Umbert Asterion

"Look, we've only got a few simple rules here. They're not that hard to follow, hell I live by 'em. Now shape up, or I'll have to toss you out myself."

- Bruce Asterion Whaddya mean, it's wierd we don't have many fights? I'd say it's pretty damn logical. You see that guy? That guy standing over by the door? That big-ass bull faunus you had to walk past to get in here? He's the reason we don't have many fights in here. On second thought, maybe it's more accurate to say he's why fights in here don't last very long.

Appearance
Standing at six feet, six inches and weighing in at two-hundred and eighty-five pounds, Bruce is a veritable tower of muscles. He has a head of shaggy dark-brown hair accented by navy blue eyes and two bovine horns sprouting from his temples. His typical wardrobe consists of a brown longcoat, a white shirt, a brown tie with white stripes, blue-jeans, a brown belt, and brown boots with white accents. His demeanor typically displays a passive benevolence to those who can get past his intimidating size.

Bruce tends to passively observe conversations, usually only speaking when directly adressed or if he thinks he has invaluable input. The large faunus moves with slower, measured movements, and he tends to stay out of the way of others, as he knows just how some folks can react to his size. In general, people tend to see him as the gentle giant. And that's just the way he likes to keep it.

Personality
Bruce is a man who's always had a very selfless nature. He's the kind of person who would take a job, get no pay, work himself to the bone, and still be content at the end of the day, provided he had helped someone in need. However, this sometimes can be his dowfall in that he has only a vague awareness of his own limits. He will work himself unconscious with hardly a second thought if it would help someone he cares about. At times he can be seen as overprotective, rushing into a situation with minimal incentive or prior knowledge, and at times paying dearly for it. At other times he can fixate on a problem to the point where his attempts to solve it can do more harm than help. But, in the end, he's exactly the kind of person a lot of folks would like to have at their back: Loyal, capable, and selfless.

That said, living in a society where he has been constantly ridiculed and kicked around purely based on his race has had some negative impacts on his outlook. He's aquired a bit of a temper with regards to discrimination of any sort, and the abuse of a faunus is the one sure-fire way to enrage him. Thanks to a childhood of warding off threats with ferocity, he's also accquired a taste for violence. This usually manifests itself in his enthusiasm in training and occasional friendly, tournament-style duels with willing partners. However, if he attacks an opponent out of anger, all bets are off. He'll pursue with single-minded determination until the target has been beaten into submission. He knows enough to recognize that violence isn't always the right answer, but that doesn't stop him from sometimes wishing it was.

Abilities and Skills
First thing to get out of the way: Bruce is incredibly strong, and well suited to all types of manual labor tasks. Of course, you can imagine how well this adapts to combat. He also has plentiful reserves of aura, which under Royce's tutelage he has learned to harness into a thin layer of force that increases his strength and durability greatly. It appears as a steady, light-brown glow emanating from Bruce's skin.

Additionally, Bruce is quite skilled at developing insights to certain types of problems through experience. This makes him quick on the uptake on many types of tasks, such as figuring out who threw the first punch at a bar fight, or which patrons were thrown out of the LAST bar they were at, or memorizing routes after having traveled them only once. It also makes him adept at solving many different kinds of puzzles, with crosswords, wordsearches, and complex pen-and-paper mazes being among his favorites. It's not uncommon to catch him leaning over one with a cup of coffee when he's not on duty.

Weapon and Fighting Style
Buce's weapon is a Variable Purpose Stun Axe (VPSA) named Brazen Bull. In appearance, it resembles a shortened Sparth Axe with a brown-painted shaft and a bronze head and blade. In this mode, it's quite effective at slicing into tough Grimm hides, but needless to say it's not the most practical tool for settling bar fights. As such, in it's alternative mode, the upward half of the axe-head folds back to form a double-headed design, and the blades of both halves extend up to form two electrified prongs. In this mode it works as a stun-prod, and delivers debilitating shocks to targets. While it's a wonder at close range, it has no ranged-combat mode, nor does it help Bruce approach his enemies.

