Merrick Hunai Iwasaki [WIP]

» Name: Merrick Hunai Iwasaki
» Alias: Merry-chan, Mer-Mer
» Age: 202
» Gender: Male

» Association: Thirteen Court Guard Squads

» Appearance Written: Merrick takes his appearance after the historical 6th Squad Captain Byakuya Kuchiki by having an expensive scarf around his neck and having long black hair. He also has a tattoo that runs from the shoulders down to his calves of roses and a dragon wrapping around him.

Merrick has developed a muscular/athletic physique through his training both in and out of the academy. He usually wears his Shinigami attire as he strolls through the Soul Society, until he is at home with his father, relaxing somewhere, or trying to impress the ladies. At that point, he will walk around shirtless.

» Appearance Image:



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» Personality: Merrick is a determined and deep-in-thought soul, full of compassion, and a sense of duty. Growing up in a family where in spite of their wealth, they always valued hard work made Merrick become the same way. He is inquisitive about different things in life, which helps drive him to study and understand the world around him.

When his mother passed, he became more convinced about his calling to fight for justice in the Soul Society and perhaps the world at large. He also started taking after his favorite Captain Byakuya Kuchiki who has devoted himself to the laws and traditions of the land.

Merrick has been heavily involved in music from a young age and with that, he takes time out of his day to practice the Koto and Shakuhachi either in the forest or at home with his father. He occasionally participates in parties and festivals in his home district in order to balance out his training with some rest and recuperation.

As he grew up in the Soul Society, he developed a deep love for the ladies as well and has a tendency to want to flirt and show off for them. Being a Shinigami does have it's days of loneliness, so Merrick also longs to have a special lady in his arms.

» Likes: Music ○ Nature ○ Training ○ Truth ○ Women

» Dislikes: Lies ○ Corruption ○ Poverty ○ Irresponsibility ○ Injustice


» History:

Merrick was born into a lesser known noble family in the Soul Society who valued hard work and wise decision making. His mother Yumi was a fashion designer for noble families and his father Miroku was a musician, being trained in the Koto and Shakuhachi. Miroku performed at grand banquets and festivals for other rich and/or noble families, making significant amounts of money. Growing up, Merrick developed a deep love for music being exposed to a higher level of education in the arts and learned to play the same instruments as his new father.

In his mid-teens, Merrick had a dream of standing in a grand throne room of a castle in the middle of great mountains. He would walk about the majestic halls, calling out “Hello,” hearing it echo through the castle walls. He then suddenly heard the sounds of a Shakuhachi echoing through the halls. Looking around he would see statues of what seemed to be kings and noblemen of various kinds. Making his way down the halls, the sound of the instrument grew louder until he entered what was large planetarium. Each of the planets were standing stiff in midair as if held by a powerful force. Only then, he saw two human looking energy figures appear a few feet away, one was black and the other was white. They whispered his name as if to entice him or like they were trying to place him under some kind of mind control. Before Merrick could respond in any way, he felt the room around him began to shift rapidly startling him awake.

The second time he had the dream, the same thing happened again. At this point, Merrick was terrified of falling asleep; knowing that something frightening was awaiting him. When he told his father Miroku, he sensed the dream was given to him for a reason and told Merrick to let the dream draw him into whatever is happening. Later that night, he relaxed with a bit of meditation and then went to bed.

Finding himself at the same castle with the sunrise was relaxing, but realizing that he could be experience the same thing again brought back some of those same fears. He travelled down the halls and found himself walking into the same room with the planetarium in the center. The planets were plated with gold and gleamed in the sunlight as Merrick approached the biggest planet in the middle. Before he touched it, Merrick saw a great bird-like energy figure appear behind him. With an even greater level of fright, the bird then approached slowly, bringing that intimidating factor to its already imposing size. Merrick asked, “What do you want?” The bird then let out a piercing cry that violently shook the room as if the force was from it’s own being before Merrick woke up gasping and panting in terror. Once he calmed down enough, he saw that the furniture in his room had been either turned over or pushed out of place by a force, convincing him that this dream had correlation to reality.

For the next few years, Merrick did not have the dream again. But the hard fact was that it stuck with him because it felt so real. Merrick used this time to actually research psychology, dreams, and mythology. Miroku was surprised that his son was actually getting into books and studying the subject, thinking that something significant must have changed Merrick. Soon, the Iwasaki Patriarch told his son about the Shinigami or Soul Reapers. They wielded swords of vast power and could actually communicate with their swords in dreams, and/or direct conversation as if they were real people. Lastly, Miroku told Merrick that this could be an indicator that he was meant to become a Shinigami.

