Character Survey.
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy? I prefer to venture away from the data books on this, because yeah, no way in hell that's right. Chouji is a guy I would easily put at 5'10 or 5'11 until his next growth spurt or until he whips out a jutsu on your ass, and well over 220 pounds. Being large is a family trait.
So he's Husky. Just Husky. B|
2. How old is he? 16.
3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch? I like to think that Chouji falls between those, actually. He's a very casual guy, so he just kind of...stands. But he slouches when he's feeling less optimistic than is usual.
4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities? This? Is a difficult question. By the normal standards of today's world, his weight apparently would mark him as out of shape. I'll admit that he is on the heavy side and even his sensei made a point of requesting that he try to lose weight. Thing is, being overweight doesn't seem to affect his health at all- in fact, it's kind of a trademark for the clan jutsu.
5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid? And again, we reach a falling between. Being a trained ninja, he has the capability to move with speed, silence and I guess some grace. If he's not training or on a mission, though, he's got a bit more clunkiness to his steps.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror? Loaded question. How attractive he is to other people really goes off into the eye-of-the-beholder territory, and I'll leave that as it is. How he perceives himself is...see, I find it impossible to believe that Chouji possesses a natural self-loathing just because he's overweight. He does get self-conscious about it sometimes, I'm sure, since he seems to have pretty low self-esteem, but when he looks in the mirror he doesn't automatically switch to words like 'fat' and 'ugly.' Just like he doesn't automatically think about how handsome he is.
I think that when Akimichi Chouji looks in the mirror, he sees Akimichi Chouji, plain and simple. Nothing really wrong with him-- but nothing to get excited about, either.
7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred? Chouji has a pretty light complexion, which would surprise me more if his canon attire didn't cover most of his body. His face and most of his body are pretty well-off in terms of scars and blemishes. I do purport in my headcanon that his arms bear quite a few little scars here and there- they're his go-to method of attack and defense, so it stands to reason that he's picked up a bit of damage. His hands are also calloused as hell.
8. Describe his hair: color, texture, style. Chouji's hair is a really nice auburn color, and there is a lot of it. He doesn't bother putting it into a ponytail like his teammates do with theirs, preferring to just let his headband keep it out of his face while he's wearing it and just letting it stay down otherwise. It's got a really coarse texture, since he pretty much just washes it, dries it and then goes outside to do god-knows-what kind of ninja work. No product, no conditioner.
9. What color are his eyes? ...huh. They always seem to be closed, and when they're not, he's apparently just assigned pupils. :|
… I think they're brown. He has sometimes squinty, sometimes big doe-eyed brown eyes.
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features? Spiral tattoos on his cheeks. We've yet to hear how he got them, why they're spirals or when exactly they were received (apparently at or before sixish years of age).
11. What are his chief tension centers? He carries it all in his neck and shoulders.
12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does he have six of the same suit? He wears his ninja uniform 90% of the time- you know, that heavy, long-sleeved, thick, armor-plated red thing. It's really rare to see him in casual clothing, but I think he sticks to it when he's recovering from injuries and on the clan grounds (aka not taking missions). Oh, and also when he's wearing traditional funeral clothes. I guess that falls more in the 'six of the same suit' category.
13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them? They fit the boy perfectly. His uniform is even capable of expanding to go along with his jutsus, which is an impressive feat. Going from roughly six feet to twenty in a matter of seconds must be strenuous. That said, I've yet to see him unable to move smoothly in any of his outfits.
14. Does he dress the same on the job as he does in his free time? If not, what are the differences? Mrr, mostly. When he's around in canon, he's in his uniform. Like I said up there, when he's injured or just chilling in the complex, he doesn't mind donning loose, casual clothing. But when he goes into town, the uniform is right back on. Possibly because Konoha seems to get attacked in the middle of the day every other chapter or so 8|
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando? Boxers all the way.
Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse? Chouji has a pretty deep voice- he often speaks in lower tones and sounds a bit...gravelly. Not really hoarse, but kind of rumbling, if I recall correctly.
2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate? He is an even speaker through and through: just about every situation sees him as the quiet observer, casually interjecting where he's needed. He really only gets loud when someone gets him angry, and that never seems to last long. Oh, and I guess when food is one of the matters at hand. ...okay, always when food is a matter at hand.
For the most part, he's an easy speaker, too. Once in a while he seems to be taken by pauses, but it's not too noticeable.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics? No. Not that I know of.
