ᴋᴀᴍᴜɪ ᴜᴇʜᴀʀᴀ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
metafictions) wrote2001-09-27 01:00 pm
metafictions) wrote2001-09-27 01:00 pm
INFO & PERMISSIONS.
STATISTICS
NAME Kamui Uehara
AGE physically mid-20s, mentally much older
CANON POINT post-Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes
OOC PST, tags every 1-3 days, brackets or prose. i am 25+ and use she/they. :)
BEST CONTACT PM or
HISTORY
(cw: eye horror, child abuse and neglect, suicide)
art: gaiaku_aoz @ twitter
The Silver Case & Flower, Sun and Rain (1970s - 1980s)
The original Kamui Uehara was born on the Micronesian island of Lospass, as a member of the Sundance tribe. As part of tribal ritual, his left eye was removed and a replacement was implanted: one of the eyes belonging to a local breed of hyena. Legend has it that, should the hyena's eye awaken and turn silver, the bearer would be granted immortality; sure enough, anyone who bears the silver eye cannot die via illness or old age. They have largely unknown secondary powers, implied to impart some form of supernatural reality manipulation to the owner.
At some point in his teens, Kamui immigrated to Kanto. According to government record, it is at this time that Kamui became a serial killer, becoming popularly known as "The Angel of Absolute Zero". In 1979, Kamui Uehara infiltrated a meeting of high-ranking government players at the top of the 24th Ward's TV Tower. After a bloody slaughter in which all but Mayor Hachisuka were killed, he was arrested by fledgling detective Tetsugoro Kusabi. This was referred to as The Silver Case, as all victims were elderly men.
(In reality, these events were falsified. That day, numerous government officials killed each other for the opportunity to kill the innocent Kamui Uehara and rip out his silver eye for themselves. The victor, Mayor Uminosuke Hachisuka, would go on to replace one of his eyes and continue to govern the 24th Ward with his actions kept secret, even eventually succeeding himself as his "son". It's even possible that the original Kamui was not even really a serial killer. The press operated under the guise that Kusabi had apprehended Kamui, to be put in prison indefinitely.)
Furthermore, Kamui Uehara's personality had attracted government attention. Both obedient and possessing a large amount of "criminal power"-- an abstract capacity for chaos, cruelty, and violence-- his persona was seen as an ideal base for government pawns. Thus, the Shelter Kids Policy began in 1980. The families of 1,440 2-year-old boys were promised free tuition through high school in exchange for 4 years of participation. [NOTE: As this number is recorded inconsistently in canon, I stick with the original Shelter children being between 2-4.] Though presented publicly as an advanced educational undertaking, in reality, the children within the project were being harshly subliminally imprinted with the persona of "Format Kamui", to be activated at the convenience of the powers that be. These children were kept in darkness and silence within a sterile facility, robbed of individuality and forced to silently perform rote tasks day after day. The true intent of this project was kept top secret; any teachers who objected were executed.
The children were also being used as experimental subjects in an effort to mass produce silver eyes. Lospass had been secretly co-opted for use as a hyena breeding ground, with hyena eyes being implanted into as many children as possible. However, the majority of the children’s bodies physically rejected the implants, with almost none of the hyena eyes achieving "ocular silverization". Upon release, most children had suppressed all memories of their traumatic upbringing in the Shelters, but their status as sleeper agents had been assured. Shelter Kids were then placed in strategic places in the government and police. A secret second project for young girls, modeled after Format Kamui but dubbed “Ayame”, was later sponsored by an independent political faction.
Uehara was one of these original Shelter children; he was also one of the rare individuals for whom a silver eye had awakened. Still a dormant Kamui and with the memories of his life before the age of 6 suppressed, Uehara was adopted out of the Shelter and raised by government employees, having an uneventful and largely detached upbringing in the 24th Ward.
The Silver Case (1999)
In early 1999, "Kamui Uehara" (an activated Shelter child used as a scapegoat for the deceased original Kamui) escaped from prison in an incident known as the Kamui Case. In the span of a year, Tetsugoro Kusabi of the 24th Ward Heinous Crimes Unit went rogue, uncovered the truth about the Silver Case, and executed a number of key players in the Shelter Project; he was aided by new agents Akira and Sakura Natsume, both former Shelter children. Kusabi went into hiding and the survivors of the 24th Ward HCU, now well aware of the treacherous deep state within the 24th Ward, restructured their department and continued operation.
Between 1999 and 2005, Uehara went through police academy and became a detective. Although his powers hadn't yet fully awakened, he was fully aware that he was to one day become active as another incarnation of Kamui Uehara.
