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....Full Name: Johnson Luca Hinton
....Nicknames: Jo (typically goes by this more often)
....Stage Name: Luca, just Luca (though he wouldn't mind a fantastic name for his horses, thank you)
....Age: 36
....Date of Birth: February 10th, 1896
....Gender: Male
....Nationality: American
....Important Notes: Jo's left leg ends just below the knee due to an accident which facilitated the need
....to amputate the rest of it. He wears a prosthetic/brace built of wood, metal and leather which straps over
.... his knee and cinches closed. The prosthetic typically allows for very little range of motion in his knee and
....is more a matter of either being set to a locked position or a bent one, depending on where Johnson has the
....brace's screws set. He usually finds it too much trouble to torque the brace into a right angle every time he
....sits down though.

....Personality: Jo considers himself a simple man: maybe a little dumb, probably doesn't have as much
....schooling as he ought, is maybe a little on the pessimistic side (--minds his own damn business), but simple
....and easy to please; a tiny cog in the great wheel of the world, and his business shouldn't matter to anybody
....else, alright? Good. He takes a rather passive-aggressive approach to the future, more than a little stuck in
....his own superstitions and traditions. And while he's driven and focused, he certainly runs with blinders on.

....Despite this willingness, almost stubborn self-identification as 'simple,' Jo takes great care to craft the
....image he wants to believe in so badly. He gets a little hawk-eyed and snappy when someone gets the
....inclination to dig further than whatever layer he wears on the surface, and has a tendency to take conversation
....veering suddenly elsewhere should the topic ever land on his personality or history - if it's anything more than
....simple observations, anyway. He gets touchy when people 'ask too many questions.' That said, Jo is a fairly
....decent person to talk to as long as you're not trying to talk about him. While he's no stellar conversationalist
....or guru of tough-love knowledge, he makes a good wall to shout at. He might not be able to parrot back
....everything, but he listens even if he doesn't usually have much to say about other people's troubles or whatnot.
....Unfortunately, this makes Jo a rather hard person to befriend unless one is comfortable with never getting
....a straight answer out of the man - because while Jo couldn't strategize his way out of a paper bag, he's
....shockingly adept at circulatory logic and never answering a question he doesn't want to. And while he may not be
....wholly loyal to a number of people, he has a strong affinity to (most - damn cats) animals.

....Jo's sense of humor borders on either deadpan wit or absolute tomfoolery, depending on the situation (and how
....much liquor he's consumed in the day). He enjoys reading dime store novels, particularly westerns and tawdry
............romances (though he'd personally beat the knowledge out of anyone who found out about the latter). He usually
............avoids reading everything but the sports scores in the paper, appreciates a solid pair of shoes and is rather fond
............of the color blue. Jo hates cats, cars and is extremely superstitious concerning a number of little trivial
............practices. Lastly, he has a penchant for gambling on anything he can get his hands on: horse races, dog races,
............cards, dice, boxing. If there's money to be made and lost, he'll take a ticket.

............Appearance: Jo is on the underside of average height, but is fairly broad through the shoulder and chest
............in comparison to most men his height. Furthermore, he looks his age. He wears a number of wrinkles and the
............fine beginnings of spider web lines at the corners of his eyes and so forth. He's weathered and a little gritty
............looking - like he's used to chewing dust between meals; and while his initial facial structure is pleasing enough,
............Jo's had his nose broken more than a few times, lending it a lumpy and slightly crooked appearance.
............None-the-less, he has a high forehead and prominent cheekbones that might have been attractive had his nose
............not looked like had been smacked one two many times with a two-by-four.

............Quite expressive through the mouth if not necessarily the eyes, Jo's smiles are sharp and slight but meaningful,
............and when he laughs, he laughs. He has rather unremarkable brown eyes and a thick head of dark brown hair
............which he keeps trimmed to a sensible length and, commonly, slicked back. And while he's not exactly clean shaven,
............he doesn't typically sport beards that are more than a few days old.

