Nanuq Gage

**Nanuq Gage** is the leader of Team NCRT and a former student of Beacon Academy.

## Background

As far as Nanuq Gage is concerned, only two good things came from being born in a nomadic tribe from the northern continent of Solitus; his pet polar bear, and the physical prowess that helped him gain admittance to Beacon so he could leave the god awful place. Having been born an animal lover in a tribe that relied on the warm pelts of arctic mammals to survive, he has carried a heavy conscience for much of his life; developing a bitter hatred for the cold that forced them to resort to such means to survive.

Because he needed to be able to survive alone in the snow and ice, he has trained as a hunter since childhood, and the handful of huntsman in the tribe ensured his aura was unlocked and trained; however his failure to manifest a semblance for several years lead to him focusing on training his strength; as well as never properly learning to utilize dust.
It was a fateful- almost fatal- encounter with a young polar bear several years into his training which finally helped him discover his semblance. While out hunting with his father, Nanuq was separated during a blizzard; wandering into a cave for shelter where he was attacked, and being thrown into e wall of an ice cave by a 1500lb polar bear is enough to daze anyone. When the bear attempted to take a bite out of his shoulder, the aura stopped the teeth from sinking in long enough for the young man to bite back, sinking his own teeth into the bear’s foreleg.

In that moment, as man bit bear and bear bit man, a strange thing happened; Nanuq’s semblance found its mark, and the two were bonded together. With their souls tied together his new companion’s teeth slipped through his aura, leaving him with the scars he carries even in the present. After the initial bite Nanuq and the bear sensed a new kinship and ceased their hostility; instead weathering the storm before returning together to the tribe.

Over the next two years, as Nanuq’s bond with Fuzzball  grew, so did his distaste for the constant hunting; eventually coming to a head when he began refusing to help on hunts.
After a few weeks of refusal to hunt, Nanuq and Fuzzball packed their things and departed, heading towards Atlas where they caught an airship to Vale and enrolled in Beacon Academy.

Nanuq was made the leader of team NCRT as well as the partner of Rachel Blackwood from Mistral. As students, team NCRT did fairly well; with some interpersonal conflicts over the years, particularly between Nanuq and Zhu Chunlan, the only faunus on the team. Prior to leaving Solitus, Nanuq hadn’t had much exposure to the faunus; with his tribe being entirely human and having only spent a few days in Atlas before leaving by airship, so his first encounter with humanity’s sister race was accompanied by the discovery of a sexual fascination with them. Embarrassed and in denial, Nanuq began to distance himself from faunus fairly quickly, putting up a racist front to avoid awkward encounters.

As team NCRT’s first year at Beacon progressed, and the team worked together to grow as a unit, his secret came to light and tensions within the team eased, allowing him to become a proper leader in time to the Vytal Festival during their second year; together they pushed through the first round and sent forward himself and Kekoa Tambor into the second round, and Kekoa into the finals where he was finally eliminated.

When the next Vytal Festival came around the team did not compete a second time, instead sitting back to enjoy the tournament until the Battle of Beacon began, when the team went into the city; fighting alongside Rost Smith and Lila Ashworth, veteran huntsman from the former team RSLG, to help in the civilian evacuation efforts.

## Personality

Nanuq loves animals almost  as much as he loves people, and slightly more than he hates the cold, valuing his bond with Fuzzball the polar bear above everything, even occasionally suspending his distaste for killing to help the bear secure sufficient food to maintain his substantial body mass. Nanuq is naturally sociable, spending much time with his teammates, although during his early days at Beacon he put on a front of racism in order to conceal his newly discovered interest in faunus, who he had not been exposed to before leaving Solitus.