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[sarcaskick]

⌈ PLAYER SECTION ⌉
Player: Tim
Contact: plurk: gottacatchemall || discord: Pacific Tim#7720
Age: 30
Current Characters: N/A


⌈ CHARACTER SECTION ⌉
Character: Mercury Black
Age: 19
Canon: RWBY
Canon Point: Just before Volume 6

Background: here

Personality: Mercury is, first and foremost, an asshole. He has been either sarcastic or flippant with every single person he's spoken to thus far in the series, ranging from crime boss Roman Torchwick to partner and "friend" Emerald Sustrai (or as close to friends as he can manage, at least), even throwing sass at world-renowned fighter Pyrrha Nikos and Professor Glynda Goodwitch when he's supposed to be undercover as an innocent not-at-all-a-villain student. He has no trouble running his mouth to whoever, whenever, wherever, and doesn't seem to care much about what people think of him so long as it gets an amusing reaction; he seems displeased with Emerald when she doesn't play along with his mockery, muttering "You're no fun today", further cementing the fact that it isn't her opinion that matters, but her reaction.

It’s never stated outright, but Mercury seems to have a soft spot for Emerald. Not only is she the only person he can be his awful self around without being judged (much), but he’s been shown to express an interest in her well-being. After Cinder’s defeat in the vault at Haven Academy, he tries to urge Emerald to retreat with him and Hazel, and sounds genuinely concerned when she’s frozen on the spot. Later, when they return to Salem’s lair and Tyrian threatens Emerald by saying that Cinder isn’t there to protect her anymore, Mercury not only tells him to back off but physically steps to Emerald’s side to place a hand on her shoulder, a comforting gesture that is otherwise absent from his usual behaviors. However, that doesn’t mean he coddles her - when she expresses doubts as to their place among Salem’s forces and expresses her feelings about Cinder, Mercury calls her delusional (claiming that Cinder never cared about either of them), tells her to keep him out of her identity crisis, and has no problem with throwing hands with her when her temper snaps.

Mercury’s mannerisms also seem to change when he’s in the company of Salem and her lieutenants; his usual outspokenness is replaced with silence (he didn’t have a single line in Volume 4 and yes I’m salty about that okay!!) and his irritation isn’t masked, such as when he nearly confronts Watts as he badmouths Cinder or when he snaps at Tyrian for picking on Emerald, calling him a freak. He also doesn’t take losing well, yelling and slamming his fist into the ground after team RWBY defeats Salem’s forces at Haven Academy. This is likely because to Mercury, being strong is virtually the most important thing there is - having had his semblance “stolen” by his father, he had to work extremely hard to become strong without it, in the hopes of his father returning it to him (which never happened - one more reason for Mercury to hate him and be bitter at everything).

Mercury does not handle boredom well. When Cinder mentions that their plans will come together in due time, Mercury promptly whines that he haaates waiting (keep in mind that's his boss he's speaking to - like I said, he's an asshole), and when him and Emerald are walking through the streets of Vale he can only remark on how dull the place is. It's most likely because of this lack of anything to do that he and Emerald violated Cinder's orders to "keep their hands clean" and instead went after Tukson, a former member of the White Fang who was attempting to leave the organization and flee the area but instead found himself murdered at Mercury's hands (or feet, rather, but more on that later). Once they were in place at Beacon he was kept under better control, since he had his match against Pyrrha, the school dance, and finally the Grimm attack on the city to keep himself entertained. If not kept on a leash made of interesting things, he will find his own means of amusement, which doesn't bode well for anyone.

Mostly because he gets a genuine thrill out of fighting - killing, specifically. He was shown to have some fun during his match against Pyrrha, even laughing mid-attack during the battle, but he must have some fondness for ending lives as opposed to just hurting others. He and Emerald could have easily subdued Tukson without murdering him, but Mercury wasted no time in firing a point-blank blast straight into the man. Later on, when the Grimm attack Vale and Cinder's team opts to help under the guise of heroics, Mercury is again the first one to leap into action, launching himself with an almost wild grin the moment Cinder gives the go-ahead to start killing the beasts. Perhaps one of the more subtle clues is when Emerald first asks Tukson about the availability of certain books in his store - the first one she requests is titled The Thief and the Butcher, and seeing as how Emerald is the thief (being a pickpocket and a "street rat" by trade) it's a safe bet that Mercury is the butcher.

