Post by biv on Dec 4, 2017 1:39:43 GMT
NAME:
Alan Cameron Kattz
Prefers to be called by his surname
Call him Fatcat if you want to annoy him
GENDER:
Cis Male
AGE:
Died at 45 years
Actual age is a few hundred years
AFFILIATION:
Currently lives within Sonlas, occasionally travels elsewhere
RACE / SPECIES:
Undead Werecat
Former Human
PERSONALITY:
Although large and cantankerous, extended exposure to Kattz only makes him less and less intimidating. Kattz is a fussy and pretentious artist who believes it’s his duty to show the world his vision. This goal is often at odds with his extremely greedy tendencies: he respects feats of storytelling, and would be capable of them himself if he didn’t always sink to the lowest common denominator in order to maximize his profits. The werecat is prone to anxious fits brought about by excessive worrying over his security and the security of his friends. Even so, he isn’t necessarily a pushover and is usually aware of his own strength: using it to bully what he wants out of others if under pressure. His overdramatic and grouchy demeanor can be a turn-off, but Kattz has a strong guardian instinct and will sometimes pick out individuals he wants to protect.
APPEARANCE:
Kattz is able to switch between two forms: one a humanoid ghoul and the other a large feline. He prefers the former.
Kattz’ ghoul form stands at 7’ 6”, weighs over 500 pounds and has about as much muscle as it does fat. His great size, as well as his pale blue skin, is likely the first thing one would notice about him. His head is vaguely square-shaped with a somewhat prominent chin. His hair is black and most of it is tied into a pony tail behind his head. He has a thin and well-kept beard and mustache. Being farsighted, Kattz is almost always wearing large square-framed glasses. His ears are pointed and semi-rotatable. Two yellowish fangs often stick out from the corners of his mouth. His eyes are yellow. His hands have thick pads and short curved claws. Usual attire consists of a dark purple overcoat, a grey sweater, black pants, pointed grey shoes, a ring with a spider emblem and a black-and-orange striped scarf.
As a feline, Kattz is 4’ at the shoulder with the same weight and body type as his ghoul form. He most closely resembles a tiger and smilodon. His body is short and compact with the majority of his strength in his front legs. His long light blue fur has dark blue stripes and a white undercoat. Orange fur lines his cheeks and tips his tail. His ears are pointed and he has two long saber teeth that often stick out from his mouth. Black markings that mirror his beard and mustache appear on his muzzle. He still needs to wear glasses while in this form.
HISTORY:
[Abridged Version]
Used to be a human who dreamed of being a director and was best friends with an artistic collaborator named Ed. After his second wife had an affair with Ed, Kattz withdrew and became depressed. Later, in an attempt to make amends, Ed got him a job at a studio where Kattz was violently killed on set. He was turned into a catlike ghoul and haunted the site of his death before being driven away by an exorcism. Kattz finally found peace but returned to the living world later to start Sadim Studio with the help of his new manager, Rat. He made friends with a woman named Nil and adopted another werecat named Owl: the two are basically his family. His studio was sold to a larger company so he is no longer the boss. He's constantly worrying about money and his daughter.
[Long Version]
Kattz began life as a normal human. Early on, Kattz became very sick but grew healthier by the time he was school aged.
Throughout his education, young Kattz was pushed hard by his parents and became the top of his class. Though encouraged to enter lucrative fields such as business or law by his parents (his father in particular), Kattz’s true interests lied in theatre and, later on, motion pictures. In addition to academics and piano lessons, Kattz also participated in a city theatre group. He was motivated to do well in his studies primarily because if he didn’t his parents would have forced him to give up on theatre. It was during this time that he became bitter toward mathematics and sciences, having been forced to learn them even though they were difficult for him to understand: this caused him pent up anger that carried into adulthood.
Once more pushed by his parents, Kattz furthered his education through college. However disapproving they were, Kattz was adamant in his pursuit of art. Through his exploration of photography and filmmaking, Kattz was introduced to another young artist, Edward Hain. The two were fast friends and artistic collaborators. The pair were often referred to together as “Al and Ed” by peers.
Also during this time, Kattz met his first girlfriend. He was pressured into marriage both by his parents as well as the girlfriend herself. Though he was still in college at the time, Kattz and his wife attempted to have children. After a year of being unable to conceive, Kattz’s first wife left him. He would only discover many years later that he was sterile due to frequent illness during childhood.
Kattz and Ed were hired at a small studio soon after graduating. Both of them pushed hard to be noticed by various directors and department heads. It was during this time that Kattz slowly became aware of his disadvantage when compared to Ed: Ed was both more attractive and charismatic. But Kattz never held it against Ed, secretly finding his friend a bit attractive himself.
The only thing that really shook their relationship was Kattz’s second marriage. Kattz became close to a young woman who was interested in becoming an actress. He was so determined to impress her that he lied about his status as a director. She found out eventually but stayed with him, primarily because of his job at the studio she wanted to get into. Once again, Kattz rushed into marriage. His second wife would later become involved with Ed. Ed by then was higher up the chain than Kattz in addition to being thinner and more handsome than him. When the affair was out, Kattz took it hard, becoming depressed, drinking and overeating in isolation. Despite this, he managed to continue his aspiration of becoming a director, creating four independent short films during the span of ten years.
