Name: Henry Izquierdo
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Occupation: High School Student
Power(s): Dust
Hobbies: Gaming (borderline competitively), Comics, Tabletop Gaming, Math, Programming (poorly)
>Gaming Tastes: Overwatch, Sm4sh
>Comic Taste: X-Men, Scott Pilgrim, probably some shitty mangas
>Tabletop Taste: D&D5e, but slowly branching out into other systems (PbtA)
>Musical Taste: Good ole beeps and boops of chiptune and electronica.
Strengths/Weaknesses:
Henry's strength lies in his dedication. When he sets his mind to something, he doesn't see anything else. It allows him to become very skilled, but often to the detriment of anything he isn't focusing on. Friends and family can fall by the wayside in his singular pursuit of goals. But his heart is in the right place--and hey, sometimes you just have to break a few eggs, as the phrase goes.


(I'LL FIND A PIC LATER OOPS)
Slender, with dark skin and curly black hair that usually hangs around his ears. Slightly above average height, brown eyes, and a little bit of ill-kept teenage scruff on his round jaw. Henry wears big, circular glasses, and usually dresses with a flair to his interests rather than fashion--gaming t-shirts underneath unbuttoned, short-sleeve dress shirts, cargo shorts, etc.


The Izquierdos grew up in colorful Lompoc--Marta was a native to the area, while Juan Izquierdo was a bright-eyed immigrant from Mexico. Henry was born not long after his parents married, and the family relocated to Casmalia nearly a decade later just in time to welcome Henry's sister Julia into the family.

While his parents were happy to leave the noise, crime, and tales of ambient radiation pollution behind, Henry didn't take well to the move. He lost touch with a lot of the friends he had grown up with, as a lot of them simply had no interest in associating with a transplant to the northern suburbs. Always interested in gaming, Henry sunk his loneliness into learning the ins and outs of his family P.C.

Casmalia wasn't all bad; the public schools were much nicer, and his parents were making a comfortable living on their new suburbanite salaries. In high school, Henry took like a duck to water in the programming classes that were typically only offered to upper-year students. He became enamored with rigs, and graphics cards, and had all the makings of a future as a pro gamer. Though his parents thought it was sort of a waste of time, they encouraged Henry to follow his interests so long as it involved college. Thinking it was too early to worry about stuff like college applications, Henry spent all his free time doing odd jobs to save up enough money to buy a classmate's lightly-used gaming computer.

However, everything was upended about a week after his sixteenth birthday; upon the family coming home from a late night visiting relatives on the other side of town, they saw the garage pried open and the front door ajar. Running inside, the Izquierdos found the place cleaned out--pictures, placemats, Guadalupe candles, appliances, the whole shebang. Most missed of all was Henry's computer; a square of dust was all that remained in the corner of his room.

Furious, saddened, and at a total loss...Henry lashed out. He felt something roiling in his body, causing his hair to stand on end as a charge of energy overtook him. The particles in his room shifted. Dust swarmed in whorls in the air, batting against the walls. The quiet storm of particulate flowed through the hall, dribbled down the stairs, and in fact filled the entire house. A subtle storm of dust.

In that moment, Henry could feel it all. The gentle flow and air in and out of the vents. The sediment stuck to walls, caught in the carpets. His mother moved some lint on his father's shoulder as she patted him in reassurance. Dust was displaced by furious footsteps in his father's dash to the landline in the kitchen--one of the few things that hadn't been stolen.

The next few months were a storm of frustrations. The police tracked down the ring that had struck several homes in the area, but most of the valuables had already been sent across the border or pawned off. Under the guise of a cleaning service, the crooks had parked in plain sight at the end of neighborhood blocks and lifted all they could in as little time as they had. Henry's computer, the tvs and ipad, a box of jewelry stowed in his parents' room, and countless other things--all gone forever. The injustice of it all.

Dreams dashed, Henry sulked. He found refuge in comic books and tabletop gatherings at the local hobby store. Not as flashy as Overwatch, that was for damn sure; but cheaper, and with better people. Eventually, Henry caught wind of an underground organization in Esperanza that was thwarting crime at its roots. He finally had something to really focus on. That familiar tunnel-vision returned. In secret, he'd develop and test his powers, see the full depth of his ability to manipulate and sense using particulate matter. Sure, on paper, it was kind of crappy as far as superpowers went--but it was his, and he'd make it work.

