Eri Shimanouchi

Eri Shimanouchi
IC Information
Full Name:	Eri Shimanouchi
Aliases:	Botanophile Extraordinaire, Puella Gardener
Gender:	Female
Age/Birthdate:	14 (Aug. 24, 1999)
Height:	5'2"
Hair Colour:	Black
Eye Colour:	Green
Astrological Sign:	Virgo
Blood Type:	O Negative
Favorite Food:	Okonomiyaki
Least Favorite Food:	Hambagu
Favorite Subject:	Biology(Botany!)
Least Favorite Subject:	History
Main Character Song:	[The Truth]
Theme Character Song:	[Magia (Amalee Cover)]
Main Battle Theme:	[Song of a Certain Truth]
Dossier
Clubs:	Gardening Club
Sports:	Swim Team
School:	Ohtori Academy (Grade 8)
OOC Information
Source:	Puella Magi Madoka Magica (OC)
Player:	Eri

History

Born as the youngest daughter to a loving family, she became the apple of her father's eye in short order. Even at an early age, he began to project his hopes and dreams onto his precious little girl. He was a soldier in the JSDF and he resolved that she would have every oppurtunity that he never had. But Eri Shimanouchi was not like every other curious child out there. As a child, she found that she did not understand people at all. People make assumptions about others, people don't want to answer direct questions, people's faces lie, people say thoughtless things and don't truly mean them, and that people promise things all the time but rarely keep those promises. Facing one social rejection after another as a result of her just asking the questions people don't want to hear under the wrong social context and calling them on the thoughtless things they would say to her, she withdrew somewhat from the world, becoming a somewhat shy individual around people her own age, especially her classmates. Only her family sought to understand her way of looking at the world, especially her father, and he took her aside, and after finally coming to a moment of understanding him stated that he would try his very best to make her happy and for her dreams to come true, even if he could not promise it. And she adored him for it. She studied hard and excelled in order to make him happy. She traded away her true dreams of becoming a botanist just to become the physician he always wanted her to be. Eventually she came to earn a science scholarship at Ohtori Academy, having excelled in biology in particular due to her love of botany. She earned a place on the swim team, and it looked very much like she was on the path to fulfilling her Father's dream for her.

However that never came to pass, for in the middle of a training exercise, there was an accident and her father lay abed in a hospital, on a ventilator, with no chance of ever recovering from a traumatic brain injury. He had no brain activity on the scans. He would be a literal vegetable until the day they took him off life support. Eri, being a scientific, analytical individual knew better than the rest of her family what this meant. She didn't care. She visited him every day, reading to him in his room, holding his flaccid hand, and bringing him potted flowers which she left at the windowsill. It wasn't fair that the one person who truly understood her, who sacrificed everything for the sake of his family should be reduced to this. It wasn't fair that he would die before seeing his eldest son graduate from law school and start a family. It wasn't fair that he wouldn't get to see his eldest daughter become a famous graphic designer and actress. It wasn't fair that he wouldn't get to see the fulfillment of his dreams in Eri.

It wasn't fair that the only person who truly understood her would never understand her again.

And that is how Kyubey found her. And so when he made his offer of a miracle in exchange for a destiny of battle. Eri Shimanouchi accepted immediately. She did not question, she did not care. Her life for her father's. A few days later her father came home from the hospital. While neurologists were baffled, it was eventually concluded that the tests were simply conducted improperly, rather than it being an actual medical miracle. Eri Shimanouchi, has no romanticized ideals about this role she has been cast into. She saw herself as a special, different sort of soldier and thought for a time that she had happily traded away her future for his.

However, this attitude led to many growing pains as a new Puella Magi in which she engaged in behavior which many considered reckless or self-destructive, in light of the reality of how the life of a Puella Magi works. While engaging a familiar in unfamiliar territory, a Tuner Puella Magi named Yaori ambushed her, and after an extended fight with her and the familiar, was left mortally wounded, dying in an alleyway. While she was ultimately saved, in the wake of this she's reevaluating all of her ideals, with the realization that she doesn't want to die fighting against the reality of being a Puella Magi.

Personality

What's the deal with her? Why does she have such trouble with people?

Eri Shimanouchi is an infinitely curious individual, who is both kind, and warm in her base personality. She wants to know the answer to everything, and so her proclivity is to question everything. How else will she know the answer? Unfortunately for her, asking questions this direct is uncomfortable to most people within a social context. People deflect, people lie, people make thoughtless promises they don't think through that become false. People within her society expect people like her to make assumptions through implicit social rules which one is supposed to learn throughout life.

Because of her nature, she doesn't understand these rules. She has trouble deciphering social context. After asking direct questions one too many times and having her feelings hurt by social rejection, lies, and broken promises or on the other hand, hurting people by the very nature of being direct, she withdrew into a shell of self-imposed shyness. To those who continued to try and interact with her, she seems cold and analytical. She'll ask questions a person isn't supposed to ask. She'll call people on their thoughtlessness. She'll speak in a very methodical manner because she's being very careful about what she says. The worst answer that anyone can ever give her is 'because that's the way things are' without further explanation.

