Manuel "Manu" Martinez

[Nadir†]

Name: Manuel "Manu" Martínez
Gender: Male
Age: 19
Grade: 12th
School: Aurora High School.
Hobbies and Interests: History, Literature, Philosophy, Psychology, Politics, Comedy.

Appearance: Manuel is very tall, at 6'5''; and weighs 205 lbs. He inherits his height from his father, who was also quite tall. While not very athletic, he could not be described as lanky, and has enough muscle mass to have been offered the chance of applying to several of the school sports teams (offers he always refuses due to his lack of interest in any sport).  He has dark brown short hair that is always slicked back and impeccably groomed, and hazel eyes, with tanned skin. He has a small mole under his left eye. His facial features are dominated by an aquiline nose and big, inquisitive eyes. His smile shows his straight white teeth. He is what in Latin America could be described as a Criollo, a person of predominantly European descent, since both his parents are White Hispanic. He likes to wear shirts with images of superheroes or cult films. He always wears a polite smile on his face, but his eyes always look serious, hinting at a reflexive interior.

Biography: Manuel was born in Miami, Florida, to a Cuban father, Fernando, and an Uruguayan mother, Teresa. However, the family left for Seattle when Manuel was one year old, shortly before the birth of Manuel´s sister, Andrea. His father opened a restaurant, specializing in Spanish food, a business which proved to be quite successful, so the family´s financial situation could be described as stable or even of upper middle class. Both parents were caring and provided their children with a nurturing environment in their growing years. One of the reasons of this relocation was that the family thought Seattle would be a more suitable environment to raise their children, and also to be closer to the children´s maternal grandparents, who gladly helped to take care of them when their parents were unavailable due to their work.  

Manuel had a mostly uneventful childhood. Raised in Catholicism, he was baptized and at age nine took his first communion at the local parish. However, his family was not particularly religious and as he was growing up Manuel would discover himself drifting away from Christianity. Nonetheless he still believes in God, but he could be described as a Deist rather than a Catholic. He still attends mass with his maternal grandmother a couple of times every month, and also attends church on social ocasions such as baptisms or weddings. This set up a precedent for his future interest in philosophy.

Manuel could be described as a bit of a loner. While he does not shun social situations, at times he feels the need of being alone with his thoughts. He cannot describe the reasons why he does this, it just simply helps him at times of great stress. When he was twelve, his parents separated, mostly because his mother had caught his father cheating on her with a waitress from the bar he ran. Though their marriage had been on the rocks for a while, this event proved to be the last nail in the coffin. After this, his father moved to California, and his mother took over the restaurant. Even if Manuel knows that the reason for his parents' divorce were legitimate, he still has some minor resentment against both of them. Both of them claimed it was the other one who started the circumstances that drove them to stop being together: his father blamed his mother´s controlling nature, and his mother blamed his father´s philandering ways. However, said resentment has lessened over the years, since now he believes their separation was for the best. One of the things Manu had learned from his parents through this experience is that there are some people who are not simply destined to be together forever.

Manu sometimes works as a waiter or an errand boy at his mother´s restaurant, but it is mostly a part-time job. Teresa thought it would be a good idea to teach her son some responsibility before he was ready to become an adult, and, although Manuel wouldn´t admit it, he considers the lessons and advices he has learned from his mother as a valuable piece to his future.

Regarding the relationship with his younger sister, Andrea, he does consider her as a sort of "familiar stranger". She is just a year younger than him, but they really have got nothing in common. While he is somewhat of a social outcast, she is more socially involved with the popular crowd at school. This difference in lifestyles have led to some conflict between the two siblings, with both of them sometimes criticizing the other in front of their friends. This difference also shows at home, on their family life: while Manuel took their father´s departure badly at first, and was quite upset about it for some time; Andrea didn´t seem to mind at all, since she did not enjoy the same rapport with her father as Manu did. She also used her parents separation to get what she wanted from each of them. Also, while Manu is more spiritual, Andrea is more down-to-Earth, sometimes bordering on the cynical and sarcastic. At school, they hardly acknowledge each other in front of their respective cliques, even if they are on the same year due to Manuel being held back a year after failing most of his subjects last year, which has led to conflict with his mother.

Teresa wants both her children to enjoy the academic opportunities that they are being given, and for her Manu failing a grade is an insult to the hard work she accomplishes in order to give her children the life and chances their parents could not enjoy when they were young. She has made clear to him several times that unless he changes and applies himself to his studies, he will be sent to live with his father. The causes of Manuel´s failing grades can be attributed to a loss of interest in schoolwork. While he completed some of his assignments, he left most of it undone. He still retained a sharp mind in class, even if he started skipping some of them due to boredom. However, the threat of being kicked out of his house by his mother has made him try to regain interest in the subjects he studies at school.

At school, Manuel´s grades are mostly average, especially for subjects like Maths and Science. However, he has demonstrated quite a passion for the humanities, and strives to get good scores in Literature, Philosophy and History. His teachers are aware that he is smart, but he is seen by them as some sort of underachiever. He only works hard on schoolwork if he has to, but when he does both teachers and classmates can see his hidden skill at excelling in subjects that interest him. He has been described by most of his friends as a walking encyclopedia. However, he somewhat comes across as pretentious by some people that know him, who thinks he is a show-off. He is also heavily into politics, and will never hesitate at entering a debate with someone he thinks to be challenging, which adds more to the pedantic image some people have of him. Manu could be described as very conservative in some topics and very liberal on others: he is an outspoken defender of LGBT and women´s rights, but at the same time he is pro-life when it comes to abortion, and  a traditionalist when it comes to religion. He believes honestly that people are born with their sexual orientation (be it heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual) fixed, and that's the way God intended it to be.  Trying to change it would be as if trying to play God with the lives of others. He is also somewhat nationalistic (which is considered as ironic by some people, since both of his parents were born outside of the United States), although he disagrees with many of the outer politics of the U.S.A. He sometimes describes his political ideas as having no definite ideas at all. While he is not on the debate team, he is known around school to be very argumentative with people who don´t meet his views. He also blogs about his political views on Tumblr, on a blog named "Debates with a Spaniard".

Comedy is a passion of his. One of his most recurrent dreams is growing up to be a stand-up comedian, specializing in monologues. Many of his friends at school describe him as funny, even if he tends to trail off with his narration in his monologues sometimes. However, he is also a person who can crack easy jokes that make people still laugh. The most frequent basis of his monologues tend to be his daily life, his family, and people on his school. He is always acquiring new books about jokes as a way to broaden his repertoire. Another interest of him is psychology, a topic that has always fascinated him, to the point that he is seriously considering about getting a major in college after he graduates. He is very interested to learn about how the human mind works, and how different people react when faced with different situations. He also would like to learn about how events in early life influence an individual's actions.

Advantages: Manu is a person with a vast body of knowledge on several topics on social sciences, such as psychology and philosophy, some of them which might come handy in difficult situations that could arise, such as when trying to talk his way out of a dangerous situation. He is also good at getting people to laugh, which can put the other students at ease if they are around him. He has a calm, tranquil personality that might appease people when in stressful situations.
Disadvantages: Manu can sometimes come across as rather abrasive and pedantic, which can land him in trouble if he upsets someone he should not. He also is somewhat of a loner, so there would be some difficulty in him forming a group and sticking with it on the long run. He is also very argumentative when dealing with people who do not share his views, which can put some people off and lead him to potential conflict with both allies and enemies.