Post by mugenginga on Mar 17, 2010 2:02:58 GMT -5
Full Name: Shinku, Fifth Doll of Rozen Maiden
Nicknames: N/A
Age (Mental): Late Teens/Young Adult
Age (Actual): ~100 years (probably a bit older)
Height: ~61 cm/~2" (very roughly)
Weight: ? (light, average for a well made doll of her height)
Gender: Female (and she'll be insulted if you insist otherwise)
Race: Living Doll
Alliance: Neutral
Franchise: Rozen Maiden
Physical Description
Shinku appears at her most basic level to be a young woman anywhere from her late teens to mid twenties. Her skin is pale, and is what you might expect to see on a china doll created to give the illusion of flesh tone. She possesses a moderate amount of "uncanny valley", but her apparent life is enough to push it aside for most people.
This effect is created by three things. To start with, her height. She is the size of a large collector's doll, but looks almost completely human. She can be lifted up and carried, she can move and talk, and for all purposes is human... only she is very roughly two feet tall.
Her skin is the next interesting effect. Even when she is unwound (see Abilities/Powers) it has lifelike give to it, much like some of the more realistic baby dolls. It is uncanny valley because it never sweats, can blush, possesses a normal human level of warmth when wound (and doesn't seem to get "cold" when not), and is eerily flawless. It becomes far worse if you were to expose her joints. She is a ball-jointed doll, and that appearance coupled with her seeming humanity unsettles many people.
The final effect is created by her cloudy blue eyes. They reflect light in a natural manner, but the round pupils are a dark shade of the blue the rest of her eye is rather than the usual black. The most unsettling part, and it can take time to notice, is the pupils never change size. That is because they are, at the end of the day, glass balls positioned within a doll's head.
Shinku keeps her very long blond hair tied into two ponytails. The ponytails seem a bit thin but it is a bit of an illusion created by the almost corkscrew like way they begin to twirl about 2/3 of the way down. Her bangs are fairly loose, but most of her hair is pulled back. Two long pieces of hair fall down in front of her ears, coming out from being slightly pinned by the bonnet. They reach just past halfway down her body, and have a slight corkscrew effect the way her pigtails do. the Pigtails are kept tied with long black satin ribbons. The knots are small and the loops are large, with a fair bit of excess ribbon for bow tails.
Shinku's outfit consists of two major layers, and overall has a very Lolita feel to it. The lower layer consists of a white satin slip and puffy pants with the cuffs hugging her legs before billowing around. Her shoes are polished black of the high quality material you might expect expensive dress shoes to wear. They have moderately high heels and create a muted tapping noise when she runs across a hard surface. They are tied on with satin ribbons that come up from the side. They are tied into bows that rest on the outside ankle of either foot. On the top of the shoe is a large pink satin rose.
Her main outfit consists of a high quality crimson velvet Lolita dress of simple design. The top has a shawl piece built on, and it buttons with tiny red buttons. At the base of her back is a large bow of a slightly darker shade of crimson. The bowtails are somewhat short, they don't drag in the least. The dress hugs her wrists before billowing out a bit. At all the dress ends except the collar is black lace, but it tends not to show and functions more as lining.
Shinku wears a bonnet of the same material and color as her dress. It is tied on with a green satin ribbon that goes over roughly the center top of her head. The ribbon is very long, plenty long to tie a large bow under her chin. The bow tails extend about halfway down her chest. Centered over the knot area of her bow is a pink satin rose of the exact proper size to hide it. The bow hides the buttons of her shawl piece. The satin ribbon is built into the bonnet, and the parts directly over her ears both have a pink satin rose positioned over them.
Weapons
Shinku is able to manifest a pink cane. The tips are stopped with what looks like gold or bronze stoppers. She uses the cane much like a sword, but is also good with using it to reach things. The cane seems related to her powers as a Rozen Maiden, as she doesn't keep it anywhere, manifesting it from a sort of "magical" hammerspace the same way the other Maidens manifest any weapons they might possess.
Her "artificial spirit", a faerie-like guardian spirit that grants access to most of a Maiden's powers, can also be called a weapon. Holly is a red glowing light much like Tinkerbell is often depicted. She is very physical and can be used to aid in a fight, pushing people around or functioning as a distraction. Holly as an innate understanding of how Shinku "works" and can also function as a second set of eyes and ears.
