Josh Meliden ~ Ether Ninja

Basic Information

Name: Josh Meliden
Aliases: Elemental/Shadow/Gren
Current Title: Ether Ninja
Race: Human (Or so believed)
Apparent Age: 32
Actual Age: Unknown to all but his closest friends.
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 152 lbs
Eyes: Mako Blue
Hair: Shoulder length hair, straight, black
Skin: White
Date of Birth: October 29th
Place of Birth: Unknown
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Affiliation: Yggdrasil Crew
Rank/Job: Contradiction


Main Class: Ether Ninja (All Sub-classes)

Sub-Class: Elemental Wizard (Black Mage, Ninja, Geomancer)

Sub-Class: Ex-SOLDIER (Squire, Chemist, Knight, Archer)

Sub-Class: Pirate Flunky (Pirate, Monk, Chemist)

Mastered Classes: Squire, Chemist, Black Mage, Knight, Archer, Sniper, Monk, Ninja, Samurai, Thief, Pirate, Geomancer, Dark Knight, Paladin


Other Affiliations

Hinagi Village: Leader and Grandmaster

Past Affiliations

Shin-Ra Electric Power Company (Shin-Ra, Inc.): 2nd Class SOLDIER
Neo-AVALANCHE: Leader

Personal Information

Favorite Food: A nice big plate of rice and spicy hot curry with beef, potatoes, and carrots. But since he can't cook, just a nice bowl of ramen will usually do.
Favorite Drink: A citrus-y soda called Mountain Spew. And anything that can get him drunk.
Favorite Book: "What are those?"
Likes: Being around people, smoking, training, being around a certain woman.
Dislikes: Being lied to, being taken advantage of, authority figures, dumbasses.
Friends/Allies:Crim El Furaga, Ludwig von Einst, Cee, Dias Blade, Airou-Ta Gradeen (Airou)
Family: Hiro and Tah-Jen (both deceased), Vaughn Meliden
Rivals: Kaneda (deceased), Shin Fenrir (Fate Unknown), Koen Blackspeed, Cee
Enemies: U-TIC Organization, Warden (U-TIC), Shuzer (U-TIC), "Malphisto", "Tsalmaveth" (MERKAHBAH)

Title Information

Elemental Ninja: A master manipulator of the elements, he has yet to be surpassed in skill... [DEFAULT]
Unsurpassed Thief: He can steal something that's right in front of your eyes...
Walker of Shadows: A man who has been known to vanish into darkness.
Unmerciful Assassin: "He'd kill his own mother for the right price..." (COSTUME TITLE)
Walking Contradiction: "Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke."
"No Luck Chuck": He can never do anything right...


Soundtrack


Main Theme: "Cyan's Theme"

Main Theme (Upbeat): "I Am A Pirate!"

Main Theme (Prankster): Hee Hee Hee

Main Theme (Shadow Costume): Shadow

Main Theme (Yggdrasil): Bonds of Sea and Fire

Battle Theme: Desire For All That Is Lost

Battle Theme (Ether Coat): You are My Hope

Battle Theme (Boss): That Person's Name Is...?

Gren's Theme (Battle): Tension Rising


Elemental Attributes


Absorb: Any
Null: Fire, Ice, Water, Lightning, Earth, Wind
Strong: Light, Dark
Neutral: None
Weakness: None


Physical Description:

Shoulder length black hair, glowing blue eyes, wears a black sleeveless leotard over a plate of Neo-Titanium, with a katana on his left hip. Two gold bracers on his arms, with 4 linked materia slots each. Black pants, black shin high boots. Has a pouch on his right hip for his ninja tools.

Alternate Costume: Shadow Full black face mask with ornate forehead guard, connected to a black body suit. Sash of purple wrapped around his waist, with a Ninjato hidden under the sash's extra cloth in the back.