Name: Preston Levi Arroyo
Age: 22
Gender: Male (He/Him)
Height: 5'10''
Weight: 146 lbs
Blood Type: A+
Appearance: Preston Arroyo is a biracial hispanic male that often passes as white hispanic rather than biracial. He has strikingly handsome features with no visible damage to his skin given his ability to rapidly repair himself. He has a messy dark brown head full of loose curls, and he has light brown eyes. Despite the lack of bags underneath his eyes he still carries an often apathetic and tired look about his face. Fairly large sized lips and a defined jawline are two striking features. Preston Arroyo is well defined, but not particularly muscular. His body's ability to rapidly repair itself means that he could potentially put on muscle quite easily, but has little to no interest in doing so. His lithe frame is easier to morph, and brings less discomfort during the process.

On a typical day it isn't unusual to see Preston decked out in jean jackets, loose fitting tank tops, and skinny jeans. He also often wears beanies, and is a sycophant when it comes to jewelry especially pertaining to his Native American heritage.



Musical Tastes: Preston typically enjoys anything indie. While his knowledge is limited he does possess a sort of esoteric understanding of music history which often validates his narcissistic proclivities in comparison to fans of more streamlined music. He also joins alternative music which stems from the angst of his teenage years. Preston also enjoys hip-hop music, but much like his other tastes feels prideful in his more obscure collection within the genre.

Hobbies: Preston has always been a talented artist. He enjoys sketching, painting, and less commonly sculpting. It's likely that should one visit his apartment they'd find his art scattered throughout. Preston also enjoys writing poetry, but has little confidence in neither his oratory skills or his writing abilities. Preston has a distinct interest in politics. He'd probably never venture willingly into that arena himself, but has rather strong positions and a desire for investigation. He's empathetic to less insidious conspiracy theories. Lastly, Preston fancies himself as quite the movie buff.

Personality: Preston, like many in Esperanza, is a man of varying complexities. He has an apathetically pessimistic view of the world and those with power. This often manifests itself in a deep depression stemming from unresolved childhood trauma. Preston has a sense of justice, of right and wrong, but his pessimism has perverted this vague concept in ways that prevent him from desiring to take action and even permit him to break his aforementioned ideals within reason. Preston has come to understand that Esperanza, and the world in general, is filled with selfish and broken people. Instead of channeling his justified outrage with political machinations and corruption into something positive he instead retreats to a macabre "c'est la vie" approach to human interaction. Rather than use his abilities for an actual cause he uses them as a means of "survival" by working for the highest bidders. While this often leaves him working for people that are, to say the least, morally ambiguous he does at least maintain a desire to keep from harming people he deems innocent or good. He's carried with him from childhood a materialism that tends to come with living in a society that measures worth and success via possessions. Instead of chasing his passions he attempts to use objects as a means of personal fulfillment.

Preston does invoke a self-destructive sort of narcissism that typically pushes people away. Quite contrarily, Preston actually craves human interaction and is incredibly protective of those people that he does become close with. His desire for interactions tend to lead to naive tendencies and dependency on those he manages to get close to. He's self-aware to notice many of the contradictions in how he processes these thoughts and interprets the world. It frustrates him, but as with most everything else he pretends instead to be apathetic to it.



Powers: Preston has the ability to restructure his phenotypic characteristics at an accelerated rate in such a way that he can mimic the appearance of nearly anyone. This process requires at least a day, and at most three days to complete. It also requires a good deal of preparation. In an idealistic scenario Preston rests in a tub of ice to reduce inflammation whilst his body is wrapped in protective bandages. An IV drip provides him nourishment, and after having studied his target's features he begins the process of copying them. Preston's abilities also allow him to heal at an incredibly fast pace, and allow him to take considerable amounts of damage to his body. His artistic capabilities give him greater assistance in studying features thoroughly when mimicking.

Weaknesses: Preston cannot mimic markings such as tattoos. He also cannot gain access to abilities or knowledge of the person he mimics. While, he is capable in combat he is has about the strength and speed of a normal human. He isn't impervious to damage, but is resistant. Enough sustained damage could still certainly kill him especially if done by another super-powered human. Critical damage can also cause rapid fluctuations in his appearance which can be incredibly harmful if not fatal for him.


Preston Levi Arroyo was born to Claudia Martinez and Victor Arroyo. Alongside two older brothers, Alfonso and Martin, Preston was raised in the Irish Hills. Claudia was a nurse that often made long commutes to work in Templeton at the hospital. Claudia herself had interned at the hospital as a university student. Victor worked a factory job in the Hills for a motor vehicle and parts manufacturer. For a time the family did well enough maintaining a modest living situation throughout Preston and his brothers' early years. However when the gentrification of the Irish Hills began forcing local populations to move or get creative the Arroyo/Martinez family felt the burden. Stifled financially both by an increase in rent payments and an increase in the price of local goods Victor and Claudia felt themselves with little other option but to work more hours.

