Ripchord

A young man who engages in petty crime in order to survive after running away from home. He is currently wanted for several charges of extortion, robbery, coercion, aggravated assault, and battery in various cities along the coast. His half-mer ancestry gives him a slight advantage over the dangers of street life, but also keeps him from using his voice freely.



General Physical Description
Grey has a slim, lean streamlined figure with wiry, whip-like muscle tone. When he is in the water, his skin takes on a filmy, iridescent sheen, much like an eel or a fish, and becomes very slippery. As a merman, his gills become more prominent, his hands become webbed, and his tail resembles that of a bluefin tuna. The coloring gives him a grey-blue streak along the sides of his tail, and his fins are sharp and angled. A spiky dorsal fin also runs along his spine.

Among humans, his physical appearance is striking, the kind of sharp face perfect for magazine photos but decidedly strange looking when encountered in person. He gives off an ethereal, otherworldly demeanor with pale skin and piercing eyes, and his slender build suggests he doesn't quite get three square meals a day. Paired with his aloof demeanor and mute silence, most find him difficult to approach.

Clothing
As a human, Grey's wardrobe consists of whatever is easiest to get his hands on at the moment. He is often forced to abandon his clothing when he transforms into a merman, and what he wears tends to be dictated by whatever unfortunate skinny-dippers and unattended lockers leave out for him. Luckily, he's in no shortage of mismatched flip-flops, since beach-goers lose them to ocean waves fairly frequently. Lately, he's acquired an old, faded zip-up sweat jacket and a pair of swim trunks.

General Personality
At first glance he comes off as mysterious, intimidating, and detached. Without the usual lines of communication, most people find it difficult to put in the effort required to understand him, which is exacerbated by the fact that Grey himself has no desire to make friends.

When he must convey something, he is callous and direct in his actions, mostly because he has no patience for charades. It is difficult to express himself without the use of his voice, and Grey often comes off as lacking in tact and unpredictable. However, this is mainly the result of people misreading him or underestimating his understanding of the situation because of his self-imposed muteness, and not because Grey has any real hostility towards them.

Street life has hardened him, and he adheres to the philosophy of not trusting or depending on anyone but himself. Grey also believes that there is no shame in doing whatever you must to defend your own existence, even if it means having to take advantage of or harm others. While this means he has no qualms hurting innocent people for the sake of his own gain, it also makes him surprisingly un-antagonistic towards most who have tried to hurt him in the past.
 * Good Traits: Decisive, adaptive, resourceful, practical, has a strict level of self-control and willpower


 * Bad Traits: Ruthless, proud, stubborn, is not above dirty tricks, has a bit of a temper, impatient, callous


 * Quirks:


 * Has a hatred for raw fish and anything else slimy, and has a hard time choking it down. He very much prefers cooked human food.
 * Also harbors a strong dislike for seagulls, cats, and dogs
 * He has never cooked in his life, doesn't ever intend to learn, and will eat out of jars and cans for the rest of his life if he has his way. He's too lazy even to make a pbj sandwich. This laziness extends to directly eating the bread slices, then eating the peanut butter straight from the jar with a spoon.
 * He's also one of those jerks that drink straight from the orange juice carton.
 * He is woefully inept with technology. It took a frazzled librarian several hours to explain to him why he didn't need Microsoft Word to send email, and then that he needed an account and an address to do so.

Hopes
His biggest hope is to find somewhere he can belong and live a normal life. His biggest dream is to meet his birth mother, where he imagines she will teach him all the things about his abilities that his human father could not. Secretly, he harbors a hope that after he learns how to control his abilities, he can return to a normal, stable human life on land.

Fears
He fears he will never find his mother, and yet also fears getting lost in the open sea and never seeing his father again. He regrets running away and abandoning him, but his pride prevents him from going home.

He also fears becoming trapped in his merman form,to never return to being human, and to forever lose the chance at a normal life. Despite this, he also fears having to give up the sea. A recurring nightmare involves drowning in the sea with legs. Grey is also quite homophobic and will become hostile in the presence of any behavior he considers "gay".

Memorable Quote(s)
“…” “………………” “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE”

Family

 * Douglas Comhghan (father) - they were quite close when Grey was young, but eventually the stress of raising a mer-child made him misspeak, causing Grey to run away. Grey misses him, but can't bring himself to go home.


