"With all due respect, your majesty, there is a great difference between destroying mindless robots and killing people."
Name: Dr. Zachary Hannibal Acerbus (Legal) / Zipakna Finitevus Arakkis (Tribal)
Nicknames: Doc, Zack, Abas (by Cassia), Zippy (HATES that one)
Species: Cyborg Short-beaked echidna
Gender: Male
Age: 38
Alignment: Neutral Neutral
Height: 3'6''
Build: Average
Residence: Elem
Occupation: Mechanic, power stone overseer, occasional freedom fighter
Likes: Any of his hobbies, the outdoors, antique machinery, learning, archeology, challenges, riddles, abstract/weird things, reading, tea and coffee, strawberry ice cream, shady places, star and/or cloud gazing.
Dislikes: Robotnik (obviously), his heath and cybernetic attachments (also obviously), living underground, humidity, direct sunlight, overly hot or cold weather, overly spicy or bland foods, overcooked vegetables, ignorance (especially the willful kind).
Hobbies/Talents: Being a mechanic by trade, he can often be found in his shop tinkering around with this and that. He loves to pursue knowledge and seems to be a reservoir of what many might consider useless information, especially when it comes to ancient history and various types of lore. He's something of a packrat and likes to collect odd things, especially coins. He also enjoys maintaining bonsai trees and doing puzzles. At one time had a love for hiking, camping and rock climbing, but Robotnik and his health have restricted that.
Played By: Jammerlee
Theme: "One Last Breath" - Creed
Personality
Zachary is generally a reclusive and withdrawn person who distances himself from others, preferring and enjoying his solitude. He's not usually one for small talk unless prompted, typically only speaking if he has something interesting or important to say, and when he does speak is often direct and comes across as insensitive. This may come off as cold, especially when coupled with the fact he rarely shows strong emotion (outside of anger), but he's actually fairly compassionate and usually shows his feelings through his actions. He's an excellent listener and generally respects the space and privacy of others.
Typically a practical and realistic person, Zachary tries to avoid relying on his feelings and has difficulty expressing them. Despite this, he has a tendency to be audacious and egotistical, seeming to place himself above those around him, whether or not he actually intends it. A typically self-confident and independent person, Zachary thrives on action, excitement and taking risks, and detests structured environments that allow no flexibility. He enjoys learning and understanding how things work and applying that knowledge. He is inventive and resourceful by nature and works best on his feet, working hands on, where he can respond to things quickly, and works well in crisis situations.
Though usually calm, laid back and reserved, he's easily irritated, and when caught off guard is known to be exceptionally grumpy and short tempered. He's known to bark viciously at people who grate his nerves and if pushed far enough may even resort to violence. He expects and demands a certain level of respect from those around him and never apologizes for his actions.
Because both his health and the current war have halted his ability to fuel his need for adrenaline, his stir-craziness over the last decade has been channeled into an unnatural, unhealthy and ever-increasing bitterness toward Robotnik for how his wars, both the current and the Great War, have completely destroyed his life, as well as toward the Quartalism beliefs and Knuckles. When he becomes stressed enough he becomes prone to irrational and impulsive behavior.
Abilities
Physical
As an echidna he's a naturally good digger, has an extremely long tongue and can roll into a ball. Excellent sense of smell. At one time he was a good swimmer and an excellent climber, though his health has largely put a damper on that. Being a male echidna he has sharp spikes protruding from his knuckles that'd hurt pretty bad if he punched you with them.
With his mechanical arm he has enhanced strength, the claws on it being extendable and durable enough to puncture surfaces like rock and steel. He can morph his hand into a Megaman style cannon capable of various settings; ranging from stunning to armor piercing. He can additionally shift his fingertips into a set of screwdrivers.
Learned
Zachary is well versed in mechanics, and as such knows how to build, pilot and hotwire various machines. He has limited knowledge in programming, many years of military training, and advanced knowledge in first aid and survival skills. He's a good marksman with his canon and is indolistic in that he has taught himself how to produce light from studying power stone energy.
Weaknesses
Physical
Slow and having hardly any stamina, as he'll often complain he's too young to feel as old as he does. Aside from his arm he's physically very weak. He suffers from respiratory problems as a result of the being crippled during the Great War, not helped by the pollutants in the air caused by Robotnik. This usually results in shortness of breath and wheezing, as well as violent coughing fits. Because of this whenever he ventures into Robotropolis he's usually forced to wear a filter mask. Excessively warm or cold weather causes him to become lethargic. Strong magnets can be used to restrain him and an EMP blast, if it didn't kill him outright, would probably brain damage him at the least. Disabling his arm would severely weaken him and he's legally blind in his organic eye without his monocle.
Mental
Zachary struggles with an ever-increasing bitterness that can result in irrational behavior when he becomes too stressed, which also causes him to fear what he could be capable of were he to ever snap. Because of his reclusive nature it's also difficult for him to become close to anyone who doesn't share his interests and his habit of being tactless and blunt has been known to provoke others into fighting. His adopted daughter, Cassia, could be used against him and he suffers from post traumatic stress disorder.
Pre-RP History
Growing up in Mobotropolis, Zachary was the younger son of separated parents. His mother, a member of the nomadic Arakkis tribe, held primary custody over his older brother, Theo, while his father, a white-collar businessman from the city, held primary custody over Zack. Though separated, their family was far from broken. They would often visit each other when the tribe was in the general area and often allow the boys to vacation with their opposite parents. It was from this lifestyle that Zachary picked up many of his survival skills, knowledge of tribal remedies and interest in cultural lore.
