sharktrash | Application for Fasti

PLAYER INFORMATION

Player Name: Dem
Are you 18+?: yes i am old
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jigglyballs
Current Characters: -

CHARACTER INFORMATION

Character Name: Squalo Superbi*
*there's actually quite a lot of contradictions from canon sources about whether its spelled "Superbi" or "Superbia", and additionally which part is supposed to be his first name. I based my decision on what seemed to be the existing/most common surname in present day Italy out of the three, according to a few sites like this.
Canon: Katekyou Hitman Reborn! (common abbreviations "Reborn!" and "KHR!", and yes exclamation mark is included)
Canonpoint: Chapter 398, mortally wounded by Jager
Character Age: 22-23

Background/History: Wiki link.

Appearance (for quick reference):
Height: 182cm (6'0")
Weight: 75kg (165lbs) - a bit sticklike but fit
Age: 22

Squalo has long white hair that reaches past his waist. His eyebrows and eyelashes (and any other hair) are also white, and he sunburns easily. In Fasti, he will likely resort to some kind of braiding to keep it at bay.

His voice is famously loud and grating, and hearing him talk will sound much like someone yelling with an unclear throat.

His left hand is a prosthetic.

Strengths:

Loyalty/dedication. Squalo is absolutely and fiercely loyal to his boss, despite the fact that he's treated like trash on a good day. He is pretty much a knight in that regard -- although he has no qualms about fighting dirty and finishing off people who are on the ground already. He made an oath not to cut his hair until he saw Xanxus become the leader of the most powerful mafia family in the world, and he kept it for eight years after the other was imprisoned, making sure to keep their assassination squad up to mark in the meantime. Even when he discovered the truth about Xanxus' heritage and that he will never be a true successor, Squalo did not abandon him, and knowing full well it was against the current law, tried to help him take Vongola back by force. Twice. And, of course, he still hasn't cut his hair, though a reasonable person would argue that his promise can no longer be fulfilled and this perseverance is unhealthy at the least.

There's something that adds an interesting spin on this, however. Considering that Varia squad is part of the Vongola, and how mafia usually runs, Squalo no doubt had to swear his loyalty to the Vongola boss at some point as well - and yet he doesn't think anything of eagerly participating in plots to kill him. Twice. We'll leave the mystery for why he still hasn't gotten the firing squad for another time; what's important here is that Squalo himself defines which oaths are meant to be kept and which ones are just pretty words as a means to an end.

So while on one hand we can say he is a man of honor who keeps his word, on another, he's... really not, which is why I'm not adding a separate "honor" section here: while he has a certain level of sportsmanship that has him, for example, give himself a handicap to make a fight more "fair", he would also stab a child lying on the ground which is hardly the universal definition for code of honor.

Valor. Squalo is brave, and while part of it might stem from his confidence (detailed below), he also has just a little bit of disregard for death. He enjoys the thrill and glory that comes with battles, and he also likes the danger - he doesn't cower, doesn't run away from fights, and certainly doesn't run because he's scared. He's willing to make sacrifices for (what he considers to be) the right thing, displayed both when he cuts off his own hand to beat the Sword Emperor, and in the future, when he stays behind to fight an opponent that's basically an unknown force of nature, knowing he's unlikely to win or even survive, so the protagonists can flee.

Confidence. It rather ties in with his driving force so I'm not going to expand on it terribly, but Squalo has a lot of faith in himself - a lot more than needed, to be honest. And it's not just lip service; he's worked hard to be where he is, and he's good at what he does. He's part of an elite team, he's been considered a fencing prodigy since he was seven, and he's defeated the Sword Emperor at fourteen - he likes to think that he hasn't slowed down since then. While he does not need validation from any source, there's certain implications of perfectionism seen when he chides his teammates for acting unprofessional, and he appears familiar with mafia formalities because there's nothing worse than bringing shame to your family with sloppy assassinations, half-raw steak or clumsy footwork in the ballroom. When he does something, he knows that he will succeed - and has likely put in some work to make sure that he does.

Adaptability. One of the core qualities expected from an assassin in this series - the ability to react to circumstances and change their own way to best benefit from it. It's mostly explained as being able to read through another person's moves in the heat of battle and be able to recreate and improve them, reacting and strategizing on the fly, but it can also refer to social situations and keeping a (relatively) low profile when needed.

Strategic thinking. This one's a bit unexpected, which is why I'm adding it in. Squalo might come off as the loud, brash type who bashes heads in first and asks questions later. That is not incorrect. There is, however, more to it than meets the eye. He can think before he acts, and he does it frequently enough (he just also often decides that violence is the best course of action, or at least the perks outweigh the cons). He is intelligent enough to de facto lead an assassination squad with a near perfect rate of mission success, and to quickly see through (or "read") his opponents' moves in the middle of battle - something shown several times in canon. His team also refers to him as "strategy captain" in the future arc, and he seems to be the one who planned their mission to take over a fortified enemy base with several times their numbers - successfully.

