Arian Torres

Arian Matthew Torres, also known as Arthree the Grey Fox (ID No. R3-98-63), is a character that makes a prominent appearance throughout the Foxtrot: Foxes In Arms series and acts as a primary antagonist. He is an animatronic grey fox who used to serve in the United States Marine Corps, but following some unforeseen and unfortunate events, "fell off the grid." Struggling through a difficult childhood and being declared mentally unstable later in life, Arian has all but turned his back on those he thought cared about him and wants nothing more than the "salvation" of the world through whatever means necessary.

Physical Appearance
Arian is an animatronic fox standing about 6 feet (or 1.83 meters) taller than the average human male. However, some debate has gone as to whether Arian is a true grey fox or a hybrid between a grey fox and a grey wolf. His body has primarily dark grey fur with light grey fur on his front torso. Arian has tan skin on his muzzle and his ears’ insides while his neck is metallic silver. Arian's eyes are a crimson red, a rare color for any fox species; some describe it as abnormal.

Arian has a build similar to that of the average human male, though he is considerably stronger. "Above average physical health" is how many would've described him.

Arian has three fur tufts on each side of his lower head and hair arranged into bangs. Early depictions have him as having four bangs, but later interpretations will show three large bangs. The most notable thing about Arian is that there are several scars across his body. One scar goes across his left eye, and there are two large ones across his torso (some depictions have him with three large scars on his torso). Arian's ears are also depicted to be missing. Unlike many others, Arian appears to be the most "animalistic" as he mostly doesn't go for anything for attire, at least not that often.

Early Life
Arian was born on February 15, 1977, in the small incorporated village of Derby Line, Vermont. As an animatronic that mimics organic beings, he will grow and develop just like them, though slightly faster. This village was right on the US-Canada border, and it should be noted that one side of Arian's heritage (his father's side) is American while the other side (his mother's side) is Canadian. While he was born in Vermont, he and his parents would move further south to Pennsylvania and would even venture to states like Maryland.

His upbringing was pretty good. Neither one of Arian's parents was military, but the generation beforehand did have some military service. His father's father served in the United States Army while his mother's father served in the Royal Canadian Navy, though he had no intentions of becoming part of it. Since he was a young pup, Arian had been the quiet and withdrawn sort, though he always followed directions without fuss. Many adults said he had a bright future ahead of him, and since he'd been a brilliant fox, that could very well have been the case. The series of events that followed would lead to this young pup going down a very dark path.

Arian would come under ridicule; why this was the case, he never knew. Many of his peers, including other animatronics, organic animals, and even humans, began targeting him. It started out as minor things like simply making fun of him with words, and then at some point, it got physical. Arian has had the strength to brush it off for the longest time, but it only started getting to him when troubles at home began to occur when things began to turn his mental state around. His parents began to argue to no ends, and while he tried to brush this off too, it was too difficult. At some point, it seemed like Arian was being neglected. He couldn't understand why, and all the time he tried to comprehend it, it began to take a toll on his mental state.

During his later youth years, Arian came into contact with two individuals; a pair of animatronic foxes similar to him. One was a red fox named Justin Redding and a swift fox named Swefred Hayden. Both Justin and Swefred seemed pretty friendly compared to most of the other people he's had contact with, but on the other hand, Arian, with his mental health slowly beginning to decline, held some doubt. Surprisingly, the two foxes were very friendly and would try to support him however they could. This was a step up for Arian after all he'd dealt with up to that point. He'd also come to know two arctic foxes, the Snow brothers Arthur and Sewell. Like Justin and Swefred, Sewell was pretty extroverted, while Arthur, like Arian himself, was rather introverted. Arian figured that since all these guys were relatively kind people, perhaps he could hang with them for the sake of his sanity.

Thankfully, it seems that hanging around these four seemed to be saving Arian's mental state as he was able to open up a little more with them, and it seems he'd be going on the right track, but that began changing. As he went through his teen years, Arian continued to get bullied, and it really was starting to affect him both mentally and physically. His parents weren’t supportive of him at all, many of his other peers were mostly bullies or paying no mind to him, and it all started to cause him to build up rage at his treatment. Eventually, it got to the point where he began venting his anger on his friends; more specifically, he began to single out Arthur. The two foxes fought quite a bit, even though Arthur was also getting bullied to an extent, and most of these squabbles lead to both feeling quite emotional. But one event came about that came close to pushing him over the edge.