4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency? He speaks whatever language they speak in Naruto, which is probably just Japanese given Kishi's lack of creativity.
5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations? Nah.
6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words? Chouji doesn't do impromptu speaking, really. He almost never says anything without a brain-to-mouth filter going on somewhere, though I will admit that it's likely to happen when he's really angry or impassioned. I mean, when Jirobou was beating the shit out of him, I doubt he was thinking “oh hey, you know what would be a really cool, dramatic thing to say if I get the upper hand?” He was thinking “ow ow ow that bastard ow” or something.
7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change? Eloquent sounds far too formal, but I think it's closest to right. Chouji's a polite speaker most of the time and never seems to have problems with people understanding what he's getting at- said polite speech actually does become eloquent when he's waxing poetic about food. This changes when he is called fat. Once he's hit that point, his speech mostly consists of “I'M BIG-BONED” before he's pwning you. Then, idk, sometimes I guess he bursts into flames in the background proclaiming that chubbies rule- I think that second habit got kicked during the timeskip, though.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart? Chouji is more street-smart than book-smart, certainly. He can't list off definitions and complicated explanations, but he knows how to talk to people and seems pretty adept at reading them.
2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate? Ahaha, Shikamaru is the one who typically does all the deliberating, or at least he is in battle. If there's no pre-set plan in a fight, Chouji usually will just think on his feet and power through things. In everyday life, he takes a slower, deliberating approach to things- typically just going with the flow.
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical? Damn, this is difficult. Hm. I think he has a pretty even balance of being logical and intuitive; sometimes he'll roll with a situation on instinct and general feeling, and sometimes he'll take a second to really look at that situation instead. It depends on what's happening and what's at stake. For instance, if he and his teammates are in a fight together and nothing too threatening has popped up yet, he'll maintain his ninja-logic and fight as according to The Plan. But so help you god if you happen to be directly putting one of them in physical danger, because he'll stop thinking to take a blow or deliver one to you without hesitating. If something particularly bad goes down and nobody is there to calm him down, he'll just sort of coast along on basic action and reaction.
Idealism vs. practicality is a really tough call with a guy like this. Chouji will be optimistic to the ends of the earth- it could always be worse, at least we still have such-and-such, look at the bright side, we're still alive- but he's not blindly optimistic, is the thing. He wants to believe the best out of every person and situation, but he's been trained as a ninja for most of his life, too. Bad things will happen everywhere, and you can't stop them all. It's up there with knowing that fighting, death and killing are all just part of being a ninja. What makes it particularly difficult to call is that even knowing all that (and having to put the practical, less-than-pleasant aspects of everything into practice), he's still managed to maintain his idealism and nice-guy nature.
4. What kind of education has the character had? The ninja kind. I assume there were basic school subjects in that academy, but he won't be doing complicated algebra.
5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about? Expertise. Uh. Clan jutsu? >.> Never really got a taste for things he enjoys learning about.
6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert? Good question. Depends. Chouji loves talking to people and making friends/acquaintances; if someone happens to pass by and make eye contact or have food, he'll provide a friendly greeting and pleasant conversation, undoubtedly laced with undisguised optimism. Hell, he'd probably listen to a stranger's life story or day's problems without pausing in his chip-eating. But when it comes to himself and serious matters, Chouji doesn't tend to share much. Asking about things he's upset about usually earns a smile and an answer he figures won't make it obvious how much it gets to him- this will likely be done by applying liberal amounts of optimism even if he's not particularly upbeat. He doesn't like other people to worry about him even if he ends up worrying about other people.
Like, uh. Say Shikamaru got sent home for a canon update and Chouji is sitting somewhere moping. If someone asks what's wrong, he'll tell them that his friend is back home. But he'll follow it up with an “It's a good thing he's home, though; he's too important to get stuck around here for long ^_^” or something like that. Like a lot of shonen characters, actually.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven? Soooooo laid-back it's ridiculous sometimes. Most of the time, it doesn't matter what kind of crazy shit is going down around him; Chouji will just sort of sit there and weather it like a boss. With one or two exceptions (the f-word, insulting Shikamaru and taking his food), he's really stable and grounded and cheerful in temperament. If people are bickering, he either waits for it to simmer down on its own or steps in to say “settle down; let's all try to get along.”
