[hider=Wards: Richter] [centre] [img]https://i.imgur.com/OyyviHF.jpeg[/img] [img]https://see.fontimg.com/api/renderfont4/ax24E/eyJyIjoiZnMiLCJoIjo2MCwidyI6MzAwMCwiZnMiOjIwLCJmZ2MiOiIjQTNBNUFDIiwiYmdjIjoiIzAyMDIwMiIsInQiOjF9/UmljaHRlcg/all-cracked-out.png[/img] [hr] [url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T2RiG5nhuPs] K. Flay - Black Wave [/url] [/centre] [hr] [colour=silver][b]Name:[/b][/colour] Valentine Sydney [colour=silver][b]Cape Codename:[/b][/colour] Richter [colour=silver][b]Age:[/b][/colour] 14 (presumably) [colour=silver][b]Appearance:[/b][/colour] Val Sydney is a teenager of Slavic descent, standing at roughly 5'7 with a fair complexion. He has a toned and athletic, if somewhat rugged, build developed from an overly active lifestyle. A multitude of scars dot his forearms and knuckles—usually covered by white bandages—as well as his abdomen. He has messy black hair that fades grey at the ends, bright rose-red eyes and a beauty mark underneath his left eye. Val has sharp canines and he likes to use them. Val usually wears whatever he has in his "closet", not favouring any particular style over any other. He generally doesn't care for dirt, [s]blood[/s] or stains on his clothing and he is often described as unkempt, but clean. A silver chain necklace with a shark tooth and scratched-out dog tags attached to it is his only true belonging. In the past, he rarely wore it lest it be used against him, though his power makes that worry now unnecessary. Richter's costume is simple in design and function, in that it really only has some of the latter and the former was mostly an afterthought. His current costume consists of a black, hooded cape (he doesn't usually wear it), black leather pants and dark brown boots. The upper chest portion of his costume is covered by a vest engraved with silver patterns across its front. It has a utility belt with multiple pouches containing various tools and first aid supplies. Val also wears brown forearm guards etched with silver engravings, as well as fingerless gloves. A black two-sectioned mask with yellow circular lenses for his eyes, complete with various visual enhancements, hides Val's features both partially and entirely. Despite its relative simplicity, the costume is more durable than it appears, made to dampen any impacts that manage to make it through his "shield". [hider=Cape Costume (without mask)] [centre] [img]https://i.imgur.com/KxwZlHe.png [/img] [/centre] [/hider] [color=silver][b]Personality:[/b][/color] Flippant. That's the first word people usually think of whenever Val is mentioned, and for good reason. He rarely seems to take anything seriously and tends to avoid people when they try talking to him, often changing a conversation's subject to better suit his own interest. Val is generally indifferent to the plight of others, though not because of ignorance and [i]likely[/i] not due to malice either. As far as has been observed, this is less of a conscious action and more of an instinctual response. Val does not show respect to anyone, regardless of their status, unless they earn it. Very few do. This attitude has made his integration into the Wards.... challenging. Despite these issues, Val is very much capable of being civil when it comes to more practical matters. He is more than willing to work with others when necessary and is actually quite good at it, as long as no one tries to order him around. However, his restraint does not typically extend beyond simple necessity. Val also appears to be somewhat emotionally stunted. Ever since triggering, Val seemingly suffers from a severe form of insomnia, though without any apparent ill effects. This, combined with his excessive amounts of energy, appears to indicate ADHD, though his lack of other discernable symptoms makes this diagnosis unlikely. Val gets somewhat irritable at night since he has a strict curfew and can't do much after hours. He also lies a lot, though usually innocuously and he is brutally honest just as often. Though outwardly apathetic, Val is more thoughtful than one would think. He regularly goes out of his way to help people and solve problems whenever he can, though mostly out of boredom and not any true sense of empathy. A distinct lack of positive relationships in his past means gaining his trust is unlikely, but once someone earns his respect, he can be an invaluable ally. Val has a tendency to bite people he finds annoying. [colour=silver][b]Power Classification:[/b][/colour] Striker (Brute 7/Shaker 4/Mover 2/Thinker 1) [colour=silver][b]Power Description:[/b][/colour] Richter possesses the ability to freely induce and manipulate vibrations at will, enhancing or decreasing the force of impacts and disrupting molecular bonds. His power is primarily touch-based, though he is capable of extending its range by making it propagate through any of the three states of matter, with varying levels of difficulty. His power provides him with a high level of precision when it comes to manipulating oscillating frequency as it requires him to consciously adjust them near-constantly. Richter can vibrate his own body directly, though doing so leaves him nauseous and faint. Further testing is required. Richter describes his ability as being able to "turn punches into missiles, stone into dust, water into vapour, air into fire and flesh into ██████████". Richter's body is constantly surrounded by a "field" of vibrations that violently twists and dismantles anything it makes contact with, granting him a form of nigh-invulnerability, though an object hitting him with sufficient force is able to bypass his defence, as it cannot block kinetic energy entirely. This weakness becomes less of an issue if Richter merely alters the frequencies of the field to better block kinetic energy. Further testing is required. The biggest limitations to Richter's power seem to be knowledge and experience. [hider=Notes] [colour=silver]Note 1:[/colour] Richter's ability does not seem to be limited to interacting