Ryoji Van

"All I need is cash in my pocket and women to bed. The rest is just minor details."

- Ryoji Van

Ryoji Van (望月先登, Van Ryoji) is a Visored of Japanese descent currently serving as the 6th seat of 3rd Division, getting a high seat because of his bankai. He is a part of the Visored 2.0 and only closely knew Layla Vital and Chris Perri before their exile, and often butted heads with their unofficial leader Jo Morelli. During the initial Shadow invasion, Van was infected and later saved, leaving him marked by the Shadow Before his exile, Van had been the recently promoted 20th seat of 6th Division. His partner is Chris Perri, and he is in charge of processing the division's paperwork (upon his request).

Appearance
Van is a tall, fair-skinned shinigami with an impressive build. Due to his love of looking good and preening, Van has an impressively sculpted body with very few blemishes on his skin. Besides Van's bodybuilder frame, he has evenly proportioned limbs and little body hair. The only marks on his skin are his birthmark, a circular dark patch of skin above his bellybutton, and a black infection scar on the top of his right pec.

Van has a short, square head with a prominent jawline shadowed with what seems like permanent stubble. He has rather thick eyebrows and a flat profile, and his light grey eyes are somewhat deep-set and droopy. Van almost always has a somewhat condescending smirk on his face, and his smile is crooked (it skews to the right). Van's hair is a deep blue in color, and is worn messily with long bangs and with the sides long and thick enough to cover his ears. Along with his stubble, Van has shaggy sideburns that reach the bottoms of his ears.

Van wears an unmodified Shihakusho, though he wears a dark blue obi instead of a white one. He wears his Zanpakuto tucked into the left side of his obi. He will sometimes roll his sleeves up to his elbows and pin them while he's working.

Personality
Van is obnoxious, cocky, and quite full of himself. He is a ladies man, and loves nothing more that flirting with every woman he passes by. Van is arrogant and rather selfish, and spends a good deal of his time sculpting his body, more for presentation than function. He grew up in a poor district, and is still pretty rough around the edges and can be quite vulgar and crass. He is also brutally honest, and has no problem calling people out on their bullshit- a trait that gets him as many enemies as friends. Despite his more negative qualities, Van is quite charismatic and can be charming when he needs to be. He is an extrovert, and loves being around people (preferably women). For people that spend enough time with him to see past his arrogance, they will find that Van can be a good and loyal friend. Though he is selfish, Van is loyal, has a surprising generous streak, and is good-humored and actually easy to get along with (if you can deal with all his cockiness).

Van has pride in both his appearance and power, but he dislikes actual, life-threatening fighting and will avoid it if he can. He is a bit of a coward, and often won't fight unless he's positive he can win easily. He does have a passion for competitive fighting, and during his exile became a rather prolific MMA competitor. Outside of sparring, he much prefers doing paperwork and working with civilized personnel, and acknowledges that he will never be a good leader. His charisma and experience in the rougher districts does make him a good liaison between senior officers and their subordinates, and he is considered a good manager of personnel.

Van has no ambition to be a great Shinigami or an incredible warrior, but he is far from lazy and will complete his work with little complaint. There are a few things that do interest him, and these he will pursue with absolute focus. This includes his looks, his prowess in bed, MMA, and gardening. Van loves flowers, a passion he shares with his mother, and as an example of his generosity saved his money for a long time to buy his mother a flower shop. He even cultivates his own growing garden behind the 3rd Division's barracks. Though considered a 'girly' hobby, Van isn't embarrassed by it, and in fact only really hides his enjoyment of giving gifts to people- he feels generosity would ruin his image.

In combat, Van is reluctant, though still talks a big game and acts like nothing can beat him. He hates getting hit, and is afraid of dying, which sometimes makes him hesitant in combat. Van often tries to end serious battles quickly, and often goes straight to using his Shikai, though when he spars he likes it to last, and will often use hakuda over his Zanpakuto.

Overall, Van presents himself as a cocky, arrogant individual, though he does have a good-natured side, and can be a good friend. Van isn't necessarily suited to the life of a full-combat Shinigami, but he doesn't mind admin work at all, and is comfortable in the position he is in now. Van also enjoys living a faster civilian lifestyle, and doesn't see himself settling down anywhere in the foreseeable future.

History
Under construction

Very quick overview:

-Born and raised in a rough district, an only child.

-Wanted to make his parents proud, but he got in fights often and ended up in a gang.

-Members of Division 7 caught a group of them stealing, but, recognizing Van’s latent spiritual pressure, encouraged him to put his energy toward applying to the Shino Academy.

-Fails the test on his first try. Goes back a year later and passes.

- Makes friends with Chris Perri at the academy, but she disappears in their third year following an accident.

-He graduates and joins 6th Division. Convinces Chris to try again.

