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Shizuo Heiwajima

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Player: Laena
Canon: Durarara!!
Canon Point: post novel volume 13
Alignment: Sosyne
Date of Entry: 8/01/2014

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Age: 25 ('14) 26 ('15) 27 ('16) 28 ('17)
Birthday: January 28
Eye Color: Brownish Yellow
Hair Color: Originally dark brown, dyed blond
Height: 185cm (6'1")
Amulet: Link and will be turning purple as it develops. Probably darker, unfortunately.
Appearance: Bartender suit. With dark purple/blue tinted sunglasses. Seriously that is ALL HE WEARS. Except now he's in a different place. Without his closet full of bartender suits. He probably wouldn't want to wear the original one often because it's like a memento of home. Instead he'd probably find clothes that are likely similar. Simple buttoned shirts (mostly white), dark pants (black slacks), and maybe another replacement vest. But that's iffy. Otherwise just a simple and clean style. His shoes he could probably reuse again, and his sunglasses are still always there.
Contact:

laenavesse

Background: You have two options. The shorter fanwiki that gives brief novel summaries with Shizuo's involvement OR an exhaustive novel/background summary I've written that focuses on Shizuo up until his canon point here. Spoilers; you have been warned.

Personality: Shizuo is more than just a short-tempered violent man. In fact, he doesn't even like violence. He hates it. Most of the time the violence comes to him rather than him provoking fights. The only reason why he would ever initiate an attack without any prior immediate provocations—as in, he just saw the person and threw a vending machine at them without warning—would be because either the person is Izaya, or the person is someone who had harmed anyone he cared for and was already marked on his hit list. This would be the only reason why Shizuo would actually seek out and start a fight. Otherwise he tries to stay out of it.

This hatred for violence more than likely stems from the fact that he himself is the embodiment of violence. In fact, his general outlook and appearance is the opposite of what one would believe to be as the "strongest in Ikebukuro; Ikebukuro's Automatic Fighting Doll." He's neat, has a calm disposition, soft spoken (until angered), and generally keeps a "loner" air about him. Combined with his rather lean body without any bulging muscles as a visible sign of his strength, Shizuo looks more like your average, but good-looking, Joe.

In truth, what Shizuo longs for the most is to be loved and to be human—not a monster (which is what Izaya wants to expose him as). Because of his violent nature and build, he knows that he is a very dangerous man and could actually cause more trouble and hurt to anyone who becomes close to him. He just wants someone to accept him as who he is. He also admits that he is actually a coward. He is afraid of his strength because he knows what it can do. That is why prior to the Slashers incident, he tries to keep his distance and why he likes Dollars—he can be part of a group but not be close to anyone. After the Slashers incident, however, he's slowly starting to accept more of himself as he continues to try and control his unnatural powers.

Even though he's realizing he can be around more and more people without causing undue harm, Shizuo still likes to keep to himself. He enjoys his quiet, calm moments, including peaceful sunsets or just chilling somewhere with a smoke. When the circumstances are relatively normal to which he can keep a calm, steady mindset, he's more aloof and distant than provocative. If someone comes up to speak to him, so long as they aren't being a bother and are to the point, he will give the person some time of his day. Longer if they're making a point. If it's someone he's relatively close to or at least knows well enough, he'll spend even more time and even put up with antics he would otherwise find irritating with a stranger. In general, he can be cooperative so long as nothing is happening that could annoy him.

From the point he's coming out of, he's had a lot of development. More importantly and as mentioned before, he has started to learn how to control his temper and his strength. Even if it's to the point where he would normally go on a rampage, so long as he focuses and tries really hard, he can contain it and get through, even "resetting" a bit to last longer. He can pull his punches a bit more so that he's not as violent or strong (but a finger flick can still knock someone unconscious even if he tries not to).

Still, there are things that will set him off. So here's a list of what not to do to avoid instantly getting thrown into the air and get beaten to a near-death pulp (note: a lot of these can be considered tempered down a bit, but still something to keep in mind):

Do not be Izaya. Seriously, Izaya is the only person he hates with a concrete passion and actually wishes to kill and mean it. If he could get his hands on Izaya just long enough to snap his neck, he would. Unfortunately, every time he does encounter him, the bastard manages to escape in some fashion. Ever since the day they first met, he knew there was something wrong with him, and their relationship worsened as Izaya kept putting Shizuo into less than favorable situations or getting him involved in matters. What Shizuo hates most about Izaya isn't how much of a manipulative bastard he is, although that is a very large part of it. It's actually because of how the man always seems to drag in people he cares about and getting them hurt in some way or another or putting them in danger. So yes, he hates Izaya for who he is. But he hates what he does even more. He is very quick to suspect Izaya whenever something suspicious is going on, and usually he's right.

