Ira Teige

Ira Teige (Formerly Johnson), born Ira Riiji Koga, is a main character and EO in the Toska series. His powers revolve around puppetry and ventriloquism.

Appearance
Ira is a dangerously thin, lanky man in his early thirties. He is about 6'1" and weighs around 120 pounds. He has a few scars littering his body thanks to his ability to make enemies easily. The only notable one is a large, circular mass of scar tissue on the back of his neck from his time at EON. He generally keeps it covered by keeping his hair long in the back. Following the events of Toska Ira was given a new body free of scars. He has since been accumulating numerous marks as he continues to throw himself body and all into protecting his new family from EON while accumulating new EO contacts worldwide.

He has black hair and red eyes with vague Japanese characteristics, though he primarily appears to be white. He has a thick Irish accent despite spending much of his life in America. His skin is cold and clammy to the touch, and his body temperature registers in the lower 70's.

Personality
"'--I can move more. I could break you. I could pin you down. I could hollow you out and make it so yer nothing more than a puppet....Tho why I'd do any of that, well, who would. Who would bother?'""'Only some kind'a monster would, right?' --Ira Johnson"Ira could generally be considered a sociopath. Although he has been known to show care for individuals-- such as for his wife and childhood friend Elizabeth, his adoptive daughters, or even the few individuals he can call friends-- he generally views most people as little more than puppets. His detachment from people is exacerbated by the constant noise in his head due to his powers. He suffers from a general hatred for mankind as a result, diving deep into himself so that he can disassociate and maintain some semblance of sanity.

On the surface, however, Ira is a personable and even charming individual. He prefers to crack jokes and remain vague when speaking, largely due to the multitude of conversations going on inside his head. Though he can be violent and cunning, he prefers to maintain the image of a bumbling, wimpy jester. He will usually rely on others to perform acts of violence for him as a result, opting to not get his hands dirty when he can avoid it.

Ira strongly dislikes alcohol and drugs, and will fake imbibing to keep up an image when necessary. Though he used to enjoy toying with people he always found addicts boring-- though he does have a habit of picking up stray drunks and taking them under his wing when they prove interesting or useful.

Birth
Ira's mother, Moira Brennan, first met his biological Japanese father when she was 15 and living in Ireland. She had Ira by the time she was 16 and was married to his biological father for five years until he abandoned them to return to his home country. Sure he had left for America, Moira moved her and her son a year later to New York City in search of him. She met Rory Johnson, a wealthy construction company owner and high ranking member of the Kelleher Gang. They were married and Ira was formerly adopted by the time he was eight after a move to Merit.

Rory was eventually the fall man for a big scheme gone wrong, landing him in jail and the family destitute. Moira, with no former education or skills, took to prostitution which in turn caused her drinking problem to spiral. Ira learned to fend for himself, earning pocket money on the streets by performing ventriloquism. His mother's frequent arrests as he grew even introduced him to Elizabeth Watson and her father, Officer Frank Watson. Elizabeth became the only friend Ira had, and the two were inseparable despite Mrs. Watson's protests.

Death
Following a particularly successful day busking a ten year old Ira was mugged by a group of men. Beaten, robbed, and tossed into the river he all but drowned--a passerby leaping in to save him at the last moment. He was revived but came back changed. Thanks to his fairly obvious tells, Ira was identified as an EO shortly after his death and was taken into EON custody for their budding School program. Trained with the intention of being a pawn of the organization, Ira spent nearly two years inside EON. He befriended two other EO children in the program, Sigrid Jansen and Yuki Nichirin. He also developed a relationship with his cell-neighbor, the immortal Eli Ever. Following a prison break involving Eli Ever and a rival, the three friends escaped with Eli swearing to hunt them down. Each went their own way, planning to keep up the ruse of being dead so they could live their lives in relative freedom.

