Kou Watanabe
Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 9:00 pm
Name: Kou Watanabe
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Grade: 12th
School: John Endecott Memorial Academy
Hobbies and Interests: Drawing, fantasizing, speculative biology, walking and listening to music
Appearance: Kou is a slender young man, standing 5’5” tall and weighing about 130 pounds. He is Japanese-American, with light, cool tan skin and straight black hair, which is about ear length with parted bangs and is otherwise unstyled. Kou has a wiry, slim frame without much muscle mass. Kou’s features are boyish, with a small nose and mouth, large eyes, and thin eyebrows, with full and light pink lips. He has excellent hygiene and white teeth, but his hair is often disheveled. Kou’s eyes are a very dark brown.
Kou has an eccentric sense of style, wearing mainly clothes that pique his interest rather than anything perceived as fashionable. He often wears different hats or accessories, but rarely sticks with one for long. Kou's ears are pierced, but he only occasionally wears earrings or other jewelry such as chokers when it strikes his fancy. He generally favors muted colors, being uncomfortable with the idea of being bright or overly visible. On the day of the abduction, Kou was wearing a black button down coat over a black t-shirt, black trousers, and black boots. He was also wearing a black and gray mariner's cap, as well as a belt chain.
Biography: Kou is the only child of Kimiko and James Watanabe and was born and raised in Salem, Massachusetts. Kimiko works as a professor of physics at Cambridge, commuting there from Salem to save on expenses rather than live closer to the city. His father works in Salem at a consulting agency. Having met after being set up by mutual friends, they got along well and had similar personalities. However, they also worked long hours and were married several years before conceiving their son.
Kou’s childhood was subsequently marked by poor parenting. While they were never purposefully harmful, both of his parents considered raising a child to be more of a social obligation, and he was never treated with much affection or warmth. Their time spent away from home only furthered this distant relation, leaving Kou to his own devices with a nanny, whose focus was meeting his physical needs rather than providing an affectionate environment. This affected his development, as early on in elementary school, he was disinterested in interacting with his peers, preferring to keep to his own devices. When the school brought this up to his parents, they interpreted it as claiming something was wrong with their child, and became defensive. As a result, nothing much changed.
Kou was picked on some in school, but his detached nature meant he rarely responded to any bullying, making him an easy but uninteresting target. Kou didn’t really care to make friends, being perfectly content to do things on his own. Having a vivid imagination, creating complex environments and worlds in his mind, Kou tended to keep to himself. He began drawing at a young age, finding it interesting to recreate these ideas on paper. Even when he didn't draw it, he could spend hours simply sitting and daydreaming. For the most part, if he was sitting idle and not drawing, he would daydream. He found these worlds in his mind to be more compelling than those around him, feeling disinterested in reality.
Kou’s circumstances remained much the same as he grew older. His parents remained distant, and while he never lacked for necessities or material comforts, he also rarely interacted with them. He mostly continued his drawing, and had little interest in extracurriculars or spending time with other kids. Occasional attempts at intervention never met with success. Kou’s parents simply assumed Kou was a shy intellectual, and as long as his grades were good, were happy to leave him to his own devices. Kou, while recognizing himself as different from other people his age, simply didn’t care much about the differences. It didn’t really harm him, and he didn’t really mind if other people thought something was wrong with him or not. He also found himself disinterested in praise; in short, how others viewed him didn’t matter to him.
Kou’s artistic hobby continued, as he mostly remained self-taught. While he enjoyed it, he wasn’t emotionally invested enough to study it more in-depth. His subjects tend to be lifelike depictions of his imagined environments, being fantastical landscapes or strange, otherworldly creatures. This has led to an interest in speculative biology, beginning with older novels and series like ‘The Future is Wild’ and ‘After Man: A Zoology of the Future’. He finds these topics mentally stimulating and enjoys taking inspiration from other ideas. Daydreaming about these topics and others could consume much of his free time.
Ever since early middle school, Kou’s lifestyle has been very stable. Having no real friends, he spends most of his time drawing or reading or writing about his speculative biology, creating many alternative evolution paths both on Earth and in hypothetical other planets. His parents have begun to notice that their son is unusual and lacks friends, but are unsure of how to proceed. They have attempted to interact with him more now that he is older, but Kou remains distant and unwilling to socialize with them. Most of Kou's time is spent daydreaming, drawing, or recently, taking walks.
Recently, Kou has taken up walking around the city during his free time when the weather is good. He finds the time outside to be refreshing and invigorating, giving him more energy to spend on his projects. He also listens to music during this time, rarely doing so otherwise. He normally finds music distracting, but while walking, it provides a helpful ambiance while he thinks. He tends to listen to a wide variety of genres, but favors electronic and heavy metal due to its tempo and the melodies of the instruments used.
