Hellcat Jones
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| Hellcat Jones | |
| |
| Rockabilly Sumvabitch | |
| Metadata | |
| Player: | @TheImperial |
| Activity Level: | Regularly Played |
| Archetype: | Brute |
| Origin: | Science |
| Primary Set: | Super Strength |
| Secondary Set: | Electric Armor |
| Ancillary/Patron: | Information Unavailable |
| Level: | 33 |
| Legal Miscellanea | |
| Full Name: | Marcus Maxwell Jones, Jr. |
| Identity: | Public |
| Known Aliases: | Hellcat, Big Daddy Max, HCJ, Red |
| Occupation: | Automobile Fabricator, Arms Dealer |
| Education: | Confidential |
| Citizenship: | USA |
| Legal Status: | Convicted Felon |
| Marital Status: | Divorced |
| Known Relatives: | Marcus Jones, Sr. (father), Colleen Jones (mother), Kimberly Vance (sister), Jon Vance (brother-in-law), Emily Vance (niece), Evan O'Flanery (uncle, deceased), Katherine O'Flanery (aunt) |
| Date of Birth: | 03-03-1974 |
| Place of Birth: | Kansas City, MO, USA |
| Base of Operations: | Port Oakes, Etoile Islands |
| Group Affiliations: | The Dread Aces |
| Physical Characteristics | |
| Gender: | Male |
| Species: | Homo Sapien |
| Ethnicity: | Northern European Caucasian |
| Eye Color: | Blue |
| Hair Color: | Red |
| Complexion: | Very Fair |
| Height: | 7'2" |
| Weight: | 360lbs. |
| Build: | Extremely Muscular |
| Distinguishing Features: | Confidential |
Max "Hellcat" Jones is a hot rod fabricator, rockabilly hep cat, and pompously charming ass. But, it’s hard to make a living building custom cars in a criminally corrupt nation such as the Atlantic Ocean’s Etoile Islands. So, to help pad his pockets, he takes on any number of odds jobs, from running a chop shop operation on the side, acting as the occasional hired muscle, and even running stolen and illegal goods. But, truth be told, he’d rather be able to just get to work becoming known (and paid accordingly) as one of the world’s finest old school hot rod builders.
Contents |
[edit] History
(Section being rewritten. Born in KC, moved to Paragon, and got involved in its seedy criminal underbelly...)
However, one particular job went terrifyingly wrong. Max was spotted by police loading some stolen electronics into his vehicle, which lead to an eighty mile high speed chase. He lead his pursuers crashing through the gates of the Kennedy Nuclear Power Station, where he left his car and ran on foot into the power plant. In while attempting to hide, Max accidentally throws a switch which powers up the massive electrical coil he was hiding in. Instead of being electrocuted to death, a twist of fate altered his body chemistry. Now able to absorb energy to increase his strength and durability, Max was able to fight his way out, severely injuring Officer Charles Stevenson in the process. He arrived home to find his wife in bed with another man, whom he proceeded to beat to within an inch of his life. Police later arrested Max, and he was summarily convicted of the assault, but enough evidence could not be gathered to convict him on any of the more serious charges.
Max was eventually paroled, and almost immediately violated the terms of that parole by leaving the country and settling in the Atlantic Ocean's notorious Etolie Islands. There, he called on those automotive contacts he had made in years past and set about his hot rod dreams by opening Renegade Kustom Kars. Business was slow for the first several months (something to be expected in a nation experiencing the constant social and economic turmoil brought about by Arachnos), so Max took to running a chop shop operation and rebuilding his IRA gun running contacts. Fortunately, his cars began to attract the attention of the hot rod world, and work began to pick up substantially... although that didn't stop him from making cash ont he side with his arms deals.
The Rikti invasion of 2007 prompted some significant changes in Max's life. Not only did he have his old costume brought out of mothballs to be patched up and repaired, but he also ran into some of the Dread Aces, which he had not seen for several months and had presumed, dead by way of alien attack. When before the war, Max continually spurned their occasional sales pitches and even their general company, he was shocked at how relieved he was to learn of their survival. Surprising even himself, Max accepted Jet Nitro's offer of membership. Now, he splits his time building hot rods at his shop and keeping all the gears and engines of the Aces running.
