Dead End Case
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| On the case. . . | |
| Nick Murphy | |
| Player: | |
| Origin: | Natural |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Blaster/Scrapper |
| Security Level: | Confidential |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Confidential |
| Known Aliases: | Icarus |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 25 |
| Height: | Confidential |
| Weight: | Confidential |
| Eye Color: | Brown |
| Hair Color: | Brown |
| Biographical Data | |
| Citizenship: | Confidential |
| Occupation: | Private Detective, Former Cop |
| Place of Birth: | Confidential |
| Current Residence: | Confidential |
| Marital Status: | Widowed |
| Known Relatives: | Sam Murphy(Father) |
| Known Powers | |
| None | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Sharp Mind, Training from his Father, PPD Training | |
| Equipment | |
| Beretta, Back-up Revolver, Daggers, Lock-Picking Tools | |
| Footnotes | |
| No additional information available. | |
"Pain isn't just a wound. It's a memory that haunts you, like a phantom limb, reminding you of when you were whole and happy. It's when we look back that we imagine how things could have happened differently, how catastrophe could have been avoided. It's only a fantasy. Pain is as human as love. It finds us whether we look for it or not. All we can do is face it, and try our best to overcome."
Contents |
Overview
A private eye with a troubled past, Nick Murphy is an ordinary man with extraordinary skills. Trained to be a practiced killer by his father, he's no less an artist at ending lives than the old man himself. But Nick found himself at odds with that path, and instead chose to become an officer of the law. It was a career he found fulfilling, and he was nothing if not an honest cop. He even had a loving, if troubled wife. It wasn't a perfect life, but it was something. Then, Nick broke his own rules, and everything fell apart.
Now dedicating himself to solving other people's mysteries, Nick walks the line between right and wrong, following his principles as best he can.
Upbringing
"There are doorways I haven't opened. Windows I have yet to look through. Going forward may not be the answer. Maybe I should go back."
Born to Sam and Sarah Murphy, Nick had a relatively normal early childhood. It wasn't until he was 12 that he began to experience his father's dark side. Sam Murphy, also known as Vigil, was a skilled, if unorthodox vigilante. Combining a clever mind, ruthless brutality, and a self-taught fighting style that confused even skilled martial artist, Vigil was a force to be reckoned with. He had experienced a hard life at the hands of Paragon City. It had a way of making victims out of ordinary men and women. Vigil had no intention of letting his son become a victim.
"The world is a wolf. It will stalk you, circle you, wait for the first sign of weakness before it strikes. When I'm done with you, you'll have no weaknesses."
Nick in his Teens
Nick's training began. He learned the ins and outs of hand-to-hand, made all manner of blades an extension of his own arm, and became a deadeye with firearms. Stamina, endurance, increasing his threshold for pain. The training was brutal. It was preparation for a hard world. As a young man, he bought into the idea. The world was unkind, so he had to be too.
But it wasn't forever. Sarah Murphy, Nick's mother, had long since left Sam. Not because she didn't love him, but because she didn't want him corrupting their son. When she discovered they had been training in secret, she sought help. She left home one night and was never seen again.
Nick blamed his father. The one kind person in their life had been taken away over some feud Vigil had with criminals. He couldn't forgive him, couldn't walk his path any more. He left when he was 19.
Some years later, Nick returned to the city as a cop. . .
To Protect and Serve
"I don't do that sort of thing anymore. I'm just a cop now."
With nowhere to go, Nick committed himself to the only noble profession he thought he might be good at. Joining the PPD, he proved himself an exemplary officer. His sharp mind, honed by the training with his father, and quick reflexes quickly took him to the position of detective. He was introduced to a former superadine addict by a mutual friend, and the two began a relationship. He was stable. He was doing something good. He felt right.
Just A Cop
He thought he had left his old life behind him the day he caught his father. Vigil behind bars. It was the toughest case he'd had yet, but Nick figured he'd be flying high. He could start again now. Live the life he always wanted.
"But the past doesn't disappear when we hide from it. It waits patiently until you least expect it. Sins you thought were long dead return as ghosts of a time long gone. Memories of our mistakes. Of our humanity."
Dig Two Graves
"Your mother didn't leave us. She was killed."
Vigil had made plenty of enemies over the course of his career, but none so powerful as Virgina Snowe. CEO of Kestrel Conglomerate, she was powerful, and had gone to great lengths to maintain that power. It was Vigil who had made trouble for her at every turn, who had gone to equal great lengths to expose her corruption. So when Sarah Murphy went to the police all those years ago, to reveal his identity and save her son, Snowe took the opportunity to strike at Vigil's heart.
When Nick discovered the truth, he realized what his father had been trying to do all along. Sam had been trying to save her. Snowe dangled the prize in front of him until he was caught by his own son, and then it was over. Sarah was dead. It was a sick game. The reason why nobody fucked with Snowe.
Sam Murphy, Life Sentence
Nick found himself at a crossroads. In one direction lay the life he had once lived. Pain, agony, bloody retribution. A loving mother's death about to be avenged. In the other, the life he had created for himself. The justice he once valued now seemed hollow, empty. His lover condemning his past. She couldn't understand. He couldn't let it go.
He crossed the line. Freeing his father. Storming Kestrel Tower. The cold precision with which they eliminated her security team, coupled with blood and thunder and rage, rage built up over years of frustration. Snowe plummeting from the rooftop to her death. It didn't make him feel better. But it was something.
Getting Away with Murder
"I felt guilty for what I had done. Justice wasn't in the cards. It never was."
Normally, breaking a man out of prison and killing the CEO of a major conglomerate is reason enough for prison. As the sirens came, Vigil embraced his new freedom. But Nick stayed behind. He felt lost. With freedom, he had been miserable. Perhaps locked up in the Zig, his choices limited to a singular course, he could find some solace. But as they say, no good deed goes unpunished.
Nick escaped the confines of a cop car as a hero, not a ruthless vigilante. The spin on his story was outrageous, but it was eaten up. Someone wanted him out of prison. Someone who appreciated his violent gesture. Nick would know soon enough.
In the meantime, trapped between two worlds, Nick left the force and went private. His agency, Icarus Investigations, is just a fancy name for a one man operation. Using both his mental and physical skills, he solves other people's mysteries, and tries to do some good where he can.
The Company You Keep
Vigil - Nick's father. Vigil is a vigilante who has operated in Paragon City for thirty years. Despite his age, he's forgotten more about killing criminals than most ever learn. Nick doesn't always agree with his father, but he doesn't hate the man. The two have collaborated on cases occasionally.
Unseen Scarlet - A beautiful and deadly assassin, Laurel is a regular femme fatale. Nick met her while tracking an increase in Skull activity, and has put himself on the case to find out who wants her killed. At least, that's what he's told her. Despite his secrecy, he feels himself drawn to her. Dangerous.
Paulo "Paul" Garcia - A friend of Nick's from the PPD. Murphy and Garcia were once partners, and after Nick broke his father out of prison, Garcia was the man who bailed him out of trouble. Garcia has friends in high places, but those friends now want something from Paul, and Nick.
Sovereign - A shadowy organization that contacts Nick through his best friend Paul. They know of Nick's past, and his training, and they are the only reason Nick didn't go to prison for killing Virginia Snowe. Every so often, they use him as a contract killer, holding Nick's debt over his head. But Nick's latest contract has proven to be more complicated than he first thought.
