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[alreadyloveyou]

[ CHARACTER INFORMATION ]

Name: Dug
Age: Unknown, adult, probably between 2 and 5
Gender: Male
Fandom: Pixar's Up
Timeline: After the events in the movie, somewhere between settling in for a new life with Carl and siring all those puppies.

History: Dug is a dog, a golden retriever to be specific. He was born and raised in Venezuela as part of a pack of dogs that served Charles Muntz, an old man who was once a respected explorer and adventurer. Scandal in his heyday caused Muntz to vow to stay in South America until he captured a certain rare species of bird, and by the time Dug came around, many decades had passed and Muntz was a bitter, crazed old man. He trained Dug well, but because Dug's something of a bumbler and not at all suited for the tracking and hunting life, Muntz never cared much for him. The rest of the pack treated him like a joke as well and often mocked him.

Dug's life changed for good on his birthday. He made a wish for a new master, but the other dogs blew him off when he tried to tell them about it. Annoyed, Alpha sent him on little pointless "missions" to watch rocks or sit in holes, just to get him out of the way. Dug managed to accidentally fail each one so spectacularly that Alpha sent Muntz a negative report on him. He crept off, alone and shamed, and that's when he found Carl and Russel. Believing his birthday wish had come true, he immediately attached himself to the old man with the words "I have just met you, and I love you!" When Dug realized the pair had "captured" the bird his pack had been searching for all this time, he begged them to let him take it prisoner. Carl had no problem with getting rid of two pests at once, but Russel wouldn't hear of it.

Carl wasn't too thrilled at the grubby unfamiliar dog following him around, but Dug had already decided to stick with him and bring his bird back to Muntz. Unfortunately, Dug had forgotten that his collar would allow his pack to track him, and he and the humans were easily rounded up and brought back to Muntz's docked airship. Kevin, the bird, ran off when she heard the other dogs, and Dug was shamed for losing her trail. When Muntz learned that Carl and Russel had found the bird, he became paranoid and hostile, ordering his dogs to take them prisoner. Dug was the only dog who ignored the order, choosing instead to lead his new friends to a safe exit and then stall the rest of the pack. With his help, they escaped.

The group was followed and a short time later Kevin was taken prisoner anyway, and a frustrated Russel left Carl to get her back. After Carl went to rescue them both, he discovered Dug had been nearby the whole time, hiding but there all the same. Carl finally understood the depth of Dug's loyalty and accepted him as his dog. Dug helped Carl sneak through Muntz's airship undetected and distracted the dogs that wanted to attack him. He managed to outwit Alpha, earning him the new position as alpha dog in the pack.

And at the end of the adventure, he went back to America to be Carl's faithful dog.

Character Personality: "I have just met you, and I love you" is a pretty good indication of Dug's basic personality. Dug is loyal, friendly, and accepting. He likes everyone as soon as he meets them and greets people excitedly. He's also unfortunately very trusting, a little too much so, and can be easily tricked. He will listen to practically anything told to him by a human. He's a dog, it's not like it will ever occur to him to question the word of people! He's also incredibly obedient and hard working, willing to go above and beyond to assist those around him and make them happy. In the movie he was not afraid to run along collapsing columns of rock, leap canyons (with the help of a house boosted by balloons, of course), or even face down an entire dog pack in order to help Carl and Russel out. When given an order, he follows it eagerly. When being trained, he does his best... even if he can be a bit scatterbrained.

Speaking of, those dealing with Dug will need quite a bit of patience if he gets accepted into Death City. His heart is in the right place, but he's not the brightest, and he can be very excitable. All it takes is a single scampering rodent or thrown ball or the promise of a treat to make him forget everything and chase the prize. His memory is somewhat unreliable too; though he'd be happy to relay messages, odds are he'll forget them by the time he reaches the person on the other side. Good thing he's cute!

