[ooc] soul campaign application

[futaenokiwami]

[ PLAYER INFORMATION ]

Player Name: Mart
Age: 23
Timezone: GMT+8
Personal Journal: riyuji
Contact Information:
Instant Messenger: AIM: musicakun
Email: riyuji.raicho@gmail.com
Plurk: riyuji
Current Characters: N/A
Activity Checks: N/A

[ CHARACTER INFORMATION ]

Name: Sanosuke Sagara (Real name, Sanosuke Higashidani. Also known as Zanza)
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Fandom: Rurouni Kenshin (manga)
Timeline: Mid-chapter 235 (After returning to Tokyo and just as he goes in to fetch Kenshin from his room in the clinic)
History: Canon proper, Sano’s involvement and outline

Character Personality:

Sanosuke dislikes the government for their betrayal to the Sekihoutai. As a member of the Sekihoutai, Sano’s beliefs are rooted in the hopes and ideals of equality among the four classes of people in Japan. However due to the government spreading rumors that the Sekihoutai were telling lies about a tax cut, the troops were all slaughtered and used as a warning to everyone else. This is why he views most of those in the government as backstabbing bastards. The Ishin Shishi showed him that they were more than willing to use others for their own agenda, making false promises of a better future and drown themselves in their own greed and. All this made them and their actions dirty, which only made him despise them even more. He wears the character for evil on his back as a reminder of what the government did to him and his friends, and for the title given to them as a false government army.

However after meeting Kenshin, Sano had come to believe that despite the government being dirty, he must not stoop down to their level. Doing so and using the Sekihoutai’s name for the sake of a revolt hoping for change would only result in the Sekihoutai actually becoming a false government army which they were pegged as. If there was one thing Sanosuke isn’t willing to do, it is to sully the name of the troop and their leader, Souzou Sagara.

Prior to becoming friends with Kenshin and the others, Sanosuke was first an foremost a fighter for hire. He lives for the thrill of the fight, wanting to become stronger and stronger after each person he takes on and has been doing so since the fall of the Sekihoutai. After being defeated by Kenshin, he stripped himself of his underworld name of Zanza and stopped becoming a fighter for hire.

Without any real source of income, he has a tendency to mooch off the residents of the Kamiya dojo, whether it be the food Kaoru and Kenshin prepares or sometimes even their lodgings whenever necessary. It isn’t that Sano is outright lazy but he himself mentions that that there isn’t much for him to do. At least anything that could help him earn his own money to pay off his own debts. Because of that he simply borrows from whoever is willing to lend him money for an indefinite period of time or put bills on his tab, no matter how high it runs. Despite their constant nagging, they don’t seem to mind too much about it which he obviously uses to his advantage.

He’s rather laid back for someone who is friends with Kenshin. He’s able to still do things he truly enjoys like kicking back and mooching off at the Akabeko or going to gambling halls to earn himself a little cash whenever he has free time to spare. He doesn’t meddle in on other people’s business until he feels he should step in to lend a hand or if the person actually needed his help in the first place. He doesn’t step in unless it’s extremely necessary because he believes that people need to fight their own battles. Sanosuke thinks that if they know that someone will always come and save them from whatever hardship they encounter then they’ll never learn to fend for themselves. In this way, he wants them to learn from the difficult they face whether it be physical, mental or emotional.

As mentioned earlier, Sanosuke seems to live for the thrill of the fight. His reasoning for saying “I came for the fight” may be an excuse of sorts but there is more to his reason for fighting than just that. He knows that there are other fighters out there who are truly stronger than himself and if he had the chance to take them on, he would. The one man he needs to defeat to truly become stronger though is former Shinsengumi member Saitou Hajime. He believes this because he wants to prove to Saitou that even if he doesn’t have as much experience as him and Kenshin and even if he did not fight during the bakamatsu, he’s not as weak as Saitou claims him to be.

He takes a huge blow to his ego when Kenshin leaves for Kyoto without him and when Saitou says that he will only be a hindrance to his friend. He takes his pride seriously and fights for it, especially when he truly believes that his convictions and efforts are in the right place.

Because of all the fights he gets into, he constantly puts himself in harm’s way to protect those that he cares about. However due to that same line of thinking, Sano would recklessly barge into situations and battles, thus injuring himself in the process. He’s not as cool and collected as Kenshin is so in spite of his experience in fighting, there are still times wherein he would act on impulse. A perfect example of this is seen whenever he overuses his Futae no Kiwami technique and ends up having Megumi patch it up time and time again. Her warnings remain unheeded as well as he continues fighting anyway.

