Name
Jude Rayford
Alias
Dazzler
Experience
72 days
Hometown
Star City
Age
18
Powers
Jude's metagene grants him superhuman physical abilities and is tied with his emotions, specifically determination. In optimal conditions, Jude is able to lift twenty-five tons, leap thirty-eight feet from a standing position, and take small arms fire like it was little more than rubber bands. However these are not static limits and Jude has broken past them on at least one occasion involving a collapsing building and a trapped child. It isn't known if it's apart of his power or just his mentality but it has been shown that Jude is able to push past a considerable amount of pain until he isn't needed. As a footnote, Jude emits small glowing lights from his body while he uses his powers, nothing groundbreaking but they can give a nice ambient light if it's needed.
Weaknesses
In practical terms, Jude's powers are only activated when he wants them to be and anyone who can catch him off guard will be able to get a good couple of free hits or even incapacitate him. In addition to this, while Jude's strength, speed, and durability are increased, his reflexes are not. This has led him to trip over his own feet and misjudge a punch or kick on multiple occasions. On a more psychological level, Jude's powers are completely dependant on his mental state, feeding off of determination and other strong emotions in order to function. Understandably, with the death of someone he respected and viewed as untouchable, he isn't in the best head space right now and that has a negative impact on his abilities. Until he can regain his self-confidence Jude's abilities will be in flux, waxing and waning from mission to mission until he can shrug off the funk. On another side note, the lights emitted by his powers could easily give away his position should he try to be quiet.
Reason for joining Robin?
Jude became Dazzler because he has the power to protect people and his dad would be rolling in his grave if he turned a blind eye to people in need of a helping hand.
Appearance
Jude is an interesting case of clashing aesthetics, wearing the harsh, dark clothing of a punk with also putting on soft pastels and bedazzled leather. The young man inside those clothes is no better, standing at an even six foot with a skeleton girded with lean muscles. An unholy mop of wild pink hair sits atop his head, which is usually pulled into a short ponytail. However, these choices in dress only accentuate his already odd body. To put it plainly, Jude is pink.
His skin is a light shade of pink, his irises are a very dark shade of pink, and his body emits little shimmering lights when his powers flare up. It's something that's been a blessing and a curse his entire life but in general, it does little more than just setting him apart from others. In fact, his unnatural pigmentation is the only thing that really sets him apart as he's fairly plain otherwise, with an unremarkable face halfway in between cute and handsome, leaving him at the crossroads of "Eh, it's a face,".
Jude's superhero outfit is little more than whatever he was wearing that day, a leather jacket with his hero name embroidered on the back with some cheap gems set in it for flair, a pair of motorcycle gloves, a pair of sunglasses, a black trucker hat, and a bandana he wears over his mouth.
Personality
Jude is, first and foremost, a teenager who's just entered the realm of adulthood. He's a straightforward kid, unable to tell a convincing lie and keeps all of his emotions firmly on his sleeves where everyone can see them. He's a bit naive and fairly gullible to things outside of his realm of knowledge, but his convictions are set in stone and he puts the safety of others highly above his own. Ultimately, Jude is just a kid with too much power and is admittedly not prepared for the responsibility, but he will suck it up and bare because it's the hand fate dealt him and he'll be damned if he sits back and watches when he has the power to actually
do something to help.
BRIEF Bio
Jude's life began in Star City, born to a one David and Willow Rayford. David was a street level hero called "The Dazzler" who had much of the same powers that his son had. For many years the family lived in relative peace, the only hiccup being transferring Jude to homeschool when his powers manifested and he couldn't safely contain them around the other children. Things were good until a group of villains took Star City by storm, a storm that eventually took the life of David.
For what it was worth David went down swinging, subduing the group and calling the police before passing away from wounds he sustained from the battle, leaving a fifteen-year-old Jude and a widowed Willow to look out for themselves as they navigated the twisting road of grief. Soon after the event, Willow moved in with her sister after their money dried up, finding new residence in the city of Gotham. The two moved on.
It's only been in recent months that Jude has decided to move out and do something with the power he inherited from his father. Doing much of the same as the old man before picking up the attention of Robin, the boy wonder easily persuading the nascent hero to joining his budding team. Jude quickly came to respect Robin for his skills as both a fighter and a leader, getting himself swept up in Robin's ideas of a team of protectors. However, Robins death has shocked Jude back to the fifteen-year-old kid who found himself sans a dad and has planted seeds of doubt in the young man. Still, as troubled as he is, Jude is determined to persist and become the hero that his role models believed he could be.
Notes
- Jude is bisexual.
- He only has a highschool diploma to his name and most technobabble will go over his head.
- However he is an excellent cook, with a wide array of dishes to his personal cookbook.
- On another note, Jude is proficient at sewing and embroidery. Skills that are essential for a rough and tumble kid low on money.
- Passes time between training, missions, and domestic stuff by fiddling around with an old, beat up electric guitar.
[*Besides his power, Jude is just a normal kid with a tragedy under his belt. He wasn't trained from infancy to fight, he can't fix a car, and his knowledge about the arcane goes about as far as "Magic is pretty dope." Yet he's got a lot of heart and when he sets that heart to something there are few forces in the universe that can stop him.
Guardian Angel Haruki