Yū Kanda // D.Gray-Man (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
artificialflower) wrote2011-08-15 10:52 pm
artificialflower) wrote2011-08-15 10:52 pm
Entry tags:
[OOC] Application for Badfic Manor
OOC Information:
Name/Alias: Dem
How did you hear about Badfic?: Saw it on ATP and thought it was interesting but I couldn't figure out the musebox, later stalked a friend to it and decided I might give it a try.
IC Information:
Character Name: Yu Kanda
Name that appears on name plaque: Kanda
Character Journal:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
infiniillusion
Canon: D.Gray-Man
Point in Canon: chapter 199, the moment of explosion.
Age: 19-20
Birthday: June 6th
Appearance:
Kanda's appearance could be considered close to 'perfect' in a sense; the author herself has stated that he is among 'very beautiful people' that are commonly more difficult to draw, and indeed his face can almost resemble a female's at times, especially when he was younger (another character, Lenalee, had mistaken him for a girl when they met at ages 10 and 8 respectively). He generally looks Asian, even though his actual birthplace (if it even exists) remains questionable despite of being filed as Japan.
He has light, rather pale skin with no flaws nor scars except a black tattoo of the "Om" symbol on the left side of his chest, and dark eyes with long eyelashes. One of the most characteristic features of his appearance is his long, soft black hair, which he normally keeps tied up in a high ponytail in a rather specific way, leaving two long strands hanging on the sides of his straight fringe that reaches down to his eyes and therefore, in a sense, framing his face. However he was shown to wear a simple ponytail at points as well, most often when he has to tie it in a hurry (by the way, he can do that with one hand), and we also get to see his hair loose a few times, proving that it is indeed beautiful and flowing, and looks even prettier than Lenalee's (whose was complimented by Anita), sparkles of magnificence included, despite of the fact that he only uses soap to wash it.
He's stated to be 1,77 meters (5'9") tall (Edit: 1,80 after the last update) and weights around 60 kg (130 lbs). He's well-built, having enough of proportional muscle for a warrior, but at the same time it doesn't make his body look heavy, rather more to the lean side. Despite of having quite clearly masculine frame (with an androgynous face?) which is portrayed as such most of the time, there are a few occasions in the manga where his hips are drawn rather wide, what of course adds to the gender gags (such as "Kanda's child-bearing hips") among the fans.
Kanda usually wears simple, somewhat half-formal or soldier/uniform-like clothing. It mostly includes various types of black pants, either training or uniform, though I'd think he'd also be fine with most rough fabrics, and uniform boots or, at rarer occasions, a sort of sneakers or low Chinese-type shoes. On top he usually wears either white button shirts, or somewhat army-like sleeveless ones, which are commonly black; he also doesn't mind going around shirtless. He also seems to own some rather funny looking sweaters (rumors have it that actually his General made it for him). His uniform is a long coat (mandress) with a belt, and he always carries his Innocence sword Mugen with him (or, if Mugen is being repaired, a normal one as he apparently could cut a roundabout with a common sword). When he's wearing his sword on his belt rather than his shoulders like he did with his first uniform, he often keeps one hand on the hilt; whether it's a habit or simple vigilance isn't entirely clear.
Clothing examples:
[uniform: http://www.paginasprodigy.com.mx/willvandom/Imagenes%20Cosplay/Yukanda.jpg]
[casual clothing: http://www.onemanga.com/D.Gray-Man/94/02/]
[casual clothing 2: http://img1.ak.crunchyroll.com/i/spire3/f8d01803fa29dd5ba8b8287580c385c91245537785_full.jpg]
[gay sweater: http://www.onemanga.com/D.Gray-Man/135/DGM_135_pg08/]
[typical clothing in battle: http://i529.photobucket.com/albums/dd333/chancy510/kanda.png].
Abilities:
First thing to note is that he is, in fact, an artificial human. As such, his physical ability extends beyond that of simple humans; he's very fast and agile (to the point of being no more than a blur when he moves), very physically strong despite his looks (capable of breaking holes in concrete with his punch or kick as well as splitting a machine in half with a sword alone), and he's a regenerator.
The extent of his regeneration exceeds death, in fact; most of his wounds heal in the matter of hours, he's capable of regrowing a lost limb or crushed organs, and, when killed, he will come to life as if nothing has happened approximately 580 seconds after the death. While it was displayed in canon that the number of such revivals must be barely countable, it also isn't unlimited, as the more damage he takes through the years, the slower his regeneration rate gets, implying that eventually he will, in fact, die permanently.
It was also implied that he is partly immune to cold, as well as hunger; it is entirely possible that not getting any food wouldn't kill him, given that he only eats soba which can hardly provide a normal human body with everything needed. It is speculated that he can eat just about anything, even if it's not edible at all. For the same reason, he is also quite immune to poison, both edible and in the form of gas.
Thanks to years of training, Kanda is a great swordsman, although it might be debatable that he excels more due to strength and speed rather than pure skill. Still, he doesn't waste movements and strikes quickly, can fight with a variety of swords without changing his style, and was shown cutting up huge, thick metal structures with a regular sword alone.
He also displays good battle instinct and his common denseness usually don't find its way into a fight; he's capable to make quick, logical decisions and won't be easily fooled by an enemy in disguise, sensing what he calls 'murderous aura' of sorts. It should also be noted that he has very strong willpower, even if it's not exactly an ability.
Finally, as an Exorcist, he is compatible with a supernatural matter called Innocence, which resides in his sword, Mugen. When activated, it allows him to use a lot of quite damaging moves, main of which are:
* First Illusion, Hell Insects: projectile attack that creates solid, scary-looking multi-eyed bugs with long,sharp stingers about the size of a horse that can run havoc at whatever they're aimed at.
