sougo at wherever

[eyemask]

Applicant Info

◎ Name: craps
◎ Journal: disemboweled
◎ Contact: capsu on plurk
◎ Current Character(s): none

Character Info

◎ Character's Name: Okita Sougo
◎ Character's Canon: Gintama
◎ Character's Age: 18-19
◎ Canon Point: Chapter 399
◎ Background/History: Wiki here!
◎ Is the character a hacker and/or do they have a sixth-sense? None of the above!

◎ Personality:

He may have the face of a bright-eyed, baby-faced young man, he may be a policeman, but there's nothing particularly innocent about Okita Sougo. Around Edo, he has a reputation for being a bit of a demon - a ruthless killer who mercilessly cuts down all who oppose the Shinsengumi. Even the ones who personally know him remember him by his most prominent trait - his apparent sadism. None of these impressions are untrue. Okita is a sadist. It's mostly played for laughs in the series, but he honestly finds enjoyment in tormenting, humiliating and insulting the ones around him (and this is a fact that he admits to; Okita loves to see the 'contorted' faces that people make when they're suffering). It doesn't matter who they are, whether they're an existing friend or a person he's only just met; when an opportunity arises to embarrass someone or beat someone up, he's very likely to grasp it.

A lot of this is owed to his rather unorthodox sense of humour. Okita enjoys playing pranks on others. This is another of his many childish traits. It's just unfortunate that his pranks can range from the mildly-inconveniencing (see: that one time he punched Hijikata in the face in the middle of a robot dance), to the somewhat-cruel (those many times he's put laxatives into Hijikata's mayonnaise), to the downright psychologically-damaging (that one time he orchestrated a death game scenario similar to what you see in Saw, trapping himself and Hijikata in an abandoned building with no food or water for three days). Though the brunt of his cruelty is reserved for his vice-commander, he's not above aiming his bazooka at friends and acquaintances alike. He's even been shown to be mean to cute animals. Okita's sadism isn't contained only to day-to-day activities. At times, there's a sexual aspect to it. When he finds another party with masochistic preferences, Okita has been shown to act quickly, propositioning them for a 'session' or getting right down to chaining them up for some S&M play. It's really a wonder why Shonen JUMP continues to allow him to be published.

His sadism aside, the everyday Okita strikes as a rather listless, emotionless person. He usually speaks in monotone, rarely showing much outward enthusiasm for anything. It can be said that his actions and words rarely match up to the expressions on his face, because he's more than capable of dishing out some cruel insult, delivering a death threat or physically harming a person in that same deadpan. He's also quite difficult to faze. Even in the face of immediate danger, even when the people around him are all confused or stressing out, it's rare to see Okita very moved by anything. This is part his regular demeanor, and partly due to the fact that he's already been in too many dangerous (or bizarre) situations to count. While it's difficult to get a reaction out of him, the boy isn't infallible. There have been situations where he's been shown to shed his cool exterior and reveal that he's just as much of an idiot as the rest of the cast. One such example would be that one time he forgot to wear his seat-belt on a rollercoaster and screamed as he was tossed off the ride.

One other prominent trait to Okita, one that particularly grinds Hijikata's gears, is his inability to take most situations seriously. Okita is lazy, frequently seen taking naps while on duty or going out for ramen when he's supposed to be on patrol. He takes naps so often that his personal eyemask, a sleeping mask with large eyes printed on it, has become a bit of a trademark of his. Not only does Okita slack off on the job, but he sometimes does things that are detrimental to the common goal. One example would be that one time the Shinsengumi were looking for the Shogun's pet rhinoceros beetle, Rurimaru. After Kagura had found Rurimaru instead, Okita challenged her to a beetle duel. While Hijikata originally thought that it was a ploy to claim back the Shogun's pet, that Okita would be smart enough not to hurt the beetle, it later turned out that he just wanted to crush Kagura in battle (and Rurimaru would be a casualty). There are several times his actions have actually sabotaged things for everyone else. This isn't something he actively does on purpose (okay, sometimes it is). It's just that Okita rarely takes the situation very seriously, and sometimes his strange, often dirty sense of humor or sadistic interests tend to govern his actions for him. Despite his reputation as a prodigy at swordplay, the everyday Okita can be a bit of an idiot. Hijikata has called him an 'airhead'. It's not unusual to find him engaging in something completely nonsensical (a disease found in almost everyone in Gintama). For example, his big plan to get back Rurimaru was to dress up as a large beetle and make contact with it. Okita simply does whatever looks to be the most fun, and the consequences don't bother him that much.