It should be noted that while he does hunt Izaya, he doesn't actually go around prowling the streets trying to find him. Even though he has an extreme hatred for the man and he has chased and tracked him down before, he currently isn't actively seeking him. Mostly this is due to the fact that he has a job and is distracted by slowly starting to live a normal life. It also helps that Izaya isn't actually living in Ikebukuro and resides in a nearby town (Shinjuku). But whenever Izaya shows his stupid face and Shizuo happens to see him, things start flying. In fact, a lot of the time Shizuo is the one who starts their fights because he manages to find Izaya without the other knowing and Izaya generally doesn't want to be around him. He just has this "Izayadar."

This does not mean that those who are related to Izaya are also immediately hated. In fact, Shizuo has a good relationship with Izaya's younger twin sisters, Kururi and Mairu. Though part of it might be due to the fact that Mairu is a major fangirl of his younger brother, Kasuka, the real reason is that unlike Izaya, the twins are less complicated than Izaya and are more straightforward than he is. The twins are still kind of crazy and twisted like Izaya (arguably more so), and he still gets mad at them on occasion when they remind him of their older brother, but it's rare. And unlike their brother, he actually worries about them and will be quick to lecture or scold them.

A quick point to make is that from the current canon point, Shizuo has had his final(?) confrontation with Izaya. He almost killed him, but Vorona intervened and prevented him from pulling off the finishing blow. However, Izaya's fate is uncertain because due to certain events, he effectively disappeared. His disappearance will continue on into the sequel. Thus at this point, while Shizuo will still get pissed at the thought of Izaya, he's a lot calmer now that the flea is gone. He's not completely satisfied because he doesn't want Izaya to be like a roach and crawl out from some garbage (one of the reasons why he wants the man actually dead dead), but he can at least rest a little easier.

Respect his distance. This is meant both physically and metaphorically. While this doesn't mean they have to keep a 100-foot radius around him, he's not really that comfortable if someone comes too close to him without prior recognition or permission. Of course, the occasional accidental bump can be excluded. Unless he's in a real foul mood or the person who bumps into him suddenly blames him or gets onto him about it. There are no guarantees on that. However, that aside, if one were to encroach on his personal bubble, Shizuo will already start to be annoyed. This won't send him into an immediate rage, but it lights the fuse. The longer a person stays in his bubble with nothing to redeem himself, the more pissed off Shizuo will get.

He also doesn't like it if people butt into his affairs unnecessarily. There may be some exclusions, such as any close friends and family members, though he would still get slightly annoyed. Shizuo leads a rather private life, and he doesn't like the idea of someone nosing in their way into his own business. This also means he wouldn't like it if any of his personal affairs were plastered everywhere. Fortunately, Izaya hasn't been stupid enough to do that, and hopefully no one will make the mistake of doing so.

Be direct and straight to the point. Shizuo hates anyone who beats around the bush, or tries to weasel their way out of a tough situation. He prefers for them to be straightforward and man up to whatever mistake they made. No going back on one's word or backpedaling in any kind of way.

This also means no shady tricks or dirty tactics. If there's another thing that Shizuo hates most, it's anyone taking advantage over someone through unnecessary and dirty means. He doesn't like the type of people who just plays with their emotions in any shape of form. This includes roundabout and over complex speech. This is one of the top reasons why he hates Izaya, and why Izaya will never catch a break. Like Shizuo is the embodiment of violence, Izaya is the embodiment of manipulation.

Going back to Izaya's younger twin sisters, Shizuo is actually rather tolerable with kids. This is mostly due to the fact that they are more direct and straightforward in what they do. Of course there are the exceptions of any who may try to be sly and sneaky and therefore fit right into the type of people he doesn't like. But in general, although it may be awkward, Shizuo can handle kids rather well and is actually rather nice and somewhat tender with them, as shown by his interactions with Akane. He does however expect the proper sense of formalities and respect to be shown to him as is proper in Japanese societal culture and will be quick to reprimand if he gets annoyed by it. This is also a bit of a "situational peeve" as it will depend on who it is and what's going on at the time.

