Tanner

An anthropomorphic red squirrel who has been through the wringer and somehow come out of it all okay, relatively speaking. Tanner is a character used primarily in one RP setting, and much of her history after the second paragraph is based on the shared history of those RPs. Also she's trans. 🏳️‍⚧️

Personality
Tanner is shy and reserved; it can take some time for her to warm up to others. Once she has warmed up to someone, however, she becomes very attached to them, and starts to show a more sociable and playful side. She is very kind and considerate, and likes to make people smile if she can. That said, Tanner is fragile, and her feelings are easily hurt. She sometimes takes jokes too seriously, or assumes that certain remarks are about her when they're meant for someone else. When she was younger she had a lot of trouble regulating her emotions, and would often hide away from others if she became too overwhelmed and upset. She feared being seen as a burden by the people she cared about the most, and still carries some of that fear to this day. Even so, she's become more well-adjusted and capable of handling her negative emotions, and is doing her best to no longer lock herself away when what she really needs is a shoulder to lean on.

History
Tanner grew up in a village in a dense forest inhabited by squirrels like herself, and had a relatively happy childhood, until one day, when she was eight years old. On that day a group of bandits attacked her village. Tanner hid inside of a large chest for safety, but through a crack in the chest she witnessed the murder of her parents by a brown rat. Tanner stayed hidden in the chest for nearly a day, and when she stumbled out she found her village razed to the ground and all of its inhabitants, as far as she could tell, dead. Tanner picked up the spear her father had used to try and defend himself from the rat and sat down by the remains of her house, and there she remained until she was found hours later by a pair of guards who had come to investigate. Tanner told them nothing of what happened; she couldn't speak at all after what she'd witnessed. 

After some time she was placed in an orphanage, where she remained for the next four years. During that time she eventually regained the ability to speak, but the trauma of that night and the immensity of her loss kept her from making any friends or growing much. She was withdrawn, quiet, fearful, and distrustful, and kept her father's spear with her at all times, despite the inherent awkwardness of a child walking around everywhere with a weapon. Though she didn't make any close friendships at the orphanage, there was one other orphan that showed her a surprising amount of patience. This was another squirrel named Autumn, who was slightly older than Tanner and often looked out for her when not even the orphanage's caretakers seemed interested. With Autumn's encouragement Tanner began to slowly improve; she started speaking again, and tried to participate in group activities. But one day Autumn was eventually adopted, however, leaving Tanner alone yet again, and she began to regress. 

At the age of twelve Tanner ran away from the orphanage and became lost in a forest. Unexpectedly, when she made her way out of the forest she found she was on a small island in the middle of a vast sea. Now stuck with no way off, Tanner resigned herself to her fate on the island, until by complete chance a ship docked at the shore. She hid in the trees and watched as a strange crew made their way onto shore, and when they spotted her she came out of hiding. The leader of the crew was a small orange lizard that called herself Captain Flametail. With no other way off the island, Tanner agreed to join these pirates. Being a pirate was very difficult, and Tanner encountered several hardships, but despite it all she managed to make genuine friendships with her new crewmates. At the end of their journey as pirates, Tanner traveled with Captain Flametail- or rather, BabyCharmander- and her other new friends to an enormous Mansion, which she made her new home.

Tanner's time at the Mansion was formative, and helped her to come out of her shell and finally begin healing from her trauma. Though she remained cautious, she began socializing more often, and turned out to be a kind and thoughtful individual. Of course, she couldn't avoid all bad things, and had to deal with some very difficult situations at the Mansion. One awful revelation came when she encountered the very same brown rat that she had seen murder her parents in the Mansion; she soon learned that his name was Morrie, and he had been living there for some time before Tanner showed up. Though Tanner's friends convinced Morrie to leave, he would still occasionally appear, apparently trying to seek amends for what he had done to Tanner. But she refused to forgive him, and could not see him as anything but a murderer and a threat to the safety of herself and her friends. Eventually Morrie left for good, but Tanner was still haunted by him.

The worst thing to happen to her was when, through a series of unfortunate circumstances, she became possessed by both a demon and an angel. Said demon used to reside inside BabyCharmander, and the angel used to be BC's own guardian before they had a falling out. This dual possession granted Tanner some very powerful (and dangerous) abilities, but at the cost of setting back her personal growth a significant amount, as now she had two voices inside of her vying for control whenever she went through a stressful moment. Despite this, she still tried her best to put on a brave face and continue living with her friends.

At some point, she decided to leave the Mansion and set off on a journey of self-discovery. She managed to find her way back to her old world, and was able to reconnect with Autumn again for the first time in a long time. Over several years of travel and growth she matured into a confident and bright young adult, though the awkward, fearful child she used to be still comes out from time to time. She also came to the realization that she was transgender during this period, and has since transitioned. Overall she's much happier than she was as a child, despite the circumstances. Recently she has returned to the Mansion and reunited with many of her old friends. She's overjoyed to be back home.

Skills

• As a squirrel, Tanner is a talented climber, possesses an excellent sense of balance, and can survive falls from just about any height with nary a scratch. These natural abilities can be compromised by her emotional state, so if she's too anxious or afraid she might lose her balance or fall and hurt herself.
• For a significant amount of her life Tanner's spear was only a comfort item and only used as a weapon if she was forced to fight—and even then, she wielded it clumsily. After she left the Mansion she began to earnestly learn how to use her spear properly, and is now capable of wielding it properly. That said, she still prefers to avoid fighting if she can.
  
• During her time away from the Mansion she picked up a hobby in whittling, as it was a way to keep her hands and mind occupied when her thoughts became too much to bear. She likes whittling little figures based on people she's met or things she's seen.
• As mentioned above, Tanner is possessed by a demon (Doomfire) who wishes to use her as an avatar of torment, and an angel (Bartholomew) who is there to keep the demon's influence at bay. Their voices are nearly omnipresent in the back of her mind, but most of the time they are inaudible, or just quiet enough for her to ignore them. During times of high stress and uncertainty their voices become amplified, and if she fails to shut them out or calm down then she enters Rage Form, signified by her fur and eyes turning red and white. In this state Tanner's physical capabilties are heightened, but she no longer has control over her actions, and will lash out violently at whoever is responsible for her out-of-control emotions, as well as anyone who happens to be in the vicinity. Usually Tanner can be calmed before she does too much harm, either by restraining her, splashing her with some cold water, or by having someone she trusts talk her out of it (or all three). If she can't be calmed or continues to be provoked, then Tanner will eventually give in to one of the two voices, and one of two different states will emerge.
  • If Tanner relents to Doomfire then she enters Death Form. Her appearance changes to reflect Doomfire: her fur turns dark red and black, she gains long, sharp horns, fangs and claws, and her eyes become completely black. While in this form the demon is in full control of her body, and will try to cause as much destruction as possible to everyone and everything around her. Death Form is incredibly strong and ruthless, and takes significant more effort to pull her out of than Rage Form does
    
  • If Tanner allows Bartholomew control, she enters Life Form. Her appearance changes to reflect Bartholomew: her fur turns a pure white, her eyes become blue, and she gains a pair of golden wings. While in this form Bartholomew is in full control of her body, and will use his angelic abilities to help keep her safe and protect those around her. This includes enchanting her spear with a holy light that can cleanse evil and rend darkness. Unlike Death Form, which requires significant effort to pull Tanner out of, Life Form ends as soon as Bartholomew decides that it's safe.