Sheet:Sugata Shindo

Background

There are three critical things to know about Sugata's background: 1) he was born on Southern Cross Island, bearing the emblem of Samekh, 2) he was engaged to Wako Agemaki, the South Maiden, as a baby, and 3) he is very good at playing the role he's been assigned.

To bear the emblem of Samekh is to be the King Driver, and to be bound to Southern Cross Island on pain of death, because Samekh's power is too great to be unleashed on the unsuspecting world. All Cybodies are powerful - Samekh is on an entirely different level. This truth of the world was revealed to Sugata on his eighth birthday, at which point he was also informed of Wako Agemaki's role as a Maiden: they are mutually trapped on the Island, never able to leave (her magically and he because his assigned maids will murder him), their engage is meant as a consolation prize to make being trapped more tolerable, and he is trapped.

Is it any wonder that Sugata hates his birthday?

Prior to this revelation, Sugata was noble and kind, open-hearted and cheerful; afterwards, he developed a cold shell, polite and friendly but without allowing people close. Into his teen years, this is exactly who Sugata is - the polite and princely sort, who offers aid to strangers who washed up on the beach, exuberantly performs in the school play, is a star on the sports teams, but keeps people at a distance - he is friendly with many - he is friends with few.

Wako became aware of the truth of Cybodies earlier than Sugata, when the two were six or seven years old, when Sugata was crushed while attempting to secure a totem pole built by Wako, Keito, and Sugata during a hurricane. Wako and Keito apprivoised for the first time to save Sugata, and became aware of Cybody memories for the first time - crushing Wako's dreams of leaving the island to become a singer, a dream which Sugata had encouraged Wako and Keito to pursue. He realized that he and Wako - he and all of the Maidens - were trapped in their roles, in fates they didn't choose but were nonetheless bound to, and that this even tainted the engagement between he and Wako - which was not based on family and alliance, but on the history of the Cybodies, and Samekh, and the Maidens.

Nothing in Sugata's life was unchanged by the revelation - but somethings still remained, changed as they were. His engagement to Wako and friendship with her remained strong. His love for her is sincere, though he rarely speaks of it. For years, Sugata carried with him a knife, never speaking of it's purpose, to the point that Wako feared it was meant to end Sugata's life - but the purpose of the knife was simple: for protecting Wako. She possesses that knife now, and the knowledge of that truth, thanks to Takuto.

Aware of the restraints on his life from a young age, Sugata grew into a thoughtful and mysterious young man - he rarely expresses his thoughts, seldom shares his plans, and keeps the true extent of his feelings from even those closest to thim. The danger of Samekh's power meant that for the vast majority of Sugata's life, though he knew of the Cybodies, he was unable to do anything with that knowledge or the power. Even when he finally could apprivoise, his power was of limited use - a significant burden on his body, caring with it the risk of sinking back into a coma, as he had when the power was first used, as every Driver who dares use Samekh's power succumbed to.

Helplessness has never suited Sugata. Being powerless never suited him either - it was a loathing for both of those things as well as the determination to protect Wako in spite of them that drove Sugata to carry his knife.

All of this leads us to that third element of Sugata's background: he is very good at playing the role he's been given. Sugata was given the role of Young Master Shindou, the princely boy who lives up to everyone's expectations. Given the role of Samekh's Driver, fated to remain on Southern Cross Island or die. Given the role of Wako's fiance, the Shindo and the Maiden. Given the role, even, of First Section Emperor within Glittering Crux, pegged as Columnar - the man once content with love, who abandons love for the sake of power, and is consumed by it. Everyone on Southern Cross Island has a role for Sugata to play, and no one ever asks him what he wants. His path is set, after all. His role is meticulously assigned -

Sugata plays his roles masterfully and hides the signs of his discontent so thoroughly that even those closest to him can only guess at the depths of his frustrations. He is never straightforward, and plots within plots - only at the end of the series do we understand the plan that Sugata works for throughout the entirety of the series.

Sugata is Samekh's Driver. He is trapped within the role. For years it was understood that he could not use the power, or he would fall into a coma. Burdened with immense power, but he can't use any of it to protect Wako. In the first six episodes of the series, Wako is attacked relentlessly by the Glittering Crux as they try to break her seal - Sugata has to trust her defense to Takuto, because he cannot fight for her. When he finally did use the power, to save Wako, Takuto, Tiger, and Jaguar from being killed by Mami Yano's First Stage, the consequences did indeed fall on his head - he fell into a coma. Even when Sugata woke, there was always the risk that use of the power would cause him to sink back (and as the show proved - he was sinking into a coma after every use, woken only by the power of the Eastern Maiden, his childhood friend Keito).