* Second Illusion, Twin Blades: materializes a second sword in his other hand. This enables him to use a variety of energy-filled slashes, such as Eight Flower Mantis that looks basically like a quickly moving and deadly sharp spinning disc.
* Third Illusion; Sublimation. His strength and speed increase drastically, however it feeds off his remaining lifespan. The energy attacks can get explosive at this point.
* Fourth Illusion. Further increase in speed and power.
* Fifth Illusion. The blade starts emitting waves of electricity and changes colour; Kanda's hair goes all weird and he seems to lose awareness to the point of blindly attacking the target and anything that gets in the way until it is demolished. It takes a lot of his life and is very powerful (crater-making powerful). Some of the energy-based moves used with this, such as Ripping Flash Claw, use the power of lightning.
Finally, he is capable of taking care of plants to some extent (as gardening is mentioned as one of his hobbies), and making soba. It was implied that he can't make any other kind of food, though (in a drama CD, he adds eggs to a cake along with the shells, insisting that 'some eggshells never hurt anyone'.).
....aaaand none of his powers are exactly world-changing nor planet-destroying, nor can it be used for escape, so I don't think it needs to be nerfed? |D;; Let me know if anything, though!
Personality:
Kanda's personality is simple enough, but it actually makes him a rather complex character, possibly because the roots of his behavior differ from other series' characters that appear similar on the outside.
First of all, he is rude, stubborn, proud, rather cold and often arrogant. He doesn't open to people, nor talk to them unless he really wants to say something and even then his sentences are rather short and commonly include swearwords (even when he was 9, he already knew a word that only a row of symbols could display in the manga). He doesn't like people acting familiarly with him (and, in fact, he doesn't even shake hands with anyone - for example, when Allen offered him a handshake when they first met, he just insulted the brat and went on his merry way) nor using his first name ("Yu"), but there are a few people that seem to get away with it; General Tiedoll, Alma and later Lavi always call him Yu but are threatened less than half of those times, Lenalee can whack him in the head with no consequences and has even received a compliment from him at some point (they also sometimes meditate together, since they were children even). His overused phrase that is his most common response to things he doesn't bother to answer to is simply "Che", or a similar monosyllabic sound. He looks down on a lot of people, often even ridiculing their feelings, though he also shows certain amount of respect to his superiors and Lenalee. Due to being able to use Innocence, and possibly to all the trouble he had to endure for that, he refers to all supporters as failures; he is powerful and doesn't see the need to be modest about it.
He's also quite violent and doesn't mind to resort to drastic means to prove his point or to get what he wants, including full-fledgedly attacking his comrades when they didn't want to leave him behind, or holding his blade at a child's throat to make him confess a theft. It can also be pointed out that he shows less than zero remorse over either of these situations even after some time passing, and doesn't even seem to think he had done anything special or 'bad' at all.
In fact, he doesn't seem to get quite a lot of things, and not only because he's supposedly the dumbest out of the main four. He often can appear childish or even petty, for example stealing a ribbon from a little girl to tie his hair since his own tie got damaged in a fight with "her siblings". Due to the wicked canon, instead of being normally born he had awakened from a pond at about 9 years old biologically. Even though it is unclear if he had any knowledge and motorics already, he's soon shown walking and talking according to how a 9 year old should; however now that he's around 19 he does at points act as if he was around 10 mentally as either way that is the period during which he had life experience. And that life experience mostly included the war, as well as being disciplined to act like a soldier and not show emotions right from his 'birth'. Seeing only bloodshed for all that time, it's entirely possible that he's a little emotionally underdeveloped. AT THE SAME TIME, his 'brain' was transferred from a diseased possibly older Exorcist, and while he doesn't remember much about his 'past life' other than broken fragments of memories and the feelings he's once had, it can show as well (not necessarily by him complaining about 'young people', but you get the point).
Kanda's rude and irritable jerk nature, however, doesn't seem to be the result of the experiments he's been forced through. He had been swearing and telling people off more or less from the moment he started talking. He was also even quicker to resort to physical violence. Also one might say he was a bit whiny, close to the point of being a crybaby, what isn't the case now (although he was shown to become just as whiny when he gets drunk, and being actually rather nice (though still an asshole) to his theoretical new best friend Lavi). Grown-up Kanda appears to be a little colder and more reserved, often calling out his threats in a calm tone rather than shouting (what is only more intimidating, really), but generally he is the same as back then. JERK WITH THE HEART OF A JERK, in other words. No actual Freudian excuse there.
Despite of all that, he still shows a certain amount of care to a few people, though that care still includes threats and sometimes smacking. He respects General Tiedoll and seemed secretly rather protective of him when the enemies, the Noah, started hunting down the Generals, even though he also admitted he 'hates the old geezer' for being odd, in other words, loving. He also gets along quite well with his teammates, Marie and the late Daisya, and these don't even seem to get threatened by him - nor does Lenalee, whom he presumably grew up with. Despite of witnessing her showing her weakness possibly more than anyone else in the Order other than her brother, he also respects her and considers her a 'strong woman' - he even tells her that, and that is the only compliment Kanda has given anyone this far. He also seems to somewhat get along with Lavi, especially when drunk, and often lets him get away with calling him by his first name. His mocking lectures to Allen might also be secretly well-intended, and he was shown saving a Finder from Akuma, even though he was also shown nearly strangling one to death due to being too loud when Kanda was eating. He was also friendly, though still being his own rude pessimistic self, to Alma Karma; however despite of thinking of him as his best friend even for years afterwards, when pitched with him in a deadly match he killed him rather than letting them both go down, and later in the series he implies he's ready to do it again if needed. He had done that without knowing the full truth about the experiments though; once it is revealed that Alma has the 'soul' he had been looking for, he sees him off in a very tear-wretching manner, leaving behind everything else (although it is entirely possible he does so with intention to return if he doesn't die), and agreeing to fulfill Alma's last wish to die on his own terms rather than being finished off by Innocence. ALL IN ALL, he can be a little more tolerable when it comes to a few chosen people.
