making little to no effort to pass his classes and other times he'd be more than happy to ace each and every one. The inability to control his own emotions caused more than enough difficulty and set him back a few years in school. The thought of his own student loans piling up frightened him and, though he wasn't one to risk his own life, Tod resorted to riskier methods of paying off said loans. Being a broke college student who has no idea what he wants to do in life will often do that. Stealing things, or rather collecting things, became a hobby of Tod's and would, at one point, consume his life. On top of being clinically depressed, Tod had also become a kleptomaniac, though he got smarter about it as the years went on. At least, he'd only steal things he thought were of great value; his taste grew as he aged.
Once he got on track, however, Tod had made the decision to take his education down the bureaucratically path and made it in as a lawyer. Despite his bumpy years in college and him finally getting on medication, Tod graduated and eventually made it into law school. Upon completion, Tod made his move to New Arcadia where he took residence in the seedier side of the city, as well as opened shop working as an intern and a part-time 'Quick-E-Mart' cashier—the latter wasn't very important to him. To gather more money for himself, Tod found it profitable to steal from what he deemed 'safe targets'. He pawned whatever he could and lived off what he made from it. As he grew in his career, he also grew in his confidence.The clients of his boss were more than well off, but required more expertise to rob blind and blind in the process. They lost valuables they didn't realize they had and knew no better for it.
Soon, Tod joined a firm of his own, gained his own clients, and finally worked his way up through the years. Of course, Tod was too enamored with the life he'd become accustomed to. He never stopped stealing, even despite the money he made. Alone, he'd be decent in a nice, but small apartment on his own, but with what he continued to do, he owned could own a nice loft in uptown Arcadia and do whatever he pleased. However, that's not exactly what he'd wanted; Tod enjoyed the security his stolen wealth provided, but he enjoyed the adrenaline his 'hobby' provided more. Being a thief didn't entitle to fame, just the fortune, or at least being a good thief did, though his craving for recognition was sated by what his job provided. It was more notoriety than fame, however, as he tended to defend the guilty over the innocent. His conscience was far gone by then and he was more entranced by desire and difficulty the job provided.
What he's most known for often gets Tod into some sticky situations, especially with the actual police force. What more, Tod found it more than difficult escaping the eyes of organized crime due to his reputation and that's gotten him in dealings he'd rather not take.
