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P L A Y E R I N F O R M A T I O N Your Name: Miru. OOC Journal: databomb Under 18? If yes, what is your age?: Nup. Email + IM: miruvix[@]gmail.com | dash chromatique @ AIM Characters Played at Ataraxion: Sawyer "Soysauce" Sciarrino (shoyu), Kazama Souji (ironsights) C H A R A C T E R I N F O R M A T I O N Name: Zero. (Officially Zer0, but since the in-game subtitles refer to him as 'Zero,' that's what I'll be using.) Canon: Borderlands 2. Original or Alternate Universe: Original. Malleable protagonist? Canon Point: Right after 'Where Angels Fear to Tread.' Number: Random, please! Setting: The story of Borderlands takes place on the the lovely, peaceful, paradise of a planet known as Pandora. lol jk pandora's basically a butthole of a planet In a day and age where interplantary travel has become something of a norm and grand, futuristic tech is littered just about everywhere, Pandora holds the distinction of being on of the least friendly planets around. Though the terrain itself is quite beautiful -- huge stretches of grassy green knolls, big expanses of desert, active volcanos and ice floes, scene mountains and such -- pretty much everything that lives in Pandora is murderous. The wildlife is huge and deadly and violent, the people are usually murderous bandits (who may or may not be cannibals), and even the plants can explode in your face at any moment. Not to mention, Pandora is currently underdoing a rather messy change-of-regime. Ever since a mysterious Vault was discovered on Pandora -- a vault rumored to hold legendary riches, or godlike weaponry, or a terrifying monster, or who-knows-what-else -- the planet's attracted the attention of various vault hunters, and Jack. Handsome Jack, to be specific, the president of Hyperion and fearsome (if somewhat charming) tyrant determined to make the entire planet his playground to open the Vault. So yeah. Lovely place to make a home. But not really. History: Ø ⇢ DATA MISSING. DATA MISSING. DATA MISSING. Ø ⇢ Zero's past is, well. Almost entirely unknown, unfortunately. Ø ⇢ Zero ... might not even be his name, to be honest. It's what people call him beceause of the 0 that his helmet projects as a holograph whenever he successfully makes a kill. 'Zero.' a perfect name for a faceless assassin. Ø ⇢ But what's known about Zero is this: Ø ⇢ Zero landed on Pandora for some reason. God knows why. Ø ⇢ Zero spent a few weeks after that taking assassination contracts, killing for money. Ø ⇢ Zero, however, wasn't actually that interested in his work as an assassin. Sure, it paid well and it was a decent way of wiling the hours away, but it wasn't good enough. What Zero was looking for, instead, was a challenge. Something that he could test his skills against, something that he could really throw himself into with great gusto, something that would bite back at him. Ø ⇢ It was in a bar, of all places, that Zero found this challenge that he was looking for. The vault. Ø ⇢ Off he went. Zero was now a Vault Hunter. (Capital V, capital H.) Ø ⇢ And it was just as he was getting started on his grand adventure towards the vault, boarding a train headed towards the heart of Pandora with a few fellow Vault Hunters -- when Handsome Jack interrupted his progress by blowing up the train that he and the other vault hunters were aboard, leaving him stranded in the freezing, snowy tundras of Pandora frozen half to death. Rude. Ø ⇢ Luckily (or perhaps, not so luckily), an annoying robot by the name of CL4P-TP General Purpose Robot, AKA Claptrap dug him out of the snow. And then babbled about this and that for a really, really long time. All the way through Zero's time getting used to this change of plans, all the way through Zero's finding out what exactly was going down with Handsome Jack and the vault (answer: Big Things), and all the way through a disgustingly long boat ride to Sanctuary. Kind of amazing that Zero never ran the fucker through with his sword. Ø ⇢ And then a lot of messy things happened. Namely, Zero ended up helping the Crimson Raiders, a huge anti-Hyperion (more specifically, anti-Handsome-Jack) guerilla group led by the first generation of Vault Hunters who'd opened the first Vault. Which wasn't exactly a bad thing, considering Jack had a) almost blown him up and b) was the biggest obstacle between him and the Vault. Two birds, one stone, so on and so forth. Ø ⇢ Then lots of fighting happened. Lots and lots of fighting. Lots of killing, too! Which Zero rather enjoyed. Kind of a nice challenge, really. Oh, and Handsome Jack said a lot of really dickish comments along the