Character You're Applying For:
ShadePowers And Abilities: Darkness Manipulation - Richard Swift has an internal connection to the Shadowlands, a dimension of primordial, quasi-sentient darkness that he is able to call upon, manipulate, and travel through.
-Darkness Teleportation: Swift is capable of traveling through the Shadowlands to anywhere within 20 miles, provided that he knows exactly where his destination is: either he can see it, or he has been there before. If he doesn't know where he's going he might end up telefragged into the ground, which would be rather life-ending. Additionally, Shade can mark a location with a portal he is able to return to at any time, regardless of distance: this will, however, be the only location he can teleport to (IE he cannot have a portal up and teleport elsewhere at the same time)
-Darkness Constructs: think green lantern, but a lower power level. constructs disappear 5 seconds after he stops concentrating on them. these appear solid black to others, but opaque to him.
-Darkness projection: Swift is capable of engulfing an area in supernatural darkness. He is perfectly capable of seeing through this darkness, but most beings will not be able to without some sort of magic or power of their own. this ability will immediately affect 30 sq. ft, and can expand up to about 300 sq. ft over the course of 3 minutes). as with the constructs, fades after he stops concentrating.
-Shadowland Demon control: There are creatures in the Shadowlands. Terrible, remorseless, twisted shadows of life. They are at his beck and call for as long as he concentrates.
It is of note that he knows NOTHING about the extent of his powers, currently. as of right now, his abilities are limited to relatively simple constructs and darkness projection. As he encounters more and more dangerous situations, he will learn more and more about his abilities - sometimes unconsciously doing things that he will then have to learn to control and harness properly.
Origin And Backstory:
Real Name: Richard Swift
Age: 21
Occupation: Musician, Night Custodian at St Eustace Church in Bludhaven
You might find it weird that a British kid ended up in the Bludhaven slums, making music with synths, saxophones, and a couple of guys from the next block over. but to Richard, it's just the natural end to the twists and turns of his childhood. His father died in a car crash when he was 8, and his mother never really got over it. She eventually moved to America from Nottingham, UK, to get closer to her family, in a suburb of Pittsburgh, when Swift was 12. Her depression spiraled despite this, and eventually she could no longer care for her child. Richard was bounced from uncle to aunt to grandparent, never in the care of the same person for more than a year or two, but he still came out of things relatively well adjusted. He was done with being told what to do for the time being, however, and decided to move out and live on his own instead of going into school. turns out a great place to live when you don't have a lot of money is a shitty suburb of another shitty city. He was also able to get a job rather easily, which was nice, because he needed something to support his adventures into the music business - specifically, creating synth and house music, as well as his life as an untrained jazz musician (the two of which he likes to mash together on occasion).
So all in all, pretty normal working class life. Nothing particularly remarkable about Swift, other than his tendency towards doing the right thing. But there was always a little something... different... about Richard. Specifically, there was the weird thing where he could create darkness if he just thought about it hard enough. He had done it once, maybe twice, when he had started to hit puberty. it terrified him - he didn't know what to do with it, and he didn't need his family to figure out: he didn't need more instability in his life. So like many other things, he kept it hidden - experimented with it in his room when he knew he was home alone a few times, but never anything big. He didn't want anyone to know, anyone to see, anyone to find out he was the first of a kind, and whisk him away for forever. But now he knows he's not alone. And he knows that if he's not the only one with powers, there must be some people who aren't quite as nice as he is. but what's he to do about it?
What Makes This Character 'Ultimate'?: What, You think tapping into a realm of Primordial, sentient darkness isn't badass?
Supporting Characters: Currently none, we'll see if I get any. I'll reserve the right to use some weird and obscure villains from Marvel and the DCU, provided no one claims them, and I'll also probably end up using some of the usuals from Gotham and Bludhaven. None of my ideas are set in stone though, so I won't dream to claim any sort of rogue's gallery yet.
Character Picture:
Sample Post: It had never really occured to him to cover his face when he had rescued those people from the car crash. It had happened too quickly - the oncoming train at the railroad crossing, the car jammed underneath the other car - he just had to. It was at least safe to use them now. There were others.
But already: his face was out there. A hero. A hero? Was that really how to describe him? He just wanted to be allowed to still be alone, and to still lead a normal life. But was that really a possibility any more? He had seen what Blockbuster was already doing in this city, and he knew that the man saw anyone else with powers as someone else in his way to becoming the king of the city.
And elsewhere. This explosion of people finding out that there were others like themselves - other people with strange abilities, great power: it was a spark that was irreversible, the beginning of an explosion, and a permanent change.
Swift was thinking all of this as he read the Bludhaven Post on his phone, the front page reading "Local man uses darkness to free couple from crash on train tracks." It was descriptive, he supposed, if a bit dull. the article was also rather dull - perhaps because their attempts to track him down were met with a locked door and no response to knocking. At least the TV stations just treated it as a sidenote, far more interested in the fact that Captain america and others were actually real.
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He had really come to a decision 8 years ago, when his powers first manifested. If he had the opportunity to help, to actually use his powers, he would.
The real question was how to manage the consequences.
Heckno12
