Name: Ryker Charleston
Codename: Hot Rod
Age: 31
Gender: male
Place of Birth: Austin Texas
Affiliations: the League
Occupation: ex-pilot, race car driver and superhero
Appearance: Ryker is six foot two and has light red hair. His costume is a custom designed race car driver suit and has the colors of the American flag. the upper torso is white while the sleeves are blue and on the chest area are the letters H.R which stand for Hot Rod. The sides of the upper torso part of his suit are blue and they are lined with white five pointed stars that run down them. The back has a large red lightning bolt running down the back. His pants are a navy blue and he wears a red belt with an american flag buckle. His running shoes are a deep red, and he wears gloves that stylized after the American flag. Finally he has high tech sunglasses. In terms of body type, Ryker is fairly well built and looks good enough to be an athlete.
Powers:
Supersonic Speed: his top speed is mach 4.
Flame aura: When Hot Rod begins to move at high speeds, he is surrounded in an aura of bright orange and red flames and the faster he runs the more intense the flames get and his steps leave a trail of fire behind them. He can also will the flames to be cool so his allies aren't burned, and the aura protects him from any sort of environmental recoil for running at such incredible speeds
Fiery Vortex: this ability allows Hot Rod to shoot fiery vortexes out of his hands which can destroy a small building with its destruction if he doesn't have the attack on lower levels of power.
Supersonic Flight: Hot Rod uses the flames surrounding his body to propel himself through the hair at incredible speeds.
Skills: excellent reaction skills, and superb hand eye coordination. Incredible driver and great flyer.
Equipment/Resources: his suit is fireproof and his sunglasses has tons of functions such night vision, infrared and telescopic vision, as well as digital imagery and targeting.
Weaknesses: he has all the weaknesses of a human since he has no enhanced strength or durability, and because of this crashing into things at high speeds can be more dangerous and injure him more. his speed also requires he has to eat very often otherwise his speed will slowly decrease. The faster he runs or flies the more energy it consumes and pushing himself too hard can put a strain on his body.
Psychological Profile: Ryker is a southern gentlemen and will try to be polite and mannerly, but this doesn't stop him from letting his ego get the better of him. Like his hero name, Ryker is a hot shot and can act arrogant and foolish at times especially when starts to show off, he also has a very big ego. Despite his lighter exterior, Ryker has a more sadder side that he keeps hidden which stem from his time as a pilot when he saw his best friend dai. Ever since he was discharged from the military not long after seeing his friend die, his emotional state deep down has been a sad one. He has a love of racing and when he is not doing hero work, he is busy trying to best racer in the world. Not only is he very talented at racing, Ryker is also very smart and designed all of his own gadgets when he became a superhero. Although he likes to be around other people, his hotshot attitude can make it hard for him to be a team player since he spent the past five years working alone with the occasional temporary time up with another hero. Politically he is moderately conservative and is critical of those he feel are hypocrites and have double standards. Like with his super speed, Ryker likes to live in the here and now, and doesn't worry himself about the future and prefers to leave the past behind. His life belongs in the fast lane and he hardly ever stops. His relationship with his wife is stable but there can be times when he seems to move too fast for her and he tries to slow down for her. Finally, through out his personality, he has a slight inferiority complex because despite his incredible, he thinks of himself not being as good and strong as the more powerful heroes. He also once suffered from traumatic stress do to the death of his friend, and the memory of his death can still be a very saddening thing to Ryker.
Biography: From the moment he could remember, Ryker almost had only three things on his mind, cars, gadgets and planes. He had dreams of being both a pilot and race car driver even though the idea of having both jobs at the same time would be considered impossible by most. He loved fast cars and he loved jet fighter planes, so much so that his childhood room was decorated with both. Almost all of birthdays up until he was twelve he asked for model planes and cars and radio controlled ones as well. The first books he started reading where about cars and aircraft, and he learned everything he could know about the vehicles. When he became a teenager he started delving into his talent with creating gadgetry and he began to tinker with stuff that most people considered junk. At age sixteen, Ryker was happy to finally get his driver's license and he eventually got his own car. Not long after he also got his first job working at an auto shop in his home town of Austin Texas and helping work on cars. He liked his job, but soon had to leave it to go to college and he hoped that he would be able to attend flight school to become a fighter pilot.
When he got his wish and got to live his dream as a fighter pilot, that was when things went bad for him. During his time at flight school, he became close friends with a fellow student named Alex, and they both dreamed of becoming the greatest pilots in the world. Both him and Alex graduated flight school with flying colors, and soon found themselves in the air force. Ryker and Alex were very happy to be in the air force, but almost two years after they joined, tragedy happened. Both Ryker and Alex were testing new planes that the air force had given several of its finest pilots, they seemd perfect but then there was a flaw in Alex's fueling tank and his plane exploded. Ryker couldn't believe what he had just seen, his friend's death and he felt the horrible anguish of seeing one you care about die. When he got back to base, he was different and suffered from post traumatic stress. Not too long after, he quit the air force and headed back home.
Despite leaving the air force, he still remembered his friend's death, Ryker still felt haunted by the image of Alex's plane being blown away and he began to fall into despair. After about three years of sadness and being alone, his life started to make a change for the better and that was when he met his wife Sally. When she came into his life, Ryker felt happier and suddenly the pain of his friend's death didn't feel as bad. But in order to not dwell on the sad times of his life, Ryker started living in the here and now and not dwelling too much on the past. He knew he was in love with Sally and when he twenty seven, they got married. With some encouragement from his wife, Ryker pursued his second dream of becoming a race driver. It was then that his life once again took another turn, this time it was a very strange one.
While he was racing in the national Grand Prix, his metahuman powers unknowingly causing his body to ignite into flames and he crashed car and he had to be sent to the hospital, but it wasn't long after he was released that he realized his incredible powers such as supersonic speed and flight as well as the ability to create tornadoes of fire. When he discovered his gifts, Ryker thought of his Alex's death and realized that he could save others from the pain of losing someone close to them whether it was by accident or by crime. When the Awakening happened and the area of costumed heroes began, Ryker followed their example and designed himself a suit modeled after the ones that race car drivers wear. He then made his high tech sunglasses and was ready to become the hero Hot Rod. In the five years of his hero duty, he has fought many villains, most of which were not the world conquering kinds but still no pushovers at all. His heroism has given him a big ego and his popularity is almost celebrity like. Now he has gotten an invitation to join the newly created League of Heroes and Ryker didn't want to pass up a chance to show off to the other heroes and please his fans. He is Hot Rod and he calls himself the fastest man on earth.