giovanni ( the reaper ) : (![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} vanagandr) wrote,@ 2009-12-26 23:55:00 |
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one day i will get revenge
one night to remember
one day it’ll all just end
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 | extra ● soundtrack ● scenes ● connections ● ooc basics [top.] NAME: Giovanni Duilio Russo. GOES BY: Gio. G (pronounced “Gee”, which is another spelling alternative). Some people call him by his surname, which he accepts readily; other nicknames are not permitted, only the abbreviations of the name he was given at birth, and then, only Pack are granted permission. AGE AND DOB: 408. October 20th 1610. SPECIES: Therianthrope; Wolf. CAREER: Alpha. CURRENT RESIDENCE: The Factory. MARITAL STATUS: Single. SEXUALITY: Heterosexual. ETHER: Giovanni is a primal force on the Ether, powerful and dominant as he is in wolf form, the first rumble of an approaching storm and the dangerous flicker of flame. He comes with the scent of burning wood and the bite of icy water slicing past in a rapid rush, a jarring contrast of sensations against the skin and the senses. It’s the kind of Ether presence that makes you sit up and take notice. supernatural [top.] ABILITIES THE WOLF. As is to be expected of an old, dominant wolf, Giovanni is hardly a small animal when he transforms, something he can do completely at will whenever he pleases. He becomes a large black tundra wolf with amber eyes, standing almost 3’5 at the shoulders and measuring just shy of 6’6 from nose to tail. He weighs somewhere in the region of 175lbs, most of which is in muscle; just as in human form, there isn’t an ounce of fat on him. He’s powerful, compact and brutal, a killing force, with razor teeth and powerful short claws that could rip open bellies and throats alike. He has a thick pelt and a full, brush-like tail, as well as a thick ruff like a feral mane around his neck to protect the vital region in combat. Under certain lights, Giovanni has the tendency to look brown in wolf form, and there is a patch of white on his chest, the only flaw in his otherwise dark coat. [X] SKILLS: Given that he is a Pack Enforcer, Giovanni is obviously not only capable in a fight situation, but very capable, whether it be with weapons -- which he prefers not to use, finding them vulgar and unfitting for therianthropes -- or unarmed, in hand-to-hand combat. He seems to have mastered several martial arts without his fighting style belonging in any one category; he is quick on his feet but strong at the same time, a lethal combination, and Giovanni knows exactly how and where to apply pressure, how to use an opponent’s weight and momentum against them, and more importantly, he seems to have an uncanny ability to keep his cool in combat. It’s almost frightening, really, how composed he is in battle, steady and focused with little more than the barest hints of emotion. He is tactically minded and can plan several steps in advance, work through problems easily and methodically, and is highly intelligent. He is also a dominant wolf, which gives him a certain edge over more submissive individuals within his race. Obviously, Giovanni is bilingual, fully fluent in Italian and English, not only in the spoken word but also the written. LIMITATIONS: Despite how cool he seems at all times, Giovanni does have a temper; it’s just a slow-burning fuse. If anything, that’s even worse than having a short fuse; when he erupts, he is truly a force to be reckoned with, violent and thoroughly primal, nothing and no one is off limits and he will not hesitate to say what he really thinks and feels, no matter how offensive or hurtful. Much of the time Giovanni sits back and lets the world pass him by; it makes him seem indifferent and inactive, and quite often he will just let things happen before making a move himself. It causes others to judge him quickly, labelling him as lazy or ignorant. His dislike of weapons could put him at a disadvantage in a fight; he is loathe to touch them, much preferring to use his own hands, his own strength, or if in wolf form, his teeth and claws. WEAPONRY TRAINING: Just because Giovanni hates weapons, it doesn’t mean he can’t use them. He has been trained with bladed weaponry of all sorts, from knives and daggers to swords and even axes. He simply prefers to use what he was given naturally. He could use a gun if you put one in his hands, but he hasn’t been formally trained with them and as such would just go with the whole point and shoot approach that wouldn’t necessarily get him anywhere. Unarmed and unleashed, Giovanni is a brutal opponent, though; he doesn’t need weapons. GROUP: The Raidan Pack. POSITION: Alpha. OPINION: They are flawed and dysfunctional -- highly dysfunctional -- but they are Pack, and wolves belongs in a Pack. With the right leadership and a strong guiding hand, they could be better. ALLIANCES: The Pack. The Raidan. RIVALRIES: The Watch. The Renner Pack. The Belrithe Coven. Kayla Chase. appearance [top.] Giovanni is not the tallest male in the world, but he also isn’t the shortest, standing just above average at 6’1. He has black hair and dark hazel eyes that have the tendency to look brown or even black in certain lights, and a faint olive complexion that gives away his European roots. More often than not Giovanni has somewhat long hair that is either raked back or left to fall where it pleases, though keeping it out of his eyes is preferred; he also sports facial hair in the form of a generous shadow of stubble along his jaw, chin and upper lip, along with