Public Records - Background Information
Basic::
Full Name: Shukaku Muramana
Alias/Title: The Philosophical Warrior
Nickname: Shu
Gender: Male
Date of Birth: 12/14
Age: 740
Zodiac Sign: Ophiuchus
Zodiac Year: Dog
Appearance:
Height: 5' 9" (1.72m)
Weight: 163 lbs (73 kg)
Eye Color: Green
Hair Color: Brown
Body Type: Average
Nationality: Japanese
Appearance Description: Shukaku stands at just above average height with a moderate weight class as well with few outstanding discerning features on his body. He has very light amounts of muscle definition and rather standard brown hair. The most notable traits on his body are three small scars just below his left eye, a somewhat light amount of facial hair kept as a neat beard. Where clothing is concerned, Shukaku is never seen without a short red cape draped over his shoulders like a shawl and there almost always a pair of tall geta nearby.
Classified Records - Psychology and History
Basic:
Occupation: Shinigami Captain
Affiliation: Shinigami
Former Occupation:
- Soldier Division Eight
20th Seat Division Nine
15th Seat Division Nine
6th Seat Division Nine
3rd Seat Division Eight
Lt. Division Eight
Former Affiliation: None
Hobbies:
- Reading
Writing
Debating
Likes:
- Intellectual Debates
A Good Book
Spoilers
Tea
Grapes
Dislikes:
- Oranges
Sour Candy
Lollipops
Predictable Endings
Being "matched" with someone
Advanced:
Character Strengths:
- Shunpo
Knowledgeable
Ambidextrous
Character Weaknesses:
- Physical Strength
Writer's Cramp
Somewhat Lazy
Motto/Quotes:
- "Evil? It doesn't exist. Ideas, however, do."
"The only free thing in the world is the wind, and even it is caged."
"By being harsh, you survive. By being kind, you live. To do both is to be human."
"Idiot!"
Personality: Shukaku is a man that takes pride in keeping personal life away from his profession. Although many captains often bring their personal tastes to their Divisions, Shukaku keeps his writing, reading and personal ties located strictly in his office and quarters. Once he steps out the door, he is the stern, occasionally unforgiving Captain of Division Eight. Outside his job, Shukaku is pleasant and warm, offering tea or fine drink to any who wish to partake in his extravagant tastes. He is friendly and mostly accepting, seeing himself as a philosopher and a writer who was thrown into the shoes of a soldier and writes down his memoirs in a book. But as a Captain, soldiers should expect little mercy and break time, because Shukaku treats them as such and drills them thoroughly. He does offer one unique thing to all soldiers and that is the ability to do as they wish inside the Division, making him unique in that the Division is effectively ruled by the men, so long as it leaves his office untouched. However, he does not let the men do it without consequence and as a general principle punishes them for the stupid things they do, they're freedom a double edged sword.
Sexual Preference: Straight
Relatives: None
Spouse: None
Friends: None
Rivals: None
Enemies: None
Background:
Shukaku was born in a time period when the poor were often uneducated and the uneducated often died quickly, replaced by other members of the family. In all, he likely had seven brothers and three sisters, all of which were older than him. His life was rough. They were merchants and knitters and smiths, anything that could get them by in the marketplace. While the parents and oldest children took to the shops, the younger ones, like Shukaku and two of his three sisters, were effectively sold to trades. They did everything but sleep where they worked. With a little bit of luck, and because Shukaku was at an age where he could not be left alone, he was put into the same shop as his youngest sister. It was a multipurpose stall and they had hands in just about every trade possible. Of the market street families, this one was the largest and the oldest, and they always looked for more hands to train. The store in question was actually a clothing store. They dealt in kimonos and other clothing, ceremonial or casual and the accessories that went with them. While his sister actually had a hand in making the clothing, Shukaku was the delivery boy. It was an easy job. It helped his family stay afloat in their busy life. But he was not destined to be in delivery for long.
Wars, or rather battles, were not uncommon and eventually men were called to arms. Shukaku, the youngest of his family, was also surprisingly the only one called to fight. The family did not know why until he was informed he was to be a scout. Several years as a delivery boy gave him the necessary speed and intellect to be one. Retaining what he saw, that would either come naturally or be achieved. If it failed him, well all knew it meant nothing short of death or disgrace, which was essentially one and the same. Fortunately, he did well at his job. Shukaku had keen eyes and a keener intellect, always hungry for knowledge. He excelled in his job, he was great at it. However, his excellence also proved to be troublesome. Shukaku often reported to people of a high rank in the army or at least their direct subordinates. This led to rather good knowledge of troop positions and other various strategies. This also led to suggestions from the scout, which in turn led to reprimands by his superior officers. Needless to say, this quickly became an execution in the field. This sour plan that would have ended the still relatively young boy's life was ruined by a sudden invasion that spared his life for only moments longer. He was tied up, he had no way to run. When everyone went to the forefront of the battle, he was left there to wait. Night had fallen before Shukaku even saw another person, an enemy soldier who roughly dragged him back to the tent of the commanding officer. He was drilled for answers, starting with why he was tied up. Shukaku told him as much truth and as much information as this man wanted until he was untied. It was then that the enemy asked what he was to be executed for. Shukaku told him. He told the enemy it was for trying to advise his commander on a strategy that would prevent them from getting overrun immediately or launch a campaign against the foes that would be hard to stop. Taking this into account, the enemy commander thought for a moment and then made his decision.
