Dakota Cole



"'Hey! Your mom would be fuckin' proud, man!' -Dakota's parting words to Ashe."

Dakota Cole is a human boy with incredible physical modifications that essentially make him superhuman in regards to strength and speed. He is one of the four Prime Defenders and is played by GrizzlyPlays, aka Grizzly.

Appearance
Dakota Cole (Hero name D.C.) is a teenage boy with medium length (slightly past the ears) bright raspberry red hair, and he has bright yellowish-amber eyes. He is quite lithe in stature, below the baggy red flannel that goes down to his mid-thighs and white swoop-cut t-shirt underneath that he often wears. He additionally wears slim-fitted pale jeans with some tears and patches across them. His pants are tucked into his shoes, which are mid-calf, laced up red training boots. He carries on him a black bandana that he often wraps around his forehead, as well as uses for his hero disguise.

In S1, he tends to carry around a black skateboard with red wheels in his free time and when he is at school.

In S2, his hands are more heavily calloused and there are additional scars all over his arms and body.On Fauna, he temporarily has messier hair (especially towards the front, with his bangs falling past his nose) with the back being tied into a skinny ponytail that goes down to his mid-back. He still wears his signature headband. He wears a black popped-collar west with golden trim along the edges and on the collars the trim is in a somewhat swirl pattern. The vest is threaded to cover his chest but opens up and out to expose his abdomen in a flipped V shape, and he had thick red cord around his waist which. loops on his hips like a bow. The rest of the cord feathers out at the ends past his knees, and he additionally wears black monk-style pants rolled up to the knees with the designs of two golden bears roaring on the thighs, and fire wrapped around them and down the legs. He also has silver bands with swirling cloud-like designs on the forearms, and the same red cord on his biceps, with his hands and feet being wrapped in red martial arts tape. His appearance returns to normal once returning to Prime.

Hero Outfit
His superhero suit is a cropped red cargo jacket with "D.C." embroidered on it, with a black striped collar, a black stripe just above the hem, and a black and grey zipper with buttons on the shoulders. It's cut off, revealing his midriff. Black sleeves wrapped with four (two on either side) utility straps go into red cuffs around his wrists and then black fingerless gloves. He wears black cargo pants, which read "COLE STYLE" down the middle of one leg, which lead into a pair of boots which appear to be a mix between ninja wear and tech-style, with red wraps around the calves. Below the red wrappings, a purple galaxy pattern can be seen worked into the boots as an ode to Mrs. Gilbert. There is also a lighter grey belt and strap that loops around the left side of his hip, and a pouch on the side of his left knee. Additionally, he wears the aforementioned black bandana, however now, he pulls it over his eyes to act as a mask, and his eyes glow a pure, bright white through the slits.

Personality
Dakota is good-intentioned and caring, though stubborn and dim. He is the definition of putting all of the heart in someone while forgetting the brains. He doesn't know even basic math, he has a lot of trouble understanding things above a grade school reading level, and he does not catch onto meanings behind what people are saying very well, if at all. He has trouble "reading the room" so to speak, sometimes, and will occasionally blurt things out he probably should not. However, he is not socially inept -- he is quite charismatic, making friends easily, even if some are the wrong person to trust at times. He is fairly gullible, despite being suspicious of nearly many that he meets since Doug. His energy level is typically very high, to the point that when he is behaving calmly, William assumes something is wrong (correctly, often). Dakota is hyper and a lot to be around, Harlem Shade even referring to him as a "little red crackhead". He is easily excitable and seems to be easily overstimulated, as well. He talks loudly, even louder when excited. His base volume is essentially a yell.

When Dakota believes someone is a villain or there is a villain nearby, he often becomes unreasonable and jumps straight into wanting to fight them, sometimes running off to get a head start on kicking the lights out of them. He is violent, all things considered, and sometimes lacks control to not lash out. He also despises being lied to, particularly since Doug, as well, and will become threatening towards a person if he believes they are lying to him. When William was dishonest with him about having pages from Ashe's book, he became extremely upset with him. He is also argumentative and stubborn to a fault, always standing up for what he believes is right, being entirely unwavering in it, and cementing himself in a mindset. He doesn't back down from challenges and can't resist a fight. He is the hit first and William will ask questions later type. He refuses to run from any danger -- he has proven himself that he would readily die over doing so.

Dakota has a monumental amount of empathy and love to give. If you have found yourself his ally, you have found the most loyal ally in the world. His sense of team and family cannot be broken or questioned in any way. You are stuck with him. He cares about people and animals deeply, desperately wanting to protect or save them, even at the expense of his own safety, wellbeing or even life, at times. He does not think about consequences where helping someone is concerned or, frankly, ever. He is reckless, impulsive, and can be erratic. He is very protective and will readily take a hit meant for someone else. He is also brave (maybe too much), jumping towards things many would jump away from. He takes initiative and isn't afraid. Dakota additionally seems to lack general bitterness. He really does not seem to get jealous, from what can be seen of his behavior. Seeing Will interact with his parents in S1 E16 does not upset him like it does Vyncent; in fact, it seems to make him quite happy. That being said, he seems happy when other people are, and seems to value others' wellbeing and emotional states more than his own.

In S2, post living in the woods, he becomes more erratic and prone to outbursts of anxiety, distress and going (literally) feral, in which state he cannot control himself/his actions and becomes unhinged and violent. He is also more prone to shutting down. Grizzly has also mentioned that he sometimes dissociates under stress. (Needs Citation; S2 JRolled) This does not change any of the other aspects of his personality, however.

