| Nichol D. Heyward | |
|---|---|
| |
| Information | |
| Name | Nichol D. Heyward |
| Kanji | ニコル・D・ヘイワード |
| Romanji | Nikoru D heiwādo |
| Codename | Alligator |
| Status | Alive |
| Age | 20 years old |
| Gender | Male |
| Height | 180cm (6') |
| Weight | 85kg (187lbs) |
| Occupations | Assassin |
| Affiliation | Gabriella |
| First Appearance | Chapter 1 |
| Image Gallery | |
"Alligator", real name Nichol D. Heyward is a Jackal and the main protagonist of the Jackals manga series. His name is also romanized as Nicol, Nicole and Nicoli.
Appearance
Nichol has an extremely unusual appearance. He has an dark complexion presumably from his mother's Puerto Rican ancestry, despite having white, spiky hair, and golden brown eyes. He has his ears pierced with a small silver ring in each. He wears a bulletproof coat that reaches to his ankles and his blade, 'The Alligator' is wrapped in bandages on his back when not in use. He is fairly tall and lean, but very muscular.
Personality
Nichol is generally regarded as a cold person, many people disregard him because he is a Jackal, but he is shown to have strong principalities. He can be hot-headed, especially if the people he cares about are involved, stubborn, and misguided. He has strong values he holds close to him, taught to him from his mother, these values have been cited several times in the series.
Plot
Volume 1
Alligator
Two detectives arrive at the crime scene at 9:00 am of the next day.
Nichol is first seen during a job in Friedrichstown (the very center of Cicero City, known as a den of many immigrants of all ethnic groups) in the 4th Tennouren Office, finishing it at 11pm.[1] He massacred more than a dozen members of the Chinese mafia Tennouren by order of Gabriella's Isaac, who allegedly couldn't stand the "infestation" of Chinese people on the city. He was shortly attacked by a leader of Gabriella, "Green Eyes" Abraham who, despite being an experienced killer, lost due to underestimating Nichol's ability of resisting pain. After taking the hit of several of Abraham's knives, while still evading the ones headed to vital spots, Nichol cut the opponent's right arm off by the elbow. The Alligator then proclaimed his own victory and told him to get lost, but the enraged Abraham attacked instead, being swiftly cut in half horizontally by the navel, causing a nearly instant death. It is revealed that Gabriella intended to make the assassination of the Tennouren members appear as the work of a renegade jackal, to avoid damaging the relationship between the two gangs. Nicho and his "sponsor" Silver Fox then discuss their next course of action, as they might have made the Gabriella gang into an enemy.
Guardian
Nichol is electrocuted by William's baton.
A few days later[2], Sheryl Carter, a childhood friend of Nichol, arrives at his weapon store on Wentworth Street, the Blade House, speaking of a double murder and showing a golden eagle pocket watch found by her at the crime scene, stating she was too scared to head all to the police alone. Shortly after her arrive, Officer William Gardner also enters the store, asking the young woman to accompany him to the police station,at which point both of them leave, at which point Nichol's sponsor tells him where he had seen that sort of pocket watch. Realizing that the policeman who took Sheryl was likely the murderer of the two people whose corpses she had found, Nichol went to the streets to find them, reaching the scene just in time to save the unconscious Sheryl's life. He attacked the policeman, who was able to dodge the assault, recognizing that the attack on the Tennouren days ago was likely caused by Nichol's weapon, stating that, as a Jackal, he was the worst kind of criminal. He proclaims himself "Guardian" William and says that he'd eliminate Nichol "in the name of justice", pulling his baton to duel the Jackal. Activating the electric discharge system of his baton, the officer electrocuted the Jackal, stating that it was an invention of his own design to replace the electric chair as a way of executing "stray dogs".[3] William then pointed a revolver to the fallen Nichol, saying that by killing him, he was "upholding the peace".
The final clash between Alligator and Guardian.
