Damien Canem Nocturne

[Bolero 0]

General

 

Full name: Damianos Canem Nocturne (goes by Damien)

 

Nickname: Noctem Lemure (Latin for "Night Phantom"); thusly named due to the air of silence which lingers about him in an almost tangible aura, an oppressive solemnity and absolute detachment borne from a Spartan childhood and years spent living in conditions unsuitable for animals.

 

Age: 22

 

Gender: Male

 

Race: Coordinator

 

Occupation: Mercenary

 

Birthplace: Russia

 

Citizenship: PLANT

 

Personality: Damien is an eerily taciturn, inexorably somber being whose humanity has oft been brought into question by those few who know of him; speaking only when necessity dictates (and even then in short, concise sentences) and possessing an unequivocally grave countenance, he lives and breathes solely for the sake of the mission and follows orders to the letter, the ideal soldier. But the absolute detachment and apathy with which he regards the entirety of the world around him can prove terrifying; how can one trust a man whose expression remains perfectly neutral, even when murdering scores of enemies?

 

Appearance

 

Height: 6’ 4”

 

Weight: 183 lbs

 

Hair Color and Style: His hair is stark white like freshly fallen snow,but its

origins bely its appearance; originally born adorned with ebony locks, the horrendous conditions in which he was forced to live after the death of his father resulted in the seemingly unnatural color. The relatively weak, but still excruciatingly painful, corrosive properties of acidic rain permanently removed their color, leaving behind the color which still remains.

 

Eye Color: The deep crimson of freshly spilled blood, they are another reminder of those horrific conditions in which he was forced to endure at a young age; chemical fumes resultant from the acidic rain, over time, stain the eyes a hellish red, but even this is a sign of much fortune. Permanent reminds are infinitely superior to death.

 

Identifying Marks: Occupying the majority of his back is a rather unique tattoo; a black, ten-pointed star placed atop a gray, circular plane with multiple red lines running through it in repetitive patterns, much like a microchip.

 

Skin Tone: His shockingly pallid skin tone practically matches the color of his hair; a largely harmless, but unfortunate, birth defect prevents his skin from achieving any semblance of a tan, despite the hours spent beneath the sun.

 

Build: Startlingly well-formed, densely-packed musculature, appearing as if to be chiseled from granite by a most skillful artisan, allows for intense physical strength with very little bulk.

 

Clothing: On his feet are thick boots, whose coloration is not dissimilar to that of pitch. Several silver buckles keep them secure on his feet, and they are slightly scuffed and worn. Inside the thick soles of his boots are very sharp blades, each about four inches in length, which extend when pressure is applied to the back of the footwear. A lining of an incredibly durable metal alloy reinforces them even further.

 

His baggy jeans are of a similar color to his boots, and have as many stitched tears and discolored patches as they have pockets. The material which the pants are made up of is extremely durable, made up of a special Kevlar weave, and inside of them is a strong steel mesh which further reinforces them. Stitched into the fabric of his jeans are thick pieces of silver plate armor. A thick silver chain secures the article of clothing, functioning as a belt.

 

Adorning his chest is an incredibly durable piece of plate armor. Its color is an almost sinister black; again similar to his other articles of clothing, and is approximately three inches thick. Underneath his thick armor is a chain mail shirt whose sleeves end at his wrists, and is of coloration similar to that of silver. The plate armor itself is worn and scarred.

 

Handiness: Ambidextrous

 

Background

 

Mother: Alexandra Nocturne; was diagnosed with a serious illness just before Damien's birth, which simply accelerated the effects and amplified their severity, resulting in her death roughly two years later.

 

Father: Zanzibar Nocturne; Died of natural causes at a relatively impressive age considering the number of wars he had lived through, roughly eleven years after Damien’s birth.

 

Siblings: One older brother; killed in a training accident. He tried to practice firing one of their father's weapons unsupervised and the weapon misfired, the bullet ricocheting back to tear through his right eye and pierce his frontal lobe, killing him nigh instantaneously

 

Wife/Girlfriend: None

 

Personal History: he Nocturne family had deep roots in Russia, having lived there for a great many generations and being rumored to possess faint familial ties with a long-dead ruler of that massive nation; unfortunately, due to a particularly unpleasant circumstance, Zanzibar and Damien's heritage as Coordinators was revealed to the people, and abruptly they were subject to senseless discrimination and loathing. Eventually this hate forced Zanzibar to move his distressed family to the PLANTs, wherein he joined ZAFT in order to help other persecuted Coordinators.

