Funslinger
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| Don't bother, he's already here... | |
| The Funslinger | |
| Player: @Doctor Unlikely | |
| Origin: | Technology |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Blaster |
| Security Level: | 24 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | William Kelly Emmett |
| Known Aliases: | Weary Will |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | Late 20s |
| Height: | Unconfirmed |
| Weight: | Unconfirmed |
| Eye Color: | Black |
| Hair Color: | Varies, typically dyed green or red |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | USA |
| Occupation: | Vigilante/Professional Clown |
| Place of Birth: | Sedan, Kansas |
| Base of Operations: | On the road |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | All deceased in tragic clown car explosion |
| Known Powers | |
| Peak human agility and endurance | |
| Known Abilities | |
| World-class acrobat and gymnast, martial artist, sharpshooter, knife-thrower, juggler, self-taught inventor | |
| Equipment | |
| Multi-use rifle, various gadgets, "jump boots" | |
| No additional information available. | |
Clowns. Cowboys. In the natural world, they are the most bitter of rivals. And so you must ask yourself, dear reader: What better way to represent the eternal struggle of the duality of man could there be than a Clown...who is also a Cowboy? And also a superhero, but, uh, ignore that part, because it throws off the whole complex, tormented, eternal struggle of the duality of man thing. Anyway, The Funslinger: created on Virtue, because it seemed funny at the time. So there you go.
Contents |
Affiliations
Currently unaffiliated
Background
They say laughter is the best medicine. Tell that to the doctors and nurses throughout Paragon City, up to their necks in the battered, beaten and petrified criminals left in the wake of the man now known as The Funslinger.
Born William Kelly Emmett, he is the last living member of the renowned Emmett Family, star performers of the world famous Fourth Ring Circus. Young Bill Emmett grew up in the world of show business, always on the road and born to perform. Emmett became a key part of his family's act, mixing acrobatics, trick riding and shooting as "Weary Will", soon the Fourth Ring's most beloved clown. Though he loved the business, Emmett's family always considered him destined for something more, and he was eventually convinced to supplement his Clown College education with time away at a real university, where he took up interests in both science and law.
It was during this time away from the circus that tragedy struck. While performing a multi-night engagement in Paragon City, the Fourth Ring ran afoul of some criminals eager to lean on the circus for a cut of their sold-out earnings in the form of protection money. Unwilling to give in to their demands, the Show - as it must - went on, seemingly without incident. This was not to be, however, as saboteurs out to send a message to the defiant circus rigged a bomb set to go off during the evening's featured performance. And so it came to pass that all 40 members of the extended Emmett family were killed in a fiery clown car explosion.
The incident forever changed Bill Emmett, and soon the beloved Weary Will gave way to something else, something hushed whispers would call The Funslinger. Driven first by rage and then by an eerie, calm sense of purpose, Bill Emmett transformed himself into an intimidating, puzzling agent of justice, stalking the streets of Paragon City and delivering his own punch lines to those who would prey on the innocent. If it's true that comedy equals tragedy plus time, then perhaps the joke is the criminal underworld that helped create this enigmatic vigilante in the first place...
Now who's laughing?
Personality
While you might be tempted to ask if he's one of those Crying-On-The-Inside clowns, all anyone can really be sure of is that The Funslinger is one of those Kicking-On-The-Outside clowns. Hard as it may be to believe, no one is quite sure what to make of the guy in the clown make-up and cowboy gear. Often sullen and rarely one start a conversation, Emmitt is prone to change his mood in an instant, exhibiting a strange, mocking sense of humor. Some believe that traumatic experiences turned a once outgoing young man into a fractured, moody loner. Others speculate that, as a natural performer and showman, his entire public persona is some elaborate put-on, both for his own amusement and to intimidate the criminal element. Either way, he's pretty adamant about the whole "clown who is also a cowboy" and not a "cowboy who is also a clown" thing. And do us all a favor, don't get him started on mimes and rodeo clowns.
Appearance
Above all things, Bill Emmett is a Clown, and The Funslinger is always seen wearing some variation of Emmett's clown make-up. Typically, his hair is dyed a bright green or reddish-orange and he wears the traditional white face, usually with a red or orange design.
