APPEARANCE With high heeled boots, a 6’10” stature (with those heels), long hair, and some well-applied makeup, one might have trouble determining Rosie’s gender before they figure out his status as a Nomad. His skin tone is a light bronze, while his eyes are a clear shade of hazel. His clothes never seem to stray from grays and blacks, never hitting a true white or any flashier colors. He has that confident, satisfied look in his eye, and the way he proudly walks around with one hand on his hip and another on the straps of his tote bag seem to give the impression that he knows what he’s doing and what he’s after, even when he really doesn’t. His right eye is constantly covered by his thick brown hair, and he’s somewhat protective of whatever might be lying under it. He speaks in a rather flamboyant manner, and though little phases someone as old as him, he often shifts his tone in irritating, condescending ways when he wishes to mock someone.
PERSONALITY TRAITS
- Flamboyant
- Condescending
- Flamboyant
- Teasing
- Domineering
- Somewhat Existential
- Appreciates Beauty
- Something of an environmentalist
BACKSTORY & MOTIVATION A very, very long time ago, Rosier was an angel. He likes to say that he was a pretty important one, too. When he's asked about why he isn't one anymore, his answer often changes. Sometimes he says that he was a little too zealous. Sometimes he answers that he simply got bored, or that being a perfect embodiment of light and good was too stressful.
Regardless, he was a demon from that point on, a creature of lust and temptation. He enjoyed his job for the most part, though for whatever reason, he sometimes felt like his heart just wasn't in it. It was only around the mid-1940’s when he really began to realize his true calling: Art. There was something that struck him about Earth’s natural beauty. It wasn’t eternally perfect like in his first home, nor was it eternally tarnished like in his second. It was varied, fleeting, and somewhere in between the two extremes. It was something he felt deserved to captured.
He began to travel across the world, painting whatever he found to be worth painting, and making a quick buck selling whatever he thought was worth sharing. While it was something of an odd set of decades for the devil, it was very much fulfilling, and he never stopped travelling regardless of what friends or foes he made along the way. He was going to capture as much of the world as he could behind a canvas.
As well as brush up on his combat skills. Heavens knew there were plenty of roadblocks on his travels.
FIGHTING STYLE Rosie has some dextrous, delicate hands, and he prefers not to get them dirty on those lesser Nomads. His palette knife is actually the sealed form of his long-cherished greatsword, Rembrandt, and by coating it in shadow, he can project a sharp blade similar to a real knife. He uses it in up-close encounters, with a style that’s a fine blend between Scherma di Stiletto Siciliano, Esgrima Criolla, and Fairbairn-Sykes. He’ll deftly dance around and counter blows as well as wrap his scarf or coat around his hand and use it to parry other lighter attacks, grabbing opponents and stabbing them where it hurts if he’s feeling particularly sadistic. If a bit more range and power is needed, he’ll put his legs to work with deadly ballerina-esque twirls as well as roundhouses, butterfly kicks, and axe kicks, coating his boots in shadow to turn them into almost literal stiletto heels.
At range, using his paintbrush, he can leave ink in midair that can be used to make what he paints reality. With much room for creativity and stylistic flair, it’s his preferred method of fighting by a long shot.
He can also gather the darkness, chaos, aggression, and similar concepts of his opponents to store and use to power up his next attack.
At times, Rosie will use his BlackStar transformation, returning both him and his greatsword to their true shadowy forms as he dusts off his fast and brutal demonic fighting style.
Rosie can sense ki.
SPECIAL MOVES & TECHNIQUES ■ [Cross Section]Rosie grabs his paintbrush and quickly draws a line through his opponent, which cuts through them as if it were an imperceptibly fast swing from a very sharp sword. Best suited for long ranges, though it will cut through any obstacles or projectiles between them instead if at all possible.
■ [Pointillist Barrage]Rosie draws several dots over his opponent. When he finishes, gunshots sound from midair to turn those dots into bullet holes. Takes more time to set up than Cross Section, but can’t be blocked by thrown projectiles.
■ [Dark Bomb]Rosie draws a circle and draws a line through one of its edges, creating a large, cartoonish bomb with a lit fuse, exploding either after a few seconds or upon contact with an attack or enemy. Instead of flames, it explodes into a jet-black, ink-like sludge that impedes movement as it hardens. It will eventually crumble after a few seconds, an attack hits it, or the opponent manages to break free. If Rosie makes contact with the sludge while the opponent is mired in it, he can use the sludge as a conduit to absorb darkness from them. An undetonated bomb can be “paused” if he cuts the fuse with Cross Section, and “resumed” if he restores the fuse with his Restoration skill.
■ [Gale Stroke]Rosie draws a swirl in the air which materializes as a strong wind that rages for several seconds. Does no damage, but can slow opponents moving against the wind, be used to roll around a Dark Bomb, extend the distance of his Nevermore dash (in the direction the wind is blowing), and remove stage hazards that were set up.
