Revision as of 22:49, 26 February 2013

Profile

Reno is a member of the ShinRa Company’s Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department, commonly known as ‘The Turks’. Upon seeing his horrendously unprofessional mannerisms, slovenly adherence to the dress code, and general attitude problem, one might be tempted to think that he is just a punk-ass. But he isn’t just a punk-ass, he’s a punk-ass that is second in command (after Tseng) of a highly trained elite espionage and black-ops group, so he obviously has the skills to compensate. He is rarely seen without his untucked black, dark-grey, or dark-blue suit, goggles on his forehead (which do nothing), his ever-stealable Touph Ring, and a collapsible metal baton capable of giving a stunning shock. He is a perplexing blend of paradoxes: lazy and dedicated, silly and clandestine, conspicuous and sneaky, frustrating and fun. He knows when to call it quits, when to never start at all, and when it’s just time to kick some ass. Then again, he occasionally drops the ball and just plain screws things up for everybody.

Character History:

Shinra Employee Data Files: Department of Public Safety: General Affairs Department: Investigation Sector: Reno

DATA CLASSIFIED

Password:*************

Password Approved, Welcome President Shinra

Reno grew up as a street urchin in Midgar. Little information is available about his home or family life, but he is assumed to be an orphan or runaway. On numerous times, Reno has declined to comment on his childhood prior to joining up with ShinRa Electric Power Company, and since joining, his public records have been officially ‘completely’ erased right down to his name, as is typical for members of the clandestine Turks.

However, Reno does leave a few clues to his past. He speaks in the drawling, slangy dialect of someone who grew up in Midgar’s worst slums, and his baseline experience in stealth, dissembling, and melee skills with a metal cudgel indicate that he had little to no adult supervision growing up, and had to fend for himself more often than not. Psychological profiling indicates that his rebellious attitude and occasional vindictive streak uphold this theory and possibly hint that he may have chosen this lifestyle by becoming a runaway from some despised parental figure at some point. Furthermore, he seems drawn to the inherent freedom that comes with helicopter and other air-vehicle piloting, as well as the impunity from law that comes with being a member of the Turks.

His existence first noted by the company when he attempted to break into a ShinRa facility in order to steal one of ShinRa’s experimental vehicles and was found out by Turk leader Veld (A.K.A Verdot). Reno had already hopped the fence, shorted out one closed security system and fought his way to the door to the cockpit before he was apprehended and given the choice to put his sly talents to ‘good’ use, or feel the full brunt of ShinRa justice. Reno chose the wiser option, and was enthusiastically thankful for being given a second chance.

This incident would later repeat itself when he caught a red-haired Midgar City gang leader in much the same way, allowing the boy an opportunity to join the Turks as well. At first, however, Reno had a difficult time under the Perfectionist leader Veld, but his superior skills in piloting, spying, fighting, and capture gave him an unusually high mission success rate for a rookie Turk, and made up for his otherwise rebellious attitude.

In missions, He trained under Tseng, Verdot, and briefly with other turks, but was most successful when teamed with another Turk Rookie code-named Rude. Their personality and skills played off each other wonderfully. Reno’s electric personality was grounded by Rude’s cool professionalism, and the two formed a friendship that extended beyond the work hours. Gradually, Rude helped Reno learn what it was to be proud to be a Turk, to work as a team, and to care for one’s comrades and the goals of the mission. Reno, in turn, taught Rude how to ease out of his stiff antisocial shell, to take enjoyment out of the smaller things in life, where to find a good deal on those cool sunglasses he likes, and exactly how much he can drink in an evening before getting violently ill. Reno looks out for rude with his streetwise wits, which is good because the big man seems to have a tendency to fall for attractive young female AVALANCHE members. He is rarely seen without his partner Rude, and they have a connection that goes beyond the nakama of The Turks in general. Either man is dangerous alone, but together they're almost twice as dangerous.

But then, Reno’s life changed. Near the end of the ill-fated “Wutai War”, Wutai’s inevitable defeat was seemingly thrown out the window by the sudden and unexpected presence of an army of pitch-black yellow-eyed creatures, known as ‘heartless’. With the inconveniently timed desertion of a great number of SOLDIER’s ranks due to Genesis Rhapsodis, ShinRa was unable to secure the stubborn nation, and the very world itself was plunged into darkness.

The chaotic time immediately thereafter was a great period of turmoil and dismay for the people under the care and protection of ShinRa Electric Power Company. Contact with cities and towns were lost one by one as the world began to break apart, and not all of ShinRa’s executive staff managed to relocate to Midgar or Junon in time. Reno spent more than his share of time trying to helicopter-evacuate important ShinRa personnel at the last possible minute out of crumbling towns swarming with heartless… and didn’t succeed at every mission, either. And trying to subdue the frightened and rioting population after 95% of the map just up and vanished to be replaced by the broken fragments of other worlds was not a fun-filled mission for Reno either.

