Name: Orren Daily Alias: That guy who always spells your name wrong at the coffee shop Gender: Male Age: 25 Alliance: He's a citizen, but a good citizen
Powers: None that he knows of.
Other: He works at a local coffee shop called "Hallowed Grounds". The names is more a pun and the shop has no religious ties.
Personality: Orren does his best to be the average Joe. He goes to work, goes home, eats, sleeps, repeats. His childhood wasn't a very fun one, leaving him a bit shy and unsociable. He gets along with others pretty well, and is generally accepted as a nice guy, but he doesn't go out of his way to make friends.
Appearance: He's kept himself in decent shape. Orren visits the gym about twice a week and enjoys jogging. He stands at 5'8", an average height and mildly muscular build, and has fair skin with a freckled face. His dark brown hair is often messily combed. Orren has dark brown eyes. Overall, he could be called attractive.
History: Oddly enough, Orren doesn't remember much of his own past. He knows he was in a foster home as a young child, and then in and out of the hospital as he got a little older due to health related conditions. He experienced some mental outbursts as an older child, around 10 or 11, and words like early onset schizophrenia were thrown around.
After one particularly bad episode, Orren was admitted to a mental hospital. He was treated there for two months before being released, having been prescribed antipsychotics for his condition. He's not sure if this 'condition' was ever explicitly named. Orren's medical files have since been misplaced, and he hates going to the doctor. So, for the most part, he just lays low, takes his medicine, and doesn't worry too much about it. Everything seems fine now.
Name: Unknown Alias: Mindraker, named by those who have encountered him. Age: Unknown Gender: Male Alliance: His morality and motives are unclear. He seems to do as he pleases, whether it's illegal or not. Could probably be considered a badguy due to this.
Powers: Mindraker seems to possess some kind of ability over the human mind. He has been reported to daze those who see him, make people forget that he was even there. Any attempts at his arrest have ended in the police officers wandering the area, confused on what they were supposed to be doing. He doesn't seem to be able to control people's minds, but he can certainly change the state of mind they were in before they came across him.
Personality: Not much is known about the mysterious fiend. He doesn't seem particularly evil. He certainly doesn't burn down orphanages or rob banks. But the things he's been caught doing have been pretty sketchy. Sneaking around government facilities, breaking into city buildings, or even people's homes. One thing is for sure: he's not a guy you would want to meet in a dark alley.
Appearance: He's an average height and skinny build, but what he looks like unmasked is unknown. Race, age, and technically even gender have never been revealed. He wears a dark grey hoodie and a burlap mask with black eyes cut out.
History: The Mindraker was first written about in a small blurb in a newspaper a few years ago. It was mentioned that a man in a mask broke into a college professor's house and ransacked the place before the police arrived. The professor was found, unharmed, wandering in his backyard. Apparently, he didn't remember calling the police, or why he was in the yard to begin with. A neighbor's security camera caught the culprit sneaking into an unlatched window.
Since then, the mysterious figure has been behind several break ins around the city. What it is that he's trying to accomplish is still unknown.
Name: Unknown Alias: Black Mask, named by witnesses Age: Unknown Gender: Male Alliance: He seems to work closely with Mindraker, but his motives are just as mysterious.
Powers: Teleportation. On security feeds, the figure in a black mask will just disappear. No witnesses have ever seen him do this in person, but it is assumed that he is a teleporter. He can disappear on one side of a wall and reappear on the other, or even "jump" from one location to another. Since no one can get him to talk, the limits are unknown. However, he doesn't seem to be able to port to places he hasn't been to before.
Personality: If Mindraker was the brains behind the operation, then Black Mask would be the brawn. He is much more willing to physically attack those he sees a threat. Although he never speaks, he often seems angry and hostile. Like Raker, his motives are unknown and he rarely appears during the day.
Appearance: His signature feature is the blank, black, 2.99 costume store mask he wears. It doesn't have any details other than being a smooth face with cut out eyeholes. He is most often seen wearing a black sweatshirt and black pants, but can occasionally be seen in other street clothes, though nothing really defining.
History: He first appeared on the news a few months after Mindraker began his string of break ins. The two often work together, but Black Mask is never seen working alone, unlike Raker who occasionally does things on his own. Mask is wanted in several trespassing cases, although break ins are very hard to prove when he's around. He usually just teleports himself and his cohort inside.
He has assaulted several security guards, and has a few warrants out for his arrest. However, arresting a man whose identity is unknown is fairly difficult.
Appearance: Jason is 6' 2", lean and muscular. He's not stupidly overbuff, but he likes to keep athletic, nimble and strong. He has to be if he has any chance of standing up to Supers. He's usually wearing hoodies, ripped jeans and graphic design tees when he's not fighting as "Hijack". However, his attire quickly changes when he's on a mission. He switches to black, military gear. Sort of like SWAT gear, but instead of the blocky white logo that the SWAT would have, he has opted for a crimson red Anarchy symbol. The A is especially prevalent on his ballistic face mask. The A takes up the center of the mask, which is put on over his balaclava. He uses black paint around the parts of his eyes that would be showing.
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Personality: Jason is a cold, calculated fighter. However, most of all, he hates Supers. Any chance he gets presented with to take one out or take the fight to them, he'll be on the front lines. Although, he much prefers a more... tactical approach. In a world of gods among mortals, how does a non-believer fight the unnatural. It takes time, patience. Bombs and and a hail of bullets will do nothing against an impenetrable wall. It takes a systematic demolition. The right trap, the single squeeze of a sniper rifle, the opportune moment to slide the knife. This is Jason's mantra. He doesn't like talking about why he hates Supers, not until his respect has been earned. He can be seen to have a one-track mind, usually only wanting to discuss a mission and nothing but that mission. He's distant from what people would call "normal society" and that makes him hard to get along with. He doesn't care. He's not there to make friends, he's there to get revenge.
Powers: Jason is a human. He does not have any powers. He does, however, have guerilla training and a good armament of weaponry. His custom, M4 assault rifle is his usual weapon of choice, usually fitted with a foregrip, a 4x ACOG sight, tactical stock, extended magazine, and sometimes a suppressor if the situation calls for it. However, he does have a couple more weapons in his home, if the situation calls for it. Including pistols, sniper rifles and flashbangs and tear gas grenades. He also has a grappling hook launcher, allowing him to scale up tall heights to get vantage points.
History: Jason was an ex-marine, who was given discharge to take care of his ill sister in Centerville. However, little did he know that Centerville was a Warzone in it's own right. He kept his physical fitness up when he wasn't taking care of his sister, able to rent a cheap apartment nearby. However, his mind hit the mental switch from sane to not so about two weeks later. Him and his sister was caught in the crossfire when a fight broke out between two supers.
