Kooza
Legacy Name: Kooza

Kooza is the Daredevil in Danse Macabre


These days he is filled with bitter resentment towards most people. He is suspicious and incredibly mistrustful of everyone, but Kooza wasn't always like this.

When he was very young, Kooza had an ordinary life. He was the only child to his parents and they were seemingly quite happy from the time that he was born until he was four years old. That year, his father left his mother for another woman. His parents screamed and argued late one night until his father packed a bag and walked out. Kooza never saw his dad again.

His mother remarried and quickly became pregnant, but she never treated Kooza the same again. She would ignore him, snap at him over trivial things, and ask him to do more chores than he could handle and then punish him when he couldn't complete all the tasks. Kooza's new step-father barely looked his way and did not bother to stand up for him, even over the smallest of punishments.

In the beginning, when his new brother was born, Kooza had something to smile about. Babies didn't know to hate him or ignore him. His brother was pure, but his mother's temper only grew as the years passed and Kooza began to lose hope when his siblings grew older and also began to treat him the way his mother did. They didn't know any better. To his brothers and sisters, it was normal to regard him this way, but to Kooza it was a nightmare.

He became meek and mostly unresponsive to his mother's threats and physical punishments, and Kooza began to do whatever she asked without complaint. For a while, things were a little better between Kooza and his family, at least he wasn't being hit as much. But one afternoon, Kooza lashed back at his mother when she struck him for not doing his chores fast enough. And it felt good.

From that moment on, Kooza started to stand up for himself and even talk back to his mother. It would make her angrier and she would hit him and throw things even more often, but Kooza couldn't stop. The fact that he could get back at her, even in such a small way, was his only freedom.

Still, he couldn't escape having to live with his family. When he was fifteen, however, everything changed. After a particularly harsh shouting match with his mother, she held Kooza against the stove and he was burned across his arm and back. Kooza got himself patched up, stole money from his step-father's wallet, and left that night.

He lived on the streets for almost a year before Danse Macabre came to town. At first, Kooza was only attracted to the possibility of stealing food from the vendors while they were busy with the crowd, but he was drawn in by the acts. When he was caught stealing, he begged the Ring Master to let him join, saying he would do anything. Anything. Just to travel with them.

True to his word, Kooza will now do anything as part of his act. He is the daredevil, no longer limited by fear or intimidation. He gets a high from dancing with death and putting himself in danger.

Due to his childhood and experiences with his family, he doesn't trust anyone. Kooza is almost constantly suspicious that the people around him, even his 'friends' and fellow Danse Macabre performers are capable of hurting or leaving him.

To Kooza, people are no good at their core. They will betray each other, hurt each other, and leave each other behind, so he operates under this assumption at all times so that he won't ever have to experience emotional pain again.

Friends

Wick the Snake Charmer -- [❤] [❤]
Stigma the Piercing and Tattoo Freak -- [❤]