Nicolas Brown

Nicolas Brown (ニコラス・ブラウン, Nikorasu Buraun?) is one of the central protagonists of GANGSTA. He is a deaf Twilight and a former mercenary, currently part of The Handymen alongside Worick Arcangelo and Alex Benedetto.

Appearance
Nicolas is a light skinned male, who has short spiky black hair with bangs that are brushed to the right, and dark eyes. He also has a lean yet muscular body, with a large scar that runs diagonally from the center of his abdomen to his right thigh, as well as numerous small ones all over his body. He has a tribal tattoo across his upper back, extending to both shoulders much like Worick.

His usual attire consists of a black blazer, worn unbuttoned above a grey shirt, and black trousers with a brown belt around his waist. His footwear is a pair of black boots which go underneath his trousers, and he's always seen wearing his tag around his neck. It also seems he and Worick often wear each other's clothes.

Personality
Nicolas is mostly quiet and aloof even to people he likes. He occasionally speaks out of irritation or when someone isn't able to understand sign language, but mostly keeps to himself as to save himself the trouble of accommodating those who can't communicate with him. Though frequently irritable, he's also capable of small acts of kindness, such as playing with Nina or steadying Alex when she's shaking too much to open her medication. He seems to find slight enjoyment in picking on people; somewhat illustrating his dark and sarcastic sense of humor.

Above all however, he seem to be the most alive on the battlefield, he often is seen smiling while in combat; hinting a sadistic side which compliments his thrill for blood. Moreover, he tends to toy with opponents that are weaker than himself before finishing them off remorselessly.

Despite his apparent sociopathic tendencies, Nicolas isn't without heart. Hes been shown to care for those close to him; Worick and Veronica being prime examples, and even Alex in that regard. Furthering his somewhat complicated personality, he doesn't seem to be the type to hold grudges against others, as he accepted Doug as a friend despite their brutal fight only days prior.

Background
Nicolas is the son of West Gate Mercenary commander Gaston Brown and an unnamed Tagged prostitute. Gaston killed Nicolas's mother after she gave birth and took the child to add to his mercenary group to avoid the expense of simply hiring a Tagged mercenary. Nicolas was born deaf, and between his disability and Gaston's control of his Cerebret supply, Gaston kept him obedient and dependent. He endures constant abuse from his father and the rest of the mercenary group without resistance.

Gaston assigns Nicolas as Worick's bodyguard and the two eventually become friends, bonding over their abusive fathers. Worick teaches Nicolas how to write and the two learn sign language together. Nicolas is injured during the Anti-Twilights riots and his self-stitched wounds become infected, leaving him seriously ill. Worick intervenes and pays off Gaston, intending to help Nicolas, but this ultimately results in Nicolas's total abandonment by his father. Despite the fact that his father was abusive, this left Nicolas in a state of shock, hinting his longing for parental ties normalcy.

After his recovery, Nicolas remains as Worick's bodyguard. When Worick's father's abuse escalates to putting out a cigarette on his son's eye, Nicolas mistakes Worick's shout of surprise of his name, as an order to kill; to which he does indiscriminately. Worick stops Nicolas from killing himself afterwards, saying that he won't forgive Nicolas and that Nicolas has to live on to die full of painful memories as Worick's family did. The two ran away from the carnage together and start a new life on the streets with Nicolas taking odd jobs as a mercenary. It is strongly implied that Nicolas was involved in the attack on the Monroe Family at age fourteen.

Sometime Nicolas and Worick both work for the Monroe Family during the first Twilights hunt protecting the main house of the Monroe Family. As Nicolas protected the main door, Worick took some members to help the men fight off the attacker.

Alex also remembers Nicolas bleeding on the floor in her house when she was a girl, implying he was defending Alex from the man who raped her.

Later on, the two start The Handymen together and soon after met a female Twilights; Veronica, adding her to their line of business.

Plot
After accepting a mission from Chad Adkins tasking Worick to clean up a local gang, Nicolas meets Alex, a prostitute working under their target. He offers to kill her to complete the job but yields to Worick's insistence on letting her go Alex joins The Handymen as a secretary instead.