Weaknesses:

Violent/bloodthirsty. Squalo will gladly solve minor annoyances by stabbing, hitting or otherwise lashing out at the source, and he's also not much for peaceful negotiations, even if he's capable of it to some extent. The violent way is more fun and usually faster, after all. It's likely he enjoys fighting as much as he does because it allows him to channel out all the destruction that he wants, and he's not above just randomly breaking things to make a point. He also clearly enjoys the aspect of killing and has on more than one occasion talked about "slicing up into ribbons" which is likely his preferred method of murder.

Temperamental. Doesn't spell good news in addition to the above. Squalo is fairly easy to rile up or enrage, and he has tendency to react with violence, even if he's better at controlling himself than some other members of his squad. He is, however, also prone to just yelling a lot, which is slightly less deadly but honestly probably just as painful because his voice is LOUD.

Impatient. He's bored easily when he doesn't have things to fight or yell at, and he hates waiting. His body language and facial expressions often indicate someone slightly manic or at least ready to tear into throats. In addition, in a canon side-story it is stated that he doesn't have the patience to meticulously wash his long hair - he always does it surprisingly quickly (and angrily) and dries it with a fan to spend as little time on it as possible - yet still managing to take proper care of it enough to avoid split ends.

Lack of subtlety. Squalo has a really loud, grating voice and doesn't seem to be capable of whispering, which is not something particularly beneficial to an assassin. He also doesn't mince words and can be considered rude as a result - in fact, in the novel, his teammate comments at him being bad at hiding things or lying

Spiteful/petty. Saying he doesn't like people messing with him would be an understatement. He can harbor a grudge for literal years (in the novel, he doesn't kill a traitor presumably so Xanxus can deal with him himself upon his return, which does lead into a much more painful death for the guy involved), and then there's all the little fights the Varia get into with each other over the peskiest things; food, whose turn it is to babysit a younger member, how to better deal with an issue and so on. There's one teammate Squalo shares a particular mutual dislike with, and aside from the numerous snide or insulting verbal remarks, he outright offers him to another family during a confrontation (but they don't want him either).

Fatal Flaw:
Pride (arrogance). Each member of the Varia is design to represent one of the Seven Sins, and Squalo's is Pride, focusing of course on its negative aspects such as arrogance, vanity, narcissism and the like. Like Xanxus, he has a tendency of insulting and berating everyone else around him, especially when he's irritated, and he cares little for any critique on himself or his boss even if it may be well-found.

The most literal instance of it being a fatal flaw is during Squalo's initial story arc, where he's drummed up to be The Best Sword Master In The World and subsequently defeated by a Protagonist Kid, as it happens. There's a bit more than Power Of Plot going on there, however; Squalo consciously sabotages himself during the fight due to his overconfidence and completely underestimating his opponent. Because he's so convinced of his own superiority and because he prefers a challenge, he resorts to playing a game of cat and mouse, and instead of battling seriously, he limits himself to using only the same attacks as his opponent (after calling the particular sword style pathetic and outdated, no less), allowing him to eventually land a surprise hit to his head. In addition to this, when his Nice Opponent offers to help him out of the flooded battle arena, Squalo blatantly refuses, again out of pride (though he calls it tainting his "honor"), and is near-fatally mauled by a giant shark as a result.

Driving Force:
Pride (ambition). Pride in all its varieties is really both Squalo's flaw and strength and the biggest reason he ticks the way he does. It's what drives him to push himself, to succeed, to protect his family and teammates and to sneer in the face of danger and/or death. Sure, he's a thrill seeker and seems to seek out fights like an addict would another dose, but a big part of it is the potential rush it will give him if he wins, further asserting his superiority.

Despite how overwhelming his dedication to Xanxus is at present, it actually comes from the same place. What little we do see of younger Squalo, before he's met his future boss, implies that he had been pretty much the same all along - confident, bloodthirsty, eager to prove himself and to force the world to acknowledge him. Initially he wants to improve his skills with a sword to be the best, to be in control of his fate - and to have "everything bow down to (him)". And yet, despite being on the path to his goal, he runs into one guy he thinks he can't beat, and decides to follow him instead. So what changes? Not so much, actually. He is still doing it for himself and because he wants to - as strange as it is to see someone like him accept abuse and legwork without ever even attempting to strike back. Unlike the majority of his squad, he's not afraid of Xanxus and is seen talking back at him on several occasions, so it's most likely that it is a power dynamic he accepted all by himself. Rather than putting all his eggs in one basket, so to speak, he finally shares that ambition with someone else - he still takes pride in himself and his skills, but he's also proud of being Xanxus' subordinate, and he's proud of Xanxus himself - he's strong, powerful, fit to be #1 with Squalo close behind him as his second, nobody else in the world anywhere near them (or so he would believe). Squalo gives Xanxus the Varia because he believes he deserves it, and because he expects it to be ultimately beneficial to them both in the long run. Being #2 is acceptable when your #1 is that great, no matter how much you wanted to be Supreme Overlord Of Everything when you were younger.

