Ankh

player.
NAME/HANDLE: Tetra
PERSONAL JOURNAL:tetradecimal 
ARE YOU 16 OR OVER?:Yes
CONTACT: Tetravolte@AIM, tetradecimal, tetradecimal at pandemona dot net
OTHER CHARACTERS: N/A


character.
CHARACTER NAME: Ankh
SERIES: Kamen Rider OOO |  Ankh | Also you can read this thing I wrote summarizing Kamen Rider OOO.
CANON POINT:  After the events of Movie War Mega Max
AGE:  Over 800
APPEARANCE: Ankh's human form is that of a man in his mid-to-late twenties who prefers tight clothing (particularly red clothing) and occasionally has what appears to be a red monster costume glove worn over his right hand. His hair is dyed blond and styled into an eccentric cockscomb 'do. Half of his hair is long curly bangs falling over the right side of his face; the other side is flattened/braided. It looks super weird.

PREVIOUS GAME HISTORY:  N/A

PERSONALITY: (Please refer to Abilities section for information on the Greeed, Core Medals, and Cell Medals).
Ankh is an incredibly resourceful, determined character who manages to survive battle after battle despite being at a distinct disadvantage compared to the other Greeed, none of whom he can beat in a fair fight until much later on in the series. While the grab for the Core Medals is essentially a protracted tug-of-war, in which multiple factions emerge and the balance of power is never static, Ankh’s combination of luck and quick thinking often serve to turn the situation around even when his partner Eiji’s fighting skills fail. In particular, Ankh is adept at bluffing, baiting the other Greeed into fighting amongst themselves, and redirecting the enemy’s aggression toward some other outlet. For example, rather than fighting Uva, the insect Greeed, Ankh tells him that his ally Kazari is hiding one of Uva’s insect Core Medals in secret. Infuriated by the betrayal, Uva leaves the battle to chase Kazari down, temporarily granting Eiji a reprieve from a battle he couldn’t have won with the equipment he had on hand.

While Ankh will generally tell the truth when he has nothing to gain from lying (or refuse to answer the question in the first place), he lies freely and without remorse when he does have something to gain. While seemingly straightforward, this strategy proves remarkably fruitful for Ankh, who capitalizes on his own poor reputation to sell his mistruths. For instance, Eiji and Ankh are cornered by Kazari, who wants their feline Core Medal; Ankh claims to have slipped the medal into Eiji’s pocket earlier as a form of insurance, then tosses Eiji into a river. He then tells Kazari to go track down the body -- if Kazari still wants the Core Medal.

Kazari believes Ankh’s story because Ankh, when cornered, is totally the kind of spiteful asshole who would throw an ally under the bus to make life just the tiniest bit harder for an enemy. Even Eiji, who can’t remember Ankh stashing a Core Medal in his clothes at all, believes Ankh, since Ankh is totally the kind of conniving asshole that would use an ally as the lynchpin of a backup plan without clearing it with anyone else beforehand. In reality, the Core Medal is in Ankh’s pocket, because he knows full well that nobody has any faith in him and will likely swallow any cover story that involves Ankh being an asshole.

Because Ankh is a quick thinker and the most knowledgeable about the Greeed by fair, he also serves as Eiji’s manager of sorts, observing each of Eiji’s battles and doling out the Core Medals he feels will be the most advantageous for a particular situation. His ability to quickly analyze an enemy’s weaknesses has also gotten Eiji out of many a jam, particularly in the early episodes, when Eiji only had a dim idea of what each of the medals could be used for. Ankh is also surprisingly adaptable and intelligent for an 800-year-old monster, quickly grasping the usefulness of modern technology in tracking enemy sightings and obtaining information. Though he isn’t a hacker by any means, he’s remarkably adept at using things like cell phones, motorcycles, and robots.

Despite his general resourcefulness, Ankh is also short-tempered, petty, and somewhat single-minded, occasionally prone to losing sight of a long-term goal in order to settle a grudge. When he gets a distress call from Eiji to help fight a monster rampaging in a hospital, for example, Ankh (still fully clad in the full arm-and-leg casts that make up his inpatient disguise) actually takes time out of his day to hobble over to a human he particularly dislikes and punch him in the face before leaving to take care of actual business. Ankh is capable of putting his temper on hold for a short time, as he regularly endures the frustrations of adjusting to human life and slogs dutifully through battle after battle for the Core Medals. Eventually, however, he’ll become too incensed to hold in his frustrations any longer, ranting long and hard at Eiji in particular when circumstances allow. He even abandons his host body once or twice because of short-term frustration at the way he’s treated by the rest of the cast, which leaves him alone and vulnerable to attacks from the other Greeed.

