Dain Gavyns (OOOH YEAH, UPDATE TIME!)

[Dain Gavyns]

Name: Dain Gavyns

Age: 20

Height: 6'2"

Weight: 196 lbs

Nationality: American

Appearance/Attire: Dain's dark brown hair, once to the shoulder, has recently been cut and styled much shorter, making him look more professional, not only for his continued employment at Taiku's latest business venture, Legion, but for his newest job: Teacher at Hircine High. Now, it hangs loosely around his head, just under the length that would easily designat it as 'shaggy'. Under normal circumstances, it can still look long-ish and messy, but it's shorter length allows it to be more easily contained and styled into a more professional look.

Clothing-wise, Dain can almost always be seen in two major styles - Professional suits, or casual suits. Since almost all his time is spent shuttling from one job to the other, he has simply adopted his work clothing as his all-time clothing. However, on occasion, one can still find him in average street-clothes, usually on weekends or time off.

Casual suit/hair
Professional attire

Personality: Outgoing, amiable, and the quintessential joker. Dain loves to talk, joke around, and just have fun with himself and those around him.

With that said, he also has a quiet side. One should not be surprised if they were to find him sitting quietly by himself, a book in hand, reading. Dain is a chronic bibliophile and a glutton for knowledge. He loves to read and study, but not necessarily 'studying' in the classic school sense. He seeks knowledge and understanding and tends to find himself unsatisfied with the education given in most public schools.

Another trait that one would find odd about Dain is his passion for self-defense. Though never trained in any martial arts, Dain has researched, examined, and observed many different styles. In doing so, he has trained himself in what can best be described as 'theoretical martial arts', that has no set basis in any particular form or style.(more in Fighting style section)

Dain can also be found sporting a side to him that most wouldn't expect: A serious one. At times, when people’s lives are at stake, or in the midst of an engaging battle, Dain has tended to drop his goofy act and get to the point, in which his comments, as well as his actions, tend to be more serious, and sometimes brutal, in nature. This has given Dain a complexity and unpredictability that he’s recently become quite comfortable with.

Also, during his tenure as Captain of the Senior Class, a sense of responsibility had been given to Dain. Understanding the need for this, Dain has shown on more than one occasion that he can and will take the lead if necessary, sometimes even by force. These little outbursts, though, tend to make him an unfriendly character to others, even if they know that what he says is most likely the best choice of action.

Since graduating, Dain found himself thrust into what could only be regarded as the 'real world' of Varron City. Being forced to adapt to things he was sheltered from during school, even at a school like Varron, such as guns, robberies, and general unfriendliness, Dain has taken a much harder side to him. While he still retains his general air of confidence, friendliness, and all-around good humor, he rarely messes around when the time comes for action, either. He had to become more ruthless on those rare occasions where he still ends up in fights, knowing that with the people he now has to deal with, along with the majority of Varron's newest breed of students, aren't going to stand around and wait for a judge's decision on who won and did not in a battle.

Hobbies: Reading, writing, and playing video games. Dain has almost completely abandoned his self-taught swordfighting, as it has yet to be useful to him.

Extracurricular: Dain has very recently accepted a job teaching at Hircine High, in lieu of many teachers quitting due to the violence insurged during Stern's attempt at starting a riot.

Fighting Style: "Theoretical Martial Arts:" Dain has no true style of fighting, but he has spent lots of time studying different styles and fighting moves, attempting to understand what move from what style would work best to counter each move that could be feasibly used against him. In action, this style consists of lots of quick movements and counter-attacks. One of Dain's biggest tricks is one he stole from the aikido style: Turning an opponent's momentum against them. Dain will use a slight shift in stance or a small gesture of the hand to turn an opponent's blow just enough so that it misses him, but loses little to no momentum, throwing an opponent off balance. Another trick of Dain's is that his quick mind allows him to observe and analyze each move as it comes and react with the best counter available. Within a few minutes of a fight, Dain should already have a working knowledge of his opponent's entire style, regardless of what style it is (He does not see fighting styles as things with names in battle, simply as sets of moves that all have countermoves.)

