Charon
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| Charon, the Bone Breaker. | |
| Charon | |
| Player: @Charon. | |
| Origin: | Natural |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Scrapper |
| Security Level: | 50 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Robert Ian Black |
| Known Aliases: | None |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 37 |
| Height: | 6' 4" |
| Weight: | 200 lbs |
| Eye Color: | Brown |
| Hair Color: | Black |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | United States Citizen |
| Occupation: | None |
| Place of Birth: | Kings Row, Paragon City |
| Base of Operations: | The Gish, Kings Row |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | George Black (Deceased), Rose Black (Deceased). |
| Known Powers | |
| None | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Charon has trained himself to be at the peak of human ability, and is a master of several forms of martial arts, as well as some less elegant fighting techniques including various forms of boxing and street fighting. He is also a master tactician and an able detective, able to track criminals over large distances | |
| Equipment | |
| A quarterstaff once weilded by the man who murdered his fiancee, as well as an array of equipment carried in his utility belt including throwing knives, small grenades, medical kit and flashlight | |
| Charon has created a series of myths about himself that continue to intimidate and frighten criminals to this day. For example, many members of the criminal element still believe that Charon executes all criminals; this is a cleverly circulated lie | |
Charon came to be in February 2003, when player Charon was planning his hero for the eagerly awaited City of Heroes. He was created firstly as a natural character with a unique weapon, and secondly as a homage to many of the most well known characters in the Dark Age of comics, including but not limited to Rorschach, Batman, Daredevil and The Punisher. He made his first appearance in April 2004 with the launch of City of Heroes, but due to the lack of a staff powerset has unfortunately never reached 50 and has been re-rolled twice. He continues to be a strong presence in the writings and backstories for Charon's characters to this day.
Contents |
[edit] Affiliations
- Xanatos - A great ally of Charon's, Xanatos and Charon have worked together as a duo on many occasions, very often against threats which cross over from a cosmic level into Charon's realm: the streets.
- Makis - Another ally from the Bone Squad, Makis and Charon work together extensively and are famous for taking down the Clockwork King in a battle which raged through the sewers beneath the Row.
- Yin - An ally of Charon's on several occasions.
- Mr. D - Now deceased, once upon a time Mr. D and Charon worked as a duo in the months before forming the Bone Squad.
- Poison - A strong ally of Charon's.
- Icelander - Perhaps Charon's closest ally, Icelander was his co-leader in the Bone Squad, and they continue to work together extensively to this day on threats affecting the Row and beyond.
- Yin - An ally of Charon's on several occasions.
- The Widowed - Charon and the Widowed share their motivation for fighting crime, and as such have become great allies over the years after they battled a combined plot over the Christmas period in 2005.
- Sebastian Kain - A close ally of Charon's, SK and Charon have worked together several times to great effect, although some have theorised that SK knows more about Charon's recent disapearance than he is letting on.
[edit] Personality
Robert Ian Black was once a kind, if somewhat hardened and rugged man. He had been brought up in orphanges throughout his childhood and because of his rough unbringing had developed a steely exterior but could still be an extremely kind and caring person especially to his fiancee.
After her death, Robert began to flick backwards and forwards between two personalities; his original personality, and that of the vigilante 'Charon', a cold, calculating and efficient man who was interested in nothing except the apprehension of criminals. As Charon, Robert would begin to cut unnecessary words out of sentences, saying as little as possible for maximum effect. The creation of this new personality has been theorised by some to be a way of dealing with his grief and in fact may be indicative of mental illness.
Over time, his original personality simply disapeared and he began to become Charon full time. His 'secret' identity soon became public knowledge and now most people who care to do their research will know that Charon used to be Robert Black. However, this bit of information is of no use to anyone, as Robert is now Charon, a cold and calculating vigilante with no life aside from his neverending war against the criminal element that took his old life away from him.
[edit] Character History
Robert Ian Black was born an orphan; his father died before his birth and his mother during it. He was immediately taken into state care and spent the rest of his childhood feeling soiled and unwanted, passed around to various orphanages, none of which wanted to keep him in their care for long.
Growing up Robert had an extremely rough life and soon learned to toughen up. Where other children his age began to disapear into street gangs and spend their lives antagonising the other kids in the orphanage, Robert spent his time either protecting the other children or burying his head in mythology, a passion he had discovered at a young age. He found the ability to disapear through the page and into a fantastical world of gods, heroes and monsters and forget the dreary, rain soaked hole that existed outside his window.
At the age of eighteen, Robert was given access to a humble trust fund his father had set up for him before his death. This money was only enough for Robert to set himself up in his own apartment and enroll at Founders Falls university, where he began to study ancient mythology, endulging his childhood passion. For a while he was deeply unhappy, not sure that university life was for him, and was close to giving it up and becoming a dockworker when he met Maria DeMarco, the love of his life.
Maria convinced Robert to stay at university and make something of himself, and Robert agreed, becoming enthralled with the girl who seemingly loved him despite his face which many had likened to a rottweiler's when he was a child. Soon they made plans to move in together, and with the blessing of her father, Robert proposed to her and she accepted.
