Alias: Theron
Age: 26
Current Residence: Kyoto, Japan
Birth Place: Waipahu, Hawaii
Hometown: Hilo, Hawaii
Gender: Male
Beast: South China Tiger
Beast Mark:
Mark Location: Upper left arm at the shoulder.
Registered: Yes (Need to Know Only)
Role: Mark is a security contractor for the Independent Security Agency, a private company that operates in corporate protection. They specialize in countering terrorism leveled against their clients by the Zoanthrope Liberation Front or human rebels, at times working with the Z-Task Force when opportune. When possible, they recruit rogue zoanthropes and mingle them among their predominantly human membership as a sort of added insurance. Because of their special registration process, they are "need-to-know" only and hidden in plain sight.

Height: 6'0"
Z-Height: 7'1"
Weight: 189 lbs
Z-Weight: 398 lbs
Build: Athletic, mixed build.
Hair: Black, short and cropped.
Eyes: Amber
Basic Description: The human form of Mark Theron is most distinct in its combination of Chinese, Korean and American attributes, all originating from his mixed bloodline. He bears the better of their qualities, such as his height and build, of which have been refined by a natural athleticism and penchant for finding his way into unarmed combat; an amalgam of balanced musculature that is slightly more pronounced in the upper body. While relatively pale for a person of Asian heritage, born from his father's Caucasian influences, he's not for lack of sun - having lived much of his life in near tropical environments - and bears a faint but persistent tan. Other notable features of his person are that he wears his hair close and to a military point, keeps his face clean shaven, has eyes that edge closer to amber than they do rich brown, and is extensively tattooed above the elbow to the middle of his back.

When in zoanthrope form, Mark Theron's combined heritage manifests most clearly, providing him with a powerful build that is an extension of his human one's. Not only a foot taller and several hundred pounds heavier, he bears the ferocious strength and speed of a tiger, as well as its endurance. Unlike with other tiger zoanthropes, Theron's incarnation of the beast is much more vivid and vibrant in fur and marking; a brighter orange, more yellowed white, and banded by very dark, pointed, narrow stripes. The relative thinness of this fur additionally gives him a sleeker, more defined appearance, distinct among others who are of such lineage.
Notable Scars: The left forearm bears several long healed scars born from claws, as does the right inner thigh. While healed, they are the most distinct of his marring.
Tattoos: The upper arms beyond the elbow and to the back are mingled with urban tribal tattoos, of which were built around disguising his Beast Mark. The right arm bears a mirror tattoo of the mark, further obscuring his nature as a zoanthrope in his human form.

Outfit: The majority of what Theron wears is practical in terms of occupation, most often grey or black cargo pants with a rigger's belt, tactical boots, and a plain shirt of similar color. As with all other Independent Security Agency members, when armed and working, Mark additionally wears a plate carrier vest and leg harness. However, outside of his occupation, Theron wears little more than loose fitting cargo shorts and a belt, not being fond of jewelry or other additions.

Most Prized Possession (Material Value): The nearest firearm - it is the safest way to not reveal one's nature as a zoanthrope.
Most Prized Possession (Emotional Value): The alternate form, as there's ample reason to believe it to be a reflection of one's true self - there's no other time and place to really be one's self.

Likes: Soju, sake, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Dislikes: Government agents, competing organizations, terrorists (of any form), cellphones, and the rain.
Goals: To ensure that those responsible for making zoanthropes a threat to themselves and humanity are held accountable for their actions.
Life's Ambition ( Single greatest goal ): To live in a world where man and beast can again live side by side. If that is even possible anymore.
Fears: Being made out as the public enemy and becoming just another target.

Vernacular: No matter the language Mark Theron is speaking in, it has distinct Americanisms in it and a sense of urgency, if at times also being a bit snide. His accent strongly suggests he is not wholly familiar with the Japanese he speaks, being far more fluent in Chinese, English, and Korean.
Mannerisms: Mark, more often called "Theron", does little to embody how the general public imagine mercenaries to be; in fact, he even resents the term and goes so far as to argue the differences, seeing himself as a better alternative to the world's governments and their authority. While he is partial to drinking, he's neither an alcoholic or drunk, always sober enough to do the job and more just a man whose life consists of nothing but an uphill battle. This, as well as having no father in the younger years of his life, leave him to be a cynical sort that is never lacking in comment or critique, although there's a strong effort to blend it with humor. When left to his own devices, out of sight and out of mind, he spends the majority of his time in his alternate form, believing it to help tame the beast within and, in a bizarre sense, makes him more grounded and perhaps even human. There's no shortage of review on his other half then.
Psychological Condition: N/A
Superstitions: Bad Moon Rising, or the notion that zoanthropes tend to make their true selves violently known under the cover of night and during stronger phases of the moon. There are few other times he or others more on edge.
Morals: Neutral

Relationships: Single
Family: While now familiar to his zoanthrope father, a military member who had a one night fling with his human mother, he keeps few tabs on either of them. The former, now retired, lives somewhere in Florida of the United States, and the latter still in Hawaii.
Relatives: None known.
Friends: To be determined.
Acquaintances: To be determined.
Rivals: To be determined.