Nicolas is brought in by the police along with Worick for questioning on mass murders that have taken place in the sixth district. However, he leaves quickly when Daniel Monroe calls for assistance. There Nicolas battles Paulklee mercenary Doug to a standstill, but their fight is interrupted by Gina Paulklee and Ginger. Later, Nicolas recovers along with Doug at Dr. Theo's clinic. In his drugged state he dreams of Veronica.

The anti-Twilights sentiment in Ergastulum steadily increases as the Twilights murders continue, leading Nicolas to take a job gathering stray Twilights to be brought under the Cristiano Family's protection. While doing this the Cristianos are attacked and Nicolas returns to fight Erica.

Relationships

 * Worick Arcangelo: Worick is Nicolas's first friend and his companion for twenty-two years. Nicolas has a close bond with Worick; the two share clothing, bicker good-naturedly, and have a strong mutual understanding. Worick remains along with Alex as they are the only ones able to bring Nicolas down from a berserker rage without having to sedate him. Despite this, Worick also claims on one occasion that he wouldn't mind Nicolas dying and that things might be better that way. They have a codependent but also complex relationship due to Nicolas murdering Worick's family.


 * Alex Benedetto: Despite the fact that he had originally offered to kill her, Nicolas seems to treat the newest member of The Handymen with something like the benign neglect he shows Worick. He gradually warms to Alex in small ways, speaking more frequently to her and looking out for her, though he tells her to practice sign language better. Though he often teases her if the chance presents itself he seems to notice if she's in real distress. It's implied he cares and knows more about Alex than she knows or he's letting on and gets reminded of Veronica when he sees her. Nicolas seems to enjoy watching Alex (often without her noticing) such as from his window at the beginning, when she's hanging up laundry on the roof and when she's singing at the brothel despite Nicolas not being able to hear it. When Nicolas was refusing to be sedated even by Worick, it was only Alex who was able to calm him down with her touch, repaying him for his helping hand earlier. Alex also remembers Nicolas from her past, when she was sexually assaulted by a unnamed Twilight, she remembers Nicolas bleeding in her house implying he was defending her.


 * Chad Adkins: Chad has known Nicolas since childhood and more than once helped him out. He's shown tending to Nicolas's injuries at least once. Despite Nicolas's criminal history, Chad seems less than inclined to bring him in or hold him for his crimes.


 * Daniel Monroe: Daniel is Nicolas's former employer and apparent father figure of sorts. Worick claims that Daniel took care of the two of them, but Nicolas neither agrees nor disagrees with Worick's interest in protecting him. Nicolas declines Daniel's offer to join up with the family again and says he prefers to remain independent.


 * Nina: Nina is learning sign language from Nicolas but also comes over to play with him. He seems very fond of her, giving her rides in his arms and letting her hold his hand while he recovers at Dr. Theo's. Though he acts nonchalant about it he goes out of his way to make her welcome when she appears at The Handymen and he always has a drink just for her.


 * Veronica: Veronica lived with The Handymen at some point in the past and seems to have been close to Nicolas. Though several people claim he was responsible for her death the circumstances are unknown; he never mentions her.

Abilities
Nicolas's fighting abilities manifest at their fullest when he is dosed with Cerebret uppers. Under the effects of the drug, he has higher than average speed, reflexes, strength and pain endurance. It was noted by Galahad that, unlike other Twilights, Nic is different in that his rank depends on the stimulant that supplements his full strength. If he was ranked normally he would be a B/5 at best, but he got his A/0 rank by crushing people ranked higher than him. With Dr. Theo's new Cerebret prototype he can exceed his A/0 rank as seen when fighting both Erica and Mikhail and overwhelming them (even disabling the latter). However, the effects only last for 10 mins and when it begins to wear off, the pain is apparently insufferable.

