Yuu
He's Extra™ and never gives his family name
Species : Jikininki
- (食人鬼 "human-eating ghosts"): the spirits of greedy, selfish or impious individuals who are cursed after death to seek out and eat human corpses.
- Note that despite the name "ghost," Jikininki are very much a physical presence and are more similar to Western ghouls or vampires than to stereotypical ghosts
Age : Yuu was a samurai in the 16th century (before his death, of course). So...
Old. He physically appears to be in his late 20s but lost track of his true age a few hundred years ago.
Alignment : Chaotic Evil
Faction : Legions of the Night
Weapons : A katana. His training as a samurai makes him quite the force to be reckoned with. But it should be noted that Jikininki have no special powers. The rebirth as a corpse eating ghoul is a curse, not a reward. He is not stronger than any normal man (though he does his best to stay fit), nor faster, nor anything else. Just stay out of the way of that katana.
Weaknesses : Jikininki can be (re)killed by
starvation. This means keeping the spirit away from a corpse for a week. This is the only means to destroy a Jikininki. Though
hunger is another of Yuu's weaknesses. The longer a Jikininki goes without eating, the more insane and destructive they become. The body slowly loses its human appearance and takes on the ghoulish form (Yuu's true form) of a walking corpse. Slowly, the hunger will grow to be so strong that his personality will be utterly lost to the madness, replaced by a ravenous, rage-filled beast. Very fun.
Personality : Bored. There are few betters words to explain Yuu - he's just incredibly bored. With everyone and everything. He scoffs in the face of those who say they wish to live forever. There could be nothing more miserable or more boring than living forever. His emotions over the years have dulled. Nothing interests him, nothing surprises him. It's hard to surprise a man (sorry, I mean monster) who has seen it all. Still something inside him yearns for more: for surprise, for change, for excitement.
He does not empathize. He does not cry, he doesn't yell, he doesn't get shy or blush. He's blunt and always completely honest. After all, he has no reason to lie anymore and he could not care less about anyone's feelings. It all seems meaningless to him in the grand scheme of things - like dust in the wind. His actions are always purely in his own self-interest and completely selfish. He's loyal to no one and will not hesitate to back-stab, hurt, or kill those who stand in the way of what he wants. Don't worry, though, Yuu makes that clear from the beginning. He doesn't hide who he is.
Perhaps one of the only traits that makes him at all interesting these days is his immense intelligence. He didn't use to be particularly book smart but centuries of nothing to do have given him plenty of time to learn. Learn what you ask?
Everything. Yuu obviously doesn't know everything there is to know... but he knows a decent chunk of it. He can play most instruments, speak most languages fluently, knows all of world history, and has stored away a library of stupid fun facts nobody cares about. He's very proud of his intelligence and spouts out useless information whenever he has the chance. Because what else does he have?
Truthfully, Yuu only joined the Legion because it gave him something to do besides learn how to sew. He's not exactly loyal to them and he's not necessarily dedicated to the "evil" lifestyle, either. He's just... living. But, hell, if ruling over the humans and coming out of hiding could mix things up for a while, he's in.
To put it bluntly, there's very little - if anything - good about Yuu. He's okay with that. Well, actually, he doesn't care.
Brief Backstory: The notion that the samurai warriors were loyal is one that has remained quite popular worldwide. Yuu finds that funny for if there's anything he can remember about his time as a samurai it was this: constant betrayal, deceit, and treachery. Samurai loyalties could be dictated by nothing but their own interests and samurai often worked to serve those interests just as much as they did their lord. Yuu was one such warrior, playing the game and switching sides whenever it best favored him. He served two masters of rival houses, earning the trust of both men, and often betraying them, selling their secrets for money and favor. His lies and treachery had many innocent people killed. He remembers that he cared at first - that it bothered him, knowing innocents were tortured or murdered because of him. The first time it happened he cried and put his katana to his throat in a fit of grief, self-hatred, and guilt. But with time he grew desensitized. Soon the blood on his hands meant nothing at all.
He was, of course, caught. And, as was customary, quickly executed. His crimes and lack of shame over what he had done were his undoing. Yuu was robbed of a peaceful death or the sweet embrace of quiet, empty eternity. Instead, Yuu was reborn and forced to dig himself out of his grave. For as long as the Earth turned and there was life to live - he would continue to exist as a Jikininki, feasting on corpses at least once a week to keep from shifting completely into a ghoulish beast.
At first it was exciting. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with living forever. Corpses were disgusting and completely unappetizing, of course, but he learned how to grin and bear it. A small price to pay for eternal youth. A couple centuries later, however, and Yuu was done. Attempts to end his life were never successful and the hundreds of painful attempts did little more than hurt. He could try to starve himself but soon the beast would take over and force him to eat. Yuu realized in the eighteenth century that he was trapped and with that realization much of his passion, emotion, and will left him. Since then, he has been little more than a walking corpse.
Nowadays Yuu lives in a small apartment in the big city, studying whatever topics he has not already mastered (he owns thousands of books and has read all of them at least twice), and writing to a few different pen pals from around the world. His pen pals are incredibly boring - over the years all humans have proven to be pretty much the same - but what else is he going to do? Well besides, y'know, take back the night since that Ultra Force disappeared. Could be interesting for a little while... Eh, probably not. But he can hope.
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