[CENTER][COLOR=SLATEGRAY][B]C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T P R O P O S A L[/B][/COLOR] [h1][b][color=Red]R E D H O O D[/color] / [color=Orange]A R S E N A L[/color][/b][/h1][hr] [img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/520041678032207887/730295682124218387/101d195a7ea6b88ca53a5a959bb16598.jpg[/img] [img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/520041678032207887/730295886583955506/Red_Hood_Arsenal.jpg[/img][h3][sup][sub][color=red]Jason Todd[/color]/[color=Orange]Roy Harper[/color] ♦ [color=red]Former CIA and Team 7 Secret Agent[/color]/[color=Orange]Former Army Ranger and Team 7 Marksman[/color] ♦ [color=red]Texas, USA[/color] ♦ [color=orange]Outlaws[/color][/sub][/sup][/h3][/CENTER] [INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr] [CENTER][sup][color=Orange]"You know... they really left us hanging there."[/color][/sup][/CENTER] [CENTER][sup][color=red]"If we weren't hanging upside down right now, I would punch you."[/color][/sup][/CENTER] [INDENT][INDENT]What if you removed the mentors from two incredibly flawed former sidekick characters and had them team up and go around the country fighting crime? Well, you would get this take on the Outlaws that I've whipped up. A huge part of Jason Todd's arc as the Red Hood has always been rooted in revenge and pain. Beaten within an inch of his life and managing to survive, Jason takes on a new mantle and enacts bloody revenge on criminals. Roy Harper, on the other hand, is a grounding and inherently funny character. He's always trying to prove that he's a hero despite his past actions and his very, very serious character flaws. These two characters have had their own comics run as a duo, and they work well in the setting of a world much like our own. One in which a country is torn, divided, and in need of unconventional heroes. Jason Todd, in this iteration, was a CIA operative. He was a poor orphan from the streets of Gotham who wanted to make something of himself... so he took every opportunity he could to become someone. He started out doing simple intelligence gathering when he was recruited by the CIA, learning the arts of infiltration and close quarters combat. His skillset saw him recruited by the elusive group known as Team 7, a U.S. Black Ops team tasked with keeping the world "safe" from all threats. He's been with Team 7 until a fateful event six months ago while infiltrating the League of Assassins (where he had further honed his skills). He was sold out by a member of the League, and taken to a warehouse in Vlatava. There, he was beaten with a crowbar within an inch of his life by an unknown assailant wearing a red hoodie and a simple black mask. He was left for dead, with a simple message: Vertigo sends their regards. Since then, he was discharged from service in Team 7 after psych evaluations have found him to be too vengeful and unstable for active service. Roy Harper's past is a lot simpler. He was a kid who, from a very young age, had impeccable aim. He learned of his skills in handling a rifle and a bow and arrow at a young age at a Boy Scout camp in rural Oklahoma. He was so good, in fact, that he started to compete in local competitions. Hell, he even became a small legend in the circle of competitive archery, even being slated to compete in the 2012 Olympic Games on behalf of the USA. Unfortunately, his life took him in a different direction when drug tests outed that he was a heroin addict. He lost all respect within the archery community and barely managed to graduate high school as he was sent out to rehab. His life changed when he got clean and met an Army recruiter by happenstance at a bar. It would give Roy exactly what he had always wanted: purpose. He proved himself to be, once again, and amazing marksman. So amazing that he rose through the ranks quickly, before being picked up by Team 7. He served as a designated Marksman for the Team on dangerous assignments, and met Jason Todd through Team 7. About a year ago, though, Roy resigned from his position to take care of his ailing father, who ended up passing only months ago. Since then, Roy has decided to make it his mission to see the country that he fought and bled for. His mission was interrupted when he saw a very familiar face walk into some rundown bar in some barely known one road town in rural Texas.