She possesses a suitcase like box. While not usually considered a weapon, it is of very large importance to a Rozen Maiden. It is of extremely high quality leather the like of which is rarely seen. Certainly not something that could be mass produced. The box is quite tall.
The corners are bordered in artistically tarnished gold with ornate working. The handle is attached with a strong hinge of the same kind of metal. The box lid is smaller than the base and is locked with the same gold as appears on the rest of the box. At the top center is an ornately sculpted tarnished gold rose with a sword like "arrow" extending from four the top, bottom, and both sides. The inside of the box is lined in extremely high quality white silk with padding beneath, like one might see in a top quality coffin.
Abilities/Powers
Shinku is a living doll. That alone is a power that many consider makes her other powers pale in comparison. However, she was granted the ability of battle as part of her "father's" quest to find the perfect girl (see History). The life of a Rozen Maiden, the "soul", is generally a power Rozen dubbed as the Rosa Mystica. While it doesn't appear to be completely necessary for the life of a Maiden, the one exception that exists is hard to define (see History).
Her battle powers are centered around roses, even more so than most of the other Maidens. She can fire rose petals from her hands via magic. They can be used as blades, be used to form a pink energy shield, create an energy shield on their own, be turned to create sharp blades, and just about any other creative use she can think of for battle. The most common use is to simply summon a flurry of them and fire them at her opponent.
She is able to use her power to restore things that have been broken or damaged. How it is done is unclear and she certainly finds no reason to inform people, but the theory of a few who have seen it is a sort of limited time reversal magic. It requires almost no energy. She is also able to use reflective surfaces to enter the "N Field", an altered mirror space that tends to reflect the heart of its "creator". She also seems capable of a form of flight when it becomes necessary, as a lot of her aerial stunts are hard to pass off as simple powered jumps.
However, not a power one of hers can be accessed if she is not "wound". The extended "sleep" of the Maidens is spent between windings, and the windings can happen any number of ways. When the box is opened, which can only be opened under specific circumstances even the Maidens can only make educated guesses at, the sleeping form of the Maiden enclosed can be found. Next to her is an ornate tarnished gold winding key with rose detailing. The Maidens are awakened by being wound, and they can wind down into a sleep.
Shinku, and all the Maidens, can only use a fraction of their power under normal circumstances. She must have a Medium to access the full potential of her powers. Not only that, but the bond a Maiden has with their Medium seems capable of increasing their power, and some people seem more able to serve as a Medium than others. A Medium allows a Maiden to use the life force of said Medium to boost their attacks. A Rozen Maiden without a Medium has little to no chance to beat one with one.
The method of forming a contract with a Maiden consists of kissing the rose ring that the Maidens can manifest upon their left ring finger for the contract. The ring is not always visibly present, only there during the making (and releasing) of contracts. The Medium manifests a permanent ring upon their own left ring finger and it can not be removed unless the Maiden terminates the contract. The ring itself is rough silver with an artistically tarnished gold rose sculpted onto the top center. It grows hot when the Medium's power is called upon and serves as a solid link between Medium and Maiden. If a Maiden uses too much power, the drain of life force can kill the Medium.
Skills
Shinku is able to be fluent in whatever language of the person who has wound her. The two languages she knows best are German (her home country) and Japanese, and she can read both as well as she can speak them. She knows French and probably more than a few other languages as well.
She is an extremely agile fighter. She once jumped atop a large projectile and used it as a way to reach her opponent more quickly. She is able to use her cane as a sword/shield to an expert level. She also possesses all the domestic skills a noble lady might be expected to have. This includes things like etiquette, knowledge of tea and the making of, and things as such. Her ability to use aspects of a fight to her advantage likely also qualifies.
Personality
Shinku seems a bit cool, sometimes downright cold, to many people the first time they meet her. She seems to possess trouble becoming close to people. She sometimes seems more than a little cruel to those she is around, but she has the personality that causes her to be more abrasive to people the more she cares about them. She is far gentler then she lets on, but she carries guilt over some of her actions in the past.