The 25th Ward (2005 - ???)
With his training complete, Uehara was relocated to the newly formed 25th Ward. The 25th Ward was an experimental region: supposedly utopian, but effectively authoritarian and rigid in both culture and governance. It was secretly watched over by officials known as "Observers"; any criminals or rule breakers pinpointed by Observers were summarily "processed" by deep state agents affiliated with the 25th Ward's postal service. Even more secretly, Observers were actually metaphysical beings fully able to control the ways in which they were perceived within reality-- i.e., as a part of the actual video game The 25th Ward: The Silver Case.
Uehara was assigned to become an agent of the 25th Ward's HCU. Here, he was used as a pawn by two key forces: 1) the 25th Ward's government, seeking the influence of a Kamui within the HCU, and 2) insider agents from the 24th Ward looking to awaken him as Kamui and an Observer to destroy the oppressive 25th Ward from within.
Before his formal hiring, Natsume secretly allowed Uehara onto the crime scene of his first case-- the murder of Miru Yuzuki-- where she explained the role he would be playing for the 24th Ward. Here he was also given his assignment to become an HCU agent by high-ranking 25th Ward administrator Kinshiro Nakane, who also ordered him to work under the name Kamui Uehara. (It is unknown what his original given name was.) At the 25th Ward HCU offices, Uehara met agents Shinko Kuroyanagi, Mokutaro Shiroyabu, Hatoba (chief of the HCU), Akama, and Aoyama. He took a largely passive role throughout his tenure as Kuroyanagi and Shiroyabu's partner. However, in time, Shiroyabu awoke to his own powers as the son of incarnations of Ayame and Kamui, as well as becoming a host for the now purely metaphysical existence of deceased Observer Kosuke Kurumizawa. Uehara was largely absent from his duties at the HCU during Shiroyabu's awakening as he'd gone into hiding. As the rest of the HCU pursued rogue agent Shiroyabu, Shiroyabu discovered that Uehara was truly Kamui as well as a fledgling Observer, then found and killed him.
However, some time before Uehara's presumed death at Shiroyabu's hands, he found himself in the middle of a standoff between Akama, Aoyama, Hatoba, and Kuroyanagi. It was at this point that Akama and Aoyama revealed their true identities as time-traveling agents with an even deeper agenda than the 25th Ward project itself: it was their job to usher Uehara to many influential points in the timeline. Uehara took 100 separate actions at this nexus point—shooting himself, shooting his colleagues, running away, giving up, and so on—each leading to a separate fate and branch on the timeline.
After following all 100 branches to their end, Uehara finally expressed his abilities as an Observer, inheriting the memories of all previous versions of himself and gaining true meta awareness. He pledged to the player themselves that he would cleanse the world of evil and create a newer, better world and future.
Travis Strikes Again (??? - 2019)
In the final timeline, Uehara shot at both Akama and Aoyama. The two saved themselves, explained the situation, then teleported him to a roadside burger joint in Texas in the year 2019. There, Uehara was instructed to meet with and aid the assassin Travis Touchdown using his abilities as an Observer to detect the “points” Travis needed to encounter. Travis was searching for the "Death Balls"-- the games of an unreleased console, the Death Drive-- as they were rumored to be able to grant the owner's any wish once gathered. Kamui and Travis spent some weeks corresponding and searching for the Death Balls together, often meeting at diners across the United States.
However, Kamui's final mission was to kill or be killed by Travis before giving up the final Death Ball. After hiring several assassins to hold 3 innocents hostage and fight Travis, Kamui eventually fought Travis himself, prepared for a battle to the death...
...Until Travis refused to continue the fight, as they had become friends through their partnership. Kamui, who had never been shown genuine friendship before this point, began to cry-- then relinquished the Death Ball, continuing to assist Travis on his journey to the end.
With all Death Balls assembled and his mission complete, Kamui disappeared into time, on his way to somewhere in the future...
No More Heroes 3 (2021)
im not playing from this canonpoint outside of memes there is too much i cant explain lmao
PERSONALITY
Kamui Uehara, past, present, and future, isn't so much the main character of the Kill the Past series as he is the story's main fixture. He is many things to many people-- a symbol of chaos, a supernatural threat to be eliminated, a vision of hope, an urban legend, a cautionary tale. Even Kamui himself views himself as an archetype and harbinger of the future before anything; after all, he's just another child imprinted with the personality base of the original Kamui Uehara, carrying out the same cosmic mission of other Kamuis before him.
