So, I never said anything prior about doing character posts so soon! Ah well. (Light spoilers for plot points for the first 2 Acts: a lot of posts will have these, but I plan to not reveal much details)
Here's the first member of Team Strike: Trace the Wolf-Jackal! Around Silver's age (16/17 in the first Saga) and introduced as one of several assassins from Ruby City, circumstances led to him befriending his target instead: this would inevitably lead to Trace questioning the aims of those he looked up to as everything he'd done is called into question.
He has special vision powers which manifested at a young age: activating them allow him to see people hidden either by objects or powers, and focusing lets him see targets' prior positions. This can be boosted by Chaos Energy, letting him see slightly into a person's future actions.
When this was found out, his parents (high ranking members of Ruby City, answering only to the leader herself) decided to put him through rigorous training to put his powers to 'good' use. As such he was trained in weapons (primarily Swords and Daggers) and martial arts, as well as skills in stealth, infiltration and tracking. His mother also had him learn tracking skills.
His mother also forced him to get cybernetics once he failed to deal with Silver one too many times (even if he was arguably doing it on purpose), as well as having him fit into an experimental suit of armor to fight Silver in a final battle. While the armor got destroyed the underlayer of gloves and boots survived, which Trace kept (especially with the boots' rocket jets on the soles). Cybernetics in this future are based upon Hyper-Go-On energy (HGO), and tend to have secondary attributes of the HGO type. In this instance, while the cybernetics were mainly made to silence movements as well as connect to the prototype armor, the Red HGO lets them warm up. The armor used this to its advantage, boosting this warming effect so that it could be charged into blazing attacks - it can also be used to power the Burst Wispon Blade that Trace also kept.
Now, Trace's father was (and still is) an Extreme Gear racer, and Trace like his younger sister learnt the skills required to use them. In comes his personal Extreme Gear, Falconer. Due to its 2-way symmetrical design, either side can be used to stand on - but its main power is being able to split into pieces. This is mainly utilised in two ways: becoming a pair of wings, or becoming a shield.
[Trace has a lot of skills! Most of the Sonic cast could probably still beat him as he is around Act 3.]
Trace has a strong sense of loyalty - it took his view on his mother to be utterly shattered (among other factors) that led him to defect, and even then he still regrets leaving his sister behind. His justice however is only moderately strong: while there are lines he absolutely won't cross, and certainly prioritises protecting people, he is for instance not above lying to others if he believes the outcome justifies it. Despite swearing off killing, his love for a fight has only grown stronger, and he is certainly willing to keep a misunderstanding going if it means fighting a strong ally unless it is that serious a matter.
He certainly has his problems: while he still keeps up a cool and cocky manner, he is shaken by the realisation he has probably killed well meaning people and was planning to kill Silver, as well as by realizing just how sheltered and caged his life was beforehand. He also gets conscious of his cybernetics, covering up his back ones often and having moments where the others just feel...different.
Clothing is a passion of his: this dude loves being fashionable! He'll wear whatever he feels like, and has a whole bag filled with various articles of clothing. While he primarily presents as male, he still enjoys wearing feminine clothing and also responds well to any pronouns used for her. His other passion is for blades: he could go on and on about all the different types of two-handed swords or about different polearms if he wants to!
One last major note of his character, which is in regards to his relationship with Silver: while he certainly grew to respect the hedgehog and believe him to be a friend, after being rescued from Ruby City the poor Wolf-Jackal has fallen head over heels for the time-traveller.
(Also look, its Gold Tenrec from my profile picture!)
