Application for Little_Hades

[sharktrash]

💀 Player Information

Name: Dem
Age: 24
Contact: jigglyballs
Characters In-game: -


💀 Character Information
Name: Superbia Squalo
Canon: Katekyo Hitman Reborn!
Canon Point: ch398, mortally wounded by Jager
Age: 22


Description:

Probably his most notable feature is his long silver-white hair that seems to reach at least to his mid-thighs. Whether or not he's leucistic or if it's just anime magic hair is anyone's guess, though he appears a bit lighter-skinned than his other Italian friends. Grey eyes (though they're usually just shrunk into manic lil dots). He's 182cm (6 feet?) tall, as a fighter he's obviously got some toned muscles but he looks rather thin/twiggy overall (he got the nickname Stork Legs in a game once). His face often looks like he's high on crack cocaine or just yanno crazy, and he seems to have a nice big sharp set of teeth.

He usually dresses in black leather, though he was seen wearing button-shirts along with suits and even simple shirts as well, usually in monochrome and/or red or various shades of blue. His movements are usually quick, sharp and precise.

Not quite looks, but something everyone should notice right away is HIS VOICE. He sounds like he's shouting even when he's only having a conversation, and when he's actually shouting windows shatter and ear drums burst. The slightly hoarse/gravelly quality only makes it more grating. Unfortunately, his laughter never got animated but it's safe to assume it's just as unpleasant.


Physical changes:

Alright, so I'd like most of his changes to be situational, that is, springing out / becoming more pronounced when he's angry, scared or otherwise agitated. He wouldn't really be able to control it, so it'd basically be "dump a bucket of water on him and laugh as he turns into spiky fish" kinda deal. You know you wanna.

1. TEETH. His teeth will permanently look a little sharper/bigger, but two (or more) extra rows of it will pop up whenever he's irritated (so most of the time) and the shape will turn into completely pointy, non-human one. Think like this and this and this. He can probably bite through bone like that, but definitely not metal or other reinforced substances.

2. SHARK SKIN. Pretty much what it says on the tin. His skin will gain a slight gray/silver tint to it and feel human-like, but both the color will intensify and scaly/teethy texture will become prominent whenever he's alert or intense about something. Fully manifested, it will feel much like (really sharp) sandpaper to the touch and be a bit thicker/harder, so not as easily punctured as before (but like, you can still stab a knife through it, it'll just need some more pressure for the point to go in).

3. TAIL. Pretty much your standard demon tail except the tuft at the end isn't a spade or a diamond but a tiny shark tail fin. Because he wasn't sharky enough. The tail's always there and silver-grayish in color. The toothy skin texture intensifies along with the rest of his skin, as well as making the tip harder and possible to use as a stabby thing (here you can see how it looks at rest and ~agitated~). He will not yet have it upon getting into the game but it'll be growing out soon (because can you blame me for wanting to play out awkward butt scratches and the discovery of a new appendage).


Powers:

TIME FOR COOL SHOUNEN BULLSHIT. "Dying Will" is basically the series' chakra/mana/standard power unit; there are seven main types of it, called after weather conditions and each having different effects/power (Storm - disintegration, Sun - activation, Cloud - augmentation, and so on). Most people have it Deep, Deep Inside, but few can actually use it (mafia members, mostly). Dying Will is manifested into "Dying Will Flames" with the help of Cool Jewelry (or getting shot in the head), although there's at least one character who's able to use it just with his bare hands (lookin at u there Xanxus). Flames can be used to fight, reinforce weapons, summon Magic Soul Pokemon that used to be stored in Box Weapons but are now part of the Cool Jewelry (rings, in Varia's case).

