Nick Wilde

[Nick Wilde]

NICK WILDE



"Never let them see that they get to you."

The Basics

Full Name: Nicholas Piberius Wilde
Nickname/Alias: Nick
Species: Red fox
Gender: Male
Age: 32
Occupation: Police Officer, ZPD
Friends/Family: Judy Hopps (partner)


Appearance

Fur/Tail: Typical for a red fox, Nick is covered mostly in medium-length orange fur. His jaw, cheeks, and underside are a lighter cream color; the ends of his ears, limbs, and tail, meanwhile, are a brown dark enough that it can almost appear black. The transition from orange to brown is defined much more sharply on his limbs than on his tail, which blends the two colors along most of its length. Being a fox, Nick naturally has a large, bushy tail; try not to step on it.

Clothing: When off duty, Nick favors a style that can perhaps best be termed "almost business casual." He tends to wear Hawaiian shirts--particularly his favorite, which bears an eerily similar palm frond pattern to the wallpaper in his childhood home. A pair of faded brown slacks and a loosely-knotted tie complete the outfit, befitting Nick's easygoing demeanor.

While on duty, of course, Nick wears a typical ZPD uniform. While he keeps the collar and tie loose in his casual attire, he wears his uniform more formally, down to the tie clip. His only deviation from standard dress is his pair of aviator sunglasses, which--while helpful to someone with such keen night vision--are mostly there for him to look cool.

Overview: The first thing almost anyone would notice about Nick is his sly demeanor. Though he's since changed his ways, Nick spent a lifetime living up to the stereotypical expectations for a fox, which means he spends the vast majority of his time smirking. His green eyes are typically lidded, whether he's amused, smug, or simply bored. If he's particularly intrigued or amused, he tends to raise an eyebrow (which, given how expressive his brows are, is hard to miss). The same attitude translates into his overall body language: his movements are generally fluid and nonchalant, with his paws clasped behind his back or comfortably in his pockets.

With how consistently his face falls to this expression, it's especially noticeable when he expresses any other emotions. Normally lidded eyes can seem to grow almost twice as large when Nick is excited, angry, or scared; his snout also tends to wrinkle when he is upset or disgusted, as he tends to bare his fangs somewhat when he feels that way. Of course, if all else fails, the rise and fall of his rather large ears is also a key indicator of his emotional state.


Personality

Personality Description: On the surface, Nick Wilde is exactly what you'd expect from a fox: charming, slick, and smug. His usual smirk is paired with a quick, dry wit--and he's not afraid to use it. Nick generally defaults to sarcasm, sometimes even when it's not entirely appropriate for the situation. Of course, this isn't always unintentional; the fox enjoys getting a rise out of his friends every now and then, especially when they're more tightly wound. (He's looking at you, Judy.)

In the past, Nick's unrelenting snark combined with a jaded worldview to form something of a bully. Being discriminated against his entire life turned the fox into a bitter pessimist, and as he had vowed never to let anyone see it got to him, his best defense mechanism was to turn the negativity back toward others. Since meeting Judy, however, some of the cynicism has begun to melt away, and Nick's jibes are now mostly in good fun.

It is rare that Nick chooses to truly let his guard down around anyone. Twenty years of mistreatment aren't easy to forget, and the fox knows better than to trust most animals with his feelings. When he does, however, Nick is an incredibly loyal friend; he will go to great lengths for those who have earned his trust. This doesn't mean that those he cares about will be spared his good-natured teasing, of course; if anything, he will do it even more as his own odd way of showing affection.

The only times Nick truly drops his sarcastic banter are when he is either frightened or deeply upset. While the former isn't too difficult to achieve (he's certainly not a fearless fox), he goes to great lengths to avoid the latter. Strangers will almost never see Nick angry or sad, as his attitude is built around hiding it; however, if someone close to him breaks his trust and hurts him, his usual laidback facade vanishes entirely. Fortunately, Nick isn't a particularly violent mammal, and is more likely to just storm out than fight.



