Ebon Thunderbolt/Ebon Thunderbolt (Protectorate)
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
This article is about the original Ebon Thunderbolt. Information on the Rogue Ebon Thunderbolt can be found here.
- Hell of a thing killing a man... you take away all he has and all he's gonna have.
- —Will Munny (Clint Eastwood), Unforgiven (1992)
Originally, this character was named Ebon Storm on the Protector server. Unfortunately, the name Ebon Storm was already accounted for on the Virtue server, so upon transfer, the name had to change. After some trial-and-error, the character was renamed to Ebon Thunderbolt. In classic comic-book tradition, Ebon was not a native to this Earth, but to a different one, and replaced the original Thunderbolt. Thanks to in-game RP, this version of Ebon is no longer around and has been superceded by a new version.
Super Reflexes
Soul Mastery
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Personality
For the most part, Ebon is a sociopath; he kills without conscience, or remorse. If someone gets in his way, he'll strike to kill. At the same time, he doesn't much care if an opponent is actually dead; the important thing for him is that the opponent is no longer capable of opposing him.
Ebon has, however, on rare occasions shown some signs of human feeling. He felt a twinge of conscience on destroying the hopes of Amanda Vines of WSPDR, and he's had a feeling of satisfaction in joining the Vanguard against the Rikti. The recent renewal of hostilities by the Rikti have placed Ebon firmly on the side of the "good guys", at least in this instance.
Powers
While Ebon has no natural powers, he does have abilites that could be seen as his "special powers".
Ninja Blade
Ebon is an expert in Eastern sword-fighting styles. Until recently his preferred weapon was a ninjatō blade, but now he primarily utilizes an arcane sword called the Ebon Claw. He is skilled at various exotic attacks which can knock an opponent around physically, and he excels at striking seemingly out of nowhere to instantly kill his enemies.
Super Reflexes
Ebon's reflexes are at the peak human physical level, to the point where even superhuman ability will have issues even touching him. Those reflexes also allow him to effectively conceal himself wherever he chooses-even if someone is looking straight at him.
Additional Powers
One of the following abilities is based on tech derived from an inventor from a parallel Earth; the other is a result of his intense physical training.
Super Leaping
Due to a "null-gravity" belt, Ebon can leap hundreds of yards in a single bound. He also uses his own natural agility to make himself a far more difficult target to hit.
Fitness
Ebon's physical regimen puts him at a peak of health, allowing him to recover from wounds and fatigue faster than normal, and allows him to jump faster than normal humans-even without using the null-gravity belt.
Soul Mastery
Under the patronage of the Ghost Widow, Ebon has learned how to corrupt and utilize souls of the dead to damage and hinder his enemies. Ebon has been taught how to channel souls into a long range beam of negative energy to strike down his enemies. Alternately, he can call upon the souls of those he has killed to swarm around a victim, binding the victim as they drain his/her life force. In recognition of his growing mastery of such skills, Ghost Widow has tasked one of her Night Widows to do Ebon's bidding-as long as his bidding does not conflict with her own agenda, of course.
Abilities
While the original Ebon Thunderbolt had some small skill in martial arts, this new one is strictly a brawler. He is skilled in the use of swords, although he cannot yet be counted among the masters of the blade.
This current version also seems to be a consummate planner-when a scheme has fallen apart, he has always appeared to have a backup plan to prevent capture or death. Perhaps coincidentally, he's shown considerable skill at the game of chess.
Weaknesses and Limitations
In spite of his skills, Ebon remains very much a normal human, with all the flaws and problems they are prone to.
Ebon has a tendency towards overconfidence. Because of his physical skills and his planning talents, he tends to believe there is nothing that can ultimately stop him. This has gotten him into trouble when he has fought heroes of significant stature such as Infernal.
Equipment
Ebon's most notable weapon is the Ebon Claw, a sword taken from the depths of the Shadow Shard; the weapon seems to possess a low level of sentience, but it has yet to overtly prove the fact. Other weapons include a Rikti war-blade and a ninjatō sword. Each weapon has an edge sharpened to monomolecular thickness; this enables his blades to penetrate nearly any form of armor, whether that of the Council's soldiers to the armor of the Rikti Heavy Assault Suits.
Ebon has a brace of throwing knives he carries on his belt, for moments when he needs to gain an enemy's attention at a distance...or finish off a fleeing opponent.
Prior to Ebon's accident, he acquired from an associate a pouch of mystical sand derived from Mu sorcery, and has begun using it to enhance his fighting style.
Ebon's costume appears to be a suit of Medieval armor; in truth, it is a lightweight metal alloy that only offers some protection against attack. It is suspected that the helmet also contains some technological sensors, but that has not been confirmed.
Ebon also has available a suit of armor supplied by the Vanguard, in recognition of his service against the Rikti. While working as a representative of the Vanguard, Ebon uses this armor and a Talsorian katana to fight with; he does not use this weapon for his criminal activities, for reasons he has chosen not to explain.
There are unconfirmed reports that Ebon has access to a pocket dimension which he has set up as a private refuge with teleportation access.
Character History
The Thunderbolt
The Ebon Thunderbolt was, at best, a minor villain in Paragon City. He was in and out of jail on a regular basis, never quite able to make the big score. He was a martial artist-in-training, who had a knack for remaining hidden even in plain sight. For a few years, he worked as a leg-breaker for a number of street gangs.
