The Kendoman

Character Name: Charlie "Kendoman" Park.

Character Age: 42 years old.

Character Occupation: Kendo Dojo Instructor, former South Korean Army Lieutenant.

Gender: Male.

Appearance: Many do not seem to register the fact how Charlie in fact really does look like as he is often wearing his Kendo gear and clothing, having been pit against the forces of the undead countless times enough to constantly stay within his protection, not out of sheer cowardice but security as to realize his full protection when he rests. Aye, he wears armor meant to resist blunt trauma, and can withstand cuts if necessary, but by no means are bulletproof, with a sash worn around his Hakama to hold his gear, and several slings to hold his crap within his reach. When uncovered for his true face, Charlie has a very thick mustache, and a stubble underneath it, with fierce hawkish eyes of intense hatred, slicked back hair, and a broad face, with a nose that does not make his face look flat, in fact, none of his features are flat but hawkish whenever someone describes how he truly looks.

His physical make up is musclar, with packs clearly demonstrating he is a well exercised individual capable of holding rigorous training, with well developed arm muscles and shoulders, and an often blistered feet. He wears traditional Kendo protection gear, the garment happens to be Hakama and Kimono, thick padded gloves, armor, Kendo helmet with the distinct shoulder guards, tabi socks, and sandals. That's what he carries with him, he also improvised on creating armor for his back, carving up another Kendo armor and fastening it to the frontal one as to make an improvised fully protected back.

Personality: Charlie is a sociopath that tries to emulate some semblance of emotions, as he finds himself acting within amusement, and boredom. Finding things far too easy in fact within his life to actually take seriously, as his singularly determined focus has often on many occasions flourished him whereas most others would struggle to partake in. Years of experience grizzled him further to be considered a prodigy in the crafts he does, and yet fate had it that he would abandon many crafts out of sheer boredom. He was not fascinated, he was dead bored. Many times he had hoped for the North Koreans to invade South Korea out of the fascination of measuring his skills against the mongrel horde or so he would see them as, as soon enough anger became his vice, and he became inconsistent as years passed on. Doing things based on a whim, sticking with it, sometimes leaving it, and sometimes going along with it.

When coming with people, he does not really seem to be that fazed by social developments or such things as loneliness to be boggled down, in fact, he sees it as mundane, coming to make friends only due to it being capable of fitting in like a chameleon, many people who talked to Charlie would sometimes say that his emotions are fake or just unnatural, that even his girlfriend considered him rather strange and that her love for him was hollow, in which eventually led to a dumping. To illustrate, he did not feel a twinge of guilt, in fact, he was not griefing over such break up, only thinking of what to do next now that the girl no longer seems to be intruding upon his life. Lately he found himself rather indulged in teaching Kendo, for the sheer sake that there will always be someone to give him a challenge. It is not something as set in stone in math, but chaotic and human. The only thing he has to do is fight, and he finds thrill in partaking in the challenge. A twisted sense of pleasure out of fighting against the odds, in fact, as it were, the appearance of "Them" has only inspired his mirth to be aroused towards monumental levels, as delusions of grandeur, and a happiness he hasn't had for years has come to settle within him. Aside from anger.

Anyways, Charlie is a strange man, who seems like a diehard survivalist from the way he stocks upon himself, sometimes pragmatically, sometimes doing things flashily, he just likes something to spice up his life, and now that the world has erupted into chaos, Charlie no longer feels the need to actually beat someone to death anymore due to frustration of nothing in his life changed, given how mundane Japan is, or rather the far East in general, in how orderly and structured it is. Not to say he is an evil sociopath, just that he lives for the thrills, just not being stupid about it. It's not to say he is a stereotypical sociopath, given he is not a murderer, or one most likely to backstab someone in the back as he hasn't really even done that, or tried to charm someone with superficial charisma, as he isn't really interested in such self-destructive methods in the first place given how cliché they are.

The fact he is self-proclaimed as the Kendoman means either he sees himself with a superhuman motif, is preserving his name into secrecy, or merely to match the fact he wears full Kendo armor. He is certainly not heroic anyways, at least with the virtue of heroism that has to do with selflessness.

Skills:

• Military: Formerly of the military, Charlie benefits much from the training regimen as well as the perceptive benefits that comes from being taught how to selectively look for certain elements, as well as to judge the worth of the target's priorities. Having been taught also to treat wounds that are not complicated like cuts, or bleeding in general when he was in the military as part his field treatment training. Knowledged about their ways and jargon, he can use a gun if need be.
  
  
• Kendo: His primary weapon is the sword, something he perfected the crafts with for quite so well, making use of such unorthodox methods such as taking strange stances, but nonetheless an excellent swordsman with the power to cleave through Kabuto as he demonstrated once, as well as cleave through bones, though such an effect he found out was later in his Them slaying career.
  
