Spiro Leandros
SPHiNX
"Just pretend like you understand what's important."
Age: 23
Gender: Male
Place of Birth: Chicago, United States
Occupation: Secretary of the Militia, Executive of Judicial and Penal Affairs
Race: Psion (Human)
Appearance: The superhuman known to the public as Sphinx is rather mundane in appearance in comparison to some of his peers. Aside from his costume, consisting of blue, hooded robes, emblazoned with various arcane patterns in white, he looks mostly like a normal young man. His skin is vaguely tan, owing to his Mediterranean heritage, and his hair is dark and thick. Sphinx's features, usually hidden in the shadows of his hood, are neither especially handsome nor particularly ugly, with a sharp jaw and a narrow nose. His eyes are normally grey-blue in color, but blaze with spectral light when he uses his powers. He is of average height, and his build is somewhat thin and waifish; as befits one that literally fights with their mind.
Powers: Sphinx is one of the greatest telepaths ever known, and in these dark times is likely among the most powerful psions alive. With his telepathy, Sphinx can enter the mind of anyone within roughly three kilometers of himself. Simple mind-reading is child's play to him, as is telepathic communication; his true talents lie in shaping (or destroying) the minds of others. Sphinx can dig through minds down to their subconscious, and often has better access to a person's memories than they, themselves. These memories can then be altered or removed to Sphinx's liking. Similarly, Sphinx can insert ideas and thoughts into others' minds, or twist their current thoughts in a different directions. He is skilled in creating illusions by distorting the sense and perceptions of others, even capable of inducing hallucinations to "attack" his enemies. Should Sphinx feel sufficiently threatened, he can overwhelm the minds of his enemies, and in doing so induce tremendous mental and physical pain, unconsciousness, paralysis, or even stun their automatic bodily functions. His most powerful ability is that to completely take control of another's mind, though he can only mind-control a single person at a time.
Skills: Having led a relatively sheltered existence, Sphinx has few practical skills. He is decent in information-gathering and in manipulation, and has some skill in managing logistics, but beyond that he relies solely on his powers.
Equipment/Resources: Given his relatively weak body and his lack of practical skills, Sphinx carries almost no equipment on his person, and lives off of the resources of the Citadel.
Weaknesses: All of Sphinx's powers manifest in the minds of others, and have no impact on the physical world. This said, he is effectively helpless against forces or enemies that do not possess minds to manipulate. Foes with susceptible minds can protect themselves through magical and technological means, or through rigorous training to block out invasive telepathy. Inhuman creatures are inherently more resistant to Sphinx's powers, requiring more effort on his part to influence their minds. Other telepaths are his bane, as they can easily take advantage of any mental connection he forges to wreak havoc on his mind. His more powerful techniques put a great strain on his mind, and he runs the risk of inducing hemorrhaging in his skull by overexerting himself. Lastly, Sphinx is a thin, unathletic sort of fellow, and is practically useless in physical combat or in most menial labors.
Psychological Profile: Despite his decidedly superhuman abilities, Sphinx is utterly human in his personality. He carries a public persona of an aloof and mysterious being of omniscient power, but in private company among his peers he is a friendly, sociable character with a quick wit and a dry sense of humor. Though he can be high-strung at times, Sphinx is far more casual in demeanor than most other superhumans, and acts as a voice of moderation and outside perspective to his peers. He is calculating and logical by nature, but is not without empathy. Sphinx tries his hardest to do the right thing, and help others as much as possible, but often sees the value of practicality over ethics. He is not afraid to make difficult decisions that others would baulk at, as long as he is confident that it is the "correct" decision. Even so, he does not see himself as infallible, and has moments of weakness wherein he questions his own ability and righteousness.
Biography: Spiro Leandros was born to two hardworking parents of Greek-American descent in the city of Chicago. Raised in Greektown, Spiro was brought up in a tight-knit community by his civil engineer father and his mother, a nurse. However, the closeness of the community merely lead to Spiro's ostracization as his powers emerged. His telepathy manifested at a young age, and shaped the young Spiro's behavior oddly. He knew things that a boy his age shouldn't have known, and this knowledge often made its way out of his mouth. Adults were made uncomfortable, even fearful, by him, and other children acted on their parent's superstitions by tormenting him. Spiro's parents had no idea how to raise such a strange boy, and after some time gave up trying to understand him.
As a result of his solitude, Spiro grew up as a dark and lonely youth. He was easily preyed upon by a Greektown gangster, known mostly by his epithet of "The Sphinx." The Sphinx was a psion as Spiro was, and detected the boy's potential after meeting him by chance in a gambling den. Seeing an opportunity in the boy, the Sphinx took Spiro under his wing, raising him as his protegee. Under the Sphinx's tutelage, Spiro had everything that he had been wanting for as he grew up: understanding, encouragement, purpose and something to challenge him. He was trained to improve his psychic powers, with which he showed vast potential. But as his powers grew, so did his usefulness to his mentor. The Sphinx used Spiro as a child soldier, using him to collect information and plant false leads to rival gangs and the police, as such factions had the Sphinx himself under heavy surveillance. Spiro was under the assumption that he was protecting the both of them, and not furthering criminal activity, as his mentor had been routinely wiping his memories and implanting him with false ones.
At the age of eighteen, on an inconspicuous day, Spiro decided to challenge his mentor to a surprise bout of mental sparring. However, as he intruded into the Sphinx's mind, he discovered the extent to which his "benefactor" had been manipulating him. As he discovered this, the Sphinx knew that he had lost the boy's trust, and had to kill him before he became a dire foe. What would have been a friendly duel quickly became a struggle to the death. The Sphinx possessed a far more powerful mind than Spiro, but the young psion used this to his own advantage. He lured the Sphinx into his mind, and in destroying his own memories, destroyed the other psychic's mind in turn. Spiro forgot his youth, his parents, his upbringing, and his former master. The Sphinx forgot how to breathe.
Now a self-made amnesiac with only vague recollections of his life, and a sense of guilt which he could not explain, Spiro decided to turn his powers to the benefit of others. He adopted a vigilante persona, emulating Zenith, who had come to the forefront of world history. Spiro decided on adopting the moniker of "Sphinx," for reasons that he could not quite place. He worked as a young, yet potent psychic hero for some time, mostly acting as an informant for more physically-powerful heroes, and all the while further honed his abilities. As the world descended into chaos, Sphinx did his best to defend his home city of Chicago, but it was merely prolonging the inevitable. After Chicago fell, Sphinx heard rumors of a superhuman-run safezone in Los Angeles, and made the perilous journey to the West Coast to join the Citadel. Since then, Sphinx has worked as the logistics manager of the Citadel's militia forces, its highest-ranked judicial arbiter, and the warden of its small prison.
