--APPLICATION--

--The Basics-
Name: Kyle Rutherford Ellis. (He also answers to "Big K" "Ellis" and "Stud" well, he'd like to imagine that he answers to stud)

Age: How old is your character?: 28. Born December 16th, 1978.
Profession: Kyle is a Detective with the New York City Police Department's Major Case Squad. He'd like to be a Herpetologist.
Location (...Are you in New York? LA? Nebraska? Most of the Game's going to be centered around New York and LA, but your character can be from someplace else and "just visiting")
Zodiac Sign/Chinese New Year Sign: Horse/ Sagittarius. Cheerful, good with money, Kyle also talks too much and has a weakness for members of the opposite sex (...This is so accurate it's scary) All too willing to break free of the confines of responsibility and/or work.

Hair Color: Kyle's hair is a dark brown that is never kept straight or in one place. It's speculated by his partner (and other males/females around the department) that Kyle does not own a hairbrush. Nor has he ever.

Eye Color: Kyle's eyes are an unassuming brown. He needs glasses, but refuses to wear them unless he's in his basement playing with his snakes. And yes, I did just type that. He takes James Ellroy far too seriously in the idea that good detectives "real detectives" don't wear glasses of any sort. Consequently, you don't want Kyle Shooting a Gun around you.

Appearance: Kyle Ellis is good looking, and he works damn hard to be so. He works out twice a week at a locale 24 Hour Fitness (He was banned from frogs after he pinched the ass of one of the trainers) he says it's for women/to attract a suitable mate, but in reality Kyle has a fondness for Krispy Kreme, and he has no desire to turn into a stereotypical detective. That and he genuinely enjoys running, participating in locale runs for charity/excercise.

Personality: Kyle has an unnatural and sometimes unwieldy fascination with Snakes. He attributes it to the the time his neighbors gartersnake got loose and crawled into his clubhouse. Rather then be terrified, Kyle was fascinated with the creature and refused to return him.

Personality wise, he's fun-loving and a very typical prankster. He doesn't take his job seriously, spending most of his time leaving rubber snakes in unassuming places around the precinct and reading trashy detective novels. He has an eye for puzzles however, and devours crosswords. (He refuses however to do the times Crossword, saying that it'll jinx his good luck streak).

Goofy and sometimes strange, when it comes down to the wire Kyle reaches deep within himself to find some sort of inner strength, (His father calls it the Ellis "Devil's Luck") It's assured that if there's a shootout, arrest, or serious situation Kyle will make a terrible joke, attempt a funny walk out line, and come out clean with an accurate report of the situation. Despite his assurances that he's quitting as soon as he can, he does like his job (mostly the prestige it gets him with girls) and he has a thing for the uniform. Previous supervisors have taken issue with his "Abuse" of power, but in reality he flashes the badge and knows how to play the game along with his partner and the rest of the squad.

Kyle is also very good with children. (as ex partners and girlfriends both have said, "-It's because he is one") Kyle is usually the guy who takes the lead in talking to kids, relating equally well to boys and girls of any age. His favorite trick is the "disappearing snake" trick, wherein he keeps his lucky plastic garter snake (a throwback to his own childhood) and using the only magic trick he's ever had the patience to remember, makes it disappear.

Kyle keeps a host of poisonous snakes in his basement in Queens and has a tattoo of a striking viper on his shoulder. He likes to think that he knows enough to become a herpetologist, but he's a definite enthusiast.

Backstory/Family: Kyle Ellis would like a dramatic backstory filled with horrible tragic occurances that led him to choose a "life of the law" and "made him the man he is today" but the sad fact of the matter is he led a very normal childhood. His mother was an aspiring actress (Kelly Everwood) and his Father was a Cop from a long line of cops. They lived in Queens, his mother continues (to this day) to try and break into broadway in some way/shape/or form.

Kyle has always been witty ("-You young man have a smart mouth and it's going to get you into trouble") or at least he likes to say that he has. He was content to play the role of comic relief in the neighborhood, breaking every bone in his body before he turned 12 as he tumbled, rolled, and acted his way out of most jams that he could get into. His mother indulged him as far as movies were concerned, harboring hope that her son would grow to be an actor ("-such a good looking boy") going so far as to start a "children's theater troupe" at their small locale playhouse for kids looking to act out the works of the Bard.

While Kyle was funny, and while he liked being the center of attention, he was a terrible actor. Most of his speeches would end in "umms" and "ahhhs" and the very mention of reptiles of any kind in a script would get him waxing poetic about the virtues of every kind of slimey, icky, and crawly thing known to mankind.