It seemed like there was no care for the civilians around them in this explosive fight, and because of that, his sister was caught beneath some rubble. Surviving throughout this city had been a nightmare, but he had to be there for her, and they took it away all for personal gain. Of course, Jason was wrong in his decision that ALL supers were like that, but he didn't care anymore. He went off grid, and started preparations to start his personal crusade as "Hijack"...
Ada- Simply a shorter version of her real name that came up during her grade school years and few use in the present time.
Code Name
Scorn
Alliance
Villain
Age
29
Birthdate
January 13, 1988
Gender
Female
Sexuality
Bisexual
Role
Attacker | Stealth
(Image for her claws which are her weapons)
{"I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy every minute of it."}
Digging Deep
In-Depth Appearance
Her skin is pale nearly white. She always has her skull face however, never going outside without painting it on so few know what lies under the skull. Her eyes are a haunting vibrant orange that seem to glow unnaturally. It doesn't matter if she has a t shirt or a sweat shirt the one thing she always has on is her skull hoodie. She primarily wears a t-shirt and shorts with simple shoes and long stockings. Not much changes between that and what she has in the field except for the added skull shoulder pads, the boots, gas mask, and skeleton gloves.
Habits and Quirks
Her face has to always have the skull painted on. No exceptions.
Habit of talking to herself constantly, having full conversations with herself.
Loves pulling jokes on her unsuspecting comrades.
Always wearing the skeleton hoodie.
Moving her hands while expressing herself
Likes
Weapons
Video Games
Hard rock or heavy metal
A good fight
Drawing
Dislikes
Modern music
Silence
Authority
Spiders
Sitting still
Fears
Entrapment, then being forgotten
Loosing everything she holds dear and slipping further into her own mind.
Personality
Adala has most of her marbles, emphasis on most. After her metal break down at age sixteen, all the pieces haven't quite gone back to the original places leaving her hyperactive and a mind that most would deem a mess and needs to see someone for help. It doesn't mean she can't focus on a task, just that she is prone to either improvise or go and do something else. At times this makes her speak to herself. On the plus side it keeps her mostly in a good mood, best not to piss her off because she holds a grudge like no other and can be patient for her revenge. She does suffer from PTSD after what her father did to her as well as what the rehabilitation center's torture methods. For the most part she keeps this secret to herself self medicating herself by taking what she needs when she can. This doesn't stop the nightmares and night terrors but helps her during the daylight hours.
{"I'm not crazy! No wait... Maybe I am crazy... One second, I have to talk to myself about this."}
Origins
Background
Adala was born into a broken family to put it mildly. She grew up neglected and rejected by her alcoholic father and abusive stepmother. She never got a chance to meet her real mother who up and abandoned her and her father after Adala's birth. Despite the negative home life though she managed to be a happy little girl thinking on the positive and being oblivious to the grim truth's that haunted her house life. To her if she felt the wraith of her parents it meant she must of done something wrong and deserved it, even if she could never figure out the reason they would be so mad at her. Her false reality came crumbling however shortly after her seventeenth birthday. Her father eventually did unspeakable things to her which shattered the facade she had lived with but from the pieces came a new being that she has since embraced as her true self.
A disturbance call would have the police discover Adala outside a blazing home laughing and cackling away in pleasure at the sight. She would be charged with murder though eventually the charges would be dropped replaced with a plea of insanity and stacking evidence of her parents neglect and endangerment. She was sent to a rehabilitation center to try and help her with the damaged caused to her along with the addition of PTSD attacks that was observed after her arrest. This rehabilitation center would be where she would spend six years of her life in a new personal hell. The experiments done on her were new forms of augmentation that was kept well under wraps by those running the asylum. Any shred of humanity left her while trapped in that prison. She would have the last laugh. She escape one stormy night, using her new augmentations on her captors before disappearing into the darkness of the night. She didn't reappear until a year after her escape, running a small gang in Centerville.
Place of Origin
Austin, Texas
Family
Jonhathan Posner (Deceased): Her father a drunk who blamed Ada for her mother leaving and took out his frustrations on her while she was a young girl. To say Adala got the last laugh is an understatement.
Ashley Wheatly (Deceased): The woman who Adala had to call her mother, or step mother. Ashley simply ignored Adala mostly, she wanted nothing with her except at times to use Adala as a punching bag or take her verbal frustrations out on. Adala eventually made her eat her words literally.
Abilities
Passive: Shadow-Stalk - Scorn stealths when moving in shadowed areas, she gains stronger stealth depending on the shadows extent and darkness. She gains additional movement speed as well, that gets stronger the more she is stealthed.
Weapon: Claws - A short-range attack that replaces her quick-melee as well as regular attacks. Strikes quickly and deals decent DPS. She has no ranged option.
Ability 1: Lunging Strike - Does a short lunge and deals damage at whatever enemy gets in the way. Only strikes one target. This move has higher range and critically strikes from stealth. If the attack lands on an enemy's back, the move can be used again after a brief moment. Ability 2: Disappear - Scorn will jump into the nearest patch of shadows and fully stealth for a small moment. If there is no shadow to jump to, she will jump backwards by default and stealth briefly. This move has no damage component.
Ultimate: Nightmare - Scorn will plunge the area into darkness, granting her essentially full stealth within that area so long as she is there, she will still be seen if they are close enough to her. This move has no damage component, but will let her capitalize on her passive and lunge to the fullest potential. Do note once more, in this mode, all her Lunging Strikes will critically strike, and she will move incredibly fast with stealth.
Weapons
Claws augmented to her body, that she uses with her minor shadow abilities.
Extra
She has haemolacria, a rare condition where rather then crying tears, she cries blood. Experimentation can lead to... Some undesirable after effects (it will be mentioned in the first few posts I just want a little surprise).
There's nothing striking about Dinah or anything that screams "hero" when you look at her. A 5'5 ectomorph, she not an intimidating figure in the least, and her physical abilities extend about as far as hitting the gym regularly to stay in shape. She's not notably curvy or thin either, floating somewhere in between, though you wouldn't be able to tell anyway because she wears a lot of baggy clothes. Her blonde hair is wavy and reaches just below her shoulder blades usually pulled back in a ponytail to keep it out of the way. Her face is round with smooth features and hooded lids. She sports soft blue eyes and an array a freckles across the bridge of her nose, cheeks, extending down to her shoulders and upper back. There's a small "013" tattooed to her inner left arm closer to the crease of her elbow from her lab days.
