Player Name: Natty
Character You Wish To Play: Robert “Bobby” Louis Drake, AKA Iceman
Moral Alignment: Hero
Affiliation: The X-men, The Amazing Friends,
Character Origin & Backstory: Bobby was born to a fairly uninteresting family. Sadly his parents, as well as the majority of the rest of his family were extremely anti-mutant. Luckily Bobby remained free from the controversial views that many shared for mutants in the town for a large part of his childhood, due to him attending an Orthodox Jewish day school where he was taught about acceptance and generally the exact opposite of his parents, despite their shared faith. Bobby was forced to attend public high school however due to his family not being able to pay for his school fees after his father lost his job. This meant that for probably the first time of his life Bobby was introduced to the harshness of the real world. He was constantly bullied for both his scrawny size, as well as his faith, causing him to stop practising in order to attempt to fit in.
Initially, he wasn’t aware of his mutant abilities when they first appeared, believing himself to simply be suffering from a cold when he found himself constantly shivering. After weeks of pestering, Bobby finally agreed to go on a date with a girl named Judy Harmon, although this was mainly in order to stop his fellow classmates from calling him gay if he didn’t. During the date, Bobby was attacked by school bully Rocky Beasely, and his gang, who believed that Bobby stole Judy from him. In an attempt to fight back, Bobby accidently ended up unleashing his abilities and freezing everything in the nearby area, including the bullies and Judy. It was then that two new people arrived on the scene; a bald headed man in a wheelchair, accompanied by a young man wearing bright red sunglasses. They introduced themselves as Professor Charles Xavier and Scott Summers respectively, with them claiming that they were both mutants. After they sorted out the situation with the frozen bullies, with Charles erasing their memories of the event, they proceeded to explain that they had been watching over Bobby for a few days now after detecting that he was a mutant, with them offering Bobby a place at their institution, as well as a member of their team; The X-men.
Worrying as to what his parents would think of him being a mutant, Bobby agreed on the condition that his parents were to be told that he’d be attending an ordinary prep school. Xavier agreed.
Bobby settled well at Xavier’s school, with him learning how to control his abilities, as well as undertaking advanced courses in a variety of studies. He became very sociable in this new environment, often taking on the role of class clown. He soon took on the moniker of Iceman, officially becoming a member of the X-men, alongside the rest of the students. Here he befriended a young woman named Angelica Jones, with the two bonding quickly. During his time with the X-men, Bobby regularly fought against the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, led by the Master of Magnetism himself. Bobby soon developed a rivalry with Brotherhood member John Allerdyce, AKA Pyro.
Due to her father being accepting of her mutation, Angelica soon encouraged Bobby to tell his parents about his mutation. The confrontation didn’t go down well, with his family initially believing that he was simply coming out to them, a matter they also high disagreed with. To be honest though, their initial beliefs weren’t wrong, as Bobby also took this time to tell them that he was gay. Obviously they did not take the news well, with them naming their son a freak, as well as calling the police. Xavier’s arrival put a halt to the situation, with him once again having to wipe the minds of all of the people involved. Bobby didn’t mind as either way, he wasn’t ever speaking to his parents again.
After this event, Bobby lost his newfound confidence, sinking back into the sadness he had experienced back in high school, despite the support of him coming out from the rest of the team. After a trip to a science museum which led to the X-men teaming up with the Amazing Spider-Man in order to take down the Juggernaut, Angelica discovered that Spider-man was actually her old friend Peter Parker. With the two finally reunited, as well as her sensing that Bobby needed something to take his mind off of things, she introduced him to Peter. The three, despite Bobby’s initial reluctance, decided to form a team known as the Amazing Friends.
The regular crime fighting trips to New York greatly improved Bobby’s outlook on life, allowing him to return to his happier, clowning self. This happiness went on for months, with both Iceman and Firestar balancing their time between the X-men and the Amazing Friends. Unfortunately this came to an end when Peter retired after Gwen’s death, causing Bobby to focus more on his duties as a member of the X-men.
