CD: Gilbert Halifax

◄ RP Status | Ask Halifax | Heart chart ►

B A S I C S

NAME ► Gilbert Halifax
Doesn't use his real first name, always going by just his last name Halifax instead.

GENDER ► Male
POKÉMON ► #612 Haxorus ✩

AGE ► mid-30s
BIRTHDAY ► November 18th ( ♏ )

HEIGHT ► 198cm ~ 6’6”
WEIGHT ► 110kg ~ 242lbs

J O B

TRICK SHOOTING ► Lune, main job

Performing on the outer edge of the circus, Halifax uses a rifle, and occassionally a revolver, to shoot all kinds of tricky targets including playing cards and dimes. If a volunteer is found from the audience, he can also shoot a cigarette out of their mouth or hand, or an apple off their head. He usually sells the shot cards/dimes to the audience for some extra income.
► Rifle reference


STANDBY SECURITY ► Atelier, 2nd job
 
Gets called in if there's a need for enhanced security.

W I S H

“A wish? Well, a light would be nice.”

Not really believing that the wish offer was a real deal, Halifax simply ‘wished’ for a light for his cigarette. Mr. Dark was kind enough to offer that much in the form of a lighter.

Backfire
Halifax’s eyes became hypersensitive to light. Even a simple candle flame is so bright to him that it will severely burn his eyes, causing agonizing pain, practically blinding him and making sleeping impossible as the light would easily pierce his eyelids. Night isn’t safe time either, because the moon reflects the sun’s light. Only burying himself in some dark pit with no light sources at all would help.

Inside the circus
On the circus grounds Halifax can see normally most of the time. Bright days can still make his eyes and head hurt, so he prefers to wear sunglasses whenever sun is out on the sky. He can leave the circus grounds for some time and still see normally, but the hypersensitivity will gradually creep back, eventually forcing him to return to the circus.

P E R S O N A L I T Y

confident | bold | self-reliant | collected | impartial | nonchalant | unreliable | callous | amoral

I'm just sayin'
To begin with, Halifax is a highly independent 'mon who needs zero support from others to thrive. He has iron-like confidence in himself and his abilities, and his skin is thick both literally and figuratively. Unfortunately, he seems to expect the same qualities from everybody else as well. His general way of speech is very, very blunt; sugarcoating or beating around the bush aren't the Haxorus' cup of tea and he doesn't care if his words upset someone. If they can't handle the truth, it's their own fault for being so sensitive, not his. If he can handle it, why can't them?

Acquired taste
Due to his way of speaking, it's easy to call Halifax an asshole. Honestly, there's no denying it - but on a good day and in the right company, he can be agreeable at times. He isn't asocial or out to make enemies per se, just picky with his company. He strongly prefers 'mon who share a similar mindset to his; bonus points if they share his grim sense of humor as well. The rest are considered a bore, an annoyance or both and not worth his time unless he can benefit from tolerating them. Benefiting can be anything from material gain to getting a little laugh. The Haxorus has a bad habit of using other 'mon as tools for his own amusement. It's like a game: push a button and and see what happens. The worse you react, the more hilarious it is. Your bad day is his good day.

Not my problem
Let's get it out of the way - Halifax used to work as a hired gun and he was excellent at his job. He's not ashamed of the things he has done; to him, his past is a good work record to be proud of like any other. Keeping this in mind, trying to appeal to the Haxorus' empathy or compassion is not recommended. He doesn't care about other 'mon and his moral compass is broken beyond repair. There are no rights or wrongs to him, only things that profit him or do not. Halifax isn't necessarily selfish, though - his uncaring attitude covers himself as well. Putting his health or even his life at risk doesn't seem to faze the Haxorus in the least. Some could call it courage gone askew but the truth is that Halifax simply doesn't hold life - his or anybody else's - on any sacred pedestal. He'd have the brain cells to be cautious if he wanted to but most of the time he just doesn't see a point to it.