Gardner shoots a bullet at Nichol, who is able to deflect it by moving his blade in its path, beating the gun out of his opponent's hand and breaking it in half, standing up. The officer is surprised by the fact the Jackal could stand after taking such a discharge, but noticed what had happened shortly. Nichol had used his blade as a lightning rod of sorts by shoving it in the ground, avoiding major damage.[4] Gardner runs out of the alley in which they were fighting, attracting Nichole to a trap as the Jackal accidentally destroys a hydrant, being covered by the water which gushed out of it. The officer explains the science behind the electrical resistance of the human body and conductivity of water, stating that if the electrical current from his baton goes through Nichol's body for a mere second, his heart would surely stop.[5] Nichol keeps his distance instinctively, unable to force his body to step closer because of his own reflexes as to avoid the pain caused by the baton, throwing his jacket at Gardner in an attempt to attack through it. The blow was blocked by a second baton, made of steel alloy, and the officer nearly electrocuted the Jackal again. Nichol kicked Gardner in the stomach and ran across the street, leading the officer to assume his opponent had taken distance to recover, pointing a handgun at him. Nichol explains that Gardner was the most rotten of the police officers, as he would go as far as to fight murder with murder and even judge who lives and who dies regardless of the law, even calling him "a madman who thinks he's an executioner" and "a common criminal".[6] The Jackal states that the range was in fact perfect for using his Alligator, surprising Gardner by throwing the blade against him at the point he had shot his gun. The officer was cut all the way through vertically over the left elbow, dying right after stating that he hadn't imagined the Jackal could use the blade that way. Nichol left Sheryl on the place she had fallen unconscious, right near Gardner's corpse, returning to Blade House.
Requiem
The Requiem attacks the Alligator in Motel 5.
Nichol and Silver Fox are seen in the pub of a mediator of Jackals known as Leo, Last Resort, in Friedrichstown. Nichol eats while Fox and Leo discuss a Tennouren contract for the assassination of a fighter on the Underground Chinatown Fighting Arena, "Monster Kou" Kourozen. Kou had got in a bar fight against a high-ranked Tennouren man armed with a knife, but his muscles were so hard that the blade couldn't even penetrate his body, and the drunken fighter snapped his attacker's neck. Nichol goes after Kou in the Motel 5 of Northwest Road, not even noticing "Darkness" Isaac had passed right by him as he exited the pub. Leo stayed behind to eat[7], and the Alligator went to Kou's room, kicking the door open. He finds his target's head over the bed, excusing himself to his assassin and attempting to walk back out, but is attacked by Huya Requiem, another Jackal, who tells him that it was destiny that brought them together in that place, and that they should fight. Nichol blocks the blow as he sees the shadow of Huya's giant sword over the moonlight[8], and as he is shown to know Green Eyes[9], the Alligator assumes he's been sent by Gabriella. The two Jackals clashed several times, having about the same level of skill, speed and strength in both of their techniques. Their fight is interrupted by an explosive rose, which opens a hole in the room.[10] Nichol protects Huya instinctively, noticing the bomb and tackling him against a wall, only suffering a minor injury on the shoulder from a wooden steak from the destroyed door. Two men then walk in the room, asking which one of the Jackals was Green Eyes' murderer.
Giant and Explosion
Huya and Nichol face Gacho of the Mermaid 13.
The two men are revealed to be members of Gabriella's Mermaid Thirteen, "Dynamite Hans" Hans Gilbenraat and "Giant Gacho" Albert Gacho, assassins sent by Isaac. Nichol notices that Huya couldn't be a Gabriella member at that point, and the Requiem confesses he was the one who killed Green Eyes Abraham. The two Jackals discuss, as Nichol wouldn't accept the other to take the blame on something he did, but Huya states that he would never turn down a fight, and still needed to repay his debt to the Alligator. The Mermaids state that they killed everyone at the motel but the two to demonstrate no one would come to help them, and Gacho engages Huya, blocking his attack and throwing him towards Nichol, sending both of them out of the building. The Giant rips a metal post out of the ground and attacks Huya, sending him through a wall and attacking Nichol. Dodging Gacho's attack, the Alligator is attacked by Hans, being able to avoid his explosive's damage.
