Exo-buster
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
[[Image: |300px|]]
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| Exo-Buster in his Mark 4.13 Nanosuit | |
| Exo-buster | |
| Player: Tyrantolodon | |
| Origin: | Mutant |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Scrapper |
| Security Level: | 50 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | John E. Matthews |
| Known Aliases: | That f***ing kid, Electric-Knight, Electro-buster, Heir of Storms, Exo-dork, Duke of Derp, Electric Anklebiter, The Lightning Shinkicker, Saviour of the waking world, Saviour of the dreaming dead |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 12 |
| Height: | 4'11 |
| Weight: | 95 lbs |
| Eye Color: | Electric Indigo |
| Hair Color: | Golden Blond |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | British Citizen |
| Occupation: | Middle school Student, Superhero |
| Place of Birth: | Chelmsford, Essex |
| Base of Operations: | Royal Overlook, Steel Canyon, Paragon City, Rhode Island |
| Marital Status: | In a sort of relationship with Misa May (It's complicated) |
| Known Relatives: | Jake E. Matthews (Father), Jane C. Matthews (Mother), James C. Matthews (Older half brother), Jade H. Matthews (twin sister), Jacquerel (Pet dog) |
| Known Powers | |
| Electrical manipulation, Energized body, Superspeed, Flight, Enhanced physique, Electroperception, Aerokinetics | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Skilled fighter, Intelligent | |
| Equipment | |
| Power armour, Storage dimension belt, Power fists, Visor blaster | |
| ' | |
Contents |
Character Description
((This is all very much a work in progress and will be added to and edited as time goes on.))
A snippy british kid with a cockney accent living the superhero life, John has a simple world view in a complicated world. While his views on things may be somewhat black and white, his attention easily divided, and his youth bourne idealism may lend to a great whopping amount of naivete, he certainly is not lacking in enthusiasm. Where some would bemoan or angst over the predicament of being superhuman, John revels in it. He finds that being a hero is quite simply the most fun thing ever. He is simply too young for the concerns that plague older heroes to really affect him, besides the rest of his family is superhuman as well and are more than capable of taking care of themselves.
He's been in the hero business for most of his life, and he has no intention of ever stopping. But that's not to say he doesn't do heroics for the sake of being good. His heart is ultimately in the right place, it's just that at his age he often just doesn't see that the world is a bit more complex than "good" and "bad", though some would argue that this is perhaps the greatest strength of child heroes, they know what's right and what's wrong and won't hesitate to act on it. More worryingly however, he's quite gullible, if one can appear good to him, he'll buy the act in a heartbeat, but woe betide those who break his trust.
Theme song
Exo-buster's theme is ["Goodbye Summer, Hello winter", by FantomenK.]
Biography
As stated above, John was born in Chelmsford, Essex to a family of superheroes, though they didn't stay in Chelmsford for very long. Within a year, John had moved to the big streets of London. He was born with the powers of Electrokinesis and Aerokinesis, which lead his father; a Lumokine named Jake, to study his abilities to see if it couldn't be used as a means of clean energy. While he made sure to do so safely there were a few hiccups, and a few tests with trying to replicate it, one of which resulted in the London Lightning Roach plague of 2006 that nearly threatened to overwhelm the city with superstrong, superfast, supertough, and powerfully electropotent cockroaches that were breeding out of control until the Dawn Patrol and several other supergroups pooled their resources together to put down the plague. Notably, this incident was the first time that the British military had made large scale usage of flamethrowers since the second world war.
After that disastrous incident, Jake was in serious financial ropes and up to his neck and legal troubles, that is until a "mysterious benefactor" who had taken great interest in his works following the Lightning Roach plague gave him the financial and legal uplifting he needed to continue his experiments with an incredibly generous helping of funding and a flurry of some of the finest lawyers on the planet. Not satisfied, and wanting to keep his family safe as possible, Jake presented John with his own suit of powered armour, one custom fitted for him and his powers and one that would grow with him thanks to specially designed nanotechnology, each member of the matthews family had their own, to help bolster and control their powers, defend their persons, give them their own distinctive appearance, all while allowing the elder parents to always keep in touch with their kids.
