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[daddykong]

OOC INFORMATION
Name: Phil
Discord: Phil#3335

CHARACTER INFORMATION
Journal: daddykong
Character Name: Dr. Hruggarrot Murtakhor, M.D. also goes by Garrot, Garrett, and Gar but never Garry. He'll fight you.
Gender/Pronouns: He/Him/"Dad what the hell?!"
Age: 46
Race: Half-Bugbear
Height: 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)
Weight: 295 lbs (133.8 kg)
Home Continent: Koskenkorva

Character History:

MurtaCorp was started by one Hruggahul Murtakhor (aka Reggie), seeking to provide "mercenary medical services," regardless of international divisions. While the idea sounded noble enough, it was often hard for people to get the right impression from a big, mean-looking bugbear dropping the word "mercenary" with a stethoscope around his neck. That was where the hustle was, when the composed, human figure of Elysa would stroll in and sell the skeptics. Because hey, if they've already got military-trained doctors who are good under fire, it's less training the countries need to focus on. The best part was that it actually worked, and they could dispatch doctors to any corner of the world, and add in bonus jobs like "check in on this remote town and make sure they're doing okay." Sure, there were some concerns about helping multiple sides of a war or espionage, but they were helping people, not selling weapons. Things were going great!

But then Hruggarrot happened. He was born safe and warm and very loved, about as larger and fuzzier as could be expected of a half-bugbear. It helped, because the capital of Koskenkorva was just as cold and unforgiving as the rest of it. The family was loaded with cash, but the potential blowback from a hybrid child in more conservative eyes could make things even more difficult for a company that was already so controversial. So obviously they shrugged off notions of marriage, Elysa let slip that her baby (with an unnamed human male) died in childbirth and she'd be taking a leave of absence. As Reggie picked up the slack, she would continue to work her job as possible, whenever she wasn't raising a crying, clawed half-monster behind closed doors or having clandestine visits from the father. Things got easier, and as Hruggarrot became a toddler, both parents encountered more freedoms and were able to actually co-parent. They also encountered that the name was a mouthful and often shortened it to "Garrot." Sure, he took his father's last name because he looked quite like a bugbear and he couldn't be out with his mother in public, and his nickname was similar enough to "Garrett" that nobody realized is name was aggressively goblinoid, but he was sheltered enough and young enough that he couldn't see anything as wrong. He just knew his parents loved him and it was really cold outside and that if anyone asked about his mother when she wasn't in the room, she was a "buggubbarb". Close enough.

...The Wizard happened when he was seven years old. And then the second time happened. See, the first time, they didn't take it seriously and then a cratered mountain was a thing, and the second time meant it wasn't over with. The continents were more willing to cooperate with one another, which meant MurtaCorp wasn't as heavily scrutinized, and people were forced to be a little more accepting. They were able to expand their clientele and indiscriminately help whoever could pay... or feasibly pay later. So the Murtakhor family went public that they were, y'know, a family, and they were able to find happiness and stability despite the yearly deathtraps.

Or, well, that was the hope. Many businesses, MurtaCorp included, began to focus on anti-Wizard approaches to their crafts. The Monsters were terrifyingly powerful, and they ignored mundane defenses, so the only course of action seemed to be to have better measures in place to help the Knights that sustained injuries. Since sending doctors in advance of each Wizard appearance could only do so much, Hruggahul threw himself into research into something, anything that could work. Since his mother had to focus on keeping the company running, Garrot was shuttled from one tutor to the next as his parents became more and more distant. And while surface acceptance of his family was obvious, children have a tendency to push their parents' hate and demonize others.

That was the day that Garrot realized he liked punching people, and the day that his parents realized they could keep him out of trouble (pre-emptively?) with self-defense classes. For the most part, it worked, plus it made him do well in school after he failed a test and his parents locked away the punching bag. The audacity! He took to multiple styles of martial arts like a fish to water, and... Well, he started to get zealous about anti-bullying in that he'd attack the bullies. One time, he got in trouble for hunting a few like a bloodhound through the school grounds. Victims aside, Garrot was pretty well-liked, since he honestly tried to be nice to people. By the time he'd begun looking at universities, he'd scraped together a few fighting tournament trophies, began learning some military knife fighting to his parents' chagrin, and his grades were pretty good, too! He wasn't sure if he wanted to be a doctor like his old man, or maybe a cop. And there was a certain appeal to becoming a pro wrestler, too...

