Bio.

GENERAL INFO.

Full Name: Mikhail Lyudomirovich Lupin
Aliases: Misha, Mishenka (by Valeriya)
Gender and Pronouns: Cis Male; He/Him
Place of Birth: Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia
Heritage: White Russian
Date of Birth: Septermber 9th, 1946
Age: 70-80
Parents:

Siblings:
Children: N/A
Other Family:

Allergies: N/A
Addictions: Nicotine (Smoking)
Mental Conditions/Disorders: N/A
Physical Conditions/Disorders: N/A

APPEARANCE INFO.

Features: Older, still-defined features with notably gaunt cheeks, long and flat nose, and a fairly angular jaw. Mikhail has notable frown lines and under-eye bags.
Voice Claim: Boris Shcherbina (HBO Chernobyl; by Stellan Skarsgård)
Eye Color: Grey-Blue
Hair Color: Silver/Grey with Black Roots
Hairstyle: Shorter, voluminous hair worn in a fairly unkempt style, with an off-center part.
Build: Fit, on the softer side, with minimal muscle definition and longer legs.
Height: 5 feet and 10 inches (approx. 178 cm)
Weight: 152 pounds (approx. 69 kg)

SOCIAL INFO.

Connections:

Relationship Status: Single
Sexuality: Aromantic Bisexual

MISC. INFO

English is Mikhail's third language, with Russian being his first and Belarusian being her second. He is proficiently fluent in those languages, and conversationally fluent in many others given the international nature of his work.

Through the vast majority of his canon, after Valeriya and him become a duo, Mikhail is aware that she has biological family still living. On top of rumors of similarly appearing operatives, the failed assassination attempt of a political figure, and the publication of his then legal name, gave him enough to work back through her documents and put the pieces together. He has kept it hidden from her for decades.

Mikhail doesn't define himself as aromantic, but he's never had proclivities for romantic relationships nor really experienced romantic attraction toward others. He's had his fair share of non-romantic flings and arrangements in the past, though.

BACKGROUND.

Born in Yekaterinburg as the youngest of two children, Mikhail lived a fairly normal life at the time—as normal as life could be during the tail end of World War 2 and under the rulership of Joseph Stalin, that was. His father was a member of the Red Army, and his mother worked at the Ural State University, which would be the first established university within the region. There, she mentored under Academician Stanislav Shwarts and would teach population ecology, or the dynamics of species populations and how they interact with the environment. More often than not, Mikhail would spend his days between school and home alongside his older sister, whom he shared a close bond with.

When Mikhail would turn 18, he would enter the mandatory years of his military service, serving three years with the air forces beneath the Red Army before opting to switch branches and work within the army branch. Here, he would put his mechanical skills to use and aid in the Soviet military's mechanization. Much of his early service would remain as mundane as his background, though this background would soon prove beneficial as the times changed.

Between earlier interventions and "talks" between the Russian and United States governments, and stubborn refusal for compromise, the next series of politicians to seize control of the Union would tighten their grip and rule with an iron fist. Crackdowns, conscription, and censorship would shift the culture and demand more devotion and attention from those serving beneath the government's banner. Due to his father's own lifelong career, and his own prowess for the finer investigations, Mikhail would be offered a unique position as prisoner guard for one of Russia's most infamous prison of war centers: Perm-36.

This facility was a high-security labor colony located near the village of Kuchino. The camp was notorious for its incarceration of Soviet dissidents, and was characterized by increased isolation, constant surveillance, and severe restrictions on correspondence with the outside world. Many of its occupants were either repeat offenders, or those labeled to be the most dangerous national traitors. Mikhail would learn their names and faces, and would spend many days and nights making their lives a living hell, whether they deserved it or not. To him, it didn't matter—they were put here for some reason or another, and it was merely his job to make sure they didn't get out. Or, if they did, they would do well enough to avoid coming back. There were some that caught his attention and made their mark over the years he was stationed there, be it for the grandiose nature of their crimes, or their appearances. Some of the people there were average, almost too average. One such case involved a young couple from Moscow, allegedly serving time for conspiracy against the government and planned terrorist attacks. When he'd first seen the man and woman, Mikhail laughed at his fellow officers and asked if it was some sort of prank. When he learned it wasn't, he found himself fixated on their sentence. He would oversee most of the interrogations, either directly participating or observing from the sidelines. He would visit their respective cells. He would remember their names alongside all the others: Alexey Nikolaevich Khorkin, and Nita Petrovna Averina.

