Dino

**Dino** is a troublesome individual with a careless, thuggish nature. He is known by many for both his looks and his ability to skilfully acquire wins in the shows. He is best described as a bully, picking on others in order to ensure he is never the target, alongside keeping his status as the bad guy, which he seems to enjoy the attention for. Around his friends, Dino acts foolishly, playing around and making all sorts of silly jokes. He is not the most educated person, however, which means it can be difficult for him to understand basic things, especially those in regard to emotion.

Dino has a tendency to hurt his friend's feelings, however it is not always intentionally, he just doesn't think things through before acting them. He is often left confused when he hurts somebodies feelings, and it only seems to worsen when they refuse to tell him what he did wrong, since he genuinely doesn't know. Although he rarely shows it, Dino is capable of caring, and on the inside he is constantly battling a raging storm of emotions which never seem to leave his mind. He is built to act like a brick, but words can hurt him, and he is actually quite a sensitive person.

Dino shares a deep connection to **Slippy**, who was a victim of his bullying for the majority of his younger years. Dino majorly impacted Slippy's development as an individual, causing him to grow up with many insecurities, some of which he still struggles to mask from time to time even today.

## Background

### Everett

Dino was raised in the mountains by his caretaker, **Everett**, who found him wandering around lost in the woods when he was young. Dino was incapable of finding food and otherwise fending for himself, therefore Everett decided to take him in. Everett was not fit to be a parental figure, in fact, the only reason he took Dino in was because he knew he couldn't live with the guilt of leaving the small child alone like that.

Dino had a tough upbringing, and although he once looked up to Everett as his father, Everett was completely unpredictable and untrustworthy. One moment the two of them would be calmly sitting side by side, and the next, Everett would be pointing fingers and yelling at Dino for something he hadn't even done. Everett was always on the edge of snapping, irritable and paranoid, always staring into space and thinking deeply. Even the slightest repetitive noise could set him off.

Everett would spar with Dino, determined to toughen him up and teach him how to fend for himself. He would often catch Dino off-guard and at random, tutoring Dino to always remain alert and aware of his surroundings. Despite how useful Everett thought he was being, he would always end up taking things too far, resulting in bringing serious harm to Dino. If Dino ever tried to defend himself, Everett would only hit him back harder, until Dino was able to muster up enough strength to push Everett away.

Whenever Dino wimped out at a task that Everett had set him, Everett would force him to do it, even if he refused. Dino was not allowed to have his own boundaries, neither was he taught to have respect for others too. If he could not force another person into doing something he wanted, he was taught to punish them, just as Everett did to him.

### Valencia

In his younger years, Dino had an imaginary friend who was called **Valencia**. Valencia was created as a comfort for him, a motherly figure who protected him from Everett's fits of rage. She would sit with him, singing beautiful, angelic songs, soothing the fear he felt. Dino would become distracted by her presence during sparring from time to time, which would result in him getting hurt, but he never put the blame on Valencia.

Valencia is no longer a physical part of Dino's life, however he still hears her voice in the wind from time to time, especially whenever he meditates. This has brought him to wonder if Valencia's existence is more than just his imagination, however nothing has ever been proven.

### Abandonment

As Dino began to mature, Everett would begin vanishing from his home for long periods at a time. He would always return in a bad mood, refusing to talk with Dino, forcefully pushing him away, often times telling him to go to his room. One of the nights, Dino tried to show love to Everett, bringing him into his arms with a cuddle, but Everett shoved him to the ground and firmly scalded him for acting so sensitive. After this, Dino had fully given up his trust in Everett. He didn't want to be around him any more.

Sulking in his room, Dino eventually fell into a deep sleep, awaking to another empty house, once again. There had been a blizzard that night, and Everett was nowhere to be found. Dino went out calling for Everett, however he went home completely empty-handed.

Everett did not return. Dino waited for several years, and there was still no sign of him. He begged Valencia to give him the answers, to tell him where Everett had gone, and why he had left. Valencia could not tell Dino. It was something he had to figure out himself.

Everett had never wanted the responsibility of raising Dino, right from the very start. He disliked children, and not only this, in Everett's eyes, Dino was weak, and he felt as if Dino would never be able to thrive on his own. Everett left because he wanted to be free from the burden of which Dino was to his once peaceful, easy-going life. Dino still cared for Everett, even if he was safer without him, free of the pain he'd be put through almost daily.

Dino eventually grew to understand that he had been abandoned. He asked Valencia once more if Everett was ever going to return, and just as he looked over to catch her gaze, she was gone. He stopped asking her after this, in fact, he stopped coming to Valencia for anything. He knew he had to accustom himself to survive alone, and his next step was to move to the big city.

### Moving On

Dino moved into a small rented flat located in a town which was nearby the city. The flat itself was rather run-down and the people that lived there were all incredibly unique. Dino made his presence known from the start, making sure others knew not to mess with him. He would often pick on targets bigger than him, knowing he was capable of taking hits if all went badly. With time, his bravery gained him some attention, and eventually, people wanted to be friends with him, mostly for protection, however. The area he lived in was a little rough around the edges to say the least, and after all, nobody wanted to be a victim of bullying. It was much safer to get on the good side of the bad guy than to be his punching bag.

Dino liked the attention, it brought him a rush of adrenaline and emotion, which he was never allowed to feel in his past. He was humorous, made others laugh, and with time, people started to hang around with him not because they were afraid of him, rather because they liked him. He had always referred to himself ugly, unlikeable and unloveable, all words of which Everett had called him, but these people, they would boost his ego, calling him nice words, telling him he was handsome. Dino began to love himself for the first time, and with enough encouragement and praise, he fell into a bit of an ego trip. He loved it when others loved him, and once his friends figured that out, they would always bring him the attention he wanted. At first, he found it a little difficult to give it back, but with time he would improve.

### Present Day

In the present day, Dino has gained himself quite a lot of fame from participating in the shows. He is incredibly skilled at what he does, however it can't be said that he is all that fair when taking part in them. He likes to pick on other players, eliminating them in order to get his hands on the rewards. It doesn't matter if the opposition is weak and frail, or twice his size and strength, he will do all he can to snatch that win. If he cannot overthrow them physically, one of his friends will often eliminate themselves, taking down the opposition in order to give Dino his win.

Dino has since moved to a small beach house near the coast, where he frequently hosts house parties and hangs out with his friends. He is known to share his rewards with his contacts quite regularly, allowing them to come and stay with him whenever they want to, treating his home as their second. He appreciates the idea of sharing, especially when all of his friends are so eager to help him all the time. He loves to be pampered, but things can't always go one way all the time.

From an outside view, Dino does tend to come across as cruel, cold and troublesome. Many are afraid of him, especially due to the way he plays in the shows. Dino still doesn't really understand that the way he treats others outside his friendship group is inherently wrong, he just does it as a learned response from Everett. It probably doesn't help that his friends tend to join in with him, encouraging this attitude, rather than stopping him and telling him that it's wrong to make fun of others. Many past friends have just up and left when they got sick of seeing the way Dino treats people, rather than spending time to correct his behaviour.