As of Chapter 53, Nicholas's true skill without overdosing seems to have dramatically increased after taking and surviving the after effects of Dr. Theo's experimental drug, possibly beyond even that seen while overdosing during his fight against Erica and Mikhail. Without overdosing he was able to fend off 9th squad consisting of Nimes (Rank A/0), Lugang (Rank A/0), Johanna (Rank B/1), and Chico (Rank B/3) a group specifically built to deal with high ranking Twilights while fighting them all at once. Chico notes Nic's apparent aberration in power commenting that their intel stated he was a low ranking Twilights without overdose and injured as well yet he still fends them off while showing not a single opening for any of the 4 to attack.

Some of Nicolas's most notable traits are:


 * Enhanced Strength: Nicolas is inhumanly strong, despite not having the physique to support it, which usually throws his opponents off. Even without overdosing, Nicolas’ has been shown to effortlessly throw around normals, swing his katana with enough force to cut through metal and even strike a police car with enough force to nearly tip it over. His strength also extends to his lower body, enabling him to leap great heights and across rooftops.
 * Enhanced Durability: Nic has been through the wringer when it comes to physical trauma. As a Twilight, he’s extremely durable and can withstand many forms of punishment. Though not bulletproof, Nicolas has survived stab wounds, blows from more powerful Twilights and Hunters, falling from great heights and even point-blank explosions.
 * Enhanced Senses: Like all Twilights, Nicolas’ senses are heightened past human levels. Even with his hearing impairment. Nicolas’ can sense disturbances and vibrations in the air, smell blood a couple of blocks away and see well enough that lip reading comes easy to him.
 * Enhanced Speed, Agility & Reflexes: Due to him being a “speed-type”, Nicolas’ speed is probably his most dangerous trait. He is very fast on foot, being able to ambush skilled fighters like Doug easily, without the latter noticing. His speed sometimes appears to be as if he is teleporting, disappearing and reappearing when in battle, though he was easily outmatched by Ginger in that department. Nicolas’ reflexes and agility compliments his speed so well that he can dodge gunfire and perform intricate acrobatic movements.
 * Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Despite using his sword more often, Nicolas has shown that he is equally lethal with his bare hands as he is with his sword on numerous occasions, mainly due to his sword not being in his possession at the time.
 * Expert Swordsman: Being Nicolas' primary weapon, Nicolas is highly proficient with his sword, being able to push back Doug, a dual Kukri user and was even able to break one of them, which demonstrated how he uses his immense physical strength in conjuncture with his sword. He was also able to briefly match and then later overwhelm a fellow blade user in battle.

Weapons
His main weapon is a katana, though for underwhelming opponents at times he uses his bare hands. His blade is extremely durable, as he broke Doug's kukri during battle.

Quotes

 * (To Arnold) "Three minutes are over! Can you handle this shit? Even if I crush your head, turn it into minced meat and do you in?"
 * (To Daniel Monroe) "My current job has been good to me, and I enjoy the comforts it affords. I am sorry."
 * (To Alex after he ate her homemade food) "So-so."
 * (To Chad Adkins) "To take, one must first give."

Trivia

 * He is biracial with a white father and an unidentified Twilight Asian mother.
 * His mother was a tagged prostitute, who was killed by Nicolas's father after Nicolas's birth.
 * If Nicolas was the Twilight hired to attack the Monroe Family years ago, his rank at that time was C/3. When he and Worick were arrested in their teens he seemed to have moved up to rank C/0.
 * He is left-handed.
 * He rarely drinks alcohol, referred to in the novel as he boasts a "high susceptibility to alcohol".
 * According to Galahad, Nicolas's actual rank should be B/5 at best. It was stated that Nicolas uses drugs to bring out his abilities to the limits and then taking out higher ranked Twilights by force.
 * His voice is somewhat difficult to understand due to his deaf accent, and he doesn't really seem to enjoy speaking, as he more often than not just stays quiet if someone can't communicate properly with him.
 * Nicolas's father was a normal, which would make Nicolas a Hagure, or a half-Twilight.
 * Nicolas doesn't know how to cook. He ended up cutting his fingers while he was using a knife.
 * Nicolas's appearance and stoic (but bloodthirsty) personality is very similar to Guts the protagonist of Berserk, right down to being a mercenary since childhood and abuse from a father as well as having a brown skinned female love interest.