Most interactions before she became a Puella Magi gave the impression she doesn't care about people. The truth is that she cares about everyone a great deal, even if she can't even hope to understand them. She'd rather withdraw, than hurt anyone, even if she doesn't mean to. But if asked directly to do something, there's very little she wouldn't do to help someone.

Once she became a Puella Magi and got faced with the prospect of possibly dying on nearly a daily basis, the realization that life is too short gave her the courage to let some of these emotional barriers down and to start socializing with people more.

So why does she love botany so much?

Eri Shimanouchi understands plants, unlike people. This isn't because she believes plants are simple, far from it. She believes that plants are infinitely complex beings that have a predestined fate of selflessness. All life is the result of the effects of the flora of the world. Without them, animal life could not exist. From the nitrogen and oxygen rich atmosphere we breathe, to their very important place on the food chain.

And as a child she would often stare at them in wonder, and consider a world in which the plants had a choice towards their role of selflessness. Would they then choose to support life? Would they still lay it down to be foodstuff for animals?

Eri makes no assumptions on that. Instead she always dreamed of a world in which they could answer, hold a thoughtful conversation, and tell her their own thoughts and views on their destined fate. And maybe choose to change it.

Now this isn't to say that she thinks plants are perfect, as there are exceptions even in the plant kingdom. Weeds, parasites, carnivorous plants... Still, she knows they don't have a choice in their role, so she doesn't begrudge them that, she accepts them even for all of their imperfections.

Now, on the killing of plants. She holds them in higher esteem than most humans will. However she does not mind if plants are killed for a specific purpose. Vegetables which are eaten for example, are fulfilling their purpose. Ones which are /wasted/, she gets upset about. For flowers, transplanting them roots and all to potted soil she does not mind. Plucking them or clipping them to give to someone else she considers an atrocious waste.

To be compared to a flower or plant is the highest compliment she can give. She does not do this lightly, and she thinks most people do it thoughtlessly.

So what does she value then?

Strangely enough, Eri Shimanouchi values people above all else, including her beloved plants. This may sound like a contradiction given that she doesn't understand people, but she's ultimately a very lonely person who yearns for human company and contact. She values her family and friends more than she could possibly express. She doesn't however, seek out the company of others as much as she could because she's afraid of either getting hurt or hurting others. If someone offers to be her friend, she accepts, and she doesn't avoid them because she believes that she might at least have a few good memories out of the experience before the other party ultimately rejects her.

Eri also values the dreams of others. Since she believes that her own dreams for the future are gone, she seeks to make those of others come true, to bring as much hope to the world as possible before she dies. She doesn't seek this in an arrogant fashion, to leave her mark on the world but does it to live vicariously through others.

Eri values forthrightness and honesty. If she makes an inquiry, she wants an answer to the literal question she asked. She would prefer that people simply tell her outright that a subject is forbidden territory rather than deflecting the question or remaining silent.

Eri also values people who put forth their best effort, even if they fail. She would prefer that people not make promises regarding an outcome, but simply state that they will try their hardest to achieve an outcome, then do just that. Even if they fail, she'll respect them a great deal.

In people, she values those who are thoughtful, those who think before they speak, or if called upon a perceived inaccuracy, those who will think and respond about it thoughtfully rather than getting angry. She doesn't tend to cope with anger from people very well. Consistency is also highly valued by her. If you say you're going to do something to her, she expects you to do it, unless she considers what you stated impossible, then she just thinks the individual was being thoughtless in their promise.

Eri has a strong sense of justice. She values people who deal with others with fairness and equity. Even though she knows the world as a whole isn't just by its nature, she likes people who nevertheless attempt to maintain these ideals in dealing with everyone.

Eri also has a strong sense of obligation. To her, being a Puella Magi is a job not unlike that of a soldier(Albeit with a vigilante bent), and she won't shirk her responsibilities to the people of the world.

So what's /her/ secret shame?

Eri Shimanouchi doesn't tell lies. Except to one person...

Her father is the person she admires most, he's also the individual who understands her base personality best. Because she adores him she buys into the dream he holds for herself to become a physician one day. In truth, she would prefer to become a botanist despite having fewer perceived career opportunities. Whenever she asks him outright what she wants to be, she tells him that she wishes to be a physician, and given that he understands her better than most, he truly believes that is what she wants.

She's lying to him because she's set her dreams aside to fulfill his dreams for her.

Now that she's made a contract to become a Puella Magi, she knows that she will likely die in battle before he ever gets to see the fulfillment of those dreams for her. It shames her thus, that she is still maintaining her sole lie, because she knows now that his dreams for her will never see fulfillment one way or the other.

Her other secret shame is that she insists that beauty doesn't matter, its what's on the inside... and yet she truly wants to be pretty. She feels self-conscious around other more beautiful, and stylish girls. Eri has no fashion sense and this continually makes her feel like she's sitting in their shadow, in both the magical girl and civilian world.

