Dakota Jaye Royal

Anti-hero, villain, hero, depends on the book they're in

Belphegor, as they're known by the rest of the world, explained in backstory.

They.

40 something, no know really knows, and they've lost track. They stopped paying attention at age twenty-four, and with no one to remind them to celebrate their birthday, they quickly lost count of the years. Especially during their time as Belphegor, as they were too consumed by their mission to care about the aging process.

Literally doesn't care. Is not ace or aro, but the idea of romance just has no appeal to them.

They wear grey body armor that hides their identifying physical traits. It's a bit complex, so I'll break it down:

What the armor does: Beyond basic protection, the armor is built to intimidate, and to break up Dakota's human form to confuse enemies. It works especially well if it's dark out or foggy, as the strange shapes will make any foes unsure of what they're facing, or how to attack it. It's partly mechanized, and has bits that can move on their own, but we'll get to those in time. The armour is made from fibalt, a man-made material which is lighter, like plastic, and stronger than titanium. It almost has zero drawbacks, since almost nothing can penetrate it, but it's theorized to have noticeable toxins within it, that are unhealthy to wear for long periods of time. Science has yet to conclude a longitudinal study on it, but it's advised to only be used when needed for survival, and for as short a time as possible. Dakota isn't listening to those recommendations, wouldn't ya know.

Helmet: They wear a tactical helmet with a full face visor, with reflective glass that allows their face to stay protected from sight. Built in to the helmet are two sets of horns that can retract and extend, depending on need. They are placed on Dakota's temples, and on their jaw, curling forwards like a bulls, breaking up the shape of Dakota's head, and making them look bigger.

Body: The body armor has flat plates on the chest, and flexible, ribbed sections from the ribs to the waist, allowing for full range of dextrous abdomen motion. The ribbing on the sides is made of three sets of smaller plates, while in front and back ribs are longer, covering their entire back and stomach with only one vertical separation, vs the side's three. (Hopefully later I can upload a picture of this, since it's very hard to explain)

Shoulder: The shoulder plates have two forms: Streamlined and Big Scary, which is the official name. Big Scary is when the plate sort of 'unzips,' the plate cracking down the middle to allow two other identical plates to flare up, again breaking up Dakota's shape and adding size. The plates are pointed like claws, and can flip up into position in under half a second.

Hands: Dakota wears fibalt/leather gloves to allow for flexible motion without endless plating. The forearm, wrist, and backs of hands and fingers are plated with fibalt, while in between the plating on the joints and the palms/insides of the fingers is all black, tough leather. You couldn't cut it with a knife unless you had one really sharp knife and a lot of time on your hands. The fibalt on the forearms has another unzipping mechanic, that allows two semi retractable blades to lock into place over their arms and hands. The blades are length of their forearms, with another foot of blade able to slide out and esdent past their hands, acting as both a deadly weapon, and protection/confusion, further distorting Dakota's shape.

Legs: Like the body, the legs are mostly plated to allow for flexible motion, the joints aided by leather to ensure smooth movement. The leg armor has a mechanic where it can extend several extra 'feet,' allowing Dakota to plant themself more firmly if they need to, and, you guessed it, continuing that size/disorientation theme.

Feet: It's fibalt/leather time again. they really are a match made in heaven. Anyways, the boots are entirely fibalt, except for the soles, which are leather to allow for quiet motion, the rare times Dakota needs to sneak. Of course, a fibalt plate can cover the sole for protection, if needed. Dakota switches through them fairly frequently when hidden in darkness of fog. They can made sound over here, slip away quiet as anything, ect.
*Fun fact, fibalt makes a very unusual sound against most materials. It's sounds like a deep thrum, like those really deep drums you can only hear in your headphones or really good speakers in music.

Extra: In the plates on Dakota's back, there are ten retractable additions, five on each side. They're like spider legs, six curving down, four curling up and out past their shoulders and arms. These serve only two purposes:
1: Again with the intimidation and confusion. Can you imagine you think you know where you enemy is in the fog, then suddenly you see glimpses of these other things peeping through the fog, far away from where you though you were supposed to be aiming? That's their primary intended purpose.
2: Slight protection. These are strong, and are hard to break, good for keeping attacks at a distance, or pushing away enemies when you get swamped. But this is a secondary purpose.

