Reuben Rockwell

"'He who leaves his mark." - Snakes

"I don't think you understand what it feels like to be shamed for having empathy to other beings. Shinigami aren't greater than other souls, no matter how much we deem ourselves so. Never forget the collateral damage, because arrogance makes it so easy to forget."

- Reuben Rockwell

Reuben Rockwell (ロックウェルルーベン, Rokkū~eru Rūben), originally named Damir Lukic is the former Captain of 13th Division who, in an attempt to make himself stronger for the First Quincy War, became a Visored and, after losing control and injuring several people, was exiled from Soul Society. In the World of the Living he spent many years traveling in a Gigai a friend smuggled to him. He chronicled his adventures as tattoos, and ended up becoming a tattoo artist himself. During that time, the Gigai slowly drained his strength, so by the time the initial Shadow invasion occurred and Reuben was asked to rejoin Soul Society, his powers had diminished so much he had to enter an intensive training program to get them back. Though he is still not at full power, he was named the lieutenant of 3rd Division alongside Marlen Adams and is the head of the Visored Acclimation Department.

Appearance
Reuben is a solidly built, weathered Shinigami with tanned skin and a tall frame. He appears to be in his late 50s. Reuben is tall with broad shoulders, but otherwise has a pretty average build (it could be said he looks quite out of shape) with little obvious muscle, and a slight amount of body fat around his middle. The most remarkable feature on Reuben's body are his tattoos: Reuben has two full sleeves that extend to his hands and pecs, tattoos on his neck, and a full back piece. His tattoos are in many different styles and reflect his travels, and most are in color. Reuben also has several scars on his upper legs, and two large ones across his stomach.

Reuben has a rectangular face with a short, broad nose, full lips, and quite a few wrinkles, mostly around his eyes. His pale blue eyes appear vibrant, and are almond in shape and somewhat hooded, shaded partially by his black, extremely wild eyebrows. Reuben has salt and pepper hair, which he is quite proud of and gels it up and back, in a small pompadour. His hair is almost never seen unstyled, and he dislikes it when people touch it He also has a full beard, and a full handlebar mustache that covers his upper lip.

Reuben wears unmodified hakama, held up with a white obi, however instead of a kosode he wears a simple white T-shirt adorned with his division symbol and the skull Visored designator on his back. He wears his lieutenant's badge on his hip, tied to his obi, and tucks his Zanpakuto into the left side of his obi.

Before his exile, Reuben wore a sleeveless haori over his unmodified shihakusho, with gold piping and inner lining for the 13th Division. He had only two tattoos, and his hair and beard were black and much shorter.

History
Under construction

Zanpakuto
Severnislav (北の名声, (Kita no Meisei), Fame of the North) Is Reuben's Zanpakuto, and one of the strongest ice types known to Shinigami. Severnislav's sealed form is a single, 28' katana with dark teal handle wrappings and dull gold rayskin. The tsuba is also a dull gold, and rectangular in shape with stylized redwood trees etched into it. The sheathe is the same color as the wraps, and is unadorned. The metal of Severnislav's blade is interestingly tinted a pale blue color. Reuben wears the blade tucked into the left side of his obi.

Spirit: Severnislav appears as an enormous clydesdale horse, who stands at about eight feet tall at his shoulder. Severnislav has pure white, shaggy fur, and black 'socks' on each leg. His long mane and tail are not hair, but seem to be made out of blue-tinged frost that move freely, but always retain the basic shape of a mane and tail. His eyes are pupil-less and gold in color, and glowing, pale blue markings appear along his body that fade in and out with his breathing.

Severnislav is an intense, serious spirit with a commanding presence and a booming voice, and acts much like a literary general. Reuben often calls him Gunba (Warhorse). He is smart, but rather narrow-minded and quick to anger, which often made him butt heads with Reuben in the past. He seems to enjoy war, defeating enemies in battle, and often tells long-winded stories about battles and wars he supposedly fought in. He and Reuben often argue, mostly about their differing views on tradition and war, and Severnislav often expresses his displeasure at Reuben's tattoos. Despite their differences, Reuben and Severnislav's friendship is close, tempered in battle, and the two are excellent combat partners.

Inner World: Reuben's inner world appears as an expanse of mountainous forest, with a huge castle at each of the four compass points. The castles are normally pristine, but when Reuben is injured the castles become damaged, based on the severity of Reuben's injuries. The more aggressive he is feeling, the more the castles appear to get armed for war.


 * Shikai: Severnislav's command is Obustaviti (停止する, (Teishi Suru), Suspend). To release his Zanpakuto, Reuben pinches the base of the blade with two fingers while holding the hilt with the other, states the command, and slowly runs his fingers down the blade. The metal dissolves into an icy mist, which slowly reforms into Reuben's Shikai. The weapon's new form is a simple, bright silver war hammer that reaches Reuben's chest. The weapon is completely unadorned, but seems to have a glow from within the weapon.


 * Shikai Special Ability: Severnislav's special ability is to manifest and control ice, as well as the water vapor from the sublimation of his ice. He can freely change any water's state from liquid to solid, and back and forth from gas to solid, but cannot liquify or control liquid without first freezing it.


 * Northvest (北風 (Kitakaze), North Winds): Severnislav constantly emits a cloud of icy mist throughout battle. By swinging his hammer down and stating the attack's command, Reuben can concentrate the mist and fire it in an arc at his opponent. The ice particles in the attack not only shred, but accumulate on his opponent to slow their movement. Staying too long in the attack can freeze an opponent.


 * Lediti (凍る (Kōru), Glaciate): Reuben cocks back the hammer, allowing ice to accumulate on the head of the hammer. When enough ice accumulates, Reuben can either use the newly formed hammer head to attack close-hand, or to launch the ice at his opponent. Either way, when the ice-head shatters it releases a wave of cryogenic energy that coats everyone in the immediate vicinity with ice, like a cryogenic bomb. This can automatically freeze weaker or unprepared opponents, and can drastically slow down stronger ones.


 * Promrzlina (凍傷 (Tōshō), Frostbite): With this command, Reuben can use the ice energy emitting from his Zanpakuto to propel it at much greater speeds than he could on his own, increasing his swing speed tenfold. While using this ability, the hammer becomes incredibly cold to the touch, almost to absolute zero, and will leave severe ice burns on his opponents when his attacks land. Even exposure to the icy mist can cause bad frostbite.

Bankai:  Having lost so much spiritual pressure from staying in a Gigai for so long, Reuben is currently unable to activate his Bankai.


 * Bankai Special Ability:

Trivia

 * Rueben's design is based on the tattoo artist Miles Better

Credit

 * All art belongs to http://snakes-on-a-plane.deviantart.com/