[edit] Recent Events
"Recent Events" are considered to begin in January 2008.
- After being largely absent from the day to day operations of the Dread Aces for several months (due to the continued growth of Renegade Kustom Kars), Max begins to spend time again with them on a more substantial basis, being introduced to some of the newer crew members such as Firelight and Pinwheel.
- Crimson Cutlass begins a substantial restructuring of the Aces' roster. In its course, she asks Max to act as the crew's Chief Engineer and oversee the haphazard group of mechanics and coordinate any repairs and maintenance the airship or smaller flyers need.
- After the effective disbandment of the Dread Aces, Max returns to his hot rod work and begins dabbling in a small time gunrunning operation using his contacts in the IRA. His various "work" endeavors keep him busy and away from the social life in the Rogue Isles or even the Eastern Seaboard.
[edit] Public Knowledge & Rumors
Max "Hellcat" Jones has achieved some small measure of notoriety across the country in certain circles, particularly the custom car & hot rod market. Past that, he attempts to keep a low profile with his less than legal arms dealings. There is word on the streets of a reality television deal being brokered with the cable channel FX.
[edit] Personality
- Main Article: Hellcat Jones' Personality
A private and practical man, Max shows very little patience for impractical, wild ideas and the thought of going on “adventures.” Instead, he prefers to keep his attention focused sharply on those handful of interests that occupy his time in a meaningful way.
This isn't too say that Hellcat is a dour individual; on the contrary, he can be quite jovial and is nearly always bitingly sarcastic. However, that happy-go-lucky disposition and carefree narcissism is largely an armor-like veneer that has allowed him to live a happliy shallow life, keeping the world around him at arm's length away.
[edit] Powers and Abilities
[edit] Powers
Effectively, Hellcat Jones has become a human battery.
He suffered an accident at an nuclear power plant while running from police after an arms deal went south. Instead of being electrocuted to death with millions of volts of electricity, a twist of fate bestowed the rogue with a changed body chemistry, allowing him absorb kinetic energy & electricity to supercharge his body's motor skills, manual dexterity, and stamina. However, the majority of absorbed energy quickly dissipates within Jone's unique physiology and must either be quickly put to use or risk it being wasted. He can be overwhelmed by sufficient force to such a point where his body is unable to absorb anymore energy.
Energy Absorption: Jones can absorb energy, within certain limits, and metabolize it to enhance his own physical strength, speed, and stamina. While he can convert direct kinetic energy from physical impacts (such as gunfire and punches), his body is much more efficient at converting electricity and other energy sources such as telekinetic energy.
- Electrical Interference: The latent electrical field that courses through his body shields his mind from detection and intrusion by telepathy. As with his powers of Energy Absorption, this ability is largely dependent on the ammount of energy he has recently metabolized. At rest, the shield would prove bothersome to those with moderate telepathic powers, but at full strength would present a substantial challenge to the world's most powerful telepaths.
- Electrical Concussive Blasts: Jones is capable of directing the electrical field surrounding him into high charged short ranged blasts that can both harm living tissue and act as an effective EMP blast as a countermeasure against electronics and computers. However, these blasts have a much higher costs ratio to Jones' body than the "normal" metabolizing of electrical energy and must be used sparingly.
Strength Level: Without having absorbed additional kinetic or electrical energy, Hellcat Jones possesses the normal strength of a man of his age, height, and build who engages in intensive regular exercise. However, Jones can gain superhuman levels of strength of the fifteen ton range by absorbing energy.
- Leaping: Jones' enhanced strength also extends to his powerful leg muscles, allowing him to jump great distances and heights. While the exact limit is unknown, he is capable of easily leaping a height of 100 feet.
[edit] Abilities
Jones is an accomplished mechanic, machinesmith, and automotive fabricator.
He is a capable hand-to-hand combatant, regularly training in Western boxing and Muay Thai, who prefers to stick with his hands when getting in close combat instead of a knife or other weaponry. In addition, Jones is a capable marksman, having aquired experience with firearms from his personal involvement in the arms trade.
