BiographyThere is much mystery about the person known as both Kila and Ja. However, what is speculated is that KJ was born in a southern village in Zambesi, Africa. He lived with a small family consisting of himself, his mother, and his grandmother. His mother, Mari, was the village guardian, having apparently retired from heroics to raise him. For his very early years, they lived a pretty average and peaceful life.
However, it only lasted until their village was raided by men from a neighboring tribe. A threat to the world had been prominent enough at the time to warrant his mother’s help. The inhabitants of the village refused to just hand over the little that they’ve had. In effect, the groups came into conflict when the raiders raised their weapons and fired on the village. These men seemed to have more advanced tactics and weaponry, and without his mother there, they stood little chance.
In the carnage, KJ was kidnapped by the men who later turned out to be a task force sent by the Red Lion, President of Buredunia. Apparently, they were really in search of those with the metagene, looking to get a leg up on the skirmishes around their borders. So, for the majority of his life, he was trained as a child soldier for the Red Lion.
In the meantime, his mother had been under the impression that the unthinkable had happened. That is, up until one of the Red Lion’s chief guard betrayed his activity to the Justice League’s African branch.
A brief run through: The League was victorious, albeit unable to truly convict the Red Lion given his position in the country. KJ, as well as the other accumulated meta-kids were freed. He had something of an emotional reunion with his mother, though he was clearly much different from when he was taken. The boy had seen and done things she never envisioned for him.
It was begrudging, but she eventually allowed him in the ranks of the Young Justice Initiative. She couldn’t protect or hide him forever, clearly, so at the very least his skills and abilities could be used for good.
NotesThe Limitation to his augment based abilities is that it is entirely reliant on his emotional state and confidence. If a situation looks too intimidating, Ja’s power is going to weaken. If he has belief that he can topple the challenge, or if he has courage, his power will buff. Moreover, he can only copy the abilities of animals he has been in the physical presence of. With that too, as of currently, he can only use two of his animal based abilities at a time.
When it comes to his interactions with animals, he has to be careful which he attempts his mental compulsion on. This is because of the fact that too much interaction with them could result in his own instincts taking over. Should that happen, he'd be in a state where he's more bestial than cognizant for a certain amount of time. This bestial rage state is often referred to as “The Red Beast”, and the typical limitations are briefly expunged.
KJ’s father was Benjamin Turner AKA the Bronze Tiger, according to Vixen, whose current status is unknown. There is much contention as to whether the Buredunian President is actually his father or not. Despite some verbal references and other implications by President Bland, no evidence to prove such has been confirmed.
Kila and Ja have no knowledge of each other, despite having the same body and many of the same memories. It is known that a specific pattern can violently force the switch between the two. Although Kila is clearly an above average individual, his physical capabilities are nowhere near Ja’s. The reasoning behind this phenomenon is still largely unknown, but it is theorized to have some connection with his time under the Red Lion’s captivity.
Kila was trained by a
chief enforcer in Ja Zaki’s elite guard who took on a motherly role for him and was the one who betrayed Ja Zaki. She died in the battle for his freedom. In tribute to her, his costume was influenced by her uniform and is even carrying her gauntlets. The Gauntlets are made from the special variant of promethium only produced in Buredunia named True Promethium. It contains the energy absorbing and channeling abilities of the Volatile variant, while having the durability and non-toxic nature of the Depleted variant. There are very few materials made from this material globally.
The Metamorph suit that he wears takes on the pattern of varying animals in certain sections. Currently pictured is a leopard’s spots. Black is default color of these sections when no animal inspired ability is in use.
KJ also has purposefully placed scar-lines that protrude from his skin. Each represents a fellow teammate from his past on the field from his missions with the Red Lion’s guard. There are 10 on his chest, 4 on his back, and 6 going down each arm. Among the memories that Kila and Ja share, these are the most vivid.