way and did a lot of douchebag things, which made the quest towards putting a hole in Handsome Jack's face all the more worth it. Ø ⇢ But easier said than done. Ø ⇢ Because there were casualties. Oh, there was lots of trouble in the fight against Handsome Jack and his company and the endless army of attack robots he commandeered, and the stakes continued to rise. It was made clear that Handsome Jack had orchestrated so many of the events that caused paid to the Vault Hunters, and he. Deserved. To die. Ø ⇢ Too bad Zero never got the chance to land that killing blow. Because halfway through his quest, just as Handsome Jack murdered the leader of the Crimson Raiders right before his eyes and kidnapped one of the other key members, Zero found himself being whisked off in a flash of light -- and ending up aboard the Tranquility. Ø ⇢ So rude. Personality: Oh dear. Where do we even start. ❝ Striking from nowhere, / killing with accuracy, / this is who I am. ❞ Zero's an enigma. A question mark. Your token mysterious guy, if you'd like to put it that way. Between the way he keeps all of his features concealed and never really reveals who he is, Zero is, for the most part, a figure surrounded by questions. And he seems to like to keep things that way. Perhaps it's just second nature to an assassin whose ability is to go invisible for a few seconds at a time, but Zero keeps himself as a mysterious figure for the most part, diverging virtually no personal information about himself for any reason. Oh, and he talks in haikus almost all the time. The only thing Zero makes clear is that he's an assassin. A killer. A man (person? thing?) who will murder for money, and do so without much hesitation. But that's not to say he's entirely devoid of personality, of course. ❝ I won't die today, / not while I still have ammo. / I am a badass. Ø ❞ First off: Zero's a good assassin, and he knows it. Confident. Just a little bit cocky. He has no qualms about what he is, and what he is is a damn good killer. Completely unhampered by anyone who may doubt his abilities or, for that matter, his morals, Zero basically doesn't take anyone's shit. Any idle insults about his appearances or manner of speech basically roll off his back because Zero is sure enough about himself that other people's opinions of him aren't taken really taken into account. He does what he wants, whether that be murdering a bandit in cold blood or plundering someone's mailbox in search of extra ammunition. ❝ I relish your death. / You are so unsuspecting. / How satisfying. ❞ And he's quite content with who he is and what he does. Though not exactly sadistic by any stretch of the word -- his prefer method of killing is quick and clean, a bullet through the skull or a knife through the heart before the victim even knows what's hit them -- Zero makes it clear that he's very satisfied with his lifestyle in every possible way. Never has he doubted his chosen profession, and he doesn't plan on starting it any time soon. But do keep in mind: Zero is an assassin, but not a mindless killer. He does have some standards when taking his jobs, and money is the secondary objective when it comes to his work. More than any sort of material reward, what Zero wants from his endless string of killing bandits is a challenge. (That's not to say Zero is up for charity work, of course. He may ignore the pleas of his assasination targets when they offer to pay him multiple times his original cost, but he won't do many jobs for free. And god forbid you skimp out on paying him -- he probably won't react very well to people stiffing him.) Perhaps it's something that goes hand-in-hand with his unshakable confidence in his own abilities, but Zero hungers for a challenge. Not just someone who'll roll over and die, or plead for their life when he digistructs his blade before their face. After all, an assassin is only as good as the targets he's killed, right? And the stronger the people he's killed, the better that Zero knows he is. As much as Zero's identity is entirely focused on his job as an assassin, he has a very solid pride in his reputation. There's no reason he'd kill anyone defenseless or weak, no reason for him to go after someone innocent who won't put up a good challenge. Which leads to the next point: although he's killed a lot ... a lot a lot of people, like seriously a lot of people, Zero isn't really a bad guy. ❝ Co-operative; / there's a word I do not like. / What do friends matter? ❞ ❝ I have you! <3 ❞ Because while on a more professional level (using the word 'professional' in the loosest possible sense), Zero can be a little