Name | Jason ZhaoAlias | RecallAge | 28Gender | MAppearance | Average height and build- about 5'9, typical weight. No identifying marks or tattoos.
Notoriety | Unknown Danger Level/Variant Type | Class 2 MentalistAbilities | Memory Control: Jason can erase memories. With some effort, he can also alter existing memories, bring forgotten memories to the surface, or even implant false ones. To stay anonymous, and away from NOVA, Zhao has developed a habit of making sure that nobody he meets can ever completely remember what he looked like. At this point, he does it almost without thinking.
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Attire | Making people forget you is easier if you are, in fact, forgettable. Jason dresses to match his environment: suits in the business districts, t-shirts for the middle class. He doesn't bother with masks, uniforms or other cliche "superhero" wear.
Armament/Equipment | None.
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Affiliation | Pariah Underground
Personality/Habits | Friendly, in a quiet way. Jason tends to get along with others, but he's out of the habit of making friends. He tends to look just a little unfocused in conversations.
Occupation/Trade | Former criminal. Currently an underground, unlicensed "hypnotherapist." That's what he calls it, anyway.
Really, Jason is hired to work on his client's mind telepathically. He once helped the victim of an assault to remember what the perpetrator looked like. Another time, he ended the vivid flashbacks of a veteran with PTSD. But most of his patients come from the Pariah Underground. A lot of folks in that circle have things in their past they would rather forget. Very odd jobs, but Jason Zhao is the only person who can do them. His clients, of course, can never remember exactly what he looks like.
Skills/Talents | In a world of computers and cameras, staying anonymous takes more than just a convenient power set. A retired vigilante in the Pariah Underground taught Jason to hack into security systems, plus the basics of martial self-defense. Jason always had the feeling his mentor was trying to groom him to follow in his footsteps as a vigilante. The poor old man must have been disappointed.
Family | Too many. A grandmother, a father, a mother and 3 sisters- all crammed into one little apartment.
Background | Unlike the brochures would tell you, New Haven isn't a perfect place. Zhao was born into the dark underbelly of this city. The Shanty district looks bad even to visitors, but it's worse for the folks that live there. A visitor can't see the mold in the apartments. Or the sick homeless men sleeping in the dumpsters. Zhao was there his whole childhood, and he saw it all.
That's why his powers meant so much to him. Some people would have been disappointed. When his power came in at 15, he didn't get super-speed, or flight, or laser vision. All Zhao could do is make people forget him. But if you're clever, and you're desperate, that's enough.
He got involved in a local gang. Not one of the fancy new powered groups, like the Syndicate, but just an old-fashioned guns-and-knives gang. They loved Jason's powers as much as he did, because he could make their victims forget who mugged them. Once, he even made a whole convenience store full of witnesses forget a robbery. That one really impressed the guys at the top, and then Zhao was making enough money to take care of his whole family. He learned to choke down the lingering guilt. If it weren't for him, he would tell himself, his grandma would have lost the apartment.
Things went on that way for years. It wasn't until he was about 18 that life started to shift. With Jason's help, the gang had gotten big enough to catch the attention of NOVA. The MADmen aren't stupid, and they had figured out that a "mentalist" Variant must be behind the convenient amnesia of every possible witness.
A MADman joined the gang undercover, and when he had learned that Jason was the Variant at work, he attempted an arrest. Maybe he figured that Jason's powers weren't a threat. Maybe he just thought he was too young to try anything. But either way, the MADman wasn't ready for what happened.
He had never needed to push his powers very far. But when the agent tried for an arrest, Jason panicked, and lashed out telepathically with all his strength. He only meant to make the man forget who the Variant was, but instead, he made the man forget... well, everything. It was like a wildfire. After Jason started it, he couldn't stop it anymore than the MAD agent could. He could feel every thought, feeling and experience fading away. And then the MADman collapsed, and Jason ran.
After that, he separated himself from his old gang. They're probably the only people around, besides his family, who still know his real face and name. Since then, Jason got involved with Pariah Underground. He learned from them how to stay anonymous. The event with the agent had shaken him, and he was afraid of being caught again. He doesn't think the MAD agent ever had a chance to report him officially, so he shouldn't be listed as Wanted yet. And if things go well, he never will be.
He visits his family just enough to keep them from worrying about him. Outside of them, almost all of his contact with people is limited to the Pariahs and his "hypnotherapy" clients.
Member
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