Character Base

• Character Name: Cho Hakkai
• Age: 24 somehow
• Canon (Date/Year Released)/Canon Point: Saiyuki/Saiyuki Reload (1996 to 2002) ; canonpoint: end of Reload V7
• Items Coming Along: clothing, 3 earcuff "limiters".
• Content Warnings for Character: mass murder, suicidal ideation (past), sibling incest (past), co-dependent tendencies - only the last is ongoing, the others are past incidents that will not come up in casual conversation and will be warned for.

Character Background

• History: Wiki Link ; CW: for all of the above + eye trauma (mentioned)
• Core Relationships:
- Team Sanzo
Honestly, these three assholes are probably the first real friends this man has had in his life, outside of his sister. "Friends" is kind of a loose term for most of the series, as a lot of times, they appear to genuinely hate each other, gang up on each other, and fight like a bunch of angry cats. But when things go sideways, they're all on each others' side, they all have the same goal to accomplish, and they really would leave each other for dead if they didn't care to some extent. The group is made of Genjo Sanzo, Son Goku, Sha Gojyo and Hakkai himself. Plus his pet dragon that... turns into a jeep. Yes, that's a serious statement. He is absolutely willing to lay down his life for them all, and often wears himself out physically and mentally trying to heal them after combat. At one point, he even allows Sanzo to use him as a literal human shield in order to get the drop on an enemy - something they wouldn't have been able to do otherwise. He's their driver, Team Mom, and more often than not, the holder of the One Brain Cell. Most of the time, the relationship dynamics are that Hakkai and Sanzo are fairly cordial to each other, getting in the least amount of arguments and fights (some Plot Incidents aside), Goku and Hakkai having something of a student-mentor relationship, with a bit of mothering thrown in. And then...

- There is Gojyo
The man who literally pulled Hakkai out of a ditch and put back together again, with no real reason except he thought, at the time, Hakkai wanted to die, and felt like being "an asshole" and preventing that. At least, that's what Gojyo maintains. It's not true, they both end up being roommates, and out of everyone in the group, they watch each others' back the most often. They know each other better than anyone else in the group, and resumed living together after Hakkai returned from being judged by the Big Giant Heads (you know, for all the murder). They've saved each others' life multiple times, and have a sort of unspoken communication with each other, with both of them reading each others' various Looks and expressions with ease. They have running "jokes" - more like sayings - and regard each other as best friends. At one point, while Hakkai has gone off the deep end with his own demonic power, the only person who can pull him back is Gojyo - with just a look, and a restraining grip. At the time, he makes to attack Gojyo, but is able to stop himself in time. That doesn't happen with their other companions. Hakkai even includes Gojyo in his daydreams of the future, casually, like it's something that's just going to happen, if they survive their big mission. Suffice it to say, Gojyo is arguably the most important person in Hakkai's life, superseding all overs, including his own.

- Lastly The Dead Sister (cw: sibling incest, suicide mention)
Yeah we have to talk about Kanan. She was his sister, and his girlfriend. And yes, he knew about the former. According to Hakkai, they were raised apart, in separate orphanages, and didn't know one another until they were adults. She was also the first person to actually care for him in some way - to love him, in other words. The whole concept got twisted up, when presented to someone who had literally never known affection in his life, as apparently everyone in the orphanages were too "afraid" of child Hakkai to get close to him. She was his whole life. Until she got kidnapped, which sent him on a horrible murder spree of revenge, ending with an entire town, one thousand demons/youkai and Kanan herself dead. It was a bad time. She was the catalyst for his entire arc with the others, for meeting Gojyo, and getting tangled up in the big Journey To The West. She's also the reason he's a demon - since murdering one thousand of them will make you turn into one yourself. It's great (it's not).

Character Personality Through Key Moments

(2+) Positive Experiences:
- Protective Tendencies
As the healer of the group, he takes that role very seriously. While he's no slouch in a combat situation, a lot of the time, you can find Hakkai using his abilities to create barriers or shields against incoming attacks. Protecting one of the others from something they didn't see coming. As stated previously, he can, will and has used himself as a literal human shield for the others in the past, and tends to take it personally when something he does (or can't do) isn't "enough" to help them and good god i have a fucking type. This extends to his habit of "mothering" the others, and taking care of the household for his roommate/best friend. These three are assholes, but they're his assholes now, as much as he occasionally states he's aware of his expend-ability in their mission.

