Syrus Norwood

"*Got one finger cut off to prove a point. Then I cut the other off. To prove a point. When people realise you're willing to do that yourself, they start to question what you will do to them. That kind of reputation is worth two fingers.*"
— Syrus, to Sanders

**Syrus Norwood** is an inmate at San Hill, and one of the The March Nine.

## **Appearance**

Syrus stands at 6ft 4, making him one of the taller San Hill inmates. He has blond hair and green eyes, and is notably missing two and a half fingers.

He has a muscular but slender build and is very strong. He has tattoos, an abstract black and red symbol on his inner left arm and the image of a raven skull and a crown on his back. Geometric symbols run down his spine.

His fingers were tattooed in Prison by Ilya Luzhkov. The right hand says "Give", the left hand "Take.

## **Personality**

Manipulative and controlling, Syrus is one of the few of the recent intake of inmates to have done prison time previously. He is scheming, and is the first to plot an escape plan, recruiting Sanders, Della Prince and Jason Zharkov into his plan.

Syrus is shown to like it when he has control over a situation and when that control starts slipping, he becomes easily provoked and aggressive. He has a fearsome temper and when it breaks loose, he finds it hard to stop himself, although he can get himself back under control.

Syrus can be unstable and dangerous at times, a result of serious brain damage as a child, but does feel some remorse over the things he does when his temper gets the better of him.

On the other hand, Syrus craves attention and the feeling of being wanted. He admits that loneliness is horrible for him and he feels alive when he's among people.

After his second bid in Solitary, Syrus is a bit more apprehensive being around people.

## **Life in San Hill**

### Season One

Upon his arrival at San Hill, Syrus was the first to cause trouble by starting a food fight in the cafeteria that resulted in him taking a trip to the warden's office, although he was spared any real punishment from the warden. After this incident, Syrus began to suss out which of his fellow inmates fell into the category of helpful. In the beginning, he managed to fly under the radar. After the incident with the shiv that Sanders threw into the cell of Blaze and Della Prince, he managed to gain the latter's trust by comforting her after her altercation with the guards.

Once he had decided that Sanders was capable, he revealed his plan to break out of prison and offered the other man to get in on it. They quickly decided to keep important decisions and information between them. After Sanders' and Jason's attack on Marcel O'Brien after art therapy, and the former's trip to solitary, Syrus bribed a guard to send messages to him.

Syrus got a job on the maintenance crew, using the access he now had to the underbelly of the prison to scour for weak points in the structure. Shortly after, Della revealed to Ilya Luzhkov that Syrus had threatened her cell mate, Adam Lee. He followed her to the showers and after Della relayed the other woman's advice not to trust anyone, Syrus' anger broke loose. In his hopes to regain control of the situation, he threatened Della, telling her "...nobody walks away from me."

He then tried to control a distraught Jason, attempting to reign in the man's outbursts, but was met with failure at every turn. This culminated in an incident in the yard where Jason revealed that he had overheard Syrus and Della in the showers, accusing him of beating on Della, being a psycho and that he belonged in SEG. Syrus exploded and severely beat Jason, sending him to the infirmary.

A day later, Syrus, Maxie Tanaka and Armando Alighieri were brought before the Warden Odysseus, where video evidence showed it was Syrus who assaulted Jason. For this infraction, he was sent into SEG. In solitary confinement, Syrus meets Astor Neils and talks to him to alleviate his loneliness. After only a week he is released. Upon his release, Syrus bounced back from the effect solitary confinement had on him fairly quickly and continued hatching his escape plan. This was side tracked by an altercation with guard Aleksander Lovik, who's punishment for insubordination caused Norwood to fall ill with pneumonia. Recovering quickly, he began his work in the laundry room, and started to hide items he would need for his breakout.

He struck up a friendship with the kitchen chef, Sprinkles, for whom he hides contraband in the washing machines. After procuring his last ingredient, fluoride, from the kitchen freezer, he was overhead by Jason Zharkov who told the Warden of Syrus' plan. Found out, he once more was sent to solitary confinement. His second round in SEG affected Syrus more than the first, having developed a nervous twitch in his right eye. After a conversation with the Astor Neils, he decides to not go out and enact revenge right away but instead keep a low profile at first.

### Season Two

After attacking Belia Talbot, Syrus is once more sent to solitary. Upon his release he is shaken and clearly suffering some degree of psychological damage, which he attempts to hide. He is assigned a new cell, and currently shares with his enemy, Jason Zharkov.

## **Relationships**

### Romantic

* Della Prince Syrus picked up on Della Prince's fragile state and inexperience at prison life quickly, inserting himself into her daily life. He sought out her company, and after comforting her over a fight with her cellmate, and subsequently teaching her how to defend herself, they began a sexual relationship. Their relationship became strained for a while after Della spoke to Ilya Luzhkov and revealed something she shouldn't have. They have since patched it up and are getting closer.

### Allies

* Astor Neils Syrus met "The Man in the Vent" when he went into solitary. Trading stories of their art form helped him keep the loneliness at bay, and he finds himself fascinated with this inmate.
* Sprinkles
* Reggie Rollinstar

### Enemies

* Marcel O'Brien The first real interaction they had was in art therapy, where O'Brien insulted Syrus' painting. This lead to the latter giving him the name The Frog. After that, not much happened until he found Syrus and Della out in the yard, telling them to keep their distance to each other. Syrus refused and things escalated from there. They got into a fight, with Marcel attacking Della to goad Syrus into attack. It worked and he tased Syrus, but not before the latter managed to bite down on his healing wound, given to Marcel by Sanders.
* Aleksander Lovik
* Sanders Syrus viewed Sanders as a potential alley from the start, realising he was an intelligent, dangerous man. Soon after meeting him, Syrus proposed they work together to stage a breakout from San Hill. He appreciated Sanders' very matter-of-fact personality. He is one of the very few that Syrus treats as an equal and speaks to him at eye level. The current state of their alliance is up in the air after Syrus beat up Sanders cellmate, Jason Zharkov. After a lengthy conversation, they have arrived once more at alliance. After Jason Zharkov foiled Syrus' escape attempt, he no longer trusts either of them.
* Jason Zharkov Syrus accepted Jason into the fold of conspirators as he was subordinate to Sanders and would not go against his wishes. With Sanders in solitary confinement following an attack on Marcel O'Brien their relationship became strained. Syrus attempted to control his volatile behaviour, but after Jason antagonized him in the yard, he lost his patience and beat him severely, which ended up with Syrus in solitary himself. After his inital release, Syrus attempted to make amends, but with the behaviour Jason displayed, he realised it was pointless. A short while later, Jason informs the Warden of an attempted escape, landing Syrus in the hole again. After his release, Syrus decides that neither Zharkov nor Sanders could be trusted and plans his revenge against them.

## **Trivia**

* Syrus has 5 dogs at home, one of which tore off half of his pinkie finger
* He has revealed to be ambidextrous due to his martial arts training.
* He has two younger siblings.
* Syrus is fluent in Spanish due to his friendship with Isabella.
* He has a love for poetry.