Finally, there have been several moments that might imply his mental stability being really quite questionable. Not only him being angry beyond logic and any boundaries to the point of attacking everything in his way, smiling in a feral manner while being technically killed or using violent means on subordinates to get his point across point that way; as a child he was seeing hallucinations related to his past and, when he was considered to be a failed experiment due to that and the lab decided to cryogenically freeze him, he is seen maniacally laughing like a true madman, and claiming he knows the truth moments before the ceremony starts and his resurfacing memories are broken further, almost getting him killed until he finally manages to connect to the Innocence.
Kanda's default mood is annoyed. He doesn't use a huge variety of facial expressions; most usually he has a small frown on his face. It can vary by becoming darker or going into a blank expression, there's also the truly murderous look that was shown only a couple of times this far which usually signifies blind rage that everyone sane should run away from. Even though he was shown rarely but smiling as he was a kid, he almost never does that anymore and will rather wear a smug contented expression or a slightly psychotic homicidal grin.
Kanda is loyal and puts Black Order missions as his first priority, even though he hates its Central Agency. One might say that he is in fact loyal to Komui and the Generals rather than the Order itself, and that would seem rather true. He is very serious about orders and will lecture others if he thinks they're fooling around instead of what Exorcists should do. He seems to be a man of routine to the extreme; he only eats soba and nothing else, trains every day and is mostly focused on his work. Given that he also seems to connect it all to his main goal, it could also be said that he's almost too focused in a way.
The tiny bit 'softer' side of his reflects in his hobbies, which were stated to be soba making (no wonder) and gardening. It is unknown if him being somehow related to lotus has anything to do with it, but apparently he likes plants quite a lot.
His general mindset could be described by most of the quotes relating to him, in particular, "I will carry out the orders. Whatever happens, I will." that was displayed on a chapter cover once. Everything else is second-priority to him; like stated above, he doesn't care about the means he uses to fulfill his duty. He believes that in every war there are sacrifices - one could even say, he's one of them - and thinking otherwise is simply stupid. The war and fighting is why he exists in the first place; Mugen saved his life, in a sense - all that adds to such view on the world and battle-accepting nature. He also seems to believe that everyone who has different views on these things than him are either naive, gutless or stupid. He also tends to express more through actions or looks than actual words.
Kanda's walk is firm, and at points somewhat heavy (especially if he's annoyed when it's downright marching or stomping), once again resembling a soldier's. However when he wants or needs, for example in a quick battle, he moves very easily (for example making long jumps with no strain nor clumsiness) and even gracefully, without ever contradicting his toughness vibes.
He frowns most of the time, though he has displayed quite a lot of various expressions throughout the series. It can actually look rather scary, so most people tend to get intimidated before he even talks, unless they know him, or choose to rather ignore the fact due to his otherwise 'soft' looks. Looking somewhat annoyed is his default face, and he's never seen laughing (since he was a child) and very rarely smiling. However he does tend to smirk at times, and that often looks like an actual psychotic smile, for example when he grins while the area he's in at the moment explodes to smithereens along with him.
Kanda seems to favor good hygiene, at the same time he's strangely ignorant of blood, both his own and enemies', and doesn't rush to wash it off, therefore can sometimes be seen in bloodstained clothes, not to mention the same liquid being on, for example, his face, what of course might intimidate those who meet him. When he has an opportunity and time to spare - that would mean when he's back to the HQ from the mission, or just happens to find peace and water - he will normally wash it off and even make someone (else) wash his coat for him. Generally, he prefers tidyness in everything, so it would seem. In addition, his room is shown having practically nothing but a bed, a nighttable and a clotheshanger, so that also supports the point.
NOW THEN, his goal - to find 'that person' - is very important to him, and can be played against him since he tends to be very narrow-minded on a lot of things. There's his opinion, and there's the wrong one, basically.
Another somewhat-weakness is that he's easily annoyed or provoked at a lot of times, and tends to get overconfident in his abilities when faced with a fight. He seems especially sensitive when taunts involve his intelligence. He is also way too stubborn for his own good.
Generally, people won't like him most of the time, not that he'll really care. That could be considered as a personality/mental weakness too I guess, but he doesn't seem to have many of those otherwise. Other than the unstable and seeing hallucinations constantly part, I guess.
Strengths:
First of all, it has to be willpower. It's been stated to be beyond norm. He's not easily affected by most terrible things (then again can be thrown off by small ones). His physique, thanks to his condition (see Abilities section), is also a definite strength, along with close combat and sword fight.
Weaknesses:
Rashness, (lack of) intelligence, certain narrow-mindedness for some things, underestimating people (along with opponents sometimes). He dislikes depending on others very much, and doesn't even try to be liked by people. Using his abilities drains his lifeforce, and can leave him in a vulnerable state for a while. His mental stability is kind of questionable; pressing right buttons can make him almost mindless for a while, plus he sees hallucinations, most common being lots and lots of lotus flowers, starting to partly cover his field of vision by now as they keep multiplying as time passes (and injuries are sustained, possibly). Also see the end of Personality section.
History:
Questionable Reliability Wiki link: http://dgrayman.wikia.com/wiki/Yu_Kanda
Summary:
He is an experiment of an organization called Black Order which specializes in exterminating demonic machinery called Akuma that are being created by the series' main bad guy, Millenium Earl. Akuma can only be destroyed by a material called Innocence, also known as God's Crystal, which is scattered all throughout the world in a total of 109 pieces. Certain people are compatible with those pieces and can use it as a weapon, and those people are called Exorcists.
