Character:Mark

Mark (a main Character in Peritia)

née Mark Ryan, born on 1987 (42 years old), pronouns he/him, mechanic, martial artist, of Irish American background.
A Problem: aggressive, impatient, intolerant, addictive
A Want: attention, praise, respect

A Need: compassion

Mark

Personality

• Aggressive: lacking trust in people; lacking recognition and approval; always defensive
• Stubborn: he's not open to listening
• Fearful: of getting hurt; of physical harm
• Dominant: wants people to obey his rules; wants to get recognition and admiration; wants to make everything fair (from his point of view)
• Carnivore: believes in the survival of the fittest, the rules of the jungle
• Addictive: smokes Marlboro cigarettes he gets from outside Peritia; has serious childhood abuse issues; avoids expressing emotions other than anger
• Conservative: believes in rules, order, and punishment; feels awkward around open minded people, specially regarding gender and sexuality

Struggles

• frustrated
• selfish/self-absorbed
• often engaging in violent discussions
• not being able to express his feelings, being disliked by others
• loneliness/mistaken normal interest with romantic interest
• nobody really knows him as he's unable to open up

Source of pain

• wants to be taken care by someone else
• feels his life journey has been pretty unfair
• has been physically and psychologically abused as a child, so he strongly needs to be in control of the situation. Never letting his guard down
• is a talented martial arts teacher but struggles to bond with his students

Needs

• ACCEPTANCE: of self, of circumstances, of reality
• FAITH: in oneself, in others, in the world, in God
• TRUST: in oneself, in others, in the unknown
• SELFLESSNESS: including sacrifice, altruism, heroism, and overcoming greed
• RESPONSIBILITY: including duty, standing up for a cause, accepting one’s destiny
• REDEMPTION: including atonement, accepting blame, remorse, and salvation

Wants

Attention, praise, respect.

• wants to find a female partner
• wants to be an American hero, be admired by his pairs
• wants to be listened to, find the perfect moment for a big speech and applause
• he's organising a martial arts tournament and wants to participate and become the ultimate champion
• wishes to replace his childhood memories by becoming the father he never had.

In pursuit of their goal (become a real child), they've been actively:

• he's been actively attending individual therapy in order to open up in group sessions
• has tried to loosen up by partying in big social events, but found it hard to be casual and easy going
• has registered into a few cooking lessons for it is mostly women who were attending the classes

Roadblocks to achieving their goal:

• he's struggling with listening and empathising with women, and has a "macho" attitude that's not popular in Peritia, doesn’t dare to evolve, is afraid of being ridiculed
• he's got only his violent father as a role model, and even though he knows better than following his steps, his ignorant of most of the habits he has been reproducing
• he's been ignored for too long, not paid attention to. There's a lot of emotional immaturity in him

Desires

Dreams of becoming a father and start his own family.

Background

• Mark Ryan
• martial artist; organiser of the 1st annual Kung-Fu tournament in Peritia
• 43 years old (born the 16th of April 1987)
• he met his mentor at the age of 13 at a boxing club around the corner of his flat, his Kung-Fu teacher Sifu Wong (Daoji!); even though he never met him as a family man, he took Sifu Wong as a father figure
• had a rebellious adolescence and dropped out of school by the time he started practicing Kung-Fu; by the time he turned 28 years old, he already got pretty experienced in the martial arts, but never got his expertise as Sifu Wong went missing in 2005 (???)
• he worked as a mechanic with his dad, but never studied

Family

• from Irish American descent
• only child
• his mother, Renatta Pirelli, nurse, daughter of a car mechanic, only child as well, was low-income middle class, born in 1950 (deceased); she was a giving person, submissive and caring; married to Mark’s father at 25, her next door neighbour
• his father, Daniel Ryan, also mechanic, orphan, no siblings, was a middle class aspirational, born in 1947 (age 73); started his own mechanic workshop at the age of 27 in Queens
• his parents had a very toxic, violent relationship
• his father Daniel was an alcoholic, who got in a car accident in 1989, his mother died as a result of the fatal injuries

Appearance

Sketches

Research

• Irish surnames
• Ryan: in Old Irish, the name was spelt O'Mulriain; in Modern Irish, it's O'Riain; it's long been the most numerous of Irish surnames in Tipperary, and has become a popular first name; it means 'little king', and the sept of this name was from the Tipperary/Limerick borders
• explore a more detailed look at the Irish surname - Ryan
• Pirelli