Vincent Valentine

[Kenpachi Zaraki]

Name: Vincent Valentine

Apparent Age: Late 20s, approximately 27
Actual Age: 62
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Red
Height: 6'0"

Appearance:
[float=right][/float]
Vincent appears to to be a man in his late 20's, standing approximately six feet tall. He has a deceivingly light frame, his wiry form belying his impressive strength. A mane of messy, jet black hair falls past his shoulders to about mid-back, kept in place by a crimson bandanna. He typically wears a high-collared and buckled mantle along with a long, tattered cloak, both of the same red hue, over a black cloth-and-leather body suit adorn with buckles and straps. On his feet he sports a pair of pointed golden sabatons, matching the golden gauntlet he wears on his left arm. His other hand is obscured by a standard leather glove. Vincent carries his prized handgun, Cerberus, kept secure in the holster strapped to his right leg. What little flesh Vincent keeps visible is strikingly pale.

Personality:
Vincent is known for being a man of few words. Quiet and calculating, he prefers to fade into the background when in public and is not known to draw attention to himself without good reason. Due to his appearance and demeanor, he sometimes comes across as cold or uncaring, though he is compassionate and protective toward his friends. When meeting new people Vincent remains on guard, sizing up a possible opponent before speaking.

Abilities & Combat Style:
Trained as a Turk by the Shinra Corporation, Vincent is skilled in subterfuge and stealth. His preferred mode of attack is ranged, as he excels in gun-slinging. An exceptional magic-user, Vincent complements his ranged style with spells, both white and black, defensive and offensive. All this being said, he is not afraid to throw a punch when needed. Following the experimentation on his body at the hands of Professor Hojo, Vincent gained enhanced strength and reflexes. Light on his feet, he rarely remains still when fighting, often choosing to employ acrobatics to avoid enemy attacks rather than take them head-on. A keen tactician, he utilizes strategy and makes use of his environment to improve his odds.

Moves:

Cerberus
[spoiler][/spoiler]
Vincent’s weapon of choice, a specially designed triple-barreled, triple-cylindered revolver. It is adorn with intricate scroll-work patterns down the barrels, each barrel terminating with a dog’s head, symbolizing the tri-headed Cerberus of Greek mythology. From the grip hangs a charm in the shape of the mythical dog with a single wing. Though referred to as a revolver, the barrels make the gun closer to the size of a sawed-off shotgun, its unique default firing pattern adding to the likeness.

• Standard Fire Pattern (Default; requires Ranged Proficiency): Three bullets are fired simultaneously when the trigger is pulled, one from each cylinder. In all, Cerberus has an ammo capacity of 18, allowing for 6 shots before needing to be reloaded. As this shot consumes a bullet from each of the trio of cylinders, significant damage can be caused to the target if hit dead-on. Being a break-loading revolver, reloading can be somewhat cumbersome and time-consuming in combat to compensate for its destructive power. In the middle of a firefight, Vincent often needs to duck behind cover to allow himself time to reload and is therefor fairly conservative with ammo usage in this way. As this style requires the movement of all three cylinders, Vincent can only fire as fast as the moving parts allow; once every second or so.
  
  
• Persistence (Rapid Fire; requires Ranged proficiency): Following modification courtesy of the rebuilt Shinra corporation's R&D department, Vincent has the capability to fire a single bullet from any of Cerberus' three barrels. By depressing the trigger half-way and in rapid succession, the ex-Turk can fire a rapid volley of single bullets at a target. This allows for more efficient ammo consumption and a faster firing rate, but decreases damage output. This is typically used to guide more agile foes toward a more beneficial or easily targeted point. As the ammo is shared between different 'modes', Vincent must be careful to mentally keep track of his ammo usage when mixing styles or risk firing a less than effective shot. The augments to the firing mechanism allow Vincent to fire much faster when used this way, allowing for a true semi-automatic rate of fire (as fast as he can pull the trigger)
  
  
• Moira (Homing Shot; requires Ranged Proficiency and Homing Proficiency): Through manipulation of his inner mana reserves, Vincent is capable of firing a blast of sapphire hued Mako-eqsue energy using Cerberus as a conduit. As the energy comes from the wielder, he is capable of making these energy blasts lock-on and home-in on a target. Shots fired in this way are a good deal less powerful and travel with a slower velocity (around the speed of an arrow) as Vincent does not need to reload nor aim his shots so long as he can keep sight of his foe. This, coupled with the brilliant blue color characteristic of Mako energy, makes the shots easier to dodge than standard bullets. Though the bolts home in on his foe, the effect is imperfect. Shots require a 1/2 meter radius to reverse direction and they do not home indefinitely, following a normal trajectory inside a distance of 3 meters. As this style of firing does not require actual ammunition and has less destructive capability than the normal firing pattern, it can be fired in a fashion similar to a semi-automatic pistol.
  