Unfortunately Victor would soon lose his job as the factory laid off a number of workers. For most locals this meant finding new work in the menial commercial businesses opening up throughout the district. Victor, however, had a history of gang associations from his youth having grown up in San Luis. Having been convicted in his youth of a felony Victor found it nigh impossible to find employers that would hire him. Couple that with his anxiety, and there were little options that Victor had to provide for his family alongside his wife. Putting so much pressure on her to provide solely for the family, and months without work put Victor into a deep spiral. He took up drinking and became detached from his family in ways that at the time only Alfonso, being the eldest, could really understand. Constant arguments between Victor, Alfonso, and Claudia left Preston feeling unsure about the future of his family. Unable to process the unhealthy lifestyle he became more rebellious himself, and turned to his friends as a means of coping.

Claudia could see her family falling apart, and insisted that Victor seek counseling at a clinic attached to the Templeton Hospital. Here Victor learned about behavioral activation seeking to empower himself and battle his mental illness through forcing himself to be active. Still unable to find a job, but motivated by a new will to be the provider he'd once been Victor resorted to finding old contacts with ties to the gangs he'd worked for in San Luis. The jobs seemed simple enough at first. Victor was often a driver or courier for local gangs looking to communicate without police traffic. While he was paid rather well given the work he was also home far less, and struggled to kick his drinking habits. He'd often miss Martin's football games and Preston's baseball practice. He'd miss dinner, and the movie nights reserved for the last Friday of every month.

Victor found himself entrenched in a life that offered a thrill he hadn't found in a long time, but his neglect at home still ate at him. He missed his partner and his sons more than anything. After all this had all been for them, hadn't it. Victor resolved to end his ties with the local gangs once and for all. He'd take up one final big payout that would buffer the family income for a while.

However, the same gangs that Victor had once worked for turned on each other resulting in a massive shootout that left many of Victor's associates dead. Captured and interrogated for the knowledge of the gang that he had Victor willingly surrendered just wanting to return to his family. This mistake would prove fatal.

Preston had awoken one night to the sounds of his panicked mother as she tried her best to rush the boys out of the house. The smell was awful, and the smoke, smothering. Preston hadn't seen his father, and screamed for him amidst the smoke and ashes. There was nothing but the cries of a frantic Claudia. As Claudia ushered her children outside a car opposite of the house opened fire gunning all of them down. It was a cruel fate that Preston had survived that day practically unharmed while the bodies of the family he had to identify were burned char.

For a few years after this Preston lived with his aunt Maria in Avila Beach. She and her daughter Clarissa cared for Preston's sickly grandfather who suffered from dementia. The family house was a haunting memento of all that Preston had lost. Feeling even more dejected Preston often skipped school, and took to partying in a vein attempt to numb his sorrows. He found solace in his best friends Kate Jensen and Scotty "Scoob" Burns. Kate and he had a short fling, but even after that ended the two remained the closest of friends. Scotty worked at a record shop on the Avila Piers.

These two would continue to serve as Preston's main source of liberation from the harsh realities he was subjected to early on in his life. Unfortunately, even they couldn't stop the nightmares that plagued Preston. Preston carried with him a hideous secret that both disgusted and scarred him emotionally. In addition the nightmares that plagued Preston, he was also burdened with a strange condition that caused his skin and bones to move in uncomfortable ways. Even worse, his face and body would morph in ways that felt insidiously familiar. This progressed for a few months before the distortions worsened as Preston uncontrollable morphed into the likeness of his family. Some days it was his brothers, or his mom, and on the worst of days it was his father. Feeling his sanity slowly slipping from him Preston took out a loan, and moved into his own semi-cheap apartment in the same district. Preston was forced to pick up a second job, and dropped out of school in order to do so.

Life wasn't simple for Preston even after this. His body would still morph uncontrollably, and sometimes it wasn't even his family. Co-workers, his friends, etc. Preston felt invaded, and perverted all at once. On top of that the jobs he'd been working barely kept him above ground. When the pressures came creeping in from his lenders was when Preston was in far greater trouble. He was stalked, harassed via phone-calls, and threatened on a number of occasions. Feeling himself running out of options Preston turned to the strange abilities he seemed to possess. He'd done some digging into the history of Esperanza. Cases of humans with unprecedented abilities were scattered through the city, and the history of such individuals was well documented. Even still fringe conspiracy theories pointed to all sorts of strange occurrences with humans possessing inhuman abilities. There were a number of given explanations.