[/indent][/indent] [INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]C H A R A C T E R M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][INDENT][INDENT]Jason and Roy have one thing in common: they believe deeply in protecting other people. Jason Todd wants answers as to who exactly beat him within an inch of his life, but more importantly wants to find a new purpose. When he reconnects with Roy in a bar and ends up fighting off some men associated with the Aryan Nation, Jason finds a new purpose: removing those racist scum from the face of the Earth. His deeper motivation, though, is an outlet for the anger and rage that is pent up inside as a result of both his injury and his commanding officers' lack of investigation into the matter. Roy's motivation shifts very quickly within this story. He starts just wanting to see the nation he fought for, since he never really got to actually travel and just see the country for what it was. The problem is that the nation Roy stumbles upon isn't the ideal that he fought for. So, Roy has to pick up his bow once again to fight for a future and the ideal that he had fought for once again: a land of the free, where every man is born equal. [/indent][/indent] [INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]C H A R A C T E R N O T E S:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][INDENT][INDENT] [hider=Team 7] [b][u]John Lynch:[/u][/b] The former leader of Team 7, John Lynch is secretly a telekinetic metahuman. He is a cold and calculating man, and there's more to him than meets the eye. [b][u]Slade Wilson:[/u][/b] One of the most experienced and toughest soldiers in Team 7, Slade has always been in it for one thing: the glory of combat. However, following his son Jericho falling terminally sick, Slade has been trying to find new ways to make money to save his dying son. Who knows where this has led him... [b][u]James Bronson:[/u][/b] A hero through and through, James Bronson was an intelligence operator for Team 7 who, following Jason and Roy's escapades, will be tasked with bringing in the two men to answer for their crimes. [b][u]Dinah Drake:[/u][/b] A special agent working for Team 7 and the first member of the organization to develop metahuman abilities. Dinah often worked on assignments with Jason (The Sparrow) under the callsign "Canary." [/hider] [hider=The Aryan Nation / Brigade] [b][u]White Dragon:[/u][/b] The leader of the Aryan Brigade as a whole, and secretly a vigilante in Dallas, Texas that targets minorities in particular, William Heller is a highly trained soldier with money lining his pockets. He has taken on the title of "White Dragon" as the head of the Aryan Nation, and uses his money and influence to influence police departments and get his hands on experimental technology to aid in his plan for the extermination of "inferior races." He has even gathered white supremacist metahumans together and spun the press into calling them the "Freedom Force." [b][u]Heatmonger:[/u][/b] One of the Aryan Brigade's militant operatives, Heatmonger is a blonde haired woman with experimental flamethrower gauntlets courtesy of one William Heller. She is a member of the Freedom Force [b][u]Backlash:[/u][/b] A metahuman with the ability to elongate his arms and manipulate them to form squid-like tendrils. He is a member of the Freedom Force. [b][u]Iron Cross:[/u][/b] A metahuman with super strength who serves in the Freedom Force. [b][u]Golden Eagle:[/u][/b] Not directly connected to the Freedom Force, Golden Eagle is a former marine who now acts as a vigilante and leads the militarized Aryan Brigade wing of the Aryan Nation. [b][u]Blind Faith:[/u][/b] She is not a direct member of the Freedom Force, but is always around when they operate publicly. She has telepathy, and uses her abilities to force people of color to admit to crimes openly that they have never committed... or perhaps convince them to commit the crimes themselves. [/hider] [hider=Their Pasts] [u][b]Chesire:[/b][/u] Jade Nguyen is a member of the League of Assassins, and has been tasked with tracking down Jason Todd and making him answer to the League for his infiltration and "stealing" of trade secrets. By her own right, Jade Nguyen is an incredibly skilled assassin and a brilliant toxicologist. She has killed many of her victims by use of poisons and toxins. [b][u]Count Vertigo:[/u][/b] Werner Zytle was a brilliant chemist and a member of the Vlatavan royal family... before all of his family was executed publicly in a bloody militaristic coup four years ago. The former Count was nearly killed himself by a sniper bullet after his new steward (Jason Todd in disguise) tricked him into getting in position. Since then, Werner Zytle has taken on an alias (Cecil Adams) and has started up a new crime syndicate called Vertigo. Werner has been cooking up powerful new drugs that have been