Snakes were a mania with the boy, starting when he was 4 and his neighbors tried to scare him with their pet gartersnake. Trying to pretend to not be afraid, the boy became fascinated, and refused to give back "stripes". He'd spend hours watching the snake slither back and forth in the grass, catching and killing mice to feed to the creature. His mother delights in telling her bookclub girls the story of the time Kyle tried to feed their neighbors cat to the snake. ("-Mr. Boots was yowling, but that snake was there and he just wouldn't be turned away! That poor creature was so ambitious!") When Stripes went to the big backyard in the sky, Kyle was heartbroken. His father (rarely there but always taking time to look after the kid) assuaged the hurt by purchasing a coral snake that Kyle named Pinky.

Officer Ellis was rarely at home. One of the unlucky cops who's career progresses into a stagnate pool of meaningless assignments, Peter Ellis preached "Take Joy in the Happiness of others, and your work" to his son, a lesson that Kyle never forgot.

His father was killed on the job when Kyle was 14, which threw Kyle into a state of confusion. His mother quickly remarried their plumber, a fact that enraged his grandparents and family on his father's side to no end. Buck Brasky was an idiot, and Kyle resolved to not listen to the man, especially when he learned that he was Terrified of reptiles.

Thus began Kyle's career as a prankster. Purchasing Jokes and Rubber Snakes from the locale Hobby store (Calvin's Hobbies) the remainder of Kyle's childhood was spent hiding rubber vipers in his stepfather's sock drawer, then getting smacked by his mother. He refused to take "Bucky the Beaver" Seriously, his grades fell into the toilet, and life became truly hellish when he discovered girls in 10th grade.

Kyle's infatuation with the opposite sex could be attributed to his star sign, but he prefers to list the physical attributes of each particular female, in accurate detail. He confesses to hitting puberty late, but he maintains, "-I got the rest of it pretty quick."

Kyle came into contact with the police force once again after he got caught feeling up Suzie Fieldman after school by her father-a colleague of his father. Distressed, Daniel Fieldman gave his daughter permission to date Kyle, and took the boy under his wing, inviting him on camping trips and family outings. Even after he and Suzie parted after the junior prom (And what a night that was. We both left our relationship feeling fantastic) Kyle remained close friends with Detective Fieldman and his family.

The time soon came for college, and Kyle enlisted in the locale community institution with hardly a backward glance. He excelled in Science, impressing the teacher with his knowledge of Snakes and Snakelike creatures. He went to Peru and ended up bitten by a Chrysopelea, a mildly venomous flying snake. (-His guide warned him, "-Don't stare at my ass, keep your eyes on the damn snake") Despite his extensive work with reptiles, Kyle'd never been bitten before. He returned to the snakes determined to learn all he could about snakes, but to find a safer profession.

The Police Force was a Second Choice and a Third Option. his mother was against it, citing the death of her husband. He pointed out rather brazenly that she'd quickly remarried, so it must not have bothered her that much. Thus began his study of law enforcement and his lack of speaking with his mother-traits that continue to this day.

He joined the police force in the early 1990s, working first in Queens and then moving into Manhattan, (To be away from his Mother). When his mother and step-father moved to Florida, Kyle inherited their home after converting the basement into a snake-lover's paradise, importing a Gloydius shedaoensis all the way from China. (He calls her Xiaoquing). She represents the deadliest snake in his collection, a snake that even he rarely handles (If he does move it'll be an interesting experience. He usually asks a close friend who's also a snake enthusiast to help him with her). Most of his other snakes range from Coral Snakes to a California King Snake. He has a rattler he calls "Buck" after his stepfather.

The 9/11 attacks brought home something that his father had been trying to drive into him since he was a child, Man is mortal. He got rid of several of his more deadly snakes, keeping Xiaoquing out of sentimental value, and Buck because he considered him a member of his family. His list of snakes is as follows:

1. Ricky-California KingSnake.
2. Bethany-Garter Snake
3. Jay-Z the lazy-Python
4. Stan the Man-Python.
5. Xaioquing- flying tree snake
6. Buck-Rattle Snake.

He also keeps twin lizards named burt and ernie.

His Reptile Room is well stocked, and doubles as a rumpus room complete with a pool table (although most people don't like to use it) The Reptiles have a TV set (-He has a snake thing) that he keeps turned on downstairs to basic Cable. Asking about what his snakes like to watch is a bad idea. Ricky and Beth prefer childrens programming, while Jay-Z and Stan are partial to the Andy Griffin Show. Xaioquing will lift her head whenever law and Order comes on, apparently fascinated with detective Mike Logan. Both Xaio and Buck will watch (he says) Lost Intently. (" ...they're pissed cause there're no snakes")

He has been home less and less and enlisted his friend, a scientist at NYU to feed his snakes. What with the crazy shit that's been going on.