Character Name
Artificial Chaos Variant P-BD1
[ - Age - ]P-BD1 has spent most of his existence in stasis and as such does not have much of any concept of his own age in years. GUN records indicate that he was created shortly before Shadow the Hedgehog, so he is at least 50+ years old.
[ - Gender - ]P-BD1 is not gendered in the traditional sense, but identifies as male given that he was modeled after Chaos.
[ - Species - ]Black Arms/Artificial Chaos
[ - Appearance - ]
P-BD1, like all Artificial Chaos creatures, is a shapeshifting slug-like creature whose physical form is mostly composed of liquid enriched by Chaos energy. As such, he can manipulate his body into various forms as long as he doesn't stretch his "body fluid" too thin, although his resting form is the skinny conical shape of the standard
P-1 Artificial Chaos variant he mutated from. His weak point and only rigid body part is his head unit, a metal enclosure with green eye-like sensors that houses his "brain" (more accurately, his CPU).
Due to being infused with Black Doom's alien blood cells during his gestation period, P-BD1 differs from the standard P-1 variant in a few key ways. His body fluid is a thicker, almost gelatinous opaque red liquid interspersed with grotesque black globules that squirm around in a very unnerving fashion. Further, he has grown a semi-soft exoskeleton comprised of interlocking black tendrils (resembling the squid-like appendages of Doom's Eye) that seem to originate from the back of his head unit. The exoskeleton moves about on his liquid form to accommodate his fluid shapeshifting, but it is not nearly as flexible or malleable due to its solid form and attachment to his head unit. In his resting form, the exoskeleton is usually positioned on his "back", forming what looks like a spine and giving him a more defined posture.
[ - History - ]P-BD1 is a prototype of a prototype, or perhaps more accurately, a "proof of concept." Prior to the creation of what later become known as the
Biolizard, Gerald Robotnik saw fit to test the mystical powers of Black Doom's blood on one of his existing specimens to observe and document the results. The Artificial Chaos creatures were chosen as the first test subjects for the initial trial phases; although they had living (and mostly homogenous) bodies that could provide valuable insight into the effects of Doom's blood, their robotic components made them controllable and containable in the event that the experiments went terribly wrong... or at least, that's what should have been the case.
P-BD1 (
Prototype -
Black
Doom
1) was the first Artificial Chaos unit to be infused with Doom's blood, although he was meant to be just one of dozens of P-1 specimens in the initial trials. 12 hours after the infusion, hardly any change was observed outside of a slight red tinge to the body fluid. Thinking the first test was a bust, Gerald left the lab for some much needed rest. Hours later, the Professor awoke to the blaring of sirens and the sudden arrival of multiple panicked lab assistants. To his surprise (and horror), P-BD1 ended up being far more "successful" than he'd originally thought. The creature had taken on a form more closely resembling his "father", Black Doom, and perhaps more shocking, P-BD1 had somehow bypassed the inhibitors in his CPU and broken out of the test facility. When the on-call lab tech first noticed the security breech, it was too late; P-BD1 had already broken into the neighboring containment chambers housing his P-1 brethren, ripping apart their head units and consuming the Chaos Drives that served as their power source.
Gorging himself on Chaos energy, P-BD1 had gone mad with the sensory overload of his newfound semi-sentience and seemed poised to stage a violent escape attempt that would have put the entire colony in peril. The unruly prototype might have continued his path of destruction if not for the timely arrival of Black Doom himself, whose mere presence seemed to be enough to quell the outburst. To outside observers, the confrontation appeared to be nothing more than a silent staredown between two alien abominations, but the two exchanged words in their own way. After a few tense moments, P-BD1 suddenly lunged forth to attack his "father", but the new exoskeleton intervened before he could even get close. Two black tendrils wrapped around BD1's head unit, shorting out some of the circuitry and stunning the test subject long enough for the lab assistants to restrain him.
After P-BD1 was subdued and frozen in stasis, Black Doom seemed unimpressed with Gerald's work, and expressed disgust that the Professor would sully his blood by giving it to one of his "toys." At the alien overlord's insistence, Gerald abandoned the rest of his planned experiments on artificial specimens and moved ahead to living subjects. These experiments would later produce the Biolizard, and of course, the famous Shadow the Hedgehog.