When they're not wearing this, they're wearing tough, old, worn clothing that keeps them protected from the elements.

I don't know, nor do I care. Probably a lot.

5' 7"

Natural platinum blonde, kept that blonde from being bleached by the sun. Not like anyone's going to see.

This, but less well-cared for. And shorter. Less aesthetic, more Butch
https://stayglam.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Side-Shave-Haircut.jpg
But they do have curly-ish hair, with shaved sides. Again, like anyone will see.
They chose that hair cut because it's easy to maintain, and it's fairly gender neutral. That last part if for themself entirely, they don't really like presenting too far as one gender or the other when they look in a mirror, hence the middling cut.

Eyebrows

Dirty green, with brown flecks, if you look really close. But no one's going to.

Mongolian American. Their family comes from Mongolia, but they're 3rd or 4th generation, so there's a lot mixed in there.

Tan, weathered and cracked from years of hard outdoors work

Built like a tank, strong as a bull. They're raw muscle, therefor, they thicc.

They've never been identified. If they were, people would note their weathered, lined face and perpetual frown. (Hint: It goes away when they're alone)

Farming, gardening, messing around with old equipment to see it the an get it started again, fixing up things that are broken down around their place, researching how to care for the various animals they have, etc. They like to settle down in the evenings before bed with a good book, but they aren't an avid reader. It's just a way for them to wind down before bed, so they don't really care what they're reading. They don't really have so many hobbies, as they spend their life doing what they really enjoy. It's more the way they have to spend their days to keep things up and running than their hobbies.
Here's a fun one: Beekeeping. They love bees. And when decrystallizing the old honey, they can reach right into the pot of boiling water with their bare hand.

None, physical or mental

Dakota is calm, quiet, slow to act, slow to anger. They smile rarely, are a person of few words, and are generally happier alone. As a general rule, they're a peaceful, impassive soul, but when pushed they have no problem with stringing you out. Which they will with little to no effort. They're definitely an introvert, and are uncomfortable around people in normal social situations. You wouldn't know it, however, because they constantly act confident.
People tend to assume they always know what to do in any given situation, because they have such a powerful presence. They're only here to get to business, they never fritter time or dance around anything. They're blunt and straightforward. At this point in their life, they fear nothing, and it shows. They're not reckless at all, but there's nothing anyone could say or do to shake them. They know they could defeat anything that might try to test them. If you gave Dakota a wood axe and their enemy a handgun, they'd give that axe a spin and get to work. They're analytical, logical, practical, and unimaginative. Nothing fases them, and they haven't got a squeamish bone in their body. They don't know it, but they'd be a great teacher because of their patience and calm collected nature. They could do reddit's 50/50 without batting an eye.
However, when fighting, Dakota's calm and unfasability shows in a different way, as they're absolutely brutal. Their goal is to end the fight as fast as possible, and if they've been pushed to the point of fighting, (a VERY hard thing to do), then it's likely they really don't care if they kill you. They'll cave in your skull without second thought. The only reason they ever actually fight is if they genuinely feet their life or someone else's life is in danger.
They value honesty, hard work, and having a slow temper. They're not the most tactful or diplomatic, an once they've made their mind up about something it's there to stay. They can be unbelievably stubborn, but are a very steadying presence to have around. As much as they try to avoid human interaction, when it's forced upon them, they're polite, and while not friendly per-se, they're open for a little conversation. If you start it. And are patient enough to outlast their initial silence while they wrap up whatever they were working on.
*Important personality note: Note that nowhere is Dakota described as kind. It's a common trait that goes with calm, patient, peaceful, etc, but I would not say Dakota is kind.

