✼ profile & character survey ✼

[lightningcute]

Additional reference sources here. Some (...most?) weren't available when I was doing the original application. Speaking of which, the original application for anyone who's curious can be found here.

LAST EDITED: DECEMBER 8, 2011

Name: Huang Pao-lin / 黄宝鈴. (Hero alias: Dragon Kid)
Fandom: Tiger & Bunny.
Gender: Female.
Age: 15.
Time Period: Some point after the end of the first season. (Specifically: February 1, NC1980)
Wing Color: Same color as her hair.
History: You can find a brief summation of what's known about her canonically on the Tiger & Bunny article on Wikipedia, but a slightly more detailed headcanon history follows below...

Huang Pao-lin (or Huang Bao-ling, if we really want to be precise about romanization rules given the official characters for her name) was born in Hong Kong, the elder of two children. Although her parents loved her very much, it was clear that they had a preference and higher hopes for her younger brother Bao-zhi, two years her junior. This preference became even more pronounced once it became obvious that Pao-lin was not a girl given to typically "feminine" things like playing with dolls or wearing dresses -- she instead preferred to spend her time playing outdoors, usually with the other boys of the neighborhood, participating gleefully in bug hunts and various sports games. And when she discovered the wide world of martial arts movies, she begged her parents for kung fu lessons. Initially they refused, but after Pao-lin nearly broke her neck imitating some of the flashier movies she saw in her favorite films, they decided that she should at least learn how to do things correctly so she didn't accidentally kill herself in the process. So at age 5, Pao-lin began taking kung fu lessons.

At age 6, her NEXT power of controlling and generating lightning began to manifest.

Word of this got around, and Pao-lin lost most of her friends, either because they were frightened of her or because their parents were. Left with all this time to herself, she spent it practicing her kung fu when she wasn't watching movies, reading comics, or doing responsible things like helping around the house or schoolwork. Her sifu was a kindly old man who lived in an apartment building not far from Pao-lin's old home; she took both public and private lessons with him. Although he wasn't a NEXT himself, he had been friends with one before and thus knew that they were just as human as everyone else. Through kung fu and tai chi, he taught Pao-lin how to control her NEXT power, convincing her to view it not as some curse but as merely a tangible manifestation of her chi. Pao-lin didn't always believe him, especially when she was being taunted at school for who she was, but going through the forms on her own usually gave her peace of mind, and it allowed her to deal with her circumstances without snapping. Her parents, however, were understandably less at ease about the situation. Not only was Pao-lin refusing to behave like a proper young lady, but she also had these strange powers that scared off anyone who knew about them. Who was going to marry someone like her? And what sort of career or job could someone like her have?

Only time will bring the answer to the first question, but the answer to the second question came when Pao-lin was 11 years old, in the form of Odysseus Communication, a company based on North America but owned by a Chinese man named Yung-fa Chang. Chang, along with a woman named Natasha Evans, visited Pao-lin and her family wanting to know if they would be interested in having Pao-lin work for the company as a "Hero" on HeroTV, a show based in the city of Sternbild in North America where NEXT used their superhuman powers to catch criminals and save innocent bystanders from various perils while showing off advertising on their Hero costumes. Both Pao-lin and her parents were enthusiastic about the idea (well, "enthusiastic" is probably overstating things with regards to her parents, but it's accurate enough for Pao-lin's reaction). This was a prime opportunity for Pao-lin to make productive use of her quirks, especially since her starting salary would easily exceed that of both of her parents' combined. She would also be living under the care of Natasha as a kind of foster daughter, so she wouldn't have to live on her own in a strange country.

Two months later, Pao-lin's parents saw her off at the airport with a wish to "make their country proud", and thus Dragon Kid was born. She would finish three seasons of HeroTV before being whisked away to Luceti.

