Shinpachi Nagakura [APPROVED, 1-4]

Basics

Name: Shinpachi Nagakura
ALIAS: Shin
Gender: Male
Age: 25
Height: 6'6”
Weight: 200

Appearance:


Personality: Shinpachi really is that all around nice guy. Besides that, there is really only a few things you can compare him to. You know those guys in shows that are always the best friend of the main guy? They're cute and kind and supportive, but never get the girl? And those guys who sacrifice their happiness to make sure those they care about get what they want and are safe and happy? Those people who are pretty much the side character, but often touch your heart better than the main male protagonist?  That's pretty much how you describe Shinpachi. He's a gentle soul ready and willing to do anything he can to help another person that's down on their luck. He's extremely loyal toward his friends and will do things for them even if it causes him pain and unhappiness. The only time this will change is if they've proven to not return his loyalty. He doesn't expect people to drop what they're doing and go on a grand adventure to help him, but he doesn't want to be lied to, manipulated, back-stabbed, or anything along those lines. Just show him a nice amount of friendship and loyalty and he will return it ten fold. Shinpachi really is a good friend to have, so to betray him is kinda foolish.

Shinpachi does believe in second chances, though. In fact, he believes in third and fourth chances too, depending on what the person did to screw up their first chance. If you killed his best friend, you're dead to him. But if it was something like lying about where you were going, stealing some money for food, or even harming another person in minor ways, he'll give new chances. This happen and he understands this fact. He doesn't agree with people who have this 'first strike and you're out' policy. Shinpachi prefers giving more than one chance because he has faith in people. He always feels that there is good in everyone out there, but he also knows that if there is good, then there is evil in everyone as well. There will be times that people just don't wish to be helped. There are people that refuse to or can't change the way they are. If he comes across people like this, the only time he was ever come to the conclusion that they won't or can't be helped is when he has tried multiple times to aid them. He may endanger his own life to help someone, but he will not ever endanger the lives of other people to. If it's at that point, it's a waste and would more than likely cause more harm than good.

Shinpachi is quite humorous at times. He's one of those guys who has a smile on his face no matter what. He's very confident and brave, but his confidence isn't just in fighting. Yes, he is a good fighter, but his confidence comes from his body image as well. He works out. He works out a lot and is proud of what he does. His body is quite toned and he has no problem showing it off. He is often caught with his shirt off because of it. If he sees a woman staring, he'll happily do a few poses and flex, showing a confident smirk and his body at the same time. There have even been times when another man and he end up posing with each other, creating their own little competition. This often allows him to make a new friend. Friendship is very important to Shinpachi. He's always been a very social person. He enjoys talking to people often and doesn't like being alone. He's not someone who gets all depressed if he is alone; this just means he'd sooner go out onto the town and have a little bit of fun before sitting at home in silence. A little bit of fun usually entails drinking, partying, and maybe a spar here and there if someone decided that's what they wanted to do.

There have been times that Shinpachi is asked how he could be so optimistic, kind, loyal, or trusting toward other people and there is really only one answer: his parents. Shinpachi loves both his Mother and Father very much. They showed him how to be a good man, though his Mother would often say his “formal side is lacking a bit”. That is probably the one place where Shinpachi will feel like a fish out of water, at some sort of formal get together. He isn't one to wear suits, formally dance, or act like some sort of high class person. It's never clicked with him. He likes feeling free and happy. When he looks around at the people in formal gatherings, they never really seem to be happy. Sure, they force up smiles and act high-and-mighty, but they're never truly being themselves, at least this is how he sees them. You'd think the rich would be the happiest, right? No, he sees them as the more unhappy people because to him money is worthless beyond food and shelter. He doesn't value money the way people do. He understands it's necessity for certain things, but won't ever seek to be wealthy. In fact, he often has more money than he wants to deal with, so he gives some away.

The one thing that Shinpachi wouldn't be able to handle is doing something that caused the pain of another. Sure, he's not going to care very much if he kills a murderer, but hurting someone innocent is something that he is morally against. Accidents happen, but depending on the severity of the situation he might actually become angry. If there is one thing that people could say about Shinpachi is that he is not ever angry. It's not something that people want to see him get either because that usually means someone is going to get hurt. This is because the only time Shinpachi might hurt someone is if he is every manipulated or tricked in some way. If he ever did something to hurt an innocent person, especially one he cared about or loved, on complete accident, anger is not the result, but instead guilt, depression, and self-hatred. If he gets into one of these states of mind, it's hard to get him out of it. He'll have to figure out some way to redeem himself or realize that what happened was completely unavoidable. A lot of the times, this is when someone else can finally come forward and show him that they care and are loyal to him, but they don't have to.

Shinpachi has one hell of an appetite. He is not one to turn down an offered meal. He loves food, especially anything with meat in it. The best quality he finds in other people, especially women, is whether or not they can cook. Why? Because he is a horrible cook, which sucks since he likes food so much. The most he could make is cereal or something you can thrown in a Zakatian microwave. He may be a bad cook, but he's not so stupid that he'd burn cereal. He will never understand how some people could burn something you don't even apply heat to. If anything he'd call that a waste of talent, which is something he only has in a few aspects. Most of what Shinpachi knows how to do took a lot of hard work and training, such as his ability with his Arcana and sword. Talent on the other hand, surprisingly goes to his ability to play the piano. It wasn't something he ever thought of doing as a child, but he listened and watched his mother enough that the first time he sat down at one, he could naturally play a song that came to heart. The other talent is his ability to handle children and animals. Though they're very different in some ways, you handle them similarly: be gentle.

