Jonathan Merdock

## Appearance

Jonathan has a swept back, shaggy blonde hairstyle. He has shimmery orange eyes, a chiseled jaw and a winning smile. He is above average in build. He wears a blue and yellow striped tank top with a picture of an island on it. He wears faded green swim trunks, with yellow smiley faces all over them. On his feet are a pair of blue flip flops. He carries around a red surfboard with white stripes, which can conveniently fold up for ease of access. While the surfboard is folded, he can access the secret compartment which allows backpack straps to come out so he can carry the surfboard on his back.

*Written by Shadox*

## Personality

Jonathan is an easy, laid back, super chill guy. He loves taking long walks on the beach and catching a few rays of sun here and there, and of course, flirting with the ladies. But when he zones in and focuses, it’s like he’s a completely different person. While he surfs, an aura of determination and confidence emanates from him. The amazing smile on his face vanishes, replaced with a look of harsh steel. The glare he gives feels like it could stab holes through any unsuspecting bystander. But of course, at the end of the day, Jonathan goes back to his cheery old self, almost as if he doesn’t realize what actually happened to him.

*Written by Shadox*

## Story

### Backstory

Jonathan comes from a small island off the coast of Hawaii. The population of the town is definitely a lot smaller compared to most big cities, but on the plus side, Jonathan was able to develop a much stronger and bond both with its people and the island itself. Each day ever since he was a child, Jonathan would go out and talk to the beach, the water and the waves, complementing how they looked every day, even consoling on the days with stormy weather, telling them it’ll all be better in a few days. His parents always said that he had a special and natural connection with the flowing water and the rushing waves. However, Jonathan was terrified of actually going into the water itself. He was chucked into the water by his father as a joke, but Jonathan legitimately started drowning, and ever since then he was afraid of going back in. He would much rather stay on shore and talk with the water.

One day, during Jonathan’s daily conversations with mother nature, he saw a ship in the distance. Seeing no harm in welcoming the new strangers to their humble land, he flagged them down. Unfortunately for Jonathan...this was a pirate ship. Jonathan knew no better, and led them into the shore. The moment the ship touched land, all hell broke loose. Tens of hundreds of pirates came down, and starting running into the village, swords and pistols in hand.

> *“Take their riches and their women! We’re gonna be rich boys!”*
>
>

Jonathan made a feeble attempt to hold one of the pirates back, but the pirate swatted him away. Jonathan could only watch as the people he grew up with were all tied up and dragged to the pirate ship, kicking and screaming all the way. As the pirate ship departed from the pier, all the men in the village watched as their wrongdoers slowly but surely escaped. However, Jonathan had other ideas. Almost without thinking, he grabbed a wooden shop sign from one of the shops on the island, threw it onto the water, jumped on and started paddling with his hands towards the ever fleeing pirate ship. Jonathan didn’t even stop to think that he could drown by doing this; he had to save the members of his town. While the other men on the shore were shocked at his actions, soon they began cheering Jonathan on, giving him energy to paddle even harder to get to the pirate ship, which began to sail into the distance. However, their cheers suddenly turned into yells of horror. Jonathan looked back for a moment in confusion, and he saw was a giant wave headed towards him, ready to wipe him out. He fainted right there.
When he came to...he was on the pirate ship somehow. A very bloody pirate ship. And shockingly enough, there were no pirates in sight...except for one bloodied body in the middle of the deck. The captain. As Jonathan walked up to him, the semi-conscious captain suddenly backed away.

> *“Stay away from me...you demon…”*
>
>

What did he mean by demon? Jonathan was extremely confused, but he had a mission to complete first before he could think about it more. He went down into the hold and freed the inhabitants of his town. Jonathan returned to shore, none the wiser of what actually happened.

Eventually, through the perceptive eyes of one of his townspeople, Jonathan learned that he had somehow miraculously managed to stand up on the signboard, and ride the giant wave all the way to the pirate ship. Ever since that day, he has been dubbed the SHSL Surfer, despite the fact that he was still terrified of water.

However...that’s not all there is to the story.

Jonathan also learned through one of the captives that he brutally murdered almost every single pirate on that ship. He used the signboard he rode in on to bash the heads of all the pirates, and when the board fell apart he used the individual wooden shards to stab them. Eventually, all the pirates either died and were chucked overboard, or willingly jumped themselves. After learning about what he did, he saw a doctor about his condition (without mentioning any specifics), he was diagnosed with a split-personality disorder. That’s why he wasn’t able to remember what happened after seeing the giant wave almost hit him, as an alternate persona had taken over his body. As time went on, Jonathan was able to harness this persona and call upon it and dissolve it at will...most of the time. Sometimes the persona can come out in dire situations, and Jonathan loses control until the persona is done with his business. The persona itself, while it appears to be extremely dangerous, is actually just someone who will go to any measures to complete his task. Whether it be saving those he loves, surfing the biggest wave possible, or charming that one girl to get into her heart.

*Written by Shadox*