Arden Cooper

[arden]

The Handler

Name: Arden Everett Cooper.

Nickname: None.

Classification: Skin-walker.

Gender: Male.

Age & Birthday: August 15, 1981. 27 years old.

Appearance: Arden doesn't give a crap about personal hygiene. It's as simple as that. He has a good few days' worth of stubble that he shaves at least once every two weeks. His dark brown hair is cut in a sloppy mohawk that he gave himself because he was tired of taking care of the tangled mess. Because of his unusual dietary habits, he always has the stench of meat about him. He doesn't even own a toothbrush (as noted by his stained teeth). Whenever he gets around to bathing, he usually just rinses all of the dirt and grime off. As if he'd have enough money to buy shampoo.

Arden stands at an even 6' and weighs about 140 lbs. He's incredibly scrawny for his height, and because of it, what little muscle he has gives his body definition. In addition the the occasional wicked-looking scar, Arden's body is also covered in tattoos. The markings don't mean anything special to him, just things he figured would look cool. The most prominent - and, arguably, offensive - of his illustrations is the naked woman drawn where his arm joint is. He has a few other visible inkings, such as a sort of spiral on his other shoulder, but they aren't as eye-catching.

While transformed into an animal, Arden looks malnourished to say the least. It seems as if he has mange, or if he had chewed out chunks of fur. He makes for a convincing animal in terms of appearance. Except for his startling blue eyes; they stay the same no matter what shape he takes.

Attire: Arden's clothing doesn't vary much. Actually, he wears the same thing pretty much every day. Not because he's lazy, but because his style of living doesn't exactly bring in enough money for clothes.

Arden wears a filthy rag of a wife beater as a shirt. It has been stained with everything from sweat to dirt to blood. Nevertheless, it has held up well; only the hems have come undone. His pants were taken from a previous meal of his. They're skinny jeans, meant to be near skin tight, but somehow they fit him rather loosely. His cast-off army boots share the same story as his pants.

Arden has an army surplus messenger bag that he uses to carry his belongings, such as his skinning knife, some money, one of his pelts (if he thinks he'll need it), and the leftovers of his most recent kill. He also owns a pair of WWII era goggles that act as a sort of security blanket; as such, the only time he is ever seen not wearing them is when he is transformed into an animal.

The Creation

Name: None.

Power List: Transformation into animals (mountain lion and grizzly bear), mimicry, and empathy.

Detailed Power: As a skin-walker, Arden's primary ability is to transform into any animal he wishes, so long as he has the skin of the animal he wants to turn into. Changing from human to animal is a painful process, as bones and muscles need to grow and/or rearrange themselves. He can retain the shape as long as he wants or needs to; a skin-walker's skins call to him, make him want to wear them as long as he can. It takes much more concentration to detatch the pelts than it does to slip into them. However, obtaining a suitable pelt is harder than it seems. The animal must be killed by a skin-walker in their human form, as only they only the proper prayer of thanks to give to the animal for the use of its skin.

While taking the shape of an animal, Arden inherits that creature's abilities. For example, if he were to change into a canine, his senses of scent and hearing would increase significantly. This 'animal half' of him, if you will, does have an effect on his human state of mind, to an extent. He has started developing some basic animal instincts, such as always having to find a source of food.

Arden has also picked up the ability to mimic any sound he hears. He can copy everything from voices to car alarms. He mostly uses the skill when hunting, as his prey is very easy to lure out of the safety of their homes.

If Arden had completed his skin-walker training, he would have aquired the gift of telepathy. As his education is imcomplete, he only developed the framework, so to speak. In his case, empathy. If he could turn it off and forget about it, he would, as Arden doesn't really care how other people feel. It doesn't help him, either, because he can't trace the feeling, he can just tell from what general direction it comes from.

The Potential

Alignment/Occupation: As of right now, unaffiliated.

Weapons: Arden keeps a Benchmade folding knife tucked into his boot for emergencies. He also carries a skinning knife in his bag, but it's usually stuck at the bottom, underneath everything, so it isn't of much use for anything other than its intended purpose.

Personality: Loud, crude, vulgar, there are plenty of words along those lines that would describe Arden. He has a habit of cussing constantly and saying whatever is on his mind, no matter who is present.

Arden doesn't talk to people much, usually because he doesn't particularly enjoy the company of people. On the off chance he does engage in conversation with someone, they usually back off before too long; he has a habit of cocking his head to the side and getting up in people's faces when he talks.

Arden has a slight fear of being in places unfamiliar to him. To help himself conquer that fear, he has trained himself to be hyper-observant. Being able to notice small details helps him familiarize himself with an area.

Like most skin-walkers, Arden is a cannibal. However, unlike many others, he prefers freshly killed meat to the half-decomposed morsels he finds while grave robbing. A full grown human can provide enough food for a few days, so he doesn't have to hunt too often.

It would make him seem more human to say that because of his eating habits, he doesn't like to get close to anyone; however, he just doesn't like humans, period. Being a skin-walker has made him more sympathetic toward animals, and so he is a strict vegetarian in terms of creature meat.

Arden is very picky about the kinds of vegetation he eats, so he prepares all of his food himself. To complicate things even more, he can't stand anyone else touching his food. If it was handled by someone else's hands, bare or covered, he won't touch it. To make his meat suitable to consume, he boils it before he cooks it to rid it of 'impurities'.

