Ged.
Nicknames/Aliases:
Brandt Garrid (his name when he was human), The Grey-skinned Bwgan.
Age:
24.
Gender:
Male.
Species:
Bwgan, formerly human.
Faction Affiliation
The Bwgan.
Rank
High Bwgan. While he hasn't been assigned any official rank, the fact that he receives orders directly from Reith herself and has combat prowess that far surpasses that of normal Bwgan along with proper leadership skills, means he could be considered or act at a given point as a Captain.
Description:
Back when he was a human, Ged had the appearance of a young man with an average height of 5'8'', but a light and malnourished body due to his struggles to make a living for himself. He had round and soft facial features, with big, brown eyes, a small nose and thin eyebrows. His short hair was a dark brown and would always fall down straight despite the fact he always failed to take care of it properly.
Once he underwent his transformation into a High Bwgan, he still maintained a humanoid form and some of his old facial features; nonetheless, he can no longer, by any means, pass as a human being anymore. His physique changed, growing in stature to a slightly more respectable 6'0'' and his build became more muscular, albeit still not to a point that would be particularly surprising. His skin became a sickly grey color that would become his signature characteristic. His hair lost all of its color and became completely white, also growing as far as his shoulders and becoming completely messy, while his eyebrows disappeared entirely. His eyes are now completely white; while to most people it would appear that his sclera has expanded completely, he actually DOES have iris and pupils. The reason why they can only be noticed at a very close distance is because they too are white and of almost the same tone as the rest of the eyes.
He also has random markings throughout his body, such as white dots on his forehead (which on a closer look can be confirmed to be bones) and red lines running in an organized pattern throughout his body. More characteristic still are the five brown spike protuberances that grow from his back and extend as far as 1,20cm. The only clothing he wears now is a wide metal belt with cloth attached to it that wraps around Ged's hips, falls down as far as his knees and hides his nether regions.
It would come as a natural conclusion to anyone familiarized with Bwgan that this shape is not Ged's true appearance, as it is far too human-looking to be part of said species. His true appearance remains a mystery yet.
Visual Reference
Personality:
Ged is a creature of few words who would rather remain an observer than an active fighter. He has the tendency of classifying people as interesting or uninteresting based on different aspects of their personality and in some occasions their abilities; whether he finds someone appealing or not will wholly influence his attitude towards the person in question. If he doesn’t consider someone to be worth his attention, he keeps an extremely indifferent manner towards them; normally this involves maintaining a constantly apathetic expression during any kind of interaction, not answering questions directed to him in conversations and complete disregard for other people’s desires or feelings. On the other hand, if he does find someone to be interesting, he will display a much open mind and willingness to talk, albeit keeping his air of indifference. He is cold, ruthless and authoritarian, but also understanding, wise and extremely strong-willed. He doesn't like to receive orders by anyone other than the Corrupted Solace.
Due to special conditions that took place during his conversion, Ged differs from the rest of Bwgan in that, in his head, respecting their hive-like mind-work is not one of his top priorities. He has no interest in cooperating with beings as simplistic and instinct-driven as his own species nor does he have the nonsensical desire to inflict pain on humans without a purpose (he will still attack them, but for his own distorted reasons) and will only bother to make an effort to even have a conversation with other High Bwgan. Because of this, he often works by himself and only cooperates with other members of his species when crossing paths or having a specific objective in common and will even be willing to engage in confrontation against them should they refuse to give him the freedom to do as he pleases. That said, he is still very aware that his enemy is humanity and the Solace and will act accordingly, even defending other Bwgan if a battle unfolds in his presence. While his allegiance to other Bwgan can be questioned, he displays what can probably be the greatest loyalty towards the Corrupted Solace, obeying her every word and whim. He enjoys being close to the Queen, even if neither one of them has anything relevant to say and merely remain silent.
Skills:
Although not to the extent of actual metamorphosis, Ged is able to display control over his own body's mechanics and even perform some minor mutations. Given the flexibility and the many ways in which he is able to use this particular ability that spawned from his transformation into a Bwgan, it sometimes appears that he has many special skills, when in reality they are all different forms of the same ability:
Tissue and Veins/Arteries Control: Ged is able to manipulate his own muscular tissue and blood flow to momentarily increase his physical strength in a specific part of his body to great extents. This ability is limited as he can't create mass out of nowhere and is merely a rearrangement of his own muscles, but it is still possible for him to boost his physical capabilities by a factor of up to five. Combined with his own natural strength as a High Bwgan, this ability can grant him prowess in close-quarters of titanic proportions. If, for example, he was to concentrate this ability entirely on his right arm, it would swell to three times its normal size and he would be able to break through practically any material, including rock, metal and even some barriers conjured through Pale Magic; however, the rest of his body would remain normal. This ability can be used on many body parts at the same time, but it will prove less effective than if concentrated on a single limb. Nonetheless, he is not able to quickly change from one body part to another, meaning he can't unleash a continuous barrage of non-stop powerful strikes. In addition, he can't keep it for long as the strain would damage his body permanently.