Even if he is a little rough around the edges, Sanosuke does have a lot of compassion for his friends and people who cannot defend themselves in a fight. He’s willing to step in to defend or lend a hand to someone who he knows is not capable of handling matters on their own, whether or not it involves getting physical with them. However if it is someone who he knows can defeat their enemy, despite them being weaker (like Yahiko), he’ll gladly stand by the sidelines. He does this as a sign of respect for them as well as an acknowledgement to their own abilities as a fighter.

His skills may not be as refined as Kenshin or any of the other samurai but he is confident in his own set of abilities. If there’s an opponent that he’s determined to take down, he will to the best of his abilities and more often than not would come out on top. That is if he keeps his head in the game anyway.

It’s really easy to push Sano’s buttons. He’s not the most patient guy in the bunch so it doesn’t take much for him to get annoyed at something. Make fun of him and he’ll have something to say about it and a nasty comment attached to it too. Poke him incessantly and he’ll definitely poke back even more. It’s not above him to make fun of other people either, intentionally or unintentionally.

Character Abilities:

Sano is a skilled and seasoned fighter, having lived on his own and fighting his own battles since he was ten. He has the basic idea of how to take opponents down by using some of their moves to his advantage and keeping an eye out for things that he may be able to exploit to turn the tables on them. He tries to overcome each of his opponents so that he may grow stronger, hoping that each battle would lead him to an opponent whose strength surpasses that of his last one.

When not fighting with his fists, Sano wields a huge unconventional sword called a zanbatou. This sword is rather unwieldy and was made to take out a horse and its rider in a single blow. Its blade isn’t as sharp as most swords but what it lacks in the conventional slash, it makes up for in brute strength. Considering the largeness of the weapon, Sanosuke must be pretty strong just to be able to hold it up, and he could even do so with only one hand.

After meeting the monk Anji, Sano is able to learn Futae no Kiwami (The Mastery of Two Layers, which Sano later perfects and turns into the Mastery of Three Layers). This technique allows him to put in two punches within 1/75 of a second with the first hit eliminating any resistance and the second destroying the target. The third layer would be pushing the object with an open fist, thus adding a third punch. This technique allowed him to crush rocks and boulders with those two hits, practically turning it into dust.

He’s got good endurance and stamina, much more than that of an average person. This means that he can keep on taking hits as long as his energy lasts and will not back down until he is rendered unconscious. Even if he is injured but still lucid, he will definitely still get back on his feet to fight back.

As a fighter for hire, Sano actually had good sources that allowed him to learn more about the people he is hired to get rid of. Back then, he would much rather know about his opponent’s past and choice of weapon and fighting style (be it sword or fists) so he could use the knowledge that he gains to his advantage during the actual battle.

Sano is definitely a brawn over brains kind of guy, and he’s shown time and time again that he’s not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, but he makes up for it by being able to at least analyze battles well. With enough time and as long as he remains faster than his opponent, he can think of different ways to stop an attack from actually striking him (such as punching Saitou’s arm between his fists). If he’s not the one participating in the battle, he’s been in enough fights to at least get a vague idea of how it will turn out or how an attack or move may be used to either his comrade or enemy’s advantage.

Character Weaknesses:

Sano sometimes lets his temper get the better of himself. Whenever something like this happens, his fury takes over and he loses whatever concentration he may have had and starts thinking irrationally. This usually leads to his downfall as he begins to act on impulse, not thinking about the consequences that may follow.

Due to the repeated used of Futate no Kiwami, his right first has endured constant injury and has been patched up countless of times.

Considering that at the time he’s from, Japan has not yet been completely westernized, Sano is extremely skeptical about technology. He has a fear of cameras because they’re not suppose to be able to take still pictures the way they do and he’s also wary about trains because he does not understand how steam and coal could move massive amounts of metal fro point A to point B.

[ SOUL CAMPAIGN SECTION ]

What are the abilities that your character will retain in Soul Campaign?

• Knowledge of Futae no Kiwami
• His fistfighting skills
• Knowledge of wielding a zanbatou

What are the weaknesses that your character will lose or gain in Soul Campaign?

• His strength would be weakened slightly. If he were to try Futae no Kiwami on his own, he wouldn’t be able to crush the rock into dust like he used to.

• Gains increased speed due to nature of his weapon form. A glove isn’t too bulky and will not add a lot of extra weight when the meister uses him as a weapon. The effect is just a very slight boost to the meister’s average speed. On his own, he does gain a little extra speed as he’s not exactly as fast as most in comparison to the speed of most of the fighters in the series.

