Fernando Jose Salas del Monte

> ***"Traveling does broaden the mind, but it does not get your expectations any higher."***
>
>

> -Fernando José Salas del Monte.
>
>

Fernando José Salas del Monte was a circus performer, gunslinger, and part-time vigilante under the name of *El Gancho*. He was the Centurion apprentice of Armando Estebán Corroto, famous pugilist and finer arts aficionado. In London, Fernando had met and joined the Centurion team that consisted of Else Rommel, Lin Tsao, Viktor Vaughn, and Ray Freedom. He had been an active member of said team ever since, and was part of the Monster Trio.

## Appearance

Fernando, at the beginning of Book One, is described as shabby-looking, with long, uncombed hair and baggy clothes. His hair would look greasy as he would take a bath every two or three days, to his mentor's dismay.

By the end of Book One, Armando Corroto's teachings began to sink into Fer, and he started to take care of his clothes and to take up respectable hygiene habits.

Book Two showed a new side of Fer, appearance-wise. Not only he is described as taller and leaner than before, but is also described as more fashionable, his hair being now combed and tied in a ponytail, clean-shaven, and wearing cleaner, more elegant outfits.

## Personality

Fernando was a wild card, in the sense that he could be a little unpredictable. This was shown specially on Book One, where the pressure of the situation would get to him and an incomprehensible rage would take over, commanding him to take out his enemies. Otherwise, he was a pretty impressionable person, excited by anything magical and strange, and pretty laid-back, as well.

At the beginning of Book Two, Fernando began to show maturity and become more suave and eloquent. His behaviour stopped being borderline 'animalistic' as it had been on Book One, and he took the habit of "ask questions first, shoot later".

## Background

### Early Life

Fernando José Salas del Monte is the eldest son of Lugo's most successful merchant, Raúl José Salas Dorrego and his wife María Piedad Fernández del Monte. After having him, they had four more children, two boys and two girls. However, to them Fernando was special because he was the one who was to inherit the family business, an attitude that made all his siblings jealous.

By the time he was nine years old, he began to get bored of his life, being tutored almost everyday apart from his normal classes and taking up English (a subject he hated with all his being). Whenever he could, he would skip classes and sometimes would outright escape from home and would not return until supper.

### Circus Life

One day, a circus tent was raised just outside of town, when Fernando became ten. He went to visit on one of his occasional days off, and became amazed by it. Everyone looked so free and seemed to be enjoying themselves. He felt that this was his call. After the show, he spoke with the ringmaster, who had no issues whatsoever with the matter as long as Fernando could pull his own weight, but his parents would not have it, and forbade him to leave. However, after finding the necessary resolve, he escaped from home without so much as a goodbye.

Soon, Fernando found out that circus life was not as glamorous as he had thought, but at least he had his freedom. He quickly became proficient at acrobatics and firearms and soon he had his own segment called "The Monkey Man".

### The Century Club

Thanks to Fernando's performance, the circus became quite well-known across Europe, and because of this the Century Club took notice of him. One night after a show, he was approached by two persons that said to be the Club's employees. He was reluctant at first, but the thought of having a warm bed and four meals a day finally made him change his mind.

## Combat and Abilities

* Fernando's preferred weapons were firearms, mainly handguns. He owned two guns named Guadalupe and Covadonga, which he kept at each side of his body in two separate holsters. He became so adept at gunfights that he had learnt to deflect enemy fire with his own gun-play.

* As a circus performer, he had gained the ability to perform amazing feats of acrobatics and athleticism, ranging from doing a back-flip to climbing a building with his bare hands. Said ability had been crucial to his survival in his adventures with the Century Club.

* Fernando was also a renown cyclist, and a participant of the 1914 Giro d'Italia.

* Travelling with the circus had also helped him gained a more acute sense of orientation than most people. He was able to find his way across unfamiliar cities and place.
* Thanks to Merlin's magic, Fernando was allowed to speak and understand any human language, both current and extinct. Before this, he would communicate in broken English mixed with Spanish words.

## Named Companions

Throughout the story, Fernando had had the quirk of naming animals under his control (due to the Monster Flute), and innaminate objects which were, even fleetingly, in his possession. A comprehensive list is shown below:

 Edgardo
 Mercedes

## Reference List

1. ↑ Full name is Fernando José Insane Salas del Monte
2. ↑ Interlude Story: ViaFerrata
3. ↑ Book Two: MissedConnections
4. ↑ Both of his guns are named after two Christian virgins: the Virgin of Guadalupe and the Virgin of Covadonga
5. ↑ Interlude Stories: FateOfFer and ViaFerrata
6. ↑ Book One: TakeTheEdgeOff
7. ↑ Some of the animals/objects were given a name at a later pad; Here, only the first pad in which they appeared counts.
8. ↑ Edgardo was dismissed by Fernando after the mission was completed. Its whereabouts have been a mystery ever since.
9. ↑ Previously known as Laura.