[Spirit Class | Hazard ] Ichikata Ren

» Name: Ichikata Ren
» Alias: Ichiban, by his former classmates. (A joke about his poor performance.)
» Age: 53
» Gender: Male

» Association
- Gotei United, 8th Division Unseated ('Assistant')

» Appearance Written
Ren has no wish to stand out. Thankfully, he has rather plain features: black hair, dark eyes, skin only a little paler than usual. Some things stand out however, for instance one can see a tiredness apparent in everything he does. Dark bags line his eyes. His movements are usually a little sluggish, as though he is reluctant to get where he's going.

In terms of clothing, he wears the standard Shihakushō with no modifications aside from a small Ichikata clan insignia hanging from his obi. Though he'd rather not; he doesn't have the gall to go against his relatives. When not in uniform, he wears a white shirt under a dark blue kimono, with white hakama bottoms.

» Appearance Image



» Personality
Meek is the word most commonly used to describe Ren. He is deferential to almost anyone, unwilling to stand up for himself or inconvenience others. Often, he is taken advantage for this. When his family or his superiors wish something from him, he gives it without second thought.

Desires are something foreign to him, all his life he has gone along with the wishes of others. As a consequence, he does not know how to impose himself; does not know what he wants, does not really even know who he is.

He attempts to be a people-pleaser but his wimpiness infuriates just as many, if not more, than are won over this way. His proctors and teachers in the Academy chastised him to no avail, his classmates felt little pity for the consistently lowest-ranked underachiever, his superiors in the Gotei lament his poor performance, and his family are the most disappointed.


» History
Ren was born in the Seireitei, to the Ichikata clan. As is tradition in the family, he was raised exclusively by his mother Aoi. His mother did not take well to the task at all.

Weak and slothful, Ren spent the first decades of his life skimping through every lesson anyone ever tried to teach him. While he did everything anyone ever asked of him, he did so with the least effort possible. Compounded with his lack of skill in... anything, the results were very poor. His spiritual pressure was barely even enough to be eligible for the Academy.

The clan would've thrown him into the 80th District if there had even been the remotest chance of a second heir. Unfortunately for them, Ren's father was the only other remaining male in the family - and he was bedridden. Adoption was further out of the question because of the nature of their Zanpakuto.

Much like the Ise Clan, the Ichikata do not imprint their souls upon Asauchi like most Shinigami. Instead, they pass down a Zanpakuto from generation to generation. Because of the low birth rate among shinigami unions, there tends to only be one eligible wielder for many, many years at a time.

When he was of a proper age, Ren was put into the Academy in the hopes it would toughen him up. Throughout his tenure at the Academy, which lasted for a whopping 12 years, Ren used a simple reinforced katana instead of an Asauchi. The clan could not risk him imprinting upon another Zanpakuto, but he could not use the sword before his father had passed on.

After double the time it takes the average student, Ren at last graduated after barely passing the Hakuda, Hohō, Kidō, and Zanjutsu tests. Barely. Some even say the teachers bumped his grade a bit to get him out of their hair. Regardless, he was placed in the 8th Divison as he showed no aptitude for anything in particular.

His time in the 8th has been utterly uneventful. More or less useless in combat, he has been relegated to menial tasks such as cleaning and ferrying papers. No one in the Division is quite sure what to do with him - he rarely even leaves their headquarters aside from going home to be chewed out by his mother and aunts.

This was all his life amounted to, until his father's illness claimed him. At 52 years old, Ren was finally the new clan head - despite his position being more or less a figurehead puppet for his relatives.

With the death of his father, Ren has finally inherited the clan's Zanpakuto. The daunting task of living up to expectations lies ahead of him.


» Natural Abilities
Ren is consistently below-average in every skill a Shinigami has. The only exception to this mediocrity is his natural durability, an almost unnatural resistance to damage - perhaps built up from decades of disciplinary action. Regardless - without a reliable way to do much in the way of damage, his superiors aren't exactly writing home about him. At least it makes it easier for him to avoid getting himself killed.

His skills in swordmanship and kido were just enough to graduate, and he hasn't gone out of his way to learn much more than that. Luck has to be on his side to avoid tripping while performing Hohō. There'd be a chance he'd break his arm rather than the wooden board while performing Hakuda were it not for his sturdiness.


» Zanpakutō Name: Anata (あなた)

» Zanpakutō Spirit
Also known as 'The Observer.' It resides in the center of Ren's Inner World, sitting or standing. Currently it possess no discernible shape or size, merely a fuzzy grey outline. Its hypothetical size changes wildly depending on the movement of the viewer's eyes, ranging from the size of a regular human to imperceptibly tiny or unimaginably large. It's always 'normal' sized when directly looking at it.

It seems to possess only simple, instinctual thoughts and actions at the moment. It expresses ideas in basic, constituent parts; ''round,' 'red,' 'tasty.' (An apple.) Its intelligence and capabilities will grow as it comes into form.

Likewise, it seems to possess very little in terms of a personality. There is no malice, no affection. It does have wants though, and will ask questions in search of answers. It is completely able to understand normal speech, despite its current inability to use it.