  
• Hand-to-Hand: Though despite being a Kendo practitioner, he mixes up what he learnt in such a competitive sport with what he learnt back in Karate for hard hitting strikes and brutal attacks in which he was capable of cracking ribs during his younger years, not to say it has changed much.
  
  
• Body (Kendo-Karate mixture): His stamina, agility, endurance and power are expected of someone that is more used to such physical regimen, having trained for all his life towards such pursuit without fail to sculpt such a well chiseled body that can withstand going through marathons which would leave most others spent. His senses are quite sharp, as often times a Kendo match ends within a single sword strokes, that to the naked eye, is often seen as a blur, which forces Charlie to be very sharp and witting in what he does, as to read the person's capabilities, judge the pathway, and appropriately accommodate using whatever he has read from whatever situation he has come across. It served him quite well within his ventures within zombie territory, as his sharp senses picked up hidden zombies whenever he has come to explore houses, sight well camouflaged and dirty survivors that blended within the mood, and in general, keep a paranoid attitude about his surrounding. He is constantly on the alert no matter what, and will have to be very vicious and pragmatic about things, knowing he cannot hold back, as unlike a tournament, there are no rules in this dog-eat-dog world, which suits Charlie quite well. It's not to say he is a savage though, he is quite well versed in three tongues, that being his native Korean, that being Japanese, and that being English which he took as a coarse in his high school years.

Weaponry:

Cold Steel Polyprophelyne Bokken - Taisho Class

Quality wooden Bokken - Taisho Class

Kodachi with a blade broken in half, still sharp. Used as if it was a Tanto.

Fists - Never runs out of ammo


Background: Once upon a time there was a tyke named Charlie, whom found life quite boring, having grown under a middle classed household in South Korea, with ancestry back in Japan, he grew to study like many prospective Koreans hoping for a job, for a future so calculated and laid out before him as if this were all a storybook where one knows the ending. But alas, during those times, it was boring, the studies were soaked up like a sponge, his activities were too little iwth not much to do, his brain wasn't exactly satisfied with such meagre learning. He wanted more, he CRAVED for more, even as a child. He was not like his peers, he did not smile, or laugh at the stupid jokes, only when someone fell down and broke their teeth on a set of stairs, then it occurred to be funny. His peers thought he was just the quiet reserved cool guy, when really he did not give two shits about them, and just wanted to carry on with his business.

High school eventually hit, where hormones were blossoming like a beautiful butterfly among the teenagers, where many mongrel teenagers grew horny, suddenly girls mattered to them, camaradarie, seeing it as something to brag about. Even on such a calculated and strict society as South Korea's, there was the high school fever. Suddenly being bad boys was an objective, risky decision making was rampant, it spread like STD's, which was unusual since this WAS South Korea. It was a lot like an American high school, and yet as it so happened, American culture seeped through South Korean media, infecting the mind of these infantile teenagers very easily. Charlie would have none of that, and stuck out of it, instead, minding his own business. He would not return hello's from peers, and ignored the advances from girls that found him rugged and mysteriously enigmatic, which drove their loins wet with joy over what sort of secret double-life he might be leading. Nonetheless, this indifference to the conduct of the teenage brats didn't go unnoticed. At the time, instead of taking the traditional Taekwondo of Korea, Charlie was actually taking Karate. He was a red belt, having versed his body to be a lethal weapon. The stupid teenagers seeing Charlie as a challenge, over how the girls swooned over him when he simply didn't care, minding his own business, was jumped by three hooligans. It was the first time Charlie bloodied his fists, and felt the real feeling of breaking bones. Those three were hospitalized, and out of sheer shame of being beaten by one guy, kept quiet about the ordeals. Charlie had made sure suddenly as he picked up a twinge of Machiavellian concern for his educational future, as to press onto them and threaten them with blackmail confidently. It was mere collection of observations that he had compiled merely by chance in which he has come to deliver such a harsh ultimatum of them keeping their mouths shut. They obeyed. Charlie's taste for competitive violence grew, that when the time for enlisting in the military came about, Charlie was thrilled.

