Squalo Superbi // KHR! (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sharktrash) wrote2017-08-20 08:50 pm
sharktrash) wrote2017-08-20 08:50 pm
Entry tags:
Application for Recursion
OOC Information
Name: Dem
Are you over 18?: yes
Contact: jigglyballs@plurk, PM to character account
Characters: -
IC Information
Character: Superbia Squalo
Age: 22
Canon: Katekyo Hitman Reborn!
Canon Point: chapter #398, getting impaled through the heart by a magical zombie
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, Squaloimmediately 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.
Personality:
The first thing to note is that Squalo is meant to embody the sin of Pride. Which he does, with the whole bouquet of traits that come with it: arrogance, narcissism, superiority complex, rudeness and the almost complete inability to feel shame. Even his loss to Yamamoto can be pinned primarily on the fact that he had opted to show off and play cat and mouse, absolutely assured of his win, rather than take him seriously and go all out from the start (upon discovering the boy only plans to use a particular sword style, he limits himself to only using the same thing rather than his own superior techniques), and then upon losing he prefers death to accepting another person's help, claiming it would 'taint his honor as a swordsman' (he ends up surviving despite being almost eaten by a shark, but it's a surprise to everyone including him). Showing off and playing are some of his favorite things. He enjoys fighting, so much that he'll actually seek to prolong the battle if he finds the opponent challenging or interesting enough. He lives for murder and mayhem, and while he does strive to win at all costs, a good fight is its own reward.
It was especially evident when he was younger; before Xanxus, he basically wanted to be the Supreme Ruler of Everything. He once told Dino that he would cut down anyone and everything until the world bowed down to him. Considering he had already defeated countless sword masters by then, it was obviously more than mere lip service; he was well on the path to his goal, so to speak, and he was doing it for himself like the proud creature he was. And that makes his development into the Squalo we know today exceptionally interesting. It all took a turnaround when he met Xanxus, easily the most important person in his life. All it took was a single glance and he "knew he couldn't defeat him", therefore deciding to follow him instead (yeah right, keep talking, teenage hormones). The person who would only ever do things for himself alone now had someone else in the equation: not only did he proceed to take pride in being Xanxus' subordinate, he also takes pride in Xanxus himself -- and he's still doing it out of his own pride as well. He gives the man the Varia, because he thinks he deserves it - he's fit to be #1, more so than anyone else, and Squalo is second only to him, best of the best, understanding him better than anyone else (or so he seems to believe).
Moreover, his dedication and loyalty to the man is fierce and absolute, 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. Rather than titles or positions, it is Xanxus' anger and raw power that he finds so "captivating", and even having that wrath turned on him only means that he gets to see it clearer, from up close. Even when he discovered the truth about his boss' heritage, he didn't falter, and knowing full well it was against the current law, tried to help him take Vongola back by force. Twice. He still believes that Xanxus will one day snap the rules that keep him from becoming the heir in half, and therefore he's still keeping his oath -- even if reasonable people would say that it's impossible to achieve -- and, yeah you guessed it, STILL not cutting his hair because his faith in Xanxus is absolute. (Though I'm sure they agreed trimming doesn't count at some point, as that hair would've been dragging 18 feet on the ground in the future otherwise.) It is also very likely that during those eight years Xanxus was frozen, Squalo has been routinely visiting him, just in case he remained aware and needed updates on the mafia world (or was lonely and needed reassurement that Varia's doing everything they can to let him out), despite the fact that seeing him like that would tear into his very being. This fanart illustrates pretty well what it might have been like.
That aside, while being violent, volatile and sadistic, Squalo is also very much a perfectionist. He tries to keep the Varia under control, (most of the time) will hold off of killing random people, and adhere to protocol where necessary. He is most likely well versed in all sorts of mafia-ey formalities, from discussions to silverware, and is generally good at what he bothers to do, because looking stupid is simply unthinkable. Likewise, he wouldn't bring shame to his familia with sloppy assassinations nor with clumsy footwork in the ballroom. It probably also helps that he absolutely loves his job, so it's both fun and profit.
