Application for disney_academy

❦ Mun
Name: Lex
Journal: [Bad username: evilwildlex]
Contact Info: AIM - Katana Maid, email - evil_wild_lex AT yahoo DOT com
Other Characters: The Weird Sisters, Alana

❦ Character Info
Name: Shere Khan
Movie/series: Jungle Cubs
Year/Position: Elementary school, 4th grade
Non-Speaking Animal Companion(if any): N/A
Powers(if any): Technically none, aside from an especially loud and booming roar. Kitty can project. He may still be a cub, but his roar already sounds like an adult tiger.

Canon history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shere_Khan and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungle_Cubs

AU history: Shere Khan was raised by his mother and grandmother. His father was shot by a poacher. While Shere Khan didn’t witness it, and wasn’t especially close to his father, the loss put one thing in mind - that mankind was an outside threat not to be trusted. The concept of “might makes right” was impressed on him at an early age, and Shere Khan strove to make himself as powerful as he could. Although he took the law of the jungle seriously, he allowed himself time to be a normal cub, and occasionally played with several other young animals about his age. He was too young for them to be proper prey for him and he begrudgingly enjoyed their company and thought of them as friends (not that he would ever admit that out loud).

He grew up to become a fierce and intimidating tiger - a predator amongst predators, commanding and fear inspiring. He spent nearly ten years expanding his influence and travelling before returning to his home jungle. Shortly after returning, he discovered there was a man cub in the jungle and vowed to track him down and kill him. In the end, Shere Khan was unsuccessful and humiliated when Mowgli (the man cub) tied a burning tree branch to his tail. Seething over his defeat, Shere Khan was plotting to attack the man village when he encountered a being of great power who promised to grant him one wish. Shere Khan wished to be a few years younger so that he could be in his prime again...and was promptly transformed back into a cub.

He was left with no recollection of his adult life, and started on his way home, bewildered as to how he had gotten all the way out there. When Shere Khan roamed to the edge of the jungle, he found himself caught in a trap. Fortunately for him, it wasn’t a poacher’s trap, but rather a trap set by people who wanted to study and preserve animals. Shere Khan wasn’t especially grateful for their efforts. The zoologists contemplated taking the cub back to the jungle after just two short weeks of having him in their custody, but were presented with another option in the form of a letter that they received...addressed to the tiger cub. Shere Khan had been invited to the Disney Academy under the condition that he did not harm anyone until he was back home in the jungle again. It seemed more appealing than being stuck in a pavilion and being observed by zoologists, so he was promptly sent off to the Academy.

Personality: Shere Khan is arrogant and unpleasant. What makes him even more annoying is that a lot of the confidence is justifiable. He’s a very competent young cub, and he’s already making a reputation for himself as a force to be reckoned with. Of course, that doesn’t mean he’s as impressive as he’d like to be, and he sometimes falls short of the reputation he tries to create for himself. In spite of the fact that he likes to claim that he’s not afraid of anything, this isn’t the case. He is good at putting on a good facade of fearlessness, though, and sometimes being unwilling to back down works in his favour. It makes other predatory animals doubt the likelihood of their victory sometimes, even if they’re bigger than he is. Shere Khan understands the psychology behind a fight and uses it to his advantage.

Shere Khan can be a bully. He likes to lord over others when he can get away with it, and gets angry when people doubt his capabilities. He mocks others when it suits him and it’s rare that he’ll acknowledge someone as his equal or his superior. If there’s one thing he does respect, it’s the law of the jungle. He believes that the strongest survive and strives to be amongst them. Despite his bullying tendencies, Shere Khan can occasionally be tolerable and he can be noble on rare occasions. If he likes someone (even if it’s begrudgingly), he will defend them when it’s necessary. He’s also capable of being civil when he wants to be.

Shere Khan does not like man. At all. He won’t go to their villages to hunt them down, but he will attack humans who trespass in the jungle. His territorial side is at its most extreme when it comes to humans. He will refrain from attacking humans at the Academy because it’s not his territory, but he will be mistrustful of them, and anyone who touches him without permission is at serious risk of getting his claws raked across their leg.

Greatest Fear: “The red flower” - fire. If there is one thing Shere Khan is genuinely afraid of AND won’t mock someone else for fearing, it’s fire. Its indiscriminately destructive power is a mystery to him and he doesn’t know how to fight it.

❦ Writing
Third person writing sample:

“Come on, Khannie,” urged Dr. Rhodes, trying to get the grumpy young tiger cub to co-operate. “If you talk for Dr. Vogel, I’ll go and pick up a nice fresh slab of meat for you from the butcher.”

Shere Khan’s only response was to turn his back to the woman, giving her a good view of his orange stripey rump. He might have at least faced her if she’d offered to release something for him to hunt in his pavilion. Offering him already killed meat was an insult - it implied he couldn’t hunt and kill his own prey. The fact that it came from a human rather than another tiger only rubbed salt in the wound. It was fine to offer a portion of a fresh kill to an elder tiger that was past their hunting prime. He was still growing and hardly helpless! He turned up his nose. Stupid human.

As far as humans went, Shere Khan was able to tolerate Dr. Rhodes more than most. When she had discovered he could talk, instead of marvelling at it with a slack jaw, she had quickly begun asking him about life in the jungle. Not only had she asked, but she had actually listened with interest. Of course, in the long run, all that meant was that she was the only human here he had decided for certain to spare. There were a lot of things she didn’t get and probably never would, but she was less stupid than some of the others around her. He reasoned that if he let her live, she could tell the rest of her kind to stay out of the jungle.

Dr. Vogel knocked on the glass with his fist, with a blandly unimpressed gaze that made Shere Khan want to claw his face to shreds. “I thought you said you found a special tiger, Dr. Rhodes. This cub is just like any other tiger.”

Shere Khan waited until Dr. Vogel’s attention was back on Dr. Rhodes before approaching the glass silently. Taking in breath, he let out a deafening roar that startled the condescending scientist so much that he fell backward onto his rear end.

“You insulted him,” said Dr. Rhodes, grinning slightly in Shere Khan’s direction. He acknowledged the woman with a confident smirk before examining his claws. “Looks like he decided to roar at you instead of talk to you.”


First person writing sample:

[After nearly thirty seconds of disjointed clicking noises, an annoyed looking tiger cub appears on the screen. Based on the look he’s giving the device he’s using, his disdain for technology is evident. His eyes are narrowed, his ears are back, and his tail is flicking back and forth.]

Stupid man-thing... [It’s muttered under his breath with a venomous scowl until he realizes that he’s being recorded. The tiger perks up a little, but the look he gives is still far from friendly]

My name is Shere Khan. I got a letter inviting me to stay here, so lucky for all the humans here, I’m not going to try and eat you. However, let’s get a few things straight. Pet me and I turn your leg into my personal scratching post.

[He takes a moment to show one of his paws, and several very long claws] Get the point? I am not a “nice kitty”. I’m from the jungle and I’m going to rule the whole jungle one day.