Spoiled by his older sister at a very young age, Okita grew up with several rather unpleasant traits (as if the sadism isn't bad enough). First of all, he can be petty. When slighted in some way, it's rare for him to let the other party go without some kind of violent retaliation (usually in the form of blowing the other person up with his bazooka). There are people he's much more tolerant of, people he'll actually let reprimand him or hit him, but such people are so few they can be counted with one hand. There's just a general childishness to Okita, even if he's reaching the end of his teens. One such example would be that one time he bought an expensive new sword and decided to walk around with it, showing it off in his own subtle way. While he was initially showered with attention for his great blade, this attention was soon directed to Kondou, who had apparently purchased an even more expensive sword (and was also showing it off, incidentally). Okita's immediate reaction was to snap Kondou's sword in two, simply because he was miffed at the situation. This is just another of the many, many selfish acts Okita has carried out throughout the series. On top of being petty, there's also a competitive streak to Okita. He's a sour loser, and there are times he gets so engrossed in competition that he neglects all other reason. As a result of this trait of his, he's developed a bit of a rivalry with Kagura ever since their first match. Whenever the pair are together, sparks tend to fly and a brawl always seems to be on its way.

With so many unpleasant traits bundled up into one human being, he's bound to be a danger to the ones around him. The one most in danger when Okita is around isn't the criminals that he persecutes, but actually his immediate commanding officer - Hijikata Toshirou. This is the man Okita appears to torment most: insulting Hijikata on a daily basis, playing cruel pranks on him and making casual attempts at taking his life. This is one of the first things we learn about Okita in the series: that he really wants Hijikata dead so he can have the position of Vice-Commander for himself. As comical as most of these attempts are played off as, they do appear to be frightening enough for Hijikata to actually fear for his life. Because of Okita, the poor guy lives constantly on his guard; it's always hard to tell what Okita has cooking up behind the scenes.

Okita's awful treatment of Hijikata doesn't just stem from an ambition to usurp him, it mainly stems from a general resentment for the man that's been present ever since his childhood. It's a childish thing, but Okita blames Hijikata for stealing away the people most dear to him - his sister, Mitsuba, and their commander, Kondou. In Okita's eyes, after Hijikata had 'appeared out of nowhere', Mitsuba and Kondou had stopped caring about him as much. Basically, it's a resentment rooted in jealousy. None of this is actually Hijikata's fault - his only crime was being there - but with Okita's selfish personality, he chose to put the blame on Hijikata for it. Okita also blames Hijikata for stealing his sister's happiness away. As much as he hates that Mitsuba had fallen in love with Hijikata, it's a fact that he acknowledges, and that's why he hates Hijikata even more for rejecting her and breaking her heart. He understands that Hijikata did it for Mitsuba's sake, but Okita is a person far too petty not to harbor some resentment either way. Even with all these negative feelings he has toward Hijikata, there's a part of Okita that begrudgingly sees him as a friend. It's been shown that when Hijikata is in real danger, Okita will step in to protect him. It's also likely that his attempts at Hijikata's life aren't serious ones after all (even if the satisfaction he gets in his suffering is very much real). When Okita truly wants to take someone's life, he's more often than not successful at it.

A large part of his personality has its roots in personal insecurities. Okita has even once admitted that insecurities are the cause of his sadism. Before the Mitsuba arc, Okita has always envisioned a distance between himself and the ones around him. As he had some difficulty in trusting others, he rarely showed people his honest feelings, choosing instead to give off the impression that he didn't care about anyone but himself. He was so good at playing the part that Okita had started to believe it too, thinking himself - at that time - to be that kind of selfish, awful person. His jealousy over Hijikata was actually a byproduct of those insecurities. In Okita's eyes, Kondou and Mitsuba were 'pure', and he was the one with the bad personality. He was 'different' from the ones most dear to him, and that was why they always seemed to pull away from him and gravitate toward Hijikata instead. At the end of the Mitsuba arc, he finally learns that the distance he perceived between himself and his loved ones was completely self-constructed. There was never any evidence that Kondou favored Hijikata more - they were all on equal footing - and Kondou made a point to beat that into Okita's head. Okita was also shocked to learn the lengths Hijikata would go for him, how much the man he resented for so long actually cared for him. That arc was a turning point in Okita's character development. At the end of it, Okita had finally accepted that there was no gap between himself and others; that he had friends, even if hadn't noticed he was making them.