John spent much of his childhood as one of London's superheroes, spending much of his time battling the well entrenched forces of Arachnos and the Council as well as London's super criminal gangs such as branches of the Mafia or Tsoo, remnants of the Rikti, Nictus infiltrators, and local gangs like the "Tally Whackers" or the "'Ard Nobz." As London was second only to Paragon city in it's friendliness towards costumed heroes, with it's own medi-port system and long established Hero community, John was able to flourish in the foggy city.
His adventures took him all across his native island and sometimes into continental Europe, and once even into Israel to stop a 5th column plot to finish what the Holocaust started. He even took part in an invasion of another sort, battling the Praetorian's worldwide offensive against the people of Primal Earth. One of his favourite moments of the month long all out Praetorian Assault was an occasion where a Rikti Marauding force descended upon a part of London already under assault by the Praetorians, leading to an epic three way struggle. But eventually, all good things had to come to an end, and the Matthews family relocated to Spider city in Grandville, the heart of the Rogue Isles, for reasons Jake has never really disclosed to his family.
The Matthews family were kept under effective house arrest while Jake went out to work, Arachnos making very sure that they didn't engage in any "ilicit vigilante behavior". This was perhaps the most miserable time in John's life, having to watch the depressing scene of the rogue isles but not being permitted to do anything about it. Even if they weren't under house arrest, it was a given that the massive population of supervillains in Grandville would stamp out the Matthews. Indeed, the only times he really was allowed to get out was during the Rikti assaults that would come to Grandville from time to time, these were what helped to keep John chipper, a time to let loose all the pent up frustration.
But luckily, within three months, Jake came to the house in a panic and quickly had his family pack up their things and leave, heading for Paragon City, where he soon settled into a job with the Paragon division of Vanguard. At first, John lived in Galaxy city, but within a week, the first wave of the Coming Storm came crashing upon Galaxy City. Yet another terror from beyond the Earth came raining down. The Matthews children scrambled out of their household and tried to help what people they could, their parents away on work with Vanguard. At first John was terrified and disoriented. The Shivans were a wholly different sort of foe than the praetorians, Rikti, or Nemesis.
The shivans could not be reasoned with, they could not be affected by some witty taunts and insults, they knew no fear and ignored even the harshest of injuries. Whereas most foes used small squad tactics that let the matthews take them down piecemeal, the Shivans came in at them in huge swarms, heedless of losses and unable to feel pain. Whereas once the Shivans were thought to need corpses to create bodies, these new breeds of monster could use the very earth to create their gelatinous bodies.
The Shivans were running amuck in their thousands. Finally collecting their senses, the Matthews children and their dog, Jacquerel, decided that they had to flee. There was simply no way they could clear out this goopy horde. And so they fought, harder than they ever fought before against an enemy more relentless than anything they ever encountered. For every Shivan they brought down a thousand took their place. But still they fought, both to help those they could and to save themselves from these cosmic horrors. Slogging their way through what must have been thousands of Shivans, they were eventually brought to safety in Atlas park by longbow after battling an enormous Shivan.
From there, they were moved to Steel Canyon, where John has integrated himself into the local hero scene, getting a feel for how things worked in America, and so far, it has proven to be very much to his liking. Since the Galaxy city invasion John has become a notable part of Paragon's hero scene, he's gained quite a bit of fame as a child hero, battling against crime and villainy with boundless enthusiasm. He has recently been registered into Vanguard along with his siblings by his parents, and while some would object to putting a teenager, a prebuscent girl and her twin brother in Vanguard, few can refute that the three are highly effective and enthusiastic about their duty to defend the Earth from extraterrestrial and extradimensional threats.
