Christmas
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| Christmas | |
| |
| Courtesy of xJoeDx on DeviantArt | |
| Metadata | |
| Player: | @Afterglow |
| Activity Level: | Regularly Played |
| Archetype: | Crab Spider/Brute/Mastermind |
| Origin: | Natural |
| Primary Set: | Crab Spider Soldier/Street Justice/Robots |
| Secondary Set: | Crab Spider Training/Regeneration/Traps |
| Ancillary/Patron: | Information Unavailable |
| Level: | 35/23/2 |
| Legal Miscellanea | |
| Full Name: | Adam Deacon |
| Identity: | Public |
| Known Aliases: | None |
| Occupation: | Museum Curator, Adventurer, Donut Shop Owner |
| Education: | High School Education |
| Citizenship: | USA |
| Legal Status: | No Known Criminal Record |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Isaac Deacon (Grandfather), Nicholas Deacon (Father), |
| Date of Birth: | 4/19/1984 |
| Place of Birth: | Solitaire City, Washington |
| Base of Operations: | Celebration Center |
| Group Affiliations: | None, Formerly The Peacekeepers |
| Physical Characteristics | |
| Gender: | Male |
| Species: | Human |
| Ethnicity: | Caucasian |
| Eye Color: | Blue |
| Hair Color: | Dark Brown |
| Complexion: | Tan |
| Height: | 6'3" |
| Weight: | 225lbs. |
| Build: | Athletic |
| Distinguishing Features: | |
Decking the halls... with Justice!
Contents |
History
The Golden Age
In 1948, shortly after the Second World War, a team of heroes emerged from the masses and paved a path toward justice. They were the Holidays. Led by boxer Isaac Deacon under the guise of Father Christmas, the Holidays were on top of the world. In addition to Father Christmas, the Holidays consisted of Cupid, an Olympic Archer named Christopher Owens, Rushmore, a super speeding product of the US government’s super soldier program named Thomas Gibson, The Monster Man, a student of magic able to conjure up the abilities of almost any monster of lore named Sebastian Caine, and Oren Sterling, The Gobbler, a smart though inefficient ornithologist who has the wondrous ability to communicate with birds, not control, just communicate. Unfortunately the only birds that talked back were turkeys, but he’s rich, and there’s always room for that in a super team.
They worked together for a number of years before going their separate ways. They parted on good terms and went on to lead separate lives for a short time. Isaac Deacon married, had a child, Nicholas Deacon, and became a trainer for up and coming boxers in his Gym, Deacon’s Den. Christopher Owens grew fond of the life of a costumed crime fighter and began masquerading as the hero Drawstring. Thomas Gibson was offered a job with the military, though he still fought crime part time, normally as directed by the federal government. Sebastian Caine went back to his studies of the arcane arts only emerging when the world was is mystic peril. And Oren Sterling, poor stupid Oren, spent most of his time trying to convince other birds that speaking with him wasn’t a waste of time. He was committed to an asylum a couple of times for observation, normally resulting in one of the Holidays showing up in costume to have him released.
Late in the 1950s, the malevolently maniacal Black Merlin had Solitaire City, the former headquarters of the Holidays, in a state of permanent darkness, threatening to do so to the entire country if the Holidays didn’t surrender themselves to him atop Celebration Center, the Holidays HQ. The Holidays had foiled his attempts to replace the president with a doppelganger, causing him to be confined to an underground prison for threats to society. Utilizing a small amount of wax from a candle during a power outage, Black Merlin formed a small doll resembling the guard outside of his cell, forcing the guard to release him. Afterwards, Merlin killed his way to Solitaire City leaving a body count numbering in the hundreds. The Holidays squared off with Black Merlin atop the CC in an epic battle that left half the team in critical condition. But with the combined gifts of The Monster Man, and his broadened arcane knowledge, and, surprisingly enough, The Gobbler, the Holidays banished Black Merlin to a pocket dimension inside the sun.
The Silver Age
The 1960s began off strong with the Holidays taking down a radical group known as the New Freedom Coalition who emphasized naziesque philosophy in their bid to cleanse the United States of those they deemed unclean. Of course, this led to the ACLU protests of the Holidays due to their roster consisting of only males, with Cupid revealing his identity as an African-American to prove that the Holidays weren’t racists. Not having realized the political ramifications of their original roster, and to prove to the world that they were not guilty of the discriminatory behavior that they were accused of, the Holidays welcomed to the team three heroes. The first to join was the female gimmick dynamo, Easter aka Jennifer Flores, who utilized her great mind to invent a number of Easter-egg-shaped gimmicks with different effects. Next to join was the redheaded beauty, Clover aka Sheila O’Brien, who, through an centuries old deal with a leprechaun, inherited her family’s gift for releasing a trapped leprechaun in the form of near infallible luck. The last to join was the Jewish hero, Menorah aka David Asher, who through an inborn genetic anomaly was born with steel hard skin and the ability to shape fire at will.
