Kuro Shimada

Nahkriin's darker alter ego, Kuro Shimada.

> *“It’s funny. You talked all that shit only to have your teeth kicked in. So, when did it occur to you that you were going to die? Was it when I started only using my left hand? Or was it when I started fighting with my eyes closed? Couldn’t be when I stopped using magic. Whatever the case may be, your fate is written. And the ending, my friend, looks bleak.”*
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-Nahkriin, Kuro Shimada

Nahkriin, sometimes seen or depicted as this darker being, Kuro Shimada, is one of the two remaining purebreed Aetherborn in all of existence. His monicker and appearance has changed countless times throughout recorded history, but this is a new and somewhat disturbingform. He is the Lord of Gaila, a land in a secluded Universe that he himself created as a pet project.In this form, his wishes for balance and preservationof the Universe are cast aside, and he only works toward his own benefit, seeing others as simply a means to an end.

### Appearance

Unlike Black, Kuro takes on a drastically different form. Though he has taken on millions of other guises in the past, this form is his most notable because of the discovery of the Ascended Aetherborn, Oblivion, and Ascended Oblivion forms during this stage of his life. His hair is short and slightly unkempt, a jet-black color, and most(if not all) of his clothing is black; his jacket, with sleeves that are also rolled up, the shirt underneath, the jogger pants(and it is noted by some women that the underwear underneath is also black, if present at all), and the Traverse(TM) shoes that he usually wears, yet beat-up and loosely tied. His eyes shift colors from yellow to purple at times and like Black, he sports a light oaken skintone with a slim, youthful build.

In the Oblivion Form, Kuro gains more muscle mass than usual and adds another few inches to his height. His hair grows out some four feet and dreads up, each follicle of hair buzzing with energy, and glows red when his Oblivion Form is in its Active Mode. hie eyes are red and bloodshot, and combined with his hulking mass, creates the imagery of untamed rage.

### Personality

If Black N. Noire is the pure Hero of Balance and Justice, then Kuro is the man that pisses on the posters depicting said hero. Due to the circumstances of the identity’s creation, Kuro is a vagabond that only cares about his own interests and will stop at nothing to achieve them. He is even more merciless than Black when the Universe he created is in danger and will often overuse his power in a cruel and sadistic way simply because it amuses him. At other times, he is snarky, apathetic, and cares nothing about the bonds he has with others, as most appear to be a means to an end to him. He does have a soft spot for children, specifically infants, but even then clouds it in excessive denial. In less important battles he reprises his trait for holding back, confessing that “he likes to play with his food before he scarfs it down.” Still as prophetic as ever, Kuro’s sagelike wisdom focuses more on pessimistic and realistic views, rather than Black’s tendencies to perk others up. Kuro seeks nothing but power and more obscene ways to fill the void that genocide left in his heart.

### Biography:The Wrath of Kuro Shimada

Betwixt and Between the end of the Great Aether War and the Ascension arcs, Nahkriin fell into a deep depression regarding his earlier feat: the destruction of nearly every Aetherborn in existence, all who could have easily done away with the three(technically four). Calling the battle a miracle would be a severe understatement. After the massacre, Nahkriin looked over the losses of his life, and realized that he just killed the only family he ever really had to save a Universe that would eventually kill itself anyway. With feelings of grief, loss, nihilism, and regret, the Aetherborn fell into a depression that had been building for eons. It changed him so much that he went on a nihilistic rampage, destroying galaxies and star systems. At the end of his fit he rebranded himself, “killing” Black N. Noire and repurposing himself as the vigilant vagabond Kuro Shimada. His name is a play on the color black yet again, as his love for Noire is persistent and unchanging, but taking a more eastern turn with the surname. In this form he has not had any notable battles, but the change from Black to Kuro is clear: at times even the Astral Blade Nohr refuses to be wielded by someone so wanton at times.

When Nahkriin was finally uplifted from his inner turmoil(and all it took was being sealed away and breaking it because, well), he came to his senses and expelled from himself the evil that he saw was Kuro Shimada with the help of Tai(and indirectly, Chris Yukinoma). Once becoming “pure” again, he pronounced Kuro Shimada officially dead, vowing to never let his vices overcome him again. Since then, the moniker is used as a disguise, or when Nahkriin is at a low point of his life, his temporary identity. Kuro Shimada is the ultimate antihero and will destroy the world for a little peace and quiet.

Kuro Shimada was briefly reborn when Nahkriin was able to absorb the False Aetherkin “Reverse Black” within the confines of the Aether. The negative energy that Reverse Black held within him was enough to draw out Nahkriin’s darker persona, but after a while, the very idea of Kuro simply faded away.

In the rare incident that Nahkriin transformed into the Ascended Oblivion Form, Kuro’s appearance was mostly the same, except the essence of pure evil seeped from him, his power much beyond its already infinite limits. However, no one was around for the incident, and it never happened again.