There are two particular people that make up Okita's entire world; two people he loves so fiercely he would cut down anyone who tries to harm them. The first is Mitsuba, his sister. Around Mitsuba, Okita is a completely changed man. He speaks in a polite, more childlike tone - something worlds apart from his regular blunt and listless demeanor - and expresses honest delight at the thought of spending time with her. The regular Okita only seems to express delight at the thought of seeing people suffer. Not only is he uncharacteristically nice to his sister, but whenever she scolds him for his actions, Okita is willing to bow before her, respectfully asking for forgiveness. He's never done this for anyone else. The reason Sougo holds Mitsuba in such high regard is due to the fact that she essentially raised him, taking care of him in place of their deceased mother.

Okita's other most important person is his commander, Kondou Isao. Kondou, with his kind and trusting personality, is the first real friend he's ever had. As a child, Okita was just as stubborn and selfish as he is now. His difficult attitude made it hard for him to get along with others. Kondou was the first person to ever reach out to him, the only person to ever give him a place to belong to. Kondou had 'saved him' from a life of stubborn loneliness, and for that, Okita holds an immense loyalty to him. In Okita's eyes, Kondou is the heart of the Shinsengumi and he and the others are the swords that protected it. For Kondou's sake, Okita would put his life on the line with absolutely no hesitation - he would kill, over and over, if it meant it could keep his commander safe. The reason Okita so badly wants the Vice-Commander's seat isn't for anything like prestige or power. What Okita really wants is to be at the immediate side of the man he looks up to so much.

It's rare to see Okita serious, but when he does get serious, he can be a bit frightening. This side of him is usually reserved for a truly dire situation; situations where the people most dear to him are in danger of losing their lives. Much like the ruthless person he's reputed to be, Okita isn't hesitant to cut down as many people as possible - to kill as many people as possible in retaliation. We've seen this several times in the series. In the Shinsengumi Crisis arc, where Itou had set out to assassinate Kondou, Okita killed about twenty or thirty of his men single-handedly, bathing the entire room in their blood. While it's true that he's often shown to be slacking off on the job, there's a part of Okita that understands that in their line of work, a single wrong move could mean their lives. That's why when Okita draws his sword, when he brings it down onto others, he's usually aiming to kill. There's even a part of Okita that enjoys being on the battlefield, enjoys the rush when swords communicate. Several times, his opponents have commented that he has the 'eyes of a killer'. That would be because when he's particularly engrossed in a battle, he really seems to relish in it. The faces he makes can border on the deranged, and it's rare that he'll show mercy to the ones he doesn't find deserving.

At his core, Okita does want to do what's right. That's why, despite his reputation as a demon, he only cuts down wrong-doers. While Okita has been known to deliver death threats to the ones around him, he rarely follows through with them. Most of his everyday 'sadistic' deeds are contained to bullying and bizarre pranks (and sometimes... S&M). He has never been seen killing innocents, and it's actually against his code to do so. He's more likely to protect innocent people than he is to harm them. Not only does Okita want to carry out the law, but at times, he'll even act outside of his duty if it means doing the right thing. One example of this was his desire to bring down the illegal underground fighting ring that was secretly run by the government. He's also been known to step in and save others when they're in danger (though you can't expect him to be particularly knightly about it). In overall, Okita may be a mess of a million different unpleasant traits; he may be selfish, petty and a general pest to most people he knows, but underneath it all, he's not that bad a guy.

◎ Powers/Abilities: Hailed as the best swordsman in the Shinsengumi, Okita is a bit of a prodigy at the sword. When it comes to swordfighting technique, he's one of the most skilled in the series, able to overcome a large number of opponents at the same time and slaughter them single-handedly. He's also got some considerable strength to him for a human being. Okita has been shown performing feats like cutting a car cleanly in two and slicing concrete blocks with his sword. HOther than his swordplay, Okita is a regular person with regular capabilities. Though he was able to square it off evenly with Kamui, a Yato alien with supreme strength and healing capabilities, the fight left him hospitalized due to his physical limitations.

