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 Benriya alongside Worick Arcangelo and Alex Benedetto.

Appearance
Nic 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. Compared to the other males of the series Nic is quite short, which partly have to do with him being half-Asian.

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

Personality
Nic is mostly quiet and aloof even from people he likes. Occasionally he speaks out of irritation or when someone isn't able to understand sign language, but largely he doesn't bother to accommodate people 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 badly to open her medication. He likes to pick on people and has a dark and sarcastic sense of humor. He also seems to enjoy fighting, as he often is seen smiling while in combat, a sadistic side of him which seems to accompany his thrill for blood. When fighting people weaker then himself, he is shown to toy with them for a while before finishing them.

Despite that, Nicolas cares for those close to him, such as Worick and Veronica, and even Alex in that regard. He also 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 Nic'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 Celebre 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-Twilight riots and his self-stitched wounds become infected, leaving him seriously ill. Worick intervenes and pays off Gaston, thinking to help Nic, but this ultimately results in Nic's total abandonment by his father. Despite the fact that his father was abusive this seems to leave him in a state of shock.

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

Later on, the two start Benriya together and eventually take in Alex, an ex-prostitute who becomes their secretary.

Plot
After accepting a mission from Chad Adkins with 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 Benriya as a secretary instead.

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

Relationships

 * Worick Arcangelo: Worick is Nic's first friend and his companion for twenty-two years. Nic has a close bond with Worick; the two share clothing, bicker good-naturedly, and have a strong mutual understanding. Worick remains the only person shown to bring Nic down from a berserker rage without having to sedate him. Despite this, Worick also claims on one occasion that he wouldn't mind Nic 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, Nic seems to treat the newest member of Benriya 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 often teases her if the chance presents itself he seems to notice if she's in real distress.


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


 * Daniel Monroe: Daniel is Nic'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. Nic 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 Benriya and he always has a drink just for her.


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

Abilities
Nic's fighting abilities manifest at their fullest when he is dosed with Celebre 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. Some of Nicolas' most notable traits are:


 * Enhanced Strength: Nicolas is inhumanly strong, despite not having the physique to support it, which usually throws his opponents off.


 * Enhanced Speed: Probably his most dangerous trait, as Nicolas 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.


 * Swordsmanship: 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.


 * 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.

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) "One must first give to take."

Trivia

 * He is biracial with a white father and an unidentified Asian mother.
 * His mother was a tagged prostitute, who was killed by Nic's father after Nic'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 doesn't drink 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.
 * He likes cats.
 * Nicolas is able to produce speech, which is incredibly rare for people innately deaf. When he does speak, it's distorted, and he doesn't really seem to enjoy doing it, as he more often than not just stays quiet if someone can't communicate properly with him.
 * Nic's father was a normal, which would make Nic a Hagure, or a half-Twilight.