application for thefarshore

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Player Information

Name: Aisu
Contact: PMs to this journal; plurk/discord upon request
Age: 31 /sob
Other Characters: N/A

Character Information

Name: Piccolo
Canon: Dragon Ball Z
Canon Point: Piccolo's first death at the hands of Nappa. (Saiyan Saga, Episode 11-12 in DBKai.)
Age: Mentally and physically Piccolo appears to be a young adult. Please don't make me do actual math or philosophy on reincarnation and genetic memories. Essentially he's an adult that could see an R-rated movie, buy alcohol or cigarettes, vote, etc. You get the idea.
History: To the wiki! Once again! /o/
Personality:

If there was one word that could best describe Piccolo it would be: dynamic. As in, Piccolo is one of the least static characters in the entire Dragon Ball canon, undergoing a dynamic change in personality and moral code throughout the series. It starts with the cruelty and selfishly driven King Piccolo that feels no remorse for his heinous actions and enjoys wanton destruction for the simple sake of it. He is evil to the core, a being created by an act that separated two halves, one light and one dark, into two beings with King Piccolo being the dark half that easily turned into pure evil. This was the current Piccolo's first incarnation and while being reborn seems to have lightened some of the darkness inherent in the half-souled Namekian the desire for revenge that he was born into heavily affected his childhood and adolescent years. It is only into his adult years that Piccolo truly begins to change into an honorable fighter that learns how to be compassionate to others. Eventually this life leads him into reforming with his other half to create a whole-souled being once again, finally settling into a calmer, more protective self with a moral code towards the side of good. For now, Piccolo is caught somewhere between these two drastically differing personality shapes--no longer the evil being that delighted in harming others, yet not quite the calm character that convinces his other half he is ready to be whole again in order to properly protect the denizens of Earth. There is still a ruthlessness to Piccolo that seems irredeemably cruel at times, but he has begun to show honor in battle and respect for both his allies and enemies when appropriate. His determination to complete his former incarnation's design to rule over the world has tempered into a dedication to become stronger and even protect the world that would be his from outsiders.

Piccolo has always been seen as the lone fighter meditating in the wilderness far away from society. It is a theme that never truly changes with Piccolo. Even after he gains a new sense of self and friends along with it, Piccolo still maintains an aloofness that no other Z-fighter quite reaches. It is one of Piccolo's mainstays that never truly changes throughout canon no matter how much he evolves over the course of time. But once he kidnaps Gohan for the one-year training session to defend the planet from destruction, Piccolo learns more about interacting with other beings on an individual level. It's clear from the start that Piccolo is aloof and uncaring to Gohan even though the half-Saiyan is merely a four-year-old child. He leaves Gohan utterly alone in the wilderness for six months to teach the child how to fend for himself. This is, coincidentally, how Piccolo grew up himself as an infant and the lack of remorse probably partially stemmed from a sense of revenge on Goku--Gohan's father--for killing his own parental figure slash former incarnation. He also, however, probably thought it was simply a good teaching method considering that he himself had been forced to learn in a similar manner from such a young age. A ruthless tactic that could be seen as overly cruel to such a young boy, but efficient and not entirely without some concern as Piccolo does not appear to stray too far away from his ward even though he gives all appearances to Gohan as having done such.

As the year comes close to an end it becomes even more obvious that a change has begun to take place within Piccolo after spending all his time training the young Gohan. While his methods and personality are still sharp and unforgiving, even Gohan remarks how Piccolo merely seems more grumpy than evil as compared to the stories Gohan had heard told to him by his dad wherein Piccolo was the villain. There is even a moment where Piccolo shows concern that he might have hurt Gohan with an unexpected energy blast that he promised not to use on the kid, but Piccolo quickly covers up his concern with a lesson for Gohan to never let his guard down and always be prepared for the unexpected. Back to all business and no remorse, or so he would pretend to maintain. However, the battle with the Saiyans eventually proves without a doubt that Piccolo learned compassion from the young Goahn. While he shows little concern for the well-being of the other defenders of Earth he does compliment their tactics when he deems them worthy and honors them with his respect for their valiant efforts. Yet it is when Gohan gets into real trouble that Piccolo's new-found concern for another being other than himself truly comes to light. When Gohan's life is about to be taken away, Piccolo rushes to save the boy from death. He takes a heavy energy blast straight to himself in order to prevent it from hitting Gohan and in doing so sacrifices himself for the boy. It is the first truly selfless act that Piccolo commits and it is the real beginning to Piccolo's continued change into a character of good moral standing. As he lay there taking his last few breaths Piccolo comments on the irony of him, Goku's sworn enemy, saving the life of said enemy's child. Then he freely admits that Gohan was his only friend in life and that he was proud to have met him. Piccolo does not regret his sacrifice and wishes Gohan to stay safe long enough to survive the battle. It's clear that interacting with Gohan for a year taught Piccolo the meaning of friendship and that having someone to love and care for meant more than his selfish goals of old, and that true strength came from compassion rather than feats of power. It is from this day forth that Piccolo actually begins to work with the others as a true ally and even friend.