[edit] Paraphernalia
Transportation: As a mechanic and automobile fabricator, Jones has access to a number of vehicles for his personal and "professional" use (i.e. getaway cars).
- "Patsy:" One of Max's most prized possessions is "Patsy," a 1949 Mercury coupe lead sled. Purchased from a farmer who had been using the car as a chicken coop, Max took the better part of three years lovingly restoring and chopping the car to its current status as a flat black, mean spirited road devil. At first, Max kept a meticulously restored original engine in the Mercury, but after its theft by The Crimson Cutlass and subsequent wreck, he set a V-8 Hemi into the engine compartment of the lead sled and took to making it a grade A getaway car.
- "Der Kommissar:" Max also owns a Ford "Deuce" roadster convertible, nicknamed "Der Kommissar". After the wreck of the Mercury, it quickly became his primary mode of transportation, and he is often seen driving the car to and from the Pocket D, usually parking it by the Arena in Port Oakes. Due to the circumstances that lead to the downfall of "Pasty" from a magazine feature & show quality lead sled to a bullet hole ridden crime wagon, Max is now extremely careful with how and with whom he drives the roadster around.
Equipment: Jones has access to a remarkable number of heavy equipment related to auto repair and fabrication. This equipment is chiefly located at the following two locations:
- Renegade Kustom Kars: Jones owns & operates a hot rod shop in the Rogue Isles named Renegade Kustom Kars. While old school hot rods and lead sleds are his first love, they aren't in high enough demand around the Isles to make a decent living. To that end, Jones does odd jobs repairing & armoring up all sorts of getaway cars and faux-military rigs.
- The Chop Shop: It's hard to earn a good living making hot rods around the Rogue Isles, so Jones procures an abandoned warehouse in Port Oakes' shipyard. The building, though falling apart and about to collapse in on itself from years of disrepair, has become the center of Jones' illegal chop-shop and armored car business when he wants to keep his work out of the watchful eye of Arachnos and others.
Weapons: Due to his illegal work gunrunning, Jones had access to a number of conventional firearms ranging from rifles to machine guns to explosives. Typically, he employs the use of an M60 machine fun shoulder fired in the manner of US Navy SEALs in addition to a compliment of grenades from various manufacturers.
[edit] Weaknesses
As a result of his electrical accident, Max is subject to seizures of various strengths and durations, similar to Epilepsy. When his power of energy absorption is overloaded, he can be subject to particularly violent Tonic-clonic seizures.
[edit] Affiliations
Even before the twists and turns of life turned him into a deep seeded misanthrope, Max was always a rather private individual. Though he is a jovial regular of the Pocket D club, whorehouses, and seedy rockabilly dives & honky tonks, there are few he considers to be friends, and even those he tends to keep at arm's length. By and large, Max immensely enjoys his blatantly shallow lifestyle, having been burnt one too many times in the past to divulge much of anything personal or intimate with those he socializes with.
Following his parole from Ziggursky Penitentiary, much of Max's social life has become wrapped up with The Dread Aces. His relationship to the plucky band of sky pirates is a complex one, to say the least, and he often finds himself bemoaning the group's high jinks and sometimes rather strained hold on reality. Although he is loathe to admit it publicly, his relationships with The Crimson Cutlass, Jet Nitro, and other members of the crew have moved beyond a mere quid pro quo business relationship into the nebulous realms of genuine friendship.
[edit] Friends & Partners in Crime
- The Crimson Cutlass: Max met the Cutlass as her alter ego, charter pilot Sierra Hawthorne, one night at the D. Max proceeded to get unusually drunk, and Hawthorne offered to help get the inebriated buffoon home safely. Max was duped, however, and The Crimson Cutlass dropped Max off at the wrong hotel and proceeded to steal his beloved '49 Mercy, "Patsy." Since then, the Crimson Cutlass has hired Max in his role as mechanic and fabricator several times since then. He is one of the few people who is aware of Cutlass' secret identity of Hawthorne.
- Fist Fight: This young woman has taken to calling Max "Pops," asking to work at his shop, and generally being a nusence. Yet, Max has taken to watching out over the rambunctious girl, even though she often grates his nerves.