All in a day's work
Halifax has witnessed, experienced and done a lot in his life, and thanks to that it's really difficult to shake him. He's capable of staying calm under very stressful situations, and overall tipping his emotional scale majorly to any direction is far easier said than done. Frankly, his emotional layer is so shallow that he can easily come off as unfeeling. It isn't far from truth - emotions are generally a gray area for Halifax and he doesn't really understand them. His knowledge is limited to the effects he's seen of emotions flaring up: unstable and occassionally amusing 'mon that are easy to manipulate and take down. Hence, expressing strong emotions is a big weakness in his books.

Hands off
One thing that can instantly throw Halifax off his loop is relatively simple: close physical contact. He's fine with handshakes and such short gestures especially if he's the one initiating them, but anything beyond that crosses the line. Preferring to keep his distance to others, Halifax has never really gotten used to close physical contact and has no plans to ever work on changing that fact. He likes his personal space and you either respect that or get shoved away with an angry hiss. Insisting on trespassing can quickly earn you more severe injuries. While Halifax isn't usually the one to start physical fights, if he's forced into one you can bet he will use every dirty trick in the book to end the fight as fast as possible.

You do you, I do me
Back in the day, Halifax worked for the highest bidder, holding no affiliations whatsoever. This mentality has carried to this day - he doesn't pick sides or hold biases according to them. He either goes with whatever works the best for him or stays in the neutral zone, and out of these options he strongly prefers the latter. On the good side, this means that when you meet him, you start from a completely clean slate. He won't judge you unless you give him a personal reason to do so, and even then he rarely cares about carrying grudges. Halifax's ideal way of life is no strings attached whatsoever, not even ones that are made of hatred. On the downside, this means that the Haxorus is far from trustworthy. He can work by your side today just to place a knife in your back tomorrow.

Likes ► card games (especially poker), good cigars, sharpshooting, metal jewelry, personal space
Dislikes ► sunny days, lightning, kids, over-reacting, citrus fruits

H I S T O R Y

Home town ► Goldenrod City, Johto
Family ► father (Salamence, deceased), mother (Haxorus, deceased)

Halifax’s childhood wasn’t anything remarkable. His Haxorus mother died during childbirth, so Halifax became the sole responsibility of his widowed Salamence father. Their relationship was distant at best; although the Salamence made sure his son stayed healthy and fed, it was the limit of the care he was able to give. The loss of his wife had left a mark on the Salamence which he hid by dedicating himself to his work as a high-ranking military officer. The way he raised his son mirrored his career and as soon as Halifax was old enough, his father demanded that he enrolled too. Halifax had no objections - it felt merely like natural progression to him.

During the military training, it turned out that Halifax had a real talent for sharpshooting and after some time he was ranked as one of the best snipers in his brigade. When he eventually fought on a real battlefield, he proved to be a force to be reckoned with. While most deemed the battlefield stressful, the Haxorus thrived in it. Scoring many kills, he found himself enjoying the heat of the battles and the way it made adrenaline rush through his veins. His father wasn’t as fortunate - the battlefield ended up becoming his grave. Halifax, however, didn’t find it in himself to mourn over the Salamence; they had become practically strangers to each other by then.

Thanks to his skills and efficiency, it looked like Halifax was set for a string of promotions and a successful career in the military just like his late father. Unfortunately, the success made him grow too cocky. He started to run in troubles with his superiors, bickering with them and refusing to follow orders he saw as unnecessary bossing around or ‘not fit for his skills’. Punishments did nothing to correct his behavior, and eventually he took a step too far and took a kill shot he hadn’t been given a clearance for. The matter was taken to the court martial by Halifax’s superiors who had gotten their fill of the Haxorus’ disobedience. The superiors wanted Halifax jailed, but the Haxorus’ defense was strong. He had taken a shot without permission, yes, but it had eliminated a potential future threat - an enemy. The court leaned more on Halifax’s side, but taking his earlier track record of disobedience into account, the final straw still resulted in him getting a dishonorable discharge in his early thirties.

At first Halifax just scoffed at the discharge, believing the military was the one who suffered the greater loss by sending him away. However, it quickly became clear that he wasn’t much better off. Finding a job proved difficult with a dishonorable discharge in his records, and he was soon facing severe money problems. To relieve stress, Halifax began spending a lot of time in bars in the shadier parts of the city, often picking drunken fights over the most minor things.

