Eric Cooper

[landlocked*]

Name: Eric Cooper
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Grade: 12th
School: Bayview Secondary School

Hobbies and Interests: video games, manga, anime, cartoons and animation in general, both watching it and drawing it himself. Eric hopes to study animation in college. He is also on the school's track and field team.

Appearance: Eric is a pretty scrawny guy, standing at about 5'4'' and weighing a mere 115 pounds. He's generally an average looking guy, skinny with shaggy black hair that forms a pair of curtains around his face, sometimes obscuring it. When his face is visible, however, it's revealed to be very childlike in appearance. He has large, dark eyes and an especially round nose, and as a whole, Eric's face is quite circular – he has a bit of a weak chin. His skin isn't particularly pale or tan, and he has a few pimples, which tend to pop up around his nose and chin. He dresses very casually in clothes that are often a bit too large for him and make him look even scrawnier – his wardrobe is made up almost entirely of baggy jeans, t-shirts and hoodies.

Biography: Eric certainly isn't the most popular guy at school, and those that know him casually often refer to him as a nerd, something Eric himself doesn't deny. Eric had been an avid video game player even when he was younger, and his love of the Pokemon anime as a child helped him to broaden his interest in anime in general, as well. He isn't one to hide this interest, particularly that in Pokemon, his favorite franchise. His label as a nerd is something that earns him a lot of teasing, some of it good-natured and some of it less so, and Eric isn't above poking fun at himself, either. His unassuming looks and personality mean that he generally blends into the woodwork – Eric is quite shy around anyone he doesn't know well, mainly due to his mistrust of most people.

Eric's home life was similarly unassuming – he is the only child of a single father, Anthony Cooper, his mother Jean having left the family shortly after Eric's birth. Eric's conception was in fact an accident – though Anthony and Jean were happily married, Jean had never had any desire to have a child. This saddened Anthony, but his love for his wife ruled over his wish to be a father, and he agreed not to raise a child, at least until they were both ready for it. However, a highly unlucky incident involving Jean forgetting to take her birth control pill and a broken condom that occurred a few years into their marriage resulted in Jean becoming pregnant unintentionally. She wanted more than anything to get an abortion, but Anthony's desire to raise a child was so strong that she eventually agreed to keep her baby – however, they also agreed to get a divorce as soon as it was born. Thus, Eric was raised by his father alone. This has never been something that particularly bothered Eric, as he never knew his mother in the first place, but it was an event that caused Anthony to become somewhat jaded, and this has rubbed off on Eric starting from a young age – he has always been a bit of a pessimist, and extremely paranoid of peoples' true intentions. Though he has his own group of friends and is by no means a loner, his paranoia sometimes hinders his ability to connect with people.

Another part of Eric's life that has led him to be a distrustful person is his rather poor luck with girls. His first attempt at asking a girl out was just at the beginning of high school, and it took him quite a long time to work up the courage to finally do it. He asked her face-to-face, just as his dad had advised (though "face-to-face" may not be the best term for it, since Eric mostly stared at his feet as he asked). Though the girl in question wasn't exceptionally rude to him, Eric was turned down by her, and quite stung. He later had a similar string of events occur with a different girl, who was considerably less polite in her rejection. Though his friends would tell him he was being melodramatic, Eric thought up of all kinds of reasons why he couldn't get a date – was it because he was too nerdy, not attractive enough, not muscular, too skinny, too short? He has not tried again since, and these series of events increased his paranoia even further – he found himself worrying what people were thinking about when they saw him or spoke to him more and more often.

Eric has otherwise led a relatively happy, average life. His father works as a lawyer, so he is quite well off despite being raised by a single parent. Despite his paranoia, Eric has still managed to make a few close friends, and is generally well-liked by most people that get to know him. Some of his friends are fellow anime and video game nerds, though not all - his father encouraged him to join the school track team to help get him out of the house, and Eric has also made buddies with some fellow team members. Looking to expand his portfolio so that he can attend college and major in animation, Eric has also started taking several art classes in school, and is slowly beginning to become acquainted with the art crowd, as well. In the back of his mind, however, Eric will always be extremely distrustful of anyone he doesn't know, and indeed, quite a few people that he does.

Advantages: Eric is in decent shape due to track, and a good sprinter. He's cautious and rational, and also has a lot of knowledge about the Survival of the Fittest show, being somewhat involved with the fandom.

Disadvantages: Eric is very, very, VERY paranoid. While this caution could keep him safe, it will make it extremely difficult for him to form alliances, particularly with people like Danya around, encouraging his paranoia.