Zoids: Chaotic Age Zero

Character Name: Jeff Mangum
Board Name: Jeff Mangum
Character Gender: Male
Character Age: 25
Zoids: Dark Horn & Gorhecks
AIM Screenname: T4XM4ST3R
Referred By: Kalmora
Character Description and History:

Appearance: Appearance is everything to Jeff; it is what defines a man. This being said, Jeff is always seen in a black suit, with black slacks, shoes, and a red tie. His face is always clean shaven, and his short black hair is styled and combed forward. He stands at 6”1 and weights 190Ib with blue eyes. His skin is white, and fairly tanned.

Personality: Everyone has a value. This value is not derived from how good or evil a person is, but instead how useful they are. The higher the value of a person, the more respect Jeff will show them and vise versa. Anyone he has never met before, and has no pre-conceived notions of, has a moderately high value. This is because Jeff figures that the more people he meets, the more likely the chances are that ONE of them will pay off in his favor. However, in Jeff’s mind he has the highest value of anyone alive. This personality trait doesn’t come through often, but every now again he’ll let it slip out.

When among those deemed of higher value, Jeff is very respectful. In all things in his life he likes to have them planned and thought out to the fullest. This is especially true during and before battle. He is a hard-working man and knows that to make it rich, you must always be ready to do the things others might not.

History: -“This is business son, learn it and live it.”-
Jeff’s story starts with his father. Mr. Magnum was a rich and powerful man in the city of Iridian. He invested in companies and entrepreneurs, but had always been rumored to be involved in more shady areas of business. His mother, did not exist. Jeffdoesn’t know exactly, but from what he could tell she either died young or his father had blocked her out completely, maybe in shame, maybe not. Being that Mr. Magnum was always working, Jeff spent most of his time away from home at private boarding schools and summer advancement classes.

A favorite hobby of Jeff’s was, like most other young boys’, to watch and read about Zoids. Zoids was the only thing he could do that didn’t feel like work. His father always pushed him to better his grades, always going to social workshops during summer, always learning. Not to say all of this was for not, Jeff developed a very special talent for social interactions. Social interaction was taught, for him, to not be about the joy of meeting people, but more of a science. And he had his masters. This was both a curse and a talent, because he could not enjoy the company of friends because to him it always felt like he either had to manipulate them, or he had won already and would grow bored of them.

During his teen years, Jeff began to grow more and more rebellious toward his father, or lack-there-of. Not rebellious as in stealing and gangs, but instead Jeff got tired of his father’s vision of his future and decided to pursue his own. Year by year he began to actively involve himself in clubs, books, workshops, and anything else related to the mechanics, business, and, most importantly, strategy involved in piloting and investing in Zoids. At 18 Jeff made a decision that he would invest in all his time and energy into becoming a pilot. This was the only thing that was truly exciting in his life, the one thing that challenged him; the one thing HE chose to do. The only thing stopping him was that he hadn’t heard from his father sense before his graduation. He didn’t receive any congratulations, presents, nothing. When he wrote there where no replies. More importantly was that there where no checks coming in. And with no money, Jeff was pushed from his dorm and into reality.

It was during this trying time that he learned that life was all about money, and those who had it where happy. Those who didn’t could never realize their goals, or dreams. He made due by using his talents by working odd jobs. Most involving get rich quick schemes, cons, and Scams, for this was his talent in life. He learned a lot about the minds of people through this work, and more importantly the power of deception and planning. All money made went toward realizing his goal of being a pilot. He invested in classes and loans to help him reach this goal. Finally at the age of 22 his dream was realized. After years of classes and tests he had finally passed his pilot test to become a full fledged Zoid pilot. Jeff knew this day would come, it was inevitable in his mind, and had prepared for the day when he would need to buy his first Zoid. Through multiple accounts he had set up long ago, he had enough interest to make a down payment on a loan to buy his first Zoid, a Dark Horn.

So it began, his life as a Zoid Pilot, buried in debt, and w/o any money, having just spent it all to realize his goal. Through his early Pilot career, he struggled and drowned under the pressures. That is until his social save helped him once again during a time of stress. He met people that proved themselves useful and hard working. He had joined a team and with them had established some money back. Everything was going well, until the age of 23.

Money had once again placed its cold hands over Jeff’s mouth and dragged him down. His father had found out of his success and began to sabotage it through the corruption of his sponsors and ruining his name. His father’s company began to discourage large Zoid corporations from involving themselves in helping in any way to further Jeff’s career. Shortly after learning of this plague, the Team he was involved with began to fall apart and eventually was forced into disbandment.

This is where Jeff’s story begins yet again, almost like it had started. Alone, broke, and without friends. So why does he still walk the street with his chin up and his black suit ironed and pressed? Because he has a plan…