Arthur Stepanov

Arthur confronts Itsuki at the gym.

**Arthur Stepanov** is a Cosmos Academy student and Junior Ranger in training.

Arthur Stepanov is voiced by Matthew Iles.

### Personality

Arthur Stepanov is the twin brother of Alex Stepanov. Due to personal issues, Arthur loathes his twin and wants absolutely nothing to do with him, though he briefly appears to show some concern for Alex when Hope Griffin accidentally knocks him to the ground.

Even when they must work together, Arthur will do everything in his power to one up his brother, a competitive streak so severe that it can extend to other classmates as well and often leads to impulsive and reckless behavior.

A side effect of his ego, he can be easily swayed by reputation, believing the rumors that Hope cheated her way into Cosmos Academy without evidence and using it as an excuse to antagonize her in minor ways.

While he’s hot tempered and tends to mistreat his peers, Arthur shows empathy for his friends in their darkest hours.

## Attributes

### Abilities

* **Athletic Expertise**: Due to extensive training and conditioning, Arthur possesses advanced physical attributes and athletic capabilities. Having noticeably prominent strength and stamina, he was able to fight evenly against Itsuki Reo after the two had completed a two-mile run during sparring practice. Due to his size, he is able to easily physically dominate his brother, Alex Stepanov, with ease, able to pin him against a wall while accusing Alex of attempting to beat him.
* **Combat Expertise**: As a cadet at Cosmos Academy, Arthur is skilled in both armed and unarmed combat. During sparring, he was able to match Itsuki Reo in a duel, unleashing a barrage of constant attacks for Itsuki to counter, appropriate due to his aggressive personality.
* **Marksmanship Aptitude**: Being prepared for security threats and military engagement, Arthur is trained in the use of ranged weapons, particularly pistols, such as the Interstellar Force’s standard issue handles.
* **Strategic Aptitude**: While reckless, Arthur does possess a degree of tactical and analytical skill. During a training exercise between two teams of students set in an environment simulator called the Dome, he understood one of the exercise's objectives was to test how the students handled their weapons, as the Dome was set to simulate a desert environment that caused their weapons to overheat if overused, something fellow teammate, Jazz Owens, learned too late as her weapon overheated, which he rudely admonished her for. Due to Arthur's penchant for aggression, he has a preference for offense, notably seeing an opportunity to eliminate an enemy team with a quick and sudden attack and subsequently charged out at them after calling for his teammates to lay down cover fire from their hidden position behind a wall. This effort primarily succeeded due to Itsuki ruthlessly using the skirmish as a distraction to ambush and eliminate the enemy team himself, while Arthur was eliminated by Hope Griffin as he was attacking Alex.
* **Survival Aptitude**: In preparation for missions across space and on various planets, Arthur is trained in operating in and adapting to a variety of environments and conditions.

### Weaknesses

* **Competitiveness**: A highly driven student, Arthur's desire to excel often revolves around his ability to dominate others, namely his brother, Alex, to prove his superiority. He, therefore, views many of his peers as competition and is additionally hostile towards Hope Griffen after learning her admittance to the school cost another candidate a chance to attend, taking minor opportunities to harass her when possible such as purposefully knocking into her in a hallway or remorselessly mocking her cooking after knocking over a pot of stew she was cooking. However, while his aggression can be source of motivation, it can also leave him vulnerable and prone to mistakes. During a training exercise, instead of following Itsuki instructions, despite him being team captain, he implemented his own aggressive and crude strategy of quickly ambushing them while they were approaching their hidden position under the assumption his team would give him fire support from cover, an effort that turned the situation into a chaotic skirmish that endangered both teams and led to Itsuki using the chaos to eliminate the enemy team while using his own teammates as a distraction. Arthur himself became distracted when he targeted his brother during the skirmish, cornering and subduing him in an alley while asserting he'd worked too hard for his brother to beat him rather than just stunning him with the weapon he had pointed at Alex, which left him vulnerable to Hope Griffin shooting him in the back from outside the alley While quick to judge others, is appears too stubborn and arrogant to recognize his own fallibility as he insulted Jazz Owens over thoughtlessly overusing her weapon without realizing it would overheat in the hot environment they were in only to recklessly attempt to singlehandedly eliminate an entire enemy team himself, as well as condemning Itsuki Reo using him and the rest of the team as bait to while being the one who jeopardized his team's chance at victory by going rogue and causing a skirmish. He even engaged in a brief argument with Sebastian Rojas over the former calling the opposing team "scrubs" as he loudly charged out at them firing his weapon, which lead to him gloating about his literature grades.

## Paraphernalia

### Equipment

* **School Uniform**: A dress shirt, pants and shoes worn during class hours.
* **Ranger Uniform**: Standard issue for Interstellar Force personnel, these durable yet flexible environmental bodysuits are designed with systems that regulate their wearer's body temperature, as indicated by small screens on their sleeves. Official Interstellar Rangers are indicated by two strips on the chest area of their suits.
* **Cellphone**: A personal mobile device carried by most civilians, complete with a camera, touchscreen and the ability to fold out into tablet size.
* **Computer Tablet**: A portable, interactive computer screen, complete with a stylus pen, that are used by students and staff for both classes and leisure. These tablets are installed with digital textbooks before being issued out.

### Weapons

* **Handle**: As a cadet, Arthur has access to a handle during training exercises and on field missions.

### Transportation

* **Shuttle**: An interplanetary craft able to make routine trips from Earth to Cosmos Academy and Interstellar Force Headquarters in space.

## Facilities

* **Interstellar Force Headquarters**: Arthur is currently stationed at Interstellar Force Headquarters.
	+ **Cosmos Academy**: Arthur's current residence is a dormitory at Cosmos Academy.

## Relationships

### Family

* Alex Stepanov - Brother, Classmate, Bully Victim and Perceived Rival

### Allies

* Hope Griffin - Classmate
* Jazz Owens - Classmate
* Amai Higashi - Classmate
* Maria Long - Classmate
* Sebastian Rojas - Classmate
* Jeff Williams - Classmate
* Chris Myrthil - Classmate
* Kayleen Huo - Classmate
* Itsuki Reo - Classmate
* Carmen Avilas - Classmate
* Professor Parth Strong - Teacher and Superior
* Doctor Dola Amber - Superior
* Professor Maya Kimball - Teacher and Superior
* Counselor Alam - Superior
* Director Principle - Superior
* Ranger Diskin - Superior
* Ambassador Jorge Avilas - School Ambassador and Superior
* General Reo - Superior
* Unnamed Security Officer - Superior