Zeris Ookami
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
"Name's Dingo. Chances are, I ate your baby." - Zeris 'Dingo' Ookami
* DISCLAIMER - Origins is to be read as if it's being dictated to someone by the character. Think interview.
| |
| A real cowboy in his own mind. | |
| Zeris Ookami | |
| Player: @Zeris | |
| Origin: | Technology |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Brute |
| Threat Level: | 50 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Taylor Cartwright-Ookami |
| Known Aliases: | Dingo, Cowboy |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 34 |
| Height: | 5' 8" |
| Weight: | 172 lbs. |
| Eye Color: | Hazel (One is missing) |
| Hair Color: | Dirty Blond |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | American/Japanese |
| Occupation: | Freelancer/Mercenary |
| Place of Birth: | Kyoto, Japan |
| Base of Operations: | Confidential |
| Marital Status: | Divorced |
| Known Relatives: | Deceased |
| Known Powers | |
| Electric Melee/Electric Armor | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Brilliant engineer and inventor, resistance to static/electricity, incredibly agile | |
| Equipment | |
| Conductive tech gauntlets, conductive chest armor, non-conductive boot modifications | |
| Holds no allegiances to anyone presently, and works for the highest bidder. Morally ambiguous. | |
Contents |
Origins
Childhood
You're kiddin'. You really want me to go back that far? <curse>... Well, lessee here... I was mostly raised by my father, since my mom died shortly after giving birth to me. Of course, I was blamed by dear old dad for that one, but at the time, I wasn't going to argue the fact, because I didn't know the facts. I only spent the first two or three years of my life in Kyoto, before my dad took me back state-side. Eh, I was mostly in daycare for the majority of my childhood; dad didn't really want anything to do with me. It was kind of young for me to have to start learning how to fend for myself, but I really wasn't given a whole lot of options. I mean, he supported me... financially at least, since I'm pretty sure he was just trying to keep himself out of jail, and I was lucky I even got to go to elementary, middle, and high school. During the latter, I mostly kept to myself and stayed out of my dad's way. I'd grown to despise him. All he ever did was complain to me about how tight money was, and how much of a burden I was on his life. He never really spoke much of mom, and I never really pried. Not yet, anyway. I dunno, hopefully that's kind of what you were looking for. I mean, what'd you expect? I was a kid.
Adolescence
Ohhhh boy, now we're getting to the good stuff ain't we? Yeah, I remember my teenage years. I made a habit of staying after school to hang out in the engineering labs with my teacher; admittedly at the time it was just to avoid going home to my dad. I guess you could say I just felt an attraction to engineering? Y'know... building, tinkering, inventing... that kind of stuff. Mechanics and good old boys were common in my neck of the woods of South Carolina, which is where I spent a good majority of my youth and teenage years, so I guess it wasn't that uncommon for me to embrace that. I never really was all that content with just fiddling around with cars though. I wanted to work on bigger and better things; robotics and cybernetics were probably two of the biggest things I was interested in. Of course, high school came and went, and my big present for my eighteenth birthday was my dad telling me to get the <curse> out of the house and take care of myself. I kind of expected it, so it wasn't like it was a huge shock to me. So, I did what he said; I moved out and went out on my own.
Rise of Invention
My first job? Well, are you talking about my first bull<curse> job? Or my first actual nine-to-five job? The former is pretty boring, so I'll just jump to the latter. I remember my first real job was a lab assistant for Crey Technologies. Trust me, I heard plenty of rumors about them and their sketchy experiments, but the opportunity to work with technology like they had and such heavy funding was a little too good for me to pass up; I was hurting financially too, so that was definitely a factor. I mean, I was doing some pretty great stuff there, for instance <this section of the transcript has been removed to avoid legal action from Crey Technologies>. Like I said, it was good stuff. However, as with most good things, it had to come to an end.
Marriage and Death
<Dingo sighs> Yeah, I guess I can tell you about that. I had been dating this woman that I'd met in Paragon City, turns out she was also working for Crey, just in a different department. We went out, had dinner plenty of times, had our fun. We were both young and enjoying our lives at the time. I was hit with some news after I had been dating her for about a year. Turns out my dad bought the farm, heart attack they said. I wish I could say that I was upset and beside myself, but I honestly wasn't. It only phased me for a few hours at best; guess that's just the kind of person I am. Few months later I asked my girlfriend to marry me. She was thrilled and accepted, and like the storybook romances, we were married. Continued for about a year and a half, before that sudden... end to my employment came up.
Moralities Aside
Now, it's no surprise that Crey builds stuff for the military, but this project in particular... well, I'll admit, it spooked the hell out of me. I wasn't just an assistant anymore at this point, I was part of the project team itself. Obviously, I can't really get into specifics about it, since apparently I'm not supposed to talk about that kind of stuff... according to you at least. Anyway, I wasn't completely on board with this idea, but I had seen how much money Crey had been dumping into this project, and I was fully aware what might happen to me if I said no, so at the time, I was just going with the flow. We put together prototypes, had some soldiers come in and do some testing. Special forces guys... my guess was Malta, but who knows. Now pay attention, 'cause this is the part where it gets good; I couldn't stand by and just watch all this planning and technological advancement go to waste on some military project that was just going to get swept under the rug anyway after all was said and done with. <curse> that. It was late, and one of my project partners, my wife, was staying with me to work, when I told her I was planning on making a snatch and grab with Crey, and never coming back. She looked at me like I had just punted a chihuahua into oncoming traffic. In hindsight, it was probably a dumb idea for me to proclaim my intentions to another employee, but at the time, I kinda trusted my wife. Long story short; I collected the schematics the team had been working on, made duplicates, took a handful of material, and finally took sections of a prototype for this body suit that could conduct and control electric current, neat stuff. Then I booked it. I never looked back, and to this day Crey still ain't too happy with me. Neither was my wife.
