But like seriously, why does anyone let me RP. Languish App for Marco!

[silverwolfcc]

PLAYER INFO
Name | Wolf / CC
Personal Journal | http://silverwolfcc.dreamwidth.org/
Contact | LittleTigerCC12@hotmail.com, LittleTigerCC12 on aim, fierybluebird on DW
Current Character(s) | None! Also apping Smoker this round however


CHARACTER INFO
Name | Marco
Series | One Piece
Canon Point | Chapter 590
Reference | http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/Marco
Age | At least 36 -- canon doesn't say, and due to his phoenix devil fruit it could be much higher, but he is definitely at least 36 since he's shown during Shiki's visit looking roughly the same, which probably puts him more at late 40s or early 50s. He looks hard to date age-wise beyond middle-aged, and this is likely again due to his phoenix side.
Gender | Male
Suitability | N/A
Appearance | While he'll be staying as he is in canon, he does transform into a phoenix. Both with canon and fanart mixed in and phoenix in midflight and human form.
Personality | Marco is extremely strong: physically, fighting and also mentally, as he has a lot of willpower and was able to resist falling asleep from Shanks' haki. He's ridiculously protective of his crew and anyone he cares about as an ally or trusted friend. He loves Whitebeard as a father, calling him Pops like the rest of the crew does, and was the first person to explain to Ace why the pirates trust and love Whitebeard as a father. He gets very distraught when someone hurts his crewmates, and tends to be the worrier of the crew, sometimes referred to as the "Mother Hen" in fanon. He's intimately well-informed of crew matters being one of Whitebeard's most trusted commander and is seen as very responsible, even duty-bound at times. As the first division commander he's "the big brother" of the family that is the Whitebeard crew and he looks after all his little brothers, calling them "young ones" and treating them like idiots until they get stronger and learn more about how the world works. He has a deadpan sense of humor, claiming in the middle of battle to be severely hurt by Kizaru even when he was completely unharmed, and is shown to be quite sarcastic while maintaining an emotionless face. He doesn't like to show weakness to enemies or outsiders and because a lot of people (such as Crocodile) want to kill Whitebeard to take his place or in an attempt to become the next pirate king, he's usually wary of them. However, he does take a quick liking to Luffy, partly because he knew how important he was to Ace and also because Luffy stopped Crocodile from attacking Whitebeard in the fight.

Marco has an intense loyalty to Whitebeard. So much so that he generally dislikes Red-Hair Shanks for frequently asking Marco to switch sides and join his crew instead. He also got annoyed with Shanks for using haki on his crew, which Marco is very protective of. His love for Whitebeard (and worry thereof) is so great that despite the composure Marco shows through the rest of the battle at Marineford, when Whitebeard got hurt and started to fall, Marco turned his back on his enemy to try to rush to Whitebeard's side and this got him into handcuffs draining him of his phoenix powers. He openly cried at both Ace and Whitebeard's deaths even though it was in the middle of a battlefield, but he still maintained the presence of mind to try to get the rest of his crew to safety -- showing exactly why he was one of Whitebeard's strongest commanders, mentally as well as physically. Likewise, Marco is extremely intelligent, and knowledgeable about aspects of the world, that few, if anyone, knows much about.

He was extraordinarily worried about Ace when Fire-Fist took off to avenge Thatch against Blackbeard and even tried to stop Ace, because while he trusts his fellow commanders to have the strength to take care of themselves, and knew Ace's capabilities, Whitebeard told Ace to stand down, he trusted Whitebeard's judgement intimately and likewise trusted that Thatch was strong enough to survive where he couldn't, which meant Blackbeard far exceeded anyone's expectations of strength (as Shanks tried to inform the Whitebeard crew, though they already knew.) In spite of this however, in order to save face for Ace and his pride, Marco backed up Whitebeard every step of the way in the claim that they ordered Ace to hunt Blackbeard down even to Shanks and the world at Marineford.