 * ??? (mother) - an unknown mermaid who left the infant Greyson on Douglas's doorstep


 * Naomi Comhghan (stepmother), née Naomi Halloran - met and married Douglas some years after Grey disappeared. Douglas never properly explained his past to her, and she got a nasty shock when Grey suddenly showed up on their doorstep. Though she was understandably hostile towards Grey at first, Naomi came to accept him, though she would never regard him as a son.


 * McKayla Comhghan (half-sister) - a cheerful little girl more than a decade younger than Grey. Much to her mother's horror, she took an instant liking to the stranger who showed up at their house. Her most treasured possession is a pink backpack adorned with sparkling streamers and unicorn key chains, with which she uses to carry around her Barbies.

Friends
Creepy - she stumbled upon Grey as a merman by chance, and became determined to befriend him. While Grey tolerated Creepy at first, she pushed too far in trying to pry into his life, and he cut off ties with her abruptly. He is aware that she is a girl.

Cia - Despite almost having drowned her when they first met, a tentative friendship developed between the two. However, when Cia caught Grey mugging a civilian, he fled, ashamed. They met again a few years later, and though Cia seemed content to pick up their friendship right where it left off, Grey didn't see things so simply. Despite this, Cia is still one of the few people Grey places his trust in and is willing to speak honestly to.

Friends

Enemies
Lumie're - Grey once broke into his house through an unlocked back door, but was discovered. The resulting confrontation trashed his house, much to Lum's horror. Grey regards him as a pompous idiot, and came close to drowning him during the incident.

Mage - Lumie're's girlfriend who was in the house during the break-in. She struck Grey with a double lightning spell, heavily injuring him, before throwing him into the ocean. Grey does not intend to cross her a second time.

Altaire - the target of one of Grey's unsuccessful mugging attempts. Despite this, Altaire ended up giving Grey food and money anyway. Later, Grey saves him from trying to drown himself, but was sexually assaulted by the starving Altaire in return. Grey is unaware that Altaire is an incubi, and since discovering his relationship with Cia, has been harboring a fierce grudge against him.

Horizon (Katedra) - Grey had an unfortunate run-in with her at the beach, and in the course of the scuffle that followed, tried to drown Cia. While Cia was able to escape, the incident did nothing to endear him to Kat. This complicates his budding friendship with Cia quite a bit. Recently, Kat seems to have gotten used to the idea of him being around, though her attitude hasn't gotten any less abrasive.

Space Girl - Grey also ran into her at the beach incident. He doesn't know much about her, but she acts aggressively towards him, so he's aggressive right back.

Love Interest
As a person who can't easily bring himself to put his trust in anyone, Grey outright ignores or rejects anyone showing interest in him, save for a special case or two. He has noticably less tolerance for attention from guys compared to girls. However, as time passes, he becomes more aware of the effect he has on others, and learns to use it to his advantage when he wants something. Because of this, potential wooers often fall victim to strings of rather sudden hot and cold spells, at least until they catch on to his insincerity.

Crushes Cia - Grey's friendship with Cia has always been an almost endless source of frustration for him. This ranges from his confusion over his own feelings, to Cia's constant unintentional? shy flirting and oblivion, as well as his jealousy and resentment towards her relationship with Altaire. Cia and Altaire's eventual breakup finally triggered a clumsy confession from Grey during an argument, despite the poor timing. At this point, Cia has yet to give him an answer. Past: For a time, Grey stayed with a woman several years older than him. It seems they had something of an unconventional relationship, but Grey refuses to share any details. After a rather turbulent fallout, Grey moved out into a halfway house. Later, his time at the halfway house runs out, and Grey moves into a motel room across the city, leaving the bulk of his things with Cia at Kat's house. He currently makes his living with money under the table from playing music at Cyanure's bar. Current: None



Powers & Skills
As a half-mer, Gre’s physiology differs slightly from normal humans. His strength and reflexes are one thing that doesn’t change on land or in water. The muscle power needed to propel himself underwater becomes superhuman strength while on land. His strength and mobility underwater while transformed cannot be bested by even the fastest Atlantean, and transformed or untransformed, he has the ability to breathe underwater. He also doesn't get cold easily and can stay warm in the iciest of waters.

