Charleston Parker

"'We're back in business, baby!' ― Charles Parker"Charleston -- call him Charles -- Parker is a player character and one of the main characters of the Aprilside Campaign. He is the gym teacher for Aprilside Middle School, and the co-club advisor of the PSA Club, alongside Caroline Goldstein.

Appearance
Charles is tall and extremely muscular, in Peak Physical Form for a 5'11.5" (yes, that half inch is important) man. He has brown hair that is styled to have his bangs spike up and fair skin. He has more canine teeth than the typical person should. He has One Good Eye which is a warm brown, but for the other one...

His other eye, and the skin around it, has been replaced with a thick black ink-like substance. In moments where Hogs is present and/or controlling Charles, a red iris can be seen staring out from the blackness.

He is typically found in his typical sunglasses, athletic shirts, and khaki shorts (and a fanny pack), and he'll literally never wear winter clothes. He can and will show off all of his highly developed muscles, the only one never properly trained being his brain, because he's an idiot.

While he is almost always seen with his trademark grin of Jock Confidence, once he removes his shades the bags under his eye are quite prominent.

Personality
Charles is an outgoing and personable man, typically very friendly to everyone he meets. He keeps up an optimistic persona, preferring to preach hope and health to everyone around him. He does not like to give up, and when he does he sees it as a failure on his part.

He is openly affectionate to family members and friends, quickly assuming a parental and brotherly role in most situations. He's also an emotional man, easily moved to tears on simple things. He's quick to get happy and quick to get angry, and when he gets into one of his Moods he's hard to get out of, especially if he is enraged.

Charles is the definition of Idiot Jock, having no real sense of logic, usually barreling through any obstacle in his way without planning. The only thing he's an expert at is sports and athletic training. That's literally it.

Charles is secretive about his past, often claiming that it's "behind him" and that it doesn't matter. He has repeatedly been vague in both leading missions and in describing relationships with others, both to keep up a playful air of mystery and to avoid thinking of former experiences.

Charles is an easy pushover, getting upset at any notion of anyone being upset or disappointed with him. He puts nearly all blame of everything, even if it is unrelated to him, on himself.

Pre-Nidhoggr
Charles was raised as an only child in the small town of Accreton. He was a prodigy in athletics, known as the town's darling quarterback. Despite his consistent struggles with academics, he was set for a good future in sports.

Post-Nidhoggr
Upon forming a contract with Nidhoggr, he immediately shut himself away from his friends. Babe and Max befriended him, introducing him to the life of spectrals and spirits.

He switched his focus to teaching athletics in college, due to the fact that a one-eyed person can't actually perform on professional football teams.

Aprilside
He moved to Aprilside eight years ago with his family (minus Max) and began forming The Guard. He worked at the high school during that time. He eventually stepped down from his leadership role in the organization, focused on training future members in the PSA Club alongside Anya Wagner.

He met and soon married Kurt during his fifth year at the high school, and transferred over to work as the gym teacher at Aprilside Middle School. He took Max's place as the Co-Adviser to the PSA Club, and has since been working with Caroline Goldstein.

Spectral Training
Charles has been trained by some of the best when it comes of combat with spectral energy. His specialties are large spectral constructs for large amounts of melee damage. Though, he prefers hand-to-hand combat over everything else.

Nidhoggr
Nidhoggr has given Charles a multitude of abilities (which Charles likes to call his "Skittles"), of which include:
 * The ability to locate spirits and spectrals through smell (Skittles #1)
 * Unfortunately, he no longer can smell anything but spectral energy.
 * The ability to consume spectral energy and spirits (Skittles #2)
 * Like Skittles #1, he can only taste spectral energy.
 * He can now technically consume anything, his body easily consuming non-edible objects.
 * The ability to come back after dying, not optional (Skittles #3)
 * After forcibly exploding his car and standing at the epicenter of the explosion, Nidhoggr had returned to Charles and he was up and moving within a few moments of his death.


 * The ability to change forms (Skittles #4). Only one form has been previewed in past memories.
 * Shadow Charles is a version of Charles encased entirely in the black ink. His strength is increased in this form, though he is less controllable.


