THUNDER

The sound of an impending storm is enough to strike fear into the hearts of man. The booming crash signals catastrophe.

Basic Info

Name: Aoki Raijū
Sex: Male
Age: 22
Height: 6'2 (188cm)
Species: Godblooded Human

If one doesn't already know, Aoki is actually an alternate version of an existing character named Aoi Raijū. However, their personalities seem to be rather dissimilar.

Unlike Aoi, her male counterpart is more aloof or indifferent to the world around him. He has his own goals to get stronger, and become a powerful fighter, though he doesn't care much for the public eye or becoming a respected individual.

It would be a lie to say that deep down he has a heart of gold. But, he's not a bad guy or anything like that. He just has his own road to ride, and doesn't really care much for the scenic route.

Backstory

Aoki does not come from Earth. Nor is he an alien. The answer to his origins lie within the whims of the Multiverse.

Aoki comes from a strange, layered planet named Terra. It is a sister planet of the Earth most know. Again, Multiverse and all. The planet consists of three main layers of worlds: Arad, Empyrean and Pandemonium. Each layer is separated via unique, vast barriers. The barrier between Arad and Empyrean is the Sky Ocean, and it's exactly what it sounds like. The barrier between Empyrean and Pandemonium is much like the expanse of deep space. However gravity shifts to flow upwards, revealing that Pandemonium is inverted to the two worlds below it. The only way to cross between the layers of worlds are two towers. Between Arad and Empyrean is the Sky Tower. Between Empyrean and Pandemonium is the Castle of the Dead. Two very perilous journeys to make... But, enough of the planet's exposition.

Aoki comes from the lower world of Arad, which is separated into kingdoms and large expanses of forest and desert alike. However, Aoki's home nation of Suju is largely secluded from the rest of the world. Thousands and thousands of miles of mountain ranges and ravines border its eastern region from its closest neighbor, and the rest is surrounded by ocean.

Suju is a land of nobles, warriors... and noble warriors. While it is governed by Queen Shonan Aska, what little land the nation holds is ran autonomously by several clans who call Suju home. As made evident by his name, Aoki comes from the powerful Raijū Clan. Besides the City of Shonan, a beautiful city of ivory and gold where the Queen and other nobles reside, Suju's pride rests in the Gold Dragon Dojo in the middle of the mountains. While not the only clan who reside in the mountains, the Raijū are ONLY seen in and around the Dojo.

The Golden Dragon Dojo is the hub for all things martial arts, even integrating them with the largely abundant magic and soul energy all around Arad. While most people of Arad can harness magic with ease, the people of Suju specialize in the soul energy from within, known as Nen.

The Raijū Clan is one of the main clans to utilize Nen in a fashion fit for both martial arts and slaying denizens of the mountains around them. Aoki being born into this clan gives him a massive amount of natural Nen use by default. Formal training would begin as early as the age of four. Turns out, he had a knack for this sort of thing. He was eager to train, eager to learn. He'd put new techniques and skills as his primary goal over anything else. Unfortunately, this lead him to quickly becoming more reclusive in nature, despite the vast amount of (mostly amiable) students of the Dojo.

Though, his drive, lack of social activity, and familial heritage led him to become one of the strongest prospects of his generation. At the age of 12, he was pitted against similarly aged fighters of his clan to inherit the clan's Godblood.

Suju's religion is very similar to Japanese Shintoism, and they share the same terminology for divine beings, "Kami." Each clan has a patron god, and the clan's namesake is thanks to the god of thunder, lightning and storms. But, unlike many of original Earth's religions, the immortal divinity of the Suju are actual, physical beings. Terra's iteration of Raijin is a humanoid man with blue skin and glowing eyes, bearing a wolfskin headpiece. The ritual of inheriting Godblood is literally a hours-long infusion of blood to whom the clan deems worthy via martial arts tournament. However, this judgement ultimately falls upon the Kami, themselves, as their Godblood makes the final decision whether or not the recipient can handle the infusion.

The tournament and ritual is held once every fifteen years. However, the winner granted their prize usually doesn't live through the process to reap its rewards. It's a... flawed system, yes. But every two or three generations or so, a Champion takes their rightful spoils.

Aoki, despite being one of the younger prospects, won the tournament with relative ease until the final few rounds. Once offered a legitimate challenge, a fierce fighting spirit was awoken within him, and shown in great brilliance in the battlefield. Even before becoming Godblooded, Aoki had a primal ferocity radiating through his body during combat.

Unlike past winners, who knew they could very well die during the ritual, Aoki requested no ceremony or celebration. In fact, right after winning, he began to make his way to the Kami of Storms in the highest mountains alone. This panicked the noble family and the priests, who were not yet ready to go on with the ritual since most tournament winners spend a day or so to greet and bid potential farewells to loved ones. Aoki instead only cared to see if he'd survive or not. Actually, there wasn't a damn doubt in his mind that he would.