- Positive Charisma Stat
Or otherwise, the guy holding the brain cell. The negotiator. The one who gets the group their rooms for the night, gets them out in the morning with minimal damage. Who smooths things over with the landlords and innkeepers if necessary. Hakkai is that guy. His polite exterior (overly polite sometimes) actually comes in handy here, especially since the other three are more prone to acts of beating up on each other in moments of frustration - or shooting at each other, if we're talking about Sanzo. But they're friends. Really. They'd have been thrown out of inns and rented rooms long ago if someone weren't there to make sure the locals were pacified. Look at that face. That face wouldn't lie when he apologizes for the damage to the room and assures you it was an accidental discharge of a firearm, not a purposeful shot!

(2+) Negative Experiences:
- That Damn Smile
... Yeah on the other hand, that face is absolutely one hundred percent a mask. Word of Author states that the only time he's truly smiling, truly laughing, is when his eyebrows move. "When he really laughs, his eyebrows form a 八 [hachi, eight] character" - Minekura, author. Otherwise, ninety percent of the time, his expression his hiding anything he's really feeling. So far, it seems like only one of the gang can actually see through his mask, but it's likely that, by now, the others can too - they're just less likely to call him out on it than Gojyo. Because of course it's Gojyo. Those two are attached at the hip -

- Attachment Issues
Which brings us here. "Issues" might be putting it mildly, considering that's... pretty much the reason he's even in this situation to begin with. Being overly attached to one person led to the aforementioned murder rampage and subsequent demon transformation. Following that, there was literally nothing left for him, emotionally, he figured. At least until he latched onto the guy who saved his life - none other than Gojyo. They are absurdly close, and, arguably the attachment goes both ways, albeit for very different reasons. After being "released", so to speak, from judgment, Hakkai went right back to living with Gojyo and never left. He can't even bring himself to walk away, even when the other man goes off and hangs around with extremely sketchy company Hakkai can't stand. Instead, he goes to bail Gojyo out of trouble, doing something he hates to do (reverting to his alternate self) in the process and then carrying on as normal. Recent updates have revealed that while Hakkai has zero problems killing random crazed demonic individuals, should his friend fall to the insanity, he will not do a goddamn thing to hurt him, and damn the consequences. He's very much the type to latch onto one person, and stay there for as long as they're both alive.

- Self Hatred
Yikes. Just. Yikes. It doesn't come up often, but in the latter half of Reload, it's made pretty clear through statements he makes that, yes Hakkai hates demons/youkai. And, therefore, himself for being one. Becoming one. Same thing. He hates it. But he also sees it as his punishment. He sees a lot of things as his punishment and just kind of accepts it. This man is Lord Emperor of This Is Fine and has absolutely no desire to change that. He's more or less gotten over the "pay with my life" aspect that drove him to go up against an entire castle full of said demons, and then... decide to throw one of his eyeballs at one. Yeah it was messed up. He was messed up. While it might have retreated into the background, he still very much carries that hatred with him.

Deer Country Attributes

• Canon Powers:
Aside from cooking, cleaning and the occasional mothering, Hakkai can manipulate energy in the form of shields, blasts, and healing -- it's known as either "chi" or "ki" depending on the translation. It's his own personal energy, and has been used to take down opponents all on its own, provide protective barriers against physical or energy attacks, and heal all but the most dire of wounds. The blasts have been shown to either disintegrate enemies, or punch through walls. When he heals someone, he seems to need to know exactly what is wrong with them, as in one instance when he was unable to do so, he stated he couldn't, due to the sheer amount of trauma, and as a result of not knowing where the internal injuries were.

However, if he uses too much of this chi, Hakkai tends to collapse. He once healed a large number of people in a village after an attack by demons, doing this all in one night, but was confined to bed and severely weakened for a long time afterward. He also does not appear to be able to heal himself. If the wounds are too severe, his healing cannot keep up with the damage, and will fail. He literally uses his own energy to kickstart and speed up other peoples', and thus will leave him in a useless pile for several days.

He displays a knowledge of some kind of martial art -- the exact kind is never stated. He's shown to punch, kick, and otherwise throw his enemy around with his bare hands, rarely, if ever, resorting to the use of a weapon. His skill in this area is surprisingly effective.

And then there's Hakkai's demon form. Yep. His demon form. Normally, he wears three 'limiters' in the form of ear cuffs to contain his demonic powers, and thus this form. Remove said cuffs, and not only does his chi energy vastly increase in strength, but Hakkai becomes faster, stronger, and far more agile. He also gains a yellow eye, fangs, claws, pointed ears, and a vine tattoo that appears to wrap around his entire body. He's much stronger like this - both physically and with his energy ability. He will only do this if he deems it absolutely necessary, if all other options have been completely exhausted.