standoffish and aloof and cryptic towards people -- he's not a mean guy. The only reason he doesn't really like cooperating with people in his kills is because they may steal away his moment of glory and diminish the level of the challenges his faces; Zero's got no qualms about people. In fact, he seems quite happy to help his companions back up when they've been knocked down in combat, muttering encouraging words at them and even flashing a little holographic heart at them. Yes, seriously. A heart. ❝ :D ❞ ❝ WTF BRO ❞ Because as much as Zero tends to come across as serious and focused and kind of intimidating at times, he's got a surprising childish way of communicating at times. That helmet of his, you see, might provide excellent protection and disguise his features perfectly, but it kind of makes it hard for anyone to read his expression. So to supplement his haikus and snippy one-word responses, Zero projects a rather interesting variety of smiley-faces and internet abbreviations from his helmet. Of note is the fact that it's all quite childish, all quite friendly -- all a little immature, to be quite innocent. ❝ I am bored as hell / I would like to kill something / Can we friggin go? :( ❞ And though one would think it's quite at odds with his more dramatic manner of speech, it's not hard to see that even within his haikus, Zero isn't exactly a formal guy. It's hard to tell if the haikus are something he does out of habit to look more mysterious or if they serve some deeper sort of purpose, but they're not a sign of him lacking a sense of humor. He's -- kind of childlike, in some ways. Earnest. Eager. He likes what he does, does what he likes, and is excited to do it. Impatient at times, easily bored when nothing's going on. Quite honest, in some ways, because he doesn't care enough about other people's thoughts and opinions (in most situations, there might be some exceptions!) and friendly enough to most people as long as he doesn't have a reason to kill them. Conversational (to the extent that one can be conversational in haiku), generous (in that he might give you a discount on his assassination fees if it'd prove to be a good challenge) and a good sport (although if you beat him in a spar he'll probably keep coming at you). A good guy, really! Or at least, as good a guy as one could be while remaining a mysterious, nameless, deadly assassin. Abilities, Weaknesses and Power Limitations: Ø ⇢ DECEPTI0N : Zero's most distinct ability. With Decepti0n, Zero can cast forth a holographic decoy of himself which will last for several seconds, during which Zero will go invisible and undetected. Though still vulnerable to damage if any person or creature is lucky enough to throw a blind attack in his direction, it's more likely that people will be drawn to attacking the decoy, during which time Zero can probably sprint around to catch people by surprise from behind. Being in this stealth mode also amplifies Zero's combat abilities for its durations. The only downside is that the holographic decoy can't be deployed for more than a few seconds at a time, and Zero needs a period of rest between deployments. Ø ⇢ SNIPING | TRICKY GUNPLAY : Perhaps something to be expected from an assassin who's been working on a planet where guns are everywhere -- literally everywhere, you can basically walk through a pile of animal excrement and trip over a gun or two -- but Zero's excellent with firearms. Sniper rifles in particular, he's particularly skilled with. Give him a rifle and point him at a target, Zero can probably headshot it without being seen. Ø ⇢ CUNNING | SNEAKERY & DECEPTION : Extremely agile and nimble, quick on his feet, very flexible and great at moving around speedily. Backflips and high-jumps and mid-air acrobatics are easy as pie. There's a reason why people have mistaken him for a ninja-like-being-thing by first impressions. Zero's great at moving around the battlefield at extremely high speeds and dodging attacks. Ø ⇢ BLOODSHED | L33T NINJA SKILLS : Not to mention, he's pretty damn handy with a sword. Like, really really good. Ø ⇢ ENDURANCE : And then there's the fact that Zero's stupidly tough to kill in comparison to most people. It might just be because he's made of hardy space-person-assassin stock, but, like most things on Pandora, Zero's a fairly resilient dude. Smack him, shoot him, throw him halfway across a rocky quarry, he'll be able to stand through a fair amount of excuse. Inventory: An interesting item of note: the world of Pandora makes good use of a technology called 'digistruct.' Digistruct technology allows solid objects to be translated into