Love both concepts. Approved!

Identity: C'Voth That Seizes the Eyes (villain)

Abilities: •Hallucinogenic Presence - Exactly what the name implies. C'Voth's presence is a hallucinogenic, and with a little concentration can be focused on specific targets for a stronger effect or turned off if he wishes. His presence, if one is within range for extended time (hours, maybe even a day depending on the person) causes the person to hold C'Voth in reverence, and eventually it will lead to them worshipping C'Voth. It will also grant the worshipper a milder, much weaker hallucinogenic presence. This presence extends roughly eight feet around C'Voth, and five feet around minions.

•Flash Step - A short, quick teleportation that can go through walls, but can only be used within roughly eight feet of himself.

•Phantom Arms - He can manifest two extra ghostly arms to assist himself. They are just as strong as his regular arms and are slightly longer, extending from below his shoulders.

•Witchcraft - Due to his connection to a dark energy from beyond, he can perform rituals to summon powerful magicks to this realm. The more advanced the spell, the longer the ritual, and the shorter, the faster. Something like a fireball spell could be conveniently tattooed onto the subject as a rune, while a summoning spell will often require exotic materials and could not be contained with one person, hence his posse. Runes especially are risky, as they tend to bring weaknesses with them; a fire rune, for instance, would make one vulnerable to water and cold temperatures, while a water rune would make one vulnerable to heat.

•??? - It's rumored that C'Voth is deathless, or rather, that he simply dies and comes back. It's said that he burned to bone once and killed his murderer before his skeleton collapsed into dust. And then, eventually, he came back. In more recent news, some people say he took a bullet to the skull and still stuck around long enough to strangle the poor man who shot him before expiring. And, again, he came back.

Appearance: He's tall and lean, sleek and deadly-looking. He usually wears just pants, foregoing shoes or shirts. Possibly his most notable features are the two short horns protruding from his skull and his extended canine teeth, though his forked tongue comes in close. He is scarred with simple runes, along with counter-runes that mitigate (but not remove) his weaknesses. His hair is long and black, slightly stringy, and his eyes glow lightly like burning coals. His features are regal, almost royal, and tend to have a permanent sleepy look to them. On his palms are tattooed eyes which are also scrying runes.

Personality: He's very individualistic and proud, believing himself to be the only being of true worth in the world, even if sometimes he relies on his minions to get work done. He also doesn't seem to fear death, though the rumors that he is deathless may explain that; he often ignores wounds to himself unless they are severe. He believes he knows the one truth of the world, but never reveals what this truth is, even to his followers. He looks out for himself and purely himself, willing to sacrifice allies and his minions whenever needed. He also believes himself a prophet of sorts, educating others on parts of his truth and his beliefs on life, though as said before he will never reveal the whole truth. He believes all should worship him and bow to him. Besides that, he seems to always be laid-back and relaxed, quick to smile and rarely frowning. He almost never gets angry.

Background: He claims to be ancient, and the proof so far seems to point that way. He claims to be the 'last of his race', though most simply believe that he is a magically altered human or was changed by some unknown deity. Some even say he was a powerful sorcerer who killed some eldritch beast and was cursed for it upon its death, taking on its properties and forever damaging his mind. Some say he was simply created by some cruel god. Either way, he has been around for a long time. While he isn't exactly worshipped by most, he's always had a small cult of worshippers, roughly two dozen (for now). Records of him can be found throughout history, mainly in the European countries and often obscure and out of the way, but still there. He is often portrayed sitting cross-legged with four arms held skyward.

In modern days he has been less active, rarely sighted, and now keeps a smaller cult of roughly a dozen members. However, only very recently he has moved to Easton, attracted by the large amounts of power that he can sense.

Approved.

• Identity:
  • Name: Digamma-Eta (Group of: Faraday, Griffin, and Hardwick)
  • Status: Villain
  • Secret identity: They have no secret identities—in fact they have no code name beyond the list above. The Greek Letter naming is becoming an NI theme as it goes.
• Abilities:
  • Powers: All of them have reinforced skeletons and musculature, not to mention splotches of bony exoskeleton over their skins (in addition to other tissue mods) that make them super tough though not super strong. It also makes them impossible in stealth missions unlike their colleagues in Alpha-Epsilon. It suits them, for their purpose is direct strikes. Faraday, in addition to his toughness is a living electricity generator, far more powerful than any electric fish (the inspiration). Nonetheless, his output is similar to that of a taser, limited to stunning enemies and burning the flesh around the immediate contact area. Faraday can get long range results by ejecting some of the hairs from his chest like barbs, and simply arcing electricity from his body to everywhere the hairs are spread. Griffin is an eight foot tall 'woman' in the loosest sense. Far beyond the bony blotches of the rest of the team, Griffin has an exoskeleton resembling an anthropomorphized crab, albeit drab olive in color. She comes with 4 arms—including one very overgrown crab claw (that extends and retracts) and two additional heads on his shoulders, one resembling an owl, and the other a lizard (which spits goo, and, with a wick—like her snapping claw—fire). All of Griffin's heads have peculiar looking eyes (the learned would recognize them as mantis shrimp eyes with the same visual range). Not unlike Bob, she 'molts' into this form and returns to human-ish by breaking out of her old skin. Said humanish is a very small grey haired and grey-skinned woman with armored skin. Hardwick has an infectious touch, specifically people who touch him begin to transform into an exact replica of him including, should a person's nerves be exposed, the brain structure at the time, that is, the target's memories get overridden with Hardwick's own and the target becomes another Hardwick.
  • Weaknesses: Faraday is no stronger than a taser per shot—the catch is he can keep producing bolts until he can't. Faraday runs out of juice just like a battery and needs sunlight and nutrients (not unlike those in photosynthesis) to build his power back again. Griffin is in a rigid exoskeleton and her movement is very encumbered by that. Hardwick is the weakest fighter of the group, and his touch can be countered with targeted radiation. (His cells really stand out). Hardwick is also a one-trick pony. He rarely imagines doing anything beyond using his touch power. Just shooting foes doesn't often occur to him.
  • Skills: Digamma-Eta are competent at first-aid (the doctor isn't usually an option during an op) and operating most types of vehicles, but they're not at all as skilled in infiltration or maintaining contacts as Alpha-Epsilon.
  • Equipment: The equipment of each changes on the mission, but Digamma-Eta usually feel themselves too powerful to need extra equipment.
• Appearance: Faraday is simply a pale brunette in a cheap suit (easier to open), with the obligatory bony splotches over his skin. Griffin resembles a bipedal, 4-armed, olive-drab crab with an owl head and a lizard head. Yes, she wears a cheap suit too. Custom-tailored. Hardwick, is a short, overweight, balding man with a very scratchy voice. Completing the ensemble, he's always dressed in a sweat-drenched suit.
• Personality: Faraday is definitely the leader, if only because Griffin can't really talk and that Faraday can and will zap Hardwick (and Griffin) into order. Faraday will happily use them as human shields as well, and who gets that duty depends on, well his mood. Griffin is a semi-reliable Blood Knight, who will happily join a mission then abandon it to fight the nearest challenger—or go loot. Hardwick is a venal, disagreeable character who's clearly only in the job for the loot and the immortality. Nonetheless, he's high functioning, and can maintain the focus to see a job through to the end.
• Background: Digamma-Eta are just another group of NI's age-less immortals, ones who just happened to be assigned to Easton. As the number of Hardwicks show, they are being pulled in fresh from a number of successful east coast missions.

