Chris Erikson

Chris Erikson

Chris Erikson

Kanji	クリス・エリクソン
Romaji	Kurisu Erikuson
"S" Name	Eru (エル Eru)
Aliases	American (アメリカ人 Amerika-jin) Kuriku (クリク Kuriku) (by Ainosuke)
Affiliation	Nakayoku Games (仲良くゲームズ Nakayoku Gēmuzu)

Biographical Information

Status	Alive
Birthday	December 29
Age	26 (c. SK8 the Infinity)
Education	Bachelor's degree
Talent	Game Design Languages

Physical Description

Gender	Nonbinary (accepts all pronouns)
Eye Color	Teal
Hair Color	Ginger
Height	156cm (5'1.5")

Appearances

Anime Debut	Episode 12 (cameo)

Portrayal

Japanese VA	Hikaru Utada
English VA	Michelle Rojas

Skateboard Design

Original Character Images

Chris Erikson (クリス・エリクソン Kurisu Erikuson), known in "S" as Eru (エル Eru), is a character in the universe of the SK8 the Infinity anime series. They are a successful video game creator and a former classmate of Ainosuke Shindo from his university days in the United States.

Appearance

Chris is a short individual with a lean but athletic build. They have curly ginger hair in a slight undercut with bangs in front and bright teal eyes which are both big and slightly sharp at the outer corners. Their pale skin has scattered moles in places like the front of their neck, but none on their face. Because they smile a lot, their mouth has a wide appearance. They wear comfortable clothes like jeans and t-shirts, but at work they wear a white lab coat over their other clothes for the theatrics of cooking up new ideas. They enjoy wearing geta sandals for the fun sounds they make.

At "S", Chris swaps out the geta sandles for black flat-soled sneakers.

Personality

Chris is an agreeable person who tries to get along with others, emphasizing or downplaying certain parts of their own personality in order to align with what they feel might interact best with the other party or parties. When they are among close friends, they worry less about this and are more prone to becoming openly expressive, especially regarding their interests and passions. They love sharing knowledge, but try not to bury others in jargon from eclectic topics. They are constantly picking up new skills to explore new arenas of life.

Though Chris dislikes conflict, they want to help resolve conflicts which those around them may be experiencing. They try to bring clarity to both sides of a disagreement to increase understanding between parties. They want to continue becoming a braver person who can stand up on behalf of those who are being misunderstood. This passion feeds into their love of multiple languages, since improving methods of translation between them is yet another way to increase understanding between different groups. As such, they take the localization of their video games seriously, aiming to give as many players as possible an equally-enjoyable experience regardless of their country of origin.

As a skater, Chris stays laid-back and positive. They do not seem bothered by having a smaller repertoire of skills than the big names at "S" do, since the more important point of skateboarding is to have a fun time with friends. They spend at least as much time observing others' skating as they do skating for themself, since watching others sparks imagination.

Abilities

Chris is a skater who is solid on the basics, learning new tricks slowly and steadily. They have admitted that they are a little scared of getting seriously injured, so they tend not to take the risk of overestimating their abilities. Nevertheless, since skateboarding itself is an exercise in growing in courage and in learning to pick oneself back up after falling, they are determined to stick with it. They don't need to be in the spotlight of top skaters, since enriching themself through their own level of skateboarding is sufficient.

• Solid Foundation: Chris is confidant in their execution of the foundational movements and tricks of skateboarding. They can easily use their board as a reliable means of transportation for themself.
• Observation Skills: Since Chris watches others' skating so much from an artistic and imaginative perspective, they can often pick up on where the flow of movement could improve. They usually double-check these observations against Ainosuke's, since he is better at giving the skater in question practical advice.

Background

Having been raised in a home where safety was emphasized with the best of intentions, Chris had realized that they had become afraid of any situation which might be even remotely dangerous, and this worried them that they would be left unable to live a full life. So, they decided to begin skateboarding as a kind of exposure therapy to danger. They met Ainosuke Shindo at university and became friends, even if Ainosuke insisted that they were not friends since he had no need of something so childish as friendship. Thus, after university, they did not keep in steady two-way touch, since Ainosuke would often ignore Chris's messages. In the meantime, Chris leveraged a combination of their computer science background with international studies and a variety of other interests to make a name for themself in the video game industry. They moved to Japan to foster improving translation and localization between English and Japanese games, and eventually they started their own video game company, Nakayoku Games.

After the tournament at "S", Ainosuke reaches out to Chris in order to pick up where their friendship had left off, now that he has been reminded of the important role friends should play in his life.

Trivia

• Chris's family name means "son of Erik". Their given name is a shortened version of names like Christopher or Christine, both meaning "follower of Christ".
• Chris is a "regular" skater, meaning they prefer to skate with their left foot at the front of the board.
• Chris is a gift-card kind of present-giver, and White Day would be no exception. They would try to express personal knowledge of the recipient by figuring out what kind of gift card would make the recipient excited to spend it and feel that their interests have been seen.
• Their favorite food is macaroni and cheese.
• Chris isn't keen on marriage at this point in their life, so the questions about what kind of proposal or reception or honeymoon they would want don't really apply.
• Chris is a lifelong fan of classic fantasy, such as stories by Tolkien, Lewis, and others. This side-passion is where they have drawn inspiration for code names, skater or otherwise, both for themself and for Ainosuke and Tadashi's children.
  • Chris's skater name is a homage to Eru, the creator of Eä, since Chris's occupation involves creating fictional worlds through video games.
• Chris would want to go to a historic site for a summer date, learning new things and grabbing a couple of souvenirs. If there was unexpected rain, Chris would laugh and consider a break from the heat refreshing.
• Chris's preferred fashion sense is of comfortable clothes, street wear, and the like. They can dress more formally if the occasion warrants it. Chris often has a small sketchpad in their bag, as well as basic items like tissues and lip balm. Chris would want to dress like their usual honest self for a date, but not so sloppy as to give the impression that they don't care about the other person. They would prefer laid-back and fun plans for a date and would observe the other person to be sure they are having a good time. Chris does their own laundry. If someone snapped a picture of them on the street, they would finger-gun at the cameraman to indicate they knew what had just happened, but wouldn't be angry about it.
• Chris believed in Santa when they were young, but figured out the truth after watching their parents put presents around the tree. Video games and art supplies were common Christmas gifts.
• If Chris was an animal, they would be a crow, since they are clever and resourceful, but also chattery or easily distracted by shiny new things.
• When it comes to omotenashi, Chris was raised to be polite and kind to guests. They prefer to make their house homey rather than impressive, so their hospitality reflects a similar air.
• Chris dislikes strongly spicy food.
• Chris's blood type is O.
• Chris almost always makes a stop at the bakery run by Mika and Kenji Kajiwara during visits in Okinawa.