Do not harm any of the people he cares about. Since Shizuo does not have a lot of friends to begin with, he treasures the ones who do remain close to him. He places them on a much higher level than himself, always considering them better, more admirable, etc. Thus he is more than willing to put his own life on the line to help protect them. He'll even keep his promise and throw an old friend into the sky after their beloved. As mentioned before, he knows that people are wary of him, and finding people who could either handle him or not piss him off immediately are hard to come by. The moment he learns that one of his friends, especially Kasuka, Celty, Tom, Akane, and particularly Vorona, has been attacked or hurt in any way, he will hunt the person down and kill them. With no restraint whatsoever.

These are the only people who ever see Shizuo's "real" side—his nicer, quieter side, the side of him that's "normal." Even though they still are usually caught off guard whenever they see him not exploding, or see him behaving nicer to people when they would normally assume he would go off the handle, it's admittedly refreshing. In this way he holds a mysterious air about him. He'll only spill out his guts to the ones whom he considers important. He also likes having that kind of contact, and wouldn't mind it from those he can tolerate.

So there's also that internal conflict that he has to go through: he needs to keep his distance for the safety of others, but he wants to be close to people. He will take more of an effort to try and restrain his temper and power, but even those closest to him are not safe from his wrath. It might be toned down a bit, but it'll hurt.

Do not damage anything that Kasuka gives him. In this case it would be his bartender suits. He wears them even if though he doesn't work at a bar. Even though it was Kasuka's fault that he discovered his unusual strength, Shizuo loves his little brother, always ready to smile when they meet and knows Kasuka also cares for him. When he received those suits, he knew Kasuka was cheering him on in his own way. So not surprisingly, Shizuo treasures them and will get very, very pissed off if anything happens to them. Rip, stain, whatever, if someone damages those suits in any way, it's an instant trip to the hospital for them.

The brothers also have a unique relationship amongst them. In just a few words, Kasuka can "talk sense" into Shizuo to cool him down. Likewise, Shizuo can read his expressionless, emotionless face and know when his brother is annoyed or bothered. The two can communicate in a way that only makes sense to themselves.

Shizuo is also very mindful of his brother's acting career and tries very hard to not cause too much trouble for him. Back when information spread that they were brothers, Shizuo denies any connection when it's brought up. However, this usually occurred when debtors tried to sleaze their way out, so the denial is usually followed by the usual act of violence (throwing, punching, etc). But he does try to keep his distance for his brother's sake. In fact, Kasuka is one of the reasons why he is able to withstand the farce of an interrogation.

And in the end, Shizuo would do whatever it takes to help his brother.

Do not waste any of his time. Unless he's just sitting around not doing anything, Shizuo will grant a stranger a small amount of time unless they have a good excuse to prolong his attention. If they do, they had better be upfront about it and not talk about anything boring or unimportant matters. This will otherwise try his temper and Shizuo will after a certain time (usually when he starts feeling his temper flare up) start to move away.

The only reason why he tries to leave first is because he knows he's starting to get mad. He doesn't want to resort to violence so he's trying to save the other person's life by leaving. However, if the person tries to keep him longer in any way and ends up provoking him, Shizuo will release his temper and become violent. So if someone seeks Shizuo's attention, they must be prepared beforehand and be careful with what they say.

Thus the above list neatly outlines the top main generic triggers that can potentially light the short fuse of Shizuo's temper. Of course there are more, but they're more case-by-case and usually stem from the above. If any of those go off, there is only so little time before he goes into a full out rage and cause destruction and mayhem. However, as briefly mentioned before, he does try to show some self-restraint. For all cases except for Izaya and those who hurt his friends, Shizuo will consciously try to back away from any potential violent conflicts. It can't be stressed enough how much he hates violence. He knows what he is capable of, but even so he can't control it. So when he feels his temper flaring, he will try to step out of the situation so it doesn't explode. Once he's in that mode, only certain things will stop him.

However, as Tom states, Shizuo does have a fast cool down period. Once he snaps out of his "kill kill kill kill" mode, he will quickly return to his more quiet and calmer disposition. It basically would leave any witnesses be like "...What. What just happened—how did—why—I don't—"

So after talking about what makes him angry, it's time to talk about how he's like when angered. To put simply, he's scary. Even scarier is that he sometimes doesn't always just randomly burst out. When he is extremely pissed off and had tried so hard to contain it, there's a much slower wind-up. In this case, he doesn't just immediately break out into some kind of nonsensical rage. Depending on the situation, he will retain his calm, quiet outlook, but its obvious by the sudden tense aura, colder smile, and chilling tone that he's snapped. In fact many would prefer if he would start shouting off the bat instead of later.

