| Age | 20 |
|---|---|
| Nickname | Resident Lifeguard, Little Merman |
| Status | Active |
| Color | Blue |
| Gender | Male |
| Race | Human |
| Born | TBA |
| Handedness | Right |
| Complexion | Bronze |
| Hair | Black |
| Eyes | Sapphire Blue |
| Semblance | Air Jet |
| Height | 7'-6" |
| Weight | 234 lbs. |
| Affiliation | Haven Academy (formerly) |
| Team | WLOW |
| Partner | Wisteria Alder |
| Occupation | Huntsman-in-Training |
| Jobs | Part-time Lifeguard |
| Relatives | Bolibar (father), Guadalupe (mother), Marlowe (brother), and Kendall (sister) |
| Likes | Structure, Stability, Religious Acceptance, Swimming |
| Dislikes | Excessive Change, Religious Rants, Yelling or Arguing in General |
| Special Skills | Swimming, CPR, Driving (Car and boat) |
Lamar Nereus is a 3rd Year Huntsman-in-training from the seaside outskirts of Mistral attending Haven Academy. He split off from the rest of Team WLOW after Haven's new semester was postponed due to damages from the Battle of Haven and the death of Headmaster Lionheart in battle.
Appearance:[]
Lamar has a rather imposing figure, standing at a ludicrously tall 7'-6" and having a visibly athletic frame that would easily qualify as a swimmer's build, with slightly longer than normal arms to back this qualification up. His skin is bronze from lots of time spent in the sun and his family genetics. His face is ovular in shape, with a Greek nose and average shaped and sized ears. His eyes are sapphire blue, somewhat narrow and (more recently) near perpetually squinted from smiling so much. His hair is black and styled as a taper-fade with a perpetually messy quiff.
His typical everyday outfit consists of a red button-up short-sleeve shirt with floral patterns over a white tanktop paired with dark denim-shorts featuring an above-the-knee cut (based on this picture). This is paired with a large pair of brown Grecian/Gladiator-style sandals. He finishes the look off with a gold-colored metallic-chained cross necklace.
Background[]
Lamar had a normal childhood, born to his parents Bolibar and Guadalupe in a small, inconsequential seaside community in the confines of Mistral, and the middle child of three children. Marlowe was his elder brother by 3 years, and Kendall was his younger sister by 2 years. Bolibar worked as the captain of a fishing boat and was often gone for extended periods of time on the seas while his mother Guadalupe was a professor of theology at a local college. For most of his childhood, aside from weekly runs to town for groceries and occasional outings after church on Sundays, Lamar was a sheltered child kept from the real world. As he started to become a teenager, he (and sometimes his sister Kendall) were allowed to go with their father on fishing trips (even the longer ones, on rare occasions) and here was where Lamar learned how to operate as an extra deckhand and be a welcome source of comic relief for the other crew members. He learned to swim well enough during their off-times that he was able to save a drowning crew member from choppy seas by retrieving the man himself, and unbeknownst to him this would be a slight influence on his Semblance later on.
As he turned 16, his Mom gave him the opportunity to earn his license, and doing so with relative ease (seeing it as a way to set himself free for a change), was allowed to use the family's main car whenever it wasn't already being used or needed (Bolibar would usually walk to or be dropped off at the docks, as they lived close by). He used some of this freedom to investigate around town for hours on end, and stumbled across an ad for Haven Academy. When he did, he told his parents about it, and while his father encouraged it for purposes of autonomy, stating it'd be good for him, his mother was much more apprehensive about it, as the Huntsmen she knew were areligious or openly spat at the name of it, something she didn't want for him. Only after repeated promises to keep his religious beliefs of their God intact, be good to other people, and to come home during school breaks (along with some convincing from Bolibar) did Guadalupe allow her son to go to Haven the following year, having a local blacksmith (and ex-Huntsman) forge him a basic parma-shield and a single-blade battle axe with a Fire-Dust enhanced cutting edge.
After learning how to use the weapons from the ex-Huntsman and unlocking his Aura in the process, he traveled to Haven by himself for the first time in awhile. It was only then that he truly realized the weight of his decision and his nervousness kicked in. Willow Feuilles was the first of the future Team WLOW to talk to and befriend him, and thus calm him down. It was during initiation when he accidentally manifested his Semblance to function as his landing strategy. He had hoped to find Willow during the course of time, but instead was paired up with Wisteria Alder while Willow and Oliver Ishard paired up later on, the two pairs returning together and being formed as Team WLOW. During initiation, he also managed to sever the head of an attacking Beringel, and ultimately this became a marker for how most of his Grimm kills are executed.
