Gold Ship

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Name: Gold Ship
Canon: Umamusume: Pretty Derby (Anime)
Age: Canon isn't clear since horse girls stop physically aging after maturity, but she's most likely 18|University Age
Gender: Female
Species: Horse Girl | Umamusume. Literally just a person with horse ears, a horse tail, and the physical capabilities of a horse.
Appearance: School, Racing, Casual.
Canon point: End of Season 3 of the anime.

History: At some point while attending Tracen Academy Gold Ship was scouted for Team Spica by her Trainer. The original roster of the team resigned due to dissatisfaction with their Trainer's methods but Gold Ship stayed on, seeming to take a role half as a friend and half as the voice of critical reason whilst it was just the two of them. After a certain point the team began to grow and Gold Ship was able to be her usual happy go lucky self. Eventually Gold Ship would orchestrate the friendly kidnapping of Special Week to have her join Team Spica. During Special Week's career path Gold Ship supported the younger girl constantly if unconventionally and at some point in that time-frame had her own debut race. Shortly there after she began to devote her time to her favorite person to bother, Mejiro McQueen, in an attempt to get her to join team Spica too. She was eventually successful, placed her new teammate inside her burlap sack (Don't ask), and introduced her to the team. From there on McQueen was her friend and rival, someone she spent most of her time teasing but also sought to pit herself against in mutual competition. They had their chance at the last race of that year, alongside the rest of Team Spica as well. The winner was unimportant.

After this Gold Ship faded into the background. McQueen got caught up in a rivalry with Tokai Teio and we don't really see Gold Ship do... much. She assists her friends with training still, seemingly even seems to help their Trainer oversee the other girls, and serving as a literal pommel horse for McQueen to jump over. Gold Ship was very happy to help even with the personal injuries, but this is also when she's seen focusing more on her rubik cube and less on any serious interaction with Team Spica.

Finally Gold Ship started to experience her darkest hours. At this point it's learned she's been doing her own training by herself, as well as that her mood and performance are slipping. This culminates with her announcing retirement from the Twinkle Series races and moving to the Dream Trophy League after placing 10th in the Japan Cup, setting her final race for the Arima Kinen. She came in 8th. From this point she spends most of her time hanging out around Team Spica while they train and keeping a particular close eye on their youngest member, Kitasan Black. At a certain point Gold Ship notices Kitasan Black starting to slip like she herself was and provides advice to the other girl, informing her that she's hit her peak. "Peaking" is an actual, literal thing horse girls experience, some end up fully unable to run once it hits, others have miraculous rallies and come back from it, but mostly they'll never race the same. From here Gold Ship watches over Kitasan as she trains for her final race, playing the role of proud mentor (slightly unearned). Details about when and how Gold Ship's Dream Trophy League series goes is unknown.

Let's talk race record: In the anime the girls' race records are based on the real life horse's records, for Gold Ship this means she ran 28 races in the Twinkle Series. The main deviation here is in the series Gold Ship has her G1 race wins in an unbroken streak, which the real life Gold Ship did not. Otherwise it's the same, she lost her Triple Crown run midway through in a poor Tokyo Yushun showing, struggled to fight off Gentildonna in two races, lost back to back Arima Kinens to Orfevre and Gentildonna, she went to Paris to compete in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe where she was hugely popular, but came in 14th in the race itself.

Other details that are scattered around include the fact she never suffers serious injury in her racing career (likely because she's always holding back) and that she doesn't just compete in racing. Gold Ship's room holds awards for chess grandmaster, a reversi championship, a mahjong championship, and a shogi championship. All events she's seen practicing for during the day when she should be training to race.



Personality answers:
What is your character's biggest ambition at their current canon point? To what lengths would they go to see it to fruition?

By the end of series Gold Ship’s stated goal is to become a serious competitor in the Dream Trophy League racing circuit with a particular eye towards besting Gentledonna and Orfevre (the latter of whom is probably her half sister but like many things with the anime, Unclear.) She’ll most likely through herself into her training and dedicate her time to becoming the best runner there is.

I don’t buy this, personally. Between the loss of her rivalry with McQueen, the start of a bad losing streak, and the retirement of her last junior who also broke her record of G1 wins, Gold Ship seems directionless. The Dream Trophy League is a distraction at best, something to occupy her thoughts and time while she avoids the more serious things hanging over her at this point in her life. She’ll devote herself to her training and race like there’s no tomorrow, sure, but she’s running away from her problems rather than running towards a goal.