However, Black Order wanted to gain the upper hand in that war, and that was why the "Artificial Apostle" project was started. Its goal was to manufacture "second Exorcists", beings capable of using Innocence but more durable, stronger, faster than the actual thing. It was done by implanting fragments of fatally wounded Exorcists' brains into artficial bodies that were grown in ponds in an underground laboratory.
Unfortunately, the project was a complete failure. All of the subjects that awoke in the first place would soon go mad and have to be shut down. One of them, called Alma Karma, seemed to be a success for a good while, until subject Yu Kanda woke up as well. For a while they both were put through inhuman, body-ripping attempts to synchronize with the Innocence. However Kanda, like the others, soon started to see hallucinations and hear voices, coming from the dead part's past, including a woman which would repeat that she is going to wait forever for him, and whom his brain-donor had loved. Alma didn't want to lose another friend and tried everything to save him, however in the process he discovered the labs with the dead Exorcist's corpses and realized the truth, proceeding to slaughter everyone in the facility. Meanwhile Kanda was being 'taken care of' by the scientists, Innocence finally reacting to him moments before he got killed and saving him. He was forced to face Alma, and killed him. What he didn't know however, was that Alma, in fact, had the soul fragments of that very same woman he since then dedicated his life to look for.
He was appointed as the Order's Exorcist at some point after that, and was assigned to a group lead by General Tiedoll, a very caring man. He eventually grew up and met new people, and become more powerful than ever before. And continued looking for the woman he had only seen in his visions, refusing to die until he has found her. He became rather close with a few fellow Exorcists, such as Lenalee whom he grew up with, Marie, Daisya, Lavi, and came to like the new Supervisor, Komui, because he did his best to put an end to all the human experimentation and actually looked out for the Exorcists. Plenty of times he actually puts his life on the line for them, all throughout the series, despite of seeking survival; it can be argued that in fact the most important thing to him is duty, whether to people close to him or to those he holds promises to.
Eventually, the series' main character, Allen Walker, joins the Order as well. He and Kanda hate each other from the very start, however eventually come to a sort of a grudgy tolerance, although they still dislike each other's presence. After a lot of shit happened in the main plot and the truth about Alma's real identity was revealed with the help of Allen, Kanda finally refers to him by his full name instead of the offensive nickname, first time ever in the series, before being sent off via magical wormhole known as the Ark together with Alma.
However, the honeymoon isn't as happy as it should be, because Alma is just a crumbling stump at that point - apparently the labs have kept his remains after he was killed and one day the branch was invaded and the Earl randomly turned him into Akuma, once again forcing him to fight Kanda who went a little crazy then - and so Alma says his goodbyes and dies, while Kanda's current status is unknown.
...Forgive me if it sounds confusing. It is. Even for the longtime fans. : )
First Person Sample:
[When Kanda opens his eyes and sees open blue sky, framed by pretty wild flowers and whatnot else you can find in a garden, he is pretty certain that he must be dead. Somehow. It's gotten really rough, hasn't it, it might have been possible, but... It feels off. Not that he's sure being permanently dead must feel the same as the knockouts. It's just strange.]
[It definitely feels like a different place, though. Maybe the explosion kicked him somewhere - he doesn't remember falling asleep, it would have been impossible. But what is it? No sign of anything familiar. Just... a garden, and some house in the distance.]
What the fuck.
[He continues gazing around with a somewhat vacant stare, trying to work any logic into this. Where the hell is he?]
[That small device, unknown to be called Blackberry to him yet, looks like it might have an idea. Or maybe this whole thing is its doing. And what do you do when that happens?]
[STAB IT WITH A SWORD.]
[There's static, and the feed goes out.]
Third Person Sample:
It was late afternoon, and the scenery passing behind the train's window was still sunlit, looking so very peaceful compared to what they've been seeing the last week. It was quite soothing, really. It was another mission completed, and here they were, two Exorcists who had been such for almost as long as they could remember, finally able to ease up on the tense business a little and simply rest during the travel home. Which, granted, was going to take a couple of days, but that was alright since neither of them had any injuries that would have needed staying back there and treating, though of course some bruises were there but it was the best one could expect out of what came with the job.
Kanda was wearing his usual slight scowl when he entered the compartment once again, paying no attention to the Finder in the hallway, and closed the door behind himself with a bit of a sigh. He had just checked the train for anything suspicious, just in case, because trains were suspicious, goddammit, but found nothing. What a waste of time.
"Everything seems fine," he grumbled and went to take a seat by the window, next to Lenalee though of course still keeping a respectful distance away. So another job was well done. He leaned back into the seat a bit, his expression not really changing, and blankly watched the changing landscape behind the glass.
Links:
Complaining on Dear Mun
Teaching Buttercup new badwords
Lavi angst
Allen angst
Lenalee crack
Kanda srs dream
Kanda crack failing at life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCH2UxodeyQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euFAxLww1fc
Notes:
Nothing really important. My headcanon says that his hair becomes even prettier, more fabulous and impossible to tie whenever he uses shampoo, and that's why he doesn't, because he thinks it would make him look girly. And I imagine him having a lot of plants either in his room or in a secret garden, flowers and pumpkins and stuff like that, because he does, after all, like gardening. Also, I guess I think he's pansexual rather than asexual, because he has proven he's capable of feeling like any human (sometimes..) and I don't see him as someone to whom gender (or.. the lack of it) would matter too much, especially considering there are only this few people he can at least stand. Oh and, in my headcanon he can't swim. Blame the omake implication.
OH, AND I FORGOT. In the Reverse novel, which is just as canon as the manga, it is revealed that Kanda in fact has very low tolerance from alcohol. A single glass of sake gets him all weird and somewhat whiny, and also strangely more tolerant of Lavi's antics.