With the ACLU protests quashed, the Holidays spent most of the 60s fighting off the sudden increase in costumed crime. With many threats from outside like the Mad Maid, The Lemur King, Casanova, and Anti-Grav, the Holidays never would have guessed that their biggest threat would have come from the inside.
After years of further government experimentation to try to enhance his abilities, Rushmore’s mind had become fragile and progressively more unstable, as did his actions. Unfortunately, with as busy as the team was with the constant robberies, kidnappings, and other various illegal activities, no one noticed until it was too late. Distraught with his teammates’ lack of care about his mental state, Rushmore began a plot to destroy the lives of his original teammates and friends. He drained the account of Oren Sterling and funneled it into an off shore account. He had Sebastian Caine under observation from the FBI due to rumors of his worshiping the devil and ties to a number cults. He spread rumors of Christopher Owens having connections to the Black Panthers. He kidnapped the child of Isaac Deacon to lure the original Holidays to the Celebration Center, which he had rigged with enough explosives to level ten city blocks. As the Holidays made their way into Celebration Center, Rushmore sped in and separated them to place them at a disadvantage, but having worked together for so long, the Holidays expected such an tactic and factored it into their plan of action. The Gobbler commanded his army of turkeys to keep Rushmore occupied while the Monster Man cast a protective spell to seal off the building to keep the explosion from hurting anyone but those inside. All the while, Cupid set up his shot, waiting for the right moment. As Father Christmas tried to reason with Rushmore, Cupid finally lined his shot up, and let the arrow fly. As the arrow zipped closer to Rushmore, he darted up to the rafters, grabbed Cupid and moved him into the arrows path piercing both of their hearts and ending both of their lives.
With two of the founding members dead, the original Holidays left the team but not before amending the charter so that they and any of their descendents always had a spot on the team. And thus, the Holidays, with only its three newest members, ended the 1960s.
The Bronze Age
With the original Holidays now gone, Menorah took over the reins of the team until they could find a new leader. Under his leadership, the team began to reform with new members. The first to join was the son of Isaac Deacon. The now nineteen year old Nicholas Deacon took over his father’s spot on the team after he and Jennifer Flores reworked Anti Grav’s gravity gloves into a gravity rod capable of negating and increasing gravity in small areas, as well as granting him the ability to fly. Hoping to do his father proud and make a name for himself, Nicholas Deacon took the mantle of Saint Nick and, with his gravity bending North Pole, helped to give the holidays some hope of regaining the glory that the original team had. In addition to Saint Nick, the roles of all of the original Holidays were filled with new heroes. In the place of the Monster Man was an archaeologist named Peter Terre who became the Living Corpse by using new technology to harness the magical properties of an Anubis statue to allow him to change from a living to an undead state and back through the use of his afterlife belt. In the place of Cupid was Lovebird, aka Catherine Crown, a pheromone emitting perfume heiress who used her daddy’s fortune to do some good for the country after finding out how much pollution that her father’s factories were emitting into the atmosphere. In the place of Rushmore was a solar powered hero named Star Spangler. Born with a star for a heart and a heart of gold, Jack Murphy used his American image to hold the government up to a higher standard, not automatically cow toeing to the government. Finally, there was the Gobbler, poor stupid Oren. After getting his money back after the death of Cupid and Rushmore, Oren gave up trying to communicate with other birds and started a family. Neither he nor his 4 year old son were up to filling in his spot on the team, so the Holidays recruited Plymouth Rock, a Native American Geomancer who legally changed his name to Plymouth Rock claiming that his parents had gotten used to suburban life and had begun to shun their tribal beliefs. They were green for sure, but they showed promise. Unfortunately, though a powerful man, David Asher just didn’t have the passion to lead that Isaac Deacon did.
