Sam Tai

"Hands off my prey!"

- Perry Lombardi "Pretend I'll let you escape!"

- Perry Lombardi "It ain't over till it's over."

- Perry Lombardi

Perry Lombardi is an original character created by Hyper Zergling for the RWBY universe.

Appearance
Lombardi is a male teenager with short, dark-brown, spiky hair. He wears a loose green shirt with a yellow high collar, and a pair of green baggy pants. Over his shirt is a dark-green unzipped jacket. Lombardi wears the boots of Artigli di Raptor at nearly all times.

Lombardi is a Faunus who possesses qualities of a bird, having a tail of brown feathers.

Personality
Lombardi is a fairly quiet individual who tends to keep to himself. However, he will open up to others if they wish to strike friendly conversations with him. It should be noted that Lombardi is quite sensitive to deliberate discrimination, and is not without responding violently. During combat, Lombardi is very aggressive and will recklessly pursue his opponent until he/she/it is defeated. This does not mean Lombardi fights mindlessly, however, as he will approach an opponent cautiously if he is aware of a potential trap. In battle, Lombardi has a tendency to lack situational awareness, being far too focused on his target, which he often refers to as prey. Because of this, he has trouble facing multiple opponents at once, and relies heavily on allies to watch his back.

Abilities & Powers
As with many of the other students of Beacon Academy, Lombardi possesses superhuman qualities, such as enhanced speed, strength, and durability. His most notable trait, however, is his lower body strength, allowing him to vertically propel himself at incredible heights and "soar" through the air. This allows him to dive onto unsuspecting enemies from above, dispatching them before they can even fight back. Lombardi's immense lower body strength also allows him to deliver incredibly powerful kicks that can overwhelm the opponent when executed in quick succession. Through his semblance, Lombardi can place a temporary invisible "surface" beneath his feet, similar to Weiss' "Air Step." This enables him to perform "midair jumps," even when he has no ground to support him. He is, however, only able to generate up to two of these surfaces consecutively, and must wait for a few seconds before he can make more. Like Ren, Lombardi can use his aura to enhance the power of his kicks and generate protective fields. Lombardi can also use his aura to accelerate his falling speed in order to strike his opponents as quickly as possible.

Lombardi's weapon of choice is actually a set of equipment called Artigli di Raptor. The weapon set consists of an energy pistol, a pair of armored boots, and a device that generates a short-ranged shockwave around Lombardi's entire body. The pistol semi-automatically fires weak bolts of energy that stun the target. Although it may appear useless, Lombardi uses his pistol to stun opponents who are aware of his presence so he can safely approach them. The armored boots complement Lombardi's lower body strength, reinforcing the strength of his kicks. The shockwave generated by the device vertically propels nearby opponents, allowing Lombardi to follow them into the air, striking them with a kick before they can recover from the shockwave's stun.

When partnered together against an opponent, Lombardi and Aderyn, who is also a melee fighter, become an incredibly devastating force. If they can give themselves the opportunity, they will smack the opponent repeatedly back and forth between each other. This has happened frequently enough that Eurus has named it the "Volleyball Combo."

History
Like most faunus, Lombardi suffered a childhood of discrimination. He and his family were members of the White Fang until the rise of its new leader and its violent tendencies. During his childhood, Lombardi befriended a fellow faunus named Gu Mi-ho, who inevitably suffered the same discrimination Lombardi had. For many years, the two supported each other in overcoming the discrimination around them. Unlike Lombardi, who was proud of his family's bloodline, however, Mi-ho despised being a faunus, and wished only to become human. The personal lives of the two eventually led them to their separate ways, and they seldom saw each other for several years.

Wishing to become a hunter, Lombardi worked his way up to Beacon Academy. During the Beacon Academy Initiation, Perry first met Aderyn Sparrow, and the two of them found one of the Black Knight chess pieces. They were soon joined by Eurus Akimaru and Rachel Sky, who found the other black knight piece, forming Team AERL. Within the first few months of being a student of Beacon, Lombardi received news that his parents were beaten to near-death and rushed to the hospital by a rising political organization called the Hominid Circle, which he soon found out was led by none other than his former friend, Mi-ho. Since the incident, Lombardi has sworn vengeance upon Mi-ho and her organization, wanting nothing more than their demise.

Trivia

 * Perry Lombardi is mostly referred to by his surname, Lombardi, although Aderyn and Rachel call him by his first name.
 * Perry Lombardi is named after the peregrine falcon, implying he is specifically a peregrine falcon faunus.
 * The lyrics of The Pretender, Lombardi's theme, refer his thoughts directed towards Mi-ho.