Name: Gareth Shaw
Gender: Male
Age: 31
Nationality: Republic
Zoid: Zabat
Personality
Gareth isn't really a man of action. He's more of a thinker, more quiet - prefers to stay in the background and observe than act right away. Of course, because of tendancies like that, he tends to react a bit slower than most. He's also quite independant. Despite the fact he's a member of Team Turbine, and despite the fact Ryan and Bryce think they're the brains of the opperation, Gareth does most of his own planning and completely disregards whatever else he's told by his younger teammates. Granted, this doesn't always result in brilliant teammwork, but still, Gareth knows what he's doing. Sometimes.
Background
Gareth was born in New Helic City, to a slightly poor family. He was an only child, and his parents were very loving and supportive of him. Gareth had a fairly standard childhood, doing average in school - well enough to succeed, but nothing special. He lived in New Helic City for most of his youth, leaving the busy city in favor of a smaller one down south for college, more specifically, Draxel University. It was a mediocre school, but he did well enough.
Living in the dorms, he got a job as a chef at a local restaurant - a diner of sorts that served an endless variety of food, called The Attic; moving into an apartment with some friends after finishing school. He never really looked for work elsewhere, having a good relationship with the restaurant's owner, who paid him well. In any case, Gareth got himself a Zabat after saving up, finding another kid, Ryan, who was looking to start a team online. The two tried to get another teammate, but weren't having much luck - neither of them had all that much experiance or the cash to really back up anything. Most kids these days seemed to learn how to pilot very well, very fast - and these guys were mediocre at best.
So, after Gareth found a cheap Glaive Quama in a junkyard one day, he bought it on impulse. He and Ryan had figured if they couldn't find a pilot with a zoid willing to join, then maybe they could just find the pilot. Finding a zoid as cheap as the Quama wouldn't be easy, and Gareth figured he could just resell it if they couldn't find anyone.
They got lucky, though. Gareth befriended Bryce, the son of the restaurant owner. He was a quiet kid, with a skin condition and yellow eyes - clearly, not the best-looking guy around. But he was smart, he worked hard, and after getting to know him, Gareth figured he'd be a perfect third member of the team. Sure, he had no experiance with zoids whatsoever.. but hey, not like anyone else on their team would either, so it seemed to work out nicely.
Ryan moved in with Gareth to help with rent, as they were all feverishly trying to save up at that point. After Bryce's mom, the restaurant's owner, retired, she left the restaurant to Gareth. While employees weren't exactly thrilled as their paychecks shrunk slightly to accomodate Gareth's savings plan, he was well-liked, ran the place smoothly, and their funds were slowly but surely building.
Eventually, Ryan took a job at the restaurant as well. There was some initial tension between Ryan and Bryce, but Gareth kept out of it, and they seemed to get along well enough after awhile. Long story short, the three eventually came up with the money to buy an old, run-down place of their own. With a bit more time and work, mostly on Bryce's part, it became a suitable livingplace for them all. While Bryce wanted Gareth to be captain of their new team, he insisted it went to Ryan - seeing as how it was his idea originally. While Bryce wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea, he went along with it anyway.
As far as living goes, while having two younger guys as roomates in what basically equates to a fancy apartment building that Bryce built inside (and partially outside) the hangar that houses their team's zoids isn't always relaxing, it tends to be amusing at the very least. His own room is on the ground level, though he actually spends more time in the kitchen and living room, often winding up falling asleep on the couch there as opposed to going downstairs to his own room.
Appearance
Gareth's a rather big guy, with a sort an almost clumsy look to him. Standing at 6'3", he doesn't appear -that- toned or muscled, though he's far from tubby - but his sheer size and weight give him the appearence of the sort of guy you wouldn't want angry with you. Despite that, his features are all rather soft looking, with calm brown eyes and a well-trimmed beard the same shade of brown as his hair, which he keeps cut short. He actually prefers wearing shorts for some obscure reason, and only owns a few pairs of pants. Other than that, he's usually found sporting simple shirts with an olive-green vest on occasions.