Expiation application

[earnedmystripes]

Player: Batty
Contact: goodluckmodes
Age: 32
Current Characters: n/a

Character Name: Kotetsu T. Kaburagi
Character Canon: Tiger and Bunny
Canon Point: Season 2, Episode 7
Age: 38

Crime: Familial neglect

Background: https://tigerbunny.fandom.com/wiki/Wild_Tiger

Personality:

The first thing to know about Kotetsu is that he cares about you. Whether he’s known you for years or only a week, it doesn’t matter--you’re still important. If Kotetsu can take a moment or an hour or even a day out of his life to put a smile on your face, he’ll do it with a smile on his. Kotetsu’s overriding care and concern for everyone extends even to the criminals he fights, and it ultimately wins the respect of his allies and foes alike, to the point where even Lunatic, a vigilante NEXT who believes in eye-for-an-eye justice and considers the Heroes’ notions of justice to be naive and ineffectual, sees Kotetsu as a worthy adversary.

As noble as this attitude might be, it often gets him in trouble. Kotetsu takes the creed of "Hero" to extremes--so much so that his entire identity and sense of self-worth is wrapped around this singular concept. While this fuels Kotetsu's most admirable qualities--his bravery, his selflessness, his great determination and compassion--the vast majority of Kotetsu's flaws and bad habits come from this as well. As a child, he was demonized by his peers for his powers and truly believed all he was capable of was harm, until a Hero told him his powers were meant to save people instead, and a young Kotetsu latched onto those words like a lifeline. An unfortunate side-effect, however, was the development of the mentality that saving people is all he's good for. Kotetsu came to embrace his powers for the good they could do for the world, but he never really learned to value himself as an individual. He consistently puts himself last, because so much of the way he thinks and acts is defined by his identity as a Hero, and a Hero exists for the sake of the people.

His constant emphasis on everyone else above himself leads to keeping secrets to prevent others worrying about him, which never turns out well. He hides being a Hero from his daughter so she won’t worry about the dangerous life he leads, which causes her to resent him for never being home. Later on, he hides his power loss and impending retirement when Barnaby is dealing with his own issues, and the latter reacts understandably poorly when he finds out. According to his brother, he even tried to hide his burgeoning NEXT powers from his family as a kid.

It’s a bad habit, and far from Kotetsu’s only one. As much as his goofy, quirky demeanor is genuine, he sometimes uses it to his advantage and plays the fool to distract others because they won’t expect that he’s faking it. For instance, at one point, Barnaby storms off in anger and when asked about it, Kotetsu makes up a lie that makes himself look incredibly foolish and insensitive simply because he didn’t want to put his partner’s emotional turmoil on display—something only one of his coworkers catches onto since the thoughtless facade is easier to believe.

He also tends to jump into making promises without being sure he can keep them, and disappoints people when he fails to. In the second half of S1, he struggles with honoring his wife’s dying wish--to always be a hero, no matter what--when he finds out he’s losing his powers. He promises his daughter to quit his job and be there for her more but fails to do so when Barnaby is having a veritable identity crisis and Kotetsu can’t bear to add to his burdens by announcing his retirement. Ultimately what is one of Kotetsu’s most admirable qualities is also perhaps his greatest flaw: he doesn’t have a distinct set of priorities; he wants to help everyone at the same time and sometimes that just isn't possible.

Despite these stumbles, Kotetsu is the sort of man who others can draw strength from, who inspires hope and loyalty and courage, and he is very good at offering advice when it is needed. Throughout the first season, Kotetsu inspires Karina not to give up being a hero when she finds herself fed up with the thankless nature of the career, helps Ivan find his confidence and the courage to move out of the background and actually protect people, and gives Pao-Lin another perspective on her parents, bridging a gap she was struggling with. Then there's Barnaby, for whom Kotetsu becomes the first person he has emotionally connected with in twenty years.

Kotetsu is a man that never gives up, no matter how high the odds are stacked against him. He always hopes for the best, always encourages those around him when circumstances are difficult, and has a deep love and respect for life — it is everything he is to protect and preserve it.

Abilities: Kotetsu is a NEXT, one of a group of powered individuals that began appearing about 48 years ago in Sternbild City and has continued into the present. His ability is known as the “Hundred Power,” so named because it increases every physical factor hundredfold. The most obvious uses of this ability are for his strength and speed, but on two occasions, he’s used it for specialized purposes, such as for an improvised healing factor in S1E13 and to increase the sensitivity of his hearing in S1E17. The downside is that he can only use this power for five minutes, and then he needs to wait an hour before he can use it again.

Starting in S1E15, Kotetsu begins losing his powers, and as of his canonpoint, he is down to one minute, though it appears to be stable at this level.

He also has a mechanical suit which serves primarily as a means of protection, especially when Kotetsu’s powers are not activated or have run out. The suit is fireproof and can expand greatly without being compromised, as seen in tests performed by the mechanic who created it, Saito. The right arm of the suit also contains a larger-scale version of the grapple-watch he wore in season 1, and the wires were shown to be strong enough not to be able to be cut by even a power-saw. The suit also has a “Good Luck Mode” which makes the arm bigger, but otherwise...has no function other than “looking cool.” The suit contains no weapons of any kind. As of season 2, the suit (including the bodysuit underneath) can be activated by sliding a green sphere on the bracelet he wears on his wrist.

Inventory:
- Cell phone
- Wallet including family photos, Apollon Media identification card etc
- NC 1978 souvenir Christmas pin
- Wedding ring
- Purple prayer beads worn on wrist
- Power suit activation bracelet, as described above

Samples: Expiation TDM toplevel
TDM thread from Austice

Questions: n/a