He'll also seem to be borderline psychotic when he speaks. It will start off in a calm even tone before it rises with acceleration and rage. But it's not just the tone and his expression that reflects a touch a craziness. It's also what he says. He'll talk quickly, usually saying statements that involve the other person wanting to die because they attacked him. It's almost as if he's rationalizing why he should try to kill them in retaliation, even if it doesn't usually make any sense. Everything becomes emotionally charged.

When he just automatically attacks, it's fast. There's no prolonged "slow kill" or anything like that. A punch, a kick, a throw—it's instant, and over in a flash. That's one of the reasons why he's able to catch people off guard so easily: they have no idea what happened until after the fact. Sometimes several minutes after.

That said, as mentioned in the beginning, Shizuo doesn't want to be in conflicts. In fact, he'd rather avoid them, and if some conflict like an argument or misunderstanding comes up, he'll try to calmly diffuse it via talking/explaining first (of course if it doesn't work he'll blow up). This is even if he wants to help someone for some "greater" cause or anything that's not directly involved with him. For example, if something happened with the Dollars, while he wouldn't mind helping, he wouldn't necessarily help. If he hears something, he might pass some info along, but otherwise he won't be actively helping. It's only until something happens to someone close to him that he would engage in the activity. He also has never killed anyone, just sent them (literally) down the road and to the hospital. So while he is violent and usually has the intent to kill, it doesn't always follow through.

Shizuo is also rather strong headed, which is only natural for someone who is angered easily and also very strong. Once he makes up his mind about something, he will act upon it and will do what it takes to succeed. Only those who are good at talking him out of such situations will be able to break through that stubbornness. It also fits with his preference for the direct and straightforward. While he does have a quiet, thoughtful tone, he will say only what's necessary. This might result in shorter sentences, but that's just probably because that's all that's needed. No need for longwinded sentences or anything like that. Sweet, simple, and straight to the point. He hardly ever, or perhaps never, says anything that could mean something else. What he says is what he means. But he can be quite the talker himself. He might not prattle on like Shinra, but he seems more than willing to talk or engage in conversation if it's interesting and asked by certain people (and in the right mood).

He's also a bit "simple minded" in that he doesn't think about complex things or look at things in a very complicated matter. He's not a "black and white" person, but the amount of "gray" is a lot smaller than most might perceive. This makes his own logical reasoning much more simplified which might result in more violent episodes depending on the conclusion he's drawn. But unlike him, his perceptiveness is not as straightforward. There are times where he's surprisingly sharp as a tack. Then there are times where it takes him a little longer to connect the dots. This doesn't mean he's a "stupid brute." He may not be a genius, but he at least average intelligence. This is again mostly because he doesn't feel like he needs to know superfluous things. He'll retain whatever he learns, but otherwise it just doesn't really matter.

And last but not least, Shizuo does have a "fluffy" side. Despite his "loner" outer appearance, he does have a personality, and can be pretty "playful" and reveal a somewhat spunky and somewhat "adorkable" expressions and reactions. As mentioned before, he can also have tender moments. He can also be a little bit awkward, particularly around Kasuka. He can also be surprisingly childish about some things. He is also willing to lend a hand to help if someone needs it and has a very good sense of justice. So Shizuo really is a nice guy, but most people don't see that.

And now, after all the happenings of the novels, we see what Shizuo has managed to change. After the incident with Saika and Akane, there is proof that Shizuo tries very hard to use his strength to protect rather than to hurt. He slowly becomes more capable of looking to the well-being of others and placing them before his anger. He also shows more signs of maturing when handling his rage. He becomes more capable of using reasoning or to "hold back and run" rather than just fight back when cornered or wrongly confused.

There is one particular person who has had a lot of influence on him for this in the later novels: Vorona. To preface this, Vorona is one of the ones involved in Akane's kidnapping and had attacked Shizuo before. Discovering how strong she is, she begins to form a goal on becoming strong enough to defeat and kill him (she basically loves violence). However, Shizuo does not know that the person who tried to stab him was her, even after through a twist of fate (and a Russian sushi chef needing to put her somewhere) Vorona becomes his "kouhai," or his junior while working with Tom. Because he had never lasted in jobs long enough to have a junior, Vorona becoming his own really boosts his confidence. Thus he takes particular care and attention to her whenever they're on a job because that is what a good "senpai" (senior) does. And over time, both of them soften toward each other. Even Vorona's desires to fight Shizuo lessen the longer she stays with them.

More importantly, however, is that Vorona stops him from becoming the monster that Izaya had tried to pull out from him during that final death match. She has her own reasons, but at least in Shizuo's mind she allows him to remain human and even tells him so. She is the one who breaks him out of his "monster-like" bloodlust filled stupor. Even after the smoke clears and Izaya is gone, rather than focus and try to find him again, his attention and worry goes to her. Although a lot of people help Shizuo along the way, Vorona is that essential turning point and proof for how much Shizuo changed. In a sort of twisted way, Vorona is the beauty who helps save the beast.