They're literally a tank. They can take hits and just keep going like it's nothing. A lot of that's the armor, of course, but they're strong enough to stay on their feet during shockwaves and such that could knock a normal person over easily. They're tough as granite, strong as a bull, and their reactions are quicker than lightning. This doesn't mean they're fast, but their brain has a quick processing speed, and allows them to brace, defend, or plan for whatever's coming their way.
They're thoughtful, and just because they're slow to act doesn't mean their brain is moving slowly. They think things through concisely and quickly, and take their time with life, not rushing unless they have to.
When around their animals, they're gentle and confident, and most their animals love them. (Except for the the old shetland mare, but she hates everybody). They are knowledgeable about cars, farm equipment, animals, agriculture, weaponry, and essential domestic skills such as sewing, cooking, etc.

They just don't like people. They think emotional relationships are overrated, and their rule of thumb is that if it speaks, it sucks. (Exception: Buzzfeed, their parrot)
They definitely think they're unbeatable. They haven't lost a fight in so long they can't remember the last time it happened. They're more likely to laugh at you than anything else if you threaten them.
As they might say: "You thinkin' of pickin' a fight? Just don't."
While there is the potential that they might have been especially disliking towards catholic conservatives, given their parents dislike of their gender, they actually don't care for two reasons:
1: They basically dislike all humans equally. If you're a human, they dislike you, no two ways about it. There's no point putting in special effort to dislike one group more than another
2: They actually had a good relationship with their parents outside of that one factor. They just didn't talk about it after a certain point, and while there was some resentment, and not all was perfect in their relationship, Dakota's parents loved them very much.

They're not dexterus, or all that quick on their feet. Dodge isn't something they excel at. They're monosyllabic and distant, leaving most people wanting nothing to do with them. They're morally lacking by the modern worlds standards, seeing as what's classed as first degree murder is a-okay with them. While they could argue self-defense in court if it ever came to that, the brutal method of death would be really hard to prove as absolutely necessary. While they love their animals, they still realize they're animals. None of them get professional veterinary treatment, and if one dies, it dies. They'll be sad about it, but they'll move on. They rarely seek out animals, mostly it's circumstantial that they end up collecting more. Of course this doesn't mean he'll neglect them medically, since he's been farm-raised his whole life and knows a thing or two about fixing hurt animals. They don't get deeply emotionally attached to anyone or anything. They are indifferent and slightly apathetic towards most things. If they do don the armor and step outside their farm to help protect people, it's done with a great sigh. They only do that because they've been raised to care for their community no matter what, so they consider it their duty. Is it because they necessarily care about people? Nah.
They also believe themself to be untouchable by any or all forces of government, crime rings, or really anything. They've built themself a little paradise, and nothing will disturb their solitude. Or, so they're convinced. They're incredibly politically unaware, literally have no idea what's going on outside their farm, and because they believe it can't affect them, they don't care.

Three Things:
1: Sweet, sweet, solitude
2: Their animals
3: Their morals

They mainly are about that first one. The other two can be compromised, the second only in emergencies, and the third one is situational, and mostly to do with how they were raised. Their parents were adamant about protecting your community, and if you see someone in trouble, you stop and help them. Full stop. No exceptions. Of course, Dakota doesn't follow this as strictly as they used to, but it's too ingrained to totally forget. If they see you getting bullied on the street, they ain't stepping in. But if someone tries to murder a whole town, they'll wearily get to stopping it from happening. As for their own safety, it's rarely an issue anymore. Their own safety used to be on the top of the list, but as they became more and more indestructible, the priority level on that one dropped.

For the solitude, it comes from an absolute disgust of humanity and all it has to offer. They were disliked in school, never bullied per-se, but never had any friends that lasted more than a few months before just ghosting them. They had a rocky relationship with their stubbornly conservative Catholic parents about Dakota's gender, though the family ties were still strong. Then they were hit with their parents murder, for not greater a cause then testing out a neurotoxin that would never be legally usable in any war. Someone attempted to kill them, they were falsely accused of stealing cattle, arrested for a short amount of time, and fired from both their jobs all in one night.
Then, their team came along, and they were people Dakota came to trust beyond question. They sympathized with Dakota, reached them on an emotional level and offered them a chance to do good against the people who'd killed their parents. They were like a family, the first true friends Dakota had ever had. After their betrayal, and the realization that everyone had been using them the entire time, Dakota lost almost all their faith in humanity. The last remnants of that faith was squashed after they began to track down their enemies. They watched as one by one, their old friends begged for mercy, quoting that friendship as if they hadn't been the ones to betray it. They watched their parents murderers fall to their knees, trying to talk their way out of death by citing Dakota's humanity, their compassion for their fellow man. The very thing the murderers had failed to show when killing Dakota's parents for a useless science experiment born of a petty mind who didn't want to be told what to do. With the pleading of hypocrites ringing in their ears, Dakota left for the hills, determined to never interact with another human unless it was life or death.
Dakota didn't originally plan on killing all of them. But once they started, their foes just kept making it harder and harder to stop.

