fortheprincess | app for crosscheck

♚ OOC
Name: Coco
Age: Over 16
Contact:

amplitude
Character In-game: n/a

♛ IC
Name: Hak
Canon: Akatsuki no Yona
Canon Point: Chapter 125
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Appearance: Here!

History/Background: Wiki
Personality:

"His Majesty is gone now. My Master is you. Use me so that you can live. That is what I’m here for."

Since the young age of fifteen, Hak has devoted his entire life to serving the late Emperor Il by protecting his one and only daughter, Princess Yona. Since Emperor Il's passing, he values nothing more than Yona's happiness and well-being, which links back to the solid friendship they've had since they were children. Although grumpy and hardheaded, to Hak, his greatest happiness comes from knowing that Yona is safe and living a pleasant life. Because of Hak's strong attachment to Yona, he acts as a human shield, protecting her from harm and not afraid to put his life on the line for her. His tremendous amount of strength and fearlessness makes him perfect for the job, too; he's not afraid to take on multiple enemies at once, and certainly not hesitant to put himself in the line of fire. He's the epitome of overprotective, too; Hak always has his eyes on her, watching her back, and knows where her whereabouts are almost all of the time. When she's put into a dangerous situation because of his carelessness, Hak will express regret for putting Yona into danger. His worst nightmare is seeing her get hurt, and becomes extremely anxious when Yona is lost or put in a hazardous situation.

However, this overprotectiveness is also what gets him into trouble with Yona sometimes. Emperor Il never wanted Yona to handle weapons; Yona, on the other hand, has a strong desire to protect herself and her friends, and insists on learning how to fight through means such as swordsmanship and archery. Hak constantly tries to get her to stay away from weapons, much to Yona's dismay, but it's only because he doesn't want her to fight. Because of this, Yona has gotten frustrated with him on several occasions. Eventually Hak teaches her how to fight, because Yona gives him direct orders to. Yes, although Hak takes great steps to keep Yona safe, he respects her as his master and cannot refuse orders from her. He sees Yona's desire to grow stronger, and he can appreciate seeing her struggle as an ordinary human. Seeing her grow from her days as a fragile princess makes him proud.

Hak's feelings for Yona are not only of friendship, but of a romantic attraction to her as well. He has loved Yona since they were children, but he chose not to pursue them actively, mostly because Yona had been in love with Soo-won for many years. He constantly tries to push back his feelings and destroy his impulses. Occasionally he will be more aggressive with his feelings and will sometimes act romantic towards her, such as kissing her forehead or holding her close; before he would dismiss these acts as a 'joke', but in recent chapters, he dismisses the notion, and is a lot more genuine about his feelings for her. Yona has also developed feelings for him in turn, but Hak remains oblivious and chooses to be happy over the little things she does for him. However, he will put his feelings aside for her if it's for her happiness.

His sacrificial nature stems from his deep sense of loyalty to his comrades and loved ones. Aside from Yona, he has a great amount of respect for the others in their travel group, regarding them as formidable allies and great assets to the team. He's nowhere near as protective of them as he is towards the Princess, but he still looks out for the group as much as he can.

In their clique, he shares a rivalry with both Ki-ja and Jae-ha, mostly due to his possessiveness over Yona. As Ki-ja and Hak both harbor feelings for her and share a strong desire to protect her, they are constantly bickering, insisting that one is stronger than the other. Hak gives Ki-ja the nickname "White Snake", much to Ki-ja's dismay. With Jae-ha, Hak calls him "Droopy Eyes", and does not approve of Jae-ha's chivalrous nature towards Yona. This also shows Hak's teasing nature towards those he cares about. He's been described by Yona as a "bully" since he always makes fun of her. He can be silly at times and has a tendency to piss off his comrades sometimes; but it's all out of affection, and it's his way of showing he cares...sort of.

Speaking of affection, in recent chapters of the manga, a startling development took place as Hak was shown hugging some of the other dragons, namely Jae-ha and Zeno. (Even the dragons themselves didn't see this coming.) This was most likely Hak's way of showing thanks to them for rescuing Yona when she was kidnapped. Not only is this a testament to how much he really cares about the princess, but it also shows how close Hak's become to the dragons. It was even pointed out that Hak's come to see them as his friends--though he denies it--and that he's willing to leave Yona in their care when he can't be around to protect her.

Over the course of their travels, Hak has not only proved how loyal he is to his team, but also how damn stubborn he is. He doesn't stop calling Ki-ja "White Snake", no matter how many times the dragon protests. He also refuses Ki-ja's monetary offer to leave the group in their quest to find the other dragons, for the sake of wanting to stay by Yona's side. Hak has also been hardheaded when it came to refusing Yona's requests to teach her how to be a fighter; and he had once tried to leave her behind with the Wind Tribe to give her a happy life, and needed a heck of a lot of convincing on Yona's part to let her continue her journey with him.

