The origins of the Kikawa clan are told through an ancient myth through oral tradition:

Centuries ago, there lived a crocodile, a massive and deadly beast named Shichi, who lived in a deep, murky river that stretched across the vast desert of Sunagakure. Both thirsty animals and foolish humans would wander to the riverbank and would be met with a gruesome end at the jaws of Shichi.

One day, however, when Shichi was stalking his afternoon prey, his bright yellow eyes gazed upon the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her name was Kotone, and she sat at the riverbank to wash her clothes. Shichi spent hours that day watching this angel with his head underneath the surface. Looking at her golden hair, the soft curves of her face, her delicate hands, and her white dress flowing in the wind, Shichi’s aggression and hunger all vanished completely, replaced by a warm, foreign emotion. Each day at the same time, he would return to the same place to behold her beauty and hear the sweet melody of her voice. He would even deter other predators of the river from attacking Kotone as she washed her clothes. Days turned into weeks and weeks into months, and it came to a point where Shichi’s desire was so great that it was almost unbearable. He needed to sate this newfound aching in his heart. He wished he could he could walk on land and ask her to be with him forever, but fate had determined their niches, and he knew that she would surely be terrified and repulsed of his form. So turned to the heavens and prayed, begging for a miracle, something to allow him to walk among humans and speak their language.
Though none of his prayers had yet to be answered for weeks, he would still ask for some form of divine intervention every night before his slumber, and he promised to renounce the ways of the beast if only to be with Kotone forever.

Then, one morning, he found that his prayers were answered. He awoke coiled on the riverbank covered in mud. His scales had smoothed into skin. His teeth had dulled and whitened. His tiny claws grew into dexterous fingers, his eyes changed from bestial yellow slits to a vibrant shade of green. His head grew thick, jet black hair, his tail receded into his body, and he grew long, muscular legs. To Shichi’s delight, he became a human.

After clothing himself, he stumbled across the riverbank, attempting to get used to the feeling on walking on two feet. Eventually, he managed to make it to the spot where Kotone always washed her clothes, and sure enough, there she sat humming a happy tune. Their eyes met, and they smiled before blushing and shying away from each other. Kotone was taken aback about how handsome this mystery man was. Shichi introduced himself under a new name, Shin, discarding the life of the beast he lived before. Unfortunately, he was still struggling to walk for the first time, and he often embarrassingly tripped over his own feet. But Kotone did not mind. He found his clumsiness endearing. Before long, he returned to the village with her. They spent almost every day together, ambling through the town hand-in-hand, walking by the river, lying in the lush greens starring at the clouds in the sky. Kotone was impressed by the nearly endless knowledge of flora and fauna Shin had, and Shin would always go on trips to gather the rarest and most beautiful flowers arranged in bouquets for her and find the sweetest berries and fruit in a basket for her to enjoy. She also came to realize that Shin would do practically anything her, whether it be a menial chore of getting ingredients for supper or giving her solace in times of need. After four years together, Kotone and Shin were finally wed.

Kotone and Shin were, without a doubt, the two happiest people in the village and even had a child on the way. Shin, however, often found himself wandering outside of the village, strolling down the river that he once dwelled in, reminiscing about his past life. As much as he wanted to be home with his wife, he could not resist the lure of the flowing waters; he missed the sounds of the toads croaking in the mud, the feeling of the water between his webbed feet, the tranquility of night. In Shin’s absence, Kotone would spend time with her childhood friend, Kenji, who owned the flower shop and to whom Shin sold his wildflowers. Soon, Shin suspected his wife of being unfaithful. Though his transformation gave him a heart to love and eliminated his animalistic instincts, but Shin began to develop other, more wicked emotions inside him: envy, distrust, and hatred.

One night, while Kotone was asleep, Shin snuck out of the house and went to confront Kenji. He causally asked about him Kotone, what they had been doing, attempting to inconspicuously gain the truth without revealing his suspicions of infidelity. Kenji said they talked often about trivial, everyday things while Shin was away, remembering their days in school together. Nevertheless, Shin silently continued to distrust Kenji, repeatedly trying to find out more of what they had been doing. The more Kenji spoke, the more Shin felt something burn in his chest. His fists tightened, and his teeth grit together. Casual conversation became blunt query and then became enraged accusations. Kenji was just about to ask Shin to leave when Shin’s animal instincts finally took over. Shin leapt onto Kenji, and his hands throttled Kenji’s neck. Shin’s blood boiled, and his eyes were glazed with untamed fury. Kenji struggled break free, but Shin’s grasp was like a vicegrip around his neck. After a minute of wheezing and frantic flailing, Kenji’s eyelids began to slowly drop, and his arms fell to the floor. He let out one final weak exhale.

