John the Beagle (Obscuria)

Concept & Development
It all started in 2010, when creating a basic shape with a dollmaker for John. I wanted to use this character to represent exclusively the author, a sort of virtual alter ego. But then, with all ideas of stories that passed me in the head, I decided to turn it into a character in its own right. Having no desire to create the umpteenth hedgehog like everyone, I chose the dog and having a mongrel dog as a pet, did the same and chose a mongrel dog as a breed of belonging to John. The first design of John, with her hair loose and long orange shirt, was brief and soon after was changed into a John with hair pulled up in spikes (what I often do with the gel when I have short hair) and a blue and yellow shirt based on the symbolic t-shirt of a well-known Italian character, BAZ, belonging to the Italian comedian Marco Bazzoni. It was the final design and it remains so until recently in 2016, when I realized by some comments that my John was not enough "dog" to recognize that, so I opted for a new change of design. I change his breed of general race with a more precise race, a beagle dog (because I like the beagle dogs), and with it, I've created the new look of John, thus making clear his membership in the group of mobian dogs. His powers gets changed according to the story that he's protagonist, in fact his shapeshifters powers by night were added after that some stories were already written on the internet.

Appearance
John looks like a beagle dog haired red with white details all over the body and a striking layer of black hair behind his back. her face is slightly long, has large dangling ears forward and brings short hair pulled up in spikes through the gel. His clothing changes along with the adventures living.

History
Born near Spagonia in a wealthy family, John had lived a normal life, full of ups and downs like everyone else mobiani. Unfortunately, his shyness, since childhood, made him a prime target for bullies, but one of them caught the attention of John, Steve Rockenbar, the worst of the bullies of his school. He wanted somehow knowing lunge and despite Steve rejected it in all possible manners, John did not intend to give up, until Steve did not give up and she confided in him, becoming good friends until the end of their school, when Steve left along with his father for a long trip around the world, but at the cost of greeting John one last time. The years passed, and John could eventually find a new friend or two, but then in turn went their separate ways, until you end up with a shared apartment with Snoop, a very lazy roommate and not very tidy, with no certainty about its future. Then one day, his monotonous life suddenly changed when Dark Gaia awoke and began to invade the whole planet Mobius. John tried to escape, but was subdued by dark monsters, but instead of dying or losing his mind, he found himself with superpowers that awoke only when night falls. Despite then Sonic the Hedgehog had defeated Dark Gaia and restored so the planet, night powers of John remained, so he decided to use them to do good and bring justice in his country. Unfortunately, the corruption of the law did him no easy things, making him doubt the actual usefulness of his actions.

Personality
John appears as a peaceful guy, honest and cute. His shyness prevented him to open up to others in the course of his life, thus reducing his number of friends to a minimum. Although its logic follows his own opinion, it is dutiful and if he is asked to do something, like it or not, in the end it does, exceptions aside. Being afraid to choose, or because of his naivety, he almost always need a guide, or a leader, to encourage it to move forward. He is a good listener and able to give her moral support to his friends when they need them. Loves video games, using the computer, go with shoes and somehow be useful for others. Instead he hates making decisions, be misjudged and being the center.

Skills
John is a professional video-gamer, with a good knowledge on the computer. He also has good skills in cooking and some good skills with the extreme gear. Even if he doesn't like to fight, he knows the karate pretty well, even if he still use some melee combat to defend himself.

Recently, during the revival of Dark Gaia (Sonic Unleashed's story), John was captured by the Dark Gaia's monsters but, instead of dying or going mad, he awoke with shape-shifting powers that are activated only when night falls. When John use his new powers, he gets a form very similar to the Dark Gaia's monsters, with a dark skin, the black eyes and a body a bit bigger and stronger than before.

On the other hand, in a parallel story without shapeshifting powers, it happens that John is able to harness the energy of the Chaos Emeralds to enhance its physical and sensitive qualities.

Weaknesses
The sunlight of the day nullify his shapeshifter powers, so he turn back in his normal self. In addition, John is afraid to make choices, because He's concerned about the consequences of the respective choice. Is a type naive and often needs a guide to find the right motivation.

Relationships
- Steve Rockenbar: Despite his arrogant and rebellious personality, Steve was a great childhood friend John, together with evidence that impossible bully and victim could coexist peacefully. Since then, even if you do not want to admit, Steve managed to bring rescued John from any other bully wants to hurt him, arrogant with the excuse of wanting to hold the prey for himself. At the end of the school, Steve went on a long trip around the world to follow his lucky stars, and since then the two have not been seen again. Currently the two manage to keep in touch only via electronic devices such as mobile phones and computers.

- Snoop Giampiere: Snoop Giampiere is the current John's roommate and is a big Newfoundland dog with the thick dark brown hair, lazy and messy, that spends a lot of time eating and watching television. John respects him only because Snoop was also a passionate tourists and has traveled around the world taking with him the specialties of the places he visit, before returning to his apartment by economic problems. Despite his being quiet and unresponsive, Snoop is hiding something for John.

- Sarah de Vendittas: (not my character) In a parallel story, where the events of Dark Gaia never happened, Sarah is the current girlfriend of John, with whom they have a very intimate relationship solidified with time. Apparently, Sarah is a young adult female aski dog with thick white fur, blue-black hair and a passion for ancient traditions, but when the danger it imposes, she can change into a demonic form with powerful wings, brute force and strong agility. Although she is strong, direct and with a problem of self-control, John and Sarah gets along very well and often work together to get out from all the troubles that threaten them.

- Rob the Hedgehog: (not my character) Always set in a parallel story, the same one where John has known Sarah, Rob is a valuable and reckless adventure companion of John. Rob is a brown hedgehog pyromancer who uses his ability of fire control to move at supersonic speeds. John met Rob when he accidentally broke a gift of John hovering near breakneck speed. John then decided to follow him to repay the damage done, but he finished into the eternal fight between Rob and the evil Dr. Eyebrows, a mad scientist slender, dressed in green and with thick orange eyebrows. Rob was caught off guard and was captured along with John and then lock them up in jail. So, Rob and John knew each other and when Dr. Eyebrows put under fire even Sarah, John decided to team up with Rob to stop the evil plans of the mad scientist.

Gallery


Trivia

 * Despite his age, John appears more cute and cuddly in every situation.
 * A friend on DeviantArt, the lead author of "The hog and the dog", has created a mobian version of "Green Lantern", with different fan-characters in their respective colored lanterns. John and Sarah are the Green Lanterns.
 * Since the shape-shifting powers from the character have been added much later, several stories of John were written BEFORE he gets his dark powers by Dark Gaia. For convenience, let's call them "Side Stories".
 * Several times have been written stories and chatroles where John is transformed into a female for various reasons, often together with another victim. "The hog and the dog" is one of those.
 * Since it was introduced the new design of 2016, the old John the dog I recently dubbed "Classic John".
 * It has existed for some time an EXE version of John the Dog inspirated from the creepypasta "Sonic.EXE". This gruesome "John EXE" never shows the 32 teeth smile because his mouth is completely sewn by a wire, and the whole body is stained with blood and ashes. It often leads following a spiked baseball bat. It appears often hanging from a crucifix.