Hak is not one to undermine the strength of those around him. He decided to become a bodyguard after realizing Emperor Il's true strength, despite the King's dislike of weapons and fighting. He appreciates Ki-ja's strength, saying that he fights unlike anyone he'd ever met back at the castle. He holds Shin-ah, Jae-ha, and Zeno's talents in high regard. And although Yoon is not a fighter, Hak regards Yoon as highly knowledgable, skilled, and a great caretaker, and respects him as a member of the team. He trusts all of them with their power to take care of Yona when he can't, though he still insists on being her primary bodyguard.

He's also pretty clever himself, and will act on his own in order to help the group succeed. This is shown during Jae-ha's arc, when Hak goes to investigate both the situation in Awa Port, and Jae-ha himself. At one point, he even went to a brothel to make progress on his investigation, and he will even do questionable acts (such as asking women to take him somewhere private), all for the sake of figuring out the secrets and the systems of the villages they encounter.

On the topic of women, many find Hak to be extremely attractive. Several have been shown trying to make advances on him throughout the series. Hak, however, is not phased by any of this, as he is devoted to Yona...even if Yona herself misunderstands these scenarios, encouraging Hak to find a girl he likes.

His loyalty is not always unwavering, however. This is shown in his situation with Soo-won, Yona's cousin and love interest, and Hak's former best friend. Soo-won was responsible for the murder of Emperor Il, and has caused Yona tremendous amounts of grief and regret. Yona, who was (and still may be) deeply in love with him, was largely affected by the murder of her father as well as Soo-won's betrayal. Hak had hoped that Yona and Soo-won would become the next King and Queen together after Il's reign, even putting his own feelings for Yona aside for their happiness; but immediately after Soo-won's betrayal, Hak turns against him, and his feelings of brotherhood soon turn into hatred. He takes it upon himself to be the one to kill Soo-won.

Hak's bloodlust, in this case, is fueled by hurt and sadness. The man he'd once regarded as his best friend is now his enemy. Hak generally doesn't show his pain outwardly, but he can't help but grow solemn or angry at the mention of Soo-won's name. It hurts him to know that their years of friendship with each other and Yona have now gone to waste, and that Soo-won would steep to such a low level to become the new Emperor of Kouka.

Interestingly enough, when Hak and Soo-won are required to work together for a common goal (i.e. saving Lili An from being executed in Sei), they don't need to communicate verbally to understand what the other will do despite what happened in the past. It's pretty frightening how well they know each other--so well that it's as if they're reading each other's minds in battle. While Hak may still have a deep-seated grudge and hatred for Soo-won, he will take Soo-won's assistance when it's needed.

Even though he detests Soo-won, he does not force Yona to get rid of her feelings for him. He is understanding towards her. Yona carries around a hairpin given to her by Soo-won the afternoon before his betrayal, which she is unable to get rid of because she cannot forget her feelings for him. Even so, Hak tells her to hold on to the hairpin if it will help her survive, even if it pains him to let her do so.

In contrast, Hak has been firm with his devotion to Emperor Il. Even though many of Kouka's citizens were unhappy with Il even after his passing, Hak has never once deviated from his promise to Il to protect Yona. He even continues to call Yona "Princess", even if the others don't, as per her request; but he carries on the title so that Il will not be forgotten as the former Emperor, and so she can continue to live on as his daughter. Hak also prays to Emperor Il when he needs guidance, and in times where he's afraid of losing Yona. He continues to carry the guilt of not being able to protect Il, and says that he will probably harbor this guilt for the rest of his life.

Overall, Hak is a powerful man with nerves of steel; but he is also human, although he doesn't show it, and riddled with feelings of allegiance, love, and honor.

Skills/Abilities:

Hak harbors immense power and is often regarded as superhuman. Although he does not possess supernatural powers like his comrades do, he makes up for it with his dexterity in weaponry. Hak is most notable for his skills in spear fighting, as he is said to be the best in the entire country. His weapon of choice is a Hsu Quandao. He also is experienced in archery and swordsmanship.

Aside from weaponry, Hak has immense strength and endurance. He can deal finishing blows with his fists alone. On top of that, Hak is extremely durable and can take poisonous snake bites like they're nothing; fight twenty soldiers at once with ease; and continue to fight even when he's been severely wounded.

Magic Weapon:

Good Looks ♜ A small, sapphire ring with a gold band that allows Hak to become invisible for up to one minute. He can deactivate it at any time within that minute, but his mana will drain with the amount of time he uses it, and it requires the same amount of time that it was activated to recharge. For example, if Hak uses Good Looks for 30 seconds, he will need 30 seconds to recharge his mana back to full. After 5 consecutive uses of activating and deactivating (10 minutes max), Hak will become too exhausted and will need more time to fully recover.

When mastered, Hak will be able to remain invisible for 10 minutes max instead of 1 minute (same rules apply); but this will require a lot of training, practice, and climbing of the ranks.

Carrier: An adorable baby tiger that won't ever grow up.

Sample: TDM thread.