Post by Subtleknifewielder on Jun 11, 2023 9:35:56 GMT
Common Info
Name: The closest to a birth name he has is the name of his breed when he was an ordinary transponder snail--Kuro
Alias: He does not have one--yet
Titles: Beast Tamer, Sniper
Race: Kuro Den-den Mushi (Black Transponder Snail)
Gender: Male
Age: 20 (10 before and 10 after eating the fruit)
Place of Origin: Not even he's entirely sure, as most memories from before eating the fruit are hazy, and it's not like the World government has a census for transponder snails.
Bounty: None yet as Kuro has yet to commit a crime against civilians or marines. Or at least, none that have been reported.
Physical Info
Visual Picture:
Physical description: Kuro's human form is tall and imposing to most, nearly eight feet and every inch from head to toe, every limb, is a mountain of solid, imposing muscle with little in the way of distinguishing scars, birthmarks, or tattoos (he doesn't see the point of those). His skin is naturally dark already, and when adding a small tan from a lot of time spent outdoors exposed to the weather, it's even darker. His hair is a bit frizzy and curly, but he barely pays any attention to that, and his face, when seen, is a calm, sharp-nosed, sharp-eyed mien that says little of how he is really feeling, except when enraged.
When in hybrid form his build isn't extremely different aside from longer antennae, hair nearly entirely receding, and having a clear layer of shell lighter in color overlaid over his back, and the backs of his arms and legs. The shell is nearly white with some speckles of several other darker colors sprinkled over it. His skin also darkens further toward the color it was as just a snail.
In animal form he's literally just a snail that is black in color, with the same red eyes he has in human form albeit perched on the eyestalks that become his antennae in human form, with the white, speckled shell curled around his body. He is notably large for a transponder snail in that form, though not nearly as big as some of the visual-based snail variants--his shell diameter is nearly two feet. Might explain how his human form is so big, too...
Clothes: The only clothes Kuro usually wears are a set of uniform pants and a jacket stolen from the supplies of the marine ship he was originally on. He does not usually bother keeping the jacket closed.
Defining feature: The antennae that remain firmly fixed to his head in any form are pretty notable, sticking above even the hair which is itself pretty notable. The mask he often wears is also distinctive, seemingly made from the skull of a horned creature. Even when not covering his face the mask tends to only be slid up out of the way on top of his head, not taken off--this is because it is actually a remnant of his shell that he cannot entirely rid himself of in human form. It can slide up over his head and back down over his face, but it cannot detach. The antennae hide behind the horns when the mask is down, and stick up around either side when it is up.
Personal Items: Kuro is neither greedy nor highly sentimental. He only has only two keepsakes.
1. Something he stole from a marine he particularly hated--a porcupine quill from something called a 'mink.' He has no clue what a mink is, only that it was something that the marine in turn especially hated, keeping the quill as a memento of a grudge. The marine had taken the time to hone and forge it into a long knife. So Kuro took it and its sheathe, and wears it hanging around his neck attached to a simple woven necklace. It is about 8 inches long, plus the added handle.
2. His his old equipment he had as a regular snail.
3. He also has one standard transponder snail he taps into for helping him make calls.
Personal Info
Personality: Kuro is a bit of a contradiction in several respects. He likes his freedom, while both seeking and respecting strength to the point he will gladly serve someone who he recognizes as strong. Yet also he has a lazy streak where he prefers to not move too quickly at any given moment, liking when he can relax. He will not give most humans the time of day--unless they prove their strength to him, but even then he will tend to be wary around them, especially if they have any kind of perceived authority over him. He also has a soft spot for other animals--as long as they don't challenge him, as well as a slightly mischievous streak even towards those he regards as allies, occasionally playing practical jokes on friend and foe alike.
Morals:
Freedom: Specifically his own. All others can fight for theirs if they think they can take it. He fought for his without help, they can do the same.
Respect: Those who have earned his respect via tests of power, also earn his loyalty, until such a time as they lose another test. Those who have lost to him showing him deference also get some measure of respect for following the natural pecking order. This applies equally to all races and even includes animals, obviously.
Passion:
Eating: He loves food--especially fruits, as well as milk and other foods rich in calcium (yes even broccoli). Considering his shell requires calcium, is it any surprise?
Relaxation: He loves to take it easy when he can. Soaking in the warmth of the sun, or a gentle rain, are equally enjoyable to him. Especially if he has people to do other things for him like bring him food or drinks.
