Name: Carlos "Hook" Vivo
Age: 24
Bounty: 0
Species: Human
Occupation: Swordsman, Helmsman
Allegiance: Marine, Lieutenant
Home Village/Ocean: West Blue
Appearance: On first glance, Carlos is probably the first guy that anyone would choose to fight if he had the choice. He has an incredibly thin build, making him look weak and helpless, but he is everything but. Carlos is about 1.75 meters tall, and is packed with farmboy charm that adds to his innocent appearance. His light brown hair is the wildest hair in the West blue. It can never be straightened nor combed, and will always look like a massive bush that rests on top of Carlos' head, with tendrils pointing to all directions and covering parts of his forehead and matching brown eyes. The hair gives Carlos an informal appearance, and to cancel it out, he usually walks around with a hood that hides his hair. The hoody is brown with a few red marks over it, is quite old, and is worn over Carlos' marine uniform. Carlos usually carries a wooden tooth peak or a grass blade in his mouth, to distract him from smoking. He wears his marine uniform loosely, with his pants tied to his waists with a piece of simple rope most of the time. That rope is also holding both of his hook swords in position. He has a slightly sharp nose, and a few freckles on his nose bridge. Carlos usually stays away from expensive clothing as it might get damaged during his fights, so he usually walks around with cheap marine boots or a pair of simple wooden sandals.
History: Carlos was born in a small island in West Blue, close to Reverse Mountain, where many pirates pass in order to get to the Grand Line. Because of the island's location, it was always infested with pirates. The pirates were a huge burden, every pirate crew that came to island either stole from the villagers or fought the other pirate crews who were on the island, causing collateral damage to both population and property. The pirate problem affected the entire island, reducing many to poor states and costing lives to many families. Marine forces gave up on the island's safety, since no marine force could be held in the island long enough to completely protect it from the constant stream of pirates.
Carlos' father was a very powerful swordsman, the village's best swordsman. Because he was the best, he was unofficially in charge of keeping the pirates under control. He occasionally needed to fight against the pirates, making him suffer both physically and mentally. He was exhausted and wounded, but he just couldn't let the pirates terrorize the island without anything to stop them. Carlos, who watched his father's life slowly fading, wished to replace the man, and give his father the chance to live again. He wished to become the island's new best swordsman and save his father from this cursed title.
To achieve his goal, he secretly trained for many years, ever since he was 6 and could actually hold a weapon. He tried every sword he saw and every martial art he saw but could never master any of them, they just didn't fit. He kicked every log and punched every wall he could find and than he would come home to watch his dad fighting for his life. This became his life's routine: training and getting frustrated of the poor results he managed to get, coming home and watching what his secret failures caused. It scarred his mind, he couldn't believe how incompetent he was in comparison to his father. He felt useless, skill less, and mostly weak.
When he was 15, Carlos was sent to to the towns blacksmith to pick up a new sword for his dad to fight with, the old one broke after a single month. As he looked for his father's new sword inside the small shop, that was still damaged from last night's pirate raid, he noticed 2 swords the likes of which he never saw before. They were designed with a hook at the end and a spearhead at the bottom, Hook swords. For reasons unknown to Carlos, he felt that these swords were his future, these swords are the swords that he was meant to have. They were different, and were like nothing Carlos ever tried before, and since everything else failed, these swords just had to work. "How much for these sir?" Carlos asked the blacksmith, hoping they would be as cheap as the pack of gum he had in his pocket. "These are not for sale young man" the blacksmith answered, "These swords are my pried, I will only give them to someone worthy of possessing them". Carlos couldn't give up, his father's life depended on it, he just knew it, he had to convince the blacksmith somehow. "Well sir" Carlos said, "I hate to ask you for such a priced possession, but you must understand my reasoning. You see, my father is getting weak, he is getting crushed under the pressure of this island's protection, and no matter how hard I trained over the years, I just couldn't get good enough. However, when I look at these swords, I can see something like I've never seen before, they're my hope to save my father" Carlos said, hoping he could get to the blacksmith.
Seeing the fire in Carlos' eyes as he gave his speech, the blacksmith decided to give the boy a try. He was after all the son of their village's hero. And Carlos was right, these swords were a complete match. He controlled them perfectly, like he held them from the day he was born. And the blacksmith kept his promise, he gave Carlos the swords.
Carlos than decided to save his father. He simply waited for the next pirate crew to show up and when they did, he jumped into action. Alongside his surprised father, he managed to take down several pirates, showing sword skills that he never knew he had.