edited 30th Jan '18 12:59:16 PM by CenturyEye

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

• Identity:
  • Name: Iota-Pi (Group of: Io & Jasmine, Kyle & Laurie, Morgan & Nathalie, Owen & Pamela)
  • Status: Villain
  • Secret identity: They have no secret identities.
• Abilities:
  • Powers: The eight members are paired couples. Their powers depend on each other. Io would be a normal young woman if not for the fact that her body's been optimized to house a species of cutting insects similar to black flies. Jasmine is the hive mind intelligence of the black flies that responds to Io's orders (usually) and is capable of acting autonomously when Io is unavailable. Said cutting flies live up to their name. They're easily capable of stripping a cow to the bone and can get into anything. Kyle looks like any other adolescent and always seems to be chewing gum. That "gum" is part of the blob monster, Laurie, which rests—and is produced—inside Kyle's body. The blob material is extremely durable (and bouncy) and capable of taking multiple forms in a fight. Morgan gives every appearance of an echidna, having a very fast snake tail and an armored scaly body. Yes, she's venomous, but that's only part of the danger. Morgan's been gifted a fraction of Aldawin's own talent and tends to spend it reforging unfortunates into her minions—provided she swallows them first. (Also, producing hallucinogens). Nathalie is a smaller 'daughter' of Morgan's— heroes might want to look into this...— who tends to show up wrapped around Morgan's back. Nathalie is usually Morgan's first subject if she lacks for 'volunteers.' At nearly all times, she's a smaller snake person with the same sharp claws and hallucinogenic fumes. Owen and Pamela are the group healers. That is, they share a body and merge with injured party members to transfer organs and tissues back and forth. They themselves have a healing factor that works well on any organ that they've borrowed. They heal, and they're more than capable of merging with enemies; bodies and stealing their organs.
  • Weaknesses: Io is hardly a fighter, in fact, she's weaker than she'd otherwise be due to hosting a nest of ravenous insects. (They don't eat her. They just take alot of her food). Jasmine, for its part, is about as intelligent as a dog, capable of only following simple commands and making simple plans. Kyle has a blob layer that helps his defense greatly, but his mon, Laurie is not at all sapient, and needs to be connected to him through a string of goo (durable but an obvious keystone) for Laurie to be anything but a pile of goo. Morgan can fight and make monsters, but she's subject to The Dog Bites Back should anyone wake Nathalie up from Morgan's conditioning. Morgan's also very vulnerable and all but immobile when she's making a monster. In addition, the limitation that she has to swallow something before working on it constrains her biomancy potential. Owen and Pamela are just normal people—who just so happen to have the ability to share bodies. They can hold their own in a street fight but have no business getting into fistcuffs with flying bricks.
  • Skills: Iota-Pi are competent at first-aid (the doctor isn't usually an option during an op), self-defense, repair & sabotage, and operating most types of vehicles, and are excellent performers. Their true talent though is sewing chaos and strife behind enemy lines.
  • Equipment: All of them wear bulletproof clothing, and Morgan carries a weave basket, two swords, and a guitar. Io is also happy to diversify, she's often carrying sticks of dynamite for Jasmine to drop off.
• Appearance: Io appears to be a pale wisp of a woman who's completely covered in a long overcoat, a scarf, and a thick skullcap. Jasmine of course is a noisy swarm of bugs. Kyle, despite being a couple centuries old, dresses like a teen from the 50s that is slicked-back hair, a leather jacket, and blue jeans. He even ^note (tries to) drives the group around in a Porsche 918 Spyder. Laurie is a red mass that looks like however Kyle wants at the time. Morgan has a (pale) flesh colored snake tail and wild black hair. Fitting since she also sports a circlet, a simple peach dress covered in flowers, and a giant peace symbol on the dress and around her neck and on her guitar. Morgan is never seen without that guitar. Nathalie wears the kid version of Morgan's clothing—along with striking red hair and facial features that look nothing at all like Morgan's. Owen and Pamela are always in scrubs, and (at times) both are ever so slightly misshapen from accommodating extra tissue. Otherwise, they look like a pair of youthful residents.
• Personality: Io is very much the quiet one. She will not speak unless directly addressed and tends to hide behind Morgan when confronted. Still, she's the one most likely to cover the others in a pinch, and the least like to lie. Io's also a no-nonsense worker and will happily fill someone's airways with bugs and move on without a word. Naturally, Io's the leader of Iota-Pi, but she's far from a talkative one. She may only speak once to give the mission and the parameters before letting the others figure it out. Kyle is a nihilistic and yet very vain eternal adolescent with a taste for luxuries and the ever unchanging, ever-mistaken belief that everyone desperately desires his attention. Morgan is very mellow and oddly idealistic flower child who may or may not be perpetually high on her product. She's a doting 'mother' though. Whenever she takes a watch off a dead guy, she'll always ask if Nathalie wants it first. Nathalie, for her part, is the group's mascot, a Cheerful Child, who can do no wrong by them and would have no issue fitting in with other children if not for her current caregivers. Owen and Pamela are consummate professionals, even while they're taking the organs from an unwilling victim, they show excellent bedside manner.
• Background: Iota-Pi are another group of NI's age-less immortals, ones who just happened to be assigned to Easton. They however have a very small record of criminal activity. In fact, their MO is to trick other people into going crazy on their behalf.

edited 4th Feb '18 12:47:17 PM by CenturyEye

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

Mr. Tickles

• Identity: Varying (currently uses the name Gareth Gjallarhorn), Neutral, secret identity.
• Abilities:
  • Shapeshifting: The primary ability of Mr. Tickles is a complete control over its biology and mass, being able to shrink down to a worm the size of a finger or a simple puddle of biomass all the way up to an eight-foot tall eyeless humanoid. This enables it to sprout extra limbs off of already existing ones, the process beginning with an infant's limb which rapidly grows to an adult's, or completely bloat and warp areas of its body. It may also assume the form of any person or creature it has "tickled" beforehand; that is, that it has assimilated of DNA by physical contact. The DNA assimilation process results in fatigue, hallucinations (mostly consisting of the monstrous form of Tickles itself), and brain chemical imbalance in the victims causing hysteria and insanity, however these symptoms will fade within a few days. The victim may experience PTSD from this process or other long-term psychological effects.
  • Memory Assimilation: While in the process of tickling a victim, Tickles can access their long-term memories and subconscious behaviours and habits. This means it can slip into the person's identity with little difficulty, however has to play off its lack of recent memories as amnesia to any individuals close to the victim, at least until it discovers more about the victim through more conventional methods.
  • Doll Creation: If it does not desire to copy a form (or to simply "remove" suspicious family members from the equation) Tickles can actively infuse portions of itself into tickled victims while they're still drowsy, effectively sending them into a vegetative state in which it can command them. The brainwashed victims, dubbed Dolls by Tickles, can be recovered by being knocked unconscious, after which Tickles' biomass will leave the body and the victims 'reset' in their DNA assimilation symptoms.
• Appearance:
  • Mr. Tickles: Usually from six to eight feet in height. Amount of grown limbs may vary.◊
  • Gareth Gjallarhorn: Eerily thin and gangly. Tends to flex and crack his fingers habitually.◊
• Personality:
  • Mr. Tickles' personality is exceptionally hard to read, although it seems to be focused on gathering as many forms as possible. It tends to treat its "tickling" process as nothing more than that, even going so far as to speak in the dissonant voice of an androgynous young child. However, it isn't known whether this is simply an act to get closer to victims, and its behaviour is inconsistent anyway due to its habit of adapting according to people around it. Gjallarhorn (that is, both the original and Tickles in his form) acts like the typical idealized Victorian gentlemen; considerate, well-mannered and punctual, never seeming to be off-put by anything except for the commonly accepted repulsive things in the current society. While the original Gjallarhorn was benevolent and responsible, Tickles as Gjallarhorn behaves in a slightly off manner, giving off a general predatory air and constantly attempting to gain contact with the people he is talking to. Like in his true form as Tickles, Gjallarhorn acts as a mirror according to his environment, reading behaviours and body language in order to charm the victims and gain their trust. It is unknown why exactly Tickles is compelled to assimilate DNA, although some legends present the possibility of it being a food or energy source for the creature.
• Background:
  • During a short portion of the Victorian era, roughly around 1841-1858 specifically, there spread an urban legend of a shape changing figure that hid in pantries and wardrobes of unsuspecting victims, originating from a sudden flux of several unsolved cases of amnesia throughout the country. The creature would usually pose as a member of staff, such as a maid or a butler (what happened to the originals were wildly speculated, ranging from simple hiding to outright murder and body disposal) in order to take the place of the master of the house. By the end of Victoria's reign, the legend had devolved into a simple bedtime story told to children, of a similar effect to that of the Boogeyman, dubbing the creature "Mr. Tickles".
  • Cut to 1882, and 34 year-old Gareth Gjallarhorn was walking home in the dark streets of London, a thunderstorm raging overhead. He had been raised on the stories of Mr. Tickles from his mother, and was always fascinated by the history and origins of the legend. The illustrations of the creature were eerily similar to one another, not inconsistent like that of the Boogeyman according to the area in which the stories were told. He had in fact discovered the creature documented abroad even before the legends started in London, stretching back as far as two thousand years in some countries. As he stepped into his house, greeting his wife and walking upstairs to the master bedroom, he did not note in his tiredness the tiny, pale wormlike creature on the top of his dresser, not even as it stretched out in an impossible fashion towards his arm.
  • Now in Easton, over 130 years later, Gjallarhorn repeatedly continues his walk to and from home among the darker areas of the city, greeting newcomers and passers-by with a friendly smile, an invitation inside, a warm cup of tea, and a casual inquiry of their reactions to being "tickled".

edited 31st Jan '18 1:54:36 PM by Enirboreh

bork

I still feel like most of these belong in Genres other than Super Heroes, but then SH are the ultimate kitchen-sink so I'm going to allow them. Just don't go too disturbing.

