Skylar Whittaker

Skylar is a character in the Lovers DX series, appearing as one of the three main protagonists in Lovers DX: Seishin, amongst Marcus Cawthorn and Alastair. He is the cause of the main event that kickstarts the plot and the cause of the event that ends it. 
==Appearance==
===Bodily Appearance===
Skylar is a 22-year-old Japanese American sporting brown hair and a mostly clean-shaven face. His semi-muscular build grows as the series continues, with him growing stronger and stronger. He is stylized as a Shiba Inu, though only to the audience. Its purpose is to help contrast with his brother, Nathan, who is stylized as a cat; he is an outsider and clashes with Skylar frequently. 
He frequently wears a black jacket with a red dress shirt underneath, matching it with a pair of long blue pants and black running shoes. When he has to go into hiding, he usually likes to wear a white hoodie over the outfit. He is also often seen without the jacket, sporting just the shirt. 
===Tattoo===
Skylar's tattoo only appears once he defeats June in their one-on-one fight, as she orders for him to gain a tattoo as a sign of tradition and respect. The tattoo she chooses for him is of a Japanese koi fish transforming into a dragon. This a clear reference to the legend of the koi fish in Chinese mythology; a school of koi fish swam against the current of a river and reached a waterfall at the end, causing many of them to turn back and head back the way they came. Though attracting the attention of local demons who mocked them as they attempted, those who remained did not give up, continuing to jump upstream and fight the current. Eventually, after hundreds of years, one koi finally reached the top of the waterfall. The gods recognized this and for its willpower and perseverance, the koi was turned into a golden dragon. This legend coincides rather heavily with Skylar's personal journey; fighting against the impossible enemy that is Cosa Nostra and swimming against the current to gain strength, reaching the waterfall and jumping up to reach the top, fighting Romano alongside the other 2 main protagonists.
==Personality==
Skylar can mainly be described as a short-tempered smartass. He's relatively quick to anger and generally takes a more no-nonsense approach to things, making wisecracks as he goes along. His anger issues could possibly be hereditary but as opposed to June, who hides her rage and stores it for later, Skylar displays it openly and nonchalantly, not needing to lie to anyone and not caring about how others see him. While being quite thick-headed and rather dismissive at first, he doesn't really judge or find himself in a position to judge, instead dealing with people as they act rather than how he believes they will act. He is generally accepting after you first meet him and generally means well for those around him. 
As the clash with the Italian Mafia grows more severe, Skylar, at first, begins to become colder, angrier, trying to punch everyone away in hopes that his loved ones will be spared. As it become apparent this mindset isn't going to be sustainable and more and more people begin joining in on the task, he cools down, takes a step back, and truly begins his katabasis into the crime underworld to come out on top and get his family off of the hook; slowly maturing and using less wit as time goes on and learning that winning three or four consecutive battles is still not winning the war. 
==Fighting Styles==
=== Werewolf ===
Skylar's first style he uses, present from the beginning of the story and trained by Hannah. A style consisting of close-ranged jabs and grapples, using spin and positioning to deliver punishing blows. Thrives off of counterattacks and using the opponent's own forces against them, keeping in range while not getting hit. Mixes punches and kicks, using the center of the body more often than not. It closely resembles dirty street fighting, with eye jabbing and knee/elbow techniques present.
=== Amarok ===
Skylar's second style, learned by watching his mother and helped by (placeholder, maybe kenjo again if tux joins us). A style that's made up of large, blunt swings with the arms and hands. Relies on the user's strength, sometimes utilizing a blunt weapon like a bat or a hammer for destructive purposes. Works most effectively while in a crowd, though it’s just as good of a style when against only one. The style consists of harsh jabs, destructive overheads, deadly body blows; breaking things with the arms and hands, resembling how some sort of wrestler would fight or how June would have fought if she were young again.
=== Raiju ===
Skylar's third style, learned from (placeholder) and trained by (placeholder). A style that relies on the user’s speed and agility, running circles around opponent and striking where necessary. Considers more of the boxing philosophy, using fists and elbows to strike like lightning and depart like a storm. Mixes all kinds of punches, with kicks being rarer while Skylar utilizes the style as it uses mostly the upper body to quickly knock down opponents. Closely resembles the style of a prizefighter or a professional boxer, Skylar even seeming to stick to the rules of an actual bout.
=== Dragonkoi ===
The ultimate style, combining everything learned from the previous three and everything learned from the training he's had. The style is named after the tattoo Skylar had inked onto his back after beating June in a duel, having learned it after finally defeating her. The embodiment of a one-sided battle, fighting until the very last man standing. Extremely similar to Hannah’s style, as it's a mix of many martial arts; resembling judo with its throws, karate with its deadly kicks, boxing with its lightning-fast punches, professional wrestling with its grappling, and, more importantly, the styles Skylar has used beforehand. 
After learning this style, Skylar no longer uses any of the previous ones, having reached his fullest potential; having swam against the current to the top of the river like the koi looking to become the dragon.
