OOC || Information Post
CHARACTER NAME: Mihai Mihaeroff.
SERIES: DOGS: Bullets and Carnage (Also, DOGS: Stray Dogs Howling in the Dark).
PERSONALITY: Mihai Mihaeroff isn’t the easiest man to get to know. Because of the rigors of his profession, he has put up a lot of barriers around himself as sort of a method of protection. He comes across as rather detached and almost aloof, rather like a person no longer interested in the complications and intricacies of humanity.
Mihai is under no illusions, being all too aware that life is short, but even though he prefers to not form too many deep attachments, there is something about him that causes him to end up doing that anyway. Interestingly enough, even though Mihai generally is reserved and calm, he also is a bit of a scatterbrained person, frequently getting lost because he has absolutely no sense of direction. He even manages to get lost while walking down streets that he’s been down many times before.
One of Mihai’s other shortcomings, aside from his talent for getting lost, is the fact that he is reluctant to admit that he is getting older. Instead of admitting to this, he chooses to believe that he can get over his shortcomings by putting in a little extra effort and having the right state of mind.
Going back to what was said earlier about Mihai being detached and aloof, he also has the ability to remain calm and professional, even when faced with the most difficult conditions. When faced with situations in which he needs to fight, his easygoing demeanor changes dramatically, and he experiences a sort of adrenaline rush from the excitement of fighting. He seems less vulnerable to injuries and more skilled with weapons than he would otherwise be. When he is not fighting, Mihai resumes his normal detached manner, being modest, mild-mannered, and more likely to listen to his conscience than not. This also occasionally gets him into trouble.
To sum up Mihai, he is someone who has seen a lot of fighting and bloodshed, and he just wants to get away from it. Unfortunately for him, conflict seems to pull him in whether he wants it to or not.
TIMELINE: Chapter 43.
BACKGROUND: Mihai Mihaeroff is an ex-assassin, who used to work for a so-called assassin shop owned by one of the many branches of the mafia operating within the city. Fifteen years prior to the beginning of the manga storyline, Mihai’s assignment was to look after Ian, the son of his client, and over time, he became a sort of substitute father. Five years after this, Mihai, who had left for reasons of his own, returned to learn that Ian had murdered the one woman he’d loved, Milena Teslawska, and in a fit of rage, draws his gun and prepares to shoot Ian. But even though he was distraught after the death of his lover, Mihai suddenly found that he was reluctant to fire on his former protégé; however, Ian had no such misgivings, and attacked Mihai, leaving him with a permanent scar above his left eye. Unfortunately for Mihai, because of that incident, he was forced out of the group he was in, eventually disappearing into a sort of self-imposed exile that lasted for ten years.
The manga does not specifically mention what Mihai did between the long years of his exile and eventual return, but it can be assumed that he went into an early retirement and lived a quiet life in contrast to the one he’d lived while working as an assassin. However, his retirement didn’t last forever, as one day (roughly ten years later) he received a letter from Kiri, the owner of a local restaurant, former prostitute, and his long-time friend. In her letter, she lets Mihai know what has happened in his absence, namely that Ian has murdered his father and is poised to take over leadership of the group his father was head of.
The next morning, Mihai returns to Milena’s grave, anticipating an encounter with Ian; he also has intentions to ask him for an explanation of what made him murder Milena all those years ago. As Mihai anticipated, Ian shows up at Milena’s gravesite, and the two seem to have mixed reactions about seeing each other again. Before he and Mihai can begin talking in detail, they are interrupted by a sniper hiding in some bushes who fires upon both of them. Forced into action by the unexpected attack, Mihai and Ian work together to deal with their attacker, but in the process, Ian is badly wounded and collapses after the fight. Badly injured, Ian explains to Mihai that he looked up to him as his father, and says the reason he killed Milena was because he saw her as a competitor for Mihai’s attention. Ian dies shortly after this, drawing a profound emotional reaction from Mihai; he is reduced to weeping, an action that shows his regret at losing yet another person with whom he was close to, and also the dislike he holds for the lifestyle which has led him to this point.
Shortly after this unfortunate event, Mihai encounters a man named Badou Nails, who is in the middle of dealing with being cornered by a pair of street thugs. Mihai eventually rescues Badou, and brings him back to Kiri’s restaurant, where he listens to Badou’s story, learning about what caused the altercation with the thugs and also presumably learning about Badou’s talent for attracting trouble. At first, Mihai refuses to help Badou out until he offers to pay him for his assistance. As a result of this meeting with Badou, the trouble that usually follows the chain-smoking journalist around begins to have implications for Mihai, and soon enough, members from the rival mafia show up at Kiri’s restaurant, hoping to get retribution for Badou’s supposed insolence and Mihai’s involvement. At first, it looks as though the situation is rather grim, since the people waiting outside outnumber the ones inside the restaurant, but in a strange twist, Badou finds a cigarette (he’s addicted to nicotine) only to have it blown out of his hand. This triggers a violent reaction in the man, and he goes outside the restaurant, angry beyond reason and launches into a rage-fueled massacre, effectively taking care of the problem.
