Hector Mettal

"I've killed every type of Grimm you've heard of - and even some you haven't." Hector Mettal is an original character created by Aldrasos.

Appearance
Hector is a large, bulky, muscular man with dark brown eyes and brown, thinning hair which is beginning to turn grey slicked back over his head. His skin is tanned and rough from exposure to the elements, with the odd scar across his chest and back. His face is square and chiselled, with six thin scars running up over his jawline, breaking up his stubble.

He is normally seen wearing his combat clothing, which consists of old, brown/green camoflage trousers and jacket, a plain white shirt, and dark combat boots. When preparing for combat, he wears a large, well-worn flak jacket, knee and elbow pads, and dark grey gloves for protection. He is almost always seen wearing a dull grey metal mask over his face, often resembling a skull, from his collection, rarely taking it off in public and only around close friends. Sometimes he will also wear some black facepaint beneath the mask.

Sometimes, when taking a short holiday, Hector will sport more casual clothing, mainly dark blue jeans, a white t-shirt and a brown leather jacket, while keeping the boots, and will swap out his more sinister masks for simpler ones.

Personality
Hector is a somewhat rough and gruff individual, who takes a dislike to silliness and unprofessionalism, but is a surprisingly kind person once one gets past his cold front. He is neither cruel nor unnecessarily violent, despite his appearance, and dislikes fighting other people, preferring to keep his combat abilities limited to creatures of Grimm, except when he is being paid to do so. While he tends to follow the letter of the law, rather than the spirit, he truly believes that everything he does is for the greater good, and has a clear conscience because of it. Because of this, he is able to do things that others may hesitate at, such as killing another person if they truely deserve it.

He is a born leader of men through passive intimidation and respect, and so carries the title of 'The Merc King' given to him by his subordinates with pride and acknowledgement. Fairness and justice are two of Hector's primary principals, and this is reflected in the loyality of those who follow him. He hates being ordered around, which is one of the main reasons why he became a freelancer, as he could do things his way. His success is mainly due to his methodical and careful nature.

Hector has spent the majority of his life fighting Grimm, but he does not hate them for the things that they do. He kills them for money, or when lives are at stake and he happens to be around, but won't go out of his way to combat them, unlike Hunters and Huntresses. He has a respect for Huntsmen, since he once wanted to be one, but dislikes those in training, as he believes them to be arrogant and disrespectful in nature.

Background
Hector was born in the kingdom of Atlas fourty years before the events of RWBY. Both his mother and father had trained at Atlas Academy and made a living slaying creatures of Grimm on the outskirts of the main city. He was the eldest son, with a younger brother and sister being born ten years later. After encouragement from his parents, Hector somewhat reluctantly agreed to become a Hunter, forcing himself to believe that he would be doing his duty to humanity by doing so. However at 17, when undertaking one of the tasks during initiation to Atlas Academy - a version of capture the flag between the initiates - Hector lost focus and began slaughtering the Grimm lurking in the no-man's land between the two sides instead. His team lost the match as a result, and the blame was pushed on him afterwards by his teammates. Despite performing admirably throughout the process, he was denied entrance to the academy because of his inability to focus on the objectives.

Disgruntled, Hector took the exam again the follow year, but rumours spread about him being a poor teammate, resulting in him being shunned by his fellow students. He dropped out of his training barely a month after passing the tests due to his ill treatment from his classmates, and after getting into several fights with the school bullies.

Angry and frustrated by everybody's refusal to see his true potential, combined with the fact that he couldn't afford to buy a proper weapon and that he hadn't discovered his Semblance, he decided to leave home in search of work. Armed with only a combat knife, he went on a tour-of-duty to every settlement out of Atlas' borders, earning a living from collecting bounties on criminals and creatures of Grimm. At 22 he had accumulated enough money to buy some proper equipment, and returned to the kingdom. There, he constructed his new primary weapon - a fully automatic machine gun - and found himself enlisting in the Atlesian military, due to his lacking of any kind of qualification. He served for 9 years, defending his kingdom's borders as a front-line operative.

However, Hector soon grew weary of his career as a soldier, becoming sick of being ordered around by his abusive superior officer. One day on the frontlines, after a heated arguement, Hector stabbed the officer in the stomach and deserted, leaving the man to be devoured by Grimm in the wilderness. While there was no solid evidence to convict him of murder, he could be charged for desertion, and a team of local Hunters were dispatched to arrest him.

