Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. - Leo TolstoyName: Dr. Donald Sylvian - Goes by his surname.
Age: 25
Alignment: Neutral Good
Mutant/Human Bias? N
Lawful/Chaotic Bias? N/L
Good/Evil Bias? N/G
Appearance:
Sylvian has a slim build, with some muscle, but not enough to be noticeable with his shirt on. He stands at about 5 foot 11 without shoes on, a height that rises with his signature hat. His eyes are a deep brown, almost matching the dark black of his hair and eyebrows.
Personality:
Sylvian is not your conventional hero to say the least. He's rather narcissistic and cares greatly for his own appearance and how others view him. A small comment about his appearance meant in good will can send him staring into the mirror for days on end while he tries to perfect his look once more. Along with this, he never really wanted to be a hero, he much preferred his life as a ship doctor. He was pretty much bullied into being a hero by his wife, and only continues this tradition because he believes it's what she would have wanted. Furthermore, this also shows his tendency to not let go of the past. He has not been able to let go of his wife's memory and start dating again, even though he's completely over her death in the emotional sense.
This could also be viewed as a sort of good thing though. Without his wife's memory egging him on for the first few years, he would never have become the person he is today. Before he was cold, callous and stoic, only showing kindness to his friends and family. Now this kindness has come through more than ever, and he is a 'conventional' hero more than ever these days.
Backstory:
Sylvian was born in Strasbourg, France and lived there until about the age of 4, when his family moved back to their native country of Germany and their hometown of Offenburg. Sylvian's father was completely German, while his mother was half French and half Welsh, resulting in an amalgamation of languages being learned by Sylvian at a young age. Furthermore, this also affected his accent somewhat, especially when speaking English. He grew to speak the language in a rather polite English tone, with hints of German and French tones on some words, specifically ones beginning with 'h', which he stresses the letter more on due to the French part of his upbringing.
Throughout his life he had been pressured into the medical field. His father came from a long line of doctors, with his brother being seen as somewhat of a failure for joining the navy. Despite his constant pressuring, Sylvian was much more attracted to the naval life of his uncle than to that of medicine. However, he of course also did not want to disappoint his father, and realized as he grew older that his life rested in the profession of a naval doctor.
Of course, with a work ethic as solid as his he achieved this goal with a strange amount of ease. He was very apt with his schoolwork, often being proclaimed as a prodigy in biology by his teachers. However, his career wasn't entirely successful. He had to reapply to the navy itself about 4 times after failing the physical fitness test on 3 occasions. On the fourth he came prepared, having modified his work ethic to suit an exercise regime and not only slimming down, but also bulking up significantly.
He thanked the heavens that he failed those first 3 tests. If it wasn't for that he would have never met his wife. She was an Isreali Jew, who had served in her home country's military and had moved to Germany, not only to experience the world, but to put her skills to use outside of her home country. Her name was Dafna.
Sylvian met her during the physical fitness test. He was never exceptionally good at talking to the ladies, and had actually been quite shy by that point. But he knew he had to talk to Dafna before one of the other guys got her, he couldn't quite tell what it was, but from first sight he was infatuated with her. Suffice to say, he messed up his pick up line pretty badly, stumbling over his words and tripping as he made his way over to her. Lucky enough for him that she found that entire kerfuffle cute.
He was lucky enough to be placed on the same boat as her, and the two bonded and eventually started dating over the course of their service. After their service ended, they decided to travel the world, starting with America. But not before they got married, a pricey event in which the rambunctious family of Dafna had to sit next to the stoic and silent family of Sylvian. They were both still quite young, and reckless. Opposed to archetypes, it was often Dafna who started bar fights and Sylvian who had to split it up. It was around this time that Sylvian discovered his power. He had a fever dream one night and woke up screaming, he went to the bathroom and discovered two small holes through which various flowers began to grow. He experimented with his power for a while before telling his wife.
She was ecstatic, rather than doing the logical thing and getting professional advice, she saw this as an opportunity to do good. She told, Sylvian all about superheroes and their presence in America, and how Sylvian could be the next big face in heroing. Of course, Sylvian thought it was all poppycock, but he went along with it just to please his wife. He never should have.
After establishing some sort of a name for himself during their time in New York, this brought a lot of unwanted attention his way. Eventually supervillains began getting involved, and before he knew it, Dafna had been kidnapped. To cut a long story short he was too late to save her. The supervillain killed her just as Sylvian burst into the warehouse. In a fit of rage, Sylvian did something he thought he never would. He hung the villain from the rafters using the very vines that he created.
From that day on he was changed. He saw the reason why heroes were needed, to stop scum like that from doing evils. From then on he's been doing as much good as he can, straying away from the killing that he so ruthlessly did on that night.
Ability:
Sylvian has the ability to control and produce plants. The control portion of his power is rather self explanatory, while the production is a bit more complicated. He mainly uses the production to create a special type of vine that doesn't technically exist. He created it himself, in an effort to strengthen his power. It is essentially a purple thorny vine as strong, or possibly stronger than steel that Sylvian is able to use as a means of attack, transportation or defense. For example, as gruesome as it sounds, he could wrap the vines around his bone from the inside, giving him a sort of psuedo super strength. Doing this wouldn't make him strong enough to flip an average sized car, but it would make his punches pack much more power. Using the vines on their own, Sylvian could flip an average car, although it wouldn't exactly be an easy or quick job. He is able to produce many more plants, but he is likely to just been seen creating his vines as they are the most versatile plant he can use.
Equipment:
1x M1911 pistol
1x Switchblade
Light bullet proof armour worn under his clothing
Other Notes:
Half Pint