He would as mandatory demanded, become a member of the military, every moment spent hoping war would actually be resulted between the two Korea's. But alas, his wishes did not come true much to his disappointment. He had graduated from high school anyways. So as it goes, he spent his time in the military training himself, measuring his body within a proper build up of his stamina, as a soldier must be capable of pursuing their coarse fast without losing breath, assess the situation in a heartbeat, make many important decisions that if done wrongly, would cost them and their unit their lives. That he really took it upon himself to become an officer, enrolling in a program in which he would be taught the basics of soldiering and more. It was for a time he spent being taught that eventually, he would out of sheer boredom of spending his time in military duty, request leave. That request was granted, as he was discharged from service after some good years thrown in. Suddenly, he had no more purpose anymore, no more barracks to house him, no more food provided for him by default, no schedule imposed by the government. He had true freedom. So he just went home, for a week, spent it reading manhwa, and watching TV. He got REAAAAAAL BORED, heck, in the highschool reunion, he insulted several "strong" classmates, who in fact steered away from Charlie, or dismissed him as a douche. He was not pleased. Till one day, receiving a letter from his dying Japanese grandpa, that he wishes his family well.

SUDDENLY! He had purpose. He spent his military pension and took the first airplane to Japan. Visited his grandpa, except he got lost. He wandered around carelessly, saw a Japanese Kendo Dojo, to which the Dojo-goers fascinated at the person who entered, asked if he wanted to join. He did not understand, spoke some English since his Korean would be no good in Japan in the hopes someone would understand, which they didn't, and some Korean. Luckily some people were actually Koreans in that they understood, explained and asked for his presence in the Dojo, to which he inquired about the Bokken they are holding. They allowed him to wield it, he swung it around, and fell in love that day with the Bokken. Suddenly! Finding purpose in beating someone's brains out with a Bokken (metaphorically). He stayed over at his grandpa's though, ignoring whatever he had to say, just going over to do some Dojo always for a while now too. Managed to convince his grandpa to sign over his home to Charlie eventually, Charlie did LOADS of Kendo over the Dojo, got certified, attained a high pedigree, and continued to train ever since, participating in tournaments. Performing quite well and admirably too within the proper scopes of things, kicking ass and taking names, as he has confused many swordsmen there with unorthodox stances, and taking very eccentric strikes not well within Kendo, mixing up his stances as his freestyle allowed him to win over his foes who were much accustomed to sparring against someone with a traditional Kendo stance. Nonetheless, he continued to do that art, finding himself enjoying such a craft time and time again, as he is sometimes pushed against the edge and forced to come up with an innovation as to develop a new technique for his style, or merely enjoy the benefit of exercising his body.

Those days were good. He would later on get a commission within Japan after his grandpa died as to be a Kendo Dojo Instructor, in spite of being a Korean, having well within that time learnt the tongue. His job allowing him to sustain himself and support himself for a while too, got married, later on got divorced, as he found his wife cheating on him, left the custody of his kids to his wife as he did not want anything to do with those two little parasites, got married again, his second wife died from cancer, to which he just stopped the whole romance monkey business all together. He got to spend his time crafting himself for the sword, despite in this day and age, the day of the sword is dead, but it was a craft well perfecting, for no matter how much he practices, he knows he will never be the best at it, only better. During that time, whilst in the middle of a spar in a tournament taking place in the city, Charlie's match was interrupted by a dozen undead horde. Bloodied as they were, they started chewing the crowd and devouring them. He did not hesitate in front of Them, being genre savvy enough in that he does not have to stammer like a dumbass, and that he knew real wounds where he saw them, and the effects of rigor mortis... and those people entering the vast arena grounds? They were dead as fuck. He had no time to lose, banding up with three Kendo competitors, the four of them beat back the horde amidst all the confusion, the rest were hesitant, one of them was bitten, the horde was endless. Charlie did not waste time as to slay the infected man, having seen a load of zombie movies in his time, but that did not register well to the two other competitors who were STILL trying to take in this new information. They turned against Charlie, suddenly Charlie had to deal with two morons trying to attack him in the middle of a zombie horde defense. Charlie deflected their attacks, and punted them towards the horde, at least one of them, the screams of that man being devoured alive had stopped the rest of the zombies in their track, as They had come to tear him apart, pulling off his armor like he was a banana in a tin can. The other man? He clashed with Charlie's flexible bamboo wooden sword several times, Charlie riposted him after a powerful counter in which he would strike hard against the opponent's sword, and slamming his elbow right into that man's collar. He stumbled back, and he too screamed loudly to which They had eaten him as well.

