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〈 CHARACTER INFO 〉
CHARACTER NAME: Newton "Newt" Geiszler
CHARACTER AGE: about 36
SERIES: Pacific Rim
CHRONOLOGY: end of movie #1 (2025, closing of the breach)
CLASS: Hero
HOUSING: Same building at least as Hermann, please? He's gotta drive him insane everywhere imaginable and separating them after all this time just seems cruel.

BACKGROUND:

Wiki | Dossier

[His background is supplemented occasionally by the implied story in his Drift flashbacks, the dossiers provided in the novelization, and the info provided by extra features on the DVD. Anything requiring so much guesswork as to become almost solely headcanon, however, has been left out. Additionally, the novelization/dossiers are based on an earlier script and are occasionally inconsistent with the movie characterization. Word of God says to err on the side of the film in these instances.]

Newton is born in Berlin, Germany in 1990, right at the cusp of the fall of the Berlin Wall. We have no further information on the subject, but best guess would be that his family originates from West Germany. It is unclear if his parents are married to each other by the time of his birth, but their romance began ten years earlier as an affair and, once Newt is born, his opera singer mother leaves him to be raised by his father and uncle. It is likely his father, a piano tuner, helps spark Newt's interest in music and possibly is the one who teaches him to play the instrument. His uncle, a musical engineer, teaches Newt the basics of electronics.

Given that he exhibits no notable German accent (oh Pacific Rim, you give both your scientists German birthplaces and then cast an American and a Brit, neither of whom even pretend at being German), it probably can be safely assumed he moves to the US while young and loses his accent.

As a child, he is fascinated by science, by manga, and by monsters like Godzilla. He wants to be a rock star. He goes on fishing trips with his uncle and develops an interest in biology, probably learning first about the insides of those fish before graduating to a greater interest in biological science.

He is brilliant, a wunderkind. His ADHD, or something like it (what might eventually be diagnosed as BPD), manifests young, but it doesn't hinder his academics, even if it probably does hinder his social life. Overflowing with curiosity and intelligence, he is allowed the opportunities to advance in school, progressing to college well before normal. As such, Newt is always younger than his classmates and has few same-age peers to interact with. During formative years, when teenagers are attending high school dances and his college classmates are drinking and partying, he's studying biology. He's perpetually stuck between, an outside, unable to relate and never part of either social group. He eventually attends MIT as the second-youngest student ever admitted. By 2010, Newt begins a six-year teaching career there, likely focused in biology and life sciences, with some interest in engineering and maybe neural sciences. By 2015 he has six doctorates to his name.

K-DAY: August 10th, 2013: San Francisco, California.
Humanity faces a Kaiju for the first time when the massive creature of unknown origin, later known as Trespasser, makes landfall. Five days later, the government finally takes it down with three nuclear missiles, leaving the bay--now contaminated with nuclear fallout and toxic blue Kaiju blood--designated as the San Francisco Exclusion Zone (SFEZ).

Kaiju (怪獣 kaijū) Japanese, noun: Monster.
The varied alien species that emerge from the Breach. They are categorized based on size, strength, and complexity in a numerical system, "One" being the lowest.

In the aftermath of four separate Kaiju attacks, all stemming from a space-time Breach determined to lie somewhere unknown in the depths of the Pacific Ocean, the Pan Pacific Defense Corps (PPDC) is created by the UN. The international alliance of twenty-one Pacific rim countries shares the common goal of eliminating the Kaiju and begins developing the Jaeger program, a specialized mobile suit that would come to be the best and last line of defence against the Kaiju threat.

Jaeger ([ˈjɛːɡɐ], Jäger) German, noun: Hunter.
Robotic military-grade weapon/armor, usually somewhere around 250ft tall, designed to combat Kaiju. The Jaeger are classified with a Mark system based on their particular model or type, with "One" being the earliest. In addition to internal controls, Jaegers are monitored by the LOCCENT (Local Command Center) in their Shatterdome (hanger/base).

To control a Jaeger, two (or three, in one instance) compatible pilots, operating out of the cockpit/head-cavity of the Jaeger, connect their minds via a special armor and a cerebral pons device. This bond is largely known as the Drift and synchronizes the Pilots with each other and with their Jaeger. With a successfully bridged connection, which is referred to as a Neural Handshake, each pilot, each brain--left and right--shares the load required to move as, to embody, the Jaeger.

Two brains think as one. Two bodies figuratively become a Jaeger.

Fascinated by the Kaiju, which remind him of his childhood monsters, Newton embarks on related research. His interest in Kaiju consumes his work, his life. He tattoos them on his skin.

