Name: Tobias Egan
Alias: TBD (suggestions welcome)
Appearance:
Egan (image wouldn't post, not sure why)
Age: 26
Gender: M
Hometown: Quincy, Washington
"I could die here" is what Egan thought as he dangled one-handed from a tiny rock outcropping. He'd allowed himself to be distracted, had taken a bad route, and was having difficulty extracting himself. Also, his elbow was sore and he was losing strength in his grip.
Egan (no one called him by his first name, thanks to Ghostbusters) had grown up rock climbing, having been born in a part of Washington with plenty of places to climb. While not a sports player, he stayed in great shape and did cross-country in high school. His childhood was not traumatic, and while his parents weren't wealthy, they did well enough. When he wasn't climbing or running, he was busy with math club and science club, as well as judo. He was awarded a partial scholarship for math at the University of Washington, and after graduating pursued grad school. He was accepted in the PhD program at Bell Reach's main university, but returned home often (usually hitch-hiking) to see his family and go climbing.
And that was where The Incident (capitalized in his mind) took place. His search for another grip grew increasingly frantic as his hand started to slip. As he was cursing himself for free-climbing, he threw out a desperate hand at a tiny projection. As his grip failed, he felt himself starting to fall – but then he was dangling by three fingers. He brought up one foot, and it gripped the rock face magically. He found that both hands and feet had become like universal Velcro, and he easily completed the climb, to the amazement of his friends.
His analytical mind went to work figuring out just what had happened. After some experimentation, he concluded that he had actually acquired some sort of super power. He was even more amazed when he discovered that he could increase or decrease the friction of surfaces. How could he make use this ability?
Well, he did live in Bell Reach. What else was there to do besides become a super hero?
Egan scrimped together some money and bought one of those monochrome full-body suits. So far he's only engaged in some small-time hero work, stopping muggers and the like, but the notion of using his powers and his brain to put down bad guys appeals to him, and he's ready for more.
Egan is an easy-going person, comfortable in his own skin and proud to be a serious nerd. He objects strongly to inequality and injustice. He enjoys new experiences and doesn't mind looking like a newbie in unfamiliar situations. He loves mental challenges, and like puzzling out how physics and math can explain the world around him.
Skillset: Egan is a skilled mathematician, analytical thinker, and rock climber. He also has a lot of experience with surviving on meager funds. 😊
Powers: Egan can alter surfaces, including his own body, in such a way as to lower or increase the friction coefficient. This results in things being either very slippery or very grippy.
1. "Slick." When Egan uses this on an object, the surface becomes very smooth, and he can slide the object along as if it were near-frictionless. Smaller objects are also very difficult to grab. When he uses this on his body, he is extremely slippery and hard to hold on to. He can also take a running start and slide along at running speed (although he can't change direction unless there's a banked surface handy).
2. "Grip." When Egan uses this effect on an object, it becomes more difficult to move, having a kind of "Velcro effect". When he uses it on himself, he can grip slick surfaces and engage in wall-crawling. It's also difficult to take something he's got a grip on.
Egan has to be touching the object to affect it. If he stops touching the object, the effect fades over the course of a minute or so. He can turn effects on or off at will as long as (and only if) he's touching them. He can't do both effects to the same object at the same time, and he can't concentrate on more than two or three objects at the same time.
The area of effect is very small, just a few square feet. He can slide a car or a refrigerator down the street, but wouldn't be able to affect a tank or a garbage skip. He could cause several people nearby to have difficulty lifting their feet off the ground, but not a mob of them.
Tools and Equipment: He has an assortment of rock-climbing equipment (most of it quite well-used), but he rarely carries the stuff around. Ordinarily, he'd be carrying a wallet, an iPhone, a multi-tool, and a pocket bandana.
Additional Information: Egan is not much of an actual fighter. He prefers to use his powers or judo throws to overcome bad guys, as opposed to punching them out. The combination of judo and friction control can be very effective (e.g. throwing an opponent while making their clothes near frictionless, and watching them slide harmlessly away).