There's a very short list of things Dug doesn't like or tolerate. First is a threat to his friends. Any unlucky would-be assailant going after anyone who's earned Dug's loyalty is in for a snarling ball of anger clamping down on their leg or more vulnerable bits. He's not a very skilled fighter and can be kicked or tossed aside easily enough, but he's stubborn and won't stop if there's a friend to protect. To a lesser extent, Dug also hates the Cone of Shame. It's the dog word for those elizabethan collars put on animals when they receive medical treatment, but in the strange canine culture Dug's from, it's the mark of a bad dog. Even if he needs it, Dug will be very unhappy to be put in the Cone of Shame. Oh, and he really hates squirrels.

Character Abilities: Dug has an acute sense of smell, like all dogs! He's not a tracking breed, but he can follow a trail for a short distance at least. As a golden retriever his strengths lie in, well... retrieving. He will go after anything thrown or asked for and rush it right back to whoever asked, and he'll happily do it over and over. He doesn't get tired of playing fetch, ever.

Dug is eager to please and easily trained, and Muntz worked with him, so he knows many verbal commands including sit, shake, and speak ("hi there!"). He's also housetrained.

While not necessarily an ability, his collar is very noteworthy. It's a strong leather strap with a few devices attached, the most important of which translates Dug's thoughts into speech. There's a dial near the speaker that will change his words into fluent Spanish, Japanese, a ridiculous Appalachian twang, or other languages. However, unless someone messes with his collar, he will always "speak" American English. The collar also contains a tiny transmitter that was set up for use in the Venezuelan wilderness but can be tweaked by any interested engineers to make Dug trackable in Death City.

Character Weaknesses: As I've said before, Dug is not very bright. It's worth keeping in mind that he's not an intelligent creature with the power of speech, just a regular dog with a bit of technology on his collar. He is easy to trick, accepts even blatant lies as truth from those he respects, and he's very easily distracted. He'd make a poor guard dog, since he likes everyone.

Any meister hoping to keep Dug around long term will need patience, as he's not very focused. It takes next to nothing to completely shatter his concentration and cause him to change back, even in the middle of a fight. It will take work to turn this goofy, happy pup into a battle-ready weapon.

[ WEAPON ONLY SECTION ]

Why your character should be a Weapon: I actually seriously considered making Dug a meister for the laughs challenge, but it wouldn't suit his abilities or personality, so say hello to my second potential Weapon! Dug is a domesticated animal; he's hardwired to live among and assist humans, and he wants to have a definite job and do it well. Nothing makes him happier than fulfilling that role.

What is your character's Weapon form?: Dug is a Lewis gun, an old-fashioned machine gun that saw action in both World Wars. He's pretty bulky, and his main attack is rapidfire small artillery.

He comes with two special abilities. His first, The Kevincatcher, fires a weighted net of soul energy capable of snaring anything up to, say, the size of a tall flightless bird. The strength and duration of the net depends on resonation, but while it lasts and if it hits it will effectively pin the target.

His other special attack, BALL!, will take more effort for him to learn and use without changing back and trying to chase his own projectile. Dug can learn to fire soul energy spheres that look like tennis balls and explode on impact.

Though Dug can probably achieve resonation easily with pretty much anyone who cares to try, strong resonation will be another matter entirely. Dug loves everybody, but this generic affection will prevent him from forming the powerful bond that will unleash his full Weapon potential. As much as he will like his Death City friends, they're not his master, and Dug's ultimate loyalty is to Carl. The basic resonation anyone can achieve will allow Dug to fire what basically amounts to rubber bullets, stinging projectiles that will drive back but not kill. An interested meister will have their work cut out for them if they want deadly force from Dug!

[ SOUL INFORMATION ]

Soul Description: Loving, loyal, friendly, gullible, brave, happy

Soul Appearance: Dug's soul is golden in color and sports his happy face. The "tail" of his soul is fringed like his real tail and almost never stops wagging.

[ NOTES ]
Woof!