Personality: Probably the first thing that anyone notices about Pao-lin is her tomboyish nature. She's very adamant in voicing her dislike for anything remotely girly, a fact which causes Natasha much consternation. But it's been shown that she can appreciate cute things: she shows off a maternal side in caring for the mayor's infant son (in fact, she's the only one out of the Heroes that he responds favorably to), and she eventually chooses to wear a pair of flower hairpins given to her by her parents as a parting gift once she finds out that the meaning of the flower on the hairpins is "thinking about you always". Episode 13 also revealed that Pao-lin is perhaps not completely at ease with her tomboy nature: she apparently considered herself less of a "girl" than a flamboyant heel-wearing, pink-clad gay man. While Pao-lin does genuinely have interests that don't coincide with mainstream notions of femininity, part of her insistence on tomboyishness may also be a defense mechanism against the isolation and ostracization she experienced when she was younger. She has it in her head that in order to endure her trials, she has to be strong, and being "strong", to her, means eschewing anything associated with being a typical girl.

Despite this serious side, Pao-lin is a more or less happy, cheerful girl. In fact, even considering how dangerous her work is and the fact that she's away from home, she's probably happier in Sternbild than she was in Hong Kong. But she's also still a bit lonely: being a Hero doesn't give her much free time, and she has to keep her Hero identity secret from the public. She doesn't go to school, instead learning the basic curriculum from Natasha, and although she definitely gets along with and likes her Hero co-workers, they're also technically her rivals at HeroTV, which complicates things slightly. There's also major age gaps to contend with; the current Hero roster contains two other teenagers, but they're on the older end of the spectrum, and a difference of a few years means a lot more to a young girl like Pao-lin than it would to an adult. But sharing the common experience of being a young Hero bridges these age gaps a little (or a lot), and as such Pao-lin's grown closer to them over time. She's also begun to think of the adult Heroes as surrogate family members: Kotetsu as a father, Antonio as an uncle, Nathan as a mother or an older sister, and Keith as an older brother. (She doesn't quite know what to make of Barnaby yet, though.)

Still, Pao-lin can be a little shy about asking her co-workers (or sometimes even her caretaker) for help if she needs it. Because she grew up without many friends and with parents who didn't really understand her, she's always felt that she had to deal with her problems on her own. Not to mention that forging it out on her own also falls within her assumption that this is what will make her stronger, and that asking for help is "weak." She'll usually try to keep an upbeat or a determined front, but every now and again the facade will crack, as it did when Kotetsu began teasing her about how cute she would look with flowers in her hair, and she blurted out to him and Barnaby about her frustrations with her parents. When it does, she'll quickly retreat and maybe sulk for a little bit before returning and pretending like nothing's wrong, hoping that everyone will just conveniently forget about her little outburst.

As a Hero, Pao-lin is probably up there with Keith and Kotetsu in terms of how much idealism and optimism she holds about her job -- which is to say, a lot, especially considering how corporate the job is in the world of Tiger & Bunny. While the 16-year-old Karina got into it because her sponsors promised to also help her with a budding music career, and 19-year-old Ivan spent (or used to spend, anyway) most of his Hero career photobombing for his sponsors because he didn't think he was capable of anything else, Pao-lin decided to become a Hero because she really wanted to help people. This was influenced by a lot of different things: the frequently black-and-white situations of the movies she watched and the comics she read, her desire to become someone better than the girl who was teased by her peers and misunderstood by her family, and just overall a sunny, kind disposition. Of course she understands that there are less savory parts of the job aside from the expected dangerous situations (for example, Natasha constantly being on her case about how Pao-lin's boyish tendencies apparently make her less appealing as a Hero -- whether this is actually true is never explored), but she hasn't yet reached the point in her life where she's cynical about what she's doing. Really, her life so far kinda sounds like something out of a shonen manga, and that's just awesome -- how could she hate it, even with all of its bad points? Those are just obstacles to be overcome, things to make her stronger in the end, anyway.

When left to her own devices, Pao-lin spends her time reading comics (she likes both American superhero comics and Japanese shonen manga), drawing, training, and watching/re-watching martial arts movies. She also doesn't mind playing games like basketball or soccer, though she's not necessarily the best at it. And sometimes, when she's walking the city, she'll stop and stare at some of the clothes in the fashion boutiques, trying to convince herself that she's only interested in them from an aesthetic standpoint, and not because -- god forbid -- she'd actually like to try them on, just once.

Strengths:

• physical - Pao-lin is a very skilled and acrobatic martial artist, able to fight both barehanded and with a staff (and possibly other weapons). She frequently combines this with her NEXT power of generating electricity, which is strong enough to stun someone. She's also quick and light on her feet.
  
