Raoul Hunter

The Hound

> "*C'est okay, je ne vais pas te faire de mal. Je ne suis pas un loup.*"
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**Raoul Hunter** is a French Canid Synth who joins the Rogues in Stormbite after the Hunter Unit he is on is killed by the Rogues and he is taken in by them. He proves to be a very useful member as he quickly becomes Beth's trainee and the only member of the Rogues with any medical knowledge.

## Appearance

Raoul is described as being tall and very lanky, but not as muscular as most other Canids.

He has tanned-gold skin and fern green eyes whilst his hair is a sandy cream-grey as is the fur along his arms. Despite being only seven chronologically, he appears older, as Wilny Mira states, he looks older than he is and appears more human and refined than older versions of other canids.

#### **Synth Features**

Like all canids, he has a tail, his being slightly curled and reminiscent more of a Spitz breed of dog, with cream-grey fur which runs up his spine and neck and across his arms and legs. He has slightly triangular ears, not as mobile as Katana Tsume's are, but still able to twitch and move. He also has thick claws on his fingers and toes.

## Personality

Initially nervous, Raoul is a highly intelligent young Canid who has shown repeatedly that he is a sponge for knowledge and has a very sweet and emotional nature. He is highly empathetic and willing to listen to people talk and has a deep innate desire to help those who are hurting. When he is upset, he will scowl and bring up the issues he has with the situation, although usually if he is comfortable with the person he will be direct with them rather than polite.

Raoul develops his confidence throughout Silverbird, and when at all possible tries his best to be involved and help.

## History

### Early Life

Raoul was raised with his batch of Canid brothers, from the Haut Baravon Bunker in the Ardeche Gorge, a region of Southern France. His apparent original purpose was to be raised as a Crisis Response and Aid unit. This gave him medical knowledge.

*Arkhangesk, Russia*

It was here Raoul and his brothers were moved to a Hunter Unit and here where he became the lone survivor when they were pitted against a batch of CY-NX preternaturals that they were to train against.

It's not entirely clear as to what happened for things to be set on fire, however, it is clear that something went very wrong and Raoul only survived because he refused/was too afraid to fight the CY-NX batch and so was left relatively unharmed whilst his brothers were slaughtered. It's not known how recent this was but Raoul is very reluctant to discuss it, only bringing it up when Wilny is discussing with the Rogues about his team.

After this trauma, Raoul is pushed forward into a Hunter Unit and set on a mission to track down an 'escaped Risio tribrid' in London with a group of other Canids.

#### Joining the Rogues

Tracking Kat down lead the tracker team to Storm Fraser-Swann and the Rogues, where again his reluctance saved him from being attacked, however, he was still knocked down and knocked unconscious by Storm who was aware that he had no part in the assault that the big Grey Wolf canid had carried out upon Comet Sang.

## Abilities

#### **Senses**

Raoul has been made use of as a tracker, with his base being used for finding scents, seemingly more efficiently than most other canid bases.

#### **Memory**

Raoul has proven to have a very good memory, able to memorise new information very quickly and recall information just as easily. This has allowed him to learn seven languages, and memorise different biologies of different synths. This also means he remembers things in different languages.

#### **Multilingual**

Raoul knows French (his primary language), English, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, and a little bit of standard Arabic.

#### **Medic**

Prior to being transferred into a Hunter Unit, Raoul apparently trained in Crisis Aid Response and has some medical knowledge, enough to stop Amell from applying different medical patches to Wilny in the wrong order.

## Relationships

### The Rogues

* **Wilny Mira**

Initially, Wilny is very hostile towards Raoul, however as Raoul quickly proves himself to be useful and dependable, leaping in to help save him during their encounter with Kathy and Teal, Wilny changes his mind and defends him when they return to the Rioteer Headquarters.

After this Wilny treats Raoul like a younger brother and helps to reassure him and supports him throughout the book.

* **Storm Fraser-Swann**

Raoul is highly respectful of Storm's authority in the begining of joining the Rogues, trying to remain professional when around her since he sees her as his handler, however as time goes on and it gets to the Ship heist, he's more relaxed and able to talk to her about how he wants to help and feels excluded from helping since he is not an Avio.

* **Malana Été**

As both Synths speak French, they rely on each other to communicate, with Malana going to Raoul first if she is unsure on something. Raoul is happy to take care of her and teach her.

* **Beth Lovelace**

After their initial meeting, Raoul was very nervous of Beth and her aggressive nature, however he is very quick to get along with her and as he is a fast learner, Beth is more than happy to teach him the things that she knows. Raoul is also very good at telling when Beth is lying or being evasive.

* **Katana Tsume**

Kat is the quickest to warm up to Raoul. Within a few hours of knowing him, she tells him about her past and quickly defends him when Wilny begings to act hostile and suspicious of him. She is also highly comfortable with being in physical contact with him, letting him sit with her and holding him.

* **Amell Rakena**

Raoul is initially hostile towards Amell due to the events that happened in the start of Stormbite, and he continues to be mildly wary of him, but trusts the others judgements and acts polite with Amell.

### Others

* **Comet Sang**

Although Comet is initially wary of Raoul for being a Canid, the two develop a good working relationship in Silverbird, cooperating with one another over medical issues.

## Quotes

* *"RAOUUU"*
* *"I want to help."*

## Trivia

* Storm named him after the puppy howl he made when she hit him with her wing.
	+ His name also does mean 'Wise and Strong', and by some definitions, 'Wolf Counsel'.
* His batch have the ID of "NorskElghund" which Raoul reveals as being an Norwegian Elkhound, which are sturdy hunter/tracker guardian dogs "known for its courage in tracking and hunting moose (or elk) and other large game, such as bears or wolves"
* Before rescuing Palmer, Raoul was the only Canid in the Rogues, but not the first Canid to have been there.
* Raoul is very good with languages, but often needs context to understand new words such as 'Flummoxed' as a lot of his vocabulary only comes from what he's learnt and heard before.
* In the first edition, Raoul is 13, however in the latest 2021 edition, he is now 7, because of this the preternaturals Raoul faced that destroyed his batch was changed from VE-RA to CY-NX preternaturals.

## References

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian\_Elkhound

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