app; mask or menace

[nickovitch]

< CHARACTER INFO >
CHARACTER NAME: Illya Kuryakin
CHARACTER AGE: 33
SERIES: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
CHRONOLOGY: post-film
CLASS: Hero
HOUSING: Random

BACKGROUND:

(wiki link for the original 1960s Illya, whom movie Illya is based on with a few differences.)

Illya was born in Moscow in the summer of 1931, to Nikolai Kuryakin, a Party member and friend of Stalin, and his wife. Illya's childhood was fairly idyllic, with summers spent in Kiev, and the luxurious lifestyle his father's position accorded them. Then, when he was ten, Nikolai was accused of embezzlement and sent to a prison camp in Siberia. For the next year, his mother did everything she could to provide for the two of them, including 'entertaining' his father's former friends so Illya wouldn't starve. Sometime after he turned eleven, he was taken by the State for training, and placed in an orphanage. Life in Russian state children's homes was not pleasant, and he retains a large scar near his right eye as a souvenir of that period in his life.

He entered military service at a young age, and was tapped for special forces because of his near-genius intellect and physical prowess. When his record was exemplary enough to gain entrance, Illya applied to the KGB, their youngest recruit ever, and within three years was considered their best. He quicky gained a reputation for absolute loyalty and ruthlessness in carrying out missions; proficient in all manner of firearms, unarmed combat, languages, computer technology, and chess - earning the rank of international master by the age of thirty three.

In the late summer of 1963, Illya was tasked with retrieving the daughter of German rocket scientist Udo Teller and killing the American agent sent to get over the wall. That meeting with Gabriella Teller, Udo's daughter, and Napoleon Solo, the CIA agent, would change Illya's life. He failed in his mission to retrieve Gaby, but it was not through lack of trying. He chased them both through East Berlin; first by car, then on foot, dispatching five or six Stasi police by himself and foiling nearly every attempt by the other two to evade him. Solo and Gaby barely escaped via a zipline and Illya spent several uncomfortable hours in No Man's Land (having been stranded there by Solo). The next day, he was informed that he and the American were going to work together to find Udo, a disc containing information on how to build bombs, and save the world. Not necessarily in that order.

After a second awkward meeting in a women's' fashion shop, during which Illya demonstrated his foot-in-mouth ability, he and Gaby were paired as a Russian architect and his fiancee and sent to Rome, where they met Napoleon masquerading as an art dealer. Or stealer, depending on point of view. There, Illya demonstrated his ability to wildly bullshit historical information by stating facts and then spinning yarns about how everything was secretly built by Russians, Gaby demonstrated her talent for putting up with his bullshit, Napoleon demonstrated his trolling ability, and Illya wrapped up the night by having his father's watch stolen and almost killing the thieves. Not bad for the son of a disgraced Party member.

The next day the three headed to a party held by friends of Gaby's maternal uncle Rudy, in which Illya was repeatedly insulted to his face, took lots of pictures, and beat up some Italian noblemen after they sassed him one too many times. This necessitated a quick retreat back to the hotel, where Illya threw a small tantrum and developed his film at the same time (multitasking is a useful skill in the spy business), and proved that the people they were targeting had been exposed to enriched uranium, which meant bombs with terribly not-nice ingredients. Both Illya and Napoleon took it on themselves to break into a business owned by Uncle Rudy's friends, the Vinceguerras, and found enough evidence to confirm that some sort of bomb was being build or stored on the premises. And then they got caught, escaped, and led hired goons on a boat chase. Well, Illya led the boat chase until he realized Napoleon had fallen overboard, and then subsequently led a boat chase and looked for his temporarily partner. Then his boat was blown up and he nearly drowned, saved at the very last second from dying by an American CIA agent who apparently decided he wanted the Russian alive after all.

