Inu

Real Name: Ashley Boyce

Age: 26

Identity: known only to select family members and, of course, her nemesis

Occupation: graduate student

Citizenship: USA

Place of Birth: somewhere in the bowels of Ohio

Known Relatives: Dr. Harvey Pembroke (biological father); Dr. Kaede Akita (biological mother); adoptive family

Group Affiliation: Great Lakes Guardians

Education: Bachelor of Arts degree

Catch Phrase: 1) "Release the hounds!"

                          2) "I can smell your fear." (courtesy of Bagheera)

                          3) "Making evil my chewtoy, one villain at a time." (courtesy of El Rey)

Height: 5'3"

Weight: 140 lbs.

Eyes: blue

Hair: dishwater blonde

History:

Ashley --- a.k.a. Inu --- is the daughter of Dr. Harvey Pembroke and Dr. Kaede Akita, two scientists who worked at Genome --- a facility originally dedicated to the development of new and better treatments for diseases and other medical conditions through genetic research, but now works solely for the personal gain of the current director, Dr. James Edward Moreau. In his quest for fame, wealth, and glory, Dr. Moreau sacrificed his ethics and often used his own employees as test subjects. Dr. Moreau’s favorite test subjects were Drs. Pembroke and Akita, and he continually manipulated their DNA until they were barely human. Both experienced heightened senses, precognition, the ability to produce clones, and physical mutations --- Dr. Pembroke fared better than Dr. Akita in this respect; while her body slowly changed to resemble a werewolf, his merely resembled a normal human being with dog ears instead of human ears. They passed on these traits to Ashley, who appeared at birth to be perfectly normal in every respect. Fearing that she would become little more than a guinea pig for Dr. Moreau, they gave Ashley up for adoption. She lived a perfectly normal life until the age of fourteen, at which time she grew dog ears (pointed, not floppy), and her powers manifested.

Kids can be cruel.  Junior high and high school were, to put it mildly, miserable for Ashley.  Three or four friends stuck by her through the physical changes, but the rest of the school treated her like a freak.  College was much better, and Ashley blossomed there.  During her senior year, she and two of her college friends, Austin McDermot and Nadine Blackwell, went to participate in a paid genetic research study --- her friends just wanted the cash, but Ashley was hoping for answers about her "condition" --- at Genome.  While there, they ran into Cori-O, a friend of Austin's who also wanted to earn some extra cash.  One of the employees helping to conduct the study detained Ashley from joining her friends and the other participants after the initial screening.  At first Ashley thought it was because her DNA was tainted, but she was wrong.  The employee who detained her was Dr. Pembroke, her biological father.  Dr. Pembroke told Ashley the truth about her birth, showing her his own ears as proof.  He warned her of the danger she was in just being there at Genome, and what perils her friends faced being involved with the project.

Though Dr. Pembroke turned Ashley out of the facility and told her to stay away, she could not leave her friends behind.  That night, she broke into the facility and, aided by her clones, she quickly and quietly subdued the guards and freed the research participants.  And so Inu was born.

Many of the research participants went on to lead normal, mutation-free lives; but several, including Austin, Nadine and Cori-O, were not so lucky.  Nadine, known to many as the world's worst karaoke singer, began to experience changes in her singing performance.  She gradually developed the ability to manipulate her environment with her voice.  The power corrupted her, and she became Aria, Diva of Death and Destruction.  Austin, who bad always been very muscular and rather bull-headed, grew horns three weeks after the rescue.  Within a month, he had transformed into a minotaur, half man and half bull.  He took it well enough, charging all over campus and yelling "Viva ze Bool!" at all hours of the morning; but he couldn't live a normal life among people anymore, and he couldn't follow Aria.  Needing to clear his head and find his own path, he left college and became Tauro, the Wandering Bull.  Cori-O's transformation happened while at the Genome facility.  Having an adverse reaction to the experiemental syrum, Cori-O's body temperature rose drastically until, fearing he would combust, Dr. Moreau ordered for him to be placed in an ice bath.  The sudden change in temperature reversed the reaction to the other extreme, and frost began to form on Cori-O's hair.  While trying to clear his mind and find a balance, Cori-O accidentally learned how to throw balls of fire and ice, sometimes in combination.  On the night Inu broke into Genome, Cori-O took the name Frostfire and assisted in the rescue.