Merrick soon began to work with former trainers for Shinigami in the Upper Districts of Rukongai, learning Hakuda and Zanjutsu. In the beginning of this training, Merrick was having difficulty grasping it feeling like a failure. But with motivation from his instructors, he persevered until he became fluent in said arts, treating it like music with rhythm and flow. One night, while Merrick and his parents were traveling through the Middle District of Rukongai, they had encountered a group of thieves who were trying to mug them for their money and possessions. The young Iwasaki begged the men to leave them alone, but the thugs were persistent in their efforts. It was then that Merrick sprang into action and used his learned hakuda skills in order to defend his family and managed to scare off almost all of the thieves. He then heard a squelching sound and his father screaming out loud his mother’s name. Turning around, he saw the last thief laugh and run away as his Yumi laid lifeless bleeding all over the ground. Between the time of his mother being pronounced dead and her funeral, Merrick became even more certain that his calling was to be Shinigami to protect the Soul Society and avenge Yumi Iwasaki.

Over the next four years at the Shinigami academy, Merrick found himself training harder than he ever has in own life before. The strict nature of his instructors, the fact that there were no grading curves, and the rigorous training made him reevaluate his own place in the world. At first, he hated being at the academy wanting to quit several times. But remembering what his father told him about his responsibility to the Soul Society as a Shinigami and the conviction to seek justice for his mother pushed him to keep going. Soon Merrick found himself getting the hang of kido and shunpo, being able to use these in an artistic fashion similar to his musical skills. Also being a young Shinigami, he had a deep love and desire for the ladies. So he would often perform his skills in front of them to impress them. For the most part, he managed to win the attention of most of the girls in class with a few wanting to actually date him.

The last portion of his training at the academy was his zanpakuto, learning its name, release phrase, and initial powers. Two months went by and Merrick could not communicate with his sword, it seemed as if the spirit of the sword was deliberately trying to shut him out. This began to worry Merrick’s deep down, feeling like a failure of the worst kind because the most important factor of a Shinigami was out of reach for him. But one night as he was about to fall asleep, he remembered what his father said about letting the dream happen upon him. So Merrick sat on the floor and began to practice deep meditation with his Ausachi in his lap, focusing on the dream he had years ago.

He suddenly felt his soul drawn into a vortex and woke up in the same room where the planetarium was. Merrick then saw the two black and white energy figures appear on either side of the planetarium. The one on Merrick’s left spoke with solemn bass-filled authority, “You are not ready to learn our names, Merrick.” The young Shinigami was confused as he questioned, “What do you mean? I have been through all the essential training to be a Shinigami except this one.” The one on the right chimed in with more cheerful upbeat tone, “You’re missing the other half of your true zanpakuto. Until you have it, we cannot properly allow you to fight us.” Suddenly, both figures cast Merrick out of the inner world and he woke back up in the Soul Society.

A week passes by as Merrick was stressed and confused at the thought of what his sword spirits said to him about the other half of his true zanpakuto, since he was holding a complete Ausachi in his hand. It then dawned on him that the spirits said “our names,” and “missing the other half,” meaning that Merrick was meant to have a dual zanpakuto. After speaking with his instructors about receiving another Ausachi because of the word of his spirits, they obliged to fulfill his request. As Merrick looked at both of the blank swords in his hands, he was convinced deep down that he was ready to finally learn the names of his zanpakuto.

Later that night, Merrick went deep into the forest of the training grounds with both swords in his possession. He found a large clearing with tall grass and sat down in the middle, planting his Ausachi blades into the ground. He then began to meditate, focusing his energy towards the two blank katanas and soon found himself in an open room with statues all around him and a book on a stand in the center. With confidence and determination, Merrick cried out, “Spirits of my zanpakuto, it time for me to become worthy of your names!” Without missing a beat, the book began to glow with a black and white aura and the room was starting to shake. From the book in the center came the sounds of a Shakuhachi as two energy figures landing on either side, morphing completely into two male warriors. Both were in the same type of robe except one was in black, the other in white and the one in white playing the musical instrument.

The one in black spoke solemnly, “We represent the force that one wields through concentration. We are the very power that creates and destroys all things.” The man in white cheerfully exclaimed, “If you can best us at the same time in battle, you will have the means to reshape the world around you, Merrick!” Suddenly, the one in white charged straight at the Shinigami, clashing swords with him as Merrick used both blades to block his horizontal slash. “Bad idea,” said the spirit in black and before Merrick realized what he meant and where he was, the man had quickly cut him across his mid-back. Crying out in pain as blood trickled down, Merrick jumped out of the way keeping his guard up while trying to mentally block the pain of his wound.

The two spirits connected blades, causing black and white psychic energy to surge between them. Then appeared several energy sword constructs that fired at the young Shinigami, intent on shredding him. With as much speed as he could muster, he jumped high into the air, avoiding it while unleashing a kido, “Hadō #33-Sokatsui!” A beam of energy formed in Merrick’s right hand and blasted towards the two spirits, only to miss at the last second as they separated from each other. Merrick then proceeded to kick off of the wall behind him and charge towards the one in black who cut him earlier. Swinging his sword down in efforts to cut him, the spirit in black quickly blocked Merrick’s sword with a solemn expression on his face. Grunting in frustration, the Shinigami used his right leg to kick the spirit in the chest, successfully knocking him back a few feet. Just as Merrick landed on the ground, the spirit in white double kicked him straight into the wall with a crash.

