The Ronin (Rika Shishido) [Villain]

THE BASICS

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Standing at a bit under five and a half feet tall, with long black hair and grey eyes, Rika's day to day appearance can be a rather misleading thing. On a normal day her skin seems to be an almost sickly pale shade and her lithe frame suggests a rather frail physique, while her eyes are frequently dim and unfocused. All of this however, is a combination of acting and the effects of her quirk. She is almost constantly weakening herself so that she has the power she needs when it matters the most. When her quirk is not active, she has a perfectly healthy complexion and one would be able to note the frankly impressive amount of muscle that has been packed into her body over years of physical training.

The sorts of clothes that Rika wears depends heavily on the sort of character that she's trying to portray. For the most part, she tends to prefer fairly casual, baggy clothing such as hoodies, loose fitting shorts, and T-shirts, but when the situation calls for a bit more formality she won't hesitate to put on more refined dresses or traditional kimonos to make the proper impression. In such occasions the ultimate goal is to match the expectations of whoever she's dealing with, since they almost always tend to underestimate her, and that suits her purposes just fine.

PERSONALITY

When most people meet Rika for the first time, a single word tends to come to mind when asked about her; cold. She is a quiet young woman, though not due to any sort of shyness or timidness, she simply isn't the sort to start up a conversation on her own and rarely ever entertains idle chat without a purpose. Her way of thinking is very logical and goal oriented, if not a bit inflexible at times when it comes to decision making. Her mind is almost constantly in motion as she observes her surrounds and forms plans, trying, often in vain, to stay ahead of the game in this chaotic world we live in.

As one might be able to guess, Rika isn't the sort that makes friends easily, though she is in the habit of acquiring new business partners whenever possible to further her goals. In spite of a lack of friendly relationships, Rika is actually incredibly protective of those she cares about, in fact it might be one of her most powerful motivations for doing the things she does. There is very little that she wouldn't do in the service of her loved ones, even to the point of criminal activity. Whether or not these people agree with her actions or methods is irrelevant; As long as she can ensure their safety, she will not hesitate to dirty her hands, especially if it means they don't have to dirty theirs.

BACKGROUND HISTORY

Life was never exactly easy for me and my family. We had money problems for as long as I can remember, even before I was old enough to actually understand what it meant. Dad ran a small dojo in our neighborhood, but there just wasn't enough business for it to support us by itself. With him and mom both working extra jobs, we could just barely stay afloat and I could go to school, but it definitely wasn't easy on us. Looking back, I guess it was really only a matter of time before something went wrong.

I was eleven at the time. Dad didn't come from work one day and we got a call from the hospital. He'd gotten injured at the factory, and although his life wasn't in any danger, he also wouldn't be in a state to work any time soon. Needless to say, things started to go down hill fast from there. Our neighbors tried to help out, but I still remember going days without food as the bills just kept piling up. eventually it got to the point where we would have had to sell the Dojo to keep going, but Dad wouldn't have any of it... and then one day everything just went back to normal, or at least that's what it seemed like at the time. I was just a kid, all I knew was that I had food to eat and the lights were on again, didn't even realize what had happened until the men in suits started to show up a few months later.

Dad had made a decision. rather than give up everything his family had worked for, he approached a particular organization and negotiated a loan. I'm sure he thought that he could just pay it off when he went back to work, but that was never going to happen with these people. The first time the men showed up was right after dad had recovered, that was the first time I heard the name Hagane; the name of the man that would torment me and my family for the next five years of my life.

Obviously my dad didn't have the money yet, he'd only just healed after all, so he sent the men away... but of course they came back. At first it was just once a month, they'd show up, make themselves look big and make thinly veiled threats until Dad sent them away, sometimes with money, sometimes without. Every time he had to send them away empty handed though, the next visit was always worse. Things eventually started to escalate and the men started to show up more often, making a bigger scene and more overt threats. About two years later, Dad should have paid off his loan several times over, but the interest and 'late fees' that kept getting tacked on meant that he'd barely made a dent, and it had gotten to the point where it felt like the debt collectors were coming to harass us every single day.

