[OOC REAPP]
In-Character Information
Name : Samurai Goroh
Game/Series: F-Zero
Canon Point: Post appearance in Smash Academy by a year.
Age & Teaching Position: 42, Driver's Education.
Living Arrangements: He has a dorm, and also lives in town. The man is a multitasker. His dorm also doubles as a nice zen garden.
Personality:
Just like there are two sides to every coin, there are two sides to Samurai Goroh.
His F-Zero personality, and by a large extension, his public one, he is a shameless, arrogant, loud exorbitant man that demands instead of asks. Crude, crass, and at many times impolite, he doesn't mind resorting to fighting like a five year old if the situation calls for it. He can easily make people feel like they are tiny and insignificant compared to himself, and has a taste for theatrics. Even when he types, he wants to be loud. And bold. And red. Whatever you might say about him, it's really hard to remove the thought of him once you've met Goroh. He's the type of man that leaves you with a permanent image etched in your brain.
You might think he's crazy and you'd probably be half-right. Goroh acts crazy because he wants people to think he is. At times a paranoid man, he is always making sure that he doesn't have someone on his tail. You just can't be a Bounty Hunter without creating scenarios for situations that might arise. Half part intuition, half part improvising. That's what his father taught him, and the code is still etched on his brain. Hunters don't like to make up many close friends, as they might end up being used against you. Therefore, most of his close friendships are kept away from the public eye. For all the F-Zero and its fans know, Goroh is the soulless leader of a band of thieves that steal to themselves to give to themselves and should be avoided at all costs. Yet, somehow, he has never been captured. Mystery, that.
He became that image so much that he forgot who he was originally, a man who was quiet, thoughtful and honorable in the pursuit of justice. Trapped in his own illusion and hate for what had happened to his wife and family and forced to raise his only son by his own, Goroh was incredibly ruthless in the pursuit of his own needs. Not wanting to forgive Internova and partly blaming them and Falcon for the whole incident, he became a perverted version of himself and tried to sabotage a lot of secret projects and operations. He was giving himself excuses with reasons why he was doing this or that. This went on for a few years until he finally ended up in Smash Academy and, strangely enough, the school made him open his eyes and realize just what he'd been doing for the last part of his life. But he had an image to keep, and Goroh hadn't end up where he was by being stupid.
So while outside, many see him as this big, huge man with a personality that just makes you want to hate him and the hateful villain that he seems to be, he's actually mostly come back to his honorable roots . Oh sure, he still robs, from time to time. A man's gotta have his pastimes, but he doesn't do it without reason and always leaving everyone alive (it totally makes it better!). And yes, he's still a douche. Heck, he's always been a douche one way or another, from being overly protective and by the book to now when he just acts like an asshole because he can act like an asshole. Goroh sees a lot of mistakes he's done in the past, but accepts them for what they are. He's through dwelling in the past, and has made peace with Internova.
Of course you'd never know that, looking at him. But if you happen to be part of his close circle of friends, you might just see that more justice filled, honorable warrior that would be willing to protect those he cares for with his life. He's got a surprising down-to-earth sense of humor, coupled with the strange lunacy that living in a futuristic earth might bring you. He loves to tell stories, and is a surprisingly gifted storyteller. Goroh had a fondness for smoking pipes and cigars; good quality ones only, mind you. He can afford the stuff.
It goes without saying that Goroh is a master of guns and swords. His main sword is so sharp it can cut even hard metals. Combined with an art that he's been practicing since he was a child, Goroh is not a man to be underestimated.
Backstory:
The Goroh clan has always been viewed as one of the richer noble clans of future earth Japan (with rumors of ties to the yakuza). His father married an American, and Samurai was their only child. His parents had met as Internova Officers, so Goroh's childhood was a mixture of endless training to be a proper heir to his father, and getting drilled day and night into being a future child fighting prodigy. Since before he could walk, he was trained in the ways of the sword, honor and respecting the law. The result was a young boy who was top of his class at Internova many times over, and hated by some of his peers for his inability to slack off a little and get mad at the slightest infractions. He especially earned the ire of one Lisa Brilliant, who happened to always be second to Goroh's first in everything, and had a completely different personality than him.
So that was why Callahan decided they'd make perfect partners once both of them were accepted into Internova as secret agents. They didn't get along at all at first, but with dangerous missions, a trust began to build and needless to say, it grew quickly. Sometimes a little too quickly. Hate turned into trust and then finally into love. By the time the other two members of the four member Seraphim squad were admitted, Lisa and Goroh were a couple that rumors were whispered about around the coffee machine. A year later, Goroh finally popped the question and Lisa accepted.
A man could not have asked for more, really. A hot wife that kicked as much as as himself, parents who were in the same job as him and approved of pretty much everything he did, two really good friends who he had many strange and bizarre adventures with that he could have entire lifetimes of stories to tell about. But surprise, it got better! Lisa had a son. Baby Dai was doted on by quite possibly the most metal family. Goroh just thought he might burst with happiness.