At around the same time Robert asked Salvatore DeMarco for his daughter's hand in marriage, Salvatore had begun having serious problems. A local gang run by a big time gangster named Frank 'Knuckles' LaRusso had been pressing him constantly for protection money, and when he refused to give in to their racketeering, he had begun to recieve threats; serious threats, not only against his life but against his antique shop, his livelihood, and most importantly against his family.
A few weeks later on a fateful night in November, Robert Black was researching for his paper on the afterlife in ancient mythology, and was currently making extensive notes on Charon, the ferryman of the Underworld who took souls across the River Acheron, for a price. It was only as he was reading up on ferryman that he realised he was late to walk Maria home from her father's antique shop.
Racing down the block, he got there just in time to see her pushing the last bolt into place, and after a brief quip from her about his punctuality they began to walk back towards High Park and her father's apartment, completely unaware of the gang that was following them in the darkness.
It was only when they entered and alleyway that connected High Park and The Gish that their aggressors made themselves known. They blocked both ends of the alleyway and descended on the couple. The thugs were lead by an almost inhuman looking man in a black body suit, carrying an array of weaponry. Robert was forced to watch as the hoodlums the assassin had with him had their way with Maria, and his desperate efforts to fight back and save her only caused the leader to become enraged and murder her. The assassin told Robert just before he knocked him unconcious with the quarterstaff he held in his hand that Salvatore should have paid his protection money, then the world spun and went black.
Robert woke up in what he first assumed was hell; a dank, underground cavern with a river free flowing in front of him, a dark world beyond the river. To his dismay, he was suddenly confronted by Charon, the ferryman of the Underworld, who told Robert that it was not yet his time, and that he should go back above ground and avenge the death of Maria, and bring all souls who must be punished to the Underworld in the name of Charon. The ferryman just had time to throw his rowing staff to Robert before he violently awoke.
He found himself in a hospital bed, a doctor leaning over him. Violently he sat up and pulled something out his skin. Despite the pleadings of the doctors and security staff, he stormed from his bed, stopping only to grab the quarterstaff he had been knocked out with, which had been left in the hospital ward ready for the police to pick up as evidence. He was determined to follow the words of Charon, whether they were a product of delerium or otherwise.
The Cloud 9 fire became infamous after that. Robert had headed back to the crime scene and overheard two homicide detectives naming it as a place where they could possibly find the culprits, thugs who worked for Frank LaRusso. Before the detectives or indeed any law enforcement could make it there, the Could 9 had burned to the ground, killing all inside. It was later confirmed that several of those killed in the fire had been linked to the murder of Maria DeMarco, and the only survivor, the bar's owner, claimed the fire had been started by a lone man carrying a stick who had barracaded the doors before throwing a home made molotov cocktail through the windows. The identity of the man would never be confirmed by the police, but Robert would know that these were the first lives he would take as Charon in the name of revenge.
Robert disapeared for the next few years, training under various vigilantes and martial arts masters in Paragon City and the wider USA. During this time he became a bare knuckle boxer on many underground circuits for brief stints, and took part in a great number of street fights. After training under the best and duking it out with the worst, Robert finally felt ready to return to Kings Row in the early nineties, and when he did where Robert Ian Black had once stood, now only Charon remained.
[edit] Powers
Although it has been rumoured many times throughout his career as a vigilante in Paragon City that Charon is an entity far from human, he is in fact naturally powered and as such possesses no superhuman powers. Instead, he relies on the training he recieved from many of Paragon City's vigilantes and the gruelling torture he put himself through in order to reach the absolute peak of human ability. Charon relies not on any superhuman power, but rather on his amazing abilities and well chosen equipment to fight crime.
[edit] Abilities
As Charon has no superpowers, he instead relies on a series of abilities which he has rigorously trained himself in both in the few years before becoming Charon and during his crime fighting years since.
[edit] Martial Arts
Charon trained under many of Paragon City's vigilantes and superheroes to reach the peak of human ability. he is a master of several martial arts and of course is especially efficient with his trademark quarterstaff. Charon also spent much of his time training in underground boxing and street fighting clubs, learning to fight in less elegant ways, and is perfeclty willing to 'fight dirty' against any opponent if he feels that is the best way to win the engagement. Over his years fighting crime Charon has honed these skills to a perfected art form, and now fights with a style that blends the most sophisticated martial arts with tricks he learnt bare knuckle boxing in back alleys.
[edit] Superior Reflexes
During his years training Charon developed extremely fast reflexes and is able to not only evade most physical attacks during a fight with large numbers of adversaries, but even anticipate these attacks and flawlessly protect himself from them with his superior agility. These reflexes also lend themselves to his uncanny talents for stealth and concealment.
[edit] Stealth and Disguise
Charon is a master of stealth, and while most of the time he will favor simply entering the fray, when concealment is needed he is one of the best, and long ago mastered the art of sneaking in and out of almost anywhere completely unnoticed. Charon has also become accustomed to disguising himself to infiltrate enemy organisations and has been known to pose as Crey Agents and even Arachnos troops in order to gain information or access to important files or artifacts.
