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[tomioka]

▶ PLAYER
HANDLE: Ivan
CONTACT: bondrewd
OVER 18? Y
CHARACTERS IN-GAME: Eren Yeager (trample)

▶ CHARACTER
NAME: Giyuu Tomioka
CANON: Kimetsu no Yaiba
CANON POINT: During the Pillar Training Arc, following his talk with Tanjirou.
AGE: 21
BACKGROUND: Here!

PERSONALITY:

"My heart will never waver. We are the nine strongest swordsmen in our organization. The literal 'Pillars' of the Demon Hunters. That is why we will never forget who we wield our swords for and who we are protecting. There are things that must be supported. So the Pillars must act as pillars."

The first thing anyone will notice about Giyuu is that he seems to lack emotion. Were that only the case - he is, in truth, just able to exercise an overwhelming amount of self-control. His motivation behind it being, in order to adapt to the many difficult situations he faces as one who fights incredibly powerful enemies, he must always keep his heart steady. Not only that, but Giyuu has had a tremendously painful past that hurts him to even think about. As he says it, "I didn't want to remember. My tears just wouldn't stop. Whenever I did remember, I got so sad I couldn't do anything."

Which puts his introduction into the series into perspective. Giyuu appears first as an enemy, attacking the protagonist's sister immediately and is just short of killing her as part of his duty as a demon hunter when the protagonist bows before him, begging for his sister's life. Rather than pity the boy, Giyuu chastises him severely, revealing an anger that is hardly ever seen from him ever again.

It's in this burst of emotion that many key elements to his character are exposed - firstly in that he has no respect for anyone who leaves themselves so defenseless and unwilling to fight for what they want. Then, it's shown that rather than crying, despairing, or wishing to turn back time, he believes it's only by filling your heart with pure anger that he believes one can move on from any suffered tragedy.

Perhaps most important, though, is in that following his speech he is not only impressed by the boy's tenacity in protecting his sister, but in the end allows him a chance to move on with his sister's life in tow. Rather than killing a demon on that basis alone, he was touched by their mutual efforts to protect each other and gave them the opportunity they needed to move forward.

But while he does have his moments of emotion, they are few and far between. Ultimately, he maintains himself with great composure. Make no mistake, it is not a facade, but the truth - there is no dark, mysterious brooding boy underneath, Giyuu is just aloof by nature. That doesn't mean he's entirely unfriendly - in fact, he occasionally goes to great strides to ensure that he's liked by others - but his silence can quite easily come off that way.

Even still, how willingly antisocial he is manages to cause problems. In any organization, a loner that doesn't function as part of a team can easily disrupt order simply by being there. Giyuu manages to scrape by for the most part without issue, but throughout the story there are many times that his desire to be away from others causes his peers to call him out for being such a stick in the mud.

Up until a certain point in the story, it's not quite obvious why he so very much longs to be away from the other characters, until he eventually explains himself that not only does he not feel himself worthy of being the Water Pillar - someone who represents the pinnacle of his sword style - he doesn't even feel himself worthy of having a place within the Demon Hunters at all.

Giyuu turns his back on them all alone because because, despite his desire to face forward, he simply can't. The guilt of being the survivor of a number of tragedies has left him feeling that any concerns regarding him are an utter waste of time. In fact, while he would never outright admit it, he feels that his death might be a good thing. Why should he live when the people precious to him died for his sake?

There was no one else for him after his sister died. It shouldn't matter how he lives or dies. But at the same time, to not live on for her sake at least would be an insult to the life she gave for him. Not only that, Giyuu eventually realizes that whatever was left behind by the people he cherished is up to him to carry on. The only reason he forgot it was because of how painful it was to remember them, to acknowledge that they'll never again be together.

Once he accepted that, falling in line with the rest of his comrades came naturally. He's still the same uptight, distant person he always was, but he does warm up some, even entertaining the childish whims of the protagonist such as going out for an eating contest at random and attempting to befriend a fellow Pillar by surprising him with his favorite food.

More importantly, however, is that he begins to fight with greater purpose than before. He trains alongside his peers and finds his place among them properly, eventually even manifesting a Demon Mark, something he thought himself entirely incapable of as he didn't believe himself to be special that way. Giyuu, despite himself, learns to carry himself with pride and acknowledges his responsibility to the Demon Hunters. Because he is a Pillar.

Pillars never crumble. Giyuu never wavers.

POWERS/ABILITIES:

demon hunter training. — Giyuu is an expert swordsman. Of the countless swordsmen in the Demon Slaying Corps, his skills exceed all but a few. Even an Upper Moon demon that had lived for over a hundred years noted his swordsmanship was finely crafted.
breathing techniques. — In his world, by maintaining certain breathing patterns, one can expand their lungs and fill their blood with more oxygen than normal. This technique in effect grants the user enhanced strength, speed, and mental concentration to the point where they're able to combat demons which are above and beyond the limits of any human to defeat. Giyuu being a Pillar can constantly maintain this, in a technique called "Full Focus Breathing." Basically, he's always faster and stronger and more sensitive to his surroundings than a normal human, even while sleeping.
demon mark. — A marking that appears on Demon Slayers when their heart rate exceeds 200 bpm and their body temperature reaches 39 degrees celcius. In effect, it enhances their physical capabilities even further, to the point where their strength and speed rivals even the most powerful demons. Giyuu's appears on his cheek as a navy-blue mark that resembles flowing water.

(Note: at his current canon point, he doesn't yet have this. The potential always exists as long as the aforementioned conditions are met, but I likely won't have him gain it until a canon update happens at which point he'll have already manifested it.)

INVENTORY: His Nichirin Katana - a demon-slaying blade with metal infused by sunlight, which can change color depending on its wielder - and his talking crow.

MOONBLESSING: Sanguis

▶ SAMPLES

w/ Shinobu
w/ Dimitri