 

Zanzibar, during the war, was a relatively high-ranking officer in ZAFT; as such, Damien was most certainly not spoiled in any way as a child. In fact, most would say his childhood was rather harsh; almost since he could walk, Damien was taught the art of war, largely focusing on hand-to-hand combat and some weapons training, as well as strategy and tactics. He was taught to survive in harsh environments, and to always complete any mission assigned to him.

 

When he turned eleven he could take down several full-grown men in a fight if forced to, survive for months in harsh, unforgiving environments by living off the land as if he had lived in such a way his entire life, and find more than 30 different solutions to virtually any given problem in little more than a minute. He functioned like a well-oiled machine rather than a child, a fact which proved somewhat fortunate, as his father died that same year of natural causes; he had waited a long time to start a family.

 

For seven years, Damien wandered about, traveling from place to place. He spent several months living in the rather unkempt streets of Moscow, learning a new form of hand-to-hand combat; the rough, anything-goes styling of Street Fighting. During his relatively short stay in the city, he had built up a reputation as the best fighter to grace its streets in a very long time; with this reputation, Damien found that new pathways were opened to him.

 

After leaving Moscow, Damien simply drifted from city to city, seeking out any jobs that would provide him with much-needed funds; such tasks that required his area of expertise were surprisingly easy to find, and paid much more than one would expect. One mission in particular had garnered him both a new means of protection and a hefty sum of cash.

 

Deep in Siberia, an abandoned military base had been located; that is to say, it was empty only of personnel. All sorts of artifacts from the war remained intact; though "intact" only refers to the fact that it hadn't been utterly eradicated. Anything of true importance was destroyed beyond any hope of repair; for example, the two impressive-looking heaps of alloys and spent or useless ammunition were once mobile suits. The fact that Damien went on missions alone proved to be in his favor this time; he brought the rather useless parts that his employer had wanted (that weren't even related to the suits) as well as several pieces of armored framing which he had removed from one scrap MS himself.

 

He used those chunks of armor to create a breastplate for himself as well as a chain mail shirt; he had needed to call in a few favors from people he had aided in some of his past jobs or even during his time in Moscow. But Damien had believed that it was completely worth the cost, as he knew the armor would serve him well in the future. The location of the base is perhaps known only by Damien now; his employer had forgotten about it rather quickly and no military faction had cleaned out the rather "sensitive" components that still lingered inside.

 

One particularly dreary evening, he was accosted by several men outside a bar in Beijing, all of them so drunk that they hadn't even been dissuaded in the slightest when he informed them of his reputation; he beat them each quite severely, attracting the attention of someone inside: a member of the mercenary group Soldiers of Fire. When the Mercenary had wandered onto the streets so as to see what had caused the commotion he spotted Damien rather swiftly, and recognizing him as his contact, welcomed him inside.

 

Upon sitting down, the relatively infamous soldier-for-hire went straight to the heart of the matter (as he always did) and simply asked "Can I join the Soldiers of Fire?" Of course, considering his reputation, the answer was almost a guaranteed one, but still his contact pondered it for a bit before nodding and welcoming him into the fold.

Edited June 7, 2007 by Guest

[Bolero 0]

I'm still somewhat new to the Gundam series, so I'm not familiar with everything as I should be. Help would be very much appreciated.

 

Also, my character's description may seem quite wierd. This is mostly due to the fact he is based entirely on another character I have that goes by the same name. I can't bring myself to change it, so, yeah.

Edited November 8, 2006 by Guest

[winders 0]

Why is he called Zero?

What happened to birthplace and citizenship? Nothing there

How did his brother die?

No mention of mother and father (in relationships)?

Is he a hand-to-hand fighter primarily? As in he doesnt use mobile suits?

[Bolero 0]

Why is he called Zero?

What happened to birthplace and citizenship? Nothing there

How did his brother die?

No mention of mother and father (in relationships)?

Is he a hand-to-hand fighter primarily? As in he doesnt use mobile suits?

 

1- Largely because of the fact he has next to no personality, at least, that's how it seems to most people.

 

2- I don't posess enough knowledge of Gundam for this, as embarassing as that is. Much help is needed there. Mostly though, its that I'm not certain where these can be. My options are limited to current Geography, which doesn't really help much. I'm hoping Russia is plausible, though.

