🎬 Bálint Csikos Intro
Character Info
(Art by my sister and @melikedraw respectively)
MISC. INFO
(Stuff I didn’t put on the pic)
HEIGHT: 172 cm (5’8 in.)
NAMEDAY: February 14
NICKNAMES: Bal, Honeylocks, Nutcracker
PERSONALITY
Balint is an incredibly cheerful person; it takes a lot to get him down. He really dances through life and often doesn't think before he speaks. This gets him into troublesome situations, but he's usually able to dumbass his way out of them. Even when boxing, Balint's cheerful disposition never leaves him, which often makes him come off as cocky to his opponents, when he's really more pumped up than anything else. He's very loud and isn't afraid to say what's on his mind, to the point where he might be too honest sometimes.
BACKGROUND
Balint was born and raised in communist Hungary with an average family. His mom was a nurse, his father worked in construction, and his sister was insanely serious about her education (she currently studies business at a university in Vienna). Balint himself didn't care much for school and passed most of his classes with Cs and Bs. He was much more concerned with his extracurricular activities, that being ballet.
His journey to becoming a professional boxer actually started with ballet. Balint got into ballet near the end of his primary/elementary school years when there was a club fair during his class. He was instantly enamored by the way the dancers moved and flowed to the rhythm and decided from that point on, that was what he wanted to devote his life to. His parents were supportive and signed him up for ballet and he spent most of his days dancing and training.
His main dance partner, and childhood best friend, Cecília, was the complete opposite of him. She was shy where he was loud, she was pessimistic where he was endlessly optimistic, but they brought out the best in each other when they danced. The two of them made it their mission to win gold at the national level and practiced nonstop (even competing in smaller local-level competitions and winning).
In their first year of highschool, their moment came. They were competing at nationals and their routine was going perfectly, that was until Balint messed up the catch on Cecília's last jump. She ended up getting badly injured and had to quit ballet. Balint quit shortly after as well, losing all his passion for the sport (he never quite forgave himself for the failure).
After that, Balint really just went throught the motions, with nothing to devote his time to he spent his days hanging out with Cecília and his other friends, though he felt like something was missing. One day he was looking through his dad's old stuff, when he saw an old newspaper about László Papp, a three-time Olympic gold winning boxing champ from Hungary (and the world champ who never was). It was the most interesting thing he had seen in a while and he wanted to learn more. Soon, he found himself renting VHS tapes of as many boxing matches as he could find.
He had finally found a new passion in boxing, a sport where an injury didn't instantly mean failure.
After incessant whining and begging, Balint got his parents to (reluctantly) sign him up for amateur boxing. With his idol, László Papp, and the world in mind, Balint hoped to become a professional one day, even if he had to move out of Hungary to do it (pro boxing was banned in Hungary at the time). Luckily for Balint, the ban was lifted in 1989, at the very end of his last year of highschool.
He trained hard to earn his pro-license and finally debuted with a bit of a rocky start. He won his first match by decision, but that didn't deter Balint at all, not when he has such a big dream in his hands; to win Hungary its first world title in the pro-world.
The other guys at Balint's gym don't really like him, his cheerful personality and his easygoing nature when he boxes makes a lot of them think he doesn't take the sport seriously. Balint tried not to let it get to him, but when the other boxers were arguing over who would spar with him not because of his strength, but because they didn't really like him, it was starting to get him down.
When Balint's coach offered to let him train in the US with a friend of a friend (Miguel), there was no hesitation in his decision to accept. He now currently trains with Volg at his gym in New York under a five-year contract.
RELATIONSHIPS
Parents: They are somewhat disapproving of his choice to make boxing his career, but love him nonetheless. They know they couldn't stop Balint either way. He has a great relationship with his parents.
Viktória: Balint's sister. The two of them don't get along very well (but they still love each other). She's probably the only one who can get on Balint's nerves and she finds great joy in pissing him off.
Cecília: His childhood best friend. Even months apart are not enough to estrange the two of them. A year apart and the two of them would pick up exactly where they left off. They call each other all the time and do their best to keep in touch. (Balint still has lingering guilt over ending her ballet career).
......
Volg: They get along for the most part, except for when Balint and Wally team up to mess with him. Balint has been keeping track of all his losses to Volg in their spars (he's made it his mini-mission to beat him at least once). His losses are at eleven as of now.
Wally: With Wally retired and not ready to go back to Indonesia yet, he has become a somewhat "coach" around the gym. He helps out with Balint's training often. Balint often takes Wally to sneak into New York University's campus to listen in on lectures about environmental science.
Miguel Zale: Miguel was going to retire after his "Last Sun" lost, but a call from a friend left him with a new boxer. Perhaps he'll have a chance at the world again? Balint respects Miguel a lot and does his best to meet his expectations. Their dream is the same after all.
Dankichi Hama: Hama's serious nature does not deter Balint in the slightest from trying to make the old man smile. Balint swore up and down to Volg that he made Hama smile one time, but nobody believes him.
.......
Alfredo: Balint considers them great friends (I'm not sure Alf would say the same). Balint has a lot of fun (unintentionally) pissing Alf off and he finds his reactions hilarious. Balint is slowly, but surely growing on Alf. They keep in touch after he leaves Mexico.
José: Yapper x listener. Balint will go on and on and on about a million things and José lowkey just nods along. They get along fine for the most part and Balint considers him a friend.
Lisa: Ended up patching him up a lot during his stay in Mexico. He thinks Lisa is the sweetest and appreciated her taking care of him after being knocked out more than once by her boyfriend.
Ricardo: Admires him a lot and will treasure his signed shirt with his life. He is still sad about not getting the chance to spar with him when he was in Mexico. He hopes there will be another chance in the future.
TRIVIA
He plays accordion
He's a quiet drunk (it’s probably the only time you can get him to shut up)
Bal's the type of guy to easily cry over movies
His earring is from Cecília, it was meant to be a present for after they won nationals, but she gave it to him even after they lost anyways
He's afraid of spiders
He loves classical music (but this is mostly because he had to dance to so much of it when he was doing ballet)