Dark Path: Decline in Mental Health
One day, Arian had been out and about when he once again became the target of a group of other animatronic animals. They had the nerve to get physical with him, laughing at his expense. The things they said to him were over the edge, and, finally, they seemingly pushed him over the edge. In the thick of it, Arian questioned the bullies, saying, "Do you have any idea what pain is? How it feels to suffer?" The bullies blew him off and simply asked if they were going too rough on him in a sarcastic tone, implying they thought he was weaker than them. Arian, beginning to lose his cool, promptly shouted, "Allow me to give you what you've given me!" Arian lashed out at the bullies in a fit of built-up rage, attacking them in an almost primal or animalistic way. One of them, a wolf, tries to fight him off, inflicting several more injuries (some nontribally more lasting), but it was no use against the rage-fueled grey fox. He wounded several of them all to back off, but it wouldn't be the end of it.

Even after all that and regaining his cool, Arian came back to even more domestic violence. Eventually, after taking more heat from his own parents, Arian began to consider the impossible. He'd been treated horribly for practically his entire life, and the thought that everyone was cruel inside, that the world wasn't a nice place, crossed his mind. Eventually, after a rage-fueled confrontation with his parents, Arian decided to permanently remove himself from the situation. He took some personal belongings before venturing out. However, he took both a pistol and an assault rifle, both of which belonged to his father.

By now, Arian thought he got away from his troubles, but his life was in shambles. More bullies came across at one point; they evidently didn't get the message from the last group. Even before they got physical, they mocked him with words that once again enraged him. He pulled one of his firearms on them and pulled the trigger. He shot and killed one of them while the others attempted to flee upon their friend dying. Arian, now in a full-blown rage, wouldn't let them escape and also killed them. The last one left alive stated that he was simply a monster and nothing more, but Arian responded, "I'm like this because of you. You brought this upon yourself." After killing the last bully, Arian relished in the idea of what he did.

"I can't believe that something so wrong... could feel so right..!" ~Arian Torres

Shortly after the killings, Arian was caught by the police and arrested. In his trial, it was found that he was becoming mentally unstable due to various influences, and as a result, was sent to get psychological help. After some time doing this, Arian was deemed stable, but as a precaution, it was decided that he would be sent to the military to sort out any other issues he may have in terms of discipline. He was sent off to join the United States Marine Corps, but the Marines in charge were told to keep a keen eye on him.

US Marine Corps Service
Upon passing boot camp, going through physical testing and psychological evaluation, Arian was accepted into the USMC and placed into an artillery regiment. The high-ranking officers kept their word when it came to watching Arian and seeing how he performed. Surprisingly, he performed relatively well, and it looked as though he had a pretty good future with the Marines at the moment.

Arian would first get deployed to the Middle East in the wake of a large-scale war with Iraq. The fight itself had come to a close, so it was mostly to provide extra security in the region. This deployment was mainly uneventful, and as a result, Arian would keep a clean record for now. A few years later, at the turn of the century, Arian was still fairing well, but it seemed as though he was regressing in terms of his mental state.

War With Iraq, and The Deteriorating Mental State
Another war with Iraq soon sparked up, and this saw Arian have his first taste of combat. During this deployment, a part of an event codenamed "Operation Iraqi Freedom," his artillery unit was assigned to provide close support for the Marine infantry units. It should be noted that by now, Arian no longer had his parents' support, nor did he have the friends of his youth after his sudden departure, so all he had left were the other crew members of the Howitzer canon he was in charge of. It would be during the assault that Arian, by now the rank of Master Sergeant, would receive a medal for his incredibly accurate calculations when it came to providing fire support.

However, things took a turn for the worse when Arian's unit came under attack by enemy forces. While crossing a village, enemy fire came down over his group's Howitzer, effectively destroying it. Then, enemy infantry came about and took out the Marines tasked with operating them, all except Arian. He watched as enemy soldiers killed the remaining family he had. Fueled by rage, despair, and a heightened bloodlust, Arian went on a murder spree. He assaulted them in various ways: shot them with their own weapons, scratched them up, went to bite at their necks, and different animalistic ways. He kept all this up until he'd slaughtered every one of them. This rage episode was that every enemy soldier was human, while his crew was animatronics. Following the bloodbath’s end, Arian, still dawning his USMC uniform, set light to the nearby village.