Since Dain’s training with Kokaku, he has managed to refine his ‘Theoretical Martial Arts’ from being mostly a defensive style to incorporating some offense into it. One of Dain’s biggest physical improvements is his punching speed. Using this to his advantage, Dain’s newest twist on his style involves quick offensive strikes comprised of extremely fast punches meant mostly to disarm and disorient the opponent, and powerful kicks to bring in the heavy damage. After graduation, when Dain took on a slightly harder edge, his also began to use his rapid arm strikes in a more effective manner, often aiming for pressure points as well as vulnerable areas in order to disable an opponent quickly, rather than simply stunning them.

Strengths: Dain has become a rather accomplished fighter as of late, and his quickness has improved, both in his feet and in his mind. He uses his mind to his advantage, and is usually able to out-think an opponent and thus gain the upper hand, if he did not talk his opponent out of fighting beforehand. When speaking on pure physical strengths, however, Dain's legwork is stronger than his arm and hand attacks, not only by the usual distribution of strength through the human anatomy, but through his training as well.

Dain’s arm strength has also increased somewhat, but more notably, his arm speed has increased greatly.

Another thing that Dain has seemingly increased above and beyond his fighting prowess, however, is his mental ability. Dain's insight, as well as his perception, is keener than almost any blade. This allows him to notice things most other people would not, and analyze the moves of others with almost frightening precision.

Weaknesses: As of late, Dain’s physical strength has been heightened considerably, putting him finally about equal with some of the other more battle-ready students of Varron. However, he still lacks the full depths of experience that any and all of those other more well-known warriors have, and it shows in his moves and technique.

Also, with his sister in a coma of indefinite length, Dain finds himself at a loss, both mentally and emotionally, when the subject of his sister and her condition is mentioned. Another weakness he has is that he's had no true training in any form of martial arts. Though this may give him an unorthodoxy that could be used to his advantage, it still leaves him with a lack of experience that most other fighters have.

Ironically, however as his skills in the martial arts increase, Dain finds himself with yet another weakness. As he learns more about the martial arts and self-defense, Dain loses the unorthodox methods that Theoretical Martial Arts was founded on, making him slightly more predictable than he used to be.

His greatest fighting strength is also one of his biggest weaknesses. His style commands that he be focused on the battle at hand, in order to watch and analyze each move to counterattack. As of late, Dain's fighting instincts have been honed to the point where he can simply react with the kind of moves he would have after analyzation earlier, but he still requires great amount of focus in order to function at maximum effectiveness. An addendum to this is that Dain absolutely, positively, does NOT like to get hit in battle, even if it is simply part of the process. Thus, when he takes a hit he was not expecting to take, he can very easily lose his focus and train of thought, slipping up and beginning to make mistakes.

Characteristically, Dain's fierce loyalty, the one that got him into trouble in the first place, could also be viewed as a sort of weakness, as well.

Note: Dain is left-handed in writing, but tends to show ambidexterity in many other things.


Personal Connections

Will be updated as necessary

Love Interest: Ran Ling Xiao

Friends: Leon, Akamaru, Kokaku, Taiku, Azriel, Kira Karyuudo, Adam 'Pain Killer' Rydell, Bruce, Maverik, Kyukaku

Battle allies: Ein, King, Sebastian, Junpei Lee

Rival: N/A

Enemies: Marcus, Kvist

Students: Bruce, Kyukaku

[Dain Gavyns]

History: Unlike so many of the students at Varron Academy, Dain was born and raised in a perfectly normal household life. Born to two perfectly normal parents, with a perfectly normal little sister, Dain could not have asked for anything more.

Yet, still he asked for more.

If Dain had any personality quirks, it was that he was too kind-hearted, too loyal. Dain, having read up a lot on social justice during a stint on the debate team at his former school, grew to be an advocate of helping all those in need, wherever he could. Thus, it wouldn't be strange to see Dain doing random acts of kindness to anyone who seemed in need of them. Also, when Dain considered someone a friend, he developed an intense loyalty toward them. If said friend were ever in trouble of any sort, Dain would rush to their aid, putting himself completely at risk if need be. As strange as it might seem, this caused a bit of a rift between his perfectly normal parents and he. They, being of staunch conservative upbringings, could not understand what Dain was doing giving out his spare change to the homeless man on the street, or buying his friend's lunch because the friend was short on cash. Because of this, his parents and he would get into long winded and often heated arguments over what was 'right' and what was 'good'. But these arguments, while sometimes loud and and angry, were never any indication that Dain had a violent streak.