Gacho saves Hans by sending Nichol flying.
Hans attacks Nichol with many of his Sangedan's cartridge explosives, which were filled with nitro.[11] The assassin uses a bomb of opium in an attempt to dull the Alligator's senses, executing a combo attack along with Gacho to try and kill Nichol, but the final blow is blocked by Huya. The two Jackals then fight the assassins one-on-one, with Nichol fighting Hans and Huya fighting Gacho. Nichol tries to null Hans' attacks by closening the range, but he reveals a less powerful type of bomb, the "Grenade Sangedan"[12], and attacks him with nine of the minor explosives. The Alligator uses his chain to pull the Dynamite into the explosion, lightly wounding him and standing up, prepare to slay the assassin. The defeated Hans is saved by Gancho, who sends Nichol flying with an elbow strike and grabbing the Alligator from behind, telling his partner to run away and inform Isaac that "the Giant Gacho died to avenge their friend"[13] He states that Green Eyes was waiting in hell, and that he would take Nichol to him, revealing a rose bomb in his pocket.
Volume 2
Mermaid
Weapons and Abilities
Weapons:
The Alligator - a massive blade he inherited from his mother. It is extremely heavy (over 40 Kilos), and is very strong, capable of easily slicing a person in half. It is used to thrust, slice, stab,block, and has been thrown several times. There are several handles along the blade.
Chain- Nicholi has been shown to use a chain that can encircle opponents and immobilize a part of their body.
Knife- There is a knife that Nichol has strapped on to his belt in his lower back, hidden most of the time by his
Jacket- Nichol is always seen wearing his Jacket, it's bulletproof and is reinforced with a metal plate. In all it weighs around 5 Kilos.
Editors note-BTW, 1 Kilo is about 2.2 lbs, so 40 Kilos is about 88 lbs, and 5 Kilos is about 11 lbs. That's a lot of weight to be carrying around all the time!
Abilities:
Strength: Being a jackal, Nicholi has almost superhuman strength, wielding a massive 40 Kilo weapon and a bulletproof coat while taking masses of gangsters.
Reflexes: Nicholi has super fast reflexes, much faster than the ordinary human. It allows him to deflect and counterattack blows that would usually have killed somebody else.
Martial Arts: Nicholi has had martial arts training that enables him to realize his full biological potential. Literally making him turn into a raging animal ignorant of every injury or pain. It also entrusts him with faster reflexes and stronger muscles.
Trivia
- Nichol doesn't like going a day without practicing with his 'Alligator', it "makes him feel restless".
- He seems to be partially inspired in Dante from the Devil May Cry series, as he has similar clothing, build and hair color, as well as owning a shop.
- The attack on Tennouren in the beginning of the manga was reported on media as a possible crocodile attack.[14]
References
- ↑ Jackals, Chapter 1, page 13.
- ↑ Jackals, Chapter 2, page 19.
- ↑ Jackals, Chapter 2, page 22.
- ↑ Jackals, Chapter 3, page 4.
- ↑ Jackals, Chapter 3, page 7.
- ↑ Jackals, Chapter 3, page 16.
- ↑ Jackals, Chapter 4, page 14.
- ↑ Jackals, Chapter 4, page 20.
- ↑ Jackals, Chapter 4, page 22.
- ↑ Jackals, Chapter 5, page 20.
- ↑ Jackals, Chapter 7, page 5.
- ↑ Jackals, Chapter 8, page 5.
- ↑ JACKALS, Kill-8: Giant and Explosion 3, page 23.
- ↑ JACKALS, Kill-4: Requiem 1, page 3.