mattmanganon — Roleplayer Guild

Just need to finish the Sample post and it'll be good for review.

Ghost Rider & Ms Marvel
Roberto Reyes, aged 17 & Kamala Khan, aged 16
Based in Jersey City, New Jersey
Active since approximately 1968

Character Concept

Kamala and Robbie have grown up living in Jersey City in the same apartment block since theyt can both remember. Immigrant familys from Mexico and Pakistan don't tend to do well in the predominantly white city. As such, two young kids have to stick together, When they were young, it didn't matter so much. If anything, Kamala's parents were happy with Kamala having a stupid, headstrong little boy to look after their little girl in the hostile neighbourhood. However, as they have grown into young adults, in the current sociatal climate of free love, Kamala's Parents have grown especially cautious of any boy that she hangs around. At the same time, Robbie is trying to complete his apprenticeship as a Mechanic, however, at this time, the Hispanic street gangs are always looking to recruit anyone into their fold. He has so far been able to ignore and stay out of it, but every day, racial tensions grow more and more strained. However, with the radicalization of many Muslim civil rights movements, Kamala has found her family being more and more dragged into the current affairs that she herself would rather ignore. It also doesn't help that Kamala is embracing modern American civilization, rebelling against her parents more strict interpretations of the Noble Quran. Specifically, she brings them shame by refusing to wear the Hajib, a choice that Robbie fully supports.

Kamala is currently fighting her absolute heart out to try and make it through Highschool without getting dragged into the race-war politics of the day, aspiring to become a Doctor and help people out, whilst also being a massive fan of Superheroes, having a seemingly unhealthy fixation with buying as much Captain America and Starman merchandise as she can get her hands on.

Robbie, on the otherhand is living with his mother and physically handicapped brother, he has no real hope for his employment prospects outside of the mechanics trade, as such, has all but dropped out of school, only continuing to go in order to look after his brother who gets picked on regularly. He has been saving up for several years and has finally bought himself a car (Granted, he had to fix it up from a write-off) but he is truly proud of his Dodge Charger.

Robbie & Kamala are characters that came out around the same time and have had a few meetings in continuity and i do like their chemistry and would love to see them playing off each other in a more, especially in such a turbulent time. I mean, characters like Kamala were designed to set a state of normalization of Pakistani/Muslim immigration in America during a time of, relative, racial acceptance. In much the same way, Robbie was designed for much the same purpose, only with Latin-American immigrant families. I think that inserting both of them together into such an environment could prove an interesting experience. Especially since Muslim Superheroes really do get a showing in ANY depiction of the 1960's, despite Islam really starting to spread, due to mass immigration during the period. The same with Latin-American superheroes, with the mass immigration from places such as Puerto-Rico and Mexico. In my experience, the only thing that ever gets focussed on during such time periods is the gang violence among the Hispanics. I kinda want to show them trying to fit in as people who were born into this society, grew up with it and actually want to assimilate with American society, despite everyone else trying to convince them them that "Your skin colour is this, that makes your entire life us vs them!" that was the message of the day. I know it's probably not accurate two people of catholic and islamic backgrounds to be friends, but i think it only adds to the potential for storytelling.

Key Notes

Regular:

Costumed:

Skills:
Vehicular Mechanic (Having been working around cars for a considerable amount of time and is currently training to work in the local auto-shop with the hopes that one day, he will have the ability to open his own.)
Knife-Skills (Growing up watching Cowboy Films with knife-throwers and Samurai Movies that were getting imported in the 50's and early 60's, he became obsessed with swords and other bladed items like that. Since samurai swords are not exactly common in America, he would take knives from the kitchen and would copy the moves he saw in the films. As he grew older, knife-juggling became his party trick.)

