OOC - Application
Character you're applying for: Zaraki Kenpachi
Character's role in their canon: On and off major character ally/enemy/something in between. At present he’s mostly a good guy, but it wouldn’t be against character for him to challenge the protagonist to another duel to the death.
Character's age: unknown, for the purposes of this game we’ll say 290 years. For the nurses, 37.
Character's gender: Male
Character’s “Real Name”: Kenneth Johnson
Please give us a detailed personal history of your character: Little of Kenpachi’s life before joining the Gotei 13 is known. Zaraki Kenpachi comes from District 80, the most lawless and violent of the Districts in Soul Society. He possessed no name that he knew of, and spent hundreds of years simply surviving in the district, becoming proficient in swordfighting and eventually adopting the name “Zaraki” after the district itself. When he finally left the district, he encountered a young girl in district 79 who, in spite of her young age, showed no fear of his sword. She was without a name like him, so he took her in and named her “Yachiru” after one of the few people he ever truly respected. He also took for himself the name “Kenpachi,” a title normally reserved among the 11th Division for the strongest swordsman, and proceeded further into the heart of Soul Society’s main city, Rukongai.
At some period of time, Kenpachi encountered Ikkaku Madarame outside the walls of the Sereitei, the center of Rukongai and home to the shinigami. He easily dispatched Ikkaku and nearly killed him. When Ikkaku asked why he hadn’t, Kenpachi responded that if he had killed the other man they wouldn’t be able to fight again. He then added that the other warrior should not seek death but should instead consider himself lucky for having lived.
Kenpachi eventually became a shinigami and killed the 11th Division captain, claiming his rank among the Gotei 13 despite not knowing the final release of his sword, normally a requirement for the rank of captain. Ikkaku and his friend Yumichika became shinigami not long after and chose to serve under him, and Yachiru became his vice captain. This all occurred within the last 100 years.
Around the year 2002 A.D., a group of rogue spirits led by Ichigo Kurasaki invaded the sereitei. When Ichigo Kurasaki defeated Ikkaku, Ikkaku advised Kenpachi of the teenager’s presence, that he was strong and possibly a worthy foe. Delighted, Kenpachi took off with Yachiru in a hunt for the boy, getting lost several times along the way in his effort to locate him. Eventually he was able to locate Ichigo and his companions, and everyone but Ichigo was defeated just by Kenpachi’s pure desire to kill. Kenpachi noticed Ichigo’s strength and challenged him to a dual to the death.
At first Kenpachi easily defeated Ichigo: the boy could not even cut Kenpachi; however, in communion with his sword, Ichigo was able to increase his power and prove a challenge for Kenpachi. Kenpachi, delighted at this change of events, revealed to Ichigo that he was only fighting at a fraction of his true potential and removed the magical eyepatch that had been specifically forged to limit his impressive powers. They exchanged a single blow after this, and while Ichigo was wounded and fell, Kenpachi collapsed moments after from his own wounds, admitting defeat. He realized at this point that his sword, which he had previously looked upon as nothing but a tool for killing, did indeed have a name, but when he asked the blade for its name the blade remained silent.
Kenpachi was later convinced to assist Ichigo’s companions, and in assisting eventually did battle with 7th and 9th Division Captains Sajin Komamura and Kaname Tousen. He defeated Tousen despite the other captain’s Bankai and drove off Komamura. He took no other noteworthy part in the battles or events leading up to Aizen’s betrayal and retreat into Hueco Mundo. He later encountered Ichigo again before his departure from Soul Society, and challenged him to a rematch. Ichigo fled rather than face him again. He did not see Ichigo off when Ichigo departed, telling his vice captain that they would meet again because they were the only ones who were truly what they seemed to be.
It is at this point that I will be removing him from canon and bringing him to Landel’s. He will go to bed and wake up in the Landel’s bed.
Please give us a detailed description of your character's personality: Kenpachi lives for battle, and seeks it every chance he gets. He is wild-hearted and longs not for cold tactical battles, but the heat of the moment as swordsman clashes with swordsman; in fact, so desperate is he for long, drawn out battles that he intentionally weakens himself and provides openings to his opponents, most notably through the bells he wears on the tips of his hair spikes and a special eyepatch designed to contain the majority of his power. To Kenpachi, wounds and death are nothing more than the price one must pay for a good fight, and as such he never regrets his own injuries and has no fear of death.
Despite this gruff exterior, Kenpachi also has a soft and unlikely fondness for the members of his Division, particularly Yachiru, Ikkaku, and Yumichika. He also has a fondness for Ichigo, though this fondness comes not out of the loyalty he and his division have for one another, but out of a respect for a powerful fighter that he hopes to one day best. As such, he is prone to challenging Ichigo for a rematch and seeks constantly to match blades with the boy.
Also, in spite of his constant bloodlust and wild abandon, Kenpachi is not an idiot; in fact, he often has wise words of council to his enemies as he beats them and is usually very perceptive of his enemies’ weaknesses. While he does not enjoy tactics, he is very good at singling out weaknesses in his enemies and using those weaknesses against them.