Skills: Though most people wouldn't find it an ideal ability, Arden knows what parts of meat are good to eat and how to prepare it so as make it safe to eat. He can also diagnose most problems in vehicles and he is very good at reading body language in both humans and animals. In a one-on-one fight, he can predict his opponent's next move based on their stance or gait.

Strengths: Arden's physical abilities increase significantly depending on which animal form he is in. When he changes into a mountain lion, he becomes faster and more agile. When he transforms into a bear, his strength nearly triples.

Weaknesses: Changing forms tires him greatly, so it isn't very wise to put on or take off skins just before or in the middle of a fight. He is very much mortal, and any wound serious enough could put him down for good. He also retains injuries when he transforms.

When fighting more than one opponent, it is hard for Arden to divide his attention, and he can become distracted easily. He then becomes an easy target, as he won't know who to attack first and will hesitate quite a bit. Arden is rather easy to provoke, and when he is mad he'll start a fight with anyone. It also becomes hard for him to concentrate on his opponent's movements when he is angry, and he's gotten his ass kicked plenty of times for his recklessness.

He never went to a proper school when he was young, so Arden doesn't know how to read or write, and he can only do simple mathematic problems.

The Story

History: Arden was conceived during a one night stand in the early eighties. His mother wasn't ready to raise a child, but she couldn't bring herself to get an abortion. When he was born, he immediately went up for adoption and his mother went on her merry way.

As newborn babies are usually adopted first, Arden didn't have to wait long. He was taken in by an old half Navajo man named James who had no other children of his own. James had come from a long line of skin-walkers and was looking for someone to pass down his knowledge to. He allowed Arden to keep the name his mother had given him, though he never got around to telling Arden that he was adopted. Arden viewed him as a sort of father figure, although James highly discouraged it. He tried teaching Arden not to become attached to anyone, human or animal, but the boy didn't mind too well.

Arden lived with James for half of his life, learning at an incredibly fast rate. He was put on a strict diet of human flesh and fresh fruits and vegetables almost as soon as he could eat solids (although he didn't learn where the meat came from until much later) and was transforming into rabbits and house cats by the age of eight.

James was a bit of a recluse, so he sent Arden on trips into the nearby town to pick up supples since Arden was ten (before that James had had one of local grocery store owners' children bring him his necessities). The town wasn't very big, and all of the residents knew about James's lifestyle, so they stayed away from Arden for fear that he would place a curse upon them.

Arden didn't far enough in his training to learn how to place curses, though. James died shortly after Arden turned fifteen, leaving the teen to fend for himself. Arden stayed in James's empty house for a few days before he started feeling the effects of hunger. At that time he had recently learned to change into bigger animals, such as bears and cougars. He donned one of James's skins, a mountain lion's, and prowled into town. He knew everyone that resided there, and had no problem finding a household of one. He broke in and killed the man inside. He dragged the corpse back to James's cabin, unaware that he had broken a truce established between James and the townspeople that he nor Arden would hunt within the boundaries of the village.

The next morning word had gotten out about the crime and an angry mob had assembled in the middle of the town. They marched up to the cabin and slowly began tearing it down bit by bit. They broke windows and began trying to kick down the door. Arden was jolted awake and rapidly began throwing things together in preparation to leave. The remaining meat of the man he had killed was hastily wrapped in some butcher paper and tossed in one of James's old bags, along with an assortment of other items. Among them was a handful of bills, a skinning knife, a combat knife, and two of James's skins, a grizzly bear and a mountain lion.

Arden escaped through a back window just as the mob broke the door down. He hadn't gotten fifty feet away before he smelled smoke, and he knew they had set the cabin on fire. He desperately wanted to go back and try to save as many pelts as he could, but he kept running, knowing that if he didn't, he would most likely be killed.

He made his way to the next town over and lied about his age so he could work to raise some money (he got a job at the small gas station as a mechanic). By the time he was sixteen he had raised enough cash to buy an old, beat up '66 Bonneville. Arden then became somewhat of a nomad, traveling from state to state. For the most part he's avoided the attention of local law enforcement by hunting in an animal form in an area where the beast is common. He's caused quite a few deaths in his time; he has to eat, too, and he made sure only to prey on bachelors (he likes to claim that he is indeed sympathetic, as he doesn't kill anyone with a family of their own).

He's made a decent living stealing valuables from the homes of his victims and selling them to pawn shops in other counties. Thieving, too, is commited while in the shape of a beast, to make sure that no crimes could be traced back to him.

[Abe Sapien]

Appearance: Since there’s too many to name, what would be his most prominent scar that a person may see at first glance or should he shed his clothes in front of them.

Powers: How long can he hold his transformed shape? Does the animal side interfere in any way of his human cognitive skills. How was the empathy gained as a side affect? Some skin walker legends say that a skin walker can read minds, if this an offshoot of this?

History: Was James considered a father or a grandfather to Arden, like what did your character call him, if anything.

Arden killed a mountain lion and a bear at the age of 15 or was he younger when he did this? The way his history is written, it’s a mighty big leap from rabbits and house cats and especially at such a young age.

What happened to Arden from the age of 16 to 27, that’s 11 years of history that can be summed up in a paragraph or two. Anything major in his life, specific killings or crimes under his belt. Anything good?

[arden]

Ah, I knew I forgot some things. I fixed what I could. Hope I got everything!

[Abe Sapien]

Most excellent, I see the changes and they're great. I'm approving this on my end.

[Evadne Taylor]

Approved and moved.