Skinwalker Dude

[identitycrisis]

Michael Valko

Full Name: Vincent Darby
Preferred Name or Nickname: Michael Adam Valko is the only name anyone would know him by. He’ll answer to Mike. He also answers to Valko, since Michael’s a common enough name and he’s sometimes not the only Michael in the room.
Original/Canon: Original
Age: 36
Date of Birth: October 24, 1975
Main Character Classification - (List): Shapeshifter
Character Type: Skinwalker
Power(s):

+ He can shift into the form of someone else by shedding his skin and assuming their features. He can’t shift into someone from memory, or make up an appearance in his head. It must be a living person in his field of vision. The person also must stay in his line of vision until he completes the entire transformation, which can take quite a while depending on Michael’s health and level of concentration.

+ He can mimic the voice of a person he transforms into. So, while he’s walking around wearing someone else’s face, so to speak, he also adopts their voice. However, once he changes to another form or back into his own he loses the ability to mimic his past victim’s voice. He doesn’t have an arsenal of voices he can whip out.

+ He adopts the memories of his victims. These memories remain even after he changes forms.

+ This isn’t a power so much as a characteristic, but his eyes take on a silver glow in the dark and on film.

+ He can alter aspects of his natural appearance at will, such as hair length and color, eye color, and facial hair. He doesn’t need to do any kind of ritual or complex transformation for this. It just requires some concentration and energy on his part.

+ He has a basic knowledge of spell casting, but is only adept at a select set of spells and rituals.

- By sacrificing an animal, wearing its pelt and completing a ritual, he can temporarily take on aspects of that animal, or use its strengths to enhance his attributes. For example, he could sacrifice a wolf and use its pelt to acquire sharper senses and speed. This is done through sacrificing the animal and channeling its energy or spirit. However, this can sometimes backfire if he disrespects the animal, doesn’t kill the animal humanely, or doesn’t complete the ritual properly. This taints the animal’s energy and can have a number of affects, including migraine headaches, hallucinations, and being psychically attacked by the animal’s spirit. Michael does not transform into the animal he’s channeling, but he may sometimes take on a few physical aspects of the animal depending on what attributes he’s trying to gain, such as claws or a change in bone structure. The spell is temporary and its affects wear off when the animal’s energy wears thin or abandons Michael, which can be at any time and varies for every situation.

- He is very skilled at hexing and cursing people, but he typically uses a spoken spell and maybe some kind of a charm rather than something like a hex bag. He can weave a spell meant to curse someone into the lyrics of a song and then perform the song in the presence of his target. In this way he can cast a spell on someone without them even knowing it’s happening. Depending on the nature of the curse, he’ll sometimes also use some sort of pendant, charm, or other object to make the spell more potent.

- He keeps a bone from every being he kills and uses them to make jewelry and talismans. For the most part the bones make a curse or a protection spell more potent. For example, if he uses a bone from an animal whose spirit he angered, it will have negative energy attached to it that will give an extra oomf when used with a curse. However, in some cases a spirit may still be attached to its remains if he didn’t successfully allow it to move on after death. He’s not always aware that there’s a spirit still attached to one of the objects he makes from its bones. He also has a number of them in his collection, so when he does suspect a spirit lurking, he’s not always able to pinpoint which bone it’s attached to.

Sexuality: Straight, though he’s not above flirting with a guy for manipulative purposes.
Side(Good, Evil, or Neutral): He’s pretty evil, actually.
Hometown: Washington, D.C.
Current Residence: L.A. could be considered his home base, but he has residences in New York City and Washington, D.C. as well.


Eye Color: Naturally, Blue. In certain low light conditions or on camera his eyes give off a silver flare. He can also change his eye color if he feels like it.
Hair Color: Naturally dark brown and typically cut fairly short and styled. He can change the length and color if he feels like it.
Height: 5’ 10”
Body Type: Lean and muscular.
Distinguishing Marks:
Tattoos and Piercings: He has a few symbols tattoo’d in various places. They’re not anything special, but they hold personal meanings for him.
Vehicle (if you wish): He has several. He’s a car collector in general and he likes to buy vehicles to rebuild and modify when he has the time. He also travels quite a bit by plane, so he has well used residences in a few different places. He also keeps at least one vehicle stored at each residence so as soon as he arrives all he has to do is grab a car and go if he wants to. His particular favorites are a silver 2010 Corvette Stingray, a red 2009 Ducati Streetracer motorcycle, and a classic blue 1950s Cadillac Convertible.

