Paris Hourson

Male

18

192 lbs.

6"2'

Mostly a silvery-white with a shock of black.

Long hair, down to his waist, and kind of wild looking. Very well maintained, however. Typically wears it loose, but puts it in a man bun or a makeshift braid when doing something physical.

Clean shaven, but if he grows it out it’s sort of an uneven mess

Amber

Wolf Faunus with ears as his trait.

Paler than most Menagarins, but can tan reasonably enough before getting burned.

Lean but muscular.

Scar on his abdomen from a Grimm attack and a large White Fang tattoo on his back.

Paris’ biggest tell is his ears, which almost always give away his mood or thoughts — flattened when he’s angry or upset, a slight twitch if amused or even annoyed, facing forward if paying attention.
And while he hates people touching his ears unprompted, he kind of melts if you manage to do it because scritches are the best.
Don’t touch or pull his hair, tho.
Will totally steal your food off your plate.

Furthering the White Fang’s ambitions by infiltrating and blending into Beacon Academy, potentially recruiting new members, and causing as much trouble as he can in the interim.

Narrow minded, stubborn, violent, and hard time showing vulnerabilities for fear they’ll be exploited.
His deaf ear means he’s easy to be snuck up on if it’s his bad side, so he hates sudden loud noises, gunshots, and surprises in general.
Honestly, he can be a sourpuss and contrary for the hell of it if he doesn’t like you or is just that pissed off.
Biggest thing he’s got to learn is some teamwork, even with those he might not like.
Overheats easily.

The White Fang rhetoric really got to him. He’s got no love for humans on principle and while he can bullshit friendliness on a need basis, his patience runs pretty thin.

Like most Faunus, Paris has the ability to see well in low light conditions, along with an excellent nose and hearing on his right side. He’s good at stealth and tracking people/animals/Grimm. Reading people and noticing key details is something he’s picked up in order to attempt to play situations in his favor.

If Paris likes you, he’s loyal to a fault. He’s also cunning and confidant, full of pride for himself, his ideals, and his people, knows wilderness survival tactics, and has the ability to drink some people under the table

Camping and hiking, surfing and swimming (doggy paddle style, tho), training, woodcarving, hair care routine

Conviction. Once he’s got a set path or goal in mind, it’s near impossible to change his mind. Might be a tad spite filled, but hey.

Paris’ personality can be summarised as bombastic and loud, with little to no filter—he’s the type of person that says ‘fuck’ a lot—and a general bluntness about him that’s lacking in tact. It’s not usually a problem for him, though; why dish out what you can’t take, after all? Most of the time, it’s that type of personality that can make him the life of the party since he’s naturally extroverted. He’s not one to shy away from competition and have a good time doing it, too. Not to mention, he can be a bit of a flirt. Honestly, if he likes you, Paris could easily be your best and truest friend. The Faunus is really ride-or-die.

However, Paris has an incredibly black-and-white world view, in which the world is divided into Faunus and humans, good and evil, respectively. You can blame the White Fang largely for that one, although his family’s history and biases definitely had a factor in that. Basically, humans are inherently evil. Even worse than Grimm. As for Faunus, he’s got a complete pack mentality towards them, giving his loyalty and support to any he’d meet. If you think about it, we’re all brothers and sisters to the same cause. And even if they aren’t, Paris will still make an effort to reach out to them.

There’s another aspect to Paris’ personality: violence. While more easy to come out around humans, a Faunus that supposedly betrays the cause could meet the business end of Verlieren quickly. Paris’ anger can be palpable and all consuming, blinding him into a fit of fury and claws. He’s not afraid to get physical with someone, especially when he has the stature to back it. It’s definitely a power play coming from him. But if he’s thinking smart, Paris’ preferred method is through subterfuge; spread rumors, stir up trouble, maybe use his Semblance to steal someone’s appearance. Being in a school setting, he’s more than likely to use those kind of tactics, but his first instinct will always be to shoot first, ask questions later.

90% deaf in his left ear.

Huntsman-in-training / White Fang member

Food is food is food. Paris will eat just about anything—fish, pork, steak, any kind of vegetable, fruits are the best, pickled eggs—so it's easier to list what he doesn’t like. It’s chocolate, by the way.

Necklace with a circle with three claws carved from wood that he practically never takes off.

April 18

Menagerie, although it's not considered a Kingdom.

Some combat education at the Macula Monastery , which is customary for a lot of Menagerie’s youths, but the majority of his combat skills come from lessons with his family and guerrilla warfare with the White Fang.

The Hoursons have a bit of a reputation in Menagerie.

