Sho is a rather generic looking young man. With brown hair and a boyish but average looking face, he is unlikely to stand out in any crowds. If one were to look at him it would be difficult to find any features that make him unique. He has no visible birthmarks or blemishes upon his skin and his hairstyle is similar to what one would expect of a teenager his age; a somewhat unkempt moptop. While nobody but his parents know this, it may come as a surprise to some that his real hair color is actually a vibrant, almost crimson red color. Sho’s severe inferiority complex and imposter syndrome led him to trying his hardest to stay out of the spotlight, thus he dyes his hair a dark brown color. The only feature he has that could come close to being remembered are his dark blue eyes. While Sho maintains his basic hygiene, he doesn’t put much effort into his appearance past that initial investment, leaving him with that awkward appearance often associated with socially inept teenagers. This awkward appearance is reinforced by the lack of confidence he exudes through his facial expressions.
In fact, Sho is so average looking that many would be surprised that someone of his physical build is a trained soldier. He stands at a height of 5’8 with a small frame, making him seem even more diminutive when compared to some of his slightly older peers. Despite constant exercise, he doesn’t eat as much food as should, leaving him at a weight of around 135 lbs. Despite his lack of proper nutrition, his exercise has had a visible effect on his body. Though this is impossible to tell when he is wearing clothing, his musculature is well defined and perfectly suited for physical combat. Unlike his face, his body has occasional blemishes and scars that have been acquired over his time as a genin, with there being a particularly nasty blade scar that goes from the bottom left side of his stomach to the top of his left shoulder. Though it is rare, people often express surprise when they see his body, given his timid appearance and personality.
When Sho is in the village and not performing a mission, he tends to wear clothes more suited for being a civilian than for being a ninja. The outfits that he wears around town tend to be simple, involving things like short sleeve white button up shirts over an undershirt, tucked into something similar to khakis or chinos. He tends to wear the shinobi equivalent of tennis shoes if he isn’t doing anything important.
The outfit he wears when he is going on missions is much different from his casual wear. Given his personality, he wishes to avoid standing out as much as possible, so he opts for the most generic and efficient clothing he could find. Made of solid black and breathable material, he wears a long scarf-like piece of cloth around his face and neck which he claims is a means of hiding what his face looks like, though it’s quite obvious that it is to prevent people from seeing his lack of confidence. Said material is wrapped around his head many times, covering his face to the point just below his ears. Upon his forehead he wears the headband of his village, leaving only his eyes and ears visible to those who look at his face. Upon his body he wears a classically styled shinobi shozoku that allows for him to blend in with his surroundings even more. All of the fabric used allows for easy breathing, movement, and combat, while also not being loose enough to get caught on something. It is also a very light fabric to allow for such flexibility. He wears a simple cloth sash upon his waist to store larger than usual weaponry. He does not like to wear gloves because he feels as though they might dampen the force of his blows, though he does wear heavy combat boots upon his feet to protect them and to provide a harder blow. In general, this getup makes him look much more intimidating than his actions may imply.
Sho was born to a family of somewhat average shinobi within Iwagakure. His parents were both chuunin of no particular note, going about their duties and giving as much as they could to the war effort. Iwagakure’s stringent focus on personal growth and discipline made the two of them filled with pride for the strength of their village but also self-conscious about their own lack of talent. As many people do when they feel ashamed of their own inadequacies, they decided to try and live vicariously through their son!
Sho was pushed to the limits at every step of his childhood, attempting to instill in him every field of study required of a genius shinobi. Before he even knew how to run, they had attempted to teach him how to throw shuriken. Despite their intense focus upon his progress, both of his parents were often busy with village affairs, leaving him to fend for himself within his house. This constant bombardment of training and learning made Sho dislike the idea of being a ninja by the time he was around 8. While many other kids were out playing with their friends without a care in the world, Sho was forced to train and study, and while this allowed him to be ahead of his peers in many aspects, he was missing out on the joys of childhood. Any attempts to deviate from the path his parents had set out for him resulted in harsh punishment and verbal lashings, admonishing him for not doing better.
