Individual Character's full name: Michael Taylor
Alias/ Nickname/ Code name: Azrael
Gender: Male
Age: 20
Date of Birth: (mm/dd/year) 09/28/1992
Birthplace/ Home/ Place of origin: Terre Haute, Indiana
Nationality: American (also holds Canadian citizenship)
Ethnicity/ Cultural Heritage: Metis and American roots
AppearanceHair color and style: Messy brown hair, of a short-ish length.
Skin Tone: Light skinned
Eye Color: Blue
Height: 6 ft 1 in
Build: Average, leaning towards the toned side.
Visible mutation: The vertebra of his spine are permanently sticking out, although as a human by only an inch or two.
Scars/ Tattoos/ Piercings: Has a large, branded black cross symbol that stretches across a large portion of his back
Other features: N/A
Everyday clothing style: Simple grey cargo pants and a button up shirt, usually accompanied with black sneakers and a leather jacket. Usually carries a concealed pistol at night.
Uniform: None
Sleepwear: Boxers and T shirt
Miscellaneous clothing: N/A
CharacterPersonality: The best word to describe Michael is reserved. He is often reluctant to interact with others, preferring to remain lost in his own thoughts. He often wears a gruff scowl or a blank serious look upon his face, partially in an attempt to deter people from approaching him. He is also a little paranoid when it comes to the outside world, so he often rationalizes shutting others out as merely a prudent safety precaution. Michael is, however, extremely devout, so he does have a few meaningful relationships amongst the other volunteers he works with at his local church.
Though he would never admit it to anyone, Michael walls himself off from the main world due to his conflicted emotions over his mutant side. Although he has found a reason to legitimizes his existence in his mind (see history below), he still believes he is an abomination of nature. This inner struggle often manifests itself through anger or extreme sadness, and he has been known to throw objects in his apartment in fits of anger.
That being said, the few people who do know him well are people that Michael would fight tooth and nail to protect. Loyalty is a big thing for him, and he would never hurt or betray those who are close to him. Most importantly, Michael has shielded them the most from his inner demons and often tries to fake a happier or kinder demeanor around them. As such, Michael’s extremely small group of friends are quite dear to him, even though they know so little about his true self.
Hobbies/ Interests: Reading/meditation, swimming & painting are his main hobbies and interests. He is also fascinated with the study of ancient cultures.
Job or part time job and description: Currently works as a part-time volunteer at the Church of Humanity.
Fears/ phobias/ concerns: Mutants, death and being discovered top the list of fears/phobias. In addition, he is concerned that he could be caught soon by the police…
Special talents: Having grown up around guns, he is quite adept with weapons.
MoralityGood/ bad/ neutral/ other: Neutral, with some strong “bad” tendencies. Although he sees himself as a force of good for humanity, his string of killings speaks for itself.
MutationsMutation description: “Mishipeshu”, or Water Lynx/Serpent
Michael’s mutation is his ability to take on the form of an anthropomorphic Mishipeshu, a mythological creature from Cree & Metis mythology. Standing at about nine feet tall, Michael appears to be a bulky cross between a lynx and serpent. His upper body is covered with thick, silvery-brown fur, and his face is similar to that of a lynx, with a shortened muzzle and tuffed ears. In this form, Michael also has relatively humanish hands, although he does have claws and some rudimentary webbing. Below the waist, however, Michael is covered with dark green scales. This is accompanied by upright spikes along the entirety of his back, clawed feet similar to a lizard and an exceptionally long tail (about 5 feet) that is coated in copper plating.
Strengths: Keen hearing can help him detect specific people within a radius of 60 meters when the area is pack and noisy, and 80 meters when it's quiet out. He also has an enhanced sense of smell which can allow him to follow scent trails. The increased muscle mass gives him a big edge in terms of strength and speed; he can run at a top speed of about 40 mph across 400 or so yards, although his enhanced strength is only equivalent to perhaps an exceptionally strong human. His lower half’s thickened scales were originally developed to resist native spears and knives, so it can take quite a bit of damage from blunt weapons. They can potentially protect Michael from some limited small arms fire. Michael’s mutation allows him to breathe underwater and swim quite adeptly in his Mishipeshu form.
Weaknesses and Limitations: Staying in his alternate form for too long is very dangerous for Michael. He has never tried to push it longer than a couple of hours, at which point he begins to lose control of himself to the animalistic side which accompanies this form. Although he can shift from human to Mishipeshu in a matter of seconds, it can take anywhere from a minute or two to half an hour to shift back to human form. As well, his rather long tail can pose some problems at times; even though it can deal a blow even more powerful than any of his other appendages, it’s rather hard to maneuver. It can be used rather adeptly in a fight, but it can pose a big problem when getting away is a priority.
Physical AbilitiesGeneral Physical Capabilities: Michael is of mostly average strength and flexibility, although he has quick reflexes and is a fast runner. His Mishipeshu form gives him a big edge in strength and speed, although this is at the detriment of flexibility.
Fighting Style: Michael generally goes for the jugular in a fight. He’s not the type to back down from a fight, although he will lick his wounds and run if he’s clearly outmatched.
Fighting Style Pros/Cons: On the pro side, Michael tends to have the element of surprise at the beginning with his rather direct style of attack. On the other hand, he becomes rather predictable as a fight may go on.