Ira stayed with a psychiatrist by the name of Moibrooke who had inadvertently become his first true puppet. He remained in hiding for a few years, lamenting his lost childhood and fueling an intense hatred for mankind. Eventually, in a moment of loneliness, he sought out Elizabeth and was discovered by her. The two were reunited and, despite Ira's troubles with his powers, they managed to find some sort of love for one another. They had a few happy years of playing with his limits, ending with the accidental death of Elizabeth's mother by his hands. Elizabeth swore revenge and Ira fled to New York City, sure he would never see the only person he truly cared for again.

Ira was out of options and sick of hiding, so he decided to start using his powers to accumulate power for himself. After her gained confidence, a visit to Rory at the prison landed him in with the Kelleher's, and he returned to Merit and poured himself into lurking about the city for them. Yet he was still an outsider to them, and found it difficult to fit in. His fury only grew as time wore on, causing him to develop a peculiar god-complex. He wanted revenge badly. And up until the events of Toska, Ira had been planning his very carefully. He infiltrated every corner of the city, leaving only just enough clues for the one man he wanted to puppet most-- Eli Ever.

Toska
Ira was a main character of Toska, often weaving the fates of characters together when he wasn't outright pushing for some kind of civil war between EOs and EON.

The Zoo Bombing
Though he was in the city for the events of the Zoo Bombing done by Jaylon Cox, he was not actively involved nor did he make any appearances during this event. Though he did later break out victims of the bombing from Merit General Hospital while breaking his partner in crime, Aria, out of the psychiatric ward before EON captured her. He was shot by Agent John, though the death was reversed by Aria using her newly acquired powers. Ira subsequently killed Agent John following a standoff using his powers, unknowingly turning the man into an EO. The girls were taken to a safehouse, where they proceeded to abuse the gang-policy of take what you need at the shop downstairs.

The Grand Re-Opening
During Jackson's Club's re-opening, Ira made an appearance once he learned Eli Ever was present in the hopes of finally using his powers on the immortal. Ira was killed again when Eli shot him, but was again revived by the use of Aria's powers. Ira was able to "string" Eli, but interference from Jackson resulted in both Eli and Ira suffering massive soul damage. Jackson split Ira's soul-string into slivers while Eli was unable to regenerate his missing soul-piece, but survived thanks to his immortality. Both Eli and Ira fled as the bar descended into chaos.

Bowling and Gang Shit
After tracking down Ira, Jackson and Ash proceeded to torture him for information. Already weak, he told them what he could regarding Eli and EON. A strained truce was struck, with Jackson maintaining his grip on Eli and Ira's souls should things get out of hand. John was brought on in hopes that the small band of EOs, as was Aria. During a meeting turned bowling match it was discovered Ira was dying.

Due to the actions of Aria and Ash at the safehouse, the Kelleher's beat the man in retaliation. With a sliver of soul missing from his already weak body, he was left broken and bruised inside an old construction site. The unlikely band, along with a stalking group following them composed of Aaron, Ron, and Jack, were able to find and recover the Irishman. Much to their surprise, he requested to be brought to Eli. The two had their final physical stand-off, with Ira loosening his soul before he died-- taking over Eli's body for good.

Ira's body was subsequently burned by John after he blew up their car. This has widely been regarded as "a bad move."

The newly formed Elira made their way to John's house for revenge, hiding out there with broken powers. Vi is eventually called after Ira helps Jaylon escape EON, and Ira's powers are restored. Jaylon lies to Vi and claims that Ira's name is Colin, which leads to the Colin Saga. He and Elizabeth are reunited and eventually mend their relationship. John finally turns him into EON and Ira is taken into custody as Eli Ever.

The Break-Out
Ira had planned to be inside EON all along and slowly builds a network of strings as he plans his hostile internal takeover. His plans are foiled as EON realizes he's in fact Ira. His previous escapee pal Yuki is also captured. The two hatch a plan to escape, roping in outside help from Richter Strauss, Jackson, and several other EOs from the Kelleher Gang. A group of EO Children in the School are also aided in escape by Ira.