His time spent at the local academy didn’t end up any better. On top of his work at the academy his parents also forced him to do extra work at home. This workload coupled with his lack of motivation slowly led to his grades dropping to the middle of his class. This intensified his parent’s displeasure at his incompetence, further goading them into making him train more and more. His new inferiority complex reached the point where he decided to dye his red hair the most generic shade of brown he could in an effort to not stand out among his peers. The lack of results combined with his massive amount of effort continued to make Sho more and more sure that he was just incompetent and not fit to be a ninja, despite his obvious competency. As the years passed by Sho maintained his middling grades and graduated the academy at the age of 13. At this point his parents had all but given up hope of him being some sort of genius and instead focused more on their own duties to the village, growing more distant toward Sho as a result. To this day he continues to try and be the ninja his parent’s always wanted him to be, usually failing along the way.
Sho is a timid young man who lacks ambition of any sort. His years of constant pressure from his parents to be a genius ninja have left him with a severe lack of confidence in his own abilities. Despite being a competent genin of similar capability as his peers, he feels as though he is an imposter hiding among the ranks of his village. This lack of confidence manifests in the way he speaks about himself and about others. He is very quick to put himself down, but also quick to praise others for their strengths. He also tends to assume others are far above him in their skills and combat prowess, and if he were to best someone in some way, he would just attribute it to luck or some other factor not related to his own skills. It is very difficult for him to take leadership roles or even teach others, as he doesn’t believe he is capable or worthy enough to do so. Just the idea of people having any sort of trust in his abilities is enough to make him anxious and afraid.
Despite doubting himself to an almost silly degree, Sho will still strive to make the best and most efficient decisions when it comes to a serious conflict involving battle. Even if he doubts his decision making and combat prowess he is willing to take the plunge into battle if it’s to protect his own life. This does not mean he doesn’t feel fear of course, as he tends to be afraid of any sort of conflict he encounters. It’s just that he fears dying more than he fears the concept of battle, so he will do whatever he can to avoid that fate. Of course, if fleeing is the most likely thing to keep him alive, he will do so.
When it comes to friendships and interacting with other people his age, he tends to be a bit awkward on account of his parents keeping him cooped up in the house training and studying for much of his early life. He doesn’t have anyone close that he could call a friend. He had gone through the academy without much interaction with the other kids outside of group activities, and this has left him somewhat isolated and without connections after his parents stopped caring about him as much. This is especially true with women, as Sho has absolutely no experience in interacting with them. An attractive woman speaking to him is likely to leave him flustered and tongue tied, unable to think of proper responses.
The largest facet of Sho’s personality would be his lack of ambition. He has no real desires outside of making his parents proud of him, but the fact remains that he doesn’t particularly like being a ninja, nor is he confident that he is fit to be one. The only reason he continues to do so is to support himself and to hopefully one day regain the affection of his parents. His life as a ninja has been filled with nothing but negative experiences, leaving him empty; a blank slate with no particular ideology or dreams. As of now he just seems to be going through the motions, trying to find some meaning or value in his existence.
Proficiencies
Taijutsu [Apprentice] Despite his poor grades in the academy, Sho is a surprisingly competent hand to hand combatant. He has no particular style that he employs, opting to use the most efficient methods he can think of to take down his opposition. Compared to more experienced warriors, his physical capabilities would seem middling, especially when considering his unimpressive physique, but fighters of his own level would do well not to underestimate him.
Shurikenjutsu [Rookie] Sho has a completely average understanding of shurikenjutsu, allowing him to hit stationary and slowly moving targets with high levels of accuracy. Anything fancy involving multiple projectiles bouncing off each other and flying around with crazy trajectories is far beyond him.
Stealth [Rookie] As was required by his training as a ninja, Sho is capable of hiding from your average person without detection and possibly people of the same level if he really tries his hardest. This also extends to his ability to detect others, making it quite difficult for him to become aware of anyone more well trained in the art of stealth than himself.
Kaguya Bloodline[Dormant] Sho’s heritage is unknown to both him and his parents, as they were descended from an offshoot of the Kaguya clan that stretches back for quite a long while. In fact, there doesn’t seem to be any records of anyone in his family tree being capable of growing bones out of their body. The only thing linking him to his boney brethren is his family’s strange love for milk.
[attr="class","APP3"]
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Sho Nishioka looks like Shinji Ikari.
Last Edit: Sept 23, 2021 5:15:26 GMT by Sho Nishioka