The Holidays seemed to stumble through the 70s, with minimal notable victories, and minimal strife. That was until two old foes returned to wreak havoc on Solitaire City. On All Hallows Eve, Black Merlin and Rushmore took the Holidays on the ride of their life. After battling his way out of the pocket dimension that he was banished to in the 50s, Black Merlin used his arcane abilities to resurrect Thomas Gibson. With a second chance at life and no fear of death, Thomas Gibson was in a mood for some fun. With his ability to be on both sides of the country in a matter of seconds, making himself disappear and reappear in the blink of an eye was no challenge. For hours, Merlin and Gibson toyed with the Holidays, even making time to go after the retired members. With the new team still lacking cohesion, Black Merlin and Rushmore ran rampant, enslaving the entire city in a pseudo-trancic state, swamped by fear and panic. As riots broke out all over the city, the New Holidays did their best to quell the situation. Lovebird used her pheromones to try to counteract the panic, Menorah, Living Corpse and Saint Nick tried to infiltrate Black Merlin’s conjured castle stronghold. Star Spangler flew into the sky and tried to act as a second sun to counteract the darkness. Plymouth Rock, Clover, and Easter took to the streets in an effort to limit the civilian casualties. The battle was looking grim, until Father Christmas, the Monster Man, and The Gobbler showed up. Monster Man and Black Merlin went toe to toe above the city as Father Christmas led the Gobbler, Living Corpse, Menorah and Saint Nick against Rushmore. Saint Nick took the battle especially personal after his kidnapping by Rushmore in the 60s. His brash actions almost cost the strike team the battle, but after being intentionally knocked unconscious by Menorah, Saint Nick was forced to sit out the battle. The Living Corpse managed to drain a bit of Rushmore’s energy, allowing Menorah to surround him in a cage of blue flames, long enough for Gobbler and Father Christmas to get close enough to him to try to render him unconscious but not before Rushmore could draw the Gobbler into the cage and make him burst into flames. At that moment, Menorah’s concentration was lost and Rushmore rushed out of the stronghold. Meanwhile in the sky, the Monster Man was being overtaken by Black Merlin. As he readied the same enchantment that banished Black Merlin to the sun, Star Spangler flew in to aide Monster Man, interrupting the transition banishing Black Merlin to the star that Star Spangler housed as a heart. The two joined, into one being, allowing Black Merlin to harness the abilities of Star Spangler, and turning the tides of the battle. As Black Merlin’s darkness entered its second day, he used his newly strengthened powers to raise the dead in the local cemeteries to amass an army to push all that would oppose him out of the city. As he spoke to his armies, a single arrow pierced his skull. As he whipped around, he saw the corpse of Christopher Owen, Cupid, standing there with bow in hand. As Black Merlin lay dying, Father Christmas and the Monster Man confronted Cupid, who told them that in the afterlife, he had made peace with the soul of Thomas Gibson and that the corpse that had assisted Black Merlin was but a mindless puppet under his control.
Oren Sterling died while being treated for third degree burns, and weeks later, David Asher hung himself out of grief. After the passing of Menorah, Saint Nick took over the reins of the team, though there were those who worried about his ability to lead.
The Modern Age
With Saint Nick’s inability to perform well as a leader, he instead began to open membership to anyone who could find a tie to a holiday, even allowing holidays to be represented by multiple heroes at once. The team’s membership ballooned from six members to upwards of twenty. This brought disarray to the team and the city. With the increased number of heroes and no one to manage them, the Holidays new members ran rampant over the city. This wasn’t all at once mind you, it was over many year. It started off with slight disturbances and recklessness, but by the late 90s, the citizens were in as much fear of the Holidays as they were of the villains that they fought. They had become a laughing stock, not just because they had a member called the April Fool, and not just because of their methods, but because of their judgment. It took them over a year to figure out that the Ann Arbor Avenger wasn’t a hero dedicated to honoring Arbor Day, but just another guy from Michigan. They had two heroes both operating under the name of Easter, and neither was the original, who had retired shortly after Saint Nick took over the role of leader. Plymouth Rock was arrested for drug possession. Lovebird went to work for her father, helping to reform the environmental aspects of his business. Even Saint Nick began taking a back seat in the mid 80s with the birth of his son. Clover was killed by a casino owner after she was recognized in his casino despite the fact that she wasn’t cheating. And it wasn’t just former members that were having a hard time. Newer heroes like the Time Saver, the daylight savings time hero who could go back or forward in time one hour, was outed as being a long time adult film star. Meurte, the Mexican hero for the day of the dead, turned out to really be a convicted killer, not that his name did much to hide that fact. The Columbian, a supposed direct descendant of Christopher Columbus with no powers whatsoever, sued his way onto the team and is currently doing twenty years for drug trafficking. All three Mardi Gras was arrested for public indecency. And Terra Firma, the Earth Day hero, was mistaken for an alien in the deep south and was shot to death by forty drunk rednecks.