Imprisonment and New Beginnings
Well, of course I went to prison. Went through a divorce in the process, too. I stole millions of dollars worth of information and tech, and of course Crey caught up to me eventually. I won't go into the specifics of the interrogation they gave me to try and get back the stuff I took, but I only gave back some of it, and for the most part they believed they had gotten all they were going to get out of me. I went on trial and was convicted, and they pulled some strings to get me sent to a high security place. Some place called the Ziggurat in Paragon City. The time I was supposed to spend there would basically be the end of me, but at the time, I didn't think it was all bad. The Zigg had some pretty ... eh... let's say "interesting" characters there, so entertainment was never in short supply. Well, this particular day started like any other, only around dinner time, something started shaking. It was brief, but I didn't have time to think about it, because after that, alarms started going off. Prisoners started rioting, these guys dressed in black body suits with red spiders were funneling in and overpowering the guards. Next thing I know, I was being told I was given a new lease on life, and that I worked for Arachnos now. I took the offer... for the time being at least. I never really "worked" for him, but then again, how many can say they actually do?
Current Affairs
What am I doing now? Same thing I've been doing for the last few years; working. I still build, I still tinker, I still invent, but I guess the biggest thing I've been doing lately is using what I've built to take on job offers that less "gifted" individuals would have a hard time doing. I'm not going to go into specifics, but I don't work for anyone forever and I do what I need to in order to get by.
Characteristics
Physical
Distinguishing Features
First and foremost, he's missing his right eye. He wears an eyepatch over the empty and scarred socket, but some of the scarring is apparent underneath it. His fingertips seem to have lost some of their pigment as well, appearing almost gray as if they've been burned frequently. His southern upbringing is also notable from the slight drawl he carries with his speech.
Other Things of Note
The hair on his arms seems to be short and stunted, almost as if it's been fried multiple times. His veins are also more noticeable and easier to see under his skin compared to most.
Mental
Personality
Sarcasm and dark humor. These two things you will frequently find with Dingo. He's very blunt and uncompromising, and he won't walk on eggshells for anyone. He prefers not to take life too seriously, and that also means that he's not opposed to using violence if he thinks it'll expedite things. However, he's certainly not a lunatic or a sociopath; he's brilliant when it comes to engineering, you just wouldn't know it most of the time based on first impressions. He's very outgoing and loud, sometimes rambunctious; also foul-mouthed. Very much so.
Other Things of Note
Dingo's mother is a touchy subject to him. As a result, 'your mother' jokes or jabs at his mother (even if they're just general statements in jest) seem to aggravate him, and his outbursts regarding this subject have been seen around Pocket D in the past. While he never really goes into why he doesn't like to talk about his mother, it's definitely a point of contention to him.
Powers and Abilities
Electricity
Electric Melee
Dingo's ability to funnel electricity into melee attacks is due in part to frequent exposure to electricity, either self-imposed or due to experimentation. However, the ability is controlled and kept in check by a pair of conductive gauntlets that he frequently wears into combat. He's constantly updating and tinkering with these, so their appearance can change from time to time. The process of channeling electricity through these gauntlets isn't without it's drawbacks though; using these abilities cause him pain. He's able to ignore it most of the time, but intense fights and prolonged use make it much more apparent that he's in pain. The piece of ablative chest armor that he wears into combat is form-fitting for him and also frequently updated. This piece of armor allows him to successfully channel electric current throughout his entire body, and also allows the pain to be more manageable to him when stressing his body in such a fashion. The most glaring example of this being when he generates excessive amounts of electric current to almost completely cover his entire form, masking any distinguishable features, but also making him extremely powerful as a result. He can only maintain these effects temporarily, and afterward the pain is immense to him. This "overcharge" as he calls it, has made him more resilient to electricity as a whole, but has also left him with damage to his body.
Electric Armor
In the same vein as his ability to funnel electricity into offensive actions, Dingo can also use his abilities defensively. He's able to generate current that makes him more resilient to physical attacks as well as energy attacks. A side effect of sending this repulsing current through his body also sends a damaging current around his body in a small radius, shocking anyone who gets too close to him.
Physical Prowess
Speed and Agility
Dingo keeps himself in good shape, and the fact that he's constantly working only furthers this. He's at the very zenith of his body in terms of agility, and he's able to run long distances at relatively high speed for extended periods of time. While some of this ties in with the magnetic benefits of being able to charge electric current, much of it is due to training and pushing his body to it's limits. He's able to jump great heights and lengths by taking advantage of magnetism and kicking off of various surfaces in order to stay airborne when he needs to. All of this is only enhanced further when he wears the prototype power armor he's created, also constantly undergoing upgrades.
Accelerated Metabolism
To say that Dingo has an overactive metabolism would be a drastic understatement. His stamina seems to know no bounds, and in combat he seems to have a limitless supply of it. While it could be speculated that he's somehow able to draw energy from others with physical contact when using electric current, the more likely reason is that his adrenaline reserves are always working overtime; possibly a combination of both. He snacks relatively frequently as a side-effect of his incredibly fast metabolism, but the rewards clearly outweigh the cons.
Technical Genius
Dingo is a natural when it comes to building, repairing, and dismantling technological equipment. He can frequently diagnose issues with tech rather quickly, and can generally repair most problems with tools on hand or out of common materials. This isn't preferable for him, but none-the-less doable.
Trivia
- Dingo frequently fulfills the role of bartender at Pocket D.
- Dingo is not shy in the least, and will frequently approach random individuals and strike up conversation, even if they don't want him to.
- Dingo loves bacon.
Stuff From Other People
- [Placeholder] Comment goes here. - Name of commenter
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