Richard Greenhill Camacho

Richard Greenhill Camacho is one of the two main protagonists of Red Star. He is a blood-infected lycanthrope born into the infamous Greenhill family. Raised on a small farm on the outskirts of Sunnyvale, Texas, he lived a traumatic childhood, but was later introduced to his young new neighbor, Scott Camacho, and formed a life-altering friendship with him that would later blossom into an unbreakable infatuation and loving relationship. He currently works as a car mechanic at his self-owned business, Red Star Auto Repair & Body Shop, and has a reputation as an intimidating cynic with the ever-dwindling patience level of a school bus driver.

Biography
Richard was not a wanted child. The result of a careless fling between Howard Greenhill and his then farm assistant Margo McCormick, Richard immediately became a burden that forced the two to marry, serving as a source of extreme stress before he was even born. The boy, born in his parents' bedroom, was sickly and weak, barely surviving his first day -- and he likely wouldn't have if he hadn't been taken to a proper hospital. From the moment he took his first breaths, Richard was neglected. He was malnourished and underweight due to both lack of proper nutrition, which was often withheld from him as punishment, as well as the stress that his parents' abuse brought onto him. Living in constant fear of his own family, with the only physical attention he received being the pain of punishment, Richard did not get the proper experience of an early childhood -- and there was nobody to pity him.

Richard was an unusual source of fascination for his uncle and his family's patriarch, Stuart Greenhill. Because Stuart had little to no interest in children, him being drawn in by Richard was confusing and nerve-wracking for Howard, who was already afraid of his brother for different reasons -- Howard went out of his way to avoid contact with Stuart, and Stuart's interest in Richard forced him and Howard to interact. It was likely Richard's frail physique and timid personality that intrigued Stuart, and as such, he became a perfect target for Stuart's cruel tricks and a living punching bag for his three sons. Richard, being the only child not living on the Greenhill Farm, was unaware of the existence of lycanthropy until he was five years old. Stuart, having believed that Howard had told him about it by now, was thrilled to know that he had a new method of tormenting his nephew. Richard, who had loved dogs initially, rapidly developed a terrible fear of them, as well as an even greater fear of his uncle. He was six years old when, on December 25th, 1976, Stuart and his three sons pulled him into the basement and injected Stuart's blood into Richard's neck in an attempt to "toughen him up", turning him into a werewolf. Richard suffered from lycanthropic shock for roughly twenty minutes before he finally transformed. He was not violent upon his first transformation -- instead, he remained in a state of heavy shock, unable to move from his hiding spot.

Howard was enraged because he now had to deal with a werewolf at home, which was exactly why he had left the Greenhill Farm in the first place. He wanted to leave Richard there for Stuart to raise, but decided against it after realizing he himself would have to return to full-time farmwork by himself -- plus, Richard's newfound stamina and strength would, in Howard's eyes, allow him to get much more done. Howard begrudgingly had he and Margo's bed moved from their bedroom into the living area, while Richard was quarantined in the empty room. For the first few months, since he had no form of comfort, Richard was incredibly unstable, his anxiety and panic skyrocketing to unimaginable levels, and his transformations are completely uncontrollable. He quickly grew to become afraid of himself and he had frequent panic attacks, but he is still forced to work once he is able to get up on his feet again. It was some time before Richard could even return to school -- his excuse was a severely broken leg -- and did much of his schoolwork from home in the little free time he had.

By the fall of 1977, Richard had mostly gained control of his transformations and had moved past the frenzied early lycanthropic stage, but was now emotionally beaten and broken to a point where he felt like nothing but a shell. His self-loathing consumed him, and his performance at school and on the farm dropped considerably. This left Richard even more susceptible to his parents' brutal punishments, and would often go days without food -- mainly because his parents figured that he could survive longer without it. It eventually got to the point where Richard was forced to kill for his own food -- particularly the fish in the nearby Blackwater Pond. At some point in the winter of 1977, Richard encountered a stray cat, whom he named Evolene (the name of a local restaurant). Evolene served as Richard's only source of comfort -- albeit a small one -- and Richard grew very attached to her.