[ WEAPON ONLY SECTION ]

Why your character should be a Weapon:

Sano has always been more of a support kind of fighter. He has had his own share of battles but he never takes down the leader on his own, leaving that to Kenshin or whoever else may be fighting alongside them at the time. He’s willing to handle the small fry, if it’ll help take down whatever evil they are up against. He may also be able to help and watch his meister’s back considering that he usually has a good sense of what is going on in a battle, whether he is in it or not.

Him as a meister would probably be a bad idea anyway considering he’ll probably go all out and forget said weapon is supposedly another person too. Definitely not a good thing.

What is your character's Weapon form?:

A glove with brass knuckles, considering that Sano uses his fists more often his signature zanbatou in the beginning of the series.

Increased Agility - To compensate for the lack of strength, he is able to slightly increase his meister’s speed to their advantage. This entails the meister to have quicker reflexes and the ability to dodge and move at a pace just above their average speed. The skill must be used before the start of an attack and could only last for a maximum time of 5 minutes before a cool down of another 5 minutes becomes necessary. The time the ability will last could increase and the cool down time may decrease depending on both the weapon and meister’s level.

Combo - This allows the meister to do a three punch attack (similar to the Master of the Three Layers), minus the destruction of the target step. The combo starts off as a basic attack, only allowing to meister and weapon pair to stun their opponent for 5-10 seconds. As their level, strength and experience increases, so will the strength of the attack. This attack could only be used if the meister is has the strength and endurance to use it.

Futae no Kiwami - Sano is able to crush boulders with the help of Futae no Kiwami, but in this version this move is able to do an elemental attack (ground) that splits the earth from both himself and the meister to a few meters ahead of them. This is considered his higher level attack and could only be done during soul resonance. Until the meister and weapon pair has gained more experience, it will could only be used a maximum of twice considering that it uses up a large amount of energy from both members.

Energy Sharing - Sanosuke has a lot more stamina and endurance than that of an average person. When his meister is beginning to run low on energy, Sano can share some of his own with them. This however will only last for a short amount of time (3-5 minutes) until experience between the two is gained.

[ SOUL INFORMATION ]

Soul Description: loyal, strong, impulsive, confident, stubborn, easygoing

Soul Appearance: Sano’s soul is white with a spikey outline of his hair. It wears a red bandanna much like the one Sano uses himself and has a fishbone sticking out of its mouth. It’s got a cocky look on its face, grinning like it’s ready to take on the world.

[ SAMPLES ]

First Person:

[Hello Shibusen. Hope your day’s going well and that this annoyed looking face appearing on the mirror won’t be ruining it somehow.]

How’s this stupid thing even working anyway?

Oi, you think you just pull someone out of where they came from to deal with whatever you’ve got on your plate? I’ve got enough things to worry about in Tokyo already. Tch, just when we were ready to get Jou-chan back too. And kick that stupid’s bastard’s ass.

[He scratches the back of his head, looking at his surroundings once more. Sano had faced some pretty insane things since he’s gotten to know Kenshin and the others but this... this one probably takes the cake. To think the others weren’t even around this time. Or so he thinks. He clicks his tongue, looking back into the mirror.]

Tch. Can anyone just tell me where’s the closest place to get a drink here?

Third Person:

(This takes place just before he ends up in Death City)

If there was one thing Sanosuke was thankful for now that he was back in Tokyo, it was the fact that he could scarf down as much food as he wanted without having to worry about skipping out on the bill and possibly getting caught because of it. The few times he was able to share a meal with his family in Shinshu didn’t count. Back then he was just eating to provide himself with some energy. It was simply eating for eating’s sake. Now he was eating because he realized just how hungry he had been, especially after that one day run back to Tokyo.

He reached for the platter of beef, stuffing it into his mouth despite Yahiko’s protests. He glanced at the boy through the side of his eye. “Looks like you’re still too tired from laying in bed this whole time.”

“At least I didn’t run away like an idiot.”

Sanosuke dropped his chopsticks for just a minute, leaning towards Yahiko to flick him on the side of his head. “At least I didn’t charge into a fight with a guy four times my size.”

Yahiko immediately shouted another insult back at him but Sanosuke didn’t care all too much. Instead he picked up his chopsticks once more and resumed eating his meal. A lot had happened since his departure but he was glad to hear that everyone was safe and sound somehow. Yahiko was able help stop that whalemouth’s rampage, Kenshin was finally able to snap out of his funk and Kaoru was alive. Everything was playing out a lot better then he could’ve ever imagined.

All the was left was actually getting Kaoru back to them. To this group that he and all the others around him considered family. (Never mind that they were a dysfunctional bunch but hey, it worked) And especially to Kenshin.

Bringing his cup to his mouth, he drained the contents before slamming it down on the table and getting back up on his feet.

“Alright! Let’s go get Kenshin and save Jou-chan.”