Walter Tatham (Lupin) [TEACHER]

THE BASICS

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

PERSONALITY

Walter carefully considers the consequences of his words and actions. When Walter speaks, he typically says exactly what he intends to say. This is the case regardless of whether he is speaking to a fellow teacher or a student. Walter is usually methodical in his actions and prefers to plan out his approach before taking action. 

Walter is a calm and controlled person. He cares about his students but still holds himself back emotionally. Even around those closest to him, Walter tends to hold back his emotions. This is especially true when it comes to powerful negative emotions like rage, shock, or fear. As a result of trying to control his Quirk, Walter typically suppresses his emotions to some degree. If Walter does let himself experience a strong emotion fully, it is usually after he's decided it's safe to do so.

Walter is committed to making sure the next generation of heroes is both competent and strong-willed. As such, Walter is actively engaged in helping his students as much as possible and listening to their problems. Even if Walter is very busy, he will put everything aside immediately if a student comes to him for help. Walter wants to make sure the students see him as both their headmaster and a reliable adult. Walter is generally an extremely determined and motivated person.

Walter knows what it's like to experience bullying and loneliness due to his Quirk. Now, Walter works hard to ensure no student at UA has to feel the same way he did back then. Walter's struggles controlling his Quirk in his earlier years inspired him to empathize deeply with students who struggle similarly. Walter pays special attention to teachers properly instructing their students in controlling their Quirk as a result of his own struggles with his Quirk.

Walter's greatest fear is losing the person that he loves and experiencing utter loneliness once again.Walter also fears losing control of himself because of his Quirk. These fears push him to keep a close on the person he loves and control his emotions as much as possible. 

Walter has a habit of stretching and walking around his office once an hour like clockwork. One of his pet peeves is anyone bringing something smelly into his office. His Quirk will make it so he smells this odor for quite some time, so he really dislikes anyone doing this. 

Walter is definitely a dog person but has learned to like some cats, as well. In fact, he owns a male Border Collie-Basset Hound mix named Charlie. Walter certainly prefers the activity of city life and is more accustomed to the city than the country. He grew up in London and now lives in Tokyo, feeling at home in either city. However, Walter enjoys occasionally visiting the country of either the UK or Japan for relaxation and a change of pace.

Walter's alignment is lawful neutral. He has a sense of justice and will fight to protect hero society if necessary. However, Walter can and will bend the rules, at least somewhat, if he has to in the process of achieving his goals. Walter is a fair fighter, too. Walter is open to listening to both sides of an argument but his sense of justice does influence the decisions he makes after learning all the relevant information. Walter is more or less a pragmatist, though his sense of justice is ever-present.

BACKGROUND HISTORY

Early Life

Walter's early life was fairly average. He was born to Amelia and Lewis Tatham in London, England. While his parents were certainly not rich, they were not poor either as they had both worked as heroes for a long period of time before settling down together and starting a family. Walter received plenty of love and affection from his parents during this time and began to develop an appreciation for the capabilities of his Quirk. Before he could even vocalize it, Walter could discern the different perfumes his mother wore and the various smells that accumulated around his father. These abilities would only grow stronger as Walter got older.

It wasn't until Walter started going to school that he learned he was different from other kids. All the other kids had Quirks just like him, but many other kids found it weird whenever he talked too much about smells. Walter tried his best to fit in and imitated all the other kids. However, the other kids soon started calling him 'weird' and that was the end of his chances to make friends in his first school.

Walter would start anew once he entered middle school and he had high hopes for making friends now that he had a fresh start. Initially, it went much better and Walter began to develop friendships with several of his classmates. Walter came home smiling most days and told his parents all about the new friends that he had made. One time, Walter got embarrassed while talking to a girl that he liked and several of his classmates teased him about it.

Walter got angry and activated his Quirk unintentionally, growing claws and feeling his teeth sharpen until he looked like a wild beast. Walter was out of control and attacked several of his classmates until a few teachers were finally able to restrain him. That broke up his circle of friends in a hurry and everyone decided to just leave him alone for the rest of middle school. Once again, Walter was completely alone. 

Entering U.A.

