Emmanuel Liheart
Codename: The Flashbolt Acolyte
Age: 23
Gender: Male
Place of Birth: America, more specifically Cleveland Ohio. He lives in New York City, where power is plentiful and easy for him to procure.
Affiliations: Unless you count being beloved by his local community, none. He gets along with pretty much everyone, most of the time, though he absolutely despises people trying to force him to do something or join something that he does not want to do. Which has lead to some rather tense situations involving the government, as he didn't take kindly to a proposition that they tried pressuring him into. Something dealing with being a superweapon overseas.
Occupation: Full Time Superhero, Part time WORLD CLASS COBBLER. I mean it too. World class. Emmanuel makes some of the greatest shoes in the entire world. Hand crafted, home made leather, treated with a special process to make it incredibly durable, but soft and flexible. He can make shoes look however the customer wants, with all the bells and whistles that one could desire. Auto Lacing? Sure thing. Light up? Yeah you got it. Emmanuel's Shoes have a reputation for being the only pair of shoes you'll ever need to buy. One pair can last an adventurous man his entire lifetime, easily. He sells them based on customer as well. Each pair is hand tailored for the person's foot and he only begins working on it once someone actually requests it. No mass produced shoes here. If someone doesn't have the money for a super expensive pair, he'll lower the price to match too, because ruining someone's rent payment or food budget for the month over a pair of shoes is stupid, he thinks. That being said, he makes more than enough money from his wealthy clientele, with his shoes being sold to multi millionaires everywhere from 100k and up. He comes from a long line of cobblers as well, which is why a 23 year old man has world class shoe making skills.
Appearance: Emmanuel is a relatively normal looking man. He stands 6 foot tall, and is very skinny and lean actually. However, hidden in that lean frame is tightly packed muscle, far more than it would appear. He has old Egyptian blood in him, giving him dark olive skin, and a gloriously well tamed and kept goatee framing his jawline. The rest of his body is impeccably smooth. Everywhere besides his eyebrows, hair, and goatee, he is perfectly hairless. His hair follicles were actually fried during his Awakening, losing his ability to grow more hair, meaning the hair he has stays as long as it is. His skin is very fair, but not perfect. During his Awakening and the unlocking of his powers, his entire body was marked with heavy Lichtenburg figures, scaring him from head to toe in electrical markings, like he has lightning running all over his body. Fittingly, he decided to get them all filled in by his tattoo artist buddy, leaving him covered in blue and yellow electrical marks, which begin to glow when he really gets into power mode. The tattoos are specially formulated to only appear in correspondence to electrical impulse, so when he's not fighting or using his powers, only his scars are visible, not the tattoos. He think it gives an added sort of flair.
Emmanuel's power is that of electricity creation, storage, and manipulation. His body itself produces an exponentially greater amount of electrical impulses than an normal human, turning him into a living generator, and an incredibly powerful one at that. His main electrical manipulation ability is the formation of electric tethers that attach and bury into all objects, metallic or otherwise, which can then be used to move either himself or the object. If the object is not attached to anything, he can swing around the object as he pleases, the speed of which depends on the object's weight of course. The tethers take the appearance of thick, pulsating chains of electrical current that attach themselves to whatever Emmanuel directs them towards. I say form, but its actually more akin to them being shot out of his body at a speed of 100 miles per hour. They can come out of any part of his body, but the main areas he uses are his waist, hands, and feet. Once formed, Emmanuel can move them at speeds of up to 300 miles per hour, with a maximum distance of 75 feet. These chains do actually have quite a bit of mass to them, and at 300 miles per hour, basically turn into heavily electrified, sharp, whips, and getting hit by one is bad news, as they individually are able to do a fairly good job of tearing up asphalt. Emmanuel can have 15 active at once. They take low amounts of power to form and use. When multiple chains are in close proximity to each other, a powerful electrical current runs between them.