They're very slow and deliberate, taking each step as if it were the only one they were taking. They gestures rarely, and tend to rest all their weight to one side when standing still. If they're listening to someone talk, they'll slowly let their head tilt to the side. When they're working on some menial, repetitive or boring task, they'll hum quietly to themself. If they're with any of their animals, they'll always be talking quietly to them. They have relaxed body language around their animals, and move slowly but surely. When they are around humans, they are more tense, and using every aspect of their potential intimidation to their advantage to keep people away.

Dakota can get behind anything filling, generally meat. Neighborhood barbecue? Well...if they were the type, they would be there.

Their armor. They added all the fancy stuff on it themself, and it's their pride and joy.

They have one gun that they use mostly. They've built it so that the muzzle can detach. This allows them to turn the weapon into a sniper rifle, automatic, shotgun, or almost anything else. However, they most frequently use the shotgun mod, as it's powerful and to the point.

Dakota likes bulls, and cows in general. They identify with the strength seen there, and grew up around cattle, so they know them very well, and likes them a lot for their patient, gentle nature.

Previous:
Farm hand
Feedlot worker
Mechanic
Weapons manufacturer, specializing in weapon mods
Current:
None, technically. They sort of have side gig going selling stuff on Amazon, but that's not really a real job.

This child has no social life, who are you kidding? They've got their animals.

Atheist, raised Catholic. They abandoned the faith after logic kicked in and they were like "yo, this don't make sense."

Again...None, they're less likely to have a partner than they would be to go to the neighborhood barbecue.

(Under Construction)
They live almost entirely off grid in Nebraska, they really don't care at this point. Dakota would probably lean Republican under normal circumstances, however by the time they're living on their farm, they don't care what the rest of the word decides, because they think it can't touch them. They do what they want, when they want, and how they want. They've been both undefeated and left alone for long enough that they're starting to believe this is just a fact that will never change. Whether or not they're right about that, is something talked about in the later books they show up in, when things start demanding them to care. But at the time of this profile, they don't have a radio, or TV, and spend very little time on the internet. They've made a little paradise for themself, and the rest of the world will do what it will, according to them. They only care that they're independence isn't tampered with.

Lifelong physical laborer. Raised on a farm, tinkering around with old machinery, anything to to with animal care or mechanics.

They like the color of rich soil, it reminds them of their childhood.