[edit] Antagonists & Rivals
- Checkpoint: The same accident that gave Jones his powers also tangentially created the police hero now known as Checkpoint. Officer Charles Stevenson pursued Hellcat Jones into the power station, and the ensuing accident severely mangled his body. Not realizing his own newly given strength, Jones inadvertently crushed the policeman's arms, which later were amputated. Now, Checkpoint is hell bent on bringing Jones to justice.
[edit] Trivia
Did you know that Hellcat Jones...
- would ideally be portrayed by Christopher Meloni (best known as Detective Stabler from Law & Order: SVU).
- plays and owns a double bass. While he is firmly entrenched in the rockabilly & alt-country scene (and often plays in pickup sets around town), he has taken to learning to play classical pieces after hearing Bach's Suites for Unaccompanied Cello transposed for base (on a CD given to him by his mother). He's neither gifted nor proficient, yet, but enjoys learning in secret.
- loves Burlesque (watching and not performing, that is, thankyouverymuch).
- has his shop plastered with Viva Van Story's pinups - in particular this one, along with this one, and definately this one!
- likes his coffee simple, strong, and black. Don't bother him with your fancy mochas and blended sugar free nonfat half caf lattes. When he's in his garage working, he always keeps a big pot of it brewing, as he drinks tons of this stuff.
- is just a simple with his alcohol as his coffee. He sticks with beer, and in particular porters and stouts, rather than wine or liquor. He will, on occasion, kick back and enjoy some whiskey with friends.
- hates peanut butter & jelly sandwiches after his family ate them nearly exclusively during a tight two year stretch when he was a kid. He can't stand going hungry or without food. Part of this may be due to his altered metabolism, but most of it is psychologically linked to the poverty of his childhood. Good luck trying to get him to divulge which.
- happily keeps tracks of his days and weeks with the Hot Rod Dolls calender. (Deviantart)
- used to smoke cigarettes, but quit almost ten years ago. On occasion, he can be talked into smoking a hand rolled clove.
- curses like a sailor.
- still keeps an old, crinkled photo of his ex-wife in his wallet, although he doesn't admit it to anyone.
- is rather attatched to his muttonchops, so don't expect him to shave them off anytime soon.
- likes Major League Baseball and still has a fondness for his hometown Kansas City Royals, even if he has adapted well to rooting for the Red Sox after living in New England for his whole adult life.
[edit] Character Evolution
Hellcat Jones was originally created as a token meat shield, only with a slight rockabilly bent to differentiate him from being "Generic Enforcer #4730." But, over time, the character has taken on a very certain niche within the villainous community. Now, he may not be musclebound enforcer numero uno, but he is building a reputation for the man who can fix your car, boat, plane, whatever, when no one else can.
Then, I realized the character as a whole accidentally bared too much similarity to Vin Diesel's character Dominic Toretto from The Fast and the Furious. In attempt to differentiate the two (as well as give the character a direction in which to grow), I wrote into his history and set the stage in his future for his connection to gunrunning.
In my mind, Hellcat's overarching plot line began to take shape as an average, selfish man who's decisions begin to alienate those around him and turn him into a truly evil person. As idealistic a literary exercise as that would be, its ramifications in-game were less than pleasant. Suffice it to say, roleplaying a cynical jerk all the time who runs his friends off doesn't make for enjoyable roleplaying over the long term. The second Rikti invasion presented an opportunity to re-shape Hellcat's personality into its former, more jovial (if still cynical and narcissistic) manner.
[edit] See Also
- Hero Corps. No. 7
- Art Guides: Civilian Wear Classic Comics Spandex Costume
- Deviantart Old-School / Vintage / Rockabilly Pinup finds (Some NSFW): ButterflyLady CherryBlossoms1 SpookySally vivavanstory MissLindseyLou Madams06 Samantha-Doll koukei ratrodhotrodgirl MissKellyDoll rottencandy drmarten
Categories: Character | Mutant | Brute | Male | Villain | Mercenary | Public Identity | Guruverse | The Dread Aces
