User Profile

Customize

frastuono

Add Friend
Add Note
Track User
Send Message
Send V-Gift

frastuono's Journal

Created on 2008-09-09 05:52:10 (#16550709), last updated 2008-10-14

100 comments received, 486 comments posted

Plus Account [Gift]

4 Journal Entries, 22 Tags, 0 Memories, 0 Virtual Gifts, 15 Userpics

Basic Info

Name:	[SUPERBI, squalo]
Website:	Mun's Journal

Bio

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

S U P E R B I // S Q U A L O

NAME: Superbi Squalo 「スペルビスクアーロ」

VERSION: Chapter 135//TYL!arc

AGE: 32

GENDER: Male

SEXUALITY:
Asexual, for the most part. Squalo is far more preoccupied with his job, violence, and swordsmanship. His pride in himself is far too inflated to settle for anything less, and frankly he does not have the desire or the patience to look for some kind of significant other. Never has he expressed any interest in another individual sexually—however, his devotion to Xanxus surely borders on enough promises and juxtapositions in his own character to suggest that something more could be possible. The only other individual who could be considered for something more than simple conversation, and possibly even more than awkward friendship is Dino Cavallone—a childhood friend. Aside from these two men, Squalo really has no interest or intention of pursuing anyone or getting involved in something that is just not in his capacity.

SPECIES: Human

APPEARANCE:
Standing at 5'11 ½", Superbi Squalo is an Italian through and through with an intimidating and aggressive edge to his looks that truly lives up to his namesake of "shark".

The way Squalo holds himself in posture is full of self-confidence and even could be considered cockiness. Everything he does is almost over-exaggerated—almost as though there's a chance he'd be ignored if he didn't make such an effort to be noticed in the first place. When he walks, it holds a predatory and distinct nature, though it still extremely rushed and almost akin to stomping. Squalo is not one to waste time; therefore most of his movements are quick and impulsive.

His build is thin, but toned, and he is not too skinny for his height (in fact he weighs in at a healthy 165 pounds). Most of his weight probably comes with muscle after years of wielding his sword and intensive battle. Despite his long hair, there is nothing girlish in nature about his figure even though he appears to be on the thinner side. His torso seems to be quite elongated, and aside from that the other distinguishing feature is his left hand. Squalo cut the appendage off himself, replacing it with a metal hand that is always covered in a black glove. This hand can rotate in several different directions, and when fighting, he ties the sword to his hand for greater movement and eradication of any blind spots.

His face is one that is extremely expressive, but most often seen in either a sadistic grin during the heat of battle and the thrill of bloodshed, or intense rage when something doesn't quite go as planned. His features are all extremely chiseled, defined, and slightly pointed—again, another representation of his namesake and characteristic of his Italian blood. His skin tone is pale and surprisingly effeminate for his otherwise strong presentation. And even though he engages so often in battles and pushes himself towards new limits, none of them are visible on his body. Not a blemish can be found on his body that lasts beyond the natural time taken to heal. It should be noted, however, that on both of his hipbones, he has two thick black "X's" tattooed onto his skin (a clear sign of devotion for his Boss aside from his hair.)

Squalo's eyes are set rather narrowly and are a dull grey shade. There are rare occasions, whether it is the light or his mood that they may appear to be a very faint blue or even rarer perhaps a teal colour. His eyelashes are short and not exceptionally accentuating to his eyes, though they are the same colour as his thin brows. Both of which are several shades darker than his hair, of course. TYL!Squalo's eyes seem to have a softened quality to them, as well as a slightly more tired appearance. The shading under and around his eyes suggest maturity and physical strain, though the rest of his form is completely unaffected.

Seemingly contradictory to everything else about the swordsman is his hair. The thick, lustrous mane of silver extends well past his back and is equally as long, trailing just above his hips in the front. His bangs are long all around, though they tend to extend just slightly longer than the rest to frame his temple. The front portion seems to point downward to the bridge of his nose, and just shies above his eyes. It is worn straight, though occasionally he may tie it back when bothersome, but these occasions are rare considering it bothers him most of the time. It requires several hours of upkeep when he must take time to do so, but because it is a form of professionalism and reflects on the overall appearance of the Varia and by default, Xanxus, he is willing to spend the time to make it look presentable. It took eight years to grow, and it to this day despite his dislike for the style and the upkeep, it is his pride and joy for the sole fact that it is a lasting and visual representation of his loyalty to Xanxus.