Back in the day, as recent as Paris’ grandmother, they used to be pirates. They haunted the shores of southern Anima and Eastern Sanus, attacking ships for their goods and bringing it back to Menagerie proper to sell. His grandmother called it reparations, but it was good business all the same. Still, all good things must come to an end—eventually the Chieftain of Menagerie, in an effort to avoid potential backlash against the island community from the other Kingdoms, convinced the family to put aside their buccaneering ways. And with Menagerie’s booming agricultural and fishing industry, the Hoursons kept their boats but put down their swords for a new way of business: a shipping company.

Eventually, Paris’ grandmother retired from the business and enjoyed a seat on Menagerie’s council, leaving the Hourson Shipping Company to her biological son, Blaine Hourson. He kept the business going, met and married a young bartender named Safira, and had Paris. His father also kept another tradition of the Hoursons going. Perhaps it was because of their former pirate ties, but family doesn’t directly translate to blood for the Hoursons. They had a bit of a habit of picking up strays that just stuck around. Adopting them, really. So the young pup enjoyed a solid seven years of only childhood until his father brought home an orphaned survivor, eight years his senior, from the recently ravaged settlement of Melangkah on Menagerie. Truth be told, he and Gainsboro never got on well; the age difference and the older wolf’s more serious demeanor just didn’t mesh well. But family is family, and packs stick together.

Same thing happened when Paris was older, about ten or so. On a trip back from Mistral, Blaine brought back a pair of wolf Faunus sisters, Volt and Celadon. They only talked a little about their life before, Volt especially, but it was probably one of the first instances Paris had of what life could be like for Faunus outside of his little island bubble. It planted the first seed that humans could be cruel, even evil creatures, even if it was only secondhand.

That said, Paris had a fairly normal, even boring childhood. For all the people packed together on Menagerie, in Kuo Kuana especially, there’s not a lot to do. Exploration gets limited after a while considering two-thirds of the island is covered in uninhabitable desert. And the lack of a CCT Tower means that news and technology travels slow, if at all. All he could dream about was getting out, exploring Remnant, using some nepotism via the family business if he had to. By thirteen he was already doing some odd jobs for the Hourson Shipping Company and his mom’s bar, too. Say what you will, but he was determined—and it’s not like it was hard work, especially.

Shortly after he hit fourteen, his father went on another trip to Mistral, trying to broker a trade deal or some such. Evidently, it went south. Perhaps it was just Mistral being Mistral or some other factor. Who knows. After all, news doesn’t travel well to Menagerie. Regardless, the Hourson Shipping Company scrambled for leadership in the wake of his father’s death, bringing his grandmother briefly out of retirement to bring some semblance of order to things. His eldest brother Gainsboro helped her, as well. As for Paris, he wasn’t really one to sit on his grief that well. Prone to action, that one. He went and applied to work full time for the company—nothing grandiose, just loading and unloading the goods and supplies—and left. Everyone approved, or at least understood, except for perhaps his mother. If anything, she just wanted to hold on tighter to what felt like the last living remnant of her husband with her son.

It was shortly after he met the White Fang.

They weren’t an unknown entity back home, just forbidden from entering. Another effort of the Chieftain to try and prevent war or backlash coming to their shores, especially with how violent the White Fang had become in the last twenty years or so. But with the weakened leadership of the Hourson Shipping Company, a captain sympathetic to their cause decided to do a supply run to an outpost of theirs. While unloading, Paris met and talked to a Lieutenant there, who said something to him that just sort’ve clicked. Perhaps it was that seed planted long ago, or the still fresh grief of his father, but it made total sense.

“You want to know the difference,” said the Lieutenant, a ferret Faunus, “between humans and Grimm? Grimm do what they do because it’s in their nature, you know. They’re attracted to negative emotions, loud noises, and gatherings of people like flies to honey. They kill people because they don’t know any better. But humans? You tell me what in nature justifies what they’ve done to our people, time and time again. So, you ask me, they’re worse than Grimm.”

That was the moment Paris felt like he had a purpose in life. He threw himself fully into joining the White Fang, throwing aside his previous engagement with the family business. His family wrote it off as him getting a taste for the Kingdoms and travel; he always said he wanted to do that, anyway. And it’s true, he did travel. Although not to any of the larger settlements of the other Kingdoms—mostly he stayed stationed in forest camps and along the borders, securing supply routes, distracting and dealing with the occasional bandit tribe. His Semblance also proved useful in infiltrating and causing sabotage during this time. Still, as he became deeper and deeper involved with the organization, every witnessed and secondhand violent act against his people just proved that Lieutenant’s words right every time.

Roughly two years ago, when he was sixteen, he had a pretty traumatizing experience. A lone huntress bit off more than she could chew attacking a patrol he was a part of. While she was eventually put down, she still succeeded in damaging Paris’ hearing permanently by firing her rifle directly next to his ear.

