MichaelBuchanan
Overview
Michael Buchanan is a Solo, brawler and bodyguard from Pacifica. He escaped Sherman Disposal Center in 2076 after seven years inside. Back in Night City, he is keeping clear of his former Animals crew, looking for money and a way to replace the chrome stripped from him.
Appearance
Buchanan stands six foot five, with immense shoulders and a thick, heavyweight build. He has dark skin, green eyes, a slightly crooked nose and a strong, projecting jaw. His face is clean-shaven. Very short black hair is buzzed into a narrow near-mohawk. His left ear bears mild, permanent cauliflower damage.
Presence
His movements are slow and heavy, his manner rough and blunt. A habitual sneer settles on his full lips. Years on the streets have left him little interest in impressing anyone; seven years in prison made him colder and more patient.
Clothing
His usual clothes are a black, long-sleeved three-button Henley beneath a loose brown leather bomber with black lining. Relaxed sky-blue jeans give him room to move. Black leather combat boots lace above his ankles, with heavy soles and plenty of tread.
Pacifica
Born in Pacifica in 2034, Buchanan spent his childhood around a low-tier Animals crew. His mother ran with them. When he was nine, a rival boostergang left her bleeding out in a flooded parking structure, and his father was nowhere to be found. The Animals took him in and expected him to survive on their terms.
Paid Muscle
By sixteen, Buchanan was big, mean and quick with his fists. He sold muscle around Pacifica and worked for the Animals: bodyguard jobs, debt collection, pimping and pit fights in the old resorts. Underground prize fights brought better money. As the earnings grew, he and others in the gang grew careless and took riskier jobs.
The Hijacking
In 2069, his crew tried to hijack a Texas-bound Militech AV. It crashed, killing two gang members. Too injured to resist the police, Buchanan was captured, stripped of his chrome and sent to Sherman Disposal Center, a sprawling, for-profit prison that treated inmates like industrial waste.
Sherman
For seven years, Buchanan fought in the yard and the showers, for food, space and survival. He learned to be harder, meaner and more patient than the men around him. During one week when the food airdrop failed to arrive, he resorted to cannibalism. Prison left him colder than the ganger who had entered it.
The Escape
In 2076, a riot gave him his chance. A compromised maintenance tunnel and a poorly watched prisoner transport offered a way out. Buchanan escaped, leaving three more bodies behind.
Back in Night City
He returned to Night City to disappear. For now, he avoids the Animals, expecting the NCPD to watch his old crew for any sign of him. He needs to stay free, make eddies and get his chrome back. He hopes he has learned enough to avoid being caught the same way again.