But their late night escapade, and only barely escaping notice by the Vinceguerras made their targets a little suspicious. Gaby was invited to brunch with her uncle and Alexander Vinceguerra, while Napoleon concentrated on the wife, Victoria. Things went swimmingly until Gaby turned traitor and gave both Illya and Napoleon's true identities up, and she was whisked away to reunite with her father. Napoleon was kidnapped and handed over to Rudy, who was really a Nazi torturer, but Illya managed to track him via his bugging habit and rescued the American. Then together they teamed up with a nice MI6 agent named Alexander Waverly and went off to save Gaby. Who, apparently, was actually his agent. To make a long story slightly less long, the rescue went about as well as the rest of their first mission did. There were some mistakes, there was a long chase involving a motorcycle, a jeep, and an off-road vehicle, several people almost died, two villains and their Nazi cohorts very definitely died, and the world was saved.

And in gratitude for their good work, Alexander Waverly quite cleverly kidnapped the KGB's best and the CIA's finest, and brought them to work together for his new organization: UNCLE. Or United Network Command for Law Enforcement. Because Illya (and Napoleon) were able to put world security above loyalty to country. And Illya got a possible new girlfriend out of the deal, but that's a story that's still being written.

PERSONALITY:

Illya's personality is hard to decipher for the casual observer. He adopts a stern demeanor most of the time, often accompanied by a scowl. He can be cold and calculating, or gruff, or violent when the need arises. He's also not above using his imposing physicality to intimidate or otherwise threaten information out of people. Unless you're an elderly German woman in East Berlin or one Gabriella Teller. That's one of the secrets to Illya's inner core. When allowed to be, he's gentle: in touch, in manner, in emotions. It is at odds with the trained killer side of him and rarely on display. When that softer side of him is, it means he's placed enough trust in someone that he thinks its worth the risk. The number of people who have seen it is small; presumably his mother, Gaby, Solo, Waverly, and certain senior citizens of the female persuasion. It would also be accurate to say that he has a soft spot for women. At least women who are not Nazi or fascist sympathizers, because those will simply be taken out by any means necessary. (A warhead, for example.)

He tends to be a stickler for protocol, working within the rules long enough to figure out ways around them if that benefits his mission, and is capable of switching one set of tactics out for another on short notice. He's incredibly smart, having deduced what Gaby and Solo were doing the night they all met, and tenacious enough to never give in - as evidenced by how close he came to stopping their escape over the Wall. He's also kind and physically gentle when given the opportunity; Illya does not enjoy violence for its own sake. He has mental problems stemming from the time of his father's incarceration in Siberia, and his mother's somewhat forced prostitution to make enough money to keep them alive and send bribes to the prision officials for his father; because of this, Illya can fly into rages when his triggers are pushed far enough. But when left alone, he can be polite, well-mannered, and incredibly generous with his abilities and talents.

POWER:

(1) Inconspicious: The ability to blend into his surroundings and not be noticed, despite his accent or height. This ability will start off at a low level and strengthen as he gains experience.

< CHARACTER SAMPLES >
COMMUNITY POST (VOICE) SAMPLE:

[ The video feed flickers on, displaying the face of a fair-haired Russian, his handsome face set into a faint scowl. He looks somewhat uncomfortable, most likely because he assumes that because the people who run the imPort know who he is, so does everyone else who lives in this strange world. When he speaks, he doesn't bother hiding his accent. Maybe it's a ploy: mentally note those who seem just as uncomfortable as him and work from there. ]

My name is Illya Kuryakin. I am from Moscow. I have a question: what do people do here for entertainment? On downtime, I think is how you say in English. When not working. Also, does anyone play chess? I would enjoy a game with someone now and then.

Thank you.

[ And the feed is turned off. ]


LOGS POST (PROSE) SAMPLE: TDM link

FINAL NOTES: Illya has several physical abilities beyond 'normal' in his canon. He is fast enough to catch up to a car going about fifty-plus miles an hour, although within a short distance, and he is strong enough to rip off the back of said car with his bare hands. Neither ability reaches superhero or fully superhuman levels, but both are acknowledged as formidable in canon.