Kou has no real interest in being around other people, and finds prolonged social situations exhausting. He rarely expresses his emotions, and they are very subdued when he does feel them. Kou is distant and disinterested, appearing neutral to most of his classmates. He gets decent grades, being fairly intelligent and astute, but lack of investment in coursework leads to low-effort projects that drag his grades down. History and biology appeal to him, but he has no subjects he particularly dislikes. He makes no effort to interact with his classmates, almost exclusively keeping to himself, and so has basically no friends or enemies, though some may find his demeanor unnerving.
Though no diagnosis has ever been sought, Kou likely suffers from schizoid personality disorder. He has no interest in social interactions, lacks emotional affect or experience, and general apathy. He is aloof and distant when interacted with. However Kou is introspective and cerebral, with an analytical mindset capable of quickly breaking down problems or ideas or creating elaborate, complex scenarios. These fantasies are often so elaborate and engaging to him relative to the real world that he does not even notice his surroundings at times.
Recently, Kou has begun struggling with persistent depression. While he enjoys his hobbies as a pastime, he doesn’t have great passion for them, and often goes long stretches without accomplishing much due to lack of motivation. Kou has few strong feelings of passion or drive, and whatever draws his interest is usually fleeting. As a result, he has begun struggling with melancholy and frustration with himself, and even experiencing bouts of questioning the purpose of living at all. Though he has no intent to harm himself, and these feelings are usually brief and dismissed, Kou still finds them distressing and is unsure of how to respond to them. His grades have somewhat diminished as well, but because Kou is reluctant to discuss his problems or feelings with others, he has remained quiet about his struggles. outwardly, his behavior is not significantly different, especially due to the distance he keeps from others.
College does not appeal to Kou, and he is currently planning to take a hiatus and figure out what, if anything, he wants to do with his life. This has strained his relation with his parents, who had begun to expect him to enter an influential field, namely law. He has no desire whatsoever to study this, however, leading to even more cold tension within his family than before. Kou is planning to move out because of this, finding their presence and expectations stifling and uncomfortable, and has been looking into a job as a custodian, which he believes would suit him quite well.
Advantages: Kou doesn’t show much emotional expression, meaning he is difficult to read and may be able to conceal his intents. He is a loner by nature, and has few connections with his classmates, being detached from most of his peers. Thus, the psychological toll of their deaths will be mitigated. Kou is clever and observant.
Disadvantages: Kou lacks motivation and drive, and struggles to form or achieve goals, a problem which is only exacerbated by his depression's burgeoning suicidal thoughts. Kou's tendency to spend time extensively daydreaming may cause him to become distracted or unaware while on the island. Being a loner also means that Kou has few if any people who would be willing to work with him, and he in turn is unlikely to seek or take advantage of cooperation.
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Grade: 12th
School: John Endecott Memorial Academy
Hobbies and Interests: Drawing, fantasizing, speculative biology, walking and listening to music
Appearance: Kou is a slender young man, standing 5’5” tall and weighing about 130 pounds. He is Japanese-American, with light, cool tan skin and straight black hair, which is about ear length with parted bangs and is otherwise unstyled. Kou has a wiry, slim frame without much muscle mass. Kou’s features are boyish, with a small nose and mouth, large eyes, and thin eyebrows, with full and light pink lips. He has excellent hygiene and white teeth, but his hair is often disheveled. Kou’s eyes are a very dark brown.
Kou has an eccentric sense of style, wearing mainly clothes that pique his interest rather than anything perceived as fashionable. He often wears different hats or accessories, but rarely sticks with one for long. Kou's ears are pierced, but he only occasionally wears earrings or other jewelry such as chokers when it strikes his fancy. He generally favors muted colors, being uncomfortable with the idea of being bright or overly visible. On the day of the abduction, Kou was wearing a black button down coat over a black t-shirt, black trousers, and black boots. He was also wearing a black and gray mariner's cap, as well as a belt chain.
Biography: Kou is the only child of Kimiko and James Watanabe and was born and raised in Salem, Massachusetts. Kimiko works as a professor of physics at Cambridge, commuting there from Salem to save on expenses rather than live closer to the city. His father works in Salem at a consulting agency. Having met after being set up by mutual friends, they got along well and had similar personalities. However, they also worked long hours and were married several years before conceiving their son.
Kou’s childhood was subsequently marked by poor parenting. While they were never purposefully harmful, both of his parents considered raising a child to be more of a social obligation, and he was never treated with much affection or warmth. Their time spent away from home only furthered this distant relation, leaving Kou to his own devices with a nanny, whose focus was meeting his physical needs rather than providing an affectionate environment. This affected his development, as early on in elementary school, he was disinterested in interacting with his peers, preferring to keep to his own devices. When the school brought this up to his parents, they interpreted it as claiming something was wrong with their child, and became defensive. As a result, nothing much changed.
Kou was picked on some in school, but his detached nature meant he rarely responded to any bullying, making him an easy but uninteresting target. Kou didn’t really care to make friends, being perfectly content to do things on his own. Having a vivid imagination, creating complex environments and worlds in his mind, Kou tended to keep to himself. He began drawing at a young age, finding it interesting to recreate these ideas on paper. Even when he didn't draw it, he could spend hours simply sitting and daydreaming. For the most part, if he was sitting idle and not drawing, he would daydream. He found these worlds in his mind to be more compelling than those around him, feeling disinterested in reality.