 

3- He was killed in a training accident. He tried to practice firing one of their father's weapons unsupervised, and he accidentally shot himself.

 

4- Well, I'm still somewhat undecided on that. Is only a name required, or a bit of a history or description needed as well?

 

5- No. That's what he was primarily trained in during his youth. He will be piloting a Mobile Suit as soon as I can get him to a Pilot Academy or whatever its called.

Edited November 8, 2006 by Guest

[winders 0]

Pop your answers into your profile

[Bolero 0]

Tried...

[Rad 0]

Russia is plausible, but that would mean your family had migrated to the PLANT (as Russia is EA territory). It would be a nice touch to explain why. As well, seven years is quite a long time to be traveling all alone: what has he been doing, and why? Perhaps you could even include how he was able to find and gather enough resources on his own to acquire and manufacture his 'armor'.

 

Also, if he has not applied for citizenship in any other nation, his citizenship should still be PLANT. Soldiers of Fire is just a faction, not a nation.

[Bolero 0]

An excellent suggestion! Of course, I had the idea that Damien's Father was originally a high-ranking military officer before retiring to live a simpler life on Earth. So, I hadn't thought a description of such a migration necessary. Many thanks for your suggestions.

[Rad 0]

No problem. Your original idea just wouldn't have worked, considering that your father probably wouldn't have risked his family's welfare by retiring to anti-Coordinator lands; that, and you would have already been born by the war's time, which was 15 years prior.

[Bolero 0]

Damn. A good point. *snaps fingers* And here I had gone and altered all of that and figured I was done. Curse my lack of attention to specific details.

 

Side Note: Also, curse my rudimentary knowledge regarding the series and it's many vital locations.

Edited November 8, 2006 by Guest

[Rad 0]

Here's my suggestion: your family is originally from Russia then when you were born, someone found out that both you and your father were Coordinators and so your family became discriminated against. This would have forced your father to move the family to the PLANTs, where he joined ZAFT in order to help other persecuted Coordinators, and raised you to be tough - apparently too tough for your own good.

 

Also, remove all 'Gundam' references. Just say they were mobile suits, as Valiant doesn't want any references to anything that's not initially allowed. In fact, I'm not entirely sure he'd even allow body armor from recycled MS parts; if I were you, I'd play it safe and just say he found some 'durable metals'.

Edited November 9, 2006 by Guest

[Bolero 0]

Is this better? *Grumbles about being unable to watch Gundam SEED and Destiny*

[Rad 0]

Personally, I see no more problems. All you have to do now is to wait for more suggestions from other, if any, and for Valiant to come by to approve or ask you to improve your profile.

[Bolero 0]

At last, one of my hardest-to-make creations is completed (maybe)! Jeez, my character's biography is so short. I've been known to write histories over 1000 words long before, and here this one is, at a feeble 674... I suppose the gods of creativity were not with me this time.

 

SIde Note: There is Gundam customization?! False Twilight, may your power be at my fingertips soon...

Edited November 9, 2006 by Guest

[Valiant 96]

"His silver hair is long and unkempt; originally, it was a dark black."

 

Any explanation for this?

 

"Deep crimson"

 

Is this a natural eye colour?

 

"On his feet are thick boots, whose coloration is not dissimilar to that of pitch. Several silver buckles keep them secure on his feet, and they are slightly scuffed and worn."

 

I believe you mean "which".

 

I doubt a chainmail and breastplate would protect you from gunfire. Moreover, a breastplate would make him look pretty incredulous.

[Kaizer 0]

Silver hair and crimson eyes are indeed somewhat natural colors for a human Valiant.  Albinism is a condition where the human body has no pigmentation in its hair, eyes and skin.  According to wikipedia, 1 in 17 000 people have some sort of Albinism, so while rare, it is not an unheard of condition.  The biggest thing that Bolero and his character should be concerned about is that Albinos (or people with albinism, depending on the person's preferences) are sensitive to light, and can burn easily.

 

I recommend that Bolero and anyone who is interested to take a look at Wikipedia's article on Albinism ; though I have to say that the page isn't as up to date as I would want it, as it doesn't mention Ilyasviel von Einzbern as a popular Albino  .

[Rad 0]

He's a coordinator. They'd have removed that weakness before he was even born.