Strength: Conversely, he loves to test his strength against others, too, even those who have proven themselves against him before, and even beasts who are seeing fit to challenge him. Usually though, he is smart enough to realize there's a time and place for such things, even if it's only to put it off from doing it on the ship itself. Don't want to break the thing keeping him from sinking into the water, after all.
Loathe:
Dry Heat: As a snail he tends to be particularly wary of things that would hurt him in animal form, even when he is in human form reacting much the same. Dry excessive heat makes him especially wary of exerting himself and he will grow even more sluggish than he normally is. He will tend to drink insane amounts of water to counter it if he absolutely must move about in such conditions.
Salt: He doesn't mind it in food or drink (in moderation), but seeing pure salt in any amount will definitely trigger a fear reaction, one of the only things he actually fears and will recoil from in any form. (So keep him away from the galley while the cook is busy).
Sharp Objects: Specifically an enemy coming at him with them (he can usually distinguish when someone is coming at him with non-hostile intent). Snails are particularly vulnerable to eggshells and other sharp detritus that sometimes gets littered on the ground, and that instinct remains, albeit channelled into rage instead of fear, and a drive to get that enemy to back off from him as far as possible. Notably if he does see things like broken glass or broken eggshells in his path, he will still warily sidestep around them, though oddly, a pile of wooden splinters does not bother him at all.
Weaklings: Specifically, when someone he considers beneath him (which is almost anyone who hasn't proven their strength or power to him) trying to tell him what to do, which will almost invariably provoke a hostile response unless someone who is stronger than him advises or commands him not to. Weaklings who don't try to order him still get contempt but not hostility, usually, unless they follow a similar attitude to him and give him their loyalty. Even weaklings trying to order around someone else he sees as strong will potentially get a punch to the face or gut. Most humans are regarded as weaklings even beyond civilians of any other race. This does not extend to beasts, they are simpler and don't know any better.
Flaw: It is almost ridiculously easy to provoke him into fighting someone if they have never fought him before, or if he has beaten the person before and is confident in a repeated victory. Especially by humans. Only a strong captain would be able to keep his violent instincts and impulses in check due to the respect he would feel he owed them. Also, if left to his own devices, he would almost certainly laze away the entire day unless something just happened to strongly catch his interest. This also results in frequent naps when he is not currently occupied.
Personal Goal/Dream: Perfect freedom for himself, where he doesn't have to raise a finger to do much of anything unless he himself feels like it. Oh, and somewhere along the way, he'd like a chance to capture the marine who made much of his early life a living hell and give her at least a taste of how she made him feel.
Defining Moment:
Sometime after eating the fruit, Kuro had reached an equilibrium with the crew of the marine ship he was on. He quietly did what they asked him to do as a black transponder snail and listen in to calls they asked him to, and they didn't turn him back in to the government, as that would require something they called paperwork. Way too much of whatever that was. He did quickly get the sense that not all the calls he listened in on were things their superiors wanted them to hear, though, retaining much more information than the crew would likely be comfortable with, had he let on about his memory.
Of special note was an ensign that was transferred to the ship about six years after he gained self-awareness, a vicious and vengeful woman called Candy Grenadine who walked with a pronounced limp thanks to a previous encounter with something called a mink. She was sweet and bubbly to the crew, but quickly took any opportunity to torment Kuro when the crew's backs were turned. The names meant little to him, but when the salt and threats of physical violence came out, he actually grew afraid, and that fear turned to rage and cold calculation. He quickly learned his existence in any kind of human-dominated society was precarious, and vowed to escape, and take some kind of particular vengeance on Ensign Grenadine. Unfortunately when the opportunity came for him to escape the ship, he was not able to exact such vengeance, only steal something she valued as a mere down-payment on what she owed him for his suffering.
Family Tree: He has no clue what a family tree even is...
Devil Fruit Info (Only edit if you have eaten a devil fruit.)
Devil Fruit Name: Human-Human fruit
Devil Fruit Type: Zoan
Abilities: This fruit allows its user to transform into a human at will, or a hybrid between human and their original form. The original form is indistinguishable from what it was before, but the human form still retains some elements of the user's base species if it wasn't human. It grants the user human-level intelligence and the ability for human speech regardless of which form they are currently in, and if their base form was an animal they retain the ability to communicate with animals regardless of current form as well. In short, the eater gains all the basic abilities of a human, from intelligence, to speech, to tool use, and the ability to learn and mentally adapt.
