Basic InformationName:Rafael Davila-Martinez
Nickname/Alias/Etc:Ralph
Gender:Male
Age:29
Height:6’3”
Weight:157 lbs
Home District:Knightdale Rows
AppearanceHair Color:Black
Eye Color:brown
Ethnicity:Mexican-American
Physical Appearance:Rafael is a pretty average-looking guy, albeit rather tall and lean. Though thin, Rafael doesn’t work out much, so he’s not very big in the muscle department. Fighting isn’t his thing, and he figures he’s stressed enough already without lifting immensely heavy weights. Despite being of Mexican descent, Rafael has rather pale skin (though it is still obvious that he is of hispanic heritage). On the left side of his chest above his nipple is the tattoo of a gothic cross, and on the right side of his right calf is a tattoo of an acoustic guitar with wings. All of his tattoos are in black ink. He keeps them concealed at all times when working. Rafael’s always a pretty tense-looking guy, someone who really needs a vacation. His shoulders are tight, and he walks extremely quickly, as if slowing down would get him killed. He wreaks of “news reporter” and cologne. He is seen almost exclusively with a Starbucks coffee in his hand (a venti caffe mocha with a triple shot of espresso). No one knows how the man ever sleeps.
Rafael’s head is heart-shaped, with medium-sized ears and a bush of curly black hair on his head kept exactly at regulation length. His face is somewhat gaunt and tired-looking, though he usually looks professional at least when on camera. Often when he doesn’t have work makeup concealing it, he has dark circles under his eyes from stress and tiredness. He has a small, rounded nose and high cheekbones. He has a small goatee which is well-trimmed to look professional.
Attire:Business formal 24/7 unless he’s on vacation (spoiler alert; he’s never on vacation). Since he has to deal with soul-sucking media almost constantly, Rafael comes dressed for the job. He wears a slim-cut black suit with a button-down dress shirt under it. Usually this shirt is plain white, though occasionally Rafael will mix it up and wear a plaid shirt instead. Rafael has a massive tie collection and wears a different tie every day of the year, though he always switches to a black tie when he needs to go to a press conference. His suit jacket has a NEST badge on the front, and NEST patches on the shoulders. He wears a black belt and black dress shoes. There is always an earpiece in his ear. He carries a Beretta 92 SF inside of his jacket in case he is ever attacked, but he has never had to use it and hopes that he never will. On rare occasions when Rafael isn’t working, he wears a casual oxford or polo and cargo shorts, showing off his leg tattoo.
PersonalityInnate & Outward Personality:Rafael needs a vacation. Badly. It’s a running joke in the NEST office that Rafael is really a robot and every night Director Caryl shoves him in a closet and plugs him in to charge. Rafael is one of the first people on the NEST scene every day, and one of the last to leave. As such, he is both somewhat caustic and tired almost 24/7. Rafael is known to be viciously deadpan and has a short temper, causing him to often shout at employees. He isn’t well-liked around the office, but his determination earns him a degree of respect. Everyone knows how tough a job Rafael has, being pretty much the only shield between the inner workings of NEST and the soul-sucking vampires that work in the news media. He may be an ass, but he does one hell of a good job. Through years of training, Rafael has managed to learn the ultimate media poker face, an incredible sense of restraint and calm that picks up as soon as he sees the first camera. Remarkably intelligent, he is good at picking his words wisely and thinking before he speaks.
Outside of work, Rafael tries as hard as he can to relax. It’s difficult, though; Rafael is high-strung almost around the clock, and when he gets a chance to calm down, it’s really difficult for him to be calm. This generally causes him to drink a lot, and while few would peg him as an alcoholic, he sure does love himself some wine. Rafael is single, which makes sense considering that he usually works a 98-hour work week. Yep, Rafael is a bigtime workaholic, and while he hasn’t really felt that big a degree of isolation, he has definitely alienated a lot of his friends by almost never being home.
Hobbies/Interests:Drinking coffee, bossing around interns, arguing, addressing the media. As the Director of Media Relations for NEST in Verthaven, Rafael works a lot. When he’s not working, Rafael reads, worries, and hangs out with his friends at local restaurants and bars. He prefers acoustic music overall, and isn’t a big rock person. He has a pretty big condo in Knightdale Rows (he gets paid a lot), though he doesn’t see it much. When he is there, he usually sits on his leather sofa, drinking wine and watching TV. He is a fan of seafood, especially Hawaiian-style seafood. Despite being Mexican, Rafael doesn’t really like Mexican food. Rafael loves to play guitar, though since he works so much he rarely gets to. His dream is to someday retire to a beach in Hawaii and play guitar or ukulele.
Skills/Talents:If faced with a large crowd of reporters, Rafael is your man. Having once been a reporter, he knows just what makes them tick and is great at bullshitting stupid questions to get people to shut up. He’d make a good politician someday. In addition to this, Rafael is remarkably intelligent, having graduated from Harvard, though he graduated with degrees in English and Journalism, so don’t expect him to pilot a spacecraft or hack a computer or something. He’s a pretty good guitarist, though considering he doesn’t get to play much, he doesn’t do this often. Rafael can speak Spanish as well as English.
Prized Possession:His Taylor acoustic guitar, which he keeps locked-up in a glass case in his condo so that it doesn’t get damaged.
Quote(s):“Out of my way! Out of my fucking way! I’ve got to go do my fucking job again!”
“As I have said before, NEST is not a transparent government agency. Our purpose is to protect the interests of Metahuman-Americans and, more importantly for the general population, to protect the interests of the American people from Metahuman threats. To effectively accomplish this goal, we cannot afford to allow the general population to understand NEST’s inner-workings. Doing such would put the people of the United States of America at an incredible risk. Next question?”
History/Bio:I tire of doing these things…
Rafael Davila was born in Mexico, though he doesn’t really remember it. Before he turned two his family came across the border (legally) and settled in Los Angeles, where his father worked at a law firm. Unlike many other Mexican immigrants, Rafael’s father wasn’t terribly poor, and he had gone to American college to get his law degree. Rafael still felt the pang of discrimination, and he was often made fun of by his white schoolmates. He overcame this by working harder, and soon he was the smartest kid in school, blowing away every test and quiz.
When college time came, every liberal arts school in the country seemed to pounce on Rafael and beg him to come to their school. He wanted the biggest and the best, though, and so he applied to Harvard. By some miracle of God, he got in. At Harvard, Rafael majored in English with a minor in journalism, hoping to become a writer. He graduated and found a job working for the LA Times. He worked there for a few years when he was offered a job by People Magazine, which paid significantly more. Rafael was an above average writer, but the true key to his success was his skill in working with people. He wasn’t as stressed in that point in his life. Due to his people skills and their influx of problems, NEST asked Rafael to come aboard as a media relations officer. After showing that he was particularly good at dealing with media sources, NEST promoted him to Director of Media Relations. (Yeah yeah crappy backstory don’t care).
RelationshipsFamily:Felix Davila - Father
Antonio Davila-Martinez - Younger Brother
Jesus Davila-Martinez - Older Brother
Ana Martinez-Davila - Mother
Cecilia Davila-Martinez - Younger Sister
Dynamics: | | | "" |
AbilitiesPower Class:NA
Power:Does dealing with the media count?
Limits:NA
Weaknesses/Drawbacks:NA
Other: