Character Info
Character Info -
Name: Aang
Age: 17, but everyone tells him he looks like he's 12
Portrayed By: Skandar Keynes (
College, Job, or Both: College -- Freshman majoring in Philosophy
Hobbies/Extracurricular Activities: Exploring: Aang loves exploring, and can never stay in the same place for long. When he gets enough money, he plans to go traveling the world, but for now, he's content constantly hitting the city streets, getting to know every nook and cranny, and talking to everyone he meets.
Animals: Aang loves everything cute and fuzzy...and scaley...and stubbly...and feathery... basically, if it's alive, Aang wants to play with it. No animal shelter will let him volunteer with them because he completely ignores all safety regulations and has more than once nearly had an arm bitten off by a vicious feral animal, so he contents himself with playing with whatever animals he finds wandering the streets with him.
Chinese Martial Arts: He doesn't like to advertise it, but Aang's trained in many different forms of Chinese martial arts ever since he could walk. His preferred form is Ba Gua, as it works very well for self-defense without being excessively violent. He's also strong in Tai Chi, Northern Shaolin, and Hung Gar, but he defaults to Ba Gua.
Brief History:
Aang was raised in a kinder, gentler Mafia than most would expect. Sure, they were on the wrong side of the law, but it was pretty much all movie and software pirating: no drugs, prostitution, nothing really unseemly. Like the others in his "family," he trained vigorously in martial arts to defend himself, but the emphasis was on defense and not offense. Violence was bad for business. The yuppies who paid them to get cheaper movies didn't really want to be associated with murder and mayhem. So the family kept to itself and out of other gangs' business, made sure they were peaceful.
But benign as their pirating practices were, they were also very profitable, and other gangs wanted in. The real money was in drugs, but if the FBI caught you doing the minor crime of movie pirating, they probably wouldn't look much deeper for the darker stuff.
When Aang was 11, his boss called him into his office and told him that he would be the heir to the family, and he would have to prepare to defend the family against the brewing gang war. Aang wasn't really keen on pirating, and he REALLY didn't like the idea of leading his family in life-and-death fights; he ran off, needing some alone time to process the news.
While he was gone, the largest of their rival gangs attacked. His entire family was massacred.
Had he been wise, Aang would have fled the city. But he didn't have the heart to leave behind the graves of everyone he had ever loved. So he hid, doing his best to change his identity. For the next six years he foraged on the streets, picking up enough money and sympathy from authorities to get a scholarship to college. He's doing his best to forget his life in the gang ever happened. But like the tattoos that mark him as a Ba Gua master, his past is not easy to hide.
Personality
Aang is a high-flying, fun-loving kid, the ultimate extrovert. He loves new people, new places, new experiences. He's the first one to make friends and to reach out to those in need. He believes in enjoying himself and living in the moment. He's been like that ever since he was a child, but the loss of his family and entire world when he was 11 made him almost fanatical about it. Under his circumstances, others would take to drugs or drink; Aang took to life. He lives in the moment because the past is too painful to remember and the future too frightening to contemplate.
Aang is a hard-core pacifist and environmentalist, other traits that became exaggerated at the loss of his loved ones. He can't bear the thought of anyone suffering the way he has suffered, enduring the losses he's endured. He finds violence utterly abhorrent. As for his environmentalism, the environment is the one thing that's in his power to protect, and global warming is the one thing that doesn't have a mother that will miss it when it's gone.
Aang is loyal and compassionate; these are the traits that form the backbone of his personality, upon which everything else that's in him is built. Once you are his friend, even in the most superficial sense, he will make almost any sacrifice for your sake. He cares deeply about all life, and feels it's his life's purpose to be a force of creation, not destruction.
Name: Aang
Age: 17, but everyone tells him he looks like he's 12
Portrayed By: Skandar Keynes (
College, Job, or Both: College -- Freshman majoring in Philosophy
Hobbies/Extracurricular Activities: Exploring: Aang loves exploring, and can never stay in the same place for long. When he gets enough money, he plans to go traveling the world, but for now, he's content constantly hitting the city streets, getting to know every nook and cranny, and talking to everyone he meets.
Animals: Aang loves everything cute and fuzzy...and scaley...and stubbly...and feathery... basically, if it's alive, Aang wants to play with it. No animal shelter will let him volunteer with them because he completely ignores all safety regulations and has more than once nearly had an arm bitten off by a vicious feral animal, so he contents himself with playing with whatever animals he finds wandering the streets with him.
Chinese Martial Arts: He doesn't like to advertise it, but Aang's trained in many different forms of Chinese martial arts ever since he could walk. His preferred form is Ba Gua, as it works very well for self-defense without being excessively violent. He's also strong in Tai Chi, Northern Shaolin, and Hung Gar, but he defaults to Ba Gua.
Brief History:
Aang was raised in a kinder, gentler Mafia than most would expect. Sure, they were on the wrong side of the law, but it was pretty much all movie and software pirating: no drugs, prostitution, nothing really unseemly. Like the others in his "family," he trained vigorously in martial arts to defend himself, but the emphasis was on defense and not offense. Violence was bad for business. The yuppies who paid them to get cheaper movies didn't really want to be associated with murder and mayhem. So the family kept to itself and out of other gangs' business, made sure they were peaceful.
But benign as their pirating practices were, they were also very profitable, and other gangs wanted in. The real money was in drugs, but if the FBI caught you doing the minor crime of movie pirating, they probably wouldn't look much deeper for the darker stuff.
When Aang was 11, his boss called him into his office and told him that he would be the heir to the family, and he would have to prepare to defend the family against the brewing gang war. Aang wasn't really keen on pirating, and he REALLY didn't like the idea of leading his family in life-and-death fights; he ran off, needing some alone time to process the news.
While he was gone, the largest of their rival gangs attacked. His entire family was massacred.
Had he been wise, Aang would have fled the city. But he didn't have the heart to leave behind the graves of everyone he had ever loved. So he hid, doing his best to change his identity. For the next six years he foraged on the streets, picking up enough money and sympathy from authorities to get a scholarship to college. He's doing his best to forget his life in the gang ever happened. But like the tattoos that mark him as a Ba Gua master, his past is not easy to hide.
Personality
Aang is a high-flying, fun-loving kid, the ultimate extrovert. He loves new people, new places, new experiences. He's the first one to make friends and to reach out to those in need. He believes in enjoying himself and living in the moment. He's been like that ever since he was a child, but the loss of his family and entire world when he was 11 made him almost fanatical about it. Under his circumstances, others would take to drugs or drink; Aang took to life. He lives in the moment because the past is too painful to remember and the future too frightening to contemplate.
Aang is a hard-core pacifist and environmentalist, other traits that became exaggerated at the loss of his loved ones. He can't bear the thought of anyone suffering the way he has suffered, enduring the losses he's endured. He finds violence utterly abhorrent. As for his environmentalism, the environment is the one thing that's in his power to protect, and global warming is the one thing that doesn't have a mother that will miss it when it's gone.
Aang is loyal and compassionate; these are the traits that form the backbone of his personality, upon which everything else that's in him is built. Once you are his friend, even in the most superficial sense, he will make almost any sacrifice for your sake. He cares deeply about all life, and feels it's his life's purpose to be a force of creation, not destruction.