Dark Harrier
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| Dark Harrier | |
| Player: Dark_Harrier | |
| Origin: | Human Mutant |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Martial Arts/Invulnerable Scrapper |
| Security Level: | Confidential |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | *confidential; his current legal alias is a US Witness Protection Program alias; current close associates know him as Eric Drighten |
| Known Aliases: | None |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | middle 40's |
| Height: | 5'10" |
| Weight: | 170 lbs |
| Eye Color: | Green |
| Hair Color: | Blond, dyed from a darker color |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | Confidential |
| Place of Birth: | New York City |
| Base of Operations: | Confidential |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | *special |
| Known Powers | |
| Martial Arts, Invulnerability, Flight, Fitness, Leadership | |
| Known Abilities | |
| various martial arts; video signal manipulation and engineering; snowboarder; computer savy | |
| Equipment | |
| Exposure to the Sands of Mu; Carries a Blackwand | |
| No additional information available. | |
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This is a work in progress. Thank you.
Contents |
the Dark Harrier: Character Information
[[Please be advised that information contained in the -In Character- section is common game "public" knowledge; information presented in the -Out of Character- section is considered Dark Harrier "canon" but will be unknown and unavailable to any storyline characters. The Character History below includes information from both game events and Role Play fanfiction written about this character.]]
In-Character History
The Dark Harrier first appeared on the public Hero scene in New York City in the summer of 1987. He was immediately profiled in Heroes of the Empire State, the Big Apple's yearly hero-watch fan rag as an up-and-comer worth watching. His willingness to wade into large groups of villains and to constantly be in the thick of things earned him much public attention and favor. It also became apparent that he was quite the camera whore; comfortable both in front of still photographers and video news crews, a typical image of him shows a trademark smirk and usually some positive gesture of recognition at the audience. An iconic image which appeared on the August 27th issue of the New York Post shows him standing victorious atop a large pile of scrapped Clockworks, giving a big thumbs-up and grinning, earned him the appellation "the Hero in Black', which has been a frequent public nickname ever since.
His hero costume has in fact always been almost entirely black. Although he favored leather of various gauges for both his body suit, mask, and cape, he has recently moved to specially-crafted ballistic cloth. Beginning in the Eighties his mask began as a full face covering leaving a shock of blond hair on top, and a clear space for his eyes over which he wore dark mirrored Ray-Bans. Because of his desire for press he went through a rapid series of small costume tweaks; eventually, his cape received a white stylized bird-wing motif against black, his full-head mask receded to a half-domino shape, and a brief flirtation with black grease-paint to highlight his eyes in a black swatch was abandoned [though it was quite popular in both hero movies and real life costumes at the time]. His choice to wear sunglasses at all times to aid in hiding his secret identity however became another character quirk of his which the public latched onto. His symbol or blazon has always been some form of stylized bird of prey in white. In his most recent years this blazon has been created using pliable LCD technology and actually lights up [or it can be extinguished when stealth is needed]. His eye covering switches between a full-wrap monocular lens of full bullet-proof glass or dark Ben Franklin-style sun glasses, likewise bullet proof.
The Dark Harrier remained a facet of the New York area hero community until he bid the city a quiet farewell, moving to Paragon City, Rhode Island in 1994 [as far as the general public was concerned. Those close to him knew he had actually moved there almost a decade before]. After his move he made frequent trips back to the Big Apple at random times, touching base with old battle companions, until choosing to remain more or less full time in Paragon after 1998. However during this entire period he would frequently be out of the country on other missions [see below]. It is perhaps not coincidental that also 1998 saw the death of his mentor and a titan of heroes in his own right, the Golden Soldier, Tyler Bean.
Bean was the last of the Golden Brigade, a World War II squad of US special forces formed around Tyler [until then known as Golden Boy] who fought the Axis on all fronts. Their exploits for the Allies are actually thought to have been the inspiration for calling that era the 'Golden Age of Heroes'. After the War they continued US government service for the most part, with Tyler and his lifetime friend Golden Eagle heading hero operations for the CIA in various South American hotspots all through the cold war. Information indicates that the Dark Harrier began some form of training under these last two Golden heroes in either 1988 or 1989. He remained with them, being schooled in honorable heroing in an increasingly legally-complicated world, until 1997.