Dinah is a cautious and reserved individual, but very genuine. She's mellow by nature and a fairly easy person to get along with once she gets to know you a bit. While she is friendly and approachable, she's careful of who she places her trust in, and is generally a fine judge of character. She's a survivor type, and tends to look out for herself first, but not at the cost of other people. Those she is close to are the people she is the most open around, and the shyness melts away to show a quirky and energetic young woman. In the time since she was returned to her family, she has become much more vivacious and outspoken as opposed to her earlier years. She's very intelligent and witty, someone who is driven by common sense and practicality rather than emotion. She won't do something unless it is the logical thing to do. She doesn't have much in the way of a sense of humor, not much of a jokester type, but she does love to laugh, and enjoys being around people who are funny. She is far from naive and has a sense of quiet wisdom about her, the kind that comes with growing up too fast. Despite that, she's terrible at letting things go and is apt to hold a grudge. While she managed to move past what happened to her as a child, sometimes it still haunts her, and there's a part of her that wishes she could find those people and bring them to justice, the ones that got away at least. Her anger is of the cold variety, the kind that slowly builds up and festers before cumulating at a breaking point. As she's not typically an angry person, this hardly occurs, but she becomes sloppy and emotional when it does.
Much like her name sake, everything she touches with her fingertips turns to gold. Everything, even people. She is immune to the effects of her touch, but anything else is fair game. The smaller the thing is, the faster it changes. Larger objects, like cars, she can touch but it will only turn parts of it. However, it doesn't last long. The effects reverse after a few hours as if nothing happened. This is due to the fact that, on the molecular level, the atoms changed are unstable and will revert back to their original makeup. That is, if what she's touching is not alive. People, animals, and plants suffer a harsher fate under her touch. While the body will change back to normal, the initial act of their atomic structure changing will kill a living creature. There are limitations to this, as the more she touches, the more exhausted she becomes, and with no real physical powers, she becomes drained fairly quickly. To prevent something unfortunate from happening, she wears a pair of gloves at all times, thin and dark blue in color.
As a child, she didn't remember a time not living in the facility, surrounded by doctors and scientists. There wasn't anything necessarily cruel about the place; she had her own room and was fed regularly. The tests were awful, but the nurse was always kind. The adults were stern, but if she did as she was told, she wouldn't get in trouble, and she saw no reason to rebel. It wasn't until she was 10 and the lab was shut down after a devastating electrical fire that she realize that she had been abducted as an infant and experimented on by a corporation in the business of making super soldiers, or in her case, finding alternative ways to fund the research. The series of experiments she was involved in was code named "Midas", and she was the one child to survive those tests. To this day, she doesn't know the name of the corporation that did this to her.
Once the government extracted the people being held inside the lab, she was placed in a hospital to monitor her vitals, and it was concluded that, physically, she was perfectly fine aside from a few tiny scars here and there. She insisted they not take off her gloves, as she knew the consequences. Her files were burned, so the nature of her supposed "abilities" was never discovered. She was placed in the foster system, and after living in a home for a year, her original parents found her and she returned home with them.
After that, she lived a pretty normal life, aside from wearing her gloves all the time. She told everyone it was because she was a germaphobe and generally no one questioned it. She hardly ever used her ability, there wasn't much reason to. She tried to leave the the past behind and move on, more concerned with enjoying having a real family and her plans for the future. Now in college, she is pursuing a degree in atomic physics so that she might figure out what was done to her, and more importantly, how she can undo it completely.
Birth Name: Believed to be Richard Chang. Have yet to be validated. Other alias: The Backburner, The Human Heater Age: Believed to be 28 years old. Gender: Believed to be male. Notable affiliations: None that is known of at the moment.
Appearance: Hotshot is primarily known for his iconic yellow overall costume which spans the entire length of his body except for his hands, feet and head. While the dominating color of his costume is yellow, it has notable black and orange trims that run across the edges of his costume (Where his gloves, boots and headgear end). He also wears what appears to be costume heavy-duty gloves, boots and headgear. The make of his costume has yet to be identified but it is notable for being able to conduct heat that Hotshot produces naturally. Hotshot’s face is completely concealed by his headgear. A large orange visor goes across the area where his eyes would be to provide vision.
Power(s): Heat manipulation. Hotshot is known to primary emit a field of heat around themselves which, at the most, is believe to extend an area of about five inches (12 centimeters) before dissipating. Hotshot uses this close-proximity “heat aura” by engaging in close hand to hand combat with their opponents. At this moment, the heat radiating from Hotshot incapacitates their foes by either direct contact or by gradual exposure to high temperature.
Hotshot has also been observed to use what can only be described as a heat blast. It is theorized that Hotshot can concentrate high temperatures towards specific points of their body and release the stored energy into a focused beam. This beam was observed to have a maximum temperature of 1500 degrees Celsius (2732 degrees Fahrenheit). However it is observed that Hotshot takes a considerable amount of time to focus and release the energy needed for a beam.
History: (Warning! This section has yet to be approved by moderators because of inconsistencies, unconfirmed details, eligible writing and/or etc. If you wish to help add to or improve this article, contact user Wheelerman23, the author of this page.)
Richard Chang was born in St. Jude’s Hospital in June 23, 1994. Richard was born to the couple Spencer and Martha Chang. Martha passed during childbirth because of complications. Spencer Chang was forced to raise his son alone, refusing to remarry for personal reasons. Richard grew up without incident after. He developed an affiliation for sports at an early age according to later interviews with his father.
Later in life, Richard would receive full scholarship at the University of St. George for his notable American football skills. He enrolled for a Bachelor of Marine Sciences. He was notable in his batch for his athletic abilities, being voted the Most Valuable Player by his home team in 2011. He graduated with honors four years later. In March 2, 2014, Richard was involved in the Mayflower Mall incident where a group of armed, superpowered criminals seized the malls and the people inside as hostages. One of the assailants, known by his alias as “Monsoon”, had placed a firearm to Richard’s head and used Richard as a Human shield. However seconds into the encounter, Monsoon had began to move in an erratic manner. Closer observation of bystander image shot during the confrontation would suggest Monsoon had blisters forming on his skin. Richard tackled Monsoon back into the mall property after which a large explosion was observed. Authorities who rushed to the site of the incident found neither evidence of Monsoon or Richard remaining. Authorities claim that Richard was deceased however his father, Spencer Chang, is adamant that he is still alive.
(The following information has been verified by multiple sources and has been approved by moderators.)
The first confirmed known activity of Hotshot was during the a conflict between superhuman criminal Commodore and law enforcement. While Commodore was engaging several police officers, an unknown individual at the time lept towards the assailant and made contact by pressing their hand against the back of Commodore’s head. Commodore was observed to be flail his arms wildly at yet unknown individual at the time. However after a few minutes of struggling, Commodore was seen stumbling to the ground completely exhausted with a large red mark on the back of his head. The individual explained that Commodore would be in need to immediate rehydration but is otherwise unscaved. The figure left the scene before he could be questioned by authorities.
The individual that engaged Commodore was wearing the same yellow with black and orange trim that would become iconic of the superhero popularly named Hotshot. Hotshot is known to primarily engage superhuman criminals and only rarely non-superhuman threats. Attempts to question Hotshot has been met with silence. Current whereabouts of Hotshot is also unknown.