◎ Weapons & Other Special Inventory:
- His katana, the Kiku-ichimonji RX-78. It's a sword that comes with a headset for playing music.
- A bazooka.
- A pair of handcuffs.
- A red sleeping mask with eyes printed on it.

CEREALIA-Specific

◎ Element: Most of the elements don't suit him very well, but if I had to go with something, it'd be Earth. This is because Okita's loyalty is unfaltering. Once he finds someone worth following (that would be Kondou), he dedicates his life to them and protects them at any cost. He's actually a very dependable person.
◎ Sense: Sight. Okita has very sharp eyes. He was able to slice a bullet in two mid-trajectory.
◎ Seven Character Traits:
(+) Loyal, Sharp, Fearless
(-) Petty, Distrustful, Ruthless
(+/-) Has a dark sense of humor.

Samples

◎ First-Person Sample: TDM link!

◎ Third-Person Sample:

Six, seven, eight ...

It was hard to tell how many it had been. Soon, the sights and sounds all blurred into one vivid experience -- the cries of the ex-comrades as he brought his katana down, the bright red of fresh blood as it spilled all over the train's seats and walls, the loud thud of a warm body falling against his shoes. It was funny how the littlest things seemed to become salient. Sougo could feel the splatter of someone's blood against his cheek, and his tongue flickered across his lips for a taste. It was coppery. He was more than familiar with coppery.

There were faces among the advancing crowd that he, in the seconds between stabilizing his hold on the hilt and stabbing his katana forward, could recognise. People he knew he drank with, joked around with. People he never imagined he would be cutting down in this moment. It was not something he necessarily liked to do, but those people had made a choice. It was they who chose to betray Kondou, biting the hand that so generously fed them and siding with Itou instead. It was they who chose to make an attempt at Kondou's life, and for that - for trying to steal away the person most important to him - Sougo could never forgive them.

And so they had to die. Today. All of them.

Another ex-comrade comes charging at him, his movements rough and impulsive, and with a graceful ease Sougo sidesteps right past him, taking advantage of the opening presenting itself as his assailant glides by to stab him in the back. He then draws out his sword from the bleeding flesh, spinning it at the hilt to get another attacker right across the throat. With the numbers he's against, the process is an endless, tiresome thing, but even with the fatigue in his body an exhilaration seems to power his movements. Honestly, it's a demon. A demon that awakens every time he finds himself thrust into the battlefield. As more blood spills, Sougo's lips curl, forming a sinister thing. It's something he can't quite help; he can't exactly say he likes cutting people down, but he can't quite deny that there's a delight that bubbles up to the surface as his lethal movements resonated with the whirring of the adrenaline within. It all becomes a blur, his instincts dictating his every move, and then, like he's come to the last scene of a High-Definition Blue-Ray DVD, the experience ends. Around him, he can see the numerous bodies of the traitors who had attempted that coup de tat. Most of them were lying face down, their clothes in a disheveled, blood-splattered mess, and the ones that looked up at the ceiling had a glassiness to their eyes.

"Looks like it's over." His heart is racing, his muscles aching as his mind reels his body down into a calm. Yet, despite it all, Sougo's voice maintains that same listless quality, "Damn, I really worked too hard today. I need a raise."

Gripping his wounded shoulder, he staggers toward the door, deciding to take his leave. It's then that his ears pick up on a shuffling among the corpses. It's a sign of life. Looks like he hadn't gotten them all after all. Turning, Sougo regards this apparent survivor of his massacre. His voice, while still listless, does sound a little more impressed than before.

"You managed to survive that, huh? Good for you. What do you want as a prize?" Slowly, he makes his way over, lazily gripping onto the hilt of his katana. The man before him flinches, backing away frantically. "I have some yakisoba bread in the cupboard. Or maybe -- "

Finally, when he's close enough, Sougo brings his blade to the man's throat, "You want a clean send-off?"

◎ Is your character retaining any previous game memories? Nope!