This is the point in time of Piccolo's life that he will arrive in the world of the Far Shore, and without his memories of his past life there will be an interesting point of tension where Piccolo is stuck between the two halves of his changing personality. Without the anchor of his memories, it would be easy for him to revert back to his old ways of ruthlessness and cruelty. Yet a small pulling into the opposite direction could still remain, just enough that he seems drawn to acts of compassion and concern for others, especially young, small, helpless beings. As Gohan pointed out, Piccolo may seem really grumpy at first but he's not hundred percent a dick evil.

Besides his innate aloofness, there are other traits that Piccolo displays time and again that never seem to change no matter his moral standing. One such trait is his pride as a warrior. Sometimes this also displays as a cockiness as Piccolo takes charge of the battlefield. When fighting minions Piccolo typically owns the fight, easily out-maneuvering his opponents with both his skill and stratagems. At these times his pride can often cause him to taunt and/or gloat over his weaker opponents. This display is more common in his younger years though a small portion remains over the years when, if not necessarily appropriate, its obvious others should not be attempting the same to him. When facing tougher opponents Piccolo's pride displays as a calmness and stoicism that gets him through hard battles. It's rare that Piccolo breaks in the middle of a fight, his pride and honor too stubborn to show surprise or pain as he fights a stronger opponent. This calm stoicism also allows him to remain apart from the battle on some level--granting him a degree of observation and ability to strategize that the other fighters less typically display. As one of the strongest and most experienced of the Z-fighters there are often moments where the others look to him for both support and strategic ideas. Piccolo will give this sort of advice freely when working with another, whether out of pride or desperation to win, whichever is more precedent at the moment.

Piccolo has also always been a determined character, at first driven by a need for revenge on his former incarnation's death and the desire to rule over the world; and later by a more simple instinct to survive and the passion to become stronger in order to due so. Eventually it even passes into the desire to protect others as he learns that caring for another holds something special to it. The act of kidnapping Gohan to train the kid is one way in which Piccolo showed this trait--going to such extremes to win an impossible fight and not caring about the consequences. His dedication never wavers, not when he trains by himself after he is reborn in order to beat Goku the next time they met nor when he steals Gohan to force the child into becoming strong enough to help him defeat his next big opponents. He continues to dedicate his life to training hard and becoming stronger throughout the years, never ending. Even when in battle with stronger opponents he refuses to give up and often uses his stratagems to last long enough to either wear out his opponent in order to defeat them or buy time for a stronger ally to come to his aid.

As stated, Piccolo is an interestingly dynamic character that changes drastically over the years. While his dedication to strength, determination to win, pride, aloofness, and overall tough demeanor never waver much, his moral standing makes a strong curve from evil to good as he learns about honor, compassion, and even the inclination to protect others. He is the type that could easily insult someone for their stupidity in one moment and in the next save their life from sure destruction. He is like a delectable with a hard outer shell and soft warm inside. Just don't tell him that because he'll probably scoff in your face and then walk away to go meditate on his own for a long time. There may be a lot of contradictory facets to Piccolo and his character, but his reasons tend to add up one way or another and if there's one thing everyone can count on him for: it's that he's always ready for a fight.

Abilities:

Like many others in his canon, Piccolo possesses quite a few abilities already, most of which are centered around combat or inherited through his Namekian biology. Piccolo retained the memories and abilities of his former incarnation, King Piccolo, upon birth, making him an exceptional being from the get-go; on top of that he diligently trains every waking moment of his life for the sole purpose of becoming stronger. Thus, he is a highly trained martial artist that specializes in hand-to-hand combat and ki manipulation. He is also one of the most strategic fighters in his canon, often using tactics and experience to aid him in hard battles that he might not otherwise win. People tend to look to him for guidance before a battle begins in earnest for this very reason. Piccolo has also survived alone in the wilderness since his birth (and this is a planet that still has dinosaurs roaming the land, mind you) so he is fully capable of most commonly practiced wilderness survival techniques, although it can be noted that he apparently doesn't need much food to survive as he lives mostly off fresh water for sustenance. Temperatures of extreme high and low heat seem to effect him much less than humans as well. As the full list could possibly get too long, here are some more key abilities:

»Enhanced/Sensitive Hearing: Namekians have a much greater sense of hearing than humans, and Piccolo can hear a whisper from a great distance away as evidence when he easily picks up the entire conversation between Goku and Future Trunks while they are too far away for any of the other fighters to hear a thing.