The downward spiral continued until one night, Halifax overheard a couple men discussing about a severe need for a good shot. Without thinking twice, the Haxorus jumped at the opportunity and offered himself for the job. At first he was met with skepticism, but after he presented his track record from the military, the men grew interested. Halifax felt a spark of excitement which only grew when the men just shrugged off his dishonorable discharge. After some more talking, the Haxorus got hired for a remarkably good price. It was the kind of money that told you not to ask too many questions and Halifax was wise enough not to. In fact, he didn’t even care to - he was happy to get to pick up his rifle again.

It was the starting point of what would become his career as a hitman.

The men who hired Halifax were members of the local gang who wanted the leader of their rival group dead. Halifax hadn’t done any hits before, but he got some pointers from the gang and his shooting skills combined with everything he had learned back in the military about sniping and stealth took care of the rest. The hit was a success and became the first piece in the reputation Halifax began building for himself. He found his skillset highly valued - and even needed - in certain circles and started to look for more similar jobs. At first he did a few more hits for the gang who had first hired him, but as he got better and his reputation grew, other parties grew interested in his skills as well. Soon enough the Haxorus was working for whoever paid the best price and his money troubles became history - and eventually, the money became secondary priority altogether. He just enjoyed the thrill of planning and executing hits.

As years and eventually decades rolled by, Halifax grew very familiar with the shadier streets of life and the other ‘mon strolling through them. He still made sure he kept himself from getting too closely involved with any particular client or anyone else. While there were a few ‘mon he didn’t mind greeting in a bar or sharing a few drinks with, he had no interest pursuing any deeper connections. Not only did he feel comfortable living only for himself, but keeping his distance also served him well in his line of work as it made him harder to track down. Of course he still had some unfortunate run-ins, some of which even left permanent marks on his armor, but they were nothing he couldn’t overcome. Challenges were part of his work, and he welcomed them wholeheartedly. All in all, life was good and he was content.

Up until the said life started catching up with Halifax and old age became a factor.

Despite making sure that he kept himself physically fit and his skills sharp, as Halifax passed into his 70s, he was forced to admit that strength was leaving his body and his eyesight was worsening to the point where he could not operate as a hitman anymore. Being forced into retirement, The Haxorus’ mood quickly dived. First he grew bored and as more years passed by, the boredom eroded into bitterness. Although he had enough blood money to live as large as he wanted, nothing could match the thrill he had felt in his past job.

One day a circus arrived to the city Halifax lived in. At first he didn’t think much of it, but eventually decided to give it a try anyway. It was something new and different, after all - a change in the dull life he was stuck with. Unfortunately, the visit did nothing to improve his mood. Seeing the performances only reminded Halifax of what he could no longer do and the longer he stayed, the more annoyed he became. To ease his riled up nerves, he stopped to smoke a cigarette - only to find his lighter broken. Frustrated, he cursed out loud and tossed the lighter in the ground.

It was then that Halifax was approached by a finely dressed Darkrai who had overheard him. The Darkrai introduced himself as the ringmaster of the circus and offered one wish to help, saying he hated to see an unhappy customer. Halifax scoffed at the words, being too frustrated and having seen too much in his life to consider the offer as anything else but a bad joke.

“A wish? Well, a light would be nice.”

The Darkrai simply smiled at the Haxorus and handed over a lighter. Positively surprised, Halifax accepted the item and lit his cigarette. When he turned to return the lighter, he found the ringmaster already gone. Halifax shrugged it off and slid the lighter in his own pocket instead. After he finished his cigarette, he decided to head home, thinking the circus had nothing to offer to him.

The following morning, Halifax woke up to a light piercing his dreams - only, it wasn’t the soft glow of a sunrise. No, it felt like he was staring right into the blazing sun of a summer day. Trying to shield his eyes from the burning light, Halifax stumbled to pull the curtains of his bedroom window shut. They did nothing to help, however, forcing him to seek out more covers and eventually even to push a closet in front of the window before the room dimmed enough for him to see somewhat normally. After calming down enough to think, Halifax quickly came to conclusion that the Giratina-damned Darkrai he had met had to be the reason behind his blight.

