Name: Guri ( or, depending on who you are, something else. Whatever comes to his mind.)
Age: 14
Bounty: none
Species: Fishman (ornamental fish)
Occupation: navigator, fraud
Allegiance: anything to help him survive, mostly bounty hunter
Home Village/Ocean: Grand Line, Fishman island
Appearance:
Guri is a very short fishman, he'd even be short for a human child (being only 1, 32 m/ 4'4'' tall), thoguh he has started growing a bit. He blames it entirely on him having an ornamental fish side. However, it also makes him very cute, with extremely big eyes and a frail body, and his cuteness is , after all, his biggest weapon in the fight for survival.
His skin is bright blue, with some small, hardly visible scales on some parts and copper stripes going up from each arm to the sides of his face, stopping just under his eyes, which have a stongly human touch, though with huge irises and pupils, pushing up the cute-factor even more. They are red in colour, another trait he has from his fishside. He has relatively short, really soft hair of a dark blue colour and a very wide mouth, stretching over almost his whole face. He opens it very little while talking though, as he beliefs it to be quite uncute, and not fit for him. Though, he can fit an absurd amount of food in there...
He mostly wears casual clothing, T-Shirt and jeans, even though he buys the jeans too big and has to wear belt and turn up the trouser's legs. The reason for this is unknown, maybe it's for cuteness, maybe he just desperately wishes to grow into them sometime.
This young fishman has a fondness for brands, such as 'Criminal' (I'm not sure if it existed at that time, but oh well) or 'Dosqoi Panda', mostly because they give him a feeling of worth and push up his self esteem a little, as if it'd make up for him being so "useless".
Instead of wearing sandals like many other fishmen do, he prefers wearing sneakers or chucks, which aren't exactly good for his speed in swimming, but much more stylish in his mind.
Of course, he always has his navigating instruments with him, even though he mostly let's other people carry them for him, after all, why take them himself? Though he always carries his treasured Log Pose he got from someone close to him and the Eternal Post to his home, fishman island by himself.
He knows about his cuteness perfecly well, and he will use it to manipulate, lie, steal, fraud, flee or whatever else he wants to do.
(Alternate: When Guri's in a very hot/ sunny place, like a desert, or a place where fishmen are being hunted, he wears a wide, beige coat with very long sleeves that he usually buttons up as much as he can. Over it, he wears a short cloaklike garment barely reaching over his shoulders. It has a hood attached to it which he always pulls as far down as he can. Last but not least, he wears large flying goggles with tanned glasses to cover his eyes. He only covers his mouth when he feels he's in extreme danger. You can't be careful enough.)
History: Guri was the first child of his parents, two inhabitants of fishman island who'd always give him a lot of affection, a real storybook family. His mother, who was famous for her beauty, was a wannabe desinger who could never really gain ground on the market, but always talked about how she'd be a big shot one day. A real dreamer.
He doesn't like his father very much and blames much of what happened to his mother on him, since, from Guris point of view, his father could surely have protected them. However, his 'Good-for-nothing' father left his family when Guri was seven to 'sail the Grand Line and become a great pirate!'. Yes, he was a real dreamer, too, and he had always told Guri stories about the 'freedom of pirates', their big dreams, the devilfruits, and Gol D. Roger, the most famous pirate of them all, of course.
When Guri turned nine, his mother told him they'd move to a big city in south blue and open a clothing store there. Why they moved to a place inhabited by humans? The truth was that his mother owed people money, and a lot of it, but had no way to pay it.
Whatever town it was, though, they'd never get there. When they had gone halfway, the ship they were on got attacked by pirates. They killed everyone standing in their way. Guri and his mother tried to flee, but only Guri made it to the water in time. His mother was captured and should be sold as a slave later. Guri, naively hoping he could somehow save her, sneaked on the pirate ship and actually made it to her cage without being spotted. She begged him to flee. He didn't want to, of course, but he knew he couldn't fight the pirates all by himself. So he told her that, when he had become a strong fishman like his father, he would find her and free her. He left the ship, but continued to follow it underwater all the way to the auction house. It took them days, and was by far the longest and most exhausting journey he had ever made. But when they were there, he was to scared to get out of the water at first, the pirates could spot him if he did... So he waited an hour before he carefully got on land. It took him two more hours to pick up the trail, after all, he had to be careful not to be found. Only slightly had he escaped the slave hunters he had met before, and after that, he was too scared to ask anyone the way.