Life painfully dragged along until the late spring of 1978. When the Camacho family moved into the vacant house built across the field from the Greenhills, Richard attempted to pay them no mind -- however, the Camacho's young son, Scott, who was the same age as Richard, took a heavy interest in his neighbor and attempted to befriend him despite Richard's reclusiveness and obvious disinterest. Richard's parents, already not happy with the fact that they had neighbors, were even more irritated with Scott's interest in their son, especially after Scott trespassed onto their farm to talk to Richard while he was working. Scott's friendliness at first intimidated Richard, and he actively tried avoiding him.

At one point in the summer of 1978, Scott interrupted one of Richard's fishing sessions at Blackwater Pond and attempted to help him catch fish. Richard got overwhelmed and left the area temporarily to recollect himself. When he returned, he discovered Scott was missing, but quickly found out that Scott had fallen into the water and sunk to the bottom of the pond. Extremely panicked, Richard underwent a forced transformation brought on by the stress, but managed to pull Scott out of the water and save his life before changing back. He brought Scott back to his house, where Scott's parents commended Richard for his heroic behavior. Richard, again, became overwhelmed by the attention and fled the house.

Richard was afraid to befriend Scott for a multitude of reasons -- he had never really had a friend before, but also was afraid to know how Scott would react to his lycanthropy if he ever found out. He already had a poor self-image because of his lycanthropy, and feared he might turn out like his deranged cousins and hurt Scott on accident. Though it was immensely difficult for him to make the decision, he decided to show Scott his lycanthropy so that Scott would leave him alone. Much to Richard's shock, Scott was extremely excited by the revelation and told Richard he would still be his friend and loyally keep his secret -- something that deeply touched Richard and caused him to finally accept his new friend.

Richard and Scott attended the 3rd grade at Sunnyvale Elementary School that fall, and their friendship rapidly developed. Richard, a popular target for bullies, was stood up for by Scott, making him feel much less vulnerable at school as the bullies began to leave him alone.

--WIP--

On May 26th, 1988, after Richard and Scott had bribed a dealer to let them borrow a rental car to disguise themselves from Richard's parents while hiding in downtown Dallas, Richard took the car out to get lunch shortly after getting into a heated argument with Scott as a result of the situational stress and fear. He hadn't gotten far from the hotel when a speeding pickup truck slammed directly into the driver's side of the car with immense force, which sent the car flying through the guardrails and from the overpass into the street below. Upon striking the ground, the car's engine exploded. This put Richard into a coma, with a severe concussion and many broken bones, including his left arm, neck, both legs and his left femur, and nearly every one of his ribs on the left side. He was left severely lacerated and bleeding heavily. Richard was presumed to be dead upon arrival of emergency services, but they were stunned to find he was still, barely, alive. His prognosis remained grave as he remained in the hospital, but he ultimately woke up several days later. In truth the only thing that had saved him was his lycanthropic endurance -- had he been human, he would have surely died. Scott was immensely, indescribably traumatized by the entire ordeal as he had been certain he had lost Richard, and blamed himself heavily for it, and it was something he would never fully forgive himself for. However, Richard quickly recovered from his injuries and he and Scott mended the emotional wounds even quicker. Scott remained with Richard in the hospital the entirety of his recovery, which was abnormally fast due to his lycanthropy. Eventually, Rodney Camacho took over the care of Richard in order to prevent suspicion. He was released from the hospital on June 14th.