His wardrobe consists mostly of his Varia uniforms and suits, which both come in two different styles. His old Varia coat was made of leather, collared and extending to his thighs with the patch displaying their emblem just underneath his shoulders on the left, with a small decorative double row of gold rope draping down the left shoulder. The front was lined with two rows of silver buttons and another patch just above his right breast. Leather pants and boots with rope-like fastenings were twined around his legs. Black gloves and a silver belt complete the ensemble. His TYL uniform is similar in design, though there are two obvious differences Gone are the patches on the breast and arm sides, and the collars have been accentuated with black, shaggy fur. His boots have also been replaced with the same material (though it's uncertain whether the cuffs of the pants are replaced with the fur or if the boots themselves are made out of fur.) And lastly, his gloves have been replaced with a pair of off-white ones, small buckles drawing a single band across his wrist. Aside from his Varia uniform, Squalo may also occasionally be seen wearing suits of either black or white, his shirt and ties accordingly varying with either colour. In the rare event that he is not wearing his uniform or a suit, he still dresses in clothes that are slightly "fancier" than usual, including black dress slacks and button down shirts from the finest of Italian fabrics.

The last thing to note about Squalo is his voice and manner of speaking. His voice is load, brash, and particularly strident. Whenever he speaks he has a habit of using "Voi" (sometimes written elsewhere as "Uoi" or simply "Hey") in a stretched out form to attracted attention. (Voi means "you" in Italian, though it can also sometimes be interpreted again, as "hey"). His default setting for speaking seems to be sheer volume, and often times he will yell without even being angry.

PERSONALITY:
Superbi, a derivative of the Latin word Superbia means Pride—one of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Squalo is certainly no stranger to being prideful to the point of arrogance, and it wouldn’t be too far off the mark to call him a vicious bastard, either. Pride is what drove him to do such extreme acts such as cutting off his own hand to mimic the movements of someone potentially better than himself, and to travel across the world solely to defeat others in order to gain higher ranks and reputation among the most elite until he was in fact the only one left with a title.

His pride is well-deserved, no doubt, but it does not give him the right to treat others who are inferior to him as “trash”. (If, however, he does find a worthy opponent, he will in fact commend them rather grudgingly.) There is an extremely sadistic side to Squalo, due to his extreme enjoyment of anything related to swordsmanship, violence, superiority, bloodshed, and his ease at insulting and taunting others. Yet it should be noted that the violence itself is not what inspires Squalo—rather, it is the chance to continually use his skill to its maximum potential. Swords and their use in battle are something that are a continual part of his life—again evidenced by his own sword tied to his mechanical hand. Always prepared, he would have been the perfect candidate as a warrior for the leader of the Varia.

However there is an odd, almost masochistic side to Squalo as well. The role he takes as a submissive to Xanxus seems completely uncharacteristic based on his symbolic representation of pride. Mixed with the way Xanxus treats him—throwing glasses at his head, smashing his face on tables, laughing at his “death”, and various other cruel and painful actions—it is strange to think that Squalo has sworn his life to this man. His devotion drove him even so far as to relinquish what would have been leadership of the Varia, and risk his life at all costs to allow Xanxus to not only take that position, but also push him towards becoming the 10th. The vow he swore was to not cut his hair until Xanxus is secured as the heir, and still he continues to live by it. More than anything, however, Squalo is probably one of the few (if not only) people who actually understands Xanxus, and will endure his fury to stand up against him for his own good. The secret which enrages Xanxus is one the swordsman was willing to keep—even under threats from Dino and his servants. Again, he would rather take something easily surrendered to his grave for this man. His loyalty is limitless, and this is the only individual he would throw away his talents for, pride or not.

The final facets to Squalo’s personality include his impatience and his skewed, but nonetheless existing morals.

His impatience is rather obvious in his criticism occasionally of how Xanxus waits things out—Squalo would much rather kill anything standing in their way and get to the goal efficiently than waste time with strategy. The way his teammates tend to play with their enemies irritates him, as there are simpler ways to do things than toy and draw a battle that can be won in moments out.

But unlike these truly frigid and malevolent teammates, the Emperor of Swords has a noble side that is revealed during his battle with Yamamoto. Rather than be rescued at his hands, Squalo insists that his swordsmanship would be tainted and he would rather die with honour and yes, pride to his name than be shamed. Towards individuals like Tsuna’s family and Dino—who he grew up with and attended school with and even “befriended”, he seems to have a sliver of sympathy. It shouldn’t be mistaken as much, because he has no problem cutting them down should they be in his way, but he is not completely heartless after all.

A few minor quirks and facts about Squalo include his love of swords, their maintenance, and sharks (which is actually what his name means in Italian, and of course, could be thought of as another prideful trait—and is tied in with his sword attacks), extreme dislike for obsequious individuals, and even the way he presents himself in appearance. Having his hair long is certainly much more of an upkeep, being just another thing to get in the way, and he does not necessarily enjoy it, but it shows an air of professionalism that reflects itself on all the rest of the Varia as well.