Kenpachi has a horrible sense of direction and is easily lost. He often relies on Yachiru to guide him, although she is no better at finding her way than he is.
Please give us a detailed physical description of your character: Kenpachi is an imposing figure, standing 6’7”, built like a bus, and covered in scars. Most notable of his scars is a long scar that runs vertically over his left eye and down his cheek. He has long black hair which he typically styles into long spikes with bells at the tips (although, as the process takes 1-2 hours to accomplish and requires soap at the very least, will not likely be seen in landel’s on a regular basis. I suspect it will give him something to do during shower-shifts, but that’s about it.) He also traditionally wears an eyepatch over his right eye, though both of his eyes are in perfect working condition. His features are chiseled and well-defined.
What point in time are you taking your character from when he/she appears at Landel's?: As mentioned above, I plan on taking Kenpachi from immediately after the end of the soul society arc. He will fall asleep after Ichigo and his friends depart, and wake up in Landel’s.
What kinds of magical/special/crazy powers does your character have, if any?: Unlike most Shinigami, Kenpachi never bothered to learn Kidou and does not have his Bankai; however, he is every bit as dangerous as any of the other shinigami captains. Kenpachi has such intense spiritual power that lower ranking shinigami are immobilized just from the pressure of his reiatsu, and he is easily strong enough to cleave through multiple buildings with a single blow, and can even cut through another shinigami’s zanpakuto. In addition, only a captain-level shinigami or creature of equivalent power (or in certain cases, a vice-captain) can even hope to pierce his flesh. Should a weapon wound him, he easily shrugs it off as if it were nothing.
Like all trained shinigami, Kenpachi can sense reiatsu and follow spirit threads, although his ability at following spirit threads is significantly limited as he has a horrible sense of direction.
If present, how do you plan to tweak those powers to make him/her appropriately hindered in the setting of Landel's?: Kenpachi’s spiritual pressure will be mostly eliminated. The air around him will feel thicker and more restricting, but this is more a roleplay effect and will have no effect on the fight itself except potentially psychologically (someone might get a little creeped out by the thickening of the air around Ken-chan, but it’s not going to actually do any physical damage to them). Kenpachi’s strength will be greatly reduced as well - while he will be still be stronger than regular human strength, this will only be a slight edge: he will be unable to break down solid reinforced metal doors (and obviously none of the locked-by-key doors), but he wouldn’t have any problem with a basic wooden door (like in a modern home). His durability will also be reduced. He will be considered to have the equivalent of basic leather armor for skin, but nothing more. His ability to withstand the wounds he receives, however, will remain mostly intact as this is more an indication of the wild bloodthirsty personality of Kenpachi and not an actual power. He will not be able to sense reiatsu or spirit threads. He was never really good at either of them anyways.
Does your character have any other non-magical skills or abilities that we should know about?: I’d consider his ability to shrug off injury as a non-magical skill/ability because it’s not an actual lack of physical pain so much as it’s a fighter’s love of the adrenalin and the pain. Kenpachi spends so much time intentionally weakening himself that injury doesn’t faze him all that much. This is referring, of course, to regular injuries…a slash wound here, a stab wound there. Obviously if someone were to chop off an arm he wouldn’t be able to walk around like it were a minor inconvenience…he would most likely pass out from loss of blood shortly thereafter.
How about improbable appendages?: Kenpachi IS an improbable appendage.
Please give us an idea of where you'd like to take your character within the scope of the Landel's Damned RP: One of the allures of Kenpachi in this setting for me is that Kenpachi is completely and totally uninterested in escape. I found when I was in damned previously one of the problems I had with Hitsugaya was that he never succeeded in getting anywhere because, simply put, there was nowhere for him to get to. He didn’t have any motivations among the other characters. His only thought was escape, and since successfully escaping would have kinda meant game over, it wasn’t a legitimate goal.
Kenpachi’s goals, on the other hand, are much simpler. Kill shit. Have a good time. Get into fights with worthy opponents. And if he happens to make friends, helping them out would probably be good, too. I’d like to see him make allies, and I think he will among the people who are also there to have fun and fight. I also am certain he’ll make enemies, because he likes making enemies. He’ll antagonize people just to convince them that fighting him is a good idea.
What kind of psychological effect do you see Landel's Institute having on your character?: Kenpachi is one of the few people in any canon who will actually enjoy having his powers stripped away to such a degree. It will give him a chance to fight a lot of people he normally wouldn’t have wasted his time on, and the monster fights will excite him. On the other hand, NOT being allowed to fight during the day is going to be incredibly frustrating for him, and I suspect there will be many rounds of sedation by many score of large and determined orderlies.
Given that this RP takes place in an unsettling and outright horrific environment, how do you justify your character as being appropriate in both body and mind for this kind of setting?: It’s Kenpachi. A place where his powers are limited and he has to fight to survive at night is the perfect setting for him. :P