Appearance:
Enrique has a fairly athletic, even muscular build, enjoying sports and sometimes going to the gym with friends. This puts his slightly tan self at 173 lbs while standing at 5'11". When it comes to his apparel, he often tends to switch outfits on a whim. The one he seems to have worn most often, though, is a short-sleeved dark blue shirt that looks like it belongs on a peasant and some simple light-brown pants. One item that he will tend to wear consistently is his blue and white jacket. In combat he will don a set of simple leather armor and a steel buckler. His weapon is a light stiletto which he is often tossing into the air and catching out of habit.
Since most of his stuff looks pretty cheap, his extravagant-looking jewelry is especially eye-catching. A dedicated craftsman (to the point that he abstains in buying new armor and weapons and sometimes even sells quest rewards in order to afford crafting materials), Enrique enjoys showing off what he jokingly refers to as his "bling". This consists of a pair of blue topaz earrings, a pair of silver rings, one with an embedded turquoise stone and the other with aquamarine, a silver necklace with a rhinestone-studded cross, and a pair of brass bracelets that while jewel-less are still quite shiny. While the bracelets are nothing special, all his other jewelry grants him small stat bonuses. Only his right ring, the aquamarine one, offers any particularly special effect, reducing Sword Art cooldown time by 5%.
Personality:
Enrique is a fairly simple person. If asked something he will give a straight, honest answer every time. He doesn't see the point in him hiding anything because he figures that he has nothing worth hiding, hence his in game name. His attitude towards a lot of things is very laid back, usually preferring to "go with the flow," as some would put it. The idea that you shouldn't make a big deal out of everything that doesn't sit well with you was one of the many nuggets of wisdom given to him by his older brother whom he respects greatly. In fact, most of his beliefs and ideas are actually adopted from his siblings.
This attitude doesn't mean that he won't put effort into the things he does. If he has to do something he'll still do it to the best of his ability, he just won't make a scene about not wanting to do it. Although when he does feel passionate about something he sometimes can't help but make a big deal of it, being caught up in the moment. However, he does consider playing video games to actually be more of a casual hobby.
Most of the time, Enrique is cheerful and fun-loving, always trying to stir up a good conversation or joke around. Ever since he began (for all intents and purposes) living alone, Enrique has begun to rely more on friends to keep his spirits high, sometimes a little too much. While he does his best to just shrug off feelings of negativity, he still isn't quite comfortable with being alone for extended periods of time. Naturally this causes a problem in the sort of world where death is significantly more common, but usually his desire for accompaniment actually exceeds the grief over the loss of a friend and he moves on to other people to befriend. This habit calls into question how "true" his friendships actually are.
History:
Born and raised in an unremarkable suburb in Virginia, Enrique has lived a peaceful and equally unremarkable existence. Born from a single mother who was forced to work both day and night, Enrique was pretty much raised by his older brother and older sister. His father had apparently deserted them just after Enrique was born because of various financial and marital problems, but since Enrique was to young to know having a father his absence really didn't bother him as much as it did his siblings.
In his youth, Enrique's life was quite simple. He would go to school, perform averagely and talk with friends, go home, and play either a sport or a video game with either his friends or his siblings. The only real deviation to this everyday sequence was watching TV or a movie, again with his siblings. As time passed, his brother and sister grew older, spending progressively less time with him. Some of his original childhood friends stayed while others left, new friends replacing them. Which is to say, his life went on normally.
Eventually both of Enrique's siblings moved out, leaving him to spend his time at home alone most of the time. He got a job at a fast food restaurant and used the money he earned there to go out more, finding the environment inside the empty house lonely and even depressing. More of his time was spent with his friends who likewise had their own sources of income for the most part. They would go to restaurants or to the movies, and when one group of his friends was busy he went to other friends.
School, work, and friends became the new routine for his life, one that would continue until one fateful day. A week prior he had entered himself into a contest hosted by a local mall to win a brand new NerveGear and much to his surprise (because he was under the impression that nobody actually won those sorts of things) he won! Having heard good things, he saved up to by Sword Art Online when it came out and he instantly judged it to be the coolest thing ever.
Then Kayaba announced that SAO was a death game. Initially, Enrique had the expected reaction of horror and shock, but he quickly began to doubt the truth in it all. "Trapped in a video game? That can't be real, it sounds like it was pulled straight out of an anime or something!" he would say. However, as the first month went on, he began to realize that it was in fact real. Fortunately, by then he'd gotten used to the game and was more easily able to cope with the situation. While deep down he still hopes that none of it is real, he understands that he's going to be here a long time. Thus, Enrique has resigned himself to the fate afforded by SAO and has decided to try and just have fun with it.
Skills:
- Crafting
- Searching
- Emergency Recovery
- One-Handed Dagger
Sword Arts:
- Sting: Enrique pulls his dagger back and it glows yellow for a moment before his hand quickly shoots forward. The blade stabs the opponent once and pulls back at a speed almost invisible to the eye. This Art does low damage and in turn has a very low cooldown period.
- Shuffle: Enrique tosses his dagger up a short distance and catches it in which time it glows bright green. Afterwards, he gains the ability to instantly switch the position of the items in each hand to the other hand and back again for 30 seconds. Is often used alongside Sting to confuse opponents.
<<Link Start>>