Ten years later!Squalo (or TYL for short) has no changed much from the twenty-two year old Squalo that appears in the series. In fact, he appears to be just as loud, if not louder, and still as obnoxious as ever. Despite his defeat against Yamamoto, he continues to appear regularly and film his 101 battles in order to send them—probably to make himself feel superior as well as attempt to lure Yamamoto back into fighting with a sword rather than playing baseball.

As far as the change from Italy to Veles, Squalo will certainly be as loud and brash as usual. His mellowness will be shaken considerably, and old habits of extreme anger and violence will creep back into his demeanor. Considering Xanxus is likely to take out most of his anger on Squalo, the swordsman will be none too happy about that either.

Superbi Squalo may be strident, insufferable at times, and drenched in violence, but the other, slightly more positive aspects of his persona make him a more balanced individual than one may think at first glance.

ABILITIES & STRENGTHS:
The most obvious of Squalo’s abilities is his utmost competence at wielding a sword. Always a brutal and eager child, he continued to train and fight whenever he could—not ever seeming to mind being drowned in violence and the blood of his opponents. During school his reputation did not diminish, and as he grew so did his skill and form. In order for his swordsmanship to be the ultimate, however, he travelled across the world to battle against as many strong swordsman as he could, mastering, defeating, and making a mental collection of all the different and now void forms. Eventually he was given the title of “Second Sword Emperor”—after a two day death match with the man Tyr, previously entitled the Emperor of Swords. After this defeat he was not only given the title, but he also finally perfected his technique.

In the TYL!arc, he is shown to possess a special summon called a box animal—not too surprisingly, his is a shark.

Despite his appearance, what with his long, almost girlish hair not exactly being the most conducive to mafia life, Squalo still manages to command attention and certainly inspire fear after his temper and skill have been unleashed. He is not an individual to be taken lightly by any means, though for some reason he still yells as though what he has to say might be ignored.

Squalo is clearly very dedicated to whatever it is he does, whether it be his swordsmanship and practice, or his loyalty to Xanxus. His seeming lack of care at pain and violence is an advantage in such an atmosphere—in fact he even went so far as to cut off his own left hand in order to better understand the Emperor of Swords’ fighting style. As far as his leader goes, he clearly is the most loyal of the Varia—swearing fiercely that the man’s fury is what inspired him, and even promising not to cut his hair until his goal of achieving the position of the 10th Vongola leader is achieved. And even though Xanxus will abuse him (mentally, verbally, or physically) while showing a distinct callousness, Squalo still swears himself at his side. He is really the only individual out of all the Varia that will endure his wrath, stand up to him, and be considered a “friend” or “ally” instead of a simple subordinate.

WEAKNESSES:
Almost everything that Squalo has defined as an ability could also be considered a weakness. His loyalty for Xanxus could turn lethal should a situation ever arise, and he would be perfectly fine—even happy—for it to be that way.

Squalo’s arrogance—though rightly deserved as the Second Sword Emperor—was also a bit of a downfall during his battle with Yamamoto. True he had defeated the style which was being utilized, but he did not allow himself the possibility that something new or different may have emerged. He suffered not only the loss of a battle, but also an extremely vital loss of pride. Considering his name and “sin” entirely revolve around Pride, this is a very important thing to consider.

It is obvious that Squalo has an extremely volatile persona. What with his continual yelling, constant threats, and ease to use violence as a means to an end, it cannot be argued that he has a horrible temper. Insults, injury, and any problem one has to pick with the swordsman will most definitely end in bloodshed. He is horribly impulsive and has in fact been described after his namesake as a shark who is only looking for the next blood it smells.

A not as obvious weakness might be the toll—however deep it may actually be—that Xanxus’ treatment may actually affect the swordsman. One would think that as Pride, he would not want to work under an individual who continually subjects him to cruel, abusive, and humiliating behaviours. Squalo still continues to claim that Xanxus’ fury is what inspired him upon their first meeting, and still even now. Surely however, there is irreconcilable damage on Squalo’s psyche, and evidence of this includes his need to seemingly always need to be noticed and have the attention of whoever it is he is fighting or speaking to. He does this by yelling, being downright obnoxious, and terribly exaggerated with his motions and words.

HISTORY:
(SPOILERS FOR KATEKYO HITMAN REBORN)

The story of Superbi Squalo's life is not a simple, clean, or pleasant one.

He was born to an unimportant family in Italy and grew up with several mafioso connections (despite not being of high class blood). As a young teen, he attended a school specifically tailored for examples in the mafia world such as the Cavallone famiglia. There, he created a reputation for himself as brash, brutal, and utterly ingenious swordsman. Despite his high skill level, Squalo's constant need for perfection and satisfaction of his immense pride drove him to travel around from country to country, challenging every one of the swordsman he met. And of course—every battle he one. With each new victory, his own style adapted to utilize the skills and specialties of his defeated opponents.