Personal Style (write a short paragraph): Michael has a very broad wardrobe. He doesn’t have a core type of outfit he wears all the time so much as certain items he favors. When he’s getting dressed there are three factors he considers: what he’s going to be doing, whether or not the outfit is flattering, and how he wants to come off to others. He dresses differently depending on those factors, but always wants his outfits to be flattering. He likes to get creative and mix it up, so he could look laid back and casual one day and costumy the next. He likes to accessorize and he always has a pair of dark sunglasses handy. If he’s in a situation where there might be a lot of attention on him and his picture might be snapped (like a musical performance), he’ll almost always wear sunglasses, due to the fact that his eyes give off a silver glow on film. Most people wouldn’t think much of it, but there is a select group of people who actually go looking for things like that, so he likes to be prepared. He also keeps a bone from everything he kills and uses the ones with good energy to make protective jewelry.


Likes (3 at least):

• Music – writing it, listening to it, and performing.
  
• Magic – practicing it and reading about it.
  
• Fashion – he keeps up with fashion trends and likes to create his own.
  
• The element of surprise – he likes keeping people guessing and surprising them, either in a good way or a bad way.
  
• Animals – he respects all animals and quite enjoys their company.

Dislikes (3 at least):

• Failure – he hates feeling like he’s failed at anything, particularly anything concerning his magic or his music.
  
• Being attacked – he’s not typically a person who goes looking for trouble, so he really doesn’t like when people attack him in any way.
  
• Being lied to – although he himself has pretty much turned lying into a lifestyle, Michael really doesn’t take kindly to being lied to.
  
• Being surprised – he gets a kick out of shocking or surprising people, but he hates when people do the same to him.
  
• Being boo’d during a performance. Seriously – do NOT do it. He’ll find you, and you’ll regret it.

Strengths (3 at least):

• Performing – if there’s anywhere Michael is truly himself, it’s on stage, ironically enough. He has a way of capturing people’s attention and he’s a talented musician.
  
• Curses – Michael’s not exactly a skilled witch or anything, but he has a scary talent for cursing people. He finds creative ways to curse or hex those he feels deserve it.
  
• Hiding in plain sight – although he’s not one to blend in, Michael has a way of flying under the radar when it comes to certain things, such as snatching someone’s identity for a bit or performing curses.
  
• Sucking people in – Michael comes off as a fairly normal, charismatic person and he tends to intrigue people or attract attention. He uses this to his advantage and tries to make allies.
  
• Good physique – he’s a lover, not a fighter, but that doesn’t mean he can’t fight if he feels the need. Michael may not look like much, but he’s scrappy and not opposed to playing dirty to win a fight.

Weaknesses (3 at least):

• Magic – although Michael uses some magic, he’s not a witch and it’s obvious. When he attempts a spell, eight times out of ten something goes horribly wrong. However, he enjoys magic and tries to utilize it when he can, even when it’s risky.
  
• Shifting – when Michael shifts into someone else’s form it’s not an easy transition. It’s a difficult thing for him to do, particularly if it’s not quiet and the person he’s shifting into is emotional as he’s trying to change. He’s vulnerable during transformations and it typically takes him quite a while to complete them.
  
• Poor concentration – Michael has trouble focusing on a task for a long period of time. He has a busy mind that’s always racing from one thing to another, so when he has to actually force himself to concentrate for a while it’s very difficult. He gets frustrated when things distract him when he has to focus.
  
• Superstitious – Michael has adopted his beliefs from a few different sources and cultures. He has also developed some superstitions. For example, he incorporates some Native American customs into his lifestyle and uses things like dream catchers. He arranges his furniture to comply with Eastern spiritual beliefs and does a lot of things to appease different spirits. He also believes if someone speaks his true name he’ll be cursed.
  
• Emotionally ambiguous – Michael masks his emotions well, so it’s often hard to tell how genuine he’s being. He could be angry with someone and they would never know it until they find themselves nursing a nasty curse they can’t shake. On the other side of the coin, he could genuinely like someone, but if he’s not open about it, how would they know? It makes it hard for people to tell if they can really trust him and makes it hard for him to know who his allies are. He also holds grudges in a major way, but rather than openly talking about his feelings he takes long and painful revenge.

