Name: Sophie Kirkville
Gender: Female
Age: 20
Height/Weight: 5'7" | 130 lbs
Personality: Sophie is a spiteful individual, fueled entirely by her hatred for the scum of the earth she fervently hunts. She is capable of diverging thought, but little is ever truly considered and reflected upon if it does not ultimately and in some way lead towards the completion and satisfaction of her desires. To this end she is single-minded and hyper-focused to a detrimental degree; oftentimes food and drink are forgone in favor of her work. She has little affinity towards authority figures, never taking well to the commands of others. Sophie is devoid of mercy for those she's set her sights on, and further devoid of forgiveness. Revenge, avenge, and hatred are her three most influential words, and one can bet that anything she is currently doing is fueled by one of them, possibly all three.
Weaknesses: Sophie is of a fleeting, quick mind. She is not one to be lenient, to pause, or to weigh her options. Truly her actions are guided by instinct, passion, and gut reaction alone, lending to an individual who cannot be trusted to make important decisions, and much less so for them to be of a positive outcome or method. Her judgments are harsh and quick, meaning few can be found properly innocent if she has even an inkling of spite for whatever action it is she attributed them to. Through all of this, Sophie is often seen as aggressive and brutal, certainly not the type of person you go to for a shoulder to rest upon or warm words. Even for the innocent she recognizes, little compassion or tolerance is offered, especially when it comes to complaints or worries. To her weakness is deserving of little more than a throttling or some cold disregard. She can make allies, but it
is too much to ask for her to make friends. Besides personality weaknesses, Sophie is also a painkiller addict, a relic from her past that stayed with her despite the adoption of rather pain-negating powers.
Bio: Sophie grew up the tired-eyed daughter of a crack addicted mother in an equally dreadful city in south California. When her mother couldn't afford the stuff she needed, she sent Sophie instead to, "bring home the bread,"; literally, to work in a drug shop for some 'free samples'. It was easy work physically, but the fumes, the experimentation, and the beating all took its toll on her throughout the days. On more than one occasion she succumbed to trying something out, be it a hallucinogen or a painkiller, she's seen practically all of it.
Her schoolwork suffered, her mood suffered, her social life suffered. For all tends and purposes, the continued work in that place had eliminated any chance of a normal and fortunate young life from her conscious. Only her sorriness for her mother pushed her to continue working in the "shop". Eventually, however, she had had enough, and the time had come. Her words of encouragement to her mother to "seek help" went in one ear and out the other every time, and Sophie's sympathy began to turn into disgust and apathy. She was lost, and Sophie wouldn't do anything more to fuel her whimsy. Of course, the loss of a helping hand angered the local druglord, and she was (at first) encouraged to continue her work "or else". Sophie still packed her bags and prepared to leave for somewhere else, already convinced her life was only suitable as a vagrant from that time on.
Before she could fully leave, however, her home was invaded by a few burly men and she was attacked. At the time she was under the effects of a number of recreational drugs, and that strange combination seemed to be the trigger for her [what could only be described as] supernatural mental awakening. Such was the first time her powers surfaced, and it sufficed to say that after being nearly beaten to death, her attackers were
completely beaten to death. Sophie promptly left without another word to her mother, and set off across the country with no destination in particular intended...
Until she found her calling, that is. Sophie first intentionally killed a man when she heard in a local newspaper that a man was at large; one who was known for murdering several innocents in a killing spree. Using her own skills as a concrete-crawler, she tracked the man down to his dingy abode and personally ended his life before the police could give him the comfort of a warm jail cell paid for by the common citizen. This was her role in the world; the prompt ending of the worst criminal's lives, no matter the consequence. Sophie found her way into the City, knowing well it was suffering from a number of troubles, and fully intended to weed out the darkness within.
Relationship: Single
Alignment: Lawful Evil - There is no enforcement or authority figure that can divert Sophie's hatred into a more constructive manner, and so she continues to carry out her work; still, she is not quite 'evil' in the common sense of the word, doing actions that -while illegal- could be construed as founded upon justice and virtue. Her methods and performance are nevertheless quite grisly and aberrational for someone who could otherwise be considered a vigilante.