Eventually his name reached the top assassin group for the Vongola famiglia—the Varia, for recruitment. Squalo refused to accept their offer until he was allowed to fight the current leader, a man named Tyr who had earned the title of Sword Emperor. All bets were on Tyr as a victor, but after a two day battle, Squalo was victorious. He'd even gone so far as to cut off his own left hand, to mimic the exact style and better understand his opponent. At this time, he perfected his current technique and was named Second Sword Emperor.

Despite being offered position as the new leader of the Varia, Squalo declined the position after meeting a man named Xanxus-son of the Ninth Vongola Boss. His fury and passion captivated the swordsman, enough that he immediately knew he wanted to devote himself and his cause to helping Xanxus become the Tenth at all costs. His loyalty was so strong he even vowed to not cut his hair until the spot as Tenth Boss was in his hands. Half a year later, he stood at the side of Xanxus, now Boss of the Varia, as they attacked the Ninth's Headquarters in hopes to overthrow him and ensure the position went to Xanxus.

However, the Ninth was able to use a technique known as the Zero Point Breakthrough, which froze Xanxus entirely in ice. While severely wounded and on the brink of unconsciousness, Squalo overheard a conversation that revealed Xanxus true origins—the fact that he was not related by blood to the Vongola after all, and thus was not a proper heir. This incident is known as the crib or cradle affair, and eight years later Xanxus was finally freed from the icy confines of the Breakthrough. Despite finding that what he had heard was true, Squalo still dedicated himself to Xanxus and the Varia by default.

The next time we see Squalo, he is chasing after a young boy by the name of Basil who is attempting to deliver the Vongola rings to Tsuna. While pursuing him, Tsuna, Gokudera and Yamamoto stumble upon the struggle, at which point they attempt to intervene. Their skills are no match for the superior ones of the swordsman, and they all are about to be finished off when Dino Cavallone appears. Not wanting to get tied up in family alliances or problems with politics, Squalo takes the rings and leaves.

Unfortunately for him, the rings were fakes to distract the Varia while the real ones were delivered elsewhere. Enraged by his failure, Xanxus and the Varia travelled to Japan, where they intended to take back the Rings by force. Before any damage could be done however, it was announced that the Ninth had declared Xanxus as the true successor to the title of Tenth. However, an issue still existed in the fact that the outside advisor, who had a say in the matter as well, chose Tsuna for the position. In order to settle the matter, a battle between Tsuna's guardians and the Varia was arranged to determine who it should lie with.

As the Rain Guardian, Squalo was to fight Yamamoto Takeshi—who he had easily defeated during the run in with Basil earlier on. Dino told Yamamoto that he needed to find some sort of changing method to fight against Squalo, since he memorized and defeated almost every single fighting style that existed. Yamamoto took the time he had for preparation to finally learn his father's beloved Shigure Souen style. The setting for their fight was an enclosed area that would release a certain amount of water after a specific time before ultimately releasing a giant shark into those waters.

Despite the advice Dino gave Yamamoto, he decided to trust in what his father called an invincible sword style. Squalo did in fact recognize the style and effectively evade the first few forms of it. When the battle looked like it was about to end in his favour, Yamamoto unleashed the final eighth form. Despite having seen and defeated this sword style, Squalo had not counted on the fact that the form he had defeated was in fact different than the one Yamamoto's father taught him. After creating a ninth form on the spot, Squalo was defeated and refused Yamamoto's help, pushing him to safety and telling him not to be so soft, but otherwise complimenting his skill.

Squalo was presumed to be lost to a watery grave, but in actuality Dino and his men snuck in to rescue what was assumed to be Yamamoto. When they found Squalo, emergency surgery was necessary and they treated his further wounds in order to obtain information on Xanxus. Squalo refused, of course, and it wasn't until he was brought to the match between Xanxus and Tsuna that things were finally revealed. At first Squalo commented and praised the rage Xanxus was showing, but then he surprised everyone when he recognized Tsuna's Zero Point Breakthrough (considering only the First Vongola should have known what it was).

Finally everything was revealed when Xanxus put on the rings and was directly rejected because of his blood. Squalo explained what he had witnessed eight years prior, and Tsuna was finally accepted as the Tenth, but not before being threatened by Squalo that he and his family would regret not dying that night.

The TYL arc has only shown Squalo briefly—he went on to battle one-hundred swordsman to secure his title as Second Sword Emperor while filming each battle to send to Yamamoto. His hope was to lure him away from baseball and back into fighting with the sword. His personality has not changed (nor have most of the Varia's), but he does appear to be on better terms with the Vongola. The series currently shows him as Commander of the Varia, leading an infiltration of a Millefiore base.

P L A Y E R

emphatique as Superbi Squalo for