Despite being intelligent enough to work as a Strategy Captain in the future, he is extremely impatient and impulsive, and seems to find it hard to be still for a longer periods of time (even his facial expressions for the first half of the series look like someone overdosed on coffee or high on cocaine, with a semi-permanent twitch in his cheek to boot). He can latch out with lethal violence at the slightest provocation or none at all (he beats two teens half to death because they got in his way of killing a third). However, he is still able to remain professional and will not needlessly get into a fight if he's not sure of his victory. However, if it's necessary, he's willing to go against bad odds unlike Varia as a whole, and is even capable of self-sacrifice as shown in the Future arc where he stays behind to fight Zakuro so the other group can retreat. Surprisingly enough, he's also capable of shedding off insults with little reaction - both because he's used to it thanks to Xanxus and because as Pride, he can automatically discard it as untrue and not worth getting riled up over. That's not to say that he won't occasionally lose his temper over complete shit, of course; prod him enough and he will explode.
Finally, it's important to note that his personality is LOUD. He definitely has a presence, and your eardrums and the shattered window glass will attest to that. He has no inside voice, and sounds like he's yelling even when he's just having a conversation. Basically, he can be "loud" or "LOUDER", and while he seems to be able to lower his voice to a (loud) whisper, he basically never does that. When he's actually trying to be loud, buildings might tremble. It's specifically noted that he is the #1 loudest mafioso in the world.
Squalo is the only Varia member who dares to call Xanxus out on his shit and generally talk back to him. This proves that he is not, in fact, as whipped as it might look at first sight; he is the one who allowed Xanxus to be his boss, and he happily stands by that decision, however he will occasionally remind everyone just why he is the second in command around here. At the same time, he does often resign himself to running errands and whatever other mundane orders Xanxus might toss his way, because hey, serving this guy is an honor.
Squalo seems to get along reasonably well with the other Varia members (if we remember that they all wish each other dead to an extent). He seems fairly friendly with Lussuria, who recorded his 100 sword battles on tape, despite occasionally calling him a "queer bastard" (and worse). He's annoyed by Mammon's greed for money, as he prioritizes fighting for glory, and Belphegor's irresponsibility. He and Levi seem to dislike each other the most, though, likely because of their clashing approaches to the boss, and seem eager to get rid of the other one way or another.
While he claims to think nothing of anyone but Xanxus, it's fairly evident that he not only relativelylikes tolerates (some of) his co-workers, but a few others as well. He knows the good-natured Dino Cavallone since school and despite occasionally insisting that he's weak, and stupid for caring about others, Squalo seems to be on fairly good terms with him. They also seem to have kept tabs on each other. Dino was very surprised to see him following Xanxus when his early dream had been becoming the strongest on his own, and he questions Squalo's life and choices when he's landed in the hospital after the Ring battles. It's essentially a "what did you see in him" intervention, which ultimately fails and Squalo suggests he pisses off. Despite the initially strained relationship, they are even seen casually chatting a few times as the series progress.
Another good example is Yamamoto Takeshi, the boy who defeated the Sword Emperor. Naturally, he also pisses Squalo off, whenever he talks about baseball and most notably when he tries to save him after the lost battle. However, as the series progresses, he seems to return the tiniest bit of respect that Yamamoto seems to have for him. Squalo reacts when he's not present in the inheritance ceremony, and seems to keep track of his battles. In the future, he is absolutely furious to learn Yamamoto has lost against Genkishi, and makes a spontaneous trip to Japan on the back of his pet shark to give him a thorough beating and then proceed to train him. Squalo also later attends the fight, claiming he's only there because he hopes to get some action himself, but he also seems quite pleased when the boy wins. It is likely that due to being defeated by him, he considers them honorbound, and therefore his own pride is tainted further if Yamamoto loses to someone. In the end, it appears that he's more or less willing to accept him as a protege... so long as he lays off the fucking baseball.
All in all... a thing to remember is that with all said and done, despite the like, one or two whole redeeming qualities, Squalo is not a good person. At all.
Persona
Name: Gaap
Branch: Combatant
Type(s): Physical/Ice
Style(s): Negotiator
Passive: Offensive
Note: identical to the test persona generated here
Writing Sample
➥ test drive toplevel
➥ precious game thread
➥ yelling game thread
➥ serious game thread
Name: Dem
Are you over 18?: yes
Contact: jigglyballs@plurk, PM to character account
Characters: -
IC Information
Character: Superbia Squalo
Age: 22
Canon: Katekyo Hitman Reborn!
Canon Point: chapter #398, getting impaled through the heart by a magical zombie
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
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.
Personality:
The first thing to note is that Squalo is meant to embody the sin of Pride. Which he does, with the whole bouquet of traits that come with it: arrogance, narcissism, superiority complex, rudeness and the almost complete inability to feel shame. Even his loss to Yamamoto can be pinned primarily on the fact that he had opted to show off and play cat and mouse, absolutely assured of his win, rather than take him seriously and go all out from the start (upon discovering the boy only plans to use a particular sword style, he limits himself to only using the same thing rather than his own superior techniques), and then upon losing he prefers death to accepting another person's help, claiming it would 'taint his honor as a swordsman' (he ends up surviving despite being almost eaten by a shark, but it's a surprise to everyone including him). Showing off and playing are some of his favorite things. He enjoys fighting, so much that he'll actually seek to prolong the battle if he finds the opponent challenging or interesting enough. He lives for murder and mayhem, and while he does strive to win at all costs, a good fight is its own reward.
It was especially evident when he was younger; before Xanxus, he basically wanted to be the Supreme Ruler of Everything. He once told Dino that he would cut down anyone and everything until the world bowed down to him. Considering he had already defeated countless sword masters by then, it was obviously more than mere lip service; he was well on the path to his goal, so to speak, and he was doing it for himself like the proud creature he was. And that makes his development into the Squalo we know today exceptionally interesting. It all took a turnaround when he met Xanxus, easily the most important person in his life. All it took was a single glance and he "knew he couldn't defeat him", therefore deciding to follow him instead (yeah right, keep talking, teenage hormones). The person who would only ever do things for himself alone now had someone else in the equation: not only did he proceed to take pride in being Xanxus' subordinate, he also takes pride in Xanxus himself -- and he's still doing it out of his own pride as well. He gives the man the Varia, because he thinks he deserves it - he's fit to be #1, more so than anyone else, and Squalo is second only to him, best of the best, understanding him better than anyone else (or so he seems to believe).
Moreover, his dedication and loyalty to the man is fierce and absolute, 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. Rather than titles or positions, it is Xanxus' anger and raw power that he finds so "captivating", and even having that wrath turned on him only means that he gets to see it clearer, from up close. Even when he discovered the truth about his boss' heritage, he didn't falter, and knowing full well it was against the current law, tried to help him take Vongola back by force. Twice. He still believes that Xanxus will one day snap the rules that keep him from becoming the heir in half, and therefore he's still keeping his oath -- even if reasonable people would say that it's impossible to achieve -- and, yeah you guessed it, STILL not cutting his hair because his faith in Xanxus is absolute. (Though I'm sure they agreed trimming doesn't count at some point, as that hair would've been dragging 18 feet on the ground in the future otherwise.) It is also very likely that during those eight years Xanxus was frozen, Squalo has been routinely visiting him, just in case he remained aware and needed updates on the mafia world (or was lonely and needed reassurement that Varia's doing everything they can to let him out), despite the fact that seeing him like that would tear into his very being. This fanart illustrates pretty well what it might have been like.