With that out of the way; it's no doubt Squalo's ambition and pride in himself that starts him on the path to be the Sword Emperor (an actual title he secures by killing the previous best swordsman in the world and later winning 101 battles in a row) in the first place. In fact, the previous Emperor had only accepted Squalo's challenge because he was certain he would win - a mistake he didn't live to regret. Squalo finds enjoyment risking his life for his goals, as the potential of reaching them is worth it to him (and also he's kinda messed up in the head as in he takes pleasure from life or death duels). It even goes so far that he would choose death over having his pride "tainted" as explained above, as it's that important to him. Looking deep enough, it's the reason behind most (bigger) things he does overall.

Patron:
Okay so I'm not 100% set on this so I welcome any insight into this;

While the bloodier Ares would probably be the snugger fit, I think Mars is still a solid and my first choice. Squalo is a prime example of a warrior, and despite his numerous... numerous flaws, he does have quite a few qualities commonly valued in one; courage, honor, loyalty, strength, love for a challenge. He's good at what he does, and he's persistent to a fault; an excellent addition to the force of fighting Titans. If there's a way to beat them, he's ought to power through to it eventually, and if he doesn't succeed, at least he'll make a show worth watching...

Squalo also ticks off pretty much every negative trait of the house as elaborated above; he's temperamental and impatient, easily resorts to violence and tends to lose sight of the bigger picture once he's set his mind on something (for example: make ~~Simba~~ Xanxus the ~~king~~ boss). He's destructive and loud, and the battlefield is the place where he feels the most alive.

However there's also a few reasons to consider Neptune as well - Squalo has a few good and bad traits associated with this patron; namely his determination, competitive streak, hot temper and the sheer amount of salt (yes, he will hold a grudge forever, even if he can be an adult enough to not let it get in the way of an alliance if necessary as is shown when he allies with the series' protagonist on a few occasions, yet still does not address him with any amount of respect and keeps his sights on getting that fancy boss seat for his own guy). Additionally, he has a bit of a thematic connection to water; both multiple references to fish in his character design, and his way of fighting, its forcefulness compared to "rain that washes away everything" which eventually leads to the reveal of a specific energy type he possesses.

Also I suppose Juno could be debated with the ambitions, confidence, loyalty and vengefulness, although Squalo isn't very interested in politics and while he's likely had some diplomatic missions considering he's still (somehow) one of the most level-headed Varia members, he absolutely despises it, especially when it takes up time that he could be spending fighting someone or breaking stuff.

GAME INFORMATION

Setting Suitability:
While Squalo is rather particular who he gets his orders from, he never turns down a challenge, especially if fighting and glory is involved. He is an excellent swordsman, a competent combatant/battle strategist, and he's somewhat lacking in the department of self preservation, which means that in this case the "fighting war" part isn't something he would need to deal with - he'll likely enjoy it. The main challenge for him will be finding his footing and place without his familia - and, when push comes to shove, finding an identity completely separate from his boss, which I would look forward to exploring.

Since he hails from Italy and has attended a pretty good school, he's likely familiar with Ancient Rome history in reasonable detail, and he's at least a little bit of a fan - as implied by his canon weapon of choice. His eagerness to DUEL TO THE DEATH!! would also fit right in with the messier, more bloodthirsty gladiator legends. He would have a blast actually getting to experience it all in authenticity rather than stories or dusty books, and he would actually make an effort to fit in - he may not particularly like being stuck in the period, but he respects it, damn it, and he's here to do business. Hope it's violent enough for his liking.

In regards to maturity, Squalo is a hitman for the mob, so death, sex and drugs are all rather mundane for him. He is also perfectly self-reliant, can be responsible, and occupies a leadership position in canon. However he, as well as most of his coworkers, are still perfectly capable of throwing fits (think: violence) when things don't go their way, and acting on petty impulses such as pushing someone standing near a pool in, or shivving someone who looked at them wrong, although these might more related to entitlement (you know them rich powerful men with poor manners...) than outright immaturity. Speaking of which, losing his status from back home is also something that he will need to learn to cope with, as all of the sudden "lesser" people won't be falling over themselves to get on his good side.

Sample:
TDM toplevel
TDM w/ Daud