Ari "Fyrekat" Izumi
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| Ari "Fyrekat" Izumi | |
| Player: @NoctusWulf | |
| Origin: | mutation |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | scrapper |
| Security Level: | 1 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Ari Izumi |
| Known Aliases: | Fyrekat, Ari, Ari-chan |
| Species: | human |
| Age: | 27 |
| Height: | 5' 4" |
| Weight: | 138 |
| Eye Color: | brown |
| Hair Color: | bright orange |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | Japanese |
| Occupation: | MMA fighter, retired |
| Place of Birth: | Osaka, Japan |
| Base of Operations: | Japan, currently living in Steel Canyon |
| Marital Status: | single |
| Known Relatives: | Yoshiko Izumi (mother), Hattori Izumi (father), Yuusuke Izumi (brother) |
| Known Powers | |
| enhanced Reiki healing techniques | |
| Known Abilities | |
| experienced martial artist, trained in jujitsu, bujinkan, ki-aikido, shuri-ryu kickboxing and jeet kun do philosophies. | |
| Equipment | |
| none | |
| No additional information available. | |
Ari "Fyrekat" Izumi is a character created in the MMORPG "City of Heroes". It's my take on the "fallen from grace" sort of character archetype, but instead of being overly emotive about the circumstances, I wanted to create a character that was unflappably driven to rise again.
Contents |
Affiliations
Member of SDI - Wolfcry Division
Personality
Ari Izumi is a very motivated and driven individual. Having picked up a large variety of martial art teachings and philosophies, she has been molded not only into a powerful fighter, but also a determined and strong-willed woman. Subscribing to the idea of "act first, ask later", Ari tends to move a mile a minute, meaning most are unable to keep up with her vigor and speed, which she uses as an advantage against foes as well as a friendly barb against friends to challenge them to keep up. Despite her apparently hard-charging attitude, Ari is still very compassionate and holds a very strong sense of honor and right and wrong, and has been known to thank worthy opponents for a good fight.
Powers
While Ari is a mutant, the mutation only affected her outward appearance. The affect on her physical prowess is minimal, granting her the benefits of night vision and a slightly above-average sense of balance. The majority of Ari's ability comes with her training, as well as her time spent researching and mastering a variety of Reiki healing techniques, which has given her a very high pain threshold.
Primary Set: Martial Arts
Ari is a master martial artist, having gained techniques in a variety of dojos as well as six years of in-ring experience in the women's MMA circuit. She is a practitioner of jujitsu, bujinkan, ki-aikido, shuri-ryu kickboxing and jeet kun do styles and philosophies, mixing their teachings and techniques into her own personal form of hand-to-hand combat. The majority of her striking power comes from her legs, and mostly uses her hands for defense or counter-striking, as well as joint locks and throws when the opportunity arises.
Secondary Set: Willpower
Having gone through the school of hard knocks in a variety of martial arts disciplines, Ari's body has adapted to take a great deal of physical punishment. She also had spent a great deal of time learning ancient Reiki healing techniques and symbols, which allows her to concentrate on her personal ki and heal herself quickly or become even more resistant to pain. Her level of pain tolerance has been dubbed by the Paragon City Hero Registrar's office as suitably metahuman.
Abilities
Ari Izumi is able to usually motivate many people she travels with, and has been compared to an energy conductor. Her driven and determined nature is typically infectious, and she is incredibly quick to throw encouragement out to her friends and allies. Some other people have been repulsed or just outright worn out by Ari's "never slow down" attitude, but she considers that a weakness in said individual, not a fault of hers.
Weaknesses and Limitations
Not being a "true mutant" in that she did not gain higher ranking metahuman traits, Ari is usually considered as a small threat to some. Her inability to travel without having to run everywhere is considered a hindrance, and also is a large inconvenience to Ari herself. Personality-wise, Ari's biggest weakness is her hatred of being tied down or slowed down, which usually causes her to become irritated. Additionally, the circumstances that saw Ari leave the MMA world still remains a bitter pill for her to swallow, but also as a catalyst to push herself forward and prove that she is still the greatest fighter in the world.
Character History
Birth
Born in Osaka, Japan, Ari's appearance had come as a shock to the doctors and her family. Having no prior history of advanced mutation, the Izumi family was understandably surprised when they saw Ari's cat-like appearance. Regardless, the family did not want to put their newborn girl into the difficult life of adoption, and so kept the child as their own and raised her as normally as possible.
Despite her parents' best efforts, Ari's childhood life would still remain a living hell. Considered by many of her peers to be a demon, she would face derision, seclusion, and outright hatred as she went through her early years of schooling. Because of the multiple fights she had gotten in, however, she was tempered by her experiences and by her parents to never give up. Eventually, Ari began to beat back those who would attack her, and gained a small notoriety as a tough girl. Still, Ari felt that she should better defend herself, and so enrolled in a nearby jujitsu dojo.