That aside, while being violent, volatile and sadistic, Squalo is also very much a perfectionist. He tries to keep the Varia under control, (most of the time) will hold off of killing random people, and adhere to protocol where necessary. He is most likely well versed in all sorts of mafia-ey formalities, from discussions to silverware, and is generally good at what he bothers to do, because looking stupid is simply unthinkable. Likewise, he wouldn't bring shame to his familia with sloppy assassinations nor with clumsy footwork in the ballroom. It probably also helps that he absolutely loves his job, so it's both fun and profit.
Despite being intelligent enough to work as a Strategy Captain in the future, he is extremely impatient and impulsive, and seems to find it hard to be still for a longer periods of time (even his facial expressions for the first half of the series look like someone overdosed on coffee or high on cocaine, with a semi-permanent twitch in his cheek to boot). He can latch out with lethal violence at the slightest provocation or none at all (he beats two teens half to death because they got in his way of killing a third). However, he is still able to remain professional and will not needlessly get into a fight if he's not sure of his victory. However, if it's necessary, he's willing to go against bad odds unlike Varia as a whole, and is even capable of self-sacrifice as shown in the Future arc where he stays behind to fight Zakuro so the other group can retreat. Surprisingly enough, he's also capable of shedding off insults with little reaction - both because he's used to it thanks to Xanxus and because as Pride, he can automatically discard it as untrue and not worth getting riled up over. That's not to say that he won't occasionally lose his temper over complete shit, of course; prod him enough and he will explode.
Finally, it's important to note that his personality is LOUD. He definitely has a presence, and your eardrums and the shattered window glass will attest to that. He has no inside voice, and sounds like he's yelling even when he's just having a conversation. Basically, he can be "loud" or "LOUDER", and while he seems to be able to lower his voice to a (loud) whisper, he basically never does that. When he's actually trying to be loud, buildings might tremble. It's specifically noted that he is the #1 loudest mafioso in the world.
Squalo is the only Varia member who dares to call Xanxus out on his shit and generally talk back to him. This proves that he is not, in fact, as whipped as it might look at first sight; he is the one who allowed Xanxus to be his boss, and he happily stands by that decision, however he will occasionally remind everyone just why he is the second in command around here. At the same time, he does often resign himself to running errands and whatever other mundane orders Xanxus might toss his way, because hey, serving this guy is an honor.
Squalo seems to get along reasonably well with the other Varia members (if we remember that they all wish each other dead to an extent). He seems fairly friendly with Lussuria, who recorded his 100 sword battles on tape, despite occasionally calling him a "queer bastard" (and worse). He's annoyed by Mammon's greed for money, as he prioritizes fighting for glory, and Belphegor's irresponsibility. He and Levi seem to dislike each other the most, though, likely because of their clashing approaches to the boss, and seem eager to get rid of the other one way or another.
While he claims to think nothing of anyone but Xanxus, it's fairly evident that he not only relatively
Another good example is Yamamoto Takeshi, the boy who defeated the Sword Emperor. Naturally, he also pisses Squalo off, whenever he talks about baseball and most notably when he tries to save him after the lost battle. However, as the series progresses, he seems to return the tiniest bit of respect that Yamamoto seems to have for him. Squalo reacts when he's not present in the inheritance ceremony, and seems to keep track of his battles. In the future, he is absolutely furious to learn Yamamoto has lost against Genkishi, and makes a spontaneous trip to Japan on the back of his pet shark to give him a thorough beating and then proceed to train him. Squalo also later attends the fight, claiming he's only there because he hopes to get some action himself, but he also seems quite pleased when the boy wins. It is likely that due to being defeated by him, he considers them honorbound, and therefore his own pride is tainted further if Yamamoto loses to someone. In the end, it appears that he's more or less willing to accept him as a protege... so long as he lays off the fucking baseball.
All in all... a thing to remember is that with all said and done, despite the like, one or two whole redeeming qualities, Squalo is not a good person. At all.
Persona
Name: Gaap
Branch: Combatant
Type(s): Physical/Ice
Style(s): Negotiator
Passive: Offensive
Note: identical to the test persona generated here
Writing Sample
➥ test drive toplevel
➥ precious game thread
➥ yelling game thread
➥ serious game thread