Relationships

(Revamping, returning soon!)

Spoiler Alert: The Magical Abilities section contains immense amount of spoilers from the Puella Magi Madoka Magica series. Do not read below if you haven't seen the series.

Magical Abilities

Soul Gem: Eri is a Puella Magi and the manifestation of their contract is the artifact known as the soul gem. Unbeknowst to most Puella Magi, their souls are actually within the gem, not within their bodies. This disconnection of body and soul makes it far more difficult for them to feel pain, and to be killed. The destruction of their soul gem is speculated to be the only way to kill a Puella Magi, but this is as of yet unproven, and for the most part unknown even to them. Seperating a soul gem more than one hundred meters from their body will cause it to collapse into a useless doll, as they cannot animate their body at greater distances, this is also unknown to them.

The glow within soul gem also represents their magic stores and their emotional states. The more they use magic, the more the brightness of the soul gem begins to fade and dim. Similarily, its glow waxes with their feelings of hope and love and wanes with their feelings of hatred and despair. If ever it darkens completely then the soul gem will transmogrify into a grief seed and they will become a witch. It is thus unfortunate that few of them know this fact. Spells which target a Puella Magi's life force will instead target the soul gem, which make these spells especially dangerous to use upon them. The only known way to restore this glow is by bringing a witch's grief seed near it, upon which the seed takes upon the Puella Magi's hatred and despair into its own. This is dangerous to do more than several times, as with enough grief, hatred, and despair the witch might be reborn.

The soul gem also allows for the tracking of witches and their familiars through a simple game of hot and cold. The closer one is to a labyrinth, the faster the gem will glow with soft effulgence. Once they arrive at a labyrinth, it will reveal the entrance and allow the Puella Magi to enter it.

The soul gem is also the basis for their transformations into their Puella Magi forms. All it requires is a simple invocation. Most Puella Magi receive powers within these forms which are the result of a metaphorical connection to what they wished for. When untransformed, the Puella Magi can either keep the soul gem at its normal size, or shrink it into something more compact. Most choose to hide it in the form of a ring. While transformed, it's typically kept as a hair ornament or piece of jewelry in their transformed state.

While it is unknown if every soul gem can do this, in extreme circumstances Puella Magi can purposefully cause the destruction of their soul gem to achieve a massive magical explosion. The consumption of all magical energy does not in fact cause them to become a witch, it simply destroys them(And likely the other party as well) utterly.

Remade Bodies:

The bodies of Puella Magi are quite literally living dolls animated by their soul gem. Few know this fact, as most assume that their original bodies were simply enhanced. When transformed, their bodies gain enhanced strength, speed, durability, pain control, and natural healing. If seperated from their soul gem for more than a hundred meters the bodies will fall as if they were puppets with their strings cut.

Phytokinesis:

Eri's wish related to saving her father from becoming a comatose vegetable. Because of this wish she has gained the ability to create plants anywhere, rapidly induce growth, retract growth to shrink them, control existing plants, animate plants to act as she directs them, and alter their biochemistry. While every sort of plant must have some sort of base flora behind its overall structure, she can improvise certain qualities about them by altering the biochemistry of certain components. Her most typical alteration is to create tranquilizing poison within pollen granules of flowers which she rapidly blooms.

While in combat, Eri can absorb solar energy from photons in the plants within her. Her body is photosynthetic, and she utilizes this energy to increase her magical power and to invigorate her for a clutch second wind late in a battle. If she chooses, she can also gather this energy in her hands, and release it for destructive beams of light and heat.

Outside of combat, she can absorb this energy to greatly increase her natural healing abilities, but she must concentrate entirely on this while doing so, and it takes a great deal of magic.

Puella Magi Weapon:

Eri typically wields a thorned vine whip. She can magically control its growth, allowing it to extend and retract as per her will. She can also thicken it, harden it, cause the thorns to grow in size, and poison the thorns with tranquilizing poison. She can cause each of its tendrils to act independently, often using it to burrow underneath the ground before erupting forth to surprise attack her foe.

Non-Magical Abilities

Science Nerd: Eri Shimanouchi is very well versed in biology, especially botany, and chemistry. Physics is her worst science, and she still aces that. She often uses this knowledge in order to collect natural tranquilizers or synthesize simple ones to use in battle. Her knowledge of science also allows her, in combination with her phytokinetic abilities to improvise certain characteristics of her plants on the fly, as she knows their makeup and structure.

Swim Team Star: Eri Shimanouchi is one of the stars of the Ohtori Academy Middle School swim team, while she's good at swimming in almost any stroke, her specialty is the butterfly.

Artist: Eri is a talented artist, but this is a skill she generally keeps private. She sketches and paints mostly stills of plants and landscape paintings. Her best so far is an image of all the plants in the Ohtori conservatory but without any of the features of the conservatory, as if they were all growing within an open field on a sunny day.

Gardener: Even without her phytokinetic abilities, Eri is a talented gardener. She's a member of the Ohtori Academy gardening club.