Laven Demmick

"I'm typically pretty understanding, but I'm not in the best of moods right now. So I strongly suggest that you get out of my way."

- Laven addressing members of the White Fang who were blocking him and his teammates when they were escorting people to the safe zone during the fall of Beacon

Backstory:
Laven Demmick is a ninteeen year old male human student at Beacon Academy, and the leader of team LPIS (pronounced "lapis"). He is originally from Vale and grew up with his parents. His father, Rust, is a surgeon and his mother, Lilac, a huntress. His father works in a hospital just across the street from their house, and his mother takes jobs mostly in Vale because she prefers to stay close to home, but occasionally travels to the other kingdoms.

From an early age, Laven had a desire to be a huntsman. Lilac was the one who first piqued his interest in the line of work. Laven wanted to make a difference in the world in whatever way he could, and was inspired by his mother's passion for her job, so she started to teach him how to fight when he was nine. Once he was old enough he enrolled at Signal Academy. However, his first year didn't go so well. He had only thought of the excitement of being a huntsman without considering the amount of work that went into it, so he ended his first year as one of the worst students in his class. Realizing how wrong he had been, and after getting a verbal beat-down from his parents (especially his mother), Laven managed to pull through with passing grades the rest of his time at Signal. But he still had trouble from time to time finding the motivation to focus on his studies, as he himself admitted later on that he wasn't a great student.

After Laven finished at Signal, Lilac insisted on having a sparring match with him to see what he had learned. She, in his words, "mopped the floor with him." Despite this, she could see that he had matured a lot. Having been reassured that he was doing fine and that he was ready to move on, he applied to Beacon. And to his surprise, he passed his entrance exams with flying colors. This is when he met his would-be teammates, Plate and Ingot Ember, and Sable Eclipse. After the trial to determine the teams, they were put together to form Team LPIS, and he was chosen as their leader.

During the fall of Beacon, Laven and his teammates were escorting a group of people who couldn't fight to the safe zone in Vale when a huge horde of Grimm attacked them. Laven, who was already wounded, was at the back of the column with Sable, when they were surrounded by a small pack of Beowolves and their Alpha. The two managed to kill them, but Laven's wounds were so severe at this point that he could no longer fight, leaving Sable, who was also battered, to cover both of them. Once they got everyone else to the safe zone, Laven's other two teammates realized that he and Sable weren't with them, and went back to find them; they were accompanied by a few Atlesian soldiers and Laven's mother, who was near Vale when the battle started, and so had been called in to assist. They found him and Sable just as another wave of Grimm was bearing down on them. After they drove the monsters back, Plate picked Laven up and carried him to the safe zone because he was too injured to even stand at this point. After the battle was over, Laven's parents took the whole team into their home while he recovered.

Appearance:
Laven is around 5' 9", and very slim with a lot of muscle and a light caucasian complexion. He has shaggy, lavender colored hair that falls to his shoulders, causing him to have to push it over to the side in order to see. Though it still partially covers his left eye. His hair has a black streak that makes up his bangs. Laven prefers to keep his face clean-shaven because he hates how his facial hair comes in. He has dark green eyes, and sharp features. He wears a purple t-shirt underneath a black zip-up jacket, and his jeans are black with a black belt that has a purple buckle. He wears black sneakers (whatever the Remnant equivalent of Converse would be) with purple laces. His symbol, a purple flame in a spiral, is on the left shoulder of his jacket.

Personality:
Laven has a friendly and generous personality. He warms up quickly to new people, and displays a compassion and respect for others that made him well-liked by his teachers and most of his classmates. He has a good sense of humor, and loves to laugh, even if it's at his expense. Laven is fiercely loyal to his friends and teammates, almost to the point of jealousy, willing to do anything for them. Despite all of this, Laven tends to be very opinionated and at times, stubborn, and doesn't take advice very well. This always causes friction between him and his second teammate, Plate.

Laven is usually very mild, but when he does lose his temper, it can be rather intimidating. During the Fall of Beacon, a group of White Fang members blocked his path when he and his teammates were trying to escort people to the safe zone in Vale. At this point, Laven had already sustained a few injuries (not enough to hinder him yet) and his patience had worn thin. He was so angry that the mere expression on his face was enough to make most of the White Fang members back off completely, while the few that stood their ground hesitated for a long time before attacking.

Semblance:
Laven's semblance is the ability to store power each time he lands a hit during a fight. It also works if whatever or whoever he is fighting blocks his attack, but the effect isn't nearly as strong. A visible sign that he is ready to activate his semblance is when purple discharges of electricity start sparking off of his clothes and hair. Once he has stored up enough power, he can do one of two things with it. He can either let it fade away and nothing happens, or he can tap into it and activate his semblance.

