Tristan is my TF2 Sniper character.(click the link for a short vid on the Sniper class)
Absurdly Long Character BioName: Tristan René Valerio
Nickname(s): Sniper, Old Man, Gilles
Age/DOB: 43, May 25th
Physical DescriptionHeight: 6'4"
Weight: 175 lbs
Eye Color: Cobalt blue
Hair Color: Black with graying streaks
Details: Tall and lean, Tristan has kept himself in surprisingly good physical shape over the years. Thanks to his heritage, his skin always seems to have a slight tan to it and his sharp frame and features give him a rather intense appearance. The assassin's stick straight hair reaches to just below his shoulder blades, and is neigh constantly slicked back into a ponytail at the base of his neck. He also has a very prominent widow's peak and broad graying streaks at his temples with smaller streaks throughout. Though some of his hair has grayed and slight lines have begun to appear on his face around his mouth and eyes, Tristan has aged quite well; giving him a sleek and sophisticated look.
Thanks to his lifetime of battle, Tristan has dozens of scars all over his body; and he feels each and every one is a mark of honor and skill that he has them, and is still alive to tell the tale. The most prominent of which include a long scar low on his throat that goes from the right side of his neck, down and across the front of his throat where a particular RED Spy threatened to (and nearly did) slit it, as well as a rather nasty one that starts about an inch and a half above his left eyebrow, goes down at an angle over his left eye (starting closer to the peak of his hairline and going down at an angle toward his jawline below his ear; he almost lost said eye from the injury) and down his cheek and the side of his face from where a RED Pyro got him with her axe during their fight on the battlefield.
The Spaniard also has a handful of body piercings from his time modeling (that he found he rather liked, so he never removed them to let them heal. In the lobe of each ear and in both nipples, he wears small, unobtrusive steel hoops - the former of which can be removed easily, the latter cannot.
EDIT: Removed the non-pg 13 piercing descriptions.Ever professional, the Sniper wears his uniform clean and by the book, just as he had done with his suit as a Spy. When not in uniform, he tends towards dark colored shirts and slacks, though he can sometimes be seen in a sleeveless shirt with jeans on the off days.
Background Though he may claim to be from any number of cities in either Spain or France, Tristan Valerio was born in Madrid, Spain in 1925 to a mid-to-lower working class family. When he was about five years of age, his mother and father decided to sell everything and tried moving their family owned restaurant to Barcelona. Unfortunately, there was no real opportunity for them there, and for the next several years they moved from city to city trying to find a place to settle down and open up shop once more.
Eventually, an old family friend invited them to stay with him in Strasbourg, so the Valerio family soon found themselves living in France. They were able to find a place to open up a small restaurant and were surprisingly successful with it, able to move into their own house after less than a year. Several years passed by in relative bliss before they found themselves on the edge of ruin, thanks to the German invasion of France in 1940.
Though the invasion itself didn't destroy them, the resulting Nazi occupation of the country did. Arrested for having been found assisting the French resistance, Tristan and his parents were sentenced to execution in 1943. Their friends among the resistance, however, managed a daring rescue of the family and nearly made it back to the safety of their base of operations, but several members of the group were gunned down by their pursuers. Including Tristan's parents.
Now orphaned and alone in a country at war, the young Spaniard did the only thing he could think of. He joined the resistance; acting as a messenger and a spy for the Maquis, gathering what intelligence he could and delivering it to the scattered groups and bases of the resistance. Eventually his duties expanded to include the smuggling of goods and supplies, as well as some weapons. By the end of the war, Tristan had mastered a myriad of skills useful in his line of work but with France now freed from German occupation, he was unsure what to do with himself.
So once more, he found himself traveling from place to place, doing odd jobs here and there to earn enough for his keep and travel. It was during this time that the Spaniard stumbled upon the BDSM subculture and the rise in the leather movement within it; the lifestyle opening his mind up to a wide variety of sexual behaviors and relationships. For several years, he was a model for a few of the kink and fetish magazines until a slight misunderstanding between local law enforcement and the magazine company about a photo shoot got the young man arrested.
It was a few months later when a close friend from the war contacted him about a job with an American company called Builders League United, and Tristan agreed to accompany him to the states to check it out. Not long after they met with the representatives of the company, both of them signed on as mercenaries under the Spy class.
After a few years on the job, the two were assigned to different bases and thus were separated. Though they kept in constant correspondence via letters, eventually the letters from his friend stopped coming and Tristan has assumed the worst.