Personality Description:

Loves to be around people, very happy-go-lucky attitude. Enjoys smoking and drinking, usually trying to outdrink Crim at every opportunity (yet always failing). Usually speaks with an optimistic voice. Always able to find an escape when necessary, though he no longer runs from battle.

Skills, Powers, and Abilities:

Thief Weapons -  Josh is skilled in the use of small bladed weapons, such as daggers, knives and the like. He has begun to use them more since the destruction of his katana, and has actually increased his skills greatly.

”Work That Katana, Man!” - Josh is skilled in the katana that he wields, able to accurately take out arms, legs, pretty much any limb necessary to keep his opponent from attacking him. Unlike Gren, Josh has no problem killing those he feels deserve it.

Knight without a Cause - A weapon of knights, the longsword, was given to Josh. Despite having never used one before, the ninja showed great skill with the blade and has continued to self-train every chance he gets.

Physical Might - Strength, stamina and durability that far exceeds the norm. In Josh's case, it is the result of a combination of training and natural ability. His strength is such that he is capable of lifting in excess of 8 tons without straining himself. His stamina enables him to perform at peak levels of physical exertion for prolonged periods of time (up to twelve straight hours) before showing signs of fatigue. His body is durable to the point that he can withstand falls from great heights and severe blunt-force trauma (such as repeated blows from super-powered beings) with little to no discomfort.

Supernatural Senses - The ability to move faster than the speed of sound is usually not a good thing without the ability to see what's going on around you. Lucky for Josh, he has a few abilities to do just that. Bullet Time allows him to slow time down for himself and view things at a fraction of the speed, which is great for last second dodges and multiple fighters. Ether Sense allows him the ability to sense the presence of Ether in a nearby area, or much farther if he concentrates, and almost all beings are made of Ether to some extent. Lastly would be his own Danger Sense. Josh has always had the ability to sense not only negative feelings towards him, but possible physical danger as well. He never understood it til recently, but he has tapped into that as well to make himself nigh impossible to actually hit.

Psychotic Break - The ninja has had a hard time coping with his long life, and through it all has created numerous personalities that are completely different than the real Josh. They share his soul, and if something ever happens to the ninja's conciousness, one of them will take over and fight in his stead.

Power of the Cetra - A resident of Xenogaia, Josh is no stranger to the use of Materia. He uses all different types, and is never satisfied with just one set. He constantly changes his Materia set up, with a separate pocket specifically for Materia. He does have a common set up in his Bracer's, however, things are always set to change.


Bracers:


O=O O O O=O

Restore - Magic Materia. Mastered and allows Josh to give not only very high restoration, but also the ability for a regenerative effect that lasts for a short while. Linked with "All".

All - Support Materia. Allows the linked Magic Materia to be used on all allies or enemies.

Enemy Skill - Command Materia, allows certain enemy abilities to be learned and used.

Diablos - Summon Materia. Casts "Dark Messenger", a Gravity-based technique that scales with the enemies power.

Hades - Summon Materia. Casts "Black Cauldron", unleashes a fog upon enemies that confers multiple status effects. Linked to "Added Effect".

Added Effect - Support Materia. Imbues equipment with status effects.



Power of the Ether Ninja (7-9) - Josh's Ether is very complex compared to others with similar abilities. First off, he has access to the five elements of Fire, Ice, Lightning, Earth, and Wind. Second, when he creates an Ether Field around his body, each element gives a different physical change to the ninja in some form or another.







And lastly, his life is directly linked to his Ether. Due to the ritual that revived him, his body is immortal as long as the ninja doesn't use too much of his Ether at one time. When he's in full release mode, the shinobi will begin to corrode until his body is gone. Though he can fight on through the corrosion, when his body is gone, so is he. There is no revival as his soul has become pure Ether. So he usually does his best to watch the amount of Ether he uses during battle, and using the Ether Field's does nothing to his internal Ether stores.