............Jo's average state of dress is 'disheveled.' He usually wears a long sleeved shirt of some sort (sleeves pushed
............up over the elbows for the most part), with an undershirt. He either wears trousers and suspenders or, less frequently,
............overalls - though the latter is usually belted with the top left to flop over rather than be worn properly. He owns two
............pairs of boots, one being a short battered pair of brown ones and the others knee-high black boots which he usually
............wears on days when his left knee's acting up. He keeps a cap in his back pocket most days, though very rarely
............actually wears it on his head. Rather, it seems to be something he carries to have in his hands should he need
............something to tug irritability at. Or something to whap people across the back of the head with. Whichever is
............convenient and comes first. Perhaps the most significant part of his daily attire is the prosthetic leg he wears on his
............left leg. A bizarre combination of ornate peg leg (as the prosthetic itself is in the shape of an actual leg and foot)
............and leg brace, the prosthetic lends a certain stiff rolling motion to Jo's stride.

............Likes: Reading, horses, dogs, gambling, smoking, Eddie Cantor and Sally Rand (the latter two for entirely different
............reasons, thank you - Christ, that Sally has legs up to here).
............Disikes: Automobiles, cats, extremely hot weather, holes in his socks and obnoxiously loud and overbearing individuals.

............History: Born in Catskill, New York, Jo was thrown into The Horse Business nearly from birth. Training race horses had always
............been a 'family affair,' one he didn't actually take active interest in until later in life. Instead, at eighteen, Jo moved south
............to New York City to live with his uncle Edgar and work in the man's small printing business. As luck would have it, two
............years later his uncle health declined sharply and the business was sold so and Uncle Edgar moved to Colorado in search
............of refuge from illness. Unfortunately, Johnson was a fairly miserable paper printer and was immediately fired from his
............position the second the business came under new ownership. Rather than moving back up-state to his family, Johnson
............opted to remain in the city and after a string of odd jobs he finally found an excuse to get out of Dodge, so to speak.

............The draft. Shoved into WWI, Johnson was a foot soldier and, most unfortunately, lost his leg in during battle at which
............point he was shipped back off to the States.

............He lived with his family for a number of years on the old horse farm before, finally, Johnson decided 'screw it,' and got
............off his a** and turned to the one thing he'd known: horses. As a man with few prospects in terms of trade and one leg,
............there wasn't much else for him to do. Though, there was a problem - he couldn't ride, not very effectively anyway. Sit
............and kick, sure. Nothing complicated though. So Johnson limped his way all the way down to California where there was
............one horse centric activity he could do from the ground.

............Training race horses.

............He had good luck with it, got good and eventually had a small string of relatively successful horses. One of the horses
............had a tendency to get nervous at new tracks though, so Jo bought a pony to keep the horse in question company. Out
............of boredom, he started teaching the pony a number of stupid little tricks.

............And then the stock market folded and everything went straight to hell. At first, there wasn't much change. People turned
............out to the races because it was something to do. And then the owners of his horses slowly moved deeper into the
............depression and one by one Johnson lost his clients and lost his horses until all he had was a pony a couple of betting
............tickets. (TBC.)


............Talents: Jo is extremely good with horses. It's not magic it and it's not because he's some spectacular horse
............whisperer; it's because he's worked hard to get that way. It's skill, talent, work and definitely not something he was
............born with, springing fully formed Athena-style. He's a good trainer and has a sharp eye for picking out good, sound
............and sane horses from the crazier ones. Also, despite his physical disability, Jo is a fairly decent rider, though
............for the most part he'd much rather be on the ground with a line than on the back of a horse, no matter how much he
............cares for them. With that in mind, Jo is not a trick rider or vaulter by any stretch of the imagination. He just isn't
............physically capable of that type of act. Instead, he focuses on training his horses from the ground, creating a 'dancing
............horses' routine, if you will.

............He's also pretty good at boardgames and and has a good throwing arm, but that's not really incredibly relevant.

............Costume: While Jo would doubtlessly prefer nothing elaborate, he sees the necessity in dressing it up a bit for the ring,
............so to speak. Even so, he's dead set on practicality, which means no ruffles, no glitter, and no giant puffy pants when a
............brightly colored coat will get the job done just the same. Otherwise, he goes for whatever he can move around comfortably
............in, including a pair of plain breeches and a pair of stiff knee-high boots which are as much for flash or show as they are
............for supporting his prosthetic leg.

............Under The Big Top - Stages:
............(Notes: The act itself revolves primarily around the horses themselves rather than something Jo does specifically. As such,
............his part during performances is to give voice and body language cues to the horses in question to get them to do their jobs.
............Therefore, Jo is more of the machine which drives the act rather than the flash that catches audience attention. He leaves
............that to the horses.)