While many don't take him all too seriously on account of his age, those who have gotten to know him recognize that just because he isn't old enough to drive doesn'tprevent him from engaging in heroics and brawling with the fiercest of enemies. Most would consider him reckless, perhaps even over confident, but he has held his own against everything from underlings to giant monsters. Some would say he enjoys fighting, and they would be absolutely correct, when faced with the likes of Vandal or the Clockwork Paladin or a mass of zombies, he has without fail charged into them, fists swinging and electricity arcing.
Personality
John is typically a chipper, excitable person, someone who can't get enough of life. While he's something of a total dork when it comes to pretty girls, he's typically bold and more than a bit reckless. To him, a good scrap is one of life's greatest joys. But he does have a good heart, and prefers to see people happy, though notably villains often get excluded from this list, primarily because they spend so much of their time trying to ruin other people. But overall, John is a sweet boy, he likes being nice and is kind even to strangers, to say nothing of his friends and loved ones. Those who have gotten to know him generally think that he's a bit eccentric, worryingly headstrong, more than a little impulsive, but one of the sweetest people they've ever gotten to meet.
Recent Exploits
- To be redone because I think these all suck*
Relationships
Misa May
John has a confessed crush on Misa May, a girl from the future his age. They frequently spend time together, though as of yet they have decided to give things a bit more time before moving past the status of friends. The discussion of his relationship with Misa is one of the few things that can cause John to drop his typical youthful confidence and delve into the realm of stuttering, blushing awkwardness. She often reigns in his reckless nature, cautioning him against overconfidence. The two are often found fighting side by side or hanging around in Pocket D. His thoughts about her bear all the marks of prepubescent love, complete infatuation, awkwardness, difficulty keeping his mind off her, and so on.
Triage 2.0
A child sized android that he's come to know quite well, John often hangs out with her, though it's a purely platonic relationship. He still thinks she's one of the coolest robots he's ever met and enjoys hanging out with her. He can often be seen with her on the rafters in pocket D, or occasionally going out on adventures and missions, battling bad guys in Paragon city and beyond. Overall, a good friend of his and one that he is likely to keep for life.
Ervak the Undying
Ervak has opposed the Matthews family for far longer than the current generations have been alive. This ancient Lich has been the family's archnemesis since the time of Rome at the very least, though why he focused on this particular branch of descendants is unknown. Whereas John once didn't take him seriously due to his archaic looking robes, following the death of one of his closest friends by the hand of Ervak, he is now terrified of the Lich.
Tyrannicus
The Niarte Warlord is another longtime enemy of the Matthews family, a rivalry that only intensified following Tyrannicus' reclamation of his noble ranking and his desire to punish the family for prior defeats in the attempted acquisition of artefacts that would facilitate the expansion of his fiefdom back in the shadow dimension.
Ascendant
John met Ascendant once and ended up fangirling so hard he slipped into completely indecipherable cockney talk that even an Ork would be baffled by. Does that count?
Opinions of factions
Vahzilok
Many of Doctor Vahzilok's deranged acolytes have become greatly intrigued by the safe, reliable process that Jake Matthews used to give John his powers. Thus, they often try to steal Jake's research or get "samples" of John, something he does not take kindly to. He generally finds Vahzilok's frankenstein-esque monsters to be 90% "Totally gross" with the remaining 10% being "Crazy nasty." The fact that said monsters often vomit all over him and tend to dwell in Paragon's notoriously disgusting sewers doesn't help things.
Freakshow
People who have worked with John in missions against the Freakshow often have a hard time deciding who's more unintelligable, him with his outrageously thick Cockney accent, or the Freakshow with their 1337 lingo. John for his part loves fighting the freakshow. They're fearless, they can heal themselves to stay in the fight longer, they are one of the few criminal gangs that still have enough individual power to be any real challenge to him, and they often stand back up too!
Circle of Thorns
Were it not for his near rabid hatered of the city of Oranbega's highly confusing layout and the often labyrinthian caves they like to lair in, the Circle of Thorns would be the faction that makes the boy laugh the most. He can't take their dress sense seriously, he finds the Oranbegan accent to be snigger worthy, and he alternates between guffawing or yawning at the Circle of Thorn's monologues. The Circle for it's part regards John as just another heroic nuisance.