Alien abductions, government spies, Russian sleeper agents, God's messengers- you name it.

None of that was relevant. What mattered is that this wasn't complete bullshit. Preston devised a plan to keep the lenders off of his back for a while. The next time he saw the investigator monitoring the usual places he'd frequent he confronted him. Preston made an offer to work for his lenders to payoff his debts, and revealed his strange morphing abilities. Wary, but intrigued the investigator contacted his employers. Said employers were more than happy to forgive Preston's debts if he agreed to work for them.

Fast-forward to present day, and Preston has had two years of experience in working as a freelance agent for various organizations. It was haunting to know that some conspiracies weren't too far from reality, and to know that in some cases the seedier parts of government and elite circles were far worse than what one could imagine. Preston has been trained in the art of assassination, espionage, and combat but of course still has much to learn. He's grown distant from Kate and Scott, but still keeps contact with them despite his re-location to a modest condo in Morro Bay.

name: Chenoa "Charlie" Bearfoot
age: 19
gender: female
height: 5"6
weight: 115lbs
occupation: Her aunt owns a successful little cafe with fresh baked goods and 'the best coffee around'. She works there whenever she can. The cafe, called "Josie's Place", only added cinnamon rolls to the menu after Charlie started working there, the recipe is her own personal secret.
appearance: Charlie has her mother's pale skin and light blue eyes and blonde hair which she wears long to her elbows and coloured violet. Her eyebrows are thick and dark. She has her father's native features and builds, being stocky and well built for her size. she has a small chest and arms, with wide hips and thighs. Her shoulders are nicely covered in freckles and she has a brown birthmark on the outside of her right knee about the size of a large strawberry. She has a patch of small scars on the small of her back where she fell back on the stump of a ripped tree as a child, and another jagged line on her left wrist about an inch long from something she can't remember but kept picking at the scab and it never healed properly. She has her earlobes pierces three times on both ears and a dermal anchor in her sternum. She has two little dragonfly tattoos, one on the inside of both wrists.

abilities: Charlie has the ability to easily morph into different animals. Though she can choose the form of any animal she likes, she prefers to take the form of felines and birds. She can change her whole body or just parts. When she shifts, it is not painful though it can be quite uncomfortable. She cannot control the state of her clothes, so she does not often take the full form of any animal unless she doesn't mind ripping, stretching, or losing her clothes. She also cannot speak any human language while in the form of any animal that also cannot speak the language, though she can understand anything spoken to her. She can communicate with any animal of any form in any form, though only minimally until she takes the form of the animal that she is 'speaking' with.

personality: She is lighthearted and positive, and always tries to see the best in people and situations. She knows right from wrong and often knows when she should do the right thing, but often strays because she would rather do what is either more fun or whatever helps herself in the long run. She likes people and would do anything for the people she cares about, but is selfish and will put herself before a stranger, acquaintance, or not-so-close friend. She doesn't like to be alone, especially at night, when she can get depressed easily. She makes assumptions quickly and normally knows off the bat if she will like someone. She will not always hate someone immediately, but even if she does, she can be warmed up slowly depending on the circumstance. She can be clingy when she likes someone, wanting to help them and be there for them as much as possible. To some people, she can come off as clingy and annoying, to others, she is kind and caring and supportive. She will make sure this person is always fed and healthy, and will always try to make sure they are happy, even at the cost of her own wants. She loves exploring and finding new things, especially when they are pleasing to the senses. She loves to thrift and to go to conservation parks. Her mood can easily be moulded by what goes on around her, mainly by music or the mood of others. Though, if she is surrounded by sad people, she will not be sad but instead moody and insensitive.

hobbies: If she is not at home reading fiction or palmistry books or making various items like dreamcatchers, moccasins, or sewing dresses; she is normally out on adventures and causing trouble, or exploring the city or nature for pretty things. She has a weakness for pretty things, you know. She loves to wear pretty rings and delicate jewellery or collect knick-knacks or various items that appeal to the senses. She collects different flowers and presses them, so if you are ever to open one of the many books in her room, you will most definitely find a few pressings.

music taste: Though she listens to and enjoys many genres of music, her heart will always belong Queen, Metallica, Dream Theatre, and Pink Floyd. She loves to sing and things that she is half decent, but doesn't really sing in front of others and never got much of an opinion on her voice from anyone outside her reserve. She learned guitar when she was young from an uncle and used to play a lot, but hasn't for a while for lack of any instrument. She often noodled around with her own tunes when she wasn't playing other songs, but never put any lyrics to her tunes. Because she is so familiar with guitar, though she knows no other instruments, she understands them and their concepts quite easily.
history: Charlie's parents were born and raised and met in Canada. Marielle was born and raised in Quebec on her mother's adopted reserve, even though she was not indigenous. In her young adult years, she moved to Ontario and met one of Six Nations' up-and-coming healers, Oscar Bearfoot. After they married, they moved to the sunny hills of Esperanza to live with Oscar's Aunt and cousins. They settled in and decided to start a family together, naming their daughter Chenoa, meaning 'Dove'.
When her parents heard rumours of radiation in the area, that was possibly affecting humans, they moved back to Canada to raise their daughter away from danger. The two brought her up in a home full of colour and tradition.
Oscar taught his daughter all that he could about healing herbs and as she got older, he encouraged her interest in other forms of healing and other odd interests in things like palmistry and aura reading and music. He taught her to be empathetic and kind whenever possible and to respect all things under Creator's sky.
Marielle never stopped taking care of those she loved and those who asked for help. She was a high school French teacher and helped the local indigenous community centre host multiples of events in the summer. Chenoa learned from her mother how to show compassion and to keep her patience, and that continuing to keep busy can be very therapeutic. Marielle taught her daughter practical things like housework, French, crafts, and cooking. She was the perfect housewife and was proud to be able to provide.
Chenoa, or 'Charlie' by her friends, grew up happy, and full of life and trouble. When she was around the age of 13, herself and her parents discovered that she was able to take the likeness of animals. She had always had a close connection with and got along quite well with nature and other animals, but her parents never expected this. They thought it a gift from Creator, and never once thought of the time that they lived in Esperanza for almost two years.
Charlie understood that though everyone in her small reserve knew of her abilities, she shouldn't let anyone outside of the territory know. While in high school, she learned to keep the animal instincts under her skin. Though, she also learned from family members of the time that she lived in a toxic city as a baby. When she graduated, she decided to spend a year in this American city, and stay with the aunt and cousins that she once lived with before.
It wasn't long before she heard of the underground knowledge of other people in the city with strange abilities.

Akiva Hishamie

Important Backstory Information

Basic Information

Power, abilities, amd skills

Other

Akiva has a basic knowledge of street fighting combatics, lockpicking, quick tactical thinking in high stakes scenarios

(Also I would like to submit an application for a character as this characters sister. She is a non powered person and normally I plan on writing for both of them and my posts would consist of them both in one post. I will make her when this one is accepted. If)

Name: Erik Hoffman

Age: 25

Gender: Male

Occupation: GA at UCE

Powers: Special glands allow Erik to proudce mist from his pores and then manipulate its direction and temperature as well as filter out harmful substances in his body and push them out of his pores along with the mist. He also has augmented eyes that allow him to see through the mist he produces, but they are also much more sensitive because of this.

Hobbies: Reading (mostly comics, manga, fantasy and sci fi books), experimenting with his powers, playing games occasionally.

Musical Tastes: Shoegaze, Classical, Smyphonic Metal, mostly genres involving good isntrumentals.

Appearance: Erik stands at 6’2” with a wiry frame, looking as though his body is mostly arms and legs. His skin is pale, almsot a pure white. His eyes are an ice blue, almost transluscent white color. He allows his white blonde hair to grow past his shoulders and lay in a straggly manner across his shoulders and back. He generally looks unhealthy and a bit wispy.

Strengths: Erik has been experimenting with his powers ever since he discovered them when he was in high school, so he grown adept at controlling them and finding new ways to utilize them. He studies Chemistry at UCE, so he’s skilled at knowing what sorts of things he can ingest and what outcome it will have. He’s an intelligent person in general, especially when it comes to nerd culture and the things he’s interested in. Despite looking unhealthy, he can move rather quickly if pushed.

Weaknesses: Erik is anti social and closes himself off from people, other than the occasional interractions required of him in his GA position and speaking with his mother. He is not very strong at all, mostly focusing on speed when he thought he’d try his hand as being a vigilante. He depends on his powers too much when it comes to his nightly routines; they have become an extension of him at this point. While he can control and manipulate the wisps he creates, he does not control the air flow, so he is powerless against strong gusts of wind. Pushing himself, he can maintain the mist closest to him against a gust, but the mist furhter from him will blow away.

Bio: Erik was raised by a single mother, who taught Senior English and a Junior AP English class at his high school in Casmalia. His father had died when he was five. He secluded himself throughout school, becoming the target of bullies every so often. When he was a Junior in high school, Erik discovered his powers one day when he was confronted in an alley by a group of Senior who made it a sport to find Erik and give him a hard time. They had his backpack and were looking through it, tossing his posessions and school things on the ground. Erik had become numb to this treatment by this point and just sat and watched them, until they dropped his laptop on the ground. It slipped out of the bag and broke on impact. The bullies were just as shocked as Erik. They had never intended to break his things, just give him a hard time. That didn’t quell Erik’s anger though.

He felt sweat beading all over him at once and then begin to lift off his exposed skin in wisps, slowly forming a cloud around him. The cloud grew as steam shut up form the manhole Erikwas standing next to. It spun around Erik and the bullies for a moment before converging on the gorup of teenagers. The steam washed over them all, burning their exposed skin. The bullies got the brunt of it though, the steam seeming to cling to them more than Erik. When the steam cleared, Erik was sitting on his knees in the alley trying to gather his things, while the other three boys ran, their skin red and burning from the steam cloud. Everyone who heard about the incident, other than Erik’s mother, chalked it up to a pipe bursting under the alley. No one questioned why Erik was with the boys or why his laptop was broken. Erik’s mother confronted him about the incident when they were alone. He told her the truth about it; she knew already anyway. She had undergone CRT, so she knew there would always be a chance Erik would develop some sort of powers.

After that, Erik secluded himself more, which became easier since the other students seemed to avoid him even more than usual after hearing about what happened. Without any social life, Erik was free to experiment with his powers in earnest and learn everything he could about them. He had plans to become a vigilante and use his powers to help people, but those fizzled and died on the first night he snuck out of his home. He walked the streets in plain clothing with the hood of his black hoodie pulled up, a bandanna over the bottom half of his face. Eventually he came across a disturbance; a man with a knife was waving at an older man and demanding his money. Erik stepped up to the mouth of the alley and pulled his sleeves up to reveal his scrawny arms. The man with the knife turned around and laughed at him before turning back to the older man.

Frustrated, Erik reached inward and felt the strange feeling of sweat forming all over his body at once before rising in wisps from his skin. He nudged the wisps together and then toward the mugger. They swirled together and flew at him in a cylinder of heated steam. The mugger turned in shock and was hit by the blast of steam, yelping at the heat and then coughing and spluttering. He yelled something about pepperspray as he collapsed, gasping for fresh air. Erik dissapated the vortex, concerned he’d kill the man. He was confused; he had just made steam. He didn’t have time to think though, as the older man started yelling for help and throwing insult at Erik. He ran then.

He was lucky to get away before anyone came running. When he snuck back into his house and was in his bedroom, Erik turned his mind to the mugger’s reaction. It took him a solid week to finally figure it out, after researching the components of pepperspray and teargas and experimenting with his powers further. He found that eating extremely spicy foods, he could nudge some of the spice into his clouds. From there, he experimented further and took a leap of faith, figuring out he could filter out any harmful substancs he ingested and then use them in his clouds.

Erik continued experimenting with his powers through high school and his Under Grad years in college, but he never went back out to try his hand at being a vigilante. On the contrary, Erik began trying his hand at petty crime, nothing major, just stealing from ATM machines. When pulling a robbery, he would enshroud himself in mist but still took the precaution of wearing a mask under his camoflauge and obscuring any cameras in the area of small cloud of condensation. He recently moved out of his mother’s and slid into a GA position at UCE, using his savings to move into a single bedroom apartment of his own.
Other:

Name: 山下 堅志 Yamashita ‘Kenji’, Previously known by the name ‘Hogosha’ (保護者)
Age: 104, biological ~30
Gender: Male
Height: 5’4”
Weight: ~120

Powers: ‘Kenji’ has extremely potent regenerative capabilities through a constant and rapid generation of stem cells, in addition to a hyperactive immune system. These stem cells have kept his general cellular deterioration from proceeding by revitalizing themselves in a way not possible for specialized cells.

