[Spirit Class 3] Rio Shihoin

Coding In Template By: [THEFROST]

» Name: Rio Shihoin
» Alias: Shield Maiden, Protector of the Shihoin.
» Age: 288
» Gender: Female

» Association: Shihoin Clan. Chidori.


» Appearance Image:



» Personality:

Heart of Steel: Rio is a stringent, spartan like individual who lives her life on the precepts of determination and sheer force of will. You may insult her or you may humiliate her, but making her flinch is so difficult as to be impossible. Her heart is one forged in steel, cultivated through many years of failure and fleeting success.

From the moment she was born, she was destined to be the one who always had to earn their keep, no matter what. She hated it but countless years chiseled her into a disciplined warrior and studious woman. She wears maturity and grace on her sleeves but is not the type who flaunts her royalty to any degree. She wears the Shihoin name with pride and would never allow anyone to sully it or disrespect it.

Due to her indomitable personality, Rio may seem unapproachable but she only operates this way so that those who wish to befriend her, can earn her trust. If you are a true friend to Rio, she will go above and beyond to ensure you are safe. Whether this stems from a need for familial affection or simply a need to be the best friend one can be to another, such things are uncertain to anyone but her.



Family First: Even though Rio is open to friendships of various kinds, familial bonds are of utmost importance to the Protector. Her family, regardless of how much they may annoy her or how much they might disappoint her, is still her family.

The death of her mother only enhanced this need to protect her siblings, cousins, and anyone else who bears the Shihoin name. To go further beyond that, she doesn’t even care if you are of mixed blood. Family is one thing she will go to the grave with. Of course, that does not necessarily mean the family can operate in any way that they wish.

After Chidori’s disappearance during her younger years, Rio has made it her ultimate goal to track down any Shihoin who would even dare run away without an explanation. If anyone in her family wishes to harm the other, she will step in immediately and end the conflict on her own terms.

This is not to say of course she wouldn’t allow a confrontation or scuffle to occur--but only under the right reasoning or circumstance. Killing family is not condoned in her eyes. Though it may be somewhat naive, Rio believes that there is nothing that should ever lead you to detest a family member so much that you would end their life. Nothing.

On the positive of her views on family, Rio is very open towards being a loving person. It isn’t inherently natural to her but she does value showing how much she loves her siblings. This can be done through preparing large banquets as a sign of goodwill, or hosting a party wherein you’ll be able to hear Rio perform pieces of music on her piano. To her, family celebrations are the most intimate way of being able to interact with your siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, and other relatives. For members of her family who may be in need of assistance or training, Rio will assist them in any way they may desire.


Competitive: Now, for all of the guidance Rio may have in her heart towards her younger siblings or cousins when it concerns her older sister - Chidori - Rio tends to become very competitive. In fact, most of this competition tends to manifest itself around Chidori. Even as a child, she always wanted to show Yushiro she could be just as good Chidori. Of course, in those days, her rivalry towards her was playful. There was never any venom behind being outperformed by her sister.

She wished to see Chidori become the head of the family, envisioned fighting by her side, and envisioned being her protector and a beloved sister. Now, it is likely that the competitive streak she would have towards the young woman would be far more ruthless.

She would want to show her how much she’s improved and to see if Chidori had improved at all or simply ran away, leaving her family behind. As far as siblings or other family members that aren’t Chidori, Rio tends to act playfully challenging more than anything else. She can have flashes of that competition but it doesn't burn as brightly as it does when it’s for that one person.








» History:

Born as the younger sister to Chidori Shihoin, Rio’s birth was fairly normal. There wasn’t any first degree burns her mother had to worry about this time. She was named Rio - a two-syllable name indicating she was destined to be a protector of the family and someone who valued family over recognition. The name matched her destiny as Rio developed over the years.

When she was a child, she grew attached to Chidori, admiring her like the princess she was born and being bred as. Rio never paid attention to the fact that Chidori was Yushiro’s firstborn or even the fact that she would become the head of the family in his death. To her, she loved her sister like any younger sister would to their oldest.

Even as Rio developed into a young teenager, she did her best to encourage Chidori to keep going and that she would be legendary one day… which is why when Chidori was 100 years old - fifteen in human years - and ran away without telling anyone, Rio was shattered. Yushiro had told her not to worry about it and that she was skilled enough to survive, wherever she had run to. Still, Rio felt somewhat betrayed that her sister had left without even telling her. She could not understand it.


