OC Profile - Gator (Skunk Fu!)

Gator is a seasoned warrior and master of all things No-Lung Fu related. She’s an expert swimmer and also versed in the study of magic. Said knowledge of mystical arts shouldn’t come as too big of a surprise considering who she was married too, which is cause for alarm among the remaining Valley Animals.

Dragon was her husband for 50 years. While Panda was Dragon’s closest friend and trust, Gator was his greatest confident and knew him inside and out. After her husband’s punishment and during his decent into madness, she was a very defensive wife, never letting anyone talk bad about Dragon. Not long before he went on his rampage and drove the other animals from the mountain did Dragon burn her in a fit of rage, which is when Gator called it quits. She left the Valley along with a bunch of other animals, as she couldn’t bare to fight what was left of the dragon she loved or watch him kill the rest of her friends. When she came back unexpected with her two pupils (Dog and Horse) in toe, every animal say for Panda and Duck held some sort of resentment or distrust in her. Whether it was feeling like she abandoned them or wondering where her loyalties lie - as she continues to wear a jade broach Dragon gave her for protection - no one is entirely comfortable with Gator back in town.

To be fair though, neither is Gator. The years of heartache and trauma have taken their tole on her, and it shows. She has a dry demeanor one could easily mistake for spite. Like Panda, she is not interested in putting on heirs about herself, however she is a lot more blunt about it. No one’s victory is satisfying to her. War is war and hate is hate. She isn’t a very social animal, preferring only certain company at a time or only that of Horse and Dog. And yet she does show a lot of sympathy and warm thoughts for her old friends and the younger ones left behind.

Trivia:

- Gator is one of my oldest OCs. Her design has amazingly stayed pretty consistent through the years while her personality and role in the story has gone through ups and downs. The story she first appeared and played her biggest role in, The Art of the Lotus Flower overblew her character A LOT, especially when Dragon and Panda’s crumbling friendship was suppose to be the center of Dragon’s character development.
- Her tail is her greatest weapon and she uses it to knock the wind out of her enemies.
-Something borrowed from the early days of her character development is Gator and Dragon’s trouble confessing their feelings to one another when they were young. Dragon, under the watch of his Master Rooster, was not to marry any animal that wasn’t a phoenix, while Gator was pretty enamored with him but convinced she wasn’t good enough for a literal heavenly guardian dragon.
-Her best friend (and the one who initially tried to hook her and Dragon up) is Duck.
-Alligators in China are much smaller than American alligators it seems, meaning that even before his transformation Dragon would’ve towered over his wife.
-Gator’s rather fond of children, having always wanted, but never been able to have any herself. She’s rather fond of Skunk for this reason. Skunk mainly likes her because being friends with her means he gets to tag along inside her mouth.
-Grrrl has real reptile hair. Figure that one out for yourself. I sure haven’t.