Kishin Ishida

Character's Name: Ishida Kishin
Species: Obakeneko
Nationality: Taigorrian (Japanese.)
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Marital Status: singleish
Occupation: Wakou,
Hair Color: Crimson tipped with black
Eye Color: Crimson
Fur/Skin Color: Tawny
Markings: Stripes
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 170lbs

Family: Ishida clan

Weapons: Zanryuken, the dragon cutting sword. A tachi enchanted for dragon slaying. The sword requires Kishin’s own energy for its power to become active: in essence, he has to concentrate on the weapon to get the enchantment to work.

Daishou: two swords of the samurai, katana and wakizashi. Kishin’s Katana is named “Onekotsume” and the wakizashi is named “Konekotsume”: respectively “big cat’s claw” and “little cat’s claw”. Both weapons are carried in black saya with crimson samehada: the blades have a suguha hamon with an ikari kissaki. Given that both of Kishin’s blades are of the Bizen School, it is natural that they have Bizen Sori, or a curve near the waist of the blade.

Special Abilities: "ken ore, ya mo tsuki" or "with swords broken and without an arrow": basically using everything he’s got on hand. Kishin’s been trained in Ishida-Ryu Ansatsuken (Ishida style assassinating fist). Emphasizing sudden direct strikes in the fashion of battou-do and intercepting strikes in the fashion of jeet-kune-do.

Kishin has an alternative form: a giant, flaming cat. Size ranges anywhere from a large horse to a large building depending upon time. It works in reverse too: he can shrink to the size of a large house cat (no less than one kan). Transformations upwards leave him drained for hours. The transformation can be manipulated to an extent: given time, he can increase his muscle mass, or speed, but not both at the same time. Like other transformations, this too leaves him drained.

Obakeneko are a variety of yokai, closely related to the nekomata. While they might not possess their cousin species' formidable necromantic abilities, they do share their resistance to fire and fire based things, and their resistance to negative energy.

Taking into account his training and his supernatural nature, Kishin has a degree of chi and fire control: one tends to flow with the other. Aside from that his claws and teeth are formidable weapons in their own right. Also, a distant throwback from his nekomata cousin would be his ability to “smell” the undead.

Weaknesses:

While powerful in his own right, Kishin has a vast number of weaknesses to balance out his apparent strengths. He is uncouth and quick to anger. This, coupled with his complete disregard for authority figures tends to get him into a number of fights.

He retains his samurai code of honor, though not the haughty arrogance that came along with nobility: this was something that his father ensured that he lost. Despite this, Kishin's honor is a sticking point for him and, despite all odds; he will go to extreme lengths to assuage a blot on his honor.

As a wakou, Kishin does not interact well with certain kinds of people: constabulary, nobility, priests, and anyone who claims to be his superior without first proving it. Kishin requires proof and reason for him to offer forth respect to anyone, or anything for that matter. In this, he is prickly to work with. He tends to detest samurai and those who pretend to a legacy in the same manner.

On the physical side, Kishin tires quickly after usage of chi and he tires quickly after transforming upwards into his giant and medium feline forms. His abilities with Chi all come from within his body, as it is more difficult to force something to give up its energy, especially when it does not want to. As Ki and Chi are ones life force or spiritual power, Kishin is weakened after large usage of the power: the more Ki he uses for a specific ability, the more tired he will be afterwards. Some Ki abilities leave Kishin near collapse.

Summoning his flames and his chi at the same time, in the form of a burning, chi powered punch for example, will weaken Kishin almost twice as fast as normal. He avoids summoning both save for final attacks.

A great deal of energy must be expended on Kishin's part to assume a massive feline form, so much so that transforming back will leave him in a weakened state. Furthermore, using the transformation to increase his muscle mass is also dangerous: it requires concentration and control, and it also leaves Kishin physically drained for hours. In essence, Kishin must push his body to assume the larger form, the strain placed upon his body must be mended by resting: hence, when he transforms, he tends to have a good reason to do it, typically to fight a creature of equivalent size or power. When transformed, Kishin cannot use his chi abilities as they require focus and a more “elevated” mind.

With regards to his durability when transformed, it is directly proportional to his size: if Kishin exists as a feline the size of a house, it will take more than a simple sword blow to do him in. If Kishin exists as a feline the size of a house cat, sitting on him, shooting him with an arrow, or anything that might fell a house cat will do him in. Of course, in his normal, furre form, Kishin is vulnerable to most maladies of otherwise mundane furres.

Wounds taken when in a larger form are retained by the smaller form.

Kishin possesses no magical skill what, so, ever: he does not know how to cast spells, any other magical techniques. He perceives magic as a motion of energy, a disturbance through the overall chi, but not as "magic". However, he can be wounded, hurt, and killed by most magic. Of course, he does resist fire and negative energy for the most part.

As an obakeneko, a variety of youkai, Kishin can be stopped by wards or barriers against evil spirits. He cannot enter rooms that have been warded against evil, and spells that push away evil spirits will drive him back. He has a strong aversion to places that are purified and cannot summon his chi within them. Bindings, things designed to seal evil spirits, work to some degree on him: they can pin down his movement, prevent him from summoning flames, or keep him from touching his chi. It should be noted that "anti-demon" spells and wards do nothing to him: he is not a demon, more of a monster.

Kishin is mortal-ish: he can be killed without the usage of specialized weapons against a “race” or sub-type. Infections, however, hold little threat to Kishin himself.

Kishin's speed is hampered, severely, by armor: he chooses not to wear it for this reason. This is a double edged sword as Kishin has little protection against another's steel, save his own.

Kishin is farely useless when wielding anything other than a long sword, two long swords, or a spear. While he understands the tactical usage of guns, bows, and other ranged weapons, he is fundamentally useless when using them in combat.

Physical Description: Well muscled, fluffy tail, goatee, stripes, dragon tattoo on his arm, dragon motifs on his yukata. Two katanas in obi at all times. Sometimes wears gauntlets.