Even when allied infantry came out to help Arian, the clearly unstable grey fox lashed out at them, wounding several soldiers, though they did manage to calm him down. Arian was then re-assigned to a Marine Detachment aboard a US Navy ship, though this wasn't the end of his reputation. High-ranking Marines were weary of the incident and worried that Arian's mental state was much worse than anyone thought. This became even more evident when Arian was placed on house arrest and demoted for "disseminating dangerous ideas" among his fellow marines.

Post-USMC Life
After the house arrest, while still dawning the uniform, Arian did not return to active duty. In the following years, Arian dwelled on the idea of his treatment. Almost everyone had been cruel to him, and while he never understood why, at this point, he didn't care. He hated the bullies that made his life a living hell; he hated everyone who simply stood by and watched without intervening. He hated the overall cruelty of humanity and those that were similar to them. But most of all, he hated himself for being so blind to the cruelty and not sticking up for himself earlier. At this point, he began to have ideas on how he could get back against all those who had sinned against him, but how would he do it?

More thoughts of cruelty and feelings of hate and rage led Arian to think that if the world is going to be cruel to him, he must be cruel to the world. He began making plans for how he could get back at the world, and there was one concept he'd learned when he was younger that had stuck with him. That was the concept of "Salvation." Due to his mental state, his morals began becoming mixed up, and while he wanted to enact revenge, he also saw it as an opportunity to save those who suffered like he did from any more cruelty, harm, or loss.

"I was never treated all that well by anyone I knew... This world is such a mess, so full of hatred, cruelty, and I intend to correct that sin of the world. The world shall pay for what they've done to me, and those who are like me... You will pay the price for your own impurities. That's not a threat; that is a promise. A promise from a simple fox who wanted nothing more to be happy, but has nothing left but the feeling of hatred after what this world had to do to me." ~ Arian Torres 2012

Arian had no intentions of joining any terrorist organization. However, he still saw it necessary to use cruelty to get his message across, even if people out there wanted to stop his plan. He'd eventually find himself under the employ of a man who viewed to conquer the world for his own gain. Arian, figuring that if he were in a power position, decided to go along with it for now.

In his new position Arian once again found himself following orders, though there had been instances where he took the initiative. He proved to be even more of a genius than his employer, though he was still mentally unstable. Even while working for another, Arian began raising up his own private organization with an army to enact his own plan for the world. Involved in this plan was creating a series of warships; he'd picked up the operations of warships during his time stationed a warship in the US Navy. His goal was a good one, he thought, though it could be thrown into disarray.

In the year 2018, a war began that would become a problem the entire world would have to face. The United States had finally declared war with Russia. Arian, thinking war would only bring more senseless violence, planned to stop fighting with his own ultimatum that may cost the lives of thousands, if not millions, of innocent people. In his words, his ultimatum will "save 50 million lives at the cost of a mere 5 million."

"This war had been going on for several months now, and already, so many lives have been lost. The Doctor already owns a good portion of the world, yet so many still resist him. I've got a plan to push all those who oppose us into submission and save millions of lives. But alas, no one, not even that obese fool, sees what I see. I've created something outstanding, beautiful, you might say. Two beautiful battleships with a third on the way; it’s just what I need to enact my plan. I will soon have the means to end this hideous war definitively and elegantly. My teams and I seek not a real conflict but more of a restoration of balance,; a judgment, if you will. Up to five million lives are about to be blown away in a relentless and senseless act of cruelty. The entire world will be shocked and scared into submission. Everyone on the planet will be horrified by the number of lives we will take. It's only then that everyone will let go of their weapons, weapons which would have taken the lives of over fifty million!" ~ Arian Torres Circa 2019.

Personality
As a young pup, Arian usually kept to himself most of the time. He mainly was a follower, though after all he's gone through, that no longer applies to him. As of late, Arian has become dead-set on making the world suffer the way he had. Selfish, manipulative, and for lack of a better term, a pretty literal psychopath, Arian no longer has a sense of moral right as he'd been struggling to find that suitable for pretty much his entire life. He no longer has single care for the lives of others, nor does he care about how he enacts his vengeance on humanity.