Bonus:
Well, Kanda is my favorite character to play, and I enjoy putting him in ridiculous situations. And this roleplay looked like a light-hearted and fun place for the most part. So - here I am.
Name/Alias: Dem
How did you hear about Badfic?: Saw it on ATP and thought it was interesting but I couldn't figure out the musebox, later stalked a friend to it and decided I might give it a try.
IC Information:
Character Name: Yu Kanda
Name that appears on name plaque: Kanda
Character Journal:
infiniillusion Canon: D.Gray-Man
Point in Canon: chapter 199, the moment of explosion.
Age: 19-20
Birthday: June 6th
Appearance:
Kanda's appearance could be considered close to 'perfect' in a sense; the author herself has stated that he is among 'very beautiful people' that are commonly more difficult to draw, and indeed his face can almost resemble a female's at times, especially when he was younger (another character, Lenalee, had mistaken him for a girl when they met at ages 10 and 8 respectively). He generally looks Asian, even though his actual birthplace (if it even exists) remains questionable despite of being filed as Japan.
He has light, rather pale skin with no flaws nor scars except a black tattoo of the "Om" symbol on the left side of his chest, and dark eyes with long eyelashes. One of the most characteristic features of his appearance is his long, soft black hair, which he normally keeps tied up in a high ponytail in a rather specific way, leaving two long strands hanging on the sides of his straight fringe that reaches down to his eyes and therefore, in a sense, framing his face. However he was shown to wear a simple ponytail at points as well, most often when he has to tie it in a hurry (by the way, he can do that with one hand), and we also get to see his hair loose a few times, proving that it is indeed beautiful and flowing, and looks even prettier than Lenalee's (whose was complimented by Anita), sparkles of magnificence included, despite of the fact that he only uses soap to wash it.
He's stated to be 1,77 meters (5'9") tall (Edit: 1,80 after the last update) and weights around 60 kg (130 lbs). He's well-built, having enough of proportional muscle for a warrior, but at the same time it doesn't make his body look heavy, rather more to the lean side. Despite of having quite clearly masculine frame (with an androgynous face?) which is portrayed as such most of the time, there are a few occasions in the manga where his hips are drawn rather wide, what of course adds to the gender gags (such as "Kanda's child-bearing hips") among the fans.
Kanda usually wears simple, somewhat half-formal or soldier/uniform-like clothing. It mostly includes various types of black pants, either training or uniform, though I'd think he'd also be fine with most rough fabrics, and uniform boots or, at rarer occasions, a sort of sneakers or low Chinese-type shoes. On top he usually wears either white button shirts, or somewhat army-like sleeveless ones, which are commonly black; he also doesn't mind going around shirtless. He also seems to own some rather funny looking sweaters (rumors have it that actually his General made it for him). His uniform is a long coat (mandress) with a belt, and he always carries his Innocence sword Mugen with him (or, if Mugen is being repaired, a normal one as he apparently could cut a roundabout with a common sword). When he's wearing his sword on his belt rather than his shoulders like he did with his first uniform, he often keeps one hand on the hilt; whether it's a habit or simple vigilance isn't entirely clear.
Clothing examples:
[uniform: http://www.paginasprodigy.com.mx/willvandom/Imagenes%20Cosplay/Yukanda.jpg]
[casual clothing: http://www.onemanga.com/D.Gray-Man/94/02/]
[casual clothing 2: http://img1.ak.crunchyroll.com/i/spire3/f8d01803fa29dd5ba8b8287580c385c91245537785_full.jpg]
[gay sweater: http://www.onemanga.com/D.Gray-Man/135/DGM_135_pg08/]
[typical clothing in battle: http://i529.photobucket.com/albums/dd333/chancy510/kanda.png].
Abilities:
First thing to note is that he is, in fact, an artificial human. As such, his physical ability extends beyond that of simple humans; he's very fast and agile (to the point of being no more than a blur when he moves), very physically strong despite his looks (capable of breaking holes in concrete with his punch or kick as well as splitting a machine in half with a sword alone), and he's a regenerator.
The extent of his regeneration exceeds death, in fact; most of his wounds heal in the matter of hours, he's capable of regrowing a lost limb or crushed organs, and, when killed, he will come to life as if nothing has happened approximately 580 seconds after the death. While it was displayed in canon that the number of such revivals must be barely countable, it also isn't unlimited, as the more damage he takes through the years, the slower his regeneration rate gets, implying that eventually he will, in fact, die permanently.
It was also implied that he is partly immune to cold, as well as hunger; it is entirely possible that not getting any food wouldn't kill him, given that he only eats soba which can hardly provide a normal human body with everything needed. It is speculated that he can eat just about anything, even if it's not edible at all. For the same reason, he is also quite immune to poison, both edible and in the form of gas.
Thanks to years of training, Kanda is a great swordsman, although it might be debatable that he excels more due to strength and speed rather than pure skill. Still, he doesn't waste movements and strikes quickly, can fight with a variety of swords without changing his style, and was shown cutting up huge, thick metal structures with a regular sword alone.
He also displays good battle instinct and his common denseness usually don't find its way into a fight; he's capable to make quick, logical decisions and won't be easily fooled by an enemy in disguise, sensing what he calls 'murderous aura' of sorts. It should also be noted that he has very strong willpower, even if it's not exactly an ability.
Finally, as an Exorcist, he is compatible with a supernatural matter called Innocence, which resides in his sword, Mugen. When activated, it allows him to use a lot of quite damaging moves, main of which are:
* First Illusion, Hell Insects: projectile attack that creates solid, scary-looking multi-eyed bugs with long,sharp stingers about the size of a horse that can run havoc at whatever they're aimed at.
* Second Illusion, Twin Blades: materializes a second sword in his other hand. This enables him to use a variety of energy-filled slashes, such as Eight Flower Mantis that looks basically like a quickly moving and deadly sharp spinning disc.
