Name: Eric Engelson
Quote:
Well... crap.Alias: Ecto
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Family: Fathers: Isaac Engelson, Liam Engelson (Surrogate Mother: Jane Woods)
Occupation: Online Translator
Appearance:
Eric is in the middle of his twenties, with dark hair and green eyes. He is around 5'10", and although he was considered quite lazy, a few years ago he started working out to boost his endurance, so his physique is just above average. He usually wears comfortable street clothing, jeans and cargos, T-shirts and hoodies, complete with sneakers.
He doesn't have any special costume for his "night-time" activities, as his powers give him a distinct look on their own.
Method of Operation: The cautious approach was always more appealing to him, usually scaring the criminals away. His appearance and abilities make it easy to create the impression of a ghost, and criminals are less likely to strike up a neighborhood if they think it is haunted. He also enjoys slowly building up fear in his "victims", like haunting the TV in the house burglars are about to enter, or levitating an umbrella. But if every trick fails, he does not shy away from using force and subduing his opponents, typically with either beating them with a blunt instrument or making them headbutt something with his haunting ability.
Superpower:
Spectral Form : Eric is able to turn into a gaseous, incorporeal form, which allows him to fly and move through tight spaces, like a keyhole or a chimney, though he cannot enter areas that are sealed shut completely. He can shift between this form and his human body in about a second, and when he is in this form, he cannot be touched by anything physical - as it moves right through him -, but this true the other way around as well. This does not, however, make him invulnerable. His powers seem to be somewhat related to the element of air, and and is especially susceptible to it, but other non-physical attacks can also hurt like hell.
Partial Shifting : He can manifest certain parts of his body to grab hold of objects, but the corporeal parts of him are completely defenseless, unless grabbing something that would provide protection.
Spectral Healing : While in the Spectral Form, Eric slowly heals from the wounds he suffers, although this has it's limits, and can leave scars. In any case, it stops a wound from getting worse.
Haunt : Eric can take control of objects that are not bigger than him, forcing himself into them. This allows him to move or levitate around in a rather sluggish way, but can be effective when haunting, for example, a baseball bat. Physical damage to the object also hurts Eric, so it’s not worth haunting something that can be easily broken.
Haunting can also be used to take limited control over others, as someone wrestling against the haunted person. This can be overpowered by sheer strength though, and can slow strong opponents at best.
Skills: Due to his upbringing, Eric knows multiple languages, including German, Spanish, and Russian. He also studied piloting to learn about currents and basic flight physics, since he can be affected by the wind. His fighting style is closest to the "whack it until it's down" technique, he started practicing aikido and krav maga to be more efficient.
Equipment: Since the Spectral Form does not extend to clothes or equipment, he goes to the field basically naked. It would be nice to find a way not to appear in his birthday suit when shifting back.
Personality: Eric is prone to cynical joking, and likes irony. He can be sincere and serious as well, but he finds it easier to brush things off with a stoic remark. He is disappointed in humanity, as what he often sees is that man is a wolf to man, and everything is run by corrupt bureaucrats, who are consumed by greed. He believes that although there could be so much potential in people, it is squandered by selfishness and apathy for others. He doesn't like to be in the spotlight, as he has witnessed power and popularity corrupting people. He also dislikes taking responsibility, but reluctantly does so by using his gifts to better the streets, to soothe his conscience.
He disapproves of people who are what he used to be like, and feels shameful about his past as a couch potato. He regularly does cardio exercises to build up his stamina, and trains fighting techniques on his own not only to better his performance on the field, but as a way to "atone" for his laziness. He is likely to push himself past his limits, saying something gritty or just using the words "crap" a lot. This sometimes leads to injury, but since he can heal in his spectral form, he really doesn't care.
Biography: A son of a russian economist and a german engineer who moved to the United States, Eric had ha very easy way of learning multiple languages at a young age. He was also a bit of a geek, and got bullied in school, until he befriended a schoolmate who turned out to be a super with enormous strength. His name was Damien Reed. They were both huge comic book fans, and although Damien was not allowed to use his powers in public, or reveal in in an obvious way, he told his secret to Eric, who practically worshipped him. They used to hang out a lot, playing video games and watching cartoons. Since Damien's power made him fit without breaking a sweat, he was also kinda lazy, but Eric was a normal kid and the lack of physical exercise and countless junk food made him overweight by his teenage years.
Though his parents were caring and supportive, they did not like their son getting fat on the sofa and sometimes made stinging remarks about Eric's appearance, but it was also painful when Damien was adored by all the girls, while Eric was ignored by the opposite gender. So he started working out, and Damien joined him for support (even though it was nothing to him). This would soon turn into short sessions that turned into more chilling.
Time went by, and when they went to different colleges and saw each other less and less. After a year into his studies, he saw some news about a superhero on the streets, rounding up criminals and smiling for the camera in the meantime. He recognized him as his best friend. When he called him about it, he admitted with pride that he has officially started his superhero career. Eric found the news fantastic, and proposed to be Damien's sidekick, but he politely declined, reasoning that this was dangerous for "normies", especially for ones who are out of shape. This made Eric finally snap from his lazy ways and work out in earnest.
But while he was losing weight, he saw his friend gradually turn into (or maybe revealing himself to be) a conceited braggart, who loves to dominate the scene. And that was BEFORE he became a corporate tool who started working for the mayor's office as a glorified enforcer. Since he was always "busy" they slowly stopped talking.
One night Eric was going home from a jogging session, while he ran into an armed robbery: two men were robbing third who was drunk after partying. Eric decided to step in, and ended up getting stabbed. While the assailants ran away, he stumbled into a corridor and collapsed from the blood loss. When he came to himself, everything was different, and felt the pain slowly go away. When he looked down, a pool of blood stared back at him, soaking a lying figure on the ground. When he looked at himself, he was floating, all blue and transparent.
"- I'm... I'm dead? Well... Crap. God dammit."
At that moment, he fell to the cold pavement, completely naked, as his usual self. That's when he realized that the figure on the ground were only his clothes, empty of any wearers.
"- I...guess not?"
Cold and confused, Eric hastily dressed up in his bloody clothes and ran home. When in his house he threw everything into the washing machine and examined his wound in the mirror. It was a nasty cut, but not as deep as a full stab should have been.
"Okay, let's try this again." He concentrated, and after a short while he turned into his ghostly form once more. He could see the wound slowly, gradually get smaller and smaller healing itself.
"Groovy." This is when his life really began.
Theme Song: Shaman's Harvest - In Chains
Relationships: TBD
Extra: We're NOT normal.