In Kuro's hybrid form, his body gets significantly more rubbery to the touch as well as in texture, allowing him to fold up in the shell for protection if need be, and bounce weaker blunt attacks off without significant harm. (In other words, grunts can't usually hurt him with bludgeoning--actual enemies of strength can still hurt him that way just fine.)
In snail form he's, well, a transponder snail, black skin, the eyestalks that become his antennae bearing eyes that are vivid red in all forms, the same white, speckled shell. He is notably larger than the average transponder snail, however, the shell nearly two feet in diameter.
Snail abilities he keeps in any form include:
Weakness: No matter how hard the user tries, they cannot completely eliminate all aspects of their base animal form even when trying to look human. Kuro will always retain at minimum, his snail's antennae. If confined by sufficiently strong bindings that would grow too tight in any way, it could restrict his ability to transform, as well.
For Kuro specifically, salt is a pretty strong weakness in any great amount. As previously mentioned a small amount of salt as seasoning in food is ok, but if it's too strong he might start shriveling up until he gets more water. Even in human form he will tend to sag and hunch a bit until he gets more water, if exposed to salt.
Special Moves:
Note: All special moves require him to be in hybrid form at minimum.
Tactics info
Personal Equipment:
While Kuro has no special equipment for his sniper abilities, just using whatever's on hand, he does have an affinity for his own natural species, and has several 'pet' snails he taps into frequently for a variety of purposes, though none of them are nearly so big as he is. Specifically, he has tthree baby snails he can hand out to help his crew coordinate or for adding a little extra effort to One Thousand Snails.
Skills:
Accuracy: With how strong and coordinated he is, he can throw accurately at incredible velocity and range, and not just typical thrown objects like spears, balls, or throwing knives, but improvised objects like planks, rocks of all sizes and shapes, or pieces of his own shell when they break off. Even other people can be hurled accurately at a target, and he often will throw a person if they're the only handy object in easy reach.
Beast Taming: While competent beast tamers who cannot speak the language of beasts do exist, the fact he can makes it so much easier to get at what the animal wants and needs, to convince it to work for him. It helps he's capable of strong displays of dominance, reassurance, and other instinctive forms of body language, too.
Eidetic Memory: He has perfect recall of everything he has ever heard, seen, or otherwise sensed. Helps greatly in his mimicry efforts.
Sound Mimicry: Like beast taming, there are those without his natural gifts who can mimic voices perfectly. But he can do it effortlessly as part of what he was, and still is at heart. Not just voices, but any sound in the enviornment, from the splash of a wave on the seashore, to the wind in the leaves of trees, to the flapping of sails, or the call of birds or snarls of predators. And he can mimic multiple sounds at once.
Tinkering: Specifically with transponder snail attachments. He understands the equipment he used to need and can modify it a little for his snails, but he can't create new equipment on his own, for now.
Ventriloquism: He's learned, over time, how to 'throw' his voice and make it sound like he's in a very different place than he actually is. Or that whatever or whoever he's mimicking is just behind that bush over there, or that tree, or right behind you...
Haki:
Until Haki is capable of being learned, this will stay empty.
Combat Style:
As violent as his instincts are, Kuro actually often prefers to expend as little effort as he has to in order to fight the enemy. Not to say he can't exert himself if he needs to, but hey, if he can trick them into fighting each other by mimicking their voices arguing with one another, he will absolutely do that. Or keep them at bay with one thrown object after another, that is also fun and enjoyable. If a foe gets too close he will attempt to knock them back away from him again by any means necessary, because a close foe means a foe he has to expend more energy to fight. Fleeing is not an option because that would take more energy--and be a waste of strength!
Techniques:
Escar-gone!: Kuro picks up a person and throws them away--most frequently one foe who got to close, at another foe, but he can also throw crewmates--willing or otherwise. If they are a foe, he often swings them around first to build up momentum and throw even harder.
One Thousand Snails: Kuro mimics the sound of his own or his crewmates' footsteps many times over, spread out over a wide area to make people think there are multiple foes nearby. To make them look everywhere, except where he and his allies actually are.
Rifle Shell: Kuro hefts a single object to throw, zeroing in his focus on a single target, and then throws with all his accuracy, and a velocity great enough to create a shockwave of wind in the passage of the projectile. The heaviest such projectile he can user reliably like this is a large boulder half his own weight, heavier projectiles can be used but are not guaranteed to be as accurate.