[Kaizer 0]

not nescessarily Rad, as I'm pretty sure that Coordinators are far from being a perfect species.  They do have immunities to many diseases, but some genetic diseases may be harder to 'weed out' then others, so Albinism in Coordinators may exist, though probably even rarer than Albinism in naturals.  If you want proof that Coordinators aren't 'perfect', just look at the fact that 3rd generation coordinators are sterile and that should do it for proof 

 

((Not trying to disagree with you, just showing my point of view  ))

[Rad 0]

Agreed, but something as crucial as 'sensitivity to light' would have been among the top things to eliminate. After all, I don't see how a Coordinator would be able to perform as a soldier while having to wear a polarized suit every time he goes out of the barracks.

 

For purposes of his character profile, it would be much simpler to say that he doesn't have albinism, and change his hair/eye color accordingly.

Edited November 14, 2006 by Guest

[winders 0]

The sensitivity to light is greatly exaggerated in the context you people are talking about; I know from experience (I have a friend who is an albino), he can stand in the light and keep his complexion, it would take a lot of UVs and extremely bright light, take example Melbourne Australia in a hot summer (we have a hole in our ozone so we get more UVs) only in that case would you need to stay in the shade

[Rad 0]

That's all well and good, but that still doesn't change the fact that it's much simpler just to have him change his hair/eye color (or say that his hair is dyed silver), than to have him modify his biography in order to add a complex illness and it's effects on his life in order to keep them.

[Kaizer 0]

It is simpler to just change his hair/eye color, or to say that he uses hair dye, but it helps to expand on his character if he was an albino.  In the end, its up to Bolero to choose how he wants to change his character, I'm merely showing him an alternative option to going down to the corner store and buying a bottle of hair dye and colored contacts  .

 

And as Winders said, the light sensitivity part of it isn't the worst part of it, as it can be treated by wearing sunscreen.  Asides from that and certain problems with vision that they may develop (wikipedia is a gold mine for info), Albinos are just as healthy as the rest of us; so it might not have been seen as something too 'crucial' to stamp out (especially now that coordinators live in the PLANTs with artificial sunlight, so high UV exposure may not even be a problem).

[Valiant 96]

Oh yeah... why didn't I think of it as albinism.

 

I have an albino friend and from what I gather, besides being sensitive to light, albinism causes eyesight problems. My friend has pretty bad eyesight and it's due to albinism.

 

I'm not sure of what it is so I looked up Wikipedia:

 

Eye conditions common in albinism may include (for all will not necessarily be present):

 

    * Nystagmus, irregular rapid movement of the eyes back and forth.

    * Strabismus, eye misalignment ("crossed eyes" or "lazy eye")

    * Sensitivity to bright light and glare (photophobia).

    * Farsightedness (hyperopia) or nearsightedness (myopia)

    * Astigmatism (distortion of a viewed image, usually either horizontally or vertically)

    * Abnormal routing of the optic nerve to the brain

 

People with albinism suffer from impaired vision, but the degree varies greatly. While a person with albinism may suffer from a standard eye affliction like near-sightedness or far-sightedness, the biggest problem arises from a poorly-developed retina (foveal hypoplasia) and abnormal nerve connections between the eyes and brain. These abnormalities define albinism, medically. While the effects of this condition are difficult to describe, it can be explained as seeing at a lower resolution. Additionally, most people with albinism suffer from nystagmus (a rapid, involuntary "shaking" of the eyes) which further reduces vision. People with albinism are also likely to have astigmatism or strabismus.

 

You might want to elaborate on which condition he's suffering from and explain how he has been treated to improve his eyesight.

[Rad 0]

Er, Bolero hasn't stated that his character does. That was Kaizer's suggestion, which Bolero hasn't picked up.

 

In fact, I daresay his choice of hair and eye color were only meant to reflect the character in his avatar.

[Bolero 0]

I uh... *cough* Thought it could be assumed that when I stated he had a different hair color, he dyed his hair silver. And while the eyes are indeed odd in color, I figure this; if they can remove genetic defects before birth, why not get creative and give someone a wacky eye color, just for kicks? Also, if you didn't know, his breastplate and similar articles are made of special alloys; this is stated in his history. I do believe they could resist gunfire quite easily.

 

Also, to ease any sort of confusion, I have an image of Damien's tattoo if any wish to see it:

Edited November 23, 2006 by Guest