sideburns where it joins with his hair in front of his ears. Giovanni weighs in just shy of 190lbs, not an ounce of which is fat; he is all muscle, raw power, and when he moves, it shows. He has a feral grace to him when he moves, like a born and bred predator, which he is. Giovanni practically exudes a wolfen energy, never afraid to let the wolfen hue burn through to the surface when he wishes to show displeasure or dark amusement or mischief. In terms of attire, Giovanni is far from fussy, though he tends to have natural good taste; simpler styles suit him best, and he has a knack for putting together clothing that works well together. He will, really, wear whatever takes his fancy, though he rather hates sneakers, instead preferring boots or actual shoes instead of anything sporty or overly casual. He owns a pair of sneakers, but it’s rare to catch him wearing them, just as it is rare to catch him wearing jewellery of any kind. DISTINGUISHING MARKS: Giovanni dislikes tattoos, especially on immortals; they are too much fuss and mess, especially when they need to be re-inked time and time again. Why bother? Given his age and the life he has led and continues to lead as an Enforcer, Giovanni obviously sports his fair share of scars, the longest of which are down his back in the telltale lines of claws raking deeply and roughly in a brutal blow. personality [top.] To many, at first glance, Giovanni Russo seems like an inactive, indifferent individual, content to sit in the corner and watch the world pass him by, but in truth what the dark male is doing is studying things. He is an intelligent wolf, highly so, and he understands the value of observation and intellect, stealth and cunning; he does not simply barrel his way through life, snap his jaws and snarl his demands like a common brute. The Raidan view the Pack in their midst as nothing more than animals, thugs who do all the dirty work that no one else wishes to do, and that displeases Giovanni greatly. Wolves are proud, powerful animals, and he would like nothing better than to have them viewed in higher regard than what they are currently. A born and bred wolf with a lot of experience and power, Giovanni is undeniably proud of what he is, what he can do, and as an Enforcer, he is not a force to be taken lightly. Underestimating the likes of Giovanni is not only the worst mistake you can make, but it will also likely be the last thing you do with your life. It is in his power to challenge for leadership, and yet he does not do it, something that no doubt confuses many, given his strength and his cool head, his tactical mind and aptitude for learning; he would make a good Alpha, a very good Alpha, and yet he continues to sit idly by while the Pack dwindles and all but rots from within. Why? Because Giovanni is not done studying Syn and his motives, has not yet seen an opportunity to unseat the somewhat unstable male once and for all and lift the Pack to their true place within the Raidan. The time will come, and it is coming soon, but he does not rush idly into things, instead bides his time and waits for the right moment, a philosophy that carries over into his fighting style in a combat situation. He is a patient and capable hunter, the sort of wolf who always catches his prey, or fails very, very rarely, and he believes in the value of intelligence and grace over brutality and barbarity. Not everything can be won under the blow of the fist or between the fierce crush of jaws. Highly intellectual, Giovanni can actually often be found reading, whether it be the newspaper or a novel of one sort or another, usually in his native tongue of Italian, a language he will often use in passing, one he misses and loves dearly. He may not speak of his origins, believing that the past belongs as just that, the past, but it is clear he is proud of where he came from. He speaks with a fluent American accent after so many years in the country, but when his emotions are heightened and his temper is wearing thin, the Italian lull works its way back in, edges every word and causes each syllable to flow into the next, though he can, with effort, sharpen the language into a bite if he so wishes. He does not appreciate slacking or unnecessary mischief; wolves are playful, inquisitive creatures who should rightfully spend time together and quarrel lightly among themselves, yes, but there are many quirks or behaviours that Giovanni does not find acceptable. Jealousy and spite are unnecessary within the wolfen race, they are purely human emotions, and though they are in essence half-human, to a degree, they are wolves, true hunters and predators, and should behave as nature intended them to behave. Giovanni is highly wolfen, very much in tune with his animal side, and would gladly spend hours at a time in his animal skin if there were not jobs to be done and matters of business to be taken care of. As serious as he seems, Giovanni does actually have a sense of humour, it is simply difficult to provoke or bring to the surface. He is an intellectual, a thinker, a doer, not a joker or a laugher. As much as he enjoys spending time with the Pack -- or at least certain wolves within it -- he leaves the frivolity and playful back and forth to those better suited to it. Giovanni is a wolf who knows his place in life, and until opportunities present themselves clearly, at whatever stage of development, he is content to continue living that life one day at a time. history [top.] FAMILY FATHER: Guerino Russo. MOTHER: Imelda Russo née Alfero. SIBLING(S): None. Giovanni Duilio Russo was the first and only