What would it take to truly upset your character, enough that they would act upon their feelings? Are they the sort to forgive?

Abandonment and or genuine cruelty. Gold Ship is an extremely loyal person who's willing to go above and beyond for the people she cares about, to have those people turn away from her without reason would be crushing for her. As for cruelty; Gold Ship goes out of her way to make people laugh, she keeps the mood light, and when people are having a bad time she's always quick to make a clown out of herself. A mixture of genuine desire to help and a need to stick to her image as the joker who life never gets down. Being confronted with someone who is openly, genuinely cruel for the sake of cruelty would just be something she couldn't understand. It'd make her angry and she'd pretty quickly act on her more violent impulses to try and teach them a lesson the hard way.

As for forgiveness, it depends on the infraction. An insult, an accident, even being abandoned she could forgive if given a reason to. Cruelty or any act of harm against a friend of hers would be simply unforgivable however.

What would your character say is their best trait? What is truly their best trait?

"The amazing, incandescent Captain Golshi-sama's every trait is her best trait! Her overwhelming strength, her staggering beauty, her princely charm! You're so lucky to behold my glorious form!"

But in reality, it's that Gold Ship cares. She cares deeply for the people in her life to a point of detriment to her own health and potential career. Sticking with her Trainer when he seemed by all accounts to be an incompetent idiot, focusing most of the time in team training on making sure the other girls improved and could reach their goals, letting McQueen use her as a jumping obstacle whilst the other girl was wearing heavily weighted horseshoes. That lead to said girl landing on Gold Ship's back with said heavily weighted horseshoes. Several. Times. Spending her time post-retirement seeing to it that Kitasan Black could go out on a high note in her final race. Gold Ship cares so much that she'll do anything for others, and that's as admirable as it is self destructive.

Who in your character's canon influenced the most growth in your character? What do they think about this character?

Everyone in Team Spica has a bit of influence on Gold Ship but for my money it's Mejiro McQueen who's the most influential. Gold Ship's friendship/rivalry with McQueen is her driving force throughout most of her early career, a lot of her antics are specifically to Bug the other girl in ploys for her attention or to get her to laugh, and on the race track it's competing with McQueen that keeps Gold Ship present in the training throughout the first season of the anime. By season 2 when McQueen moves on it's clear Gold Ship isn't trying nearly as hard, she's more interested in her rubik cube than anything, and in season 3 we see her fully crash out. The main change in her life at this point is she's not spending nearly as much time as McQueen.

As for what she thinks of the other horse girl. A mixture of respect, admiration, concern, and maybe a bit of pity. McQueen is the opposite of Gold Ship. She's refined, quiet, graceful, and she holds the weight of her family's legacy on her shoulders like Atlas with the earth. Gold Ship certainly thinks McQueen needs to lighten up but she can't help but admire the fact that McQueen doesn't bend or break under that weight she carries, she just keeps striding along as if it were nothing. It's not something that's fair, healthy, or right though, which is probably why Gold Ship goes to such lengths to bother and amuse McQueen. Anything to lighten that load for a little bit is worth doing for her friend.

Inventory: Rubik Cube, Bridle-Hat-Headgear THING(I have no idea what to call it but it seems to be all one piece), hair ribbon, Sack (she's keeping the sack it all came in. Don't worry about it.)
Powers/Abilities: Horse Power, Literally: Horse girls are capable of the kind of physical strength towards the higher end of what real life horses can manage, we regularly see them pulling tires off earthmovers to train, which weigh in the 12000+ lb/5443kg+ neighborhood. They also have the endurance, speed, and general directional hearing a horse has. They're not super powered, but they've got a leg up on humans. Gold Ship is particularly strong compared to other horse girls thanks to how she trains, but again that’s fully “natural” biologically speaking.
Samples: Here & Here
Player Goals: Gold Ship has a lot going on that the series only really hints at. Her entire energetic nonsensical nature is armor for someone that’s emotionally unstable and more than a little insecure. A thing of particular note to me is how she seems to spend more time on her own after McQueen and Teio start competing, there’s jealousy and abandonment issues there that the series doesn’t go into. Not to mention the fact she’s clearly hiding her own intelligence too.

Playing her in a game, especially this one, is an opportunity to peel that armor away and have her confront things about the world and herself that she’s always running from. Bringing her out of her shell and having her show just what she’s actually capable of. Real life and death situations with will consequences forcing the self appointed clown of her little world to take things seriously is super exciting for me and Body Horror monster transformation is a bonus on top.
Soul Choice: Spectral