8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic? 90% relaxed with 5% suspicion (on principle of ninja law) and another 5% timidity. Sometimes when he meets a new person he does a little bit of hesitating in speech. And he's polite almost every time he gets a new acquaintance.
9. Is he more likely to act, or to react? React, baby.
10. Which is his default: fight or flight? It used to be flight. Then the timeskip happened and it became fight. In the form of giant ninja fists to the face.
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks? ...Chouji tends to find amusement on his own authority. Usually by doing a bit of poking fun at/just being amused by what his friends happen to be doing. It's fun to tease Naruto and occasionally Shikamaru. And sometimes Ino going on a tirade is even taken with a chuckle.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them? B|
13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person? He doesn't tend to actively define himself in moments, but rather reacts to the situations he finds himself in and gains definition from it. If that makes sense at all. Shikamaru talking to him for the first time was definitely a major defining point- first friend, best friend. He was willing to die for him at twelve years old, which was another really defining moment for Chouji. The Pain arc presented a little bit of definition, too- nearly losing his dad, the village getting blown up, Kakashi dying and everyone coming back. Just. Jeez.
14. What does he fear? The wiki says he's afraid of lizards, but I'm not buying it. A little more deeply into the matter, I think he's afraid of being alone and/or losing the people he cares about the most. Whether it's in battle or just because they realize he's not that great and walk away.
15. What are his hopes or aspirations? It seems to me that he just wants to be as great a warrior as his dad is and to be a good friend to anyone who'll have him. Nothing too fancy. He doesn't mind taking a backseat and leaving the big stuff to everyone else.
16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him? Good question. He doesn't seem to be the type of guy with a lot of deep, dark secrets, you know? The only thing I can think of is that he probably doesn't want anyone to know he's not all that confident. And in Luceti, I can see him not being big on revealing that he's a ninja and what that usually entails.
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents. Chouji's dad is his goddamn hero. He looks up to him and goes to him for advice and just seems to adore the man. Really losing him would be devastating. On the matter of his mom, I really have no idea. He is provided one for a few seconds in an anime filler, but I opt not to include that in canon. SO IT'S A MYSTERY.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like? No siblings.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand? And I have no idea. I mean, there's a whole fucking clan but I only ever seem to see him and his dad around.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them? Shikamaru, who will also be taking up the slot in the question below. They have a bromance of the most epic proportions- this guy is practically his brother and he would do anything for him. And I'm gonna count Ino as considered family, too. Even though I'm not entirely sure what kind of role she takes up for him, they're too close not to be honorary relatives. Asuma...mm, I'm willing to bank on him filling the role of a very favored uncle while he was alive.
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet? Shikamaru. Forever. 8|
What's great is there's actually a canon flashback for this. Chouji was not a very popular little child- he wasn't as fast as the others and kind of failed horribly at playing ninja. Those kids, being tactless as children tend to be, ostracized him and eventually just stopped letting him play at all. Shikamaru stuck up for him initially when they kicked him out, but kind of got overruled. So Chouji did the sad chibi thing and left, stopping to use his mad skills to free a butterfly from a spider web, which Shikamaru saw. So he came across him and his awesome advice-giving dad later and introduced himself, and they ate snacks and looked at clouds and became the best damn friends ever.
I am great at re-telling.
6. Does he have other close friends? I don't necessarily know about close, but I do know that Naruto and Kiba completed the group of ninja-class-dead-lasts. Chouji definitely considers them friends. Shino, too, to a lesser extent. The rest of the rookie nine (pardoning Ino) I'd put at friendly acquaintances, but not exactly friends yet.
7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people? Chouji never seems to have a problem getting along with people- he's friendly by nature and most people reciprocate the attitude.
8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends? ...well. Uh. His friends and family all seem to be on the same level of importance to him, I think.
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once? Single. 8|
10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse? ...single.
11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest? I. Have no idea. He doesn't seem to have a current crush and didn't seem to have one back in the day, either. But I can't really speak for him because he doesn't get a lot of screentime for that. He might just like food more than girls right now
12. What does he look for in a romantic partner? Another excellent question. I think that Chouji is the kind of guy who could care less about what his significant other looks like or acts like, really. He doesn't have a specific taste in romantic partners- as long as they really care about and accept each other for who they are, he'll be happy. Cheesy as that is.
… being able to cook is probably a HUGE plus, though.