He starts a correspondence with a brilliant young mathematician named Hermann Gottlieb. Hermann is the son of Lars Gottlieb (the inventor of the Jaeger program) and was responsible for coding the Mark I Jaegers. The two form a connection, discussing their studies. The letters are "passionate." They share ideas, confiding academically though probably not deeply personally, and engage in friendly and useful debate. Their work advances. Newt pioneers research in artificial tissue replication. In each other they find a kindred spirit, perhaps even a friend. Newt finds a rare peer who keeps up with him, challenges him, for whom neither age nor intelligence is a barrier to their friendship. As is his nature, Newt throws himself full tilt into this. With the world going to hell, he has someone who he can relate to. It is undoubtedly extremely important to him, a young man who otherwise has little patience for others.

His friend joins the Jaeger Academy and, a year later, Newton does the same. Their letters continue.

When they finally finally meet in 2017, they immediately dislike each other.

The letters, presumably, stop.

From there forward the two are juggled to different Shatterdomes and stationed as the PPDC needs them. Hermann's focus becomes locating and destroying the Breach and finding an equation that predicts the next Kaiju attack. Newt's research becomes more in depth understanding of the Kaiju to better combat them. They work with some of the best minds the world has to offer. The world throws all it can at the Kaiju problem.

But Kaiju keep coming.

Jaegers are barely enough.

January 1, 2025: Sydney, Australia.
Having suffered major losses of pilots and Jaegers, the PPDC decides in 2024 to cut funds to the Jaeger program, decommissioning active Jaegers and beginning a massive Wall to line the Pacific Rim--a vain attempt to keep the threat of the Kaiju at bay. Lars Gottlieb, in opposition to his son's work and beliefs, is a major proponent of the Wall.

On the first day of the new year, however, the Category IV Kaiju known as Mutavore easily breaks through the Sydney Wall. Striker Eureka Jaeger is the only thing that stops it.

With funding all but gone and the Shatterdomes all but disbanded, Marshal Stacker Pentecost determines that the last, best hope for humanity rests in the hands of the Jaeger and a mission to close the Breach. Attempts had been made before, but with no success. So he rallies the last resources--not all legally obtained--pulling together the only remaining usable Jaegers, and their pilot teams, to make a final stand out of the Hong Kong Shatterdome.

They are the Resistance.

By the time the Resistance assembles in Hong Kong, they have four Jaegers and three pilot teams: Striker Eureka (the Australians: father/son Herc and Chuck Hansen), Cherno Alpha (the Russians: a husband/wife pair), and Crimson Typhoon (the Chinese: triplets). The fourth Jaeger is the American's Gipsy Danger, refurbished but without a pilot.

For their K-Science team they only have two scientists: Hermann and Newt share a single lab divided by a strip of HAZMAT tape (my-side, your-side). They bicker constantly (like siblings, like an old married couple) and are justifiably, if overly-harshly, critical of each other's data. They don't like to lose to each other. But their results remain fantastic. It is undoubtedly the only reason Pentecost endures them. (Raising Mako had to be easy by comparison)

Pentecost brings on board Raleigh Becket, one of the only pilots to survive a solo Drift (when his brother/drift-partner was killed mid-battle, Raleigh successfully navigated his Jaeger ashore). He is reunited with his old Jaeger, Gipsy Danger, but has no one to pilot it with.

As Raleigh arrives, so do valuable Kaiju samples. Newt, accompanied unnecessarily by Hermann, goes top-level into the pouring rain to make sure the samples are handled with the care they deserve. They encounter Raleigh, Pentecost, and Pentecost's adopted daughter Mako in the elevator.

"He was 2,500 tons of awesome. ---Or awful. You know, whatever you wanna call it." Boasting about his Kaiju tattoos and raving about the Kaiju themselves starts Newt off on the wrong foot in front of Becket, and doesn't particularly endear him to Pentecost or Mako either. All three have lost someone to a Kaiju attack. Hermann introduces Newt as a "Kaiju Groupie" and Newt himself declares that he'd like to see one in person, up close, alive.

Raleigh assures him he doesn't.

Back in the lab, the scientists vie for Pentecost's attention like kids that need to prove they're Dad's favorite.

Hermann presents his predictive model equation for when the next Kaiju will attack, and he strongly foresees soon a "Double Event": two Kaiju from the Breach at the same time...then three, then four...etc, with attacks coming with increased frequency until humanity is wiped out. The increase in traffic through the Breach, Hermann thinks, will force the portal to stabilize and allow for the Jaegers to make an attempt to destroy it.