Once the next - and fortunately rainy - night fell, Halifax headed straight back to the circus. He quickly sought out the ringmaster and demanded an explanation. The Darkrai, clearly unmoved by the fury blazing in the Haxorus’ eyes, simply told him: ”To make sure you’ll never run out of light again, I took the liberty of making your eyes extra sensitive to light. How do you like it?”

Understandably, Halifax’s initial reaction was a burst of anger. He demanded the Darkrai to fix what he had done and return the Haxorus’ sight back to normal. With a small grin, the ringmaster admitted that he could do it, but not for free - if Halifax wanted his sight fixed, he was to join the circus. As a lavish bonus, the Darkrai - noting the Haxorus’ old age - also promised to give Halifax back his youth if he so wanted.

Halifax needed only a second to accept the deal.

B A T T L E

TYPING ► Dragon
ABILITY ► Mold Breaker | The Pokémon’s moves are not affected by foe’s abilities during battle.
STRENGTHS ► Fire, Water, Electric, Grass (x1/2)
WEAKNESSES ► Ice, Dragon, Fairy (x2)

MOVESET
[ Dragon ] Dragon Pulse | The target is attacked with a shock wave generated by the user's gaping mouth. | STAB
[ Dragon ] Dragon Claw | The user slashes the target with huge, sharp claws. | STAB
[ Dark ] Assurance | If the target has already taken some damage in the same turn, this attack's power is doubled.
[ Normal ] Focus Energy (Egg move¹) | The user takes a deep breath and focuses so that critical hits land more easily.

+ [ Normal ] Endeavor (Move Tutor²) | An attack move that cuts down the target's HP to equal the user's HP.
+ [ Normal ] Facade (TM³) | An attack move that doubles its power if the user is poisoned, burned, or has paralysis.
+ [ Poison ] Poison Jab (TM³) | The target is stabbed with a tentacle or arm steeped in poison. It may also poison the target.
+ [ Dark ] Hone Claws (TM³) | The user sharpens its claws to boost its Attack stat and accuracy.

¹ inherited from Halifax's father, a Salamence
² was taught to Halifax by an official Move Tutor he paid for.
³ Halifax has bought all of his TMs from separate stores during the circus' town stops.

E X T R A

► After joining the circus, the first thing Halifax did was to head to the carousel to get back his youth. Before the ride, he was into his 80s.
► Halifax brought his trusted sniper rifle to the circus with him. He's very finicky about it and touching it without permission is not a wise move.
► He has also kept the lighter Mr. Dark gave him, and still uses it.
► He inherited his pale eye color from his Salamence father.
► His pupils are always shrunk into pinpricks due to his eyes’ sensitivity to light.
► The right side of his neck/face armor is charred and – if you were able to touch it – feels rougher than rest of the armor.
► If he has free time at hand, you may find him shooting cans or other objects in an improvised shooting range.
► His name is a wordplay from ‘Halifax Gibbet’, a decapitating machine that prevailed the Guillotine.

P E T S

NAME ► Luger

Houndoom | male | Flash Fire 

Type-swapped Steel/Fire
[ Fire ] Fire Fang - [ Steel ] Iron Head - [ Normal ] Leer - [ Poison ] Smog

Luger is a well-trained guard dog through and through, and shouldn't be mistaken for anything less. Just like his owner, he prefers not to be touched and an attempt to pet him may easily be rewarded with a nasty bite. It's only a warning, though; the Houndoom won't flat out attack anyone without a direct command from Hax. The Houndoom is nothing short of blindly loyal to his master and follows Halifax's orders down to a tee. Pretty much everybody else - with the exception of Mr. Dark - only get nasty looks from the 'mon.

► Pet meme


NAME ► Parabellum

Lycanroc | male | Keen Eye

Type-swapped Ghost
[ Ghost ] Shadow Sneak - [ Ghost ] Confuse Ray - [ Fight ] Reversal - [ Normal ] Howl

Simply put, Parabellum is a bully. Although he's been trained well, he's hold onto a really nasty attitude towards anyone who isn't his master. His favorite past time is picking on other ferals, but anthros aren't 100% safe from him either. He likes stalking people from a distance, just to see how jittery he can make them with his presence alone. If it's not fun enough, he may go to the other end and force himself in your personal space. Fortunately enough, he doesn't do it through violence - he just stands way too close for comfort.

► Pet meme