My character (pending Scrasified approval, of course):
João "Obutsu" Matos
João Matos was born in the burnt-out favelas of Novo São Paulo, depopulated during the wars of the Petroleum Era and rebuilt as desperately impoverished as ever. A moreno of mostly African descent, Matos and his family struggled to survive in the shadow of Novo São Paulo's massive arcos. When most of his friends were recruited into the various gangs that skirmish in the favelas, João was approached by a Japanese-Brazilian McDojo operator named Thiago Watanabe. Watanabe was an idealist reformer, trying to get kids out of gangs by teaching them Bushido discipline and self-defense. He convinced João to join, and the young man took an instant interest. He trained in the native Capoeira as well as Karate, Kenjutsu, and whatever else Watanabe offered. Within a few years, Watanabe promoted him to sensei and had him open another McDojo franchise studio.
The high-minded ideals of Watanabe shaped João, and he soon found himself attracted to other pieces of Nipponese culture. He began to style himself as a samurai, wearing hakama and a sword in the streets, driving the dishonorable biker gangs who bullied his streets. This drew unwanted attention from the favela's crime lords, who increased their raids and eventually put a hit on Matos. They burnt down his dojo, killing Thiago Watanabe for having the misfortune of being there at the wrong time. Devastated at the disaster he'd brought down on his own, João fled the favela for Greater Rio.
In Rio, João started taking odd jobs, mostly security work. He made a bit of a name for himself locally with his seemingly unbreakable honor and warrior ethos. João fell in with a zaitbatsu outfit, Tsurogi Industries - a small outpost group since the USSA had officially banned Nipponese imports. The outfit mostly hired natives as grunts, saving the higher rankings for its own. His Nipponese commanders thought João a bit of a bad joke, a mockery of true Bushido. They got to calling him "Obutsu", garbage, saying it's where he came from and where he belonged. Matos nonetheless continued his meditation and samurai sensibilities. His break came when the USSA launched a sting on the outfit and João personally saved the life of a Tsurogi executive, the mononymous Mr. Ken. Ken had João put onto his own personal squadron, a special operations team that did body guard work and whatever else needed done. Ken had João outfitted with the latest cybergear, turning the fighter into an even deadlier weapon. Though he mostly earned the respect of his Nipponese comrades, he couldn't shake the name Obutsu.
The silent war between the USSA and the zaibatsus raged on, eventually driving Tsurogi Industries' outpost out of Greater Rio. The crackdown came down quick and hard, as Tsurogi Industries was a small and easy-to-hit target. Mr. Ken and his executives were arrested in a raid, and his team was dispersed. Matos got out of Rio, heading back to Novo São Paulo where he could find refuge and maybe revenge. After settling in back home and reestablishing his dojo, João began working again, providing security and spec ops to various parties around the São Paolo arcos and beyond. He also began concentrating on parapsychic ability - something that had revealed itself in meditation, though João suspected something of it since his youth.
