Name: Van El
Alias: Wonder Claw
Gender: male
Age: 15
Parents: Sul El and Milia El
Powers and abilities:
Kryptonian shape-shifting: Van has the ability transform into the fauna of Krypton and gain their species' characteristics. As he grows and masters his powers, Van will be able to utilize more transformations. All of his forms have slightly greater strength and durability then earthly animals. So far this is the list of Kryptonian beasts that Van can shapeshift into.
TETRA-HEADED tiger
BALLOON CREATURE
H'Raka
Flamebird
Nightwing
Tyrano-shark
Metal-Eating Mole
In terms of skills Van is skilled in kryptonian martial arts and he has a great amount of knowledge of kryptonian society.
Personality: Like with most Kryptonians Van is very stoic or at least tries to maintain his stoicism when he feels that he has to represent his culture. In truth Van sometimes prefers to have a more laid back and human like qualities. Even when he lived on Krypton as a little child Van never always felt as in tune with his native culture and had a tendency to rebel and show more emotion than normal.
As a hero Van is very dedicated to truth, justice and the American way. He will try to do what's right and be an inspiration for others, but his emotions can sometimes get the better of him. Despite his more human like behavior, Van still has some traditional values and is not a wild one. He values order and believes in more civil ways of solving problems, but he won't back down from a fight when the need arises.
Being a mutant made him somewhat of an outcast on Krypton and he sometimes is reluctant to show his powers off needlessly, but he doesn't like to back away from a challenge when it comes his way. Since Van is a member of the house of El he has a high appreciation of his cousin Kal El otherwise known as Superman, and he tries to model his hero work after the Man of Tomorrow. His parents death and the destruction of his home world also had a bad effect on him and Van sometimes suffers from bouts of depression.
Bio: Van El was born on Krypton ten years before it would explode and see the entire kryptonian civilization destroyed. His parents were Sul El and Milia El of the house of El. They were scientists studying the flora and fauna of the planet in the hopes of finding a way to grant individuals the power to shapeshift into animals and plants. Their studies led them to believe that injecting mutated genes into a Kryptonian would created the desired effect.
The tests proved that it would be deadly and too dangerous for kryptonian subjects. after several failures Van's parents became ridiculed by the science counsel of Krypton and their research was no longer supported by the counsel. That seemed to be the end of their project, but one day Van became gravely ill with the green plague that had begun to ravaged the planet. Van was on the verge of death when his parents in a last bit of desperation decided to inject him with the mutated genes to try and counter the disease.
Call it a miracle or incredible luck, but Van's body excepted the genes and his sickness was cured. He did however forever change and he became a mutant. With the power of shape-shifting, Van was able to do things no Kryptonian had seen before and his parents had him go through several tests to see his capabilities. He wasn't very happy being a test subject, but Van didn't complain, he felt that he owed it to his parents for saving his life.
After a few years, Jor El came to Sul El and Milia to warn them about Krypton's eminent doom. They were one of the few people who actually believed, but they only had enough time to build a ship big enough for one passenger. They decided that Van would be the one to escape the planet's destruction and when the fateful day arrived, he was sent off of the dying planet after his parents gave him their tearful goodbyes.
Sul El and Milia had already saved their son's life once from a deadly disease, they would not let that miracle go to waste and let their son die in Krypton's destruction. Van was deeply pained by the loss of his parents and home. When the ship left the planet's atmosphere Van was placed in stasis and the ship's auto-navigation system malfunctioned and it drifted in deep space for years.
Eventually Van's ship came into earth's solar system and the navigation system kicked back in when the sensors picked up on alien activity on earth. Van was brought out of stasis when his ship entered earth's atmosphere and he watched as his ship crashed into the beautiful planet. Van found himself in a strange world and alone. His thoughts were about the death of his parents and his whole world. In his sorrow Van wandered aimlessly through the woods where his ship had landed and occasionally would transform into Kryptonian animals to strengthen his isolation.
Eventually he found himself on the outskirts of Metropolis and it wasn't too long until he saw Superman. Unlike most who saw the Man of Steel, the first thing that caught Van's eyes were his Kryptonian style clothing and the symbol of the house of El. His hopes rose high and he excitedly met Superman and explained to him who he was. The Man of Steel understood and although Van could tell that the hero was wasn't entirely convinced, Superman decided to believe his story and took him to live with the Kents for a bit.
After that he learned enough about earth culture to get adopted by a nice couple and Van's tried to have a normal life. It wouldn't go that way and eventually Superman had to explain to his adopted parents about his alien identity and his cousin thought that it would be best for Van to attend the Academy of Heroes. With his things packed Van was now ready to attend the school of beings with extraordinary powers.
Appearance:
His costume is a red suit and has the S-shield of the house of El.
Half Pint