  
• Hubris (Burst Fire, requires Ranged Proficiency): When pushed to extremes, Vincent is capable of mixing Fire-aligned magicka with his standard firing pattern, causing the trio of bullets to explode upon leaving the muzzle. This creates a spray of shrapnel reminiscent of a shotgun blast. The ammo consumption for this technique is identical to that of the standard tri-shot and has the same strengths and weaknesses. The addition of the fire magicka, however, adds a good deal more damage potential in exchange for a short 'charge' time to summon the magical energy and a reduction in range (3-4 feet with a 3 foot spread).Repeated usage of this technique will risk damaging the firearm; Vincent must wait at least five seconds between shots to minimize this risk and allow the cylinders to reset.
  

Chimera (Physical Strength, Ranged Proficiency)
[spoiler][/spoiler]
To the average person this weapon appears to be a simple machete, but on closer inspection one can spy a firing mechanism akin to a shotgun. The weapon is approximately 18 inches in length, carried in a sheath strapped across Vincent's lower back. Though Vincent prefers to keep a distance between himself and his foes, he carries this gunblade to assist in dispatching swordsmen and the like that insist on engaging him head-on with melee weaponry.   Upon the initial unsheathing, the gunslinger holds the weapon in a reverse grip similar to how one might hold a tonfa, with the barrel angled toward his forearm and the blade facing out. This allows Vincent to parry incoming attacks while firing Cerberus or slinging spells as needed. As a last-ditch attack, he can point the barrel at his foe and fire a single, high-caliber slug to damage or at least cause the foe to flee. Though the gun portion can be reloaded, it is a rather cumbersome process (~5+ seconds) and is not usually performed in combat.

Fira (Ranged Proficiency, Area Attack Proficiency)
An intermediate black magic spell, Fira consists essentially of a fireball about the size of a softball. By channeling mana into one’s hand, the user can generate said fireball, requiring around 3 seconds of time to do so. Vincent typically executes this attack while moving, lobbing the orb as one would a grenade. Upon contact the sphere detonates, with everything within a 6-foot radius sustaining splash damage from the resultant pyrotechnics as well as knocking back those nearby. As the attack is essentially thrown, the accuracy of the attack falls as the user speeds up, requiring the user to be nearly motionless to hit anything more than a stationary target. Those closer to the point of contact sustain higher damage, whilst those on the outer limit are mildly singed.

Blizzara (Area Attack Proficiency, Debuff Proficiency)
Blizzara consists of a burst of icy energy radiating out from a point of contact. If Vincent is simply standing still, the spell originates from where he stands, though the attack is usually executed by striking a surface (wall, ground, a foe's face) with the user's hand, elbow, foot etc.. Blizzara's range is confined to the 15ish foot blast area, with anything outside this range merely feeling a cool breeze. Those caught very near the user are frozen for a few seconds or until struck, while those farther away are merely slowed. The nova can be executed on the fly, nearly instantaneously. As a result, this attack is very draining to use quickly in succession and is most often used for crowd control.

Thundara (Ranged Proficiency, Area Attack Proficiency, Debuff Proficiency)
A powerful lightning elemental spell, Thundara is executed by first choosing a target (enemy or object) somewhere within a 20 foot range; without one, the spell cannot be executed. Likewise, Vincent must have use of his hand to perform the technique. After charging the attack for a second or two, Vincent points his hand in the direction of the target and discharges a powerful bolt of electricity at the foe. Upon striking the enemy, the attack may jump to surrounding enemies in close proximity (~3 feet); any addition foes struck divide the attack's damage by that much between the foes (i.e. an additional foe will halve the damage, 2 will third it, etc.) Thundara also has a chance of stunning the victim for a few seconds, with the stun duration falling as more targets are hit. If Vincent is too close to the target (a foot or so from the casting hand), the attack can jump to him after hitting the foe, delivering the expected damage and stun. Thundara is quite powerful and rather costly; it is out of the ordinary to see it cast more than a few times in succession.