[edit] Speed
Charon is extremely fast, both in combat and out. He uses this ability primiarily for travel, and his main mode of transport is simply free running across rooftops, fire escapes and other such elevated surfaces. He has also been known to chase criminals across entire City Zones employing his speed and fitness to remain on their trail until they are taken into custody.
[edit] Street Knowledge
Charon has spent so much time on the streets of Paragon City that he knows them like the back of his hand. This not only allows him to travel around the city faster and with more ease, knowing easy sewer access tunnels and abandoned subway openings to allow him to cross the city with extreme speed, but it also allows him to anticipate the escape routes of criminals and outwit them.
[edit] Determination
Perhaps Charon's greatest blessing and curse is his complete determination. Charon has spent his life hunting down criminals with a frightening ferocity, and has become so accustomed to his life as a vigilante that he now knows nothing else. Just as criminals are creatures of habit, so is Charon; he has become so wrapped up in the life he has created for himself that he no longer truly exists as Robert Ian Black. His old identity has long been public knowledge because for all intents and purposes Robert Black no longer exists. He is fully committed to his life as Charon and will stop at nothing to capture his mark.
[edit] Equipment
Charon wears a costume and utility belt which contain many items to aid him in his war against crime.
[edit] Kevlar Padding
Charon's costume is padded extensively with kevlar in to protect his body and vital organs from harm during fights. This has been paramount on occassions when he has become careless and gotten himself into situations in which otherwise he would have been killed.
[edit] Throwing Knives
Charon has become a master of utilising throwing knives efficiently and has developed pinpoint accuracy over his years as a vigilante. Charon is prone to using these on criminals who are attempting to escape, usually aiming for the lower legs to disable them while he deals with other adversaries.
[edit] Grenades
Charon carries an array of small explosives and grenades designed both for distraction and for taking out armored cars and robots such as those employed by the Council and Malta Group. He has also been known to utilise smoke and flashbang grenades to disorient large groups of foes before engaging them in combat.
[edit] Caltrops
Charon has been known to drop caltrops while scouting out a criminal hideout, hoping that when he engages the criminals themselves, they will run straight into the caltrops during their escape and disable themselves.
[edit] Grappling Hook
Although Charon's main mode of transport is simply free running from rooftop to rooftop, he has been known to use a grappling hook both in battle nad during travel to cross large distances that he is unable to leap. The grappling hook is also useful for crossing vertical distances quickly when he does not have time to climb the building side.
[edit] Flashlight
Charon carries a small flashlight for use either during stealth work or when travelling through dark tunnels such as the abandoned subway beneath Paragon City. This has been somewhat discarded since Charon installed nightvision into his mask, but he still keeps it in his utility belt, wary never to rely fully on technology.
[edit] Medical Kit
Charon carries a medical kit both for patching up his own injuries and for jumping to the aid of others. While Charon does not seem to be the sort of man who could care greatly for the injuries of other people, he will patch up others if only because it means they will still be able to provide back-up in later battles.
[edit] Lockpicking Kit
Charon carries a small, primitive lock picking kit simply for breaking into criminal holdouts and other hives of illegal activity. While he simply favors kicking doors down, he has still been known to enter silently on occassion when it is necessary.
[edit] Vulnerabilities
Contrary to the belief of some members of the criminal element, Charon is only human. While he is trained to absolute physical ability and trained in many disciplines of martial arts, and has even mastered evading attack, he is still vulnerable to harm. He is all too aware that one lucky shot from a single pistol or a well placed knife could kill him, and so are his enemies who continue to try to kill him with the most simple means regularly.
[edit] Adversaries
- Knuckles - A crime boss and notorious criminal, Knuckles is little more than a simple mob boss who had his knuckles replaced with titanium impants in order to win bare knuckle boxing fights before becoming a well respected mob boss.
- Styx - Charon's ex-sidekick now gone Rogue, Styx is hellbent on completely destroying the vigilante after his transformation into something not of this world.
- Mr. Mud - A small time criminal from one of the poorest areas of Kings Row, Charon helped to create this supercriminal who now resides in the Rogue Isles.
- Mindswipe - Another local criminal from Kings Row, Charon and Mindswipe had many run-ins through the nineties as Mindswipe tried to make as much money as possible.
- Volcanaut - Once one of Knucles LaRusso's greatest allies and enforcers, Volcanaut was present at the murder of Maria DeMarco and is one of the few who have not faced retribution from Charon. He became a criminal after discovering an ancient pair of magical artifacts in the mid nineties.
- Bloodywedd - The chief nemesis of the Widowed, Charon has battled Bloodywedd both by himself and with the help of another grief stricken vigilante from Kings Row.
- Emperor Xanatos - The evil praetorian counter part to Xanatos, Charon has fought the Emperor both on his own and at Xanatos's side.
[edit] To Contact This Character's Creator
- In-game: @Charon.
- CoHGuru Forums: Charon
- Official Forums: Mr_Mud