Squalo's got a Rain Flame, and its property is "tranquility" ("neutralization"), which roughly means K.O.-ing people upon contact, numbing or paralyzing body parts and neutralizing magical projectiles, including other Flames/chakra/whathaveyou, around the user. It appears that direct contact with the Flame is needed to affect the human body -- whether through a touch of his hand, a weapon coated in Flames or his magic pet. He can also exert the Flame in an area, destroying/nullifying other energy-based attacks (but say, a good old spear would come right through), or into his own body, cancelling reactionary effects (another Rain user in the series stops herself from combusting after being infected with explosive Flame parasites by soaking herself in Rain Flames).

FINALLY, he can also summon a MOTHERFUCKING GIANT FLYING SHARK. I kid you not. It supposedly possesses a volatile personality and the highest destructive power among all Box Weapons (how appropriate), and can cause great damage just with a graze of its skin, at the same time making it painless due to Rain's tranquilizing properties. It can get as big as eight meters in length and can pretty much charge right through a building wall. It's named  "Alo". Which is short for "Squalo (Jr.", probably). Yeah.

Not exactly powers, but probably worth a mention:

• his robotic hand is extremely functional, it reacts to his thoughts (stump muscle twitches, probably, but basically he can work it almost as good as a real hand), bends and rotates 180 degrees, and a sword can be connected to it.
• He is also an elite assassin, so he's pretty much a killing pro - he's familiar with multiple weapons, murder techniques, got killer speed and reflexes, keen predatory intuition and is a decent battle strategist. It might just be a case of Animu Masterrace, but he's also pretty damn durable and has recovered from basically deathbed at least three times.
• The swords he uses are heavy enough to cause concussion/numbness to the opponent who tries blocking rather than parrying or avoiding his hits; parrying is also made difficult by the fact that he is left-handed.
• It was also pointed out that he's extremely good at seeing through illusions and trickery, and if that wasn't enough Sixth Sense for you, his left arm stump tingles with pain when Xanxus is in danger.
• He is THE SWORD EMPEROR in his version of Earth, so it goes without saying that he is very, very good at sword fighting. His weapon of choice is a modified spatha (Roman heavy infantry longsword), which connects to his prosthetic arm.
• He also speaks a multitude of languages (a requirement to join the Varia is to speak a minimum of 7-8 at native fluent level, he's a perfectionist so he likely speaks more than 10); Italian, English and Japanese are confirmed and the others are subject to headcanons.
• He's also great at cooking since his life has depended on it one too many times.
• He causes small earthquakes when he yells tbh. :0

History:

Here but it's ehh so let me touch upon the important parts:

There's SHOUNEN MAFIA which is generally pretty nice and good, but in order for them to remain Pure and Clean-Handed, they obviously need someone to deal with all the Real Mafia stuff. Which is where Varia comes in. The Varia is an independent assassination squad for the most powerful mafia family in the world, and it used to be in the shadows and something of a dark ugly secret until the last generation of Loud, Flashy Murderers happened. You think I'm exaggerating but they are literally a giant trainwreck of carnies gone professional homicide. Just look how those assholes dress: cat toy accessories, tiaras, feather boas, Rapunzel hair, etc. Subtlety? Naaah.

Varia is roughly based on the deadly sins and most of them are named after them or the corresponding demons. They all display varying levels of their "assigned" vice and many others; they're constantly referred to as "demonic" and "killing pros" throughout the series, though the fact that they're all flesh and blood humans only makes their utter lack of morals, empathy and mercy all the more unsettling. They're basically the definition of Psycho For Hire. In case I haven't convinced you yet, here's a compilation of pictures of Squalo and his favorite coworkers smiling while having fun.

Basically nothing is known about Squalo's history, but he was a child prodigy in fencing and sword arts before age seven, and killed the best swordsman in the world (and aforementioned Assassin Squad's boss) at the tender age of fourteen, becoming the Sword Emperor. This feat enabled him to become Varia's next boss, however by then he had already met Xanxus (and as soon as he laid eyes on him, Squalo immediately doki'd realized he wouldn't be able to beat him, so he decided to follow him instead), and rather than taking up the position himself he passed it on to Xanxus instead.