This encounter with Badou sets the stage for the rest of Mihai’s role in the story, and from this point on, he finds himself acting as the errand runner for Kiri, but also ends up working with Badou, mainly protecting him from would-be attackers, which has the unfortunate consequence of causing him to be enmeshed in the various affairs of the red-haired smoker and his friends. These affairs usually involve some incensed thugs attacking key locations such as Kiri’s restaurant, in hopes of drawing out Badou or Haine. And since Mihai is a regular at the Buon Vuoggio, he inevitably ends up being involved one way or another. Mihai appears reluctant or unwilling to be involved with the effects of Badou’s and Haine’s actions, often complaining that he has no interest in what they do; nevertheless, he still lends his skills and resources to their cause whenever necessary.
The next time Mihai is seen, he is on board a train that, for one reason or another, has been flipped upside down. To make matters worse, he boarded the wrong train, and so is rather confused and annoyed. But before Mihai can do anything to remedy the situation (such as disembarking), a group of bizarre figures with faces like dogs come on board, each armed with swords. They begin attacking some of the people on the train, killing without any mercy whatsoever. Mihai is quickly aroused by this, and begins to fight with the mysterious figures. He accounts for quite a few of them, steadily growing more and more enraged, and completely ignoring any injuries he receives. But the dog-like people keep advancing, and Mihai keeps attacking, dramatically increasing his battle-induced euphoria.
Eventually, the fight ends, and Mihai and the Bishop (caretaker of a church, and an acquaintance of Badou and Haine) make their escape, both having sustained several injuries. The gang talks things over, and the Bishop makes a rather startling admission: his name is actually Ernest Rammsteiner, and like Haine, was genetically modified and has the same collar that he does.
After this, Mihai is seen recovering from the injuries he sustained during the train battle; however, he is still being made to run errands for Kiri, even with his injuries. He runs into Badou again while picking up groceries, and the two men talk about the train fight Mihai was in, with Badou taking note of Mihai’s story, for purposes of gaining information.
Some time after they talked, Badou goes to what he thinks is a concert, only to find himself confronted by Richter Berthein, the man who attacked him and caused him to lose his right eye. Richter uses his bizarre yet powerful hypnotism abilities to control the members of the orchestra, making them fire on Badou, but after several close scrapes, Mihai arrives at the concert hall. Now that they seem to have the upper hand, Badou begins questioning Richter, asking him pointed questions, such as why he was going after him and his brother. But in the middle of the questioning, Richter gains something of an upper hand, distracting the two men with one of the hypnotized orchestra members, who pulls a gun on them. In the chaos of that moment, Richter uses his abilities on Mihai, hypnotizing him as well, and making him shoot Badou.
After a bit more conversation between Richter, Badou, and Mihai, the bizarre conductor with his strange abilities leaves, but not before the orchestra members surround the two men, effectively trapping them inside the concert hall that conveniently happens to be rigged with explosives. But, true to form, neither Badou nor Mihai act overly worried; even though they’re quite aware that they might not survive, they brush that off and prepare to do what they can to make their escape.
Whether they actually survive or not remains unknown.
ABILITIES: Mihai’s abilities are pretty straightforward, and not exactly out of the ordinary. Endurance, stamina, combat skills (unarmed and armed), overall calmness under pressure, and adrenaline rush while fighting are some of his strengths. It takes a lot to bring Mihai down permanently, as he is very well-built (think of a solid stone wall), and can endure attacks of varying severity. At one point in the manga, he is shown taking several sword thrusts directly and still being able to fight.
He also is very intuitive about the way people work, and seems to have no trouble guessing about people’s motivations and what makes them tick.
As far as his stamina is concerned, Mihai is above average for someone his age, but he can’t always keep up with the younger people he encounters such as Badou and Haine. Mihai is skilled in both armed and unarmed combat, being able to defend himself with punches and kicks and also with the use of weapons, such as guns and whatever objects happen to be nearby. He is of such a muscular build that he can even support an injured ally if necessary. Perhaps one of Mihai’s most significant assets is his ability to remain calm under pressure. It takes a lot to get him worked up, but once he does, he’s prone to experiencing an uncontrollable euphoric state that gives him an extra burst of energy and an unleashing of incredible strength and endurance; even massive amounts of physical damage won’t slow him down. It hasn’t been shown in canon whether Mihai experiences some sort of crash after this or not, but eventually he does return to his normal state.
A brief note about his weaknesses: Contrary to what might be expected for an ex-assassin, Mihai has a huge emotional side to him, and while this is mostly a strength, it is also something that can be taken advantage of, making him vulnerable to emotional attacks and also hypnosis, as seen at one point in the manga. And of course, as a human,
he is vulnerable to physical attacks and injuries, even though he can endure things better than most.
EDENSPHERE NAME: Lost.