child born to the proud Alphas of the Russo Pack that called the foot of the Alps in Italy their territory, a much sought-after piece of land that they had paid for dearly in lives and blood when the Pack first set out to claim ground for itself, defeating not one but two rivals for the right to call it their own. Guerino had long-dreamed of having many children, but his mate and fellow Alpha, Imelda, was only able to conceive once, for reasons unknown. The physician within the Pack was lost as to why, but Imelda was happy enough with one child, little Gio. Early life for Giovanni was very simple, he was allowed to run off and play with the other young within the Pack, and he quickly caught on to just why it was that the other children always allowed him to win hunts and other games. He was the Alphas’ son. He was special. Surprisingly, it didn’t go to his head; he was merely intelligent enough to figure out just why they treated him differently than they did each other, and over time, it actually grated on him. What had he done that was so special? Why did they treat him with such respect and -- in some cases -- fear when he had done nothing to prove his worth. And so he went on to prove his worth, prove that he was worthy of such attention. Fights began to break out amongst the young; at first, the other young wolves would not fight back when Giovanni set himself upon them, but when he encouraged them openly to give and not just take, they quickly changed their minds and threw themselves into it. Each fight was broken up by adults within the Pack, sometimes even the Alphas themselves, though no discipline was ever set down for Giovanni. The other wolves were punished, but he was not. Again, this annoyed him. Once again he was left wondering just what he had done that was so special that led to his being treated so differently, with such lax rules. If he had done something to earn such treatment, it wouldn’t have frustrated him as much as it did, but being allowed to do whatever he pleased and get away with it was, frankly, maddening. Giovanni fully understood the concept of Pack, that there was a hierarchy in place to keep order and help the wolves survive through the years, but as far as he could see, he had nothing that the other young wolves did not also possess. It was only because he was the son of the Alphas that he was held in such high regard. Life went on in this fashion with Giovanni picking fights to try and provoke his parents into treating him as they did all the others but nothing ever came of his efforts, and even when he broke rank during a Pack hunt and took the kill from beneath the nose of the Beta himself, there were no repercussions. Oh, the Beta was furious, but Guerino would not allow any retaliation or punishment. Giovanni was incensed, though it was many years before his patience finally snapped and he turned on the one wolves in the Pack who had never said a bad word about him. Giovanni was almost a full century in age when his fuse finally burned out and he turned on his father in front of many of the Pack after yet another fruitless brawl with another wolf who had done nothing to warrant such ferocity, calling him on his unfair treatment. Guerino told Giovanni that he would be Alpha one day, to which his son replied, quite simply, “Why?”; his response shocked many of the Pack, but Giovanni went on to remind his father that he had never done anything, not a single thing, to warrant the role. There were others within the Pack who strived for such recognition and promise day after day, and yet to give it to him, for no other reason than because he was a Russo, was completely ridiculous in his eyes, and he didn’t hesitate to tell his father as such. The Pack were stunned. Not once in the Russo Pack’s history had any wolf, kin or otherwise, dared to call the Alpha or his word ridiculous. Still Guerino did not retaliate or punish, and Giovanni, quite simply, snapped. In retrospect, attacking his own father for the reason he did wasn’t the most logical or sensible thing Giovanni has ever done in his life, but he was tired of being treated like a prince because he was the Alphas’ son instead of such reverence and respect being based on acts and behaviour he’d committed and displayed over the years. Such respect and treatment should be earned, and he did not feel he had earned it, and so he did the one thing he felt would garner a just response. Guerino did the only thing he could do and fought back, lest his own son cause him permanent damage, and the two even went on to transform and fight in their wolf forms, all snapping jaws and a tangle of black-furred limbs, snarls and yowls as blows were landed and blood was spilled. Giovanni was, inevitably, left defeated on the ground, his back laid open by his father’s claws in a final strike. As much as it shocked many of the witnesses to see, Giovanni smiled. Finally, his father had treated him as a member of the Pack, one of many. It was what he had wanted all along, and rising to his feet with that smile still on his face, blood coating his tongue, he thanked Guerino. Another shock came in the form of his announcement to leave, tipping his head to his parents as though they were not his father and mother at all but mere acquaintances. The Russo Pack was not the place for him, he told those gathered, though his eyes never left his father’s, and he would be gone before dawn. They would not see him again. Giovanni kept to his word, taking nothing other than what was absolutely necessary and leaving the foot of the Alps and the Russo Pack behind, turning tail on