Shell No!: A series of quick but powerful alternating jabs, meant to knock back an enemy that gets too close to conveniently snipe, can have weight added by gripping something heavy in his fists at the same time. Can work equally well to demolish obstacles immediately in his path, as well.
Volley of Shells: The reverse of Rifle shell. Put Kuro next to a pile of throwing ammunition and he will hurl them rapidly one after the other at a target. Even pre-light them if they are cannonballs or some other explosive, to watch that target blow up gloriously!
Name: The closest to a birth name he has is the name of his breed when he was an ordinary transponder snail--Kuro
Alias: He does not have one--yet
Titles: Beast Tamer, Sniper
Race: Kuro Den-den Mushi (Black Transponder Snail)
Gender: Male
Age: 20 (10 before and 10 after eating the fruit)
Place of Origin: Not even he's entirely sure, as most memories from before eating the fruit are hazy, and it's not like the World government has a census for transponder snails.
Bounty: None yet as Kuro has yet to commit a crime against civilians or marines. Or at least, none that have been reported.
Physical Info
Visual Picture:
Physical description: Kuro's human form is tall and imposing to most, nearly eight feet and every inch from head to toe, every limb, is a mountain of solid, imposing muscle with little in the way of distinguishing scars, birthmarks, or tattoos (he doesn't see the point of those). His skin is naturally dark already, and when adding a small tan from a lot of time spent outdoors exposed to the weather, it's even darker. His hair is a bit frizzy and curly, but he barely pays any attention to that, and his face, when seen, is a calm, sharp-nosed, sharp-eyed mien that says little of how he is really feeling, except when enraged.
When in hybrid form his build isn't extremely different aside from longer antennae, hair nearly entirely receding, and having a clear layer of shell lighter in color overlaid over his back, and the backs of his arms and legs. The shell is nearly white with some speckles of several other darker colors sprinkled over it. His skin also darkens further toward the color it was as just a snail.
In animal form he's literally just a snail that is black in color, with the same red eyes he has in human form albeit perched on the eyestalks that become his antennae in human form, with the white, speckled shell curled around his body. He is notably large for a transponder snail in that form, though not nearly as big as some of the visual-based snail variants--his shell diameter is nearly two feet. Might explain how his human form is so big, too...
Clothes: The only clothes Kuro usually wears are a set of uniform pants and a jacket stolen from the supplies of the marine ship he was originally on. He does not usually bother keeping the jacket closed.
Defining feature: The antennae that remain firmly fixed to his head in any form are pretty notable, sticking above even the hair which is itself pretty notable. The mask he often wears is also distinctive, seemingly made from the skull of a horned creature. Even when not covering his face the mask tends to only be slid up out of the way on top of his head, not taken off--this is because it is actually a remnant of his shell that he cannot entirely rid himself of in human form. It can slide up over his head and back down over his face, but it cannot detach. The antennae hide behind the horns when the mask is down, and stick up around either side when it is up.
Personal Items: Kuro is neither greedy nor highly sentimental. He only has only two keepsakes.
1. Something he stole from a marine he particularly hated--a porcupine quill from something called a 'mink.' He has no clue what a mink is, only that it was something that the marine in turn especially hated, keeping the quill as a memento of a grudge. The marine had taken the time to hone and forge it into a long knife. So Kuro took it and its sheathe, and wears it hanging around his neck attached to a simple woven necklace. It is about 8 inches long, plus the added handle.
2. His his old equipment he had as a regular snail.
3. He also has one standard transponder snail he taps into for helping him make calls.
Personal Info
Personality: Kuro is a bit of a contradiction in several respects. He likes his freedom, while both seeking and respecting strength to the point he will gladly serve someone who he recognizes as strong. Yet also he has a lazy streak where he prefers to not move too quickly at any given moment, liking when he can relax. He will not give most humans the time of day--unless they prove their strength to him, but even then he will tend to be wary around them, especially if they have any kind of perceived authority over him. He also has a soft spot for other animals--as long as they don't challenge him, as well as a slightly mischievous streak even towards those he regards as allies, occasionally playing practical jokes on friend and foe alike.
Morals:
Freedom: Specifically his own. All others can fight for theirs if they think they can take it. He fought for his without help, they can do the same.