with inanimate objects, as observed with ██████████. [colour=silver]Note 2:[/colour] Richter's protective "field" appears to work based off a whitelist of what it allows to pass through and what it doesn't. As of now, he possesses little control over it. [colour=silver]Note 3:[/colour] Richter's Trigger seems to have somehow altered his body in such a way that he no longer requires any sleep in order to function. In his own words, since his power doesn't have an "off-switch", neither does he. [colour=silver]Note 4:[/colour] It is believed that Richter may be hiding the full extent of his abilities. [/hider] [colour=silver][b]Strengths:[/b][/colour] [colour=silver]Observation:[/colour] Val is always paying attention to his surroundings and the people within, even when it doesn't seem like it. With his outstanding memorization skills, he excels at reading people based on minute changes in facial expressions and body language, a skill he developed in order to predict when a situation is about to escalate or a fight is about to break out. [colour=silver]Parkour:[/colour] Val is a trained traceur. While his skills are still somewhat unrefined, he is nonetheless capable of traversing difficult urban terrain with some ease. [color=silver]Combat:[/color] A highly proficient combatant, despite having no professional training, Val's rough upbringing often forced him to rely on violence to get what he wanted. His skills in hand to hand combat are best described as rough and lacking polish, but effective. He's even had the misfortune of facing off against armed opponents, and come out on top. Usually by using the environment to his advantage, though he wasn't always entirely successful. [color=silver]First Aid:[/color] Like most of his skills, Val learnt how to administer first aid out of necessity. As a street orphan, he didn't have anyone to patch him up after he got into fights, which happened quite often. So he learned how to do it himself. [colour=silver][b]Weaknesses:[/b][/colour] [colour=silver]Hyper-active:[/colour] Since his power is always active and has removed the need for him to sleep, Val tends to be full of energy at almost every time of day. Energy which he often struggles to keep under control. While usually not a problem when he has something to occupy himself with, once the object of his attention is removed or otherwise tampered with, he eventually turns to more disruptive, and often self-destructive, behaviours to cope. Being around other people in this state almost always leads to violence. [color=silver]Education:[/color] As far as records show, Val has never attended any educational institutions, though he is literate and does at least possess a basic level of education, which he likely received prior to his arrival in Bridgewater. Regardless, there are multiple severe gaps in his overall knowledge that need to be addressed. [colour=silver]Empathy:[/colour] Or rather, the lack of it. Val does not care about people, something he doesn't see as a problem unless it might inconvenience him. He doesn't believe it important to understand other people nor care about their problems. Since his behaviour appears to be learned, it is [I]possible[/I] to correct it. [color=silver][b]History:[/b][/color] The exact origins of Val Sydney are unknown, and he hasn't been keen to share, if he even remembered himself. One thing was for sure; he was a fighter long before he came to Bridgewater. A fact that didn't change even before he triggered. The first two years of his time in Bridgewater were spent within the foster care system, where he was constantly reprimanded for starting fights with the other children, despite his words to the contrary. In truth, it was merely bias that was the cause of his punishments. Val had previously displayed no signs of aggressive behaviour prior to the first incident, but the same couldn't be said for afterwards. Eventually, the damage he inflicted upon his fellow foster children escalated to the point where several of them had to be hospitalised. That incident was the straw that finally broke the camel's back. He'd seen it coming, but there was only so much he could do about it. After being removed from foster care, there is precious little known about Val's activities. The PRT has attempted to investigate more of Val's history, but all members of his foster home were found to have been killed during the Confessor Disaster. Further attempts have been made to obtain more information. However, Val's refusal to talk about his past has made the investigation fruitless. Sometime after he was removed from the foster home, Val ran into a familiar face, and an incident occurred. An incident that led to them running afoul of a violent gang calling themselves "The Ivory Basterds". As far as known, neither were directly involved with the gang, and any connection was purely incidental. The instigator, a former friend of Val from his "hometown", ████████ was seen leaving the scene. It didn't take long before Val was hunted down and cornered by the Ivory Basterds, who had decided that they didn't want someone like him around anymore. Despite his best efforts to avoid them, Val was captured and taken to the gang's hideout, along with his hometown friend. There, they spent several hours ██████████ ██████████ ██████████ before Richter triggered. And he wasn't the only one. The specifics of what happened next aren't known, only the bits and pieces left in the aftermath. In no small part due to the fact that Confessor attacked Bridgewater moments later. What [I]was[/I] known, was that the remaining Ivory Basterds started having a very bad time for the next few months. Val Sydney approached Gatecrasher approximately one year after the Confessor Disaster. He expressed his intention to join the Wards and though his background, or lack thereof, proved difficult to verify, he was brought in regardless. With some minor caveats. Several days later, the Ward known as Richter was introduced to the public. [/hider]