Name:
Platz Grün
Sex:
Male
Age:
22
Phenotype:
Human
Kingdom:
Atlas
Appearance:
Standing at a slightly shorter height of 5'6" tall, and weighing just under 150lbs, a lot of people tend to overlook Platz, no pun intended. He has a rather lean frame, not athletic mind you, and typically wears his clothes for comfort rather than anything else. He keeps his blonde hair worn in a rather short, utilitarian manner, not bothering to style it as long as it doesn't get in his off blue eyes while he is working. Speaking of, he wears glasses not because he has to, choosing to as he also typically has to wear goggles when working on equipment.
When not working, Platz prefers the same style of clothes he always has worn, the psuedo military looking attire with a jacket that was a gift from a friend, and the golden cross pendent a gift from his family, something he still refuses to abandon. When working on tools or equipment, he ditches the coat and usually has goggles either over his eyes or dangling from his neck.
Personality:
Punctual and precise, Platz is the definition of a calm, collected person. Coming from a well to do family in the upper class gives him a blue blooded sort of grace, speaking with a gentle tone that rarely carries the harsh, oft course language and generally preferring to carry himself with dignity and respect. He is slow to anger, almost to the degree that quite a few have never seen him angry, although he is quick to inform those that irritate him of just that, how they irritate him, often in chastising and many times down to them instead of speaking as equals. This tends to create friction between him and others, especially those of a 'lower born' upbringing that might look at those of such overtly haughty leanings and find themselves either envious, or irritated, at their outlooks. A good way to get on his bad side are short jokes, they never were funny and have gotten less so over the years.
He has an odd obsession with weapons construction and tinkering with an older era of technology, speaking from his pride and joy weapon, and often times shows a great deal of pride and joy in his work. Not that he would overly boast, preferring to let his actions and handiwork speak for themselves, two things that he will have no qualms demonstrating should the need arise. His family history might have had a hand in the young lad's obsession with tinkering, but whenever he spots craftsmanship in anything, whether it be a fellow Hunter/Huntress weapon or even in architecture or mechanical designs, he is quick to analyze it, looking for ways to improve upon it while commenting on positive, innovative, or likewise negative or unwieldy designs in regards to the weapon. His obssessive nature can sometimes cause him to miss things that are going on, even if they are painfully obvious, creating a mix of needlessly focused and painfully scatterbrained.
He rarely takes time off, often working himself mentally ragged as he continues driving himself into his next task or goal, regardless of the severity, and it often takes more than a few tries to get him to sit back and catch his breath. He tends to be a prime example of the saying 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy', finding himself uncomfortable or at a loss for what to do whenever he isn't keeping himself busy with work. As such, he tends to keep pocket projects with him, thins he can work on while in the field, or out and about when he cannot avoid being dragged off somewhere to 'relax and have fun'. He keeps everyone at arm's reach, mostly for his own peace of mind and focus rather then anything else. He tends to work as hard as he does to not think too much about his personal life, something that he finds rather disagreeable, and its easier to work himself exhausted, and therefor too tired to think about anything else, than not.
When it comes to a fight, Platz is of the mindset to think twice, and act once. He would rather take a few moments analyzing a situation, considering his approach, before committing to his decided course of action. Once he chooses to act, however, he commits himself completely and in totality towards the given action, willing to go to any length or extreme to see it done, regardless of things like fair play or appropriate levels of force. For facing Grimm, these things mean little, but when sparring or dueling others can lead to drastic consequences.
Biography:
The Grün family had been living within the kingdom of Atlas for a great many years, although they were originally not natives to the kingdom when they first immigrated there shortly after the Great War. With them they brought a hand for weapons crafting that, while ill suited to mass production, caught the eye of a great many higher up nobles, as well as newly minted hunters and huntresses from such well to do families. Within a generation, Platz grandparents already well into their twilight years and training their children to take up the family business, became overnight stars in the right circles within Atlas. Certain officers favored their weapons, granting them access to gatherings and activities that previous generations of the Grün family never even knew were possible. Platz parents were not born into such a lifestyle, but adopted it alongside their parents, his grandparents.