Respect: Those who have earned his respect via tests of power, also earn his loyalty, until such a time as they lose another test. Those who have lost to him showing him deference also get some measure of respect for following the natural pecking order. This applies equally to all races and even includes animals, obviously.
Passion:
Eating: He loves food--especially fruits, as well as milk and other foods rich in calcium (yes even broccoli). Considering his shell requires calcium, is it any surprise?
Relaxation: He loves to take it easy when he can. Soaking in the warmth of the sun, or a gentle rain, are equally enjoyable to him. Especially if he has people to do other things for him like bring him food or drinks.
Strength: Conversely, he loves to test his strength against others, too, even those who have proven themselves against him before, and even beasts who are seeing fit to challenge him. Usually though, he is smart enough to realize there's a time and place for such things, even if it's only to put it off from doing it on the ship itself. Don't want to break the thing keeping him from sinking into the water, after all.
Loathe:
Dry Heat: As a snail he tends to be particularly wary of things that would hurt him in animal form, even when he is in human form reacting much the same. Dry excessive heat makes him especially wary of exerting himself and he will grow even more sluggish than he normally is. He will tend to drink insane amounts of water to counter it if he absolutely must move about in such conditions.
Salt: He doesn't mind it in food or drink (in moderation), but seeing pure salt in any amount will definitely trigger a fear reaction, one of the only things he actually fears and will recoil from in any form. (So keep him away from the galley while the cook is busy).
Sharp Objects: Specifically an enemy coming at him with them (he can usually distinguish when someone is coming at him with non-hostile intent). Snails are particularly vulnerable to eggshells and other sharp detritus that sometimes gets littered on the ground, and that instinct remains, albeit channelled into rage instead of fear, and a drive to get that enemy to back off from him as far as possible. Notably if he does see things like broken glass or broken eggshells in his path, he will still warily sidestep around them, though oddly, a pile of wooden splinters does not bother him at all.
Weaklings: Specifically, when someone he considers beneath him (which is almost anyone who hasn't proven their strength or power to him) trying to tell him what to do, which will almost invariably provoke a hostile response unless someone who is stronger than him advises or commands him not to. Weaklings who don't try to order him still get contempt but not hostility, usually, unless they follow a similar attitude to him and give him their loyalty. Even weaklings trying to order around someone else he sees as strong will potentially get a punch to the face or gut. Most humans are regarded as weaklings even beyond civilians of any other race. This does not extend to beasts, they are simpler and don't know any better.
Flaw: It is almost ridiculously easy to provoke him into fighting someone if they have never fought him before, or if he has beaten the person before and is confident in a repeated victory. Especially by humans. Only a strong captain would be able to keep his violent instincts and impulses in check due to the respect he would feel he owed them. Also, if left to his own devices, he would almost certainly laze away the entire day unless something just happened to strongly catch his interest. This also results in frequent naps when he is not currently occupied.
Personal Goal/Dream: Perfect freedom for himself, where he doesn't have to raise a finger to do much of anything unless he himself feels like it. Oh, and somewhere along the way, he'd like a chance to capture the marine who made much of his early life a living hell and give her at least a taste of how she made him feel.
Defining Moment:
Sometime after eating the fruit, Kuro had reached an equilibrium with the crew of the marine ship he was on. He quietly did what they asked him to do as a black transponder snail and listen in to calls they asked him to, and they didn't turn him back in to the government, as that would require something they called paperwork. Way too much of whatever that was. He did quickly get the sense that not all the calls he listened in on were things their superiors wanted them to hear, though, retaining much more information than the crew would likely be comfortable with, had he let on about his memory.
Of special note was an ensign that was transferred to the ship about six years after he gained self-awareness, a vicious and vengeful woman called Candy Grenadine who walked with a pronounced limp thanks to a previous encounter with something called a mink. She was sweet and bubbly to the crew, but quickly took any opportunity to torment Kuro when the crew's backs were turned. The names meant little to him, but when the salt and threats of physical violence came out, he actually grew afraid, and that fear turned to rage and cold calculation. He quickly learned his existence in any kind of human-dominated society was precarious, and vowed to escape, and take some kind of particular vengeance on Ensign Grenadine. Unfortunately when the opportunity came for him to escape the ship, he was not able to exact such vengeance, only steal something she valued as a mere down-payment on what she owed him for his suffering.
Family Tree: He has no clue what a family tree even is...
Devil Fruit Info (Only edit if you have eaten a devil fruit.)