The next morning, Shukaku was sent out with four other scouts, two with him and one more for the other sides of the foes. The thought was this: give Shukaku a small force of one hundred troops and see what happened. The invasion that was about to take place was against a much smaller assault force that was designed to take out towns, not other armies. This meant that one hundred troops should do fine if led into good hands. As for the extra scouts, well he couldn't have Shukaku escaping now could he? And so it happened. Shukaku led a force into battle under his own strategy. It did not go flawlessly. It didn't even go well. It went... better than expected. Few of the uneducated could orchestrate something as definite and careful as what Shukaku had done, and many less could have made it a victory by a hair like he had. But it happened, and the once enemy commander decided to play with fire. Bringing the former scout into his tent, he asked him to look at the map and decide a strategy from here to their headquarters where they would restock and restore their troops. There was a problem, and this is where the strategy of this boy was needed, a rather large mass of troops en route to their headquarters. Shukaku thought about it and simply told the general to hit the enemy with a pincer maneuver. If that was unacceptable, well they could always avoid them and fight them later. But since they were heading to the same place, why not send a rider out and force them backwards away from the city with a three sided assault? That just left the problem of the weakest wall, which the enemy would surely break through and rush the nearly defenseless town. The boy had a plan with a surprise in store. When the armies met, Shukaku's own was almost immediately swallowed by the enemies as the fight ensued. Vastly outnumbered, things looked bleak until the enemy began dwindling. Attacking an opponent behind them left them open in the front, and the forces sent for from the city fell into the foes heavily, crushing the enemy and greatly reducing the ensuing casualties. Questioned about this later, Shukaku was recorded to merely say that a pincer attack was what was needed.
Shukaku was then offered a spot in the army as a general, his natural intellect surprisingly sharp. He declined, stating that he should either be executed or educated first. This was of course a shock to his superiors, but rather than lose a good head, they made it better. But a life of battle was not destined for Shukaku and he actually never saw another major battle or small scale war again. By the time his normally needed education was finished, the fights he took part in were over. So he pursued his education further for several more years. He became a writer and a poet. A philosopher and a consultant. He had been given his own, somewhat small, home and a place of honor in the city among the ranks. Shukaku wasn't even known to be good with a weapon, which was almost ironic because many of his friends were effectively war buddies. Truth be told, he rarely ever made it to the front lines of a fight. Still, he had the respect of those who took his advice, and that was what he wanted. He passed away in his early twenties from heart failure, and the next time he opened his eyes was shocked with what he saw.
Classified Records - Combative Information
Basic:
Carried Weapons: Zanpakuto
Fighting Styles:
Strength: Shukaku is only as strong physically as you'd expect a captain to be. He's actually weaker than some Lieutenants, but doesn't mind that much. He prefers speed and tact over brute force.
Speed: Shukaku's main form of offense, he takes joy in how fast he gets into and out of a situation. He relies heavily on his speed simply because his power is average and best and mediocre on average.
Intelligence: A thinker and a writer, Shukaku is quite intelligent and utilizes philosophy and theory on the battlefield, giving ancient arts and trains of thought life as he fights his foes and sparring partners.
Stamina: Shukaku's stamina is slightly above average to cope with his high speed combat style. While not noteworthy, he can be found to be outlast some captains and fall short on others. Unlike some of his other attributes, he does train it, but more often than not it finds itself neglected, simply not as neglected as his strength.
Durability: Despite his possibly debatable low Stamina and poor Strength, he is surprisingly durable. Then again, as rough as he looks, someone would probably expect him to be very durable and physically strong, which is partly true. The only thing he trains more than durability is his blinding speed.
Advanced:
Spiritual Pressure: Shukaku has average feeling spiritual pressure compared to other captains, not having any particular strength or weakness when standing side by side to other people of the same or comparable rank.
Swordsmanship/Accuracy/Other: Relying on speed and being ambidextrous, Shukaku has excellent, flourishing and flashy swordsmanship and great accuracy.
Special Training:
Manji Style: Shukaku is proficient in Manji Style Fighting, a type of fighting that uses a blend of Hakuda and Zanjutsu in both one and two sword stages. Lower level techniques are often safe and somewhat defensive where higher level techniques utilize a high risk, high reward system often focusing on highly offensive overruns. Master's of this style can freely through themselves at opponents almost like an endless biting wind, usually abandoning all hopes of defense in the process in favor of wearing down the foe and cutting them down.
