Post by langelaan on Sept 12, 2010 8:42:36 GMT -7
THE HANDLER
NAME: Gregory Kent Langelaan
NICKNAME: “Greg”
CLASSIFICATION: Initially human, now “inhuman,” for lack of a better term.
GENDER: Male
AGE & BIRTHDAY: April 22nd, 1983
APPEARANCE: About 5’ 3”, roughly about 150 pounds. Has the appearance of a monstrously-overgrown cockroach (of the American variety) with a reddish-brown exoskeleton. His head and wing casings are a darker, almost mahogany color, while his underbelly and inner wings are a lighter, almost sandy brown – both areas are very delicate and lack the tough armor that the rest of his body has. His torso is roughly football-shaped and supported with six scrawny legs that are triple-jointed and end in spiny-looking claws. Though it is extremely uncomfortable and ungainly, Gregory is capable of hoisting himself up and walking on his two hind legs in an attempt to act more ‘human,’ though when given the chance he prefers to scuttle about on all six feet.
Two beady, black compound eyes and a pair of long, sensitive, whip-like antennae dominate the upper part of his head, while a pair of mandibles take up the lower region of his face. (When around others, Greg attempts to tuck them in, so as to not alarm anyone.) There is a small nick in his exoskeleton next to his left eye, a momento of having a bottle thrown at him by an unknowing human who was attempting to ‘defend’ himself from him.
ATTIRE: Since he now has nothing that obviously requires covering, Gregory tends to go without clothes as it is simply too costly and inconvienent to modify things to fit his new form. However, he carries a small pouch carefully affixed to his underbelly with a modified belt; inside the pouch are a collection of index cards with prewritten statements (‘yes,’ ‘no,’ etc) as well several blank ones and a marker. These allow Gregory to speak, as he is incapable of producing anything other than harsh clicking, hissing and popping sounds.
PLAY BY: N/A
THE CREATION
NAME: N/A (Though people might want to call him “the bug” or something similar, he consistently rejects such monikers.)
POWER LIST: N/A
DETAILED POWER: N/A
THE POTENTIAL
ALIGNMENT/OCCUPATION: Bewildered rookie agent of the BPRD; he joined them for both protection and also so that he wouldn’t have to spend the rest of his life hiding from prying, unknowing eyes of those who might harm him.
WEAPONS: Aside from his own body, nothing.
PERSONALITY: Though originally a jokester at heart, Gregory has slowly developed a kind of neuroticism and cynicism surrounding his transformation, one that he also attempts to hide from others in order to avoid being a ‘downer’ or ‘drama king.’ Having an insect brain and human consciousness oftentimes leads to clashes of nature and nurture – Gregory feels compelled to follow his insect instincts but restrains himself in order to retain his humanity. (After beating back instincts, he will oftentimes write out sentences such as ‘My name is Gregory Langelaan and I am human’ multiple times in an attempt to ingrain the message.) His greatest fear is to lose himself completely and become a self-described “monster,” which often leads to morbidly amusing situations where he tries – and fails – to carry out normal human functions.
Otherwise, Gregory Langelaan is a twentysomething thrown out of college and into a world that he believed was only true in fairytales and books by Existentialist writers. The things and individuals he witnesses in the BPRD both astound and repel him and make for an interesting lifestyle. In his spare time, he enjoys doing algebra and reading books, though he also has a soft spot for music and games like Dance Dance Revolution and EVE. He was also quite the party person in college, but nowadays gets invited to very few get-togethers.
SKILLS: Since he was attempting to earn a degree in English studies when his metamorphosis began, Gregory has read many of the ‘great works’ of literature and is more than capable of proofreading and correcting mistakes in grammar and the like. However, his skills have gotten rusty due to a lack of study on his part and the sudden switch in species he had to undergo. In addition to English, Gregory also read up on various philosophies while in college; not only is he able to recognize Gregor Samsa and Kafka jokes, but he’s capable of giving a basic overview of the viewpoints expressed in the referenced books.
STRENGTHS: The fact that Gregory is now an overgrown cockroach allows him to exploit all the abilities that the species has. He has six fully-functional legs, antennae, and the ability to withstand quite a beating. He can also climb surfaces such as walls (provided that they are rough enough for Greg to grip them) and survive on a combination of food substances that would turn any normal human’s stomach. While he does have wings, Gregory is so far incapable of utilizing them and thus cannot fly.
WEAKNESSES: Gregory is incapable of both speaking and carrying himself like a normal human would. He also has a tendency to become rather clingy to those who choose to spend time with him, more out of joy that people are ‘still willing’ to be friends and sheer lonliness than a controlling or jealous aspect. In addition, he is a horrific cook – having the stomach of an insect has served only to build upon his ‘frat boy’ cooking skills and Gregory will often concoct things that are unidentifiable and inedible to all but him. Lastly, Gregory is highly startled by bright flashes of light and sudden noise; thunderstorms and cameras can cause him to mindlessly flee and hide in the nearest dark, quiet space available.
THE STORY
HISTORY: Gregory Kent Langelaan was born on Long Island to Jennifer and Gregory Langelaan. He enjoyed a normal suburban life alongside other kids on his block, scraping by in school with Bs and Cs and generally acting like any normal kid his age. The most remarkable event in Gregory’s young life was his father’s diagnosis of lung cancer; a twenty-year, half-pack-a-day habit finally caught up with him and William Langelaan died when Gregory was thirteen years old. His mother dated in later years, but never remarried.
The loss of his father drove Gregory to look for other male role models in his life. He found one in his eighth-grade English teacher and resolved to do better in school, pulling his grades up from mediocre to top of the class in everything except math, his worst subject. Upon entering high school, he found another kind of role model in the older, senior guys and entered the party scene. Though he never degenerated into serious drug use (and stayed far away from smoking cigarettes), he experimented with various substances at backyard and basement parties with his older pals. Once again, Gregory was living the life of a normal kid in a normal neighborhood.
It was while earning his college degree in SUNY that Gregory’s life began to take a turn for the more supernatural. Gregory awoke one morning from a study-induced stupor to find that his skin was beginning to harden and turn an odd brown color. His dorm mates at first thought it was some kind of odd flu or stress-related illness, but after the true extent of his affliction became obvious (and his antennae appeared) they called emergency services. Gregory then spent several painful weeks in a hospital, transforming from man to cockroach in a perversion of metamorphosis. The BPRD came to investigate upon receiving word of Gregory’s situation, only for Gregory to reject their offers to stay and receive housing at a nearby base out of fear of being experimented on and shock at what happened to him. Half-lucid, he escaped the hospital’s care and spent a short period of time attempting to scrounge an existence alongside humans in the city. It was only after an altercation with a homeless man (that resulted in the scar on his head) that Gregory realized that living a normal life was now impossible for him. He then wandered back to the hospital; the BPRD was notified of his return and took Gregory into their custody. After several rigorous check-ups, analytical profiling tests and a basic training course, he joined the BPRD as a rookie agent.
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