Everything changed on October 7, 2007. On that date, he apparently remade himself completely. Suddenly, instead of a sixth-rate criminal with some talent at unarmed combat, he was a hardened villain, skilled with a sword and possessing greater-than-human reflexes. More importantly, he seemed to have lost all memory of who he had been...and those memories had been replaced by new ones.
The explanation was far simpler-and more complicated-than it would appear at first glance.
Ebon Storm
On a parallel Earth-one not fully explored by the scientists of Primal Earth-there was a villain named Ebon Storm. Selected from the Zig as one of Lord Recluse's possible "Destined Ones", he fought his way up through the rigors of the Rogue Islands. He became one of the more dangerous men in the region, an assassin and thief of great reputation. He would sometimes work for Arachnos, sometimes against them. He formed a loose coalition of criminals called the Dark Syndicate, willing to utilize both magic and technology in order to take what they desired. He even joined the Vanguard of this alternate Earth, when their version of the Rikti made their assault.
During one of his personal missions to obtain a device from the Portal Corporation, he encountered significant resistance in the form of a hero-the Rider of the Storm. The conflict caused considerable damage to the property-including an active portal. The explosion of the portal had unintended consequences for Ebon Storm.
He was exchanged bodily with his genetic equivalent on Primal Earth-the Ebon Thunderbolt. Suddenly, the Storm had become the Thunderbolt, with no way back to his original Earth.
Re-establishment
In spite of the potential problems, Ebon managed to make his way to the Primal Earth's Rogue Islands, and quickly gained the attention of Kalinda, one of Recluse's seers. She recognized that the man confronting her was not the same one who had been passed over several times in the Zig-that this man was a potential Destined One. She passed her information to Recluse, who decided that the new Thunderbolt would have to prove himself like any other criminal in the Isles-one day at a time.
Ebon was more than up to that challenge. He had done so on his Earth-he'd do so on this one as well.
Shortly after he established his bona fides with a number of corpses across the Isles, he took on a newcomer to the Isles who called himself the Unebbing Fire. Ebon reasoned that there were enough potential differences between this Earth and his native one that it would be wise to have a lackey who could aid him in those differences. He chose a newcomer who had yet to seal his loyalty to Arachnos-it would not do to have the Fire betray him on the orders of Recluse or his underlings. Ebon allowed the Unebbing Fire his freedom to do as he wished...as long as he obeyed Ebon when he was called. While Unebbing Fire performed to Ebon's expectations, the brute mysteriously vanished; Ebon did not appear to care much. Ebon had worked on his own too long to truly care about the welfare of any lackey.
Once he felt that he had made a name for himself on this Earth, he accepted the patronage of the Ghost Widow, and began to act on her behalf across the Isles. In his time working for her directly, he threw off the chains of the prophecy of the Destined Ones, and began to forge his own destiny, one which did not include Lord Recluse. Shortly afterwards, Ebon seemed to be adrift; at one point, helping self-proclaimed genius Terra Rihsen on an errand on the Isles, while at another point he could be found in the Rikti War Zone in Paragon City applying his brand of lethality to the alien invaders.
Dealing with the Heroic Element
In 2008, Ebon attempted to murder the Old Ranger of the Justiciars on the behalf of Arbiter Sands. He failed due to circumstances beyond his control; in recognition of the fact, Sands tasked him with a secret project which took Ebon out of sight for some time. In the autumn of '08, Ebon had a rematch with the Ranger near Antarctica; this fight ended less satisfactorily, as the Ranger was able to remove him from play.
Ebon resurfaced in 2009. In January, he took on a contract offered by Operative Rostov to murder the leadership of Hyperion Force; he began by throwing the team into turmoil by killing the hero known as the Cold Iron Kid. But in the following month, the other members of that group of heroes were able to learn the identity of the Kid's killer, and when confronted by a team in Pocket D, he readily admitted to the murder-knowing that they could do nothing to him in that safe haven. Nonetheless, the members of Hyperion Force swore to bring him to justice.
On April 16, 2009, a strike team consisting of Hyperion Force members were able to track down a known associate, Professor Dredd. Upon Dredd's capture, in exchange for a favorable prosecutor, the mad scientist spilled his guts on Ebon's location. After fighting through a group of Arachnos soldiers, the team located and defeated Ebon. Ebon spent several months locked down in maximum security solitary confinement in the Zig. However, in early October 2009, Ebon escaped from the Zig; details were sketchy, but involved the deaths of a number of guards. He would regain control of the Black Syndicate in early 2010, after learning that the Syndicate was on Primal Earth looking for Professor Dredd. By this time, however, the Syndicate was suffering losses both on Protectorate Earth and on Primal Earth; a task force made up of heroes from Hyperion Force would eventually strike at the last remaining base on Protectorate Earth and capture Ebon once again. By mid-2010, Ebon was extradited back to Protectorate Earth under heavy guard, and at last report was facing capital punishment.
Affiliations
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Organizations
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Friends
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Opponents
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Trivia
- Ebon has appeared in "The Arbiter Initiative", a story sequence featuring the Old Ranger: Smoke and Mirrors, The Future is Now, and Defiant
- After an in-game RP storyline finally put an end to the ongoing threat of Ebon, I was still reluctant to just remove the character, and I still wanted to be able to play him. As a result, I chose to redesign Ebon entirely as far as backstory and look went, effectively making a "new" Ebon Thunderbolt. The last pair of costume slots on the character maintain the look of this version, however, just in case he needs to make a comeback.