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any? He doesn't have kids, but I bet he would absolutely love to have them someday.
14. Does he have any rivals or enemies? ...LMAO what. Not...really? I mean, if the village has an enemy it's technically his enemy, too. And if someone messes with his friends or family you can bet he'll be kicking some ass, but...he doesn't seem to have personal grudges right now.
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does he fall on the Kinsey scale? Gonna call it straight and not try to make sense of the scale right now. I think he is, anyway. Definitely seems more likely than not.
It's really hard to answer this when he never seems to express interest in anyone in particular.
16. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him? He's a teenage boy, but at the same time, he's Chouji. If he got into a relationship, he'd be that guy who like, never pressured someone about it. And he wouldn't be a one-night stand type, either. >> Chouji's a gentleman.
17. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits? I DON'T KNOW AND I REFUSE TO THINK ABOUT IT.
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does he fit type? Chouji is an Aries. Annnnnd it seems kind of hit or miss. More miss than hit. Chouji never sees the need to be a leader/initiator type, and like hell he's impulsive 8| I'm not gonna rant about the whole thing. Some of it works, some of it doesn't, like with any other horoscope.
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his life? I don't really know. He doesn't seem to be particularly religious or spiritual, and it doesn't have an impact on his day-to-day life, either.
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? Depends. Does not letting anyone else eat the last potato chip count as a personal code of morals/ethics? He doesn't compromise that shit.
4. How does he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent? Chouji is tolerant. With a little hint of curiosity. People are all different, people will therefore have different beliefs. As long as they don't sacrifice his teammates to their god- ...hm. Well.
5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them? Prejudices? Chouji?
None yet. He is pretty wary around people he happens to know have a history of slaughtering clans/deserting villages, though. Hint hint.
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt? Chouji's comfortable. He doesn't really excel as a ninja, but he's not too shabby, either, so he gets an average income. Plus he probably lives on clan grounds, so that's more pocket money.
2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him? Social status. Chuunin? I dunno, he's an Akimichi and doesn't have a very high rank.
3. Where does he live? House, apartment, trailer? Is his home his castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does he share it with others? Like I said, clan grounds, which is most definitely home. Probably still in the house with his dad, which just makes it more so.
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend his money on? Food. And. Food.
5. What does he do for a living? Is he good at it? Does he enjoy it, or would he rather be doing something else? Chouji is a shinobi of Konoha, and he's not half-bad at it. There are others who are better suited for it than he is, who will end up in really big places, and he doesn't mind just supporting them on the way up. The matter of enjoyment is really...difficult to figure out. He seems to enjoy it, because he seems happy in general, but I don't think he enjoys the grittier aspects of it. Namely killing anyone.
6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time? He pretty much just eats, trains, and hangs out with Shikamaru and/or Ino.
7. What are his eating habits? Does he skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods? LOL “skip meals” and “avoid certain foods.” Chouji loves to eat, and eating happens to be necessary for maintaining his clan's specialty jutsus, so it all works out. If he has a choice in what he eats, it tends to be BBQ and chips, but he's not so picky that he won't try anything at least once.
Oh and he doesn't drink. Yet.
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is his favorite:
1. Color? Red.
2. Smell? Cinnamon.
3. Time of day? Evening.
4. Season? Fall.
5. Book? ...you know, I wanna say The Giving Tree. And cookbooks, like no one saw that coming
6. Music? “Creep,” by Radiohead. Alternatively, “All You Need is Love,” by the Beatles.
7. Place? Hm. Open field at twilight. Clouds are a must.
8. Substance? Barbecue sauce. 8Db
9. Plant? Sunflower.
10. Animal? Bear.
END
{{ Get the HTML here so you can do it yourself. }}
--WRITER'S LOBOTOMY PICKINGS (link later)--
195. Have you ever been in love? What happened? He has been in love, as a matter of fact, much thanks to Luceti. Which isn't to say he didn't have his crushes here or there in my personal headcanon, but nothing like serious, honest love. And even in Luceti, it turned out to be kind of a big falsehood.