(As a side note, an encounter between Simon and Mr. Tickles would be an interesting one. And not just because of their powers. What would be Tickle's reaction if it managed to learn, from Simon's memories, about the existence of the Omniverse?)

Aye, I wasn't planning it to go creepypasta gore ridiculousness, but I did want to imply that kind of eerie vibe even if he isn't really that threatening objectively.

Plus, I'm pretty sure he'd go absolutely insane learning about the Omniverse. The connotations of what makes a shapeshifting Humanoid Abomination that talks like an actual child insane is not something you want to think about.

bork

• Identity: King Midas aka Anthony Urrich, Villain (sometimes Anti Heroic), Semi-Secret Identity
  • He is most often in his King Midas persona, lives in a big obvious gold mansion, and is rarely out-and-about as Anthony, but does very little to hide his identity.
• Abilities:
  • The Golden Touch: Much like his namesake, King Midas turns anything and everything he touches to gold, up to and including people. The gold made from King Midas' touch is special in that it's extremely sturdy, near unbreakable, and that whatever it changed retains its physical properties; fabric will still flutter, rope can still bend, etc. However it will take on the shiny metallic nature of gold, of course. Any living being who gets turned to gold becomes a statue, who wouldn't be aware of anything that happens during their time as a statue. The Touch also has a sort of peripheral effect in that anything King Midas touches, if it's in close contact with something else, will turn that thing gold as well.^note This is just a sort of convoluted way so that peoples' clothes change with them and the like
    • There are some stipulations with the Touch, of course. The main drawback is how anything turned to gold can be reverted when introduced to running water (rain, rivers, faucets, etc). Another thing is how electronics turned to gold cease to function due to their delicate nature. Simple machines still work fine, however, such as pulleys and levers. Anything bigger than himself takes a longer time to turn to gold, creeping outwards from the point he touched. Last but not least, touching the ground won't turn the whole earth into gold. He's tried.
  • Sharpshooter: Years of pulling the trigger has trained King Midas in using firearms. He's more partial to small guns, but generally has good aim.
• Equipment:
  • Golden Revolver: A long-barreled six-shooter made entirely out of gold. Shoots, what else, gold bullets. King Midas has a habit of waving it carelessly around.
  • Limiting Gloves: A pair of specially made gloves, purple and covered in sequins, that were made to withstand King Midas' Touch. Why doesn't he wear normal gloves? Well, golden handwear would just look tacky. And he'd have the worst butterfingers.
• Appearance: If it wasn't for the bling and how he presents himself, you wouldn't be able to pick King Midas out of a crowd. He's struck a balance between 'not-too-skinny', 'not-too-fat', and 'not to muscular' that leaves his body and face with very little definition. His eyes are blue and he has a head of blond wavy hair that's cut short in the back. Of course, as King Midas, his most striking traits all come from his costume. He dons a small crown, typically tilted backwards on his head and a long king's cloak. To accessorize, King Midas wears a solid-gold domino mask, sequined purple gloves and gold-colored contacts - gotta keep the theme up! - all of which is over usually casual, comfy clothing. There have been sightings of King Midas in his pajamas, even.
• Personality: King Midas can be summed up best with his own personal motto: Presentation & Practicality. He makes up for his less than intimidating looks by being outstandingly crazed. He shouts most of what he says and flits through moods at the drop of a hat. He puts on a good show at playing the standard insane villain, but that's all it is in the long run: a show. A keen intellect undercuts his mad persona, carrying an air of intimidation behind everything he does. If he points his gun your way, he makes it clear that he will shoot if he feels the need to. King Midas is a very pragmatic sort, making alliances and burning bridges whenever he thinks it's the best course of action. Even if there's only a few people around, he won't truly drop his insanity unless he absolutely needs to. The few who shared a room with him alone and left to tell the tale said he was at his worst then: cold, distant, cruelty dripping from his every word. His loud and twisted self is him at his most bored. He's bored a lot.
  • On the rare occasion that King Midas is Anthony Urrich - days when it's raining hard, making his powers worthless - he's much more pensive. King Midas is so out there and vocal that you would need to look hard to see he and Anthony was the same person. He's not a very engaged person, little in the way of empathy, but he's much friendlier and level-headed than King Midas. Only when Anthony dips into the same distant and cold self that King Midas does it become clear. Under King Midas, past Anthony Urrich, the man is detached from the world, caring for nothing else but himself. Or maybe that too is a faux self he puts forth? It's not like King Midas has a body count, so there must be some kindness in him.
• Background: Anthony Urrich didn't have a place in life. After highschool, after college, he still felt like a drifter. That no option he was presented with was the right one, that there should be more options than there was. His parents were always supportive, but he knew they resented how little his life meant. His powers manifested around that time, which he became aware of when he turned his loving parents into gold statues. Startled and terrified, he ran, leaving them in their house. He kept running for a while until he eventually tired out. Anthony never returned to that house. He'd later find out his parents were stolen by some burglars, but in the meantime, he didn't care. He finally had something in his life.
  • Anthony did the first thing anyone who could make gold did: he bought a mansion. Paid in gold, untraceable of course, and proceeded to turn every room, wall, and chair gold. It was nice. But it only held his attention for so long. Easton was full of heroes, so maybe fighting evil would fare better? Except, he realized, turning people into statues wasn't a very heroic thing to do. So the next logical conclusion was to become a villain, which he did. King Midas started out small, with little notoriety, engaging in petty vandalism and streetside muggings. He didn't need to rob anything, of course. Still, being a villain was keeping him entertained, so he stuck with it.
  • Eventually he caught wind of an art gallery opening up, with two life-sized golden statues were being unveiled. His parents, sold to an upstart artist who would rather garner fame than actually try. Someways into his villainous career, Anthony barged into the gallery, threatening the citizens there, and swiped the statues. On his way out, he shot the so-called artist the full six times. He has the pleasure of being the only person killed by King Midas. Ever since then, King Midas' status as a villain as been on an incline, the man growing more bombastic with each outing, and his past self fading into the distance. Every so often King Midas sits alone, in his big golden mansion, and looks at his parents, wondering; when is the right time to bring them back?
• Misc: Anything turned to gold by his Touch is unbreakable...unless you use another gold-turned object against it. Then, his gold is essentially useless, and is very easy to break. Sort of a double edged sword, isn't it?

edited 25th Mar '18 7:46:25 PM by TruthHurts22

Alright, I'll make the concept first, then the character:

Concept: Elanun:

Meaning "Land of Peace" in Elanian language, Elanun is a country that could be called Lost World. It was a land hidden from every other human civilization since the dawn of history, located in the middle of Indian Ocean. Then, it was lost forever, wiped from the face of the Earth permanently. Their form of government was a monarchy, where the king was the most powerful magic user of the country.

Residents of Elanun, Elanians, were immortal people with affinity to magic. Natural talent of magic led to pride, and this led to a belief that they did not need any full and meaningful interaction with other civilizations. As such, they were an incredibly isolationist civilization which considered itself an apex of humanity, free from the mistakes of other "types" humans.

This type of pride eventually led them to think of themselves as the protector of the world, creating an organization of vanguards called "Vanguards of the Earth". While it would be a great stretch to call them the first superheroes, still these vanguards served a function to that of superheroes. However, there was a dark truth that many supervillains of that time were also from Elanun, driven by megalomania of massive proportions. Vanguards' function changed from protecting the "lesser people" to concealing this ugly truth.

Most of them were tall and dark-skinned people with black hair, looking quite similar to people of India. Those who were even a bit different, called "white skins", were discriminated and frowned upon for not being "perfect" in their eyes. In addition, those who could not use were subjects of prejudice and, worse, extermination.

As with all civilizations, Elanun came to decline, as decadence and corruption became the norm, and the dogma grew larger and larger. And it all exploded with civil war that destroyed the whole island. To explain this war in more detail, it was mainly the conflict between the Royalists and Lainists (those who sided with Lain, then leader of the Vanguards).

Survivors of the downfall still persist to this day, either as heroes or villains due to their arrogance. However, there are those who settle in as normal people, since their belief in supremacy of their civilization shattered into pieces after civil war.

Everything that lives is designed to end.

