#Kouya Garou

[lumilasi]

When you struggle asking your crush out, so your literal wingman offers some emotional support.

(cue Yoruga falling backwards into the bush as soon as Kouya turns around, not because he's hiding, but because the sign is too heavy to hold for long lol)

Finished this despite having my doubts, and decided to give them an actual setting rather than floating in the void lol. This is their dynamic in a nutshell, or a part of it anyway.

[lumilasi]

Updated Kouya slightly for his new story. I decided to keep his hair blue after all, though in dog-form he's gray/black with just blue glowing details (he's a dog spirit now in this new story)

Kouya's bio below:

Name: Kouya Garou

Name translation: desert/wilderness & hungry wolf

Nicknames: Kou (Yoruga, Kiyoi) Doggy (Youko), Hound/pooch (Hanma, when he's annoyed at him)

Age: 22

Height: 180 cm

A child/puppy of a fighting ring, searching for his idol to defeat him in battle.

Family: He was adopted by the fighting ring he grew up in, later he's allowed to stay at the Murasaki mansion, as their adoptive child Kiyoi grows fond of him.

Love Interest: Kiyoi, a forest witchboy

Friends: Yoruga, Youko (a small chimera kid). He also ends up acting as a big brother figure of sorts for Yago, the honorary grandchild of his new masters. He does manage to form sort of a friendship with Yaguro and Chouma as well, even if he sometimes annoys the former moth spirit with his need to fight him.

Powers:

He is physically very strong and durable, able to withstand quite the beating. He's also able to break trees and rocks with just a kick, and a really good close combatant with his blades

He can summon and elongate his claws, and also can make his teeth/jaw sharp and strong enough to tear someone’s throat open. Y know, like a wolf/bloodhound.

He’s very cold resistant, meaning he’s mostly immune to ice-based magic. You can't freeze this good boy in place.

Has the excellent hearing and smell sense of dogs, can also howl loud enough to break things, though this attack makes his voice hoarse afterwards and gives him a sore throat.

Can summon/hide his dog spirit features, and he reminds a gray wolf-dog with glowing yellow patterns on him in full animal form.

WEAKNESSES:

Kouya can sometimes lose control of himself if he hasn’t treated his wounds properly/eaten properly, which basically switches his brain into an animalistic fight mode, where he attacks anything and everything indiscriminately. Typically he needs to be knocked out for this to stop.

He can be socially awkward, where he doesn’t know how to act in certain situations, resulting in being rude/too brash when he doesn’t mean to be. He’s also bad at expressing his feelings, which leads to a lot of awkward moments with Kiyoi (and sometimes with other people too), which do frustrate him and make Kouya self-conscious about himself.

His need to beat Yaguro can sometimes make him frustrating to deal with, and can be used against him to trick him into doing things he shouldn't. (He always regrets it once he realizes he was duped)

PERSONALITY:

Kouya is seemingly a hot-headed and aggressive fighter with dramatic flare and ego to match. He’s also a very protective and loyal friend, willing to put his ego aside if he needs to protect someone/retreat because someone he cares for/respects tells him so.

While he sees nothing wrong with violence due to how he was raised, Kouya does care about what Kiyoi, or his new master Hanma especially thinks of him, so he tends to try and hold back/behave around those two even if he's itching for a fight. He also enjoys listening to Kiyoi ramble about things he's passionate about, as Kouya is actually quite a curious person and more intelligent than people give him credit for. He is just often hindranced by his hotheaded nature, and obsessive need to fight his idol...

He’s pretty chill outside battle, and often lazes around the mansion/the yard. Sometimes he helps little Youko hunt some wild boars (if her bestie/main babysitter Chouma isn't able to go). He's also kind of mischievous, liking to tease people or pull small pranks.

FUN FACTS:

Kouya is somewhat afraid of Hanma, but also deeply respects the man for his strength, and genuine kindness towards those weaker than him.

While its kind of natural for his kind and Kitsune to clash, Kouya is respectful towards Hanma's wife Rikka as well, and genuinely admired her swordsmanship. He tends to be more blunt towards the daughter Kouka, but is aware and wary of her strength and makes sure not to cross a line.

His first meeting with Kiyoi was dramatic, as he accidentally crashed through his wall while fighting Yaguro, who was visiting the Murasaki mansion.

He finds Yoruga weird, but funny. (Don't they all?)

Unlike Kiyoi where it took some time, Kouya pretty much instantly decided he liked the blond witch boy, but chose not to show it too much at first, sensing Kiyoi was a bit intimidated by him.

Kouya doesn't mind if Youko chomps him for his blood (think of it as an insect bite, its not that dangerous lol) and might just pretend to yelp in pain/act surprised for fun.

he tends to manifest his (wagging) tail around kiyoi, something he's actually a little embarrassed about. Normally he controls these things at will, but his tail likes to betray his feelings towards Kiyoi

Kouya's coat is the champion's robe from his old home, but he feels like he hasn't earned it until he's defeated the previous missing champion, Yaguro.

