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What Contest are you entering (in this post)?
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Character Name
Rick Katan

Occupation
Traveling Musician

Character Appearance (Human)
Standing at a solid 5' 6", he's neither imposing nor weak-looking, just the kind of build that one would see in an average athlete. His eyes are a deep brown, easily noticeable from a good distance away, despite the way he averts them. His skin is an exotic tan, due to one of his parents coming from the middle-east. For that same reason, he has thick black hair that comes almost over his left eye, and is slightly longer than most men's hair in the back, just shy of reaching the base of his neck. One would almost be brazen enough to call it a mullet. One noticeable characteristic about him would be that his hands are very lithe, his fingers slender and very dexterous. With a look at his face, one would think that he's in his twenties, when he's actually a newly-graduated eighteen years old. He usually wears a black sleeveless shirt and cargo pants, along with a bandanna to keep his hair up.


Character Personality
Rick’s overall personality is very laid-back, with a, “whatever happens, happens” attitude. At first glance, he seems wary, and almost untrusting, due to many times being betrayed by people. This is if one might catch him in a crowded place, where he feels uncomfortable and left out of the conversation. However, simply speak a word of kindness to him, and he’ll open up, revealing the caring and relaxed person that he is (even if he may seem somewhat erotic and gauche at times). He has never had a girlfriend of any kind, simply because he unknowingly maintains an air of mystique that is no longer found attractive. His relationship with his parents was a close one, since he didn’t have anyone else to rely on, and while they did not totally understand him, they tried their best to comfort him and raise him to be the man that he is.

Unfortunately, no personality goes without his flaws. This couldn’t be truer with Rick. He blames genetics, but it is difficult to determine where it came from, since his father expressed similar traits. All that he can come up with that would determine such a trait was the fact that at times, his father would easily anger, often shouting at him and making threats of multiple kinds. For some reason, deep within him, rests a seed of rage. Usually, he is calm and nonchalant, but if one would dig too deeply at him (which would be a rare case indeed) that seed would come to life. The result would be pure, unadulterated and fueling rage, maybe not as outward as a tantrum with throwing things around, but something dark and brooding, unhealthily contained within himself. He has told very few people about this.



Likes
Music
Swimming
Electronics
Hiking
Biking
Warm days


Dislikes
Violence
Crowded places
Cold days
Having to rush to do something



Character Background
One would best describe the life of Rick Katan as interesting, but nothing extremely inordinate.

From a young age, he developed an affinity for three things: music, sports, and literature. Thanks to his parents, who wanted to give him everything that their parents denied them, helped him to culture his talents. His abilities grew at an astonishing rate, and while not publicly recognized for this, he was confident in his physical, mental, and physical capabilities.

One such thing was his affinity for a multitude of sports. He liked to be active outside, playing sports such as soccer, tennis, and hockey. However, he couldn’t help but express a distaste for sports such as football and baseball, the concept of the games just simply not appealing to him.

Throughout school, up to highschool, he was one of the most accomplished students. While not being the genius of his class, he probably had the potential to become one of them, but preferred to do other things, rather than sit in all day studying. In terms of bullying, he wouldn’t hesitate to stand up for himself, but when it came to others, he let them deal with it how they chose, not wanting to intervene, since he had his own concerns. His teachers constantly complemented his behavior, but he knew that it was because he simply remained out of their way.

His first encounter with a percussion instrument was when he was only six years old, and happened by a teenager playing a xylophone. After the player left for a break, he picked up the mallets, and played several notes, which eventually became a song. In that moment, he had fallen in love with mallet instruments.

From there, his parents paid for private lessons, and by the time he got out of junior high, his skill rivaled that of a majority of students that went to the local college. By then, he already knew that he was destined to be a great musician.

When he graduated from highschool with above average grades, he already had his sights set on San Diego State University, with enough ambition to break down a granite wall. Making friends along the way, he graduated with a major in music performance, and now hopes to make a living giving out the gift of music to anyone who will listen.



How does your character get to/why was your character chosen for the Island?
After graduating, he went to find a place of his own, where he could stay for a while, earning money and playing his music without a care. So, he couldn't pass up the opportunity to stay free of charge at an island resort.


What Animal(s)/Plant(s)/Dinosaur Serum do you want?
Serum 54. Prefer a Striped Kukri Snake, but I'll go for any scaly creature.


Describe your ideal 100% appearance.
The colorful scales of his species would cover his body, and his legs would be nonexistent. He would be upright standing on a tail coiled under him. Sinewy serpentine muscle would be covering his body, his arms hanging loosely at his side, and he would be looking upwards at something indeterminable, furthermore exposing his scutes.


Why this animal/plant for your character?
Like a snake, Rick is very patient, waiting for only the opportune times to do carry out a plan, whether it be making small talk, or discussing something extremely important. It also fits that the snake of choice is non-venomous. He is very cool, calm, and calculated.

Equipment
Suitcase of clothing and other hygiene-related items (i.e. toothbrushes)
Notepad
Pens & Pencils
Money
Headphones and CD Player
Music CDs

~Striped Kukri Snake Info~

A strikingly handsome species, the Striped Kukri Snake is easily identified by the longitudinal stripes comprising a dorsal reddish or orange stripe, and a number of brown or greenish lateral stripes on a black background. Care should be taken, however, not to confuse the venomous Banded Malayan Coral Snake with this species : identification can be confirmed by closely observing the head pattern.

Growing to a maximum 68 cm, this small snake is found in a range of habitats including forest, farmland, and sometimes parks and gardens. It seems to be both nocturnal and diurnal.

Kukri snakes are so-called on account of the shape of the teeth at the back of the mouth, which resemble the Kukri knife used by Gurkha soldiers. Kukri snakes, however, are non-venomous and quite harmless, though they may attempt to bite if provoked.

This species ranges from West Malaysia and Singapore to Borneo and the Indonesian islands of Sumatra, Bangka, Java, Sulawesi and possibly the Philippines.

Source: Striped Kukri Snake Source

its time for your Critique!

alrighty so far things look alright with what you have, but you definately can expand and build on details to improve what you got.

the biggest area you can expand on is his background, specificly with his family and brother. you ought to eliminate the "like many people, Rick was born" you need to tell how/why Rick learned his distain for violence from his older (?) brother, did luke get into and lose alot of fights? was he a pacifist? It seems to me that that characteristic would be something Rick would learn from his entire family, not just his brother.

The brother dying from lung cancer really seems to be thrown in, if someone is sick and dying of lung cancer because of heavy smoking it is nearly impossible to hide it, and usually isn't a quick death, cancer is a long painful battle. Heavy smoking in itself is nearly impossible to hide because the smoke from it would get into Luke's clothing, he'd smell of it and it would be very noticible where it appears no one else in rick's family smokes.

I'd suggest if you want the brother to die, make it a 'quick' death, car accident, train derailment, freak accident on the job. but if you want to go along with the lung cancer thing, you really need to do some research into it to make it more believable and realistic.

you also need to build on what Rick does for a living, where he went to college, what did he study, and why did his parents not allow him to stay at home once he graduated from college? There is a lot of empty space in your quest thread that needs to get filled, but good luck on everything

Toxic: Edited. Upon looking back, I don't know why I put in death by lung cancer. I changed that up, included more detail about where he graduated, and gave a reason why his parents wouldn't let him stay at home. I kinda ran out of ideas for that one, so a suggestion would help greatly.

sola: Changed to a more unique snake. I used the cobra as more of a placeholder until I was able to find a more decent serpent.

Info...where?

What is it that you would like to know about his personality?

Updated with an RP Info post!