It was too much for a 15 year old girl to take, and I kept telling myself I had to do something about it, so one day I finally managed to work up the courage to approach the police.... How naive could I have possible been...? As if someone who had the resources to send a squad of goons after us every day didn't have his fingers in every pocket book in the town. That night I came home and our house was completely surrounded by armed men, and the man himself was inside with my parents, rubbing my dad's face in the dirt. He explained the situation very simply; we had a week to pay back the rest of the debt or else they'd burn the dojo and my family to the ground.

No matter what my parents tried to say to me, I knew that it was my fault, so I took it upon myself to get the money. I don't really know when the thought occurred to me, but once it did there was no going back. All my life I'd tried to follow the rules, stay out of the way and do what I was told, but there was no way to make that sort of cash while keeping my hands clean.

And so I did what I had to do, and.... It was easier than I thought it would be. I used my dad's training to pick targets from a crowd and rough them up when they were alone. I memorized our neighbor's schedules and broke into their houses when they were away. I watched stores and took whatever wasn't bolted down when no one was looking. In the span of a week a fifteen year old kid managed to amass over 100000 Yen... and it wasn't even close to what I needed.

I approached Hagane myself on the last day, hoping my offering could potentially buy us some more time. I figured a last ditch effort was better than just giving up, but imagine my surprise when it actually worked. He was apparently impressed by my 'resourcefulness" and offered me a deal; If I took on the debt myself and worked for him, he would back off my family, assuming that I made the payments at least. Given the alternative, I didn't really have much of a choice.

And that's how all this started. When my parents found out what I'd done to protect them, my dad practically chased me out of the house, but I hadn't been expecting much different. It doesn't matter, as long as they're still ok I don't mind being out on my own. Don't get me wrong, I hate very second that that bastard has me on his strings, but one day I'll turn the tables, one day I'll make it up to my parents, but until then I have a job to do and money to earn.

THE ARMORY

- Grappling Hook: A simple wrist mounted pneumatic grappling hook with a range of 50 feet (15 meters), and a maximum load capacity of 500 lbs.
- Katana
- Metal Gauntlet (Left Hand)
- Knives x4
- Sensory Reduction Kit - A collection of a blackout visor, noise canceling earbuds, and nose plugs, all of which have been designed to be easily put on or removed even when Rika is wearing her mask. 

QUIRK & SKILLS

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Power for Power

TYPE: Emitter
RANK/LEVEL: D+
SUMMARY:
The ability to redirect effort and resources from one task to another that is more important is a basic tenant of resource management. While most people tend to be limited to applying this sort of rationale to their actions, Rika is able to apply it to the functions of her own body. In essence, she is able to divert 'strength' from one aspect of her body, storing it as a charge that she can then utilize to empower another aspect.

There are four characteristics that she is able to manipulate in this way; Strength, Agility, Constitution, and Perception. When storing power, Rika gains one charge per post for each aspect that is reduced to at least 50% effectiveness. Charges work with simple multiplication according to her base line physical abilities unless otherwise stated, for instance storing 50% strength simply means cutting her physical brawn in half, while expending a single charge means doubling it. The exact effects of each aspect are described as follows.

Strength: Perhaps the most simple characteristic, strength deals with the raw power usually equated to muscle mass. When storing strength Rika will be physically weaker and actually weigh less (falling to a minimum of half her normal weight when strength is at 0%). When burning charges, Rika's base strength is increased by a factor equal to the number of charges consumed until the end of the post, allowing her to lift more and hit harder. In her current state she can lift about 100 lbs(45 kg) at base, putting her max burn at about 500 lbs (226 kg)

Agility: Agility refers to Rika's ability to move and control her body. When storing agility her movement speed decreases, her fine muscle control and balance falter, and her reflexes become sluggish. When burning charges, her base movement speed is increased by 50% per charge consumed and her movements become equally more precise until the end of the post. Her current base running speed is about 9 mph (14.5 kph), putting her max burn at about 27 mph (43.5 kph).