While there were medical devices available to aid Paris’ hearing, he refused. He’d rather not have his disability be displayed or known in any which way, for fear of it being potentially exploited or seen as a weakness. It also was another reason to not return to Menagerie for a while, since there would be questions about his deafness if that was discovered, for sure. Still, he never did like guns after that, seeing them as loud and unnecessary.

Presently, the White Fang has some sort of plan that requires him to infiltrate Beacon as a student. In part due to his age and Semblance’s usefulness. He’s not quite privy to what those plans are just yet, but while he’s awaiting those orders he’s to both blend in, see if there’s anyone worthy of recruiting, and start trouble without breaking his cover.

Grandmother: Silvia Hourson - Wolf Faunus (ears and tails) - Former pirate and once held a seat on Menagerie’s council, but has since retired

Semblance: Fog Cover - Able to create and control water vapors, creating fog primarily for stealth purposes.

Mother: Safira Hourson née Douglas - Wolf Faunus (ears) - Owner and bartender of the Blue Moon Bar

Semblance: Weight Distribution - Able to increase/decrease the mass of an object with touch, making it heavier or lighter.

Blaine Hourson - Wolf Faunus (ears and tail) - Deceased - Previous Head of the Hourson Shipping Company

Semblance: Last Howl - Able to boost his physical prowess by howling.

Gainsboro Hourson (adopted brother, older) - Wolf Faunus (ears) - Supervisor at the Hourson Shipping Company

Semblance: Eclipse - Able to cause blindness to humans, Faunus, and Grimm in a short range of about 15 ft. around him.

Volt Hourson (adopted sister, older) - Wolf Faunus (tail) - Weapon Smith

Semblance: Huff ‘n Puff - Can create strong gusts of wind with her breath, able to blow back targets and herself. Uses it for her glass blowing hobby, to be honest.

Celadon Hourson (adopted sister, younger) - Wolf Faunus (tail) - Physician-in-training, despite her Semblance

Semblance: Shatter - Able to crate brittleness upon a surface she touches, and immediately after break it, if she so chooses.

Average

Above average

Above average

Average

Average

Below average

A pair of gauntlets that appear, at first glance, to be just an elaborate set of brass knuckle over fingerless gloves. Upon closer inspection, however, the part of the gauntlet that runs from Paris’ mid-forearm to wrist rotates with a click, elevates slightly, and juts forward over the brass knuckles to reveal three Wolverine-like claws with slightly hooked blades.

When rotated again so that the blades would come out to the underside of his arm, the middle blade can eject forward roughly 50 ft. in a direction Paris so chooses with a chain attached for easy retractability. The hooked blades, in addition, are imbued with fire Dust that gives them a red hue.

Verlieren - Dual Bladed Grappling Gauntlets (DBGG)

Brass knuckles with attached gauntlets

Dust imbued clawed gauntlets

Retractable grappling hook blades

Paris’ main strategy is to close the distance between himself and opponents, with either his speed or using his grappling blades, attack decisively, and then retreat with similar tactics before the enemy can strike back. While not a tank, Paris can take a hit or two, although his main line of defense is reliant on his speed to dodge and block.

Due to the Verlieren’s lack of augmented firearms, Paris can more easily surprise an opponent from the shadows or during a team attack. In addition, the fire Dust imbued in his blades are perfect for dislodging himself from something created from ice Dust or the like.

While Paris’ Aura levels are average, his Semblance gives him little in the way of combat prowess, which means that his versatility only goes so far and becomes predictable after a certain point. And it goes without saying, but Paris’ partial deafness on his left side is highly exploitable.

As Verlieren is imbued with fire Dust, interaction with water or ice Dust results in steam. While this can be useful as cover, it does negate the effects of the fire Dust for a time. Otherwise, Paris doesn’t intentionally use Dust as ammunition or in combat in general.

Sheep's Clothing

Capable of replicating the appearance of anyone, human or Faunus alike. On a surface level, Paris can copy facial features with little aura expenditure, but given enough time and ample reserves? He can copy someone’s appearance down to their face, hair, and even clothes.

While not a powerful semblance in terms of combat, unless it is to briefly unnerve an opponent mentally, its true potential is in its social use. Paris has used his semblance primarily for infiltration and subterfuge.

Optical

When used, Paris’ eyes turn the color of his Aura before the illusion shifts into being with the blink of an eye.

Light green

Self

Paris needs to observe a target’s appearance for a reasonable amount of time otherwise details are lost in translation and could easily out him as a fake. He's not really good at filling in the blanks of what he cannot see. His Semblance is more of a glamour than shapeshifting, so physical contact is a big giveaway that he’s just using an illusion. Not to mention he can't copy the target's voice in any way. The length and shape of his shadow does not change, as well.