While he didn't really treat it as a race, the headstart pilgrimage to the Kami's temple allowed him to arrive a full day and a half earlier than the group of high priests.

There, he was alone to face the divinity that would either kill him or grant him unimaginable power. With a brow raised under their wolf mask, the Kami of Storms was amused at this individual's eagerness to face his fate.

In that day and a half, Aoki requested to spar with the Kami. They laughed, but respected him enough to humor the request. It was an incredibly one sided fight, though the Kami could see through the blood and bruises, those determines eyes that striked like lightning through the Raijū's gaze.

After that day and a half of almost nonstop fighting, Aoki was left a nearly broken heap of a young boy, though somehow still standing through his injuries. The Kami of Storms was thrilled to claim him as their new Champion.

The high priests finally arrived, much to the annoyance of the Kami. The priests mended to Aoki's wounds before the ritual began.

Hours. Hours of pain. It hurt like nothing else had before this moment, and Aoki could feel his insides burning through his very own blood vessels. But, through gritted teeth and closed lips, the young Aoki stood through the ritual without a single sound out of his mouth.

The ritual was complete, and a new Godblooded human would rise amongst his peers.

Instead of returning home, as was expected of him to do so, Aoki instead spent the next eight years training under the Kami of Storms, themselves. He figured this would be the best course of action to reach his full potential in both fighting prowess and Nen control. Not to mention, he'd have a very limited choice of teachers when it came to training his Nen in the nature of Lightning. As his life changed, his body changed. Not just because of the Godblood, but because of normal puberty, itself. He grew taller, his already firm muscles grew bigger with him. The Godblood made his physical features more in line with the Kami of Storms, adopting that signature pale skin, glowing whitish eyes, and purple hair.

Only until the age of twenty would he return home. They tried to throw a feast and ceremony for him, but he politely declined the gesture. He wouldn't even spend much time to reconnect with past loved ones, but instead went off on his own to protect his country from threats and the denizens of the Suju Mountains.

Abilities

Aoki is a Godblooded human of the Raijū Clan, trained under an Elemental God of Thunder for nearly half his life. He has a massive pool of energy to utilize his abilities with, and can even channel energy from external sources.

Notable Techniques:

Tiger Flash: Creature of Nen - Aoki focuses his energy into his limbs, creating an immense pressure of Nen around his body. His hands glow with power, and that power produces a tiger-like roar every time it is released. With every strike, Aoki's attacks are accentuated and are given increased range through energy projections taking on the form of pouncing tigers of light.

Nen Guard - Aoki channels his energy to create two forms of barriers. The first form is a nearly invisible barrier of energy around his entire body, utilized to withstand harsh punishment. The second form is like a bubble shield, where energy is largely dispersed to create a powerful dome or sphere of light. These barriers can be charged with his Godblood Lightning, adding another layer of active defense.

Lion's Roar - The Lion's Roar is a technique Aoki can use to stun and damage an enemy's hearing and through sheer force of the ensuing blast. He channels his Nen into his core, which explodes outward via a Kiai (short shout). The energy expelled created a deafening, concussive blast in a short range in front of him, loud enough to shatter ear drums, stun, and even knock an opponent off their feet if not prepared for it.

Lion of Suju - Pretty much one of his only techniques that don't involve him personally dealing the strikes involved. With the power of Godblood and Blessings from the Suju Priests, Aoki can summon a giant, golden lion of light to fight with him. Different from his usual blue-aura attacks, the golden energy from the Lion of Suju has no distinct element, but rather attacks with sheer force alone. While also being just a giant allied lion, its roars also has the same effects as Aoki's Lion's Roar.

Nen Spear - Aoki channels energy through his arms similarly to his Tiger Flash technique. However, all the Nen becomes focused at a point within his fingers. Instead of tiger claws, the Nen resembles a spear of lightning forming over his arms. While not providing a lot of concussive force, the Nen Spears have incredible piercing ability.

Raijū Aspect: Champion of Thunder - Unlike Aoi's Raijū Aspect turning her into a lightning fast speedster, Aoki's form of Raijū Aspect turns him into a thunder-fueled titan of defense and striking power. Aoki releases channeled energy into a constant flow all throughout his body, causing his already pale skin to glow. His eyes shine like stars and his hair flows almost as if they had their own sense of gravity. While he doesn't get Aoi's lightning speed, he does maintain lightning-quick reaction time and heightened battle instinct. However, this technique really shines when he's attacking. The force of his strikes and lifting strength are multiplied by a ludicrous amount. His fists become air cannons that can punch an opponent even from a distance due to the force exerted. Every strike becomes a thunderclap that shakes the earth and can be heard from miles and miles away.

While all of his attacks seem to be short range, that doesn't mean he cannot fire energy blasts or energy waves at distant targets.

Close combat is just his main specialty.