(no subject)

[wulfamania]

PLAYER
Name: Owl
Age: 26
Personal Journal: avian
E-mail: kuuderes@gmail.com
AIM/etc: owl #4627 on Discord

CHARACTER
Name: Beowulf
Canon: Skullgirls
Age: 37
Timeline: At the end of his route!
Items with character at canon point: Clothing! Fame! Fortune (in the form of useless money in his wallet)! And of course a big ol’ honkin’ folding chair for bashing somebody’s head in! He's got his championship belt on him, too.

Personality:

While that gets very close to summing it up, let’s get into the wolfy part of the Beo.

An eternal ham, nothing brings him more joy than spotlight. Once regarded as a hero, he completely soaked up all of the attention until it went dry, whittling down to bit parts on kid’s shows. However, he was determined to stay both true to himself and a relevant icon, so letting himself be re-hired by an agent and throwing full-force into the ring when the Skullgirl rolled into town was not a difficult thing to do at all. And believe me, this guy is a crowd pleaser. He knows all the old moves, knows how to make the people cheer, even when he’s kind of a washed up has-been. Other main characters remember his legend and know it well— the guy who slew Grendel and his mother, who showed Gigans could be defeated, who made a point for the entire world to know that they could be, re-engaging the fight against them.

Or… so it seems. In his fight with them, Grendel had been drugged, and the fight with his mother was one of grief and anger. However, when confronted with this, Beowulf, despite his egomania and apparent thick skull, does not run away from the fact that the fight was rigged. He honors his opponent and swears to the crowd he’ll make it up to them in the form of defeating the Skullgirl. This part of him is fascinating— it directly contradicts his massive ego, where someone would step up and say ‘That’s a lie!’, Beowulf has the kind of understanding and respectful mind that if that were the case, he had better honor the accusation than run away. This doesn’t mean he’s particularly bright, though. Even when it turns out he’s been flagrantly used by someone posing as an agent, he’s still a bit slow on the uptake. For instance, he barely recognized his coworker’s face when she was more popular than him. He tends to have blinders on for the world around him unless it specifically involves him.

This bit of his ego is both banal and dangerous, as it allowed him to be easily manipulated but sometimes he’s too thick for even that to happen. A practiced master of the ring and all things in it, he knows how to energize a crowd and hoot and holler every catchphrase he ever coined (including: Everything I say is a catchphrase!). He’s deeply appreciative of his fans, notably the one who agreed to fight him in time for his comeback. He was encouraging to Cerebella, who had agreed to help him out in his comeback fight, and notably calls on the ‘wulfpack’ loudly and often. Most importantly, there is nothing in this world that would make him let them down.

Though he had grown lazier and more unpopular in recent years, living a life of excess and sleeping around in his bath robe and pajamas, he was quick to jump back into the ring at the first sign of trouble after going for help to Double, showing a certain resilience to his character. If he becomes a resident of Ruby City, Beo is absolutely going to shake things up any way he can— if he doesn’t ‘have an audience’, then what good is it? Does he need to be Officer Takedown at the Police Station? Does he need to run a training facility, where your gift if you manage to defeat him is a signed autograph? There’s a bunch of things his restlessness would allow for outside of creating Wargamania outside city limits. It’s also entirely feasible for him to go on ahead and make friendships, because there’s a lot of him that still needs balancing out, and still speaks of distance between himself and his fans. He could only benefit from closer relationships.

His weaknesses are easy points— he’s so easily manipulated that a child could do it, with the right motivation. If some bad guy rolled into town and sassed their way into convincing Beowulf they’re the real good guy, no matter how not true that is, there’s a good chance he could fall for it. Of course, he’d drop it if someone he trusted told him to knock that out, but still— sometimes with him, the damage is already done. While his pride can be a weakness, and will definitely cause some bruised egos once everyone in game doesn’t know his name, he never lets it be too much of a weakness for not owning up to his mistakes. The fight that made him famous included. Instead, he simply promises to do better, which makes Beowulf a very earnest person. He’s willing to believe people despite how suspicious they might be, and he’s willing to admit when he’s wrong. There are things that fall in the middle there, like his head being too big to sometimes remember people even when they’ve made a positive impact on him, but overall, he’s a kind dude with a caring ‘tude.

While he will take some definite time to adjust to a jam-jar, it might not be so bad. It was said in an interview that a lot of the cheers Beowulf hears are inside his head, meaning he’s a fairly effective self-motivator who will take things into his own hands. Even if he comes off as initially a bit selfish and extremely egotistical, there’s a good guy underneath there— and intentionally or not, a funny guy who knows how to rile people up into following their passions, even when they lose sight of them. Even if a lot of his passionate riling IS catchphrases and unstoppable optimism. If he can’t make you believe, he can at least make you laugh. And in the end, as long as you’re happy either way— that’s a knockout for Beowulf!

In short, wrestling is real (sort of) and he’s here to keep the spirit alive, regardless of whether or not Ruby City wants him to. They’ve just got to get their blood pumping! Passion boiling! And learn how to put someone in a head scissors armbar with thighs the size of Christmas hams!

