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[detectiveofthewest]

PLAYER INFORMATION

Name: Tetra
Contact: Tetradecimal

CANON CHARACTER INFORMATION

Character Name: Heiji Hattori
Canon: Detective Conan
Backstory: link
Personality: Heiji is a keen-eyed, quick-witted high school detective from Osaka, Japan. Though warm and cordial by nature and an incredibly loyal friend, he has a short temper and an independent, impulsive streak that often gets him into trouble. Much like the main character, Kudou Shinichi, Heiji has wanted to be a private detective for most (if not all) of his life. As such, the two of them often run into each other on cases and Heiji serves as Shinichi’s friend, foil, and rival.

Characters from Osaka are often stereotyped as comic relief or shrewd businessmen; they are traditionally boisterous, overly familiar, a little provincial, quick-witted, and deft with finances. Heiji incorporates all of these traits to some degree; in particular, he is immensely proud of his hometown and his knowledge and love of it is an essential part of his identity. In fact, Heiji is a detective with unusually deep roots in his community: his father is Superintendent Supervisor of the Osaka Police Department and his childhood friend, Kazuha, is the daughter of a Chief Criminal Investigator. Heiji is friends with many of the local detectives, old ladies stop to talk to him on the street, local restaurant owners know him by name, his cases routinely make it to the news, and people even ask him for autographs on the street (The Osaka Okonomiyaki Odyssey, Naniwa Serial Murder Case). For his part, Heiji considers Osaka his city, much in the way that he considers Tokyo to be Shinichi’s: he’s willing to share clues and case details, but when a murder happens on his turf, he considers it his personal responsibility to ensure it's solved (Naniwa Serial Murder Case).

As a detective, Heiji is almost comically busy, traveling to Tokyo, Tottori, Nagano, and beyond to solve famed or unusual murders. Part of this is due to his reputation as a detective, which has grown to the point where people from other prefectures will literally mail him cash to come and solve their cases. Another part, however, is that Heiji has a ridiculously wide network of personal connections; even if he’s not actively seeking out events to invite Shinichi to, he’ll be shipped off to visit his parents' former classmates' sons' wedding, at which there will invariably be murder (The Night Before the Wedding). Heiji skips out on school or school events in favor of solving murders on a fairly regular basis (The Raven Chaser, The Naniwa Swordsman), though he does turn down at least one invitation to a creepy murder mansion in favor of studying for his exams (The Gathering of the Detectives).

True to type, Heiji is friendly and gregarious to the point of being obnoxious, with noticeably thicker skin and less sense of propriety than the average Tokyoite. When he’s giving his friends a tour of Osaka, for instance, he requisitions a police car and an officer to drive them around – and has his passengers sit in the back, where criminals generally ride. And while he certainly sympathizes with the salesman framed for murder in the Red Horse Among the Flames case, Heiji's method of being comforting is to guilt the guy into selling him some souvenirs for cheap. Heiji also has a habit of inviting himself over to Tokyo with little notice, much to Shinichi’s annoyance.

Despite the occasional unintentional callousness, Heiji is surprisingly sweet, treating people with kindness and genuine warmth. He can also be quite perceptive and sensitive to other people's situations, particularly in conjunction with cases or people he cares about. For example, once Ran explains that she feels embarrassed riding in the back of a police car where others can see, he tells her that she can hold her head high with the knowledge that she’s done nothing wrong, regardless of what any onlookers might think. He understands at once that Ran and Shinichi have shared romantic interest, easily deduces why an older woman is suspicious of her son's new fiancé in the Diplomat Murder Case, and urges Shinichi to tell Ran about his situation during the Desperate Revival case instead of causing her more worry.

While Heiji remains open and friendly as a general rule, it is worth noting that he has closed a thousand cases (a significant portion of which are murders); as a middle school student, he was already running into dead bodies on school trips. As such, he is unusually inured to the sight of corpses, and seems to take it as a given that most people are capable of murder under the right circumstances. He is incredibly resilient psychologically, recovering from even dangerous or depressing cases within the space of a few hours or days at most – even if they involved someone literally holding a gun to his head and threatening to kill his friends (Three Days with Hattori Heiji, And Then There Were No More Mermaids, Naniwa Serial Murder Case, Hattori Heiji's Desperate Situation).