The closer he got to the auction house, the more dangerous it got, but he made it by ducking behind barrels or diving behind one of the great trees all over this place. When he tried to sneak into the auction house, though, when he was already in the same room his mother was kept in, he was caught by one of the guards. His mother begged them to let him go, but of course, they didn't listen. So she desperately tried to fight them or at least cause enough confusion for Guri to escape. She managed to distract the guards for a short time, so that Guri could get away and hopefully make it to the water, where he'd have the advantage.
Scared as he was, he could think of nothing but fleeing as fast as he could. Lucky for him: This way he didn't witness the guards shooting his mother (most likely by accident, since she had been one of the greatest slaves offered that day, and would have made a great price, no doubt), killing her in an instant. To this day, he still thinks she's alive, serving as a slave somewhere, and plans to free her.
In the next town he got to, the first thing he did was stealing his coat, hood, and goggles (see above: alternate outfit) to hide the fact that he was a fishman. He then spent some time living on the streets, stealing his food. the humans scared him, and he didn't talk to them, hid from them, and ran from them. The only reason he stayed there was that he had no other place to go: He didn't know where he was, or how far the next island was, he couldn't fight the big monsters which he knew lingered in the sea, couldn't communicate with them properly, and he couldn't hunt like some other fishmen could, so he had to stay there, where he'd at least be protected from the dangers of the wild. He hid his face from them, out of fear that they'd be after him like they had been after his mother... He was so confused, the world had changed and he didn't know why. He only knew that if he wanted to survive, he had to do those nasty things like stealing...That was, until he noticed the effect his looks had on people, especially on women. And oh, did he use them shamelessly... He charmed humans by acting innocent, putting a smile on his face, then robebd them blind. He could have most likely gotten them to take him in as well, but... The truth was, he was still scared of them. He was scared they'd try to sell him.
Of course, he had to get caught on some point. And he was when he tried robbing the captain of the marine headquarters of the town. Lucky for him, not even she was immune to his little act, and when he started telling her his (fake) life story, (also fake) tears in his eyes (and leaving out all about his father being a pirate), she felt so sorry for him that she decide to take him in. At first, he was against it, tried to talk himself out of this, but the marine captain, though easy to impress, was not dumb either. She gave him a choice: Either pay for his crimes, or let her take care of him and make a model citizen out of him! Needless to say, he chose the latter.
From her, he learned the most basic fighting (which wasn't easy, given the fact that he was weaker than most fishmen and not very talented), but most importantly, she taught him how to navigate ships. He loved it from the very start, and immedeatly knew that it was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. His adoptive mother noticed his talent for navigating, and gave him a Log Post as a present, which'd soon become his most treasured possession.
He lead a good life, living in the house of a captain, being taught how to read and write, sometimes making trips with his adoptive mother, when she'd let him navigate the ship, being adored and spoiled by the soldiers at the headquartes, and finally losing his fear of humans, if only a bit, and if only to learn how they could be manipulated even better....
But everything ends, and of course, this part of his life would, too.
It ended when the marines arrested a pirate named Jake Cooney, who was the first fishman Guri had seen in years, even though he was a Tuna-fishman, and thus much, much bigger and stronger than Guri.
Jake was a no name pirate whith a low bounty, and he didn't seem like a bad guy to Guri, so, despite his adoptive mother telling him not to, he'd often sit by his cell and talk to him. It almost felt like back when his fatehr was still around, like everything was fine again... Jake'd tell him stories about islands Guri couldn't even dream about, fierce enemys, pirates and marines, devilfruits, the All Blue and, of course, about Gol D. Roger again, like his father did once.
The more he listened to Jake, the more he wanted to go to these places, face these enemys, meet people with devilfruits powers, learn all about these 'dreams' and the 'freedom' everyone kept talking about.... in other words, he wanted to travel the seas, and he wasn't exactly picky about whether it was as a pirate or a marine. But when he asked his adoptive mother if he could become a marine, she was shocked, telling him that he was much too delicate to be a real fighter, and he noticed once again, that, because of his cute looks, nobody would ever take him seriously. And why should they? They were right, he wasn't strong. He'd be dead in a minute, or even worse: he could be sold as a slave.
But the desire to travel became greater and greater, and so he made a decision: If no one would take him seriously, then he'd just have to get someone anyone would be impressed by. And of course, Jake was the first choice, after all, he had become a good friend to Guri, and also indebted to the young fishman if he freed him.