Richard and Scott would later go to downtown Dallas for Scott's 18th birthday. The two were sitting on a hilltop eating a late lunch while reminiscing over what happened and discussing plans for the future now that seemingly every path was now open to them. However, the two were ambushed by Stuart Greenhill, who knocked Richard out with a blow to the back of the head with a crowbar. Before Scott could react, he too was knocked out, and both of them were taken to an abandoned barn in a remote area. Scott was restrained in a chair while Richard was left unrestrained on the edge of the room. Stuart's reasoning for this was because he did not believe Richard would move or attempt to stop him, and to show Scott how much of a coward Richard was. Stuart's plan was to transform Scott into a werewolf to torment Richard and then later kill them both. While Stuart threatened Scott at gunpoint while the two argued, Richard was barely able to breathe or move in his state of extreme terror. Scott kept begging Richard to run, though Richard couldn't even hear him. It wasn't until Stuart pulled a syringe on Scott that something snapped in Richard, causing him to transform and impulsively attack Stuart. The two were locked in a fierce battle, knocking over a nearby lantern and causing the barn to set on fire. The two mostly matched each others' strength, but Stuart eventually got the upper hand and went in for a killing blow. At this moment, Scott managed to fire Stuart's gun and shoot Stuart through the eye, distracting him enough for Richard to get away. Scott shot Stuart multiple times until he collapsed, and then escorted a stunned Richard out of the barn. Before Stuart could follow, the burning barn collapsed on top of him, killing him.

Appearance
Richard is a tall (6'3") and lean-muscled man with way too much body hair and way too many freckles. He has very

thick auburn hair that shines red in sunlight (was previously bright red and faded over time), with darker brown eyebrows and sideburns, and a large, slightly crooked nose. He strongly dislikes facial hair on himself, and so he has to shave nearly daily since his hair grows at about twice the rate of a human, resulting in him having light facial hair most of the time. His eyes are a very pale ice-blue color that have the unusual, inhuman characteristic of reflecting light in the darkness via the tapetum lucidum, a layer of tissue in the back of the eye that humans do not have. Richard has a number of scars all over his body, but there are four prominent ones. He has a small scar cutting diagonally through his left eyebrow (received in car crash at age 18), a long, horizontal scar running over the bridge of his nose (received in wolf form after striking his nose on a rock at age 8), a dark scar resembling a bullet scar on the left side of his neck (the site of lycanthropic injection at age 6), and a prominent chip in his right ear (received in wolf form while fighting Stuart at age 18). Richard tends to wear tight-fitting clothing, usually tank-tops or graphic t-shirts, and leather hiking boots. He is notorious for wearing thin and loose clothing even in the winter because of his high body temperature and strong cold tolerance. In lycanthropic form, Richard is roughly 4'9" at the shoulder. He is a bright reddish-brown color with an agouti fur pattern and retains his icy blue eye color. He has a very thick, coarse outer layer of fur, and very soft underfur as well as a dark, large, incredibly thick, fluffy mane that is almost lion-like in appearance. He has a long snout and canine teeth that protrude slightly from under his lip, a dark-furred chin, and a dark stripe running up the bridge of his nose. He retains all of his scars. He is notoriously muscular and powerful, noted by Rosa Camacho to be one of, if not the largest werewolf ever recorded.

Personality
To most people, Richard is an aloof, quiet individual with a low voice. He isn't too big on any form of social interaction and doesn't hesitant to express his disinterest or annoyance with a person, whether it be through sharp glares or biting remarks, and manages to keep people out of his way through his looming, intimidating presence alone. He has an extremely low level of patience and tolerance, and it really doesn't take a lot of effort to piss him off. By default, he speaks with a low and rather disinterested tone of voice, but he can be rather harsh with his words and doesn't sugarcoat things.

In reality, beneath his tough surface, Richard is an incredibly soft and sensitive individual with complex emotions. To say he cares deeply for those he loves -- especially Scott -- is an understatement. He is an extremely emotional person, and almost always allows his emotions to guide his judgement over logic, which often results in him getting into trouble. As a child, this emotionally sensitive core was significantly more exposed, and he was easily beaten down by even the slightest inconvenience. As he grew older with Scott by his side, he managed to build up around it and become much more stronger mentally and emotionally. He is willing to lay his life down for the sake of his loved ones without a lick of hesitation or fear. He is incredibly empathetic and knows a troubled person when he sees one, which has led him to helping a number of people, particularly young customers at his business who were going through similar trauma that he had (i.e. Bradley Schultz).