Soon after, roughly eight years before the manga's events, Varia staged a coup to overthrow their mother-family, the Vongola, however it failed as Xanxus was bested by the current boss and left in cryo-freeze icicle for eight years, his team demoralized and removed from active duty. They didn't give up, though; Squalo made sure they kept in shape and so they waited for their boss FOR EIGHT YEARS. During which Squalo grew out his hair because that's how you show loyalty to your boss, right? (He's promised Xanxus he wouldn't cut it until he becomes boss of Vongola.) Unfortunately, they lose their next grab for power as well, this time in the form of an embarrassing defeat at the hands of pre-teen FUCKING PROTAGONISTS (and they almost had it too, but of course, they just had to go and ~show off~ and give the brats ~one last chance~, this is why you don't do that shit). It's revealed that Xanxus is, supposedly, ADOPTED (sad high5 to u, Loki) and therefore ineligible for the Family Boss position. Nonetheless, none of the Varia turn away from him; moreover, Squalo gives a giant embarrassing rant about how blood and rules don't mean shit!! And Xanxus will bend them to his will until they break and emerge victorious!! while confined to a wheelchair, and that's the last we see of them for a while. Their injuries Get Better.

The next two or so times they have significant presence in the series, they act as grudging, loose-cannon allies for the main cast, so you could say beating friendship into them was partly successful, however they make it very clear that they do not acknowledge the Gifted Teen as their boss, and are in fact still determined to make the family theirs one day.


Hell Status:

Hell Veteran, please!


What Brings Them To Hell:

So. Do you have a day or five.



Alright so the Varia appears like three times during the series and for obvious (cheaty) reasons they don't manage to kill the protagonists. However conversation, flashbacks and novels provide plenty of context. Basically, they're the mafia side of Shonen Mafia, which comes with murder, extortion, weapon trafficking, debauchery, treason, interrogation, torture, more murder, and generally working as hired guns for both theirs and allied families.

We know that Squalo personally killed Varia's previous boss, an unspecified amount of swordsmen around the world and then at least a HUNDRED more few years later, and is assumed to cut down several (dozen) people during a single (though admittedly rather large-scale) Varia mission which spanned a day. He's been in the business for at least ten years. You do the multiplication.

He kills easily, though while he does take on missions and dispatch of targets he's paid to do in, he also enjoys it greatly in his free time. He loves fighting pretty much more than anything, especially if he's fighting something who's actually good, and he does it for fun. He finds fun in the suffering of others, and he'll prolong a fight whenever he has time to spare; one of his favorite injuries to inflict seems to be cutting ribbons of flesh out of his opponent's body which he mentions several times. Despite having a kind of honor code, he sees no problem in cheating or finishing off a kid while he's laying on the ground, as well as settling conflicts by just killing everyone who gets in his or Xanxus' way.

He's also an arrogant douchebag, has forgotten to feed his pet fish multiple times, and probably puts the toilet paper roll in the wrong way.

And I should probably mention that he feels zero regrets for all those lives he's ruined and ended. He'd do it all over again in a heartbeat and without shame, and laugh while he does it. Moreover, while often gray/black moral-ed characters tend to be ~pushed~ into a life of sin by unfortunate events, ~greater good~ or circumstances, that is not the case for Squalo; he is a hired assassin because he wants to be. If he'd been present in the ~Soul Trial~ or whatever he would've just commented on the prominent murders with what a lovely blood splash on the wall slitting that throat had resulted in, and encouraged the jury to stop wasting time. And ask if he can have the DVD/tape.

And not only he's completely unrepentant, he thinks nothing of nudging others to follow his bloody legacy; he reacts with "where did I go wrong" disdain when his alleged apprentice does cute things instead of slaying the fuck out of the opponent, and has more than likely encouraged Belphegor's love for ripping human flesh apart back when he was a kid.