Goldrush

• Identity: Daniel Kingston, Hero, no secret identity.
• Powers:
  • AOS (Aura of Speed): Daniel has the ability to generate an ethereal, bubble-like field of energy around his skin with the flick of a mental switch, which can propel him at superhuman speeds. The aura can extend slightly to accompany a single passenger. The aura seems to warp reality to a degree, as time appears to be slowed to a relatively normal speed in the viewpoint of Daniel and any passengers within the golden field. The aura prevents direct interaction with the air, meaning that anyone within doesn't suffer the effects of wind and friction burn, but the aura itself exists physically, and so the environment still suffers from high heat and shockwaves. The aura also increases in density and durability the more gradual pressure is placed on it. As such, there is theoretically no limit to how fast Daniel can propel himself, however due to the aforementioned effects he usually sticks around 200 mph, Mach 1 if necessary, as he may ignite the atmosphere or even transform into a black hole if he tries to go much faster.
  • AOS Healing: Due to the reality-bending effects of the aura, any injuries suffered either outside or within the aura (assuming that something broke through it) will heal at an accelerated rate. The speed of this is connected to the aura's current density/Daniel's current speed, and so the faster he runs the quicker he and any passengers heal. The aura can also repair itself by propulsion at a similar according-to-speed rate.
  • Area of Effect: Not really a power as much of an observation of a natural consequence. The aura itself protects its passengers from the effects of Ludicrous Speed but still induces it on the environment due to it being physical. As such, Goldrush's powers are potentially one of the most physically destructive and threatening to Earth simply due to physics.
• Equipment:
  • Type 2 Pyrite Armour: A flexible, high tech suit of armour created by Dexter Donovan.◊ The suit allows him to make extremely tight turns and grip easier, and is also reinforced so that he doesn't snap his spine from whiplash if he starts off clumsy. The suit is thin enough to be protected by the aura, however Daniel has to take extra care while rescuing civilians in it so as not to injure them. The suit can retract into a small enough shape so as to either function as or fit into a backpack.
• Appearance: Eyes gain a golden sheen when using powers. Around 5'9, 18 years of age.◊
• Personality: At first meeting, Daniel appears to fit into the typical energetic and brash speedster stereotype, making nonstop wisecracks to villains he's fighting and generally making rash decisions. However, Daniel in actuality is quite a serious, morbid person, perhaps even suffering from minor depression due to his fear of his own destructive power. As a result, he subconsciously tends to alienate himself from people, constantly being on the move and cracking jokes to cover up his lonesome and fearful personality. He believes that this fake persona is for the betterment of the public, as he's under the impression that any powerful superhero should try and portray themselves in a larger than life manner for fear of being "ostracized for their humanity". Due to the volatile nature of his abilities, Daniel has developed an extremely intelligent and calculating mind, able to closely estimate velocity and angles even while running to avoid injuring civillians he's trying to save and minimize collateral damage. He's also a good field-therapist, comforting those he saves as he can so easily relate to their confusion and fear. Because of the fact one single solitary slip-up in his movements while in the aura could cause such devastation, Daniel only uses it to its more powerful extent when he feels there is nothing left to lose, although with a constant feeling of dread and imminent destruction welling inside him.
• Background: Daniel's powers were first made manifest in an incident at his local school, causing several of his fellow students to gain superhuman abilities. His initial discovery of his speed was not a pleasant one, as unaware of his slowed perception with his newly activated aura, tried to take an injured step forward without realising he was moving at around 150 mph in the space of a fraction of a second. Because of this, he shattered the entirety of his leg, cracking the floor beneath him and sent himself careening down the entire hall of the school, breaking the windows with the sheer air pressure. After his recovery in the hospital (he only discovered his healing ability at a later date) and his later graduation, he began a career in heroism, creating a basic suit out of scrap clothing and working as a freelance superhero under the name of Goldrush, his identity public due to him not wearing any mask for trust reasons. He eventually came into contact with Dexter Donovan, whom he quickly befriended and persuaded to make him a "badass suit to... er... help me turn". He now roams around in Easton, continuing his freelance career and occasionally juggling whether or not to risk blowing up the Earth to get his breakfast muffin on time.

edited 16th Feb '18 3:01:35 PM by Enirboreh

bork

All approved.

Fear Monger:

Identity: Alyn Luincasta, Princess of Elanun. Villain.

Powers and Abilities: Alyn is an Elanian, an immortal being who can use magic. Despite this, however, she is unable to use proficient magic, because she refuses to use them (except for healing) and could not finish her training. Instead, she has another, more destructive power.... which she hates.

• Fear: Alyn possesses Emotional Manifestation of Fear, drawing power from her fear of violence. There are two powers that have their base on this fear:
  • The Butcher: Fear Monger is able to transform into her fear, the violent maniac that is hell bent on destroying its enemy. During this form, Alyn has enhanced physical condition (enhanced strength, speed, agility, endurance and senses), enabling her to stand toe to toe with most superhumans. Along with this, she can summon and wield "Sword and Shield of Thorns" that are... [[sword and shield of thorns Exactly What It Says On Tin]]. In this form, she cannot feel any pain due to the berserk state she is in.

  • Fear Aura: Alyn has an aura that emits fear, affecting nearby beings. More resistant a being is to any psychic attack, less affected they will be.

• Healing: As part of her Elunian heritage, Alyn can heal herself and others from any wound. However, it cannot be said that her healing powers are potent enough to ail the most serious wounds.

Appearance:

• Human form◊

As The Butcher◊

Personality: Before the war that tore her country apart, Alyn used to be a naive and happy girl with no worry about the world, as she was a royal princess. Only few leave the war unscathed. Of course, it changed her. Alyn no longer has a pride that is characteristic for Elaninans, being replaced with guilt and self-hatred. Outwards, she seems to be calm and composed, stoic even. All of this is to hide her fear of violence and herself. She wishes to end supervillains and superheroes once and for all in order to end the violence in the world, believing their conflict to be never ending.

However, Alyn hasn't completely lost her previous self, as some of her naivety comes out when she encounters things she was not aware of before.

Backstory: Alyn was the only daughter of Alsan, Last Monarch of Elanun. The girl grew up with love and care, blissfully ignorant of the troubles outside her inner world of royal palace... until the civil war broke out. Lain, her favorite uncle, personally attempted to kill the royal palace in a bid to gain power. Alyn's parents escorted her out of the island, before the magical explosion decimated the whole island.

While her body was unharmed, the same thing could not be said to her mind, as this mind led to her acquisition of Fear. Currently, she is avoiding any business with superheroics. But that might change quite quickly....

edited 4th Feb '18 8:55:58 AM by kaalban

Everything that lives is designed to end.

Kosh the Hateful:

Identity: Kosh the Hateful, Kosh, Ghost of Envious Hate, Lord of Envy. Villain, as it runs in the family.

Powers and Abilities: Kosh, like Azur, is a Sin Prince, manifestation of civilizations' evils. Lord of Envy represents... envy. As such, he consumes envy, as well as feelings of insecurity, greed and hatred that stem from it (which are his "sub-sources", as he would like to call it). His favorite "course" is envy-hatred. Here are his abilities:

• Form of the Formless One: Unlike other Sin Princes, Kosh has not, or rather, lost his form, becoming a ghost filled with hatred towards anything living. He cannot harm others, but he cannot be harmed when he is in his ghostly self, because for the multiverse, Kosh doesn't exist.
  • Embrace Your True Self, the Hateful Says: His nature allows Kosh to possess any beings (including dogs and cockroaches) and turn them into monsters who are made of hate and envy towards everything else in the reality. The possessed will turn into a mass of shadow and fire or lava. When taking hold of a body, Kosh has an ability to control shadow and flame that he generates.

• Perennial Malice: As he is a Sin Prince, Kosh is also immortal, since he has an infinite sources of food that are envy, ill will, some form of prejudice and sense of rivalry.

• Legacy of the Negation in Shade: If Kosh leaves his host to another one, the host will forever remain as his slave, "Shade of Hatred". They retain same abilties as they had when they were puppeteer by the Sin Prince, albeit in a weaker state. They become his loyal slaves, constructs in the destruction of everything.

Appearance: When possessing a humanoid being◊. His true "form" looks approximately like this◊.

Personality: Despises everything to such a degree that wishes to bring the end of all things. Despite this goal, Kosh is not a raging bulldog, no no. Rather, this Lord of Envy upholds the front of a jolly person with an odd mindset to seem harmless, so that it will hurt. While other Sin Princes do love each other in... unconventional ways, Kosh could not even pretend to care for them. The Hateful one loathes superheroes and supervillains in equal measure because they stand out.