In spite of his generally undisciplined ways, Mercury can focus himself seriously when he has to. He has a quick and sharp tactical mind in combat, able to force a fighter of Pyrrha's level to reveal her Semblance to him without ever having to demonstrate his own, letting him have an ace up his sleeve in the future should he need it. He also forfeits the match as soon as he discerns what her ability is, as his only reason for fighting her was to give Cinder that very information - he doesn't let his thirst for violence overrule his obligation to Cinder, and even when the Grimm attack Vale he waits until Cinder signals him to attack to throw himself into the fray. It might seem like this is out of respect for her, but Mercury has stated that he finds her annoying, and that the only reason he came along with her and Emerald was because it “seemed like the thing to do” - he spent his life learning how to be a killer, and they just happened to show up at the moment he proved that he is one. He doesn’t put too much thought into why he does things - he just does what feels right at the moment (much to Emerald’s chagrin and frustration), whether it’s really the right thing to do or not.

Abilities: Mercury, like all fighters from the world of Remnant, has control over a special force known as Aura. Aura is defined as the "manifestation of the soul", and is carried by all living things, from people to animals (excluding the Grimm, which are inherently soulless). Aura has many general purposes used by fighters; first and foremost it acts passively as an invisible shield, protecting its wielder from attacks. Each blow taken drains one's Aura reserve, and once that reserve is completely depleted they'll take damage like anyone else. It can act as something of a "radar", detecting approaching danger (as explained by Pyrrha, one can know they're being watched without actually knowing someone is there). Aura can also be used to heal minor wounds, though more significant wounds may not be able to be healed fully or properly depending on how much Aura one has to do so with (as made apparent by Weiss and Fox's scars). One can also focus Aura into their attacks to give them more strength, though this also whittles away at their reserve bit by bit. Basically, any fighter with Aura is better off ending fights quickly, before their reserves run out.

As far as his fighting style is concerned, Mercury is a highly acrobatic and agile warrior with a style that focuses almost exclusively on kicks, generally placing himself on the offensive to try and overwhelm the defenses of his opponent. He's shown to recover from attacks quickly, flipping up from the ground the moment he's knocked over and digging his heels in when he's pushed back. This style is made all the more dangerous by his weapons, a pair of custom boots that have a gun-like mechanism built into the heel with which to add some extra kick (ha!) to his attacks. He has a knack for surveying his opponent and finding their weaknesses, as made evident when he's able to disarm Pyrrha, a feat that no one else seemed able to accomplish (even when she was engaged against a four-man team entirely on her own).

Of just as important note to the rest of his abilities is the fact that he doesn't actually have his natural legs from the knees down - they've been replaced by fully functional robotic prosthetics, highly durable and capable of firing blasts just like his boots can. These legs have been shown to withstand extreme force when utilized properly, and... well, Mercury utilizes them properly. He’s been shown to be able to blast himself high into the air, literally double-jump to reverse his trajectory, and blocked an attack that was strong enough to send craters through an arena made of stone with no negative repercussions. He was trained to kill, and he’s good at it.

Warriors in Remnant are also often capable of an ability that is unique to them called a semblance - it’s how Ruby can activate super-speed, or how Pyrrha has influence over magnetism. Mercury, however, claims that his dad took his away, promising to return it when he was “strong” - but Mercury grew strong enough to kill him and still never got it back. It’s debatable whether he ever will.

Alignment: Sosyne; Mercury is capable of being calm in a fight, but there’s a lot of anger just beneath the surface which he takes out on everyone on a regular basis (sometimes physically, usually verbally).

Other: hewwow?

⌈ SAMPLE SECTION ⌉

General Sample: here
Emotion Sample: here ; see also part A of his test drive post


Questions: who was phone