Overmann
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
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| Overmann | |
| Player: @Overmann | |
| Origin: | Natural |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Tanker |
| Security Level: | 50 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Unknown |
| Known Aliases: | Wilhem Francis Newman |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 27 |
| Height: | 6'4" |
| Weight: | 225 lbs |
| Eye Color: | Silver |
| Hair Color: | White |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | Unconfirmed |
| Occupation: | Professional Hero |
| Place of Birth: | Unknown |
| Base of Operations: | Paragon City |
| Marital Status: | Unmarried |
| Known Relatives: | Requiem (genetic father), Dark Overmann (second clone of Requiem). Note that both Overmann and Dark Overmann are unaware of their relationship to Requiem. |
| Known Powers | |
| Unlocked Inner Will | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Overmann is highly trained in various forms of martial combat; he posses a genius level IQ and a photographic memory | |
| Equipment | |
| Paragon City issued Hero PDA | |
| No additional information available. | |
Overmann is a fictional character in the City of Heroes universe created by the user @Overmann. Overmann was inspired by the Nietzchean philosophically ideal human being, the Ubermensch (hence the name). Since the Fifth Column happened to have soldiers called 'ubermensch', it was decided that his past should involve the Council/5th Column. Fittingly, he is a Willpower Tanker.
Contents |
Pre-history and Birth
During the late 1970s, Requiem came to the realization that the Center would eventually attempt regain control over the troops and resources of the 5th Column. Since the Center was too well protected to assassinate, Requiem knew that his only chance of maintaining his position would be to face the Center in a head-on war. However, he also knew the Center would try to sabotage any such plans, and would likely succeed; his skills at espionage and vast mental powers would undermine his forces and, ultimately, turn them against him. He needed a way to procure troops that were immune to any sort of control the Center might try to exert over them.
In the spring of 1977, Requiem approached Nosferatu about creating a type of ubermensch soldier that was utterly immune to the Center's mind control powers. Nosferatu declared that such a feat was not possible; even he, the most advanced vampyr of all, was not totally free of the Center's influence. He then declared that only other powerful psychics could hope to remain free of his will.
Requiem informed Nosferatu that this was not true, for both he and Arakhn were immune from the Center's influence. Although he was surprised to learn this, Nosferatu was nonetheless adamant it would not help them resist the charms of the Center, for Nictus shadow seeds were in very short supply. Furious, Requiem demanded that Nosferatu find a way to create an army that could not be swayed by the Center, or else he would be forced to 'replace' Nosferatu with another biologist.
After over two years of research, Nosferatu told Requiem that he had finally found a way to produce Center-proof troops. He warned him, however, that the process would be neither easy nor cheap, and it would require some personal sacrifice on Requiem's behalf. Requiem commanded Nosferatu to explain himself. Nosferatu informed Requiem that in order to learn how the Nictus were immune from mind control powers, he had captured and interrogated Arakhn, who seemed to know much more about the Nictus the Requiem did.
Arakhn explained to Nosferatu that the Nictus, and all Kheldians had at one point in the past existed as material creatures, like humans. After millions of years of technological and cultural evolution, they eventually achieved a state of awareness which granted them utter control over their own molecular structure. They became trans-material, or 'energy' beings, existing without form and therefore, without normal physical limits.
However, they still require 'anchors' to physical space to prevent their trans-material matrices from dissipating, a process which would essentially kill them. Thus they developed the need to bond with other living creatures in order to sustain their continued existence.
Arakhn then told Nosferatu that all sentient beings have the potential to eventually become Kheldian-like creatures. She said that if he really needed to produce troops with kheldian-level mind control resistance without utilizing shadow seeds, he would have to find a way to implant the genetic memory of a kheldian into a human embryo.
This meant that a fully fused Nictus/human entity would have to conceive a physical heir with another human. At the time, Arakhn and Requiem were the only two such entities known to exist on earth...and Arakhn had recently escaped Nosferatu's lab.
If Requiem wanted to win a war against the Center, than he needed to do so with an army of his own children.
Requiem gave Nosferatu consent to use his DNA for what now termed Project: Legacy. Nosferatu then began to search for the right female ubermensch candidate. After several months, he found the woman with the right genetic structure. He implanted her eggs with the most 'choice qualities' of Requiem's DNA. He then selected seven of the eggs for incubation and froze the rest. After nine months of gestation, only a single zygote had survived to become an infant. An infant who, in late October of 1980, was Requiem's first and only genetically engineered son.
Biography
The infant spent the first two years of his life becoming indoctrinated into the 5th Column's warped philosophy. He was feed only the healthiest of foods and his physical condition was constantly monitored, but the child never displayed and superpowers of any sort. For all intents and purposes, he was just like any other baby.
Believing he had been tricked by Arakhn into wasting time and resources on a useless project, Requiem confronted her. She in formed him that Nosferatu had seen to it that she would only tell him the truth, and that if his son was not what Requiem had expected, than either he was not 'grooming' the child properly or Requiem 'was not who she thought he was', implying his fusion with his Nictus counter-part was incomplete.
Requiem told Nosferatu what Arakhn had said. Nosferatu was unsurprised, and he explained to Requiem that it would take time for the boy to live up to his full potential. Once this was reached, however, the benefits they could reap from it were incalculable.