It seemed that the original members had all given up on the Holidays, and the Holidays had given up on doing things for the betterment of the city. They had gone wild for the most part, and not in a late night video sort of way, with very few trying to do things right, such as The Gobbler, The Heartbreak Kid, one of the Easters, and Sleigh Belle. The city held a vote, and in the year 2004, the city was one of the few in the country to pass a No Capes Policy. The city called in the armed forces and forcibly removed those who moonlit as costumed vigilantes. Celebration Center was closed and boarded up until the owner could come to claim it, and then the city would pay to have it moved or demolished. The elderly Isaac Deacon, along with the now wheelchair ridden Sebastian Caine, returned to the Celebration Center to decide what to do with it. When they entered, they found Isaac’s grandson, Adam, sleeping in the meeting room, as he had for some time. He had lost his job, and with the no powers ruling handed down by the city, he couldn’t use his abilites to their fullest in public without fear of prosecution, not to mention with his father being who he was, he was all but black listed in Solitaire City. In the view of his grandson living in his condemned old headquarters, Isaac agreed to sign over the building and everything in it to Adam as long as he was willing to try to save the family’s reputation after what Isaac’s son had done to destroy it.
Out of the Shadows
To be added...
The Peacekeepers
To be added...
Monitor Duty
To be added...
Personality
Motivations
Adam is trying to regain the family honor and credibility that his grandfather spent his life building, and his father spent a scant few years destroying. After realizing his lack of confidence in himself as a leader due to fears of ending up like his father, Adam chose to attempt to redeem the Deacon family reputation before even considering the legacy of the Holidays as a whole.
Celebration Center Inc.
After settling in Paragon City, Adam set up the Celebration Center as a musuem to fund a non-profit organization that aided children. The short list of the organization's charitable works includes:
Camp Christmas: One of the main works of Celebration Center Inc. is a Summer camp for underprivileged children. Adam was able to talk many of the Holidays more reputable former members into volunteering a couple of weeks each summer to give the children a chance to forget their situation in life and just be kids. Adam even managed to convince the Rhode Island legislature to allow his camp to act as a rehabilitaion center for former Holidays villains so that they may become productive members of society by allowing them to come into supervised contact with the normal people that their crimes have effected.
Project: Sleigh Ride: Much like the marine organized Toys for Tots, Adam has helped to organize a charity to provide Christmas presents for orphanages as well as local children who write letters to Santa Claus. He is aided on Christmas Eve by his father and grandfather, all three of which take different sections of the city, delivering presents dressed as Santa Claus and using variations of Adam's Christmas Coupe to give the illusion of traveling by flying sleigh. The charity is mainly funded through the sales of Christmas cards, though individual donations are accepted as well.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
Intuition: His superhuman intuition makes him a gifted inventor and human lie detector. Though he might not always know how he comes up with his ideas, or get everything right the first time, he's more than willing to keep blowing up research equipment until he gets it right. In addition to technical prowess, his gift of intuition has helped his grandfather train him as a skilled hand to hand combatant.
Equipment
Arctic Armor: Christmas's suit, created while training with his Godmother, the original Easter who also possessed the power of mechanical intuition, is capable of lowering the temperature around his body to freeze the ambient moisture in the air around him to form a thick sheet of ice around his body as well as reducing the temperature in his vicinity. He can even localize the area of his suit that has the lowered temperature to allow him to freeze only certain parts of his body. All of this is thanks to the cerebral interface that is built into the suit which allows him to control the temperature of the suit at will.
North Pole: His father's gravity bending rod is capable of reducing or increasing the gravity of small areas for limited times. Through the use of this item, Christmas is capable of leaping long distances, seeming to glide. This is his major source of transportation for local travel, as well as one of his main ranged attack sources.
Santa's Workshop: An inventional aide in the form of a backpack factory. This item allows Adam to invent on the fly and is capable of crafting just about any item that Adam can find a way to program into it, thought not always as successfully as he'd like.
Santa's Helpers: What would Santa be without his elves? Well, maybe not exactly elves, but decent robotic substitutes at least. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen are known to pop up on occasion when our favorite Holiday Spirit needs a little extra assistance.
Christmas Coupe: A flying sleigh based automobile. Though this item has been mostly relegated to use during Project: Sleighride, Adam is known to take the vehicle to public appearances or merely on long distance trips where his workshop of gravity rod would be overburdened by the travel.
Abilities
Historian: Though not in the realm of world history, no one is more acquainted with the history of the Holidays than Randall Deacon. He uses his knowledge to act as curator of the Celebration Center's museum wing.
Strength Level
As far as strength goes, he's a fairly baseline human. Though it is not outside the realm of possibility that he could create some sort of gadget to amplify it should he see the need.
Weaknesses
Christmas is still essentially human and therefore subject to human illness and the need for food, sleep, and breathable air.
Transportation
Though in great physical condition, Christmas prefers to make his way around town in the Christmas Coupe or by use of his father's North Pole
Affiliations
To be added...
Friends & Fellow Crimefighters
In Progress...
Organizations
Celebration Center Inc.
Character Evolution
Christmas is today what he was always meant to be, save for a more elaborate backstory and a more human apearance.
Influences
Christmas' backstory is hugely influenced by that of the JSA.