Personal Abilities:
Ambidextrous: Shukaku is ambidextrous and uses it to the point of abuse. Fluent with it in the office and on the battlefield, he is able to easily swap hands and keep foes on their toes. His reasoning behind being ambidextrous is literally because he doesn't want to be caught unable to fight back at any given moment.
Spiritual Techniques/Releases:
Kidou:
Specialty:
Hado:
Bakudo:
Other:
Shunpo Master: Speed is a huge part of Shukaku's strategy to overwhelm his opponents and as such, mastering Shunpo came second nature to him and he drills himself in it continuously and rigidly, perhaps even as hard as the Second Division would.
Zanpakuto Name: Budo Shiso [Martial Thought]
Zanpakuto Type: Melee
Zanpakuto Spirit:
Spirit:Budo Shiso
Inner World: Inner World
Zanpakuto Sealed Description: Sealed
Shikai:.
Incantation: "Turn the tides, Budo Shinso."
Release Appearance:
Techniques:
Bunkatsu: Shukaku draws near his foe and swings his zanpakuto. Although the blow appears to come from the front, the actual attack comes from the back, aiming to distract the foe with a forward appearing attack and strike the foe in their unguarded back. Dodging is always a more favorable option as this attack is rather difficult to successfully block, usually requiring two weapons to do so.
Oshitsubusu: Shukaku either brings his blade up into the air, spins, or leaps to flip through the air while swinging his zanpakuto. Although this appears to be a normal attack, the blade is further infused with Shukaku's reiryoku and unleashes it explosively upon contact with another object. This greatly increases the force of the blow, effectively crushing any hopes of trying to defend against it on many foes of average strength. Dodging is always an option and usually more favorable.
Hikisaku: A stunningly fast slash attack that tears the air at the tip of the blade along it's trajectory, causing light to moderate lacerations, extending the effective range of the blade for the duration of the slash as well. Although not necessary, the majority of the time the blow is struck from a drawing stance rather than a formal one. This improves the speed of the attack when used, however, it takes more time to set up.
Azamuku: Reaching out and attempting to slide through the foe's guard, Shukaku tries to place a hand on the opponent and pass by them, directing them casually into a direction via a light push. If this succeeds, the actual attack kicks in, a spiritual slash aiming at the part of the opponent's body that was made contact with, seeking to cut it open. Although the attack is able to be dodged at two different points, it allows for a great surprise attack and set up because if contact is established, it allows for the actual attack to be followed up or engaged simultaneously by other techniques.
Ouen: A defensive attack and proof that Shukaku's Shikai is not lost at a range. This move backs Shukaku up in a sense, giving him a massive amount of stability so long as he stands still, allowing him to hold his ground against attacks that would normally send him flying and even counter attack them. As a secondary defense and adding an offensive option on this attack, by pointing his zanpakuto at an object, he can fire a small, weak, fast moving beam at his opponent much like an arrow. The true downside to this technique is that he gets only one or the other and cannot get both in rapid succession.
Bankai
Bankai Name: Budo Renin [Martial Philosophy]
Bankai Incantation: "Timeless like war, Budo Renin."
Release Appearance: Unlike most zanpakuto which may not change until Bankai, Shukaku's doesn't change at all, retaining the same appearance even at the peak of its power, also showcasing it's function to the name.
Abilities:
Uchikatsu: A seriously improved version of Oshitsubusu, Shukaku can perform a wide variety of physical blows, with or without his weapon, with an astounding amount of five times their normal power. With Oshitsubusu having given him enough force to make many foes reconsider the idea of blocking, this attack will often banish the thought entirely to all but the strongest of foes.
Arasu: Holding his zanpakuto out to his side, Shukaku generates a red, suppressive aura. With a swing, he generates a powerful wave of energy that tears through the ground towards his target, following up closely on the heels of the wave to either chain it together with another attack, a sword combo, or surprise attack his foe.
Youshou: Shukaku performs a fast, dashing thrust at his foe. Although this appears no different from a normal high speed thrust, the damage that the body receives is not necessarily to the attacked body part. This move's unusual ability is that it effectively controls where the damage is done if the blow is landed via Shukaku naming the desired body part in question. Extensive testing of this attack has shown that there are also several limits to it. The first is that damage is dealt as if it where a slash. The second is that damage inflicted is nonlethal. The third is that desired targets must be ones immediately visible to Shukaku. With these limitations in mind, this means he cannot directly attack the brain, heart, lungs or other vital body parts of his foes, although this move works through clothing. Additionally, he for some reason cannot target the eyes directly, but he can target above them so that blood could run over the eye to help blind his foe.