This former darling of the NYC hero scene returned to the Big Apple to assist in rescue and clean-up operations after the attack on the World Trade Center. A life-sized statue of him appears in the second row of those fifteen others which stand as a group, in various grim poses, in the memorial tittled Defiance and Hope at Ground Zero.
The Dark Harrier wasted no time attempting to repeat his early rise to fame in Paragon as in New York. He soon took up residence in city-subsidized "hero housing" at the Whitmoore, a converted Cold War-era hotel that was transformed into an apartment building for heroes. Soon falling in with the various personalities in that residence, he has taken part in numerous operations and events both mundane and important.
***Links to various fanfic tales available here, soon. No really.***
His exploits have earned him the Atlas Medallion, which he received in an understated ceremony at City Hall in 2007.
Out of Character Information
Born in a poor neighborhood in Queens, NY, John Keelan did not exhibit any of his latent mutant abilities until puberty began. Always a loner in school, his single mother sent him to the best schools available to her limited income. Although she supplied him with great moral support, his emerging mutations, though easily concealable, made him an outsider in his own mind. He experienced frequent bouts of teenage angst and depression, for despite the fact that he easily kept his medical state from anyone he felt he needed to, nonetheless he saw himself as a freak, and doomed to a future as an outcast and disliked person in a world that valued normalcy and beauty.
Driven to destructive behavior to express his self-inflicted sadness, he eventually fell in with a group of leather-clad gang members calling themselves the Jackyls, and despite a slim frame, found use and status as the group's enforcer because of his ability to absorb brawl damage and an amateur interest in kung fu. Keeping his gang activities secret from his mother, was child's play as such a life was the complete opposite of his former behavior. In gang circles he came to be known as 'the Harasser', and took humor in the fact that his slender frame gave an opposite impression from his function and reputation.
However, John soon found things spiraling out of his control. Until this time, the gang's activities in drug traffic and protection had netted them only small money, and their leader, Black Jack O'Keefe, wanted more. He soon 'contracted' his group's services out to more violent underworld figures, and wound up getting his peers in way over their heads. Eventually called to the office of the minor mob figure who oversaw the Jackyls, ostensibly for a scolding, Keelan found himself and his gang in a proper mob rubout.
His gang friends were gunned down in the dank warehouse office, and John took 5 slugs to the body. However, he stood back up, finding that he was wounded but not incapacitated, for though he was aware of his burgeoning mutation it had never occur to him to see if he were actually "bullet-proof". Using his hands and feet alone, Keelan beat the 5 mafia goons to death. Realizing he had placed himself in danger of a more serious reckoning than he'd ever imagined, he ransacked the offices, left all the drugs and other illicit goods he found in plain sight and anonymously phoned police, then absconded with a bag full of cash.
Tearfully relating the entire tale to his mother, John faced yet another shock: his mother felt serious shame that he had been involved in such dangerous illegal activities for so long, after all she had tried to teach him about right and wrong. Mortally shamed, John nonetheless decided that they could no longer remain in New York. The reach of this arm of the Family was simply too ruthless and too well-informed for he and his mother to be safe for long.
In a night of fateful decisions, John put himself at the mercy of the local FBI. They were taken in to protective custody immediately. Keelan cooperated fully, giving much damning testimony which assisted in nailing down several open cases against this branch of mobsters. The closed trial was a success in all cases; however, it was obvious to all that this youngster and his mother needed to disappear.
After a faked accident by USPCS produced two unrecognizable corpses, the Keelans became the Drightens; John became Eric, his mother changing her name as well. They were moved to a quiet suburb outside Paragon City in 1984. There, 'Eric' continued his schooling and eventually earned a BFA. However, his contact with the government resulted in a full genetic assay, and his information eventually fell on the desk of Directive Hero Services.
The DHS understood that a mutant of his type could potentially pose large problems if he ever went back to old habits and fell to the Red side; after his college graduation in 1987, Eric was contacted by the DHS directly and told he really needed to come in with them, and begin legalistic training to be a government certified hero capable of working for his country to repay his [what is ostensibly actually rather nebulous] debt to society.
Given all he'd done and been through and his need to make things up to his mother, Eric accepted.