Even without being Teach's division commander, Marco kept a close enough eye on Blackbeard to know things about him no one else appears to. This is most likely due to his care for all of his crew, not just his own division, and his attention to fine details that was necessary to help his captain keep the crew running smoothly. However, in spite of the friendship and closeness to his crewmates, Marco still managed to keep a managerial distance, calling the newer crew members "young ones" and making it very clear that they took orders from him. He can be warm and gentle with them (like making sure to bring Ace food), but for all his affection for his supposed little brothers, Marco doesn't hesitate to take lone action himself, like surging ahead in a battle.

The Whitebeard pirates in general have the reputation of swift and terrible vengeance, and Marco is by no means exempt for this. His fury for Blackbeard for killing Thatch was only compounded by turning Ace into the marines to be executed and worse yet for killing their captain. He was also furious with Akainu (who delivered Ace's killing blow), but in spite of that and all the other times the crew made sure to exterminate anyone who hurt their family; Marco knew his first responsibility was to keeping the rest of the crew safe and alive. If he rushed back in the way he surely wanted to, his crew would have tried to back him up and gotten hurt. Thus Marco put the priority of making sure as many got back out alive as possible above their reputed priority of vengeance.

He can come across as very flippant and dismissive, part of his cocky arrogance and also part of his sense of humor. When Rockstar was trying to brag about his fame and asking if anyone had ever heard of him, Marco quickly retorted, "No," steamrolling anymore attempts on the pirate messenger's part to puff up his name and own ego. He can be extremely deadpan and sarcastic even in the middle of a battle, and usually jokes lies with a completely straight face. He lights up and he's at his best and happiest when he's talking about his Pops and how much they love him and why. There's a glimmer of this reflection when he's explaining things to his crew around him, or straight-away agreeing with his Pops (like minds), or when he's proudly determined thinking that even if victory isn't immediately at hand, it'll be fun to try.

Despite easily having one of the highest bounties in the world, being the second-hand-man to the strongest man in the world, and having one of the rarest and strongest devil fruits in the world, Marco doesn't talk much about himself or brag at all. Instead, he seems to share some of Whitebeard's dream of a desire for family in that Marco wants to keep them safe. He's smart and at least a little ambitious to reach the rank he did, but he has no desire to be the next Pirate King, and even having been around during Gold Roger's rise to fame (as well as Golden Leo Shiki's), Marco's loyalty was always to Whitebeard because he respected his captain so much for wanting family and love instead of jewels or power. Following in his captain's footsteps, Marco's strength and power isn't used to make him famous, but instead to protect the beloved crew he has. While Whitebeard was supposedly taking a gamble on Ace's "Will of the D" carrying the new generation of pirates into the future and setting Ace up to become the next Pirate King, Marco supported this stance and never sought it himself.

Whitebeard himself was most famous for not allowing slavery and even taking islands under his protection to stop other pirates from trying to engage in it. He adopted any son of the sea who needed a home as one of his own and didn't hold any discriminations based on race, species, abilities, personality, and was a very firm believer that a son should never be held to pay for the sins of a father. Marco backed up all of these beliefs every step of the way, worked with cross-dressers, fishmen, monsters, giants, and other seeming outcasts without question or pause. The only thing Marco seemed to have troubles with was forgiving someone who hurt his crew; same thing Whitebeard himself said he could never forgive. And when Squardo was beating himself up for getting tricked by the marines into attacking Whitebeard, Marco was furious with him, but got straight to the heart of the matter and told Squardo that agonizing over the mistake wasn't going to fix it or help them. If Squardo wanted to be sorry, he could prove it by backing Pops up and helping him against the marines to rescue Ace.

One of Marco's biggest strengths is his usual ability to keep a level head in bad situations. He's deadpan and nearly unflappable; the only thing that gets to him is seeing his family/crew hurt. He can rationally analyze most situations and he's excellent at getting straight to the heart of the matter or cutting through unimportant details along the way. As one of the older crewmembers and first division commander, he's earned the respect and loyalty of his men and even most of the entire 1600 man crew, and yet he cares about all of them, even if they're new and younger and he sometimes calls them idiots. He would even take time out of his day to bring Ace soup and talk with him; well understanding the importance of simple gestures and because he really looks out for the crew that much.