One crucial aspect makes this Kamui different, however: unlike the many Kamuis who came before him, he's lucky enough to have the opportunity to simply be human.
A lifetime of following orders and doing what he's supposed to do have made him a little passive when it comes to asserting his own preferences. Due to the deep abuse and neglect suffered in his childhood, as well as the knowledge of his own role in Kill the Past, he's still in the process of building up his own identity past his enormous importance in the grand scheme of the universe. He’s in an odd space of lacking in a sense of self while also being hyperaware of his own importance; he’s supposed to drive progress and action instead of prioritizing his humanity and needs as a person. It's not that Kamui has low self-esteem, it's that he's still getting accustomed to needing it, period: he's a utility, a vehicle from point A to point B, so considering his individuality is on the backburner most of the time.
That doesn't mean he has no likes or dislikes, or that he doesn't have a personality. Past the phenomenal cosmic destiny, Kamui's a soft-spoken and mild-mannered young man. He's got simple tastes, and he enjoys the creature comforts of good food and unjudgmental company. Having once been a detective, he's perceptive and intelligent, which translates to a love for picking apart mysteries and puzzles, as well as an emerging dry wit. However, as these parts of himself are still blooming out of a near blank slate, he can come off as awkward or even creepy around others. He's not used to socializing like a normal person, at least not for anything other that keeping appearances, so he can come across as stiff or detached. He’s not very good at it yet, but behind all that, he really is trying to open himself up as best as he can.
No matter how much he grows into his own identity, though, Kamui can't escape the legendary killer he was always fated to become. He's quite morally ambiguous and has a casual relationship with both death and violence, having experienced them both firsthand over and over; when it comes to his own abilities as a killer, he's utterly no-nonsense and confident, to the point of eerie detachment from both killing and his own mortality. After all, another incarnation can and will always replace him. In fact, until Travis himself hesitates, Kamui is willing to kill-- or be killed by-- someone he's been completely friendly with for the sake of moving towards a goal. He breaks down in tears after having been shown this kindness, showing just how foreign it is to his expectations for the bloody utility with which he handles his own life.
In Kamui's last appearance in Travis Strikes Again, Travis Touchdown tells Kamui to "live in the light" -- a callback to The Silver Case, and a plea for his friend to embrace his identity no matter what fate has in store for him. He acknowledges how difficult it'll be, but, because he trusts Travis, promises to try. This is the crux of his growth and character. Although Kamui has lived life as little more than a human weapon, he's been presented the opportunity for friendship and life following his own will and heart. As hard as it is, he's doing everything he can to seize that light, and to become more than just another Kamui Uehara.
PERMISSIONS
OUT OF CHARACTER
BACKTAGGING yes! i'm slow too, go for it!
THREADHOPPING yes, i love shenanigans!
FOURTHWALLING kamui is totally fourth wall aware, so as long as it’s not infomodding do your worst.
CONTENT
IN-CHARACTER
PHYSICAL CONTACT he'll be weird about it, as he's not used to physical intimacy, but go for it.
SHIPPING & SMUT if we have cr established, let’s talk! not interested in smut for now.
VIOLENCE yes! please ask before dealing any serious injuries but otherwise im super down.
TELEPATHY yes! it’s a mess in there tbqh.
FOURTH WALLING (note: not applicable to jigokucho!) while he isn’t as pop culture savvy as them, kamui is fourth wall aware on the level of characters like deadpool and travis touchdown. he knows he is from a video game and is aware of meta conventions and the very structure of the reality he inhabits — i.e. with the fourth walling on full blast he would recognize all interactions were text-based. i'll never use this to godmod and will largely avoid touching on it with characters who aren't also fourth wall aware, but please feel free to let me know if you would like to either opt out or actually like to play around with it.
CRIMINAL POWER (please see here for jigoku-cho!) Kamui is able to sense an individual's criminal power. Criminal power is an abstract measure of a person's potential for chaos, lawbreaking, and violence, detectable by the supernaturally attuned in the Kill the Past series.
It's most similar to reading an aura, mixed with a very unspecific version of Dragonball's power level-- for example, a powerful villain would ping Kamui as having a high amount of criminal power. This doesn't mean that anyone with a large amount of criminal power will be a villain, though: it just means they'd be capable of destruction. Anti-heroes and heroes who could feasibly be pushed to chaos would also ping high, while an unenthusiastic henchman would ping moderate to low. Kamui, in turn, radiates this energy in spades, and people with a good sixth sense (or even just a really good intuition) would be able to sense something was off or strange about him.
this is an inherently infomoddy power, so please let me know if you’d like me to avoid it; i will only ever use this with player permission.