Background/History
Dakota grew up without any parents, as they died when he was young, and was raised by his aunt. He is not bothered by this nor does it seem to be a point of any underlying trauma for him, at least from what has been seen so far.

Dakota underwent a procedure by a scientist/doctor that involved administration of a serum to his body that granted him with unnatural strength and speed capabilities. He can run at 60 MPH and lift 5,000 LBs. Dakota does not seem bothered talking about the fact that he underwent this procedure, though he remained quiet about the nature of why for quite some time.

William Wisp
William and Dakota are very close friends. Though Dakota's high energy severely contrasts William, this hardly stops them from being friends. In early episodes, while still attending Centurion High, when William was bullied, Dakota would stand up for or defend him readily, even going so far as to suggest taking revenge on Jimmy for being mean him. He is quite protective of William, specifically, in this way. Dakota additionally trusts Will's judgment and capabilities wholeheartedly, in a general sense. He has blatantly asked for and/or waited for Will's guidance/direction or recommendation on what to do in various situations. William also seems totally comfortable around Dakota, as he rarely, if ever, gets tripped up or uncomfortable while talking with him. He has also mentioned that he only ever cared about getting stronger was because he met Dakota (S2 E1). They often engage in friendly banter or bicker back and forth, but have a mutual understanding of each other and remain close nonetheless. William and Dakota have rarely gotten into actual fights -- though Dakota did become extremely upset with him after William lied about Ashe's pages, first trying to fight him, then storming off and crying. After returning from his 10 month absence, Dakota is welcomed with open arms by William especially, who was not upset with him at all, simply happy to have him back and not wanting to lose him again. William and Dakota also seemingly share a close enough of a bond to allow Dakota's soul to enter William's body. It's not clear whether this is just a power of William's he can do with anyone or is made possible due to the bond he and Dakota share. Regardless, they have this twice in S2.

Vyncent Sol
Vyncent and Dakota are very good friends. Due to their differences, Vyncent and Dakota often clashed early campaign, for a variety reasons, whether is be more on one of The Greats' shoulders, or due to Vyncent snapping at Dakota to grow up in stressful circumstances. However, they maintain fairly good communication as time goes on, and become very close. Dakota is not nearly as protective of Vyncent as William, and vice versa, but they maintain a certain colleague-like respect for one another. They do, however, often feed off of one another's chaos, as well -- and additionally drag William into it, at times. Dakota is oddly interested in Vyncent's love life in general (though he did briefly apply the same treatment to William as well) -- not in a jealous manner, but rather in rooting for his success and getting a girlfriend, typically. Vyncent is almost always unappreciative of this. However, he's also (a number of times) teased or asked Vyncent direct questions about his relationship with William.

Tide
Though he often tries to cover it up, but regularly slips and calls him such, Dakota sees Tide as a father and mentor figure wholeheartedly. For the only one of the Prime Defenders without a father, this is clearly important to him. However, he also often clashes with Tide, who simply desires for he and the other Prime Defenders to focus solely on training and simultaneously living as normal lives 3 kids with superpowers can lead. This causes tension with Dakota, who wants to be seen as capable and an actual hero, and believes that Tide should not baby them or keep them out of the loop on things, even if he believes it is for their own benefit. Dakota actively wants to help and fight beside Tide, though it could not be clearer that Tide desires nothing less, primarily for Dakota and the others' safety. This is an issue that regularly arises between them. Regardless, when Tide is threatened by Doug and Cantrip in S1 E9, he becomes enraged; the most angry he had been in the show to that point. When Tide is kidnapped, Dakota becomes inconsolable, volatile and unreasonable. He is solely preoccupied with getting him back and ensuring his safety, ready to throw himself into any danger necessary to make this happen. Seeing Tide in any danger throws Dakota into a volatile emotional state. On the other hand, seeing Dakota in line of any possible danger clearly stresses Tide, causing him to take on a more parental, strict role. Though Dakota and the rest of the Prime Defenders can't be reasoned with, he regularly tries to get them to slow their roll regardless -- particularly Dakota, whom Tide often places under the watch of William in hopes he can better reign him in when they are alone. Tide sees himself as the father figure of all 3 Prime Defenders, and, as is evident in multiple scenes and interactions, wants little more for them than to get a chance at peace and being "normal." Additionally, he sees himself as the sole person responsible for them, and will take the blame for anything they get themselves into, evident when he insists on telling the Prime Force the truth about his kidnapping and that he had endangered Dakota, William, Vyncent (and Ashe) in his "carelessness."

Ms. Gilbert
parasocial (wip)

Trivia

 * Dakota's favorite food is pizza (specifically pepperoni, as stated by Grizzly ).
 * As a byproduct to having his powers, Dakota must eat a higher amount than is normally required for a person to maintain energy.
 * Grizzly has said that, while not intended to be an autistic character, the way he plays Dakota takes inspiration from autistic family of his.
 * Due to his developed fear, bears are the only animal Dakota will willingly/intentionally harm.
 * In the non-canon Just Roll What If episode Heroes to Zeroes, an magically-aged, approximately 40-year-old Dakota asks a similarly aged Vyncent to marry him once they arrive back to Prime, when William is left behind in the Riptide universe. They do get married.
 * In S1, objects in Dakota's pockets include pizza crust, an hourglass, airpods, chapstick, and a cough drop.