| NAME: |
Valetine Macbeth Irving
| ALIAS: |
Thorn
| AGE: |
25 (Upon Death)
| PERSONALITY: |
A man with the weight of redemption on his shoulders, Thorn strives to the best he can but is often very harsh on himself. Despite realizing that his abilities are a blessing, he also views them as a curse and fears they prevent him from ever getting close to anyone. As such, he is often reserved in his thoughts and views, keeping to himself in group settings. That said, he's not a 'lone wolf' and is very much a team supporter, always working to ensure the team stays safe in their missions.
| POWER(S): |
PLANT PHYSIOLOGY:
There's very little 'humanity' left to Thorn. When the alien entity took possession of Valetine's corpse, it merged his body with the mystical force known as the 'Green' which all but turned him into a houseplant. As such, Thorn's skin has a pale green colour to it, darker green veins visible beneath the smooth shiny surface. Vine likes tendrils adorn his head, and spill down over his shoulder, scattered jagged ivy like leaves hanging off of the long thin strands while eyes that look more like fruit shine out from his skull and his ears have all but disappeared instead looking like long pointed leaves. His mouth is filled with rows of seeds where there ought to be teeth and Thorn's tongue is more like a soft fruit or vegetable (and possibly edible). His body is made up of countless tendrils, wrapped and bonded together but capable of splitting apart. As Thorn is in control of his appearance, he often chooses to model himself on what his past 'human' self looked like. While like this, he is often anatomically correct and some of the more colourful euphemisms referring to the male anatomy are more or less accurate in this case. Due to his new nature, Thorn doesn't require sleep or food in the traditional sense but requires a steady stream of nutrients, water and sunlight. Thorn also breathes in carbon dioxide from the air and expels oxygen, just like a plant. In this regard he can be considered self-sustaining.
Thorn's unique construction also allows him to regenerate lost body parts provided he has the time and access to the required nutrients. He able of breaking his form apart to retreat into the ground and if destroyed can grow back provided there's at least one seed left over (these seeds of course are carried within his mouth and 'fruit'). Thorn can also use his seeds to create other plants and is capable of growing both hybrid new plants or existing plants whether to provide aid to his team mates or assistance in combat.
Thorn's body is composed entirely of homogenous matter, without any part of his form being more important than the other as such wounds such as decapitation don't matter as Thorn's consciousness is contained within even the tiniest piece of his body. Furthermore, this means that Thorn is both able to increase and decrease his size provided he has the proper nutrients available or stored within his body.
DERMAL ARMOR:
Thorn is capable of growing additional layers on his body that hardens to a bark like texture. The process is almost immediate but can be interrupted or slowed by repeated attacks or continued onslaught. This dermal armor is capable of withstanding blunt trauma and bladed weapons, but is highly vulnerable to fire and other forms of heat which can potentially dry Thorn out, cracking his armor and leaving him vulnerable. Further exposure to heat would have serious ramifications (See Weaknesses). Thorn's dermal armor can withstand gunfire and as such allows him to act as a shield to his 'meatier' teammates. Conventional weapons don't harm Thorn in the same way as they do other humans due to his genetic makeup, that said Thorn does experience equal amounts of pain from wounds anywhere on his body.
NATURAL DEFENSES:
Thorn's body is able to produce a great deal of natural defenses. For melee combat, thorn like protrusions can appear from anywhere on his body, these protrusions can also be launched in a projectile manner. Likewise, Thorn is able to create and fire seeds in a manner similar to gunfire however with less precision and impact force. His body is also able to create poisons and toxins which can achieve a variety of effects which range from either killing a target to simply rendering them unconscious, paralyzed or ill. These toxins can be combined with the thorny protrusions for an increase in combat proficiency. Thorn can also produce medicinal toxins which can ease pain or speed healing, injecting them into teammates if no first aid is available. Additionally, Thorn can produce sap with enough adhesivity to hold a man in place. Alternatively, this sap can be used to seal wounds and injuries of his teammates.
