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[color=forestgreen]General[/color]
Name: Nathaniel Shanahan
Age: 29
POB: Ocean Pines, Maryland, United States of America
Mutant: Yes
Nationality: American
Height: 6’0
Weight: 170 lbs
Affiliations: - (loosely affiliated with the X-men)

[color=forestgreen]Biography[/color]
The Shanahans of Ocean Pines had been involved in the defence industry for generations. Howard, Nathaniel’s father, made two unsuccessful runs for Governor during the son’s childhood. Helen, Nathaniel’s mother, remained supportive of her husband throughout and was a strong advocate for his anti-mutant sentiments. Nathaniel, while often agreeing with his parents, remained indifferent to the world of politics. Instead, he could often be found by various society houses, the Pine Point Marina or on the seas.

The life of leisure continued, even as he succumbed to his parents’ expectations and went to study law. A family friend generously lent him an apartment by the university campus and his parents offered him a generous allowance. As the years passed, he went on to become a successful lawyer, relying on a mixture of skill, charm and connections.

Eventually, Nathaniel ended up in one of New York’s prestigious law firms where he cultivated his skills and joined the bar association. Of course, he made the occasional trip home to Maryland, occasionally appearing behind his father during a mostly successful run for Senate.

Everything had been smooth sailing for the young Nathaniel - all until he overheard two doves discussing which kid to watch out for and he slowly realised that he was one of them.

To the world, it was a secret. He kept working on mergers, severance packages and corporate restructuring schemes whilst doing his very best to ignore the animals who never seemed to cease their chatter. It was not until he went on a business trip to upstate New York met the X-men started to learn how to handle - and more importantly - accept his newfound capabilities.

With his life being held in a wicked limbo, Nathaniel returned to New York where he continued living the life of a wealthy Senator’s son whilst staying in touch and offering aid to his friends in the X-men.

[color=forestgreen]Personality[/color]
Socially, Nathaniel is generally charming but, at times, overbearing. He is blunt and unafraid. He is intelligent and calculating - but at times overeager and too impatient. Inside, a growing conflict between who he is and what his values are is brewing. A whirlwind of emotions and insecurities risk being shown from a mere scratch on the surface.

[color=forestgreen]Physical Description[/color]
Wild strains of hair, almost too long to be appropriate for a board meeting, are often brushed back from his face for a more proper appearance. Nathaniel shaves daily and tidies up well for someone who has a disappearingly small amount of time to put on grooming. Still, he has given up on precision and embraced a wilder style.

His lips can form a bright and eager smile when needed - however, he usually has a determined and serious look to him. 

Nathaniel spends a lot of time at work and is prone to having a few more beers than he should - still his many hours on sea and at the shooting range along with just as many hours in the gym has resulted in a mostly healthy and somewhat muscled physique.

[color=forestgreen]Mutation[/color]
[color=forestgreen]Mutant power level:[/color] Alpha
General description: Nathaniel has an extraordinary connection to animals. Unhindered by a lack of knowledge and skill, he could locate, understand, communicate verbally and telepathically, compel as well as directly control one or multiple animals. The mutation also automatically creates a friendship-like bond between him and animals and allows Nathaniel to temporarily inherit powerful traits, features and attributes of an animal he interacted with, for instance increased stamina, sense of smell, strength or wings.

Lacking thorough training, however, Nathaniel is still having difficulties communicating with relatively unintelligent animals. He can understand animals, communicate with them verbally and compel them to do his bidding within reason.

[color=forestgreen]Limits and Weaknesses:[/color]
Animals are living creatures, compelling them to take risks can be burdensome and emotionally draining. They are also preexisting and not always readily available. Upon taking control of one or several animals, also controlling oneself becomes an exceedingly difficult task. While humans are also animals, they are not susceptible to Nathaniel’s mutation. For someone with Nathaniel’s capacities, communicating with the animals can take time and seem odd to the casual observer. It can also be hard to properly understand and make sense of the limited information that an animal of lesser intelligence might try to convey.