Ankh is rather short on tact, finding it difficult to feign politeness or social graces. Even well after the end of the main Kamen Rider OOO series, for example, he can be seen openly laughing at the misfortunes of Kamen Rider Aqua, whose powers are water-based, but who is terrified of swimming. Ankh finds it difficult to admit he’s wrong and it’s almost impossible to get him to apologize. Ankh also seems rather attached to a few basic creature comforts: popsicles, high places to hang out (roofs, trees), and a safe space in which to hide out. Because his life at the restaurant at which Eiji works provides all of these things, he’s willing to endure a surprising amount of what he sees as disrespect in order to remain a boarder there. Ankh is also reluctant to give out personal details about himself if it means revealing his weaknesses -- even if it means clearing his own name.

Ankh’s goals at first consist only of hoarding enough medals to ensure that he’ll never be sealed away or broken into pieces again; while he’s better at formulating plans than the other Greeed, he’s just as singlemindedly focused on obtaining medals as the rest of them. Also like the other Greeed, he wants to be ‘complete’ – to obtain all nine of his Red Core Medals and therefore achieve the height of his power. Over time, however, as Ankh gains more exposure to living as a human and even to the sensory experiences available to humans, he begins to change. Ankh wants to be more than a glorified roll of quarters – he wants to live, to experience sight and smell and everything else the way that humans are capable of. Which is not quite to say that he wants to be human; as he rants to a fellow Greeed at the end of the series, he resents humans almost as much as he despises his fellow Greeed. At the same time, Ankh realizes that to be a Greeed is to be a bottomless reservoir of desire that can never be satiated, even when ‘complete’.

As might be expected, characters that see Ankh in his Greeed form for the first time are almost invariably frightened, as he’s either a very tall bird monster (in a town routinely terrorized by similar-looking monsters) or a disembodied, flying right hand that can talk. Once the initial shock abates, however, most people learn to take Ankh’s outward appearance in stride and focus instead on the fact that he’s kind of a jerk. Despite the character development he went through during the course of Kamen Rider OOO, Ankh remains selfish, petty, short-tempered, and generally lacking in social graces. His fellow Greeed view him as a calculating backstabber (and to be fair, he’s betrayed them on at least three separate occasions); the supporting human cast thinks he’s a crafty opportunist.

On the other hand, the select few main cast members who interact with him on a regular basis seem to see something in Ankh that the others do not. Eiji, for instance, defends Ankh against a number of accusations when an Ankh-lookalike shows up in town and starts attacking people; even Hina, whose older brother Ankh uses as a meat puppet for most of the series, makes a point of giving Ankh presents during holidays and even treating him to popsicles on occasion. The consensus seems to be that although Ankh seems like an unrepentant jerk, he’s also a person in his own right, capable of being a valuable, resourceful ally and even risking his life to aid his friends.

...But he's still Ankh.

ABILITIES:  Ankh is a Greeed, an artificial life form composed of:
• Core Medals: Mystical coins imbued with the powers of various birds.
• Cell Medals: Also coins, but more common than Core Medals and composed of human greed/desire.

The fewer Core Medals and Cell Medals Ankh possesses, the weaker he becomes (and conversely, possessing more medals makes Ankh stronger). At a bare minimum, Ankh requires his main Core Medal, which houses his consciousness, and a few Cell Medals in order to assume his basic form as a right hand. However, as long as Ankh’s main Core Medal is intact, he can survive indefinitely, lying in wait until he has access to enough Cell Medals to reform himself. Moreover, a main Core Medal, even by itself, possesses some form of sentience and power; Ankh would be able to slowly creep along until he could attach himself to a suitably weak-willed human, then take control of their body to try and amass the Cell Medals he needed.

Right hand form
As a right hand, Ankh is capable of flight and enough strength to lift an adult human into the air and over obstacles. He can talk and sleep just fine in this form, even though he has no visible mouth or brain. He also serves as a kind of storage space for way more Core Medals and Cell medals that should logically be able to fit inside him, as well as absorb objects into his body and produce them again later. It’s not clear how much storage capacity he has with this ability, but things he’s absorbed in the past have included popsicles, a leather case, and a rock the size of a king-sized chocolate bar.

Ankh can also attach himself to a human, fitting over their right hand much like a glove. Once attached, he controls their body, suppressing their consciousness. Also, their hairstyle magically transforms into a ridiculous blond cockscomb hairdo. The human he’s controlling is fully aware of what’s going on during this process. By concentrating, he can read parts of their memories and learn how to do things like operate an iPhone.

Human form
As Ankh gains more medals, he can reconstitute a full, seemingly human body for himself. His default appearance in this form is that of Izumi Shingo, the policeman whose body he once possessed. However, he is capable of changing his shape to take on the appearance of other humans, so long as they are of a reasonably similar size and build.

Ankh can also shoot fireballs out of his hand and even fly in this form, as he can form a pair of feathered wings for himself. Without his wings, he can still jump from heights of around 30 feet or so without sustaining any damage.

