Marvel Character: Silver Surfer
Name: Steve Rogers
Identity: Public (As Super Soldier), Currently Private (As Silver Surfer)
Gender: Male
Age: 98
Team: A Herald of Galactus (Formerly the US Army)
Physical Description:
Items/Weapons: Board doubles as a melee weapon.
Powers: Imbued with the Power Cosmic, the Surfer is capable of feats of power that are difficult to quantify. Due to his military background, this power is usually manifested in increased strength and primal unfocused blasts of energy. In addition, the Surfer's body is hardened and contained by his power, allowing him to function as normal in the unpredictable reaches of the universe.
Personality: The Surfer is an old soul in a young body and lives for his duty which, in turn, has left him a shell of a man. Cold and seemingly emotionless, his extended lifespan has left him viewing the cosmos with a growing sense of guilt and melancholy. Deeply honourable and crushed with remorse for the actions he has performed in his master's name. When on a planet the Surfer has an attitude of unyielding care. Knowing that any great expression of his power, while a fraction of his master's, would be more than capable of causing severe destruction to innocents around him; the Surfer maintains a stoic, almost pacifistic response to threats and violence. This can cause him to become almost a liability in a team situation, his former leadership and self-belief has been buried by decades of service to his master and so he follows a strong authority with almost grateful ease.
Weaknesses: The Surfer has little experience fighting anyone with superpowers, his board is the source of his power, the longer he's separated from it the more power he loses and he loses it fast, to the point where he'll just be little Steve Rogers again. Also, more importantly, he has crippling emotional problems. His guilt at harming innocents on such a large scale is a huge liability, causing him to pull his punches in almost every situation. In addition, he can easily be swayed by those with stronger personalities and rendered a wreck by the smallest taunt. So while he may not be in too much danger himself unless separated from his board, in a sense where an objective is key or time is a factor he is a huge liability.
Background history: Steve Rogers was born in the Great Depression in the United States. Growing up, he was bullied and picked on regularly by those around him for his short stature and underdeveloped muscles. Despite this, Steve never lost his fighting spirit and his love for humanity. At the outbreak of the Second World War Steve, like many young men his age, attempted to sign up as a soldier but was pronounced 'unfit for duty' by the many recruitment centres he visited. A chance of fate led to Steve meeting a Doctor Erskine and being chosen for the 'Super Soldier Programme', upon receiving treatments as part of the programme Steve found his body augmented to a superhuman level. His strength was many times that of an ordinary soldier, his reflexes were increased and his tactical senses were tested and pronounced at almost genius levels. Unfortunately Erskine mysteriously died shortly after Steve's tests and so the process could never be repeated leaving Rogers to be co-opted by the Allied armed forces.
Dubbed 'Super Soldier' by his fellow squad-mates, Steve soon became indispensable to the Allied war effort. He was responsible for single-handedly winning engagements and completing objectives that many thought impossible. Towards the end of the war Rogers was sent to the Arctic as part of a special taskforce to investigate strange and unclear readings. When they arrived on location the task-force witnessed technology that could only be described as 'inhuman' being assembled by an impossibly giant figure who could not be identified. Rogers ensured his team would remain back and went to confront the figure. Minutes later the figure, its machinery and Steve were gone.
Steve had been transported away from Earth and into the cosmos. The figure (who Steve found out later called itself 'Galactus) informed Steve that his life was over. Galactus had identified Steve as an aberration in humanity's evolution and had engineered Erskine's death to ensure no one would be able to recreate him. Steve was then given a choice, to be removed from existence, or to serve as Galactus' herald and find planets for the cosmic being to consume. Theorising that eventually he would be able to find a way to return home, Steve agreed.
Steve was then augmented further by Galactus, imbued with a higher cosmic power which caused him to lose his hair and his skin to bleach, later taking on a silver aura. His strength was greatly augmented further and he could function as normal in the vacuum of space.
Dubbed 'The Surfer' by Galactus, the former soldier was given a conveyance in the form of a silver board. With the power Cosmic, the board proved as malleable as it was needed to be.
Since then, the Surfer has performed his task diligently, conveying his master to worlds for consumption. Although he endeavours to provide his master with uninhabited worlds this is not always possible and, with the death of every inhabited world, his guilt and sorrow at his situation increases.