Worse yet, in the following years, her mother became severely ill. The woman that had given birth to her and had been someone she admired so dearly - was slowly rotting away. The fourth division was working towards a cure to revitalize her and yet, day by day, she became bedridden as the disease ate away at her health.

It was in these moments that Rio felt so helpless, so useless in her situation. She didn’t want to see her mother die but there was nothing she could do to prevent her death. Each day she wasn’t around her mother, she was desperately looking around for her sister.

All she desired was a shoulder to lean on but the only person she could console in was her father. In the end, her mother had died and it just so happened that her death coincided in the same year and day that her beloved sister had returned. To add insult to injury, their mother’s death was not a simple passing on as she would become hollow and go on a rampage.

As she had not yet learned any particular skills that could be of use, Yushiro had told her to stay behind and watch over her siblings; Rio acquiesced and awaited their return. They did indeed return, with Chidori suffering from severe injuries from her battle against their mother. Yushiro didn’t speak much about what had happened to their mother, simply telling Rio that she had passed on peacefully this time.

Well, Rio had reunited with Chidori but… their relationship was strained. Rio chose to be distant with Chidori and decided to grow stronger, to be able to truly protect her family and be the shield, the protector they could rely on at all times.

Whereas Chidori had joined the second division and hung around her father, Rio had decided to take her own time away from the family, though she was still very much nearby.

Each day, she trained with a madman’s zeal, improving upon her skills under the watchful eyes of advisors. She entered Shino Academy and took it by storm, passing each course with flying colors.

She was not going to stand by and let this family fall every time Chidori felt like she could just run away. That single wish is what drove her. There were days where she would return home - bloodied, bruised, and yet still, unbowed. And she would repeat the same process. Eventually, Rio graduated from the academy and had even learned her Shikai during this time.

Rio would follow in Chidori’s footsteps, joining the second division to flaunt how much she had improved. Chidori, on the other hand, always seemed to be in her own world. Rio was just annoyed by the woman now. Part of her wished to admire and love her as she did in the past, but her youthful stubbornness simply would not let her.

Even as Rio entered the division as a seated member, she still trained like a madman. There was no time to rest. She had to improve in order to ensure she would be strong enough to protect her family. Each year in the division was all meant to reach that one goal. Even so, Rio had decided to leave the Gotei. She returned to the Shihoin household. There was no particular reason for her doing so. She had mastered her Shikai well enough and decided her path towards Bankai could simply be one done while spending time with her family.

From time to time, to sate her curiosity, Rio would go to earth during her missions and during one of those missions, she had stumbled upon a piano recital in one of the cities on earth.

From that moment, she had developed a strong affinity towards playing the piano and decided to buy one of her own. In a short time, Rio became a very talented pianist and even took a few tips of fashion from earth before she returned. She even-tempered her fighting skills by studying various forms of martial arts.


Still training towards Bankai, Rio continued to operate within the confines of her clan, guiding her younger siblings on the right path while improving upon her own skills. By this time, she had become proficient in all of the skills that comprised a Shinigami’s skillset. Her two biggest strengths - Shunpo and Hakuda - had been tempered to a masterful level. Now, her next goal would be Bankai.


Gaining her bankai was not easy. It was a process that took her the majority of her life to learning. It was difficult, taxing, life-threatening. There was not a day that did no go by where she didn't feel as if she wanted to scream out of frustration, out of exhaustion. Each time always seemed like a failure and so the idea of training to attain the consummate peak of a Shinigami's skill, felt fleeting, as if she would never reach it. She didn't even wish to be under the guidance of counselors or the eyes of her father, or anyone. In secret, she trained relentlessly.

However, her Bankai would not be gained through just training. It would, in fact, occur through a battle where she had to protect a loved one. It was a younger Shihoin who had accidentally wandered off without her permission. The younger sibling had wished to know what earth looked like and since they had done so well, Rio felt like it would be a good reward. However, during their light vacation, the young member of her clan had gotten lost and when Rio had finally sensed his spiritual pressure, she recognized that there was a significant source of hollows nearby.

When she finally found her sibling, hollows of varying sizes stood before her and the little one. They were the most basic in terms of their class, but facing so many of them could be dangerous. She ordered the younger Shihoin to hurry to safety as she fought each of them off. Her Shikai was enough to take down half of her foes, but there was still so much to face.

