”Uh, guys, I’m not sure if this is a good idea!”
Name: Saya Matou
Age: 18
Hair: Black
Eyes: Brown
Height: 6’0
Weight: 180 lbs.
Hometown: Tokyo, Japan
Alignment: Face
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Appearance:
Ring Gear
Casual
Swimwear
’It doesn’t make my butt look too big, right?’
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History: Saya is the second child of apartment wrestler-turned-LAW icon Yuna Matou. She also happens to be, in nearly every way, the polar opposite of her older sister Shizuka. While Shizuka was a quiet intellectual girl and a bit of a loner, who struggled to warm up to people after being picked on by her classmates, and who didn’t inherit her mother’s curves, Saya was always the popular girl at school, thanks to her kind heart, her outgoing personality, and her good looks, having taken after her mother’s curvaceous figure. By the time she hit high school, she became class president and often got asked out. However, nothing ever really came of this, because she also happened to be rather oblivious. Not necessarily dumb, at least not enough to suffer academically, but she wasn’t as devoted to her studies compared to her sister, preferring to focus on her social life.
Early into her high school education, the Matou family was shaken up when Yuna discovered that her husband had been cheating on her with a younger woman. She filed for a divorce, and took her children with her, now raising them as a single mother. This put a lot of uncertainty on Saya - not only was she forced to confront the realization that her father wasn’t the man she thought he was, but her mother had to take up new jobs and work long hours to support the family on her own, meaning that Shizuka had to take over the household when her mother wasn’t around - and often, she, Saya, and their brother had to fend for themselves.
However, Saya would soon learn that she wasn’t alone. Her closest friend at school, Mai Shinoda, also grew up with a single parent, and the two girls began to bond over their shared experiences, growing closer to one another. In fact, Mai would at one point attempt to set her father up with Yuna, which fell through when he was intimidated by her. Saya would learn that Mai joined the school keijo team - and there, she remembered that her mother had competed in keijo in her youth. Feeling curious, and wanting to support her best friend, Saya decided to join the team herself - and, as it turned out, she proved a valuable asset, in no small part due to her own assets. Following in her mother’s footsteps, she would carry her team to victory on several occasions. With Mai becoming team captain, Saya decided she was going to stay on the team - together, they were a formidable force to be reckoned with.
In the girls’ final year of high school, Shizuka, who had since gone off to college, would join LAW as a Young Lioness. It didn’t take long for Mai to see that the other Matou sister could find her niche there as well - and the two girls, along with their begrudging teammate Naomi Nakatani, decided to start training in LAW, entering as a trios team. Saya has her mother’s legacy looming over her, but she wants to carry on the spirit of her mother and sister and keep the team’s momentum going strong.
Personality: In most respects, Saya is a model student. She’s kind, outgoing, and close to her friends. However, she isn’t the brightest. She can be a bit of a ditz and doesn’t have the most common sense at times, and has a habit of being forgetful. Despite being the popular girl, she has a good heart and doesn’t look down on others; in fact, she can get a little too emotional at times, and it’s easy to move her or make her cry (but god help you if you do when Mai’s around). She’s calmer than Mai or Naomi and often finds herself tempering their impulses somewhat, but she still doesn’t have the best judgment. Though she isn’t as competitive as her teammates, she’s still determined to be successful in her pursuits, and she wants to make her mother proud.
Trivia:
- In part owing to her not knowing her own size and strength very well, Saya is clumsy and has a habit of tripping or bumping into things.
- Saya knows about her mother and sisters’ careers in apartment wrestling, but doesn’t judge them. In fact, she thinks Yuna is the coolest mom ever.
- She’s pretty squeamish, and in particular thinks bugs are gross.
- Saya looks remarkably like how her mother did at her age.
- As the pretty popular girl, several of Saya’s classmates have crushes on her. She’s utterly oblivious to this and has never been in a serious relationship with anyone.
- That being said, her ideal date would be a nice boat ride.
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Fighting Style: Much like her mother, Saya’s fighting style makes heavy use of her size, weight, and curves. She isn’t the most technical of wrestlers, but she lets physics do the work for her, overpowering her opponents with her sheer body mass. Compared to her teammates, she tends to compete at a slower pace, but she’s patient and willing to play the long game to further her goals. Though she makes use of her background in keijo, Saya is mainly a smother user, using her curves to her advantage in keeping her opponents down.
Favored Match Types: Saya is open to most matches, although anything too hardcore scares her. She favors more softcore stipulations like smother matches, taking after her mother. While she doesn’t have any prior experience in apartment wrestling, she’s certainly willing to try. As both a member of Zero Team X and the Matou family, Saya is open to competing on her own or in a team with her friends or family.
Signature Moves:
Breast Smother
The Walrus
Using her size to her advantage, Saya just lies on top of her opponent and does nothing.
Banzai Drop
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Relationships with Other Characters:
- Mai Shinoda is Saya’s best friend, and her teammate ever since her keijo days. The two of them have worked closely for years, and they’re committed to supporting one another no matter what.
- Naomi Nakatani is the third member of Saya’s team. Despite her abrasive attitude, Saya doesn’t seem to realize how much she annoys her, and considers her a close friend. Though Naomi won’t admit it, she cares about Saya as well and couldn’t imagine working without her.
- Yuna Matou is Saya’s mother, and a big inspiration to her. She admires Yuna’s commitment to stay competitive even at her age and her determination to support her family, and wants to live up to her example.
- Shizuka Matou is Saya’s older sister by a year. With how little the two girls have in common, they don’t always get along; Saya thinks Shizuka’s a bit of a stick-in-the-mud, and Shizuka thinks Saya’s a vapid bimbo. However, they do still love each other as family, even if they struggle to express it at times.