Spikes: Using the muscles on his back to push them out, the spikes protruding from his cervical area can be pulled from his body and be used as spear-like weapons. Being of a material much sturdier than Bwgan flesh, these spikes can resist blows from weapons induced with Pale Magic and even block weak spells, allowing Ged to engage in close combat without fearing to instantly get cut, burned, shocked, etc. He is also able to throw them like javelins as an alternative when he needs to attack opponents at a long distance.
Minor Alterations: Ged is also able to use his ability to modify his physical appearance to some extent. By rearranging his face muscles, his face can become completely different, and through a similar process he can do the same for his body to appear like he has a different build. However, since he can't change his skin, eyes or hair colors, he can't use this ability to pass himself as a human and, at most, he can only pretend to be a different Bwgan. He is unconsciously using this skill at all times to keep his face looking the same way as it did when he was a human, which causes him strain he isn't even aware of.
Weaknesses:
No matter in what manner he uses his ability, the feeling for him when using it is similar to when people tense their muscles, meaning it causes him strain and will eventually need to take a rest. It also becomes harder for him to control his muscular tissue and blood flow when subjected to strong hits or if he has received injuries in the area he is trying to buff up.
In addition, unbeknownst to him, his constant, subconscious control on his body muscles to maintain a humanoid appearance causes him strain that hinders him and doesn't allow him to fully exhibit his capabilities. This limitation could only be lifted if he were to receive enough physical trauma, in which his true form would be revealed, easing his movements and use of his ability. This hasn't happened yet.
Finally, he will always follow the Corrupted Solace's orders, meaning he can also be subjected to her terrible decision-making caused by her insanity.
Brief History:
Born as the first of two sons in a family residing in a small northern town, Ged was raised to become a blacksmith by his father, who was a master of unprecedented talent. However, as years passed by, he showed to have no talent for the manipulation of metal at all, a fact that would disappoint his father to no end. He instead felt attracted towards the arts, showing a lot of interest and possible talent towards painting and sculpting; however, dead-set on making him take over the family legacy, his father insisted he compensated his lack of talent with more effort and practice, forcing him to quit the arts. Even after his younger brother grew up and was also forced to become a blacksmith, showing to have latent skills far superior to Ged's and even their father, he was still forced to continue trying to become what he had no interest in being. Nonetheless, being the kind of person who would comply and suffer in silence rather than confronting others openly, Ged grew to accept his fate and eventually managed to convince himself he was happy.
By the age of 18, he had yet to show any talent as a blacksmith while his brother became their father's favorite, but he found contempt in the fact that he was engaged to a beautiful woman named Cyla, who he vowed to marry once they could make a living for themselves. However, once his father fell ill and neared his last moments, he left all of his possessions not to the two siblings, but exclusively to Ged's younger brother, who he believed was the only of the two who had a future in life. Cyla would also turn her back on him once she learned that, without talent and raw materials to work with, the time when they could marry would never happen, and instead decided to leave with a successful merchant. Despite Ged's brother's claim that they could still divide the inheritance once their father died, Ged had been stricken with grief and decided he would rather move to a different town and try to make something for himself.
However, knowing only how to be a blacksmith and being poor at it, he found himself failing time and again, each time moving to a different town in order to try better luck. No matter what alternatives he attempted, failure was all that he met, and he was often mocked, robbed and convinced it was all his fault. Eventually, at the age 22, he stumbled upon a town that would be attacked by a large group of Bwgan. As his fight-or-flight instinct kicked in, he tried to defend himself once he understood escape was impossible, but was bitten and violently thrown into a building that would subsequently collapse on him. Through some miracle, he was not crushed by the debris, which also allowed him to remain hidden from the Bwgan; however, his conscience began to fade and he neared his final moments while being completely trapped under stone and wood. Meanwhile, a group of Solaces had shown up to take out the Bwgan and save the townspeople, meeting a lot of success in said mission but failing to discover Ged's presence.
It was the maddening frustration of the realization that his life was coming to an end despite him never being allowed to take control of it that allowed Ged to find the strong resolve he needed to maintain his sanity as a Bwgan. With an iron-clad determination to not only live, but also lead the remainder of his life obeying only his own desires, his transformation leaned to that of a High Bwgan instead. Once his corruption had finished, he was easily able to escape his prison and, with the few remaining Bwgan in the area, annihilated the Solace squad with his new-found strength. Since that moment, he has lived exactly the way he had decided to, doing only as he pleased and leading a nomadic life in search of a new short-term objective for the week.
He has killed more Solace after the incident in the town where he transformed and his existence has been recognized by their organization. However, since eyewitnesses are rare and they barely have any information on him, he is simply known as "The Grey-skinned Bwgan". He is considered one of the most dangerous Bwgan alive and inexperienced Solaces are even told to avoid all contact with him at all cost.
Other:
He likes sweet food... a lot.