»Enhanced Strength: Being both a Namekian and having trained for his entire life, Piccolo is much stronger than any human, even the above average humans of his canon. And he continues to grow stronger throughout his entire life as he maintains training discipline, thus never actually reaching a cap in his strength and abilities so far.

»Enhanced Speed: Similar to his enhanced strength, Piccolo is equally faster than any human due to his alien biology and constant training. Again, this is also a skill of his that will only continue to grow as he continues pushing past his current limits.

»Enhanced Durability and Regenerative Ability: Similar to the other fighter oriented aliens of his canon, Piccolo has a higher endurance and durability level than any known human. The biggest difference is that Piccolo also has a regenerative healing ability that the others do not: namely, that Namekians can instantly regrow missing limbs at will. Piccolo has done this on several occasions himself after losing an arm or two in combat. This is likely due to a Namekian's capability to purposely alter their biology at will, which gives them other abilities such as manipulating their entire body's size to grow larger (and then back to their original size) and to lengthen one's limbs as when Piccolo stretches his arms out to catch elusive opponents.

»Ki Sense and Energy Manipulation: Piccolo knows how to control his own ki, inner energy, to perform various specialized abilities. This includes several types of energy blasts and beams, blocking techniques, and many other ridiculous techniques. He can also sense the ki of others from a great distance.

»Flight: Using his ki to perform a special technique essentially Piccolo can levitate and fly through the air at will. He can float in place nigh-endlessly and fly at high speeds through the air for great distances before wearing himself out. And yes he can even hold a full battle while up there in the air.

»Telekinesis and Telepathy: With enough concentration Piccolo can manipulate objects around him with nothing more than his mind. Mostly, he seems to use this as a training exercise while meditating than for practical use. He can also form mental links with other beings, allowing him to telepathically converse with others from great distances.

»Magic Conjuration: As a Namekian originally from the Dragon Clan, Piccolo technically has the knowledge and ability to use magic. In practice, Piccolo has only ever bothered to use this ability to create clothing and basic weapons at will.

Sadly, this list is so much better than mine. There's just so much to remember...

It may also be interesting to note somewhere, here for lack of a better place, that Piccolo is technically only half a soul right now. While this will not affect anything about his character or ability to function, it is an interesting fact to point out. If others could and/or would like to note this or point it out to him it could be...well, interesting, in one way or another.

Strengths:
1. Strategic
2. Observant
3. Dedicated and determined
4. Protective of what's important to him
5. Slowly learning how to be compassionate

Weaknesses:
1. Prideful
2. Cocky
3. Ruthless
4. Unforgiving
5. Antisocial, lone-wolf type

God/Shinki: Shinki
Why?: The idea did occur to me that it would be fun and ironic to place Piccolo as a god simply due to the nature of his other half being Kami in canon, but in the end I think Piccolo would better fit the role of a weapon, a fighter, a faithful ally more than anything else. Especially from the time point from which I am currently taking him, in which he's still learning how to be a semi-decent person who actually helps save the world from time to time. Perhaps in another run from a different canon point he might get switched to a god for the fittingness of him becoming calmer, more protective, and rejoining with Kami. But right now he's more a tool than a kami. Sorry, Pic, the pun is totally intended here.
Cause Of Death: Defending a young Gohan from certain death by an enemy's ki blast, Piccolo jumps in the line of fire and blocks Gohan from harm, thus dying while performing the first truly selfless act he ever commits. Here, have some feels.
Vessel: A miaodao (or changdao)--a two-handed, single edged sword with a roughly four-and-a-half foot long blade and foot-and-a-half long hilt. A Far Shore denizen might call it a ōdachi at a glance. However, it is noticeably less curved and more broad than a traditional nihontō. The hilt is a vibrant green the shade of Piccolo's skin.
Name Location: Back
Power: Regenerative Healing Factor.

This will come into effect in two separate ways. When Piccolo's god simply holds the blade on their person they will receive small regenerative effect to their own body, healing minor wounds within seconds or minutes rather than hours or days. This effect could grow stronger, affecting larger and more serious wounds as well as how quickly it occurs, as Piccolo gains experience and strength. At its zenith the ability would even be able to allow for severed limbs to be completely regrown, such as Piccolo's own innate ability to regenerate works.

