Ivan [Colored]

Full Name: Ivan [No middle or last name known]
Gender: Male
Species: Currently Unidentified (Same species as Midbus from Bowser's Inside Story)
Age: Undetermined
Height: 8'10"
Weight: 790 lbs
Physical Appearance: Very similar in looks to Midbus, being of the same species as he is, though he lacks the spines on his back, has had his horns broken into dull, flat edges, and is generally leaner in build. He's also very obviously colored quite differently, featuring dark gray skin with a lighter gray belly. He's also a little taller and has much more defined legs, as well as having some dark hair on his head and a little bit of stubble at the base of his lower jaw. Lastly, his tattoo is located on his chest rather than his shoulder, and it glows like a flame when he casts his fire magic.
Background: Long, long ago, far into the past of Mario's world, there was once a small kingdom composed entirely of a race of boar/armadillo-like creatures who lived on a small chain of islands covered in dense jungles. These beings were towering, hulking creatures of a very territorial and violent nature. Fighting and usually killing any settlers or traders who came their way, (which weren't many) they built up a ruthless army that was incredibly powerful despite their small numbers. One of the warriors of that army was Ivan.

Ivan enrolled in his nation's military at 9 years old, which was about the normal age of application. His mother and retired father had encouraged him to do so in order to fight for the pride and glory of their kingdom, and he was more than ecstatic to do so. Not only did he want to serve his nation, he wanted to set a good example for his 4 siblings, of whom he was the eldest. However, in recent years, many in the kingdom had discovered magic in their civilization isolated from all others, and steadily progressed in their advancement of black magic. It became a standard and required part of the soldiers' schedules to learn and practice this magic themselves. In order to teach them magic, each soldier was required to go through a branding ritual in which they were physically marked with the insignia of their kingdom using a mystical liquid that would allow them to channel magical power.

Due to their primitive knowledge of magic, they were limited to mere fire spells, though they were incredibly potent. Had anyone with a proper knowledge of magic seen their practices, they would have been more than just alarmed at where the new magic practicers were drawing their power from to create such powerful, fearsome flames: The Underwhere. Little by little, with each tiny casting of this great magic, the power-hungry nation ignorantly formed a rift that connected the world with the Underwhere. By drawing up the power from the horrific realm, said power was forced to break through the natural dimensional barrier between the two worlds in order to get from one to the other.

The fact that this was a problem was not made known until it was too late. Shortly after Ivan turned 14, many in the kingdom fell dead with seemingly no actual cause. Both of Ivan's parents were unfortunate victims. This forced Ivan to grow up very quickly so he could care for his younger siblings, which meant he had to retire from the army after just 5 years of service. As time went on, the sudden deaths continued, slowly growing more and more frequent. After just 3 more years, the nation's population had been nearly halved. Life had since grown more and more challenging, with the people panicking, trades dying off as those involved lost their lives so suddenly. Ivan struggled to take care of himself and his brothers and sisters, oftentimes sacrificing his own meals in order to keep his family sustained.

All the while, however, many continued to use their fire magic from day to day, using it for keeping warm, for heating food, and other mundane purposes. That is, until the rift between the world and the Underwhere finally expanded enough for something -- or someone to travel through it.

One late night, an icy chill overtook the set of islands, and a great, mighty entity known only as Bonechill arrived in the realm of the living. Using the rift to escape his sealed prison in the Underwhere, he was furious and determined to wreak as much havoc on the living world as he could, knowing that he only had so much time before Jaydes and Grambi would seal him away once more. With the islands that drew so much of the Underwhere's power right before him, he took aim and summoned a massive hoard of Ice Elemental Ghosts. The islands were in a panic beyond description. The chaos was so intense that Ivan even managed to become separated from his siblings. As the attack continued, Bonechill and the Ice Elementals combined their powers to slowly freeze over the entire kingdom in otherworldly ice that could never be melted.

In his final moments before being completely frozen, Ivan's focus was on finding his siblings. If they were all to die, he wanted to be there with them to share their last breaths together. He wanted to be there for them to the bitter end.

Unfortunately, he did not find them, and he as well as the whole region was frozen, potentially forever, before Bonechill was apprehended and resealed into the Underwhere. Unfortunately, Jaydes and Grambi could do nothing to save the frozen civilization, as Bonechill's curse could not be lifted with any sort of magic. And so the mighty nation was lost to time itself, frozen for what was likely thousands of years.