Richard's true nature is one seen by almost no one other than Scott and the Camacho family. He has a clever tongue and a rather dark sense of humor, not afraid to goof off in their presence. He can be an energetic and lively person.

Trivia

 * Richard has a very light southern accent and sounds similar to musical artist Brother Dege. It was more prominent as a child but gradually faded as he got older, and now only really comes out when he's emotional.
 * He is noted by his family to heavily resemble his great-great grandfather and the founder of the Greenhill Farm, Claude Greenhill, which is something Richard is strongly upset about.
 * He has a severe phobia of needles as a result of the trauma from his lycanthropic injection. The only person he even remotely trusts when it comes to needles is Rodney Camacho.
 * He cannot see, hear, or interact with spirits like Scott can, but due to his lycanthropy, he is able to sense their presence.
 * Richard is bisexual, though he's really only attracted to Scott, rock band frontmen, and magazine models.
 * Richard has remarkable, inhuman strength. In human form alone, he can lift one end of a car and even push one with ease. His grip is notoriously strong, and he has broken the arms of several assholes as a result. This remained true even in his childhood, which was extremely unusual because of his small frame. He ended up being several times stronger than his cousins and uncle. Rosa Camacho considers him to be the most powerful werewolf she has ever recorded.
 * Richard is also inhumanly fast -- at top speed, he could easily beat the world's fastest Olympic racer. In public or, as a kid, in gym classes, he intentionally slows himself because he doesn't want any special attention.
 * To this day, Richard has some occasional issues with his right knee, having badly dislocated it when he was 16 after being beat up by his cousin, Bobby. Following the initial dislocation, he would dislocate it three other times over the course of the next 30 years.
 * His favorite color is purple because it reminds him of the galaxy.
 * Richard was extremely short in his childhood and a great chunk of his adolescence due to his childhood malnutrition. In his freshman year of high school, he had an extreme, lycanthropy-triggered growth spurt, going from about 5'4" to 6'3" by the end of junior year.
 * Richard's pilot persona when he was child was known as Major Lionheart. The nickname "Lionheart" stuck with him even after he grew up.
 * Richard is a Taurus in western zodiac and a Dog in eastern zodiac. He has an ISFP personality type and would be a Gryffindor (lol)
 * His blood type was originally O negative (ironically the same as Scott's) -- this was nullified upon becoming a lycanthrope since his blood is so vastly chemically different from human blood. This proved to be an issue when Richard was recovering from his freak car crash, as doctors were attempting to give him blood, it had no effect on him.
 * Richard has not turned any human into a werewolf, though he has come close a few times.
 * Richard begrudgingly carried the last name Greenhill until 1996, when he was able to legally take on the Camacho surname. However, he and Scott were not able to legally marry until 2015, when same-sex marriage was legalized in Texas.

Behind the Scenes

 * Richard, as a child (in appearance), is heavily based on my own father in his childhood.
 * Richard had two different last names before Greenhill was settled as his last name -- first Graves, then Ramsey.
 * He was named Richard due to the name Richard being associated with the nickname "Dick"
 * Richard was created in early 2015, originally an interpretation of the "purple guy" from the Five Night's at Freddy's game series. This was before the character was fleshed out in canon and had vague details (the character now has a name and backstory), therefore the character was largely up to fan interpretation. Richard was an interpretation of the man who murdered five children and indirectly sealed their souls within the animatronics, before being murdered himself by their spirits. As I fleshed out Richard's backstory, personality, and relationship with Scott, who was an interpretation of another character in the same universe, he ended up becoming a much kinder and empathetic person than his character was supposed to be. I eventually decided to make Richard his own character and separated him (and Scott) entirely from the Five Nights at Freddy's universe.
 * Richard still retains some aspects from the purple guy's character, most notably the purple car.