Favorite Sayings:
"I tried being nice once. It was awful."
"You really brought this on yourself."
"My life is a cage. Sometimes I am let out, other times I let people in."

Back Story: Before Theron was a "soldier for hire", a term the general public has taken a liking to in the wake of the Zoanthrope Liberation Front's terror, Mark Theron was a child born into a single parent family. It was clear from the beginning he was never to have been in the picture, but life has a way of changing suddenly when two young adults take more than just a passing liking to one another during a night out on the town. Unfortunately, by the time his mother realized this, Mark's father had long since returned to the mainland and she was left raising a son alone.

This made early life complicated for Mark, having no real direction and a strange inner strength. It gave him ample trouble both in the classroom and in the schoolyard where, without too much provocation, the youth would see himself into brawls against the other students. This repeated for some time until he made the mistake of going for something a little bigger than his peers; a few grades above. While reasonably outmatched, he held his own with a ferocious determination well beyond anything expected from a child. Left with few other options, his mother privately schooled him from thereon out, but sent him off to an associate the rest of the time.

It was only then Mark learned how to actually fight, becoming a student within a local academy that focused upon the Chinese martial arts; specifically, the Five Animals style. Learning an amalgam of Fu Jow Pai and Heihuquan, the intervention proved to give him the discipline and focus he needed in a life without; strength and courage alone would not see him through. It was this understanding of kung fu at an elementary level that later led to his adoption of some other incarnations of wushu, such as Korean taekwondo. Having no shortage of time and devotion to these philosophies, Mark pursued them up until early adulthood when it was clear he had nowhere to go in life but forward and alone.

The connections he had established however, were what led him to discover his zoanthrope heritage, that of which was passed on to him from his father. The motions he had put himself through, both hard and soft, external and internal, had allowed him to control that which wished to be uncontrolled; his mentors could in part see what the previously young Mark could not, even if they themselves did not wholly understand what was to come. Realizing now who and what he was, he quickly obscured this truth by applying for a number of security agencies. While this fell through initially, leaving him to work as a drifter doing odd jobs for a few years, mainly as muscle for various bars or entertainment companies, the Independent Security Agency contacted him years later. Willing to waive his minor criminal offenses that would otherwise disqualify him, they acknowledged they held a special interest in martial artists who had informal "street combat" experience.

While reasonably suspicious, Mark soon discovered it was his father who referred them to him, having been observing his son from a distance. Aware his child was a tiger, just as he, he wished to protect the man he had never known as a boy; the Independent Security Agency being one of the ways to do so. The company paid not only for the obscuring of his Beast Mark, his military style training, and his deployment to Japan, but incentivized him further by providing a cover that he was any other contractor referred to them by their military contacts. Not one to look the other way from a gift, he agreed and spent the following years working. Business however, boomed far more than Mark or anyone else imagined as terrorists - both zoanthropes and humans - began holding open conflicts across the world.

Realizing they jeopardized anyone who was a zoanthrope even further, Mark began taking off the record work as well; not because he believes himself to be anything remotely heroic, but out of pure necessity for those alike him - or so goes the rationale. He certainly hasn't settled on where he stands in this new, changing world.

Current Story: Now sent to Kyoto, Mark Theron is walking the dangerous line between terrorist and counter-terrorist himself. While on the payroll for both official and "unofficial" operations of the Independent Security Agency, Mark has ceased working for profit and need alone; the occupation and cover of safety it provides has become essential to his personal objective to see the clandestine war to an end. When not conducting escorts, convoys, or security, Theron is employed in "grey operations" paid for by the government of Japan through his workplace to help subdue the unrest, be it civil or criminal, at times aiding the Z-Task Force directly. More often than not, it is little more than the sort of muscle work he had been doing before.

Fighting Abilities & Techniques

Fighting Style: The fighting styles Theron conscribes to are all predominantly external, hard martial techniques that focus little on internalization, something he is only just recently beginning to understand with time. They are characterized most by their open hand strikes, palm strikes, curled fingers, and elbow attacks, complimented by immensely powerful kicks designed to break down hand to hand defenses and or strike high on an opponent. While experienced in Fu Jow Pai and Heihuquan, his added ability originates from Han Mu Do taekwondo, but is defined by the ruthlessness he displays from years of dirty fighting. While not a dishonorable fighter, Theron's attacks are designed to break an opponent and render them injured or incapacitated; killing is a last resort.