The group went into the Vytal 39th Vytal Festival Tournament in their first year, and managed to make it to the one on one finals before Oliver was ultimately defeated by his older brother from Atlas. During the summers, he would work as a lifeguard at a local pool facility, where his Semblance could come in handy as part of rescues. The group were not present at the 40th Vytal Festival, but were aware of the events that took place there before all communication was cut off. The group were also not present at the Fall of Haven since school wasn't in-session, and due to the death of Professor Lionheart and the damages to the school during the Haven skirmish, have remained separated; with Oliver returning to Atlas shortly before the borders closed, while Willow and Wisteria went to other parts of Mistral.
As of now he works as a part-time lifeguard at an indoor pool facility in Mistral, where he is tasked with enforcing rules for safety purposes (through surveillance) and being a primary responder to situations of distress. In addition to this, he's also tasked with helping with upkeep by checking equipment for damage as well as regulating levels of chlorine in the pool. While this work is fulfilling in his mind, he still misses his team and hopes that sometime soon they may reunite.
Personality[]
Having undiagnosed dissociative identity disorder (DID), Lamar is an individual who has a bit of an issue with controlling the polar opposite versions of himself, particularly as it ties into his "lifeguard/savior" persona and his more nervous and insecure side. The "savior" persona is little more than an act which cemented itself when in times of danger he responded this way (and received praise for it), while his nervousness is the "truer" version of himself. Both of these 'moods' (as he refers to them) can be overbearing and too extreme, whether unwarranted and or not, which is why he got passed over for the leadership position on his team. Were it not for this fact, he would likely be the best candidate for his leadership and strong will to take action where necessary. He understands this fact and as such, he doesn't stress about losing the position, mostly because he often overstresses himself over everything else and he has no time to worry about it.
The little things tend to get to him, and he's been known to lose his cool after repeated and strong agitation, which results in extremely volatile outbursts. He prefers quieter days and requires mental focus in his normal nervous self to be able to handle intense pressure, and when he's able to do so is when he's at his strongest. Lamar's teammates have helped with this by watching his back and dealing with him as much as they do, which makes him quite happy. Thanks to them, he's begun to break down his nervousness where it's unnecessary and become a more confident and happy individual overall, leading to less sudden shifts of mood and personality.
As it pertains to his family, while he's nowhere near his mother's devotion, he's somewhat religious and carries some of his habits with him, such as prayer before every meal and appreciates her for instilling him with some of these habits. In fact, he was close to both of his parents, becoming something of a blessing child for the two, seeing as his brother Marlowe always found some trouble to get himself into while Kendall was something of a diva despite their no-nonsense, isolated environment. Even though Bolibar was gone for long periods of time, Lamar has a better relationship with him than Guadalupe, as he sometimes finds her devotion to religion a bit preachy, while he appreciates his father's attempts to let him find his own path and his support for trying to become a Huntsman.
Lamar doesn't have as great a relationship with his siblings, however. Marlowe ran off awhile ago, denounced their religion, and now works with a near-anarchist political party in Mistral while Kendall's divaesque nature qualified her as a bitch in his mind. Their personalities are both types of people Lamar finds insufferable, leading to several clashes between them (both verbal and physical) as time went on. Regardless, he has better relationship with Kendall, seeing it as his brotherly duty to defend her should she be in actual danger, as well as their time spent bonding on the fishing ship and shared disdain for their mother's apparent preachiness.
Weapons and Abilities[]
Weapon[]
Lamar's weapons are known as Blockcutter & Bulwark, an axe and shield combination which he uses to cut through his enemies and block attacks, forged by a local blacksmith and former Huntsman in his hometown.
Blockcutter is a Fire-Infused Dust Axe (FIDA), designed like your stereotypical fantasy battle axe: a single blade on one end and a sharpened point at the top (easily capable of stabbing), with a small switch close to where the central hand-grip is; which is used to activate the Fire-Dust in the axe blade for easier, cleaner cutting when necessary. The shaft also has hand-grips so the user's hand(s) has/have a better grip on the weapon. The blade and sharpened point are both iron-styled with no fancy markings on them, while the shaft of the weapon is a very dark brown and the handgrips are blue with horizontal pinstripes.