Garrot was eighteen when his father was chosen as a Knight. It's not something he'd ever forget, staring out into the northern aurora and getting the news that his distant, workaholic father got to fight for the fate of the world. Why not me instead? The question rang in his head as he and his mother accompanied the Knight to the island. They learned he was given barrier powers, great to protect his allies and slice through his enemies, and it was the first time Garrot had seen his father having fun in a long time. But all it took was one attack from the final monster, aimed to bounce around a barrier to strike him down.

Why not ME?! were the only words out of Garrot's mouth as he tore across the island to where the Wizard had appeared. Sure, he wasn't close with his dad anymore, but he was basically an adult now, they could've- he should've- And what would've been a fist swung at the Wizard's mid-monologue head was all of a sudden cold, so cold, because he'd been teleported to his backyard in Koskenkorva.

The funeral passed like lightning, and his mother took over MurtaCorp in full while reshuffling things to keep herself from being overwhelmed. Garrot didn't really know how to grieve, so he started punching before finding his way to underground fight clubs, where he could get paid to punch people. And punch he did, whether he was in the ring or out. Garrot began to hang out with shadier sorts, snorting alcohol and listening to rock music and getting tattoos- on appearances alone, he looked more like a common street thug than the scion of an international medical provider. He didn't care too much, since his father had just died and the Wizard was unkillable and nothing really mattered, but he did care about punching people more. Until one time, an inebriated Garrot staggered through the dark alleys before running into... a mugger? He couldn't really see, and he couldn't hear too well either, but he thought he heard him talkin' shit about his old man, and...

There was a loud crack from the person's skull, and a scream and... Garrot ran. He saw enough martial arts movies to know that in this sort of situation, the best thing he could do for himself would be... to end up at the doorstep of a monastery in the archipelago. Obviously! And aside from a letter to his mother with a fake return address, he stayed there for almost four years, working through his grief with expertly-guided punches, manual labor, and meditation. So much meditation. But the worst part was probably shaving his head, because his body weight is probably like 50% hair on a good day.

That came to an end once he listened a little too closely to a transmission about one year's Wizard debacle. One of the knights who died had left a daughter all alone. Garrot empathized with her situation more than he was willing to admit, and found himself heading back to Koskenkorva. He... was very much not alone.

Elysa sure as shit thought she was, so when her son showed up on her doorstep with a lot less hair and an awkwardly sheepish look on his face, it took about thirty seconds before the situation registered. She bitched him out for about ten hours, across two meals and three languages (only one of which he knew). As much as Garrot wanted to help, she made it abundantly clear he had nothing to offer- while he was out getting beaten up and drinking, she was running a company and losing years off her life because her son just disappeared, aside from a cryptic letter. Who does that?!

And even if he wanted to help, he apparently hadn't opened a book in four years, and they were full up on security staff. Screaming and crying aside, she was very happy to see her son, because there was zero hesitation when he mentioned wanting to go to school to learn medicine. It wasn't "solve problem with punch" so it was a huge improvement, and one worth investing into.

Time began to move faster and faster, but the Wizard's appearances continued like clockwork. Garrot strolled through his university and medical schooling, because it turned out a privileged lifestyle and monk-like zen made him very good at test-taking and arduous study binges. What he didn't expect was to become enamored with the advances in magitek and their medical applications- this was new, this was cool, and he wanted in on it. Through a lot of impassioned speeches ("but mooooom!") MurtaCorp expanded its already sizable research division with more magitek work, with a focus on things that could support the Knights.

Years went on, even a couple decades, and Garrot became a far cry from the who he used to be. He passed up a chance to take over his retiring mother's position as CEO to focus his efforts as the Head of Research and Development. There, he'd helped produce a few harmless treatments to try and coax out the minor magical abilities that younger generations were developing, and he oversaw the production of lightweight, easy-to-use medical kits that were tailored to the sorts of absurd situations the Knights would encounter. He'd even field-tested them for a couple years on the island while the Knights were at work! Crazy stuff.

