Link the Otter

Link the Otter
Link the Otter (drawn by Emerald Haze)
Species	Otter. Technically, he’s a North American river otter.
Nicknames	Otter Boy, River Boy
Age	16 years old
Gender	Male
D.O.B.	8th November
Likes	Diving, tinkering with machinery, helping out his father in the workshop, listening to Country & Western music, watching the light play upon the surface of the river, writing in his diary
Dislikes	excessive noise, crowds/large gatherings of people, rap music, avocados, desert areas, mosquitos
Family	Flint the Otter (father), Liz the Otter (mother)
Alignment	Lawful Good, Hero

NOTE: Major work in progress

Early Life

Link’s mother died after a long and painful illness when he was only 2 years old. Being so young at the time, he remembers very little about her, and as such doesn’t miss her as he would have if he’d known her better. But all through his childhood, Link’s life has been tinged with the sadness of his mother’s death, especially as his father became a very withdrawn, depressed character after she died. Being raised in such an environment shaped young Link’s personality and outlook on life, and as such he is a very serious, sometimes even cold, person.

Personality

Link was raised solely by his father, who became a very sad, withdrawn character after his wife’s death. Due to this, Link has grown up to be a very serious, thoughtful person, quiet in his own sense, but extremely hard on himself for the smallest of mistakes. He tends to expect perfection from everyone, especially himself, and when things don’t go to plan he’ll shoot the blame in every direction, including his own. For this reason more than anything else, Link can be his own worst enemy at times, and his eruptions at any failures tends to make him something of an annoying, even infuriating, character to be around. With a strong sense of ethics, his personal standards are very high, and he seems to expect other people to conform to his standards and play by the rules as well. To Link, there are no grey areas; everything is black or white.

Thanks to growing up in a rather sad, broken household, Link tends to be very serious and mature most of the time, and you will rarely see him joking around. His ego can be rather on the large side, and he can get angered quite quickly at anything he regards to be an insult, and, coupled with his perfectionist nature, few find him desirable as a friend. He doesn’t seem to notice, though, and if he does he probably concludes that it Is better to have a few good friends than many poor companions. Being brought up in an entirely male environment has affected Link in another way; he seems incapable of speaking to females properly. Chivalry has no meaning for Link, but should he be attracted to any female, he immediately becomes tongue-tied and awkward.

Link tends very much to be quiet, meditative, and intellectually sharp. He seeks perfection in everything he does, and he is very self-disciplined and detail-oriented. He strongly dislikes small talk and anything he considers to be ‘useless conversation’, and he has an unfortunately antisocial inclination to blow people off if he doesn’t like them. In fact, it can take a long time or a big event to get him to open up to anyone, much less befriend them. In addition to this, Link tends to be judgemental of others, and many perceive him as remote and cut off. He can be unpleasantly sarcastic if he feels like it, but this is often the only way he knows of expressing himself.

Link certainly isn’t a bad guy, and he can be a true and loyal friend to the few he allows to get close to him. It takes time for him to open up to others, but the few who have seen beyond his barriers know and understand that the real Link is actually a very thoughtful, considerate guy.

Physical Appearance

• Colour: Purple
• Skin Colour (i.e. muzzle, arms): inner ears and belly markings are peach. Muzzle is white
• Eye Colour: dark blue
• Hair/Quill Style: close, coarse fur covering his body.
• Nose: large, flat, oval shaped black nose with no visible nostrils.
• Ears: small, slightly triangular, with peach inner ears
• Tail: long, thick tail tapering to a point
• Other bodily features: 3 short tufts of fur/whiskers on either side of his muzzle. Large, triangular peach skin patch on belly, with smaller, upside-down triangular skin patch underneath

Attire

• White gloves with dark blue, close fitting cuffs, and black semi circles on back.

• Dark blue boots with white, close fitting cuffs, white oval detail on top and grey soles. Three pointed straps of black material reaching over the top of each boot and falling half-way down each side.

• All his clothes are made from waterproof material.

Trivia

• Originally intended to be a potential love interest for Hazel, as his character has grown he's developed a platonic relationship with her instead

• Link's personality is based around the Metal element.

• Link’s species was inspired by the otters in the series of books ‘Redwall’, by Brian Jacques.

His purple colour scheme was inspired by an old fancharacter of Emerald Haze's called Liz the Otter, who was herself a purple otter with a white muzzle. She has chosen to make Liz his mother.