Super-Powers:
Spirit of Vengeance (After his deal with Mephisto, he became an Avatar of the Spirit of Vengeance. The Spirit inside of him grants him the following powers):Superhuman Strength (Able to lift over 50 tons over his head with minimal effort)
Superhuman Invulnerability (The Spirit of Vengeance makes Robbie almost completely invulnerable to any kind of physical damage. He still feels pain, but regardless of the damage done to his body, actually killing him would take enormous magical/cosmic power as he heals from almost any wound Even if his physical form is destroyed, the Spirit will pull the atoms themselves back together. It almost means that he doesn't require any kind of sustenance like air, food or drink.)
Superhuman Speed (As the Spirit of Vengeance, he can run faster than the fastest human. However, flat-out, he can run around 40mph)
Hellfire projection (He is constantly engulfed in Hellfire, meaning that everything he weilds also is engulfed in the hellfire. This fire is hot enough to destroy absolutely anything it touches that he wishes. It can also burn underwater.)
Penance Stare (When he stares someone directly in the eyes. He can force them to feel every ounce of unlawful pain they have ever inflicted upon anyone. This power causes the most evil of people to, literally, burst into flames. However, this can be circumvented by creatures that can justify their actions by their own ethics. E.G. Thanos would be able to justify his mass genocide as a necessary and lawful action by his own system of self-ethics.)
Rage Enhancement (His power is proportional to the amount of evil beings in his vicinity. Regularly, he is powerful, but his power increases proportionally to the amount of evil people around him. However, the more evil beings around him, the less he is able to control himself and resist the urge to reap their souls.)
Hell-Rider Possession (When he gets in the riding seat of any form of "Steed" the Spirit inside of him extends to the steed and grants it all of the power and invulnerability that is afforded to him. His steed's eyes or headlights can be used to perform the Penance Stare.)

Regular:

Costume:

Skills:
Encyclopedic knowledge of Superheroes (Having poured a lot of her time and effort into researching Starman and Captain America, she has a laundry list of useless Superhero facts from newspapers, including the ability to recite every single posting Captain America had during the war, including exact dates.)
Multi-Lingual (Due to her father being from Islamabad and her mother being from Bombay and both being Muslim, she actually grew up being taught English, Urdu, Hindi and Arabic, as well as learning a little Spanish from Robbie.)

Super-Powers:
Morphogenetics (Kamala's cells manifest mutable properties due to the fact that she is able to share her mass through her entire body, as well as pull mass from seemingly no-where. This manifests in multiple different powers)Elongation (Kamala can bend, strentch and extend her limbs, torso, neck and other extremities to great distances.)
Size Alteration (Kamala can adjust her height and stature adding upon her already impressive physical abilities, from shrinking to the size of an ant, to growing as tall as a building. With this ability she can make herself as thin as paper or as round and heavy as a wrecking-ball. For some reason, her clothes and accessories also grow with her.)
Accelerated Healing Factor (She is capable of rapidly healing from most non-fatal injuries such as bullet wounds and blunt-force trauma. However, use of her other powers interrupts the healing process, requiring Kamala to maintain her normal appearance while recovering. A side-effect of this is an increased metabolism, forcing her to eat and drink a LOT during the healing process.)
Appearance Alteration (The power to alter her physical appearance including her hair and clothing, and could even alter her appearance enough to mimic certain inanimate objects, such as lamp posts and Traffic cones. However, she cannot alter her voice, making her ability to mimic other people difficult.)

"Why can't you just stay in school, rather than careering around in that hunk of junk?"Juliana Reyes
A single mother, Juliana was born in Tijuana, Mexico. She was dragged into the gang-violence of the city, forcing her to toughen up. Juliana became known as "La Dama Diablo" a woman known throughout Tijuana as a killer of men and pusher of drugs. However, after an undisclosed event, she fled to the United States. Getting to New Jersey, she met Alberto Reyes and started a family.

"Take care of your mom for me"Alberto Reyes
Alberto is Roberto and Gabriel's Father, Juliana refuses to talk about him. Alberto's business caused him to spend long periods of time away from his wife and children. After the attack on her during her pregnancy, he visited her one last time in hospital, spent a week looking after Robbie, whilst she recovered, then left and the family never saw him again.

"Robbie is gonna kick your butt when he finds out!"Gabriel
Robbie's younger brother, Gabe was born with legs that don't work properly. Whilst Juliana was pregnant, she was attacked by Mexican gangsters on her way home from the doctors for a check-up. During the attack she was thrown down a flight of stairs and it was nothing short of a miracle that she didn't miscarry. However, Gabe was born with legs that don't work too well, causing him to have to walk with crutches his entire life. Gabe was mercilessly picked on for being crippled, picked on by people who would quickly find themselves on the receiving end of Roberto's left-hook.

"I promised your mother I wouldn't force tradition on you, but PLEASE try to look more like the beautiful princess i know you are!"Yusuf Khan
Kamala's father, born in Islamabad, in then British India, modern Pakistan, Yusuf found himself at fighting age in 1939 when the Empire declared war on the Axis forces and joined the largest all-volunteer force ever assembled. Training in Bombay, he met his to-be wife Muneeba during training. He went on to fight in North Africa against Rommel's Afrikacorps and Italian forces, then again in Burma against the Japanese. Surviving the war, he went to Bombay to marry Muneeba, where they had their first son, Aamir. When the Partition was announced, seeing the writing was on the wall, they fled to the United States in order to escape the coming violence. They first settled down in Manhattan, but after getting a job on the other side of the Hudson, they moved to Jersey City. After Muneeba's passing, he made it his duty to raise the children in the way his beloved wife had wanted. No more strict adherence to Muslim tradition, just let them be happy in this new time.