Mer Transformation:

When about half of him is submerged in water, he loses his legs and gains a merman’s tail. (This means if you dump a bucket of water on him, you’ll only be left with a soggy and very irritated human. Pushing him into the pool is a different story, however.)

PROS: The transformation to a merman is nearly instant, and grants him unparalleled agility and speed underwater; he can easily drown clumsy human swimmers like the mermaids of lore

CONS: The transformation back into a human is much slower and can be painful if he tries to rush the transformation (which is often the case). Ever superglue your fingers together and try to pull them apart in a hurry? Yeah, that hurts. Also, standing up and walking afterward is like getting up suddenly and trying to walk with your legs asleep for the next half hour.

Siren Song:

When he sings, anyone within hearing range will become hypnotized and drawn to his voice, a sort of pied piper effect. Upon waking they will often be dazed and disoriented. Clear recordings will have the same effect, though it depends on the quality of the recording.

PROS: his voice can carry quite far and affects humans and non-humans alike; certain songs appear to be of varying potency to different species CONS: the effect can be easily countered with earplugs; those with high willpower and fortitude may be able to resist it; he has no control over the behavior of those who hear it and has caused several boating accidents, as well as causing people to jump lemming-like into the sea; he refrains from singing unless he is sure no one is near, but accidents happen

Siren Scream: 

His voice is capable of producing high-pitched shrieks of concussive force PROS: can be used as an offensive attack or to deflect projectiles; can damage the hearing of those nearby; regular foam earplugs are not enough to protect from this

CONS: It is difficult for him to direct accurately, and often he just lets loose to destroy whatever’s in front of him; it is not at all subtle; specially made earplugs to protect hearing may be enough to counter this; he is also not able to control his voice, and merely speaking may damage the ears of those around him; therefore this has rendered him voluntarily mute, at least when not attacking

Echolocation:

He can use his voice as a sort of sonar to find his way in dark waters PROS: Allows him to navigate in the darkest of waters; does not have the effects of his Siren Song or Scream

CONS: Out of water, the air is too thin to result in a useful echo map

Weapons
Grey either goes it bare-handed, or grabs whatever is close at the time and improvises. He's been known to attack people with a can opener. ===Other Equipment=== can opener knife

===Fighting Style=== On land, he generally avoids getting tangled into close combat. He usually enters conflict only because the opponent is interfering with his escape and will disengage as soon as said escape is assured. He throws things mainly as a distraction rather than to harm. A tactical fighter, he is always considering alternatives to avoid becoming trapped, and is always aware of the environment and how to use it to his advantage. If there is a nearby open body of water, he will almost always head towards it.

While he is engaged in battle, he tends to attack in short spurts of physical power, avoiding deadlock situations where it becomes a test of stamina. Usually he saves his Siren Scream for securing his escape, often using it on buildings or other structures to prevent pursuit, or breaking out of an opponent's hold at close range.

In water, he can outswim just about anything. However, if there comes a time to fight, it’s quite easy for him to drown any non-aquatic creature stupid enough to follow him underwater. In addition, he could easily break necks if he catches his opponent with his powerful tail.


 * Strengths:

He has a damn good throwing arm. Whether its rocks, spears, or a nearby vase, he has impeccable aim. In addition to that, he is very good at utilizing his environment, whether it’s using terrain, nearby objects, or lighting to his advantage. He can switch plans on the fly and improvise quickly when things go sideways. Underwater, he can safely resort to brute force and overwhelm his opponents with his speed and power, exploiting his superior maneuverability. He is resistant to ice, water, and other cold offensive spells.


 * Weaknesses: 

If he ever gets trapped in a small body of water, such as a pool, a tub, or a particularly deep puddle, he’ll instantly turn into a merman with a 300lb tail. He’ll have to flop about first to get out, wait for his tail to dry out, regain his legs, and wobble to his feet before he can be of any use. This can easily take up to a half hour or more.

He refuses to speak, which makes communication between teammates difficult if they don’t have the help of telepathy. Also he is a fast-thinker, and is used to working by himself, which often leads to him being a few steps ahead of his teammates with no way to convey his intentions.