Emmanuel stores massive quantities of electricity inside his body. I mean, huge. At full power and storage, this dude can sustain enough power to make the entire city of NYC go for a whole day. However, he does not ever expel it all at once because if he uses a full storage in one go his body will practically annihilate itself. This electricity comes from many different places. Like a normal human, he can actually produce his own electrical impulses for storage, but its the slowest method for replenishment. He also naturally absorbs it from the electricity in the air, which is slightly faster than his own body producing it. These two, put together, aren't honestly bad sources of power. He can also, rather obviously, suck energy right out of any and all things powered by electricity, including other humans and animals. However, that ends up being straight murder, so he doesn't do that.
His fighting style lives by the phrase his father hammered into him as a child. “Don't half ass two things, whole ass one.” He channels the power at his disposal into himself, using his heavy electrical impulses and energy to boost his muscle functions exponentially beyond a human's most wild dreams, becoming the ultimate melee fighter.
Emmanuel's enhanced physical capabilities are as follows.
Superhuman strength. Emmanuel can dead lift about 500 pounds. With effort, he can shove up to a ton of weight around, but it ain't easy.
Monstrous Speed: Emmanuel focuses on fighting like his namesake, the Bolt. He prioritizes quick movements and fluid motion over anything else, and boy does he do it. His acceleration skills are the envy of all Formula Racers, and his top speed breaks the sound barrier at Mach One. He uses a barrier of electric energy in front of him to divert wind and make it so that his skin isn't torn off from sheer force.
Insane Reflexes: Logically, Emmanuel's reflexes are also boosted to superhuman levels to properly deal with his awesome speed.
That's pretty much it for all of his normal abilities. Obviously, he's also immune to pretty much any type of electrical attack or hazard as well.
Emmanuel's fighting style involves lots of thrusting/stabbing strikes infused with electricity and his own personal weapon, which he's dubbed “The Electric Halo.” After the Awakening, Emmanuel continuously hears the voice of what he refers to as His God, the being he believes granted him his powers. Whether true or not, that is what he believes, and he believes it WHOLE heartedly. As such, when this voice tells him about a plan for a weapon that will help bring out his full power in times of need, you bet he got this thing made. The Halo is comprised of eight seperate chakrams, all made of boron steel, lending them an incredible durability and sharpness. They are also very good at conducting electricity. Each one is about six inches in diameter. Emmanuel does not have to hold onto them in order to use them, they are actually controlled by his electric field. In an area of up to seven feet away, Emmanuel can have full orbitting motion and 3D control over the halo, turning him into what looks like a sort of very bright, very sharp atom when all eight are in use at once. They also have a second, more intensive purpose.
The Electric Halo is the key to unlocking Emmanuel's full power, or at least getting as close as he can. Using the Halo, he can force his body to use more electricity than normal. By overcharging, Emmanuel can show off the true speed of his name, the Flashbolt. His speed becomes that of lightning itself, and his strikes explode with electricity whenever he hits. The power surging through him also superheats the air around him. However, this great power comes with a hefty price. Emmanuel's muscles and body, even with his supernatural build, cannot take so much power all at once. The process is heavily exhausting at the least, and he can currently only hold it safely for about 5 minutes, after which his body starts to deteriorate. If this happens, he will be put out of commission for a long while, as his body will have to rebuild his muscles from the ground up. In Acolyte mode, the scars on Emmanuel's body do more than just glow, they begin to course with electricity, giving him the appearance of being made out of electricity itself.
Skills: Emmanuel is an expert crafter. Not limited to just shoes, if he can think of something, and has the materials to build it, it can probably be built. He is also a pretty talented electrician, but thats due entirely to his powers of manipulation rather than him knowing what he's actually doing. He's also trained as an EMT since highschool, and is an expert in first aid.
Equipment:
Emmanuel always has the Halo on his person, at all times. No exceptions.
He also always has a first aid kit on him, packed to the brim with bandages, splints, medicine, you name it.
Weaknesses:
Emmanuel is strong and fast, but he's not the toughest. He relies on speed and reflexes. He does a good job of dodging bullets most of the time, he's certainly fast enough, but if he gets it, it's gonna hurt. A lot.
Water makes him uncomfortable. It doesn't short him out, because his power is based entirely inside him, but it makes him really tingly all over, so he avoids it whenever possible.