 Even though the shadow of the middle school incident loomed over him, Walter worked hard to redeem himself. He trained considerably to control his Quirk better and ended up barely getting enough recommendations to get into the prestigious hero school, U.A. Making it into U.A. High School made Walter committed to both mastering his Quirk and becoming a pro hero. On orientation day, Walter found himself alone since he didn't know anyone else going to U.A. Walter noticed a young female student with black hair and dark skin also standing alone and approached her.

"Hey," Walter said sheepishly, looking around and seeing that no one was paying any attention to either one of them. Walter took a deep breath and asked, "Do you want to be my friend? I don't know anyone at U.A," smiling brightly as he did so. The female student looked up at him and nodded. "Sure, I'll be your friend." Walter smiled back and watched the principal address the new students for a few minutes. 

"Oh, I'm Walter, by the way. Nice to meet you." Walter introduced himself and bowed once he remembered his manners. The female student bowed back and responded, "I'm Tsubame. Nice to meet you, Walter." Walter talked with Tsubame throughout the rest of orientation day and made a promise to meet up with her again on the next day of school. The two of them sat together, ate lunch together, and trained together whenever possible. 

As part of class 1-A, Walter took the test for his provisional hero license along with Tsubame. The two of them both passed and Walter continued to get to know Tsubame better as he continued working on controlling his Quirk. With provisional hero licenses, the two of them began patrolling regularly and aiding pro heroes or the police in suppressing criminal or villain activity. During one patrol, Walter discovered the other trigger for him losing control of his Quirk aside from anger: the scent of blood. A villain had attacked some civilians and injured him, causing Walter to smell the blood and lose control. When he finally regained control, the police were detaining the villain and Tsubame was holding him tightly.

Walter immediately noticed that she had bruises, scratch marks, and blood all over her body. Walter realized he had harmed Tsubame during his rampage and whispered, "I'm sorry...I'm sorry" over and over again while she held him. "Shh. It's all right, Walter. It's all right." Tsubame reassured him gently while he was overcome with guilt. After the incident was resolved, Walter, along with Tsubame's help, managed to prevent him from getting his provisional license stripped. From that day forward, Walter began to suppress his emotions and train daily with Tsubame to ensure he never lost control again. 

Walter later chose his hero name, deciding on 'Lupin'. Walter then entered the U.A. Sports Festival and did well in all parts of it. He finished second in the one-on-one combat portion, only losing at the end to his best friend, Tsubame. Walter caught the attention of the pro hero Alpha and completed his internship with the pro hero, growing in his ability to control his Quirk and his combat abilities overall. 

Walter entered the second year of his time at U.A. more determined than ever. Walter's circle of friends grew as he and Tsubame continued to get more comfortable at the school. Walter's feelings for Tsubame became developing in an unexpected direction at this time, though he hid it from her and from anyone else. He developed his custom martial arts incorporating the canine characteristics he acquired from activating his Quirk. Walter worked on his various moves and expanded his offensive capabilities.

Walter was well-positioned for graduation upon entering his third and final year at U.A. High School. His grades were at the top of his class and he excelled in any practical exams as well. However, his feelings for Tsubame had continued to grow stronger and he was uncertain about what he was going to do after graduation. Walter kept putting it off until he received his official pro hero license and looked over at a smiling Tsubame.

"We did it," Walter remarked, a smile on his face covering up the anxiety that dwelt just below the surface. Tsubame nodded and hugged him, the two of them embracing while the anxiety kept building in the back of his mind. His parents invited him back to London and he took them up on their offer, staying with them for a few months while he considered his options. Walter decided to return to Japan and begin his career as a pro hero.

Life As A Pro Hero

Walter found that Tsubame had begun her life as a pro hero while he was gone. Walter reached out to her and the two of them became partners once again. They patrolled together and handled villains all on their own, arresting quite a few over their years together. Walter enjoyed taking down villains alongside Tsubame, but something bothered him. Due to his years of suppressing his emotions in order to control his Quirk, Walter felt himself drifting away from Tsubame emotionally. He considered the decision between tearing down his emotional barriers and risking losing control versus continuing to suppress his emotions and remaining in control.

It was one of the most difficult decisions of his entire life. Walter ultimately decided upon continuing to suppress his emotions so he won't lose control. Walter loved the freedom of patrolling with only Tsubame at his side and his feelings, though unspoken, grew ever stronger. He recommitted to controlling his Quirk at whatever cost when a villain killed a few civilians in front of him and nearly caused Walter to lose control. Only Tsubame's intervention saved him from losing control and now Walter knew he had to keep his emotions under control no matter what. Walter continued his career as a pro hero for several more years until he reached another crossroads in his life and decided on his path.