She doesn't like to hurt others, but she isn't the type to sit back and let herself be attacked. She is pretty fierce when it comes to protecting those she cares about. She possesses a fair amount of snark, but is not easily angered. She seems to many like she could face death in the face, but she does hesitate, especially if someone she cares about tries to stop her.
She seems freakishly calm and collected much of the time, but despite all this exterior and insistence upon being ladylike, she has a "cute" side as well. She appreciates grand gestures despite the fact she'll probably criticize you for being lazy. She has a bit of a childish crush on "Kun-Kun", a puppet dog detective on a show she and her sisters are a huge fan of.
History
A little over a century ago, a German man known simple as Rozen sought to create "Alice", the earthly incarnation of the perfect girl. Somehow or another, he came upon a way to give life to his creations. He abandoned his first attempt before finishing her design for some reason, but still called the next doll as the Second Doll of Rozen Maiden. She fell short, so he created another, and then another. The fourth doll he completed was the one he could come to name "Cinq", the French word for five, although the pronunciation and alternate meaning of the name in Japanese caused her to take upon the title Shinku.
For a reason only Rozen (and another figure, keep reading) knows, he caused his Maidens to lose their memories of the short time they spent in that early life of him and each other. They would only remember one thing: Rozen's search for Alice and the Doll to win the "Alice Game" would be able to become her.
Shinku went through several owners, several Mediums, in her life. So did the other Maidens. A few people freaked over the living doll and sealed her away almost immediately. During these many times of being awake, she met and even battled with the other Maidens in an attempt to fulfill their Father's quest for Alice. It was during one life around the time of World War II (just before or in the early days) that her attitude took a sharp change.
She was using a girl named Sara as a Medium at the time. One night she met a broken (physically and emotionally) doll. The doll claimed to be Mercury Lampe (she would take the name Suigintou in Japan), and even more surprisingly, the never met First Doll of Rozen Maiden. She was shocked by the Doll's condition and decided to try and help her. Suigintou loved Shinku with all her heart, calling her a kind, wonderful, and caring person for the help in even the most basic living skills Shinku gave her older sister.
However, Shinku had already met Lapis Lazuri Stern (Souseiseki) and Jade Stern (Suiseiseki). The former seemed intent on fighting the Alice Game and Shinku had obliged her. Souseiseki set a date to fight with Shinku, and the Fifth Doll complied one night. She released Sara from her contract and headed to the N Field. What she didn't realize was that Suigintou had followed her. She came out as Souseiseki and Shinku were about to fight and learned of the Alice Game. Souseiseki attacked her by cutting through her midsection.
Due to being an incomplete doll, the cut went clean through, causing Suigintou to collapse into her two pieces. The move was enough to "destroy" her, or make her soul lost, and she melted out of the N Field. Shinku showed immense pity and bitter anger. Had she not followed, she could have spent a happy life as Sara's doll. She expressed her sadness with anger towards Suigintou. Without a Rosa Mystica, she could not be a true Rozen Maiden.
Shinku met Suigintou shortly thereafter in the latter's own N Field. She was surprised Suigintou was alive, and even more surprised when the Doll presented her own Rozen Mystica. She claimed Father had given it to her when she was about to be lost. A misunderstanding then occurred between Shinku and Suigintou, and it caused a heated encounter. It ended when Suigintou snatched a brooch off Shinku's bow. It was a gift from Rozen that Suigintou destroyed in front of Shinku out of spite. Shinku was about to attack (and likely "kill") Suigintou when a tall white rabbit the Maidens knew as Laplace's Demon appeared and ordered Shinku that this era of the Alice Game was over.
Shinku was passed around a few more times before Holly managed to contact a hikikomori (shut-in) named Jun Sakurada. The boy had a fascination with the occult, and when he received a mysterious letter asking him to wind or not wind, he chose wound and followed the directions on the letter. He wound Shinku when her box mysteriously appeared in her room. It was moments after a startled introduction that an animated clown doll showed up.
She informed Jun that he would die. When he freaked after the clown threw a few cards with enough skill and force to cut into his shirt, Shinku told him he could be saved if he made a contract with her. After a few more threats from the clown Jun finally conceded, kissing Shinku's ring when prompted and giving her the power as a Medium. She then saved his life.