History Of Your CharacterMichael Taylor was born to Frances Bruneau and Aaron Taylor, a local high school teacher and pastor respectively. Growing up, he divided most of his time between his small hometown of Terre Haute, Indiana, and his mother’s village in Manitoba, Berens River. From an early age, his parents were kind but firm with him, and they helped to foster in him a desire to do what was right for the world around him.
This rapidly changed when he was only 5, at which point his father switched over to the newly founded Church of Humanity. Michael’s father had a powerful sway in the small town, and soon a majority of its citizens had been immersed in the new religion, including Michael. His father spoke about how mutants were an abomination of nature, something not created in God’s image, and he began to preach that those with the power to do so must dedicate their lives to riding the world of these monsters.
There was a sense of skepticism at first for Michael when it came to this new religion. This preaching against others was something that seemed to contradict the inclusiveness his father used to tell him about. For a few years afterwards, he harboured these thoughts. It was only when he was 10 that he openly voiced these opinions to his parents, something he regretted almost instantly.
Aaron had never laid a hand on his son before, but that was the day on which it changed. For the next few months, Michael hid in terror from his father’s rage, terrified that every moment around him could mean another beating, another lashing by his father’s fiery tongue. Eventually, Michael simply succumbed to his father’s way of thought and began to find ways in which to please him, hoping that would change things. His father finally forgave him, but the damage to Michael’s thought process was done.
Michael’s sense of right became more and more warped as he grew older. By the time he hit 16, he believed every word his father said, beginning to believe he needed to “right the world” of mutants. Terre Haute itself was small enough to be devoid of mutants, so Michael and a group of his friends would travel to Indianapolis looking for mutants to rough up. It became a weekly ritual, one that his father encouraged him to go on.
It was a week after his 18th birthday that everything changed. He and three friends had decided to go to Chicago instead of Indianapolis, believing they might find a more obvious crop of mutants. It was there that they ended up challenging a mutant who was far more powerful than all four of them combined. The mutant managed to kill all three of Michael’s friends, but it was at that point that Michael’s dormant powers, passed down silently along generations of Metis, came to the surface.
Enraged by the deaths of his friends, Michael shifted to his Mishepishu form in a matter of seconds and mauled the mutant, eventually killing him. It took a few minutes for Michael to gain control and shift back, but when he finally did he was horrified of what he had become, a creature of horror from his native roots’ folklore. He took off for a few months, torn between disgust for what he was and anguish at what he had done.
It was after a few months of this inner torment that he decided there had to be a reason for his existence as “an abomination”. He began to reflect on his father’s teachings and eventually came back to this idea of righting the world. Michael came to the conclusion that he had been chosen to continue this mission in a new way, and he vowed to use his newfound power to continue to rid the world of mutants, abomination or not.
Michael travelled home one last time, telling his parents that he would be moving to New York City to follow a call to serve the church. He moved there two years ago, and has continued this mission of his ever since, taking on the name of Azrael (the angel of death).
RoleplayWhere did you learn about this site?: My good friend Ty invited me to give the site a try
Do you have any other characters on MRO, if so who: Nope
Sample RP:RUNEvery fiber of his being was screaming at him, telling him to accept his fate. But all Michael could think of was getting away from the gruesome scene he had just caused. His feet beat against the pavement as he ran down the alleyway, past the rows of empty industrial buildings. Michael could hear the sirens, maybe 50 or 60 feet away, as he grasped the chain linked fence and nearly vaulted over it in one fluid leap. He landed and continued to speed away, his mind screaming that he was a monster, an abomination of nature.
RUNMichael’s mind raced back to what had just happened. The four of them had thought Chicago would be a fun, new adventure. They had thought there’d be easy pickings for mutants there, far easier to spot out then the relatively smaller Indianapolis. On that, they had been right, but they’d never anticipated running into such a strong one that night.
That thing… it had melted Rick’s face with the venom it spat. It had made quick work of Paul and Trav too before it had turned on him. But the mutant hadn’t had a chance to even touch him. It was almost as if the shock in seeing his friends die had awakened something deep inside of Michael. He barely processed what was happening as he grew larger and larger, ripping out of his shirt as massive spikes erupted from his back and a long tail from the base of his spine.
Michael had lunged at the mutant, tearing at its flesh with his newly grown, sharpened teeth and large claws. The whole ordeal was over in under a minute, and by the time he had come to realize what had happened, the mutant was dead. For a moment, it felt so surreal that Michael thought it was a dream, but then it hit him.
Now, he was one of them: a mutant…
Michael skittered to a stop, his huge tail smacking against leg as he panted heavily. He’d put 3 or 4 miles between himself and what was left of his friends. His emotions overwhelming him, Michael collapsed against the brick wall as his father’s words swirled around in his mind.
“This world is infected with their filth. It must be purified, cleansed of the sin that permeates the very earth that was given to us by Him. They are scum! They must be removed at all cost, cast out as the demons that they are!”Michael began to blink back tears. He didn’t understand why this was happening to him. He tried to contain his sadness, but soon he began to openly sob at the thought of what he now was. Michael curled up in the fetal position and put his hands over his head.
“What have I become?”