Heiji's easygoing, impulsive attitude and strong regional accent make him easy for other characters to pigeonhole as naive or stupid, while his quick temper often puts him at odds with his childhood friend, Kazuha, and occasionally opens him up to manipulation (Toyotomi's Castle). To anyone who bothers spending the time to watch him on a case, however, it quickly becomes clear that Heiji's impatience often stems from deep-rooted concern for others. In Three Days with Hattori Heiji, for instance, several of the other detectives concern themselves primarily with preserving the crime scene; Heiji, by contrast, is most concerned with saving lives, and unceremoniously breaks into a locked room to try and render medical assistance to the victim inside.

Though predisposed to rash action, Heiji is generally receptive to admonishment from others and stands out among the cast in his ability to learn from previous cases. For example, during the Distinguished Family case, Shinichi tells him that a detective who drives a suspect to suicide with his line of reasoning is no better than a murderer himself. Heiji takes this opinion to heart, which lead directly to him getting shot trying to prevent a man from killing himself in the Naniwa Serial Murders.

As someone who not only constantly gets involved in murder cases but actively tries to prevent those around him from getting hurt, Heiji is also the most frequently injured character in Detective Conan: he has been shot, stabbed, shoved off a cruiseliner, poisoned, beaten, and repeatedly threatened at gunpoint. As such, he is used to crises and is extremely unlikely to panic under pressure. Though his profession constantly lands him into danger, Heiji's luck and resourcefulness is often the deciding factor in his continued survival. In Hattori Heiji's Desperate Situation, for example, Heiji carefully judges the risk involved in lying to his captors, coming up with a multi-point gamble to save the lives of three people targeted for a kidnapping-murder.

As a detective, Heiji operates on a combination of impulse, intuition, and logic. In addition to the experience he's gained from his body of casework and his eidetic memory, Heiji has an incredibly broad base of knowledge, including but not limited to the names of subway stations, optical illusions, Japanese history, basic forensic science, how to determine if air conditioners are running, the difference between the English and Japanese yes/no, and the statue of limitations on federal heists. His style of investigation involves a lot of thinking out loud; he brings up new theories without reservation and discards the ones that no longer apply when new evidence comes to light. If left to his own devices, he also tends to enumerate a list of points that he feels are most crucial about a case, such as inconsistencies in witness testimony or timeframes.

Unlike some in his profession, Heiji is generally happy to share his theories or thought process. He is also unusual in his willingness to accept his own mistakes and move on (Diplomat Murder Case). When he does comes into conflict with other detectives, it is usually because he believes they're lazy or incompetent (Holmes Freak Murder Case, The Kamaitachi Case), though Heiji also seems to dislike flashy-looking or flirtatious men as a general rule (Three Days With Hattori Heiji, Conan and Heiji: Code of Love, Conan and Heiji's Deduction Magic).

When he’s not on a case, Heiji spends his free time practicing kendo, reading detective novels, indulging in his motorcycling hobby, and sightseeing.

AU INFORMATION

AU Character Name: Heiji Hattori
AU Backstory:
Heiji remains the son of a high-ranking police officer, but grew up in the Pacific Northwest in the Portland metro area, with ties to family back in Osaka. He still grew up on stories of private eyes like Sam Spade and Ellery Queen, but his immigrant family, eager to assimilate and toe the line like 'real Americans', pressed him to consider a more 'realistic' career path from a young age. As such, Heiji assumed that he'd always be going into law in one way or another, either as a lawyer or as a police officer himself -- a prospect he wasn't really all that excited about.

As he got older, however, he began seeing more holes in the justice system, as well as in the societal fabric at large: racially motivated stabbings, police looking the other way for crime in non-affluent neighborhoods, a surge in the homeless population and public health concerns, soaring rents, uneven police treatment of neo-Nazis versus anti-fascist protesters . Though silent for a long time, choosing to concentrate on maintaining his grades and his appearance as the typical perfect honor student, Heiji eventually found himself at an Antifa rally, where despite not engaging in any violence himself, he was clubbed by a police officer who claimed later during official investigations to be "in fear for her life". As it so happened, there were several reporters present.

The image of a brown-skinned son of the assistant Chief of Police, with blood pouring down his forehead, in the midst of a panicked crowd and clouds of tear gas, ended up being a PR lightning rod. Though released without charges, Heiji found himself on the wrong side of the thin blue line. Harassment and death threats ensued from in and outside the department. There was definitely a physical altercation with his father. All these things made it more of a necessity for Heiji than usual to leave early for his next semester in L.A.