Ninjutsu Abilities - Being a ninja, Josh knows a number of Ninjutsu and Genjutsu arts, using the Chinese Zodiac hand signs. When used in a specific combination, things that are normally impossible to do in this world are made reality, through the use of chakra (or Ether). Most jutsu's are rather simple to him and can be done with merely one sign, but the more complex jutsu's need the full combination for use. Has decided to only use the following three Jutsu’s, for all others aren't necessary due to his other abilities.  (* means mastered and can be used with one or no hand seals.)


Body Flicker Jutsu*

Body Flicker is known as the Teleportation Jutsu, though it's far from actual teleportation. More like high-speed movement, Josh can use his Ether to enhance his speed and appear as though he's arriving from nowhere.


Flying Raijin Jutsu*

The Flying Raijin Jutsu is a teleportation technique that uses markings known as Chakra (or Ether) Formulas that the user can then transport to instantaneously. Many applications for the technique in battle or just as a means of transportation, as he can use the marks to transport people and items as well.


Shadow Clone Jutsu*

Shadow Clone Jutsu is exactly that. The user multiplies himself into however many solid copies he can create based on the amount of chakra he is willing to use. The clones, however, are weak in that with one hit they vanish in a puff of smoke. Can be used either as a great offensive weapon or excellent decoy. This does mean that Josh had two different kinds of clones he can make.


Character Equipment:

Weapons

Element Murasame - Back before Josh first joined Shin-Ra Inc, he needed a weapon to use besides the daggers he carried with him, since they had a past he didn't want to bring up. So he went on a trip around the world, searching out the best materials he could to create a sword worthy of his ability. Using the innate abilities of Fire, Ice, and Lightning that he had due to the three gods within him, he enhanced the metal even more to make it practically indestructible. After the creation of the katana, Josh used it always, and ended up keeping the Ninjaku daggers as a keepsake, never using them again. The sword was broken after the battle with Pathfinder and is now only a keepsake. Six Linked materia slots

Sword of Dual Elements - A powerful longsword that was given to Josh by the Spirits Sola and Harra upon completion of their training with him. The sheath is engraved with ancient and unreadable runes and at the top a pair of gemstones which recharge the sword when sheathed. The sword itself is of normal length, though the blade is supernaturally sharp. The hilt is of a gold color, same as the sheath itself, and the handle is wrapped in a white leather. Through the use of the sword, Josh can cast Fire and Ice Ether Abilities/Spells with no charge time, which can allow for powerful element-based combo’s.

Twin Daggers of the Ninjaku - A pair of daggers that Josh acquired after the destruction of his home by Tah-Jen. If he were to use them in battle, it would increase his ninja abilities tenfold. After the destruction of the Element Murasame, Josh started to use them again and increased his skill in them greatly.

Shadow's Ninjato - A small, straight sword used by ninja. This particular sword is actually created by "Shadow" out of shadows that he manipulates, and is nigh indestructible. It is believed that Josh can not perform that same ability, and so the appearance of this blade means that the one in control may not be who you think. Unknown potential. *Storyline Only*

Ninja Tools - Josh has access to many ninja tools that he can make. Kunai, shuriken, smoke bombs...even healing salves. And each one is marked with his Ether Formula so he can teleport new ones to him if he runs out in battle.

Armor

Titan Armor - Extremely durable armor made by the Elemental Lord Titan. It has the ability to change it’s look based on the user’s desire, and is usually unknown from his normal clothing.

Bracers - Pair of bracers made of Neo-Titanium, worn on the wrists. Three Materia slots on each wrist, two connected.

Accessories

Ninja Tool Pouch - Pouch to hold Ninja Tools, and other items of necessity.

Flying Raijin Kunai - Special three-pronged kunai that is wrapped around the handle with a piece of paper that has Josh's Ether Formula marked on it. These kunai are what Josh normally uses for his Flying Raijin jutsu, and also for melee combat if necessary.