Arian can also be described as a short-tempered, pompous, and cruel evil genius. He is prone to having anger outbursts and is overall ruthless when it comes to defeating enemies. Arian claims to be doing this "save 50 million at the cost of 5 million" plan, though his actual intention is to cause as much death and destruction as possible, all in the name of teaching the world a lesson. Speaking of his intentions, when he has his mind on something, he will stubbornly and aggressively peruse it until he's either dead or it is accomplished. Arian doesn't even care if he dies, just as long as he made sure the world felt what he suffered throughout his entire life.

Even though Arian is mentally unstable, he still thinks out every move he makes, something he learned the hard way when he tried to kill someone without planning for it. If things don't go his way, he'll go and wing it, making his moves very unpredictable. Perhaps the most dangerous trait Arian has is the combination of his manipulative nature with some charm he still manages to maintain. He is also quite the poet, often making his quotes something out of Shakespeare’s writing. He can will people to his side, and if it seems he will be betrayed, he kills whoever tries to double-cross him.

On top of all of that, Arian is very much deranged, mad, insane, mentally disturbed, etc. He can no longer distinguish between reality and fantasy, nor can he conduct his affairs due to psychosis or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior. He has become twisted, and evil is not linked to a mental illness he has, though it could still play a role in why he is the way he is now.

Though it is said that Arian can become impulsive at times, and his biggest flaw is that on occasion, he will fixate himself on a particular goal, person, or group and neglect the surroundings if it doesn't have anything to do with his intentions.

Abilities
Arian is a powerful individual physically speaking, even more so than the average animatronic animal. He can hold up a fight with opponents larger than him and usually go for the kill in most cases. As stated before, Arian is also a genius; his intelligence gives him an advantage, though it does get hindered by his "insane" label. Arian's hand-to-hand fighting capabilities can potentially really hard to overcome.

Most bizarre is that some have attempted to take Arian's life in the past, though none have succeeded in effectively doing so. Many of the scars he holds are all evidence of the attempts on his life. His ability here seems to be a sort of enhanced recovery. This seems especially true whenever he's hit an enraged state; rarely will he take damage, and when he does, it gives the notion of the blow having little to no effect on him. And being a fox, that sly mind of his gives him the advantage in outsmarting the opponent.

Lastly, Arian is strangely proficient with almost any weapon he can get his hands on. He proved himself to be very well-versed in firearms like Howitzers or even the guns he'd stolen from his father.

Friends & Allies

 * Those within his group: the Urocyan Dynasty, of the Urocyan Empire
 * Anyone who submits to his cause

Rivals
N/A (?)

Enemies

 * Arthur Snow
 * Sewell Snow
 * Justin Redding
 * Swefred Hayden
 * Vienna North

Trivia
Of all the animatronic foxes introduced so far, Arian is the only one who is not based on a "true fox." He is based on the grey fox, or Urocyon cinereoargenteus. The Genus name also lends itself to the rule Arian intends to put into place.

Though it is not said outright, it is implied that Arian may have a severe case of Schizophrenia. That could link his mixed interpretation between fantasy and reality, though it is not confirmed whether or not he has it. If he does, then Arian is the first animatronic in the series to have a case of a real-world mental illness,

As of the latest depictions, Arian's character is loosely based on that of another character from a video game franchise. Links between Arian and Captain Matias Torres from Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown can be drawn, especially regarding their plans of wiping out millions of people. Though, unlike Matias, Arian's plan calls for the slaughter of 5 million as opposed to 1 million, which would be the greatest genocide in the 21st Century.

Arian was one of the earliest characters to come into development as an opposition to Arthur. While this still remains true, Arian is more of a villainous character for all our protagonists, and plans are in place to give him more henchmen.

The scar over one of Arian's eyes is a reference to Anakin Skywalker from the Star Wars franchise. Links between them can also be drawn as both were once good before turning to the dark side.

So far, Arian's backstory was the most difficult and most complex one we have to date. Though as the series evolves, that level of complexity may end up changing depending on the circumstances.

An original depiction of Arian's backstory shows him defecting to the Soviet/Russian Navy following desertion from the USMC. This idea was entertained for a long time, though it was cut from the final version of his backstory (so far).