Kouya's blades are also the old ones Yaguro used in fights and left behind once he left the area. Kouya picked them up and began training with them.

Yaguro and him didn't really interact much at the time, other than him once bringing him a towel and getting a head-pat as a thank you.

Kouya is technically mostly blind on his right eye, but being a dog spirit he tends to rely more on his hearing and sense of smell naturally, so it doesn't affect him that much.

BG STORY:

Kouya grew up in an underground fighting club that also gave him his name; he was found as a puppy by the owner, who took pity on him and also generally liked dogs. He initially just ran small errands both as a dog and a human, with only the owner and select few knowing the gray dog and the blue haired boy were the same person. While the place was rough, the fighters and owners treated him fairly well, being quite fond of the small scraggly kid/the puppydog running around, and even punished anyone who attempted to bully or harm either version of him needlessly.

As a child, he witnessed a fight between a challenger and their reigning champion Yaguro for the first time, being completely awed by the said champion's skill. He had not interacted with the man before, as he tended to be reclusive and avoid others outside his fights, but he did give Kouya a head-pat after the fight, as he brought him a towel to wipe off the blood.

From that day, Kouya wanted to become as strong as the moth man, and began training himself furiously, watching almost every fight Yaguro did. They did interact once more - unknowingly to Yaguro - as he ended up saving Kouya from being swept by the raging river during a storm, while he was in his dog form. This further strengthened Kouya's idolization of the man.

Then, years later as Yaguro vanished all of a sudden, he was quite upset over it.

Some days after that however, Kouya finds his blades Yaguro had left behind however, and decides to learn how to use them. Over the years, Kouya becomes quite the formidable fighter himself, known as the place's "born and raised" champion, being the only one who'd been actively raised there since he was a toddler.

Then, one fateful day the ring was essentially destroyed due to the owner ending up in deep trouble with the local gang, which burned the place down, killing the owner and his family; this incident caused Kouya to be blind in his other eye. Enraged by this, Kouya hunted down the gang and killed them as revenge.

After this incident, he decides to go and hunt down the original champion of the ring, feeling like defeating him is the only purpose he has left in life now, that his home was completely gone, and he didn't know what else to do or where to go.

[lumilasi]

It's my wolf boii, I changed his hairstyle as I didn't like the original that much. He already uses his idol's old blades, he doesn't need to have Yaguro's messy pineapple ponytail too lol

[lumilasi]

UPDATE: Changed Kouya’s look to match his up-to-date design

More oc doodles. I have an idea for that Touya pic finally, but it’s already so late here, I have to leave working on that till tomorrow. 

Kouya and Kiyoi. Kouya’s brain goes brrr when Kiyoi speaks to him. Not that it’s highly active to begin with lmao

It’s especially impressive (and telling) that it happens even though Kouya is immune to Kiyoi’s Charm spell. (an ability Kiyoi uses on everybody he meets by default as a reflexive defense mechanism due to trauma; only very few people he’s met are immune, and Kouya is one of them, which is also why Kiyoi likes him because Kouya’s niceness to him is genuine)

[lumilasi]

Finished the second antagonist subordinates set. (First one here)

Struggled a lot, especially with Franziska due to the colors I needed to use for her, but in the end I think I like it. Kouya’s my fave, he kinda looks like he’s mainly powered by spite and red bull lmao 

Short info of each below:

Nadja Jaeger (Surname means hunter)

Age: 36

Franziska’s younger sister/former teammate from Amalia’s mercenary days

She is the member of Amalia Marek’s sect. They do intelligence gathering/search for other “Reverence” infected people to join their ranks.

Nadja and Franziska used to work with Amalia before she left to search for a solution to her problem with her powers. Sometime later, the sisters had a run-in with a feline Reverence-infected demon, that in turn infected them. The pair decided to go and try to find their former comrade to see if she’d found a cure or a solution. The pair end up joining her new group as they didn’t really have much better options. 

Nadja is pretty silent and largely respected/admired by people around her, despite her Reverence infection only being at stage 1 (the weakest) because she was already so strong and capable even as just a normal human. Apart from her eyes, the only thing that changed for her physically, was that her hair feels more like fur than human hair, and also the color turned orange mostly from the original brown. She’s sometimes mistaken for a male from behind, up until she speaks as her voice is distinctly feminine. (even then it’s typically not until they see she got boobs that they realize this is a woman)

She’s friends with Sasori from Belladonna’s sect, both being the quieter, introverted type (and a bit scary) and she’s often seen hanging around him, or asking him jokingly to poison her to get away from an annoying situation. Usually he just pulls out a whiskey or other alcohol drink for her. A fellow sect member, a young girl Kujaku has a bit of a crush on her, although Nadja doesn’t take it seriously given she’s only 18, I.E far too young in her eyes. 

Kiyoi Nakano (First name means clear/pure/noble) His original surname was Saitou, but he started using his mother’s maiden name after leaving his former home

Age: 20

Belladonna’s nephew she took in after his mother was executed as a witch, and the townspeople attempted to kill him too. A rare case of a male child of a witch being born with magic.

