Diego Dagdag's Reference:
Original || 2YR || 2020 (NSFW)

Name: Diego Dwight Dagdag
Age: 22
Height: 5'6"
Species: Dingo

DESCRIPTION:
Diego Dagdag used to have a simple life in Southern Australia, just right in the suburbs just a mile away from a nearby city. With easy access to education, he could've had a bright future there. While he had genuine and loving parents, he often spent more time with his Filipino father, Valentino Dagdag, mostly due to the latter's experience in basketball. Due to his shift of interests influenced by his father, Diego became devoted to becoming a basketball star, which unfortunately led to being a target of bullying, given that his neighborhood was predominantly into football/soccer. This indeed concerned both his parents, so Valentino considered having himself and his family move out to the US, but only once Diego became old enough to fend on his own. Valentino preferred the city of Santo Tomas in California where his late parents used to live there and where he used to play basketball with his school friends a lot.

But not was bullying the only issue plagueing the Dagdags at the time, the very suburbs they lived in had been subject to wildfires that happened several times in decades, yet they didn't engulf much of the area, until one day when Diego turned 15. One night before that very day, Diego's bullies had somehow learned of Valentino's plan through eavesdropping on their own parents in the local community center. It had been apparent that many sensible adults across the neighborhood had frowned upon the increasing bullying onto Diego, just over basketball being his favorite sport, to the point where even those parents grounded their own children for mocking the half-Filipino dingo. It was only natural for his bullies to be too stubborn to learn from their mistakes and to instead take manners in their own hands.

On the next day, another wildfire was expected to hit the very suburbs, albeit in the same, minor manner, but Diego's bullies took advantage of the situation, by not only imprisoning their own families to prevent unwanted intervention, but by also using flammables to direct a coming wildfire into the Dagdag house. Unbeknownst to everyone except his family, Valentino had developed a lung cancer following his former smoking habits back in his teens, but such an illness could be fatally exacerbated by inhaling toxic gases. Unfortunately, Valentino was the only one who remained in the Dagdag house, filling every large container with water just in case of fire, while his wife and Diego were attending the church despite a scorching heat, and once Valentino noticed the toxic cloud and fire running into his house through the trail of oil, he got overwhelmed and succumbed to comatose, then the house exploded and got engulfed in flames. But to make matters worse, the said explosion had unveiled a large cloud of carbon monoxide, spreading across the neighborhood and suffocating everyone caught in the gas, even the very families that Diego's bullies had trapped in vicinity. Wrecked with guilt and horror, the bullies became divided over the disaster, with very few expressing nothing short of satisfaction in personal revenge.

Disgusted by his bullies' latest act, Diego prompted to move out into the United States, despite the protests of his Australian mother, Felicia Dwight, who already became accustomed to the suburban life, compared to her horrible past back in the US. What Felicia actually failed to tell him and her late husband was that she was once a well-talented pianist who also used to stay in Santo Tomas, but the frequent pressure of her parents and teachers pushed her to give up on her future and to elope with Valentino into the suburbs somewhere in Southern Australia to escape the stress-inducing urban life. However, Diego's decision was final, given that he just wanted to honor his late father's last wish, and Felicia relented and decided to go with him, all to provide him the best she could.

Ever since his stay in Santo Tomas, he found comfort in a cheap yet modest bungalow in the suburbs and encouraged his mother to work to making a living, while he opted to pursue his studies in college, though he had yet to finally choose. On the way, he had made many friends on his way, including his best friends Timothy Soro and Errol James Spenser, and many rivals as well. Besides his own though, he had yet to see more shenanigans coming from his new friends.

PERSONALITY:
Diego himself makes no secret about his love in basketball, and skateboarding to that extent. He is such an outgoing charmer that he enjoys hanging out with friends, as well as bragging about his capabilities and accomplishments. Sometimes, he tends to get carried away to the point of even exaggerating his own talking points, but the said sports are no joke, as he is genuinely active and competent. As humble as he wants to be, he bears tragic past that haunts him even to this day, and so pride is what keeps him going, and in other words, he refuses to back down in a game until the conclusion, whether the said pride will benefit or bite him.

And by being athlete, he is bound to fight back once tensions rise. Despite his lacking of fighting history, he's very sharp in throwing balls and flipping skateboards. Furthermore, he's quite an amateur in throwing boomerangs, but in the city with far few Australians, he may seem to be a unique type of fighter. Ironically, he's not good in kicking balls, which has been worsened by his past.

From the place so hot and mostly prone to wildfires, Diego has no problem enduring heat, though he cannot handle fires, and it's obviously not just because of his trauma. This of course adds fuel to confidence at best and pride at worst, making him less prone to fatigue. However, as somehow tolerant as he is, he takes discomfort with poisonous gases, especially when carbon monoxide is what killed his asthmatic father in the fire.

And with few mentions of his past, it is worth noting that Diego used to be emotionally sensitive whenever he heard about it, but two years past his father's passing and thanks to his mother's help, he's indifferent yet relaxed, accepting the fact that he has to move on.

LIKES:
- Basketball
- Skateboarding
- Boomerang: Despite enjoyment in throwing boomerangs, he's rather an amateur in doing so
- Self-Esteem: Partially a coping mechanism, and partially a self-serving satisfaction
ABILITIES:
- Adept Sharpshooting: He's quite calculated in estimating depth perception before throwing a projectile, though not always the best case in throwing boomerangs
- Adept Agility:
- Heat Tolerance: Self-explanatory, but he can't handle fires
- Poison Immunity: Although tolerant, he's prone to discomfort in every interaction with any poisonous gas; No immediate poison deemed effective in liquid and solid forms
SPECIAL:
- More interested in Basketball than Football/Soccer
- Born with a dominantly Australian Accent
- 2018 Reference redesigned