Marco is so rational and even tempered, that he's able to put his desire for vengeance against Teach second to keeping his family safe -- particularly knowing that this is what Thatch, Whitebeard, and even Ace would want. When Ace died, for all of Marco's fury and outrage, he made it his priority for the crew to protect Luffy at any cost, even though this meant letting Akainu go rather than killing him (despite again, the crew's reputation the world over for vengeance). Marco has a lot of experience in fighting, the New World, and piracy at large since they lived in the most dangerous part of the world, had a captain who had frequent assassination attempts on his head, and Marco's been part of the crew since before Shiki's visit to Whitebeard (20 years prior to Strong World/canon before the timeskip.) This means he knows a lot about the ocean's hazards, and enough to keep his family safe through all of that.


Possessions | A belt, anklet worn up around his calf, three-quarters length capris, cyan blue sash, purple shirt (always unbuttoned), sandals and a pair of glasses that do nothing.
Character Abilities/Powers | As a phoenix, Marco is able to procure blue flames with limited regeneration powers. The flames do not burn however; but Marco is so adept at using his devil fruit that unlike most zoans who can only switch between 3 modes (hybrid, original/human, and full form of the alternate species) he can procure the flames at whim. Likewise, he's shown himself able to transform any part of his body he wants into a phoenix form without completely switching into hybrid or full phoenix. His phoenix form is large enough to carry a normal-sized human, well capable of flying, (which Marco can also do just by switching his arms into wings) and very fast. He's a very strong martial artist and prefers to kick; partly as a reference to phoenix lore, and also because with his arms in wings, he likes to hang suspended and have the option of backing up with them. Due to the wings and devil fruit, he's a little bit of an acrobat, known for flips and kicking while upside down.

Able to hold his own against all three marine admirals, who are all logia (elemental devil fruit specifically: magma, ice, light) and highly trained in the use of "haki," Marco is also very strong with his own haki. Haki is the One Piece world's condensed spiritual pressure which can be used to pierce the elemental logia types; put weak-willed foes to sleep or stop them in their tracks, and resist blows like an armor. When one of the pirate emperors was visiting Whitebeard using all their haki and making Marco's crew pass out, Marco was easily able to resist -- something expected of one of the strongest men in the world, and first division commander in the crew of the strongest man in the world.

-- However, I understand that Marco's regeneration and flying wouldn't work without potions? Though I'd like him to take a little while to figure that out ICly if possible. Also his transformation would be capped at 12 hours, if I understand it right. Also would he still have damage absorption? For example clip here. I suppose it wouldn't matter unless he got into a fight, but it could change the nature of some of the kinks I think.

Weaknesses/Fears | Being a devil fruit user, Marco is weak to ocean and seastone and cursed to never able to swim again. As shown by Garp and Onigumo, when taken off guard, Marco can get hit very hard and thrown off course or even locked up in seastone. He values his family (Whitebeard and crew) first and foremost and seeing one of them stumble or hurt severely hits his morale because he instantly tries to rush to their aid despite the enemies he's facing himself -- which led to huge problems for him in the fight against the marines in Marineford. He's a little too cocky and flippant sometimes, and even life or death battles he doesn't seem to take seriously unless he's absolutely forced to; which can lead to him making some careless mistakes.

He can be a bit aloof and standoffish with people who aren't part of his crew/family, which would be much more of a detriment in a world away from them, as he's actually quite dependent on the crew and would be a little lost without them. His lack of ambition is a small weakness as, much as George McClellan had trouble in the American Civil War; Marco would rather keep every single one of his crew members as safe as possible. He will not risk them for anything and when it comes to protecting them, he'll attempt to sacrifice himself even when it wouldn't help as much (such as running back to try to save them, oblivious to his own fight).

