Vincent Tahoe is a fictional original character of Gaimen City
“They say honesty is the best policy. I’ve heard that proverb my entire life. The truth is though; no one wants to hear honesty. Everyone prefers to keep it hidden, to lie and deceive. I like to compare it to a cup of hot coffee. Very few appreciate it for its true nature; which is dark, gritty, bitter, and hard to take. That’s why most people dilute it, cover the taste, cut down on the bitter impact, and add a little here and there so they won’t have to deal with the truth. Fuck that. Why hide what something is? Honesty is the same way. Everyone bitches it and sugar coats what they mean. I’m proud to say I don’t do that shit, and I take and give the opposition. Cold, bitter, strong, truth. Just say I’m the balance that this world needs; the yang to the yin.”
- name: Vincent Tahoe
- nickname(s): The Piano Man
- affiliation: de Winter
- residence: de Winter Compound
- gender: Male
- born: 1980, January 21st
- parents: deceased
- siblings: unknown
- romances: None
- children: None
- occupation: Assassin, cover job: Bar/Concert Pianist
- portrayal: Ryan Reynolds
- canon / original: original
- played by: Randall
Early History
The truth of Vincent Tahoe’s early years are known specifically to him alone. There are no records, documents, or any true supporting evidence other than that of the few people who knew him during the time. Born January 21, 1980, he was born to the name of John Quincy Henderson, the eldest son of the world renowned Henderson family. The Henderson family was a sub-branch of Moretti family, one of the five most powerful families in the world, below that of the Jade, Treymaine, and de Winter. Julian Henderson, John’s (Vincent’s) father was a well known business tycoon who dealt with most of the Moretti’s shady deals in the underground world. John’s mother, Monika, was a high ranking judge. Her nails dug deep into the legal channels and kept the family clean from pursuing difficulties. Needless to say, the Henderson family was well known for their power and ability to shift business and people to their favor.
Both of John’s parents were highly controlling. From the moment John was able to walk they scheduled his life, planned his meals, controlled his freedom, and consistently pushed every aspect of themselves into his life. Most children are given some choice, but John was never allowed. Truly, his only escape was the self discovery of music. Young John, at but the tender age of five, stumbled across an old piano that had long since been forgotten by his parents. When his fingers touched the keys for the first time, that hollow shrill filling the air that rang throughout the hall, John fell in love with music. The piano was tuned, polished, and John began to play it every chance he was allowed. It became his only freedom, because he chose it, not his parents.
Over years and years of pushing him to be carbon copies in their own mirror image, John began to loose his sensibility. He often read of theological ideas, of purity and freedom, of making one’s own choices to live life in the way he saw fit for himself. John wanted his own life, his own world, his own existence, not that of his parents. Eventually, he came to one logical conclusion. Both of his parents had to die.
When he was fourteen he began to plan and research. He hired a private investigator, masquerading as his father. Never meeting the detective in person, resorting only to phone calls and dropped off messages, the man went about believing the charade. At last, his efforts bore fruit. John was able to discover that his mother was indeed having an affair with a woman in her legal office. John rejoiced, and continued to gather incriminating evidence against her. Leaving a trail to his final destination, John completed his plan at the age of fifteen. One night, he snuck into his parent’s room and waited. When they entered, John grabbed hold of his father’s neck from behind, pulled the trigger of his father’s Taurus PT145 .45 ACP pistol, and killed his mother. He turned the gun on his father, placing it to his oppressive, throbbing temple. Uttering a few final words to his father, John pulled the trigger one last time.
The set up was perfect. John had worn gloves, placed the gun in his father’s hand, and threw the pictures of his mother’s affair upon the bed. The room was left behind; John descended the stairs, and burned all of his clothing. All that remained was the smile wired across his face. Murder suicide upon the discovery that his loving wife had been an adulteress, it was perfect. Everyone accepted the idea. Julian was known to be highly jealous and overly zealous of some matters, and Monica was known to provoke people to violence in the court room. In the end, no one every suspected John for even the briefest of moments.
