Name: Li An Cao (Pronounce 'lI aN Kow', emphasis on capitals.)
Nickname(s): 'Lee', 'Ann', 'Li', etc.
Age: ??? (Doesn't count; appears middle-aged, if not rather young actually, though the apparent youth could be a result of the feminine appearance.)
Gender: Started out male... (Has a bad habit of switching. Uncontrolably. Thankfully not noticed if pants are on. Makes bed time activities difficult.)
Hometown: Listed as Beijing China; in reality, he was born in some village that no longer exists.
Race/ Species: Shapeshifter
Appearance: In terms of the face/body Li truly prefers, Li resembles a young, if not taller than 'average' asian (Meaning he is average height in terms of 'American'), with black hair and pale skin. His hair is kept somewhat long, reaching mid-back and loosely tied behind him, and his blue eyes are in a constant 'squinting smile'. As for a real smile, he isn't often seen without one.
Li generally wears a black, genderless suit, without the tie, along with black flats. He occasionally wears a lab coat as well, but that comes with his job really. (Doctor's are required after all.) He also wears a medic alert bracelet stating that he is allergic to silver, an allergy that legitimately exists and causes blisters and rashes on contact. (A reaction not unlike the burns most supernatural beings who come in contact with it recieve... Giving him a very good cover due to the severe blisters both burns and serious allergies cause..)
Picture(s): (Currently scanning the web for eligible visual K face claims. :3 )
Personality: Quite unlike most others of his race, Li has a rather pacifistic view on the world, believing that all humans have reasons for whatever actions they make. This does not mean he does not have his morals of course; he simply acts on them in a safer manner, namely by doing 'what is right' rather than killing people.
Li tends to be rather optomistic, as well as curious. The curiousity comes with a small bit of cautiousness that he developed from his current career however, so much of the questions that bug him are currently un-answered. Quite alright though; he isn't going anywhere really, and he can't be bothered enough to worry, at least, not unless someone else is in trouble. He knows how to fight for a reason, and while it isn't for the sake of harm, he can if need be.
It should be noted that in addition to English and Mandarin Chinese, Li has also taken up latin; mainly for reasons centered on the odd number of possesions he's seen coming into work. It gets rather annoying, and he often needs to be careful to make sure the bodies have not been too horrible injured before the exorcisim.
On a more random note, he likes to listen to Japanese music. He doesn't know what they're saying, but...
History/Bio/Background: There have always been stories of the endless lifespan shapeshifters have. Ageless, eternal; the only thing stopping them from proving such was the multiple silver daggers they recieved to the heart. However, each shapeshifter is no different from the 'average' murdering sociopath in terms of mentality; each one was raised in misery, and lonliness, with the knowledge of the powers appearance held.
Li is one exceedingly rare exception. Born in China before England knew what paper was, Li's parents did not even bother with raising the child and turning a blind eye. No, they went straight to the river, certain that a demon had replaced the child, and wanting nothing to do with it. Thankfully before the poor boy drowned, a travelling monk came across the couple; being as blind as he was, he was completely certain that it was the couple who were demons, that they had injured their child to such an extent he felt 'unnatural', and that the infant needed immediate care.
And so care was given. Swathed in bandages for 'scars' that the monk believed would need to be covered for Li's health, the boy was raised with peaceful beliefs, never coming across his abilities as a shapeshifter while with the old man. And then the man died, telling Li to continue to do what was right and to help the people of the world- and cliched as it sounded, Li truely felt for that goal (And still does).
It was when he came across a battle field and set himself up to pray for the souls of the warriors there, that he found out about his shapeshifting abilities. Realizing that something had changed beneath his bandages, he quickly took them off only to realize he had taken the face of the corpse in front of him. Shedding it immediately and replacing the bandages for fear of bringing dishonor to the dead, he kept the ability in mind... Which was good, as he had stopped ageing.
Years would pass. Healing would become a science in plants rather than spirits, and Li would, in addition to taking these studies up, master his ability in the ways he needed it. Whereas most would focus on memory absorbtion, or speed, Li mastered blocking the memories of the people he copied, or rather, fractions of people. Rather than attempt to replace anyone, he would copy one person's eyes, another's nose, still another's skin... Still another thing he worked on was keeping 'shedding to a minimum. So far, so long as he doesn't literally gain and lose 100 pounds in one day, changing faces or organs does nothing to him; he simply 'recycles' what is already being worn.
Over the years, Li would become a doctor's apprentice one time, later a doctor in his own right. Still later, in Italy, a student to learn more about the medical arts. England, he would become a student yet again, and shortly after graduation...
Li found himself staring at a pair of faternal twins, only to find himself adopting the features of both put together. Becoming quite attached to that face, he chose to keep it, regardless of the odd problem it came with; namely the spontanious change between genders. Thankfully the lack of cleavage and the nearly identical voice between the two saves him. He made doctor in England for a while, before going missing. Ran a small vetranary clinic in Scotland to keep under the radar, before going missing yet again... And eventually, Li wound up in the USA, working just about every end of the medical spectrum; from surgery to diagnostics.
Currently, Li's working 'job to job'; He moves around in a rather nice RV with his pet rats, taking jobs at small clinics and hospitals for a few months at a time before vanishing off the map again. A good sign that he's about to move tends to be when he stops sepatating the genders, or selling males to pet stores. As rats have a short life span, it tends to make a good count on when to get out of the area; before he moves, he'll allow the rats to have a bit of... Fun... so that he doesn't end up with completely empty cages. (Which would make for a very lonely Li.)
On a more hidden note, he's also studying the limits of Shapeshifting abilities. He has two ideas that he's trying to work on; one is that Shapeshifters can alter their dna to the point of crossing the barrier between species (Something he is afraid to attempt, as he isn't sure if it would be permanent or not.). The other is more of a question, as Li wonders what the effects of transplanting or transfusing blood and organs that have been shapeshifted to match the type of the patient would have; he's thinking of testing this theory with his rats, by altering his blood to match the type of one of them, but the first theory is currently in the way of this. His largest fear is that a human body would automatically reject anything from a supernatural host.
Roleplaying example: The pitter patter sounds of rodent feet could be heard in the background of the RV, a few climbing around in tubes joining the cages while still others ran in circles on exercise wheels. Tapping the steering wheel to the beat of one of the songs he was playing from his ipod, Li slowly turned off from one highway to another, soon passing an all too familiar sign stating the location of the next exit. "Hn hnnn... Hn hn hnnn..." Humming, Li took a glance in the rearview mirror, before turning back to look at the highway. "Next exit in..."
Almost immediately however, he found himself coming to a stop behind a fair number of cars. "Hn? How odd... It's not yet rush hour!" Scratching his head, he leaned forwards as his smile disappeared. "Ah..? Smoke..?" Well now. That couldn't be good.
------------------------------------------------
OOC Notes: I had decided that there was a SERIOUS LACK OF SHAPESHIFTERS. Also, since I found no reason to say Shapeshifters were naturally jerks and murderers, I, using my amazing psych knowledge, deduced that somehow, somewhere, there was a GOOD SHAPESHIFTER.
And now that shapeshifter is MINE. =w= (I just had to get that out. Since I can't find you guys on the C-box. ;;__;; )