P-BD1, still frozen in a stasis pod, was seized by GUN forces in the raid on the Space Colony ARK. GUN's in-house researchers immediately recognized his resemblance to Black Doom, and after reading through the incident report of P-BD1's escape attempt salvaged from Gerald's personal records, they deemed it too dangerous to unfreeze him for further testing. His craving for Chaos energy was well documented, and given that the majority of GUN's combat robots used Chaos drives as their power source, the possibility of him breaking loose again presented massive and obvious security risks. P-BD1 was kept in cold storage on Prison Island for decades, right down the hall from his "successor", Shadow the Hedgehog.
P-BD1 would have stayed locked up forever were it not for the fortuitous intervention of Eggman, Rouge, and Shadow. The massive explosion that resulted from their raid on Prison Island cut power to the freezing chamber that had been keeping BD1 restrained. Although he was finally granted freedom, the sudden and unplanned defrosting left him in a weakened, fugue-like state. Left alone in a dark, dingy storage vault with nothing but fuzzy memories of his time on the ARK, BD1 salvaged a few Chaos drives from the wreckage and slinked off into the surrounding jungle. He soon discovered that his newfound "freedom" was merely an illusion. Boxed in on all sides by vast ocean and remnants of GUN forces, he had no choice but to remain in hiding, subsisting on a paltry diet of Chaos drives from captured GUN drones that dared to probe through the thick jungle.
Years later, BD1 finally saw an opportunity to escape the island when the Black Arms
launched an attack on the remaining GUN forces at the prison. Still too weak to engage in direct combat, BD1 remained hidden until the majority of the fighting had subsided, revealing himself to Black Doom and pleading for safe passage off of the island. Doom barely recognized BD1, and would have simply destroyed the creature had he not noticed the exoskeleton protruding from BD1's back. Even so, the alien overlord laughed off BD1's request, deriding him as a worthless half-breed unworthy of his blood or name. Deeming it crueler to leave BD1 to either rot away on this abandoned island or go back into GUN custody, Black Doom and his forces continued on with their mission without BD1 in tow.
Stranded, alone, and without a consistent source of Chaos drives thanks to the majority of GUN's forces being wiped out in the previous battle, P-BD1 could feel his sanity (and identity) eroding away as each day passed. And then, just as suddenly as the skies turned red and swirling black clouds filled the air, BD1 felt more alive and sentient than ever before. With the arrival of the Black Comet on Earth, BD1 experienced not only a massive increase in his psychic abilities and Chaos powers, but also a spiritual awakening that seemed to transcend the bounds of his programming. For the first time, he felt that he belonged to something beyond his designation, chipset, or value as a specimen. In a word, it was humanizing. Escaping the island was trivial with his new abilities, and with nothing holding him back, he set off towards the Black Comet to see his "father" Black Doom once again. He did not know if it was for revenge or reconciliation, but something within him felt they were destined meet again.
Destiny had other plans, unfortunately. The Black Comet was destroyed by none other than Shadow the Hedgehog, along with Devil Doom and the rest of the Black Arms. BD1's newfound powers and innermost soul left him just as quickly as they'd appeared, and the loss was devastating. To finally hear your own voice in your head for the first time, to feel the Earth's heart beating along with yours, to feel the true weight of agency and choice, only for it to be taken away. The only consolation was that losing it all left him emotionally incapable of mourning his own tragedy. Once again more machine than monster, his only official record of this brief moment of transcendence was a short matter-of-fact entry in his own memory logs: "Black Comet materialized, permitting escape from captivity. Unit P-BD1 exceeded expected operating potential."
Even so, there remained a sliver of recollection that couldn't be cataloged in a database. Free but without purpose, P-BD1 wandered aimlessly, still seeking out Chaos drives in accordance with his programming. Each time he would feed on Chaos energy, the whispers of his past, barely audible under normal circumstances, grew to a low rumble. Every new meal would bring the faintest moment of clarity, but when that moment passed, all that BD1 had to reference were the same cryptic logs. "Unit P-BD1 exceeded expected operating potential."
[ - Personality - ]P-BD1 is a creature caught between worlds. Although he is, at his core, an unfeeling robot designed for combat, his infusion of Black Doom blood provides him a degree of sentience that affords him a bit more leeway and personality than other Artificial Chaos robots. While he can't properly articulate his goals or aspirations on his own, he is fueled by a search for self-actualization and personal discovery. The latent influence of Black Doom provides him with ambition and desire for
something, but his cold, calculating way of contextualizing events gives him very little if any opportunities for reflection on why or how he will achieve the nebulous goals in front of him.