It was over a decade later that Kattz would get his break with a big studio. To his surprise, it was Ed who contacted him in an attempt to mend their relationship with a job as a lighting technician. Willing to forgive and forget, Kattz took Ed’s offer and the pair would frequently work together in the rigging of various sets. Now approaching middle age, Kattz felt his time to become a big-name director was growing short so he was far more desperate in his attempts to get attention. But a film set is a dangerous place. It was this recklessness that killed him as, one year after being employed, Kattz lost his footing high over a power generator. He fell and was electrocuted to death.
Unable to accept his death, Kattz returned to the living plane. Kattz was an undead beast: a catlike ghoul. Because he had died so suddenly, Kattz was unable to enter the Underworld and lingered instead: terrorizing and haunting the set until it was eventually abandoned. During this confusing and frightening time, Kattz became a magically-powerful monster. The set was closed off but that didn’t stop rebellious explorers from entering and discovering the ghoul. Several were unable to escape and met their end at the cat’s claws. After ten or so years, Kattz was deemed too dangerous to allow to exist, so an exorcist was sent in to end him. He was nearly dissolved entirely but managed to escape.
Allowed some distance from the site of his death, Kattz finally found peace, accepted his death and passed into the Underworld.
There, Kattz found a place filled with ghouls and spirits like himself, living in a society that was quirky in some regards but similar enough to the living world that Kattz could adapt. It was then that Kattz took the career of a director. For a time, he was much beloved, and his art was made from a place of passion. Later, Kattz stepped onto the surface world in an attempt to cater to a new audience.
He quickly became acquainted with a rodentlike humanoid who gave his name as “Rat”. Rat, knowing the current world better than Kattz, agreed to help him out as his manager. While Kattz spited Rat for giving him the annoying nickname “Fatcat”, Rat proved himself an invaluable asset by handling the business end of things. Kattz lived in on the surface for over one hundred years, during that time building up Sadim Studio, owned by himself and Rat, into a moderately sized film producer. It was at this point that Kattz became interested in becoming as rich as possible. He told Rat to do anything to get more money. Rat gave him his wish: selling Sadim Studio to a large media company. This meant more exposure, but Kattz was no longer the man in charge. It also happened that Kattz’s new boss was a complete tyrant.
Higher strung and more obsessed over profits than ever, Kattz found some relief when he came into contact with a woman named Nil. Nil offered her services as a creative collaborator, giving him access to locations and aspiring artists completely free of charge. Kattz wanted to give her something in return, but Nil only really was after friendship. Kattz and Nil quickly grew close, forming an open polyamorous relationship.
It was soon after he became friends with Nil that he adopted his daughter Owl, whom he found alone while visiting the Underworld. Kattz raised Owl by himself as Nil was not interested in children. Although a doting parent who didn’t place many restrictions on Owl, Kattz is near constantly worried for her safety and is very bad at concealing this. Owl is now a young adult with no pressure from Kattz to leave home, so she does not own her own property, although she frequently travels in efforts to “find herself”. Whenever Owl is away from home, Kattz is noticeably more anxious. He still works as a director and executive at Sadim Studios.
ABILITIES:
Kattz’s magic is geared for show and not for usefulness is battle. He, as an artist who strives to create spectacles of horror, likes to psychologically torment his victims as opposed to actually hurting them. However, he is a feline hunter and has developed some basic darkness attacks to hunt with, the most effective of which require physical contact.
General Super Strength
In addition to naturally being strong even without the aid of magic, Kattz has some supernatural strength. A punch from him would floor the vast majority of normal humans. He could knock a door off its hinges if he was so inclined. He can hold objects up to the size of a small car over his head. His strength has its limits (he’s not building-destroying strong) and comes at the cost of his dexterity.
Electrical Abilities
Kattz is able to produce static as well as small bolts from his body that he may use to shock an attacker. His magic also is able to control electronic devices, possessing them and making them move.
Smoke Breath
Kattz is able to exhale a thick black smoke. This smoke quickly fills an area (about a 1,000 foot radius at maximum) and is difficult to penetrate using any light source, including magical light. However, the smoke is completely harmless, save perhaps some minor irritation to the nose and eyes. It’s most often used to conceal Kattz from view and is most effective at night.
Shadow Claw/Fang
A physical attack in which Kattz surrounds his claws or fangs (or both) in dark magical energy. This attack requires contact with his claws or fangs to work. Upon contact with a surface, the darkness will stick and cause a burning sensation. The dark magic (if left unhealed) may also cause one to slowly become more zombielike: symptoms like sore joints, less energy but an inability to sleep, disorientation and lowered capacity to regulate body temperature will manifest within a few days. He uses this attack mostly when he’s hunting to ware down prey.
Dark Beam
A longer range attack using the dark energy. The beam originates from his mouth and, upon contact with a surface, has similar effects to his shadow claw or fang, although more intense and painful immediately after contact. As is this one of his more harmful attacks, Kattz tends to reserve it for self-defense.
Semi-Immortality
Being undead grants Kattz a sort of immortality. He doesn’t age and is unable to die through means of starvation, sickness or even physical trauma (he will still feel discomfort from these). The only thing that can destroy him is exposure to a powerful cleansing ritual (such as an exorcism) for an extended period of time, which will cause him to slowly dissolve for as long as he’s directly exposed.