Personality: A great deal can happen over a century of life, one of the reasons that today Kenji is particularly cautious. He does have a complicated moral system, no drugs are allowed but then he facilitates human trafficking. He views this as morality tempered by pragmatism although his morals have been corrupted to a degree by his long criminal career. Instead of seeking to change the broader society he seeks to control and defend an ideal one of his own, something that feeds into the fief-like view of the Yakuza. He views following dubious practices as a means to an end of protection of his community from those who would harm it, or even as mere funding for the necessary protection. Kenji believes in and acts upon the belief of a ‘Chivalrous Organization’ that this is his fief and he must protect it.

Kenji also cares deeply about his biological and criminal family, although what name they go under may vary given the various wives he has had and they adopted their name from biologically that is. Generally, most of his biological sons and grandsons cannot be found among his organization or associated with it, a few exceptions apply to those who did enter his criminal world to begin with and have continued. Daughters traditionally are not treated well in ‘Chivalrous Organizations’ but generally he has either helped them get established on their own or associated with the organization through jobs in or managing various fronts.

Over the years Kenji has come close to death a number of times, personally and of those he cares for, this has led him to be more accepting of its inevitability as he attempts to both be and establish permanently the protection of his community.

Hobbies: Kenji has found interest in mostly reading about various topics, history, philosophy, various sciences, all things that interest him to a degree, if there is one thing that can be said to be a full hobby, reading is the closest. Generally, Kenji has done a lot of different activities over time and pursued them to varying extents but never really settling on any one hobby or group of hobbies.

He has sketched and painted, but also done some minor model railways. He has played golf and written traditional poetry. Chess and cooking. Composition and crochet. He has tried many things and got back into them over the years, but hasn’t ever consistently stayed and done anything for the entire time excepting reading and perhaps some physical and martial training over the years.

Musical Tastes: Kenji has been around for a long time, and over such time has had his various tastes waver some but for the most part, he has stayed locked on nothing. He has lived most of his life in America so it is not too surprising that he has mostly adopted the culture and mostly has listened to music that was around him being greatly happy with the independent music scene here in Esperanza. Over the years he has had flicking interests in the various music scenes that swept through nothing has really stuck with him through the years.

Appearance: Odd in the time and place he was born but not so much in the current day, Kenji is actually only half-Japanese on his mother’s side, the other half is from his father, an unknown Caucasian man. Resultantly he has black hair, cut short and his eye color is a common very dark brown however his ancestry is noticeable, primarily by those who care for such, in his face and skin tone.

He is rather short to most people today, although he is also fairly muscular, giving him an appearance related to one of an athlete. Noticeably he has no scars or other deformities of experience which can cause a number to mistake him for being younger at first glance. As he appears to be somewhere in his late twenties or early thirties physically. As occasion demands, he puts on makeup or other such disguising means and such to give himself a more or less youthful appearance. Something that is helped by his lack of height in many cases of appearance in age or youth. Generally, he wears what the situation demands although a suit is the most common appearance to find him in today as he goes out little and when he does you may find him adopting the appearance of Hogosha. That is at least today a full-head helmet and body protection decorated as the situation demands.

Strengths and Weaknesses: As for strengths Kenji has a broad depth and width of experience due to his unique circumstances. Having both lived for longer than the vast majority of people and having a good physical condition in addition to his powers makes him a fairly terrifying opponent to face, especially if you threaten his community. Additionally given his experience in crime and the city, one would be hard-pressed to find a more competent organizer of criminal, or sub-legal activities.

As for weaknesses, he is focused on protecting his family and community which can lead him to make less than rational decisions, especially when it comes to what he views as general assaults on his community. Additionally, he can be overly cautious, not taking opportunities that many others would take just because of the risk, even if relatively low. As well he does not like to risk others much which can both lead to him putting himself in danger and his reluctance to do the same for others close to him without a great necessity. Could be seen as a virtue but is often a problem for the safety of his organization as a whole.

Bio: Born to parents he never really knew and generally outcasted as burakumin, ‘Kenji’ was effectively raised by various gang members in the early days, in Japan. He grew up under their guidance, mostly as he was part of the outcasted group little else was open to him that was not worse. For the most part, Kenji felt he was lucky, he had a kind of family in the gangs and they helped him move to America when he was seventeen to start a new life.

In some ways, it was better and some ways it was worse. He was no longer discriminated against because he was burakumin, but instead because he was Japanese. He once again joined gangs, however, this time he found his way into the weak mainland Yakuza rather than petty crime. This continued for several years, from when he landed in ‘31 to internment in ‘42 at the Los Padres Relocation Camp during the second world war. It was during this time that he was subjected to a new treatment; Controlled Radiative Therapy or CRT.