She had already suffered significant wounds. Her body was screaming at her to give out and yet... she stood tall. Knowing, that if she died here, her precious sibling would be eaten and such a thought is what kept her body moving. At that moment, her sword glowed, as if it were calling out to her. She rushed forward, with four blades at her side and after that, everything seemed to blur.

"Ban....kai."

It was hoarse, nearly inaudible but the spirit of her Zanpakuto had recognized her indomitable will and her zeal, her desperation to survive and protect those she loves. It was a match made in heaven. Utilizing her Bankai in that instance, she was able to defeat the hollows without any lingering difficulty. It had turned out that she had always possessed the potential to reach Bankai, but she had to learn to stay true to who she was and not train out of a sense of selfishness or to be competitive towards her sister. After exiting her Bankai, the young Shihoin had nearly collapsed but managed to return home with her younger sibling before she collapsed. After being nursed back to health, she continued to perfect the nuances of her bankai and from then, the rest seemed to be history. She even envisioned herself becoming closer to her sister again, but...


2418 had come around and once again, her beloved sister had gone awol, notifying no one. There was no note or letter, no warning sign - her audacious sister didn’t even have the respect to let Rio know that she had planned on leaving again.

This was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Rather than worry about her return, Rio became more hellbent on proving that the family was better off without her. And since then, that’s all it has been. An impassioned routine of training, hosting family banquets and waiting to see Chidori once again.







» Equipment: N/A




» Racial Abilities:



Hakuda Expert: Rio is extraordinarily talented in the art of Haakuda; it is in fact, her primary form of combat and a staple of her battle repertoire. Hand-to-hand combat is something she has always prided herself in and though she may not yet be at the level of mastering Hakuda, she is highly proficient enough to handle her own.

Combining her knowledge of Shinigami fighting technique in addition to picking up forms of martial art during her visits to earth, Rio is significantly capable of holding her own against her enemy.

Each strike she executes - every kick, every leg sweep, every elbow, and every punch - is unleashed with the thought of disorienting her opponent and robbing them of their will to fight. She never particularly focuses on pummeling her enemies. No, each strike is calculated, pinpoint, and precise. She attacks an enemy at a spot that may leave them stunned or paralyzed.

An elbow to the neck, or a punch to the sternum. A kick to the groin, or a forceful sweep of the arm towards one’s throat. In addition to attacking her enemy, Rio is equally savvy in countering her enemy’s attack, making it her goal to read their movement. In her eyes, countering and executing a strike in instantaneous motion can be equally as devastating as full-on offensive assault.


Catlike Agility: To go along with her martial prowess, Rio is exceptionally agile, to a point where one can find it difficult to land a devastating strike. This isn’t necessarily due to any innate speed she was born with - rather, it is an ingrained sense of movement she has developed over years of combat.

Her catlike agility is almost like a fighting style in and of itself - based on Rio studying different styles and martial art forms. In Chinese kung fu, specifically, fighting forms can resemble those of animals - such as the tiger, bear, snake, and so on and so forth. Interested in this idea, Rio trained herself in being able to mimic the idea of how a tiger strikes.

Agile and fierce, she can leap from and shoot towards her enemies like a tiger and strike them before they can realize what has happened. Her catlike agility is especially helpful in defending herself from harm, allowing her to sort of take on a cat’s shiftiness. She can even leap from building to building, run across a wall, and achieve plenty of other acrobatic feats that would defy one’s mind.


Shunpo Expert: Though far from mastering Shunpo to the degree of other practitioners, Rio has an innate talent for the artistry of the flash step. Along with Hakuda, Shunpo was a skill Rio focused on with immense concentration. Each day, she would study Hoho, become more attuned with her footwork and agility, and repeat the same process.

The first results weren’t amazing by any stretch of the term but constant dedication has allowed Rio to ascertain an innate sense of her movement and where she wishes to appear.

You may see her for a split second and by the first step, she is already flashing forward, ready to strike the enemy down. She can take a series of 100 steps before she reaches exhaustion, and even then, due to the way she has trained her body, she can recover rather easily and repeat those steps once more. She is not yet at the level of being able to move so fast that she creates afterimages, but her speed has certainly reached a level where if you miss her in the blink of an eye, she can strike within seconds.


Capoeira: Among all the forms and styles of martial arts Rio has studied in her life, none of them have captured her attention as much as Capoeira. It is an Afro-Brazilian martial art resembling more of a ritualistic dance.