Numbers are great, but they're not sound evidence. Newt refuses to believe in what he sees as fancy guesswork. It's a shot in the dark.

His own theory is that the Kaiju--who are all unique looking creatures with different features--are actually clones. It's not unfounded. His samples show that they have the exact same DNA, regardless of what they look like or how long ago they came out of the Breach. One of his new samples is part of a damaged brain from a Kaiju and Newt asks Pentecost for permission to Drift with it--to bridge the gap between his own brain and the Kaiju brain to better understand the creatures, their motivations, and their very existence--as well as how to enter and destroy the Breach.

Pentecost denies him his request. He wants Hermann's research on his desk, but not Newt's.

If this was a competition--and rest assured, it is--Hermann has won. Even if they gave Newt the Drift equipment, Hermann warns "...you'd kill yourself."

"Or I'd be a rock star."

Determined to prove himself, Newt creates his own pons system from junk equipment in the lab and bids Hermann a childish farewell in a recording:

"Unscientific aside: Hermann, if you're listening to this...well, I'm either alive and I've proven what I've just done works...in which case, haha, I won...or I'm dead and I'd like you to know that it's all your fault. It really is. You know, you drove me to this. In which case...ha, I also won. ...Sort of."

He sees the creators of the Kaiju, the Precursors, as he Drifts with the brain…

Hermann finds Newt trembling with a seizure on the floor of their lab, his left eye hemorrhaging. It is Hermann who disengages the pons, pulls Newton to a chair, fetches him a glass of water, and then goes to urgently find Pentecost, interrupting the Marshal's observation of Mako and Raleigh's first drift together.

A jittery Newt explains that the Kaiju aren't animals attacking out of need for food or some other instinct: They're attacking under orders. When Hermann claims that is impossible, the two begin to squabble.

Pentecost straight up tells Hermann to SHUT UP. Both scientists look surprised.

Newt then spends the next few moments outlining the information gained from the Drift: The Precursors engineer clones--the Kaiju--to help overtake worlds for resources, then move on. The state of the polluted Earth makes it ideal for the Precursors. The next wave of Kaiju will be the exterminators. Things are escalating fast.

Pentecost insists that Newt Drift again and, following the Marshal's instructions, Newt goes to meet Black Market dealer Hannibal Chau to arrange for a Kaiju brain. When asked why he needs an ammonia-ridden useless part, unable to resist, he confesses his Drift to Hannibal.

Outside, two Kaiju attack Hong Kong. Crimson Typhoon is destroyed when the Kaiju busts its head. Cherno Alpha's hull is breached by acid from the Kaiju and the reactor is flooded with water. The Russian Jaeger explodes as the pilots drown.

Striker Eureka joins the fray, but the Kaiju releases an unprecedented electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack, disabling Striker's controls, LOCCENT, and all of Hong Kong's electric power. Herc is injured when his son Chuck disengages from the controls.

The Kaiju are adapting. They are attacking specifically for the weapons the Jaegers have and are learning to disable their only opponents.

With everything effectively down and unable to power back up for a while, that leaves only analog-based, nuclear-powered Gipsy Danger to fend off the attack.

Meanwhile, the Kaiju heads for the city.

It's a Double Event. An impossible, Hermann-predicted double event. Newt realizes Hermann was right.

And Hannibal suggests it's because some dumbass drifted with the Kaiju. Hivemind. The Kaiju know and they're coming for Newt. After all, a Drift goes both ways; Newt learned about the Kaiju, but the Hivemind learned about him in turn. Perhaps it even learned how to defeat the Jaeger and knew how to assemble Kaiju clones for maximum efficiency. Acid, to corrode Cherno's thick hull; an opening in the Typhoon's three-armed attack; the EMP to disable Striker before it could release its chest missiles.

The Kaiju known as Otachi finds Newt in the public refuge. Its tongue scents the air in front of him. Was it identifying him as a Kaiju kin? As a Hivebrother gone astray? Or as an interloper and spy to be destroyed?

Before it can decide just what to do with him, Gipsy comes to save the day.

With the Kaiju defeated, Pentecost sends Hermann to find Newt who has meanwhile returned to Hannibal Chau's store, now bold enough to demand the brain.

The workers go in for the secondary brain, but discover it is damaged. There's a heartbeat noise. Otachi has a live offspring.

The baby bursts through the womb and attacks Hannibal's workers. It chases down Newt, swallows Hannibal Chau, strangles on its own umbilical cord, and dies.