His father saw the boy's skills and confronted him. "Son, I've never thought I'll be overpowered by my own child but I was wrong. You made me very proud son, the proudest father in the world if I may say. But if you really wish to help this village, you need to leave it". "But dad," Carlos said, "How can I protect an island if I'm not in it?". "Join the marines my son, fight pirates wherever they are. You'll be saving much more lives by doing that than by staying here. Make me proud son, do not fight for me, give me a life without battles".
And Carlos listened, he used his skills to join the marines and to protect his island, and many islands, for his father's safety.
Personality: Carlos is a swordsman in spirit, it's his dream and passion. He is incredibly proud of his sword skills, and is always looking for new challenges to prove his sword skills and make the hook blades famous around the blues, just like he promised to the blacksmith. Much like his father, Carlos is very protective of his territory, his friends and his family, and will rush to their side without hesitation, making him an ideal marine. Since his father was the one who encouraged him to join the marines, Carlos takes his job very seriously. He is proud to be a marine, and will do anything to stop and fight piracy and injustice.
Carlos' will to fight clashes with his natural hesitation, making him go against his instincts in most occasions. He will always face dangers and enemies head on, but will always fear the results. He can't be considered brave, since he spends most of his time thinking about all the possible consequences of his actions, but he will always conquer his fears. He isn't much of a socially open type, and is quite awkward around members of the other sex, a result of his shyness. He can get attached to anything, from people and animals to objects, and usually develops a special bond with whatever ship he is sailing on, and an even closer relationship with his swords.
Ship: The Hooded Justice
Ship Flag: describe
Devil Fruit: None
Special Abilities: Analytic Abilities: Carlos is able to analyze and comprehend ideas and actions much faster than other people. This allows him to analyze an opponent's fighting style quickly and retaliate with the proper techniques in order to defeat him. This skill is the result of his fears and hesitations, and is a key to his fighting style.
Helming Skills: Carlos is an excellent helmsman. He can sail any naval vehicle in existence, from massive ships to basic surfing boards. His skills allow him to pull off incredible maneuvers with relative ease, and sail through harsh conditions and dangerous climates.
Ambidextrous: From his many years of wielding dual weapons, Carlos became ambidextrous.
Learned Techniques: Former Sword Styles:
- Spoiler:
Wing Art: The first of the three arts the build Carlos' fighting style. This art is Carlos' way of moving in battle. Because Carlos only has close range attacks he needs to get as close to his opponent as he possibly can and when his close, he needs to attack and evade very quickly. With every bit of Carlos' speed, agility, coordination, reflexes and various acrobatic moves such as rollovers and somersaults, Carlos will move towards his opponent at high speed to close the gap between them and shifting the battle into close range, his specialty. This art is the fuel to Carlos' fighting style, it's what keeps him alive and let's him continue fighting. Like all three arts, Carlos' usually chooses whatever action he sees fit, and then names it accordingly.
Compilation of all Wing Art technique that have been used:
- Spoiler:
- Fire Dancing: The Fire Dance allows Carlos to run over hot stones without getting burned using quick foot work, and even tiny Geppos. He can use the same principle to run on most surfaces without hurting himself too badly, like over a blade. Used against Big World in the West Blue (Second Hooded Knights thread).
- Spring Jump: Carlos will bend his knees and perform a high jump, easily reaching a few meters over the ground. Used against Horse (Third Hooded Knights thread).
- Under the Bridge: Carlos will dash at his target and then switch to a power slide, sliding under his target's feet. Used against Horse (Third Hooded Knights thread).
- Facial Chaos: After performing the Jaw Breaker technique, Carlos will perform a reverse flip to run havoc to the opponent's face. First used against Redbeard in Las Camp (First Hooded Knights thread).
- Boomerang Surf: This move shares the principles of the Reverse Boomerang. Carlos will reverse the direction of a wave to make it easier for him to surf. Used in the Fourth Hooded Knights thread.
Fang Art: The second of the three arts that build Carlos' fighting style. This art contains all of Carlos' offensive moves. It consists of the use of his hooks, spearheads, fists, kicks and basically whatever Carlos finds harmful to his opponent. The main idea of this art is to quickly disarm his opponent with his hooks. After this is achieved, Carlos will proceed by attempting to rob his opponent off his balance and than overpowering them easily. This art is the main weapon of Carlos' arsenal, and allows him to overcome enemies who are stronger than him. Like all three arts, Carlos' usually chooses whatever action he sees fit, and then names it accordingly.