Platz was born into the lifestyle of nobility and circulating among the children of officers and other well to do individuals, carrying himself through their games and scheming with a razor wit and perfect manners. He was perfectly content growing up, spending much time at the barracks and training fields for the Atlas military, something his family was tempted to look down upon, but chose to let the boy lead his own path in life. After all, having kin in the military, as ingrained as it was in Atlas, would be a powerful boon indeed. However, fate would not have this occur. While his skill with a rifle was unquestioned, his mentality, as polite and gentry as it was, did not fit in with the proper military protocol, often going about his own business how he saw fit. Which was a shame that, in the eyes of the Grün family, they lost a potential in to the military hierarchy of Atlas. However, a second boon came when Platz discovered his Semblance, something that had manifested in each generation of the family and off they had gone to be Hunters, or huntresses in his one Aunt's case.
Platz, as the first son of the family, was offered the family heirloom weapon before heading off to an Academy. However, the young lad refused this, preferring his own prototypes, Ebb and Flow, to the clockwork rifle offered, despite his interest in such technology. As such, he would spend just shy of four years at the Shade Academy, much to the chagrin of his family who had specifically instructed him to apply at Atlas, or hell, anywhere else but there. However, the lawless nature of Vacuo appealed to Platz who could work in peace, since he could more than easily carve his own way out there if he had to. He would excel in his classes, being able to focus solely on that and his own projects despite attempts by others to engage the foreign lad outside of class. He found little distinction in fighting other people or Grimm, something that did not sit well with some people, but no one could argue his effectiveness in courses. Not being stuck with a uniform was a nice change, wearing his own style that stood out distinctly to his peers, though he would receive word from his family that his younger sister had taken his place as first born of the family, effectively exiling him from them.
While this overtly meant little, all his teammates at the time seeing was him redoubling his efforts into his projects, the decleration had hit hard to Platz. He had followed the spirit of his family, blazing their own way into a new land to make do and survive, and was exiled for it. As such, he redoubled his efforts, not to prove them wrong, but to spite them. He would succeed where they thought a failure existed, and should they come to him grovelling? He would laugh them away.
Aura Color:
Silver
Semblance:
Personal Gravitational Manipulation
Platz has a curious affinity for manipulating gravitational forces acting upon him at a given time. A key thing to note, first and foremost, is that it has to be
personal gravity, meaning that the only things that it allows him to manipulate, gravity wise, is himself and anything he is holding, to an extent. Large enough objects that, while he might technically be holding them, are above his ability to affect. As such, he has a tendency to utilize the manipulation in a rather key manner. To enhance his agility and manouverability in a fight to extreme levels.
At the most basic, Platz has a few basic tricks with gravity. Most commonly, is inversion, where he flips the direction gravity is pulling on him, sending him rocketing upwards into the air instead of being firmly held down on the ground. These 'flip jumps' as they are called, gives him a range of motion that outmatches most already, sending him hurtling over obstacles and opponents, dancing through their attacks with an alien grace. Next being either increasing or decreasing the pull of gravity on his person, effectively, increasing or decreasing his 'weight' to grossly simplify matters. In reality, his mass remains the same, but since weight is determined, in part, by the pull of gravitational forces on a mass, most might mistake the lessening of gravity as him controlling his weight directly. He can also increase these forces, making him far more difficult to move at the cost of his own mobility. Perhaps most bizarre, he can alter the direction gravity is acting on him, effectively making down a different direction. This is by far the most taxing use, due to its most dedicated defiance of the laws of physics, and can only be used for short periods of time.
Of course, the downsides to playing with a force as potent as gravity are as myriad as its uses. Most certainly, overuse in any regard could create problems for him physically. First off, too much time spent with lightened gravity could weaken him, while too heavy of a gravity could injure him or outright cripple him. He has to remain conscious to retain altered forms of gravity, as such, getting knocked out midair with altered gravity would send him plummeting to the ground, with all the obvious problems that creates. He also exhausts himself the more extreme or long lasting the shift is, and could very well end up pushing himself into collapsing if he goes too far or for too long.