Elsewhere, the Breach mission is getting underway.

There are only two Kaiju signatures on the radar when there should be three according to the predictions. Frustrated with Hermann's preoccupation with the reports from LOCCENT (hurts to be wrong, Hermann) and impatient to get the Drift done before the Kaiju baby goes brain-dead (and perhaps before Newt talks himself out of this necessary but dangerous venture), Newt yells at Hermann to help with the "off the charts" neural interface.

So help Hermann does. Instead of offering programming adjustments or advice, he offers--no, insists--that to prove that he's not wrong, that it is indeed a Triple Event, he will Drift too. With Newton. With the Kaiju. Share the Neural Load as Jaeger pilots do.

Another Drift with a Kaiju, especially an intact (if underdeveloped) brain could have likely killed Newt. Newt knew that, Pentecost probably considered it when ordering him to do so again. There are necessary losses and risks in the war. They have little choice but to Drift, as they need the information. Their world will come to an end if they don't succeed. With Hermann carrying half the weight, it is bettering their odds.

Probably. But Hermann's the numbers guy.

"You would do that for me? Or-- You would do that with me?" Neither questions whether they are Drift compatible enough to make this work. It just works.

They discover through the Drift that a Kaiju DNA has to accompany the bomb through the breach or it will never open and the detonation cannot penetrate. They hurry back to warn the Marshal, making it to LOCCENT just in time.

Striker Eureka, piloted by Pentecost (standing in for Herc) with Chuck, is deep beneath the Pacific running point in the Breach mission. Poised at the Breach are two Category Four Kaiju and then a Category Five, the first ever, emerges to face Striker Eureka and Gispy Danger.

Hermann finds out it hurts to be right, too.

Ultimately, Pentecost's Jaeger is damaged and cannot drop its payload to trigger the Breach destruction. So Chuck and Pentecost take the shot available to them: they "clear a path for the lady" by self-detonating. The bomb strapped to their Jaeger explodes with them, taking out one of the two remaining Kaiju. From LOCCENT, Herc watches and listens as his son and Drift partner dies. Gipsy makes short work of the last Kaiju and uses the carcass to enter and cross the Breach.

The crew, including Newt and Hermann, wait in LOCCENT as Mako's air fails and Raleigh gives her air before sending her off in the escape pod. On the radar/data screen, Gipsy explodes, detonating its nuclear reactor, and the Breach collapses from the energy, just as Hermann predicted it would.

Newt and Hermann share a hug, smiles, and a sense of accomplishment.

The Apocalypse is cancelled.



PERSONALITY:

According to his personnel dossier from the novelization, Newt has Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) outlines BPD as the following:
- problems regulating emotions and thoughts
- impulsive and reckless behavior
- unstable relationships with other people

Newton has a defective setting for emotional maturity. He's selfish, petty, offensive, has a faulty head-to-mouth filter, and lacks social skills. His emotions peak and trough rapidly. Whether he's ADHD or not is, Newt is nevertheless fidgety and hyperactive, difficult to pin down. He's always moving, manic in his speech. He jabbers, chronically, especially about what he likes. Newt is deeply passionate about his interests and his interests are Kaiju.

He's not a Kaiju groupie, no matter what people say. He studies them, he wears them on his skin. The Kaiju are fascinating. They're a puzzle to solve. Kaiju are his life, the bulk of his research, his focus, and he's determined to know everything he can about them in the same way adventurers live among wolves and grizzlies and swim with sharks (he's a big fan of Bear Grylls). Sometimes his passion and interest blinds him to the chaos and pain the Kaiju create: to him, they're something to study; to most, they're dangerous monsters who have killed loved ones. It's as if sometimes Newton forgets that he's supposed to be studying to defeat them, not to know them.

He's sincere, though, for better or for worse. Part of having a faulty mind-mouth filter is that he doesn't really think about what's being said and measure it out for tact or consistency. Often, he says all the wrong things at the wrong times. At least he's generally, unabashedly honest with his opinions, but that doesn't often make it easy for him to have friendships. He's off-putting. He's fighting to be heard, fighting to be right, fighting to be taken seriously.

So Newton gives off the air of being insanely sure of himself, sometimes to the point of narcissism and selfishness, determined to be right all the time. He's one of the smartest men of his generation and stubbornly dislikes authority, showing contempt for anyone who isn't as intelligent as him. He wants to be a "rock star"--someone cool, with lots of attention, viewed as capable, incredible, legendary. Displaying reckless disregard for his own safety, he readily uses himself as a test subject in his own experiments without enough care for his own well-being or consideration what that would mean to the people around him. But contrary to his "Fortune favors the brave, dude!" he's more impulsive than brave.