light or holograph and stored as a digital 'blueprint,' then reconstructed into solid matter in an instant. This technology can be applied to both animate and inanimate objects. That said, Zero's belongings are: Ø ⇢ ONE ( 1 ) resilient skin-tight Sneaking Suit, emblazoned with a big red 0 Ø ⇢ ONE ( 1 ) helmet with personalized holographic capabilities Ø ⇢ ONE ( 1 ) sword hilt with a digistruct blade, similar to a katana Ø ⇢ ONE ( 1 ) digistruct backpack, basically a fancy belt buckle, containing:        Ø ⇢ TWO ( 2 ) very powerful sniper rifles        Ø ⇢ ONE ( 1 ) pistol with a bayonet attachment        Ø ⇢ ONE ( 1 ) wide-bore automatic shotgun        Ø ⇢ TWENTY-EIGHT ( 28 ) assorted shitty guns marked as 'trash'        Ø ⇢ AN ABSOLUTELY STUPID AMOUNT ( a lot ) of assorted ammunition        Ø ⇢ EIGHT ( 8 ) grenades Ø ⇢ ONE ( 1 ) self-recharging shield Ø ⇢ ONE ( 1 ) grenade-amplifying device Ø ⇢ ONE ( 1 ) armor attachment at his elbow, amplifies his abilities Appearance: [ one ] [ two ] [ three ] & [ official profile ] Age: Unknown. Sounds like he's somewhere in his late twenties. Surprisingly immature at times. AU Clarification: Kind of weird territory, but Borderlands is an FPS-RPG hybrid -- which means the playable characters are, to a certain extent, malleable protagonists, I think. I've basically gone with the most general, sweeping intepretation of his customizable abilities, and gone with his default settings in terms of appearances. There's also the matter of Zero's actual identity being a huge mystery that's never really addressed -- which, given his status as 'token mysterious dude,' might never actually be discussed. Although I'll be keeping some small bits of headcanon in mind as to Zero's actual identity, they'll hopefully never come into play given Zero's secretive nature. S A M P L E S Log Sample: Zero opens his eyes and there's fluid in his face. And it takes him 0.00833 minutes to realize that this is wrong. He is unclothed. He is lacking his sneaking suit and his helmet. He is exposed. And an assassin is never without his gear, never exposed. Ergo, this is wrong. This is a situation that must be corrected immediately. Immediately. It takes him another 0.00833 minutes to cast out a holographic double. Quicker than the blink of an eye. Perfect. A bystander would only see a strange figure emerge from that gravity couch, fully dressed in sneaking suit and clad in helmet. Defensively drawing a strange, glowing blue sword. Making as if to attack some unseen foe. But completely unseen, Zero makes a beeline through the throng of people. Bumping into some strangers and not caring, feet squeaking across the tile floor when he dashes through the shower. Slamming himself into the lockers -- quickly noting the tattoo imprinted on his arm (how unpleasant) and the matching locker number just a few feet away. His time's running short and it's a little rushed, a little sloppy when he grabs up his suit and helmet, throws them on as quickly as possible. There's the unpleasant squelch of blue gel between his skin and the suit's texture -- reminiscent of slag, sticking grossly between the folds of the suit -- and Zero's helmet is projecting an unseeen D: as he squeezes it onto his head. And not a moment too soon. There's a small flicker of light as his holograph vanishes and, at the same moment, he poofs back into visibility, fully dressed. Helmet still broadcasting that rather displeased emoticon. And it's slow, deliberate, somewhat resentful, the way Zero slowly squeezes his gloved hand against his chest and feels the residues of gel there drip unpleasantly down against his body. (He'll have to wash it all off in private. When he isn't surrounded by potential threats.) But for now -- Zero retrieves his sword from the locker. Ties his digistruct backpack at his belt. Makes sure his good guns (not the ones he was planning on selling off, ugh) are all still there. Then turns to whoever's closest and speaks, gripping at the hilt of his digistruct sword, "Tell me where we are. To say I'm displeased right now would not be enough." Comms Sample: [ click! as the device starts recording. the screen is filled by a strange, helmeted visage -- all features completely obscured, just shiny black material and smooth curves. a pause, as the figure tilts is head slightly, then speaks in a curious, robotic voice. ] What a strange vessel. Lacking in New-U stations, devoid of hostiles. [ and then a brief pause before his helmets project a holographic image -- a bright red :) that floats before the glossy surface. ] I seek a way home. But in the meantime. For hire: Expert assassin.