Greeed form
With even more medals, Ankh can assume his Greeed form, which is capable of more powerful fire attacks and superhuman feats of strength, as well as defeating monsters of the week on his own. Greeed Ankh is a powerful, swift flier and a threat in his own right; he basically served as the original Kamen Rider OOO’s backup 800 years ago. As a Greeed, Ankh would be capable of defeating things like armored vehicles and large groups of armed (but otherwise ordinary) humans on his own. He can also teleport himself and several others for short distances to escape from danger.

Any form
Damaging Ankh physically in any form may have the effect of breaking off several Cell Medals, or even Core Medals, from his central mass.

By locating a human that harbors a strong desire (for example, to return to the boxing ring for one last match or force their entire neighborhood to obey the rules of their homeowner’s association), Ankh can use the human’s desire to create a monster called a Yummy. As the Yummies mature, they become bird-themed monsters with powers that center around fire. By helping their ‘parent’ human achieve their wish, the Yummy accumulates more Cell Medals to feed to Ankh, which is obtained by destroying the Yummy.

Typically, Ankh’s Yummies kidnap their parent, then ‘feed’ him or her by bringing them proof that their desire is being fulfilled, much like birds feed their chicks. For example, they may steal an attribute (like the ability to box) from other humans, then imbue their parent with the stolen ability. Alternatively, they may help set up a security camera system that allows the parent to see violations of the neighborhood rules and manipulate policemen into enforcing those rules.

Unlike some of the other Greeed, Ankh creates one Yummy at a time. Yummies are about as strong as any tokusatsu monster-of-the-week. For an idea of what a Yummy might be like, think of a typical Power Rangers monster in its un-supersized form.

Ankh has excellent eyesight and aim and is capable of throwing a coin into a small slot across a busy battlefield. He would be a great pitcher! However, as a general rule, his senses except for the acuity of his eyesight tend to be duller than a human's. For example, his sense of taste isn't very good, so he doesn't really enjoy foods like chicken or noodles. For this reason, he's especially fond of popsicles, which are cold and sweet enough that even he can taste them. The Greeed in general see color as washed-out and hear sounds as dull or muted, though these senses improve as they obtain more Core Medals.

POSSESSIONS:  His clothes, an iPhone, his medals, a bright red piece of cloth.


samples.
JOURNAL ENTRY SAMPLE:
[Ankh is sitting over in the corner, asleep tied to a chair. At first he's snoring loudly. Then he stops, snorting in his sleep. The fingers of his right hand clench briefly; apparently, he's in the middle of a fitful dream.

Someone slams the door and Ankh bolts upright. He's a light sleeper. The first thing he does is dart his eyes across the room, surveying his surroundings. Looking for an opening. Well, there's some broken glass lying on the floor across the room. Maybe if he can hobble over there and start sawing at his ropes, he can get out of here in a little under five hours.

Whatever. If he doesn't have a way out, it's time for the next best alternative:  being an asshole to his captor. Normally, he'd reach forward and grab the front of the man's shirt, but for now he has to settle for making a face at the guy.]

Who the hell are you?

[He doesn't get an answer; the man scoffs at him, says something in an unfamiliar language, and leaves the room. Ankh rocks forward a little in his chair, but it quickly falls back into place. The floor is dusty; it sends up a small cloud of disgusting allergens as the chair legs find their footing again.

Ankh sneezes, then slowly tries to inch his way across the room. He'd get out. And then, by god, he'd fix that guy's little red wagon.]

THIRD-PERSON SAMPLE:
Ankh shifted uncomfortably in his bunk, trying to find a position that didn't somehow end with several metal springs pressing right into his freaking spine. It didn't work. Nor did lying on his side, which merely seemed to concentrate the effects of what was an already incredibly uncomfortable, woefully misguided support system into a smaller area.

Frustrated, he tried shoving at the mattress with his hand, trying in vain to flatten the lumpy monstrosity into some semblance of order. He tried both hands. Then, increasingly frustrated, he began to pound at the lumps in the mattress, no doubt further ruining his bedding but too irrationally angry to care. He was going to subjugate this mattress. He was going to beat it into submission. And if that didn't work, he was going to drag it out of the room and set it on fire.

One of his arms bounced off the surface of the fabric, striking the wall against which the bunk bed was set. The result was a dull thud. 

Someone rapped on the wall in response, no doubt trying to tell him to quiet down.

"Shut up!" He was going to be done making noise when it started cooperating, goddammit. Except at this point, he was basically flailing around, doing more harm than good. He struck his head against the low ceiling and crumpled into a ball, cursing loudly as he nursed his new injury.

When the pain subsided a little, he rolled off the bunk and slid down the ladder, stalking his way out of the room. If only there was something or someone on which to unload his frustrations. If only Kazari were still here to kick around. If only Eiji were still around to rant at.

He struck at the nearby railing with his right hand. Maybe he could find someone and ruin their day. Nothing helped a bad mood like spreading it around.