Whereas other martial arts utilize employ a set stance and striking method, Capoeira is free-flowing in its movement and allows one to execute a succession of attacks without missing a beat; it is a fast and versatile martial art that is historically focused on fighting outnumbered or in technological disadvantage.

The style emphasizes using the lower body to kick, sweep and takedowns and the upper body to assist those movements and occasionally attack as well. It features a series of complex positions and body postures that are meant to get chained in an uninterrupted flow, in order to strike, dodge and move without breaking motion, conferring the style with a characteristic unpredictability and versatility. Rio favors using this fighting style in combination with her Shunpo, allowing her to keep her opponent guessing before she strikes.




» Zanpakutô Name: Tetsumaru (鉄丸, Iron Ring.)

» Zanpakutô Spirit Appearance:
(Will add image soon)

Tetsumaru is a pacifist, it dislikes violence and enjoys peace. Sitting on top of the mountain watching the world she can never touch but only watch over it like a caring older sister. Her appearance is very graceful, adorned in a dress of vibrant color and in some ways, shares a few resemblances with Rio but only a resemblance.



» Inner World: Desolate and harsh. It is a dry mountain range that is high enough to reach into the heavens. On the horizon, one can see extremely far, a distant utopia of flora and biomes which change with her mood but she can only see this mirage.

» Zanpakutô Appearance:

Tetsumaru is an ornately designed katana which is slightly larger than normal. It has a diamond tsuba and an onyx sheathe, along the grey background is a very elegant golden pattern that stretches all over the sheathe. Its handle is wrapped in a dull golden cloth.



» Sealed Zanpakutô Power:

Tetsumaru's apparent power classifies it as a defense-type zanpakuto, its sealed power is directly tied to altering the density and hardness of an object before it appears to manipulate a special substance the blade creates due to this change, it is more correctly known as a kido-type despite initially being classified incorrectly from a misunderstanding.

Iron Touch
Using the sheathe of Tetsumaru Rio is able to touch something and cause it to transmute into iron or cover it in a shell of iron. By touching a target with the sheathe she can encase parts of their body in a shell to bind them or she can increase the durability of something by touching it. This power is directly tied to the sheathe however and the blade does not have the same effect.

Steel Skin
Rio's skin is naturally incredibly powerful. While most humans are made out of carbon Rio's zanpakuto ensures that her chemical composition is closer to diamond which is still within the range of carbon making just cutting her a chore. She is highly durable but her zanpakuto's power makes her unnaturally heavy for a human since she weighs seven times more than a normal person of her height.




» Shikai Release Phrase: Harden, Tetsumaru.

» Shikai Release Action: Rio extends out her blade pointed forward, upon calling the release phase the blade turns black before it splits into four larger blades that hover around her and are chained together. Rio is left with the handle but the blade is gone.

» Shikai Appearance:

Upon activation of her Shikai, Rio's zanpakuto takes the form of four completely identical black blades about the size of her which idle behind her; as she uses techniques, the blades' forms change and warp such as growing barbs, changing in size and density or other changes that are covered by her usage.



» Shikai Abilities:

The Shikai of Tetsumaru revolves around the manipulation of the four blades, by piercing the ground the blades can absorb carbon and matter to increase density as well as serve as material for any adjustments that Rio would like to accomplish. Tetsumaru can harden itself at will by Rio reinforcing it with her reiryoku being drained and there is no cap except until she cannot maintain this drain anymore which makes her possess incredibly powerful potential as she grows.

Black Iron Cage
By using a blade Rio converts it into a sphere large enough to wrap around a reasonably large adult man, she can encase targets whether for the sake of protection or containment. Due to the nature of her Shikai, this cage can become larger as more material is absorbed into the blade she is using to accomplish it.

Black Iron Cage: Heaven-Earth Tether
An enhancement of her cage, by attaching a chain to the ground and the blade she can apply the effect of grounding energy movement, making attacks that are comprised of energy very difficult to pull off and reducing their effectiveness by thirty percent.

Black Iron Guillotine
Manipulating a blade to float above an enemy she can bring it down with an extreme level of force that intends to cut an opponent in half.

Black Iron Maiden: Heavenly Execution, Earthern Burial
Utilising one of her shikai blades to initiate her black iron cage before raising one above it as a guillotine. This is a move designed to execute someone within the sphere. Dropping down it phases through its sibling bisecting caught in the attack if it cannot escape or survive.