Backstory: Kosh was the hated among Sin Princes. It wad because he tried to do good, instead of committing atrocities. Kosh desperately wanted to defy his nature... until he became formless. The reality itself rejected his redemption.

From that moment on, he became hate filled wraith demon, spreading rage and hate across all reality. Some worlds turned into literal bloodbaths because of him. Sensing most of Sin Princes inside Easton!verse, he travelled here... to destroy the world.

edited 5th Feb '18 5:18:09 PM by kaalban

Everything that lives is designed to end.

A member of PQI's Forgotten Pantheon, mentioned repeatedly on the Discord chat and now finally being made after getting over my own laziness.

---

• Identity: Xilantes (The Greater Warmonger, The Screaming Eternal), Villain, no secret identity.
• Abilities:
  • Bloodlust Infusion: As the forgotten deity of bloodlust and berserker insanity in war, Xilantes has the ability to amplify existing feelings of suppressed bloodlust in people in the area, causing them to actively seek the elimination of anyone around them. The sheer state of rage they go into is enough to turn them into Implacable Men, becoming numb to pain and having slightly increased physical capabilities (hysterical strength) from the adrenaline pumping through them. If their target is one they are emotionally attached to, the bloodlust effect may become nullified and eventually destroyed according to their reluctance to harm them. This power can be used en mass in his true, full power form, but due to his positioning and weakened state he cannot accurately use it at this time. As a result, to correctly use this power in the way he wants he has to use it through an avatar, which drastically decreases its area of effect.
  • Gods Need Prayer Badly: As part of the Pantheon, Xilantes works off much of the same rules as they, requiring mass amounts of people to either believe or worship him to fuel his consciousness, however the latter is preferable as a person simply believing in him gives him much less power than one actually having faith in him. Naturally, this works the other direction too up to a certain point, although he isn't as powerful as he once was he is still sustained by the many cults on his name scattered around the world, and so hasn't reverted into a Physical God state like the Leviathan and Lhdwnr had, but nonetheless wishes to regain his full strength.
  • Avatar Creation: All of the pantheon seem to have the ability to create a humanoid form for physical interactions with... well, humans, and Xilantes is no different. While indeed being able to create forms that are of any gender, ethnicity, or species, Xilantes usually picks one fairly underwhelming or easy to underestimate, the only telltale sign being an overly unhinged look to the whole deal. He may only create one at a time, and if it is killed (to which it will turn to dust) he will receive painful psychic feedback and will have to rest before creating another. His current avatar will also house his full consciousness in the event of him needing to revert to a physical form to conserve power in the event of a mass loss of followers.
• Appearance:
  • Current Avatar: Of slightly below average height, weight, and muscle mass. Still dangerous, nonetheless. Speaks in a quiet, calculating fashion, which may escalate into complete insanity in a combat situation. May alter in appearance of physical age in order to blend in.◊
  • True Form: Is positioned in a mountain region in Bolivia, sitting on a massive throne of flesh. Rarely moves from his seat, prefers to let his avatars do the work. Exists in the physical realm, and can technically be harmed if hurt by a powerful super or weapon.
• Personality: Even as a deity of rage and murderous urges Xilantes shows an impressive restraint, tending to hang back and carefully set the ball in motion in order to affect as many people as he can at once in order to gain their worship, as opposed to haphazardly starting World War III and potentially gaining no followers at all. When using his avatars and talking to humans, he has a natural, snakelike charm to him with a hint of insanity and occasional theatricality, which can either work for him or against him in persuasion depending on the weariness levels of the person he's talking to. While he's certainly no stranger to insanity and sudden violent urges, Xilantes is no fool, and knows when to act and when to let things go as they please. His relationship with his "siblings" - Leviathan and Lhdwnr specifically - is quite strained only because of their complications with becoming forgotten, leaving only him and a few other Pantheon members to survive on their own. Naturally their opinions disagree because of their designated domains, but Xilantes does genuinely care about his siblings despite that.
• Background: Xilantes was one of several deities of the group now called the Forgotten Pantheon. He ruled over the domain of bloodlust and murderous insanity, and was responsible for some of the mass wars in early Earth history. However, with the fairly recent event of society starting to move on from their gods and supernatural beliefs, himself and the rest of the Pantheon became weakened due to the lack of worship and acknowledgement of their existence. As a result, the Pantheon eventually began to fall into slumber, including Lhdwnr, leaving only himself and the Leviathan left conscious (to his knowledge). Eventually, though, even the Leviathan became weakened, reverting to human form and setting out to find himself a compatible host body in a last ditch attempt to survive. While not as weakened as his compatriots due to him interfering enough to keep his multiple cult's faith in him, Xilantes has still suffered the effects, losing his mass influence and full abilities. Now he has to try and work more intelligently, attempting to manipulate as many people into worshipping him or at least believing in him in order to resurface to the full. The population of Easton is just next on the list.

edited 18th Feb '18 5:24:07 PM by Enirboreh

bork

Please inform me if any of this infringes on existing concepts.

Omnitech Industries - Part 2

Special Research Division

In mid-2016, Omnitech Industries officially announced their creation of a device capable of inducing controlled condensation of stable tachyons, simultaneously submitting a paper explaining some of the theory behind their creation that, regardless of one's stance on it, was rather difficult to avoid in scientific circles. Many, many discussions on causality were had in its wake, with a sizable increase in requests to visit Omnitech's laboratory and observe the device itself (all politely denied).

Although a device that could 'create' faster-than-light particles out of seemingly nothing is noteworthy as at least being Very Interesting, the device itself was merely part of a larger, longer project. In fact, Omnitech Industries had perfected the device by 2011, but it was kept classified to protect the nature of its parent project, and hence Omnitech's future plans.

Internally called "Project Hermes", the plan to develop a tachyon-based method of time travel is the purview of the Special Research Division, a branch of Omnitech that has never been contracted, or even mentioned, to the various organisations purchasing Omnitech weaponry. Originally established in 2009 to develop proprietary technology that would have been devastating to lose to corporate espionage or superhuman activity, it underwent rapid expansion to become more of its own separate department, with the task of "ensuring the organisation's continued success and prosperity". To this end, they have increasingly diverted their efforts to technologies that make Clarke's Third Law seem like an understatement.

Despite sounding like a villainous conspiracy straight out of a B-movie, the aim of the Special Research Division is not to secure world conquest or any similar thing (after all, if there's nobody left to fight wars, who would you sell weapons to?). Rather, they aim to pass technological thresholds faster than the rest of the world, so that if somebody were to attempt to, say, abuse time travel to conquer the world, they could deploy counter-operations.

Project Hermes itself was (secretly) completed in 2029, and has since been used to create the Echelon Network, a method of transmitting information across time. Aside from using it to 'redo' important battles in their shadowy wars to prevent any one organisation from taking over the world, Omnitech also uses it to access information on buildings they haven't 'yet' had the chance to survey, and generally keep their units informed with any relevant intelligence. Physical time travel is riskier due to the chance of altering the timeline to one where, for instance, everything sucks, a galactic conqueror rules the planet with an iron fist, and the time travel device itself was never made, but is also used on rare occasion.

Closers

Although Omnitech prefers to operate within the limits of the law, on occasion one must fight fire with fire. Essentially just an abnormally pervasive group of plausibly-deniable pawns, the Closers are Omnitech's eyes, ears, and, on occasion, hands and fists in their multiple fights to keep the world headed towards the right future.

Contacted entirely through digital means (most commonly via email or mobile text messages), each Closer receives a code name involving two letters and a number, and is generally kept isolated from other Closers unless there is a need for a large-scale operation. Anybody can be used as a Closer, from a no-name street vendor to a regionally-renowned superhero, and there are even a few disguised robot models among them (given higher security clearance, naturally), often used in leadership positions in times of crisis.

The Hourglass War

After a self-proclaimed evil genius declared completion of "THE WORLD'S FIRST TIME MACHINE, MUAHAHAHAHAHA!" in 2045, multiple global superpowers immediately leapt on the opportunity to gain control over the fourth dimension. Several other factions that had already completed their own time machines, on the other hand, decided that they much preferred their secrets being kept as such, and all leapt back to the day before the announcement to stop it, one way or another. Of course, multiple agents from multiple clandestine time travelling organisations meeting at once is bound to end interestingly, and they were so busy catching each other in the crossfire that the announcement happened regardless. So sparked arguably one of the longest wars to date.