Background: Personal history that supplements a lot of the story itself and Canon history that links to a bunch of important stuff!

Abilities:

Beowulf is a wrestler!

Which is to say, unlike almost every other combatant in Skullgirls, he does not possess any supernatural powers at all. He did, in the form of Grendel's arm for a while, and even that was more of a melee smackdown machine. He has extremely talented physical prowess, enough to suplex a massive boss monster and settle scores with no difficulty at all (maybe some difficulty). His moves are most reminiscent of American wrestling, he can use the crowd (even the one within his mind) to booster his own attack, and he can do several moves that are also strictly unconventional, too.

As he no longer has Beowulf's arm, he will not be able to use his moves relating to him.

Basically, Beowulf knows every trick in the book, fake or not, and he's willing to use them if need be. Several monsters in Ruby City's outer limits would not be a match for him, being a fighting game character and all. However, this is all countered by the fact that he's easily duped, so getting the upper hand on him can be as easy as making a speech more impassioned than his.

He also likes hitting people with chairs. Ladders are a second favorite.

Network/Actionspam Sample:

GOOD EEEEEEEEVENING RUBYITES!

That’s right, I know what your town is! You see, unlike some PRO WRESTLERS I know, I can read. And I put that super-smart, super-massive brain of mine to work and I got you ALL FIGURED OUT!

… THE FIGURING OUT THAT I WON’T BE GOING HOME ANYTIME SOON, ON ACTUAL CHRISTMAS. But you know what? It’s gonna be okay. BEOWULF has endured stronger trials than not being on-air for his holiday specials! And as a special donation from my publicist, me, I’m going to offer you the chance to strike some CHRISTMAS FEAR into some of your enemies! LISTEN UP!

Do you know where all the good men gone? DO YOU NEED A STREETWISE HERCULES TO FIGHT YOUR ODDS, RISING OR OTHERWISE? DO YOU CARE IF IT'S A KNIGHT ON A SHINING STEED? DO YOU TOSS? DO YOU TURN? DO YOU DREAM OF WHAT YOU NEED?

GOOD, BECAUSE I’M ADVERTISING MY SERVICES AS A HERO TO THE PUBLIC!

I’m strong, fast, and fresh for the fight, and I’m also offering MY EXPERIENCE AND MUSCLES as a public bodyguard and defender in case you need to go somewhere scary enough that you can be SURE that the big bad wulf is on YOUR side! Forest? No problem! Mountains? No problem! Big ugly thing in the ocean? I’ll go all Ahab on it’s ass! AND TO PROVE I’M NOT KIDDING, EVEN A LITTLE?

[ The watch gets a vantage point squarely focused on a solid looking bench, before a massive grown-ass adult does an elbow drop on it, cleaving it through the middle completely.

From his uncomfortable position on the ground, he points at the camera and winks. ]

YOU KNOW WHERE TO CALL ME!

action;

[ Later, the bench is repaired with copious amounts of duct tape and a cinderblock positioned beneath the bottom of where the crack is, with a note that says ‘ - The Wulf does not condone property damage, unless it’s really cool. ‘ ]

Prose Log Sample:

"Wheeew! You don't let this stuff breathe, do ya!"

The question is directed at no one in particular as the pub is empty and Beowulf is staring down into a glass of ambiguously amber liquid. It was a fancy bottle he pulled from the shelf in his meandering quest to get somewhere that wasn't a creepy train station. The drink is a bit of a dichotomy in and of itself. He was definitely a 'don't do drugs' kind of spokesperson, even though that was a 'do what I say, not what I do' thing. At the same time, the rate that alcohol takes to work through his shit brickhouse of a body makes this amber glass only a little more effective than a particularly potent ginger ale. He'd much rather be slamming back a few beers.

It's a class glass. A kind of thing where you sit at a bar, waiting for someone to talk to you... soon... knowing you're a mature adult and that you're new here and to saunter up to you with a knowing glint. Because he can do the legwork! Absolutely! But first impressions are everything, and while there are monsters to slay, he doesn't know it yet so throwing a pack of wargs in front of the train station all 'YOU'RE WELCOME' isn't going to work in the slightest. He's got to let people know who he is-- a fine, respectable, chair-wielding slab of meat. And for that, they have to find him first.

... except there hasn't been a single person in here all day, and the amber bottle of mysterious booze is getting a little emptier, even though all Beo feels is a pleasant warmth, because he's been pacing himself by drinking water-- also known as reaching over the bar and grabbing the seltzer spray and hosing his mouth down.

"It SURE would be a SHAME if this place was so dead, not even their pub was crawling!" His voice was loud enough now to be heard outside the door, and when the door eventually did jingle, he turned around in his seat, one leg over the other so that he faced them in a proper chair squat.

"Hey there," A sparkling heroic voice, tempered by gruffness. "Come here often? Me, I was just in town, when the funniest thing happened-- I couldn't leave it."