Upon hearing that Spider-man had returned to the streets once more, Bobby decided that it was time for he too to get back out there!
Powers and Abilities:Bobby Drake is a mutant. He is potentially an Omega Level one at that, although has yet to embrace the full force of his abilities.
- Thermokinesis; Bobby has the mutant ability to lower his external and internal body temperature, as well as projecting this coldness from his body. This has rendered his body tissues unaffected by sub-zero temperatures, with Bobby also able to lower his body temperature from its normal 98.6 Fahrenheit to absolute zero (The point where all molecular motion stops.) and lower within the span of a few tenths of a second. As his body temperature falls, the surrounding moisture in the air that is in contact with him is also lowered, with the condensing moisture forming an icy covering which encompasses his entire body. This covering is essentially a crystalline ice that constantly cracks with any movement of his body, and immediately reforms. Through practice, Iceman has learned to control the intensity of his coldness, and he can selectively lower the temperature of isolated parts of his body.
- Cryokinesis; Bobby is also able to control moisture, with him having the ability to freeze any air moisture into super-hard ice. This ice can be formed into any object of his choosing: the only limitations are his own imagination, and the ambient air temperature which determines how long his ice sculpture will stay icy. This ability is usually used to form a rising column of ice beneath his feet which is capable of lifting from the ground (i.e. his ice slide). Due to the amount of water on Earth, Bobby has a virtually unlimited supply of moisture since it is always present in the surrounding air or environment. Even desert air has sufficient moisture content for him to make temporary practical use of; however, the mental effort needed to employ his mutant power under these circumstances could eventually fatigue him and render his freezing ability temporarily dysfunctional.
- Ice Clone Generation; Essentially an extension of his cryokinesis, Bobby has the ability to generate ice sculptures of himself which he can mentally control as if it was his own ice covered body. This ability drastically tires Bobby out.
- Professor Charles Xavier - A father figure to Bobby, Xavier brought him to his institute when his powers manifested.
- Angelica Jones AKA Firestar - One of Bobby's closest friends, Angelica was the one who convinced Bobby to come out to his parents, due to her father having a positive reaction when she told him. She was also the one to introduce him to Peter Parker. A member of both the X-men and the Amazing Friends.
- Peter Parker AKA Spider-Man -Another one of Bobby's closest friends, Peter met both Bobby and the X-men when he team up with them as Spider-man to defeat the Juggernaut. He briefly retired as Spider-man when his girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, died. Has now returned to vigilantism. Played by Dedonus
- John Allerdyce AKA Pyro - A member of Magneto's Brotherhood and one of Bobby's biggest rivals. John has the mutant of fire manipulation, although he can't actually create it. However is there are there non-violent feelings shared between the two?
- Scott Summers AKA Cyclops - Leader of the X-men. Can fire optic blasts from his eyes.
- Jean Grey AKA Marvel Girl - A fellow member of the X-men, Jean has the ability of telepathy and telekinesis.
- Ororo Monroe AKA Storm - A fellow member of the X-men, Storm can manipulate the weather.
- Kurt Wagner AKA Nightcrawler - A fellow member of the X-men, Nightcrawler has the ability to teleport, as well as having his entire boddy covered in blue fur.
- Piotr Rasputin AKA Colossus - A fellow member of the X-men, Colossus is able to cover his entire body in an organic metal.
- Hank McCoy AKA Beast - A former member of the X-men and a close friend to Bobby.
- Warren Worthington III AKA Angel - A former member of the X-men, Bobby devloped a crush on him during his earlier days on the team.
- William and Madeline Drake - Bobby's parents. They are very racist and homophobic people, with them calling the police on Bobby when he came out to them. Their minds were later erased by Xavier, with them believing that Bobby goes to an ordinary prep school. Bobby has not had contact since.
- Gwen Stacy - Peter Parker's most recent girlfriend. While they weren't that close, her and Bobby were friends. Her death was the reason why Peter briefly retired.