And he would burn himself into their minds, too.

During a ploy to get the man—Alexey—to talk, he would opt to use his spouse as a motivating force. Removing her from her cell, Mikhail would bring her before him to be beaten and tortured by other guards. Since Alexey still refused to answer, holding out hope that they would quickly get bored of this carrot and stick routine, Mikhail would take the scene a step further and execute Nika in cold blood. When Alexey still refused to talk, he would simply step over her body and leave her within sight of Alexey's cell until it became necessary to remove her. And when Alexey was released several years later? Mikhail would write him off with a cold, calculating smile, and unlock a newfound inner curiosity for executing his power in the most literal sense.

He would be stationed at Perm-36 for a few years after Alexey's release, and would then traverse between different Perm facilities in the region for the remainder of the Soviet Union's lifespan. When the Union collapsed, Mikhail would find some difficulty in obtaining new employment given the purging of many government offices and a massive change in organization. This, and many businesses on a local level were hesitant to hire someone "with connections," given the broader cultural shift and protesting of Soviet-era ideals. He would, as a result, end up floating through odd jobs and under the table work. This is how he would reunite with some old military buddies, who invited him on a few jobs for a group they had worked for. Little did he know, this would be his introduction to Братство Люпина (Bratstvo Lyupina). The Lupine Brotherhood. Here, he would once more find purpose.

Initially, he was something of an errand boy, made to do the more menial tasks to gain the leadership's trust and prove that he still had it in him to get his hands dirty. Soon enough, though, he would rise to the ranks and become a silent killing machine, almost exclusively fulfilling assassination contracts. When the organization's leader was tried and executed for crimes committed during his military service, and once it was confirmed that no information regarding the organization was leaked, Mikhail would take over and begin the new era. He would take great pride in it, too, focusing his operations in Eastern Europe and building a tightly-knit web of connections and contacts.

He would also end up finding the perfect successor on a lonely night stroll.

One evening, while walking about the bustling streets of Moscow, Mikhail found a young woman bloodied and bruised. She was conscious, but clearly worse for wear as she tended to her wounds and watched passersby intently. He stopped and offered her a handkerchief to clean her face, and she would hesitantly accept. Mikhail reassured her that he had no intentions of hurting her with it, and would inquire as to what happened. She initially brushed it off, and he wouldn't push for an explanation. Instead, he simply asked her if she had somewhere safe to go. When she revealed she didn't, he offered one to her. And when she asked what the catch was, he laughed at the look in her eyes and gave her a simple answer: a job.

Reluctantly, Valeriya accepted the gesture.

Mikhail would open her eyes to the criminal underworld, explaining that his operations ran tight and clean, and with many avenues for her to pursue. Smuggling, arms trafficking, protection rackets, money laundering... and contract assassination. Mikhail would say that line of work in particular was only just finding itself in tune with the others, stating that he needed someone with attention to detail and a focused mind to fill his shoes and take over. Valeriya would ask what kinds of people they would target, and would learn that for the most part? Only the worst of the worst. No women, no children; that was enough to convince her to take on the role, and Mikhail would become her mentor. They would train intensely, alternating between hand-to-hand combat, ranged weaponry, and useful skills such as lock-picking and thievery (the latter of which she already had a fair understanding of). He would teach her how to build and dismantle identities at a whim, and would shadow her on several contracts to help her get a feel for things.

And she would quickly become the best he's seen in a long, long time.

It wouldn't take long for Valeriya to become Mikhail's right-hand operative, both on part of her skill and the soft spot he developed for her. Likewise, over time, Valeriya would come to see Mikhail as a true father figure; someone she could trust and could be close to. She would trust his judgment, and he would hear her out should issues arise. They were, effectively, unstoppable when paired together, and this caught the attention of an American man by the name of Adam.

The deal between Mikhail and Adam was simple: If there was a need for more hired guns, he would provide. In return, Mikhail would be granted access to underground markets in New York to operate out of and do business with. The only condition was that Adam received his best gun, and in return that she would remain accompanied by Mikhail. From that moment on, they would remain loosely on Adam's retainer, stepping in when his preferred contacts from Tango Down were unavailable or otherwise unfit for the specific jobs he had in mind.