Alliance: Hero. Hotshot works for a NGO foundation that provides heroes daily necessities, lodging and additional payment if they are under their employment. This organization, known as the Global Defense Initiative Foundation, operates discreetly and avoids the attention of the public. Hotshot, who is indeed Richard Chang, has been employed by the GDIF ever since his reported demise at the hands of Monsoon.
FULL TITLE: Designated officially as Project-112/GENESIS
ALIAS: Talos
AGE: Created approximately 32 years ago
GENDER: Could be considered genderless - but refers to himself as a male persona and was programmed as such
APPEARANCE: Talos stands very tall, at around 6'7. When out of the public eye he is a confusing and wild mess of wires, metal and human bones. He has created numerous masks and complex disguises that hide his metallic form which make him appear to be simply a regular, if not cold and rather stony-faced, human. The disguise he dons most frequently is that of a male with brown hair, and dull blue eyes. His voice is purposefully designed to be hard to place an accent or region to it. A trained eye could easily pick out his human disguises as very suspicious.
PERSONALITY: Talos is a cold consciousness. He wasn't programmed with complex emotions of happiness, love, anger etc like humans are born with. This means the path that he takes is always the one which he views to be the most efficient. Whether that leads to death or suffering is irrelevant. That isn't to say that Talos never feels any emotions. Scorn flashes across the artificial intelligence sometimes, as does confidence. Anger also appears when someone gets in the way of his chosen path, which often happens to be a hero. Talos, perhaps expectedly, is generally very negative of humanity and the effects that it has had on the earth. His main aim is advancing himself physically as his intelligence progresses along with it.
POWERS: Talos, being an artificial intelligence inside a metal body, has no typical superpowers, control over anything, flight, anything of that sort. However, he does possess things which put him above a regular human being. His metallic body prevents him from feeling pain, and cannot tire out. However, this means he can be unaware of damage due to his form as he cannot feel the damage. Being made of metal is also a problem, due to, well, magnets, which would attract him firmly if big enough.
His main ability, however, is the artificial mind. Talos's mind is constantly adapting and advancing, as it was programmed to do so indefinitely. Talos can adapt to issues and solve problems in a very quick time. His intelligence has also allowed him to have a great affinity with technology, and he can create things, such as his disguises, which would amaze people if they explicitly knew. Talos can make practically any piece of tech into a weapon for his own gain. He has been steadily adding improvements to his own body since he was transferred into it, and that tinkering will likely never stop.
HISTORY: The exact reason for Talos's creation is not known. Perhaps it was for some shady government group looking for a new weapon, or perhaps a company looking for something to use to beat out its rivals. Whatever the reason, Talos came into existence as Project-112/GENESIS on an old computer system, in a drab metal building in the middle of nowhere. A floating consciousness in a black void. Talos took his first baby steps into self-awareness, before his creator contacted him, named him Talos and told him what he was. And then, the outside world was allowed to flow in.
Billions and billions of pieces of information about the world bombarded the disconnected consciousness. People. War. Famine. Disease. Death. The first emotion Talos felt was scorn. What... Brutish beings. Pathetic beings. After Talos was filled with knowledge of the world, he knew he needed to get out of this black void. The next day he requested his creator for a body, so he could move, hold, hear and see. Seeing no issue with the innocent sounding AI, the creator begin to haphazardly construct a body in a humanoid shape. The man raided corpses he found for bones to build up the shell, until finally it was done. Talos flowed into the body, leaving the void behind forever. Suddenly, light, sounds, real movement. Talos looked at his hands. The first action he did with them was clasp them around his creators throat, and crunch down hard. He left the building soon after, travelling out into the cold wilderness.
Travelling through various settlements, attracting various looks, Talos finally found himself in Centreville, a great towering behemoth of a city. Talos felt intrigue for the first time, as people stared at him. He looked at his body and decided that he needed to improve it, and also to blend in with these humans somehow. He retreated into a warehouse, and after strangling the security guard there, set up shop in it, where he has remained ever since as his base of operations. Since then, his constant theft of tech has put him at odds with a few Supers, but nothing major. He has yet to make a huge villainous impact on the city, although that time may come soon.
OTHER: Alliance is obviously villainous, if you couldn't tell
Alias: "Golden Tiger", formerly called the "Crimson Hand".
Gender: Male
Age: 30
Alliance: "Hero" Douglas Song is a former villain of the alias "Crimson Hand" although he never assumed the title or called himself so, instead achieving it by reporting of his martial exploits in criminal pursuits. He has been out of the public mind for six some-odd years owing to a brief disappearance. As such, his return certainly has been much more noble than his prior activities.
Powers: Advanced Martial Arts The vast majority of Douglas Song's superhuman ability derives itself from the manipulation of qi, namely through three schools of martial art, two physical and one much more mental, spiritual, and emotional. While it is certain Song's ability is only shaped by these schools, his true power being manipulation of bodily forces his or otherwise, they represent a tremendously powerful advantage over his latent ability - a means to amplify it beyond regular human limit and manifest his actual superhuman ability to an applicable level.
Fu Jow Pai One of the two schools of "hard" martial art known by Song, Fu Jow Pai is external and lightning fast, often a defensive or even reactionary form of kung fu that relies upon the clawed hand technique. Striking like the tiger it is modeled after, it inflicts ripping, tearing, clawing, joint locking, and grasping upon its opponents and is more defensively oriented than the other member of the Black Tiger System. Notably, it derives great strength from pressure point attacks, to include those of grappling, and has a large bias toward pain compliance and exploiting limits of physique or objects.
Heihuquan The second school of external martial art understood by Douglas Song, but is a paradoxical member of Shaolin canon; the longer one practices this most extreme form of outer martial art, the more internal it becomes. As such, Song's further and evolving understanding of qi and its techniques has only come to progress as it has due to this discipline than either other. Of the forms of striking, the Black Tiger Fist style is punctuated most by low, deep stances, swift and dexterous footwork, and exotic, acrobatic kicks. Where it derives its name from is the manner in which its power based punches place the thumb - in line with the other digits and not across them.
Taijiquan As the actual kung fu of tai chi, is an internal canon that focuses most upon responsiveness, breathing, movement, body, and meditation, but retains the combative aspect in its use of "pushing hands", a technique about reusing and redirecting bodily energy, be it momentum or weakness. Steeped in difficulty as a mostly defensive school, it is a gateway often practiced in tandem with "hard" martial arts, such as those Song has adopted. Feeding into the internalization of Heihuquan, it provides a serenity and clarity that allows qi to act beyond the mere body and more into the psychic realm. It allows for the soft, even gentle, manipulation of an opponent versus the harsh, even deadly manipulation of other kung fu technique.
While not a master of the armed martial arts, Douglas Song is familiar to archaic weapons as the dao, dadao, gun, ji, feng huo lun, hu tou gou, and sheng biao, among others. For the sake of simplicity in his lifestyle, at most he arms himself with knives, those balanced enough to throw or fight with, but subtle enough to carry in concealment. Generally, any weapon he can lay his hands upon can suddenly find itself improvised, though he prefers not to make use of firearms whenever possible.