Becoming Headmaster At U.A. 

Over his time as a pro hero in the field, Walter had developed a desire to instill in the next generation of heroes a strong sense of justice and ensure that they received proper guidance. Walter returned to U.A. several times as a special guest instructor and found that he rather enjoyed teaching. When he looked into opportunities at U.A., he discovered that both the Headmaster and Vice Headmaster positions were available. Walter completed all the necessary training and worked as an assistant teacher for some time before he was offered the position of Headmaster at U.A. High School. Walter was keen on accepting and once he heard Tsubame had become the Vice Headmaster, it was settled. Walter Tatham, aka. 'Lupin', was now the Headmaster of U.A. High School and responsible for guiding the next generation of heroes on the proper path.  

THE ARMORY

QUIRK & SKILLS

---

Pure Instinct

TYPE: Transformation
RANK/LEVEL: A
SUMMARY:

The first and most obvious change that takes place when Walter activates Pure Instinct is that he grows fangs. In the strictest sense, these are clearly not real fangs. The real change that occurs is that Walter's teeth grow longer and sharper to more closely resemble those of a wolf. As a result, his 'fangs' are now viable weapons to use while in combat. However, it is important to note that his Quirk does increase his biting force. Walter can bite through steel with his fangs.

The second change that occurs when Walter activates Pure Instinct is that his nails sharpen and grow to the point that they become claws. The nails also become weapons for Walter. The nails do not curve when they are growing, instead growing straight out. The growth of the nails to claws and teeth to fangs happens quite quickly after Walter activates his Quirk (in IC time, during the same post he activates it). These claws or nails are sharp enough to penetrate steel.

Walter's senses of hearing and smell also greatly increase when he activates Pure Instinct. Walter can hear 4 times the distance a normal human can hear when his Quirk is activated. Walter is also capable of hearing at much higher sound frequencies than regular humans when using his Quirk. Walter's sense of smell is increased to 10,000 times that of a regular human, allowing him to pick up on faint smells from great distances. Walter can detect smells from a maximum distance of 2.5 miles away from the source of the smell. 

Walter's speed and agility also increases when using Pure Instinct. Walter can reach a maximum speed of 30 mph. In terms of agility, Walter's lateral quickness is greatly increased when using his Quirk. Walter can use his Quirk for up to 8 posts continuously. 


WEAKNESSES/LIMITATIONS:

1. Rampage

The first and most obvious weakness of Walter's Quirk is the potential for him to lose control of himself. Whenever Walter loses control either due to anger or the scent of blood, he begins rampaging. Walter will attack anyone near him when he is out of control, regardless if they are friend or foe. Walter is also susceptible to damage in this state because he is not thinking clearly and thus does not protect himself properly. Only Tsubame can reliably calm Walter down when he loses control. This effect lasts between 3-5 posts when and if it happens.

2. Strong Odors

As you might expect since Walter's Quirk vastly improves his sense of smell, he is vulnerable to particularly strong odors. Walter has difficulty fighting effectively if he is exposed to pungent smells for an extended period of time (3-5 posts). Depending on the strength of the smell and the length of exposure, Walter might even find himself completely incapacitated. Strong odors are certainly an Achilles heel for Walter. 

RANK/LEVEL: B
SUMMARY:

Walter has played chess throughout his life, beginning in his early years back in London with his parents and childhood friends. He has a natural feel for the game. Additionally, his experience in playing opponents of various skills levels has allowed him to become a fairly skilled chess player.

RANK/LEVEL: A
SUMMARY:

Walter has developed a considerable amount of skill in martial arts over the years. Through his experience in the field and his years of training with Tsubame, Walter has adopted an unpredictable and unorthodox martial arts style. This style is based on quick strikes, agility, and plenty of random movement. Walter often incorporates his style of martial arts in conjunction with  his Quirk in combat. 

RANK/LEVEL: C
SUMMARY:

Having grown up in London, Walter played football at an amateur level for the majority of his youth before moving to Japan. Walter developed a fair amount of skill in the sport, though he rarely plays it today. Walter enjoys playing football on the rare occasions when he has an opportunity to do so. 

Walter

---