[hider=Astraeus: Opera Nova]"He chased down the thief that jacked my bike. 
No clue how he caught up to it!"
[center][color=lightgray]"Astra found my doggie after it got lost!"[/color][/center][right]"He walked me home when I was scared late one night."[/right][color=lightgray]"He subdued four brawling guys wrecking my bar 
and then waited on the sidewalk with them until they sobered up."[/color]
[center]"He babysat my twins one time, they still ask when he's visiting again!"[/center][right][color=lightgray]"My husband was trapped under a car and Astra lifted it off him!"[/color][/right]"He saved my son from drowning!"
[center][color=lightgray]"He was just in time to fight off the guys that broke into our house. 
I dunno what would have happened if he hadn't been there."[/color][/center][right]"A mugger attacked me and my girl in the street, 
but Astra showed up and taught him a lesson!"[/right][color=lightgray]"That boy ran into my neighbor's burning house!
Pulled out a couple of people that probably would've died if he hadn't."[/color][right]"When I got separated from my parents, 
he sat with me and cheered me up until they found me."[/right]"I'd like to see him become a really popular hero!"

[center][b]Champion. Idealist.[/b][h2][color=F59932]Astraeus, [i]Opera Nova[/i][/color][/h2][/center][hr]
[table][row][/row][row][cell][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/6tHPv6s.png[/img]
_____________________
[color=F59932][sub]"I always liked hearing them on TV, but man - 
they don't tell you how embarrassing saying a catchphrase can be in real life!"[/sub][/color]
_____________________[/center]
[b][color=F59932]Fame Level[/color][/b]: 100,001

[b][color=F59932]Concept[/color][/b]: [i]A hands-on hero who always gets back up no matter how many times he's knocked down.[/i]

[b][color=F59932]Agency[/color][/b]: Summit Studio Co.

[indent]One of the oldest talent agencies in Neo-Astraea, a large company that got its start producing stage plays but grew to incorporate movies and hero work when their stars began to shine too brightly to be tied only to one stage. At its height Summit fielded dozens of successful heroes, and though it still holds the image rights to many legacies the company has scaled back in recruiting new talent for a long time now, focusing on maintaining their current brands and producing theater plays and feature length films in contract with non-Summit heroes. That is until the surprise introduction of Astraeus, a once abandoned hero concept recently revived.

Some within the company and without hope Astraeus will be the catalyst of Summit's return to creating Neo-Astraea's finest heroes. Others reject this old fashioned hero and await the inevitable failure. So far the divide hasn't led to any major ripples within Summit yet, but only time will tell how the agency's -and their newest talent's- future will go.[/indent][/cell][cell][b]Caspian Lagrond[/b], who would prefer if you just called him Cas, has always been a big fan of heroes. Unsurprising, really, growing up in the City of Heroes. Those strong, flashy men and women who stood up to bad guys of all stripes and made Neo-Astraea a safer place every day... What better role models could there be? As a youngster, Cas emulated them and everything they stood for.

And then, the opportunity to see them up close. Really see them, not just at one of the many meet and greets Cas made his parents take him to. A villainous attack taking place during a street parade, one that the Lagrond family happened to be attending. A swift response from a hero nearby, dazzling their impromptu audience as they engaged their opponent in battle in front of the many recording cameras. It was exciting, amazing; until the cheers turned to shrieks, and fanfare to fire.

For a majority of the city, the event was an unfortunate case of a villain going rogue, lashing out at innocent bystanders. Even to those that had been there, collective belief of the rest of Neo-Astraea's citizens influenced their memories. Only the most grievously affected know the truth: the attending hero's publicity stunt gone horribly wrong. The Lagrond family returned home with one less parent, a daughter robbed of her ability to walk, a chunk of a cash settlement and a signed NDA. 

Even after that, Cas still loved heroes... though his admiration had changed more to what they represented, rather than how they operated. He still wanted to be a hero, too, but someday when he finally made it he would be a better one than the fakes just seeking fame and fortune. If they spent their time actually helping people instead of playing pretend, then they could prevent real tragedies instead of risking creating them in the first place. 

From his earliest teenage years, Caspian worked at being an earnest hero. In between classes and shifts at the family shop, he trained and went out helping people whenever he could. It started as rescuing cats from trees or helping neighbors move. As he got older and made a small name for himself in his and nearby neighborhoods it evolved into protecting girls from aggressive pursuers, breaking up fights, and talking situations down before things escalated. He didn't have the resources to truly chase his dream to become a well respected hero whose words couldn't be easily brushed off... but he was content to be an 'indie hero.' At least until the shop started to fail, and that settlement money had long dried up. Then auditions made their way onto Cas' daily schedules, begrudgingly so. 

But what self-respecting profit focused company would take on an unknown indie hero with no following outside of a few neighborhoods, no gimmick, no marketability? None but the most desperate start ups would, and even those didn't work out. 

Enter a certain old man, a shop regular who commonly chatted with Cas about their favorite talents and heard the young man out when he complained. A man who longed for the 'old days' of true people's champions, and who on the store's final day handed the aspiring hero a business card and a plot for a return to form for Neo-Astraea's heroes. Who needed niche characters, when one genuinely good hero could pull in numbers with broad appeal? Who needed robots and lasers when the greatest of history's heroes protected people with only their body and defeated evil with only their fists?!

...well, couldn't argue with that. Though their goals didn't entirely line up, Cas wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth especially when his family needed funds. If this was the path to upholding justice, he would take it as far as he could. Maybe he would even get the chance to change this virtue signalling system from the inside. Months of planning, preparation, and promotion have led to this: Cas' imminent debut on his twentieth birthday, reborn as the hubristically named hero [i]Astraeus[/i].

[b][color=F59932]Extra Curriculars[/color][/b]:
[indent]Cas is always helping someone or other, whether with something serious or just a simple errand. He has a lot of good word of mouth going for him, but usually forgets to record himself and has to rely on others happening to do it or CCTV much to his agency's chagrin. He is often spotted at community events like clean-ups and food drives; his volunteer work in general is a well known fact about him. He genuinely does like doing meet-and-greets as well. Recently has learned how to make his smile more genuine at company events while trying to network.[/indent][/cell][/row][/table][/hider]