Dakota was born and raised on a farm in Nebraska. They were rough and tumble, brusque and rude, because even then they didn't like people all that much, and people didn't like them, they were shy and socially awkward as a child, and mostly unnoticed by their peers in elementary school. They, being an introvert, quickly became perfectly happy at home with their parents, who were also introverts. They were raised conservative and Catholic, but taught to think for themself, and be independent. They didn't question any of this too much until later in high school, when they decided God made no sense. As a child Dakota spent most of their time either at school or tailing their parents and 'helping' as they worked around the farm. They grew up like this, with hardly any free time of their own, since they were a small family caring for a large farm. They didn't have any siblings because the doctor strongly advised Dakota's mother not to have anymore children unless she was willing to risk her life. This was advice that was taken seriously, so Dakota was raised alone without much social interaction from children their age outside of school, which, let's be real, hardly counts.
Dakota was actually a year behind in school, due to failing a class whose teacher convinced the school that Dakota deserved to be held back due to their straight D grades. Therefore they were a senior into the age nineteen. They helped out at the farm until they were almost twenty, just before graduating, at which point their farm burned down when their father suddenly went crazy and killed their mother, then himself after setting the place ablaze. Dakota came home from school to find a trail of mutilated carcasses of the farm animals leading to the burned out husk of their house, their parents bodies strung out on display, tangled barbed wire. Dakota didn't know it at the time, but their family had been victim to illegal neurotoxin experimentation during the pre-story of WhitePaws. Dakota arrived at the same time as the clean up crew, and when they saw hazmat suited people picking through the litter of their farm, they were naturally terrified. They were seen, and chased, as they were supposed to have been killed on their way home. However, Dakota's assassins missed them; they'd taken a different road home due to an accident on their usual intersection.
They managed to escape, and fled to town, where they did the only thing they could think of and layed low, waiting to see what would come of this. When the police investigation started, they told the officers everything they knew, but it was painfully little, not enough to further the investigation, especially considering that by the time the police made it to their reclusive farm, the clean up crew had done their job, and all signs of the farms existence were gone, except for a huge scorch mark and piles of ash. The investigation was given up fairly quickly, as there were just no trails to follow, and Dakota was now alone in the world. They were viewed with suspicion by the locals and their extended family, and even the police weren't convinced they were entirely innocent. Their relatives could all think of excuses not to take them into their homes, and no one else really wanted much to do with them, so Dakota took their one remaining possession, their pickup truck, and traveled up to a town a half hour outside Lincoln. Here they started afresh, feeling hurt and angry and wrought with grief and shock at the sudden deaths and rejections of those around. They never ended up graduating high school, even though they were only two weeks away from doing so.
They used their experience with machinery and livestock to get highered as a feedlot employee and a mechanic by the same person, who ran both. The pay was low, but they were enough to live off. They were an excellent mechanic, they'd always had a knack for machinery, and by this point, they'd been messing around with farm equipment and cars for almost fourteen years.
But finally, when they turned twenty-one, they were out feeding the cattle late at night, and they saw someone coming towards them through the lot. They paused in their job long enough to see the person was carrying a gun, and was pointing it towards them, and then they decided it was time to get the heck out of dodge. They made an escape via their pick up, and tried to get to their home, but when they pulled up, there were three black vans surrounding the place, so they high-tailed it out of there.
They were confused and scared, but managed to make it out of town. They would have called the police, but the closest station was in Lincoln, a half-hour drive away, and also they'd been using their phone as a flashlight and dropped it when they were running away. They circled around the town, trying to decide what to do, when they saw the vans driving behind them. They used their knowledge of the surrounding gravel roads to lose their stalkers, and headed west, past Kearney to Lexington. They were planning on just bunkering out there for the night, finding a way to call their boss and the police, and hopefully going back home again. But that never happened, because they ended up getting pulled over. Why? Their boss, checking in on his feedlot since his employee was taking so long, found half his cattle gone, a huge trailer missing, and Dakota nowhere in sight. He called the police, reported that Dakota had stolen his cattle, and in a convenient turn of events, a state trooper who was friends with Dakota's boss happened upon them, recognizing their license plate.