Devil Fruit Name: Human-Human fruit
Devil Fruit Type: Zoan
Abilities: This fruit allows its user to transform into a human at will, or a hybrid between human and their original form. The original form is indistinguishable from what it was before, but the human form still retains some elements of the user's base species if it wasn't human. It grants the user human-level intelligence and the ability for human speech regardless of which form they are currently in, and if their base form was an animal they retain the ability to communicate with animals regardless of current form as well. In short, the eater gains all the basic abilities of a human, from intelligence, to speech, to tool use, and the ability to learn and mentally adapt.
In Kuro's hybrid form, his body gets significantly more rubbery to the touch as well as in texture, allowing him to fold up in the shell for protection if need be, and bounce weaker blunt attacks off without significant harm. (In other words, grunts can't usually hurt him with bludgeoning--actual enemies of strength can still hurt him that way just fine.)
In snail form he's, well, a transponder snail, black skin, the eyestalks that become his antennae bearing eyes that are vivid red in all forms, the same white, speckled shell. He is notably larger than the average transponder snail, however, the shell nearly two feet in diameter.
Snail abilities he keeps in any form include:
- Transponder calls: Kuro is perfectly willing and able to be the conduit for a call--for anyone he respects, or anyone else willing to do something else for him in exchange. Especially since making a call doesn't require physical effort, only mental effort to connect to one of his snails. This ability is disabled if he is jammed by a horned snail, though he can tell where the jamming is coming from. He notably cannot send the specific signals required to activate silver or gold snails, as that is a hyper-specialization he does not have access to.
- Wiretap: Kuro sometimes accidently will tune into nearby calls at random, uncontrolled moments until it ends on its own or he gets knocked on the head, but more importantly, he can also listen in willfully to other snail signals, as long as they are not encrypted by a white snail or jammed by a horned snail. While he cannot mimic the signal of a gold snail, he can tell if one within his range has been activated.
- Facial mimicry: Though a lot more difficult in full human form, he can still make his face resemble someone else's for about a minute at a time.
Weakness: No matter how hard the user tries, they cannot completely eliminate all aspects of their base animal form even when trying to look human. Kuro will always retain at minimum, his snail's antennae. If confined by sufficiently strong bindings that would grow too tight in any way, it could restrict his ability to transform, as well.
For Kuro specifically, salt is a pretty strong weakness in any great amount. As previously mentioned a small amount of salt as seasoning in food is ok, but if it's too strong he might start shriveling up until he gets more water. Even in human form he will tend to sag and hunch a bit until he gets more water, if exposed to salt.
Special Moves:
Note: All special moves require him to be in hybrid form at minimum.
- Escar-got Away!: If sufficiently incensed to the point where he is forced or otherwise motivated to move quickly, Kuro shifts to his hybrid form if he is not already in it, and curls up completely into his shell, rapidly spinning to launch himself at an enemy with incredible velocity and force. The impact of a hard shell tends to do some serious damage. This can be done in animal form as well.
- Shell Yes!: A modification of the Shell No! technique, shell growing around from the backs of his hands to entirely cover his fists and whatever might be in his fists at the time, to do more damage.
- Snail Mail: The biggest problem with the shell is it doesn't cover his entire body in hybrid form. Snail Mail fixes that, the shell on his back growing to encase him from head to toe in hard plates that can deflect bullets and blades alike. If he hardens it further it allows him to tank a cannonball hit as well. The downsides are, he has to either block off his sight, or leave a weak spot where his eyes are to see, he needs a lot of calcium-rich foods or drinks after to make up for using it, and until he chips off enough of the extra shell, he can't really do much moving. He could do it in animal form as well but what would be the point when he can just hide in the shell as nature intended?
- Snail Slime Bomb: Manifesting a ball of slime in his hand, of just the right consistency that when thrown, it sticks together with itself--until it hits something and explodes in a sticky mess that quickly hardens into the glue-like consistency, potentially sticking enemies to each other, to walls, to the floor, or whatever else they are touching at the time.
- Snail Trail: Kuro secretes slime from his skin in hybrid or animal form, laying down a layer of it on a surface, usually the floor, for one of two effects, effects he can choose how much affect him personally as it is HIS slime.
- Slick Slime: This version is wet and slippery, making it hard to hold one's footing or get a grip on whatever has been slimed. He can also apply it to himself to discourage grapplers from getting a solid hold on any part of him.