Merrick felt the pain from the cut on his back become worse, breathing deeply in order to focus back on the fight and help ease it some. Getting back up to his feet, he suddenly saw a large energy chain trapping him in place so that he could not move at all. He looked at the two warriors who were using their hands in a binding motion, bringing those familiar fears up again. The two warriors prepared to charge at him with their swords ready to land a fatal blow at the Shinigami. But remembering that the spirits mentioned that they represent a force obtained through concentration, Merrick then closed his eyes, breathed deeply, and concentrated. Just as they were closing in on him, Merrick focused on one thing, break free and move. With a great deal of effort, Merrick finally broke free of the psychic chains and saw the gap in the spirits’ maneuver. Merrick wasted no time by dodging and stabbed them both in the heart at the same time. As they gasped in shock from such a strike, they transformed back into energy figures and were absorbed into Merrick’s Ausachi. The blades began to glow with black and white auras as Merrick was relieved from having to fight two against one.

Suddenly, in a bright flash of light, Merrick then woke up back in the forest where his blades and body were overflowing with energy. The Shinigami then grabbed his swords, held one with the blade facing down and the other horizontally crossing it like a religious cross in front of him as he victoriously cried out, “Sai Kochiku, Kororo to Ishi! (Reconstruct, Mind and Will!)” The blades released a series of omni-directional energy waves that released the sound of a low and high pitch instrument, causing a number of trees to be cut down by the sheer force of this release. Merrick then beheld the sight of his newly released blades, pleased to know that he will now graduate as a full-fledge Shinigami as he felt their power coursing through his veins.

Over the next few years, in the midst of becoming part of the Sixth Squad, Merrick had a high level of admiration for his Captain Byakuya Kuchiki. His commitment to the laws of the Soul Society and fighting against all enemies of this organization was the kind of leader Merrick was looking for. One day, Miroku mentioned to Merrick that his mother made something for him before her passing. In his mother’s closet, there was a long black box and inside was a beautiful silver-white silk scarf, made just like the one for the Kuchiki clan. With this item of clothing place neatly and gracefully wrapped around Merrick’s neck, he was convinced that not only would he be able to imitate his favorite Captain, but he also would have a piece of his mother with him always as he went to fight for just as a Shinigami in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads.



» Natural Abilities: [What kind of skills or abilities does your character have naturally? This can span from above average strength, to a large amount of skill in swordsmanship.]


» Racial Abilities: [You can put any customized racial skills/abilities/techniques in here. These can range from shunpo, kido, zanjutsu and anything else you want to add. Feel free to skip it if you don't want to fill it out.]


» Zanpakutō Name: [What is your shinigami's zanpakutō's name?]

» Zanpakutō Spirit: [What does your zanpakutō spirit look like? How does it behave? Please use a picture or 1 paragraph for its appearance and at least two paragraph's with five sentences for its personality.]

» Inner World: [What is your shinigami's inner world like?]

» Sealed Zanpakutō Appearance: [What does your shinigami's zanpakutō look like? A picture or written bio will do. You can also do both if you wish]

» Sealed Zanpakutō Power: [Over the years, shinigami have evolved to the point where they now have special powers even when sealed. As such, does your character have special ability or power when not released? Try not to go overboard. If you do not have one, just erase this section]


» Shikai Release Phrase: [What is your zanpakutō's release phrase?]

» Shikai Release Action: [Does your shinigami do any physical action to release their shikai? Feel free to remove this if not.]

» Shikai Appearance: [What does your shinigami look like when released?]

» Shikai Abilities: [What abilities does your shinigami gain when releasing?]


» Bankai Name: [What is your zanpakutō's release phrase?]

» Bankai Release Action: [Does your shinigami do any physical action to release their bankai? Feel free to remove this if not.]

» Bankai Appearance: [What does your shinigami's bankai look like?]

» Bankai Abilities: [What abilities does your shinigami gain in bankai?]


» Equipment: [If your shinigami has any equipment? Put it here. If they don't, skip this section.]


(To Find Out about what these skills are for, please READ THIS THREAD before you try doing anything to it)

General Skills
» Durability: Elite/Advanced/Adept/Beginner/Untrained
» Speed: Elite/Advanced/Adept/Beginner/Untrained
» Strength: Elite/Advanced/Adept/Beginner/Untrained
» Martial Skill: Elite/Advanced/Adept/Beginner/Untrained

Will Skills
» Willpower: Elite/Advanced/Adept/Beginner/Untrained
» Deduction: Elite/Advanced/Adept/Beginner/Untrained
» Focus: Elite/Advanced/Adept/Beginner/Untrained

Shinigami Skills
» Hoho: Elite/Advanced/Adept/Beginner/Untrained
» Kidō: Elite/Advanced/Adept/Beginner/Untrained
» Zanjutsu: Elite/Advanced/Adept/Beginner/Untrained
» Hakuda: Elite/Advanced/Adept/Beginner/Untrained


» Roleplay Sample: [Please show us how you role play by either posting a previous post from another site or creating a new one. We do this so we know your RP skill. If you already have an accepted, you need not do another RP sample]