--------------------------------------------------

~Biography~



As time has gone on, Josh has found out that his origin story is not all it was originally cracked out to be. Though he knows not where he truly hails from, he was taken in by the shinobi of the clan after they assassinated the rest of his family. The reasoning behind it was, while odd, understandable in the context of things. The ninja elders, who had gone personally to oversee the assassination, saw the potential of Fire, Ice, and Lightning within the baby Wide-Eye. In truth, the potential for all elements, Holy and Darkness included, rested within the child. But only the spirits Sola, Harra, and Thor remained of the main Elemental Lords in the village, for the two that held Fenrir and Titan rebelled against the village and ran off years before Josh was born. And since Hades and Damiano, Dark and Light respectively, already had potential hosts, they knew he could be a worthwhile addition either way.



He was raised under the tutelage of the elders until the boy was old enough to undergo the Ritual of Binding, which was used to bind the spirits of the Elemental Lords, ancient ninja who gave up their bodies for extreme power, to a person for a fated duel that was meant to occur every eight or so decades. The ninja society of Hinagi followed this strict religion of insanity because they felt that perhaps one’s own personality of good would be enough to change the fate of the Elemental Lords later on down the line, so long as they could keep the worst one under check. Yeah, that didn’t really work out for them.



Josh grew up alongside Hiro and Tah-Jen, the two others who underwent the ritual. They really could have been considered best friends, if not brothers, for how they were around each other. A perfect fit, though Josh had shown to have his own demons to contend with during that time as well. But the problem with keeping a dark spirit locked up in a statue for a few dozen millennia is that he has time to rest and wait. His power had truly grown far superior to anything the Elders or even Ancients thought possible, and thus he took control of his host Tah-Jen and proceeded to slaughter each and every member of the clan. Except for Josh and Hiro, however; for Josh was on a mission at the time and Hiro was actually on his way back. Josh missed the entire fight, but Hiro and his spirit of Light duked it out with “Hades” who had taken over Tah-Jen to an extreme level.



Josh arrived at the end of the fight, with no sign of Hiro or Tah-Jen but all the signs of a struggle and massive battle. Gren Geraven, yet unnamed though a presence within Josh, took over at the sign of weakness the young ninja felt and destroyed the village in an elemental fury. The now homeless ninja would awaken to a smoldering crater and leave the western island of Xenogaia to wander the main continents for a place to belong. During his journey, he would find himself in numerous “anti-Shin-Ra” groups. They used him for him skill with a forge, but when he found out of their true intentions of innocent slaughter and destruction as the means to their “goals” months later, Josh immediately killed them one by one. He eventually found his way to Midgar and opened a forge in Wall Market, where he lived for a year. It was at this time he made many different weapons, but the most notable was the Elemental Murasame that he would come to wield for the rest of his natural life. He trained with most of them, made money by selling others…eventually, he made his way to the Shin-Ra Electric Power Company, where he became a 2nd Class SOLDIER.



There were plenty of jobs and missions for Josh to do, just like Hinagi. He never made it much farther than 2nd Class, but the ninja didn’t mind that at all. He was comfortable for a good while, until he went on a mission that revealed his two best friends lived. Hiro and Tah-Jen had remained in a quiet war with each other for a small while, but the war had begun to spill out into the rest of the world. Tah-Jen had been building up a group of shadow warriors to challenge Hiro and attempt to take over the world. Shin-Ra found out about the miniature and sent Josh with a small squad to eliminate the threat before anything could come of it. This would forever change Josh’s life as he alone survived to quell the threat the evil ninja would pose.



Time went on, and the ninja eventually found a family within the Company and felt accepted. Which was lucky, because he was only there a few years before the company was dissolved and Reno Cascade formed the original Yggdrasil Crew. Josh took this time to spread his wings, and gained new friends and allies along with reuniting with Hiro. They founded the group Neo-AVALANCHE and used Gongaga Village as their base of operations. Together, Josh and Hiro turned the dilapidated town into a ninja village that would continue to grow and thrive for years and years to come.