- Sticky Slime: This version is the opposite, like glue instead, making whoever touches it stick to it and have to struggle to unstick themselves from the slime. This slime can also be used to modify his ranged techniques to make the projectiles stick to targets that prove particularly troublesome.
- Slick Slime: This version is wet and slippery, making it hard to hold one's footing or get a grip on whatever has been slimed. He can also apply it to himself to discourage grapplers from getting a solid hold on any part of him.
- Snail Trailblazer: A modification of Snail Trail: Slick Slime, he charges forward before secreting the slime but instead of laying it down, it remains on his skin to avoid loss of momentum. Especially effective when he has the high ground and he wants to get downhill fast, though enough sliding will inevitably wear it away if he doesn't keep secreting it. Can also be performed in animal form.
Tactics info
Personal Equipment:
While Kuro has no special equipment for his sniper abilities, just using whatever's on hand, he does have an affinity for his own natural species, and has several 'pet' snails he taps into frequently for a variety of purposes, though none of them are nearly so big as he is. Specifically, he has tthree baby snails he can hand out to help his crew coordinate or for adding a little extra effort to One Thousand Snails.
Skills:
Accuracy: With how strong and coordinated he is, he can throw accurately at incredible velocity and range, and not just typical thrown objects like spears, balls, or throwing knives, but improvised objects like planks, rocks of all sizes and shapes, or pieces of his own shell when they break off. Even other people can be hurled accurately at a target, and he often will throw a person if they're the only handy object in easy reach.
Beast Taming: While competent beast tamers who cannot speak the language of beasts do exist, the fact he can makes it so much easier to get at what the animal wants and needs, to convince it to work for him. It helps he's capable of strong displays of dominance, reassurance, and other instinctive forms of body language, too.
Eidetic Memory: He has perfect recall of everything he has ever heard, seen, or otherwise sensed. Helps greatly in his mimicry efforts.
Sound Mimicry: Like beast taming, there are those without his natural gifts who can mimic voices perfectly. But he can do it effortlessly as part of what he was, and still is at heart. Not just voices, but any sound in the enviornment, from the splash of a wave on the seashore, to the wind in the leaves of trees, to the flapping of sails, or the call of birds or snarls of predators. And he can mimic multiple sounds at once.
Tinkering: Specifically with transponder snail attachments. He understands the equipment he used to need and can modify it a little for his snails, but he can't create new equipment on his own, for now.
Ventriloquism: He's learned, over time, how to 'throw' his voice and make it sound like he's in a very different place than he actually is. Or that whatever or whoever he's mimicking is just behind that bush over there, or that tree, or right behind you...
Haki:
Until Haki is capable of being learned, this will stay empty.
Combat Style:
As violent as his instincts are, Kuro actually often prefers to expend as little effort as he has to in order to fight the enemy. Not to say he can't exert himself if he needs to, but hey, if he can trick them into fighting each other by mimicking their voices arguing with one another, he will absolutely do that. Or keep them at bay with one thrown object after another, that is also fun and enjoyable. If a foe gets too close he will attempt to knock them back away from him again by any means necessary, because a close foe means a foe he has to expend more energy to fight. Fleeing is not an option because that would take more energy--and be a waste of strength!
Techniques:
Escar-gone!: Kuro picks up a person and throws them away--most frequently one foe who got to close, at another foe, but he can also throw crewmates--willing or otherwise. If they are a foe, he often swings them around first to build up momentum and throw even harder.
One Thousand Snails: Kuro mimics the sound of his own or his crewmates' footsteps many times over, spread out over a wide area to make people think there are multiple foes nearby. To make them look everywhere, except where he and his allies actually are.
Rifle Shell: Kuro hefts a single object to throw, zeroing in his focus on a single target, and then throws with all his accuracy, and a velocity great enough to create a shockwave of wind in the passage of the projectile. The heaviest such projectile he can user reliably like this is a large boulder half his own weight, heavier projectiles can be used but are not guaranteed to be as accurate.
Shell No!: A series of quick but powerful alternating jabs, meant to knock back an enemy that gets too close to conveniently snipe, can have weight added by gripping something heavy in his fists at the same time. Can work equally well to demolish obstacles immediately in his path, as well.
Volley of Shells: The reverse of Rifle shell. Put Kuro next to a pile of throwing ammunition and he will hurl them rapidly one after the other at a target. Even pre-light them if they are cannonballs or some other explosive, to watch that target blow up gloriously!