Dreams for the Future: Michael has a few dreams. He’d like to master magic and become a decent spell caster. He’d like to make a career in music. He’d like to make some real friends he can trust, maybe meet a girl that doesn’t mind the whole skin-shedding thing.
Fears: He’s not too good with heights, but he’ll suck it up and deal rather than making a fuss about it. He’s afraid of vengeful spirits in general, particularly ones he’s pissed off. If superstitions count as fears, he’s got those in spades. He freaks out if you nudge a piece of his furniture out of place, won’t live in a place that hasn’t been cleansed, and constantly makes protective jewelry to ward off spiritual attacks. He also won’t tell anyone his birth name because he’s afraid whoever learns it will have power over him.
Hero(es): This changes by the day. Some days he worships Elvis, other days its Yeats. Really it depends on what he’s doing at the time and who he considers a master of that thing.
Biggest Secret(s): Uh… the fact that he’s a skinwalker’s a pretty big secret. Aside from that, his real name is a piece of information he guards very carefully.

Personality (write a decent paragraph):


Father: Richard “Rick” Darby
Mother: Alice Darby (nee Wilkins)
Sibling(s): None
Children: None
Other Family: (close family) None
"Family Don't End with Blood": (close friends) None

History:

Michael Valko was born Vincent Richard Darby to Alice and Rick in Washington, D.C. His parents were a bit eccentric. His mother was a concert pianist and taught Vincent to play the piano from the time he was a small child. His father was flighty, often traveling for weeks at a time and coming back full of energy and excitement, often bringing his wife and son gifts. Rick was a musician and traveled to play shows with his band.

Vincent had a fairly pleasant childhood for the most part, except he wished he could see his father more often or go with him to his shows. However, Alice thought it was important for her son to get a normal education and socialize with kids his age. Traveling on tour with his father would force Vincent into a hectic schedule. She also didn’t want him exposed to the lifestyle of rock and roll in the 70s and 80s. So, Vincent went to school, got decent grades and had some friends to play with. He liked playing sports, but opted not to join any sports teams. He liked to play with his friends for fun and didn’t want to be forced to do it all the time.

When Vincent was twelve years old he started to go through some changes. Most of them were normal changes: hair in strange places, acne, growth spurts, etc. But then there were a few other changes that scared the crap out of he and his mother. Some days he’d come downstairs for breakfast and his eyes would be a different color. Sometimes he’d comb his hair and find it a few inches longer than it should have been. Vincent and his mother were quite disturbed by these effects and they weren’t sure what to do with them. His father soon discovered something was awry and revealed that he was a skinwalker. Apparently Vincent had inherited his father’s abilities.

That summer, Alice finally allowed Vincent to travel with his father so he could learn more about his skinwalker traits. She also was sort of happy to have him out of the house, since the whole skinwalker thing was really freaking her out and she appreciated having some time to wrap her head around it. Over the summer, Vincent led an entirely different life than he was used to. He lived out of motel rooms and vehicles, went to rock shows, met some crazy characters, and, most importantly, he bonded with his father. Rick spent a great deal of the summer teaching Vincent how to shift and to be secretive about his abilities. He explained that there were people who wanted to kill their kind, and that he would be putting himself in danger if he wasn’t careful. He also taught Vincent to play guitar.

To say that summer was life changing would be an understatement. Vincent literally learned he wasn’t human – at least not entirely. When he went home he found he and his mother didn’t click as well as they had before. She was distant with him and his personality had changed a bit. They argued over silly things and went through stretches where they stayed in separate areas of the house and avoided one another. The school year was difficult for Vincent, since he wanted nothing more than to go back to the life he’d had over the summer with his father. His grades dropped, he pulled away from his friends, and sometimes skipped class.

It didn’t take long for Vincet to decide he couldn’t continue along the path he was on. He couldn’t live with his mom, who was terrified of him, and continue to go to school and play with his friends like he was a normal kid when he knew he wasn’t. He made up his mind by the spring and decided when summer rolled around he’d go back on the road with his father. He talked to both his parents about it and his mother disliked the idea, but admitted that maybe she hadn’t adjusted well to the situation. They had a family discussion over a few days and Vincent put his foot down, saying if he couldn’t go with his father that he’d run away on his own. Neither parent liked that idea, so it was decided that Vincent would live with his father.

For the next four years, Vincent basically lived on the road. When Rick’s band was on tour Vincent traveled with him and watched all the band’s shows. In between tours, he and his father lived in a two-bedroom apartment in L.A. He had tutors who traveled with him to keep up his schooling while they were traveling and when he was stationary in L.A. he went to a normal high school. He visited his mother on some holidays, weekends, and her birthday when he could and always kept in touch with her through phone calls. It was difficult for Vincent to make friends in this lifestyle, but he had a number of acquaintances he hung around with. He continued to practice his skinwalker abilities, often using his father as a model to shift from. He could shift successfully, but not quickly and it was always difficult for him to concentrate long enough to complete a transformation. This was partially because there was always a lot going on, between school and music and learning to shift. Vincent played the keyboard and guitar regularly, becoming good at both.