That is not to say he entirely lacks bravery. He's foolish and impulsive and has his own motivations, but he joins the resistance. The Kaiju-Science division may have only really needed Hermann (for Breach data); at that point, biology might have been a moot point, considering how much weight Pentecost puts on Hermann's predictive model. Biology was the study for the long-haul, for tactics and constructed plays, not for the Hail Mary of all passes. So did Newt even have to be there? His home was either around Boston or Europe and he could have chosen, as many undoubtedly did, to place (ignorant) faith in the Wall and hide behind it with fingers crossed.

But he saw the flaws in that (and couldn't unsee them). It wasn't safe, it wasn't smart. Whether it was bravery or loyalty or morbid determination to do something instead of lie down and go extinct, Newt stayed when the funding ran out. He wanted to be there, to keep trying. Shatterdome or no, he keeps fighting the closest to the front-lines that a scientist can, and even embeds himself into the action with his Kaiju Drift. He goes toe to toe with a Black Market dealer. He's spunky.

And maybe he's spunky because he has to be. Because that's what life's demanded of him. Newt is shorter than his peers, shorter than the massive Jaeger pilots around him. Even at 35/36 years old, his voice cracks and breaks. He proudly wears his interest in Kaiju on his body in the form of tattoos, knowing full well it's offensive to most. He was brilliant, but a child. His college peers may not have taken him seriously. Hermann sometimes doesn't take him seriously. Pentecost doesn't pay enough attention. Newt needs to fight to be heard, so he goes into situations expecting to not be taken seriously and looking for a fight--a verbal, intellectual fight.

Which brings us to Hermann: his antithesis, his partner in crime, his Drift partner.

Supplemental material to the film says they exchanged "passionate" correspondence about their work. Hermann's letters had to have captivated Newt or he would have lost interest in the pen-paling, because he only truly invests himself in things that fascinate him. The letters, the friendship, bridged a gap, overlapped a venn diagram, made it clear here he had a kindred spirit. Though their fields are different, they are equals: children struggling to be taken seriously, the last two scientists standing, fighting to find the answers in time.

Two views, the same problem--The Kaiju--two heads, one body, burdened and burgeoned in part by contrasting personalities.

We can assume the eventually dissatisfaction upon meeting is a case of expectations not lining up with reality. They're a lot alike, but at first meeting, it's easy to assume they just couldn't see it.

When they work together, as they are forced to do, they complain about each other constantly (Hermann apparently filed reports, none of which are ever taken seriously by their supervisors), are rivals for Pentecost's attention, find fault in the other's data...and are fueled by that. Both give as much as they get.

Unprofessional as they are, eccentric as they are, we have no reason to doubt their work ethic. Newt and Hermann both bring something to the table when Pentecost asks. They're there at the end of the world, working tirelessly at a job made for more than two people. Chances are they get less sleep and less downtime than Jaeger pilots.

They bring out the best and worst in each other. The relationship works as the exchange of brilliant ideas, a sounding board, and the companionship of the one person who is just as smart and passionate about his work...however vitriolic the companionship is.

An effective and compatible Drift is about communication. It does not matter what the nature of the relationship is between the Drift Pilots, what matters is that they are not shy with themselves or with their partner. In the Drift, they must be prepared to bare their soul with their Drift partner, to lay out who they are--warts and all, take them or leave them--and accept in return. Partners can be siblings, lovers, friends, parent/child, colleagues... They simply need that mutual understanding and it is that empathy--shared with Hermann, shared by Hermann--which is the crux for any notable change that happens in Newt as the war winds down. They are Drift compatible and never question it. Whether either thought about it before or not, they know: they might not always like each other, but they respect each other, and they just...understand.

There's not a lot of time spent with Newton after the the Breach has been closed (as that is the end of the movie), so there's not a lot of discussion for what changes this made.

After the initial Kaiju solo drift, he was more jittery. It's entirely possible he might have elements of PTSD now. He's faced death--both in the form of his own experiments and by nearly being eaten by a Kaiju...twice. It's scarred him. The world has not ended and he has the knowledge that he helped to save it.

The smiles and hugs and considerably improved closeness in LOCCENT suggests post-Drift Newt can better appreciate his friendship with Hermann, can reconcile/bridge the man that was his pen-pal with the man he spent years bickering with.

Newt got exactly what he wanted: He saw a Kaiju (but it nearly killed him). He is a rock star (but he shares the spotlight). He has seen into the Hivemind of an alien race (it stared back into him).