Kou’s circumstances remained much the same as he grew older. His parents remained distant, and while he never lacked for necessities or material comforts, he also rarely interacted with them. He mostly continued his drawing, and had little interest in extracurriculars or spending time with other kids. Occasional attempts at intervention never met with success. Kou’s parents simply assumed Kou was a shy intellectual, and as long as his grades were good, were happy to leave him to his own devices. Kou, while recognizing himself as different from other people his age, simply didn’t care much about the differences. It didn’t really harm him, and he didn’t really mind if other people thought something was wrong with him or not. He also found himself disinterested in praise; in short, how others viewed him didn’t matter to him.
Kou’s artistic hobby continued, as he mostly remained self-taught. While he enjoyed it, he wasn’t emotionally invested enough to study it more in-depth. His subjects tend to be lifelike depictions of his imagined environments, being fantastical landscapes or strange, otherworldly creatures. This has led to an interest in speculative biology, beginning with older novels and series like ‘The Future is Wild’ and ‘After Man: A Zoology of the Future’. He finds these topics mentally stimulating and enjoys taking inspiration from other ideas. Daydreaming about these topics and others could consume much of his free time.
Ever since early middle school, Kou’s lifestyle has been very stable. Having no real friends, he spends most of his time drawing or reading or writing about his speculative biology, creating many alternative evolution paths both on Earth and in hypothetical other planets. His parents have begun to notice that their son is unusual and lacks friends, but are unsure of how to proceed. They have attempted to interact with him more now that he is older, but Kou remains distant and unwilling to socialize with them. Most of Kou's time is spent daydreaming, drawing, or recently, taking walks.
Recently, Kou has taken up walking around the city during his free time when the weather is good. He finds the time outside to be refreshing and invigorating, giving him more energy to spend on his projects. He also listens to music during this time, rarely doing so otherwise. He normally finds music distracting, but while walking, it provides a helpful ambiance while he thinks. He tends to listen to a wide variety of genres, but favors electronic and heavy metal due to its tempo and the melodies of the instruments used.
Kou has no real interest in being around other people, and finds prolonged social situations exhausting. He rarely expresses his emotions, and they are very subdued when he does feel them. Kou is distant and disinterested, appearing neutral to most of his classmates. He gets decent grades, being fairly intelligent and astute, but lack of investment in coursework leads to low-effort projects that drag his grades down. History and biology appeal to him, but he has no subjects he particularly dislikes. He makes no effort to interact with his classmates, almost exclusively keeping to himself, and so has basically no friends or enemies, though some may find his demeanor unnerving.
Though no diagnosis has ever been sought, Kou likely suffers from schizoid personality disorder. He has no interest in social interactions, lacks emotional affect or experience, and general apathy. He is aloof and distant when interacted with. However Kou is introspective and cerebral, with an analytical mindset capable of quickly breaking down problems or ideas or creating elaborate, complex scenarios. These fantasies are often so elaborate and engaging to him relative to the real world that he does not even notice his surroundings at times.
Recently, Kou has begun struggling with persistent depression. While he enjoys his hobbies as a pastime, he doesn’t have great passion for them, and often goes long stretches without accomplishing much due to lack of motivation. Kou has few strong feelings of passion or drive, and whatever draws his interest is usually fleeting. As a result, he has begun struggling with melancholy and frustration with himself, and even experiencing bouts of questioning the purpose of living at all. Though he has no intent to harm himself, and these feelings are usually brief and dismissed, Kou still finds them distressing and is unsure of how to respond to them. His grades have somewhat diminished as well, but because Kou is reluctant to discuss his problems or feelings with others, he has remained quiet about his struggles. outwardly, his behavior is not significantly different, especially due to the distance he keeps from others.
College does not appeal to Kou, and he is currently planning to take a hiatus and figure out what, if anything, he wants to do with his life. This has strained his relation with his parents, who had begun to expect him to enter an influential field, namely law. He has no desire whatsoever to study this, however, leading to even more cold tension within his family than before. Kou is planning to move out because of this, finding their presence and expectations stifling and uncomfortable, and has been looking into a job as a custodian, which he believes would suit him quite well.
Advantages: Kou doesn’t show much emotional expression, meaning he is difficult to read and may be able to conceal his intents. He is a loner by nature, and has few connections with his classmates, being detached from most of his peers. Thus, the psychological toll of their deaths will be mitigated. Kou is clever and observant.
Disadvantages: Kou lacks motivation and drive, and struggles to form or achieve goals, a problem which is only exacerbated by his depression's burgeoning suicidal thoughts. Kou's tendency to spend time extensively daydreaming may cause him to become distracted or unaware while on the island. Being a loner also means that Kou has few if any people who would be willing to work with him, and he in turn is unlikely to seek or take advantage of cooperation.