hitting the streets and using the money he's been gathering to build up his organization until it's strong enough to take back his country... but not before he gets revenge on the people who tried to kill him. [b][u]Basilisk:[/u][/b] A metahuman terrorist organization that believes in granting superpowers to the world at large to prevent a future in which only a select few powered individuals control the world's politics. The movement had a basis overseas, and was a frequent target of Team 7's operations. Basilisk mostly operates from the shadows, and was last concretely tied to the Vlatavan Royal Family. Who knows what they've been planning since then... [/hider] [/indent][/indent] [INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]S A M P L E P O S T:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][INDENT][INDENT] [hider=Taste of Violence] [center][img]https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/43/62/bf/4362bf002b0b3474f89c5d0eb4f3491c.jpg[/img][img]https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/765582ae-ee02-4dc4-851a-d3dc540cdf79/d417rd2-f0352dfb-38b6-45ef-9ab4-6c907697400a.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzc2NTU4MmFlLWVlMDItNGRjNC04NTFhLWQzZGM1NDBjZGY3OVwvZDQxN3JkMi1mMDM1MmRmYi0zOGI2LTQ1ZWYtOWFiNC02YzkwNzY5NzQwMGEucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.dWH7TkskDMpq26eDYXs5wTrFcI-lonHuloVOsG3Fj9Y[/img][/center] [COLOR=red][indent][sub][I]Some Shithole, Texas, USA[/I] - [I]Present Day[/I][/sub][sup][right]Issue 1.01.01: Taste of Violence[/right][/sup][/indent][sub][hr][/sub][INDENT][sub][B]Interaction(s):[/B] [I]None[/I][/sub][SUP][RIGHT][b]Previously:[/b] [I]None[/I][/right][/SUP][/indent][/color] [color=red]"How do you do it? How do you just live like this?"[/color] Sitting across the table from the speaker was a red-headed, lean man in a sleeveless red mechanic's vest. He had on a simple baseball cap with an American flag emblazoned across the front of it, and blue jeans that were ripped and worn around the knees. He was currently in the midst of devouring a triple bacon cheeseburger, juices and sauces dripping down his chin and onto the plate below. Roy Harper set the burger down for a moment, chewing the giant bite of food that he took as he grabbed a napkin from the dispenser on the side of the table to wipe the liquids off his mouth before responding. [color=orange]"What's that supposed to mean?"[/color] Jason Todd sighed. He felt out of place in a run-down bar in some basically no-name town in Texas. He was wearing a designer black turtleneck with the sleeves rolled up and black slacks. His hair was carefully constructed and gelled to look somewhat messy. As Roy answered, Jason leaned back in his seat. [color=red]"How do you not want to get back into the action? You were the best sharpshooter in the business. If you made a call, you could be back in Team 7 in a heartbeat."[/color] Roy plucked another napkin to begin wiping away the sauces on his fingers as he gave a sly smile. [color=orange]"I did my time. Followed orders, had some fun. But you know... I never really saw this country. Traveled around it for competitions, but was never allowed to actually see anything. I've never been to the Alamo, or the Empire State Building. And neither was my dad."[/color] That last word hung in the air for a moment. Despite the distance from his death, that fact still stung Roy. As for Jason, it made him stop in his tracks and rethink what exactly he was asking his former coworker to do for him. And as the two men sat in silence, another sound from outside the bar cut through the awkward silence. The two men watched the scene unfolding outside. There, a few men with pick-up trucks that were proudly flying the confederate flag pulled up into the parking lot just as a black man in a t-shirt and jeans was walking towards the bar. The confederate-supporters got out of their pick-up and started surrounding the guy, blocking his path to getting into the bar. Jason's eyes narrowed as he watched one of the large men start shoving the victim of their hate. Jason turned his gaze back to Roy, who was watching his dinner companion with concern. [color=red]"I need to use the bathroom."[/color] [color=orange]"Don't."[/color] [color=red]"Don't what? I need to take a piss."