Of course as his own person, he did what he could to make the world a better place. The fact that children of knights were sometimes left alone or unable to survive on their own hurt. He extends offers to adopt the children so they're cared for and have someone they can relate to, or otherwise connects them with resources and/or money. There's an elven girl who's across the world studying writing and Wizard studies at a university; a pair of charismatic, successful, and mischievous tiefling boys who should never be left unattended; and a young girl with reptilian traits, like the ability to camouflage her way to the cookie jar and leave the evidence in her brothers' rooms.

When he's not at work or juggling his kids' misadventures, he might be teaching martial arts classes, moonlighting as a masked wrestler (see also: The Marauder, a cult favorite masked heel), or going on late-night walks through the bad parts of town for the express purpose of whomping on muggers and/or throwing them into dumpsters, harbors, or whatever else happens to be nearby. Some things never change, except for the part where Garrot gets Knighted and has to get ready to fight like hell to keep everyone alive and punch the Wizard's head clean off his fucking shoulders.

Remember, Garrot loves punching people.

Personality:

It might be the tendency towards sharp business suits and glasses, but Garrot's most immediate impression is that he's very refined, and it goes beyond appearances. There's a grace and confidence to how he carries himself and a measured tact to how he speaks, as if he's aware that one misstep could spell trouble for his job, his company, and his way of life. Garrot's tried to cultivate a worldly knowledge base over the years, and he's been able to hold passionate conversations about whiskeys, social issues, and childrens' cartoons all in the same night. Beyond that, his work in medical and magitek research means he's used to deep-diving on obscure topics, articulating his work to stodgy eggheads, and having to talk about lofty scientific concepts to utterly normal people. Dinner parties are always a trip.

However, when he's not playing the role of the most interesting bugbear on the planet, he's... far more laid back. Raising four kids as a single parent is a magnificently insane endeavor, but Garrot has rolled with those punches by often stooping to their levels. He's tried (and failed) to grasp current meme culture, he'll engage in prank wars with distressing results, he loves to embarrass his kids with egregious displays of affection in public, and he'll absolutely watch their favorite television shows whether they know it or not. As far as Garrot's concerned, his status as an affluent and highly successful adult means that he can afford to buck social norms and be eccentric sometimes. This means he has the most fun when he's far from the boardroom and public eye, or when he's sure there won't be blowback. Like being a Knight on Harsen Island.

But the other side of his private persona is his anger. Garrot's father was a bugbear practicing medicine, an absolute fish out of water, and the societal backlash on that was something he'd been sheltered from for a lot of his younger life. As his life began to spiral downwards and he erred from his privileged youth more and more, Garrot realized just how much he didn't know about the world and its capacity for hate. It pissed him off, and he wanted to fix it however he could. But, that frustration toward the world's ills is grounded in just enough confidence, just enough arrogance that often makes him believe his age, education, success, and ability to snap people like toothpicks means he's got the best ideas in the room. As far as he's concerned, things tend to go well when people shut up and let him make the decisions. People pushing back on that could cause his blood to start to boil, and if he's not careful... he's a fan of meditation and zen-like breathing exercises for a reason. When that's not enough, he can become the sinister monster people can assume bugbears to be, combining the bloodthirst of a pit fighter, the malice of a wrestling heel, and the detachment of a mad scientist. Luckily for everyone, Garrot works very hard to keep his temper in check. Unluckily for everyone, being a Knight on Harsen Island and dealing with the regular presence of the Wizard has unbalanced decades worth of work and tipped the scales sharply towards Anger! Turns out someone's got a grudge...

But most of his garden-variety anger is because he wants to make sure things go right in his world. He's seen enough things go wrong, things he could and couldn't or failed to control, that he's rarely comfortable letting anyone else make those decisions because if they're wrong, they might regret it for the rest of their lives. The fact that he might've killed someone hangs over his head, and he's too guilty and terrified to even check police and news reports to see if anyone died around then. Garrot regrets that he couldn't help his father and that he spent years fixing problems in his life that he caused out of anger, sometimes at the cost of his own personal development. So he's got a lot of guilt and regrets, and he'll definitely keep piling more on instead of letting someone else hold them. And if it gets to be too much to bear, he can deflect, avoid, and escape things just like he did when he was younger... not that he'd enjoy it, but. He doesn't always have to throw a punch.

