Name: Brendan GutierrezNickname: n/a (earned thru rp)
Age: 25
Birthday: February 4
Sign: Aquarius
Gemstone: Amber
Blood Type: A+
Fav. Food: Just about anything will get eaten, but he's partial to tapas.
Hated Food: Lengua. His abuela used to make it and force him to eat it. Yuck.
School: Graduated from DCU with a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering after a brief stint in the Marine Corps. Currently an apprentice mechanic at DC Iron Works.
Hobbies:
Waterboy: The True Love of Brendan's life is the ocean. He absolutely lives for surfing; he'll drop everything to chase the perfect wave, and always has a wetsuit and board packed and a full tank of gas in his motorcycle, ready to hit the road at a moment's notice. He's a good surfer too, really knowing his way around a wave, and has a knack for reading the winds to know if the surf is going to be up out at the coast or not. One of his favorite times to surf is during a storm -- the waves are usually roiling when the weather's bad. In the really off season, he enjoys snowboarding up in the mountains to keep his chops up. As Destiny City is landlocked, Brendan can often be found at the pool as a substitute, doing laps or trying to start a game of volleyball.
Motorcycles: Brendan's other True Love is motorcycles. While he has an appreciation for most motorcycles, he rides an old Indian Chief that he inherited from an uncle and rebuilt himself. He loves to go as fast as he can, and rides without a helmet because he loves the wind in his hair and who cares about helmet laws. He also enjoys tinkering on motorcycles, and has managed to parlay that skill into a potential real job at DC Iron Works.
Virtues:
Personable: Brendan is a big, good-natured, friendly guy. He's pretty much an extrovert in introvert's clothing; he's super sociable, but he doesn't ram it down your throat. A regular charmer, he can win over both guys and girls easily. He's very easy to get along with in general, largely because he can appreciate everyone for who and what they are and not get hung up on expectations or outward appearances.
Adventurous: Brendan has a strong sense of adventure and absolutely no fear. He's the first to go on roadtrips to nowhere just because he can/it's there/to see what's on the other side. His courage to be unafraid to try something new is one of his strongest traits; he's a classic neophile and is always up for exploration and journeying to new places. This also applies to personal relationships -- he's always willing to try something (or someone) new.
Independent: Having been on his own for some time now, Brendan doesn't need his hand held when it comes to life. He's an independent guy who can take or leave authority and guidance because he'd just as soon do it himself. He's quite good at taking care of himself too; he put himself through college on the GI Bill, for example. He writes his own rules and lives life his own way. Perversely, while he's as independent as they come, he actually prefers to work with a group and is quite the team player. Just don't try to micromanage him.
Closet Romantic: And not like romance=love either. Brendan is deeply into all the Arthurian lore and believes strongly in the virtues the Knights of the Round Table encompass: chivalry, honor, faith. He doesn't go about this in an ostentatious manner, though. It's little subtle things in the way he conducts himself, like holding open doors for people, taking promises he makes seriously (and conversely taking promises made to him seriously as well), believing in the basic goodness of people.
Flaws:
Daredevil: Yeah, Brendan is a bit on the reckless side. As noted above, he doesn't wear a helmet when riding his motorcycle, he surfs in storms, he goes haring off on crazy adventures all the time. It's not like he has a death wish, but he's not afraid of walking that knife's edge of risking life and limb for adventure. He's addicted to the thrill of coming this close to serious harm and dodging the metaphorical (or when he was in the Marines, literal) bullet.
Headstrong: To say that Brendan is stubborn would be an understatement. He's a bull-headed, willful guy who will figuratively butt heads with anyone who gets between him and something he wants to do. This could be a positive trait, but in his case it's not. His willful tendencies cause more problems than they solve; he becomes argumentative and combative when he is thwarted, for one, and will focus more energy on getting his way than he would if he just figured out some way around it rather than try to bull through it.
Rebellious: One might just get the impression that Brendan is allergic to rules. One would be correct. He never met a rule he didn't want to buck. An unpredictable man, it's hard to know what is going to set him off on a tear of contrary behavior. Combine this with the bull-headedness above, and you have the potential for trouble; sometimes he is contrary and rebellious just for the sake of it. Telling him he can't do something is the easiest way to ensure that he'll do it anyway. Needless to say, he was a nightmare for his parents and his commanding officers in the Marines.
Shallow: Brendan loves people, but he doesn't allow himself to form deep connections with them. As he learned in his rootless childhood and had reinforced in the military, friends are transitory; they don't last. So while he is a friendly, social guy on the surface and has lots of friends, deep inside he's actually unemotional and detached when it comes to personal relationships. It really takes a lot to break through that, too, something precious few have achieved. In the wake of his abuela's death, this is even more pronounced, as he's not willing to experience the pain of losing someone so close again.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Eyes: Sky-blue, slightly up-tilted, with short thick lashes and heavy dark red eyebrows.
Hair: Dark red and slightly wavy, just past shoulder length. He usually wears it parted in the center and loose or pulled back in a ponytail.
Face: Oval face leaning toward squarish, fair to lightly tanned, with a straight nose that's slightly down-tilted at the tip and an average mouth. Tends to keep clean-shaven, but lets his facial hair grow out in the colder months out of laziness.
Clothes: Brendan prefers simple close-fitting t-shirts and relaxed-fitting jeans, nothing fancy (though he does clean up nicely if pushed), along with flip-flops in the summer and black motorcycle boots in the winter or when he's riding his motorcycle. He has a black biker jacket he wears as well, and he loves thick knitted neck scarves and has a bunch of them in different colors and patterns; many were in fact knitted by his abuela before her death. When in the water, it depends on the water temp what he'll wear; either board shorts if it's warm or a wetsuit if it's cold. He's aware he has a body and doesn't mind showing it, but for the most part is modest.