CONTENT WARNINGS
Due to his upbringing in the Shelter, the plot point of the silver eyes, and the many ways he has died or killed himself across multiple timelines, Kamui's backstory contains elements of child abuse and neglect, eye gore/horror, and suicide, as well as unreality due to his fourth wall awareness. CR can absolutely be formed without directly touching on any of this content so I’m more than happy to avoid some or all of it - just let me know!
OPT OUT
please feel free to comment to this post if you'd like for me to avoid any topics or not tag you with Kamui altogether.
IMPRESSIONS
VISUAL A Japanese man in his 20's. At a glance, he could be any Japanese man in his 20's-- no harsh or defining facial features or scars, dark hair with bangs long enough to partially obscure his face, average height, average weight, average build. Blink twice, and you'll miss him in a crowd. Kamui does, however, have a strikingly silver left eye; it's uncanny at a glance, originally belonging to a hyena. It even has reflective tapetum lucidum. Actually looking at Kamui reveals a bit of a babyface with softer features and a slightly rounded nose: he's about 25-27, but can easily pass younger. He stands at about 5'5", is neither thin nor bulky, and typically wears an impassive, neutral expression by default.FASHION Kamui favors dark, neutral solid colors. When not in a dark businessman's suit, he's usually dressed in what can only be described as business casual: blazers or cardigans, button-ups, slacks, loafers. He'll sometimes wear a dark green coat with a fur-lined collar over this, or switch to sneakers.
OLFACTORY Neutral soap; he doesn't wear scents of any kind. Faintly of food, on occasion. Rarely, of blood.
AURAL Voiced by Max Mittelman. At his canonpoint, his voice is a lot less expressive and even slightly monotone. UNFORTUNATELY I have to own the universe roasting me with this, so he sounds a little more like Mittelman's performance of... Resasuke... in Aggretsuko...
DEMEANOR An almost limitless well of calm. Kamui speaks softly, doesn't take up much space, and is both polite and to the point in nearly all his interactions. He's rarely roused to anger or annoyance and keeps a cool, professional head when caught off guard. Breaking through this front, however, reveals someone much more earnest-- and even a little naive-- off the clock. To the supernaturally-inclined, there's an air of something very off to him, centered around his eye; to normal people, he just stares a little too long and stands a little too stiffly.
MENTAL & ETC Intelligent; particularly skilled at puzzles, mazes, and word games. Literally suppressing like half of his early childhood in order to function; has a warped sense of self; compartmentalizing like A LOT a lot of stuff. He's Fine! This Is Fine. ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
JIGOKU-CHO
CLAN ShutenHOUSING A small Western-style apartment in the Shuten district; less shabby than the starting apartments for new recruits, but still not altogether spectacular. Lives in the same complex as Tamamori, Minato, and Eiichi.
JOB Clerk at a convenience store where Sutoku and Shuten territory overlap. He works late shifts a lot, and he is prrrrrobably not judging you for your suspicious purchases.
REGAINS Harpoon gun, teleportation (up to a few city blocks), criminal power sensing (see below)
CR
PLAYLIST
SUPERCOLLIDER
RADIOHEAD7:01
TIMELESS
JAMES BLAKE4:31
CORONUS, THE TERMINATOR
FLYING LOTUS2:40
OBSERVER
SEVDALIZA4:05
HAS ENDED
THOM YORKE4:57
MEZZANINE
MASSIVE ATTACK5:56
MACHINE GUN
PORTISHEAD4:47
IF YOU SAY THE WORD
RADIOHEAD4:20
WANT TO BE FREE
BRITISH SEA POWER3:47
Re: OPT IN/OUT: CRIMINAL POWER
Can Kamui sense your character's criminal power?: please do. nothing is funnier to me
If so, what would Kamui sense?: jesus in purgatory type shit, aerith isn't the murderous type in any capacity, but she has petty crime gremlin vibe. she won't go out of her way to do it, but if the opportunity arises and it would benefit her (or the greater good!), she's willing to get it done. she's a "i'll kick a guy in the balls and knock him out with the steel chair" kind of gal, in the context of her being attacked by a group of men also. huge Chosen Hero type energy.
but still super delighted by the idea of getting to kick you in the nuts and knock you out with the steel chair. like. super excited by th e prospect type energy. you know what i mean?? additionally: she has "holy" energy! not entirely human, but not dark. pure light and vibrant life to an unnatural, inhuman degree. she's half cetra, so he's welcome to pick up on that.
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