[/color] Roy simply shook his head as Jason stood up from the small two-person table and made his way towards the back of the restaurant. He went into the back of the bar, finding the small closet that was marked as the men's restroom. As soon as he entered and locked the door, Jason looked up towards the ceiling for window near the top of the bathroom. He went to try and lift open the very wide and simple window, only to find it to be a bit stuck. The former spy sighed as he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small utility knife. He flicked it open and ran it along the bottom of the window, removing a layer of grime and filth that was keeping the window a bit stuck down. With another attempt, the window was able to swing out. Jason then sighed and quickly jumped up into the air, using his momentum and strength to kick from one wall to the other and then up towards the window sill. He slid himself out from the window and landed behind the bar. As Jason circled around the side of the bar, he could hear the situation had escalated. He could hear a cry for help as there was grunting and the sound of kicking and groaning. So Jason rushed around the side of the building, his fists clenched and at the ready. As he rounded the corner, about five men were gathered around their victim. They were kicking him in the head, chest, back, and legs. One of them, the one stomping down on the guy's legs trying to break them, shouted out, [color=gray]"Get back on to your ghetto now, boy! This place ain't for your kind."[/color] Jason could feel the rage boiling inside him as he began rushing forward around the corner of the bar. With each kick and hit, he remembered the sensations coursing through his chest, his arms, and his skull. He almost thought the painful sensation in his hand was just a sensory memory until Jason was brought back to reality at the sound of a different voice yelping in pain. One of the racists was clutching the side of his ear as he fell down to the ground over the bloody mess of his victim, and was trying to scramble back onto his feet as his compatriots stared in shock. The next moments were a blur of adrenaline and pure instinct. When one came in on his right with a right hook, Jason stepped back and provided a small redirecting shove to have the man clock one of his friends in the face. Another came forward trying to tackle the former spy to the ground, but Jason simply stepped to the side and provided a quick kick to the man's knee. The sound of the crunch was satisfying as the Team 7 operator decided to go on the attack in delivering a quick strike to the man he had first attacked in the neck by the time he got to his feet, leaving him choking for air. While caught up in the chaos of the hand to hand combat, Jason was surprised and petrified with fear as he saw the two other assailants has run back to their trucks and were loading up their shotguns with appropriate shells. He had only a moment to duck back behind another car in the parking lot before the shotguns began firing off in his directions, followed by whooping and hollering. That is, until Jason heard something he wasn't expecting. He heard screams of pain coming from where the two men were firing. As Jason peered around the hood, he saw that the men had been struck by arrows in their shoulders. It didn't take long for Jason to put two and two together, especially when his marksman friend stepped out from around the other corner of the bar holding his bow with an arrow nocked and drawn. Roy turned his gaze towards Jason for a moment and nodded for him to make his way over. The vigilante did so, and began running towards the archer. Without so much as a word, Jason and Roy fled to a beaten up red van and got in. The latter threw van into drive and spun out onto the empty evening road, taking off from the scene of their crime. Without sharing a single word, the two men knew what they had just done. And they knew that it wouldn't take long before the police were called and the authorities were looking for them. As far as they were concerned, Jason Todd and Roy Harper were now Outlaws. [/hider] [/indent][/indent] [INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]P O S T C A T A L O G:[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][INDENT][INDENT] Issue #1: The Outlaws Part 1: [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5153963]Taste of Violence[/url] Part 2: [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5157082]Stagecoach[/url] Part 3: [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5162700]The Claim[/url] Part 4: [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5169272]The Killer Inside Me[/url] Part 5: [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5172066]The Technocrate[/url] Part 6: [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5174674]The Outlaws[/url] Issue #2: Escape from San Antonio Part 1: This is a Hold Up [/indent][/indent]