Ebi

Background
A shrimp in the animal kingdom is a creature that is a part of a very diverse family of aquatic life, and they come come in a whole variety of shapes, colours, and forms. Life is tough for a vast majority of shrimp, with some being completely defenseless save for in numbers, they can only get their food by scavenging in shallow waters. There are, however, some other types of shrimp that can more than defend themselves efficiently and have even developed highly unique tools in order to hunt for food. Examples of this would be the vividly coloured Mantis Shrimp or the small yet deadly Pistol Shrimp. Yet despite this diversity, one thing is often on the mind of other creatures when shrimp are about: Dinner.

All over the world, shrimp are enjoyed as part of a healthy meal for any creature. Be it mammals, birds, fish, and even other crustaceans; this means that in order to live a long life as a shrimp would require being a cut above the rest. Some shrimp adapt their weaknesses by forming symbiotic relationships with other sea creatures like other shrimps or fish. Some blind pistol shrimps burrow and maintain holes for itself and another fish to live while the other fish keeps an eye out for food. Other shrimp work to clean parasites off of other creatures such as sea anemone in return for a protected home.

Regardless of how a creature might view a shrimp as lunch, they are a very important part of the ecosystem acting as readily available food or diligent partners in a pyramid scheme of survival.

All of the above can be considered for Ebi the Shrimp Youkai was born as a concept of all shrimp in the world. Be it the shrimp who tastes nice on a plate, or the shrimp that evolve supernatural defense mechanisms, or the shrimp who work as part of a fishy community. She simply appeared on day in the Misty Lake, hiding in a hole at the shallow side of the water. Emerging from the hole, she found herself in a rather secluded lake that didn't have very many other types of fish that she might associate with. There was not an anemone in sight, no sea cucumber to sit on top of, there wasn't even a goby fish she could call her spotter.

Ebi felt confused at first, but immediately concluded that she must be a defensive and highly territorial Mantis Shrimp; she was even born inside a burrow! Taking this in pride, she dug down deeper and waited for some food to come by. Yet despite many opportunities presenting themselves, she didn't feel right trying to kill another sea creature. Ebi rose from her burrow and inspected her tail, it might provide her with a clue, but it lead her no-where. Her tail was very average looking and could have been the tail of many types of shrimps. Sighing deeply, she looked for answers among the depths of the lake. At first she tried to communicate with a school of fish, but they were more concerned with trying to peck apart some food. She found a crab scuttling across the sand and was only met with hostility when she approached it. It wouldn't be until Ebi was pecked at by a larger fish would she discover that she still wielded the unmatched strength of a Mantis Shrimp, defending herself against a would-be predator looking for a delicious looking meal (quite violently, it is worth adding.)

In the end, Ebi decided that she was who she was; a unique shrimp. It wouldn't be until she broke the surface of the lake for the first time that she would discover how truly unique she was. Looking down at her reflection in the surface of the water, she discovered that she was half shrimp, half human. A shrimp youkai.

This wouldn't be the end of Ebi's journey, she still had a lot to learn. It quickly became apparent that lots of predators saw her as nothing more than a delicious morsel of food; and that often saw Ebi having to run away from predators, hiding under rocks or in tight crevices. It wouldn't be until her first run-in with a human fisherman that she would discover an incredible strength she had.

Fishing hooks weren't uncommon in the Misty Lake, and often they were covered in different kinds of bait that would attract fish of all kinds to get a free meal. But this wasn't the only kind of bait, in fact Ebi found herself discussing this with another shrimp who was floating near the surface of the water. They didn't talk much but they were great at listening. When Ebi went to grab the hand of her new shrimp friend to pull them out of the way of an oncoming predator, she found herself yanked upwards very rapidly, soon breaking the surface of the water.

Ebi found herself face to face with the most bizarre and plain looking fish she'd ever seen. They had no fins, no gills, and were completely dry. This fish, of course, was none other than a human; and they were very overjoyed to have caught a huge shrimp. This joy didn't last long however as Ebi was less than pleased to have been deceived, which she expressed by breaking the fisherman's jaw with a swift mantis-punch.

She didn't anticipate her attack to do so much damage, which gave her a new sense of strength which quickly lead to Ebi asserting her shrimpy dominance against any and all predators who tried to eat her.

Personality
Ebi is a sweet and friendly shrimp, she often makes friends with all sorts of water-life, opting to help them out with day to day life. Some would call it a symbiotic relationship, but this shrimp says that she's only doing her part for the community. She doesn't normally pray on other creatures and in fact prefers to eat similarly to humans, meaning that she won't attack someone or something with the intent on eating it.

In fact, the only reason she can be considered dangerous is because of others severely underestimating what some shrimp are capable of, often leaving people looking for a delicious meal wishing they had just gone for the vegetarian option.

Other members of the fish community have described her as being very neighbourly, the kind of person you could borrow a cup-full of sand from without needing to give her anything in return.

This doesn't mean, however, that Ebi can't have her buttons pushed. Having spent her entire life looking like a delicious piece of food, she has grown to hate people who would try to eat her, often to the point of her doing some permanent damage to anyone who tries.

Power/Combat
The shrimp youkai, Ebi, might look small, tasty, and friendly; however that kind of attitude will easily result in some notable injuries.

She borrows many of the supernatural abilities of other lesser specie of shrimp, such as the snapping claw of a pistol shrimp or the relentless hammer arm of a mantis shrimp.

Ebi is more than capable of taking care of herself and others despite her small size. She can close her hands very quickly to generate sonic booms from a distance that can yield different effects depending on if shes in water or not. They generally have the same end result, though, and that is being hit by a fast moving sound that can reach deadly levels of decibels.

The youkai shrimp is also capable of reeling back its arms and snapping them forward similarly to how the mantis shrimp swings its hammer like appendages, this punch is considered the strongest punch in the animal kingdom and for normal shrimp, is very capable of tearing off limbs with its sheer force. For a youkai shrimp, it yields the same effect but at a much more powerful level.

The muscular tail of this shrimp can propel her forward at great speeds to either dash in on pray or escape from trouble. Even on land it can allow Ebi to launch herself a considerable distance through the air, almost like a speeding bullet.

Overall, this shrimp is very powerful for its size and can easily put someone in their place should the underestimate it; and a vast majority of people severely underestimate what damage a youkai shrimp is capable off enacting.

Major

 * Wakasagihime: The mermaid who also lives in the Misty Lake, Ebi and Wakasagihime are on friendly terms with one another, especially considering they're both water-youkai.

Trivia

 * Mathematically, the youkai shrimp can be estimated to be at least 10x stronger than any other shrimp. This also means its 10x tastier.


 * Ebi is capable of surviving on land, although it isn't ideal.


 * Despite being in water almost all the time, Ebi is able to leave the Misty Lake if she so desired. She can swim down to the human village via its canal, or she can scale the river up the youkai mountain. Other times she can just ask someone to carry her places in a cup of water.


 * Quite ironically, Ebi is a fan of relaxing in bowls of ramen. While it might make her look like a part of a delicious meal, to her it's a relaxing spa with a some udon noodles and naruto cakes to snack on.


 * Ebi doesn't own any clothes, but that is never a problem for her. A strip of seaweed is more than enough for her.