His way of fighting is exhaustive. His stamina is far, far above that of a normal human, but even so, if he fights too long, once he stops, he'll past out. All tiredness hits him at once, because when he's fighting, the electricity will keep him going until he lets go of the power.
Emmanuel is a chill dude. Making shoes all day has developed a true appreciation for peace and quiet, and he's more than happy to be left alone with his thoughts. He's very friendly and very easy to get along with, if you can stand him making horrible puns literally whenever possible. He values his freedom above all else, and the freedom of those around him second to that. He's also very vocal about standing up for others, making him a local favorite downtown. If anyone has a problem with a robbery or something, everyone has Emmanuel on speed-dial. He charges absolutely nothing for hero work, and gives freely to shelters and charities, having more than enough money from his shoe business.
Emmanuel is a religious man. He worships a god named Samuel, though whether Samuel actually exists or is a figment produced by his brain being overloaded during the Awakening, there's no telling. He is respectful of other peoples' beliefs, he knows theres more than one god out there, and he is also very unspoken about his religion, for he knows that most people A: Don't care and B: Won't believe him anyway. However, that being said. He is VERY faithful to Samuel and believes in him one hundred percent. If he hears a voice from Samuel, he will do what it says, no questions. Unless its something stupid. Then he'll argue. Samuel is a very relaxed god (Apparently), so Emmanuel has conversations with him just like a best friend/ bar buddy.
Emmanuel led a pretty normal life up through highschool. Born into a family of master shoecrafters, he was raised with the sort of work ethics that every true blooded 'Murcian family would want for their child; Hard work is above all else, give freely to others, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, yada yada. He always applied himself to the best of his ability in all he did, school, sports, you name it. He took EMT classes and training starting in his sophomore year, as his parents thought it would be a good idea to have him learn how to help people in need on the fly. He found he actually really liked the feeling it gave him, being able to help people, so he continued doing them all through highschool and continues to do them in the present so that he can stay up to date on the most recent techniques.
It was when the Awakening took place that his life really took a turn. He still lived in Cleveland a this point, and he was in his home, making a pair of shoes for the local pastor of his family's church. While he did not go to church, the pastor was a good friend of theirs and he needed some new shoes, so Emmanuel took the job for free. Not important. What IS important is that when the Awakening occurred, Emmanuel passed the hell out. His vision went entirely white and he collapsed. During his state of unconsciousness, he was approached by a figure. A very large, very imposing figure that looked like a lion crossed with a man, that radiated power the likes of which have never been seen. The figure would introduce himself as Samuel and explain to Emmanuel that this event, whatever it may be, has given him a connection to him. He goes on to say that he is in fact a god, and would gladly use this connection to give Emmanuel power the likes of which he could have never dreamed before. No catch either, just do good things with it. Of course Emmanuel accepted. Shaking Samuel's hand, Emmanuel was filled with power and a bit of searing, unfathomable pain as electricity coursed through and over his body, scarring him from head to toe. A small price to pay for the things he's been given. Ever since, Samuel and Emmanuel talk on a daily bases, about all sorts of things.
After getting his powers, Emmanuel moved to a place where he had access to a way larger power grid to take advantage of, New York City, though he never actually used his powers before moving, though he knew how to use them thanks to Samuel's helpful explanations. Once moved into the Bronx, he had a run in with his first criminal. Nothing big, a dude with super strength was fighting off cops and throwing cars. Emmanuel leaped into action. Pushing off of the ground with a jolt and a sonic boom, he thrust his electrified hands into the jacked dudes arms and before the villian could even recognize what was happening, Emmanuel used electrical manipulation to make the man's muscles useless. Needless to say, he was apprehended and safely trucked off. Since then, his neighborhood has experienced a steadily decreasing crime rate, because only the cockiest villains want to tangle with someone who can move faster than the average human can think. While not an official Hero of any sort, he's pretty experienced at the hero thing, his name is relatively well known and he's more than happy to be called upon by police if they need extra help.
Im pretty sure that while his main thing is electricity, he has a different enough fighting style and unique enough applications to not get too many comparisons to other electrical heroes in here? Let me know what you think, or if you think he's too good