Application for neonrequiem

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OOC:

Player Handle: GG
Contact: theggnator, also Discord
Pronouns: she/her

Invite/Current Player: Current player
Other Characters: Joseph, Krauser, Luis

IC:

Character Name: Nero
Age: 23
Canon: Devil May Cry
Canon Point: Post-DMC5

History: Wiki here

Personality: At first, Nero comes off as a cocky punk with a bad attitude. He's frequently cracking wise, acting tough, and showing a general prickly demeanor. Though he served as a Holy Knight in the religious order that raised him, he is a nonbeliever and notoriously rough around the edges-- he was frequently sent on solo missions, lacking the temperament for teamwork and talented enough to handle difficult fights alone. He showboats in battle, swears, disrespects authority, and listens to heavy metal music in church. We got a real bad boy here.

Crack that posturing, though, and Nero wears his heart on his sleeve. He's famous for his hot temper and his emotions easily get the better of him, especially when he was younger. He screams, he cries, he lashes out, and he fights with brute strength and violent aggression. As he's aged, he's mellowed out a bit and uses demon hunting as a healthy outlet for his anger, having fun and making jokes between screaming beatdowns.

Under the rage and tough guy attitude, Nero has a big heart and a strong sense of justice. He cares about helping those in need, fearlessly throwing himself into battle to protect innocents from demons. He and Kyrie take up community service in Fortuna after the disaster, cleaning up rubble, feeding the hungry, and taking care of orphaned children. And when a ragged, impoverished-looking stranger wanders into his garage one day, the first thing Nero does is invite him inside for dinner with the family. (Then he gets his arm ripped off for his trouble.)

Growing up an orphan and mocked for his appearance and origins, Nero was frequently lonely as a child. He accepts and even takes pride in his "outcast" status, but is thus deeply motivated by his friends, family, and especially his beloved Kyrie. He is ride or die devoted to the few people he has, and has a complex about being too weak and failing to protect them. His mentor Credo's death still haunts Nero years later, and he still hates himself for lacking the strength to prevent it. And when Dante infamously and flippantly calls him "deadweight," Nero is extremely hurt and seething about it weeks later, even in the midst of a crisis. He longs to be seen as capable and to live up to the strength of those around him, looking to prove himself at every opportunity he can. Like his father, Nero is desperate to be strong, but he seeks power mainly as a means to protect his loved ones. It is his pure will to save his newfound family that awakens his Devil Trigger, allowing him to intervene in the decades-long sibling rivalry that would have seen the deaths of his father and uncle.

Beyond his mercurial emotions, Nero has a good head on his shoulders and displays impressive maturity for his age. He's responsible, a hard worker, and makes enough money with his mobile Devil May Cry branch to afford an apartment, pay a mechanic, and support his girlfriend and orphans. This not only makes him one of the most successful people in the series, but when the people around him are a bunch of wacky, traumatized demon hunters with bad coping mechanisms, Nero is frequently forced to be the adult in the room.


Abilities:
(NOTE: "Demon" and "devil" are used interchangeably in DMC, there is no real difference between the terms.)

Swordplay/Marksmanship:
Nero served as a Holy Knight in the Order of the Sword, and was trained in swordplay as a teenager. His sword Red Queen has a built-in engine which can be revved to accelerate its speed/heft and can coat the blade in flames. Though they were frowned upon by the Order, Nero also embraced the use of firearms and built his custom magnum Blue Rose by himself. It is designed to fire two bullets a split-second off from each other, the first to pierce and the second to penetrate and do damage.

Devil Breaker:
After losing his demonic right arm, Nero replaced it with a series of weaponized prosthetics crafted by his friend Nico. He has since regrown his arm (#justdmcthings), but is able to phase it into new-model Devil Breakers to use their functions. He has in his possession one Overture (shock punch,) one Gerbera (concussive blast,) one Punch Line (rocket skateboard fist,) and one Sweet Surrender (vibrator he did not ask for. THANKS. NICO.) Each is also equipped with a grappling wire that can snatch enemies or assist in climbing.

(To make up for the limited supply, these Devil Breakers will be ultra durable and not break except under extreme duress.)

Demonic Blood:
Nero is 1/4th demon, the grandson of the legendary Dark Knight Sparda. On first glance this makes him less powerful than his half-demon father and uncle, but there is evidence to suggest that Nero's humanity actually fuels the strength of his demonic blood, giving him untold potential. Even being a quarter demon makes him capable of numerous wild feats, and his supernatural abilities include:

- Strength: Nero can parry, wrestle, pin, and throw around even enemies who are massively bigger than him, such as the building-sized Goliath. The souped-up engine in his sword is said to be so idiotically strong that Nero is the only one who can keep a grip on it in action. The spectral arms of his Devil Bringer can augment his natural strength for even heavier lifting.

- Durability: Nero survives injuries that would kill an ordinary human, such as being stabbed, impaled, and having his right forearm ripped clean off. He is not quite as absurdly unkillable as Dante, as he's shown to be weakened by blood loss and can be beaten severely enough to lose consciousness.

- Speed/Reflexes: Nero is exceptionally fast and shows heightened reflexes and dexterity. He can run fast enough to scale walls, and artfully flipping, dodging, and aerial maneuvering are hallmarks of his fighting style. In the DMC5 intro he leaps out of a speeding van and kills multiple demons in the time it takes him to flip over the top of the vehicle.

- Energy Channeling: Nero can channel a concentrated portion of demonic power for various uses. For example, he can pour energy into Blue Rose's bullets to make them hit harder, or can create a temporary platform in mid-air to step off of.

- Devil Bringer: Nero's now-severed original right arm once developed a mutation that gave it enhanced strength, a spectral form, and the ability to detect and absorb demonic power. He has since grown it back, human-looking this time, along with two more demonic limbs in the form of spectral wings. When summoned, he can use his wings as bonus arms to punch harder, lift heavy objects, snatch/grapple enemies, and extend the height of his jumps/slow his falls. (He also outright flies once, but it's in a cutscene so we'll not count that here.)

- Devil Trigger: Recently awakened, Nero can change into a demonic form that resembles a horned, scaled angel with long white hair. This greatly increases his strength and speed, rapidly regenerates his health, and is also the title of his battle theme, which kicks ass. New to using it, Nero can't maintain his Devil Trigger for long, less than a minute at a time (or until he exerts all his energy.)

Inventory:
- His outfit from DMC5 (jacket, shirt, jeans, combat boots, assorted jewelry)
- His sword, Red Queen
- His gun, Blue Rose + ammo
- Four Devil Breakers (Overture, Gerbera, Punch Line, Sweet Surrender)
- His headphones and music player


Eternal Reward: The chance to live together with Kyrie and his newfound family, and the power to protect them all :c

Goals/Ideas: Nero is a devil hunter by trade, so he's heading to BEASTFORCE, baby!

Samples: Sample

Secret Code Phrase: I used to ride at the speed of the nite time