"Let’s get messy"
The Basics
NameLeon Smythe
CodenameStain
Age24
GenderMale
SexualityAnything that moves
NationalityBritish
In The Mirror
HeightFive foot eight
WeightFifteen stone
Hair ColorDark brown
Eye ColorHazel
AppearanceLeon is a short man, but one that visibly makes up for his height with buckets of personality, and teeming with energy at all times. His face is usually locked somewhere between stupid grin and mocking laugh, and he can rarely contain himself, and is usually to be seen bouncing on the tips of his toes.
When not ‘on the job’, Leon favours cool and casual clothes; sleeveless tops, combats, and boots – stuff that’s easily shrugged off. Because he’s quite a sweaty boy, he exclusively goes for clothes that have moisture-wicking properties and as little material as possible.
When on the job, it’s another story; while it’s not quite catwoman, he goes for a bulky sort of morph-suit, with armoured padding across the shoulders and breast, with
an inbuilt mask that is a spray paint respirator from the nose down and creepy-ass gas mask lenses in front of his eyes. The centre of the mask has a small but surprisingly powerful speaker on it, so that he can speak clearly from behind the mask – although, of course, he uses a voice modulator for the sake of the secrecy of his identity. Thin, see-through pipes of bright liquids emerge from ‘tanks’ on the backs of his shoulders and are imbedded into the material of the suit, such that they run along his body like veins. These pipes connect to, among other things, small cannons on his wrists and a short honest-to-god hose that he keeps strapped to a holster on his back.
Beneath The Surface
PersonalityLeon is madder than a bag of spaniels. He is hyper, possibly because of all the sugar he consumes, but possibly not. He jumps from idea to idea, and while he is not so impulsive as to do
whatever he wants, he is impulsive enough to work out what he wants to do, how to do it, and then does it with little, but not no, thought for the consequences. In day-to-day life, this manifests as heavy drinking, junk food, drug use, and as much sex as he can get his slimy hands on.
Unlike some supervillains, he is not a complete psychopath. He does not derive great joy from causing people pain, but he is somewhat disaffected. Every action is balanced against how fun it was. It might be a
shame that some innocent woman got completely trampled, but he was reaching such crazy speeds it wasn’t his fault and he’d probably do it again. He’s an excuse-maker, and nothing is ever his fault.
Crucially, Leon has daddy issues, big-time. He doesn’t like men very much and is naturally distrustful of them, especially if they are older than him, taller than him, or wearing a suit. In fact, he will specifically target men, especially if they fulfil any of those criteria.
Broadly speaking, he's not the brightest button in the box. He does not have a mind for strategy or tactics, but rather one that pursues an easy life and fun.
What Makes Me Special
PowersGoop. Quite what its scientific properties are remain a mystery to Stain, but the boy sweats a lot, and it’s not normal sweat. Firstly, it’s typically bright acid green, and slightly luminous. Secondly, it’s not thin liquid, but more akin to slime or mucus. Among its other properties, it’s incredibly slippery, mildly corrosive, and also gives off noxious fumes. Just being in the room with it won’t exactly kill you, but it will probably give you a headache given too much exposure, while it will gently burn away at most substances that touch it directly, including skin. It probably won’t ever kill anybody through direct contact, but it’s highly toxic to ingest – a high enough concentration
will kill you. Being extremely oily, this stuff actually floats, and so washing it away is an extremely poor idea; much better to dump a load of chalk or bicarbonate of soda to thicken it and generally make it easier to deal with. The goop is also reasonably flammable. It won’t blow up, but it is legit fuel, which burns slowly and slides around for extra fun.
Naturally, over the years, Leon has learned to control his ‘power’ somewhat, and generally manages not to leak in general public. This does tend to make him quite hot and, ultimately, ill, while keeping himself restrained – though saving it up means he has more for later. By the same token, he can overproduce goop at an astonishing rate, but at a similar cost and at the risk of dehydrating himself. Having such a high quantity of stuff in his system is, incidentally, what makes him surprisingly heavy for his short stature, and applies a natural internal ‘cushioning’, which means he’s slightly more resistant to impact damage than other humans. Needless to say, he and his suit are both adapted to the goop and neither can be harmed by it.
The first application of goop is having fun sliding around. His suit, but particularly its feet, is specifically designed to wick and absorb the sweat from his body, to be released at his convenience. All Stain needs to achieve massive speeds is a bit of a run-up and a flat surface, and suddenly he’s astonishingly fast, while also leaving something of an oil slick effect behind him.
The second application of goop is simply spreading it around. If in a bind, and without his suit, he can simply leak a load of goop from his body, though, obviously, he tries to make sure he has his suit.
EquipmentHis only real equipment is his suit.
- Goop Tank (shoulders): see-through material housing excess goop connecting to his extremities via a pipe network. He’s always producing goop and it would be a shame to waste it.
- Goop Cannons (wrists): small nozzles on either wrist for medium-range, low-pressure goopy fun. Nowhere near as useful as the hose, and mostly just for cheap shots or shits and giggles. Not even particularly accurate, because
- Alternators (forearms and ankles): handy gadgets that alter the chemical makeup of the goop and release (to the suits’ palms, fingers, the soles of the feet, and goop cannons) goop that is sticky rather than slippery. Because it still burns things it’s useless for climbing, but is suitable for leaving traps with the goop cannons or grabbing onto things while travelling at high speeds to change direction. There’s also the possibility to hang onto walls or ceilings for short periods of time in order to hide or dodge. The ones on his feet are used for balance and changing direction/stopping while sliding.