Now the Kaiju are gone.

Now what does he do for an encore?



POWER:

Drift Compatible/Limited Neural Synchronization/Hermann-Senses -- heavily modified, kind of canon-based
(with Hermann Gottlieb only)
In canon, drifting allows two characters' brains to serve as the halves of the same "brain" of a Jaeger. When pilots who are compatible drift together, they share memories, emotions, and thoughts between them. Sometimes Drift partners have reported experiencing a Ghost Drift: a shared bond when not hooked up to the pons. When separated for a long time, such as death, some experience phantom pain, much like amputees experience with lost limbs.

Newt used a self-made apparatus to drift with a Kaiju brain once (solo) and again, later, with Hermann sharing the neural load. In the second instance, he and Hermann shared memories/thoughts/etc between them and also received from and transmitted to the Hivemind of the Kaiju species.

For the purposes of a power, Newton will be able to 'drift' with Hermann. Their drift now requires no external apparatus and is sustained as a constant neural connection of varying degrees. Empathy is at a near-constant level, sharing perception of physical pain and any emotions between them, spiking when something reaches an extreme (Hermann's leg, for example, would be an ache but would not actively hurt Newton unless it was especially bad for Hermann. Or, if Newt had a headache, it wouldn't bother Hermann unless it became a severe migraine. If one were shot, the other would feel a slightly weaker pain and the subsequent tiredness of blood loss). When one of them is nearby, they will be able to sense the proximity. Once they start to get the hang of it, they'll be able to tap into a shared telepathy and exchange thoughts without speaking.

Should one of them die, vanish, or be sent home, the remaining Drift Partner will be 'haunted' by memories, by that phantom pain, residual drift remnants, a feeling of missing something.

Kaiju Blue/Toxic Blood -- not canon
As a biologist and Kaiju expert, Newt has had his hands in more than a few Kaiju carcasses, elbow deep (with gloves) and covered in their blue blood (usually neutralized). He wears Kaiju on his arms and chest as tattoos. He has Drifted with one...twice. They are almost literally in his blood.

Kaiju blood, called Kaiju Blue (for its blue phosphorescent color) is extremely toxic and stains/contaminates everything--environment, people, animals, etc--until treated and neutralized. If inhaled or touched, it will send a person into shock and eventually kill them.

As a power, Kaiju Blue is now part of him, running through Newton's veins, toxic to others, but not to him. So as not to poison the whole of Mask or Menace with biohazardous materials, this form of Blue no longer spreads as well or contaminates the earth and, once dry, is no longer toxic; it is also severely powered down. It is more animal defense mechanism than chemical spill.

If someone makes contact with the blood while wet, however, it can be absorbed into the skin/bloodstream upon contact, causing a catatonic state that would allow Newt time to escape. If the blood is ingested, effects are somewhat similar to tetrodotoxin's effects as it is seen in the Rough Skinned Newt (see also x x). Tetrodotoxin, which blocks sodium channels, causes motor paralysis and respiratory arrest within minutes of exposure. A person would require artificial respiration immediately and continuing for a few hours to survive, but after 24hrs, would likely recover completely.

In keeping with the phosphorescent properties of Kaiju Blue, during heightened emotions, it will glow faintly under his skin, illuminating him temporarily in darkened spaces. During any other time, however, he gives off every appearance of a standard red-blooded human being. In a comic book -like suspension of disbelief, the blue won't be visible.

In effect: July 24, 2016
Upgrading Kaiju Blue/Toxic Blood to...
Kaiju Form -- not canon
Newt will still retain his Kaiju Blue blood while in human form, but will now be able to turn into an actual Kaiju...albeit a miniature one.

In the novelization, the baby carried by Otachi was described as bigger than two bull elephants. Newt won't even be that big, but to have a real-world example and not just numbers, we'll say his actual size will be comparable to a African Bull Elephant. The linked comparison chart gives an idea of an African Elephant's size (far left) versus that of a human (far right). With this analogy, he would stand roughly 13 feet tall at the shoulder and measure 15-20 feet long. About as long as a van, and a good bit taller, but "a van, not a big rig," if that helps to place his size.

I don't currently have a picture of his Kaiju form since I'm not directly modeling him after an existing Kaiju. I can show you what canon Kaiju look like (x x x x)--blue or greenish gray with possibly some gold markings, bright blue at veins/in their mouth/around their eyes...where tissue is softer, thinner, and their blood is more visible--and then describe him.

