Hyeon-ju

Hyeon-ju

• Historical
• Modern

About

Name

Hyeon-ju

Aliases

賢珠(Hanja characters), 현주(Korean Spelling), 진현주(documented name)

Age

168 years old, appears 30

Pronouns

He/him

Height

5'9ft/175.26cm

Birthday

Febuary 24th

Occupation

Exorcist

Hobbies

People-watching, calligraphy

Likes

Rivers and oceans, romance movies, cold weather

Dislikes

Easy tasks, being bored, skydiving

Power Source

Spiritual energy, Imugi

Other Information

Family

Yeong-ja (mother), Su-jin (father), Eun (adoptive family), Jeong (adoptive family)

Strength

A very sociable person

Weaknesses

Too stubborn for his own good

A half-imugi who wanders the country as an exorcist, Hyeon-ju holds many secrets and tells not a single soul about them. A sociable man who enjoys mingling with others, regardless of their species or status. Behind his smiling eyes is a quiet man, but he would rather live life with a smile than to dwell on his past.

Hyeon-ju has long and messy light blue hair tied up into a ponytail instead of a topknot, with short front bangs. Within his hair is a pair of small, branch-like horns that are usually associated with imugi, but it's hard to see as they share the same colour as his hair as well as the fact he tries to keep them hidden. He has a stubble, hastily shaven and never quite clean. His clothes are of a pure blue colour scheme with a skin-tight black undershirt that covers his neck, and black fingerless gloves that cling to his arms. Around his neck and chest is a large necklace with three round beads and two sharp beads. His eyes are pink with snake-like slits for pupils. His mouth resembles a snake's mouth, with retractable fangs that can administer venom if he chooses to. He has a snake-like tail with two thin fins, usually curled around his torso or his leg inside his pants or robes.

He always carries around a long bong staff with him, whether in his hands or carried on his back by a strap. The staff works as a catalyst for his powers and as a general use weapon, as it can detached into either two swords or into a whip-like weapon depending on the situation. During the 21st century, he hides the staff in a guitar case to blend in with crowds.

Hyeon-ju can turn into a large serpent with small, branch-like horns with dark blueish green scales. His serpent form is noticably smaller in comparison to other imugi, being roughly 12 feet in length in comparison to the 20~60 feet that imugi can be seen as. At certain times, such as when exerting large amounts of power and energy, the whites of his eyes turn yellow and scales will start to grow out of his skin. This is usually a sign of him being unable to control his own powers, or at least a way to indicate large amounts of stress.

Hyeon-ju is extremely sociable and seemingly open-hearted to anyone he interacts with, but he comes with a prideful attitude. He holds a lot of confidence in himself and always tries to challenge himself if he can, though this usually lands him in trouble with people like Myeong-hwa and Eun. Though he is sociable and enjoys being around people, he can come across as sleepy or disinterested because he often acts as if he has low energy, but this is usually true during the colder season.

Despite his sociable nature, he keeps details about himself to a minimum. He is secretive by nature and refuses to indulge personal information, even if he does enjoy giving his own opinion on things. The most you will get out of him is what his favourite food of the month is, or if he enjoys the beach more than the mountains.

A long time ago, a wandering exorcist named Yeong-ja fell in love with Su-jin, an imugi who was almost ready to ascend into becoming a dragon. From that love came Hyeon-ju, a half-imugi child. Shortly after his birth, his father ascended into dragonhood and the two of them never saw Su-jin ever again. Alone with a son, Yeong-ja trained her son to fend for himself and taught him to love the world around him. He learned from her teachings and befriended two dokkaebi, Eun and Jeong, and grew to be every bit as mischevious as his mother.

Years passed, and when Hyeon-ju became old enough to an adult, his body stopped changing. No matter how many months past, he still looked no less younger than 30 years old. His mother aged just like any other human, and he watched as his mother grew old until finally she ceased to awake from the night's slumber. He, along with Eun and Jeong, buried her in a secluded area in the mountains near the village where she was born.