But it still counts. Chouji fell in love with Katara for a week, and it was really...wonderful. Which he hadn't quite expected, in all honesty, because as far as he knows he's not the girl-getting type at all. Of course, the point where the deep, true-lovey feelings faded out was a painful experience, but it didn't change the fact that he'd gotten to notice a lot more about her, and that she really didn't regret being with him while it lasted. So you know, parted on good terms. Things still stray off into the world of awkward, but that seems to be passing with time like anything else. He may or may not be nursing a bit of a leftover crush, on that note- not strictly because of any confusion, but because he got to see Katara's general awesomeness and uniqueness in a different light, and it was not a bad light even on bad days. At the very least, he just genuinely likes her more than he did, and that's kind of where liking her more led to. N-not something he's likely to actively pursue.
196. Have you ever had your heart broken? ...it's Chouji. Of course he has. But I will say it's not because he asked a girl out and got shot down, despite what a lot of fanon might say. I think it's mostly...he'd like a girl and not act on it and she'd never even know and be infatuated with some other guy. And he wouldn't break in on that because it made her happy or something. So he'd be in his little corner taping his heart back together.
197. Would you consider yourself straight, gay, bi, or something else? Why? Chouji is straight. He considers himself straight, and it's pretty much just that simple. He's an open-minded sort as far as love goes, though.
198. Who was the first person you had sex with? When did it happen? Describe the experience. N/A
199. Have you ever had a same-sex experience? Describe the experience. N/A
200. What is your deepest, most well-hidden sexual fantasy? Would you ever try it? N/A
201. What was the wildest thing you have done, sexually? Describe the experience. N/A
202. Is there any sexual activity that you enjoy and/or practice that can be considered non-standard? Why do you like it? N/A
203. Do you currently have a lover? Describe them, what you are attracted to, and what the relationship is like. N/A all the way
204. What is the perfect romantic date? Surprisingly enough, not barbeque. Don't get me wrong, he loves the stuff and it is possibly his blood type by now, but it is not the perfect romantic date food. He'd either pick a restaurant with insanely good food or do the cooking himself (...what, he's an Akimichi. all perfect dates start with dinner), and after that...well, really, he'd probably be happy with anything that his date wanted to do. Getting to spend time with someone important to him is something Chouji always appreciates. I think he would hold a little more favor towards quiet activities, or even just being able to do nothing together without feeling bored.
205. Describe your perfect partner. Wow, good question. A woman who can cook. A woman who doesn't demand that he change his less than savory habits (asking out of concern, of course, he could never ignore). Someone who is confident and sweet and smart and likes helping other people however she can, who can take care of herself but doesn't mind that he's the type who likes to be able to take care of people, and looks do not matter to Chouji in the least.
...okay, all that put into account, it's not a super-strict profiling of his dream girl. Chouji wouldn't judge any book by its cover, and no matter who he asked out or got asked out by? He would be really happy to have her, try to make her happy, let her go if she wasn't, and always try looking underneath the underneath to the genuinely good person he's sure every person has somewhere.
206. Do you ever want to get married? When do you see this happening? ...another good question. A harder question to answer.
Chouji does want to get married. He wants to find someone that he can willingly devote the rest of his life to and proceed to devote the rest of his life to her. The general age of settling down is approaching him in the next few years, and he's aware of it. But at the same time...he doesn't want to get married. It's not a matter of being loyal to one woman or feeling pinned down or anything like that (though there IS some worry in there about how good of a husband he could even be); it's simply the fact that he's a ninja. That means missions, possibly long, almost always dangerous, leaving his wife home alone to worry (or both of them worrying about each other, if he happened to settle down with a kunoichi)- people in his profession tend to die quickly and at a young age, and he's afraid to take that kind of risk with a relationship, because he's definitely not the best ninja out there and the last thing he'd ever want would be to make a widow, to hurt someone that deeply by not coming home. I think that being pro-marriage takes a bit of a front seat in this debate, though. Chouji tends to live in the moment, to enjoy what he has while he has it and to do so with all his heart. He'd hesitate a lot and possibly overthink the matter, but he'd settle down with his girl sooner or later.
207. Do you want children? Why or why not? Yes. Just yes. He wants to be as great a father to his kids as his father has been to him, and he would want a full family if he went as far as marriage. It's just simple fact for him.
208. What is more important, sex or intimacy? Why? Intimacy trumps. Sex is one thing, but really knowing a person inside and out, being able to talk to them about anything and to listen to anything they have to say in return? That kind of closeness would mean more to him than anything physical ever could.
209. What was your most recent romantic relationship like? Who was it with? See the first question. For summarizing purposes: it was good, if brief and painful to figure out at the end of the day. Also, it was with Katara.