His core directive is to sustain himself by acquiring sources of Chaos energy, and as such, his demeanor changes drastically depending on how recently he has "eaten." In his resting state of mind, he will conduct himself primarily as a robot with faint hints of emotion cropping up from time to time. If he hasn't been fed for a while, he will be almost entirely robotic and logic-driven save for ravenous, near-primal urges to consume Chaos energy if a source is available. In the brief periods after feeding, he is capable of more complex emotions and gains access to glimpses of his past and identity. He is still constrained by the limits of his programming, but these moments of clarity show his more devious and arrogant side along with the rare moment of emotional vulnerability and playfulness.
P-BD1 has been betrayed or abandoned by nearly every important figure in his life, and as a result, is extremely resistant to trust others. That being said, given that he has been in cryo-sleep for the vast majority of his life, the sentient side of his personality is somewhat young at heart. His search for his own purpose and identity makes him curious about others and their motivations, and for a failed lab experiment turned crime-against-nature, he is surprisingly social if someone isn't frightened away by the sight of him.
He harbors deep-seated resentment towards GUN for keeping him captive for all of those years, and never hesitates to target their troops and facilities in search of Chaos drives to feed on.
[ - Equipment - ]P-BD1 has little need for earthly possessions. He currently has a cache of three Chaos drives on him, stored in a small fold of his exoskeleton for safekeeping.
[ - Powers, Abilities, and Skills - ][Chaos Energy Detection]
Like Black Doom, P-BD1 is capable of detecting sources of Chaos energy in his surroundings. Smaller sources of Chaos energy, like individual Chaos drives, cannot be detected over long distances. Larger ones like Chaos Emeralds are easier to detect from further away, especially when they are used for Chaos Control. He can sense a powerful Chaos Control user from miles away, although it takes focus and time to pinpoint their exact location.
Standard P-1 Artificial Chaos creatures require Chaos drives to function, but due to his Black Doom infusion, BD1 is self-sustaining (if only just) and does not have a Chaos drive embedded in his head unit. However, his core programming mandates that he replace his permanently "missing" Chaos drive, which is part of what fuels his insatiable craving for Chaos energy. The longer he goes without feeding, the more he reverts to his intended funtion as a soulless guard robot, but he will always be capable of detecting and dispatching hostile targets in his immediate vicinity as long as his head unit remains intact.[Telepathic Speech]
Artificial Chaos units (and Chaos himself) are normally incapable of speech, but due to the psychic powers BD1 gained from Black Doom's blood infusion, he is capable of communicating telepathically. The normal range of his speech is about half a mile, but he can send messages over much longer distances if the recipient also has telepathy and is "expecting his call" so to speak. The communication is one way, meaning he cannot read people's thoughts, or detect the presence of other beings he is not aware of (unless they are emitting Chaos energy).
When he has recently fed on Chaos energy, the range of his telepathy increases, as does the "humanity" of his speaking voice. In his resting state and when he's low on Chaos energy, his "voice" is synthetic and affectless. When he's fed, he becomes capable of articulating his thoughts with actual inflection and emotional substance, and (quite usefully) some extra volume if desired. Unless the recipient of his message is also psychically gifted, it is difficult to block out the incoming speech; he can use this advantage to "roar" into the mind's ear of an attacker to disorient them and prevent them from listening to their surroundings. When he is starved of Chaos energy, he can barely even send telepathic whispers, and his sentences are interspersed with mechanical static that makes it hard to understand him.[Telekinesis]
Again, due to Black Doom's latent psychic powers, BD1 can lift and manipulate small objects with his mind. He was never properly trained to utilize these powers, though, so he lacks precise control over his telekinesis even when he is well-fed on Chaos energy. This power is primarily used to interact with his surroundings without needing to use his gross fluid tentacles.