Cut to present day. Archaeologists recently discovered the small set of frozen islands and began to excavate it, finding many of the poor citizens who had been frozen. Two were removed from the site for studies as they were sent from lab to lab. After a while, it was decided that they would try to thaw one of the two specimens, though it didn't take long for them to realize that heat did not work. What did work, however...was blunt force. Simple pickaxes managed to break the ice and release the first specimen, who was thawed from there, which made widespread news. Strangely, that specimen...disappeared a few days later, before they could see if he was in fact alive or intelligent, and was never found afterwards.

However, they still had the second specimen, which they promptly repeated the cracking and thawing process on. This second specimen was Ivan.

Needless to say, he was very, very confused and upset. He was in a completely unfamiliar place, surrounded by strange beings he'd never seen before speaking a language he could not understand, and his family -- his people as a whole -- were nowhere to be found.

Ivan was studied at length, and he was simply too overwhelmed by the shock over everything to resist or offer any opposition. He didn't understand anything and he was frightfully alone. And being the big brother he was, naturally his biggest concern was the fate of his siblings.

As time went on, he was able to see that he was in no danger, and that the scientists who ran tests on him were fairly nice creatures. He began to pick up on the language slowly and get used to squeezing himself through the tiny halls and doorways that these strange people used. He also reflected on his memories of what had happened on the night that his home was lost to time. Day after day, he thought about it, and he couldn't stop.

One day, Ivan took a bold step, and attempted to communicate with the scientists who had him contained, using what little pieces of their language he had managed to learn. They were stunned by this development, as he had failed all communication tests when he first thawed.

From then on, he was treated less as an artifact and more as...well, a person. He was taught basic skills such as reading and writing, which of course meant his understanding of their language increased substantially. Of course the first thing he asked about was where he came from and where his brothers and sisters were, but he didn't understand the answers that came in the form of modern region names and "We don't know," respectively. Rather crushed by the realization that he may never see his family again, Ivan looked to his studies to try and keep himself from dwelling too much on what he had no power over. Ivan became fascinated by books, and found himself reading mostly about...magic. After a couple of years, with Ivan being about 19 years old in mind and body (Though technically far older as far as general time goes), he was accepted into society as just another person...who happened to be of a lost civilization, but never mind the details.

Ivan continued to advance in his reading and researching of magic, and after another year, he stumbled upon one book in particular which detailed a frighteningly familiar spell. It was there that he learned about the fire magic that he and his lost nation had casted so often, and the true nature of it. It then occurred to him how blinded he and his people had been by their lust for power, that they couldn't even see the connection between their overuse of that massively powerful magic and the catastrophe that struck them for the following years. He grew to hate his own people, as well as violence and fighting, associating it with the power-hungry nature of his home and the horrible fate that befell them for it.

Personality: A big brother to mostly everyone he meets. Very calm, gentle, and kind-hearted, like a giant teddy bear. He almost never raises his voice and angering him is not easy. Despite this, he is not a pushover by any means and will be firm in his stance on matters to the point where very little if anything at all will make him budge. As such, he's very close-minded on certain matters.

Due to only living in the present time period for a few years, he's still somewhat unfamiliar and even alien to many common customs and practices. Beyond that, he's not used to living in a world catered to beings who are so much smaller than himself, so he tends to be very clumsy, especially indoors.

It can be hard to tell when he's angry at first, because unless he's absolutely furious, he retains his composure just the same, remaining calm and speaking quite normally, merely with sharper words. He rarely resorts to violence and hates fighting unless it's absolutely necessary.
Abilities: Very high physical strength and durability. Can curl himself into a ball and charge himself at targets. Can also cast and absorb fire magic; He can magically ignite his body and then curl up to use his charging attack while on fire, which is his most devastating form of attack. He will not use magic unless it is absolutely necessary or he is otherwise too enraged or mentally unstable to restrict himself.
Weapon: None.
Armour: A single piece of armor on his right elbow and his left shoulder, as well as steel-soled boots. None of these really add much to his defenses, but they can deflect most projectiles that happen to hit them. I guess. Beyond that, he also wears a large sash which features several containment loops, a small pouch, and a decent-sized bag (Though rather small in comparison to him) for carrying items or tools.
Combat Proficiency: Very skilled in close combat. Generally close-ranged with the exception of his charging attack.
Magic: Can cast fire magic easily, however it's very concentrated and thus has very little area of effect. Can also ignite himself for his flaming charge attack. Again, he will not use magic unless he must or is not in his right mind.
Resistances: Immune to magical and natural sources of fire.
Weaknesses: Very seriously weak to magical and natural sources of ice and water. He cannot swim and his bulky build makes quick or sudden movements nearly impossible for him to make.