That's just who he is, for better or worse. Garrot knows he's strong in more ways than most. He'll make a difference whenever he can, even if it hurts himself. That's what doctors should do, what fighters should do, what parents should do... so he doesn't see himself with any other choice. But he'd much rather be discussing the public opinions of his masked wrestling persona or the philosophical pros and cons of his youngest child's favorite television shows with a glass of liquor in hand.

But instead, he has to fight crazy Monsters, just like his father. Garrot's wanted to take another shot at the Wizard for decades, and now he's got one hell of a chance. Better this than boardrooms and dinner parties.

Appearance:

Garrot's a giant among most people, breaking seven feet and nearly three hundred pounds. Bugbears are huge and scary-looking, with the big pointy ears and teeth, a lot of hair on his head and arms and legs, and claws and fangs. The human blood made those claws and fangs a lot shorter, his nose is much more humanoid, and his teeth look a lot less bestial. There are two that jut up from his lower jaw that are great for opening bottles, but the others despite being pointy look... pristine, probably due to regular dental care. A lifetime of intense physical activity means that he's absolutely covered in muscle, so if he wants to look like a savage brawler, all he really has to do is dress in tattered armor and look grumpy.

Or take off his shirt, because his upper body is covered in tattoos from his violent pit fighter (see also: goth weeb) phase. Dual dragons coil from the base of his collarbone, across his shoulders, then down and around his upper arms. A grizzly bear stretches from the chest to his waistline. Tattoos that look like bloody tally marks travel down his spine aligned with his vertebrae, but he'll lie about what they're for. They might literally be a conversation starter. Wings like these stretch across his back, but instead of leathery membranes it's more of a shiny translucent dragonfly sort of deal with old characters representing "bacon," "egg," and "cheese" in a triangle around the start of the tallies. He's got this tiger fighting a snake on his left calf and this edgy wolf on his right. Then, just above his waistline is an embarrassing tramp stamp, flowery print of "half pounder with the works" that he definitely didn't get while he was drunk and definitely doesn't cover up whenever possible.

But he's normally not in that much of a state of undress. When he's trying to make an impression, it's three-piece suits often in grays and blues, and when he rolls up his sleeves he doesn't let his tattoos show. His casual attire could veer from a tank top and gym shorts (even in the winter) to an eye-searingly bright floral print and the dreaded socks/sandals. He's a father, he can get away with it! (No he cannot.) Since bugbears are a race with rather fast and thick hair growth, Garrot doesn't exactly go for short haircuts, that'd send him to bankruptcy. Instead, he usually trims his gray-brown hair before it gets past his shoulders and he often ties it back into a short ponytail. If he's dressing up, the hair tie is one-hundred percent a bowtie so he can switch his look on the fly. Otherwise it's a scrunchie of highlighter colors or patterned with a children's television show or cute bunnies (he shares with his youngest daughter, fight him). He tries to keep a well-groomed beard whenever possible, keeping it just past stubble-length in fears it'll poof out like the hair atop his head. Whenever he's not getting physical, he's wearing black or brown horn-rimmed glasses, but he also has an array of contacts of various colors if he's ever tired of his natural green eyes. Yes, he will wear blood-red contacts to a parent-teacher conference and no, you can't stop him.

Abilities or Equipment:

Abilities

• Master Martial Artist: He's got a kung-fu equivalent and monk training (which often includes weapons), military knife fighting, wrestling, and probably a smattering of other styles he's picked up out of boredom and a desire to shake things up. Likes yelling out attack names with no significance to them.


• Medical Training: A little over two decades of experience in the medical field means he knows exactly what he's doing. He even trains on cadavers and training injuries to keep his skills sharp.


• Magitek Engineering: He runs R&D for a medical magitek corporation and can absolutely jerry-rig some nonsense together with some prep time.


• Iron Composure: He can keep his cool under extreme pressures in and out of combat, but the longer he has to keep it together the worse things could be if that composure breaks.


• Skilled Linguist: Fluent in the languages of Cold/Koskenkorva (Korsenkovan?), EMP/Amarosia (Amarosian?), and Florida/Farida (Faridan?). Basic proficiency (step above a tourist) in most others.