Marco is used to being able to use the fear and intimidation from his connections to Whitebeard and his bounty poster infamy to get his own way. Recently in canon, facing the loss of his father & captain, as well as two of his best friends and having the responsibility of taking care of the surviving crew has shook up his otherwise unflappable calm. Moreover, with their crew's infamy came several islands under Whitebeard's protection which is no more, and the man Marco lost his three "family" members to: Blackbeard, is only rising in power daily. So as an added responsibility of looking after his family, Marco would have to deal with the inability to keep the islands safe the way his father did, and forced to watch them fall to chaos of other pirates wanting to take Whitebeard's place, or forced to sacrifice his family (which he will not do.) Still more pressing on him is the Whitebeard crew's reputation for revenge stopped being upheld when Thatch died and they weren't able to save nor avenge Ace or even Whitebeard. Instead they had to get rescued by Shanks, whom Marco originally held some resentment and general dislike for.

During the battle of Marineford, when Whitebeard stumbled and started coughing up blood, Marco openly admitted that was the thing he'd feared the most. His father had been sick even before the battle, and Marco was completely terrified of losing Whitebeard to illness, injury, and even death. So even knowing it was inevitable, Marco still panicked and turned his back on an enemy so that he could try to rush to Whitebeard's side instead to protect him. While he has had to since face that fear head-on (since Whitebeard died in front of him), it's still a fear that extends to trying to protect the rest of his family, and deal with their numerous enemies.

Requested Village | Muir
NPC mini-plot | Sure!


SAMPLES
First-person | [Video]
[Marco's sitting outside at the Teahouse over by the beach in Muir. For all his usual calm composure, he does look a million miles away, despite opening up a post.] Parts of this place really remind me of home, eh. Fuar is like a winter island, and then the dragons remind me of Wano Island, and the mermaids definitely remind me of Fishman Island, of course. Even if it has been ages since I was there.... [He trails off. Whatever the thoughts about that, he doesn't voice them, just shakes his head to focus back on the present.] So I really have to wonder if there's a place with cherry blossoms always in bloom.

There's an island back home like that, and it's absolutely gorgeous in double spring -- that's when a spring island is also in its spring seasonal cycle. There's an old legend that cherry blossoms can heal anything, and often old pirate rivals agree to automatic truces under such a thing. I suppose it's a long shot, but with everything else here, you never know right? Had to ask. Maybe some part of Ithir? It'd be nice to see something like that again. To share drinks under cherry blossoms in Spring.

Third-person |
The first chance he got, Marco bought the air potion without hesitation. It had been too long to have his wings clipped by an invisible force. Or if not quite clipped, certainly unnaturally weighted down. It was unbearable. He could still turn into a phoenix, but not being able to fly? That was like being a caged canary who was still asked to sing. Or stuck like some annoying ostrich. Intolerable.

He wasn't sure he really wanted to go all the way up to the sky island -- or floating island. Whatever they called it here. He was a little curious about seeing so many dragons, and whether the amusement park was anything like Sabaody, but going alone wasn't his style, and he wasn't sure if this potion would do the trick to let him carry a friend up with him. Flying around merely over tree tops might not seem like much to anyone else, but Marco didn't care. They couldn't understand what it was like to have that kind of freedom every day and then suddenly lose it.

It was something that needed sharing. For now though, Marco wanted to test out his wings for himself and make sure it was safe. He took into flight, letting the wind rush past his face and feeling the air breeze through feathers made of flames. It was where he was meant to be. In the sky looking after his nakama below. The last time he'd been flying was in the fight at Marineford, the "Battle of the Best" as it was known. More like War of the Worst as far as Marco was concerned. Too many had died and for what? Because the government was dumb enough to think they could use a man who would betray anyone, even his own father and family. Idiots.

The air was crisp and that was a better focus for Marco than a past he couldn't change. He couldn't help his thoughts drifting to the future. To kill Blackbeard, to protect the islands, to protect his family, all goals that would have to wait. This was vacation wasn't it? Even if flying could only be for special occasions, worrying wasn't going to get him anywhere. For now, he might as well just enjoy the moment.