AU Personality Deviation: America is not like Japan. It emphasizes individualism over collectivism, 'merit' over seniority. At the same time, Heiji's family is made of first-generation immigrants, so deference to parental figures and authority was emphasized to Heiji at a young age. In many ways, Heiji has a foot in two worlds, with neither really accepting him: In Japan, people find Japanese-Americans something of a puzzle to relate to, and in America, he's an eternal foreigner who can pretty much expect to be asked 'no, where are you really from?' his. Entire. Life.

As an Asian American, he can look forward to being ignored by the national narrative about race while also subtly discriminated against by hiring and high education acceptance policies and being the go-to for 'acceptable' racism. As a dark-skinned Asian American, he can look forward to people asking him if he's Mexican or a 'Mooslim', or simply having people walk up and demand to know 'what are you?'. Needless to say, Heiji's been followed around grocery stores and had little old ladies clutch their purses around him.

All that said, Heiji remains a sweetheart deep down. He still loves learning, he still wants to help people, he still loves meeting people and sightseeing and doing things, and he isn't about to let the national narrative drag him into complete despondency. Though his all-consuming canon obsession with detective work has been buried and tempered with skepticism about the iniquities and unfairness in the society he lives in, he continues to hold onto the idea that people can work towards a more positive, fair set of policies for everyone.

Also unlike canon, Heiji takes a significantly more skeptical view of the authoritarian figure that is his father, a dude who canonically punched his kid so hard at a public crime scene that Heiji was thrown backwards and off his feet. While strongly socialized to respect and obey his father, Heiji finds it extremely difficult to reconcile this with the fact that his father is in charge of the same PD that he's seen so much apathy and ambivalence from -- and that Heizou seems more concerned with toeing societal lines and outward appearances than actually helping people. As well, Heiji is beginning to break out of the mentality that he needs to live up to all his family's expectations of the perfect child -> perfect student -> perfect professional and family man. After all, do all those checkboxes really matter when so much of the world isn't like everyone publicly insists it should be?

Heiji generally remains a bright, active, slightly hot-tempered young man with a belief in fairness and justice.

Species: Human
Class: Infiltrator
Arcana: Sun
Persona:
Starting Persona: Nightingale, a Persona with the general design theme of a mechanical bird. Nightingale is vulnerable to electricity and is aligned to fire. It specializes in strong Agi-type skills like Agidyne or Maragidyne, as well as support skills to boost attack and single-target heals. It probably has one pathetic physical attack no one would ever use. Also hopefully no one is counting on Heiji for resurrections or status ailment relief because nope, Nightingale's focused on magic nukes.

Nightingale is based on the mechanical bird from the Hans Christian Anderson story and reflects Heiji's feelings of being made to perform -- to go through the motions and constantly project the image of a perfect, obedient child with no will of his own. While the mechanical nightingale is praised in the fairy story for its beauty and ability to produce on demand, it can only sing the same song over and over and has no mind or will of its own.

Final Persona: Rainbow Crow, a Persona based on the Lenape legend. It has the same elemental affinities as Nightingale, though it does tack on a better ability to dodge Zio attacks and better support in the ability to boost critical hit rate. It's basically Nightingale but more of that.

This persona reflects Heiji's acceptance that family and society may consider him damaged or imperfect. Though the perfect house, stable job, and family with 2.5 kids-future that was planned for him may no longer be in the cards for him, he has exchanged them for his own freedom, as well as the belief that his actions will benefit others beyond immediate personal gain.

Social Link Persona:
C: Suzaku
B: Gdon
A: Tam Lin
Assets: Minor - Heiji is an enthusiastic kendoka, having started as an elementary schooler.
Weapon Type: Katana (pipes or bats will do in a pinch).
Vehicle Type: N/A
Codename: Raven
Form of Rebellion:
Heiji's outfit is a bit of east-meets-west, with a long-sleeved collared shirt under a fitted vest, leather gloves, belts, and boots, and a cloth cloak/stole. Sort of what you might expect on a gunslinger, except instead of a revolver holstered at his side, he has a katana ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
Image link

RP Sample:
Questions Sample Prompt:
0: The Fool asks - What is the most life-changing event you have experienced?
Uh, guess that'd be last month, when a cop clobbered me over the head 'cause I was the first person she saw? After that, things started happenin' one after the other, and I ended up having the biggest fight with my old man I ever had.