They were arrested, and only managed to explain themselves six hours later, and then they frustratedly told about the person with the gun. It was sketchy, but it was enough of a cover that they couldn't prove anything, seeing as they clearly didn't have the cattle. It didn't rule them out as an accomplice, but they were released, and promptly fired from both jobs. That hurt them, but they really didn't want to go back to that town anyways.
They spent some time just living out of their truck, trying to figure out what was happening, and realized it must have been their parents' murderers. They'd escaped their burned out farm a year ago, but they knew they weren't supposed to have been able to. They were planning on leaving Lex, but before they could, they were approached by a woman who introduced herself as Finley, a military member who knew what happened to their parents. They were skeptical until she not only detailed it exactly, but told them what happened with their father. They, lacking in many other choices, agreed to go with her, and she offered them a job working on their team tracking down the rogue military scientists. They agreed to join the weapons unit, and hey, now they worked for the army. Technically.
They took their mechanics skills and put them to a new use, learning how weapons worked and how to build them, enhance them, and modify them. They were a natural, and soon were building their own weapons that surpassed what the team had used in the past. They actually began to connect with the people in their team, who were friendly, open and happy to include Dakota in their activities. Dakota was probably about as content as they'd ever been in the hay-days of that team. They began to open up and be emotionally vulnerable around these people, who only embraced them for it.
Then fibalt came into use. This revolutionized body armor, and the team was quick to get their hands on some. They gave a suit to Dakota to work with, but before they'd finished, their team finally found the location of the rogues, and the boss battle began. Dakota had to turn their attention to supporting their team by repairing and upgrading their weaponry as they laid active siege to the rogue's surprisingly strong hideout. They dedicated their time to ensuring their friends had the best they could give, leaving their armor project aside for now.
By now, Dakota's 24, having been with the team for three years, and it was now that right as their team was about to contain the rogues and put a stop to their unregulated, dangerous tests, that Dakota found a paper of a call record on Finley's desk that showed a call between their team leader and another unnamed member of higher up military (Cello Rigor). The two talked about how they were going to use the findings of the rogue's experimentation to use the weapons they'd been developing. They talked about continuing experimentation and framing the rogues for it. Involved in the record was proof that the rest of the team was in on it too, and they'd been using Dakota while keeping them in the dark about their true intentions. They'd only sought Dakota out because of their expertise with mechanics, and because they knew they could manipulate them into an unwavering team member with the promises of justice.
Now Dakota wasn't one for revenge, even this young. But they thought back to finding their farm in ruins. They thought back to their parents teaching them to look out for the people around them, because "whether you like them or not, Kota, they're your community. You just take care of your own." They thought about the feelings, and the struggle against grief, and the confusion. They thought about what happened to them, and what it would be like if it happened to anyone else.
And Dakota got mad. You don't get to hurt my people.
They took the armor they'd been working on, made some adjustments so it fit them, and took to the streets so to speak. They didn't know how to fight, but they were tough, strong, and angry, and they knew their way around a gun. They decimated their team in one hour. It was night, no one was expecting it. Then they tracked down the rogues and attacked them, killing most and scattering the rest. Driven by the rage and betrayal they felt, they chased down each rogue one by one, perfecting their armor as they went. This took them another three years, and by then, they'd gained a reputation unlike anything anyone in the underground or military had seen at the time.
They seemed to be unstoppable, and rumors only exaggerate the truth. They almost were unstoppable, however, and the rumors weren't too far off. They adopted the name Belphegor, simply because it sounded badass, and went to work, until everyone associated with the rogues or their team was killed. (They never got to Cello).
Finally their rampage was over, and they'd caused an enormous ripple effect, bigger than they even knew. Their actions were the last straw it took for fibalt production to halt in its tracks, slowing as it already was by the risk of toxins within the material. Stories of them inspired Joan Silverlake to change the Weapons Program, thus kicking off the events of Weapon Twenty-Four, and Australia to push for the VV Cephei Titan project to finish. Without Dakota, Titan would never have existed, and a giant sinkhole wouldn't have opened up in Hungary years later.
But after they were sure they had killed all there were to be killed, they vanished, Dakota forgotten by the world, Belphegor all there was left. They built their farm from the ground up, and put their armor away.
For now.