 * Superhuman strength and speed
 * He once picked up a car and walked over a 1000 feet away with it without struggle.
 * The ability to mentally connect himself with his Branches, which includes Ruby, Max, Kurt, Thad, Babe, Caelum, and Ryker.
 * Caroline is still a new branch (referred to as a "sprout" by Nidhoggr), so the connection is not strong enough for her to connect to him.

Reuben Parker
Ruby is Charles' biological and legal son, and Charles loves Ruby more than anything or anyone on the planet. The failure to protect Ruby during the incident with GlObetrOtter still haunts him, so he is overly doting on his son and worries about his protection constantly.

Kurt Parker
Charles is openly head over heels for Kurt, and has been since the moment they've met. There's no hesitation in him being affectionate with the other man, and he tells Kurt everything he knows. He's literally so goddamn gay, you guys.

Maxwell Angel
Charles and Max are best friends from high school, and the two briefly dated during that time. He views Max as a kind of other half to him, and remains concerned about his condition and his actions. It causes a slight divide between the two, but they are quick to come back together and work together perfectly.

Max was the first branch to Charles' tree.

Caroline Goldstein
Charles believes Caroline to be the Ideal Best Friend, and he loves her so goddamn much. Even in moments where she may seem suspicious, he ignores all suggestions from others and prefers to trust her over anything else. He will not listen to any insults or questionings about her, getting angry the moment someone seems to doubt her. He does not feel the need to question her or her backstory, only wanting her health and safety over everything else.

After finding out about her being infected with the Corrosion, he feels as if he has failed her, and thus is overly protective and forgiving of everything she does.

Caroline is the newest branch to Charles' tree.

Nidhoggr
His partnership with Nidhoggr was not one either wanted initially, but the two have managed to work together for over 10 years now. They both are extremely aggressive towards one another, but ultimately it is due to the fact that they are so similar in nature.

The Students
Charles views the club members as his own children, and is quickly distressed when any of them are put into a situation that they cannot handle. This does not mean he is afraid of them being in tough situations, no. He encourages them all train themselves in mind and body to be as strong as they can be.

He still remains doting to all of them, and feels that he has failed each one due to multiple situations where he was not there to protect them.

The Guard
Charles was the person who made the organization, alongside Bathilda Phillips. He stepped down from his position as Co-Head of the Research and Production Sector six years ago, simply serving as one of Ryker's people in the Operations Sector, and assisting Anya in her training.

The Guardians
Charles and the Guardians got along for about five seconds before they all realized that Charles is a medium for Nidhoggr, and it went downhill from there.

He is only on speaking terms with the Lady and the Reaper King.

Quotes

 * (to the club) "Anyone need a bandaid? An ambulance? I know CPR."
 * (to Hogs) "Please... Please don't do that again. I don't want to scare them."
 * (to the club, after opening and jumping out of the window) "Ha HA how we lookin'. Woah, who's lettin' in the breeze? Let's get that window closed, may knock over somethin'."
 * (to himself) "Aw shiiicrap!"
 * (to Caroline) "You don't notice when one kid's bein' quiet in a crowd o' screamin' others, d'ya?"
 * (to Caroline) "We aren't doin' this hopelessness thing. We aren't. It benefits none of us. Have hope, for you and the kids and everyone . We will find a cure and we will find a way. We'll go to the ends of the damn Earth for it. We aren't just gonna sit back on this, no. Wrong, weak, useless. You may have been alone in this before, but now you have me, and I ain't playin' this 'no fruit' game. If there's 'no fruit' then we just take the damn tree. Hell, we uproot the tree. Plant our own. Can't find a cure? Then we make one. I'll pour all I fuckin' have into this. This isn't the end. Not for you, not for any of us. I'm not lettin' a damn thing happen to anyone, we're all gettin' outta this shit with smiles and safety, even if it tears me apart. You're not goin' anywhere other than a happy endin' with the rest of us, not if I won't allow it."
 * (to Tominaga) "Can I call you Tomi?"
 * (to Reuben) "Okay champ, you look like a million and feel like a billion, I'll see you later."

Facts

 * We still can't tell if he's literate or not.
 * You have to roll a 14 to be able to read his handwriting, it's that bad.
 * He has canonically eaten a whole fire hydrant.
 * The middle school once didn't have a cheerleading team because of the combined lack of student participation, shortage of budget, and surplus of Charles' Get Hype Energy.
 * He knows every word to every country song ever.
 * He's fluent in English, High Spirit, and Cursed Words.