Neo-AVALANCHE had one goal: To destroy Hades, the evil spirit within Tah-Jen. He was a threat to the world as they knew it, and took on the name of the old anti-Shin-Ra organization for their means. They mainly did mercenary work, as well as numerous appearances in a tournament in the city of Verdelet. Anything they could do to earn the money they needed to grow and gain more power, as well as training to increase their strengths. Josh, Hiro, Jamesh, Airou, and Wesley were the main fighters in the group, but they did have a sixth member. Her name was Alice, and though she wasn’t a fighter, she was useful in other ways. She was the love of Josh’s life, and kept the darkness in his heart at bay. Though it would prove to come out again and again when she was away, anytime he battled while she was around Gren would remain in a stasis and Josh could fight with no qualms. They were wed and she eventually got pregnant and it was believed that they would live out the rest of their lives together.



Until the day came that Josh didn’t return to the base. The ninja was finally defeated by one known as “Good Reverend”, who worked for the Country of Solaris. The pair battled a long and hard battle, but Reverend would come out on top and would take Josh’s carcass to Solaris. The country originally planned to resurrect him themselves, but it was unnecessary as the darkness would come to take full control over Josh. During this time, Josh became the being known as Gren Geraven and was an uncontrollable ally of Solaris. Neo-AVALANCHE took the mantle of enemy once they recognized the face of the being that destroyed village and city after village and city. However, it would be Killiak, formerly of Shin-Ra, who would take out Gren and split the two apart. From this point, Gren would disappear for a few hundred millennia and Josh would be known as Josh Meliden as he was reunited with his wife and newborn child.



Not long after Josh’s return, Hiro would come to vanish and Josh would forget his original goal as he got older. Since his original death at the hands of Good Reverend, the ninja lost the spirits he held and they returned to their statues automatically. They searched for the statues in the ruins of Old Hinagi, but were unsuccessful and Hiro felt alone as Damiano continued to live within him. The pull of battle against Hades was too much for the spirit, and so he would go to search for the evil spirit alone. Airou also left the group, deciding instead to return to his home planet of Seirena and live out his life there. And so Josh was left to live in a state of perpetual peace for the rest of his life in the village of “New Hinagi”, the former Gongaga Village. He died as Grandmaster, though he passed the leadership role on in his old age. He left a prophecy, however, and his Elemental Murasame as keepsakes to the village.



A few thousand years pass, and the prophecy would come true. One would be born to the Meliden family who looked like an identical twin to the former Grandmaster, save for his hair and eye color; Vaughn Meliden. He went on his own adventures with the U-TIC Organization, having been recruited by Killiak himself, but would return to awaken Josh’s spirit from its slumber and thus fulfilling the prophecy. On the trip to Josh’s tomb, up high in the Gongaga Mountain, Vaughn came under attack by the rogue Elemental Lords of Old Hinagi Titan and Fenrir. In truth, it was a test for the young Meliden as they had lived in peace with their hosts for millennia. The duo was intrigued when they felt Vaughn’s energy as he began to climb the mountain. After he bested them, the pair said their final goodbye’s to their hosts and entered Vaughn’s body.



The trio made it up to the family catacombs, which had been dug out of the mountain, and travelled down to the first coffin that had ever been placed. An inscription had been carved into the wall that Vaughn read and understood what he had to do. He drew the Elemental Murasame and stabbed it into the slot that rested on the lid of the coffin. The energies from the blade awoke the ninja’s sleeping spirit and Josh told the younger Meliden of the goal he never got to complete: the battle against Tah-Jen and “Hades” that had never been completed. Vaughn and Josh came to an agreement and the former Grandmaster entered his descendant’s body alongside the two Elemental Lords.