-Flies under the radar through most of his career, but does earn promotions based on his hard admin work.

- A few years after earning 20th seat, Van is recruited to Jo Morelli’s undercover squad, working to take down a group of Shinigami planning to go rogue.

-Gets caught in an ambush with the others, and is almost killed.

-Brought to the 12th and is saved by being granted hollow powers. He and the others are trapped in a Dangai-imitating chamber for a year (ten years inside the chamber).

-Upon release, they are exiled from Soul Society.

-They all move into the human world, San Francisco, and live there for five years under the radar. Van works at an MMA gym and makes a bunch of money in competitions.

- The visored group is called back to SS to help in the Shadow war; during the final three-day battle, Van is infected and attacks, and is subdued, by Shinichi and Layla.

- After recovery, he is placed in Division 3 under Layla with the rest of the visored.

Natural Abilities:
Hakuda Master: Van is obsessed with MMA, and as a result trains for it constantly. During his banishment he really got into it, working for a gym, and became a locally famous fighter. His enormous strength from his obsessive weight training gives his strikes enormous weight, and his MMA style makes him a versatile and quick fighter. His body type also gives him an advantage in grappling, and he is excellent in pinning and stopping opponents of ay size, able to use his bigger opponent's own strengths against them.

Zanpakuto Master: It would be inaccurate to say Van is a 'zanjutsu master' since he is not very apt at using a sword. Instead, Van has perfected using his shikai, and its form is made even more useful thanks to his hakuda abilities. He has created deadly combinations with his gauntlets, and the zanpakuto's abilities make him a terror in battle, and an outstanding support warrior.

Kido Expert: Van likes to take care of things at a distance, and kido is perfect for that. This caused him to study the arts early on in his career, and he showed a natural penchant for them. Van can easily use spells into the 70's, and has enough skill to work out spells into the 90's with some difficulty.

High Spiritual Pressure: Van has respectable spiritual pressure, on par with some weaker captains, that manifests as a brownish mist. It has been accentuated since his hollowfication, and is not only powerful, but easily controlled and manipulated by Van. His Zanpakuto's abilities lead him to a much greater understanding of reiatsu than the average Shinigami.

Physical Strength: Van's obsessive weight training has made him very physically strong, enough to be able to manhandle larger opponents easily. This strength also lends itself to great physical control, and Van's close range agility has been accentuated thanks to his training.

Weaknesses
Zanjutsu: Van isn't a very good swordsman, and rarely uses his Zanpakuto sealed. Weapons that aren't similar to his Shikai (gauntlets) are clumsy in his hands.

Hoho: Van has no natural ability for Hoho, and isn't nearly as adpt at the art as his peers. Though he can flashstep, his abilities are on par with a very low-seated Shinigami, and he has never had the motivation to really try harder to master Hoho.

Extreme cold: Van's Zanpakuto doesn't operate quite as well in the cold, and in fact loses much of its elasticity. Van himself can't operate well in cold either, and has a much harder time dealing with it than normal Shinigami.

Zanpakuto
Marui Kuchi (丸い口, Round Mouth), is Van's Zanpakuto, a Kido type. In his sealed form, Marui Kuchi is a 70 cm katana with a round gold tsuba that resembles a lamprey's mouth, with numerous tiny spikes pointing up toward the blade. The rayskin is a dark, dull gold, the handle wrappings are light grey, and the sheathe is a darker grey and made of a smooth leathery material. Van wears Marui Kuchi tucked into the left side of his obi.

Spirit: Marui Kuchi is a nine foot long, double headed hagfish that is a greenish-tan in color with a red stripe that runs the length of its body, along his gills and lateral lines. His tail is tipped in red, as are the 'feelers' around his mouth. Both of the heads act symmetrically, and it is obvious they are controlled by one mind.

Marui Kuchi is lazy, lethargic and has a generally apathetic view on the world. Van sometimes gets frustrated with his lack of care for anything, including training, and they don't speak often. Despite this, they have a mutual understanding with one another, and Marui Kuchi is generally completely subservient to Van (after he gained his Shikai), if only because it makes things that much easier for him.

Shikai: Marui Kuchi's command is No Ratchi (のラッチ, Latch On). To release his Shikai, Van holds the sword horizontally by his legs, one hand on the blade and on the handle, and utters the command. After this, the part of the blade between his hands dissolves into slime that drops to the ground, and the rest melts into slime that covers his forearms and forms his shikai. In Shikai, Marui Kuchi appears as elbow-length gauntlets that appear to be covered in hagfish skin. There are holes down the sides that continuously leak mucus. The palms have large openings that look like lamprey mouths with rows of yellow "teeth"


 * Shikai Special Ability: Marui Kuchi's abilities center around draining the life-force of its opponents, using Van's own spirutual pressure as a 'magnet' for his opponent's.


 * Bōei kōto (防衛コート, Defense Coat): As a latent, always-active ability, the gauntlets continuously leak a milky-white mucus, that makes whatever it comes in contact with completely slippery, including Van himself. The mucus can be manipulated by Van, to a small degree, which is most often used to coat himself and hardened before attacks to act as a shield.


 * Bodipāji (ボディパージ, Body Purge): When Van makes a connection with the right gauntlet's 'mouth', it will drain his opponent's blood, which will continue and steadily increase its rate of drainage until the opponent can get the gauntlet off of them. When blood is drained, the rate at which the gauntlet produces mucus increases.


 * Tamashī no pāji (魂のパージ, Soul Purge): When Van makes a connection with the left gauntlet's mouth, it will drain his opponent's reiatsu or reiyoku, which will continue and steadily increase its rate of drainage until the opponent can get the gauntlet off of them. When reiatsu is drained, it replenishes Van's own reiatsu, which allows him to continue fighting using reiatsu-based abilities, and even increases the time he can wear his Hollow mask.

Bankai: Van's Bankai is called Tamashī Dorobō, Maui Kuchi (魂泥棒、ラウンド口, Soul stealer, Round Mouth). To release his Bankai, Van raises his hands over his head, and they start leaking slime at a higher rate, covering his shoulders. He simply states 'Bankai', and the slime bubbles up and forms a huge, double-headed hagfish resembling Marui Kuchi's spirit form that drapes around Van's shoulders. His gauntlets grow tail-like protrusions that cover his elbows and extend out about a foot.


 * Bankai Special Ability: Van's Bankai expands on the abilities given to him in Shikai.


 * Bōei kōto (防衛コート, Defense Coat): Similar to the Shikai ability; this time, both the gauntlets and the hagfish produce mucus: It coats Van and anything Van touches with his hands (including the ground). The mucus also grows by itself, so if his opponent doesn't get it off they will end up covered in it. When something is coated, it just slides off of anything else covered. For instance, if he gets an opponent's fist, they will no longer be able to punch him. If he gets their sword, it won't be able to cut him.


 * Bodipāji (ボディパージ, Body Purge): Exactly like the Shikai: when Van makes a connection with the right gauntlet's 'mouth', it will drain his opponent's blood, which will continue and steadily increase its rate of drainage until the opponent can get the gauntlet off of them. Draining blood increases the rate of mucus production, which in turn increases Van's defense.


 * Tamashī no pāji (魂のパージ, Soul Purge): Exactly like the Shikai ability: When Van makes a connection with the left gauntlet's mouth, it will drain his opponent's reiatsu or reiyoku, which will continue and steadily increase its rate of drainage until the opponent can get the gauntlet off of them. When reiatsu is drained, it replenishes Van's own reiatsu, which allows him to continue fighting using reiatsu-based abilities, and even increases the time he can wear his Hollow mask.


 * With both draining abilities, the size of the hagfish increases as well. Often, it will reach a large enough size to create its own 'arena', trapping opponents by circling both them and Van.

Hollowfication
Hollow Mask: Since infection, Van's hollow mask is the exact same as a Shadow mask. Originally, Van's mask resembled a Japanese Noh mask, a white mask with minimalist facial features. Before Van dons his mask, his irises turn gold and his sclera black.


 * Power Augmentation: With his mask, Van gains the normal boost in his abilities, most notably in his physical and spiritual strength.


 * Cero: Van's cero is a thin, piercing beam of dark brown energy fired from his palm.


 * Enhanced Endurance: Van's endurance increases, allowing him to shrug off major injuries like they are nothing.


 * Enhanced Physical and Spiritual Strength: Van gains a noticeable boost in his physical strength, as well as his spiritual pressure.


 * Inner Hollow: Van's inner hollow has named himself Jurōjin, and like most inner hollows, is the exact opposite of Van in every way. He is shy, soft-spoken, but relishes fighting for his life and has a major bloodlust. However, he is much more rash than Van, which was ultimately his downfall when Van defeated him for his powers.

Quotes
"Here, try this drink. It's as sweet as you~"

"Not every Shinigami needs to fight. I'm not laying my life on the line, sure, but I do make sure you assholes get your paychecks on time. And that's just as important, ain't it?"

"Think you need to pull that stick outta your ass and just have a good time."

"I might be a dick, but you sure are a fuckin dumbass."

Trivia

 * His theme song, according to snakes-on-a-plane, is We Can't Stop by Miley Cyrus.
 * Van is obsessed with MMA, and still makes visits to the human world for his old gym to watch and participate in fights.
 * Van is obsessed with video games ever since having spent time in the human world.

Credit

 * All art belongs to http://snakes-on-a-plane.deviantart.com/
 * The battle data chart was constructed by http://blackwolfgrimm.deviantart.com/