Upsilon the European Mink

This is an article about Upsilon the European Mink, a character created by SigmaAlphaThree on 06/28/2018.

 Upsilon the Mink is a 20-year-old mink and is one of the friends of Sigma the American Mink. Possessing the ability to manipulate and control shadows, Upsilon can bend them to create a shadow sword, which he uses primarily in his job as a knight of the castle of Gaiagon. He would be voiced by River Kanoff.

Personality
Upsilon is generally a quiet individual. His lonely upbringing molded him into the secluded person he currently is, although he doesn't mind being by himself; in most cases, he actually prefers being alone. He's more of an observer compared to others, and for this, he notices small details normal people would miss. Lately, he's been introduced to more and more people, so he's growing a bit more sociable, although it is a slow growth. It's hard to tell at one point, he was a wild child.

Even though he doesn't say much when in larger groups of people he doesn't know too well, he is more talkative around people he is close with (for example, Sigma). When he is around friends and family, Upsilon has a lot more to say, and much to his surprise, he can be rather savvy with his words. However, he rarely shows off his charismatic side to anyone, even with his friends.

He is almost princely in attitude despite only being a knight. He much prefers formalities, going so far as to almost never use contractions in his everyday conversation. He bows in greeting and bidding farewell, and even uses titles with his close friends such as "Miss" and "Sir." He is also fiercely loyal to the country of Gaiagon and those who manage to get to know him well enough.

History
He was once a criminal in his home country, Havendisch. The living conditions of Havendisch were pretty terrible, so he became an extreme left-wing activist and used his powers to do some peaceful protesting through murals… as well as some unpeaceful protesting. He accidentally burned a whole building down (though thankfully, nobody died) and was at the center of a lot of violent riots that led to the serious injuries of hundreds. As far as his criminal record stretches, he has at most been charged with assault. He was just 14 when this all began. Havendisch is a very strict country, so he was imprisoned and set to be beheaded, but the King of Gaiagon heard of Upsilon's skill in controlling shadows. And upon visiting Upsilon while in prison, the King saw he had great potential, and was just having trouble channeling his beliefs and opinions into something non-disruptive. So, the King offered to let Upsilon live and to seal away his past criminal history for good in exchange for his servitude in Gaiagon's Royal Guard. Upsilon agreed to give his family a better life. Upsilon and his family moved to Gaiagon, and the restless wild-child Upsilon once was matured over the five years he spent there. He quickly rose through the army's ranks thanks to his intellect and skill and is now the head knight for the Royal Guard. Now he's a Gaiagon patriot, proud to be be serving the King who spared him so generously and determined to better his new home and, at some point, return to Havendisch and finish the work he started toward bettering his homeland. Just more peacefully this time around.

Powers
Upsilon's power to control shadows, or shadow-bending, originates from his mother's side of the family. His shadow-bending skills serve for a variety of purposes; they can be used for attacks (for example, the Shadow Overtake) as well as to disguise himself (for example, the Shadow Generate). In addition, Upsilon primarily uses a shadow sword named Imogen in battle, which is very sharp and, as such, it is able to easily slice through many solid and seemingly unbreakable objects.

Upsilon is also good with hand-to-hand combat and has unnaturally heightened balance and agility. While lacking in lower-body strength, his upper-half is abnormally strong, allowing him to perform great swings with his sword and punches at various enemies.

Abilities
Here is a general list of abilities that Upsilon has, both from and his powers and from inborn skill. The "bold names" are sort of like the name for a "move" (think of fighting game moves) but are just names to refer to the attack.
 * "Shadow Overtake": A "move" that causes a dark black mass to surround an enemy and cover them in a shroud of darkness, thus making it quite difficult to see through.
 * "Shadow Switch": He can actually turn into a shadow cast upon a wall. He is currently learning how to transport quickly between rooms/larger open areas using shadows. For now, he can only become a shadow on walls/floors (think of Peter Pan's shadow… minus Peter Pan himself).
 * Shadow object creation: With his powers, Upsilon is able to make a wide variety of weapons and other non-weaponry objects that are made from shadow essence; a primary example of this is his shadow sword (seen above), and he is able to make a shadow shield as well, if necessary.
 * Shadow riding: If necessary, Upsilon can summon a wave of shadows to form underneath his feet, move them forward and, and he can ride on them. This is mainly used as a means of fast transportation for emergencies, or for going long distances.
 * Shade creation: Upsilon can create a small helper made from a shadow exterior and a magic core, made from an Animation spell, which brings the un-living shadowy husks to life.
 * Heightened senses at night: Due to his shadow manipulation abilities being much more powerful in the dark, Upsilon's senses, agility, speed, vigilance, and capability of controlling his powers are far stronger in the night compared to the day.
 * Upper body strength: His constant training with swords and melee weapons has caused Upsilon to possess a pretty large amount of strength in his arms, which enables him to carry out forceful downwards swings on his attackers with his sword.

Skills

 * Swordsmanship: Upsilon was trained to hold a broadsword as a kid by his father, and he continued to practice this skill until he became rather knowledgeable in the art. He is very capable with his shadow sword (among regular metal swords and other sword-like weapons he can create with shadows).
 * Ice-skating: He's pretty graceful on the ice. Since Havendisch, the country he grew up in, was snowy and icy for three-quarters of the year, he became well-acquainted with skating in his youth.
 * Ice sculpture-making: This is simply a hobby of Upsilon's, but he really loves to carve ice sculptures in his free time. While not on the level of a master, he can make some decent sculptures obviously well above what the average person can do.
 * Cooking: He lives alone with his twelve-year-old sister, so he has to care for her and make all her meals. His best dish is French toast.

Weaknesses
Since light and shadow cancel each other out, Upsilon is greatly weakened by the use of light, plasma, or fire against his shadow powers. However, this weakness can only occur when these elements are directly used on him while his powers are activated, not necessarily when he's out in daylight and not fighting. However, his powers are certainly not as effective in broad daylight as they would be in pitch-black midnight. He also has extreme weakness in his upper body after his powers have been used for an extended time. At that point, he resorts to hard kicks to take out his enemies.

His powers also need to be "recharged", or he needs a resting period right after intense, energy-draining battles. This, added with his upper-body weakness after battles, allows him to be an open target for remaining enemies.

Trivia

 * Upsilon's cuffs on his jackets have faded shreds floating in mid-air. This is easily done by his shadow manipulation powers (although at first, they were in his design just for a cool effect).
 * Upsilon has a British-sounding accent, but it's just the accent of his home country, Havendisch.
 * If he was a human, he'd be 6'4" (193.04 cm) and 206 lb. (93.44 kg).
 * He loves tea. Not bubble tea, mind you – real tea. Sometimes he puts milk in it, though.
 * He prefers if he's called Arkanov (ar-can-awv), but the name Upsilon has kind of stuck.
 * He does sometimes wear pants, but he prefers the shirt-no pants look rather than the other way around.
 * His IQ is 126.
 * He's very weak at maths and science, but is much stronger in literary/humanities-oriented subjects.