He gained powers, extremely rapid regeneration and a hyperactive immune system, one without the other would have left him dead. At times his own immune system can target are attack portions of his own body, however, he has no issue because of rate that he can regenerate the damaged tissues. Without the immune system, he would also quickly die of cancer given the extreme rate regeneration. Particularly his generation of new stem cells in his body prevent the degeneration of it.

He survived the experiments, the camp wasn’t interested in cruelty not necessary for the science, and made contact with others who survived as well. When Los Padres was closed in ‘46 he stayed in contact them and with the times being what they were, formed a team, the name varied greatly over time, to protect the Japanese-American population in Esperanza and others unduly threatened despite their race or creed. Particularly ‘Kenji’ maintained contacts with the local Yakuza and with that assistance he and his team fought against any they viewed as threatening that population, needless to say, this brought some attention.

Although tracked by the FBI for a few years before they came under serious threat in ‘48 when they attracted the attention of the domestic Superhero Agent Gold and ‘sidekick’ the Cadet. Agent Gold was known for his abilities as stronger and faster than the average man, attributed to a significantly higher than average metabolic rate. While the Cadet was long suspected to be an actor and PR piece rather than any actual agent due to his youth and ability to turn invisible often coming in whenever a fight happened.

They ran and were hunted by the FBI and Agent Gold, although he again served the FBI as an investigator and field agent, until the summer of ‘51 when a raid of the team’s base led to an accidental explosion from a gas leak. There was the subsequent deaths of most the team, many FBI officers and the wounding of Agent Gold. Hogosha survived as did a few others of the team, they fled and disbanded.

Although they had adopted ‘superhero’ names, Hogosha meaning ‘Protector’ or ‘Guardian’ for example, they were unable to accomplish many super feats, they lacked funding and often means to accomplish what they tried. Even assistance was uncommon due to the lack of trust is most of the public they had even tried to protect, common during the time to name Hogosha ‘the Salamander’ as a tactic to delegitimize him in public eyes. This was especially prevalent in the newspapers, although in truth it was used in every manner of media, radio, commercials, any sort of news. Even the comic books of the time which took Agent Gold and the Cadet as the heroes against ‘the Salamander’ and ‘his’ team, often resorting to racist stereotypes given the ethnic makeup of the ‘bad guys’.

With their disbandment the team retired, Hogosha however retired to the Yakuza. Determined to get the funding and the means to protect his community he let Hogosha die after a few years of using the reputation build an organization through the ‘50s, he would bring back his family name. Yamashita, with the given name varying, was now who he was, a staged death and a few bribed officials later, the first Hogosha died.

He did grow the Yakuza in the mainland significantly over the ‘50s however in ‘59 a power struggle between his own Yamashita Yamaguchi-Gumi aligned clan and various other clans broke out after Federal Pressure significantly decreased with the ‘death’ of Hogosha. It would spring back and forth until a gradual victory for the Yamashita in the latter half of the ‘60s.

He would control and consolidate power in the ‘70s maintaining control to this day, although he has had minor issues on his confrontations with drugs he generally has made a successful system of crime at least until recently. The Triads have grown from a nuisance with slightly overlapping territory to a full threat to the existence of Clan Yamashita, while his Yakuza has been decreasing their human trafficking the Triads have seemed to exploded it beyond any normal measure. Here Hogosha returned, supposedly as a figure inspired by the first and has disappeared and reappeared in numerous forms, indeed actual copycats helped in this tremendously. Fairly recently power has transferred to the ‘new’ leader of the Yamashita clan, ‘Kenji’ although as with Hogosha, the name conceals the same leader.

This ‘new’ Hogosha was not some radical departure from the Yakuza rather it was a persona used to further aims that either the Yakuza couldn’t accomplish or shouldn’t try because of the reputation they needed to uphold. Indeed in the ‘90s he read the graphic novel that came out about the original Hogosha, it depicted him as a tragic figure and included criticisms of the FBI. He is somewhat happier to know that some things do change, even if they couldn’t get everything right as he say them.

Occupation: Although he has worked under many different names before, indeed faking his death several times, ‘Kenji’ has always been in charge of the Yakuza clan Yamashita. Only having been successful in America having immigrated early in the Thirties. Although what exactly that entails has varied greatly over time, extortion to kidnapping is generally a normal range of operations, although ‘Kenji’ has always kept with the Yamaguchi-Gumi line of no drug dealing.

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