■ [Happy Little Trees]Rosie draws a heavy dot into the ground, which manifests as a seed which erupts into a hearty, full-grown oak tree. It can send an unwary opponent skywards, but it can also be used as cover. It can be chopped down with Cross Section, allowing the tree to fall onto the enemy.
■ [Restoration]Rosie draws whatever was missing from a broken object, restoring it as if it had never been broken. For example, a tree that he had previously cut down, or a Dark Bomb with a cut fuse. It can be used out of combat, though it’s still limited to inorganic matter or plant life, and especially large or complex subjects may be too much for his power to handle.
■ [Nevermore]Feathered wings of shadow sprout from Rosie’s back for a moment, allowing for a quick burst of vertical or horizontal movement on the ground or in the air. If Gale Stroke is active, the distance of this dash increases dramatically. In BlackStar form, the move becomes Forevermore, and Rosie corkscrews through the air while forming a spear of shadow in front of him. If he uses the move to ascend upwards next to an opponent, they’re sliced and driven up with him by his wings.
■ [Twilight Bliss]Rosie spins in the air towards an opponent like a ballerina, with a leg extended. If he hits his target, he’ll catch them between his thigh and his lower leg. The momentum carries his opponent to the ground face-first as he sits on top of them and crushes them with his leg. While they’re restrained, he’ll tap into their essence, drawing the darkness from their heart and feeding on it, giving him some energy. He’ll use his other leg to push himself into the air and away from his opponent once he’s done.
■ [Fallen Angel]Rosie coats his heel in shadow and raises his leg high into the air for a devastating axe kick. If it hits, he grinds his heel into his downed opponent, gathering energy from them before punting them away. If the opponent is already on the ground, he elects to skip the kick. In BlackStar form, he launches four Star Thrusts into them after he lands the attack for additional damage.
■ [Round Trip]Only usable in BlackStar form. Rosie throws his sword at his foe. It spins around a bit for additional damage before returning to him. In the meantime, he fights using a secondary knife made of shadows that works the same as his knife in his normal form.
■ [Stinger]Only usable in BlackStar form. Rosie leaves a trail of dust behind him as he spreads his wings and zooms towards the enemy with Rembrandt held forwards, either on the ground or in the air. If it hits, a second, larger blade of shadow emanates from the hilt and slams into the opponent again for additional damage.
■ [Star Thrust]Only usable in BlackStar form. Rosie summons a longsword made of darkness, similar to Rembrandt, behind himself that then sails through the air straight towards the enemy in an attempt to stab them.
SUPER MOVES ■ [Break Time!]Rosie traces his own shadow and walks off into the background, summoning a seat and some tea, coffee, or hot cocoa (or a glass of Amontillado, on occasion) with arcane magic. The traced shadow comes to life, fighting in his stead. Though it’s rather fragile and can’t use any of his painting attacks or BlackStar-exclusive moves, the shadow will try to keep the opponent at bay with a guard and the occasional prodding swing of the knife. In the meantime, he regenerates some health and gains energy for BlackStar until his shadow is dispersed.
■ [BlackStar]Rosie’s body turns to shadows as he reveals his true demonic form. His strength and speed increases, Rembrandt’s blade extends as it returns to its true greatsword form, and he gets access to some moves he can’t use otherwise, but he loses access to his art-based special moves in this form.
■ [Climax]Only usable in BlackStar form. Rosie dashes back and forth through his opponent, slicing through them several times, each time using Star Thrust to set up a sword aimed at them. He finishes by holding the sorry soul aloft by the neck and stabbing Rembrandt through them as all of the Star Thrusts finally activate and pincushion their target. He backflips away, congeals the darkness used to maintain his BlackStar form into a black rose centered around his brush, and throws it at Rembrandt, causing the darkness surrounding it and making up the Star Thrusts to explode. Rembrandt and the brush fly back into his hands as he and the blade return to their normal form.
WEAKNESSES & LIMITS Rosie fights only decently at close range and excels at longer ranges, but falters at medium ranges where Cross Section is the only attack with the lack of setup time he needs to be effective. Anyone with the luxury of fighting comfortably in that range can shut down his ability to fight back if they can keep up with his attempts to move out of it. In BlackStar form, the same concept applies to long-range combat while he covers his mid-range weaknesses.
All of his paintbrush attacks are based on his own perception. If his vision is impaired, they become useless even if “aimed” correctly.
Though he is immortal, Rosie needs strength to maintain his physical form, and it can be dispersed if he takes enough of a beating. At least, until he can gather enough darkness to remake it, though that could take a very long time. Though decent, his endurance is nothing special, and he is especially vulnerable to holy and light-based attacks.
Rosie rarely treats his opponents as anything more than a nuisance, often viewing the challenges of those lesser beings as something not worth his time. When he begins taking his opponent seriously, they may easily have the advantage over him.