After graduating high school, Vincent continued traveling with his father’s band and began writing songs himself. His father was thrilled to discover his son was not only a talented musician, but a gifted singer and songwriter. They began working together to write songs. Vincent began writing songs for the band. However, even though Rick gladly performed Vincent’s songs with the band himself, he never allowed Vincent to perform his own songs, nor did he give him credit for writing them. There was only room for one star on that stage, and it was Rick. He didn’t want to be upstaged by his son. This caused a lot of tension between Rick and Vincent and the two grew resentful of one another. Rick resented Vincent for being a more talented musician and for his youth while Vincent resented Rick for using him and making him hide his own talents.

On the night of a performance in New York City, Rick was struck by a mysterious stomach flu and was unable to perform. Vincent offered to sing in his place, but Rick would not allow it. But, he got another idea. Rick would allow Vincent to sing for the night if everyone believed he was Rick. Vincent disliked the idea, but saw it as an opportunity. So, he made the painful transformation, taking on the appearance of his father, and he performed with the band. Even though everyone believed Rick was the one on stage, there was a marked difference in his performance. It was dynamic and energetic and the response from the crowd was incredible. That energy fed the band and the band’s entire performance was stronger than ever. It was then that Rick and Vincent both realized who the better musician was.

After the performance, Rick was furious. He and his son had an explosive argument and Rick accused Vincent of poisoning him to get a chance to perform. Vincent would neither admit to or deny the accusation, but he did point out that the only way Vincent would ever get to perform with Rick in the picture was if Rick was unable to stop him. After the argument, Vincent packed a bag and his guitar and took off. He went back to live with his mother, but never told her what happened. All she knew was that he wanted to settle down somewhere for a while. He stayed with his mother while he worked and saved money. After she’d had time alone to deal with the fact that her husband and son were skinwalkers and after Vincent had gotten to know his father for who and what he truly was, he and his mother had a better relationship.

While he was working and saving money, Vincent started looking into other hobbies. He was used to having a lot going on all at once and being settled down was a difficult adjustment. He started reading a lot, developing an interest in different religions, philosophies, and mythologies. He became very interested in some Native American customs and beliefs and began making lifestyle changes. He also began studying spell casting and witchcraft. However, having no natural spell casting abilities and poor concentration, he was never very skilled at it.

After he saved enough money to buy a car, Vincent purchased an old Toyota pick-up truck and eventually moved out of his mom’s house and went out on his own. He stayed in Washington, D.C. for a while, living in a small apartment with a few roommates. He learned a lot about cars, since his kept breaking down and he had to either learn to fix it himself or pay a mechanic a lot of money to pull one over on him. He found that doing the actual work on the car was sort of meditative. It gave him something to do and focus on and helped him relax… once he actually knew what he was doing and didn’t have to consult a manual every two seconds. In addition to working his regular job, he played songs at bars, coffee shops and night clubs to make extra money.

Once he was a bit more financially stable and decided he couldn’t stand living with his roommates anymore, Vincent picked up and moved to New York City to pursue a music career. He got a job as a bartender and rented a long-term hotel suite until he could figure out another arrangement. He also played gigs at various places. However, he soon found it very difficult to scrape by on what he was making. He tried to be a bouncer as well as a bartender at the bar, but his employer thought that was a bad idea, considering Vincent wasn’t exactly a big guy. Vincent ended up using his skinwalker abilities to assume the form of a different guy with a lot more muscle mass. He applied for a job bouncing as this man and got it. For a few months he was able to pull off living both lives, but it soon became very dangerous and complicated, since he’d sort of had to keep the real guy he was impersonating locked up in an abandoned warehouse. Shifting so often in short periods of time also began to take a toll on Vincent. It made him miserable, having to pretend to be someone else half the time and he hated feeling pressured to shift. So, he was forced to kill the man whose form he’d stolen, wiping out his bank account before he did so.