............Stage One, Carnie - Due to his somewhat noted physical limitations, it's just not really feasible for Jo to be running around
............doing a whole lot of strictly manual labor that has a whole lot of... well, running about involved. He's fairly strong in terms
............of upper body though, so he can dig holes and pitch tent stakes as well as the rest of them so long as he can have a place
............to jam his prosthetic against while he does it. Also, Specks the Pony could probably be contracted into some brute physical
............labor if it was needed. The little guy is stronger than he looks. Otherwise, Johnson would probably best used as a ticket taker,
............handing out fliers or something somewhat stationary in nature.

............Stage Two, Castmember - Specks the Pony probably doesn't warrant another more than a sideshow act with his repertoire
............that involves counting to ten (by way of pawing at the ground), doing simple arithmetic and other similar parlor tricks. That
............said, at this point (or slightly before, depending on development and so forth), Johnson would be looking for a pair of horses.
............He has an elaborate act in mind, but he needs larger bodied, athletic horses to accomplish it. As clever as he is, Specks isn't
............exactly up to leaping and bounding and doing all sorts of interesting things. Comical relief, maybe, but the pony definitely isn't
............going to be performing impressive airs any time soon. While no fantastic showman, Jo takes pride in what his pony (or horses,
............as the case may be), can do - even if it's just as a sideshow act. Therefore, his act of dancing horses (and the pony) would
............probably be open to collaboration if the right partner came along who could add a little more charisma to the show itself.

............Stage Three, Headliner - Depending on what kind of new horses he picks up and how well they carry their own weight, so
............to speak, Johnson's show could easily be put on under the big top rather than pandering on the sidelines. A troupe of
............performing, unbridled horses is flashy enough to catch attention, particularly when they're doing things like complicated drills
............or leaping dressage airs.

............References:
............

...........Specks the Pony: Specks is a small pony of indeterminate breeding, though he may in fact be in
....some part Shetland pony. He stands at approximately 12.1 hands high and is gray roan in coloration.
....He has short socks on both forelegs and a flaxen mane and tail. His talents include counting all the way
....to eleven, finding treats under buckets, adding numbers together, identifying colors and shapes and eating
....far too much food to be constricted strictly healthy for a pony his size.

...........The Dancing Horses: The horses which Johnson intends to pick up at some point for his dancing
....horse circus act would have to be heavily built, extremely athletic horses with an attentive temperament
....and a willingness to work in groups - a bit of a tall order given the the givens.

Firstly, I just wanted to say that your quest thread is beautifully arranged. I adore the concept art at the top of the page as well. Secondly, your talent is one that I am personally fond of, though I actually saw a horse act such as this one done at Medieval Times and not a circus. Overall, your concept is well-formed, and I enjoy the fact that he is from World A. I guess I'm just a sucker for the World A's? XD

I don't have much to criticize as any disagreements I have with his character would just be based on my personal taste, but you have given, for the most part, reasons for why he is who he is. That is a really great thing to have!

I will suggest though that you might want to read over some of your history because there are a few unclear sentences where spell check didn't catch it when you wrote the wrong word. XD I believe the line is something like, "...a good pair of socks and socks", which I don't think was your intent.

Also, as a performer, would you be listing Johnson as the headliner? Or would it be the horses? I suppose I'm not quite clear on how Johnson interacts with the horses. Will it start as largely an animal "taming" show of sorts where he shows off the skill of the horses that he has taught them? And then, as he gets more popular, he will actually become an active part of the show?

I ask out of my own curiosity, I assure you! ^^

Great concept and lovely thread! Best of luck in your questing!

Also, if you have some time, I wouldn't mind a critique of my concept either. <3

No problem. ^_~

I really enjoy his focus on the horses. It's precious. XD

Hee, thank you so much. <3 The horses need to be heavy, athletic animals rather than the far more common willowy hot blooded breeds common in the period, and I'm so glad that someone picked up on them. Traditionally I would have gone for a European warmblood breed, but the glut of those horses were just that - European, and it was a few decades before the concept of importing them was popularized. *ramble, ramble, ramble*

Oh gosh, thank you so much. <3