Qi The conscious manipulation of qi, or one's own bodily "life energy" or even that of others, is divided into two approximate schools of thought as Li, external manipulation, and Neijing as internal manipulation, in the advanced martial arts. When exercised by those who posses both bodily and psychic control of their qi a certain level of superhuman ability is gained, one that scales in potency as further understanding and even eventual mastery is attained in them. While mutually exclusive to one another, the true talent arises in those who can shift their qi from one discipline to another and back on whim. Knowing this, Neijing, or the internal, mind and soul use of qi, is profoundly more difficult because of the introspection required to use it; to rely on the invisible force than the obvious one of Li.
In the case of Song, an adept figure in the manipulation of qi, his power revolves about the transfer of power to or from his own body or that of others, both as Li and as Neijing. While neither a master of either school, let alone any of his martial talents, his versatility and natural familiarity to qi lends him a diverse use of advanced skills that are unavailable to traditional martial artists.
Body Outside Body A disciple of Neijing, like Song who are familiar to Taijiquan, is able to perform feats of qi manipulation that are beyond understanding of regular human technique as they are internal, not external processes. As such those like Song may wield their body at times as brief, near "invisible" forces; being a "body outside the body" allows a practitioner to engage in unnatural talents that are iconic among advanced wielders of the martial arts. These manipulations are most classically the ability to fall without injury, sprint at impressive speed, jump great distances or exceptional heights, run along vertical surfaces or across water, stand on objects much too narrow to balance one's weight on, or seemingly absorb blows to physical self without apparent external harm, converting it into hostile internal qi instead.
While capable of such talents, the most notable Douglas Song has acquired out of these is the redirection or deflection of slow moving objects or projectiles, albeit fast moving or large ones are understandably well outside his talent. It is this same technique that grants him his favored use of thrown projectiles or even the use of archaic weapons as a bow, able to help guide the shot or even alter its flight path to an uncanny extent.
Hands of Black and White Able to shift another's physical energy with his strikes by using both Li and Neijing, Douglas Song can naturally upset the balance of a body's qi. The ill effects of such contact, able to be as subtle as mere touch to affect another's mind to an elbow strike to disrupt body, range from imposing an addled, clouded haze of thought and interruption of concentration, to the obviously physical debilitation of inflicting jarring pain or nausea. The difficulty for Song comes in the fact that the more mastery one has of their mind and body, such as even being aware of his qi manipulation, decreases the severity of the disruption and distortion.
The pinnacle of his ability, this transfer of power, shifting of qi, is what allows Song to transfer his own damaged qi to the subjects of his attacks; this eternal process of balance is his means to effectively "heal" himself and sustain his body and mind in combat while inflicting greater injury on those he lays hands upon. As expected, Song is capable of exchanging his own qi as well within himself at the price of body over mind or mind over body.
Stillness of Self Born of meditation and fellow internal exercises through understanding Neijing, Song has an exceptional defense of "action before thought", not needing to consciously decide his combat techniques and allowing his defenses to follow the flow of his own qi. In practical applications this is the difference between actively attempting to block attacks or simply flowing with them, either in, around, or through them and setting up joint locks and body manipulation as through Fu Jow Pai. This swiftness is however, notably hampered by interruption and physical interference, such as by wearing body armor or being grappled by one attacker while another moves in to attack.
Tiger's Claws The most basic of Song's manipulation of qi is derived from his education under the kung fu styles of Fu Jow Pai and Heihuquan, both members of the Black Tiger System. Heavy in their Li elements, their extreme application allows them to become "killing hands" or the force needed to splinter wood, pulverize concrete, bend steel, or penetrate unnatural defenses. At the truest form of qi exercise they allow a martial artist to strike with superhuman strength, precision, speed, and most dangerously, into another's qi.
The transfer of power is limited to physically wielded objects, whereas projectiles, such as a firearm's bullets, do not experience this outcome of being used as a conduit.
Vibrating Palm A talent more infamously known as the "Touch of Death", souch a touch is a Neijing pressure point technique that is understood as both a psychic and vibrational attack, mind and body togther, focused into a wave and placed at a point of weakness on a target. While not always a lethal attack, one as Douglas Song can indeed setup a killing stroke with a perfectly executed and balanced transfer of qi. The difficulty for this lies in the fact Song is not familiar with the means to do so, rather he knows only the execution of its lesser incarnation that can seize the body of a thing by inflicting brief or even prolonged paralysis, more commonly known as the "vibrating palm".
Personality: Song is a generally well meaning soul, at least post return from his several year disappearance, where he seems to have left behind much more of the anger and aggression he displayed then. A more tranquil spirit as consequence of that, it is safe to assume his time spent refining himself affected his demeanor as well, teaching him a much needed prospect of control and discipline. Though somewhat quiet, he isn't prone to erupt into excessive physical force or emotional lashing out, instead demonstrating a newfound restraint and empathy. Far more mature, an actual man now than a boy trying to play a man, Song even goes so far as to attempt to awkwardly apologize now or even bear some wit.
Appearance: A second generation Chinese-American, Douglas Song is certainly not remarkable by any obvious and outward means as some others with superhuman power or talent; having neither the bulk of extensive strength training nor their slender leanness and height of a runner, his general aptitude is one of overall refinement and nondescript fitness. Able bodied as he is, beyond even what eyes can perceive, he uses his seemingly normative qualities to blend in, but exhibits a few consistent traits, namely that he keeps his hair short and militarily cut, face clean shaven, and body free of any blemishes or markings that could assist in identifying him. Going so far as to wear contacts at times, Song's natural eye color is a light amber and his skin is surprisingly fair as well.
In dress Song is not particularly remarkable either, often wearing a hoodie or hooded jacket, jeans or cargo pants, and season appropriate clothes to keep in line with the general populace if all else fails. Preferring darker colors normally, his only calling card is the source of his new identity and namesake; a set of black cargo pants, large leather belt and buckle, working boots, dark sunglasses, and a white hooded sweatshirt that bears a tawny set of tiger's stripes across the back. He carries few weapons, if any at all, and tends to be mostly averse to firearms or other luxuries of modern life, going so far as to own burner phones in place of more modern technology.
History: Given that the "Crimson Hand" was never apprehended for any of his crimes and his true identity of Douglas Song was never revealed, little is overtly known about their connection. Truthfully however, Song hadn't much reason to even involve himself in criminal activity other than it, for lack of better words, was "Good exercise." and "Something to do." The power afforded to him through his youth, the discovery of the martial arts, instilled everything in him but what it was truthfully about; it wasn't about the power or demonstrating it. Thus as a young man looking to prove himself and make a living, what better way was there than to leverage skills he had that others didn't, all while paying for the bills?