It took several months, but eventually the team tracked him down to a waterfall just outside of the kingdom's borders. After being confronted by the warriors, Hector was shocked to discover that it was his younger siblings who had been sent to capture him, along with their two teammates. The team attempted to reason with him, but Hector refused to return to the military, after growing fond of his outlaw lifestyle. A short but vicious battle later, Hector's sister unintentionally scratched him with her clawed weapons, cutting his face and sending him tumbling over the edge of the cliff.

Contrary to the reports of his death, Hector survived the fall by landing in the pool at the bottom of the waterfall. Wounded but very much alive, Hector retreated to a nearby settlement, where he fixed himself up. Concerned that he would be recognised in urban areas, he visited a local blacksmith, who forged him a metal mask to hide his face.

Hector spent the next 9 years of his life working odd jobs as a freelancer, giving him the nickname 'The Masked Contractor' in the industry. His career took him all across the world, frequently visiting the other kingdoms and settlements outside their borders. He quickly rose in fame due to his expertise in combat, and eventually took on the title of 'Merc King' as a result of his vast network of fellow freelancers. At 37 he organised them into a group named 'The Mettal Legion', which improved efficiency and allowed for the mercenary industry to prosper in many unpopulated regions. While the membership count is quite high, it is not a full-time commitment, and so remains a very neutral and minor faction in Remnant. Hector works as the Mettal Legion's Controller-General, and continues to do so during the events of RWBY.

Rolling Thunder
Rolling Thunder is Hector's primary weapon, and is a fully automatic machine gun and shotgun which uses fire dust-infused bullets and shells for an explosive effect. The machine gun resembles an M249 light machine gun, but has been constantly modified over the years for maximum comfort and efficiency, and so can easily be fired from the hip. It has been designed to be lightweight, but capable of laying down an overwhelming volley of fire on its targets with its large magazine size.

In shotgun form, the barrel shortens and the scope retracts into the body of the gun. The shotgun shells are located in the same magazine as the machine gun bullets for efficiency. The shotgun resembles a riot shotgun, due to its defensive nature, and both the shotgun and machine gun forms have a large, fixed bayonette attached for use in close combat.

Rolling Thunder does not have a standard form, due to Hector's lack of knowledge in technology and mechanics, and so it is usually found in its shotgun form when not in use. The gun has a simple dark grey coating, and shows many signs of battle, mainly dents, scratches and nicks in the metal.

Combat Knife
Hector still carries the combat knife he used back during his days training to be a Hunter. It is lightweight and deadly sharp, and is comfortable in his hand. The blade has a bright silver shine despite its age, and has a black leather handle.

Natural Abilities
Half a lifetime of near-constant fighting has left Hector an extremely fearsome and lethal fighter, to the point where, in terms of pure combat skill, it would take a pair of fully-trained Huntsmen to completely defeat him, due to him possessing experience fighting other people while Huntsmen more frequently combat Grimm. While not being trained in unarmed combat, his pure strength still makes him a capable fighter even without his weapons. Like Huntsmen, he is unfazed by creatures of Grimm, and it is a rare occurance to see him worried. His size and appearance makes him a demoralising opponent to face, so undisciplined fighters will often struggle to build the courage to face him in combat. He also has some experience in administration. Years of fighting have given him a muscular, toned body despite him being past his prime, and his frequent use of heavy armour has built up an impressive level of stamina and endurance. He also has experience with high levels of pain, giving him a tolerance to pain that most young warriors do not possess,

Weaknesses and Disadvantages
Hector has few obvious weaknesses, especially in combat. Rolling Thunder's machine gun is suited for medium range, and the shotgun form is limited to short range, meaning that Hector will struggle when fighting ranged opponents. Similarly, the weapon does not have a purely close-combat mode.

The armour Hector wears, combined with the weight of Rolling Thunder, his a heavy weight even for a person of his stature. As a result, when dealing with fast-moving, close combat fighters Hector will often discard Rolling Thunder completely and use his knife instead.

Outside of combat, Hector has no real expertise, or even specialities. He, effectively, lives for fighting, and nothing else. He has no Semblance, putting him at an immediate disadvantage to most of his opponents (however, he usually makes up for this through experience and combat skill), and has a relatively weak Aura, making him reliant on his heavy armour for protection in most fights.

Trivia

 * Hector is the Anglicized version of the Scottish Gaelic word Eachann, meaning 'Brown Horse'
 * Mettal is pronounced simply as 'metal'
 * Hector was inspired by numerous sources, most notably Tesseract from the book series Skulduggery Pleasant