Shin’s anger receded, and he realized the gravity of his actions. He knew he could not go back to Kotone because he did not belong with her anymore or among other people. He had broken his divine promise. He ran out of Kenji’s home and escaped the village, returning to the wilderness, to the river. He awoke the next morning and saw his reflection. His hazel eyes changed to a glowing yellow with a bestial black pupil. His fingernails extended into black claws. His fair skin became a sickly pale, and his teeth sharpened into monstrous jaws. He was neither human nor beast, a hybrid, stuck in limbo and shunned by both the human and animal kingdom. Kotone, heartbroken, searched everyday for her husband and would walk by the river to see if he wandered there. Her searches would be in vain, but from the corner of her eye she would sometimes see a pair of bright yellow eyes emerge from underneath the surface and hear the faint sound of weeping as she walked away. Kotone months later gave birth to a son, who, much to her shock, was cursed with Shin’s exact attributes; thus the first Kikawa was born.

Kikawa clan members are recognized by their appearance: between 5’10” and 6’8” at adulthood, black hair (often long, straight, and unkempt), yellow eyes with black slits as pupils, sharp teeth, black fingernails with slight webbing, and pale skin. A Kikawa will often wear loose clothing, like a robe or kimono,that they can slip out of during more dramatic transformations since other clothing will rip apart.

A Kikawa is a combination of animalistic impulse and human ambition. They are typically quiet but very territorial and aggressive. They are very protective of their property and will not think twice about resorting to violence, sometimes rather rashly. They have trouble being empathetic and will usually choose seclude themselves rather than outwardly express their emotions.

A Kikawa can be either be loyal to a village or not. Those who are not tend to give into their animalistic urges. Ronin Kikawa are often more aggressive, impulsive, violent, reclusive and are often the result of parents orphaning their children into the wilderness. Most are unfaithful to their partners, siring children then abandoning his or her child and their partner. Some develop at taste of human flesh, and they believe that feasting on the flesh of a fallen enemy is the ultimate insult, the equivalent of dancing on one’s grave. If a pack of Kikawa are feasting, the leader will always eat more and first as a sign of dominance. Most Ronin Kikawa work as paid muscle, mercenaries, or bounty hunters.

However, Kikawa that belong to a village are much more tame, controlled. They are still prone to angry or even violent outbursts, but the urge to kill is nearly nonexistent. Very rarely are village Kikawa cannibals, but they do very much enjoy the taste of meat and despise vegetables. Kikawa members also struggle with empathy and social interactions, having trouble understanding complex human emotion or social cues like gestures or body posture and keeping their emotions to themselves. A Kikawa will often bottle up his or her emotions until it explodes in an outburst. Most Kikawa are disliked or shunned by people of their village because of their behavior and appearance. Those who do show kindness and affection to a Kikawa will create an nearly instantaneous friendship with him or her, though a Kikawa will not fully admit it or even realize it happened. What Kikawa struggle with most, however, is love. Village Kikawa are frightened to love, thinking that opening up and giving into affection with reckless abandon will lead to self-destruction, such as in the story of Shin and Kotone. A Kikawa would rather admire from afar than approach the person they have feelings for, and Kikawa have been known to harbor feelings of love for one person for years. For a Kikawa clan member to share her feelings and admit love to someone requires a patient person to fall in love with a Kikawa and approach him or her with his or her feelings first.

Later generations of Kikawa have learned to harness their curse to gain power in combat, and some view it as a divine gift rather than a curse brought upon them by their ancestor Shin. The attributes of the Kikawa mimic those of the crocodile, and the benefits are as follows:

1.) Each Kikawa clan member has the Mighty trait. Although each Kikawa varies in size and bulk, they have denser muscle mass and are stronger than the average human.
2.) Each Kikawa clan member is an excellent swimmer. Though Kikawas are slow on land (see Drawbacks), swimming is second nature to them. They move at a speed +1 tier above their own while submerged in water and can hold their breath for a maximum of 5 posts while swimming at Genin level and 10 posts if they remain sedentary. The amount of time possible is increased by 2 posts for each rank of the ninja (e.g. 7 while swimming at Chuunin). If when sedentary a Kikawa must suddenly become active and swim, the amount of time left they can hold their breath is reduced by 5 posts (e.g. 6 posts left – 5 posts due to sudden swimming = 1 post left).
3.) Each Kikawa clan member has a heightened sense of smell and sight. A Kikawa can smell a person or other scents in a 20-foot (6.1 meters) radius at Genin level, and the range increases by 10-feet (3 meters) with each increase in rank. A Kikawa can see as well as distinguish color in normal darkness or dim light as far as they can normally see in daylight. Their yellow eyes glow when a source of light hits them because their retinas reflect light.

1.) Kikawa clan members have an allergy to vegetation. Because the Kikawa do not have the enzymes in their bodies that allow them to digest plants, like other humans do, their bodies undergo an allergic reaction when they consume vegetables, taking a D Rank amount of damage each post for 4 posts. If the Kikawa continues to consume vegetables, the timer resets back to 4 posts, and if the timer resets twice, the Kikawa vomits and is incapacitated for 1 post, unable to move or use jutsu. This also counts for herb-based medicine used in Medical Ninjutsu, for example.
2.) Kikawa clan members have a weakness to cold. Being cold-blooded, they cannot create their own body heat and have to resort to absorbing heat from warmth of the sun. This is why most Kikawa prefer to live in Sunagakure. In villages or locations that have temperatures below 60 degrees F (15.6 degrees C), specifically Kirigakure or Kumogakure, or while the Kikawa is under the affects of a jutsu or attack that controls the temperature of the area, the Kiwawa’s metabolic process is disturbed, and therefore his or her Chakra begins to suffer at 5 Chakra per post.
If the Kikawa runs out of Chakra, he or she will collapse. If the Kikawa is collapsed and his or her core temperature is not raised above 60 degrees F (15.6 degrees C) within 5 turns (i.e. exits the cold area, warms under a blanket, or sits near a fire or other source of warmth), the Kikawa dies. If the Kikawa finds a way to start raising his or her core temperature, he or she will gain 5 degrees and 5 Chakra every turn ONLY if the Kikawa is not in combat. A Kikawa can only regain Chakra that was lost from exposure to cold and CANNOT regain Chakra from a Katon or fire attack. Also because of this weakness, a Kikawa take +1 damage from Hyōton (ice) techniques.
3.) Kikawa clan members CANNOT learn Raiton techniques.

Centuries of training have allowed the Kikawa clan to access the primordial animal Chakra lying dormant in their bodies to initiate partial or complete transformations.

Name: Partial Beast Transformation: Reptile Stance
Canon/Custom: Custom
Rank: C
Type: Supplementary
Element: None
Range: Self
Specialty: Kikawa Clan Only
Duration: Maintainable
Cooldown: Duration + 3 posts
Description: While not a full transformation, a Kikawa can rearrange the joints in his shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles to allow him or her to lie on his or her stomach and walk on all fours in a similar fashion as a crocodile. The speed of the Kikawa is increased by +0.75 rank, meaning that this jutsu compensates for the speed loss of the Bulky special characteristic and allows the Kikawa to move at regular speed. The jutsu costs a C rank Chakra amount to cast + one D Rank Chakra amount for every post after the initial post that this stance is used.

Name: Partial Beast Transformation: Scale Plate Armor
Canon/Custom: Custom
Rank: B
Type: Defensive
Element: None
Range: Self
Specialty: Kikawa Clan Only
Duration: Maintainable
Cooldown: Duration + 5 posts
Description: The Kikawa grows black scaly armor that has the ability to protect the user from C Rank or lower bludgeoning, slashing, or piercing weapon or Taijutsu attacks. The armor does not protect from Ninjutsu attacks. After the jutsu has ended, the user physically peels off the armor like a snake shedding its skin, and the skin underneath is softer than before the jutsu was used. Because of this, the user takes +1 damage from all attacks until the cooldown for the jutsu ends and the user's skin hardens to its original state again. The jutsu costs a B rank Chakra amount to cast + one C Rank Chakra amount for every post after the initial post the user is transformed.

