[Vffekt's Challenge] Ash

Forename: Ash
Surname: Unknown
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Class: Unknown
Height:5'11"
Weight:12st (168lbs)

Appearance:
Ash is possibly a flesh and bone creation of a stereotypical 'hero' from a '60's/'70's comic book. He has chestnut brown medium length hair styled in a scruffy and ruffled fashion. Evidence of him not having washed it for a day or two is clear. He has mesmorising blue eyes that captivate the hearts of many women who fall victim to his gaze, but find his attempt at a cheesy smile a turn off, since they're not the cleanest of teeth. He has a well toned neck, showing telltale signs of weight training. He wears a long black headsash tied around his forehead, with the ends trailing down to about neck height. This bears little resemblance; he just wears it 'cause it looks cool.

He has a very well toned physique. He's not bulging with muscle like 'Broly' from DBZ; he's more like a beefier version of 'Zabuza Momochi' from the 'Naruto' anime. If you imagine him after spending maybe a fortnight down the gym, you've got some idea of what his physique is like.

He also wears no top. He prefers to fight topless, since he believes that during (quite literally) the heat of a battle a top accelerates the rate of sweat produced, which can irritate and slow him down or, worst case scenario, make him feel too hot and hinder his battle skill. Fighting topless allows maximum breathability, and if it means his sweaty body odour becomes more obvious then that's his foe's problem, not his.

Around his waist is a jet - black robe tied around him. It's almost like when you were younger, and used to tie your school jumpers around your waist during lunchtimes at school. If you prefer to refer to anime it's similar to what Sasuke Uchiha (time skip version) wears around his. (side note: if anyone knows what that's called, PM me. I keep thinking 'Toga' but i'm sure that's not it.) This robe is tied onto him by rope of the same jet black hue, which also acts as a holster for his bo-staff which, surprise surprise, is also jet black in colour.

Ash also wears baggy gi-style trousers which are torn at the hem. No prizes for guessing what colour they are, too. As for footwear, he has none. He has trained bare-footed and will fight bare-footed, just as he has always done.

Weapons and Combat Abilities:
As mentioned, Ash has a black bo-staff, approximately 150cm in length. It is actually rarely used - it tends only to be used if he's either performing something flashy; is fighting in a tight situation or is fending off multiple attacks and/or enemies.

His combat abilities are impressive for a human. The training method that he uses has sharpened his senses - his hearing is more acute and attentive than that of a typical human warrior and his eyesight is keener and sharper. He is also very intelligent and an excellent analyst and strategist by nature. If there's a way to succeed that's within his ability level, he'll find it.

He's very agile - in his younger years he rapidly climbed and jumped across trees and rock faces. As a result, he moves around almost ninja-like, with the grace of speed and agility that you just don't see among the human race anymore. Indeed, if you're going to fight this warrior for god's sake DON'T fight him in a forest, especially if it's dark and dense. He's much like a cat - he can correct virtually any fall and land light-footed like as if he only fell from head-height. He can rebound off vertical faces in a counter attack, or as an evasive manouvre.

His offensive skills are incredible - his hits are stunningly hard and heavy, yet staggeringly fast. When fighting against Ash you're not defending against moves, you're defending against a rapid barrage of fast, furious and unpredictable attacks. Fighting this guy head on with hand to hand combat is bordering suicide.

Admittedly being human, he has human weaknesses. He cannot fight for hours and hours and hours continuously as his stamina shows he is still only human. He also possesses no sublime abilities such as magic and so therefore has very few if any long range attacks.

History:
Ash was just six years old when he developed a serious interest in combat. He joined many martial arts clubs of different disciplines - Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Judo and so on. He then got accepted into a highly prestigious martial arts dojo where things began to change. Despite his huge success in other clubs, he was the runt of the pack in this famous dojo. The dojo favoured a discipline known as 'Katana Jujitsu' which is a combat discipline much like an advanced form of Judo, but also deals with many different weapons. The gap between him and his fellow students was huge, and he was continually laughed at and eventually thrown out of the dojo. After that he was filled with self hate, which manifested into a hatred for his family too. At the age of eight he was kicked out by his parents and was forced to live on the streets. He lived by robbing and stealing, and was headhunted by an underground crime organisation who required him for him combat skills. For a time he worked for them, earning enough money to make even legitimate businessmen seem cheap. However instead of saving it for a rainy day, he spent it on intense, improvisional training methods to further improve himself.

The next chapter is rather embarassing for Ash. He was only twelve years of age and many people lower ranking were middle-aged. People began to hate Ash for being so popular with the boss despite being, in their eyes, a little runt. Eventually he was chased out of the organisation, and Ash fled for his life into the country.

From there, Ash learned true survival skills, training in the forest, catching fish by hand in the nearby lake, and so on. Many opponents that he had to fight were large monkeys, and he had to quickly learn how to be as fast and agile as them in order to come out of the battle unscathed. He spent six whole years training there and to this day he still calls God's garden 'home'.