Actually, I think it was the only fight I ever had. I never thought of it before, but... usually it's one-sided, y'know? I stand there, he yells about whatever it is he's mad about at the time. I felt pushed back, and pushed back, and it was like I felt this pressure on me pressing down and down and then I finally came back with something. He looked shocked, like... well, it makes sense, 'cause I bet he was never expecting me to talk back. I never did it before, so why would he?

II: The Priestess asks - What do you consider to be an undeniable truth?
That people want to do the right thing, deep down. At least I hope that's the truth, 'cause it's hard to believe all these people are just plain bad. You want to believe it's only a couple bad apples, and everyone else is misguided. Although in a way, that's kinda worse: having a whole society where people are all convinced they're doing right, and they refuse to believe otherwise.

IV: The Emperor asks - What do you feel is within your ability to control?
Myself. You ever read that story, 'A Death on the Nile'? There's this Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, and he gets to talkin' to a young lady who's out for blood. She wants to kill someone, but she hasn't yet. She tells him, 'you can't stop me'... and he agrees.

He says that she's right -- he can't stop her if that's what she really wants to do. I thought it didn't make much sense at the time, but now I get it. They're traveling, way out far from home, and even if he devoted every waking moment to looking after her and makin' sure she didn't make a move, even if he did that completely perfect, there's still eight hours a day where she could probably get away with it. If she really wanted to kill. If she didn't care what that meant for herself.

But he wants her to stop.

V: The Hierophant asks - What rules do you feel are sacred? What rules do you feel are meant to be broken?
[He grins.]

I dunno, aren't most rules meant to be bent a little?

...Maybe 'don't hurt people'. But sometimes that's the best choice there is. Like what if you're dating someone and you wanna break up? You going to stay with them forever? That's hurting them, too, ain't it? I don't think I could fake liking someone, anyhow.

VI: The Lovers ask - Where do you see your life going? Are you satisfied with this path?
I'm not really sure. I always figured I'd be an officer or a prosecutor or somethin', and people are always saying to 'work within the system to bring about change'. But sometimes, don't you just wanna smash everything and start over instead of trying to drag everyone by the nose?

So let's start with finding a path to start with.

XI: The Strength asks - How do you respond in the face of danger?
Pretty good. Believe it or not, when you're the son of an Assistant Chief, sometimes you end up having to try and talk down that fella swinging a machete around the MAX. I don't know what's up with the machetes, by the way. That and axes are kind of a Portland thing, but at least axes make more sense. Who's selling these things?

XIII: The Death asks - As you enter a new stage in your life, what do you wish to leave behind?
My old way of thinking. You know, when you live with your folks, you think their way of doing things is normal. Even when you know that other families are different, you can end up completely overlooking something and the only way you'd know it wasn't normal is when someone else brings it up.

This one time I went over to a friend's house, and everything was 'love you' this and 'love you' that. I thought it was weird until I realized my folks never said it.

XVIII: The Moon asks - What do you most fear in this world and why?
Making a mistake and losing someone I care about because of it. Not like forgettin' a birthday, I mean -- when you meet a lot of cops, that kinda rubs off on you. What if you overlook some detail, and then someone gets hurt... or dies? It happens.

XIX: The Sun asks - What in this world makes you happy and why?
I like finding new places to eat at and hang out, and then I like takin' other people there. What's the point of knowing if ya can't share it around, right? The other day I found a joint with some great Korean ox-tail soup. You know how most times you order it, it's kinda greasy, and there's not a lot of beef in it, and there's only a couple of scallions and not enough salt?

Not this place. The broth was still milky, but the color was clearer and it felt clear going down. I'll take ya there sometime.

XX: The Judgement asks - What is the hardest thing in your life you have had to accept and why?
No matter what kind of person I am, everyone's going to judge me first by what I look like.

Messed up, right? But that's just the way people are -- take one look at you, and then based on whether you're a man or a woman, whether you're tall or short, what you're wearing, what color you are... they decide what you must be like. You'd think people would've outgrown that animal instinct, since they've thrown so much else out. Runs too deep, maybe.