Moral Kombat Thief Quest

Name: Cao
Age: 20
Height: 5’8”
Weight: 150 lb.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
Alignment: Neutral/Unaligned
Family: Jun (Father, Deceased), Ning (Mother, Deceased), Sanra (Elder Sister, 23), Hua (Younger Sister, 12)
Origin: Outworld
Resides: Z'unkahrah (Kotal Kahn Capital City)
Allegiances: Himself, His Sisters
Enemies: Kotal Kahn's Empire and his servants
Occupation: Thief
Fighting Style: Street Brawler

Biography

Cao had an inauspicious birth; he was born on the day of Outworld's invasion of Earthrealm. His father, Jun, was a soldier in Shao Kahn's army, fighting to subjugate the realm of Earth. Cao is the middle child of his family, with his elder sister Sanra being born three years prior. Jun and the armies of Shao Kahn were forced into retreat when Shao Kahn was killed and his citadel destroyed. Once back in Outworld, a civil war for the throne broke out almost immediately and Jun fled with his family to join the armies of General Reiko, who remained loyal to the previous Kahn. The new regime that had taken over the capital of Z'unkahrah was headed by Kotal, who was now proclaimed Kotal Kahn. Reiko was unable to secure allegiances with King Gorbak of the shokan, similarly deposed by a new regime established by his long-lost son Duroc, and Motaro, leader of the centaurians. The war against Kotal Kahn and his allies lasted for eight years before they were routed and defeated. Reiko escaped judgment, but many of his soldiers did not; Jun was one of them, but not before giving another child to Ming, their second daughter Hua.

Cao and his family were marched to Z'unkahrah and made to watch his father's execution at the hands of Kotal Kahn himself alongside many other captured soldiers. The family were given mercy and allowed to live in the city, but Ming continued to speak passionately against the current Kahn, and in the midst of gathering support, vanished without a trace, leaving the children all alone. Sanra, the eldest and wisest of the children, looked after them and tried to find a new home, but the family was now known by many in the capital and shunned by all due to the actions of their parents. In short time, the children became thieves, beggars, pickpockets and escape artists in order to survive in a city where no one would give them work. Thievery is punishable by death under the rule of Kotal Kahn, and as such, to survive in such a way is to never be caught, and the orphans became exceedingly good at it. With the danger of Outworld's wilds and nowhere else to go, they have remained in the city since, living in a small hideout in the city's system of aqueducts.

Cao loves his sisters more than anything else. In all other matters, however, he is selfish and bitter at his current lot in life. He faces challenges without fear, but this is more due to recklessness than bravery. He regards his parents with contempt for their failure, he despises authority and the rule of the Kahn and he curses the Elder Gods who supposedly watch over everything. He relies on himself and himself alone, preferring to work alone, sharing his goods only with his sisters. His ambition could best be described as ambivalent and his attitude in most things is apathetic; lacking a goal beyond simply surviving day to day. If there is one thing he is driven by and feels responsibility for, it is his sisters, particularly his younger sister Hua. He feels the need to protect and provide for them, despite his elder sister being wiser and far more sensible than he. Sanra is a clever planner and often reels Cao in before he does something foolish, slapping him on the head. Whereas Cao thinks only in the short term, Sanra plans things out in advance, cleverly preparing heists before executing them. Hua, only twelve years old, is a clever young girl herself, only just recently joining the pickpocket trade. She makes for an excellent beggar as well.

When it comes to physical skill, Cao is strong and fast, with nimble fingers. He is lean and athletic, whereas Sanra is tall and acrobatic. He excels at using the environment around him to full effect and improvising weaponry out of anything he can grab and can scale almost any surface he can grab onto. Cao is not very smart, in fact is unable to read or write, but he's clever with the use of distraction and often moves in and grabs his prize before anyone realizes what's happening. Uniquely, he is ambidextrous, and is skilled enough with his hands to disable locks and traps even with simple tools. Cao's skill with his fingers extends to sleight of hand as well, able to twirl and spin coins and small objects around with ease. This is mostly due to his boredom; spending hours on end practicing small tricks and mastering the use of his hands to further his career as a thief. When it comes to fighting, Cao is no coward, but often prefers to avoid a fight entirely or run away from trouble before more shows up and the odds turn against him.

Should he be cornered or forced to fight, or if he chooses to, he is a quick and powerful brawler who relies on his speed to dodge incoming attacks and weave around his opponent. Cao specializes in tricking his opponents into thinking he's going to be somewhere he's not and redirecting momentum from larger opponents, diving around, over or underneath them. In this way he prefers to let his opponents tire themselves out before moving in to deal damage with hard-hitting punches, kicks and slams from his elbows or knees. While preferring to use his fists, he'll pick up anything and use it to his advantage, be it a pot, a stone, a plate of food, a bucket of water or a ladder. He prefers to think three-dimensionally and use the environment around him to get higher or lower than his opponent, staying out of reach. If caught, he can take a beating, but isn't very tough. Although he doesn't enjoy backing down, he prefers living to dying and will not stick around in a fight if it means he could be seriously harmed or killed.

