Shark Finn >District Four<

At first glance, Shark is a scrawny little boy, short, thin, always either sporting a disapproving expression, rolling his eyes at something, or giving someone an Are you for real? look. He's 5'1, rather small for a boy his age, and constantly striving to be taller. He has the blondest hair you'll probably ever see, paler than the sand that spreads across the beaches of his home district, Four. It's always rather messy, and he's spiked it with gel so much that most of the time it permanantly stays that way. His skin is around the same shade as his hair, though it has a pinker tinge to it from the sunburn that never really fades. Shark never tans, only burns when he doesn't remember to put sunscreen on, which is most of the time. Across his nose is a splash of freckles, and his ears stick out ever so slightly. His eyes are gray, somewhat like the color of the scales on the fish he catches. There is a gap between his front two teeth that people have often commented on. Shark doesn't like those people.

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Shark wishes very often that he looked bigger and tougher. He wants to look like some of the boys that work on the ships at his dad's marina, big, muscular, burly, tan, with dark hair that makes you look mysterious rather than bright blonde that makes people ruffle it and say "Aww, so cute!" Though he isn't wimpy, meaning to say that he has a fair amount of strength and he's really fast, he looks it. He's basically all around scrawny, but if you call him that, he'll get you.[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]

Shark is an easily angered kid, mainly because of the way people have treated him over the years. He's always been deemed "cute as a button" or "darling little angel" just because of his small size and innocent-looking bright blonde hair. But people who are friendly with Shark know that he's nothing of the sort. He's tough, for someone so small, and he never backs down from a fight. Though it doesn't show, he's developed a fair amount of strength from working on the boats in his father's marina, and he's always been fast from running races in the schoolyard as a child. Those who mock him get a fist in their face, because that's just an automatic reflex for Shark.

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He's always had a large group of friends, though, because people find him entertaining even when he's not trying to be. He's notorious for acting without thinking, and his sarcastic comments and "tough" remarks spark a lot of laughs from his peers. And, though it took a long time, he's earned their respect. They no longer tease him for being so short and scrawny and pale and freckly, rather they consider him one of them. It's those who aren't familiar with him that need to watch their backs, because those are the ones that taunt him.

Shark really isn't a compassionate person at all. If you fall and scrape your knee, he's more likely to point and laugh rather than help you up or get you some help. He's not particularly smart, either, but he gets by. School isn't a fun time for him, not at all. He'd much rather be by the sea, working on a boat in the hot sun, than tucked away indoors bent over some book. Because that's just the way Shark is.[/blockquote][/blockquote]

Shark wasn't always called Shark. In fact, the name on his birth certificate is Raymond Roger Finn, born to Saoirse and Seamus Finn. But who wants a name like Raymond Roger? As soon as he entered grade school he instructed people to call him 'Shark' rather than 'Raymond', because it sounded like a much tougher name for a kid like him. At first people were skeptical, but the name really stuck after a P.E. swimming race in which Shark, then seven years old, stuck a fake shark fin to his back so it would slice through the water when he swam...and he won by a landslide. From then on, everyone was calling him Shark, even the teachers.

Shark's mother drowned when he was only two, and good riddance to her, he says. He much prefers living in a man's house, just him and his dad doing whatever they wanted to do. Despite his father telling him that he should be grieving for his deceased mother, Shark doesn't see why he should. After all, he hardly knew her, so it's not like he could really miss her, right?

Shark's father owns a popular District Four marina, right on the bay, so from the time he learned to walk he's been there, learning to love boats just like his ancestors did. Even as a toddler he was working there, running and fetching tools for his father. As he grew older, he took on more complex jobs, such as sorting through caught fish, loading up boats with fuel, and repairing different parts of different vessels. Now, at age thirteen, he can take boats out on the bay by himself, and on the off chance that his father isn't around, he can even handle the paperwork of someone wanting to rent or buy a boat. Shark's always said that he wants to own this marina when he gets older, and be just like his dad. Despite their completely opposite appearances (Shark got his mother's genes) they are really quite alike, father and son.

At age eleven, Shark started taking time off from working on the boats to train for the Games. Originally it was just to prove a point to some kids who bet their allowances that scrawny little Shark Finn couldn't even manage to lift a sword, but as time went on he began to like the grunt work of learning to fight. At first hardly any instructors had faith in the wimpy looking boy, but that only made Shark try doubly hard to prove his worth. Now, even though he's young, he manages to train with the best of them.

Shark sees a bright future for himself. He'll grow up big and strong (well, hopefully) and become the new owner of his father's marina. When he's old enough, he'll officially have his name changed to Shark, and he'll no longer have to deal with any of that Raymond Roger nonsense. Maybe he'll even go to the Capitol one day, and have one of their famed surgeons alter his teeth so that they come to a point, just like shark teeth do. The Games aren't included anywhere in his plan, though. He doesn't think he'll ever volunteer, even though he trains. In fact, they seem endlessly far away in his eyes. He trains to give himself something to do, not because he expects to be thrown into some arena. The Games are fun to watch, yes. But Shark's old enough to realize that you can die in there. And where's the fun in that?

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