» Example Image (May strain eyes)

Spoiler:

» Inner World
A formless black void. Everything that happens here is best conceptualized like the projection of a thought: akin to trying to picture an apple. The definition of objects is entirely dependent upon the 'strength' of the user's mind, in Ren's case it is currently populated by vague shapes with a fuzzy grey border. A large grey ring seems to surround the inner world, but focusing on it hurts the mind and makes it no clearer. Sounds are also unclear or muffled, but 'ideas' are conveyed completely clearly.

» Sealed Zanpakutō Appearance
An extremely ornate sword, Anata in its sealed form has an engraved golden hilt and dark brown grip. The sheath on the sword is black with embossed golden floral designs. The blade appears masterfully crafted, with a darker grey color steel than usual. A wavy shine to the sword stretches down to the point. In all, the extravagant katana looks supremely out of place on the plain Ren.


» Shikai Release Phrase: Submerge, Anata.

» Shikai Release Action: The Zanpakuto is held sideways - hilt to tip, left to right.

» Shikai Appearance
Once released, the sword actually becomes simpler. The gold accents and fancy grip are gone - replaced with with what appears to be a completely ordinary Asauchi with a black grip and simple circle tsuba.

» Shikai Abilities
Activating shikai allows one of Ren’s ancestral ego-memories to take over his body temporarily, enabling a sort of auto-mode whereby his ancestor can fight on his behalf. The ancestor-ego has access to all of their own memories and skills, which Ren can peer into in the meantime. During this time he is not actualized, anything he learns cannot simply be applied later. (He can't use this to become instantly good at something.)

For instance, if an ancestor who was supremely skilled in Kido takes over then they will use Ren’s body to perform Kido he himself could not perform. There are limits to this though: his level in that skill can only become as high as his own highest skill normally, up to a max of Master.

Additionally, all his other skills while using Shikai will drop to his lowest normal skill. (i.e. Even if he were a ‘maxed out’ character, the most this skill could ever do would be Master in 1 skill and Advanced in everything else.)

Each activation can last no shorter than 3 rounds of posts and with every round past 5, the ancestor-ego begins to attempt to wrest permanent control of the body (so a max of say, 8/9.)

---

No user of Anata has ever achieved Bankai. The activation releases any barrier separating the self from the hordes of ego-memories, allowing those who wish to live again to fight an internal war for dominance.

One requires a supremely cemented sense of self - and in most cases, powerful ancestors with the restraint and power to help instead of hinder - otherwise the dominant soul-memory will subsume the true soul. Without an exception, every Ichikata who has undergone this process has been killed. It is the greatest sin in the clan.



General Skills
» Durability: Elite
» Speed: Beginner
» Strength: Beginner
» Martial Skill: Beginner

Will Skills
» Willpower: Untrained
» Deduction: Beginner
» Focus: Untrained

Shinigami Skills
» Hoho: Beginner
» Kidō: Beginner
» Zanjutsu: Beginner
» Hakuda: Beginner


» Roleplay Sample
Ren tracked his mother's movements across the room. Wide, dark eyes slowly crossed left, right, left, right. She was pacing back and forth, bare feet plodding on the tatami, head in her hand.

"Why can't you just-" The words dissolved into a low sigh.

Do your duty! she thought. It'd been how long? He still hadn't even learned the Zanpakuto's name yet!

She stared exasperatedly at the wooden checkerboard ceiling. She returned her gaze to her son's troubled face. Then said, "Well?"

Bashful eyes met hers for a moment, retreated to the unfurled scrolls on the paper walls that read 'Ichikata' and then were cast onto the floor. Ren sat in seiza. The form was poor.

"I didn't think it was that important," he whimpered. Aoi rolled her eyes at I didn't think and turned her back on him. A small altar with a portrait of her husband sat on an old chabudai that'd been pushed up against the wall. It, and the pillow in front of it, were worn by years of use. Yet he'd only died a few months ago - they'd eaten at that table every day, she wistfully recalled.

"Why," Ren said from behind her. He licked his lips and swallowed, trying to prevent himself from stammering. "Why can't we just wait for one of my aunts - or one of your cousins - to have a son?" A moment of silence passed. Clearing his throat, he spoke in a low tone and said: "I still haven't imprinted on it. I can always just get an asauchi."

Aoi stood there, seemingly lost in thought, before turning her head ever so slightly. She opened her mouth, closed it. Ren could've noticed a tear there, had he thought to look up.

"Just go."

With that, he was up and moving towards the door. He almost tripped on the transition, clumsily put his sandals on and slipped outside. The slider closed with a thud. Ren hastily made his way through the garden and out of the complex.

Another Shinigami stood outside the gate. The man looked back at the 'rookie' in his plain shihakusho. The ornate Zanpakuto that hung on his hip was so out of place that it almost looked like he had stolen it. Ren stood sheepishly, eyes staring down the road to the left as he chewed his lip.

"Come on, Ichiban. Back to work," he said - though in his mind he chuckled.