Strengths:

• Savvy business instinct
  
• Skilled at deception and hustling
  
• Excellent night vision and sense of smell
  
• Thorough familiarity with Zootopia and its inhabitants
  
• Thinks quickly on his feet
  

Weaknesses

• Has difficulty confronting/expressing troubling emotions
  
• Occasional overconfidence
  
• Doesn't always know when to cut the sarcasm
  
• Is actually rather sensitive, especially around those he's placed his trust in
  
• Less accustomed to tactical situations than his partner
  

Likes:

• Snarlbucks coffee
  
• Taking selfies
  
• Blueberries
  
• Deliberately annoying people
  

Dislikes/Fears:

• Muzzles
  
• Being mistreated simply for being a fox, especially by his friends
  
• His semi-criminal past being fully exposed
  

History

History: Nick Wilde was born and raised in Zootopia. His only family growing up was his mother; he had no siblings, and his father had left just before he turned 2. His mother did her best to raise him on her own, but it was difficult for a fox to find a steady job, making the tough job of being a single parent even harder. Money would be tight for the two Wildes through Nick's entire childhood.

Somehow, none of this would phase Nick. His mother did everything she could to make him happy, and the young fox managed to be upbeat and optimistic in spite of his circumstances. It wasn't that he didn't know he was poor, or that the world was prejudiced against foxes; he was fully aware of both. He simply believed he could overcome it all by being something more than what the world expected of a fox.

With that goal in mind, Nick set his sights on joining Troop 914 of the Junior Ranger Scouts. He would be the first fox to join the Scouts, and the only predator in his troop; he was so eager for the opportunity that he even managed to convince his mother to scrape together the money for a brand-new scout uniform. As he made his way to the meeting, he was more excited than he'd ever been in the 9 years of life he'd lived up until that moment.

Then everything went wrong.

The rest of the troop had never wanted him. After he had vowed to be a trustworthy scout, he was shoved to the ground and muzzled; the rest of the troop would never trust a predator, let alone a fox. He fled the meeting with their mockery ringing in his ears, breaking down in tears the moment he managed to pull off the muzzle and fling it away. From that moment, Nick decided two things: he would never again let anyone see that they got to him, and he would never again bother trying to be anything but the shady fox everyone already assumed he was.

Nick's descent into a life of hustling didn't happen immediately; it wasn't until he was 12 years old that he pulled his first scam. His mother's health had taken a turn for the worse, making it even harder for her to get work and support herself, let alone Nick. To both his pleasure and secret shame, it turned out he was a very talented hustler; on a good day, he could take home over $200. Over time, he was even able to suppress any self-loathing or shame his new 'profession' stirred up inside him. After all, the world wasn't offering him any other options--and wasn't this exactly what the world said a fox should be doing?

While Nick's income helped, it ultimately couldn't prevent the inevitable, and his mother passed away when he was 15. From then on, he was mostly alone; he had very few friends, and of those few, most were more partners in crime than actual loved ones. Almost twenty years went by, full of a variety of petty scams and hustles that paid the bills (though not any taxes, as Nick would come to regret). Each year buried the innocent child Nick had been under another layer of cyniciscm, turning him more and more into the stereotypical fox he had decided to be.

Things would change dramatically when Nick met the ZPD's first rabbit officer, Judy Hopps. Seeing his childhood optimism in her, Nick couldn't help but feel especially bitter, and he proceeded to use his wit to systematically deconstruct her dreams in one brutal conversation. He expected that to be the end, but when Judy tricked him into revealing he'd been dodging his taxes for years, he soon found himself on the hook to help her with a missing mammal case. He did all he could to annoy and delay her, but when he saw firsthand how she was suffering under discrimination similar to what he'd experienced his whole life, he couldn't bear not to stand up for her any longer.

It also helped that she had just saved his life from a savage jaguar, of course.

From that point forward, Nick was genuinely committed to helping Judy solve the case. Judy was the first animal he'd ever met who saw him as more than just a shady con man; bolstered by her belief in him, Nick even opened up about his experience with the Junior Ranger Scouts for the first time. Together, the two were able to solve the case, and were even invited back to police headquarters for a press conference. Just before going onstage, Judy asked Nick to join the ZPD as her partner; after twenty years, he had finally found his chance to be something more than just a hustler.

