Tigerius 'Tiger' Rex {d1}

{ Tigerius 'Tiger' Rex

{ District 1
{ Eighteen
{ Male

{ appearance

The first thing that anyone notices about Tiger Rex is not his size — which is substantial — nor his ears, which are somewhat malformed from frequent blows to the head. Standing out more than his massive build is Tigerius's fitting shock of vivid red hair. Red is an uncommon shade, even in the first district, but Tiger's is more distinctive for the specific hue. It is naturally dark, a more attention-commanding shade than the strawberry blonde of most wannabe gingers, and he styles it up, pointed, like a broad-headed spear that's already been stained with the crimson of his enemies.

The rest of Tiger, of course, is much more typical of his district. Despite standing just over six feet, he manages to appear stocky for all of his rippling muscles. His broad build looks almost out of place once his relatively pale, freckle-flecked skin is accounted for, as the pallid ginger flag is usually worn over stickish limbs, ill-fitting clothing, awkward clumsiness, and the general appearance of not leaving the house much. Tigerius behaves to the contrary; his broad arms are usually bare as his clothing cannot be considered ill-fitting simply by the virtue of seldom being there — he has a penchant for removing his shirt the second he steps outside — and, with a decade of training under his belt, Tiger commands his titanic libs with the power and strength of the more gifted — or, at least, more practiced — veteran Career students.

{ personality

To call Tiger brilliant would be a stretch of the imagination. He isn't exactly stupid, but he does not possess the cunning of the more successful tributes of his time. His physical prowess and reaction time makes up for what he lacks in brains, though he himself admits that if he were a bit more cunning — or if he had a bit more common sense — he could be twice the fighter that he is today. The survival portion of Career training was always the hardest for Tiger, who can't keep much of anything straight in his brawling-addled brain, particularly facts about poisonous plants or where to find food or how to set snares or make fires.

What he lacks in brains, Tiger more than makes up for in charm. Charismatic and generally flirtatious, he's decidedly a people-person. It isn't hard to like him, either; he has a great sense of humor and tries to include everyone in activities — particularly the combat-related ones — regardless of their level of popularity or experience. Tiger's trouble is that he has a hard time keeping track of all of his friends, so he inadvertently flakes out on some and neglects others. He has too many acquaintances and friends to be loyal to all of them, so he has a tendency to sacrifice some for the benefit of himself or for his closer friends if need be.

Not being one of the deepest thinkers of his time, Tigerius has never done much deep introspection. He is more than content with the way he lives his life: he's a thrill seeker, something of a party boy, and a model fighter for all of the younger career children. He doesn't take it too badly that he's rather dumb; instead, he focuses on the areas that he's gifted — primarily physical strength — choosing to ignore the areas that he feels there is little hope of improving.

{ history

Tigerius Rex is the oldest of a slew of privileged District One children, each career-trained as soon as they're old enough. Mr. Rex had been an heir to a great sum of money, and he had married Mrs. Rex quite young, and their relatively young age certainly shows in the number of children they produced — and continue to pop out every several years. With so many young running around, Tiger's parents consider themselves lucky in that they have yet to have a child reaped, though with such a large clan, it seems as if it's only a matter of time before thy have a tribute in the family.

Having such a full household does have its perks though; Tiger and his siblings were never without company and were seldom in need of entertainment. Throughout his childhood, Tiger spent most of his time butting heads with his brothers that were closest in age to him, particularly Leo, one year his junior and many times his intellectual superior, though the two banded together when the twins Tarquin and Tyrannus came along. As they aged, Tiger took on more of a paternal role, always making sure that the youngest were included and forcing the boys to include their sisters in their athletics.

It is this upbringing that has resulted in Tiger being a natural mediator. His conflict resolution skills are top-notch since settling disputes between his younger siblings often fell to him when his parents were out. The bulky career's favorite method of conflict resolution has always been fighting, and he brawls regularly with his friends. In fact, as far as combat is concerned, Tiger represents the small minority of Career tributes in that, for the most part, he prefers no weapon at all; in ideal situations, he'd rather swap a few punches or pin the other guy to the ground than have to cross swords with his opponents. However, he understands that it's better to bring a knife to a gunfight than to bring no weapon at all, and is still well-trained in swordplay.

{ codeword
odair