PLANT MANIPULATION:
Due to Thorn's connection with the 'Green', he has complete control over all plantlife and as such can manipulate and control any nearby plants. Thorn can use these plants to ensnare foes, support falling structures and numerous other applications depending on the situations that arise.
| WEAKENESS(ES):|
Due to the nature of his revived biology, Thorn has several various weaknesses. The greatest and most common of these are temperature extremes as both heat and cold with harm him. Heat can cause Thorn to rapidly lose his stored moisture, causing him to wither where as cold starves him of moisture and also eventually causes him to wither and die. Fire, ice and frost likewise all cause Thorn immense pain and harm. Electricity on the other has a variable effect depending on his moisture content at the time. The higher his moisture content, the more likely an electrical charge will cause Thorn to conduct and ignite. Further more, deprivation of the basic nutrients, water and/or sunlight that all plants including Thorn thrive on will slowly weaken and eventually kill him.
| APPEARANCE: |
Before the alien entity merged Valentine's body with the 'Green', Valentine possessed green eyes and sandy brown hair. His skin was of a fair complexion and at the time he stood roughly 5'-2". After however Val or rather Thorn as he prefers to go by now was revived, his body was completely changed. Despite the changes to his body, Thorn was blessed with a malleable appearance and has complete control how he appears to others. Thorn is able to change his body to look anything from monstrous to simply look like a humanoid plant, he instead tries to retain some of his humanity and create a rather humanoid appearance. In this appearance, Thorn has pale green skin and ruddy vine like hair. His skin takes on a leaf like texture though some of his body such as forearms and shins have almost a bark-like texture to them. This is due to the original concentration of bone beneath the surface.
| BRIEF BIO: |
Valentine Macbeth Irving was born to a pair of loving parents in Gotham City. Growing up, Val fell into the wrong crowd and found himself swept into a life of crime. Running with the Golden Dragons, Val eventually got himself into hot water with the law enforcement. Caught in a shootout with the GCPD, Val was severely injured and barely managed to limp away from the scene. Bleeding out, Val tried to make it to the clinic run by Leslie Thompkins but unfortunately fell unconscious just a block away. His body was found by unsavory sort who took it to an abandoned warehouse on the city's wharf. It was here that Val was merged with an alien entity which attempted to reanimate the body. However lacking the nutrients to sustain life, the experiment failed and Val's body was dumped in a swamp outside of the city. It was inside this swamp that the 'Green' reached out sustaining both the young man and the symbiote which harnessed the power of the 'Green' to reanimate the body. Absorbing the plantlife in the swamp, the body mutated as it slowly came back to life and the young man known as Valentine was left behind. Emerging from the swamp was Thorn. Despite being horrified by his appearance, Thorn eventually learned to control it enough to hide beneath a trenchcoat and ballcap. Realizing how much he had wasted his life the first time around, Thorn vowed to redeem himself working in the shadows on his own at first before being approached to join the Outsiders. Realizing he could make more of a difference as part of a team, Thorn joined decided to join up.
| WHAT DO THEY BRING TO THE TEAM?: |
Thorn brings several advantages to the team. As a self-sustaining plantman, Thorn can produce fruit and vegetables to help sustain his teammates, as well as medicinal toxins if the team is away from their home or otherwise find themselves trapped in a hostile environment. His abilities allow him to play both assualt and support roles and Thorn can act as a shield for his teammates or the strong arm of the team. Of course most of his abilities depend on his current state of wellbeing or the environment around them.
| NOTES: |
-The alien entity within Valentine does have a consciousness often causing Thorn to refer to himself as 'We'.
-This entity however has not provided Val with a name, nor has it tried to take control of their shared body. It seems to be almost parasitic or symbiotic in nature as it provides Valentine the ability to adapt and sustain his new body and both would die without the other.
-While Valentine is a user of the 'Green', he is not a chosen avatar and as such can have his control over both plants and his own body overpowered by the true avatar of the 'Green'.
-Val keeps a pet squirrel by the name of Russell who is often seen riding atop his shoulders especially while at the home base.
~Possibly More To Be Added As I Think Of It~