"If i had let Tradition dictate my life, i'd have died in painful misery with a man i hate, rather than in pain, surrounded by the ones i love. Aamir, Kamala, be good to your father."Muneeba Khan
Born in Bombay, Muneeba was never very happy with Indian traditional values. The fact that she married Yusuf is proof of that, as she was arranged to be married to the son of a local businessman. She always hated her to-be husband, which is why she would constantly try to court other boys, however, local traditions meant that she nobody was ever interested... Until she met Yusuf. A strapping young man in the British Indian Army, with her as a beautiful flower wilting in the shade that was her family, he was more than happy to take her as his bride as soon as the Axis were defeating, proposing to her the moment he arrived back in Bombay. Of course, her parents forbid it, but neither of them cared. When Partition came, Muneeba saw it as a chance to get away from everything. Make a new start in that land of dreams called "America" Travelling to America via Britain, they settled down in New York City, but soon had to move to Jersey City. Muneeba absolutely loved this new land, where she could walk around without the Hajib, where marrying the man she loved was not seen as a crime. Granted, it seemed as though having her colour of skin was a crime to some people, but she had ignored worse in Bombay, she wouldn't let the local prejudice's get to her. Sadly, she fell ill not too long after Alberto absconded from the family. Stomach Cancer eventually took her life, but she is still in the hearts and minds of the family as a proud woman who refused to take any amount of trash from anyone.

"We did not run from persecution in India just to be persecuted in America. If we do not stand up and fight, then we are destined to be run out of here too."Aamir Khan
Kamala's older brother, Aamir was born in Bombay, but was barely a year old when the family moved to America to escape the Partition. Aamir grew up surrounded by hatred, a hatred that the family had moved to escape, but simply took on another form. Growing up, he was very close to Kamala, trying to be the one that protected her, despite it turning out that Robbie was far better at it. This grew into a minor resentment towards him, meaning that he never approved of Kamala's relationship with Robbie. Unlike Kamala, who never let the politics of the day interfere with her work, Aamir embraced it. He regularly takes part in the marches for racial equality and is a proud member of the Nation of Islam.

An amazingly intelligent kid from Coles Academic High School, he goes to school with Kamala, but he doesn't particularly care for Robbie. There's no animosity, he tolerates him well enough, but you will never see the two hanging around without Kamala. Bruno is from an Italian descendant, staunch Catholic family who don't approve him hanging around with Kamala, but he's smart enough to always have an excuse why he is seen with her. His street smarts also extends to booksmarts, easily keeping an A+ grade average and helping Kamala with her homework whenever she needs it. He's not exactly tough like Robbie, but he can hold his own.

One might hesitate to refer to the Lord of Hell itself as an "Ally" he is, nonetheless, the patron that grants Robbie his amazing power as a Spirit of Vengeance. Mephisto is an ancient being, whether he truly is the biblical figure, Lucifer, is completely up to ones own interpretations. He just wants to save face among the other demons by having Robbie fetch his steed back for him and, who knows, maybe he has a few more things that he will need his new rider to fetch for him.

A Spirit of Vengeance that has completely lost his soul to Mephisto, unable to go back to humanity, he is a rider that now serves the purposes of training new riders to serve his master. Danny has no love for his job and an immense dependency on Alcohol, even though its consumption does nothing to him. He is the eternal host of the demonic Spirit of Vengeance known as Zadkiel. He doesn't talk about what lead him to this sorry state, he just trains new riders.

A monsterous Nightmare, a hell-steed. Historically, they have been depicted as flaming horses, however, as time has progressed, so has the shape that they take to blend in with society. Knightmare has taken the form of a 1958 Plymouth Fury. She cares nothing for anyone, only destruction. She escaped from hell and is now looking to take as many souls with her back there as possible.

Officially, a Doctor of Genetics from the University of Cambridge, currently studying the surge of Mutants in the New York and New Jersey areas... But that is only half of what he is. Not only is he studying mutants and other beings, he is also trying to unlock their genetic code to force humanity to evolve with the rest of them. Quite the opposite of how others are trying to handle it. Now, what he really needs is to get his hands on a live specimen, one that works alone. Xaviers brats are always cooped up in that fortress of a school, but this stretching girl in New Jersey... She might prove useful...