The will left behind stated that John was the soul proprietor of everything. The house, the business, the mass fortune acquired over the years. But since he was too young to claim full ownership, John had to let it sit by until he was eighteen and out of the care of his grandfather. He didn’t mind either. All that he knew thus far was music and blood, and he wanted more of both. One taste was not enough, he needed more now. For the next three years John spent his childhood traveling between major cities and territories. He wanted to learn everything he could from anyone who was willing to teach. Local gangs where his favorite, because they had access to firearms and had numerous skills to teach him. It was his grandfather who allowed him to travel so much, and he who accompanied him on each endeavor.
Gaimen City was one of the locations John made a path through, and it was there that he celebrated his eighteenth birthday and his completion of high school. Following his graduation, John enlisted into the military, taking up charge with the Special Operations Command and Force Reconnaissance programs. Being that he was more than physically fit for the tasks, he began his two and a half year training in order to take on the tasks expected of him, excelling through the ranks during his tenure at an impressive rate. During his time he learned a multitude of skills, including but not limited to: survival for all tertian, espionage, sabotage, psychology, demolitions, linguistics, small arms training, and hand-to-hand combat. John was known for excelling in demolitions and hand-to-hand combat, as well as being a highly adept marksman.
After five years of service, John was free from his military service requirements, leaving his term as a Gunnery Sergeant. He took all the money he had gained form the military, and a large portion of his inheritance, and proceeded to erase his entire past. Birth certificate, social security number, driver’s license, and all of his military records were burned if paper and deleted if on computer. John Quincy Henderson no longer existed. To John, that was the ultimate act of freedom. He hated John Henderson, hated the life that John was forced to endure. And so, he created a new person with no past, falsified SSN and license, and be changed his name and being to that of Vincent Alexander Tahoe.
Taking on his new name and life, Vincent remained a freelance contract killer. There was no target he was unwilling to slaughter and no person he was unprepared to kill, so long as they were not a child. Vincent only refused to kill children; that was his only vice. Over the next two years his reputation spread quickly, and his methods and attention to detail became that of legend. It was contestable to say that he was the best, but Vincent knew that there were others out there better then himself. The question was, who were they, and when would he have a chance to kill them so that he could hold the title?
Daniel Baylor, the second in command for the de Winter family heard of Vincent’s skill and wanted to see if he was up to the challenge. Harrison de Winter had a hit that he didn’t’ want to risk on someone close to him, someone who could be disposable but still highly skilled enough in order to accomplish what was needed. Vincent was tapped, and the job was completed, furthering Vincent’s perfect kill record. Upon seeing how the de Winter family was run, Vincent asked to remain a part of it. He stayed on, slowly gaining the trust and friendship of Daniel and Harrison, as well as becoming very close friends with Jericho Ezra. Over the past years of his service Vincent has forged a fierce loyalty that is never in question. There would be no hesitation for him to give his own life for the family if it ever called for it. To cover his tracks Vincent took on a job as a bar pianist, taking up local gigs across the city and playing for any crowd that would have him. His skills only continued to grow, and not just his music…
Gaimen City
After the incident with the Spirit of Ulysses, Vincent began to question the rise of the Libertines and what it could mean for the families. They continue to send him gifts about his death and lack of a true purpose in life. Vincent continues to laugh at them and simply ignores what is in front of him, but the tensions are beginning to raise and his trigger finger if beginning to itch uncontrollably.
As an Assassin
Vincent is highly adept with explosives and hand-to-hand combat, and loves to use these skills whenever possible. He makes customized explosives of all sizes and charges, often selling his creations for some extra cash. However, his personal invention is his trade secret, and he is the soul human alive who uses them. The explosive is rather small, only the size of a bout two cigarettes if the contents where rolled together. The charge is activated by twisting the top, which arms the explosive and activates the radio receiver inside of each bomb. Detonated is controlled by remote. The remote uses a specific radio frequency that is released from Vincent’s studded earrings. When he presses the stud in, the radio signal is sent to the charge, causing the explosion. Because of the small size, the radio signal is weak and has a limited range of only about five hundred yards. In each explosive, there is a small radio transmitter similar to the tones in Vincent’s earrings. When they receive a signal, the immediately redistribute the same signal before detonating the explosive.