Yet through it all, even his superiors came to rely on Reno’s (occasionally forced) lighthearted sardonic attitude to keep from falling under the weight of despair. And yet, slowly things returned to business as almost-usual in Midgar and Junon. ShinRa received more support from ever from the population now that it had proven itself to be the force of goodness against the hoard of darkness. Besides, there were whole new worlds out there just waiting to be prospected and procured by ShinRa, and it was up to the Turks to do just that! And hey, apparently Costa del Sol apparently survived, so beach vacation afterwards!

Personality

Reno's personality type is barely within the acceptable limits of his chosen profession. Despite… well, despite everything about him he is quite competent when he wants to be. Because of his high loyalty to ShinRa and his fellow Turks if he thinks it is in the company’s best interest he will follow any orders without a thought. He was highly influential in assisting the Turks with the Terrorist attacks by AVALANCHE, but is slightly bitter about how many of the new recruits were forced to leave the agency, some of whom he had recommended and trained himself.

To take one look at him, one might think that Reno was a punk-ass. And one would be right. However, Reno is also a high-ranking member of the ShinRa internal enforcement and black operations division, The Turks. While he (almost) dresses the part, his deceptively easygoing style can often make people underestimate him. A fierce combatant, he uses little more then a baton and slums bred toughness to overcome his opponents. But despite that, he has an active mouth that is rather fond of writing checks his fists can't cash. He is dedicated to getting the job done and upholding the pride of the Turks, but sometimes his laziness (or other factors) can cause creative interpretations of the mission events and goals.

Even though he was still a cocky, cynical, lazy, unkempt, rebellious smart-ass, Reno had also become fiercely loyal to the Turks that brought him in and saved him from a rough meaningless life, and worked hard (when necessary) to achieve ShinRa’s goals. Even though Reno seldom risks his own neck for a mission, and claims fervently that "A pro isn't someone who sacrifices himself for his job. That's just a fool." , when the chips are down you can count on him throwing everything into a mission, such as when he single-handedly took on the powerful AVALANCHE leader Shears in single combat (later to be rescued by Rude).

Reno doesn’t think or care much for the scope of the world beyond the the Turks’ and ShinRa’s interests. He views the destruction of the Company’s enemies as “just business” and seldom holds personal grudges. Even though his streets-bred temper makes him quick to get offended at personal remarks against him, he is just as quick to forgive and forget. Reno doesn’t pay much attention to racial differences instead opting to treat people as individuals on their own merits, although he does have a vague sense that human predominance in the world is evidence for human superiority. The falling of his world to darkness was something that Reno took in considerably good stride, especially since everywhere and everyone that was important to him seems to have survived. He fully credits ShinRa with the survival of what remains, and feels that it’s up to the company to fight back against the darkness, and thus it’s up to the Turks to make sure they win by any means necessary.

When the demands of his profession allow him free time (which seems to happen to him more so than other Turks due to Reno’s skill of knowing exactly which corners to cut), Reno enjoys going to rough bars, partying, listening to Rebellious youthful music, racing helicopters and other fast vehicles, and the occasional womanizing. These activities are permitted by his superiors as an excuse to keep tabs on Wutai, heartless or Avalanche sympathizers and the seedier elements of society and to keep him from deciding to ‘creatively re-interprate’ mission objectives for petty revenge.

Abilities

Reno has many skills that place him above his fellow Turks. He is implacably cool under pressure. He is a helicopter pilot of the highest skill. In magic, he is proficient with materia use, specializing in lightning-based ‘bolt’ spells, and also utilizes a special technique called ‘Pyramid’, which encloses one opponent in a translucent yellow triangular ...sided shape thingie… which holds the opponent in permanent stasis until it is physically broken from the outside. In a fight, Reno excels at a quick-striking melee style that surprises opponents with unexpected swipes of his weapon mixed in with feints, kicks, and punches all while keeping ever mobile so as not to be pinned down by an opponent. At ranged combat, Reno shows basic firearm proficiency (he has ever so rarely shown himself proficient with a sniper rifle), but really either prefers to brawl it out up close, zap them with magic, or just blast them to the promised land from the cockpit of a fully-armed assault helicopter. Out of combat, Reno is skilled at gossiping information gathering, sprinting, acrobatics, and diverting paper work and/or blame to subordinates.

Gallery

Logs

Cutscenes