His tattoo is capable of slapping itself onto other objects, flowing through the ground at one point to actually wrap itself around someone else's foot. It looks like a normal tattoo, or drawing, when on other objects, but is solid enough to conduct electricity, or physically restrain someone.

• Blood Type: Paleblood
• Omen: Jeep / Hakuryuu. Little guy is about the size of an average snake, acts like a cat, and, in Trench, cannot turn into an actual jeep.
• Blessed Day: 5/8
• Patron Pthumerian: Bausphomette
• Blood Power Manifestation:
For the most part, his canon abilities will remain dominant, and it will seem as if he hasn't actually developed Paleblood abilities. However, the emotional aspect of the Palebloods will be more dominant, either overriding his natural tendency to hide behind his smiling mask, or make it worse by making him actually feel as bland and neutral as he appears. His transformation, should he remove his limiting jewelry, will push him into emotional override, and placing them back on will wipe those feelings out entirely for a length of time.

The closer his relationships in game become, the more likely it is that he develops a sort of foresight - I have a bad feeling about (X) - in accordance with Paleblood visions.

Writing Samples

One: Deer TDM
Two: TFLN, more canonmate interactions

The Player

• Player Name: Red
• Player Age: 18+.
• Player Contact:
• Permissions: Here.

Other Characters

Link to Character 1 overall AC: Shiro | Voltron
Link to Character 2 overall AC: Melius | Skyrim

Well... At least the weather seems to be cooperating.

It could always be worse, I suppose.

[Ladies and gentlemen of Vertiline, this has been Hakkai with your motivational message of the day. Since you were all so upset by recent events, he thought he'd put on his happy face and offer something reasonably comforting.]

[There's a soft gasp. The otherwise comatose body stirs. He's bone pale, and in a good deal of pain, but he's alive. This time. And he's in an unfamiliar pod.]

[He lifts a shaking hand, studying it. The other, badly damaged arm doesn't move. He speaks, mostly to himself, in a hoarse, tired voice.]

Still not Hell, I see...

[Hakkai clears his throat.]

... I'm not certain where it is I've ended up. If someone could please fill me in...? And I... wouldn't say no to some water, either.

It has come to my attention that there are ways other than combat for us to be of use here. I find that rather heartening, I must say.

[Especially since the rain has stopped. HOORAY.]

In that case, I am offering myself in service. Otherwise I'd be rather bored here, I fear. While I do intend to seek out our hosts for work, I felt it would be best to offer my assistance to the rest of us, as well.

My name is Cho Hakkai. I've been told I'm rather good with cooking, and mending, should it be needed. [He laughs] Ah! And washing, how could I forget!

[A pause.]

I was something of a healer, as well, back home. But that seems to be one of the abilities our hosts have borrowed, for the time being. Still, I think I can manage a bit of first aid, if you need it.

[You can just hear the smile.]

Please, don't hesitate to call.

If our hosts have a moment, I've a question for you, in regards to our... unique abilities. It is an urgent matter, so, if it isn't too much trouble, I would appreciate a response as soon as you are able.

Additionally, if anyone listening to this message is able to answer my question, I would appreciate your assistance very much.

Thank you.

[/Click.]

[Well, look who's finally up and around! Seeing as his injuries were no longer threatening his very existence, Hakkai was allowed to find his artichoke.

... Unfortunately, he's still having difficulty working the communicator, and, as such, is wandering about the temple grounds. The most technology he'd ever used was Jeep -- or the Gold Card, in the rare instances it left Sanzo's possession. His capybara is trailing at his heels, pausing when he does.]


My... this is a bit more difficult to figure out than I'd thought...

[He glances down at the animal, smiling faintly.]

You would think our gracious hosts would include a tutorial, hm?

[On that note, he resumes his search, limping slightly, but determined nonetheless!]

Character Information
Character Name: Cho Hakkai
Fandom: Saiyuki
Source: Oh hey there's a wiki!

Character History:
Once upon a time, there were two orphan kids. One was Cho Gonou. The other was Cho Kanan. They were brother and sister, and they didn't really know each other existed. Gonou was a creepy little kid who was raised by nuns and scared all the other kids. Which boded well for his future adult life. He met a woman named Kanan and thought she was rather attractive. She, apparently, found him equally attractive, and they hooked up. And fell in love. Whichever came first isn't clear, but still. Eventually, they found out they were related, but that didn't so much as faze them. They moved to a little town, and Gonou started teaching school.