Alias: "Rakshasi"
Skills: Besides a fondness towards the vagrant (and the skills that come with it), Sophie has demonstrated a skill in lockpicking and nearly all form of petty criminal action from robbery to swindling. She only really ever carries it out if no is in any real direct way of harm, of course, but the point still stands that she
does in fact break several laws repeatedly. In terms of her formerly vagrant life, Sophie adopted great survivalist capabilities (albeit pertaining to the concrete jungle rather than the real jungle). Cooking food with little materials, hatching up a temporary abode, and adeptness in all manner of menial labor to scrounge cash for herself are but a few skills she's gained.
Origin of Powers: Sophie's powers seem to originate from the mind alone, having been activated in some peculiar manner by the combination of both despair, desperation, and a number of powerful mind-altering drugs in the middle of the night. It is more than likely then, that her powers are developed from the innate capability of humans to undergo supernatural change, and from the existence of a switch in them even at birth; hers just happened to switch on because of some "recreational" activities.
Description of Powers: Sophie has the supernatural ability of Wound Empowerment - in a simplistic sense, she gains increased physical prowess the more physical damage she takes. The ability comes with a caveat however; as she grows increasingly more powerful and harmed, Sophie also loses her self-control, sympathy, and sense of morality. Essentially she goes berserk, becoming increasingly enraged and mindless beyond her initial goal that was pursued prior to losing her sensibilities. Additionally, the ability increases her fortitude immensely, with the energy requirements to significantly damage her body growing exponential as her rage increases. Blades and bullets see their efforts more easily shrugged off each time she is harmed to a significant degree, and while the damage she
has taken clearly shows, her endurance seemingly does not waver, and in fact seems almost to go in the opposite direction. Rather than losing energy as she is harmed, Sophie appears further invigorated and pumped.
As stated before, her physical prowess is enhanced the more she is harmed. In particular her strength is empowered, granting her a prowess unparalleled even by any mundane human's highest peak. Kicking down firedoors, bending steel, crushing bone in her palm; there is little in the way of commonplace things she cannot severely damage. Generally this sort of enhancement is reached only once her mind has slipped past sanity, already well on its way into mindless bloodthirst. Any normally fatal wound is likely to achieve this state in Sophie, while painful but otherwise nonfatal wounds grant her clear but still human levels of physical empowerment. After a certain period of receiving no damage from any source, Sophie loses her ability to become further empowered (as well as her fortitude) but begins to heal at a rapid rate.
As Sophie becomes more enraged, her body enshrouds itself in a white aura, growing into an intense ethereal flame as it compounds. The fire is nothing more than a signal, affecting the world in no other way than to appear around her.
Weaknesses of Powers: Sophie can only attain her peak performance once she is past the point of no return; with her powers comes an inability to properly control her actions, and thus goals cannot be as efficiently completed. Actions requiring finesse or intelligence and logic become impossible for her, rendering her behavior that of a rabid and vicious animal. Doors become impassable terrain if she cannot break them down with her force alone, cars inoperable, and words from the innocent unheard. Given her titanic fortitude at the latter stages of this rage, she is also incredibly unlikely to disengage from a fight she could otherwise determine is against her favor. Rather than retreating, she would more likely remain put and attempt to continue fighting even if she was outmatched. Despite her ability to take hits, Sophie is still mortal and can be killed; any attack of sufficient strength could still be enough to outright kill her even once she's become utterly outraged. This possibility is most apparent when she has taken no hits in the first place.
Role in the Media and Public Eye: To the public, Rashasi represents the sour, darker result of expansive vigilantism; whereas other heroes are often seen with
heroic regard and admiration, Rashasi is the topic of sanctioned police intervention. A hero that saves a family from a burning building receives accolades, whereas a "hero" that brutally murders an at-large criminal becomes the subject on a late-night talk show discussing the unfavorable side of superheroism.
Other: I Will Rise.