Which is why the whole school was shocked that day in class.

One day, during his senior year, his last year in High School, Dain was found in the bathroom, looking down at another student whose face had just been smashed into a toilet. The porcelain had shatted, and the student's face was horribly mangled, complete with shards of porcelain imbedded into it. Blood was everywhere. No one in the school could believe that Dain had done it, but he did not even attempt to deny it. He told administration that the student had made a snide remark to him, and he had over-reacted and was ready to accept whatever punishment he was to receive. Looking at his spotless record, administration was stumped. Finally, the superintendant cut a deal with him. If Dain were to voluntarily leave the school, he would suffer no repercussions, save for whatever legal action the student would take against him, as that was out of the school's authority. Dain accepted, packed his things, and walked out of the school, leaving a sea of gaping mouths and wide eyes in his wake. How could he have done it? Dain was a top student with no previous disciplinary record. For someone like him to do something like this was, well, impossible.

And they were right.

Dain hadn't laid a hand on the boy in the bathroom. His best friend had. Ten minutes before Dain felt the need to relieve himself, his best friend and the now-injured student were in the bathroom together. Dain's friend was an outspoken guy who never held his opinions on anything back. He had made a remark to the student about something that he must have took as an offense, for the student snapped. He shoved Dain's friend up against the wall and pulled a knife, threatening to hurt or even kill him.

That's when the student found another of this kid's little quirks: His mental instability.

It had never been a problem before, and the only way it was ever registered was through visits to the doctor and brain-wave examinations. Apparently, though, it was just waiting for a catalyst to set it off. Dain's friend grabbed the kid's knife hand with one hand and his head in the other, pushing off from the wall with his back and slamming the kid into the toilet behind him. Not a second later, Dain's friend had snapped back to reality and surveyed the damage he had done. It was at this time that Dain, already planning on making a trip to the restrooms, heard the crash and rushed inside to see what was going on.

Dain's friend, unlike Dain, had a history of disciplinary problems within the school. There was nothing monumentous about it, just that his big mouth had gotten him into more than a few situations that his fists had to back up. As it were, however, he was one infraction away from being severely punished. An 'infraction' on this scale could ruin his chances at furthering his education forever. Dain, as soon as he walked in the door and saw the scene, knew this. The first words out of his mouth were "Go. Get out of here before someone else comes." "Dain, look man, I didn't mean to," his friend replied, "He just... I just-"

"Just go."

Those were the last two words Dain ever spoke at his old school.

Word spread fast, about the 'star student turned psychotic slaughterer' (An actual paper headline that Dain found especially witty.) Needless to say, there were few schools that would accept a student with such 'obvious mental atrocities.' Save one. Enter Varron Academy, and Dain's last hope at finishing his Senior year.


Post-Varron Entrance: Since attending Varron, Dain tried to lay low and stay out of all the violence and politics that had surrounded him. However, he found that it was not as easy as it seemed, for the politics were a lot more than just politics. As Dain made friends, such as Kokaku Musha, he began to see more than just the bickering between students and administration, and between the students himself. All it took was for him to open his eyes to see how much injustice has been going on in the school: Sneak attacks, gang beat-downs, and so much more. Dain was lost in the myriad of emotions and thoughts for a time, unsure if a preventative course was the right one to take, unsure if, even doing so, he’d be capable of helping, and the like. However, the return of a man named Kazuki changed all that.

Kazuki’s plan, though brutal, struck a chord in Dain. He saw it as the most effective, albeit the most unfortunate, plan of bringing the violence at the school down, and threw his lot in with Kazuki. Dain began training, both in his martial skills with Kokaku and Akamaru, and in his physical attributes in the gym with Bruce. He even began work on his sensory capabilities, after a talk with who he considers his closest friend at Varron, Drakir Manshade. All in all, Dain has turned from the lean bookworm who only knew how to fight in theory to a toughened, battle-ready, yet inexperienced fighter.