them and loping nobly away with his head held high and his heart filled with a sense of right the likes of which he had never felt before. Finally he felt free, released from a cage others had never been able to see. So many had whispered that he was insane; he had heard them in the hours before his departure. He had been handed everything on the proverbial silver platter, and tossed it all aside, ungrateful and ignorant. Not ignorant, not ungrateful. The Alpha seat should not be passed down from father to son, not in Giovanni’s mind. Such leadership and responsibility, such power, was to be earned, not simply taken like a gift. Such reckless faith could ruin a Pack, and he would not be part of one that would act so foolishly. For many years Giovanni wandered alone until the call of Pack life reached him again and he joined a new group of wolves to the South, towards the border. He had yet to leave Italy, his roots keeping him from crossing into another part of Europe. Someday he knew he would do so, whether by his own choice or because he was forced, but not yet. The Soldati Pack was primarily female, highly unusual, something even he recognised with only the Russo experience under his belt, but it was a functional Pack, and power and respect were earned, not given blindly. It was a better fit for him, and Giovanni grew comfortable, settled in and even came to call it home, regard the others as something not unlike family, as wolves are so wont to do when among their own kind. He grew particularly close with a dark-haired, dark-eyed female by the name of Alessa. She was a spirited wolf, wild and strong, and Giovanni was drawn to her. Alessa knew of his draw to her, and encouraged him, allowed him to follow her around and pursue her under the light of the moon when they ran as a Pack, though she never submitted to him, instead fought back and pinned him just as frequently as he pinned her. She was a female not to be underestimated, and as such, a more than worthy mate in Giovanni’s eyes, but their relationship never reached that point. The Cuevas Pack, as they called themselves, attacked in the night, using cunning tactics and what some might consider underhanded attack strategies to overpower the Soldati wolves, and those who were left alive were rounded up together to face the Cuevas Alpha, a single, undeniably dominant male by the name of Jorge. He told each of the survivors that they would be taken into the Cuevas Pack, at the bottom of the established hierarchy, and any who did not like the decision had the option to fight their way free. Many of the survivors chose the latter options, proud females and noble males who were angered by the intrusion and the attack, not to mention the deaths of those they considered family. Only three accepted their new Pack outright. Giovanni watched as so many of the Soldati wolves who chose to fight were beaten down and into submission, told when they could no longer move that they were Cuevas wolves now. Giovanni was among the last to be asked to choose his future, and understandably he chose to fight. It was a brutal, bloody fight with one of the Cuevas Enforcers, a fierce and large male who never seemed to stop snarling, and Giovanni was left badly injured and, in truth, barely able to stand, but he was victorious over his opponent nonetheless, the larger wolf buckled to the ground, close to unconsciousness. Brute strength could only get a wolf so far, he told Jorge, as if schooling a child, and the Alpha was impressed, even going so far as to offer Giovanni a place of power within the Cuevas Pack, as his defeated opponent’s replacement. Giovanni declined, and reminded Jorge that he had been fighting for his freedom, and won it fairly. Jorge proved himself to be honourable, and did not stop Giovanni when he made to walk away, turning to look back at Alessa moments before she was asking to choose her fate. To his shock and disappointment, she chose to stay and not fight. He walked away without looking back again, the taste of bile in the back of his throat. Not once in the years that followed did he regret his choice, feeling betrayed in his own way, but Alessa left his mind completely in the time that passed after his departure from the Soldati Pack; he left Italy finally, crossing Europe and making his way to England for the first time in his life. Supernaturals, he was learning in his travels, were not restricted to his kind, to werewolves. In his travels already he had met a wide variety of other creatures, and even other weres; he learned the term therianthrope when he was in England as he picked up the English language. Giovanni was a quick study, a male with a sharp mind, and it did not take him long to master the language, to the point where he was able to fool natives into thinking he was one of them despite his European colouring. Despite the lessons he was learning and the advances he was making, how he was almost flawlessly able to fit in with human society, Giovanni was deeply restless, dissatisfied and only growing irritable as more time went on. He watched the world change with disinterest, unimpressed with the advances the mortals were making and part of him yearning, intensely, for a Pack once again. After the disappointments he’d experienced in the past, he was determined to find a better fit, but he found England lacking, sorely so, and that led him to the docks to the west where he boarded a boat and crossed the ocean to the United States of America. With so much distance between him and the failures of the past, perhaps he would have better luck. That was his somewhat