The man’s disappearance wasn’t noticed at first. He’d conveniently developed a reputation for being flaky in the weeks before. Vincent showed up to work as usual and no one thought twice about him. But, when it was clear the bouncer had jumped shift, the owner took Vincent up on his previous offer to work double duty as a bartender and a bouncer. It was a temporary arrangement until they could find a “real” bouncer, but Vincent took the job gladly. However, he did realize there were pitfalls to being a less-than-massive man when it came to hurling troublemakers out the door. He usually tried to talk them into leaving peacefully on their own, but on the occasions that didn’t work, Vincent had to get creative, since physically throwing them out the door wasn’t always possible. Having something like a baseball bat or a crowbar handy to wave around usually did the trick. When that failed, a clever trip-shove method worked out nicely. Even though the bouncing part of his job description only lasted a few weeks, it did prompt him to take a few self-defense classes and bulk up a bit. This eventually led to taking some kick-boxing and martial arts classes and adding working out into his routine.

Vincent’s experience with the former bouncer gave him an idea. Why struggle with crappy part-time jobs and run-down apartments when you could be anyone you needed to long enough to get anything you wanted? Vincent soon began stalking his next victim. He was an ad executive who lived alone and was such a miserable human being he didn’t have many close friends. Vincent observed him for a while to be sure he had his mannerisms and personality pretty well figured out. Then he struck, holding the man hostage in his own house while he took over his life. He withdrew money, invested in his own music by purchasing his own studio space in L.A. and filling it with all the necessary equipment, he bought a simple house in the Upper-East Side and. When he felt he’d taken enough to dig himself out of the financial hole he was in, but not enough to be suspicious, he sold the house to himself from the ad executive. Once he decided to go back to being him, Vincent informed the ad executive that when he was allowed to return to his life he’d notice some marked financial changes. He warned the man to never make a fuss about them or try to get revenge on Vincent. He explained to the man that he was being very generous and trusting by allowing him to continue breathing, knowing what he knew about Vincent’s nature, and that he hadn’t simply wiped out all his finances and ruined his life. With that, Vincent left the man to do whatever it was he’d do next.

Vincent took off without a word to anyone and left no trace of his presence, traveling to Los Angeles and legally changing his name to Michael Adam Valko. He kept his Upper-East Side home and settled in an apartment in L.A. near the studio he’d used the executive’s money to set up. He took a few odd part-time jobs and played what gigs he got while attempting to record a demo album. He began delving more into witchcraft, practicing minor spells and studying various related things – what crystals did, how candles worked, what ritual did what, etc. He was living a fast-paced, multi-faceted lifestyle, which he quite enjoyed.

And then the ad executive did exactly what Michael had warned him not to and came after him, suing him for a large chunk of money. His lawyer used a bunch of legal jargon that basically meant the guy was claiming Michael swindled him out of quite a bit of money. Needless to say, Michael was more than a little annoyed, kicking himself for not killing the guy when he had the chance. As he went about a pain in the ass legal battle, Michael tried to think of a way he could get rid of this money-pit of a problem without looking suspicious. He decided a curse would be a good way to go if he could manage to pull it off. He practiced a few minor curses on unsuspecting people. That guy who cut him off at the intersection last Tuesday got a nice case of jock itch. The girl he’d bought about a hundred dollars’ worth of drinks for who’d turned around and claimed he’d harassed her later – she woke up to find her home infested with spiders.

Once he got the hang of the whole cursing thing he realized it was insanely fun. The greedy, ungrateful executive found himself plagued with a series of terrible financial hardships. His house caught fire, his car broke down left and right, he was plagued with a slew of medical problems, all his financial endeavors seemed to fall through. After months of this, Michael found him and stole his identity for a second time. During that time he dropped the lawsuit against himself, drained what was left of the man’s bank account, and staged the man’s suicide.

After that nasty experience, Michael learned a very important lesson: people couldn’t be trusted. He also learned that he was pretty badass at cursing people. He continued to study magic, perfecting a cleverly discreet cursing method. He also learned a ritual that allowed him to channel the spirits of animals. However, he was never able to fully master it, often making an oversight that turned out to be a pretty big deal to the animal he was trying to sacrifice. He began selling his own music via that new-fangled Internet that had gotten so popular. He made allies of fellow musicians and was sometimes able to round up a band for mini-tours – nothing on the scale of Madonna, but paying gigs over a stretch of cities. He began collecting cars and found another financial opportunity in rebuilding then selling some vehicles. Along with his properties in New York and L.A., Michael purchased a house in Washington, D.C.

Now, Michael has a small fan base as a musician, though he’s an unsigned Indie artist, so it’s not like he’s famous. He travels frequently, plays shows whenever he can, and continues to try to master that damn witchcraft.


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