Over the next month or two, Jun would meet four of the other dolls. Suigintou, Hinaichigo, Souseiseki, and Suiseiseki. Due to Shinku's actions, Hinaichigo her servant and received power from Jun through Shinku. Eventually Jun helped Shinku face down Suigintou in his "dream", a world accessible by Suiseiseki and Souseiseki via their powers. Shinku vanished and he woke from his dream, convinced the Dolls were gone when he saw the ring missing from his finger, but cured of his hikikomori status due to his growth "as a human". He returned from a walk to find them causing trouble once again in his room, and Shinku who seemed grateful for all of two minutes before returning to her old ways.
It wasn't long before the nightmares of what she had done to Suigintou began to haunt Shinku. Jun accompanied her to Suigintou's world within the N Field, which Shinku took as proof Suigintou was alive. There they ran into Laplace's Demon, who taunted them with riddles. They chased in the direction the entity indicated and ran into a violet crystal controlling Doll. She claimed to be the Seventh Doll of Rozen Maiden, Barasuishou. The Doll would have killed Shinku (and Jun), but a portal appeared beneath them thanks to Laplace's Demon and they were allowed to leave.
Jun helped Shinku as much as he could, but the manipulative actions of Laplace's Demon and Barasuishou lead to dissension among the Maidens. During this time the last Doll appeared, Kanaria, and Suigintou was proven to be alive. Eventually Laplace's Demon forced the Alice Game to begin, much to Shinku's objection and Jun's adamance that it not occur. Souseiseki had her Rosa Mystica taken by Suigintou, and Hinaichigo lost her power to move due to a Rosa Mystica having been taken.
Barasuishou and Laplace's Demon eventually manipulated the Dolls into a doll shop that Jun had visited many times. There they met a man who went by Enju they assumed to be Rozen. Barasuishou called him Father and he possessed the same messy blond hair that existed in the other Dolls' memories of the man. At his command the Dolls went to a special N Field Laplace's Demon had set up for the Alice Game. One by one the Maidens fell until only Shinku and Barasuishou remained.
Shinku had the chance to kill Barasuishou, but Jun stopped her. It was not the end, as Barasuishou then used one of the crystals in her hair to stab Shinku through. She took Shinku's Rosa Mystica, now possessing all the souls of the Maidens... or so Jun thought. Barasuishou went to Enju and proclaimed that she had done it, and Enju basically said that his doll had surpassed Rozen's. Jun realized that the man had done little more than manipulate the Dolls into killing each other, and was too shocked over Shinku's "death" to do much. However, the Rosa Mystica rebelled against Barasuishou and she broke apart, while Enju vanished into light.
Laplace's Demon made another of his enigmatic comments before vanishing. The Rosa Mystica flew off, but Shinku remained still. He ran over to her and shouted with anguish fury to Rozen. If he was really watching, if he was observing, he needed to say something to his Dolls. Jun heard a voice within his head and the next thing he knew, Shinku was sleeping in a chair within the N Field. He walked over to her and caressed her face, waking her up. She told him that Father had said that the Alice Game was not the only way to become Alice.
Jun told her he had heard him too. Shinku told him the Dolls killed by Barasuishou would return to normal. He noted how she worded it and she said that Hinaichigo and Souseiseki would not return, and they would be her burden to bear. She said that Father had told her they could be saved, but it was a puzzle she would have to figure out herself. She and Jun left the N Field together to where they knew the Dolls would be waiting, and life settled back into something somewhat normal.
There was nothing special to happen next, about a week or so after the events with Barasuishou. Shinku would find her box being opened in somewhere quite simply not Jun's bedroom and the link she bears with him as a Medium weak to the point of almost being broken... and no explanation why.
Other
Shinku uses anime canon, but my ideas for her plot will likely at least reference manga canon. All the anime is used as canon, including the Ourveture OVA giving Suigintou's backstory. The wank with the names is my explanation for German dolls with Japanese names. A bit of fanon is mixed in here and there.
