Post by Dusk on Apr 23, 2011 20:02:23 GMT -5
Nikolai Zambe
African Painted Dog |------| Male |------| 28 |------| Engineer
|------| PHYSICAL |------|
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 125 lbs
Description: As far as African painted dogs go, Nikolai is slightly undersized and on the low end of the muscular scale. Although he has had many years for his body to regain natural-looking proportions, he remains lanky and indeed rather skeletal; this gives him the appearance of being a rather awkward, walking bean stalk. The startling lack of either muscle or fat on his body makes him sharp and angular; he probably looks more like a high-schooler than young adult in his prime years. High levels of aerobic activity combined with frequently missed meals largely contribute to his not-so-well-built physique. Although he looks rather “dainty”, there is some lean muscle to be found in his shoulders and legs; enough that –paired with some rather powerful bones- he finds himself a more or less successful traceur, though this painted dog does find that he fractures bones more easily than those with proper musculature for the sport.
A coat of short, coarse-textured fur covers him from blunt muzzle to medium-length tail. As is common with his species, his fur is a wild mash-up of blacks, tans, and whites. His mouth, eyes, and ears are black; a strip of the color also blazing between his eyes. The browns of his fur lean more towards the yellow end of the spectrum. There is almost no white on Nikolai, however, with the exception of the tip of his tail and his fingertips. His arms and shoulders – and more or less the entire upper half of his body – are a marbled mixture of tan and black. Meanwhile, his legs are mostly brown, with a few swirls of black here and there. The mainly black fur of his underside is surprisingly soft, not that anyone would ever get the chance to realize that for themselves.
The black hair that sits atop his head is dyed white at the tips; he doesn’t truly do much in the way of styling it. Nikolai simply keeps it trimmed relatively short, and it’s made spiky and kept out of his face by the bandana that never seems to leave its place just above this canine’s brow.
His eyes are green, not particularly special; just green.
Interesting Traits: He has a slight limp, though it’s barely noticeable to the casual observer, from an accident in parkour where he got a bit too cocky on a leap and broke his left foot. It didn’t heal quite right, but there’s no pain from it; the paw is just a bit stiff.
Clothing: Niko’s taste in clothes is rather undeveloped. Most everything in his closet in neutral or warm colored, so coordinating clothes isn’t particularly hard. His wardrobe is full of polos and button-up shirts. Most often he’ll slap on the first thing his hands comes in contact with and goes with it; he never pays enough attention to something as trivial (in his mind) as outer wear. Without quite realizing it, this anthro sticks with clothing that’s light and easy to maneuver in. He’ll typically be found wearing black cargo shorts along with a white, button-up shirt; sleeves rolled above his elbows. He will almost never be seen without a red and orange striped bandana tied around his head.
Accessories: Any major color in Nikolai’s outer wear will come from his accessories; as his clothing choice is rather drab. As previously mentioned, a bandana will always accompany him in his travels. A bit of a time stickler, he also typically wears a black-banded, silver-rimmed digital watch. Also a belt. Nothing fancy, just a belt to make sure his pants don’t slip –a worry which crosses this painted dog’s mind a bit too often.
Physical Abnormalities: None.
Reference(s):|------| MENTAL |------|
Description: First impressions; friendly enough if a bit awkward and unsure around people, and curious to the point of nosiness at times. As a child, Nikolai was that kid who asked a lot of questions and took things apart for fun to see how they worked; he retains that curiosity today. The difference is that - where once this inclination towards exploring the unknown would at times cause this anthro trouble - it is now checked by caution brought on by experience and maturity. He's still perfectly willing to go chasing after a rumor, but only after learning everything he can beforehand about the subject. It's hard to find anyone more thorough in pre-planning than Niko. Actual execution of said plan, however, is another thing entirely. He procrastinates. A lot. Motivation for beginning projects is low; excuses are common from this furre. Many days there seem to obstacles preventing something from being done. It's always,"You know, I just realized I'm missing something." or "I think one more day of thought would be constructive."
Even though he procrastinates, it's still fairly easy to get along with this anthro... as long as you can get past the probing questions you're sure to receive upon first meeting Nikolai. Previous betrayals due to not knowing enough about a person have left this painted dog slow to trust strangers. In turn, he tries to get to know a person as best he can in a single day by asking questions, and at times they can become invasive or the sheer volume of all the questions is overwhelming and irritating. Meanwhile any questions you ask of him are very likely to be brushed aside or evaded with a sudden change in topic. Truly, companions have learned the best way to stop the interrogations is to come back with their own questions instead of answering. Or give him some sort of logic puzzle to work his head around, that distracts Niko from his questioning fairly well too.
Although this guy can be a bit preoccupied with the little details, he's not too high strung. He's not incredibly laid back either, but at the very least he isn't one of those people who shove themselves into everything because they don't trust anyone else to get the job done. Nikolai will, however, try to assist you in any way possible if you come to him with something; so long as that something doesn't involve physically harming someone. This includes picking locks and hacking - both of which have gotten him in trouble with authorities before. Whatever it is you need, he'll leap at the chance to help you out - he'll literally drop everything just for you. Indeed this insistence on helping people is delivered with such fervor that it's enough to make you think he's trying to make up for something, and in the painted dog's mind he is.
Unfortunately, for all his helpfulness and skill with technology, Nikolai isn't the best socialized creature around. Amiable though he is with just about everyone he meets, large crowds overwhelm him and conversation is something incredibly likely to just die off unless the topic is something truly interesting to this furre. He's not the sort for the "party scene"; he'd rather stay home and try to get some work done instead of going to a bar with some friends. A persistent being will be able to convince him to go if they can insist enough times, as Niko tries to keep an open-mind; he'll go to see what's so great about what everyone is talking about if someone tries to persuade him hard enough.
Likes:
- Science Fiction
- Robotics, and robots in general
- AIs
- Geometric Patterns
- Star Gazing
- Heights
- Open spaces
- Languages
Dislikes:
- Disorder
- Being alone (for long amounts of time)
- Projects
- Small rooms
- Large crowds
- Arguing
- Selfish people
Personal Quirks:
- Russian Accent
You might not immediately pin down the accent as Russian, but when you hear him speaking the fact that he comes from a Slavic country is immediately obvious. It's not so thick as to make his English incomprehensible; indeed he avoids any sort of broken English that you'll find in stereotypes. Double 'o's come out sounding more like 'u's at times. So "foot", for example, will become "fute". He rolls his 'r's, and 'h's are distinctly more guttural than you'd find in the speech of someone from the states.
Mental Abnormalities:|------| HISTORICAL |------|
Date of Birth:
Astrological Sign:
Backstory:|------| CURRENT |------|
Occupation:
Location:
Living Conditions:
Location:
Sexuality: Asexual
Relationship Status: Single; happy that way.
Hobbies:
Bad Habits:|------| MISCELLANEOUS |------|
Quote: “Ideals are nice, but ideals are… ideals. Nice in theory, not in practice.”
Loser says what?: