APPLESEED
DEUNAN KNUTE
Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 13 STR 3 12- Lift 151.6 kg; 2 1/2d6 HTH Damage [3] 23 DEX 39 14- OCV: 8/DCV: 8 18 CON 16 13- 12 BODY 4 11- 13 INT 3 12- PER Roll 12-/15- 16 EGO 12 12- ECV: 5 15 PRE 5 12- PRE Attack: 3d6 16 COM 3 12- 6 PD 3 Total: 6 PD (0 rPD) 5 ED 1 Total: 5 ED (0 rED) 5 SPD 17 Phases: 3, 5, 8, 10, 12 8 REC 2 36 END 0 30 STUN 2 Total Characteristic Cost: 110 Movement: Running: 6"/12" Leaping: 2"/4" Swimming: 2"/4" Cost Powers & Skills Martial Arts: Commando Training Maneuver OCV DCV Damage 4 Block +2 +2 Block, Abort 4 Disarm -1 +1 Disarm; 28 STR to Disarm 4 Dodge -- +5 Dodge, Affects All Attacks, Abort 5 Kick -2 +1 7 1/2d6 Strike 4 Knee Strike +2 +0 5 1/2d6 Strike 3 Legsweep +2 -1 4 1/2d6 Strike, Target Falls 4 Punch +0 +2 5 1/2d6 Strike 5 Takeaway +0 +0 Grab Weapon, 28 STR to take weapon away 3 Takedown +1 +1 3 1/2d6 Strike; Target Falls 3 Throw +0 +1 3 1/2d6 +v/5, Target Falls 4 +1 HTH Damage Class (already added in) 2 Weapon Element: Blades, Landmate 2 Battle Hardened: +5 PRE; Only To Defend Against PRE Attacks (-1) 4 Toxin Filter: Power Defense (10 points); Only Works Against Certain Sedatives (-1), Only Protects Characteristics (-1/2) 3 Unrivaled Eyesight: +3 PER with Normal Sight 10 Toxin Filter: LS (Immunity: All terrestrial diseases and biowarfare agents) Perks 4 Fringe Benefit: Concealed Weapon Permit (where appropriate), Olympus ESWAT Powers Talents 6 Ambidexterity (-1 Off Hand penalty) 30 Danger Sense (immediate vicinity, out of combat, Function as a Sense) 15- Skills 16 +2 with All Combat 10 +2 with Ranged Combat 3 +1 with Blades 3 +1 with DCV; Requires A DEX Roll (-1/2) 6 Keen Eyesight: Penalty Skill Levels: +2 vs. Range Modifier with All Attacks 3 Acrobatics 14- 3 Acting 12- 0 CK: Los Angeles 8- 2 CK: Olympus 11- 3 Climbing 14- 3 Combat Driving 14- 3 Combat Piloting (Landmate) 14- 10 Defense Maneuver I-IV 3 Demolitions 12- 3 Fast Draw (Small Arms) 14- 2 Forgery (Documents) 12- 5 Interrogation 13- 1 KS: Cyborgs 8- 1 KS: Greek Mythology 8- 0 Language: English (idiomatic; literate) 3 Paramedics 12- 2 PS: SWAT/ESWAT 11- 5 Rapid Autofire 3 Stealth 14- 2 Survival (Urban) 12- 3 Tactics 12- 1 TF: Anthropomorphic Mecha/Landmate, Small Motorized Ground Vehicles, Two- Wheeled Muscle-Powered Ground Vehicles 5 WF: Small Arms, Blades, Landmate Weapons, Shoulder-Fired Weapons 208 Total Powers & Skills Cost 318 Total Character Cost 200+ Disadvantages 10 DNPC: Briareos Hecatonchries 14- (As powerful as the PC) 20 Hunted: Olympus/ESWAT 14- (Mo Pow, NCI, Watching) 15 Psychological Limitation: Always Goes Around Armed (Very Common, Moderate) 15 Psychological Limitation: Irritable And Inconsiderate (Common, Strong) 15 Psychological Limitation: Incredibly Suspicious And Paranoid (Common, Strong) 15 Psychological Limitation: Loves Briareos (Common, Strong) 5 Reputation: (see Pyschological Limitations), 11- (Known Only To Olympus ESWAT Officers) 23 ESWAT Bonus 318 Total Disadvantage Points
Background/History: Born in 2105, Deunan Knute is the heroine of Masamune Shirow's cyberpunk epic Appleseed. She's nominally an American, although in the world of Appleseed that doesn't really mean much. What she really is, however, is a superb athlete with an unparalleled reaction time, reflexes, and vision. She's also bad-tempered and bitchy, but we won't go into that right now.
