Kalvin

Species: Anthro Tawny Nurse Shark (Nebrius ferrugineus)
Gender: male
Height: 5ft 7in
Age: 23

Feel free to send me a whisper! I'm always up to meeting new folks =)

(Note: This whole profile is still a WIP; there's a lot to type up and I don't have the patience to do it all at once)


Introduction

Not much to say really. Average by all appearences, Kalvin is anything but remarkable... until you get to know him.

Personality

"Why go with the flow when you can stand out?"
Going against almost every shark sterotype, this is a philosophy that Kalvin lives by. Physically lazy, Kalvin much prefers the less-active pursuits of the mind, and is thus a bit of a know-it-all (though he tries to express it in a non-infuriating manner). He's also curious to a fault (which has gotten him into trouble at least once), cowardly, and utterly afraid of getting hurt. In a nutshell, he's a wimpy, geeky shark.

Because of his rather unique ability of geneshifting (see below), Kalvin has a deep interest in biology. Seeing as everything he learns about the natural world basically adds to his aresenal, he's had good reason to spend the obscene amount of time he invests in his research. (If you get into an honest-to-goodness fight with him, his player suggests you brush up on your biologly, specifically marine biology which he and Kalvin have a soft-spot for.)

He's also prone to being spontaneous around people he's comfortable with. That's normal for most people really, but he can be quite odd. If he starts acting a little off the wall, just humor him and remember that it means he considers you a close friend!

Appearance

He's a male tawny nurse shark anthro (until a drawing is submitted, look it up on Google and use your imagination =P). His skin is a tan color, with an off-white underbelly. His physique is healthy but unimpressive. He's got big, blue, unintimidating fish eyes set on the sides of his wedge-shaped, hairless head, like a shark should. He's pretty much always dressed in blue jeans, hiking shoes, a thin black t-shirt (usually with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows), and a small aventurine crystal pendant.

Other Details

-Susceptible to 'tonic immobility', the unconscious state that sharks can be put into by rolling them over onto their backs (belly-up) and rubbing their belly or stroking their snout. Good luck holding him down while you attempt that, but it's still an option. Lasts 5-15 minutes.

-Tastes similar to halibut

-Darn good shot with his .22 caliber sport pistol. Not the most lethal weapon, but it can still stop most things in their tracks if used right. Usually has it on a holster on his belt.

-Geneshifting (see below)

-Has a love of all things Aperture Science. Coincedentally, his first vore included use of the portal gun for prey escape (Now you're voring with Portals!)

-Can reform in-character after being digested, via geneshifting (multiple methods).

Details about Geneshifting

Geneshifting is a genetic and developmental mutation that pretty much allows the 'sufferer' to alter their DNA at will, as well as giving them control over other bodily functions such as metabolic rate, individual cell function, etc. For those of the readers that are interested in a hypothetical explaination of the concept, it follows the 'can do/can't do' sections.

What geneshifting can do:

-Completely alter the sufferer's body structure and composition
-Add new abilities (poison, tough hide, flight, etc.)
-Alter others if they let him (takes time and cooperation)
-Make the sufferer smaller
-Make the sufferer bigger (so long as I have access to liquid water)
-Make the sufferer immune to disease
-Make the sufferer resistant to most chemicals/acids/bases/etc. (NOT immune)
-Make the sufferer immune to toxins, venoms, poisons, etc.
-Make the sufferer into a different species, either plant or animal, real or fictitious
-Manufacture organic compounds, such as toxins and venoms
-Manufacture independent organisms (multi- or unicellular) or viruses.

What geneshifting cannot do:

-Make the sufferer anything artificial or machined (metal, plastic, etc.)
-Make the sufferer immortal
-Make the sufferer invulnerable (it can make them darn tough, though)


Hypothetical explaination: the mutation involves a link between the brain and the DNA ligases (the enzymes that repair DNA strands in the nucleous). The brain can send chemical signals to the DNA ligases of specific cells that alter their structure and 'reprogram' them so they alter the DNA structure. This would normally produce a slow change, but the sufferer can increase his/her/its metabolic rate to affect the changes in a much shorter amount of time.

Size changes: a geneshifter is capable of changing their size using two different methods, depending on whether the change is an increase or a decrease. If the size is decrease, the geneshifter must break down any bone/cartilage/other supporting structure in their body at a controlled rate, reducing the size of the structure but keeping the overall form. They must then also dehydrate and deactivate 'excess' cells. To increase in size, they must reverse the breakdown and scale-down precess of their support structures, and then rehydrate the 'excess' cells (Note: increasing size requires access to adequate amounts of water). Often 'reserve' cells will be present even at the geneshifter's natural, default size for the sake of being able to increase in size more quickly. The size increases and decreases could also be done by breaking down the cells/growing new ones, but this is more time intensive and requires food and nutrients as well as water.
(Now, the player realizes this might not, and probably wouldn't work IRL, however he put as much thought into it as he could to make it as realistic as possible. He's just scientific like that)