Member of Taiga’s group; they work as assistants to other sects/handle mundane tasks like cooking, cleaning, looking after Hanzoku’s body while he slumbers, etc.

Kiyoi used to live normal life as the son of the town’s Mayor, albeit secretly studying magic with his aunt’s guidance, as his mother had disowned magic use and stopped using her own. Unfortunately the townspeople found out that she was a witch, and executed her out of fear. They then went after Kiyoi himself (including his father who hadn’t known his wife was a witch) and Kiyoi ended up accidentally killing everyone while defending himself, overcharging his strongest spell that basically banished everyone’s souls from their bodies. He was taken in by Belladonna after this, but Kiyoi’s relationship with her is strained, because he feels she only cares about him because he’s a rarity. 

Kiyoi’s strongest ability is his Charm (the same one that he accidentally killed the townspeople with) that can basically charm just about anybody and get them to do whatever he wants/just make sure they don’t hurt him. (the reason why it killed the townsfolk was because he basically made them so enamored their souls floated away, you know, “head in the clouds” type of thing) He applies this reflexively to every new person he meets, and tends to become curious of anybody who is immune to it AND still nice to him. He’s friends with Yoruga the moth boy, and has a crush on Kouya.

Kiyoi is physically very weak, so he mainly monitors people with his vision abilities to see what needs to be done, if anyone requires assistance with some of the tasks, and occasionally is asked to take notes because his handwriting is so pleasant to read. 

Kouya Garou (name translates to desert/wilderness & hungry wolf)

Age: 22

A hotheaded orphan with canine Reverence infection & Kiyoi’s crush

He’s from Azure’s sect, who are the warriors/warriors in-training to potentially join Amalia’s group if they are deemed skilled enough/have enough control over their abilities. Also hunt down threats or traitors.

Grew up in an illegal fighting club, rumor has it he was sold there by his parents as they couldn’t afford taking care of him. He’s always been a lone wolf and preferred to be by himself; even now he struggles to work with others. He does respect his boss a lot though

He ran into a Reverence infected wolf when he was 18 just hours before a match, where this demonic wolf bit and infected him too. he ended up activating his power and transforming mid-fight, accidentally killing his opponent and going on a rampage where lot of onlookers were injured. He spent over a year hunting down the wolf that bit him, thinking killing the demonic entity would turn him back to normal.

When that didn’t happen he fell into despair and almost let himself freeze to death, but he was picked up by Amalia, who promised they could help him learn to control his newfound powers. He met Kiyoi the first time in kind of an awkward manner, as he ended up crashing through his wall after a training match gone wrong, and Kiyoi realized his power didn’t work on him, resulting in the blond asking his friend Yoruga to stalk Kouya around for a bit out of curiosity, namely because Kouya had been nice to him and even apologized for the mess. 

(Kouya does find him cute, but also feels like he’s too wild and unpredictable for someone that weak, which basically means these two idiots don’t know how to act around each other)

Franziska Jaeger

Age: 38

Nadja’s older sister and a former comrade of Amalia from her mercenary days.

Member of Belladonna’s sect; the medics/poison & cursed objects and seals creators.

Between the sisters, Franziska was the intl/stealth mission person, and enjoyed putting on disguises and flirting with their targets to trick them into positions they could be dealt with/captured for interrogation. She enjoys her new work as Belladonna’s assistant, and like many others, very much is a fan of hers, loving her sense of style and flamboyant nature. She’s also Belladonna’s favorite assistant, partially because she is a friend of her GF Amalia, partially because Franziska is devious and really intelligent, much like her, and partially because Belladonna loves her sense of style.

(She also loves how in her new job, she can dress up more often and have much flashier outfits by default than she could back in their old job)

Her reverence is much further than Nadja’s, meaning her skintone has mostly changed to the ashy color apart from her arms, and she has permanent animal features. (the ears and the tail) Both she and her sister used to have brown eyes, though their haircolors were different; her sister had dark brown hair, Franziska had light brown that has now turned blonde, matching the color of the fur of the infected feline demon who attacked them. 

[lumilasi]

I wanted to test out the tips from this tutorial I reblogged, and yeah they were pretty useful! It’s not a huge change, but I’ll def. incorporate them to my art more. (The only difference I did was using blue instead of red for the second color as Kouya’s colors are very cool)

I ended up doodling Kouya for this test as I had no idea what to draw so I picked a random character, and then made it into a fake screenshot thingy as had no idea for the BG either.

[lumilasi]

Did some smooch practicing with a few of my oc ships. I might make more later as there’s plenty of couples to choose from lol. 

Also I apparently have a thing for making blond x blue hair ships? If I had a nickel every time it happened, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t much but its weird it happened twice 

Top left: Claude (blond) and Caelan (blunet): The “got past the gay disaster phase” couple.

Top right: Kiyoi (blond) and Kouya (blunet): The “still in gay disaster phase” couple

Bottom left: Anei and Yaguro: The “it’s complicated, but they do really care for each other” ship

Bottom right: Amalia (green hair) and Belladonna (black hair) “The badass villainess lesbians” ship