Eric found himself dumped in the laps of the Golden Soldier, Tyler Bean himself, and his crime fighting companion Golden Eagle, an Amerindian shaman. these grizzled, experienced, cynical veterans found themselves mentoring a green young hero with a huge ego and a desire for glory with none of the associated wisdom nor caution. As often happens, it was a brutal training period for Eric, as he learned his chops from two old timers who felt neither the need to be patient nor gentle with him.
***The events of his training and what came after will soon be featured in a long fanfic, which I will link here when I am able. Some info following is actually /spoiler/ for this coming work; but read it if you like, or don't. However, I will leave it for the curious and impatient. :) .***
All this came to an end when Bean decided to disband his cell of operatives and retire from the service in 1997. Due somewhat to Golden Eagle's advanced age and health problems from a life of quiet alcoholism, Bean removed himself from public life to get away from it all, and the Dark Harrier returned to Paragon to put what he'd learned to good use at last.
Only eight months later, the Golden Soldier, Tyler Bean, once termed the 'Most Invulnerable Man', died while on vacation with his family in Belize, drowning in a rip current while swimming. His death devastated Drighten as much as it surprised and saddened the world. Even worse, ten months later, Eric attended Golden Eagle at his humble trailer home on a Lakota reservation, and stood vigil as the old Amerindian passed peacefully away. With his two mentors gone, it was now up to Eric to maintain the honor and integrity they'd taught him, and give their memory the respect he knew they deserved. As such, he maintains close ties [and a variety of real friendships] with a number of Metaforces personnel in Paragon City as well as returning to do side work for the CIA when they call on him.
Affiliations
As mentioned, Eric maintains loose ties with the Central Intelligence Agency thanks to his early training. He occasionally finds himself called upon by them to assist, usually if previous contacts or associates find they can use him.
His technical education in film and television saw Eric work as a News van technician for many years, and this often allowed him to be near or on the scene of important events, and thus, able to don his costume and participate when danger grew. However, so far in canon he has not made further use of any contacts he came across while employed, as he has since quit his civilian job and turned to heroing full-time; subsidies from his infrequent work for the CIA keeps him solvent.
More recently, the Dark Harrier has made fast friendships with the majority of personnel in Metaforces' Third Company, who man Operation Virtue inside Paragon City. Metaforces are military detachments of normal US government armed forces trained to assist metahumans, using only technological advances to counter super-powered villains and disasters. However, as none of these individuals are yet profiled on Virtueverse, they are not mentioned here by name.
The one exception is Jai Revenza, a strong-willed blond Metaforces soldier who has recently left the force. She and Eric met at a Whitmoore apartment hero party, and experienced a whirlwind romance. Jai has since moved into Eric's apartment. Shortly after leaving Metaforces Jai was slain in a Family attack on a local store and underwent her own transformation into a hero; her own profile may become available soon.
Lastly, the Dark Harrier often patrols with a wide number of Whitmooore residents, all of whom are heroes in their own rights. A good way to find this exhaustive list is to examine the Whitmoore Apartments fansite index
Personality
Whether in costume or as his civilian alter-ego, Eric Drighten is gregarious, honest, energetic and friendly. He tries to be quick-witted and will always offer a joke when the opportunity presents itself. He enjoys media attention and the recognition of people on the street, and is always careful to present a friendly, positive image, shaking hands or posing for pictures whenever asked. He is trustworthy and loyal to those who have gained his friendship, and relentless in his pursuit of criminals or those who threaten his loved ones.
His positive outgoing side is tempered by this grim determination and tenacity. When forced to consider harm done to innocents or danger presented to those he knows and loves, he becomes introverted, serious, and headstrong in confronting such things head-on. He is relentless against those who do harm to those who cannot defend themselves; thus it was that Tyler Bean gave him his lasting hero name [he was dubbed 'the Hero in Black' by the Post because, frankly, no-one had received an answer from him at the time as to 'who' he was. The truth is, he hadn't decided on a hero moniker].
Rumors are rampant that the Dark Harrier was quite the ladies' man, at least until recently with his rather public relationship with Jai [under her own hero name, Jai Revenant]. He is a sterile mutant with extreme stamina, unflagging health, and an outgoing personality, so he was frequently connected to various female heroes with whom he might have been seen by the public. The 'Harrier is careful to never confirm or deny any such rumors, preferring to keep everyone guessing.
