Ever had a tumblr post inspire a new character?
Meet , or as i like to refer to him, beast
They're a shadow beast born from two other shadow beasts rather than having been made by Mama Shadow. But they decided they didn't wanted a kid and just gave them over to a fight ring where it was forced to fight since very young
The gimmick the fight ring made up with it was the typical "beat the beast and become a real fighter" and so beast wasn't even allowed to win those fights. Those were also very unfairly set out to give it's opponents an advantage over them
They got weapons and armor while beast only had it's claws and fangs. Luckily they weren't so cruel and made him fight in the sun, it still got banged up a lot. And they couldn't even flee through the shadow space thanks to the neat little collar the fight ring made it wear after the first escape attempt which kept it unable to go into the shadows
For born shadow sticks or beasts it is crucial that they go into the shadow space as much as they can for their growth, since beast wasn't allowed to his got stunted. They're still really tall but not as tall as Ombreus and were lucky reach 6 ft and some more
The fur you see is very matted and dirty cause why take care of it when it's just going to get dirty again. As well as it's hair which it cuts themselves with their claws to avoid opponents grabbing it in fights
They were finally able to flee when the arena got destroyed during a fight
They can barely talk. Everyone treated them as 'the beast' and never really taught them reading, writing or practiced talking with them. Let alone encourage it
So it normally communicates with hissing and growling and when it talks, it's broken and still sounds a little like they're growling