In Kaiju form, Newt stands roughly the size of a large African elephant (note, I think most elephants that are shown with people riding them are Asian? So those are smaller). The skin is thick, textured, but not really rough. There are notable bumps that are not quite scales--it is more like a crustacean than a lizard. Canon states Kaiju have two brains...the secondary somewhere in the lower half...in order to manage their size.

His front limbs are stronger than his hind, though he's not incapable of some limited bipedal movement, and his toes have slight webs for swimming and end in sharp, functional claws designed to rip, rend, and climb. Although he will have to rear back on his hind legs to throw anything or to lift something, it benefits him to stay on all fours because the skin of his belly is weaker and more vulnerable. A row of plate-like ridges spike along his back, accenting the slight hunch. His head has a broad "forehead" and four sets of eyes (eight total) on an angle down his face. His mouth is full of rows of sharp teeth and his jaw is strong for biting and destroying things. Short ridges fan out from his cheeks.

Extending an additional several feet behind him, he has a tail designed for balancing his movements and to aid in swimming. As the Breach was in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Kaiju had to be strong swimmers--hence the tail and webbing between toes.

The Kaiju are extremely durable and difficult to destroy (it took multiple nuclear weapons to take down a single Kaiju before the Jaegers were created to fight them) and so in this form Newt (in addition to his existing healing power) will be bullet resistant and blade resistant. The most effective weapons will be lasers or plasma weapons (as we see Gipsy Danger use a blade and a plasma gun on the Kaiju at Hong Kong). Strong blades and persistent shooting or brute force will also be capable of disabling him, especially if aimed at his soft underbelly. He is much stronger in this form, able to throw people or some vehicles, comparable to the Hulk.

Kaiju are also generally very toxic in canon. So that Newt can be effective and true to form without ridiculously dangerous, I'd like to keep the Kaiju blue toxic blood power as originally outlined, both in and out of the Kaiju form. His saliva would not be corrosive, nor toxic unless there is reason for blood to be in it and his claws and skin would NOT poison on contact. Basically so that he's not a walking environmental disaster, he's just toxic if he bleeds, and is otherwise an effective "tank." And since he's difficult to wound and heals...his blood would be less of an issue than when he's human anyway.

Transforming into the Kaiju would destroy his clothing and likely be painful as his body restructures to accommodate the change. However, Newt will still think like a human, not like a Kaiju. This is not like the Hulk or a werewolf. He will not lose himself except in the dysphoria of being physically not human. Mentally he is himself. His bond/Drift with Hermann is more pronounced in this state and for good reason: Kaiju biology does not allow for human speech. They will communicate telepathically and Hermann can choose to translate. Newt can still understand human speech and, if he is Hermann-less, he can try to pantomime. Otherwise he can only roar, etc. much to the usually chatty Newt's frustration. He would still be able to use the communicators telepathic connection, however, and could "voice" chat through that if so desired.

Healing/Regeneration -- not canon
Newt's recklessness makes him prone to being in dangerous situations. He's impulsive enough to go through with something he logically knows is dangerous just because the sudden impulse to do so presents itself. (It seemed like a good idea at the time!) Like experimenting with Kaiju drifting USING HIMSELF as the test subject. Why not. There's a war to be won and it'd be pretty cool if it works. Right?

As such, his third power will be regeneration in the same vein as (the X-Men's) Wolverine or the real amphibian axolotl (see: x x x). Axolotls are capable of regrowing entire limbs and even portions of the brain, heart, and spine. "If they’re paralyzed in the back they can recover the functions of their legs … They can make all new neurons and new connections that allow them to use their legs again."

Newt will be limited to a sped up version of axolotl's ability, not quite Wolverine's level (who seemingly survived a nuclear blast or something, wiki says? Wtf Logan). Wounds will close over and heal faster, limbs will gradually grow back over a few days (for an axolotl it would be a few weeks), a piece of brain or spine can be regenerated if he is still technically alive. It will be painful, but it is doable, and his body will recover in order of survival priority (bleeding clots and stops, tissue heals over wounds, essential organs first, limbs and other appendages last). If the entirety of his brain is damaged, his head is removed from his body, or if his heart destroyed or removed, that's it. Game over. Drowning will also be a danger. Regardless of the wound, he still experiences pain, so there's no incentive to be hurt.

If his arms/torso/etc are cut or forced to grow back, the regrown skin will be unmarked: no tattoos.



