Burner Samson

[Dan Dark]

Name: Benjamin Warner "Burner" Samson
Age: 19
Gender: M
Alignment: Neutral (but only because he can't quite be classified to either side)
Species: Squirrel (not a pure breed, he's 1/4 flying squirrel)

Appearance: Burner's primary fur color is a sort of reddish-white (I refuse to call it pink), somewhere around FF8080. He has orange eyes, and his chest fur is white. He has a few black singes on various parts of his body, suggesting mishaps with his fire magic. His "hair" looks like he's been trying to tease it up into a mohawk, which is true. His tail is a little larger, a little flatter, and a little less furred than most squirrels', due to his hybrid species, and it's pierced at the tip with a metallic ring, about the right size for him to wear as a bracelet.
He wears a black, tear-proof leather jacket with a zipper in the front- he leaves it unzipped when he's calm, but he'll zip it up when it's time to get serious- and a metallic dragon decoration on the back, about shoulder blade height, which looks sort of like a sideways hook. He does not wear anything under that jacket, nor does he wear pants. He does, however, wear a pair of laceless sports shoes with a red-and-blue pattern on them.

Personality: What Burner is like depends for the most part on his first impression of you. If he thinks well of you, he's a good friend. If not, he's not friendly at all. If you step on his tail, he'll take it as an open invitation to shove you away mannerlessly. Either way, he's basically a punk. He's unfond of society as a whole, and likes to view himself as a rebel against authority. He just doesn't like to fit in. He doesn't swear or anything, but he's still a little rough. He also likes to call people by nicknames. He views humans as being of a lower class than furries; exactly why is a little uncertain, but it's probably because furries are different. "Those apes [that's his slang term for humans] think they have a right to boss US around, they got another thing comin'!" He hasn't been known to make friends with a human in his life.

Family: Parents divorced. Mother and sister living who-knows-where. Used to live alone with father, but left. No longer associates with his family.

Transport: Uses a black skateboard to get around. On the bottom of the skateboard, there's a gold-colored dragon decal similar to the decoration on his jacket.

Weapons: Burner's jacket pocket houses a 6" switchblade knife with a black-and-gold handle. The handle's dragon design also matches his jacket. Since he joined F4, he's been considering getting a better weapon than that, though. But his fire magic is another thing entirely.

Biography:
From the start, Benjamin was trouble. When he was a student in Radical City High School, he played hooky at least once a week, ignored his homework, and never cleaned up after himself at lunchtime. It's unclear what spurned this on- it probably had something to do with his parents' divorce a few years before- but it snowballed. His possession of fire magic didn't help, either; he practiced it regularly, and enjoyed burning things, hence the nickname "Burner".
Eventually the school got sick of it, and Burner was forced to leave. He didn't come home that day. Instead, he took to the streets. He had a burning hatred (no pun intended) for society and humankind in general, and was quickly taken in by a gang of delinquents which classified themselves as the Dragons. (The fact that a user of fire magic happened to join a group with this name appears to be coincidental.) They loved to get into trouble; their favorite activity was to go out and kill some innocent human in the streets, and Burner loved to do the honors.
But someone was watching. The organization known as F4 noticed the Dragons, and watched them. A few weeks after he was inducted, Burner, being the most enthusiastic and devoted member of the gang, was apprehended out of nowhere by an officer and driven away in a police car. But onlookers may have noticed that the car wasn't headed for the police station. Rather, it was headed out of town. It wasn't a police car, and the driver wasn't an officer; he was an F4 recruiter who was looking for some new members. The contract was placed in front of Burner, and after skimming it once, he signed it. (The rest of the Dragons vandalized the police station the following day... the police are still scratching their heads.)
That was about six months ago; he's been a member of F4 ever since, though he still likes to go off on his own every now and then.

Abilities:
Fighting Skills (intermediate) - Because of his training with the Dragons and a bit further with F4, Burner is very good with his switchblade knife, and can masterfully harness the element of surprise in battle. Unfortunately, he's a little weak physically, and so is his knife; too much pressure and the blade breaks.
Fire Magic (novice) - Burner trains regularly with his fire magic; he trains himself, but has no training from outside sources, so he can't do much more than create minor flames (about torch size) over his hands or set things afire by brushing his hand over them. He can't be physically harmed by his own flames as long as he doesn't set fire to something else.
Also due to his element, Burner has a high tolerance for hot temperatures; in fact, his magic energy replenishes more quickly when heat surrounds him. ...But it also means he has a low tolerance for colder temperatures, and he can't stand water, either.
Tail (natural) - Sure, Burner's tail is a bit different from most due to his being one-quarter flying squirrel, but he's glad of it. It catches a lot of air, especially when he clips the ring piercing to his jacket's decoration. (It hooks on very firmly because of the way they're both shaped.) With that done, he can use his tail as a parachute, or a sail, or even a hot-air balloon (see below).

Signature Moves:
Hot Air Flight (mobility) - Can squirrels fly through the air? Burner can, albeit in a slightly unconventional way. All he really has to do is hook his tail to his jacket as described above, then fall forward and keep a fire lit underneath it with one hand. Hot air builds up under Burner's tail like a hot air balloon, and he takes off. Since all he needs to do to stay airborne is to keep the fire going, he won't tire out until his MP runs out, which usually takes about four minutes with constant use. He likes to show off every now and then with this move. (Fallacy: When in mid-flight, Burner is easily thrown off course by uncooperative winds. He also only has one hand free when he does this, because he needs the other to keep the fire going, and he can't carry anyone with him- the weight would make takeoff impossible.)
Fire Punch (combat) - Talk about having a hot hand. In hand-to-hand combat, Burner can deal a pretty rough blow by throwing a punch and enveloping his hand in flame the instant it connects. He mastered this move by combining his fire magic with his mastery of the element of surprise. (Fallacy: If it doesn't connect, Burner is likely to fall down. This one expends quite a bit of his strength.)

+Burner can really pack a punch with the element of surprise
+He's very agile, and has his species to thank for that
+He's very good at holding his own in hand-to-hand combat
+His ability to fly is a strength in itself

-Burner's weakness to water and cold temperatures is notable
-He doesn't have much to defend himself with against guns and fancy weaponry
-He has a light body frame, which means he can more easily be thrown for a loop
-His skill with fire magic is below average

MARCH 20, 2000 Hrs.: After an AIM chat with Augustine regarding this profile, I have made some adjustments. Burner now has something to blame for the nature of his tail, and he has a strengths/weaknesses list to boot (albeit a slightly short one). I've also added a bit more detail to Hot Air Flight.

MARCH 21, 1875 Hrs.: Acknowledged another comment by Augustine and cut down his flight time. I'll admit, ten minutes IS a bit long.