The Council
In his opinion, one of the worst dressed group of villains ever, John loves to fight the council. Yes, they tend to be total pansies in a fight, with their vaunted Cor Leonis going down like chumps, but the "space geeks" as he calls them never back down from a fight, and he likes villains who do that. The Council didn't quite take him seriously until he and seven other heroes took down Vandal and his operation in heated combat, while the Council could still break Vandal out of the infamously porous walls of the Zig, now he has their attention.
Powers
Enhanced physique: John is much stronger, faster, tougher, has faster reaction times, and heals significantly faster than someone of his body type and size has any right to be. He has exerted about eighty tons of force without the aid of electrical boosts or his power suit before, and seems capable of taking tank caliber rounds.
Electrical manipulation (Offensive set): His main claim to fame, the primary offensive application of his powers is called "Electric melee", with this he can use finely tuned bursts and currents of electricity to both briefly increase his strength significantly just long enough for a punch and deliver a massive electrical surge to his target. Lately, he's found a way to actually briefly turn his body into electricity and "teleport" to another nearby location before quickly releasing a massive burst of electricity, one bolstered by the fact that it draws any and all ambient electricity in the area to himself for a virtual explosion of electrical energy. Like many other electrical attacks, his assaults drain the stamina of those he hits, tiring them out and/or draining their energy supply, a fact that he utilized against an evil doppelganger of his that was called upon by the German shapeshifter Protean. Additionally, he is highly effective against robots, spectral enemies, and darkness based foes like the Niarte who all share a weakness to raw energy such as light and electricity.
Electrical manipulation (Defensive set): John is additionally capable of manipulating and generating large amounts of electricity around his body to provide a form of extra armour, greatly reducing the impact of incoming attacks. To conserve energy, he tends to only activate the kinds of "shields" that will defend him from the damage he's likely to take. However, he always posseses significant resistance towards raw energy or negative energy, and is nearly immune to "power sapping" effects such as those utilized by electrical attacks and Malta's Sapper weapons. One of his shields can even block out mind readers. Additionally, to combat his energy intensive powers, John has developed an ability that leeches the energy of nearby enemies and adds it to his own reserves, though it can only be used every so often. Electricity and Energy attacks are noted as being virtually useless against him, something he utilizes to full effect against the Freakshow, the Clockwork, and the Cabal.
Super speed: By covering himself in an friction reducing electrical bubble and by greatly stimulating those muscles of his related to locomotion, John is capable of amazing bursts of speed. As he became more practiced with his powers, he was able to utilize this same technique to constantly enhance his reflexes and reaction times, allowing him to always move a bit faster than he was once able to while being able to utilize charged attacks more frequently. In times of great stress, John can also tap into this branch of his powers to engage in what is often called "Burnout mode", which speeds up his charging process so much that he is no longer burdened with the typical recovery times between usages of his electrical attacks, though like other users of this ability, once the burnout drive ends he's left exhausted.
Flight: Recently John's grown experienced enough with his powers that he can act against gravity and propel himself through the air with careful usage of electrostatic propulsion, effectively allowing him to fly in layman's terms. As he needs to be on the ground to use the so called "Lightning Rod" attack and fighting in the air is rather taxing on his energy reserves, he typically uses this to traverse vertical obstacles, while doing most of his fighting on the ground, although he will take to the air if he needs to knock a troublesome foe to the ground.
Energized body: By sending a surge of energy through his form, John can further enhance his abilities, albeit briefly. The first of these two surges is commonly referred to as "build up" where as the name suggests, he stores up a massive amount of electricity in his body, briefly increasing his hitting power and notably his accuracy, though he can only retain this "build up" for a few seconds. The second surge kicks his healing process into overdrive, rapidly patching up injuries or damage to his suit while at the same time making the usage of his abilities a little less taxing for a short while. Additionally, due to the constant high charge of electricity in his body, pathogens and parasites are simply incapable of surviving in him, granting him an effective immunity to disease.