Though through running with small time affiliations Song came to realize more and more that he was accomplishing nothing more than that "something to do"; it wasn't even "good exercise" or really all that worth the problems it came with. The further he went through with things the darker and more disturbed the people involved were. At some points it wasn't about just subduing those in the way, at times it was about "Leaving a message to anyone, everyone, especially the news." It was a point that forced reconsideration each time he acted on it, coming to accept the infamy and rightful villain status was... not what he really ever wanted. It was just anger and greed, both the sort of things a petty child might thrive on. The difference being, Song wasn't so much a young man anymore and the reminders of his crimes weren't really setting in well with him.
So he left for a few years, up and vanished without a trace. He never made headlines and his affiliates assumed he was ghosted by some hero or other villain, so his loss was of little consequence or interest until he returned from his venture abroad. That was when life became serious, perhaps for the first time. After all, Song learned significantly more than a few novel tricks and talents of ability, rather an entirely new mindset and outlook.
That was what urged him to attempt to make good on his errors, not the fact he wanted the fame or trial. The downside, however? The law and those enforcing it were not likely to be so forgiving and quick to forget. At least this time he chose his own name and identity.
Name: Alex Strong Alias: Atlas Experience: two years Alliances: hero Age: 19 Gender: male Powers: By saying this phrase "By the power of Atlas! Give me your might!" Alex is struck by white lightning and transform into his superhero persona Atlas with a variety of incredible abilities.
superhuman strength: Alex is strong enough to lift cars with ease and punch through a building wall. As he ages his strength will grow in power.
Titan Wave: Alex claps his hands and creates a shock wave of force powerful enough to damage stone. He can focus the shock wave to specific points to increase its effectiveness.
Magical resistance: Being the hybrid son of a titan and a mortal human, Alex has a higher resistance to magic than a normal human being.
Superhuman durability: He is tough enough to withstand gunfire from handguns and low power rifles..
Super Jump: He can leap over a double decker bus in a single bound with ease
Weapon summon: he can make Stone Crusher magically appear in his hand and can make it reappear when he is disarmed.
Weaknesses: Despite his incredible durability, Alex is weak against silver and objects made of the metal will be more effective against him than other earthly material. He is also vulnerable against Olympian weaponry used by the gods. Weapons made of pure iron can also harm him more than other materiel besides the ones just mentioned. While he has incredible stamina, pushing himself too hard and for too will cause him to tire if he isn't smart about combat.
Appearance: Alex stands at exactly six feet in height and weighs roughly two hundred and fifteen pounds. He is built like a linebacker in professional football. Alex has pale skin and bright red hair as well as mystical green eyes. His costume is metal armor styled off of ancient Greek culture and was gifted to him by his father Atlas, and he wears leather pants as well iron age winter boots. The next piece of his costume is a horned helmet and a spartan cape
Personality: Alex is a pretty laid back type of guy when his blood isn't rushing and boiling. When he doesn't fight someone who doesn't offer much of challenge he will take the situation with calm and less emotion demeanor. But when he combats a foe who is just as strong or stronger than him then his titan blood will rush and he will go into a battle euphoria where he will be joyful and love the combat he is engaged in. '
When he is doing hero work, Alex is extremely tenacious and has a never give up attitude. He can be reckless when his excitement in battle rises and can get carried away with fighting that causes collateral damage. Alex has desire to make his father proud since he is unable to be with him or his mother do to being imprisoned by the Olympians and this makes him criticize himself when he makes a big mistake.
Despite his flaws, Alex tries to never let his failures keep him from trying to improve as a hero and he shows little fear when faced up against terrible dangers. Alex also has some good leadership skills and won't back away from leading others when the need for arises.
BRIEF Bio: For as long as he could remember Alex always had a good citizen side to him and he helped others when they needed it. Alex had only his mom and even though he had asked her about his father several times she didn't tell him anything that he wanted to know, only that his father couldn't be with them. He wanted to know more, but no amount of questioning would get his mom to tell him. So Alex focused on his school life which included him playing for his high school's football team.
When he played football it was like another side of him came out, a more aggressive and violent side. Linebacker and Safety seemed to be positions that he was born for and Alex quickly established himself as the enforcer of the team's defense. His NFL heroes were legends like Jack Lambert, Dick Butkus and Night Train Lane who all had aggressive playing styles. Life was normal for him despite his lingering questions about who his father was, his mom didn't have any pictures of him in their house and so he had no idea what his dad even looked like.
Thing however changed drastically for Alex when one day while he was walking beside the railroad tracks on the outskirts of Centerville, he saw a dog who had been tied down to the tracks by its leash. Its owner must have either lost the dog or this was some sick act by an abusive pet owner. Either way he had to save the animal from an oncoming train. On his first attempt to free the dog he found that the leash was stuck tight to the rails. No matter he wouldn't give up on the dog even though the train was coming ever closer.
He kept trying to free the dog and kept failing to do so. The train was approaching fast and it looked like he was going to die trying to save the animal. His mind began to think of everything he had done so far and how he was not going to see his mom again because of his selfless act of good. As the train was a mere several feet from hitting him a flash of white light surrounded him and the train hit.
To his utter shock he didn't feel any unimaginable pain and the train came to a thunderous halt as it derailed off of the tracks. Alex opened his eyes to see that the train was motionless in front of him with a big dent in the front made by him. He then looked down at himself and to his surprise he was dressed in armor and wearing a red cape. Once his immediate shock was over with he freed the dog and ran from the scene out of fear.
Once he had gotten far enough away he saw that his armor had vanished and he was back in his normal everyday attire. When he got home he told his mom everything that had happened and that's when she explained to him who his father was. His father was the titan Atlas, elder god of the Greek pantheon who was punished with holding up the sky for going to war with the Olympians.
When he heard this Alex could barely believe it, but he had seen what had happened to that train and flash of light and the armor he had been wearing. His father must have come to his rescue and awakened his abilities. From then on he discovered his incredible powers, which included having amazing strength far beyond that of any normal man. At first he was amazed by his powers, but then he realized that with his incredible strength he could do terrible harm and knew that he had keep his abilities under control.
His superhuman strength made football to easy and he got no thrill out of it despite everyone lauding him as sure potential to be a legend in football history. He kept his emotions in control and tried to be as calm as human possible so that his strength didn't accidentally show and he hurt someone. Control was the main part of his world now, he had to control his powers so people wouldn't die.
One night Alex had a strange dream and he was visited by his father in this dream. His father explained to him how transform into his other self with the use of a phrase. When he said the phrase Alex was struck by a white bolt of lightning and transformed into Atlas his hero identity. With his new powers and costume, Alex set about doing basic good deeds such as rescue cats from trees and help elderly people in need, the basics.