• Fight Club Generation: Distressing ability to encourage those around him to start fight clubs when he's drunk enough. It doesn't help that he can patch people up and will be laughing the entire time. Avoid at all costs, he'll be embarrassed later.


• Minor Magic: Garrot has heightened Structural Awareness that allows him to quickly grasp mechanics of objects he's looking at. It mostly supplements his gut instinct when it comes to medical, engineering, and combat analyses. He can't see through things, he just knows if something is off. Also his eyes shift from green to teal when he uses it.

Equipment

• Collapsible Staff: Because sometimes you need a pocket-size can of whoop-ass.


• Magitek Medkit: Small-scale temperature-controlled supplies allow immediate treatment of wider range of incidents. There are also bandaids with smilies and children show characters on them.


• Horn-Rim Screen Glasses: he will read the funnies from bed and nobody can stop him


• Flask of Whiskey: Small enough that if he drinks all of it he doesn't get drunk, see aforementioned Fight Club Generation.

Power

Barrel of Monkeys allows Garrot to create clones of himself as long as they stay within one foot of another Garrot. They're physically stable and able to interact with the world, from punching monsters to performing surgery, and his consciousness is distributed such that he is aware of what each one sees, hears, and feels. If a clone takes enough damage to destroy it before it's dismissed, some of that damage is diffused to nearby clones. This can provoke a domino effect, destroying clones and making others unable to continue existing due to distance from the rest. In addition, the destruction of a clone results a neurological sensation akin to the feeling of falling in a dream until you jolt awake. The destruction of too many clones too quickly could have disastrous psychological consequences, and managing more than a few clones is a risky move. There is no "alpha" clone, as the distributed consciousness fully returns to whichever clone is last.

Character Meme Answers: (Choose 5-15)

• 1) How do they introduce themselves?
  With a firm handshake and a nice warm dad-smile, he tends to opt with a simple "Hi there! I'm Dr. Murtakhor, but you can just call me Garrot." and then bend it depending on who he's talking to.
• 3) What is their most identifiable article of clothing?
  His horn-rimmed glasses tend to have the faint glow of a computer screen, so probably those. That or his hair ties, since half of them have things like pink bunnies.
• 6) Preferred way to start a fire?
  Alcohol, namely a well-thrown and well-contained molotov. It's fragrant and functional!
• 7) Do strangers think of your character favorably or unfavorably?
  They tend to think of him favorably since his job involves making good impressions. But if he wants someone to shit themselves, he doesn't have to try too hard.
• 12) When tired, what do they picture as a comfortable place to rest?
  Recliner next to the fireplace, a metric ton of blankets, a good book and whiskey.
• 13) When did they conceal a love from the world?
  He had a passionate affair during his pit fighter phase but ghosted hard when he ran off. Now he regularly brings dates back home and gets dodgy with his kids just because it makes them lose their minds.
• 15) What simple task does your character find overwhelming?
  Calling the doctor and setting up an appointment. He's the doctor!
• 19) What secret burdens your character that they want to tell a close companion?
  That time he maybe killed someone, for sure. The monks were uncomfortably supportive so it didn't feel helpful to his self-image.
• 20) What practice was common for your character growing up that most find strange?
  Definitely smile training. And being able to eyeball doorframes and how to maneuver without breaking posture or stride.
• 22) Under what circumstances might your character steal a cake?
  Hunger, whimsy, the regular seasonal "capture but don't damage the cake" competition he has with the kids around report cards.
• 23) How does your character pray? What superstitions/rituals do they practice?
  Meditative praying to a nebulous higher power that likes him very much and hates the wizard. He's uncomfortable ascribing to a particular creed but loves the idea of a force having his back.
• 24) What do they see as the most important battle they lost?
  That entire portion of his life where he was a boozed-up pit fighter.
• 28) How would a seasoned warrior know your character is ready for battle?
  Murderous smirk. The teeth make it scarier.
• 29) How would your character prefer to die?
  Old age, surrounded by his children and grandchildren, single-handedly responsible for the eradication of disease and the wizard. Then someone sits on a whoopie cushion.