References / Sample Post

The smell of burning motor oil filled the air as a man in a long trench coat walked through the smauldering remains of what, clearly, at one point was supposed to be a car, now just a modern art masterpiece of twisted, jagged metal. Bending down over the body of a girl, he pulled her to rest on her back. Nary a mark on her beautiful form. Placing a hand on her chest, he listened for a second. "You, my dear, are neither dead nor dying... She's getting sloppy, more's the pity." He then stood up and looked around. Taking a great sniff, he let out a sinister grin from beneath his fedora. "Oh, but you, my boy, will do nicely indeed." Great boots making a great deal of noise as it crunched across the shattered glass on the floor. The relentless cruching subsided as the boots moved from the glass-covered tarmac to the gravel, then to the grass as he approached the twisted and mangled body of a teenaged boy. Leaning down, he put a hand on what vaguely resembeled a mutilated torso. "Oh yes, you need to live, don't you? Gabe will be very disappointed if you don't return." The sickening crunching of bones and hissing of flesh and tissue searing itself back together as demonic forces pulled at him, forcing him to return from the grave that this incident had sent him to.

Robbie sat bolt upright, sharply taking in air. "AHHHHHH!!!!" He let rip from his throat. "WHO? WHERE? CAR!!!"

"Settle down boy." The man in the trench-coat ordered. "You've had a busy day. Not many get to see the other side of the veil and come back unharmed... Well, Unharmed is a strong word." 

"What happened, man?" Robbie asked, grabbing his head. "I remember... I remember the car... I remember the other car..."

"Allow me to jog your memory." He waved a finger and a red mist flowed from beneath the trenchcoat into a ring in front of Robbie. However, Robbie wasn't paying attention, diving straight through it.

"KAMALA!!!" He screamed, crawling towards her prone form, but finding his foot snagged by the red mist that dragged him back.

"Lots of nerve you have... I like that. You play by your own rules and you don't let anyone tell you who you are, where you can go or what you have to do... I will take great pleasure in crushing that spirit from your body if you refuse me."

"Hey, who are you, man?" Robbie demanded, rolling over. The Trench-coat man pondered for a second.

"Let's just say thay i'm in a bind and i'm willing to make a deal... As of this moment, you belong to one of two people, me, or Lady Death herself." Robbie coughed loudly, before looking around "Yes, we sit in the guys of your beloved El Toro." The gears in Robbies head clicked away as his newly rebuilt brain struggled to comprehend what happened. "Let me refresh your memory." The twisting vortex of smoke appeared again. This time Robbie was forced to watch the last few minutes of his life like a horrifying version of "This Is Your Life."

****

The radio was blaring the dollcette tones of Hello Goodbye, the current number 1. Rubber pounding the pavement of the Interstate, the powerful V8 revving louder than it had any right to, the car rocking back and forth as Kamala and Robbie bounced up and down on the seats. "I DONT KNOW WHY YOU SAY GOODBYE I SAY HELLO!" The pair of them screamed loudly and out of tune.

"Paul is, without a doubt the best of them." Kamala laughed. "Is there an instrument we as a species have crafted that he is not a MASTER of? Even his voice!"

"Girl, whatchu talking about?" Robbie laughed changing gear to get the engine to scream even louder. "Ringo is my man. Come on, I Wanna Be Your Man, Act Natural, With A Little Help From My Friends is the story of our life."

"Its the only way we'll get by..." Kamala sighed.

"Aamir getting you down again? Look, he's... He's getting caught up in everything. For the first time in human history, everyone is standing up and saying "Hey, maybe the white folks shouldnt have ALL the say?" And people are actually listening."

"Yeah, but he's in with those "Nation of Islam" Whackjobs. I mean, they killed Malcolm X just because he had the audacity to say "Hey, how about we DONT have a Race War?"

"Yeah, well, they are a dying breed. King is leading the charge now. He's got the right idea, we gotta get everyone onboard for something like this. Not just "Hey, why dont we take all of the shitty things the whiteys have been doing to us forever and start doing it back" Like its somehow becomes right if we put them in the cotton fields. Leave it to Doctor King, he's got this covered... Who knows... First not-White dude in the White House? That'll be a sight."

"Oh yeah, he'll have my vote." At which point the Radio began to play Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones. Kamala and Robbie sat for a second, before they burst out laughing. "HOLY HELL, THAT'D BE THE BEST THING EVER!!! PRESIDENT KING, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF SAT IN-PHAHAHAHAHAHA, THE BLACK HOUSE!!! OHHHHHH MY SIDES!!!"

"AHAHAHAHA! STOP, I'M TRYING TO DRIVE AND NOT KILL US!!!" He laughed out loud, before the whole car rocked.