Hyeon-ju became the wanderer just like his mother, curious about the world that was around him. Often times he would fight against malicious spirits and evil beings, as an exorcist would supposedly do, but he found himself befriending some unlikely friends; a trio of Gumiho who see each other as siblings, for one. He meddled in affairs when he didn't need to, but that eventually almost cost him his life.

When investigating an incident that occured near Oncheon-cheon, many could've predicted but could not stop the cataclysm that occured. Hyeon-ju fought against an imugi who had every intention of governing all of the rivers in Joseon. In the end, Hyeon-ju won and defeated that imugi, who was cultivating a yeouiju and powering it up in order to enact his plan to exert control over other imugi and creatures. However, Hyeon-ju sustained a fatal wound from the battle and supposedly died from it. Neither Eun or Jeong could find his body however, and had searched for him until 1911, where they finally decided to cease their search and disappeared into the mountains. Only Ji-eun and Seo-yeon knew exactly what happened to him, and it was information that they decided to keep to themselves.

A century passes, and a man with blue hair walks among the living. A snake-like grin and a heavy black case on his shoulders were the only thing people could see before he disappears among the crowd. If you looked closely, you could see branch-like horns in his hair, but by that point he's already gone. You'd be lucky enough to see him, perhaps you should test your luck if you see such a man.

Powers

Hyeon-ju, despite having a mostly human appearance, has physical appearance often seen in imugi; branch-like horns and snake-like traits. Because of his imugi lineage, he resonates with water and water-like energies. He also has venom that he can extract from his fangs, a trait that is only seen in some imugi. His regeneration and healing process is similar to a human's, however his skin is slightly tougher, similar to a reptile's scales.

Because of his training with his mother since childhood, he is able to use multiple techniques of exorcism. This includes rituals, purification, eradication, etc. He often uses his staff to fight against evil spirits, and uses paper talismans to protect/ward off evil spirits or to cleanse evil.

Yeong-ja

A mother and a mentor, Hyeon-ju adopted her ideology and personality long after her passing of old age. He visits her twice a year; on her birthday and on her death date. Her stubborn nature and playful antics only made Hyeon-ju just as playful and stubborn, though she was wiser than he was and could hold multiple libraries of information when she wanted to. Even as she grew old, she never lost her spirit. He loved his mother above all else, and wondered if she would be proud of his actions at Oncheon-cheon.

Eun and Jeong

Eun and Jeong were like older sisters to Hyeon-ju, raising him alongside Yeong-ja and teaching him the ways of the world that Yeong-ja was not privvy to. Since Hyeon-ju treads the line of human and creature, they did their best to teach him parts of their world while letting him experience the company of humans. Eun was more strict with him while Jeong was more lenient on him. Either way, they were both devestated when they couldn't protect Hyeon-ju during the Battle at Oncheon-cheon to the point where they search for him years after his supposed death.

The Gumiho Siblings

Hyeon-ju finds all three of them interesting, particularly due to how they're very specific in their methods of interacting with others. Though, as a precaution, he spread rumours to humans to avoid certain parts of specific forests to deter humans from interacting with them, or at least rumours to help increase their chances of survival against them. Ji-eun and Seo-yeon knew the truth behind his fate, but kept it from others as a promise to him. Myeong-hwa was not active during this period, and only knew of the truth after her revival.

Su-jin

Hyeon-ju has conflicting feelings about his father. He believes that Su-jin didn't care for him and his mother, but understands the responsibilties he had due to the ascension he went through. Even after the revelation that his mother had encouraged Su-jin to ascend, he still held somewhat negative feelings towards his father. Despite this, his father desperately wanted to see his son and made it so that Hyeon-ju survived a battle that he would've died in.

• Hyeon-ju briefly had amnesia when he returned to the surface in 200X, though his memories returned to him after his decision to not turn away from his past.
• Hyeon-ju's horns are much smaller than other imugi horns, and he can also make them disappear, much like how other imugi do when they decide to blend in with humans.
• Hyeon-ju enjoys wearing fingerless gloves for many reasons, and has multiple pairs in the future.
• Hyeon-ju enjoys seafood more than meat, but doesn't complain for either dish.
• Hyeon-ju resembles Yeong-ja more than Su-jin, but Hyeon-ju's scales in his imugi form resemble his father's scales.