Everything was going well... and then Gonou wandered home one day to find his beloved had been taken by a centipede demon, Hyakugan Mao. Said demon really liked eating pretty girls. In order to save one of the other village ladies, Kanan had been handed over instead. Gonou was understandably upset by this, and proceeded to go on a killing spree. First, he killed all the villagers he could find, seemingly with a blade, and then he moved on to the local demon population. He stormed their stronghold, Hyakugan Mao's castle, single-handedly, killing any demon unfortunate enough to cross his path. Eventually, he found Kanan, only to learn she'd been raped by the demon, and was now carrying his child. She took Gonou's knife, telling him she couldn't live with what had happened, and what was inside her, and killed herself, right in front of him.

Before Gonou could recover his senses, he was accosted by another demon, the son of Hyakugan Mao. His name was Chin Yisou, and he was also understandably upset. His entire tribe had been killed by Gonou. He had also heard of a legend -- if one person were to "spill the blood" of a thousand demons, they would become one themselves. Somehow, he'd figured out just how many demons Gonou had taken down, and discovered that he himself was the mystical thousandth demon. He attacked Gonou, giving him a horrific injury across his stomach, and then cut his own wrist, spraying the blood on Gonou in the process. As it turned out, the legend was true, Gonou became a demon, killed Yisou--or so he thought, and somehow escaped the castle, only to collapse out in the rain from his injuries. Which was fine by him, as he had no real desire to live left in him.

Which was when he was found by one Sha Gojyo, who picked him up, "shoved his guts back in", and took Gonou home. Once the injured man woke up, they eventually became something like friends, in the short time they were around one another, and conscious. This was not destined to last, as, in time, the fact that over a thousand people were dead sort of tends to turn up on the radar. Cue the priest Genjo Sanzo and his monkey showing up to apprehend the murderer.

Gonou made a break for it, if only to get back to the castle and grab Kanan's body, despite the fact that it had been a long time since she'd died. If he couldn't save her, he'd at least save her remains. Along the way, he was accosted by a survivor of the demon tribe he'd slaughtered -- a demon who threw his dead brother's eyes at Gonou, saying that was all he had left. And so, Gonou decided it would be a great idea to hand over his own eyes in retribution. He only got so far as the right one before Sanzo's monkey -- Goku -- intervened. After dealing with the angry demon, and allowing for both Sanzo and Gojyo to show up on the scene, the group discovered the castle was burned to the ground, eliminating all hope of recovering Kanan's body. They had a moment together, and then Gonou allowed himself to be taken into custody. When Gojyo asked after him a while later, Sanzo informed Gojyo that Gonou was dead. This was taken with all the grace of an angry bear... until Gojyo ran into Gonou at a market. Gonou had changed his name -- to Cho Hakkai, and even had a brand new eye, albiet a false one.

They resumed their living situation and had a couple minor adventures, involving an old friend of Gojyo's. Occasionally, they'd do the odd job at Sanzo's request -- very occasionally. At one point, Hakkai discovered, of all things, a small, white dragon in the forest around their home. He picked it up and kept it as a pet, calling it Hakuryuu ("white dragon" - isn't he creative?). The fact that it could turn itself into a jeep was something of a surprise, but turned out to be fairly useful later on. Things were pretty normal and low-key until Sanzo called for their help regarding something known as the "Minus Wave". Something was causing demons across the world to suddenly lose their minds and attack at random, usually humans. Someone out in the West was resurrecting a great demon lord, and their efforts were causing the wave to have such a wide effect. Sanzo had been charged with stopping the cause of the wave, and the three others -- Goku, Gojyo and Hakkai -- were to go with him. To India. In one jeep.

It was a wonder no one died, but, in true "Save The World" form, they discovered who was responsible for the resurrection effort and ended up doing battle with them on several occasions. The demon lord's son, Kougaiji, also had a mission, and a team. They were charged with stopping Sanzo and his group. It was a big mess, lots of fights and beat-downs.

At one point fairly early in the journey, Chin Yisou resurfaced, with, predictably, a bone to pick with Hakkai. Hakkai put him down, with help from his friends -- even if Yisou nearly killed them in the process.

They came across everything from someone Gojyo mistook for his brother, a monk from Sanzo's past, a transvestite demon living underground, discovered Goku's true demon form -- the Seiten Taisei, a demon/spirit/sage powerful enough to be nearly godlike -- fought with Kougaiji a few more times, discovered Kogaiji was brainwashed and crazy, met a man-child who thought he was a sanzo priest and liked to lock people up in a magic gourd, got their backsides handed to them by said manchild, killed said manchild...

... And then met Hazel.