"SORRY! WOW, DON'T ACTUALLY KILL US!" Kamala screamed as Robbie wrestled with the wheel. He looked around, seeing a large, red car in his mirror. Slowing down a little, he pulled the car alongside, leaning out of the open window, he looked it up and down, the only thing lighting it being the orange lights overhead. Letting out a wolf whistle, he quickly checked ahead.

"Hola cariño, te ves muy deliciosa" He called out. He leaned back in and looked at Kamala "'59 Plymouth Fury. She's a beaut'." At that point, the car rocked again as the Plymouth swerved violently and smashed into the side of the Dodge Charger, sending them careening off the road. Kamala and Robbie both started screaming as the blackness of the night instantly gave way to the vision of a tree, before everything went black.

****

Robbie sat breathing heavily. "What... What was that car? And where is Kamala?" The Trench-coated man stared at the defiant teen as a wicked idea crossed his mind.

"I am a being with power over life and death. Your little girlfriend may not have survived, depending on how you choose to proceed..." He smiled a demonic smile. Robbie stared deep into the (Quite literal) jaws of hell as he looked at the smile.

"What's the deal?" He asked. Fires began to leap around him, he felt hot, but not unbearably. He looked at his body as it was consumed by the fire, he let out a frightened scream at first, before realizing that the flames weren't actually hurting him. "What the hell, man?" He asked. As the flames exploded around his collar, incinerating the flesh from his face, he let out another shrill screech. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME!?!?!? YOU WANT MY SOUL, THAT'S IT, ISN'T IT?"

"I am making you better, making you more pliant, more palletable, more powerful... No, i won't take your soul, if anything, i'm giving you an extra spirit... A spirit with which you will become the instrunment of my vengeance." The being's trench-coat began to melt as it, too, was eaten away by the hellfire. "My name is Mephisto... In return for your cooperation in doing my bidding, i will return life to you."

"And Kamala!!!" Robbie roared, He could see fire exploding from his mouth as he spat. "She lives too!" The Trench-coated man shrugged as his full form was revealed, a giant, demonic being, clad entirely in red, flames for hair and eyes that seemed to suck the life out of anyone that would stare too long.

"And i will allow your friend life..." Robbie wasn't sure about this... He didn't want to sacrifice his immortal soul to save his own worthless hide... But Kamala was going places... She was the sweetest, most innocent creature in this whole f'd up world and at this point, contemplation was pointless.

"You got a deal, Diablo..." He said, a final rush of flames consumed both of them as they disappeared. Looking around, Robbie found himself in a realm of... Utter chaos, colours swirling, fire being melted by shards of ice. Sights that would send mortals mad with just the sheer description of their 73 dimensions of properties. At the center of it, Mephisto sat upon a throne of flames. A mirror appeared next to Robbie, revealing his new form, covered in black leather, his flesh gone, replaced with crisp bone, flames pouring from every orifice. "What the hell am i?"

"I told you, my Spirit of Vengeance. Not my first, mind you, so don't think yourself anything special. Just another tool in my arsenal." Robbie barged into the middle of Mephisto's tirade

"If you're so powerful, why do you need me?"

"The amount of my power i can possess on your planet is a pitance compared with what i wield here. I become vulnerable and i can't be everywhere at once. Now, shut your mouth-" With a wave of his hand, there was a painful crunch in Robbie's jaw and his ability to move it vanished. "And listen to your instructions... That creature that killed you is one of my minions, a creature called a Nightmare, you may have heard of them, they roam your planet, disguised as steeds. They kill people and consume their souls... Luckily, she didn't want to stick around whilst i was there, so i was able to intercept your soul before she could eat it. Your job is to drag her back to me." Robbie let out a muffled few words before Mephisto sighed and twirled a finger. The sickening crunch sounded again as Robbie's jaw unlocked, he breathed a few breaths, before raising his own finger

"That's it? You want me to catch a demon car and bring it back to you?"

"Why yes. It's a simple task for a Spirit such as yourself." Mephisto sneered in a condescending tone. Robbie flexed his jaw a little more.

"Fine, you want me to ice this puta? Consider her iced." Robbie said.

"Good, i will let your new teacher know of your arrival." He grinned. Reaching the clawed hand forward, Robbie looked at it.

"Me and Kamala are good?"

"You're good..." He said. Robbie lunged his hand foward and grabbed Mephisto's. This time, the burning was anything but cold. It was intense, Robbie gritted his teeth as he felt the power of the sun envelop his hand... Then darkness... And then the ringing of an alarm as he sat bolt upright in his bed.
mattmanganon Member

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