Slowly expanding outward in both directions from 2045 (although some would say it has already expanded), the Hourglass War is a secretive conflict where each belligerent is trying to poach the others' methods of influencing the timestream (although so far only one side has been eliminated, and that one openly broadcasted its identity). More than anything, it is a war of information, as the best security against someone who can try again and again until they succeed is not letting them know they have the opportunity to try in the first place.

As a side effect of the Hourglass War, time travel is one of the riskiest undertakings a prospective inventor can attempt, as even the intent to announce one's discovery can lead to some very unfriendly-looking people knocking on your door. Naturally, the paranoia rampant in the war means that the combatants are too busy eyeing each other to focus on looking for 'new arrivals', so the occasional effort does slip through the cracks (albeit they often have several close calls in the process, and usually need to use said time machine to avoid an untimely end to their research).

Had another character idea - couldn't resist. Say hello to Little Archie and his pet.

---

Archie & Agnes

• Identity: Archibald J. Douglas and Agnes, Anti-Heroes, secret identity (for Agnes at the very least).
• Abilities: Archie himself seems to be an ordinary boy, with most of the anomalous effects coming from a combination of Agnes and the box. However, Archie seems to have a slowed or even halted aging effect, and hasn't grown either physically or mentally ever since he found the box in the 1940's.
  • The Box: The rickety, sloppily constructed wooden box that Archie adamantly carries has the ability to contain a large amount of items. However, most if not all of this space is currently taken up by Agnes' ever-expanding form, and as a result Archie usually avoids hiding items in there for fear of making her uncomfortable. As a defence, Archie sometimes crawls into the box for safety, Agnes acting as his personal bodyguard while he's in the container. The box also seems to act on Archie's behalf even if Agnes isn't active, causing a sharp and immense pain in anyone trying to pick it up, like that of a hot metal, and seems to be completely indestructible to physical damage (however seems to gradually decay when subjected to strong psychic effects aimed at Agnes). The box also seems to heal his wounds when he crawls inside, and may be contributing to his halted aging process.
  • Agnes: A mysterious, wormlike creature of ambiguous motives towards Archie and the people around him. Referred to by Archie as a "she" (either from her influence or his simple latching onto her as a maternal figure). Agnes does seem to showcase very guarding and motherly instincts towards the keeper of the box. Her true size is unknown, as she rarely leaves the box in full, and Archie when asked only vaguely compared her size to that of "A big boat. A really big' un. Y'know, like them enormous ones out on the 'arbour? Yeah, she was like that when I first met 'er..." (At this point, he had trailed off, implying that her size had changed since.) When questioned further for more specifics, such as her motivations and functioning, Archie seemed to quieten, and simply shuffled off with his box in his arms, not turning back once. Agnes can be harmed by sufficiently powerful attacks, but will retreat into the box in order to rest and regenerate if not dealt with quickly.
• Appearance: A Boy And His Nightmare Beast◊
• Personality:
  • Archie is your typical 1940's go-lucky ten year old, speaking with a cockney accent typical to his time and London origins and trying just his damned hardest to get through in life. He seems rather hesitant to trust people to the full, although in quite a strange way; he seems to act completely friendly and naïve until too much attention is placed on his carrying of his rickety box and his "pet" Agnes, at which case he'll suddenly act defensive and nervous, further prodding revealing panicked symptoms similar to that of that to PTSD. Until that point, however, Archie is a good, albeit lost soul, and although he's lacking in wisdom because of his (constant) young age he always tries to do the right thing.
  • Agnes is... complicated to pin down, to say the least. Not in that her personality is so convoluted, but the opposite problem in that the only solid information comes from Archie's potentially warped perceptions and Agnes herself, who barely makes a sound other than animalistic warbles and grunts anyway. That being said, Agnes indeed seems to act like an animal protecting its child in regards to little Archie, but doesn't seem to have the same moral inhibitions as him, potentially even manipulating him for her own gain.
• Background:
  • Archibald James Douglas was the middle child of a family of five, born in London during the mid/late 1930's and thus experiencing firsthand the horrors of World War II and the Blitz. After he reached the age of ten one tragic night, what seemed to be a bomb struck his family's home, killing them and leaving him as the lone survivor, due to him happening to have snuck outside to play and thus was able to reach the Anderson shelter before it hit. After the chaos died outside, the distraught and hysterically crying Archie stumbled out of the shelter, only to find a wooden crate in an impact crater in his garden, red with heat yet not burning. Soon realising he had to leave his wrecked home to get help, Archie set off with the box in his hands, unknowing of what it was and why he felt the urge to pick it up. The box's anomalous properties soon became apparent on his journey, however, as he repeatedly saw glimpses of a black-furred thing slithering around through the cracks of the box, the dimensions seeming to be a lot larger than what the box should be allowed to contain. Even as the phenomenons seemed to escalate, such as a wormlike head with what seemed to be a porcelain mask staring out at him from time to time, Archie never left the box behind, growing attached to its unknown creature to the point of deciding to give it a name: Agnes.
  • Over the course of several decades, more anomalous effects became apparent to young Archie. Chronogically, the first one was that while he watched people around him age, he seemed to be stuck in a ten year old body. The second was that on the occasions he got injured, the creature would look out at him from the box, repeatedly jerking its head back as if to invite him in. The third (and by far the most strange) was that when he did decide to crawl into the box, there was a significant amount of space within, although blocked by a dark fog. Upon his discovery that this space seemed to heal his wounds, Archie began to regularly visit it for sanctuary, and for the first time met the creature face-to-face. Exactly what his interaction was is unknown, but upon him leaving he seemed to be even more protective and secretive of the box. Now in the modern day Archie is still a ten year old boy, now having travelled to Easton to escape his old life and wander elsewhere.

---

Flippin' adorable.

edited 8th Feb '18 10:17:14 AM by Enirboreh

bork

OK, all the above are Approved except Mistfader's time-travel ideas. Nothing wrong with them, in fact I like them but we must be careful: first, I have my own Concepts for such (which have not been approved yet either); second, a time-war implies a possible mess of alternate reality plots.

In fact I think, from now any proposed Concept must be discussed on the Discussion Thread (no the Chat doesn't count, you can develop the idea there but it must be presented in the DT) so it can be commented on before approval. This thread is for characters.