Varron History: The Class Captain Tournament After having been trained significantly in the martial arts, as well as keeping his grades high in school, sharpening his mind as well as his body, Dain thought he had found himelf in a position to use these new-found talents earlier than he had expected. When the so-called 'Evil 5' showed up at the tournament previous, Dain had been in attendance. When the tournament finalists ended up squaring off with the newcomers, Dain opted instead of fighting to hang back and help with any injuries suffered afterward. Akamaru and Leaf would thereafter be thankful, for they were the only two of the four left when the smoke cleared. It was not long after this tournament before the 'Evil 5' would spread out, infecting the rest of the school with their nefarious ways. One member in particular, the unofficial leader, Marcus, found his way to Dain.

During a cold, yet intense conversation on the rooftop of Varron Academy, Marcus revealed to Dain that he noticed his actions and his intentions at the tournament. Realizing him as a potential threat, and an even more potential tool, Marcus kidnapped Dain's sister, Lisa Gavyns, holding her captive, forcing Dain to divulge any information he could glean about the other students' retaliatory efforts. Dain, seeing no other option present at the time, agreed, and began to secretly conspire with both Kokaku Musha and Akamaru Koragu on ways to deal with this new threat. However, keeping true to his word with Marcus, Dain officially joined Kazuki's inner circle of resistance fighters, using all the skills in acting he could muster to keep his true intention of selling out his information a secret. Whether Kazuki knows to this day that the whole ordeal was a partial ruse or not remains to be seen.

Not three days later, Marcus showed up again on Varron grounds, this time with a message to the entire school, in the form of five secretly and ingeniously placed bombs. In a sick, twisted form of Marcus probably considered a game, he sent the students looking for the bombs, pressing the detonate button at random times to appease his sick love of malice. Dain, as well as Kokaku Musha, and a man who Dain would soon come to befriend quite closely, quite quickly. A man who's ideals seemed to be near-equal to Dain's own, something previously unheard of at Varron. A man who would soon be known as the Junior Captain of Varron Academy: Leon Loire.

Dain managed to defuse a bomb through perception, as well as no small amount of sheer luck, but the damage would be done regardless. Varron would be left in shambles.

A tournament was suddenly being held at Varron. Dain, having underwent enough training to instill a modicum of confidence within him, entered. Once there, Dain, as well as every other student, were surprised to hear from the School Captain, Victoria Alexander, announce that the tournament was to be broken into ranks dependant on class, and that the winner of each would earn the title of Captain for their class. After a long, arduous series of battles with Jazz, Akamaru, and finally the giant Ajax, Dain won the tournament, garnering the title of Senior Captain for himself. Secretly, Dain was glad to hear of this development. He knew that being the Captain of the Senior class would give him a position with which to strike back at Marcus.

During the Varron Memorial service, Marcus and Rick again gate-crashed, where Kazuki finally had had enough. He challenged the 'Evil 5' to a match, five fighters chosen specifically by him against them, inside of a steel cage, as per Rick's specifications. Kazuki approached Dain later in the week, asking him to do battle with Marcus, knowing full well the bad blood running between the two students. Dain accepted, knowing he was in for the fight of his life, and the final battle, what some could arguably consider one of the more important of the fights, soon began...

The battles were long and arduous, though, in the end, most of Varron's defenders came out the better of the two warriors each time, if not by much. King decimated Cain, regaining the honor he had felt he lost in their last battle, with sound effort. Ein subdued Kakyo after a rather arduous battle, and Sebastian managed to handle Rick in a devastating battle that degenerated into what was effectively a giant slug-fest. Arguably one of the most anticipated battles, however, was Dain's encounter with Marcus. The two stalked each other, playing words as well as blows against the other, attempting to battle on both physical and mental fronts.

The match began with Marcus taking the offense of both fronts, attacking Dain with powerful punches and kicks while jabbing home vicious verbal taunts. Dain did his best to dodge the attacks, first gaining a head of steam and throwing insults right back at the mastermind Marcus. Marcus's sharp tongue would soon seem to overcome Dain, however, as he started to break down in the middle of the cage, overcome with self-pity and loathing, and the crowd was visibly distraught by this. Marcus, however, was eating it all up, loving every minute of it as he arrogantly stalked in for the kill. It was then, however, that Dain shot up, showing the entire previous moments of the match to have been a ruse. Dain had figured that if a being like Marcus seemed to feed on pain and sadness, he could simply stuff it full enough to slow him down. The plan worked, and Dain exploded into action, refusing to hold back at all, constantly throwing blow after blow into Marcus, slamming him into the cage, throwing him almost literally from pillar to post. Marcus fought back with all his own rage, and put up a fight worthy of mention, but in the end, it was Dain Gavyns who surpassed him, defeating him in the middle of the cage.