All save for Ira, Jackson, Strauss, and Teagan survive. John severely injures Jackson, and shoots Strauss in the knees. Teagan is turned into a puppet, and the group limp back to hide out in Merit. They eventually take refuge in a NeoYaku mansion owned by Yuki's family. Ira suffers grave injuries during the transition to the new hideout, and is forced to seclude himself as Eli threatens to take control of their shared form. The two become increasingly tangled, causing Ira to hallucinate Eli's voice more and more. Ira is left broken and defeated from his failures and begins to reconsider his methods.

The Second Break-Out
Following the jailbreak, Agent John and EON round up every EO they can think of. Ira is recruited as a favor to break out Jack, Aaron, and subsequently Ron when it is revealed he's been captured as well. Jaylon and him nearly die and Ira loses his Teagan puppet. Jack and Aaron do perish but are revived by Jay-Syd. Ira uses these successes to come up with a new plan of action. He moves everyone to New York with the help of Aria.

New York City
Aria sets up a few apartments to hide out in while the gang licks their wounds. Ira and Yuki manage to locate their old Schoolmate Sigrid with the help of Jaylon and an army is assembled. Vi by now has proven she cannot be trusted, so Ira disposes of her after assuring Jaylon gets her powers. Vi dies alone in EON as Ira finally leaves her mind. The EO children under her care fall to Vet and him, though he eventually comes to terms with that.

He turns his attention to Jamie and Strauss, who require his aid in handling yet another hostage situation. Jamie betrays them twice and flees to Australia. Strauss and Ira form an alliance and agree to go after EON together with Jaylon and two new additions-- Cara and Leon. Ira also helps Candice Emory and Giselle Bowers survive a firebombing incident with an Agent.

The End of EON
Following a showdown with John in Times Square that ended with the Agent blowing himself up, Ira and his band turned their sight to Merit's EON headquarters. Yuki, Sig, Cara, Jaylon, Ira, Leon, and Richter storm the facility ending with the military detonating a small nuclear device and sinking the island and the facility altogether. All manage to survive thankfully. EON's chapter ends and Ira gets his old body back, spending the rest of his days raising his adoptive children and touring the world with Elizabeth.

Twoska
Ira married his childhood friend and longtime sweetheart Elizabeth "Vet" Watson seven years after Toska, changing his name from Johnson to an agreed family name of Teige. Together with his two adoptive daughters, Penny and Olivia Teige, they travel the world, remaining in hiding as Ira stamps out any traces of EON he can find along he way. After several encounters he earns the ire of REPO (European EON) and an assassin with a personal vendetta is dispatched against him and his family. Immediately prior to the start of Twoska he and his wife are captured, tortured, and murdered.

Also during the ten year period Ira remained in control of Eli, using his body in the evenings as a means to continue his efforts against eliminating EON and building up his contact list of EOs. Following the death of his body he was able to transfer his soul into Eli, but in his grief he came undone and lost his grip. Any trace of Ira left is now a fragment of a fragment, lost inside Eli's soul forever, granting the immortal control again after ten long years of being imprisoned in his own body.

Powers and Abilities

 * Ventriloquism: Ira is capable of throwing his voice and imitating most male voices with general success.
 * Puppetry: Using his soul as a thin strand connecting him and his victim, Ira is able to latch on from a short distance and burrow into the soul another. This string weaves itself into the victim's soul like a marionette string, moving them with however much pain Ira feels compelled to allow them feel. He must believe the person he is targeting to be truly be a puppet, otherwise the string will reject. How much of a "puppet" the person becomes is also dependent on Ira. Total puppetification involves a complete consumption of the soul by Ira himself. Usually this creates a residual voice that lingers anywhere from forever to until the body expires. Partial allows him to communicate telepathically and perform limited body manipulation. Constant or elongated use of manipulation while in this partial state will result in an eventual total puppetification regardless of his intentions.
 * Feelers: The first form of Ira's powers. Small spiritual bumps and strings litter his soul, allowing him to brush up against people and gain a brief insight into their head, as well as temporary and limited manipulation the longer contact is maintained. Can be used in his weakest of states.
 * Physical Strings: A physical manifestation of the red-tinged fishing-wire like strings that make up Ira's soul. Can generally be used as a whip or in some cases small, thin instruments. Causes extreme bodily stress when used outside the Elira form.