Bishop Hazel spoke in a strange accent, came from somewhere really far West, had a gigantic bodyguard, and could bring people back to life. He did so by sucking the souls out of demons, and giving them back to humans. He had some sort of business with Sanzo and his party, but, aside from his stated mission of arriving to help protect humans from the crazy demons, never really came out and said it. He started appearing wherever the four friends did, the first time causing a mob of resurrected humans to attack the group. Needless to say, he wasn't exactly popular.

And, another time, he turned up around the time Goku was attacked and nearly killed by an unknown assailant. Sanzo broke and ran, leaving Gojyo and Hakkai to take care of the mess. They were only able to save Goku's life by removing his power limiter, and releasing Goku's true form. It went crazy, and nearly killed some bystanders before Hakkai in his demon form, Hazel, and his bodyguard could subdue it enough for Gojyo to slam the limiter back onto Goku's head. Hakkai was terrifically beaten, electrocuted, and otherwise down for the count.

Which is precisely when he turns up in Nautilus.


Character Personality:
Hakkai is incredibly polite. He will smile and nod indulgently at even the most inane thing that comes out of his friends' mouths. Clearly the most "domestic" of the group, Hakkai is always the one to do the packing, cooking, most, if not all, of the cleaning... he's jokingly referred to as "mother" a few times, because of this. But, however calm and serene he appears on the outside... you really don't want to make him angry. He will not hesitate to kill, if necessary, and will possibly do so while still wearing that pleasant smile. He does prefer to lead a peaceful life, however, and won't go out of his way to cause trouble or otherwise make things difficult. He's fairly easy to get along with, in that respect. Unless you target his friends, especially his closest friend, Gojyo. Then the smile vanishes, and Hakkai can be downright murderous. Again.

He hates demons, outright telling Gojyo's friend Banri "you [Banri/demons] turn my stomach". Despite becoming one, or perhaps because of becoming one, the hatred still lingers. Understandable, considering everything they did to him. He appears to have come to terms with this, in a way, as he shows few signs of outward hostility towards those demons who haven't succumbed to baser instincts, those who don't randomly kill or take advantage of others, those who try and live out relatively normal lives. He is shown to be just as polite and conversational with Kougaiji's group as he is with his own, to an extent. And Goku. Hakkai cares very much for Goku, despite the fact the "monkey" may be one of the most powerful demons alive.

He is very much aware of the fact that he is a murderer, a sinner, and will not deny it. Not to say he likes discussing the events - he doesn't. He can be downright melancholy at times, especially during rainy nights. On some level, he appears to consider much of what he does with the group to be something of atonement - though he also, conversely, seems to doubt whether or not it's even possible for him to atone for his murderous rampage. He is frequently selfless about his abilities and skills, pushing himself to exhaustion and collapse when his friends or others need healing and other such care. His own well-being comes second, if someone is in dire need. He's good with, and by all accounts, rather likes, children -- considering he was a school teacher for a while, and then continued to teach Goku the basics after they met. Hakkai tends to be the level-headed one, who realizes problems have arisen before the rest of the group catches on.

Powers:
Aside from cooking, cleaning and the occasional mothering, Hakkai can manipulate energy in the form of shields, blasts, and healing -- it's known as either "chi" or "ki" depending on the translation. It's his own personal energy, and has been used to take down opponents all on its own, provide protective barriers against physical or energy attacks, and heal all but the most dire of wounds. The blasts have been shown to either disintegrate enemies, or punch through walls. When he heals someone, he seems to need to know exactly what is wrong with them, as in one instance when he was unable to do so, he stated he couldn't, due to the sheer amount of trauma, and as a result of not knowing where the internal injuries were.

However, if he uses too much of this chi, Hakkai tends to collapse. He once healed a large number of people in a village after an attack by demons, doing this all in one night, but was confined to bed and severely weakened for a long time afterward. He also does not appear to be able to heal himself.

He displays a knowledge of some kind of martial art -- the exact kind is never stated. He's shown to punch, kick, and otherwise throw his enemy around with his bare hands, rarely, if ever, resorting to the use of a weapon. His skill in this area is surprisingly effective.

And then there's Hakkai's demon form. Yep. His demon form. Normally, he wears three 'limiters' in the form of ear cuffs to contain his demonic powers, and thus this form. Remove said cuffs, and not only does his chi energy vastly increase in strength, but Hakkai becomes faster, stronger, and far more agile. He also gains a yellow eye, fangs, claws, pointed ears, and a vine tattoo that appears to wrap around his entire body.

His tattoo is capable of slapping itself onto other objects, flowing through the ground at one point to actually wrap itself around someone else's foot. It looks like a normal tattoo, or drawing, when on other objects, but is solid enough to conduct electricity, or physically restrain someone.