If he chooses to activate it, his entire body, including his eyes and even his sword glow purple and he becomes twice as strong and fast as he normally is. This does have some drawbacks, however. It only lasts for a certain amount of time, usually between two and five minutes. And once it wears off, it leaves him tired, making him vulnerable to taking hits that he might otherwise avoid.

Weapon/abilities:
Laven's weapon of choice is his greatsword, nicknamed "Fury." When not in use, the blade is retracted and folded against the hilt; he clips it to his belt on his left hip for easy access. But when extended, Fury has a curved, single-edged blade that is as long as Laven is tall, and about seven inches wide. Its color is solid lavender, slightly darker than his hair. Laven forged it during his time at Signal with the help of his instructors. The blade is made up of hundreds of interlocking segments that all combine when extended. Though the seams where the segments interlock can still be seen. In order to use it, Laven hits a switch tucked away on the underside of the hilt, causing the blade to unfold and extend. It then locks into place and becomes exceptionally durable. The same process, except reversed, is used when he wants to put it away. The reason that he forged it this way was so that he had an easy way to store and carry it when he wasn't fighting, while still being able to arm himself at a moment's notice.

One serious drawback to his weapon is that it doesn't have a second form. Without any sort of gun mode to give him ranged options, Laven has to get up close to his opponent in order to engage them. However, when asked about this, his response was that his first attempt at forging it did in fact have a gun mode. But it was badly designed and almost killed him several times, and when he did finally get it to work, he found that he didn't like it because it didn't fit his fighting style, so he just stuck with a sword. Along with being skilled with Fury, Laven is proficient at hand-to-hand fighting; if he needs to, he can fend off multiple opponents without his sword. Though there is a notable difference between how he well he does with it, as opposed to without. He's also adept at chaining kicks and other strikes into his swordplay, blocking one attack with Fury while simultaneously striking another opponent with an elbow or a fist.

Not only does he have skill, but Laven is also very strong despite his slender build, and can swing Fury without much effort. This is a result of the early start he got to his training, and also of Fury's size consistently being equal to his own. In fact, any time he grew taller after forging it, even if only by an inch, Laven would have to add onto the blade so the balance was right. He can use his sword one-handed, often switching hands during a fight to add more variation; but he doesn't have as much striking power with just one hand, so he defaults to his two-handed technique for actually breaking through his opponent's guard or doing damage. Laven's speed, agility and reflexes are average for a huntsman or huntress.

Because of the nature of his semblance and what's required for him to activate it, Laven usually prefers to take the offensive first so he can begin to charge up, and then change his tactic later if he can't power through his opponent's defenses. However, this aggression can get Laven in trouble, as it often borders on recklessness. It can cloud his judgement during a fight if he allows himself to get out of control; this risk is especially high when he uses his semblance, as the enhanced physical abilities that he gets from it give him more confidence. His skill with his weapon, combined with his aggressive and unrelenting fighting style, make him a formidable fighter. Though he does need to make a conscious effort to maintain a level head so he can keep from making careless mistakes, and he needs to get close to his opponent in order to engage them because of his lack of a ranged attack option.

Strengths:

 * Formidable physical strength
 * Fast, aggressive fighting style that can overwhelm an opponent if they're not ready
 * Well-rounded; he can hold his own with or without his weapon (however it needs to be noted that he does do better with it)

Weaknesses:

 * Costly semblance that leaves him tired once it wears off
 * His aggression can get the best of him and cloud his judgement during a fight, especially when he uses his semblance
 * His weapon doesn't have any kind of gun or ranged mode, meaning that he has to get up close to his opponent in order to engage them; if they can keep him at a distance, they can wear him down

Trivia:

 * Each member of Team LPIS is a reference to a monster from the Monster Hunter games. Laven is inspired by Gore Magala, from Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate.
 * Laven's semblance is a (loose) reference to a status effect that Gore Magala can inflict.
 * During the fall of Beacon, Laven used his semblance a total of three times, more than he ever used it in one battle. This tired him out to the point of taking hits that he otherwise could have easily avoided, which in turn depleted his aura. And this is what caused him to be wounded so severely.
 * His sword got its name one day when he was in sparring class at Signal. The instructor in charge of the class commented on Laven's aggressive fighting style, using the word, "furious." Laven took a liking to it, and decided to name his weapon Fury.
 * Laven's name is short for "lavender." Being a male character, lavender didn't seem to work for him. The pronunciation is "lay-ven," since the short "a" sounded strange.