Pictures
Shinku: i747.photobucket.com/albums/xx112/mugenginga/Shinku.jpg
Shinku's Box: img294.imageshack.us/img294/9643/whatsintheboxat3.jpg
The Ring ("real" version): i747.photobucket.com/albums/xx112/mugenginga/rozenring.jpg
Nicknames: N/A
Age (Mental): Late Teens/Young Adult
Age (Actual): ~100 years (probably a bit older)
Height: ~61 cm/~2" (very roughly)
Weight: ? (light, average for a well made doll of her height)
Gender: Female (and she'll be insulted if you insist otherwise)
Race: Living Doll
Alliance: Neutral
Franchise: Rozen Maiden
Physical Description
Shinku appears at her most basic level to be a young woman anywhere from her late teens to mid twenties. Her skin is pale, and is what you might expect to see on a china doll created to give the illusion of flesh tone. She possesses a moderate amount of "uncanny valley", but her apparent life is enough to push it aside for most people.
This effect is created by three things. To start with, her height. She is the size of a large collector's doll, but looks almost completely human. She can be lifted up and carried, she can move and talk, and for all purposes is human... only she is very roughly two feet tall.
Her skin is the next interesting effect. Even when she is unwound (see Abilities/Powers) it has lifelike give to it, much like some of the more realistic baby dolls. It is uncanny valley because it never sweats, can blush, possesses a normal human level of warmth when wound (and doesn't seem to get "cold" when not), and is eerily flawless. It becomes far worse if you were to expose her joints. She is a ball-jointed doll, and that appearance coupled with her seeming humanity unsettles many people.
The final effect is created by her cloudy blue eyes. They reflect light in a natural manner, but the round pupils are a dark shade of the blue the rest of her eye is rather than the usual black. The most unsettling part, and it can take time to notice, is the pupils never change size. That is because they are, at the end of the day, glass balls positioned within a doll's head.
Shinku keeps her very long blond hair tied into two ponytails. The ponytails seem a bit thin but it is a bit of an illusion created by the almost corkscrew like way they begin to twirl about 2/3 of the way down. Her bangs are fairly loose, but most of her hair is pulled back. Two long pieces of hair fall down in front of her ears, coming out from being slightly pinned by the bonnet. They reach just past halfway down her body, and have a slight corkscrew effect the way her pigtails do. the Pigtails are kept tied with long black satin ribbons. The knots are small and the loops are large, with a fair bit of excess ribbon for bow tails.
Shinku's outfit consists of two major layers, and overall has a very Lolita feel to it. The lower layer consists of a white satin slip and puffy pants with the cuffs hugging her legs before billowing around. Her shoes are polished black of the high quality material you might expect expensive dress shoes to wear. They have moderately high heels and create a muted tapping noise when she runs across a hard surface. They are tied on with satin ribbons that come up from the side. They are tied into bows that rest on the outside ankle of either foot. On the top of the shoe is a large pink satin rose.
Her main outfit consists of a high quality crimson velvet Lolita dress of simple design. The top has a shawl piece built on, and it buttons with tiny red buttons. At the base of her back is a large bow of a slightly darker shade of crimson. The bowtails are somewhat short, they don't drag in the least. The dress hugs her wrists before billowing out a bit. At all the dress ends except the collar is black lace, but it tends not to show and functions more as lining.
Shinku wears a bonnet of the same material and color as her dress. It is tied on with a green satin ribbon that goes over roughly the center top of her head. The ribbon is very long, plenty long to tie a large bow under her chin. The bow tails extend about halfway down her chest. Centered over the knot area of her bow is a pink satin rose of the exact proper size to hide it. The bow hides the buttons of her shawl piece. The satin ribbon is built into the bonnet, and the parts directly over her ears both have a pink satin rose positioned over them.
Weapons
Shinku is able to manifest a pink cane. The tips are stopped with what looks like gold or bronze stoppers. She uses the cane much like a sword, but is also good with using it to reach things. The cane seems related to her powers as a Rozen Maiden, as she doesn't keep it anywhere, manifesting it from a sort of "magical" hammerspace the same way the other Maidens manifest any weapons they might possess.
Her "artificial spirit", a faerie-like guardian spirit that grants access to most of a Maiden's powers, can also be called a weapon. Holly is a red glowing light much like Tinkerbell is often depicted. She is very physical and can be used to aid in a fight, pushing people around or functioning as a distraction. Holly as an innate understanding of how Shinku "works" and can also function as a second set of eyes and ears.