〈 CHARACTER SAMPLES 〉
COMMUNITY POST (VOICE) SAMPLE:

[The man who appears on the screen is grinning, obviously comfortable with his mobile device, holding it up at almost arm's length and slightly higher to give you a good view of his head, neck and shoulders. His green eyes sparkle with amusement from behind black thick-framed glasses, catching a glare in the overhead fluorescent lights of the supermarket. He's showing signs of five-o'clock shadow, and looks to be in his mid-thirties, despite the pitchy issues in his constantly strained voice.]

Oh! Wow! I haven't seen a real seafood counter in forever! [ He laughs as he switches to the back-facing camera and raises it to capture a computer-printed warning about the mercury content in seafood, immune to the fact that he's the only one who cares about anything he's filming.] Holy-- Mercury, that's cute. Remember when that was the biggest concern about fish, Hermann? Remember when we actually had fish in the sea?

[Okay, that was unfair. They still had marine life, just greatly reduced due to the toxicity of Kaiju blood in the waters. Newt stops at the lobster tank and his camera briefly shows him, then the lobster, zooming in close, peering down in the tank and around it, fascinated.] Hello, you.

You know, lobsters don't have brains? Their nervous system is pretty primitive. About 100,000 neurons--that's about as many as a fruit fly! ...Humans have over 100 billion neurons in their brains. These guys, they're American lobster, Homarus americanus--neat trivia for you: they're bilaterally symmetrical, which means if you managed to cut them perfectly down the middle, they're identical no matter which half you're looking at, right down to the organs. It's a pretty awesome trait, I think. For Earth animals, sea creatures have some of the best stuff. And insects. And reptiles and amphibians--you know some species of lizards do push-ups to signal to predators that they're physically fit? [He favors one lobster, for whatever reason.] I think I'm going to name him Ebirah.

[And he almost drops the phone into the tank. The picture jerks.]

Whoa, shit--

Ha. That was close.

Is this thing water proof? What's the warranty on this?

[As he rights the phone again, the video shuts off.]

LOGS POST (PROSE) SAMPLE:

Test drive thread with Hermann and Qubit

[ Newton is in a jittery daze when he steps out of the--whoa, uh, whatever the hell that is (ok, now they have his attention)--and, as he's ushered forward and out, tripping over himself and the guards as he tries to get a closer look (peering insistent through broken glasses, a tad shrill, scientific curiosity far too strong), he hears through the buzz of his Drift- and adrenaline-addled brain that he isn't in Hong Kong anymore, that he's somehow changed dimensions.

Wait, what?! Was it a second Breach? Inter-dimensional rebound? Time-space undertow resultant from the nuclear blast of Gipsy Danger self-destructing? He needs Hermann, or at least his brain and mouth, right now to bounce theories with. Pronto.

Hermann better be here, he was accepting no substitutes, this is so bizarre, this is so--

He's outside.

The woman in front of him is talking (she's American, by her accent) and Newt keeps thinking it sounds like the start to some bad science-fiction movie, so much so that he half expects Rod Serling any minute. He takes the folder and pamphlet, turning his wrist to look at the tattoo he can't see that lies somewhere beneath his colorfully tattooed skin, wondering when, where, and how it supposedly got there.

Ultimately, this would be really cool--how many people can say they've dimension hopped--but right now he's just stunned.

Newt adjusts his glasses, looking up at the skyline, shielding his eyes with the folder and squinting into the bright sun as he tries to get his bearings. He's in the way, stepping back, turning, bumping into people and ultimately into a trashcan that surprises him when it falls over in heap. ]

"Oh, shit, geez, sorry!"

[ The words tumble out as Newt goes down with the garbage can. From rock-star hero to this? Not his day, man. Not his day. ]

FINAL NOTES:
An afterthought about giving him the power to regenerate limbs and nerves:
I believe Hermann-mun has decided to follow through with the headcanon that Hermann's limp is due to early stages of MS (nothing yet produced conclusively explains Hermann's cane).
As his longtime colleague and recent Drift Partner, Newt would know Hermann's health issues. As a biologist and a curious scientist, it would intrigue him (and drive him) that he could put himself to use trying to USE HIMSELF to find a cure (or at least stave off the inevitable and prolong Hermann's life). It's part friendship, part proving himself smarter than Hermann, part boredom. Poison blood would obviously complicate matters, but complications and set-backs are fun OOCly. The goal would require lots of time, research, and testing and give him drive and reason to seek out someone that might have the scientific tools he would need. Actually succeeding at this would be cleared first with both Hermann-mun and the mods, if it ever came to fruition.

That said, the powers were not chosen for Hermann purposes, but because I think they'll be useful defensive powers, be fitting to the character/canon, and give him something to find curious about himself.