* Third Illusion; Sublimation. His strength and speed increase drastically, however it feeds off his remaining lifespan. The energy attacks can get explosive at this point.
* Fourth Illusion. Further increase in speed and power.
* Fifth Illusion. The blade starts emitting waves of electricity and changes colour; Kanda's hair goes all weird and he seems to lose awareness to the point of blindly attacking the target and anything that gets in the way until it is demolished. It takes a lot of his life and is very powerful (crater-making powerful). Some of the energy-based moves used with this, such as Ripping Flash Claw, use the power of lightning.
Finally, he is capable of taking care of plants to some extent (as gardening is mentioned as one of his hobbies), and making soba. It was implied that he can't make any other kind of food, though (in a drama CD, he adds eggs to a cake along with the shells, insisting that 'some eggshells never hurt anyone'.).
....aaaand none of his powers are exactly world-changing nor planet-destroying, nor can it be used for escape, so I don't think it needs to be nerfed? |D;; Let me know if anything, though!
Personality:
Kanda's personality is simple enough, but it actually makes him a rather complex character, possibly because the roots of his behavior differ from other series' characters that appear similar on the outside.
First of all, he is rude, stubborn, proud, rather cold and often arrogant. He doesn't open to people, nor talk to them unless he really wants to say something and even then his sentences are rather short and commonly include swearwords (even when he was 9, he already knew a word that only a row of symbols could display in the manga). He doesn't like people acting familiarly with him (and, in fact, he doesn't even shake hands with anyone - for example, when Allen offered him a handshake when they first met, he just insulted the brat and went on his merry way) nor using his first name ("Yu"), but there are a few people that seem to get away with it; General Tiedoll, Alma and later Lavi always call him Yu but are threatened less than half of those times, Lenalee can whack him in the head with no consequences and has even received a compliment from him at some point (they also sometimes meditate together, since they were children even). His overused phrase that is his most common response to things he doesn't bother to answer to is simply "Che", or a similar monosyllabic sound. He looks down on a lot of people, often even ridiculing their feelings, though he also shows certain amount of respect to his superiors and Lenalee. Due to being able to use Innocence, and possibly to all the trouble he had to endure for that, he refers to all supporters as failures; he is powerful and doesn't see the need to be modest about it.
He's also quite violent and doesn't mind to resort to drastic means to prove his point or to get what he wants, including full-fledgedly attacking his comrades when they didn't want to leave him behind, or holding his blade at a child's throat to make him confess a theft. It can also be pointed out that he shows less than zero remorse over either of these situations even after some time passing, and doesn't even seem to think he had done anything special or 'bad' at all.
In fact, he doesn't seem to get quite a lot of things, and not only because he's supposedly the dumbest out of the main four. He often can appear childish or even petty, for example stealing a ribbon from a little girl to tie his hair since his own tie got damaged in a fight with "her siblings". Due to the wicked canon, instead of being normally born he had awakened from a pond at about 9 years old biologically. Even though it is unclear if he had any knowledge and motorics already, he's soon shown walking and talking according to how a 9 year old should; however now that he's around 19 he does at points act as if he was around 10 mentally as either way that is the period during which he had life experience. And that life experience mostly included the war, as well as being disciplined to act like a soldier and not show emotions right from his 'birth'. Seeing only bloodshed for all that time, it's entirely possible that he's a little emotionally underdeveloped. AT THE SAME TIME, his 'brain' was transferred from a diseased possibly older Exorcist, and while he doesn't remember much about his 'past life' other than broken fragments of memories and the feelings he's once had, it can show as well (not necessarily by him complaining about 'young people', but you get the point).
Kanda's rude and irritable jerk nature, however, doesn't seem to be the result of the experiments he's been forced through. He had been swearing and telling people off more or less from the moment he started talking. He was also even quicker to resort to physical violence. Also one might say he was a bit whiny, close to the point of being a crybaby, what isn't the case now (although he was shown to become just as whiny when he gets drunk, and being actually rather nice (though still an asshole) to his theoretical new best friend Lavi). Grown-up Kanda appears to be a little colder and more reserved, often calling out his threats in a calm tone rather than shouting (what is only more intimidating, really), but generally he is the same as back then. JERK WITH THE HEART OF A JERK, in other words. No actual Freudian excuse there.
Despite of all that, he still shows a certain amount of care to a few people, though that care still includes threats and sometimes smacking. He respects General Tiedoll and seemed secretly rather protective of him when the enemies, the Noah, started hunting down the Generals, even though he also admitted he 'hates the old geezer' for being odd, in other words, loving. He also gets along quite well with his teammates, Marie and the late Daisya, and these don't even seem to get threatened by him - nor does Lenalee, whom he presumably grew up with. Despite of witnessing her showing her weakness possibly more than anyone else in the Order other than her brother, he also respects her and considers her a 'strong woman' - he even tells her that, and that is the only compliment Kanda has given anyone this far. He also seems to somewhat get along with Lavi, especially when drunk, and often lets him get away with calling him by his first name. His mocking lectures to Allen might also be secretly well-intended, and he was shown saving a Finder from Akuma, even though he was also shown nearly strangling one to death due to being too loud when Kanda was eating. He was also friendly, though still being his own rude pessimistic self, to Alma Karma; however despite of thinking of him as his best friend even for years afterwards, when pitched with him in a deadly match he killed him rather than letting them both go down, and later in the series he implies he's ready to do it again if needed. He had done that without knowing the full truth about the experiments though; once it is revealed that Alma has the 'soul' he had been looking for, he sees him off in a very tear-wretching manner, leaving behind everything else (although it is entirely possible he does so with intention to return if he doesn't die), and agreeing to fulfill Alma's last wish to die on his own terms rather than being finished off by Innocence. ALL IN ALL, he can be a little more tolerable when it comes to a few chosen people.