Shizuo will always feel like he's indebted to her, and after realizing how weak he still is, he tries even harder to control himself. He doesn't mind growing strong, but all he wants is to be able to control his power. It's still a work in progress, but he's working hard to finally control his rage.

Abilities: It's pretty obvious that Shizuo is unnaturally strong. Without the natural human limiters, he has nothing to stop him from using all of his natural strength at 110+%. He can pick up large objects with ease and throw them great distances. These usually are about the size of large vending machines, though he has thrown a giant elephant shaped slide before and a car. Motorcycles are cake. He can also rip off a guard rail and wield it. And he's uprooted a full grown tree and flung someone out of it like a baseball bat. Essentially, he has the strength to rip off a lot of things no matter how they're attached and use it as a weapon. Sign posts are a particular "favorite," mostly because they're usually around and are just handy.

Of course, there is a deadly downside. It was briefly touched upon in the background section, but without the limiters, there's no natural restriction being placed on his muscles. Instead of only using the natural reserves and saving the excess energy for dire situations, he can tap into that full power with no problems This means that his muscles would become more strained and become vulnerable to tearing. As his temper also is quick to flare and he would be almost just as quick to use his power, this meant that his muscles could not heal properly. So he would be using his full strength even when his muscles could be in critical condition.

Even if he felt pain, he wouldn't stop. In fact it would infuriate him even more and possibly unlock even more strength within him. The only time he would stop a fight, other than by fulfilling his goal of beating the living daylights out of them, is if someone manages to talk him out, injures him enough in a fight, or he simply drains himself to complete exhaustion and almost kill himself. But because of this lack of control and restraint, he creates even more stress on his heart. If he pushes himself too hard, it is quite possible that he could kill himself from overusing his muscles. Fortunately, due to his parkour training, he does have stronger muscles so it can withstand the brutal beating, and he apparently has very thick abs. Izaya and Vorona stabbed him there once. He was fine. But that doesn't make him immortal. Guns are very effective. It's still a very major weakness, and coupled with the fact that he can't control it even if he wanted to, still life threatening. Despite knowing all of this, he can't do much about it.

Along with the large object throwing, Shizuo can fight with his bare hands. Despite his parkour training, he still moves on instinct. There's no actual refinement or style to his actions. He just does what needs to be done. If he sees an opening for a punch, he'll punch them. If there needs to be a headbutt, he'll headbutt them. It should be noted that he does have the strength to not only punch someone flying, but also knock their clothes off. Not kidding. It's in both the novels and anime—canon confirmed.

Also, despite his great strength, he never has one-hit kills. Knock outs such as to make someone unconscious, yes, but not kill. The victims are just beaten to a bloody pulp, but they survive. Somehow.

Now, while he'll keep his absurd strength, since he actually managed to punch a full sized construction crane out of the air I'm going to tone it down a bit. Were that situation to ever happen again, the most he would do is kind of "catch" it in the sense that he would be able to stop it and then be sent flying backwards and suffer injuries. Such strength also wouldn't happen normally. It's kind of one of those "HIGH ON ANGER AND ADRENALINE" kind of things. But on a smaller scale, he could still punch someone's clothes off though. If he gets mad enough.

Other: The bartender suit is very important to him since it was a gift from his brother. He continues to wear it even though he no longer works there. And he's always wearing those sunglasses even when inside. He's also a heavy smoker, but not a drinker. Instead he likes to drink milk (it makes for strong bones!) and coffee. He also prefers sweet things, such as cake, and can't handle really spicy foods that well apparently. And last but not in the very least, and cannot be stressed enough, he hates Izaya and will attack/throw anything at him on sight.

And some random trivia straight from the fanwiki. His name, Heiwajima Shizuo, has a very ironic meaning. Heiwa (平和) means "Peace/Harmony" while Jima (島) means "Island", leading his last name to translate to "Peaceful Island". Shizu (静) means "Quiet" and "O" (雄) means "Hero/Masculine/Leader", leading his first name to translate to "Quiet Hero".

Permissions: Permissions for actions done to this character.
Key: ☐ (neutral; contact first) | ☑ (yes) | ☒ (no).
» Backtagging: ☑
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» Hugging: ☑
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» Injuring: ☑
» Killing: ☒
» Fourth Wall: ☐
» Manipulation: ☒