Lacking in versatility, his combat strength in the unarmed arena relies upon speed, strength and violence of action with attacks that rip, tear, claw and grasp; designed to land a few critical blows and a finishing strike after to end the fight. His low set base when performing techniques makes him difficult to grapple and take down, as does his long reach, but also vulnerable to opponents who are much faster, more dexterous, and throw flurries of simple combo strikes without slowing.

As a fighter, Theron is best avoided in direct confrontation.

Roaring Palm
Description: A forward palm strike from the strong side with fingers curled inward designed to breakthrough a conventional guard or shunt an opponent off of balance. Aimed at the face, it strikes at the nose. This technique is often the means to an opening after a series of conventional strikes, designed to create a weak point.
Weakness: Predictable means of breaking a guard and relies heavily upon an opponent having a weak or weakened defense.

Red Fang Hand
Description: A powerful yet fast open hand strike made with fingers flexed and fixed that are slashed horizontally against an exposed area and are raked to open a wound. This technique ends a combo and exploits a weak or undefended area, often the face or neck.
Weakness: Requires a vulnerable soft flesh point to be exposed and virtually ineffective against a well armored or defended target.

Rending Point
Description: A vicious blade-like strike of the elbow, generated upward with the entirety of the core, which can tear at flesh as easily as the tiger palm strikes. It doubles as a break attempt from a clinch or an attack in a grab.
Weakness: A niche attack or counterattack that is extremely close range. Relies heavily upon an opponent intentionally trying to grapple a difficult to wrestle target.

Sweeping Blade Strike
Description: A snap based knife-hand attack made from the leading side to sweep a defense at the wrists and forearms as well as strike at the side of the neck. It then proceeds into a reverse hand grab to the neck for a body throw or elbow to the face.
Weakness: Characterized by telegraphing of squaring up to one side and dropping the support hand to help generate momentum at the core.

Rear-Foot Throw
Description: A capturing attack that grapples an opponent's outstretched arm, places a kick to the chest and rolls back to throw the opponent over while hyper-extending the controlled limb. This combination of attacking forward momentum and reverse defensive momentum slams the enemy into the ground behind the defender.
Weakness: Exploits a difference in size, agile and light opponents or those who go limp can easily roll with impact. Ends with both attacker and defender to the ground on their backs.

Blackout Counter
Description: A maiming attack designed to capture a forward punch such as a jab or cross, wrapping the capturing arm around it, then extending the captured arm so as to strike the exposed, hyper-extended elbow with a support side palm. Generates tremendous amounts of pain through injury and excels at disarming armed opponents.
Weakness: Reliant on opponent using basic attacks or a melee weapon and having some sort of timing delay in place of speed.

Fierce Impact Kick
Description: An immensely powerful roundhouse kick aimed at the ribs of the target, just below the pit of the arm and striking with the shin. Designed to break down an opponent's defense and stun them to open them up for a devastating follow up.
Weakness: The twist of the body to generate power is distinct and any delay before allows for interruption of the kick through a block while a delay after allows the leg to be caught by the defender.

Black Claw Finish
Description: A lightning fast snap kick delivered by the foot to the groin, striking with the toes back and ball of foot forward. Lacking in deep power, it is designed to disorient and delay through pain by speed. The striking foot is then placed as the leading foot and a tiger palm strike is delivered full force to the exposed neck with the strong hand, incapacitating or potentially killing.
Weakness: A life or death simple combo relying on surprise and cheapness of shot, any target not affected by the kick can easily defend against the secondary attack.

Unleashed Rage
Description: A frenzy of wildly mixed horizontal and vertical hooking slashes delivered only in zoanthrope form that tear through defenses. The attacks are delivered as part of relentless advance, usually to corner or carve through a target foolish enough to stand and allow a finishing strike. Such speed and violent force burns away the drive to sustain the beast form, causing it to end when the flurry does.
Weakness: The assault relies upon an opponent attempting to weather it, rather than simply fading out until the frenzy subsides. Significantly less effective if the target cannot be cornered or somehow forced to endure the blows. Ends the zoanthrope form automatically.

Equipment

M4A1 Carbine
Source: Occupational (Place of Work Only)
Description: The M4A1 is a light weight, gas operated, magazine fed, semi-automatic or automatic, air cooled, shoulder fired rifle used extensively by the United States' special operations forces and is chambered in the 5.56mm. A variant of the M4 Carbine, it is the regular issue weapon of the Independent Security Agency used day to day and is finished in standard black and equipped with a reflex sight. Its ability to be fired in an automatic configuration is designed to help deter would-be attackers from acting by volume of fire, particularly the large and difficult to stop Zoanthrope Liberation Front fighters and beast forms.