Their first step was a search for Hiro and his Elemental Lord of Light, “Damiano”. “Hades” couldn’t be defeated without him, at the least. Unfortunately, Hiro wasn’t exactly in his right mind when they found him. “Damiano” had completely taken over and attacked the body once he felt the rogue spirits. However, after a hard-fought battle, they were finally able to subdue him and get him to see the truth of things…that they were all there to finish the battle once and for all. Hiro regained control of himself and “Damiano”, and the pair headed to New Hinagi to catch a flight to “Hades’” planet.



Being the engineering master he was, Vaughn had numerous ships and mecha that he had built just laying around. Josh chose a nice two-seater and the group was off to face the most insane, twisted, and evil person they had ever met. Josh and Hiro spent the trip catching up and remembering lost times, something that seemed like yesterday though it had been centuries since they had even seen each other. Once they reached “Planet Hell” (Hades was real unoriginal), the true test would begin as the group battled their way up to the throne room of the Dark Spirit’s Castle of Bones (again, unoriginal). Once there, Josh found his three original spirits held captive by Hades. The Spirit had disfigured and mangled Tah-Jen’s body to the point it was hardly recognizable, but that only helped to enrage Josh and Hiro even more. They fought harder than they had ever fought before, and in the end succeeded in defeating and sealing the Elemental Spirit of Darkness in his statue. Along with that, the other 6 Elemental Spirits places their own Seal upon the statue to ensure he would never again awaken.



Tah-Jen’s body would be moved from the castle to the ruins of Old Hinagi, where he would be laid to finally rest after so long. Josh and Hiro said their final goodbyes there as well, with the white ninja ready to finally lay down and rest. Vaughn and Josh, however, weren’t done yet. The Elemental Spirits of Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind, and Earth all rested within the body of Vaughn now and so the group decided to travel the world and train people all over. The village of New Hinagi was well taken care of, after all, and there was no need for all the confusion. They took on the moniker of “Elemental” during their travels, and it was in this time they found the Yggdrasil Space Pirate Crew, led by one Crim El Furaga. Due to the familiarity Crim felt when confronted by Elemental, they were allowed to join the Crew and went through many journeys with the pirates.



One such journey brought the being of Gren Geraven back into Josh’s life. The darkness that the man had all but forgotten was still alive and well after all that time. Though scared, Vaughn could sense a purity and innocence within the man, and so they decided to bring him on board the Ygg while he was unconscious from a bout with Killiak. Time went on and the Crew would find themselves in the midst of a time-traveling fiasco while helping Tartarus Heavy Industries’ Demetrio Maxwell with a problem he had. This would drop the pirate crew right in the middle of Vestusio’s Machine War’s era and would also prove to be the best thing to happen to “Elemental” since the name was taken. There, they would find a ritual to give the spirits their own bodies again, and thus, be able to fully revive Josh along with the other five spirits.



Once they returned to the present time, Elemental immediately left to perform the ritual and pulled it off without a hitch. Four of the five spirits thanked the pair of Josh and Vaughn, and then proceeded to travel to their own planets to live out the rest of their lives. The fifth one, Fenrir, had actually grown fond of Vaughn and decided to stay with him. And so Vaughn would return to the Ygg to help Doc Shirokawa as well as continue the training of Gren, while Josh would leave and search out the Elemental Spirits to train with them and regain his power from scratch.



Josh would find three of the four, as Fenrir had already told him he wouldn’t train him until he had trained with the others, and learned a lot from them. But then the worse thing ever for Josh would come to pass. He would lose all contact with Crim, the Yggdrasil…and Vaughn. The ninja would spend the next few months in frenzy, going from place to place in search of the Crew or at the very least, Vaughn. He would also have numerous confrontations with a very evil demon that had taken over Gren’s body, as well as a few side stories that aren’t important in the context of things. But eventually, he got a call on his yPhone: a call for all Crew Members to report to the ship. Thus came the War on Vestusio, and many surprises to come.