As a mostly city kid, though, Zachary had been a young child who showed a lot of promise. He was an outdoorsy type, often devoting sometimes days to hiking and exploring the Great Forest and other areas surrounding Mobotropolis when not traveling with the tribe. When not devoting his time to that hobby, he showed an interest and tremendous talent for mechanics. It was his dream to become a famous inventor so revered he would be knighted by the king just as Sir Charles Hedgehog, whom he had great admiration for, had been.
Unfortunately, when the Great War began, he was drafted into the royal military, effectively putting all of his plans on hold. As his years of training and serving in the army slowly accumulated, he began to realize that his dream was slipping away from him. However, he was about to receive an early discharge. While scouting near enemy territory, his troop had unwittingly stumbled onto a gas bomb. Out of the group, he was one of only three who managed to survive breathing the fumes. Regardless of this apparent miracle, it had a costly price in that he had suffered permanent damage to his lungs.
When he was released from the hospital he immediately poured himself into his studies; no longer being able to enjoy his outdoors activities he holed himself up in an unsuccessful attempt to distract himself. It was a few months later that Mobotropolis was finally declared the victor, and in their moment of elated weakness the warlord, Julian, betrayed the kingdom and staged a coup. Zachary hadn't trusted the human from the start, knowing that Julian had been a traitor of the opposite side, and found himself not surprised by the outcome. As the citizens fled about in terror, Zachary attempted to make for one of the emergency evacuation points he knew of - Elem, a village situated in a cavern known as Lower Mobius - but wound up captured due to his lack of stamina.
He spent several days in prison with other captured people from his neighborhood after that, waiting for his inevitable turn in the roboticizer. As his cell group was brought out and that moment drew nearer, however, one of them began to start a riot, and several others quickly followed. In the commotion Zachary was knocked directly into the still active roboticizer, changing both his arm and part of his face, but pulled out before falling completely in by another prisoner, a ferret, at the cost of his own arm. As the two fled Zack spotted a little girl cowering in the corner whose arms had also been a victim to the roboticizer after trying to reach into it after her father. Realizing quickly that she was now alone, he snatched her and carried her off to safety. The girl wound up attaching herself to him as a surrogate father, and though this had panicked Zachary at first, he eventually settled into his role taking care of her.
Post-RP History
After agreeing to visit Knothole per Lilli's suggestion, he wound up running into Knuckles. Upon realizing who he was he began to give him the cold shoulder until Sally pulled him aside and began to question him about her father, having heard he was a soldier. Finding out that Zack hadn't met the king Sally's instead began to prod him about his knowledge of lore and history.
Crossover History
To be written.
Affiliates
| Cassia the Sparrow | A young girl Zachary rescued during the coup. Since then he's raised her as his adopted daughter and is fiercely protective of her. She's quite possibly what has managed to keep him sane all this time. |
| Nate the Ferret | A bright, optimistic kid. While not close the two have managed to develop a friendship. This may be due to the fact Zachary feels indebted to him for saving his life. |
| Griff the Goat | The leader of Lower Mobius' Freedom Fighters. While Zachary considers him a good enough kid he often questions his decisions and common sense. |
| Coconuts the Monkey | THE MOST ANNOYING MONKEY IN THE WORLD. Coconuts is a compulsive clean freak with a talent for setting off Zack's temper. Unfortunately, he's also Coco's mechanic. |
| Sally Acorn | Princess of Mobotropolis and leader of Knothole's freedom fighter group, Zachary finds her intellectual and inquisitive nature refreshing. |
| Knuckles the Echidna | Guardian of Lidah's soul and considered a reincarnated demi-god to Quartalism beliefs. Zachary is skeptical of these claims and usually gives him the cold shoulder. |
Misc. Info
The robotic arm he has actually isn't the original one. His real roboticizied arm is safely kept somewhere in his home. The one he uses is a prosthetic designed to better serve him on missions and around the shop without risking damage to the original, allowing him to be able to mod it as necessary to his needs.
He can often be seen carrying a cane around with him. While he has no problems with walking he often uses it for support when he needs to catch his breath. It's also great for whacking people with~ The shaft is retractable and he has a compartment on his arm to store it when not in use so he has it on him at all times.
Having spent part of his time growing up with the Arakkis Tribe, he has picked up many tribal-esque customs which he applies to regular life. One of these is that during the rare times he accompanies missions to Robotropolis he applies tribal war paint - red stripes around his eyes and black stripes on his head and spines - to break up the day-glow whiteness of his fur to make him less noticeable. In addition to this he also wears a black cloak to cover his body, as well as a filter mask to protect his lungs from the pollutants in the air.
Zack was, at one time, a follower of Quartalism. While he hasn't completely renounced his beliefs and holds a certain level of superstition, he began to lose faith after being disabled, and has grown extremely bitter and skeptical over the years. This isn't helped by the fact that, being only a "part-time" member of the Arakkis Tribe, a "heathen", a soldier in a separate kingdom's war, and on top of it all a cyborg (marking him as "cursed by Gerado"), he's become ostracized among most members of his tribe.
Loosely based off Dr. Zachary from Sonic the Comic.
Categories
Elem, Cyborgs, Arakkis Tribe, Indoles, Exotics, Thropes, Semi-Canon Characters