The Pitch:

ALRIGHT LISTEN UP. This guy here is basically the human embodiment of Pride, with all the best characteristics that come with: arrogance, vanity, shamelessness, narcissism, over-confidence, underestimating of his preteen enemies, you name it. He carries his title of Sword Emperor with pride and thinks nothing of slaughtering hundred(s) of sword fighters just in case someone hadn't gotten the point (and to encourage his new student to go violent and bloody by filming it all and sending him the DVDs). BUT WAIT! There's something unexpected: he's capable of taking pride in things other than himself. Like Xanxus. Still, he won't miss a chance to tell you how much better than you he is and how everyone else in trash and should just die and stop breathing their air tbh.

That's just the blossoms, though. Have I mentioned he's fucking crazy? Have I mentioned he killed a master assassin at the wee age of fourteen? Well hear this, he CUT OFF HIS OWN DOMINANT HAND to do it. That's right, he didn't lose it in a fight or whatever. His opponent lacked a left hand, Squalo decided he wanted to understand his fighting style, so he LOBBED HIS HAND RIGHT OFF and later replaced it with an awesome mecha-prosthetic that he can strap his sword to. His grip will never falter! How cool is that?

VERY, because he loves fighting. Like, REALLY loves fighting. The guy's a walking Blood Knight trope. The smell of blood sends him into murderous frenzy, which the narration gratiously compares to "a bloodthirsty shark". Have I mentioned that his name literally translates to Pride Shark? Yeah. He's happy when he gets to fight and wreck havoc and spill blood, and he doesn't seem to mind winning or losing as long as he has a good fight, even if losing to him means death. He gambles with his life for no other reason than to get a thrill, and he claims that if he ever stopped fighting, he'd die from that, just like a shark can never stop swimming or it'll sink into the depths.

So, does he have nothing at all sacred? HE DOES. He's fiercely devoted to his boss with an almost knight-like loyalty, and literally the one thing he has regrets about in life is failing to get him that Vongola Tenth seat. He'll do anything to prevent it from happening again. He claims he's "captivated by Xanxus' rage" (yeah it's about as gay as it sounds. He actually has a "Xanxus is in danger" sixth sense that manifests through pain in his stump, and don't get me started on his love loyalty rants) and admires him a great deal, HOWEVER he also tends to treat him as basically an equal and occasionally get annoyed about the abuse, which gets him a lot of things thrown at his head and beatings. He either enjoys it or doesn't give a fuck, but to this day he's the ONLY Varia member who ever talks back to Xanxus or outright tells him he's being full of shit, something his other underlings wouldn't dare to even THINK.

HE ALSO SAYS "VOI" A LOT.


Setting Fit:

As Hell Veteran, he would've been in Little Hades for about ten months. He's most likely (read: unless Hell throws all of their army to prevent it) living with Xanxus, because that man needs someone to do his cooking and laundry and pretty much everything. :/ Frankly, he feels at home in Hell and the sounds of eternal suffering allows him to sleep soundly at night. Go figure.

He's planning to start an own (Varia) business, but at the moment, he's still working for others. Saving up money, forming contacts with the local underground, you name it. Having a LOW position falls into their plans, so he's kept that Reaper position for now (though most likely part-time seeing as being Xanxus' bitch is a full-time job). He more than likely shows up at Punishment to "help" (more like, hang out with Xanxus and watch him torture trash) every now and then, when he's not busy elsewhere, even though he's not getting paid for it.

Most of his time and effort though is probably directed to Entertainment, more precisely, Chainsaw Caesar (read: mostly naked gladiatorial fights that are broadcast live). Regulars consider him something of a weirdo, because he often insists fighting with bladed weapons rather than chainsaws, and demands a "no magic" rule. Despite that, he has yet to lose a fight (against NPCs), and the owners of the arena might be starting to notice him. Betting on the scrawny guy while everyone else goes for his opponent could turn out to be a quick way to make buck after all.


Samples:

⚔ meme thread with Gokudera
⚔ meme thread with Xanxus (there's sort of porn further ahead. :/ whoops this is why i'm going to hell i guess)
⚔ TDM starter