Though not a particularly social man, Tristan did manage to make a few close friends over the years, the majority of whom are all long gone by now. The most influential, however, was a particular Sniper at a severely under-manned base. Their entire team totaled eleven members, fighting against a RED force of nearly double that. Though from completely different backgrounds, Tristan and Mark ended up such close friends that they may as well have been brothers. In their spare time, they'd teach each other the tips and tricks of their trades, as well as various other useful skills and tidbits.
Unfortunately, as is to be expected against superior numbers, their team suffered the loss of a few of their members during the brutal attacks by the REDs. Though they were sent some sparse reinforcements, the BLUs were still severely lacking in the numbers needed to take on the enemy they were fighting. Not a week after a particularly brutal attack, the REDs made another push to try to squash the measly opposition, one which cost the battered team both of their Medics, one Soldier and their only Sniper; Mark. Though devastated by the loss of yet another person he considered family, Tristan cast aside his balaclava and took up the rifle in his "brother's" absence(since the team did have another Spy at the time).
Almost a year later, the BLUs were forced to relinquish their hold on that particular base, and before being shipped out to another base, Tristan decided to take a year of leave after over a decade straight of service. During that year, he visited Mark's family, getting to know them and recounting tales of the Sniper's heroism in return.
When Tristan did return to battle, he did so as a Sniper rather than his former class, having decided to do so in honor of Mark's memory. Two bases and nearly four years later, the battle-worn Spaniard has been now transferred to one of the newer bases; this one, in a mountainous region.
Personality Cool and confident with great wit and charm, it's really rather difficult to ruffle Tristan's feathers; though he doesn't take kindly to jokes or comments on the French being cowardly in war. He's suave and sophisticated with a definite air of mystery to him, which suits the former Spy just fine. Good luck getting a straight answer about himself or his past.
The motto, "Be polite. Be efficient. Have a plan to kill everyone you meet," fits the Spaniard to a "T". Tristan takes pride in his work; he always has and always will put forth 110% effort into his job. Thanks to being a lifelong master of sabotage and espionage, he can schmooze with the best of them and is perfectly content to socialize with anyone and everyone off the battlefield. This does not, however, mean that he's trying to make friends; he's simply gathering information on those around him for his own personal use.
Those of German and Italian descent beware. While he does his best not to judge based on nationality alone, he is very distrusting of people from those particular countries until he feels they've proven themselves to be otherwise.
Orientation: Pansexual (He will flirt with everybody given the chance, even if he is only half-serious most of the time)
Relationship Status (with who?): None currently (Though there does seem to be that RED Spy that keeps coming around and trying to kill him...)
Virgin: Not in the least
Company you work for: BLU
Class: Sniper
Favorite weapon: Rifle or Kukri
Fun Facts
Tristan is most definitely a masochist, as well as a bit of a sadist when it comes to certain things.
Though on the record as a Spy for 11 years, Tristan acted as a Sniper for almost a year before he left and returned as one officially for the past 4 years. The fact that he's still alive is a testament to his skill.
His current personnel file only has vague information on his past and only notes his years of service as a Sniper, leaving no indication that he was ever a Spy (in the records).
Warning: Tristan has eidetic memory. If you cross him, don't expect him to forget it.
Thanks to how often his family moved around during his childhood, Tristan's accent (though somewhat slight from his years living in the US) is nearly impossible to pin down to just one location as he assimilated aspects of the local accents from everywhere he's lived in both Spain and France.
Tristan decided to get both ears pierced when he got into the BDSM scene because just getting one ear pierced wouldn't work as he's neither straight nor gay; he's open to all options.
While he drinks a decent amount of coffee, it's almost always decaf, except on very special occasions.
Tristan is multilingual, fluently speaking Spanish, French, German, and English. He is nearly fluent in Italian, and also understands some Russian, but not to a great extent.
He exercises every day and does his best to eat right while being subjected to the rations BLU sends it's mercenaries.
Though he is no longer of the Spy class, Tristan has kept all of his gear from his former profession (Including his Cloak and Dagger and his Dead Ringer).
The wristwatch he wears is his old Cloak and Dagger watch, though it has long since ceased functioning as anything other than a timepiece.
Tristan is a remarkably good cook, thanks to his parents having been in the food business from before his birth till their deaths.
Even as a Spy, Tristan has never been a smoker.
Due to the years at that severely under-manned base, Tristan has become very self sufficient and does his best to avoid relying on others unless it's a life-or-death situation.