Charlie was distraught for a moment, thinking they will all come in at once at him, savoring that he won't exactly go down without a fight, but his momentary wait for them to come to him was not met with any approach. They had ignored him, instead focusing on the loud humans who screamed and thrashed and died. Charlie was quiet, till he realized something. They were attracted to sound, or at least was a plausible theory. He tested it out by picking up the dropped Kendo bamboo sword and flung it at the corner. It wasn't his anyways, and he had nothing to lose. The loud clash of the bamboo against the concrete walling had given sway to their attention as they approached closer to the walling. Charlie took this opportunity to use his barefeet to silently sneak out of the arena, taking as many as three days to get out of the deathfest. Careful and deliberate planning so that he did not have to accidentally bump into one of the horde, and actually set them against him. He had to survive by taking the snacks from the audience who were eating at the time, now are really indulging on flesh of humans, at least the ones not covered in blood or apparently infected, and gouged upon whatever drinks that were on the floor as well. It was disgusting, but he had to do whatever it was to survive. He went into the equipment room of that arena, took with him the modern day assortment of Bokken more in tune with MMA thought process, the traditionally made one which is more in tune with Japanese sentiments, and the prize... a beautifully sculpted Kodachi. Not really an ancestral blade or anything, but just something in storage, it belonged to the manager of the Kendo association. Improvising many equipment on himself, he finally at the fourth day, would leave and start making his way to the closest house. Slaying the undead occupants inside, clearing out every square inch of it, locking every door to consist of layers, bracing the window, closing the lights, he kept REALLY quiet. Survivors were something to ward off just as much as zombies, at least given his loner-like attitude, and he wanted some FUCKING SLEEP. He hadn't slept for four days, sanity was almost slipping and he was almost delirious, sweating heavily underneath his armor as he stank like a thousand wombats. When he finally woke up after some straight time of sleep, he cleaned up his clothing, his armor, and came to take the traditional shoe wear of the family, ate the things, as he looked outside, Charlie for the first time as it dawned upon him, was truly in this nightmare. He was glad too, that he wasn't just some two bit murderer for having warded off the less genre-savvy competitors. Leaving the house as he loosed himself onward to wherever! Taking it upon himself in a self-proclaimed title of being Kendoman, the Gardener of Japan who will kill each and every one of Them in the city as to measure his skills against them. He wasn't in any hurry anyways.

RP Sample:

Spoiler:

Hey there! Sorry for no one checking your app or at least saying anything about it! I'm Len, nice to meet you and I'll be your friendly neighborhood derp during the time of your stay here on HOTD:RPG!!!! <3

Anyway~ Onto my observations on your app!

Overall, I have to say it's very nicely done~ My only real issue is the RP Sample. Thank you for warning that it was from another sight, however we need and RP Sample that uses this character. If you wish, you can roleplay with myself or any other member of the sight in the Out of Character area, the Seaside Hotel. There you can just RP with this character and take the link as your RP Sample. Works, no? <3

Secondly, Can you separate the Skills into separate pieces rather than one giant jumble? That way we can easily glance back at your sheet to make sure you are using skills that you have. For example:

Spoiler:

That's all I can really ask for~ Thank you for reading and welcome, once again! <3

Done and done.

Thanks a ton for the changes~ I'm enjoying what I see~! I hope you'll have fun on the site!

Approval: 1

Disapproval: 0

Let's go section by section:

Name: Sure, why not. No idea what a South Korean native would have an Anglo-Saxon first name, but maybe it can be explained by a nickname.

Age: Nice to have an older person here.

Occupation: Same focus as half the forum.

Gender: Sounds good.

Appearance: This is only the first night of surviving Them. There is no reason he would have already formed an armor system in defense of their attacks, unless he is just that thrifty and realized he would be completely on his own from now on and needed protection.

Personality: Well written, but I have to say it is the same traumatic/sociopath personality we have seen before. If you're ok with that, fine.

Skills: Okay, long, which is good but still lacking. He can use a gun. What kind is he proficient with? And don't say "all" because he seems like a jack-of-all-trades, and knowing everything about every gun is impossible. Here again, we see the hint that he has been doing the 'zombie' thing longer than just one night. This needs to be toned down, unless again, he is just that good and goes looking for Them on purpose. He just seems so good at everything, without any weaknesses.

Also, you cannot cleave through Them if you have no bladed weapon (other than a broken Kodachi).

Weaponry: None are actually bladed, other than the Kodachi, which you give reason for having (as unlikely it is, as there are so few bladed weapons of that type actually in Japan, believe it or not).

History: You just gloss over his military career. I would like to know more. For a man of his age, just sitting around reading manwa after getting out of the Korean army seems...a little unrealistic, especially considering some of their training techniques. And once again, this is only the first night. You have four days built into your history that haven't happened yet.

RP sample: Sure.

All in all, I have a hard time liking this character, but you've put a lot of work into it, so I can't be too harsh; he doesn't seem to have any weaknesses, which reminds me heavily of a Stu. Fix and/or explain to me the reasons behind the things I've mentioned and I will review it again.

You are absolutely right, which is why henceforth I request to delete the sheet as it is far better to start anew. I have an entirely different character planned in mind.