• Identity: (BASH Link)
  • Name: Aži Dahāka
  • Status: Villain
  • Secret identity: Various (For he corrupts in many guises).
• Abilities:
  • Powers: Aži Dahāka is vastly experienced and blessed of great power by the graces of Ahriman and the failures of many who've challenged him.
    • Mental Defense: Aži Dahāka is quite clairvoyant, able to obtain clear pictures of the past and present and clear (but easily changeable) visions of the potential future. In combination with his telepathy, this makes him less of a master strategist than a player who can see everyone's hands. Aži Dahāka's own mind is shrouded by the poisonous evil will, doing severe damage to all who would reach out to it.
    • Mental Offense: Aži Dahāka corrupts through superficial charm, but he has no qualms about outright mind controlling and altering the memories of the unwary, whether they are pure or tainted in their souls. Less directly, he raises illusions to confuse and confound, including making invisible (and odorless) his own appearance.
    • Movement: Aži Dahāka can fly, but loses this ability pending another complex ritual whenever he alights. Much more commonly, he appears through gateways and is capable of traversing the galaxy in this manner, not to mention other dimensions.
    • Armor: Befitting his position, Aži Dahāka never drops a personal force field and he's never seen without armor. Underneath these, in the background of any fight, his body continues to regenerate.
    • Areshko: Both the name of Aži Dahāka's sword which devours the essences of those it cuts, manifesting as nullification of the unfortunate's powers and skills, and the corrosion of their very thoughts; and equally the name of the blessing that allows Aži Dahāka to copy for himself the powers of others.
    • Nasu's Pollution: This is a simple, almost imperceptible breeze of wind, that degrades th bodies of those it touches, organic or abiotic.
    • Fallen Pushtigban: Aži Dahāka is capable of summoning divs and fallen mortals from Māzandarān as well as (rather less reliable) infernal divs from the creation of Aka Manah^note lit. "Evil will", said to be the Truly Single Parent of daeva itself. These he can imbue with powers like his own or any of an assortment of stolen abilities.
    • Scaled Up: Self-explanatory—Aži Dahāka has a second body as a three=headed dragon, but this is rarely used, for besides being rather tougher, he exercises the same powers, only bigger. (This is Aži Dahāka's equivalent to 100% power).
  • Weaknesses:
    • Ahriman's gift to Aži Dahāka is fittingly also a curse, for if Aži Dahāka fails to feed the snakes sprouting from his shoulders human brains every day, the snakes will feed on his own, depriving him of his strength and powers and visiting on him unending torment.
    • Also, when Fereydun prevailed over Aži Dahāka and ended his first wicked reign, the hero imprisoned the villain in sealing chains beneath Mount Damāvand. Well, good news, the chains can still hold him. ^{Sort of...}  Aži Dahāka cannot destroy the chains, but the things, being made of bronze, could corrode easy enough. After millennia without maintenance, the links corroded away and Aži Dahāka walked free. Fereydun isn't entirely to blame for this. He had the task of finding another who could maintain the chains, be relied upon not to sabotage them, and who's network could be relied upon for the same. Of course, being a warrior king, he didn't have as much time as he wanted and was slain in battle before finding a successor. That said all one has to do is repair the chains—without magic. Bad news: The chains are still there, and mere pieces of them won't do the deed. The seal requires that Aži Dahāka be sealed in the mountain—with the repaired chain.
    • Less ritualistic, Aži Dahāka cannot stay in a distant conflict for long, less the restless populace of Māzandarān and the subjugated lands begin to stir against him—even more. For much the same reason, he cannot abide to lose face.
    • While it's being going on for millennia, Aži Dahāka never has and never will get used to the voices of Aka Manah echoing in his mind.
    • As indicated, Aži Dahāka is (at least initially) human, and still suffers from his old injuries from Fereydun's mace blows. Thus, despite his strength, if one can get past Aži Dahāka's armor and score blows on him, they needn't work too long to fell him.
  • Skills: Aži Dahāka speaks and is literate in every language that ever was. Naturally, he's a skilled liar, and, to run and empire has become skilled in accounting, finance, and bureaucracy and military command. Aži Dahāka practices rituals excessively and knows enough of religion and philosophy to twist both.
  • Equipment: A great sword and mirror armor.
• Appearance: Aži Dahāka rather resembles your basic middle aged (ancient) executive, with a well trimmed goatee and rather long hair. One would detect nothing out of the ordinary with him, he's in shape but no behemoth in musculature, and his eyes and hair are a plain black. Similarly Aži Dahāka is olive skinned, not the fiery red, sickly green, or even indigo of the divs and corrupted beings around him. He stands much shorter than his div guards, and is only imposing by his demeanor. Whether he's wearing armor or a suit, Aži Dahāka presents himself like he owns the room—which he often does.
• Personality:
  • Dahāka (Of Ten Sins): Aži Dahāka is all but the incarnation of utter depravity and yet a false messiah, for this image is how he first took power. He is one of the few in Māzandarān who can even comprehend good, and to some extent even uses the kind of positive reinforcement more characteristic of myopic types like Matten. At the same time, Aži Dahāka did punish Matten for ever suggesting it, has never shown any trace of empathy, and cold blooded torture is his fighting style...

  • By example, by contempt for the inhabitants we mean Aži Dahāka takes the Seven Kill Steele as self-help book, and gleefully raised an incarnation of his own past self to torment just because. Though cruel, he does not go out of his way. It takes great events to draw the gaze of Aži Dahāka, like say the breaking of an ancient seal and the unleashing of ancient Chief of the Divs.

  • One should be reminded at this point that Aži Dahāka is neither div nor devil nor any kind of being other than homo sapiens sapiens. Moreover, Aži Dahāka quite fully understands the gravity of his actions and the consequences in reality (even accounting for the voices).
• Background:
  • Long-experienced, absolutely corrupting, and an enemy of all mankind with near limitless power, Aži Dahāka is a constant first-tier contender for ruler of Māzandarān. This is still not saying much given that chaotic realm, but his power is well on display by the fate of the neighboring realms (and their people) whom Aži Dahāka happily tramples over for even the most minor gains—including recreation.

  • However, the powers of Māzandarān have a reliable (for once) tendency to align in fear of him, and that combined with Aži Dahāka's own contempt for the inhabitants (and everything really) helps keep the chaos of the realm from spilling out into the world beyond—more than usual anyway. (That is, the governments of the world have a vested interest in seeing Aži Dahāka on his throne). Dahāka rules with the aid of divs, though he himself is not one of them. It remains unknown who is using whom.

  • In any case, Aži Dahāka seeks the power to depopulate the world, a wish rejected by his former gods but supported to varying degrees of sincerity by his following in Māzandarān (many of whom would join anyone promising chaos and mayhem or power and glory).

  • Nonetheless, it's practically common knowledge that few would mourn his downfall. Aži Dahāka subjected the former ruler of his original realm to a miserable fate; sates himself with countless daily sacrifices; constantly hunts sometimes potential challengers, often random denizens of the realm; and ever forces his court and denizens to sing praises of his virtues. This is mild for Māzandarān actually, but Aži Dahāka is famous for pioneering the practice of forcing those in his presence to truly mean their devotions (or believe that they mean it), without the "short cut" of mind control.

edited 26th Mar '18 6:30:14 AM by CenturyEye

Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives

I love mythology especially those that I know little about, such as Persian. You can use Azi (or any other ridiculously OP character) because in Spandex characters can only affect each other however the other players allow no matter their Powers- something will always prevent death and The End of The World, a Deus Ex Machina if necessary. One thing tho: nobody's brains will get eaten. This is superheroes not horror. If you're willing to let Azi be used with that handicap (I guess he will be in a lot of pain :P) he's approved.

Blatant copy/paste from another RP, (for the most part) but I just love the idea too much not to bring it here too.

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Inkwell

• Identity: Lucy Livingston, Hero, kind-of-not-really secret identity. ^note  Lucy hasn't fully started her superhero career just yet (she isn't even that sold on the name) and especially now that she's in Kurtzberg who are fully aware and accepting of superpowered students she sees no real reason to hide her powers from them, especially because she recognizes that she may not be able to become a big-league super until adulthood. However, that still doesn't stop her from hiding her plans and work-in-progress costume from other students out of embarrassment.
• Age: 16
• Appearance:
  • Civillian: Around 5'4 in height. Tends to wear hoodies or any other thick clothing that she can hide behind.◊
  • Costume: Somewhat like this. The cloak is a jet black, as is her boots, gloves and utility belt. Her torso and legging pieces are a dark purple and made of a light kevlar, and her belt contains an emergency supply of ink in canisters.
• Personality: Lucy is an introverted and shy girl, being uncomfortable and awkward even if there's only a single person with her. She also tends to be rather quiet to her immense frustration, suffering from a self-inflicted nervous stutter due to her practically forcing herself to speak at times. Although kind-hearted and selfless, her opinion of herself is so dangerously low that she is showing symptoms of both depression and severe loneliness due to her constant isolation. Despite all this, she occasionally has bursts of wit and forthrightness and is quick to act when the situation calls for it, becoming more confident and determined while in action only to immediately revert back to her shy self once the panic has settled down. Lucy has taken an interest in arts such as music and painting, the irony of which she is fully aware of and occasionally mocks in a self-deprecating fashion. She isn't too proud of her abilities, viewing them sightly disgusting and more irritating than useful (the amount of mess complaints she's received in the past is bordering on ridiculous) but nonetheless recognizes she's stuck with them, and wishes to learn to use them for the best.
• Powers:
  • Melanokinesis: Lucy's powers are entirely based around ink, as her (mostly) preferred future codename would reflect. As long as she has contact with it initially she can manipulate any ink to her will, however it takes more effort according to what and if it is contained in (i.e a pen would take some effort, a large ink jar would take a little more, etc). Lucy's manipulation powers are developed enough that she can form constructs and shapes out of pure ink, for either weaponry, external appendages or simply for binding foes. She's even working on creating entire creatures using ink, such as her heavily work-in-progress "dolls"◊, however they require her constant focus to control correctly (not that she's that good at controlling them in the first place) and have no individuality or intelligence. The dolls are so named because if she attempts to make them move any faster than a saunter, their limbs tend to flail around and warp like marionettes, and prolonged speed or Lucy losing concentration causes them to collapse under their own weight.
  • Ink Generation: By breaking down excess fluids (mainly mucus) and fats in her body, Lucy can choose to produce a supply of ink from her pores, which she can in turn manipulate. This method of gaining ink is fairly draining to her, as it can cause her to become dehydrated or even starved from overuse. As a result, she usually chooses to use already-existing ink for her purposes.
  • Ink Transformation: As a defensive technique (if by "defense" you mean "run and hide") Lucy can transform herself into a shifting mass of ink, which to be honest freaks her out a little as it sometimes happens inadvertently when she's startled. In this form, she can act as a liquid, seeping through small gaps and cracks which would make her perfect for infiltration missions. She presumably may be able to add external ink to her form to increase her usable mass, but she's used this ability too little to know for sure. When shifting back, any unused ink mass tends to be stored back in her body as fat or liquid to be used elsewhere. It has yet to be tested if she can turn other people (or inanimate objects for that matter) into sentient puddles with contact, but for obvious reasons she isn't keen to try it anytime soon.
• Backstory: Lucy was born as one of three children to her now single mother Jane, her older sister Hannah tending to take charge in terms of caring for the small family when the former was too ill to. Lucy's other sibling, her younger brother David, (a name both sisters constantly tease him about) is entertainingly just as capable as his oldest sister, leaving Lucy as the one who tends to trail behind him aimlessly, sometimes literally dragged by the hand much to her embarrassment. Their mother suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome, and thus all three of them have to join in in keeping everything up and running in the household. After Lucy's powers were made manifest after an incident^note  (Lucy has no memory of the event's specifics, only of protecting David from some bullies and being knocked out. Upon awakening in the hospital, she was informed that the bullies had been placated, expelled, and would no longer be a problem. This, however, was a lie, as U0hFIEtJTExFRCBUSEVNIEFMTA==) in her original school, Jane elected to send her to Kurtzberg High so she could learn to control her abilities in a more accepting environment, making it very clear to her that if she had such a blessing she should "damn well use it". While nervous of going to a new school and feeling somewhat guilty at leaving her family, Lucy is determined to follow through in her mother's wishes and to work to becoming a superhero, even if it takes her all the mental effort and courage she can find.