• mental/emotional - Surprisingly for her age, she can keep a calm head in dangerous situations. Probably the only reason she was caught trying to escape her bindings in a hostage situation was because the person who was holding her (and the mayor's infant son) hostage had a NEXT power that allowed her to literally smell danger. Pao-lin's also very disciplined about her kung fu training, working through forms while waiting for a criminal to show up at a location she was scouting out.

Weaknesses:

• physical - Pao-lin is stronger than most girls her age, thanks to her martial arts training, but considering her small stature she's not that much stronger. She has to rely on her NEXT power, her agility, and her knowledge of sneaky, decisive strikes in order to take down criminals. Episode 10 shows that Pao-lin has a tendency to be a kill-stealer -- presumably she lets the other Heroes wear down or distract the bad guys before she swoops in for the final strike, netting her points with only part of the effort.
  
• mental/emotional - For all of her discipline and experience with the darker side of life, Pao-lin's still just a teenage girl living away from her loving family in an unorthodox environment. There are certain aspects of life that she hasn't been exposed to yet, including things involving hormones, and it might be difficult for her to navigate such things without either a peer support group or an older, wiser mentor to help shed light on a few confusing things.

[Character survey being slowly, slowly filled out...]

Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is she heavyset, thin, short, rangy?
Pao-lin is 5'2" and pretty thin.

2. How old is she?
15.

3. Describe her posture. Does she carry herself well or does she slouch?
She has pretty good posture for the most part. She usually likes to slouch or sprawl herself out whenever she sits down, though.

4. How is her health? Is she fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?
She's pretty fit, thanks to her martial arts training, and she doesn't have any sicknesses of any sort.

5. How does she move? Is she clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?
She's very much at ease with her body. Her movements are energetic and loose.

6. How attractive is this character physically? How does she perceive herself in the mirror?
For most people, Pao-lin likely falls on "the cute side of plain" (to borrow a phrase used by another Asian chick I know). Pao-lin herself doesn't really think she's all that attractive.

7. Describe her complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?
She's not as ghost-pale as Ivan, but neither is she as tanned as Kotetsu.

8. Describe her hair: color, texture, style.
Her hair's a pale sage greenish dirty blonde color (if that makes sense), and on the thin side. It's a bob with uneven edges, as though it were a pixie cut that grew out.

9. What color are her eyes?
Windows match the curtains!

10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features?
Not really?

11. What are her chief tension centers?
I still have no idea what this question means. XD

12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does she have six of the same suit?
Her trademark outfit is her yellow-and-black striped jumpsuit, but the rest of her wardrobe looks like she had an older brother that just dumped all of his old clothes onto her. XD So there are lots of faded T-shirts that may have been free swag at some random promo event, sweatpants, gym shorts, and even a few baseball caps. She does have jeans and a couple of nicer, more fitted tops, but that's because Natasha bought them for her. She also has a faded kung fu uniform or two.

13. Do her clothes fit well? Does she seem comfortable in them?
Some of her clothes look a little too big for her, but she's not swimming in them or anything. Pao-lin dresses for comfort and ease of movement, coordination be damned.

14. Does she dress the same on the job as she does in her free time? If not, what are the differences?
Well, being a Hero, it's pretty much a given that she has to dress differently for it.

15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando?
...

Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?
It's fairly husky for a girl her age, though it's still pretty cute. *gets zapped*

2. How does she normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does she talk easily, or does she hesitate?
She's not loud, but she's not quiet either. She's outgoing and friendly.

3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?
Not in English. In Japanese, she uses the first-person pronoun "boku", which is typically used by young boys (and older males when they're being deferential/polite).

4. What language/s does she speak, and with how much fluency?
Being from Hong Kong, Pao-lin's native language is Cantonese, but she's also proficient in Mandarin and I'm assuming she's acquired native-level fluency in English (canonically, she lacks a stereotypical Chinese accent, which both of her parents have when they show up in a flashback).

5. Does she switch languages or dialects in certain situations?
Every now and again, while taking notes during her lessons, she'll write things down in Cantonese before looking up the English equivalent. And of course, when she calls her parents back home she speaks in Cantonese.