Electroperception: Much like Sharks, John is capable of "seeing" electricity and how it interacts with other objects, with wattage, amperage, resistance, voltage, conductivity, and so on contributing to the "electric profile" of what he's observing. He's also capable of sensing "impurities" in electricity, such as the small amounts of demonic energy that fuels gremlins.
Weaknesses
Energy: John's biggest problem is that his powers are very taxing on his body's energy generation process, especially if he has multiple electric shields running at the same time. This means he often has to stop and rest to recover between fights or pack a large number of recovery inspirations with him just to keep him in a fight. This means that despite all of his power, he has a problem with staying ability. Foes who can withstand his punishing amounts of energy drain are likely to simply outlast him.
Impulsive: Prone to acting before thinking about things all the way through, John's eagerness for a fight and unwillingness to back down often gets him in over his head, and thus he finds himself needing to use his mediporter far more often than he'd like. He is learning to be more cautious, but it's a slow process.
Abilities
Skilled fighter: John has developed his own sort of fighting style, one that is built around the fact that the majority of the foes he faces are going to be bigger than him by a significant margin. Turning one's center of gravity against them, punches and kicks to the stomach, groin, legs, knees, feet, and crippling blows meant to break bones are all hallmarks of this style.
Bright: John ranks rather highly on the intelligence scale, while certainly no match for the super geniuses of the world, he's proven to be quite resourceful and inventive, if stubborn with certain mindsets. Additionally he is intimately familiar with Electricity and how it interacts with objects despite not having any real formal education on the subject.
Equipment
Power suit: John is equipped with a custom fitted and designed Mark 4.13 Nanosuit created by his father. This suit makes heavy usage of nanotechnology to allow it to self repair and grow with him and is highly modular, allowing Jake to upgrade it to keep pace with the advances of technology. This suit, in addition to providing John with a stellar defence, also greatly enhances his strength, stamina, and helps him control his abilities.
Dimensional storage belt: Designed by Jake to be a technological equivalent of the magical bags of holding, this belt's pockets allow for John to carry quite a large amount of items without burdening him. John tends to keep things like snacks, his cell phone, his fairly impressive collection of Nintendo DS and 3DS games, toys, comic books, and assorted knick knacks he found interesting in this belt.
Power fists: A recent addition to his newest power suit, these power fists were added after Jake reviewed data of John's first battle with a Zeus class titan and found that the prior version of the suit couldn't exert enough force to breach the composites in a timely manner. But rather than bulk up the suit entirely and likely slow John down, Jake designed the second mark of John's power suit to have power fists which contained massively powerful servo-motors and a toggleable matter disruption field around them, giving him enough punch to crack through extremely heavy armour.
Visor blaster: Additionally the second and later marks of John's power suit is capable of firing energy blasts from it's visor, either in the form of two thin beams fired at a single target with pin point accuracy and extreme range or a massive cone like torrent that sweeps all before it off their feet. This was made in light of John's problems in contributing to long ranged fire fights. Additionally, the new visor is capable of drawing on his energy reserves to activate a special targeting system that predicts the movements of his enemies to a high degree of accuracy; greatly increasing his ability to land hits.
Trivia
- John is a surprisingly talented pianist and has taken piano lessons for about five years now.
- While John likes playing the piano, he hates said lessons with a passion.
- John has something best described as a mixture of fear and loathing towards harlequins, not clowns, just harlequins.
- John prefers blackberry flavoured ice cream.
- His all time favourite hero is Optimus Prime.
- He has developed a profound loathing of Oranbegan architecture and layout after getting lost in the city for four hours.
- His favoured human enemies are the council and fifth column, firstly because beating up unrepentent fascists and racists is fun, secondly because of the sheer variety of soldiers they have, and lastly because their indoctrination means they never back down from a fight, and even their heavy weapons troopers are proficient in melee.
- John has quite a bit of interest in old Baltic myth, and feels a connection of sorts to the Lithuanian lightning god Perkunas, later assuming the position of the Incarnate of Perkunas.