» Bankai Release Phrase: "Bankai, Gogyōsan Tetsumaru (五行山鉄丸, Five Elements Mountain Iron Ring).


» Bankai Release Action: Slapping her palms together, Rio points her hands upward as the blades of her shikai gather around her.
» Bankai Appearance:


Activation of her bankai causes Rio's blade to disappear into the ground. After a brief pause, the very land itself becomes black for up to a kilometer and this black land terraforms the environment into a small mountain range. The purpose of this is simple, Rio has all the materials she would need to protect her loved ones.


» Bankai Abilities:


Rio's bankai typically only builds off her shikai, only on a much grander scale that allows her to control the battlefield with a great deal of finesse and potency to protect her allies and crush her enemies.

Elemental Negation

Rio's bankai exerts a law that no basic element may exist on the black land itself itself. This effectively seals most elemental abilities. Anything that derives from, Wood (plants), Earth, Water, Fire, and Metal are prevented from being able to be used on the dirt. It is a counter to some of the strongest elemental-type zanpakutos but Rio's allies are also affected by this edict.

It should also be noted that only those touching the ground are affected by it, if someone were to fly or not be touching the black material of her zanpakuto they would not be breaking the law it imposes as they are not on it.

Will of the Black Dirt
Rio can freely control the material of her bankai to create constructs and structures, weapons or tools she might need. All of this relies on the range though, if someone steps outside of her bankai's range her constructs cannot pass that range. This is somewhat mitigated by a technique that turns the field into a giant sphere of black dirt that traps everyone within but also prevents light in.

Black Dirt Mausoleum: Mountainscape
Rio erects a large barrier made of her dirt that tries to trap as many people in as possible to overcome the weakness of her bankai's static range. She relies on catching a target off-guard but the technique needs some time to stall before it can be erected. Regardless though it can be called the true form of her zanpakuto that locks everyone within the mountain she has created.



Zanpakuto Weaknesses:


Shikai:

Scaling Release: Her shikai is initially very basic as it is just four large blades she can use as shields and weapons, as she gathers materials however her shikai can become incredibly difficult to deal with given her creative freedom.

Multiple Factors: Rio has her attention divided by four different blades and ironically these four blades do not appear to join together meaning she cannot reduce the number by mixing two blades into one however she can choose to leave any number of her blades to absorb material to reduce the amount she needs to focus on.


Bankai:


Bankai Weaknesses
Affects Allies: Allies on her bankai cannot use elements the same way the enemies cannot.


Static: The mountain does not move, if someone were to walk and refuse to go onto the black dirt of Rio's bankai then they would be unaffected and there is not much she could do about it.


Scaling Release: Her bankai is limited by the amount of material it has, she requires a large amount built up in her shikai before she can activate her bankai which can make it difficult to immediately pull out in a fight unless she has set it up prior.


Large Presence: There is by no means any way this bankai doesn't go unnoticed by people unless some incredibly high concealment abilities were being used. It will most certainly change the landscape by the time the bankai is ended.

Recharge Time: Due to such magnitude and the energy consumption it possesses a recharge time. She cannot use it more than once every five months in-character.







» Shikokai Release Phrase: [What is your shinigami's release phrase?]

» Shikokai Release Action: [Does your Shinigami do any physical action to release their Shikokai? Feel free to remove this.]

» Shikokai Appearance: [What does your Shinigami look like when released in their Shikokai?]

» Shikokai Abilities: [What abilities does your Shinigami attain in Shikokai?]



(To Find Out about what these skills are for, please READ THIS THREAD before you try doing anything to it. After you have read it, do not fill your skills out until a staff member has graded your thread. The staff member checking your app will also give you Will Skills in which you can add to your app when approved. Click the spoiler below to see what tier gets what kind of skills.)

Spoiler:

General Skills
[list][*]Durability: S [6]
[*]Speed: D [1]
[*]Strength: B [3]
[*]Soul: C [2]
[/list

Shinigami Skills

• Hoho: Advanced
  
• Kidō: Adept
  
• Zanjutsu: Advanced
  
• Hakuda: Elite

Will Skills

• Willpower/Determination: Elite
  
• Mental Deduction: Adept
  
• Focus: Advanced
  

» Roleplay Sample:

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