Weapon:
Ebb and Flow
Paired, Melee, Ranged, DustThese paired weapons were constructed by Platz as he was finding his passion in constructing weapons and other tools, and have grown alongside him as his own skill increased. The weapons have two forms and are seperate in transformation states, meaning that while one could be in pistol form, the other could be in saber form. Each weapon weighs about 2lbs, constructed mostly from titanium with a carbide blade insert giving it a keener edge, though requiring more maintenance than a normal weapon might. Coupled with experimental and, at times, temperamental systems that Platz experiments with on a regular basis, the weapons are currently limited to their rather simple two form system.
Usually Ebb and Flow are carried in pistol form, tucked into a shoulder rig that has two holsters resting under his arms. In pistol form, each is capable of being either a semi or fully automatic weapon, utilizing a Dust cartridge attached, usually in powder form, to infuse the weapon with a given element or effect depending on the Dust used. Platz has specifically designed the weapon to be modular, accepting any kind of Dust he might find himself using or having on hand. Typical tactics with his pistols involve alternating bursts of fire, while either outmaneuvering or advancing on a target, depending on what he needed to accomplish. The pistols cannot be fired in sword forms, due to the blade positioning, though the Dust infusion system installed is redirected to the blade, making the infusion system useful in either form. As previously mentioned, the weapon forms are not tied to each other, meaning that one could remain in its ranged format while the other assumes its sabre form for covering any basis.
A quick transformation system will shift the pistols into sword form. Resembling sabres, each blade resides within the pistol form, using collapsing technology to fit within the housing of the pistol. As the blade covers the barrel of the pistol, it can no longer fire, however, the barrel now works as part of the blades Dust infusion system, the blade itself receptive to Dust. As such, rather than using the Dust canister to infuse rounds from the pistol, it now alters the properties of the blade. Having no real preference towards what kind of Dust is used, the weapons will often be loaded with whatever is effective or, barring that, cheapest at the given moment.
Favors:
Tinkering
Testing his Equipment
Research
The Violin (Performing and Listening)
Sweets (Much to his Chagrin)
Disfavors:
Loud, Noisy People
Being disturbed
Parties
Modern Music
Affinities:
Platz believes that knowledge is power, and to guard it well. If possible, he observes a target or foe before a fight ever begins, mentally detailing what they are capable of, the strengths of what they are capable of, and how to counteract such things. Once he has a plan, or at least a solid grasp on what is going on and what the foe is capable of, he either engages in combat or stops fighting defensively, going on the offensive. He prefers a high speed assault, whether that means blitzing them with bursts of pistol fire while dancing out of reach of a dangerous weapon, lashing out with twin blades in a dancing manner, or even pairing the two to parry with a blade while unloading the pistol past defenses. His tactics almost always involve speed, aiming to end a fight as fast as possible.
Combined with Platz's semblance, it becomes highly difficult to track him at all. He might vault over a weapon, or even land on it as it passes, using his altered gravity to balance or push off it, suddenly shooting upwards out of range of an attack, attacking from angles difficult to achieve otherwise. He uses his semblance as a force multiplier mostly, amplifying what he is capable of doing rather than trying to compensate for failings in his tactics, due to the fact that this is mostly the best way his semblance lends itself to assisting him in a fight.
Faults:
Chaos, first and foremost, is problematic for Platz. A chaotic opponent, truly chaotic, makes tracking a pattern and devising a strategy take longer, meaning he is on defensive footing longer. Secondly, compared to most fighters, he does not hit terribly hard, barring the rare vital strike, and while he does make up for it in speed and precision, he will not match most others blow for blow. Lacking either a specific focus on offense or defense, he won't best a dedicated offensive fighter, on the offense, nor will be best a defensive fighter on the defense. His tactics revolve around finding a gap or weak point in a foes strategy and exploiting it, and if he can't find it in a timely manner, can find himself in trouble fast.
On a note for his Semblance, two things glare out. Firstly, is how taxing it is being used as part of a combat situation, the sudden shifts of gravity not doing his body any favors. Secondly, it doesn't do much to enhance or protect him directly, requiring conscious use and intelligence to be effective. In a situation where he is backed into a corner, with nowhere to go, being able to manipulate his gravity doesn't help, and typically, if he has to trade blows with someone, he will not come out of it terribly well.