Marcus would have the last laugh after all, however, revealing his master plan: He had Dain's sister, Lisa Gavyns, suspended above the ring, strapped to a vest containing a potent neurotoxin. Pressing a button on his watch, Marcus released the gas into the closed off warehouse, causing almost all present to fall unconcious while Marcus and his crew, save the already unconscious Cain Decker, donned gas masks and exited to safety. Lisa Gavyns was given the worst treatment, the very vest she wore injecting the toxins directly into her body. Dain was able to escape the cage and climb to her safety, releasing her from the cable she was hooked onto, just before falling unconscious himself. Lisa, however, had fallen into a coma, and currently resides at Varron Hospital for an indefinite amount of time. Dain visits her every chance he gets.


Post Graduation:
Even with these dark events lingering in the back of his mind, Dain managed to pull off a rather seamless Graduation, if only in the days leading up to it. That night, while enjoying a midnight dinner with his Formal date, Ran Ling Xiao, Dain watched on the television to see his good friend, Leon Loire, in the midst of a massive gunfight. Without a moment's hesitation, Dain burst off, basically leaving his date with nothing but a taxi fare as he rushed to Leon's side. By the time he had arrived, however, Leon had fallen in battle from an opponent, and Dain, disguising himself and his vehicle's plates to escape police detection, drove in with two guns blazing to save his friends Leon and Kira, who had rushed to the scene as well, perhaps a bit foolhardily, and driving them off to safety. He didn't get too far before he was accosted by Officer Cortez, who, suprisingly, merely rebuked him for his recklessness with a swift backhand and loaded Leon into his own, much faster Lamborghini Gallardo after a few words from a passing Maverik. Dain rushed to the hospital as well with Kira in tow, meeting Ran there, who had decided instead to be with them at there, and waited an entire week and a day before being admitted to see Leon, who was then suddenly taken forth from the hospital by armed guards. Dain hasn't seen him since.

After the fact, however, Dain has been a very busy man, working a managerial position in Kazuki's club, the Edge. Through this, he and Kazuki became very close friends, even going so far in their friendship as to having Kazuki fully detail his plans of escape from Interpol after his little escapade of many years before finally came to the light. Dain was integral to the plan, helping seal the deal by 'accidentally' stumbling upon a 'dead' Kazuk in the back rooms of the club, even putting on some rather convincing improv work when Kokaku Musha unexpectedly bursted forth as well, asking questions and demanding answers with a revolver. After Kazuki's funeral, Dain returned to the burial plot with another new acquaintance and friend, Maverik, to dig Varron's former defender back up and administer the waking drug. It was not long afterwards that Kazuki took to his bike and left the city, seemingly for good. Again, Dain hasn't seen him since.

On another note, Dain met a man named Adam 'Pain Killer' Rydell, after hearing rumors that a crazed man was out at night killing people with a nightstick. Investigating, Dain found him, alright, doing just as he was rumored to be doing. Engaging the man in battle, Dain rather easily bested him, as he seemed so preoccupied and full of rage that he was easily countered. Sensing something beyond his normal senses was going on, Dain left a message with the unconscious boy, telling him to meet him at The Edge later. Pain Killer showed up, and the two exchanged words, with Adam admitting that there was somethign else in his mind, an entity known as 'The Darkness', that had a tendency to control him and force him to do things he otherwise would not have done.

Dain realized this to be some sort of psychological trauma, and set about ways to make it right. A few days later, Dain and this 'Darkness' again met in a dark alley, with Dain beating it back both physically and verbally, vaguely reminiscent of his battle with Marcus, managing, essentially, to convince the entity that it didn't even exist. Once Adam's own consciousness, still hidden underneath a rapidly self-doubting 'Darkness', realized it as well, the true Pain Killer was able to break free, ridding himself from 'The Darkness', and hopefully for good.

Other than the aforementioned events, Dain's life has been rather average, simply going about his day-to-day duties at the Edge, running his 'fight club', the Edge League, attending college classes at VCU when he can, and basically trying to lead a life less filled with stress and warfare. He can often be found at the Edge if anyone would wish to contact him.