Finally, there have been several moments that might imply his mental stability being really quite questionable. Not only him being angry beyond logic and any boundaries to the point of attacking everything in his way, smiling in a feral manner while being technically killed or using violent means on subordinates to get his point across point that way; as a child he was seeing hallucinations related to his past and, when he was considered to be a failed experiment due to that and the lab decided to cryogenically freeze him, he is seen maniacally laughing like a true madman, and claiming he knows the truth moments before the ceremony starts and his resurfacing memories are broken further, almost getting him killed until he finally manages to connect to the Innocence.
Kanda's default mood is annoyed. He doesn't use a huge variety of facial expressions; most usually he has a small frown on his face. It can vary by becoming darker or going into a blank expression, there's also the truly murderous look that was shown only a couple of times this far which usually signifies blind rage that everyone sane should run away from. Even though he was shown rarely but smiling as he was a kid, he almost never does that anymore and will rather wear a smug contented expression or a slightly psychotic homicidal grin.
Kanda is loyal and puts Black Order missions as his first priority, even though he hates its Central Agency. One might say that he is in fact loyal to Komui and the Generals rather than the Order itself, and that would seem rather true. He is very serious about orders and will lecture others if he thinks they're fooling around instead of what Exorcists should do. He seems to be a man of routine to the extreme; he only eats soba and nothing else, trains every day and is mostly focused on his work. Given that he also seems to connect it all to his main goal, it could also be said that he's almost too focused in a way.
The tiny bit 'softer' side of his reflects in his hobbies, which were stated to be soba making (no wonder) and gardening. It is unknown if him being somehow related to lotus has anything to do with it, but apparently he likes plants quite a lot.
His general mindset could be described by most of the quotes relating to him, in particular, "I will carry out the orders. Whatever happens, I will." that was displayed on a chapter cover once. Everything else is second-priority to him; like stated above, he doesn't care about the means he uses to fulfill his duty. He believes that in every war there are sacrifices - one could even say, he's one of them - and thinking otherwise is simply stupid. The war and fighting is why he exists in the first place; Mugen saved his life, in a sense - all that adds to such view on the world and battle-accepting nature. He also seems to believe that everyone who has different views on these things than him are either naive, gutless or stupid. He also tends to express more through actions or looks than actual words.
Kanda's walk is firm, and at points somewhat heavy (especially if he's annoyed when it's downright marching or stomping), once again resembling a soldier's. However when he wants or needs, for example in a quick battle, he moves very easily (for example making long jumps with no strain nor clumsiness) and even gracefully, without ever contradicting his toughness vibes.
He frowns most of the time, though he has displayed quite a lot of various expressions throughout the series. It can actually look rather scary, so most people tend to get intimidated before he even talks, unless they know him, or choose to rather ignore the fact due to his otherwise 'soft' looks. Looking somewhat annoyed is his default face, and he's never seen laughing (since he was a child) and very rarely smiling. However he does tend to smirk at times, and that often looks like an actual psychotic smile, for example when he grins while the area he's in at the moment explodes to smithereens along with him.
Kanda seems to favor good hygiene, at the same time he's strangely ignorant of blood, both his own and enemies', and doesn't rush to wash it off, therefore can sometimes be seen in bloodstained clothes, not to mention the same liquid being on, for example, his face, what of course might intimidate those who meet him. When he has an opportunity and time to spare - that would mean when he's back to the HQ from the mission, or just happens to find peace and water - he will normally wash it off and even make someone (else) wash his coat for him. Generally, he prefers tidyness in everything, so it would seem. In addition, his room is shown having practically nothing but a bed, a nighttable and a clotheshanger, so that also supports the point.
NOW THEN, his goal - to find 'that person' - is very important to him, and can be played against him since he tends to be very narrow-minded on a lot of things. There's his opinion, and there's the wrong one, basically.
Another somewhat-weakness is that he's easily annoyed or provoked at a lot of times, and tends to get overconfident in his abilities when faced with a fight. He seems especially sensitive when taunts involve his intelligence. He is also way too stubborn for his own good.
Generally, people won't like him most of the time, not that he'll really care. That could be considered as a personality/mental weakness too I guess, but he doesn't seem to have many of those otherwise. Other than the unstable and seeing hallucinations constantly part, I guess.
Strengths:
First of all, it has to be willpower. It's been stated to be beyond norm. He's not easily affected by most terrible things (then again can be thrown off by small ones). His physique, thanks to his condition (see Abilities section), is also a definite strength, along with close combat and sword fight.
Weaknesses:
Rashness, (lack of) intelligence, certain narrow-mindedness for some things, underestimating people (along with opponents sometimes). He dislikes depending on others very much, and doesn't even try to be liked by people. Using his abilities drains his lifeforce, and can leave him in a vulnerable state for a while. His mental stability is kind of questionable; pressing right buttons can make him almost mindless for a while, plus he sees hallucinations, most common being lots and lots of lotus flowers, starting to partly cover his field of vision by now as they keep multiplying as time passes (and injuries are sustained, possibly). Also see the end of Personality section.
History:
Questionable Reliability Wiki link: http://dgrayman.wikia.com/wiki/Yu_Kanda
Summary:
He is an experiment of an organization called Black Order which specializes in exterminating demonic machinery called Akuma that are being created by the series' main bad guy, Millenium Earl. Akuma can only be destroyed by a material called Innocence, also known as God's Crystal, which is scattered all throughout the world in a total of 109 pieces. Certain people are compatible with those pieces and can use it as a weapon, and those people are called Exorcists.