- Hose (back): Ain’t nothing spreads goop around like a hose. It’s literally what it says on the tin; a high-pressure nozzle that pukes goop around like nothing else. This will exhaust his supplies pretty quickly, though. Using the hose while sliding has predictable effects on his momentum.
Extra:
- The Cannon: a totally untested prototype. Not connected to the suit, it's literally a cannon, about three times the size of a traditional pirate ship cannon, and basically the same in operation. Guess what it shoots? Yep. Goop. Specifically, robust spherical membranes filled with goop. Basically, it's the world's most horrendous water balloon launcher. Progress on The Cannon has stalled since he basically doesn't know what to do with it.
Strengths- Highly impulsive. Doesn’t keep him safe, but it doesn’t keep you safe either.
- Decent with tech. He invented his own suit.
- Ridiculously upbeat. Can’t keep a good bad man down.
Weaknesses- Distinct lack of power. Goop is great, but its only real dangers are being blasted by the hose or being slammed into by Stain at ridiculous speeds.
- Distinct lack of ambition. In the hands of a legit supervillain, goop would probably be a legitimate threat, except Stain mostly wants to dick around.
- Versatility: Stain is useless in compact areas or if he has to climb a hill. Instead, he excels in areas with ‘ramps’ and wide-open spaces.
- Short-lived utility: Stain only has so much goop. He can force himself to produce it, but it will tire him out more quickly and may even kill him.
- Lack of control: Inevitable when flying around at high speeds and launching pressurised blasts.
- Lack of confidence: Odd for a supervillain, but, if you can get Stain to sit down long enough to listen, he is fairly easily manipulated and intimidated into behaving like a good boy.
- Not bulletproof: While Stain’s natural composition makes him almost immune to impact damage, he’s not immune to being stabbed, shot, or blown up.
Skeletons In The Closet
HistoryLeon had a pretty crappy childhood, but, for a crappy childhood, it wasn't too bad. He was an unusual, and weird, child, with his unusual 'skin condition' appearing, in a small way, from the moment he was born. Among other unfortunate consequences of his unique mutation, his mother's reproductive organs were destroyed during his development, and, once born, neither mother nor father was particularly inclined to touch him.
His parents' union was an awkward one. It wasn't exactly a shotgun wedding, but he, an American pharmaceutical entrepreneur and she, a born-to-be housewife from a wealthy background, were mostly brought together over her accidental pregnancy. Inevitably, they broke up, when he was about nine; whether it was their own issues or Leon's acting-out and biological weirdness is anybody's guess. His father left with barely a word to him, and it was only a couple of years later that Leon found out that he had returned to America, to the successful launch of his tech company, which made him an extraordinarily wealthy man.
It was about this time that Leon started to go down the path of villainy, not helped by the full extent of his 'powers' emerging during puberty. He was a freak, and started to reject others' company. In his mind, he equated his father abandoning him with his own biological disposition, and, over time, his own isolation and 'poor life choices' (alcohol, glue, anything else he could get hold of) set him firmly down the path of 'disturbed weirdo'.
It was one of his many, many benders that caused him to begin his pursuit of his father. Quite what he was thinking at time, he doesn't know, but, long story short, he robbed his mother, got on a plane, got to the states, and found a map. To begin with, his pursuit was incredibly fruitless: money ran out quickly, and so he turned to petty crime just to fund an existence, using his corrosive sweat to break and enter properties and ransack them.
Because planning was not his strong point, he was pretty easily tracked - not just by the authorities, but by another outcast, who was interested in the odd residue he always left behind. Harrow, the latter, found him first. He was also a villain - a proper villain, old-school style. In fairness, he was tech-based, using jetpacks and lasers, you know, the works, but Leon was of great fascination to him.
Harrow took Leon under his wing, providing funds, shelter, and, eventually, a proposition. Stain is ultimately Harrow's invention, from the name to the suit. In return for facilitating Stain's pursuit and destruction of his father's tech empire, perhaps Stain could arrange for certain... collateral damage to be caused in his exploits.
Stain was active in cities for about three years, firstly destroying any store that stocked his father's stuff, and then, basically because it was fun to be disrespectin' the police, targeting mostly public institutions of authority - the fact that this was all Harrow's idea is lost on him. While definitely a public menace, he was never
the most threatening villain out there, and was apprehended without too much difficulty when the authorities got their act together.
Needless to say, they interrogated him about Harrow, but any useful details he might have known turned out to be fabrications. Since being incarcerated, Stain is variably one of the most irritating prisoners and one of the most sedate. His jailers have a general policy of keeping a vigilant eye on him at all times, but ultimately giving him a certain degree of privilege. It was the easiest way; it's simply impossible to stop him sweating, and so any physical means of preventing him from escaping were, in the long-term, useless. He would burn through handcuffs, jumpsuits, bars - anything, given enough time. Since he's not the Machiavellian type to plan a grand escape, he is incarcerated almost at his leisure: making him content to stay, and less inclined to try to cause hassle. He is now supervised exclusively by female guards, because male ones tend to set off a tantrium.