She possesses a suitcase like box. While not usually considered a weapon, it is of very large importance to a Rozen Maiden. It is of extremely high quality leather the like of which is rarely seen. Certainly not something that could be mass produced. The box is quite tall.
The corners are bordered in artistically tarnished gold with ornate working. The handle is attached with a strong hinge of the same kind of metal. The box lid is smaller than the base and is locked with the same gold as appears on the rest of the box. At the top center is an ornately sculpted tarnished gold rose with a sword like "arrow" extending from four the top, bottom, and both sides. The inside of the box is lined in extremely high quality white silk with padding beneath, like one might see in a top quality coffin.
Abilities/Powers
Shinku is a living doll. That alone is a power that many consider makes her other powers pale in comparison. However, she was granted the ability of battle as part of her "father's" quest to find the perfect girl (see History). The life of a Rozen Maiden, the "soul", is generally a power Rozen dubbed as the Rosa Mystica. While it doesn't appear to be completely necessary for the life of a Maiden, the one exception that exists is hard to define (see History).
Her battle powers are centered around roses, even more so than most of the other Maidens. She can fire rose petals from her hands via magic. They can be used as blades, be used to form a pink energy shield, create an energy shield on their own, be turned to create sharp blades, and just about any other creative use she can think of for battle. The most common use is to simply summon a flurry of them and fire them at her opponent.
She is able to use her power to restore things that have been broken or damaged. How it is done is unclear and she certainly finds no reason to inform people, but the theory of a few who have seen it is a sort of limited time reversal magic. It requires almost no energy. She is also able to use reflective surfaces to enter the "N Field", an altered mirror space that tends to reflect the heart of its "creator". She also seems capable of a form of flight when it becomes necessary, as a lot of her aerial stunts are hard to pass off as simple powered jumps.
However, not a power one of hers can be accessed if she is not "wound". The extended "sleep" of the Maidens is spent between windings, and the windings can happen any number of ways. When the box is opened, which can only be opened under specific circumstances even the Maidens can only make educated guesses at, the sleeping form of the Maiden enclosed can be found. Next to her is an ornate tarnished gold winding key with rose detailing. The Maidens are awakened by being wound, and they can wind down into a sleep.
Shinku, and all the Maidens, can only use a fraction of their power under normal circumstances. She must have a Medium to access the full potential of her powers. Not only that, but the bond a Maiden has with their Medium seems capable of increasing their power, and some people seem more able to serve as a Medium than others. A Medium allows a Maiden to use the life force of said Medium to boost their attacks. A Rozen Maiden without a Medium has little to no chance to beat one with one.
The method of forming a contract with a Maiden consists of kissing the rose ring that the Maidens can manifest upon their left ring finger for the contract. The ring is not always visibly present, only there during the making (and releasing) of contracts. The Medium manifests a permanent ring upon their own left ring finger and it can not be removed unless the Maiden terminates the contract. The ring itself is rough silver with an artistically tarnished gold rose sculpted onto the top center. It grows hot when the Medium's power is called upon and serves as a solid link between Medium and Maiden. If a Maiden uses too much power, the drain of life force can kill the Medium.
Skills
Shinku is able to be fluent in whatever language of the person who has wound her. The two languages she knows best are German (her home country) and Japanese, and she can read both as well as she can speak them. She knows French and probably more than a few other languages as well.
She is an extremely agile fighter. She once jumped atop a large projectile and used it as a way to reach her opponent more quickly. She is able to use her cane as a sword/shield to an expert level. She also possesses all the domestic skills a noble lady might be expected to have. This includes things like etiquette, knowledge of tea and the making of, and things as such. Her ability to use aspects of a fight to her advantage likely also qualifies.
Personality
Shinku seems a bit cool, sometimes downright cold, to many people the first time they meet her. She seems to possess trouble becoming close to people. She sometimes seems more than a little cruel to those she is around, but she has the personality that causes her to be more abrasive to people the more she cares about them. She is far gentler then she lets on, but she carries guilt over some of her actions in the past.