In his resting form, he has the strength to carry solid objects that weigh less than ten pounds, and can't throw them particularly far or fast. When he's fed recently, the only thing that improves is the weight of the objects he can lift and the distance he can throw them. He cannot levitate by lifting his own body, as he is mostly comprised of liquid which requires more fine control to manipulate properly. The best he can do is lift his solid parts, like his head unit and exoskeleton, although he rarely does this out of fear of separating himself from... well, himself. When starved of Chaos energy, he cannot use telekinesis at all.[Body Fluid Shapeshifting]
BD1's most powerful combat tool and the only one he can always use regardless of how recently he's fed on Chaos energy. Like all Artificial Chaos units, BD1's body is mostly composed of a flexible fluid that can take on a variety of shapes whenever needed for the situation. While his default shape is a conical mass of fluid, he can manipulate this fluid to form whip-like tentacles for physical attacks, hook-like claws that can latch on to distant objects, protective orbs to soften incoming blows, and much more. The limiting factor of his shapeshifting abilities is the finite amount of body fluid he's made up of. The further he stretches himself, the thinner and weaker his moldable appendages become.
Attempting to attack the fluid part of BD1's body is useless, as it cannot be harmed as long as it is still in its liquid state. Like all Chaos units, he is highly susceptible to intense, freezing cold, as this restricts his ability to manipulate the body fluid. Freezing him solid and shattering him completely will put him out of commission for a long time while he defrosts and re-constitutes the chunks of fluid, but he will never be completely destroyed as long as his head unit and exoskeleton remain intact.[Body Fluid Toxicity]
The make-up of BD1's body fluid differs considerably when compared to the normal Artificial Chaos units, and is more akin to the strange toxic sludge found on the Black Comet. The red, viscous fluid is warm and acidic to the touch, and prolonged contact will result in a harsh stinging pain and even chemical burns on exposed skin. Small creatures or the appendages of larger ones can become temporarily paralyzed if they are fully enveloped in the fluid, although BD1 rarely does this as it gives whatever is inside of him an easy opening to attack the delicate internals of his head unit from the inside.[Mysterious Exoskeleton]
BD1's exoskeleton is a mystery even to him. It is semi-soft and does little to shield his body from incoming attacks, nor is he capable of controlling it of his own volition. When he is starved of Chaos energy or in his resting state, it barely does anything aside from move around to accommodate his shapeshifting abilities. Once he feeds, though, the exoskeleton will begin to squirm and pulsate with energy, although BD1 is still incapable of controlling it directly. It has been known to lash out against incoming threats on its own, although the behavior is erratic, unpredictable, and largely ineffective in combat. Post-feeding is the only time BD1 can actually feel the exoskeleton as if it was a part of his body, so if it touches something of its own accord, he will process that sensation.[Combat Calculation]
Despite his other mutations, BD1 is still a state of the art guard robot programmed by the brilliant Professor Gerald Robotnik. The CPU in his head unit is capable of processing large amounts of data and performing difficult computations as required by combat operations in the line of duty. This includes difficult mental math, the ability to quickly and accurately judge distances and sizes of objects within his field of view, an extremely accurate internal clock and sense of spatial reasoning, and infallible memory when it comes to recalling information he deems "mission critical" (such as the layout and functionality of the Space Colony ARK, which he can't seem to forget even though he hasn't been there in over 50 years). Unfortunately for someone who is yearning to recall a storied past, BD1's internal memory routines are very bad at prioritizing information that's critical to his mission of self-discovery, and even when it does, it is still very cryptic and unhelpful.
Given his specialization for combat and not maintenance or administration, BD1's processing power falls short in most other areas of science or technology. He's no tech wiz, but due to his prime directive of remaining operational and combat ready, he is capable of performing minor repairs on his own head unit if the need arises.[ - Character Notes - ]I call him Beedie for short. What a cutie!
This character is inspired by a big plothole that has always bothered me when thinking about Project Shadow. It's pretty hard to believe that Gerald's first attempt at creating the ultimate life form was a giant cyborg lizard, and that his second attempt was a black hedgehog with little in between. Given that Gerald also created the Artificial Chaos robots modeled after the ancient god himself, I figured it would have made sense that he'd try experimenting on an existing specimen before, y'know, giant gross disgusting cyborg lizard. Better to put demon alien blood into something you know you can control, like a cyborg, right?
Plus, while Shadow the Hedgehog had a huge mess of a plot, there were certain elements of it that I think could have been salvaged. I'm not trying to rehabilitate the flat, underwritten character of Black Doom, but I think this is an interesting angle to take. Should be fun to explore themes of semi-sentience, self-discovery and addiction with a character like this.
Do
not let this guy get a Chaos Emerald. Big yikes if that happens. Huge gargantuan yikes from me, bud.