6. Is she a good impromptu speaker, or does she have to think about her words?
She'd probably have to think about her words a bit.

7. Is she eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change?
If anything flusters or upsets her, she's more likely to go quiet and keep her words short as opposed to babbling on nonsensically.

Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is she book-smart or street-smart?
She's not either, actually, but this doesn't mean that she's stupid. She's mostly just naive, I think.

2. Does she think on her feet, or does she need time to deliberate?

3. Describe the character's thought process. Is she more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?

4. What kind of education has the character had?
She went to school in Hong Kong, but ever since moving to Sternbild she's been homeschooled by Natasha.

5. What are her areas of expertise? What, if anything, is she interested in learning more about?

6. Is she an introvert or an extrovert?

7. Describe the character's temperament. Is she even-tempered or does she have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?

8. How does she respond to new people or situations? Is she suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?

9. Is she more likely to act, or to react?

10. Which is her default: fight or flight?

11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does she appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?

12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does she deal with them?

13. What moments in this character's life have defined her as a person?

14. What does she fear?

15. What are her hopes or aspirations?

16. What is something she doesn't want anyone to find out about her?

Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with her parents.
More or less okay. She still doesn't like it when they try to make her act/look/dress more "feminine", but she knows that they do love her, so she'll put up with it for a little while.

2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?

3. Are there other blood relatives to whom she is close? Are there ones she can't stand?

4. Are there other, unrelated people whom she considers part of her family? What are her relationships with them?

5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet?

6. Does she have other close friends?

7. Does she make friends easily, or does she have trouble getting along with people?
Pao-chan is very easy to get along with. She's always open to trying to make new friends (she invited first_darkness to breakfast her first week in Luceti).

8. Which does she consider more important: family or friends?
...can't they both be important to her? Although considering how far apart she has to live from her family, not to mention feeling kind of distanced as a result of her parents trying to make her into something she's not, Pao-lin likely feels closer to any friends that she has.

9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has she been married more than once?
Single. Siiiiiingle.

10. Is she currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse?
Nope.

11. Who was her first crush? Who is her latest?
If the 5th drama CD is to be believed, she may have developed a crush on Blue Rose, but who knows.

12. What does she look for in a romantic partner?
Someone who can cook.

13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does she relate to them? If no, does she want any?

14. Does she have any rivals or enemies?

15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does she fall on the Kinsey scale?

16. How does she feel about sex? How important is it to her?
"...why would you put that there?!"

17. What are her turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?
Gigglesnort.

Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does she fit type?
My headcanon birthday for her is April 4, which puts her as an Aries and which quite frankly fits her quite well. Her Eastern sign is the Wood Dragon, assuming that the year numbers in T&Bverse correspond directly to the year numbers in our 'verse -- which they don't, technically. But if we just go by numbers alone, then 1964 is Pao-lin's birth year, which is the year of the dragon. You'd almost think the creators planned for that sort of association.

2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in her life?
Pao-lin was raised as somewhere between Taoist and Buddhist, but she's basically their equivalent of an Easter-Christmas Christian.

3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it?

4. How does she regard beliefs that differ from hers? Is she tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?

5. What prejudices does she hold? Are they irrational or does she have a good reason for them?

Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is she rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?

2. What is her social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected her?

3. Where does she live? House, apartment, trailer? Is her home her castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does she share it with others?

4. Besides the basic necessities, what does she spend her money on?
Comics, movies, sometimes art supplies.

5. What does she do for a living? Is she good at it? Does she enjoy it, or would she rather be doing something else?
SHE'S A SUPERHERO AND SHE FUCKING LOVES IT. Though she knows that she can't do it forever.

6. What are her interests or hobbies? How does she spend her free time?
Besides exercising and training, Pao-lin likes reading comics (both Western-style superhero comics and Japanese shonen manga), drawing, and watching martial arts movies.

7. What are her eating habits? Does she skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?

Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is her favorite:

1. Color? Yellow.
2. Smell?
3. Time of day?
4. Season? Spring.
5. Book?
6. Music? Kung-Fu Fighting. Yes. That damn thing.
7. Place?
8. Substance?
9. Plant? Asters (the flower on the hairclips her parents gave her).
10. Animal? Dragons, duh.

END
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