Sugata is one of the most skilled fighters on the island, a swordsman able to defeat both Takuto and Benio, other highly skinned kendo specialists, but he cannot command his Cybody. Once the third stage is reached, he can't even command his power to harm them - they are too strong to be downed by any Driver without a Cybody. Again and again and again, Sugata's life gives him the role of one who has to watch and wait.

And he plays the role. The plan Sugata spends the entire series developing - from the moment he realizes that Takuto is the Galactic Pretty Boy, that he will protect Wako, that Wako likes him - is to finally apprivoise with Samekh and use his power to seal the King Cybody away. Galactic Crux, with their quest to break the seals, with their success in breaking the Northern Seal and laying the groundwork for a never ending threat to Wako, proves to Sugata that the status quo will not hold - either in this generation or the next, it will be broken, and the world (and in this generation, Wako) will be at risk. Throughout the series, Sugata goads Takuto on with the promise of breaking his engagement to Wako, and then outright stating that he would let Takuto take her. Meanwhile, he asks Wako, often, if she likes Takuto, disguising it (poorly - Wako knows him well) as teasing.

Then, when Keito's status as Eastern Maiden was revealed, Sugata contempleted killing her - called the power to his hand to do it, musing that if she were killed the power of the Eastern maiden would be gone until the next generation - before deciding against it. Instead, he allowed for Keito's seal to be broken - because Keito's seal was all that holds back Samekh.

The King Cybody was never damaged, never destroyed - he was only sealed, held back only by the Eastern Maiden's seal. With the Northern and Western seals broken, it would only take the destruction of the Eastern Seal to unleash Samekh on an unprepared world. Unless Sugata apprivoised, and commanded his Cybody. Unless Sugata sealed Samekh away - this time, with his Driver. In Samekh, Sugata would be immortal - the emblem of Samekh would never move to a new generation. The threat could stop with him. Takuto would be able to protect Wako, which would keep her seal intact, until they both died, and the threat would be over - the maidens are born when the Shindo with the Emblem is born, and there would be no more Shindo with the emblem, so long as Sugata piloted Samekh.

Sugata had never imagined a life where he and Wako could be free and happy. In sacrificing himself, he could acheive that for Wako -

But of course, Takuto and Wako were not content to let things play out. They risked the world to save their friend, and they succeeded. Samekh was rendered inoperable, and sealed away, this time in a state of utter disrepair, and the Glittering Crux abandoned their previous mission.

Since last July, Sugata has been getting updates from Wako and Takuto about happenings at Radiant Heart Academy, but it's only now that he's finally been able to settle his case with the family, and prove that going out into the world isn't a threat. He can finally come with them to Radiant Heart Academy.

His assassin maids, Tiger and Jaguar, are still coming with him, of course. Just in case they do need to kill him for the sake of the world. (And to have fun, of course).

Personality

Sugata is an incredibly close-mouthed person, with a dry wit and a cool demeanor. He's polite and respectful, but certainly not submissive - he rarely defers to any authority he doesn't recognize as valid. He will back down at Wako's request, for example, and accept reprimand from an instructor in a circumstance where one is deserved, but he was raised in a small community, where his family is afforded much respect and wields much responsibility - his respect has to be earned.

To strangers, Sugata is the picture of polite; it's highly likely he'll join the school council club and the drama club, as he does have a genuine love of theater. He's as dramatic as Wako and Takuto, but in such an understated fashion that many people don't realize it.

That said, Sugata is also ruthless and direct, when it comes to taking action. He very seriously contemplated killing the Eastern Maiden as a preventative measure, knowing full well that she was in love with him and devoted to seeing him raised to the highest peek. Though he decided against it, that choice was equally pragmatic - he saw a better chance to use Keito's devotion for his objectives rather than simply killing her and delaying the problem. In another instance, he used King's Pillar on a human girl - the equivalent of launching an attack on someone out of henshin, knowing very well it could kill her and more than willing to take the chance. The Outer Senshi once tried to kill Sunbreaker - Sugata would have been on their side on that. He doesn't believe in letting threats continue once they've reached a certain point.

From the age of eight, Sugata carried a knife with him every where he went, fully ready and willing to use that knife to protect Wako. He once stabbed a murderous creature in the head with that knife, to protect Wako, and that desire lives in him. To help Wako and Takuto, he would be pretty damn bloodthirsty indeed.