5th of May

Highschool dropout, not intentionally. Not that they'd ever excelled at school, they were a straight D student. They had a mind for machines, not for history or English.

Mother was named Cheyenne and their father was named Clinton. They were both generational farmers, and had merged their families farms when they got married, since they'd been neighbors for generations. They had one one child, and that was Dakota. They lived with Cheyenne's parents until Dakota was ten-twelve; they passed away within two years of each other. Their names were Lou and Wanda.

Lots. Dakota's an animal magnet. And their entire life is spent taking care of them. All their animals were either rescued, abandons Dakota stumbled across, or the animals found and adopted them.

• Sheep: Four ewes and a ram. Ginger's the ram and Mary, Abby, Charlotte, and Anne are the ewes.


• Cows: They've got six, no bull at this point, as their old one named Grand passed away and they don't have the heart to get another yet. The cows are various breeds from beef to dairy to nagori to Scottish Highland. Mandy and Gracie are the beef cows, Maple and Finch are the two dairy cows, and then Flower is the nagori, and Appletree is the Highland.


• Equines: They've got three rescues, a grumpy, ancient shetland pony who won't let anyone touch her named Rosa, a yearling hinney who was going to be sent to slaughter for her bad breeding named Knocked, and an abused Suffolk punch who used to pull carriages for tourists. Dakota occasionally rides Badger, their punch, along the fences to make sure they're all still up, but otherwise the horses are pasture pets.


• Birds: Dakota has six chickens and two roosters named Bully and Major. The hens are Miss, Lady, Madam, Queen, Ma'am, and Incompetent. (Don't worry, she earned that name for having absolutely no survival instinct whatever. Dakota keeps her with them mostly, since they've seen her walking towards a fox without a care in the world, and when they tried to make her an indoor chicken, she almost jumped into a pot of boiling water. She's had over ninety entirely avoidable brushes with death in her two years of life.) Dakota also has a parrot they found abandoned on their property they named Buzzfeed because she never stops talking, and she's pretty good at it.


• Cats: Dakota can't really keep track of how many cats hang out at their place anymore, but every time they go out to feed them, they expect upwards twenty to show up to eat throughout the day. There are ten regulars who hang out most frequently, and though most of the cats are feral, a few will let Dakota pet them. There's Jade, Blueheart, Firefox, Fearsome, Fibalt, Xanthe, Wolfie, Pantheon, Grey, and Footer.


• Dogs: Several mutt have come and gone, but the current set are a kur mix, a shepherd thing, and a tiny pomeranian that likes to go ZOOM. They're named, in that order, Holly, Geiger, and Barracuda.


• Pigs: Only one, who hangs out with the sheep, named Hammer.


• Other: They've got three rabbits named Tortie, Jax and Woah There. Woah There's been through a lot and is mostly wild, constantly looking out for danger. She's a pretty new addition, so she's still not the most comfortable around Dakota.
  Bees: They've got a large hive they tend and maintain. They have been beekeeping their entire life, so they are a bonafide expert in keeping their colony alive. They obviously don't have names for all their bees, but if one hangs around long enough, they'll be dubbed Charlie.

These animals are the only family or friends Dakota has, and all they want. If you couldn't already tell, they really like animals.

Theme songs:
Most specifically:
- Don't Get in my Way - Zack Hemsey
Others:
- Let it Rock - Kevin Rudolf, Lil Wayne
- Battle Royale - Apashe, Panther
- Fear - SWARM
- Hazey - Glass Animals
- Paradise - Coldplay
- Pale White Horse - The Oh Hellos <-- This is about what Finley felt like when Dakota came to rip heads after finding out about the corruption within the team. Also, when Dakota loses against Colossus, this is thei mood.
- Hello, My old Heart - The Oh Hellos <-- Lyric wise, no, but it's got big Dakota energy.
- I'm a Dragon - Apashe, Sway
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHRuTYtSbJQ&list=PL2QYouJg8jS1CYMxkCAc3Z1EtiETd-t0J&index=1

Hogwarts house: Gryffindor. They ain't nothing but sheer muscle and fight. Bravery? Check. Strength? Double check. Determined? Triple check.

Element they would bend: Earth, undoubtedly. They're both the unstoppable thing and the immovable object, relying on brute strength to defeat their enemies.

(Some Incorrect) Quotes:
Someone, very freaked out and panicked: "Look, we need to stop freaking out about (x thing). It's going to us no good to be afraid-"
Dakota, cutting in mildly: "I will never be afraid."

Well-meaning person: "How don't you have PTSD? You've been through so many traumatic experiences..."
Dakota, tiredly: "I am the traumatic experience."

Dakota, to Incompetent fondly: "You are such an idiot."

Dakota, accidentally making one of their bees mad, gets stung in the hand: Stares at sting "...ow."

Someone, trying to assert dominance: "I'm tougher than you, and don't forget it."
Dakota, reading a book: "Okay."
Person: "Wait, really?"