However, Black Order wanted to gain the upper hand in that war, and that was why the "Artificial Apostle" project was started. Its goal was to manufacture "second Exorcists", beings capable of using Innocence but more durable, stronger, faster than the actual thing. It was done by implanting fragments of fatally wounded Exorcists' brains into artficial bodies that were grown in ponds in an underground laboratory.
Unfortunately, the project was a complete failure. All of the subjects that awoke in the first place would soon go mad and have to be shut down. One of them, called Alma Karma, seemed to be a success for a good while, until subject Yu Kanda woke up as well. For a while they both were put through inhuman, body-ripping attempts to synchronize with the Innocence. However Kanda, like the others, soon started to see hallucinations and hear voices, coming from the dead part's past, including a woman which would repeat that she is going to wait forever for him, and whom his brain-donor had loved. Alma didn't want to lose another friend and tried everything to save him, however in the process he discovered the labs with the dead Exorcist's corpses and realized the truth, proceeding to slaughter everyone in the facility. Meanwhile Kanda was being 'taken care of' by the scientists, Innocence finally reacting to him moments before he got killed and saving him. He was forced to face Alma, and killed him. What he didn't know however, was that Alma, in fact, had the soul fragments of that very same woman he since then dedicated his life to look for.
He was appointed as the Order's Exorcist at some point after that, and was assigned to a group lead by General Tiedoll, a very caring man. He eventually grew up and met new people, and become more powerful than ever before. And continued looking for the woman he had only seen in his visions, refusing to die until he has found her. He became rather close with a few fellow Exorcists, such as Lenalee whom he grew up with, Marie, Daisya, Lavi, and came to like the new Supervisor, Komui, because he did his best to put an end to all the human experimentation and actually looked out for the Exorcists. Plenty of times he actually puts his life on the line for them, all throughout the series, despite of seeking survival; it can be argued that in fact the most important thing to him is duty, whether to people close to him or to those he holds promises to.
Eventually, the series' main character, Allen Walker, joins the Order as well. He and Kanda hate each other from the very start, however eventually come to a sort of a grudgy tolerance, although they still dislike each other's presence. After a lot of shit happened in the main plot and the truth about Alma's real identity was revealed with the help of Allen, Kanda finally refers to him by his full name instead of the offensive nickname, first time ever in the series, before being sent off via magical wormhole known as the Ark together with Alma.
However, the honeymoon isn't as happy as it should be, because Alma is just a crumbling stump at that point - apparently the labs have kept his remains after he was killed and one day the branch was invaded and the Earl randomly turned him into Akuma, once again forcing him to fight Kanda who went a little crazy then - and so Alma says his goodbyes and dies, while Kanda's current status is unknown.
...Forgive me if it sounds confusing. It is. Even for the longtime fans. : )
First Person Sample:
[When Kanda opens his eyes and sees open blue sky, framed by pretty wild flowers and whatnot else you can find in a garden, he is pretty certain that he must be dead. Somehow. It's gotten really rough, hasn't it, it might have been possible, but... It feels off. Not that he's sure being permanently dead must feel the same as the knockouts. It's just strange.]
[It definitely feels like a different place, though. Maybe the explosion kicked him somewhere - he doesn't remember falling asleep, it would have been impossible. But what is it? No sign of anything familiar. Just... a garden, and some house in the distance.]
What the fuck.
[He continues gazing around with a somewhat vacant stare, trying to work any logic into this. Where the hell is he?]
[That small device, unknown to be called Blackberry to him yet, looks like it might have an idea. Or maybe this whole thing is its doing. And what do you do when that happens?]
[STAB IT WITH A SWORD.]
[There's static, and the feed goes out.]
Third Person Sample:
It was late afternoon, and the scenery passing behind the train's window was still sunlit, looking so very peaceful compared to what they've been seeing the last week. It was quite soothing, really. It was another mission completed, and here they were, two Exorcists who had been such for almost as long as they could remember, finally able to ease up on the tense business a little and simply rest during the travel home. Which, granted, was going to take a couple of days, but that was alright since neither of them had any injuries that would have needed staying back there and treating, though of course some bruises were there but it was the best one could expect out of what came with the job.
Kanda was wearing his usual slight scowl when he entered the compartment once again, paying no attention to the Finder in the hallway, and closed the door behind himself with a bit of a sigh. He had just checked the train for anything suspicious, just in case, because trains were suspicious, goddammit, but found nothing. What a waste of time.
"Everything seems fine," he grumbled and went to take a seat by the window, next to Lenalee though of course still keeping a respectful distance away. So another job was well done. He leaned back into the seat a bit, his expression not really changing, and blankly watched the changing landscape behind the glass.
Links:
Complaining on Dear Mun
Teaching Buttercup new badwords
Lavi angst
Allen angst
Lenalee crack
Kanda srs dream
Kanda crack failing at life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCH2UxodeyQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euFAxLww1fc
Notes:
Nothing really important. My headcanon says that his hair becomes even prettier, more fabulous and impossible to tie whenever he uses shampoo, and that's why he doesn't, because he thinks it would make him look girly. And I imagine him having a lot of plants either in his room or in a secret garden, flowers and pumpkins and stuff like that, because he does, after all, like gardening. Also, I guess I think he's pansexual rather than asexual, because he has proven he's capable of feeling like any human (sometimes..) and I don't see him as someone to whom gender (or.. the lack of it) would matter too much, especially considering there are only this few people he can at least stand. Oh and, in my headcanon he can't swim. Blame the omake implication.
OH, AND I FORGOT. In the Reverse novel, which is just as canon as the manga, it is revealed that Kanda in fact has very low tolerance from alcohol. A single glass of sake gets him all weird and somewhat whiny, and also strangely more tolerant of Lavi's antics.
Bonus:
Well, Kanda is my favorite character to play, and I enjoy putting him in ridiculous situations. And this roleplay looked like a light-hearted and fun place for the most part. So - here I am.