She doesn't like to hurt others, but she isn't the type to sit back and let herself be attacked. She is pretty fierce when it comes to protecting those she cares about. She possesses a fair amount of snark, but is not easily angered. She seems to many like she could face death in the face, but she does hesitate, especially if someone she cares about tries to stop her.
She seems freakishly calm and collected much of the time, but despite all this exterior and insistence upon being ladylike, she has a "cute" side as well. She appreciates grand gestures despite the fact she'll probably criticize you for being lazy. She has a bit of a childish crush on "Kun-Kun", a puppet dog detective on a show she and her sisters are a huge fan of.
History
A little over a century ago, a German man known simple as Rozen sought to create "Alice", the earthly incarnation of the perfect girl. Somehow or another, he came upon a way to give life to his creations. He abandoned his first attempt before finishing her design for some reason, but still called the next doll as the Second Doll of Rozen Maiden. She fell short, so he created another, and then another. The fourth doll he completed was the one he could come to name "Cinq", the French word for five, although the pronunciation and alternate meaning of the name in Japanese caused her to take upon the title Shinku.
For a reason only Rozen (and another figure, keep reading) knows, he caused his Maidens to lose their memories of the short time they spent in that early life of him and each other. They would only remember one thing: Rozen's search for Alice and the Doll to win the "Alice Game" would be able to become her.
Shinku went through several owners, several Mediums, in her life. So did the other Maidens. A few people freaked over the living doll and sealed her away almost immediately. During these many times of being awake, she met and even battled with the other Maidens in an attempt to fulfill their Father's quest for Alice. It was during one life around the time of World War II (just before or in the early days) that her attitude took a sharp change.
She was using a girl named Sara as a Medium at the time. One night she met a broken (physically and emotionally) doll. The doll claimed to be Mercury Lampe (she would take the name Suigintou in Japan), and even more surprisingly, the never met First Doll of Rozen Maiden. She was shocked by the Doll's condition and decided to try and help her. Suigintou loved Shinku with all her heart, calling her a kind, wonderful, and caring person for the help in even the most basic living skills Shinku gave her older sister.
However, Shinku had already met Lapis Lazuri Stern (Souseiseki) and Jade Stern (Suiseiseki). The former seemed intent on fighting the Alice Game and Shinku had obliged her. Souseiseki set a date to fight with Shinku, and the Fifth Doll complied one night. She released Sara from her contract and headed to the N Field. What she didn't realize was that Suigintou had followed her. She came out as Souseiseki and Shinku were about to fight and learned of the Alice Game. Souseiseki attacked her by cutting through her midsection.
Due to being an incomplete doll, the cut went clean through, causing Suigintou to collapse into her two pieces. The move was enough to "destroy" her, or make her soul lost, and she melted out of the N Field. Shinku showed immense pity and bitter anger. Had she not followed, she could have spent a happy life as Sara's doll. She expressed her sadness with anger towards Suigintou. Without a Rosa Mystica, she could not be a true Rozen Maiden.
Shinku met Suigintou shortly thereafter in the latter's own N Field. She was surprised Suigintou was alive, and even more surprised when the Doll presented her own Rozen Mystica. She claimed Father had given it to her when she was about to be lost. A misunderstanding then occurred between Shinku and Suigintou, and it caused a heated encounter. It ended when Suigintou snatched a brooch off Shinku's bow. It was a gift from Rozen that Suigintou destroyed in front of Shinku out of spite. Shinku was about to attack (and likely "kill") Suigintou when a tall white rabbit the Maidens knew as Laplace's Demon appeared and ordered Shinku that this era of the Alice Game was over.
Shinku was passed around a few more times before Holly managed to contact a hikikomori (shut-in) named Jun Sakurada. The boy had a fascination with the occult, and when he received a mysterious letter asking him to wind or not wind, he chose wound and followed the directions on the letter. He wound Shinku when her box mysteriously appeared in her room. It was moments after a startled introduction that an animated clown doll showed up.
She informed Jun that he would die. When he freaked after the clown threw a few cards with enough skill and force to cut into his shirt, Shinku told him he could be saved if he made a contract with her. After a few more threats from the clown Jun finally conceded, kissing Shinku's ring when prompted and giving her the power as a Medium. She then saved his life.