When it comes to fear, Cao shows little hesitation in the face of danger, but cannot swim and hates the water due to an encounter with a water-dwelling beast in his youth that has caused him to stay away ever since. Despite his attitude towards others, often considered rude by most, his greatest fear is being alone. He would willingly fight to the death to save his sisters or give them a chance to escape if that's what it takes, but outside of the selflessness he feels for them, his selfishness keeps him from truly trusting anyone else. He loathes working with others, believing that they will only hold him back, and hasn't opened up to anyone in the context of a romantic relationship. Although he is rather lazy and apathetic, he has demonstrated a surprising amount of skill with drawing and painting, using the walls of his hideout as a canvas, though he has never taken these skills seriously or spent time developing them as much as he has his thievery.

Kombat

Variation 1) Street Brawler

Cao's initial fighting style reflects his desire to avoid getting hit and escape from his opponents. He uses a variety of kicks, punches, elbow and knee slams along with throws, coupled with his speed to dodge and redirect opponents. Cao prefers to trick or otherwise bait opponents into exposing themselves or otherwise hamper them, such as disarming them or blinding them by pulling their hat or helmet down. His fighting style is not just about attacking the opponent or escaping out of reach, it's also about using the environment to his advantage, such as running or leaping off walls, using rope or sand, picking up anything in reach and using it as a weapon or a distraction and scaling walls to escape or get the high ground in a battle; anything to avoid actually getting caught, beaten, stabbed or most importantly killed.

Special Moves

Leg Reap: Cao grabs an opponent by the chest and tucks a leg behind them, pushing them forward while sweeping his leg back towards him, tripping them.
Enhanced: Spinning Reap: Cao grabs an opponent by the chest and trips them with his leg, but as he sweeps his leg back towards him he maintains momentum and spins to deliver another kick to the opponent's head as they try to get back up.

Overhead Tuck: Cao leaps up over an opponent's shoulders and rolls down their back, leaving them open to attack from behind for a moment.
Enhanced: Overhead Throw: Cao leaps up and grabs an opponent's shoulders as he flips over their head, bringing them with him as he lands behind them and throwing them over his own head.

Rolling Dodge: Cao quickly rolls in a strategic direction to avoid an opponent's attack or grab, immediately springing up to his feet afterwards.
Enhanced: Rolling Throw: Cao rolls towards an opponent, reaching up and grabbing their waist and planting a foot in their stomach before rolling backwards and throwing them behind him, then rolling forwards and getting up to his feet.

Backflip Kick: Cao dives backwards, placing his palms on the ground and kicking out with his legs as he flips back, gaining both distance and damaging an opponent.
Enhanced: Backflip Dropkick: Cao jumps up with his legs tucked in tightly before exploding out with them, planting them both on an opponent and knocking him back onto the ground, simultaneously propelling himself into a backflip onto his hands then feet.

Catch and Parry: Cao catches an opponent's attack with his hands and redirects it away from him, spinning towards the opponent and hitting them with an elbow slam.
Enhanced: Catch and Combo: Cao catches an opponent's attack with his hands and redirects it away from him, spinning towards the opponent and hitting them with an elbow slam, a knee slam and a roundhouse to the back of the head to knock them away.

Skills

Artistic: Cao receives a +10 on all rolls relating to drawing or painting, provided he has some means or materials with which to do so.

Disarm: Cao receives a +10 on all rolls to disarm an armed opponent, robbing them of their weapon, or to otherwise impair an armored individual, such as by pulling his helmet down over his eyes.

Escape Artist: Cao receives a +10 on all rolls to rapidly escape or run away from a bad situation, including scaling walls or leaping across rooftops while he is being chased.

Lock Picker: Cao receives a +10 on all rolls to pick a lock on a door, chest or similar object, provided he has tools at his disposal.

Runner: Cao receives a +10 on all rolls to run for an extended period of time without stopping, even over difficult terrain, regardless of the weather.

Stealthy: Cao receives a +10 on all rolls relating to hiding, sneaking or otherwise attempting to remain silent or hidden, provided he is by himself.

Thief: Cao receives a +10 on all rolls to pickpocket, distract someone or use sleight of hand, or any situation in which he needs to obscure the he has taken something.

Use the Environment: Cao receives a +10 on all rolls relating to use of the environment, from improvising weapons to scaling walls or swinging on ropes.

Flaws

Apathetic: Cao is often bored, with no further goals than surviving and providing for himself and his sisters through thievery and no ambitions to change his station in life.

Bruises Easily: Cao can take a beating, but isn't very good at getting back up once knocked down, and does all he can to avoid taking damage, either running away or dishing it out himself.

Cannot Swim: Cao is terrified of the water and what may lurk below its surface due to a traumatic experience during his childhood that robbed him of any desire to learn how to swim.

Illiterate: Cao has no proper education in any sense, having learned all he needs to know growing up on the streets, and as such cannot read or write any form of script beyond drawing pictures.

Loner: Despite his fear of being alone, he shuns others, appearing as rude or indifferent and is not very charismatic, nor does he see any real value in teamwork or splitting his shares with anyone who aren't his sisters.

Problem with Authority: Cao will often go out of his way to purposefully mess with figures of authority such as guards, and refuses to cooperate or work with them due to his father's service and execution at the hands of the Kahn.

Reckless: Cao sees things in the short term and thus often acts in the moment, recklessly ignoring consequences that may come later and acting in the interest of himself or his sisters.

Selfish: Cao tends to see others who have more than him as not having earned it, quick to justify stealing from them as helping himself due to him deserving it more.