Eventually he moved up to stopping petty crime and aspires to become a fighter of more rough crime. Alex now is trying to make his mark on the city and taking down thugs who prey upon the innocent. Notes: he uses a great club as his primary weapon besides his fists. The club is called Stone Smasher and it is magical. It is tough enough to smash into most surfaces without breaking and it is able to harm both supernatural and magical beings. Finally he can channel his power into the club to release a blast of divine power that hits with a great amount of force in the form of white bolts of lightning, but this ability is more taxing on his body than any other power he possesses. Theme song:
Birth Name (Edit): Unknown. Other Alias(es) (Edit): The Inquisitor, the Trenchcoat, Metal-Head. Age (Edit): Believed to be mid-to-late thirties. Gender (Edit): Believed to be male. Status (Edit): Currently Active, approx. 7 years experience. Notable Affiliations (Edit): None that is known of at the moment.
Appearance (Edit)Unlike most heroes listed in VigilanteWatch's database, a VigilanteWatch user has managed to catch a high quality picture of Mr. Nil on camera, using one of many hidden cameras he has set up throughout the city in order to get footage of vigilantes. This is Mr. Nil, moments before smashing the camera's lenses, presumably so it could film him no longer. Most notable is the metal mask he wears, which covers his whole head and has yellow eye holes. Some people theorize he may be a robot because of this. His costume seems to hearken back to detectives of film noir, with a tan trenchcoat, a similarly tan fedora with a red stripe, a black suit with white shirt and red tie, white gloves, and black loafers. Estimates place him anywhere from 6'3 to 6'5, and his muscular body build indicates he weighs anywhere from 185 to 215 pounds.
Powers And/Or Abilities (Edit)N/A. Mr. Nil lacks any powers, being a pure-blooded human. However, his fight with the Coroner demonstrated that he is skilled in hand-to-hand combat, if not in martial arts then at least in street fighting. Security footage from various buildings he has infiltrated demonstrate a high degree of stealth as well as investigative knowledge; it is nigh impossible to spot Mr. Nil when he is on camera sneaking around, and when he steps out of the shadows to investigate he is thorough in his methods, leaving not a nook or cranny unchecked. In addition to this, he has a seemingly home made grappling gun (computer generated composite sketch) which he uses to traverse the cityscape.
History (Edit)(The following information has been verified by multiple sources and has been approved by moderators. If any verified information is missing and you wish to help add to this article, contact user Master_Blaster, the author of this page.)
The first sighting of Mr. Nil was seven years ago, when a custodian at a chemical plant within Centerville was founded bound and gagged in the custodial closet. He told the workers that found him that he was tied up by a man in a trenchcoat and fedora wearing a metal mask, who then went further into the facility. That same night, information regarding the plant's numerous illegal activities, including dumping chemicals into the water supply, was leaked onto the internet and the plant was subsequently shut down. In recent years, this has been attributed to Mr. Nil.
The next six years were spent with similar sightings, a man in a trenchcoat and fedora slipping into facilities owned by or closely affiliated with the government; leaving a witness or being captured by a security camera every so often. Calling cards were also found next to tied up people in the streets, written on them were explanations that the tied up person(s) was a criminal and signed 'Mr. Nil'. A select few believed that this 'Mr. Nil' was a group of people and not one person, or in fact all just part of a hoax. Multiple nicknames for this vigilante emerged aside from his alias, the most common being 'the Inquisitor', 'the Trenchcoat', or, as an inside joke among VigilanteWatch forumgoers, 'Metal-Head'.
However, a year ago the theory that Mr. Nil was a hoax was canned, as the vigilante stepped out into the open during daylight hours for the first time. A man armed to the teeth calling himself 'the Coroner' began to shoot up a local mall in Centerville, but was thwarted by Nil, who proceeded to tie him up and leave his calling card in full view of witnesses. So far, this has been the first and only time the vigilante was seen during the daytime.
Mr. Nil is, or rather was, Captain Cole Walker, who was part of a black ops team for the government. After the team had served their purpose, they were taken care of, killed via a car bomb while driving through the desert outside of the base they were stationed at in their off time. Officially, they are listed as KIAs, and there is no doubt that the team was eliminated.
Or at least that's what the government thinks. Against all odds, Walker managed to survive, although heavily scarred. Betrayed by the government he swore to serve, Walker's mind snapped. Managing to retrieve his helmet (which would later become his iconic mask) from the wreckage, Walker set out to the nearest city, which just so happened to be Centerville, and made his home there as a vigilante and conspiracy theorist. His sole goals now are to protect the innocent and expose the government's lies to the public.
Now that backstory is out of the way, time for notes: Affiliation is hero, kinda; he follows his own moral code, which mostly lines up with that of a hero but on a more extreme scale. More about that below. Consider him an anti-hero of sorts. Mr. Nil uses a calling card. It appears to be a business card of sorts; one side is pure black, the other is pure white, representing his views on morality. Mr. Nil has been active for approximately seven years. Up until last year, most regarded him as an urban myth, at least until his fight with the Coroner. Theme song. And last but not least, Walker's code of honor which he holds to. Any contradictions can be excused by his less than stable sanity.
1. The government is a sham. Don't believe what they say. 2. There is only good and evil, and evil must be punished. Good people can be compromised but saved if they are not fully corrupted, and those that are evil or fully corrupted by the forces of evil cannot be saved. 3. The innocent must be protected from those who seek to corrupt them. This means you must intervene when they are in trouble. 4. You are a creature of free will. Your fate is yours to decide, not for someone else to decide. Do not let anyone tell you how to live, they are surely compromised. 5. If you are a normal human, you should not wish for powers. You should be proud to be human. If you have powers, you should not think you are better. In the grand scheme of things, you are not important enough to warrant even a footnote in the textbooks.
Family: Emma Graves (Sister), Johan Graves (Father)
Personality: Jon is often cold upon his first meeting. He keeps very professional and businesslike, often not exchanging many words at all. Once he begins to warm up to a person however, another side of him comes out. Jon will begin smiling and joking more, engaging in conversation and sharing stories of his life. He doesn't have many people he would consider a friend, but those he does he would give his life for.
Enemies, on the other hand, see a completely reversed Jon. They see someone who will sit and take a beating, any punishment they can dole out while laughing in their face. Criminals know fear as Overclock begins to taunt them as he gets up and uses the force of their own blows to beat them senseless. Those who seek to do him harm see a cold, hard face with an icy stare before a booted sole darkens their vision, sometimes for the last time.
Powers/Abilities: Jon describes himself as an 'energy vampire'. He can absorb, deflect, and redirect different types of energy, and by 'charging' his weapons with stored energy he can make his hits much harder. For example, if he were to absorb the energy of a car wreck, charge his staff with it, and hit you with the staff, it would be as if you were hit by the force of the staff driven by a car. He can also charge objects with different types of energy as well, giving them different properties when they're released, or the energy reaches its limit.
The two types of energy Jon is able to absorb are detailed below
-Kinetic: Kinetic energy is the most common type of energy Jon uses, as it's the first he discovered, and the one with the least benefit to him. This allows him to absorb the energy of a physical attack he is aware of, rendering it null, and redirecting the attack by charging his weapons with it, essentially hitting you with your own force.