Compilation of all Fang Art technique that have been used:
- Spoiler:
- Disarm: This move can appear in many variations, and is simply meant to disarm the opponent. Usually, Carlos will grab his opponent's weapons with his hooks, and then kick the opponent away to separate him from them, but it can also appear in different ways. Worked perfectly against Don Jocobo in Las Camp (First Hooded Knights Thread).
- Counter Attack: After grabbing a solid projectile with his hooks, Carlos will fling it back at whoever shot it. This move has a lot in common with the Reverse Boomerang technique. First used against Redbeard In Las Camp (First Hooded Knights thread).
- Jaw Breaker: A highly situational move. Carlos will grab the lips of an enemy that attempts to swallow him with his hooks, stopping the mouth from closing on him. First used against Redbeard in Las Camp (First Hodoed Knights thread).
- Sinus Mosquito: A move that is meant to be used against a large target. Carlos will jam his hooks into the enemy's nose, causing pain and irritation. Used against Big World in the West Blue (Second Hooded Knights thread).
- Sweeping the Floor: Best used with Under the Bridge. Carlos will clean his opponent's feet from under him with his hooks, making him fall. Used against Horse (Third Hooded Knights thread).
- Waterworks: Carlos will simply splash water at an opponent from a nearby water source to create a diversion. Used against Tyrant (Fourth Hooded Knights thread).
- Dual Fangs: Carlos will slash with both of his swords in a powerful motion, creating the appearance of two fangs. Used against the Kuja empress in the Fifth Hooded Knights thread.
Shell Art: The third of the three arts the build Carlos' fighting style. This is art is Carlos' defense. It mainly consists of basic blocks. After blocking, Carlos will use his Fang Arts to disarm hs opponents. Being quite thin and small, Carlos usually needs to do a lot of defending until he gets an opening for a reversal, so this art is definitely an important one. This art contains Carlos' most powerful move. Like all three arts, Carlos' usually chooses whatever action he sees fit, and then names it accordingly.
Compilation of all Shell Art technique that have been used:
- Spoiler:
- Defuse: A highly situational move. Carlos will slash at a simple explosive with the sharp edge of his swords, cutting the fuse off of it. First used in Las Camp against Redbeard (First Hooded Knights Thread).
- Reverse Boomerang: Carlos' most powerful move. Unfortunately, Carlos never managed to form air blades and other air based attacks that powerful swordsman often use. For that reason Carlos invented his own unique technique he likes to call "Reverse Boomerang". By using the special shape of his hooks, his agility and his swordplay skills, Carlos is able to take control and redirect air-based sword attack by "grabbing" them with his hooks and send them back at the opponent. Carlos used this move in numerous occasions, and is one of the only moves in his arsenal that has a constant name and role.
Post Rusukaina Training: WIP
Southern Bird Style: A straight-up upgrade of the formerly known Wing Art, born from the harsh training Carlos went through in Rusukaina. This style is composed of an artillery of moves that are meant to achieve one goal: Move Carlos around. Unlike the Wing Art, this time around Carlos has a few superhuman tricks up his sleeve, most of them are the result of imitating the monstrous animals of Rusukaina island.
Vermilion Wings: Carlos will raise both of his hook swords over his head and start spinning them around, turning them into a blurry disc of rotating metal. As a result, the blades turn from a weapon to a propeller, capable of lifting Carlos clean off the ground and allow him to fly about in surprisingly-high speed (Not to be compared with Soru speed).
Vermilion Ghost: With the added experience he gained in using Soru on the island, Carlos managed to create up to 3 life-like afterimages of himself while moving around, allowing him to trick his opponent.
Vermilion Willow: Using his hook swords and various walking techniques he learned while imitating animals, Carlos can now walk on almost any surface, regardless of its angle or slipperiness.
Western Tiger Style:
Northern Tortoise Style:
Eastern Dragon Style:
Soru (From his training with the marines)
Geppo (From his training with the marines)
Weapons/Items: Check and MateCharacter Flaws: Carlos has absolutely no long range attacks in his arsenal. Because of this, as long as the opponent manages to keep his distance and doesn't use sword-fired air attacks, Carlos is completely powerless.
Goals: - To clean the West Blue from pirates, giving his father a life without battles.
- To prove his skill as a swordsman to the entire world, and make the Hook Swords famous.
Thu Apr 28, 2011 12:02 pm