Alternately, the ability can be applied to other life forms by "attacking" them with the unsheathed blade. This essentially renders the blade ineffective as an offensive weapon and forces it to be used only as a defensive and supportive item. If used against an ayakashi it will not cut the spirit; however, it can still be used to block, parry, and push away the evil spirit. Any other person, living or dead, it will heal when used, though the amount of healing is directly related to Piccolo's ability and determination at that time. In other words, if the god wants to heal someone but Piccolo does not it will only have a minimum effect. (In a similar fashion to Yukine's ability to control what his blade Rends and how much damage he outputs.) This will force him to grow as a person (or not) in order to use this ability more effectively (or not). Hopefully his god will help with this...

Writing Sample

Sample:

A year's worth of training and Piccolo felt like he had wasted most of it. He glanced down at the small human below him and watched for a moment as the boy went through another set of training exercises. True, the boy's form was improving and every now and again the kid surprised him with a burst of power similar to the first time Piccolo had seen the brat. But overall Piccolo thought it had all been for naught. He should have spent more time meditating and training himself rather than waste the time and effort to teach this brat how to fend for himself and fight opponents larger, stronger, and quicker than himself. The latter was clearly taking too long.

A whole year of wasted effort. Six months weening the baby off the pampered life it had up until Piccolo took it; another six teaching it how to fight with proper technique and form. And this was all he got? A kid that still whimpered and sniveled when the weather turned cold and Piccolo refused to give him extra clothes. A child that pouted when he could not convince Piccolo to lessen the amount of warm-up forms he had to preform if he managed to perfect the last technique taught to him.

Never mind the fact that Piccolo had eventually shown enough pity on the child to teach him how to make blankets out of the animal hides from his food providing hunts and to make a fire on one particularly cold winter night. It could not have been helped, Piccolo reasoned. Otherwise he would have had no trump card to train come spring. And never mind the fact that Piccolo had once rewarded the boy for perfecting a technique in a single day when pushed hard, giving the child a handful of sweets Piccolo had pilfered from a city miles away, a treat the kid had not had for almost nine months at that point in time. It was simply good practice to encourage the brat to work harder with a small reward or two every once in a while. That was all.

Piccolo grunted as he watched Gohan finish up his last form. It was done sloppy and pathetic. "Again, boy! Don't let your guard slip down too far when you're in your final movement! Doing so in a fight could cost you the entire battle."

"Yes, sir!" came the quick reply. Piccolo was surprised to hear no protest, not even a sigh of disappointment or groan of impudence.

If there was one thing the Namekian liked about the brat it was the obedience and willingness to learn new things that Gohan displayed. Sure, there were plenty of times the young child did something cheeky just to annoy Piccolo and Piccolo would punish the brat for it. But there were plenty of days like today when Gohan simply listened to Piccolo's training no matter how hard Piccolo made the lesson for the day and gave off an air of determination that almost made Piccolo proud.

The practice form came to an end again and this time Gohan kept his hands in the right position through the whole last move. Piccolo grunted his approval and was rewarded with a tired, but bright smile from the little boy. He kept his face straight despite the natural reaction to curl his lips in response to the peppy display. The boy had spirit, Piccolo could not deny that, and it was insufferably infectious.

Piccolo barked out another harsh order to the boy with seemingly no remorse. Despite Piccolo's gruff manner, Gohan chirped an obedient reply quickly and hopped to it immediately. At the rate Gohan was going today, Piccolo knew he was doomed to another night of excited chatter until the boy wore himself out completely and finally fell asleep curled into his cape as if it were another blanket. Piccolo could not recall the exact day that he had given into Gohan's request to remain with him at night if the day went well enough, but at some point it had become oddly common. The thought should have had him sneering; instead, Piccolo turned his head away from Gohan to hide the hint of a smile forming.

A whole year wasted on a snot-nosed brat that barely came up to Piccolo's knees. He was probably going to die before the year was up.

Well. At least he would not die having spent all his life alone.

* * *

An additional read over at the TDM. Maybe not quite long enough so it's just supplemental.

Other

Anything Else?: If only one version of the healing factor can be applied as his Power then I would prefer the latter (to heal others and render the blade ineffective as an offensive weapon).

Also, would like to have Gohan as Piccolo's god! Pretty please~
Gohan-mun seems to be onboard so I'mma requesting it here. Thank you, modlies!