NameNico Maniaci
NickamesN/A
Age21 when turned, has been a vampire for about a few years
GenderMale
SexualityBisexual
Relationship StatusSingle
SpeciesHalf-Blood Vampire
Appearance DetailsNico is a young man of a below average stature of 170 cm (5’ 7”), offset by his athletic physique - diligently built and maintained in his humans years. His vampiric transformation had altered his once mildly tan complexion into a ghoulish pale, never to feel the gentle warmth of the sun again without the intense pain of clusters of fleshy splotches that would sizzle and burn all over. The mutation had spared his red hair, which had become tattered and frayed from lack of care, though he insisted that he preferred this look. Unusually large eyes bulge from his youthful face - nigh a facial hair in sight nor will there ever be - with irises, vibrant blue and peculiarly small for his eyes, which gave his resting expression an uncanny mix of intensity and childlike wonder. Eeriness aside, he could be considered rather attractive if not a bit young looking for his age, if one could also ignore the signs of dry decay on half of his face.
He often dressed in torn clothes of varying sizes and origins beneath a worn, hooded cape, his exposed skin nested in bandages apart from the face, which is obscured by a muzzle over his mouth - a safety measure for his uncontrollable bloodlust - and a dark visor used to shield his eyes. When out on excursions, he brings with him a light, patchwork backpack he fashioned himself and an oil lamp tied to a long branch. As a member of the lowest class, even after he had been assimilated into the society, these were the only clothing and equipment he could get a hold of on his own; fortunately, he finds them “cool”.
In a safe, relaxed environment, he usually has his headgear removed to greet people with a cheerful grin, even though it would show his deformed pair of fangs - one long and sharp and the other short and cracked. When his bloodlust activates, veins swell on his temple, forehead, and eyes as his irises turn a feverish red, quaking and salivating in hunger as he bares his deformed teeth at his prey.
Personality TraitsNico is amiable and relaxed by nature, happy to befriend almost any individual he meets, even if they appear particularly hostile or antisocial. However, he can come across as a bit too casual, often leaning towards informal diction on instinct and will liberally address others with nicknames if not told otherwise, though it is not out of disrespect but rather a genuine sense of comradery. This is emphasized by his kind, nonjudgmental character as well as his tendency to wear his heart on his sleeve without much thought.
As a result, he is also fairly easy to manipulate, which is not helped by the fact that he is very simple-minded, and is neither particularly wise nor clever. This is further impaired by his poor general ability to retain information and nonexistent affinity for studying. Fortunately, should he become interested enough in a subject, his learning skills become remarkably efficient. His main asset lies in his empathy, as he is very adept at reading other people’s emotions through their body language and facial expressions, particularly feelings of pain and anger, though he was never able to provide satisfactory reasoning behind his deductions as it’s mostly through intuition.
Nico is generally an open book, but a part of him he refuses to show is his resentment towards the caste system. He will, nevertheless, step in - or at least, will be tempted to - if he witnesses mistreatment in front of him. He’s normally difficult to genuinely anger otherwise, though when pushed to his limit, his bloodlust becomes far easier to activate. Unfortunately, the more bitterness he stores within him, the more prone to rage he is, hence why he is so enthusiastic about making friends, as any support and positive attention he receives is the sole reason why he has been able to stay relatively sane.
His lack of any self control over his lust for blood is a significant source of shame for him due to his inherent sense of altruism and the knowledge that he was once the same species as the ones he preys on and kills regularly. His past efforts to suppress his urges has only made him more unhinged and temperamental as a result until he has sufficiently fed. During his bloodlust mode, he becomes almost completely consumed by an overwhelming need for blood; he describes it as being trapped in his own mind and body, but he can still see and hear everything in a way that was like it was all far away from him.
Skills+ Passive survival skills: capable of surviving in the wild on his own (likely semantic memory/ knowledge he kept from when he was a human)
+ Empathy: good at reading other people’s emotions though has difficulty explaining his deductions
+ Sociability: naturally amicable and charismatic, puts people at ease
+ *Learning ability: learns very quickly if there is enough interest in the subject
+ *Combat (bloodlust mode): agile and physically strong, extremely persistent and vicious, unbothered by pain or injury
*comes with some caveats listed below in “Weaknesses”
Weaknesses- Logical deductions: even if he does observe two related facts, he usually can’t connect the dots without guidance
- Sensing intent: is easy to manipulate unless he can detect a clear discrepancy between the words spoken and the person’s emotions
- *Learning ability: general poor ability to retain information
- *Combat (bloodlust mode): unable to apply strategy or complex plans, lack of self-awareness in this state, can be mitigated somewhat through training muscle memory
- All the inherent weaknesses that come with being a half-blood
*comes with some saving graces listed above in “Skills”
HistoryNico’s memory of his own past before he was turned is incredibly fuzzy. He vaguely remembers having been raised in a small rural town near mountains but is unable to recall specific events or people he used to know.
He had recently turned 21 before he was transformed into a vampire. Unfortunately, the one responsible for his conversion was too inexperienced to execute it properly which mutated Nico into a half-blood in the process. They abandoned the newly turned vampire to his own devices shortly after, who lost himself in a flurry of bloodlust, feeding on and killing his entire family before vanishing into the forest bordering the town.
Once he had regained consciousness, the trauma upon realizing he murdered his loved ones forced him to block out these memories from his consciousness. What Nico thought it was solely because he was a half-blood, was actually partially the result of localized dissociative amnesia. This has allowed him to preserve his friendly, cheerful personality, a part of him that remained strongly intact after his transformation.
He traveled alone for a few years as he experimented with his new body; with no direction due to being largely amnesiac, he focused primarily on feeding and searching for excitement and companionship. He was lucky to have lived in an area far from supernatural occurrences such that he was able to survive without much difficulty. When he was approached by servants from the Council of Iris, realizing that they don’t trigger his bloodlust, he let them take him in without much resistance. As of now, he has yet to endure enough abuse from the society to let it demoralize him.
Misc. teh artist is me :D | #f6716a
General Body Language
Nico has an unusually decent posture for someone of the lowest class, though it’s actually because it was another characteristic of his past human self that persisted. In resting position, his shoulders are often relaxed and slanted slightly downward. He may also nonchalantly lean on walls and other tall structures if they’re nearby.
He has a tendency to use lots of wild hand gestures when he speaks without realizing. One of his favorite actions to perform is to curl both his hands into fists and punch one into the air as he exclaims something with enthusiasm. If he has established a friendship with someone, he can be very liberal with physical contact - patting them on the back, putting his arm around their neck, etc. - but will promptly stop and respect their space if told to. The way he interacts with others, along with his overly affectionate way of speaking, can often be misinterpreted as romantic advances - this is only partially unintentional.
Nico is generally far more restrained with his body language when around born vampires, however.