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Looks like Violet could get herself a friend, at least.

edited 24th Feb '18 6:11:51 AM by Enirboreh

bork

Anrika:

Identity: Lain Luincasta, Elanun's Harbinger of Destruction. Hero (quite anti-heroic)

Powers and Abilities: Lain is a Elanian who, unlike Alyn, hasn't lost any of his innate magical abilities. Even among naturally magical people, Lain was hailed as one of the most powerful magic users and combatants of the whole monarchy. His nickname, Elshnan Anrika (translates to Great Magus of Elshna (his birthplace)) reflects this.

• Symbol Magic: To elaborate on his form of magic, he draws some symbols on the air to cast a spell. These symbols are actually words from his language that mean effects they are going to have. For example, if Lain wants to teleport, he will write "Teleport" in Elanian writing in the air to do so. List of magics he can perform with symbols:
  • Teleportation: Lain can teleport himself and others to a location designated by him.

  • Sword Generation: Up to five of them.

  • Strength Enhancement

  • Barrier

  • Shades Summoning: Lain can summon "Shades" of his soldiers, living shadow entities that obey every single one of his commands.

• Sword Proficiency: Lain is downright masterful at sword wielding (not that sword wielding). This ability, unlike others, is a result of his vigorous training.

Appearance: Behold the Harbinger of Destruction◊

Personality: Lain is a seeker of redemption, riddled with guilt and self-loathing. He wishes to make up for his mistake by being a Vanguard of Earth, a position which he considers cursed, and uniting all of remaining Elanians to form a community. However, a peculiar brand of pirde present in most Elanians also twists his wish for redemption into... something else. He believes that only he can save the remnant of his civilization, and Lain still considers others, including his fellow Elanians, below himself.

However, Lain still values lives of humans and other beings. If in the past, he used to be a brash and hot-blooded young man, then now he is a lot more mature and calmer. Lain judges himself more harshly than anyone else, and tries to live up to his pride.

Backstory: Lain used to be the most revered and respected general of Vanguards in Elanun. He was an idol of many and worthy of being a part of Luincasta royal family. This fed his ego until it became bloated and made him consider coup d'etat. He led his army of Vanguards to the royal palace and killed everyone who stood on his way. However, the ensuring battle between the King and Lain destroyed the whole island, destroying most of the civilization.

He barely managed to escape death, but he could not escape immense guilt over his actions. Upon that day, he made a decision to dedicate his life to saving and preserving instead of destroying.

edited 18th Feb '18 3:30:18 AM by kaalban

Everything that lives is designed to end.

Both characters are approved. (And no, I have no problem with characters "migrating" games, so long as they are original.)

Chris and I have been PMing again about characters. I believe there is an unspoken mutual agreement between us that the following results are the other's fault. He may be posting his later on.

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Val'oth, Leader of the Altürgone

• Identity: Vallanaxarknaroth, Villain, secret identity (poses as a disabled Kaydenite known as Celenoir Allamew).
• Age: 450
• Appearance:
  • Celenoir Allamew: Stands at about 5'5, primarily speaks Lunarite but is also fairly fluent in Aentolian.◊
  • True Form: Stands at exactly 7'0 tall. Fluent in Aentolian, Lunarite and his native Altürgone language.◊
• Personality: As Celenoir, Vol'oth is exceptionally polite and well-mannered, possessing a charming grin and a surprisingly humanlike set of behaviours. However, there seems to be an underlying hint of sociopathy in his actions, tending to only really care about his own well-being. He can also be rather manipulative, using a person's morals and emotions to his advantage. As Vallanaxarknaroth, he is still eloquent and extremely intelligent, however he is a lot more bestial and combat-focused than his Kaydenite alter-ego. He is a lot more forthright in his manipulation, using pure intimidation to get his way. His leadership over his fellow Altürgone is one that has become quite tyrannical and abusive as he is becoming even more self-centred and narcissistic.
• Abilities:
  • Adaptation: As an Altürgone, Val'oth possesses an incredibly developed adaptation ability, being able to gradually alter his body according to a set of constant treats. If faced with the same foe over and over, he can eventually develop abilities to counter or protect against them, such as batlike wings for a flight-based enemy, chitinous armour for an opponent with superhuman strength, and so on. These are mostly instinctive and out of his control, however the more times a specific adaptation is used to counter a foe, the more likely he is to be able to trigger it at will. Over time, certain adaptations have become common and genetically ingrained across the species, such as shapeshifting into a Kaydenite form, enhanced physical abilities such as sight, strength, hearing and speed, development of glottal warblers, and the emission of perception-altering pheremones.
  • Kaydenite Shapeshifting: An ability that Altürgone share for some strange reason (perhaps due to their adaptation) is the power to transform into the shape of a Kaydenite, albeit without functioning Hardlight systems. It is not known how this ability came about in them, but the predatory creatures have used this to their advantage, posing as "disabled" Kaydenites with non-functional Hardlight systems in order to take down their cities and cause havoc from within. As a result, some cities such as Aentolin have become paranoid of traitors, Altür becoming a derogatory word against those suspected to be one in disguise, an insult even directed in some cases towards the actual Kaydenites who have malformed Hardlight systems. Due to them not being able to create constructs, Altürgone instead use stealth and partial shifting into their true form's more bestial appendages in order to take down their targets.
  • Perception Filter: By releasing a certain combination of chemicals, the Altürgone can cause a person's perception to be warped, feeling a psychic inclination to ignore them or overlook them even when they are in their monstrous form. This inclination is fairly weak, however, and can be broken either by a person concentrating or simply by them staring at an Altürgone's position for too long.
• Background: Hatched within the Wildlands of the Dark Side of Kayden, Vallanaxarknaroth was practically born to be a leader. His sociopathy and ruthlessness was highly commended among his nest, and was eventually elected commander after his repeated showing of his superiority over both the other Altürgone and the Kaydenite prey. Realising early into his rule that the standard practice of letting their prey come to them, while indeed easier, was also much slower and dull, Val'oth initiated an ambitious plan; disguise several Altürgone as Kaydenites and send them to different cities on the Light Side in order to take them down from within. Val'oth himself targeted the city of Lunara, the closest major city to the dark side of the planet and in perpetual twilight due to its closeness to the equator. While in Lunara, Val'oth created the identity of Celenoir Allamew, beginning to climb the ranks up to a General despite his supposed "malformed Hardlight systems" and becoming a respected military leader. Because of Aentolin's touchy relationship with Lunara, the city remains blissfully unaware of the Altürgone's infestation, despite the rapidly increasing cases of missing persons throughout the city. After the rumoured sudden return of Sergeant Rine Anok, Lieutenant Kyxe Seng and Headmaster/General Akir Tume in the Council chambers of Aentolin (ironically discussing their potential successors due to their absence), Val'oth has become more interested in targeting them and the source of their transport back: The Rift Ripper. With it, his plans of mass extinction could come to fruition in mere years instead of centuries.

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Basically, remember Roken? That, but worse, and more shapeshifty.

edited 19th Feb '18 7:45:23 AM by Enirboreh

bork