Bulwark is a Specialty Parma Shield (SPS), which is somewhat typically sized (36 inches/91 cm. across) and fortified with an iron-frame construction. The shield is painted bronze, and his emblem is depicted in blue on its front face. The shield is patterned in black with several branches and leaves that weave symmetrically along the outsides of the shield.
Aura and Semblance[]
Lamar's Aura is sea-green in color and slightly above average in amount. His use of Aura is typical, but mainly focuses on the use of his Semblance rather than actively forming shields or offensive slashes.
Lamar's Semblance is known as Air Jet, an ability which allows him to concentrate his Aura into a specific area and form a movable and manipulable zone of air with water-like properties, while not actually making or using water itself. It's essentially a bubble, and the air bubble and what's inside of it has the liquid-like properties. When activated, a ripple-like effect the color of Lamar's Aura occurs in the area of effect (with light refracting through and off of it much like water). The rough boundaries of the zone he's created are indicated by bold lines in the color of his Aura as well.
He can use this ability to slow down attacks from others, essentially float or swim through the air, cushion falls, and even drag an object, opponent or ally to a location within range that he desires if they were caught in his bubble. Over time, his Semblance has evolved to reach 75-80 feet away with some effort, with a maximum range of up to 100 feet when he truly pushes himself or he's fueled by adrenaline.
His Semblance, however; has several limitations:
- The greater the size and distance, the more difficult to generate and maintain the bubble becomes.
- Aura drain increases as each factor is amplified, with a maximum Aura drain per minute being around 30% of the user's Aura to maintain it for a minute (furthest distance when strained and at the largest size), with the lowest being around 5% (shortest distance, smallest size) with all other values being within this range. This doesn't include people, beings, or significantly sized objects aside from the user being inside, which would increase these values.
- While breathing inside the "water bubble" is perfectly fine, the light refraction and ripple effects in the water can make it hard to see for the people inside, so crashes or misjudgment of position can happen.
- The "water" can't fully stop the vast majority of attacks, merely slow them down.
Though he has never combined Dust with his Semblance, theoretically adding Water Dust would make it an actual water orb (embracing liquid properties nearly in full), while Air/Wind Dust would make it a true bubble, losing most of its liquid properties.
His Semblance reflects his personality in that water changes and flows, shifting and changing by adapting to its container. Similarly, Lamar is forced to form into his confident self or his nervous self, where his confidence is trapped in his nervousness. The high level of concentration required also ties into his desire for peace, calm, and tranquility, which like water, is hard to find as ripples are constantly being made.
Fighting Style[]
Lamar prefers to fight at close to mid-range, with about equal preference for both. His weapons are only truly suited for close-range combat, yet his support-style Semblance means he's usually not focusing on fighting and instead helping out his teammates by holding off attacks just long enough to counter, block or dodge, or pulling them out of tough spots at just the right time. Against human opponents he mainly focuses on misdirecting and blocking attacks, or dampening their effects on him, and so he's not as up front as some of the other members of his team combat-wise despite his stature, fitting his support role. When he does focus on offense (usually if he exploits a glaring hole in defense or out of last-resort necessity), he goes very much direct and strength-oriented, using his axe double-handed to push extra power. This more direct combat style is usually saved for handling Grimm, usually trying to be quick and efficient with his kills by either severing the head or finding an environmental hazard to kill them with.
Trivia[]
- Lamar is a French & English surname derived from the old French "la mare" meaning "the pool," referring to blue. Nereus is Greek for "water," and was the name of a sea god and the name of a Roman saint in the 1st century.
- His Semblance was done as a way to tie in to the lifeguard motif he has going on (remotely rescuing people from the water, potentially).
- Lamar is certified to be a lifeguard at most public pool and waterfront facilities, which means he's been tested and certified for extraction of drowning victims, giving CPR, and other Remnant-specific requirements for the job.
- Lamar is a reference to Saint Christopher, with a minor nod to the saint Nereus with his last name. Several factors tie into this:
- His large physicality, much like St. Christopher.
- Job as a lifeguard (saving people from water much like his allusion).
- His strong affiliation with forms of transportation (St. Christopher being patron saint of travelers).
- Cutting off the Beringel's head during initiation (and it being his signature Grimm kill move) is a small nod to how St. Christopher was marytred as well.