Dakota, in all their terrifying glory walking down the road, sees a toddler sitting in their way who won't move
Dakota: "...Excuse me. I'd like to get by please."
Toddler: "NO!"
Dakota: "Okay."

(Side note: All instances of Dakota socializing are either from before Belphegor, or theoretical situations. After Belphegor happens, they cease interaction until the events of the Eternal Foundation series.)

The reason no one noticed their farm was on fire is because after their parents merged properties, it was such a large acreage that their closest neighbors just assumed they were burning out trash or something.

They had no idea that an Ugly Blanket Fever gripped the nation in '23.

There's only one thing that can make Dakota instantly enraged. And that's people thinking they can hurt people for power, glory or money and get away with it. You don't do that. Or they will kill you.

Despite being atheist, they can still get behind a good Christian rock song, as that's what all the radios played as they were growing up.

One might ask, how do they stay out of fights? They simply ignore anyone trying to antagonize them. (Not that many people are crazy enough to see a person built like a brick and think 'Ah, yes, the perfect opponent.") But it has happened, as they'll go wherever they want, even into gang territory if it's the shortest way to their destination.
In that single occasion, they were confronted by the gang's boss, and just refused to give him the time of day. The boss tried to block their path, and they just went around him. Tried it again, Dakota just pushed them out of the way with one hand. The boss and the gang spent the rest of that day trying to get Dakota to throw hands, and Dakota just kept ignoring them. Literally the only thought that goes through their head when that happens is "We can do this all day, I'll ignore you forever if that's all it takes."
They will never take you seriously. No matter what you do.

This turns out to be their downfall eventually, when they do meet someone they can't outfight, (Colossus). They walked into that fight with zero cares, and in the first three seconds, they were decked out. That rattled them plenty.

They raised all of their sheep by hand, since they'd been dumped on a roadside as lambs by someone who didn't need them. Each one was only about the size of their hand, so please picture all the adorable images you want.

You might ask, how do they get the things they need to live fairly comfortably while also being off grid?
Amazon, I tell you. They bulk order things. They're not entirely off grid, they just live in permanent isolation. How do they get the money to bulk buy? They also sell things on Amazon, and since they're a veteran mechanic, generally their selling bits of car, tractor, etc. Once they'd built up a reputation, they actually became quite popular, as people started to be like "Yo, this oddly blandly named Mechanic123 person with no icon makes some solid stuff." If they were technically adept at all, they'd have their own website by now. But they really don't care that much.

They spend most their free time researching things for their animals, because no one does better research than a worried mother, and as a gender neutral individual, Dakota can play the part by default.

Everytime Dakota finds a new animal to adopt, they always grumble about it to NO end, complaining about how they never asked for this, they're not a dang animal hospital, people should take care for their own dang animals, not go dumping them on other people, etc. Then they proceed to take the animal home and take only the BEST care of them.

Dakota is actually a good singer, not that they care. They don't sing hardly at all, but occasionally they will sing quietly to calm an animal, or their absent humming while working will turn into mumbled lyrics.

Dakota loves sour stuff. They have a lemon tree and will literally just eat lemon slices straight. Warheads? They have a stash. But they really don't like watered down sweetened sour. Their lemonade is just straight lemon juice pretty much. They put lemon in their coffee

Speaking of their plants, they have in their expansive garden:
Potatoes of ALL kinds
Beets
Carrots of ALL kinds
Sweet Corn - a mini field of it
Clover - an entire field for their bees so they don't go venturing out into more dangerous territory
Cucumbers - One plant because production is crazy
Tomatoes - One plant because production is crazy
Various beans and peas
Berry bushes and plants: Mulberry, strawberry, etc.
They have various herbs:
Fennel
Chives
Garlic
Mint
Sage
Rosemary
The treasured saffron
And some others
They have a lemon tree, an apple tree, and a pear tree, though they usually can't get many pears before the animals do, and the wasps like to hang out around the apple tree.
INSIDE their house, they have:
Some cacti and succulents
A grapevine
Ginger
Edible Mushrooms
And a few other plants that don't like the harsh Nebraskan winters

Their voice is soft and accented by a strong Midwestern flatness. They speak slowly, thoughtfully, and rarely.