Protect (Buff Proficiency)
Similar to Shell in use, Protect serves as an impediment to damage. Unlike Shell, Protect is restricted to a single target, most often the user. The spell coats the user and whatever clothing or items they may be holding in a translucent protective barrier tight to the user's skin, serving to nullify damage taken. The barrier itself can only sustain a certain amount of damage before wearing off, with heavier attacks breaking the guard faster than weaker attacks. The target may move while under Protect's effects, though this will weaken the shield. Protect cannot be recast on the same target for a few minutes.

Shell (Area Shield Proficiency)
A defensive white magic spell, Shell creates a translucent dome over the user, encompassing a diameter of around 10 feet. Its protective attributes are effective against ranged attacks like missiles and spells, though useless against melee attacks. Weaker, rapid-fire attacks are blocked without much effort while stronger attacks increase the cost mana cost of maintenance as well as the risk of losing concentration. The spell requires the user remain immobile and is useless against Super Moves, which obliterate the dome and strike the user full-force. Shell's duration is essentially as long as Vincent can provide a mana source and maintain concentration. Though he is able to utilize weaker attacks like Cerberus, this detracts from his focus and weakens the shield. This being the case, he does not normally use the spell for longer than a few minutes at most.

Cloak Decoy (Remote Control Proficiency and Area Shield Proficiency)
Through unknown means, Vincent is capable of mentally controlling his cloak’s movements (for simplicity’s sake he also loses his mantle when this is in effect). Visually the cloak appears to be a simple 7 x 5 feet piece of tattered cloth, though it is much more than this. Through force of will he can cause the fabric to liquefy and detach from his back in an instant, taking flight and darting around in much the same manner as he does while in cloakform, to either distract the foe or soak up a few hits. While it is a good deal more durable than normal cloth, the cloak cannot take more than a few decent blows before dropping uselessly to the ground. This can be used while moving, though maintaining it requires moderate concentration and disallows the use of any non-firearm moves. It is not particularly draining on his stamina to maintain, though over a long period of time it can take a toll on the user. Vincent can control his cloak from a distance of up to 100 meters, though the further from him it is, the harder it is to control. At close range the cloak can move at around the speed of a fastball, with the velocity falling to about half that at max range. The cloak helpfully returns to Vincent’s back when he relinquishes control.

Overflow – Tier 1 Super Move (Ranged Proficiency, Area Attack Proficiency)
By channeling massive amounts of energy into a single attack, Vincent can unleash a devastating barrage of crimson energy bolts from his trusty handgun or simply an outstretched hand (no difference in use, just for style). This move requires a charge time of around 5 seconds, during which the user cannot be in motion lest they lose control of the energy required for this technique. Overflow can be maintained for a maximum of 10 seconds, with the blasts covering an area with a diameter of around 2 meters.
[spoiler][In practice it looks similar to this, though red.][/spoiler]

Power-Ups
Chaos Cloak – Tier 1 Power-Up
ATK: +2
DEF: +2
SPD: +1
TEC: +0

Using the Protomateria within his body, Vincent is capable of selectively releasing energy from the entity known as Chaos that is confined within him. Using this energy, he can augment his strength, speed, and defense while maintaining a human form. This ability presents as a simple red aura that surrounds the Prime.

Omega Flux - Tier-2 Power-Up
Following his battle with and defeat of the Omega WEAPON, Vincent was left with remnants of the being’s power embedded within him. By tapping into the latent energy he is able to augment his own power even further, manifesting as a steep increase in his abilities and brilliant turquoise aura flaring up around him.

ATK: +4
DEF: +3
SPD: +2
TEC: +1

Powers: Master Acrobat, Burst Movement, Flight, Suppression, Stealth, Super Speed, Hive Mind, Disassemble
Proficiencies: Ranged Proficiency, Physical Strength, Area Attack Proficiency, Area Shield Proficiency, Remote Control Proficiency, Homing Proficiency, Buff Proficiency, Debuff Proficiency