- Purifier Peril - During a trip to New York, Bobby is attacked by one of the X-men's greatest foes; The Purifiers.
- Fire and Ice - Bobby throws down against his rival; Pyro.
- The Spectacular Return of the Amazing Friends - Hopefully Iceman will be able to team-up with Spider-Man (if Ded is ok with it), Firestar, and potentially The Human Torch (if KL is ok with it) since he was included in the Ultimate-verse Amazing Friend's roster.
- Avengers VS X-men - Obviously this idea would only work if more people applied for X-men characters, but I think it'll be interesting to have such as event take place (won't have to be the Phoenix or anything don't worry) as I'm hoping that Iceman may soon be a member of the Avengers so it'll be interesting as to where his loyalty will lie.
- Saving Senator Kelly - When the Brotherhood target the Senator, Iceman and his friends must protect one of the world's biggest mutant hater.
“Shouldn’t you be in bed, Mr Drake?”
Bobby dropped his spoon in shock at the sound of the old, British Professor, resulting in the chunk of ice cream he had been about to eat to spill across the table top. Recovering fairly quickly, Bobby scrambled to clean it up, attempting to scoop it up with the spoon, although he only succeeded in causing even more of a mess. Giving an apologetic smile to the obviously bemused Professor, he decided to give up, sitting back in his seat.
“Sorry Professor, I couldn’t sleep.” He sighed, his eyes scanning his arms for a watch. Remembering that he had left it up in his room, he looked back up. “What time is it anyway?”
Still smiling, Charles Xavier wheeled forward, moving his wheelchair up to the kitchen table. He was currently wearing a pair of silk pyjamas, which made Bobby worry that he had somehow awoken the man from his slumber. A wink from Xavier however told Bobby that the Professor knew what he was thinking.
“Don’t worry, must like yourself I have been up late pondering too.” His reply calm and collective. “As for the time, I believe it is sometime after 1am.”
Bobby gave the man a nod in return. A silence spread across the two of them for a few seconds, giving the teenager time to reach for his spoon once more and attempt to chisel off another chunk of ice-cream from the tub.
“I know what you’re thinking, Bobby.” Xavier broke the silence. “What happened today with the Brotherhood wasn’t your fault.”
Stopping in his tracks, Bobby once more let go of his spoon, leaving it suspended upwards in the ice-cream tub.
“I let them escape. What use am I against a guy who can fucking control metal? All I can do is freeze things and that doesn’t even do anything with fucking John being there! I’m useless! I’m a joke!”
His fists slammed down into the table, ice erupting from the points of contact. By now Bobby had risen from his seat, his voice raising in volume as he did so. Tears began to stream down his face
That was when he felt a comforting hand on his arm. Steadying his breathing, Bobby turned to find Charles sat in his wheelchair next to him, gazing up at his with a reassuring look on his face.
“Robert Louis Drake. Everybody likes you, Bobby. They always have. You’re a fun guy. Honestly, you’re what holds us all together.” Xavier took a moment to pause, moving back around the table once more. “Out of all my students, former and current, you have always had the most untapped potential. All you can do is freeze things? Dear boy, you have the potential to do so much more, you have no idea! Bobby, you need to stop looking into the past and begin looking into the future. With the world we live in now, we have no room for untapped potential.”
Bobby stood in silence as the Professor turned to leave.
“What should I do?”
Xavier stopped in the doorway, his eyes still ahead of him.
“Something amazing, Bobby. Nothing less.”
“Oh, is that all?”
Bobby withdrew back into his seat calmly, his mind racing through all that had happened. He looked again to where the Professor had left. Smiling he thought back to when he had first arrived at the Institute. Everything had been so new and scary. He had been so alone that first night, until he had found himself in a similar position to where he was now. Taking advice from the Professor while feasting on ice-cream. While so much had changed since then, it was nice to know that some things had remained the same.
“Amazing, huh?” Bobby murmured to himself, pulling his spoon free from the tub. “I can do amazing.”