Inu and Frostfire soon entered a short-lived romantic relationship that ended with Frostfire's death.  While teaming up with Austin to rescue Inu from Aria and Dr. Moreau, Frostfire stayed behind to hold off Aria while Austin got Inu out of the Genome building.  Afterwards, Frostfire sacrificed himself to bring the facility down.  The building and much of the research were destroyed, but Aria and Dr. Moreau escaped.  Since then, Inu has been romantically linked to Silver Wolfox.

Inu is primarily a loner.  She is very close to her family, which has expanded to include Tauro (when he's in town) and a few other extremely close friends, but otherwise she keeps to herself.  It takes her a long time to get close to people, but once she does, she is very open and affectionate.  Likewise, once she is betrayed, Inu can hold a grude for a very, very long time.  She is extremely loyal to her family and friends, and can sometimes be territorial about certain things (favorite spot on the couch, tasks, etc.); but on the whole she tries to be accomodating and not let her irritation get the best of her.

Having the ability to make clones of herself means that Inu is never really alone.  She can direct her clones with ease to accomplish tasks that she could never do alone.  However, when working in a team, she does not bristle under the leadership of another.  If working alone as part of a team, she may contact the leader to make sure her plans won't put the rest of the team at risk.  When leading a team, she functions best as a co-captain.

Being a genetic mistake who was fortunate enough to be raised in a loving, supportive environment, Inu has a soft spot for those who aren't so fortunate.  She privately refers to them as "Society's Mutts": the homless, the used and abused, the abandonned; human or animal, she'll fight for them all.  She has been more protective of this group than usual as of late, as many have been mysteriously vanishing over the last six months or so.  She suspects Dr Moreau is behind the abductions, and that he is using his victims in his latest round of genetic experiments.

Powers / Equipment:

• Enhanced sense of smell: Inu has a nose like a bloodhound. She can track a scent trail over six months old, and can even detect the subtle changes in body odor when people experience different emotions.
• Enhanced hearing: She can detect sounds outside of the human hearing range.
• Cloning: Inu can temporarily produce up to six solid clones of herself for the purpose of pack attacks.  The clones are summoned either mentally, or with the phrase "Release the hounds!" 
  • Wolf Pack: good for charges and intimidation, as well as last minute house cleaning and grocery shopping
  • Fox Hunt: main purpose is tracking, though also good for pursuit and cornering enemies
  • Round-Up: herding; also good for pursuit and cutting off escape routes
  • Dog Pile: tackles and take-downs; also considered an effective method for waking stubborn, bed-loving companions.
• Precognition: Limited. Inu does not see clear visions or even flashes of the future. She can sense when something is going to happen, but she can never see what that something is.  Though its accuracy has never failed, it's frequency has decreased as of late and is, therefore, unreliable.  In time, this power may vanish all together.

Weaknesses:

Inu’s super sensitive nose is also her greatest weakness. Smells that overwhelm the average person act like drugs to Inu; prolonged exposure may result in nausea, vertigo, and possible loss of consciousness. Smoke bombs, knock-out gas, and other things of this nature have similar, more toxic effects. For these reasons, it is not uncommon for Inu to wear some kind of protective mask (any spare swatch of fabric will do in a pinch) over her nose and mouth. Loud and high-pitched noises --- and bad singing --- cause intense pain.  The clones are, as previously stated, temporary.  As soon as Inu stops concentrating or is rendered unconscious, the clones disappear.

Creator (Real Life) Info:

I was adopted (whole thing was prearranged) by two very cool parents who will always be "mom and dad" no matter what.  I met my biological father (who is not a doctor) when I was 18, but he had little information about my biological mother (who, as far as I know, is neither a doctor, nor of Japanese descent).  I must admit, Inu is thinner than I am, but hopefully by this time next year that won't necessarily be true.  I have my BA in English --- and I absolutely HATE prescriptive grammar rules! --- and am currently working on MA in English.  My goal right now is to finish my MA and find a job in Oklahoma so I can be with my wonderful boyfriend Robert (a.k.a. Silver Wolfox). ^_^

Character Rights:

The creator of this character retains all rights to the character's name, image, likeness, costume design, and background story.