The Forging of a Fighter
Ari's parents fully supported her decision to learn self-defense techniques, and ensured that Ari got the best training they could afford. Ari's time in the dojo would see her not only become a stronger girl, but also fall deeply in love with the sport of martial arts. She continued her training until she reached the top rank of her dojo, and would then go on to read and learn more about other fighting styles. Her burgeoning love for combat sports brought her to find mixed martial arts tournaments and shows, where she was taken for her fourteenth birthday. It was love at first sight, and from there on Ari had dreams of becoming a top MMA fighter.
Her pursuit of her dream would see Ari enrolling in a wide range of dojos, where she picked up the large variety of techniques from all of the disciplines she could handle and adjusted them into her repertoire of attacks. By age seventeen, she had all but mastered the disciplines she enrolled in, and had even begun to learn ancient Reiki healing techniques to improve her fitness and stamina. Feeling that she had gained enough knowledge, Ari began her pursuit of a career in MMA.
Valkyrie
One of Ari's bujinkan sensei, Fujiyo Takanawa, learned of her desire to enter the professional tier of MMA, and became Ari's manager and booker. With Fujiyo's help, as well as her contacts within the MMA world, Ari had been signed with a small local promotion, Beat Girl Fighting League, an all-women's MMA circuit. Ari was an instant success due to her appearance as well as her form in the ring, where she won her debut match. Slowly Ari began to earn her stripes and respect, until one local show would change her life forever.
A promoter from Valkyrie, the biggest name in women's MMA in Japan, had attended one of the Beat Girl shows, and was impressed by Ari's performance. The day after, Fujiyo was contacted by the promoter and informed her that Valkyrie was interested in signing Ari to their roster. Ari's excitement was immense as she received the news, and the contract was signed almost the same day.
Ari's debut fight would be a spectacle, though it would not be a victory. Despite losing to her opponent in the fourth minute, Ari's determination saw her through the entire three scheduled rounds of the fight, surprising both her opponent and the audience. As time wore on, Ari began to string together a series of victories, and her fanbase grew. It was during this time that she had been given her ring-name of "Fyrekat", since she was ferocious and unrelenting, like a wildfire. Finally, she had won her first belt, the Valkyrie Featherweight Championship. It seemed that Ari was on the top, but another phone call would prove otherwise. It would ultimately prove the beginning of the end for Ari's career.
To the USA!
After three years in the Valkyrie roster, contract extensions included several visits to the USA to help promote Valkyrie with guest appearances and special bouts. It was to be a breakthrough for the promotion, as well as for Ari, who was becoming one of the major faces of Valkyrie. Her story spread like wildfire, first across MMA fan websites, then into national media, as her story of triumph was being billed as a success for the pro-mutant movement. By the time Ari had actually arrived in the US, a swarm of media were waiting for her arrival, and hype for her opening bout on American soil had reached fever pitch.
The fight itself took place in Vegas, and had Izumi facing another top-tier female opponent. The bout itself lasted two rounds and would see Ari win to a thunderous roar of applause. However, the day after the bout, her opponent would find other means to beat down Ari.
Retirement and Resurgence
On the following morning, news programs across the USA had stated that Ari's opponent for the Vegas fight was challenging the decision of the bout, as well as suing Valkyrie for breach of contract and defamation. The position was that Ari's mutation provided her with an edge like any illegal enhancing drug, and that Valkyrie had willingly ensured their poster girl would win the fight, making a name for themselves while ruining the name of Ari's opponent.
The litigation against Ari and Valkyrie was almost entirely boundless, particularly since repeated scientific tests on Ari had proven that her mutation was merely cosmetic. Regardless, the long legal process and the amount of press it got had done its damage--successive fights featuring Ari would continue to be under intense media scrutiny, particularly since Ari never lost any fight while visiting the States.
Eventually the case had been settled out of court, and Ari and Valkyrie flew back to Japan. However, the call of performance enhancement mutation was taken up by other fighters back home, causing almost irreparable damage to Ari's name and to Valkyrie's status as a top promotion in the MMA world. Later that same year, Ari's manager, Fujiyo, was killed in a car accident. Emotionally drained, and bearing intense pressure from the media and from her promotion, Ari retired from the MMA life she had grown to love after six years in the sport.
One year later, Ari has arrived in Paragon City, reading about how the Rhode Island metropolis was fast becoming an epicenter of metahuman and mutant acceptance, as well as the defending wall against the surging tide of Arachnos in the nearby Etoile Islands. With nothing left of her former life, she now has joined the roster of heroes in the city to prove herself to the world once again, as well as to look for her next great series of fights.
Trivia/Random Facts
Ari is one of my favorite characters to write about and RP, as her story of falling down and picking herself back up again is the epitome, to me, of a true hero.
Inspiration for Ari came primarily from Cammy from the Street Fighter series and Rogue from the X-Men.
Ari's theme song is "Pride" by Damageplan, from the album New Found Power.