So he wrote his adoptive mother a letter, stole the keys, and freed Jake. It was easier than he thought, and once again, it became clear to him that trust was, if used in the right way, an incredible weapon. Sure, he couldn't defeat people in a fair fight, but he could stab them repeadetly in their sleep... Though he didn't do that to his adoptive mother...
He had gotten a little nervous that Jake'd just leave him and go on his own, but the pirate had a surprisingly good heart (and possibly a soft spot for kids).
They stole a small ship from the Marine, and since then have been traveling together, staying with whoever'd take them into their crew, be it pirates or Marines.
That is, until Guri made a big step: After meeting a particularily nasty enemy he couldn't defeat, but only sweettalk, Guri finally got to think: It couldn't go on like this! He was weak. When he grew up, he'd be much less cute, hopefully... What would he do? He wasn't fit for surviving on his own, and Jake was the only person he could trust. What if Jake was to leave, or to die?
So, he made a decision: He'd finally go out there and face the world! He'd have to get stronger on his own, so that he didn't have to depend on anyone else anymore, and Jake and him would be able to form a team then!
He made his goodbyes to Jake with that very promise, that he'd be stronger when they met again, and left.
Though, saying it is one thing, but actually doing it.... Well, he has continued his ways. He charms people, then robs them blind, he stays out of fights... And doesn't really get much stronger while he's at it. But there was no time limit in the promise! And... fighitng is scary... Even though he is a bit stronger than the average human, it still is...
Personality:
Guri's a smart kid, but more street smart than book smart. He knows exactly when it's time to run and who he might have an influence on. He has a mayor lack of pride, and he will do about anything to get what he wants, whatever it may be at the moment. Begging for his life, running away, telling sappy (and mostly fake) stories about how messed up his life was, using people in the most wretched ways, backstabbing: it's everyday bussiness to him. Particularly the backstabbing part, as he normally just abandons crews when he doesn't need them, or, in case it's a pirate, even sells them to the Marine, collecting their bounty. From his point of view, the end justifies the means, and if those idiots were stupid enough to fall for him, then they're to blame for what happened to them. All those years he had to care for himself, the sweet kid he used to be had to harden its heart quite a bit. If he'd have jerked back at the thought of a little wretchedness, a little ruthlessness, he'd be dead by now.
He tries to appear uncaring and tough for the most part, but in reality, he has low self-esteem especially because of his lack of strength. It's made worse by him being "that age", meaning he's starting to get crushes on people. Those people are usually the ones he disposes of first, since he knows they will become a weakness to him later on. The only one he accepts around him is Jake, because he knows the big fishman would never do anything to hurt him, and Guri has him under his control.... also, because he's his friend. His only friend.
It's clear to him what a failure of a fishman he is, being much weaker than most other, and not even a good swimmer (speaking in fishman standards), and people telling him that won't insult him, since he completely agrees with them. Depending on his mood, it might depress him, however. Somewhere, very deep under that despicable, yet cute shell of his, there may be a good heart, but not many people have ever seen it. And deep, deep down in that heart, he knows what he's doing is wrong, and he feels guilty for it, but his survival instincts keep those little voices down, push them back into his subconcious, where they don't slow him down too much.
Ship: /
Ship Flag: /
Devil Fruit: /
effect:/
Special Abilities:
As a fishman, even a weak and very young one, he's a little stronger than an average human adult, but not by much, and still weak and useless by fishman standards. He knows the basics of swordfighting, but isn't a master, or even overly talented.
He's very agile and can squeeze into tight spots easily due to his small size. Instead of fighting an opponent directly, Guri analyses the weaknesses and tries to get himself as many advantages as possible, or manipulate and weaken the enemy in every way he can, and that, he's good at. He isn't much of a fighter though (as stated earlier, he has a mayor disadvantage due to him being an incredibly weak kind of fish) and prefers to run away if he can, or leave as much of the fighting as possible to others. Talk about trying to get stronger....
Learned Techniques (Keep it 1-25):
basic swordfighting, manipulating,
Weapons/Items:
Whatever swordlike thing he gets his hands on, but he doesn't own one himself.
Goals:
-freeing his mother (who is, sadly, already dead)
-exploring the world
-finding his father, maybe?
-get strong! Really strong!
Guri's back! Now that I have eleven character spots, I'll take this little guy back in. Modified slightly, but not much...
Thu Apr 07, 2011 1:22 pm
awsome how you detail everythink 