Unfortunately, Judy turned out to harbor her own prejudices against predators, including foxes. Nick had already noticed she carried fox repellent, but her insensitive comments during the press conference--along with a tense conversation immediately after--proved to him that even she couldn't see him as anything more than a shifty, primitive predator. Crushed by the revelation, he stormed out of the ZPD, cutting ties with Judy and giving up his new dream of joining the police. He'd been right all along; there was just no point.

He sulked in solitude as Zootopian society began to tear itself apart. When Judy came to him with a revelation about the case, he gave her the cold shoulder and tried to walk away again; her heartfelt and tearful apology, however, were enough for him to forgive her and resume their partnership. Once again, the fox and the rabbit proved to be an extremely effective pair; one interrogation, subway chase, and high-stakes con later, they had found the perpetrator behind all the savage predator attacks and restored peace to the city.

His hope for a better future restored, Nick joined the Zootopia Police Academy. Upon graduation, he became Judy's partner on the force, and the first fox officer in the ZPD's history.

Roleplay Sample: "We've got a medium coffee for...Nick!"

The fox in question sauntered up to the barista and grabbed his drink, tossing off a quick "thanks" before turning to leave. It didn't escape him that he'd gotten better service at Snarlbucks since he'd joined the ZPD; he'd been a regular customer at this location for years, but they'd only stopped giving him suspicious looks when he started showing up in his police uniform. Suddenly, they'd started being much more respectful--even slightly intimidated once they realized he was a cop.

Nick, of course, relished their new attitude.

He was off-duty today, though, so he wasn't wearing his uniform as he pushed open the door and strode out onto the sun-drenched sidewalk. Using his free paw to put on his sunglasses, the fox struck off down the street. Judy had mentioned something about a new shipment of blueberries from her family's farm, and there was no way Nick wasn't getting in on that.

He hadn't made it very far before a timid voice caught his attention. "E-excuse me mister, did you drop this?" Nick turned to see another fox standing behind him--though he couldn't be more than 12 years old. The younger fox was holding out a gleaming golden watch. Nick just gave him a flat look and said, "Never seen it before, kid." He turned to go, but 'kid' spoke up again.

"I, uh--I don't need this, but I-I think it's worth a lot, y-you wanna buy it?"

Nick stopped, tail twitching a moment, then sighed and shook his head. "Oh boy, such sloppy work...who's teaching you this stuff?" He turned to the (now somewhat unnerved) youth and took off his sunglasses, giving him a look that screamed 'I'm not mad, just disappointed.' "Okay kiddo, listen up--first off, a hustle like this is never gonna work if you're not confident about it. Second, that watch? Very obvious fake, you'd be lucky to fool a blind guy with that."

Crouching to meet the younger fox eye-to-eye, Nick adopted a less reproachful expression. "But your biggest whoopsie here was trying to hustle a hustler. Well, hustler-turned-cop," he added, pulling his badge out of his pocket. At this point, his would-be con artist looked about ready to faint, so he gave him a hint of a smile. "Relax, you're not under arrest or anything like that. I've been where you are, kid." Standing up again, Nick paused for a moment. "Trust me, you can be something a lot better than this. And if anyone tells you otherwise? Don't listen to 'em."

Putting both his sunglasses and his usual smirk back on his face, Nick finally turned to leave for real. "Hang in there, kiddo," he tossed off with an almost cheerful lilt as he strolled off, leaving the younger fox with his counterfeit watch and a lot to think about.




And All The Rest

How You Found Us: I founded 'us.'
Alias: Just call me Nick. Or Officer Wilde, or Admin, or Beloved Ruler. Whichever.
Comments: Generally, I would expect a tone similar to what you've just read here in any potential applications. Of course, variation isn't unwelcome, but follow the above format and you're doing fine!

Codewords: [CORRECT]