Katie Tanaka, as made by KamiKaze in Facemaker
Katie Tanaka (art by Violent-Medic)
Name: Kaede “Katie” Tanaka
Gender: Female
Age: 17
School: Alderbrook High School
Hobbies and Interests: Scouting, cats, hiking, artwork, drama class, old movies (particularly Westerns)
Appearance: Katie has dark shoulder-length hair tied into two pigtails, neatly combed and straightened out. Occasionally she wears it down or in various other styles, but for the most part it is always in that style.
Being 5'2 and 130 pounds, Katie is at a normal body weight for someone of her height. However, a bit of muscle can be seen on her from hiking from time to time. After her accident she has gone on crutches for a period of time, but after recently going off them she still walks with a slight limp in her right leg.
As far as clothing goes, she dresses fairly casually. She tends to wear shorts, or the occasional skort, while also having a tendency to wear usually plain tank tops or t-shirts, though on rare occasions they have a picture or slogan on them, usually involving cats. On the day of the program starting she was wearing a white skort with a plain yellow tank top, with black knee socks. Katie also wears beaten up blue tennis shoes. She wears a charm bracelet on her wrist, on which most of the pendents involve cats in some way.
Katie has a round face, with high cheekbones. Her brown eyes are large and almond shaped, in a manner typical of one of Japanese descent. She has a small yet broad nose, and slightly thin lips. Her skin is tanned from being in the sun hiking all the time. Her ears are pierced, though usually she puts small studs in. As far as facial expressions go, she usually has a large smile, though sometimes her facial expressions can be exaggerated in other ways, mostly in a joking manner. She tends to wear light make-up, such as lipgloss and mascara.
Biography: Kaede “Katie” Tanaka was born in Alderbrook, British Columbia, to a Japanese Canadian couple. Her parents had come in from Japan after both finished university due to wanting to travel together, and eventually they settled in British Columbia due to liking the atmosphere. Although the Tanakas visit their relatives in Japan from time to time and do observe traditions, for the most part they have fully integrated and seem like a mostly typical Canadian family. She is the eldest out of two sisters, her younger sister Rina being seven. She has a fairly decent and normal relationship with her family, in that while she does argue with her parents from time to time like most teens she's actually pretty close to them. There is a fair amount of jealousy on her part regarding her relationship with Rina, in that, like most siblings, she occasionally feels her parents care about Rina more than her. However, despite this, she genuinely does look out for her and does get upset if she's hurt and does help her out with typical things a child of her age would need, such as homework.
From a young age Katie had always loved old movies. This originated from her parents, who would often put on some sort of old classic movie to watch, and Katie would sit down and watch it with them. Sometimes they would be Hammer Horrors, or black and white silent films like Charlie Chaplin. Her favorite of all, coincidentally enough, was old Westerns. She loved watching cowboy sheriffs try to take down the new bandit that was in town, or to watch the lone farmer struggle with life in the Wild West. She loved the idea of living in a Wild West setting and fighting against bandits or criminals with people like Clint Eastwood. So oftentimes she would indulge herself in these movies and often in her childhood games she pretended to be a cowboy or something similar. She has calmed down about this interest in recent history, but still is fascinated by it.
When she was in kindergarten there was an incident with a family friend's dog. The friend had brought over their dog during a visit, and Katie tried to play with it. Not knowing any better, she tugged on the dog's tail and the dog reacted in kind, namely nipping at her arm out of fear. When they heard the cry of pain the friend left with the dog, but to this day Katie has a fear of dogs and similar animals, often freezing in place whenever she sees one. Although her peers find it humorous, she genuinely is horrified by said animal, no matter what kind.
As she entered Elementary, she got a bit of a reputation for being loud and energetic. Naturally, this made some people dislike her, but she made some friends, usually interacting with both genders. There was mild confusion about how her given name was pronounced, leading to her using the name “Katie” when at school. She also was enrolled in a scouting group in first grade, soon making plenty of friends during the meetings and participating in all sorts of activities with her group. Katie in particular loved hiking, and even when her group wasn't out camping or going on a hike, she would hike in nearby woods, often camping out whenever she had the chance. As a result she knows a fair amount about hiking and basic skills for being out in the wilderness.
Another thing Katie had a fondness for was cats. Ever since she was younger she always loved toys, clothes, games, and shows featuring them. Often her favorite stuffed animals were cats of some kind, and would occasionally play cat-related games along with the Western-themed ones. To this day she is still obsessed with cats, to the point where her classmates jokingly refer to her as a “cat lady”, much to her chagrin. But none the less, she was a girl who was a bit of a cat lover. Naturally, around the time she just entered high school her family adopted a kitten, much to her delight. Very often she talks about her cat whenever the subject comes up, often very enthused about the topic.
In high school she joined the drama class, and soon developed an interest in it. Katie loved the idea of participating in various storylines and becoming all sorts of characters. While she is far from the best actress, she shows a fair amount of enthusiasm and does know how to get into character. However, the main criticism her classmates have about her acting is that occasionally she takes it over the top to the point where people can't take her seriously. She is also a member of the art class, and while she is far from any good at drawing, she seems to prefer painting, and does it a fair amount in her spare time. Most of the time her artwork is incomprehensible in design, but she claims that it's intentionally "abstract". Other times, though, she does draw things that seem fairly clear what it's about.