strangely optimistic thought on the matter and when he set foot in America, he took to travelling immediately. It was north that he went firth, travelling all the way up and into Canada with nothing but the clothes on his back and his wolf skin in which to run and lope and hunt. Life was hard though, even for a large wolf using tooth and claw to get by. Without a Pack, he was beaten to much in the way of prey even by his wild cousins, and soon enough Giovanni found himself starving. Temper fraying with each passing day without a decent meal, he wandered the frozen landscape in search of either food or shelter when he found himself inexplicably set upon by a large cat, specifically a snow leopard, and to his surprise, another therianthrope. She attacked him without provocation, and being a natural-born predator and a warrior to boot -- his father had taught him how to take care of himself early on and Giovanni was just as capable of learning whilst being taught as he was just watching a process -- he fought back, and viciously. The two tore at one another fiercely, but both walked away alive in the end, Giovanni bloodied and weakened but locking away the female cat’s scent. One day, he promised himself, he would finish the cat once and for all, but whilst starving and wounded, he had no chance, and so walked away despite the inner outrage of his pride. Finally crossing back into America, Giovanni found his first decent meal in weeks, coming across a herd of deer quite by accident and taking not only one, but three for himself, bringing one day and catching another before they could scatter properly, and then another in the form of a weakened straggler. Full and satisfied once again, wounds healing and temper cooling off, he took to travelling anew and it wasn’t long before he came across a strange territory that he did not properly recognise. There was something strange in the air, a kind of crackle and burn that tingled at his senses, and he pushed inward, curious and at the same time troubled by this mysterious energy. The land belonged to a group of mortals who called themselves, together, The Belrithe Coven. Witches. Giovanni was amused by the magic-wielding mortals and so continued to press into their territory time and time again, even going so far as to scare children and pursue lone adults at a menacing lope in the evenings as they walked home. It didn’t take long for the Coven to grow weary of his mischief, however, his restless attempts to amuse himself while he struggled to find a Pack, and they took measures to keep the lone wolf away without going so far as to kill him outright. He had had no reason to attack or slaughter any of the witches, and so he could only assume they did not consider him worthy of more destructive magic than the barriers which they set up around their homes. When he approached too close, Giovanni found himself pained by a shock not unlike the bite of electricity. He was far from amused, and the next time he caught one of their own out alone, he truly pursued them, snapping his jaws, hackles bristled, eyes bright with intent. The magical blow he received for that offence was far greater than that which had kept him from getting too close to their homes, and when Giovanni regained consciousness after the agonising strike, he was outside of their territory and could not advance inward again. His hatred for them was cemented then, childish and without point as his attentions towards them had been, and that dislike has only matured over the years. It wasn’t long after this encounter with The Belrithe Coven that Giovanni finally found another Pack for himself. Led by a singular male who called himself Syn, Giovanni studied them for a time before he finally went to the lengths of approaching and proposing offering his services and skills as a fighter, an Enforcer. Syn accepted his proposition, and broached one of his own in return, one that Giovanni accepted for the promise of challenge if nothing else; the Alpha needed himself an assassin of sorts, when numbers and brute strength could not get the job done, and so many of his own wolves were haphazard and too feral, too rebellious. Giovanni saw no reason to decline the offer, and finally he had found a Pack in which respect and rank were won, earned, not simply rewarded based on trivial things such as bloodline or favouritism. Over the years Giovanni has come to realise that the Pack is flawed, that Syn is not always the best leader, but he appreciates the predatory sincerity in so much of what the wolves of the Raidan do. The group beyond the Pack matter very little to Giovanni, outside of their opinion of the wolves in their midst. Giovanni hates how the Raidan look on the Pack, as nothing more than thugs and brutes, underdogs who will always do the dirty work and ask “how high?” when they say jump. He wishes to see things changed, and one day, one way or another, he will see to it that things do change. extra [top.] ● Is a closet wine connoisseur, and enjoys drinking at least one glass from a good bottle each day. soundtrack [top.] ♪ 30 Seconds to Mars; Night of the Hunter (character theme). ♪ Groove Addicts; The Beast At Our Door. ♪ Rob Dougan; Furious. scenes [top.] past. 15/12/99 » Whilst wandering half-starved and irritable, Giovanni is set upon by a lone female snow leopard therianthrope, and the two clash in a brutal, bloody fight. chapter three. WEEK SEVEN connections [top.] ROMANTIC
PLATONIC
ANTAGONISTIC
ooc [top.] PLAYER: Clez. CONTACT: See cast page or leave a comment here. CREDIT: Profile coding by mydecember. | ||||||||||||||||||