Constitution: A measure of a person's fortitude and resilience. When storing constitution, Rika becomes more frail with more brittle bones and thinner skin, while also becoming sickly and tired. When burning charges she is more easily able to shrug off injury and her body actually becomes more dense, increasing her weight(increase by 50% per charge) and making her tissues more resistant to damage. At base her durability is fairly average, but at max burn she is able to walk away from a 30 mph car crash and her skin has the toughness of hard leather.

Perception: Perception refers to the acuteness of the five basic senses. When storing perception Rika's eyesight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch all deteriorate. Burning charges does the opposite, sharpening each of the senses and multiplying their sensitivity by the number of charges spent. At base line, most of Rika's senses are actually slightly below average, but at max burn her vision is good enough to resolve small text at 60 feet, her hearing can pick up a whisper from across a room, and her touch is sensitive enough to guess the direction and rough location of someone walking 15 feet away.

(Unless otherwise agreed upon by all participants, Rika will always start a thread with 0 charges.)

WEAKNESSES/LIMITATIONS:
By nature of how Rika's abilities work, the quirk comes with just as many weaknesses as it does strengths. As it says on the tin, it's a trade of power for power; she cannot bolster herself without first giving something up. And even then, the power that her quirk grants her is not without its risks and each aspect carries its own drawbacks. The boosts she receives are fleeting and if her accumulated well of strength runs dry at the wrong time the results could be disastrous. Running out of strength while lifting something could easily mean crushing herself, and running out of Agility while sprinting could just as easily make her fall on her face. Constitution in particular is rather dangerous, as burning could allow her to fight through what would otherwise be a grievous injury, but the second she runs out of juice the full effects would hit her like a wall. Improving one's senses on the other hand is always a double edged sword, as more powerful senses also mean more sensitivity to stimuli, especially considering that the quirk effects all five equally whether she wants it to or not.

While Rika can theoretically store any number of charges, her body can only push itself so far and she is limited in the number she can tap into at any one time. In her current state she can only burn 4 charges per post before the strain becomes too great. If she exceeds this limit, every aspect that she spent charges on that post will be reduced to 50% effectiveness and can neither accumulate or spend charges for the remainder of the thread. Even when staying within this limitation, burning charges does use up a considerable amount of energy, and doing so will effectively exhaust her within 7 posts.

One interesting fact about Rika's quirk is that her usage of it is actually telegraphed. While her eyes are normally a dull grey, the color of her irises change with what aspects she is tapping into. Red is strength, yellow is agility, blue is constitution, and white is perception. channeling multiple aspects results in the colors mixing, while storing aspects results in darker shades. When burning 3 or more charges at once, this color is extended into an aura-like effect that surrounds her body. In addition to making it basically impossible to use her quirk heavily without notice, if one were to become familiar with her abilities, they could use these tells to better predict the girl's movement and tactics.

RANK/LEVEL: C-
SUMMARY:
Living most of one's life in a house with a dojo almost guarantees that one inevitably trains in the dojo. Rika's father taught several forms of martial arts, but he specialized in the instruction of swordplay, specifically kendo and iado. After years of training with her father, Rika is not necessarily a master of the art, but she is rather proficient in it.



RANK/LEVEL: D
SUMMARY:
When Rika took to the streets, she soon found that a full length blade wasn't always the most effective tool for a job, so she took to applying her training to other forms of weaponry. In particular she found an aptitude for knives and daggers, which have sense become a mainstay of her arsenal.




RANK/LEVEL: C-
SUMMARY:
Before her life was turned upside down, Rika had studied as and been considering pursuing a career as a seamstress. Although that particular option no longer seems particularly viable, she has found uses for the skill in her new,  less orthodox profession.

Mako

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