Deunan is the daughter of Carl Knute, and was brought up from an early age to know how to handle herself in any number of situations. She entered the Police Academy at the age of 17, and was made a member of the Los Angeles Police Department SWAT team approximately two years later. In 2125, when she was twenty, World War V broke out, and Deunan and Briareos Hecatonchries (see) fled LA and spent some time living in the ruins of "badside" where they where eventually found by Hitomi and brought back to Olympus. As she knew really no other line of work, Deunan joined ESWAT, the Olympus antiterrorist military arm, where she remains.
Personality/Motivation: Where to start? Probably the best way is to let Masamune Shirow say a few worlds about Deunan: "...her investigative sense is poor and her character worse." and "She's not involved in this sort of work out of some sense of justice or a particular desire to fight. In this story, one of the premises is that you may get involved over your head in this business, but you'll never be able to get out."
What does all this mean? For starters, Deunan is always armed, always. A pistol or two, multiple knives, and so forth. She will not hesitate to draw a weapon either, although fortunately, she is not the type to shoot first and ask questions later. Deunan carries weapons because, simply put, she doesn't trust anyone (except Briareos and a few other exceptions). Of course, in her line of work this is a bit of an asset. To make matters worse, Deunan has a terrible temper, and is seen blowing her top a number of times in Appleseed. Magus (also in ESWAT) probably sums it up best with: "What is that idiotic broad squalling about now?" Personally I'd kick her off of any special operations team I was running (Deunan does not work or play well with others) and probably the only reason why Olympus keeps her around is due to her phenomenal physical skills
Quote: "I'm too much of a rationalist. I feel that money should be spent to protect victims, not criminals. Best thing to do with those thugs is wipe them out."
Powers/Tactics: For a supposedly "normal" character, people may wonder at Deunan's DEX and SPD. I will admit to struggling with this for some time. I decided to place them as high as I did due to several scenes of Deunan fighting opponents in groups of two or more. In Appleseed Volume 3 she starts out with four knives and ends up wiping out a sixteen-man squad. In Appleseed Volume 4 she ends up in a brutal fight with three opponents in close quarters and comes out totally unscathed (while trashing the three of them). If we presume these three men have a SPD of 3, then Deunan has a 4 at least, since she is seen aborting to dodges and blocks at several points, and always seems to have a empty phase to abort to in order to do this.
On top of her natural skills, Deunan has considerable hand-to-hand training (the exact style is never specified and is probably a mix of styles). She is also quite good with firearms, and is an excellent shot. She also has extensive police, SWAT, and ESWAT training as well.
The Appleseed Databook has this to say about Deunan: "Multiple implants into her system filter out most drugs and viruses. ... It's fully capable of warding off such things as mild anesthetics, chloroform B, and lysin..." I bought this as Life Support and a form of Power Defense. Depending on how individual Game Masters define drugs and viruses in their game, this may or may not be appropriate.
Appearance: Deunan is a mixture of several races. Shirow gives her heritage as follows: Deunan's maternal grandmother was a "cafe au lait" (mixed white/black parentage) Sudanese. She married an Anglo-French BBC journalist, and their daughter married Carl Knute. Their daughter was Deunan.
Deunan is about 23 years-old as of Appleseed Volume 4. She stands about 5'6" with a very athletic build. Her skin is naturally very tanned, and she has blonde hair that just comes down to her shoulders.
Designer's Notes: Shirow states in the Appleseed Databook that "...Deunan and Bri—are near-geniuses in their mastery of technique and in the senses they posses. ... They are not supermen or superwomen. They are simply highly-trained professionals." I tried to simulate this with Deunan's characteristics and her extensive list of skills. I will admit to debating giving her Normal Characteristic Maxima, but didn't (if you do, she now has 129 points in Characteristics, and a point total of 337.). Note: As written, Deunan would make one very, very scary UNTIL agent...
(Deunan Knute created by Masamune Shirow, Character sheet created by Michael Surbrook)
Deunan Knute's Hero Designer File
Return to Anime and Manga Character Adaptations