Artistic inspiration:
Reiatsu: Navy
Height: 6'0''
Age: Ancient
General Theme: Whisper Of The Apocalypse
Climatic Battle: Segunda Etapa
Appearance:
The Count seems to be somewhere in his early middle-ages. His near-black auburn hair runs smoothly down to his shoulders and is matched by a mustache-free anchor of facial hair. Thanks to genetic chimerism, his eyes shift from a dark blue to a deep violet, depending on the lighting of his surroundings. While his clothing may vary in style, The Count's garb is ALWAYS painfully expensive and tailor-made. Of course, given the popularity of the 'Gothic Aristocrat' fashion sub-genre in Japan, The Count has most recently taken to dressing himself in a manner far more familiar to him.
History:
The Count is old, seemingly impossibly so. Beginning his life as an early-European precursor to the Quincy, combating Hollows and other such threats to humanity, he found himself obsessed with his own mortality in his youth (or rather, with the idea of obtaining the means through which he may cheat it). Eventually, having studied (and experimented upon) Hollows for years in order to obtain the secret to their 'immortality', the ambitious Count finally took the irrevocably bold step of subjecting himself to an experimental ritual. This pivotal event granted him his much sought-after immortality, as well as union with an unnamed Doll and a Hollow mask, but left him mentally wracked as two new personalities begun to fight him for dominance. Centuries of experimentation have passed and, despite his founding of pure Bount and Quincy 'races', The Count has still yet to rid himself of the two other members of his soul-bound gestalt. When manifested, his fanged mask only obscures the area between his upper lip and eyebrows.
Powers:
The first thing The Count lost, upon initiating his metamorphosis, was the Quincy ability to externally manipulate Reiryoku in order to manifest his bow and arrows. In that power's place, however, he acquired a variety of unexpected abilities both with (and without) his mask:
<Masquerade> Unlike other Hollow-tainted souls, the Count cannot fire Bala or Cero, nor can he open a Garganta without the aid of equipment. He is also devoid of a Resurrección, and his Pesquisa only functions by feeding from the Reiatsu of others. What he does get, however, is a potent Hierro and the fangs of his mask gain a variant of the typical Hollow 'Acid Touch' that actually 'infects' spiritually aware mortals with The Count's own Reiryoku. If a spiritually aware victim of his masked bite is weakened enough before the bite's 'venom' heals, it may force them to transform into a Quincy or Hollow variant. If the victim is already a Quincy, they may turn into a Bount or some variant of Hollow instead.
<Obfuscation> With but a thought, The Count can physically fade into the ambient energy of his immediate environment so completely that he becomes imperceptible and highly resistant to non-physical abilities. Even when the full effects of this power are not engaged The Count's spiritual signature matches that of his environment, making him incredibly difficult to track down. Unfortunately, the price of this anonymity is the inability to damage his surroundings as he effectively melds into it.
<Obfuscation>(Mask) Upon donning his mask, The Count not only loses this power's ability to conceal, but the Hollow taint converts the melding effect into a vacuous one that can be detected over great distances. When both Obfuscation, and his mask, are active The Count's presence registers as a spirit particle black hole. In addition to retaining his protection against the immaterial, The Count now even gains sustenance and power from such effects. Now, rather than hiding himself within his surroundings, The Count consumes the very essence if it.
<Entrancement> Even The Count's dedicated gaze has a striking effect on others. Those that find themselves the focus of The Count's attention quickly find that his presence feels both comforting and disarmingly familiar. The effect of The Count's gaze is immediately broken by overtly threatening actions.
<Entrancement>(Mask) While his mask is active, the potency of The Count's gaze intensifies to the point that he acquires enough of an emotional link to the target of his focus that he effectively maintains short-term precognition and surface thought telepathy in regards to them, even when the lesser effect is broken in combat.
Capabilities:
Master Swordsmanship Specialist: To the best of his knowledge, The Count is the single oldest 'living' entity on Earth. This
assumed peerless experience (reinforced by the loss of his ranged combat capabilities), has honed The Count's skill with the Seele Schneider to literal perfection.
Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant: The Count has had access to Hierro for centuries and, as such, had ample time to learn how to wed various martial arts and the aforementioned armor into a single, beautifully fatal art form.
Master Strategist & Tactician: With age, comes experience. Generations of participation in wars, in conjunction with an untold number of years worth of hunting/fighting Hollows, have left The Count with enough martial insight to humble any of the great military minds throughout history.
Immense Durability, Endurance, Speed, and Strength: Without the ability to manifest his significant spiritual potency externally, all of that power is channeled exclusively into augmenting The Count's own physical traits.