Headcanon Post

In case you've somehow stumbled across this RP journal without knowing much about Jet Set Radio Future, let me let you in on something - JSRF is one of those games that throws a setting, a skeletal story, and some names and faces at you, then sits back and goes "Characterization? Backstory? Bah, who needs that!"

In short, there's not a lot to work with when you're trying to roleplay most characters from it. So what do you do? You come up with your own interpretations, your own backstories, your own personalities where the canon lacks them.

That is, you build yourself some headcanon, and oh boy do I have a lot of it. This post is where I shall collect all of my current headcanon for the benefit of anyone who's curious, or who would like to synchronize their own characters with what I'm playing off of. (Hey, I can wish for canonmates, can't I?)
 

To recap: The following is entirely headcanon; interpretations I have come up with myself. It is not confirmed canon and should not be taken as such.

I hope you enjoy! Questions and comments on this post are also more than welcome. ♥

Beat

Let's drop the bomb right off; it's a common enough theory with my own spin on it - Beat is Rokkaku Gouji's son.

Several years prior to the events of JSRF, Gouji was already starting to be consumed by his own greed and lust for power, and had begun a project within his organization. He desired to use his resources and research on robotics and human augmentation to create the perfect human - which he would become, the ultimate expression of himself, and reside over others in his superiority. He wished Beat to do the same, for even if his heart was twisting he still loved his son. Beat, however, was none too fond of the idea - he enjoyed simply being as he was, and was starting to become a bit wary and frightened of Gouji's strange behavior. Arguments were had.

As Gouji's project grew into his obsession, he became more and more adamant about Beat joining him in his grand design. Eventually, he took it a step too far. Gouji drugged Beat, knocking him out, and had preliminary augmentations implanted in him against his will.

Ever wondered about those little metal things on Beat's shoulders? Yeah, those ain't part of his shirt, folks.

When Beat awoke and learned what had happened, he was disgusted and furious, and pretty much flipped his shit. He decided to run away, denouncing Gouji as his father and taking to the streets with a new persona. He could no longer consider himself related to a man who'd lost himself so much and who was able to do such things.

It broke what was left of Gouji's sanity, and the man chased Beat across the city in a blind rage. It set up everything that was to come - why Beat appeared where the Rokkaku were stirring up the most trouble, why the GGs were targeted so furiously after Beat joined, why Gouji built the Zero Beat robots and called them his children, trying to fill unfillable voids.

As a result, Beat really has a bad impression of robots, cyborgs, and augmented humans. They all remind him of Gouji's corruption, and he'll do anything he can to avoid using his own base augs or become, in his eyes, less human. Things like this in relation to his own body are especially on the verge of a phobia for him; his usual upbeat, carefree nature will completely break down in the face of it. This is probably the biggest weird characterization thing you'll see out of me playing him, so now you know.

As for other notes and tidbits...

-It was Yoyo who encountered and raced Beat on Dogenzaka Hill. Beat took an immediate liking to the kid, as Yoyo reminded him a bit of himself when he was first on the streets and a newb to the whole thing. Also Beat was starting to think he'd need a gang to go up against Rokkaku since things were rapidly getting worse, so he threw the race on purpose and used it as an excuse to join.

-Aside from the fact that he was an easy target, that's also why Yoyo was the one kidnapped. Gouji wanted to rip away the people Beat most cared about in some messed up form of revenge.

-Beat originally wanted to lead a gang against Rokkaku himself, but after watching Corn play ringleader to the GGs, he realized it was a lot more work than he'd thought. And that Corn was naturally ridiculously good at it.

-Speaking of Corn, he and Beat did NOT get along at all right away. Mostly because of Corn's penchant for technology, really - this guy pulled a robot out of a trash can, fixed it, and let it join his gang? Yeah Beat's not really trusting of that. But Corn's talent for leadership, wholehearted love of the streets and the city, and clear dislike of the Rokkaku eventually earned him Beat's respect regardless.

[More later woooo]