Of course it all had to come crashing down eventually. Their line of work was a dangerous one, and they all knew the risk. Still, no emotion could be used to describe the hole in his chest when he lost not only his wife, but his parents in the same night. Internova told him that not only would their deaths not be celebrated, but the public would think it was just a driving accident.
Considering what his parents had given to the cause and suddenly stuck alone to raise a child, Goroh snapped. Together with Antonio, they turned vigilante almost overnight becoming the very things they had sworn to protect against. They wanted to track down the killers, and they were going to use any means necessary to achieve their end. The final insult came when Falcon reported them in. He felt completely betrayed by the one man who should be understanding what he was doing. Their friendship was over.
The next few years, Goroh renewed ties with his family's lesser known contracts and discovered just how deep the rabbit hole went. It didn't take too long for him to find himself leader of a series of band of thugs, rouges and ninja and make the Red Canyon a place that all travelers avoided if they could. He started to steal ships, prototypes, always a few hours ahead of the cavalry to stop him in his tracks, wondering why Internova wasn't pulling the plug on his life like they could have easily done so. While a lot of resources went into trying to find his wife's killers, Goroh couldn't simply stop being who he was, and spent a lot of his time stealing, but never killing anyone. Down the path, a disagreement with Antonio ended up with the latter getting captured and broke their friendship as well. Goroh was now truly alone. Alone with all his resources and band of thieves and oh my what was he to do?
F-Zeroing, once he found out Falcon was starting to race in it. Racing was something Falcon was obviously better at than him, but like Goroh would tell him that. He still hated his guts and if he couldn't be first, he'd make himself the biggest thorn in his side. The F-Zero crew took notice and deliberately painted them not only as old rivals, but only let them race together during the more dangerous races to raise their ratings. In reality a lot of this suited Goroh just fine. Being second place had its perks, one of the first being that no one wanted to kill you all the time. In fact, people were paying and offering him good money to terminate Falcon. Yet somehow he never accepted. Part of Goroh's twisted mind just saw that as being a better man than Falcon in that aspect.
So when he heard that he was teaching in some school throught a spy contact, Goroh ended up going himself, taking his some with him, showing off and guns ablaze. Obviously this did not completely go as planned, but somehow the Hands gave him a job and he was the school's best Driver's Education teacher. Yet somehow being closer to Falcon away from the lights and the glamor got them to talk a little bit more and perhaps, that little bit of respect was growing again. Never enough for Goroh to call Falcon a friend again, but at least to begrudgingly not think of some loser. Antonio showed up and there was much fighting and douche calling. After Dai left, Goroh ended up striking a few friendships with some of the students, offering to train them in the sword. When Antonio left, their friendship had been, miraculously, repaired. He even found love (or at least a good after hours friend if you know what I mean) with EVA.
When Goroh finally left himself, he decided he had to change his life again. Perhaps recalling his earlier years, and thinking of his after Internova days like someone's midlife crisis (in many ways, it was), he set out to change his life.
Of course he still had an image to keep, both for F-Zero and for his contacts. He continued to be a douche to Falcon in the public's eye, continued to steal and collecting bounties, but never killing. He began to train more frequently and emerged a much more self-sufficient and understanding man. Much more quiet than before, he fell back to his older ways, and lost most of his excess weight with his training. The public did not know that. Goroh was a craft bastard by trade, and so wore a fat suit to his races. Yes, he really was that dedicated to keeping this a secret, for that one, single time that he might need to use that against an opponent.
So why go back to Smash Academy at all? Well first of all, someone's been a terrible Driver's Education teacher and Goroh intends to bring back his own (best) way of teaching again. Then there's doucheface that could use a punch in said face or two. Then there's all the kids he actually cared about. And then there's that supply of cigars that must have run out by now.
He's got a crate full of them ready.
Anything Else?:
- Goroh is proficient in three different types of sword style fighting, guns, gun-kata, melee weapons, heavy weapons, bee guns and all sorts of ways of kicking your ass.
- He's still not a fan of computers even if he's gotten over the 'jam a sword into it, it will work' kinda thing.
- He has a wide network of spies, ninjas and thugs. They like to keep tabs on things
- His room is a zen garden, complete with working waterfall, paper thin doors, mats, bamboo. You are required to take your shoes off.
- Even if he is named Samurai, he operates more like a ninja. THANKS FOR THE TYPECASTING, MOM AND DAD.
- His full name is Samurai Blade Fujita Gorō. Goroh is how he spells his family name in public. No seriously. Thanks Mom and Dad.
- The Firestingray is one of the most powerful racing cars on the circuit, having been built by partly stolen technology. Goroh gave it one hell of a manly pink paint job. Because. Pink is very manly.
- He is surprisingly agile. Like. Back flips. He can do them. A lot.