Name: Full Beast Transformation: Man-Crocodile Hybrid
Canon/Custom: Custom
Rank: A
Type: Offensive/Defensive
Element: None
Range: Self
Specialty: Kikawa Clan Only
Duration: Maintainable [1 post preparation]
Cooldown: Duration + 7 posts
Description: The Kikawa transforms completely into a 8'(2.44 m) tall half-crocodile half-human hybrid, a process which takes a full post to happen because of the sheer size of the transformation.

The users mouth elongates into a snout with jaws, considered an A ranked piercing weapon. They contain 6-inch (15.24 cm) long teeth that can easily break C rank or lower armor and weaponry, dent B rank armor with 3-inch (7.62 cm) indentations and bend B rank blades or other metal weaponry at a 45 degree angle. This does NOT apply to Chakra-infused weaponry.

The scales that grow over the users body act as A rank 1-1/2 inch (3.81 cm) thick armor and can protect the user from B rank slashing, piercing, or bludgeoning weapon attacks or Taijutsu but not Ninjutsu. Again, this does NOT count for Chakra-infused weaponry. Three hits in the same area from A rank weaponry or Taijutsu can chip away scales from the user's armor, exposing a 4 sq. inch (10.18 cm2) patch of bare skin, and S rank or higher weaponry or Taijutsu can slice through the armor completely or break off a 4 sq. inch (10.18 cm2) patch of bare skin.

The user also grows a bulky 4-foot (1.21 meters) long tail that can be used as a B rank bludgeoning weapon. The force of a blow from the users tail can cause severe bruising.

The user's fingernails and toenails elongate to 4-inch (10.16 cm) claws his or her hands and feet that act as a B rank slashing or piercing weapon. A slashing attack can cause 3-inch (7.62 cm) deep bleeding gashes in unarmored enemies, 2-inch (5.08 cm) gashes in enemies with C rank or lower armor, and 1-inch (2.54 cm) gashes in opponents with B Rank armor. The same principles apply to the bleeding puncture wounds received by a piercing attack from the claws.

The jutsu costs an A rank Chakra amount to cast + one B Rank Chakra amount for every post after the initial post the user is transformed. The user can still speak and use hand signs to cast jutsu in this form.

Name: Full Beast Transformation: Monstrous Crocodile
Canon/Custom: Custom
Rank: S
Type: Offensive/Defensive
Element: None
Range: Self
Specialty: Kikawa Clan Only
Duration: Maintainable [1 post preparation time]
Cooldown: Duration + 10 posts
Description: The Kikawa transforms completely into a 50’ (7.62 m) crocodile, a process which takes a full post to happen because of the sheer size of the transformation.

The users jaws, considered an S rank piercing weapon, contain 2-foot (0.61 meters) long teeth that can easily break through B rank or lower armor and weaponry, pierce 2/3 feet (0.2 meters) deep through A rank armor, and bend A rank blades or other metal weaponry at a 45 degree angle. This does NOT apply to Chakra-infused weaponry. If the user has a human or something of similar or smaller size in his or her mouth, the user can choose to swallow the person whole.

The scales that grow over the users body act as A rank 9-inch (22.86 cm) thick armor and can protect the user from A rank slashing, piercing, or bludgeoning weapon attacks or Taijutsu but not Ninjutsu. Again, this does NOT count for Chakra-infused weaponry. Three hits in the same area from S rank weaponry or Taijutsu can chip away scales from the user's armor, exposing a 25 sq. inch (63.5 cm2) patch of bare skin, and S rank or higher weaponry or Taijutsu can slice through the armor completely or break off a 25 sq. inch (63.5 cm2) patch of bare skin.

The user's bulky 16-foot (4.88 meters) long tail that can be used as a A rank bludgeoning weapon. The force of a blow from the user's tail can break the bones of a B rank human of human size, knock back 20 feet (6.1 meters) and cause severe bruising to an A rank opponent, and knock back 10 feet (3.05 meters) an S rank opponent.

The user's hands grow into huge claws with 10-inch (25.4 cm) claws that act as an A rank slashing or piercing weapon. A slashing attack can cause 8-inch (20.32 cm) deep bleeding gashes in unarmored enemies, 4-inch (10.16 cm) gashes in enemies with B rank or lower armor, and 2-inch (5.08 cm) gashes in opponents with A Rank armor. the same principles apply to bleeding puncture wounds received by piercing attacks from the user's claws.

The jutsu costs an S rank Chakra amount to cast + one A Rank Chakra amount for every post after the initial post the user is transformed. The user can still speak in this form but not use jutsu.