As far as temperament goes, she's a bit on the “loud” side, in that she tends to shout and be fairly energetic. While some students like her for this reason, other students tend to find this annoying for obvious reasons. In addition, while Katie does have her moments of competence in her interests, she has a mild tendency to overestimate her abilities. One of the most notable examples was an incident several months ago while hiking. Katie was attempting to climb down some rocks, and wasn't paying attention out of overconfidence. After a few steps she slipped on a pebble and fell, breaking her right leg in the process. It took half an hour before she was rescued, and for a period of time she was on crutches after the accident. Recently she has gone off them, but she still has problems in her leg, namely occasional numbness and slight ache. While it doesn't effect her much, she tries to rest it as much as possible.
Katie isn't entirely sure what she wants to do with her life just yet. On some days she wants to be in historical reenactment, while on others she wants to be a vet. To her there are so many things she wants to be that she can't pick one. However, one day she wishes to travel like her parents did, and see the sights of the world. She isn't sure where she wants to go so far, but she has taken a mild interest in looking at travel magazines.
Advantages: Katie is reasonably fit from hiking, which means that she is less likely to get tired. As a result of spending her spare time out in the wilderness, she knows a fair amount of survival skills. Being an actress, she could have an easier time lying or positioning herself into a role. Being familiar with old Western movies may mean that she has a slightly higher awareness of the Virtua setting.
Disadvantages: She is universally considered a loudmouth by most of her classmates, meaning that some people may dislike her. Her right leg has only recently healed up after being broken, meaning that she may have slightly lower mobility in it. Although not immediately apparent, she could easily get overconfident about her abilities. Katie also suffers from a fear of dogs, and in the rare scenario that her fear is triggered she could have problems.
Designated Number: Female Student #4
Designated Weapon: Three sticks of dynamite
Conclusion: Sounds like this little lady will be right at home. Hope y'all can get clear of the blast zones with that limp...
The above biography is as written by KamiKaze]. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.
Evaluations[]
Kills: None
Killed By: Collar Detonation
Collected Weapons: Three sticks of dynamite (designated, detonated by Simon Mattheson), stone (steadily sharpened to a point), C96 Mauser Pistol (from Benny Lightfield)
Allies: Warren Davies, Ramona Shirley, Benny Lightfield, Kenneth "Ken" Danielson, Sycanus Appletin, Jacqueline "Cameo" Conroy, Renee Murphy, Leo Raclaw
Enemies: Simon Mattheson, Rebecca Clark
Mid-game Evaluation:
Post-Game Evaluation:
Memorable Quotes:
"Howdy, partnah! I believe water is everywhere here in the town without a name! Water be quite precious to us townfolk! Want some? Not mah cup of tea, but ya know. Take a sip if ya so desire!"- First line of dialogue.
"We're heeled, son! Three sticks of dynamite and a shotgun! But we won't bite until ya bite us though, got it?"- Even when hiding, she tries to be all Western.
"BENNY! RAMONA! How you folks doing? Have you stayed safe? Did bandits mess with you? What kind of stuff did you get in your pack things? They gave me dynamite, three sticks! Can you believe it? What a weird mess we're in! I mean, cowboys just abducted us and stuff! I honestly can't tell if this is like, a horrible way to die or an awesome way to die! And, and, and, stuff! I'm so happy to see you two!"- Katie's so happy!
"Benny. Exactly. He's killing everyone."- Rationalizing going after Simon
"I... I don't think I could ever forgive him!"- Katie gets emotional talking about the saloon incident
"Rebecca... I don't want to do this."
Other/Trivia[]
- The name "Kaede" translates to "maple" in Japanese. Fitting, considering Virtua is so far the only SOTF, Mini or otherwise, where the kids are from Canada.
- Humorously, the number four (Katie's number) is considered unlucky in Japan, due to it being pronounced the same as "death" in the language.
- Technically, Katie is a player-hunter, in that in addition to wanting to get vengeance on Simon Mattheson (her main target) she has also alluded to wanting to go after other major players (Delilah Rivers and Rebecca Clark being two known examples). However, her motivation is less any kind of belief that killing players is moral and more a desire for vengeance for them killing her friends and classmates.
- According to her handler, Katie was originally inspired by, of all things, Troll 2. While watching it she got the idea to write a character "so bad it's good". The idea was to portray Katie as a hammy, hyperactive woman. However, over time she quickly evolved and was portrayed a lot more seriously. Her handler has also revealed that the reason why she's Japanese was based off an observation that Asian characters tend to get more scrutiny than other characters.
- Most threads either started by Katie or with her in it where the title was a suggestion are references to movies considered part of the Western genre.
Threads[]
Below is a list of threads that contain Katie, in chronological order
- The Good, The Bad, and the Ohmigodwhatthefuck
- No Country for Teenagers
- Rebel Without a Clue
- Bring Me the Head of Simon Mattheson
- Duck, You Sucker!
- This Too Will Pass
- Last of the Alderbrooks
Your Thoughts[]
Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Kaede "Katie" Tanaka. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!
You know what? Katie may be one of the few characters I'm (almost) completely proud of. Sure, sometimes I do wonder if her evolution from Western-obsessed goofball to being outright vengeful seemed forced, but to be honest? Katie's awesome. And if I'm correct, she's currently in the Final Seven, which is a good thing too. So I'm very proud of her! Here's to hoping that the rest of Virtua would be awesome! - KamiKaze