"Grammar's not his- my- our strong point. I'm- he's- we're just here to have a good time."
| NAME(S): |Roman Ripole
| ALIAS(ES): |Double-Down
| D.O.B.: |20th July, 1994
| AGE: |21
| SEX: |Male
| SEXUALITY: |Heterosexual
| APPEARANCE: |Roman's a story in contrasts; his eyes are 'afflicted' with Heterochromia, making one green and the other blue, and he dyes his hair a stark, snowy white, clashing with his dark skin tone. He's taller than his sister despite being younger, standing at 6ft dead-on, and his thick-soled sneakers usually add an extra inch on top of that. He's lean, almost lanky, but capable of keeping himself moving quickly and with force, mostly thanks to practice with Roman2. His dress-sense is impeccably modern, sticking to monochrome schemes and tight clothing, usually dark jeans, light tops, and a matching jacket.
| H-CLASS: |Vulcan
| ABILITIES: |Roman's power is, ostensibly, self-duplication. Roman is able to produce a clone of himself, identical in form, mentality, and ability to the original, which simply steps away from Roman's body. This clone - henceforth Roman2 - can learn, act, think and speak independently of Roman1, but can also be 'reabsorbed' at will, along with all of the memories, experience, and skills had and learnt by the clone. This allows Roman to take advantage of this re-absorption aspect to 'double-time' his learning and pick up skill in a field far quicker than he otherwise would be (a use that has been remarkably useful in his academic career, much to the chagrin of his teachers).
There are several secondary uses to Roman's natural power. Reabsorbing a healthy clone will push the original body further towards its natural state, mildly healing existing injuries and warding off illness and disease somewhat. Producing a clone will also duplicate any objects held by Roman at the time of creation, provided the object is neither too large nor too complex. Finally, as a whole being, Roman enjoys a remarkably strong presence of mind, affording a strong sense of self, impressive self-confidence, heavy amounts of willpower, a resistance to psychic-based attacks, and sometimes an utter, undeniable self-assurance in his decisions.
| LIMITATIONS: |Roman's secondary abilities have their drawbacks as well. Roman cannot release and immediately reabsorb a clone to heal himself in the midst of a battlefield, as the clone produced will have identical injuries, and therefore would not push him further toward equilibrium upon re-absorption. Additionally, any accessory objects duplicated in the clone-creation process cannot leave the persons of Roman, as outside of either Roman1 or Roman2's possession, they crumble and fade from existence, unable to be sustained.
| WEAKNESSES: |While Roman's ability has its boons, it remain vulnerable - neither Roman1 nor Roman2 are any more durable than a non-hype, and Roman is unable to produce any other clones than Roman2; it is less the production of a clone, and more the release of a second being. If Roman2 were to die, Roman1 would be unable to produce another clone, and would effectively become non-hype. Additionally, while Roman will be healed if he reabsorbs a healthy Roman2, a healthy Roman1 reabsorbing a wounded Roman2 will actually inherit the injury. A crafty foe will choose which Roman to target carefully, and be rewarded well for his sinister tactics.
| APPLICATIONS: |Most obviously, and most employed, is Roman's capacity for 'double-time' - taking advantage of the independent abilities to learn between Roman1 and Roman2 while consolidating the extracted knowledge into a shared mind. This allows Roman to form a wider, more practised skill-base, as well as making academic endeavours ever easier.
Beyond that, Roman is literally as good as two men in nearly any given situation, and as a whole being, his fortitude against those that rely on psychic offense is remarkable. His ability to clone possessed items as well as himself also opens the doorway to situations where a few spats of trickery and some clever double-bluffing can run rings around those unable to keep track.
| SKILLS: || EQUIPMENT: || BACKSTORY: |Born 1994, Roman Ripole was a far more easy-going character than his sister, Minavita - more like his father, where Minnie bore the shell of her mother. Minnie didn't have much time for Roman, the selfishness of youth often striking a wedge between the siblings, but after the family's car accident in 1997, and their mother's subsequent death, Minnie grew a maternal side to fill the gulf in their lives, and the two became far closer. It was Minnie's blazing trail that lead Roman through his own uncertainties.
Roman knew of his abilities far before Minnie's; while Minnie went through puberty and 'unlocked' her gene a few years before Roman had the chance, her own activation didn't come for several years after the initial event; however, Roman's own self-discovery came much more rapidly. It began subtly - before anything else, Roman felt the self-assurance of a dual mind, and he exuded confidence and ease in himself, something that attracted a large social circle in his academic life. Slowly but surely, Roman prodded himself - or his other self prodded him, or something that Roman still doesn't quite understand - and then, one morning in his bedroom, Roman felt blurred - and all of a sudden, there were two of him.
Roman kept it under wraps for some years - it wasn't difficult to hide, although he often lied to his sister and father about talking on the phone, rather than admit the more confusing truth - while Minnie left school and started Calling Jupiter, and then had her own trigger event. She fled to Canada and Roman felt adrift without her protective presence, coming to rely on himself and his other self as he finished high school, Minnie remaining in Canada after she was aquitted, attending PRCU. Roman and Minnie exchanged letters, and in one of them, quite on impulse - although he's still not sure who's impulse - he revealed his Hype-status, shortly afterwards showing his father as well. Minnie was delighted and excited, and quickly invited Roman to PRCU, talking with her professors to secure him a place. It happened quickly, and then Roman was enrolled, attending the Hype Academy alongside his sister, the Ripole siblings reunited.
And then Hurt happened
And then Minnie disappeared.
Roman has since left PRCU on temporary leave due to emotional duress, and now lives - with a small grant from the academy, part in pity, part in gratitude for what his sister helped defeat - in Toronto, seeking the Hype crowds and communities, and desperately trying to find his sister.
| SAMPLE POST: || NOTES: |-Roman is a peculiar medical subject in that he possesses the conditions Situs Invertus (the complete mirroring of his internal biology) as well as Heterochromia (the condition of having two differently coloured eyes). Whether these are related to his Hype-gene or not are a very interesting debate that Roman has had many times with both peers and mentors.
-Lives in a small apartment in North York, working at a bakery. Often sends one self to work while the other seeks hype hangouts or his sister, or has the day off - alternating for fairness.
-Kirin Ichiban. It's a Japanese Lager.