"He will achieve what the Statesman only claimed to achieve," Nosferatu declared, "For we shall unlock his Inner Will."
The boy was raised on under a strict training regimen; his body and mind were pushed further and further each day. With every passing year, he became faster, stronger, and smarter. But he was still measuring within human limits, even if he had achieved Olympic level strength, speed, flexibility agility, and endurance by the time he was 18. Nosferatu (who had been in charge of the boy's upbringing all along) decided that it was time to stop treating him like a soldier and start treating the kid like an enemy.
Assuming the knowledge to transcend the human was locked deep inside the boy's mind, Nosferatu theories that in order to unleash his full potential he would have to put the boy's very life on the line. He would have to give him no choice but to become more than a mere man or die.
For four long years he was tortured and nearly killed; his body was brought to the brink of death countless times as Nosferatu attempted to crush his spirit. Then one day it happened: as the now-fully grown son of Requiem was about to die, he came to the realization that his fate was not a pre-determined curse, but a matter of choice. In order to survive he need only refuse to die. Death was not a doomed consequence but a question, a question with the simplest of answers: yes or no. Since he assumed extracting revenge upon his tormentors would be much more difficult were he dead, he chose no.
His wounds healed and he rose from the floor. He glared at Nosferatu with newly silver eyes, cold and hard as steel. And Nosferatu knew his work was complete.
He was hailed as the true Ubermensch and sent to a training facility to test and hone his abilities. Nosferatu informed Requiem that the 'prototype' was a success, and that mass production would begin shortly. But by this point it was the fall of 2004. The Center's forces attacked and the project died along with the 5th Column. During the chaos, the son of Requiem escaped onto the streets of Paragon City.
Although he was physically free of the Column, the unnamed prototype of Project: Legacy knew that he could not escape a quarter of a century's worth of brainwashing so easily. Thus, he sought out a way to remove or repress his memories, so that he might become totally free of the Column's influence. He found hope in Crey's then-new mind-wipe program. He volunteered to have all of his memories suppressed, to erase what the Column had made him into and become reborn as another person entirely. Crey granted his wish eagerly, but they took more from him that night than just his memories...
His memories gone, the Legacy prototype awoke in a gutter in Kings Row. After a brief, but violent encounter with some skulls, he realized that whoever he was, he was not like an normal person. He headed for city hall, hoping that one of the meta-human organizations might be able identify the source of his powers. But they were all mystified, and could only describe to the nameless man what his abilities were like, not where they came from.
He named himself Wilhem Francis Newman and took up a rigorous training regimen. After mastering his skills for over two years, Wilhem decided to become a registered hero. Today, he hires himself out to various contacts around the city for a small fee. He is independently wealthy, do more so to the items he has salvaged from his various adventures than the nominal fees he charges for his services.
Now, Overmann has attained the highest possible security clearance and continues to strive for absolute mastery over his abilities. He will need it if he is to achieve his revenge against Nosferatu, and rid the world of the 5th Column's presence once and for all.
Personality
Overmann is a lost soul trying to find his place in the world. Although he has volumes of both trivial and practical knowledge in his head, his lack of experience in life's many dramas means that at times he comes across more like a confused adolescent than the well-composed man he appears to be. He is a skilled fighter and enjoys combat to an almost unnatural degree; unlike most heroes, he will actually confront any and all enemies directly rather than resort to tactical strikes. In fact, when working with others he even goes out of his way to draw enemies toward him, as he finds that the more he is challenged, the stronger he becomes...
Powers
As the first known human to have unlocked his Inner Will, Overmann's powers are consider innate and natural, and are assumed immune to the effect of meta-human neutralizing agents. He has total control over his own body's molecular structure; as a result, he has meta-human level regenerative abilities and near-endless physical stamina. Overmann's skin naturally reacts to outside damage by increasing its molecular density, granting him superhuman resistance to almost any kind of harm. Overmann possess meta-human level senses and agility, and can detect and dodge most attacks before than can even reach him. Overmann can channel the collected bio-energy generated by his body into concentrated masses on the surface of his skin; he uses this ability to 'charge' his fists with vast amounts of the energy, so that he may use it offensively. Overmann can levitate himself by expelling thermal energy from his hands and feet; he can also use the technique to fly at a moderate speed and low altitude.
Enemies
The 5th Column and the Council in general.
Nosferatu, his creator and tormentor.
Arakhn, who considers him an 'abomination of science' and possesses a seemingly inexplicable hatred of him.
Requiem, who still has plans of his own for Overmann.
Dark Overmann, a second modified clone of Requiem whose embryo was stolen by the Center years ago.
The Center himself, who considers Overmann's very existence an offense to his station as rightful leader of the Council.
Trivia
Overmann was originally intended to be named 'Overman', but this name was already taken on virtue. The author preferred 'Overmann' to 'Over-Man' or 'Over Man' for aesthetic reasons.
Overmann was nearly given a completely different backstory, one where he would be the reincarnation of another of the author's City of inspired characters, the hero Nous. However, the author felt that Nous' magic origin would conflict with the 'natural' theme of the character, and so this idea was scrapped.
Overmann's alias, Wilhelm Francis Newman has the same initials as Friedrich Nietzsche, though in a different order. Wilhelm was also Nietzsche's middle name.