As befitting his name, The Funslinger's main uniform is designed in the style of a cowboy, typically highlighted by a brown cowboy hat and duster, the latter concealing most of his gadgets. He also wears what seem to be cowboy boots containing mostly hidden mechanical additions. The Funslinger can occasionally be seen in odd variations of his normal look. Some have speculated that the cigar often clenched in his teeth may be some kind of prop to complete his western look while preserving his lungs because of, you know, all the jumping and the kicking and the flipping.
Powers
The Funslinger has no superhuman powers. He is a world-class acrobat and Olympic-level gymnast, trained from birth as a circus performer. All skills are from dedicated training or boosted by personally designed inventions.
Abilities
As the last living member of a family of circus performers, athletic prowess was in Bill Emmett's blood. Nearly from birth, he was raised to be an acrobat, and a lifetime under the Big Top forged a world-class acrobat and gymnast. In addition to his innate agility, Emmett's rigorous Clown College schooling has left him a master of a number of acrobalance circus performance skills, including wire-walking, trapeze work, tumbling, contortion and adagio.
Following the tragic events that cost him his family, Emmett toured the world alone, seeking to add to his roster of acrobatic skills. In the Ukraine, he studied hopak. The Canary Islands brought him new skills in the form of salto del pastor. In France, he briefly became a student of corde lisse. A stay in China helped him develop an appreciation of contemporary wushu.
Perhaps most noticeably, The Funslinger has become particularly adept at the physical art of le parkour. He can most often be seen leaping and bouncing across the city, using a modified version of his freerunning skills that takes advantage of the amplified power of his jump boots.
Fighting Styles
The rough and tumble life on the road and under the Big Top tends to turn most circus folk into the type who know how to take care of themselves, and Bill Emmett was no different: The Funslinger is a natural brawler. Still, in his drive to mold himself into a crime fighter, Emmett put much work into developing his acrobatic and gymnastic skills into useful physical tools. The result, after many years of disciplined training and trial and error, is a unique and bizarre fighting style incorporating leaps, feints, tumbles and flips into a powerful collection of hard kicks and strikes.
As the only known practitioner of his unorthodox, colorful fighting style, Emmett wasn't particularly motivated to name his new art. Those who have seen him in action, however, were more than happy to brand his unique moves, and thus The Funslinger has often been called a master of Jeet Clown Do (The Way of the Intercepting Clown) street fighting or a practitioner of the art of Drunken Clown Boxing. These things, of course, have a way of sticking.
Weapon Use
In addition to his acrobatic training, Emmett's specialties included trick shooting, and years of practice have honed him into an elite marksman. He is also said to be a talented knife thrower, but tends to use this skill less often in combat. Great at parties, though.
Miscellaneous
As a Professional Clown, The Funslinger also possesses a variety of talents in the field of make-up, acting and ventriloquism. His days in the circus have also given him above-average skills in trick riding and lion taming, but these don't come up in the day-to-day life of a vigilante nearly as much as you'd expect. Go figure.
Equipment
A self-styled inventor, Emmett currently employs a number of strange gadgets to aid in his war on crime.
Weapons and Gear
The Equalizer
The Funslinger's multi-use rifle - dubbed "The Equalizer" - was built by Emmett to serve a number of purposes. To take advantage of his trick- and sharp-shooting skills, The Equalizer is most often used as a rifle for difficult, non-lethal shots. Through a series of switches, the weapon can be quickly converted to several other modes. Among those witnessed to date: the "room cleaner" mode - similar to a shotgun for taking on multiple enemies, a single-action stun round, a concussion grenade launcher and even what appears to be a rarely used flame-thrower, though this may be used mostly for theatrical effect. Nobody's really volunteering to call out a clown with a flamethrower on that kind of thing.
Jump Boots
Emmett's "jump boots" are a pair of powerful piston launchers designed to look like cowboy boots. These jump boots enable The Funslinger to launch himself great distances through the air, and are often used in combat to provide extra power to his preferred kicking attacks.
Additional Gear
At work in some no doubt sawdust-covered secret lab, Emmett has developed and continues to work on several additional inventions, including a web grenade, a unique stealth system rigged into his costume and a floating targeting system designed to enhance his already crack shooting skills.