His skin never tans and sunburns easily. He is weak to fire and lightning, and other offensive sources of heat.

They say once a man has loved a mermaid, he will never again look at a human woman. That is what they say of Douglas Comhghan. He had never taken a wife in all his years living in a small fishing village near Boston. However, there was a stormy day when a child was left on his stoop. No one knew where it came from. But Douglas took one look at the child and knew it was his own. He named him Greyson, the boy seemingly born from the stormy grey skies and seas that night.

For months, years, his son seemed perfectly normal, indistinguishable from the little boy the Monoghan’s had next door. They often played on the beach together when he had the time to look after them. Mrs. Monoghan always made sure to mention little Grey had such a sweet little voice. It was on that beach that Greyson walked for the first time. And shortly afterwards, it became the beach where Grey first swam. Douglas still remembers it, that tiny boy toddling inexplicably fast towards the water, the waves gaping like a shark’s maw before swallowing him whole. He dove into the water, searching desperately for his little boy. And he found him, tail and all, gurgling happily in the sea.

Five-year-old Grey loved the ocean. His father would take him out on his fishing boat, far out where no one could see them, and he would swim while Douglas put out his nets. He’d chase the fish straight into the traps his father laid for them, laughing and singing and enjoying the water. But this idyllic existence was not to last. Someone caught a glimpse of him, and was reminded that Douglas had once claimed he had seen a mermaid.

The fisherman had been doing well. Too well, the superstitious villagers whispered. He must have made a deal with some dark creature of the sea. And that child must be proof of that union. And when the villagers whisper, so do their children. Their children whisper in the classrooms, and their whispers turn to shouts and jeers on the playground. And ten-year-old Grey could only counter these with his fists. After being sent home for yet another fight, Douglas had to talk to him. Where is my mother? Grey asked. Why don’t I have one? Doesn’t she like me? His father had no answers. And then disaster struck.

''How come you don’t have a mommy?  I do too have a mommy!  Liar! She doesn’t want you!  She does too want me! She’s just a mermaid and can’t come see me!  Liar! Mermaids don’t exist!  Do too! Dad said she was a mermaid!  Do not! He’s a liar!  Nuh-uh!  My mommy says that your mom is just a whore who didn’t want you and dumped you at your dad’s doorstep!  'SHEEEEE!! IIIIIIIS! NOOOOOOOT!!!!'''

Grey screamed. He screamed until he ran out of air. What he didn’t realize was that he had screamed until the boy in front of him collapsed on the ground, ears bleeding. On the rest of the playground, children lay on the ground, hands over their ears, half-deaf and crying for their parents.

Grey changed schools. His voice was changing. From then on he refused to speak and spent the rest of his elementary school years silent. However, the echoes of his voice still remained, trailing him wherever he went. It was a small town, and in middle school, he met classmates who still remembered. The whispers spread, even more vicious than before. Grey found solace in his singing, ferreting away choral music from the music room to practice by himself out on the cliffs. Grey sang his heart out, all the melancholic feelings he couldn’t express during the day flowed away at night. It was like a secret between him and the sunset, not even his father knew where he went in the evenings. But he found out when a ship of seasoned sailors sailed their vessel straight into the rocks just under where Grey made his unwitting stage.

Grey was horrified at what his voice could do. And try as he might, his father was unable to hide his own terror from his child, unable to allay his son's fears when his own clouded his heart. Confused and terrified, Grey ran to the sea and never returned. Surviving off of provisions stolen from coastside homes, he hated himself. He didn’t belong anywhere. He could not live on land where he could hurt people. Yet when he ran to the sea, neither could he live as a creature of the ocean, always tied to the human society he was accustomed to. In the sea, Grey had plenty of time to mull things over, perhaps too much. Why did he have to make excuses for who he was born as? Why did he have to compromise when not accepting him for what he was was their problem? The more he thought, the more resentful he became. Fine. If no one was going to look out for him, then the only one who could look out for him was himself, even if he had to hurt others to do it.

Grey is useless with technology He is unable to operate a microwave Having grown up in a harbor town, Grey knows CPR Grey is also able to operate most small to medium sized boats