Over the next month or two, Jun would meet four of the other dolls. Suigintou, Hinaichigo, Souseiseki, and Suiseiseki. Due to Shinku's actions, Hinaichigo her servant and received power from Jun through Shinku. Eventually Jun helped Shinku face down Suigintou in his "dream", a world accessible by Suiseiseki and Souseiseki via their powers. Shinku vanished and he woke from his dream, convinced the Dolls were gone when he saw the ring missing from his finger, but cured of his hikikomori status due to his growth "as a human". He returned from a walk to find them causing trouble once again in his room, and Shinku who seemed grateful for all of two minutes before returning to her old ways.
It wasn't long before the nightmares of what she had done to Suigintou began to haunt Shinku. Jun accompanied her to Suigintou's world within the N Field, which Shinku took as proof Suigintou was alive. There they ran into Laplace's Demon, who taunted them with riddles. They chased in the direction the entity indicated and ran into a violet crystal controlling Doll. She claimed to be the Seventh Doll of Rozen Maiden, Barasuishou. The Doll would have killed Shinku (and Jun), but a portal appeared beneath them thanks to Laplace's Demon and they were allowed to leave.
Jun helped Shinku as much as he could, but the manipulative actions of Laplace's Demon and Barasuishou lead to dissension among the Maidens. During this time the last Doll appeared, Kanaria, and Suigintou was proven to be alive. Eventually Laplace's Demon forced the Alice Game to begin, much to Shinku's objection and Jun's adamance that it not occur. Souseiseki had her Rosa Mystica taken by Suigintou, and Hinaichigo lost her power to move due to a Rosa Mystica having been taken.
Barasuishou and Laplace's Demon eventually manipulated the Dolls into a doll shop that Jun had visited many times. There they met a man who went by Enju they assumed to be Rozen. Barasuishou called him Father and he possessed the same messy blond hair that existed in the other Dolls' memories of the man. At his command the Dolls went to a special N Field Laplace's Demon had set up for the Alice Game. One by one the Maidens fell until only Shinku and Barasuishou remained.
Shinku had the chance to kill Barasuishou, but Jun stopped her. It was not the end, as Barasuishou then used one of the crystals in her hair to stab Shinku through. She took Shinku's Rosa Mystica, now possessing all the souls of the Maidens... or so Jun thought. Barasuishou went to Enju and proclaimed that she had done it, and Enju basically said that his doll had surpassed Rozen's. Jun realized that the man had done little more than manipulate the Dolls into killing each other, and was too shocked over Shinku's "death" to do much. However, the Rosa Mystica rebelled against Barasuishou and she broke apart, while Enju vanished into light.
Laplace's Demon made another of his enigmatic comments before vanishing. The Rosa Mystica flew off, but Shinku remained still. He ran over to her and shouted with anguish fury to Rozen. If he was really watching, if he was observing, he needed to say something to his Dolls. Jun heard a voice within his head and the next thing he knew, Shinku was sleeping in a chair within the N Field. He walked over to her and caressed her face, waking her up. She told him that Father had said that the Alice Game was not the only way to become Alice.
Jun told her he had heard him too. Shinku told him the Dolls killed by Barasuishou would return to normal. He noted how she worded it and she said that Hinaichigo and Souseiseki would not return, and they would be her burden to bear. She said that Father had told her they could be saved, but it was a puzzle she would have to figure out herself. She and Jun left the N Field together to where they knew the Dolls would be waiting, and life settled back into something somewhat normal.
There was nothing special to happen next, about a week or so after the events with Barasuishou. Shinku would find her box being opened in somewhere quite simply not Jun's bedroom and the link she bears with him as a Medium weak to the point of almost being broken... and no explanation why.
Other
Shinku uses anime canon, but my ideas for her plot will likely at least reference manga canon. All the anime is used as canon, including the Ourveture OVA giving Suigintou's backstory. The wank with the names is my explanation for German dolls with Japanese names. A bit of fanon is mixed in here and there.
Pictures
Shinku: i747.photobucket.com/albums/xx112/mugenginga/Shinku.jpg
Shinku's Box: img294.imageshack.us/img294/9643/whatsintheboxat3.jpg
The Ring ("real" version): i747.photobucket.com/albums/xx112/mugenginga/rozenring.jpg