Despite that, Sugata doesn't go looking for trouble - he plans for ways to avoid, and when the trouble comes knocking, that's when he unleashes force. He doesn't escalate the conflict, but he does strive to finish it. Two things tend to restrain his more ruthless side - his partners, and any time Samekh agrees with him.

Sugata doesn't have a lot of personal ambition in the sense of life goals - for much of the last school year, he was preparing to sacrifice everything to save Wako (and the world). For now, he's letting things come as they will, and eager to explore the world with Wako and Takuto.

When in henshin, Sugata is accompanied by a small version of Samekh, just like Takuto's Tauburn and Wako's Wawna. While those two are benevolent, tiny Samekh wishes to see the death of all life, to power the ship that is larger Samekh, and is in general, kind of an asshole. Samekh is a King and as such feels entitled to all, and frequently encourages Sugata to take all things as his due. He's a bit of a Faustian devil, disdaining that Sugata won't just use his overwhelming potential power to destroy his enemies in a flash.

The best way to describe Samekh and Sugata's dynamic is in the following manner: 
       Cashier: What can I get you? 
       Samekh: THE LIFEFORCE OF THIS PLANET 
       Sugata: Three bagels please. 
       Samekh: NOOOOOOO 
       Sugata: Five bagels, actually, those two will want more than one apiece. 

Wako will eat three of the bagels and then half of Sugata's. Sugata will drink a black coffee and Samekh will grumble about the impropriety and disrespect of it all, while Sugata studiously ignores him.

Focus

A Star Driver transforms by calling out the word "Apprivoiser!," activating the emblem on their chest. Their appearance after transformation is determined partly by the Cybody but also influenced by the Driver's own personality and wishes, so their costumes after transformation can vary wildly from the extravagant and eccentric outfits worn by Glittering Crux members to the dashing military-inspired look sported by Takuto, Sugata, and Wako.

Their fighting styles are also strongly influenced by the particular Cybody, and the various Cybodies bestow a broad range of abilities depending on each given Cybody's strengths. Some are predominantly or exclusively melee fighters relying on a Star Sword in battle, while others use energy projectiles, enhanced mobility, or even illusions. However, only the four Maiden Cybodies have powers oriented towards healing and purification, as compared to the offense-oriented warrior Cybodies. The Maiden Cybodies also have the unique ability to project a pseudo Zero Time barrier field around them to protect the area and any non-magical civilians within it during magical combat.

Star Drivers can activate a super-mode form in which they manifest magical phantom power armor in the form of their Cybody. This form drains a lot of the Driver's energy, so it cannot be used casually and is reserved for emergency situations.

Powers

Sugata's Cybody, Samekh, is the King Cybody, possessing such immense power that even stripped of his wings (taken for the Star Swords) and with Drive, a single King's Pillar can destroy most Warrior-class Cybodies. The counter-effect of this is that utilizing this immense power previously drained all of the Drive from his Drivers, causing them to sink into an unrecoverable coma following a single use of power. Only Sugata has ever woken from the coma, though now that Samekh has been rendered inoperable, he is able to use the power as he wishes. 

Derived as they are from Samekh's overwhelming force, Sugata's own Cybody derived powers are heavily based in offense, with the iconic King's Pillar being his primary use of power. King's Pillar is functionally a kill sat - an orbital beam launched from on high, a Finisher level attack capable of destroying buildings and monsters. When launched against henshin'd opponents, it would be highly likely to push a henshin to the limit - they would want to Run after taking one of them. Sugata has used King's Pillar on a human - the effect rendered her unconscious and littered her body from head to toe with burns and bruises. Sugata would theoretically be able to use King's Pillar once per fight - twice, if willing to break his henshin outright.

Sugata has to be careful with King?s Pillar not only because of his limits, but because it?s a true AOE attack - allies will be hit too, though they take significantly less damage, as Takuto can attest.

In addition to using King's Pillar as offense, Sugata can use it for defense as well, calling down a wall of force to block off a circle of territory in which he and a few allies could shelter, as the enemy would have to bear the brunt of the attack to make it through the shield. It's doable, but it does cause damage.

As a final power, when in henshin, Sugata can call on Samekh's own power to essentially bounce back an attack, though he has to notice it and have time to counter, first. It's a counter in the sense that he can't just make the force disperse - it has to be bounced somewhere, whether it's a 'No You' throw back at the enemy, or launching it towards the ground or a nearby building.

RSugata is now the wielder of Star Sword Diamante, seized from Head, Tokio Tsunashi. A Star Sword is a sword of pure energy, and Diamante is a blade of pure white energy, obnoxiously bright to behold. The Shindo family has their own ancient kendo style, and Sugata is a master with a blade.