Think of it this way, if Vincent set one bomb at 1400 yards, one a 1000 yards, one at 600 yards, and one at 100 yards, then activated the bombs, they would all explode staring with the one closest to him and ending with the one furthest from him. Since every bomb also is a remote to further transmit he signal, each bomb is also part of the remote and is only active when the bomb is active.
The tiny explosive is highly lethal, having a kill radius of about fifteen feet, making them similar to hand grenades, but much smaller. Contents of each explosive are unknown for the most part, but Vincent brags about how each one contains is a mixture of water released onto the element francium, a highly explosive and unstable alkaline metal, as well as a few other secret ingredients.
Vincent’s is perhaps just as deadly at close range as he is long range, if not more so. When he was a young child his mother forced him to learn Tai Chi, claiming that it would help center his mind and body for his life ahead. She learned it from her father, Vincent’s grandfather Joseph who would later become his legal guardian. Vincent took a shine to it and actually liked the art, and as he practices for years and years, perfecting each slow motion and movement it was his grandfather who began sharing secrets with him of the art. Tai Chi could actually be used as a highly lethal, extremely deadly martial art if used correctly. The always calm mind set, steady movements, and use of internal energies and circular motions made it a force to be feared. However, to use Tai Chi as a fighting art took years and years of practice. His grandfather explained that it is like a classical composure, and other fighting arts were like rock music. Rock music is easy to learn, and only takes a few years of even months to learn enough to put on a show. It can still sound good, but it doesn’t compare to a classic composition. Classical music takes years and years of dedication and time to prefect, but after years of practice and time well spent, it becomes apparent who has the greater skill, and it sounds much more wonderful. Vincent liked the analogy, and continued to practice with his grandfather. As such, Tai Chi became his secret weapon that few have ever seen him perform whilst in a fight. However, anyone can catch him practicing every early morning in the parks around Gaimen.
While in the military, their fighting system was meant for one thing though, to kill. As such Vincent learned an array of fighting methods, learning how to fight on his feet, off his feet, against multiple opponents at once who may be armed or not, and even how to fight underwater. He excelled at standing combat, his ground fighting above average but not his greatest strength. If Vincent has to fight he always starts off with his military trained fighting skills, because he knows that he has not perfected them yet and still strives to accomplish that goal. Also, it allows him to measure up an enemy quickly, and usually kill them soon after or at least brutally torture. Vincent has learned that there are no rules and he uses everything at his disposal. Weapons, the environment, eye gouging, hair pulling, bone breaking, pressure points, joint-locking, and even groin shots. Nothing is sacred, because in a fight Vincent was taught that the winner is the one left standing. There are no other rules then that.
Vincent is also gifted with a stead hand and highly forced eyes. He can shoot straight and true, and is a well accomplished shot. In the military he always shot expert qualification with both handguns and rifles, and his skills with a rifle as a marksmen and sniper were well noted. His greatest skill with a gun is with assault rifles, having the ability to successfully pinpoint a spot on a targets body and shoot it from up to seven hundred yards, with open iron sights. With a scope, his longest recorded shot was made from sixteen hundred seventy two yards. Vincent attributes the shot entirely to luck and still maintains that it was so.
When on assignment Vincent is a thinker and a planner. He observes, takes his time, analyzes, and makes every possible judgment before making a decision. This can take him anywhere between a few days and up to three months, depending on his assignment, the pay, the requirements for the hit, and the level of risk involved. Having a perfect kill record he strives to maintain it, although he feels that his reign may be coming short. Being in the same City with Anika Chandra, who he knows is a more gifted killer, leaves him to question how long he will stay alive. At the same time, his ego often gets in the way. Vincent truly believes that if he could be killed, then it would have already happened.
Family
Insert DESCRIPTION of Vincent's family life.
Love Life
Vincent is know to enjoy the single life, but that is only because he is very particular about whom he allows to get close to him. He is currently available and always has his eyes open.
Assassins de Winter Affiliates Archived Characters Characters by Randall