Eric is perhaps most grimly determined to maintain his secret identity. Many of his actions and quirks are meant specifically to keep his hero- and civilian-persona separated and unconnected, in order to keep his family safe from his enemies. Some people see the lengths to which he goes as almost pathological, but, he does them anyway and does not care what opinions they raise in others.
Powers
Primary Set
Martial Arts/ Thunder Kick, Storm Kick, Cobra Strike, Focus Chi, Crane Kick, Dragon's Tail, Flying eagle Claw
Secondary Set
Invulnerability/ Resist Physical damage, Temporary Invulnerability, Dull Pain, Unyielding, Resist Energies, Tough Hide, Invincibility
Additional Powers
Fitness/Sprint, Health, Stamina; Leadership/Tactics;
Travel
Flight/Hover, Flight, Air Superiority
Elite
Body Mastery/Focused Accuracy
Abilities
Also has the Veteran powers Sands of Mu and Blackwand
In terms of interests and skills, Eric Drighten is an avid snowboarder, can drink alcohol to excess with rapid recovery time, is an advanced computer-savy user, and can function as a video cameraman or video engineer.
In fanfic narratives, Eric possesses what is medically termed as the "Reset Factor". Similar to popular comic "Healing-" or "Regeneration" factors, his body resets itself after injury. This is to dramatize rather over-slotted Health and Stamina powers. He is able to heal very rapidly, and does not experience scarring; however, it is not the same as the power set Regeneration, as these things take him several hours. So, he must suffer injury and be temporarily treated, but he will be as good as new in a matter of hours or days of game/story time. He is somewhat popular at the hero hospitals he finds himself in, and several trauma healing records are held by him as far as non-Regen heroes go; his in-patient stays are occasionally videotaped by physicians to observe his Reset Factor in action. He is also known to keep copies of all his injury lists and medical charts as a kind of trophy collection, showing things he has survived.
Weaknesses and Limitations
As with many mutants with his strain of genetic drift, the Dark Harrier has invulnerability properties for his skin but this quality varies in his biological 'soft' tissue. His eye balls and mucous membranes are far more vulnerable than his other general make-up. Fortunate to have learned this at an early stage, Eric will occasionally be seen to cast his head aside during weapons exposure to protect his eyes and mouth. His various costumes have always included eye protection which both does not hinder vision and acts as a form of bullet deflection or proof. For many years he wore specially-made round-lensed Ben Franklin-style sunglasses which appeared mundane but were actually crystallo-ferrous bulletproof disks. His most recent costume version sports a wrap-around, monocular-like lense assembly (it resembles the eyewear of the aliens from Planet X in "Godzilla vs Monster Zero" for reference. Except cooler) which is proof to both missiles and a decent level of explosive pressure bursts.
There is also the issue of his secret identity, which he has maintained from his youth. Because of his early activities and the fact that his mother still lives, the Dark Harrier and Eric Drighten must forever remain disassociated in the public domain. Even among some other hero friends he keeps himself masked when other casual clothes are worn, in case the information is ever sought or stumbled upon by accident. In addition to his own identity he must insure that that of his mother also remains secret to protect her from Family retaliation.
Equipment
It is well known in Hero circles that the Dark Harrier disdains weapons of all sorts. However, he is trained in small arms shooting and a small variety of martial arts weapons, notably the katana, bo staff, and escrima sticks. His government work has previously allowed him access to various "spy" materials. It is not common knowledge that he carries among other small items in his utility belt, three nasal injector syringes gotten from the CIA. These are assassination items; aerosol injectors of poison fluid meant to be administered through the nostrils. They were secured by the 'Harrier for a specific mission against Council Vampyrs in Paragon City, and are specifically formulated to affect these monstrosities, though they would be lethal to just about any human. The mission ended without him needing to use them, and he has kept them ever since, as the Council and their splinter groups are his nemesis.
He has recently built a home computer meant for crime fighting, but as of yet it hasn't seen exhaustive use.
He possesses a functional Blackwand, but as it is a magical item and a weapon besides, he tends to refrain from using it.
A signature item he wears is a two-way capable wrist videophone, which has been modified by Metaforces friends to have access to military channels.
Character History
Whitmoore Apartments RP thread at Cityofheroes website, first appearance, many appearances thereafter to current point of the thread.
A Life Unrelenting, compiled Rolling Stone interviews with the Dark Harrier at CoHWritersGuild.com
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