History: White Magnolia village is a small town near the southern border of Cieria. It's quite cold because of their proximity to the iced lands of Aurora. The people there are hardy, strong, stubborn, but generous and kind. Among them is Shinpachi Nagakura. This is where Shinpachi Nagakura grew up with his family and friends. The entire village, though only a small population of around 100, were closer than most families were. They all relied on each other, loved each other, were loyal to each other. They had a strict set of rules that prevented crime, though a few bad apples made it through every so often. Shinpachi's family consisted of him, his younger brother, his Mother, and his Father. His brother was nine years younger than he was and looked up to Shinpachi. His Mother was a stay at home Mom who loved to cook food for her three favorite men. His Father was a warrior and a skilled farmer, a strong one, who protected the village from attackers, thieves, and the beasts that inhabited the area.

This was a wonderful place to live and his family was very happy, but they were unaware of the fact that they were cursed. Years prior to the lives of the innocent people who live now, a woman placed a curse on his family. Most people assumed the curse was nothing, waved it off, and treated it no differently than they would any myth. The woman who implemented this curse was Enya Chandra, a normal girl up until she gained her powers. They corrupted her mind and sent her into the darkness when a madman that murdered his family blamed his rage on her and they sentenced her to death. She had pleaded with them, but no one listened and so she would have her revenge. She placed a curse on the first born son of the village leader and told that the child will destroy the village on his eighteenth birthday and drag them all to hell. Enya screamed this curse as the flames took to her skin and the immense burning pain numbed her over. No one really realized that the Nagakura family only had daughters until Shinpachi and his younger brother finally came along.

Shinpachi turned eighteen. His family were all celebrating, but he wasn't feeling too well. He kept it hidden for their sake, but when a pulse seems to reverberate through his body he stopped. That pulse escaped and moved through the ground, creating a massive earthquake. The villagers were terrified and tried to run, but the damage expanded beyond their ability to escape and they were all sucked into the crumbling earth as Shinpachi's power suddenly erupted. He woke hours later among the rubble, the bodies of his family and friends scattered about, buried, and even ripped apart by the devastation. That wasn't it. A few moments later everything seemed to rewind right in front of him. He watched it all again, but this time no differently than someone watching a movie. He was not a part of it, but a shadow of him was. He tried talking to them, telling them to run. His mind knew what was happening, but  his heart would not allow him to accept it. He denied it and kept trying to communicate.

After some time, Shinpachi was forced to accept the reality. He was watching the souls of his family repeatedly go through the hell that his power had caused them. He watched his family and friends relive their deaths over and over again. They were stuck in an infinite loop, suffering the memory repeatedly. On the outskirts of the village, Shinpachi stood on top of a hill and looked down to see that the place where his village once stood was gone. It didn't make sense. On the outside it looked like it should, but the moment you stepped into where the village once stood, you walked into an alternate reality that repeated the night everyone died. As he watched from the hill, someone stepped up behind him. “Beautiful, isn't it?” Enya Chandra made her appearance, “It's what they deserve.” Before Shinpachi got the chance to retaliate against her cruelty, Enya's body was falling into ash. And before he knew it, seven years passed him by and he still felt as stuck as he knew his family was.

Magic

Type: Sorcerer
Description: Earthen Transformation is the easiest way to title Shinpachi's abilities. His body transforms slightly, turning his eyes red and his hair white. With this transformation, he gains the ability to control and manipulate earthen elements. Rock and wood are the two most common uses of his powers. He is able to control these without fail, using them to his will, but there is a price. The longer he uses his abilities and the more strength he puts into them, the more unstable the area around him will become. Earth is commonly known as the more stable of elements, and though this is technically true when you take into account what the other elements are, Shinpachi kind of throws that stability out of the window. Why? Because earthquakes exist and they are devastating. The more he goes, the more likely the area will experience earthquakes ranging from 2.0 to 9.0 on the Richter Scale.

During any of this, Shinpachi is completely unaffected by the shaking the earthquakes cause, but the terrain hazards aren't something he can just automatically avoid. Examples include tsunamis if he's fighting on a beach, a volcanic eruption if he's fighting near a volcano, rock-slides and cave-ins, and just the earth cracking beneath the feet of himself and his foe. While transformed, Shinpachi has a +15 to his durability and a +20 to his strength. This is flavored with his skin becoming as hard as rock. With this though, he also takes a -5 penalty to his speed.

Combat

Equipment: Shinpachi always carries two swords with him, one a katana the other a wakazashi. Though they're nothing special when it comes to powers, they were specially made by the master craftsman in his village, so they're not exactly easily breakable or damages. He has them, cleaned, sharpened, and even renewed when ever he can.
Skills:

• Swordsman/Duel Swordsman: Mastered. This was something taught to him by his Father.
  
• Archery: Advanced. Another thing taught by his Father when he was learning to hunt.