==Background==
As a child, Skylar was not the most intelligent, instead resorting to solve his problems with his fists instead of his head. Because of his generally unapproachable demeanor back then, he was in a lot of fights. Albeit to protect his brother, the first time Skylar truly raised his fists against another person was when he was 13. Though trying to isolate himself from others at the time, it only brought more attention to him, both positive and negative. Despite his violent behavior, he still kept a very small number of friends, even managing to score a girlfriend at the time, and kept in touch with them even after high school.
After moving to Stadpool, he took up a few odd jobs before settling as a grocery store, a profession his mother also worked in. Having grown out of his now ex-girlfriend and trying to keep her away from him due to her excessive clinginess, he didn't really do much to put himself out there. He kept quiet and to himself, before being mistaken by a mafia member for someone in their debt, kickstarting the entire plot and sending Skylar down a path of self-improvement and forcing him into a fight for survival. 
==Relationships==
June Whittaker - Nothing but love. Skylar loves his mother, and she seems to love him back. He likes to visit her when he gets the time off of work. 
Nathan Whittaker - A sort of rival figure, attacking Skylar pretty much any chance he gets. They're brothers, so they have nothing but respect for each other. They would go a long way to help one another if it meant they'd both claw out of a scrape okay. 
Judy Whittaker - Skylar shows great love for what he believed to be his grandmother, even after the illusion was tossed aside and it was revealed they weren't actually related. The familial love quickly turned to heavy respect as he learned more, knowing that some random woman threw her life away from her mother. 
Hannah Moretto - Mentor and student. Usually, she's willing to put up with his bullshit. They become amazing friends by the end of the story, to the point of hinting at starting a more romantic relationship. Having grown alongside her and having protected her/been protected by her, Hannah quickly grew on him. They had each other's back and as Hannah trained Skylar, he adapted and tried to teach her what he learned without her as well. 
Alastair - Fear, but still willing to wisecrack around him by the start of the story. By the end, he has respect for him, knowing that even with all of the ashes and rubble left in his wake as the monster he is, there's still, at the very least, some broken shell of a man underneath all of it... at least, he thinks so. 
==Quotes==
"I don't know jackshit and I'm a hamfisted cunt who slams my fists into people's heads. That what you wanna hear?" - Skylar, when asked about his fighting skill.
"Eh. It is what it is. Your mom don't like it, your dad don't like it, whatever. If you're passionate, they can't be mad about it for too long." - Skylar, talking about Hannah's past.
"There's no bigger 'fuck you' than knowing you're going to lose and still trying to weaken them anyway." - Skylar, ready to take on anyone who wants him dead.
"Yeah, I'm a moron. You can say that shit all you want, it doesn't make a difference; I'm probably going to be here until I die." - Skylar, trying to defy Alastair's suggestion to skip town.
"They don't deserve my courtesy, beating on a civilian because they're insecure about their own mistake... In fact, boys, why don't you go fuck yourselves?!" - Skylar, angry at the mafiosos showing up outside to claim his bounty.
"Then step the fuck up. It's time to die!" - Skylar, before his first big fight.
"You people like pushin' around civilians, so what's it to you if one pushes back?" - Skylar, asked about his behavior.
"Hey, if I can't do it... just means I took a couple of you with me." - Skylar, resolving to find the man who put a bounty on his head and kill him.
==Trivia==
* Skylar's character is heavily based off of Tatsuya Ukyo and Kazuma Kiryu from the Yakuza series. Other inspirations include Jotaro Kujo from the manga/anime JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Tommy DeVito from the film Goodfellas, and Nick from the video game Left 4 Dead 2.
* Skylar's stylized appearance is a direct inclusion of an old original character from the artist @jinusenpai.
** Originally, the Whittaker family's last name was going to be Doggington, keeping the original character's last name.
*Skylar's fighting styles, save for Dragonkoi, are all based on mythical creatures revolving around wolves. 
**In English folklore, a Werewolf is any individual who can shape-shift into a wolf, by purposeful transformation or through a curse of some kind. Most werewolf transformations occur on a full moon, uncontrollable by the individual.
**In Japanese mythology, the Raiju is a wolf-like beast constantly associated with Raijin, the god of lightning. While Raiju is generally harmless, during thunderstorms it will become enraged and leap from place to place. Trees that have been hit by lightning are said to have been scratched by its claws.
**In Inuit belief, an Amarok is a gigantic wolf creature that's said to stalk anyone that hunts at night and eat them. They usually hunt alone. In one tale, a weak boy calls out to the god of strength to allow him to become strong, and an Amarok comes and wrestles the boy with his tail. As a result, the boy has several small bones come out from his body. The Amarok explains that the bones were keeping the boy back from his true strength and tells him to come back daily to become stronger. 
***This parallels heavily with Skylar's way of becoming stronger, fighting and constantly training his body, losing the "bones" in the process (learning from his mistakes)
*Skylar has one main fight theme, named Lycanthropy.