As for Bruce himself, he fights by overwhelming his opponents through shear force. He's capable of obsorbing large amounds of punishment before succumbing to his wounds, often leading to fights with him becoming all-out slugfests. It's a damned good thing too: He's not all that good at dodging, and the only time he moves fast is with a running start in a straight line. Such "charges" are his preferred method of transport mid-fight, and he will often pick a target the moment a hostile group appears, so he can move to make sure no obstacles block his path.

While his aura is normally quite powerful, while in a rage state it rockets even higher. Bruce takes on a single-minded mentality in these states, honed in on erasing the target from existance. And if something should happen to deprive him of Brazen Bull, he'll use his horns to gore the foe without hesitation. That said his rage state is quite difficult to trigger, what with his kindly demeanor and how he dislikes seriously harming others. He normally feels quite a bit of guilt after he's calmed down, as outside of his rage state he never fights intending to permenantly injur someone. He actually enjoys well-meant combat imensely, wether he's sparring or busting up a few ruffians. Doing so actually cheers him up, even if he's losing! (As long as it was a fair fight, that is.)

History
Born to a working-class faunus couple, Bruce did not have the easiest childhood. Ever since he was a young boy, he was bullied for being a faunus, as were many of his race at that age. However, Bruce's basically kind and compasionate mind never quite understood how someone can hate a person without even knowing them. There was a time and place for hate, of course, but it angered him that some beleived that that "Time and place" was "Whenever a person has different ears, or horns." When the cruelty of his human peers finally got to the point of physical violence, Bruce decided he had had enough.

From there on in, he decided that he'd protect not only himself, but others who were in jeopardy as well. First he enrolled to Signal, then he worked his way up to Beacon. He trained hard, doiing his best to sculpt himself into the best guardian he could be. And while his combat scores and general reviews from teachers were impressive, his disciplinary record was marred by altercations with other, less tolerant students. This was resultant of his own little "crusade" for his kind: His reaction to seeing other faunus students being victimised was not one other students liked to provoke.

Eventually these tensions came to a head when Bruce stumbled upon a group of human students beating a single, lone faunus student. Acting without thought, Bruce descended on the boys. He dealt two broken legs, one concussion, five cracked ribs, a dislocated hip, and numerous horn-stab wounds to the boys. That said, he suffered numerous injuries and wounds of his own before the proffessors were able to stop the fight. He was honestly lucky to be alive. Bruce left the academy soon after that.

But, of course, he had to earn a living too. He entered in several fighting tournaments that offered cash prizes, and to be honest he was able to make a modest existence, even if he never did quite make it to the top rankings. This changed when he first fought against Royce Blenheim, who was looking for a quick way to earn a capital investment for his own tavern at the time. While Bruce was able to endure the barkeep's onslaught and strike him down, Royce had no hard feelings. In fact, when he learned that Bruce hadn't been holding back his arua, but had instead never learned to use it, Royce offered to unlock it for him. Struck by the kindness of the human, Bruce accepted. And he took the rest of the tournament by storm.

These days, Bruce doesn't do tournament fights any more. Now he works as a bouncer in Royce's tavern, which he used his tournament winnings to help fund years ago. You can be sure that under his watchful eye, the Brew and Bunk is a safe haven for humans and faunus alike.

Trivia

 * Bruce references both THE "Minotaur" of  Greek mythology (Who's proper name is Bruce's surname) and the Minotaur species present in modern popular culture (which is why he wields an axe.)
 * His default personality is heavily based off of the average temperment of cows, whilst his enraged state has much in common with bull stereotypes and the Minotaur himself.
 * In ancient Greek times, a torture device known as the Brazen Bull was often used on criminals convicted in Sicily. On a related note, electrical cattle prods were used to torture and subdue protestors during the American Civil Rights Movement.
 * Another mythical cow provides Bruce's middle name and color scheme.