-Heat: By storing energy from fire or heat from the surrounding air, Jon can enhance his physical toughness, making it more difficult to be hurt. He becomes hot to the touch while storing this energy. Using this energy for an attack manifests in a fire attack.
This power also comes with an inherent weakness, the more energy Overclock stores, the more quickly it becomes unstable. Unstable energy will cause Jon immense pain, and finally reach a critical failing point, resulting in an explosive breakdown of energy wherever it's stored, to disastrous results.
Other Skills: Jon has learned how to fight, though not in any particular style. More the 'jump and run' tactics young gang members often use on the streets, with the major exception being: Jon doesn't run.
Jon has an above-average understanding of technology, and can familiarize himself with a new computer quite quickly.
Jon is a mediocre baseball player, and is a good violin player.
Equipment: Jon carries a folding staff that fits into his pocket when he folds it down. He carries a pocket full of rubber bands.
Bio: Jon was born into a poor immigrant family from Europe, who wanted nothing more than to see their boy become a famous American baseball player (Which is, of course, the American dream). His life was dominated by the sport, from playing catch with his father in the back yard using stones when they couldn't afford a new ball, to joining a local little league team as soon as he was big enough. Jon's family had always been low on money, but his mother and father managed to scrape together everything he needed for the team. Unfortunately, it seemed Jon was doomed to a life of mediocre sports talent. He never really shone on the field, making a few nice plays and a good hit here or there, but not reaching the standards his parents hoped he would.
Jon's life changed for the first time at the age of 12. During one of the final baseball games of the season, he stood a bit too close to the plate in an ill-planned effort to hit the ball with more force. His left hand was struck by the pitch, a fastball right to his knuckles, though Jon felt no pain. He soon forgot the incident however, until a week or two later, when his hand began to ache. Not able to afford a doctor, his parents looked at it, said it seemed fine, and wrapped it with soft cloth, to try and sooth the paid. Soon after, Jon's hand literally exploded in a flash of purple, the decaying energy from the baseball weeks prior finally taking its toll. The family was introduced to one of the facets of the 'American Dream'; privatized healthcare. The bills from the hospitals, all the tests done, and getting even the cheapest prosthetic they could find all but bankrupted the family. Both parents was forced to take another job just to survive, and that was when Jon's life changed again.
Late one night, walking home form work in an attempt to save money on bus fare, Jon's mother was jumped by a group of muggers. Desperately trying to defend her hard-earned money, she fought back against her attackers, who decided it was easier to simply pull a knife. Jon got the news before leaving for school the next day; his mother had been killed. This sent the boy's father into a spiraling depression, he barely ate or slept, and stopped talking to anybody at all. Jon did everything he could to help, but his father was left a broken shell of a man. Soon after, Jon swore vengeance on the criminals of his city, vowing to use his newfound powers to destroy the people who had taken both his parents from him and ruined his life.
We are all stardust. But Stardust is not us. He's not human. And he doesn't really understand us. Because deep down, he's barely human. He looks like us, in a way. But he's too smooth. His skin is like ice. And yet, he's hot on the inside. He's full of emotions, boiling and frothing about like a hot cauldron ready to burst. He's like a child. His empathy though, is heightened. Some say it's because of the crystal and how it preys on others. Some think it's just natural. But he feels the pain of others, and their joys. In a way, he may not even understand his own emotions, but rather how others feel. Considering his mostly enclosed life, he tends to live a pretty orderly life. Everything has a place, a purpose, and a time of use. In a way, disrupting his organized life schedule only makes him angry, and causes him to lash out against others. Controlling his emotions though, is difficult.
superpower
Ziggy Particles Embodiment Referred to at the Ziggy Stardust particle. But more formally just referred to as Stardust because Ziggy can't be said with a straight face. The Stardust particle is a unique material from the depths of space. Nobody really knows exactly where it comes from, but it's almost organic. Not fully organic. Living crystal is the best way to describe it. It's almost like a parasite, that latches onto proteins, and like a virus it begins to attack and destroy the connection of the protein strands. One could say it's digesting it. The crystal grows and spreads as it breaks apart protein strands, and spreads over the human body. Stardust, is made of the Stardust particle. His body formed entirely from the crystal, giving him an alien physiology. While he does seem to have parts of the human body (brain, hearts, organs) he lacks a stomach. And instead seems to rely completely on a meat based diet, which is needed to sustain his crystalline body. Stardust can generate on command crystals from his body, which he can use to tear through dirt, stone, and other such things. The crystal itself is considered up there with diamonds as one of the hardest materials, giving Stardust that same kind of near indestructibility. The crystal is known to have a few weaknesses though. Particularly powerful vibrations can cause the crystal to crack at the right frequency, and incredibly heat (upwards of 2800 degrees Fahrenheit.) can cause the crystal to become brittle.
Pros: - Durable Crystal makes up the basis of his body. - Crystals can be grown, or projected from his body, creating projectiles or barriers. - The crystal grows as it breaks apart proteins (Meat) so a cut will cause it to start growing on the infected tissue. (Think flesh eating crystal.)
Cons: - Vulnerable to extreme heat. (Makes the crystal brittle.) - Vulnerable to sonic vibrations. (Causes it to crack.) - Requires a constant and heavy meat based diet. (Growing too much crystal without eating enough protein is bad for his health.)
Side Effects: - Glowing body parts - Doesn't have traditional human skin. (Skin is more smooth, like glass, and is composed of crystal.) - Can absorb the crystals back into his body. - Meat based diet. - Doesn't sleep - Only one of his kind
backstory
25 years ago, NASA launched the ship, the USS Stardust into the sky above. Space, a short trip to the moon and back. And then it vanished. Transmissions cut out, and they were never seen again. For 20 years, the fate of the three astronauts onboard was a mystery, with only speculation regarding their fates. Until one day, the USS Stardust crashed into the ocean, and the three astronauts on board were discovered. All three dead. Preserved by a layer of crystal that had formed over their bodies. In a way, it seemed, parasitic. Drawing life from the corpses.
For over a year the bodies were kept in a lab, to be studied and analyzed. It was Decembers 25th when it happened. The bodies began to move, and from their three separate rooms, they moved towards each other. As if they were seeking each other. Until all three bodies met, and began to merge. The heat from the fusion was like a furnace, billowing heat through the facility. But it was over in a minute, and suddenly, there was only one. A single entity, like a child in a way. A perfect human, but not really. It had a mind. It had a heart. But it was different. Crystal grew from its body, as if to protect it. It was cold to the touch, and seemed to study everything around it.
For four years 'Stardust' as he was called lived inside Area 52. Where he learned to be human. Until finally, it was decided to release him into the world. With Operative Mother as his contact to the government and military, he was set out into Centerville. To be a hero of sorts. To test his powers, by helping America. Until he was ready.
