Headcase
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
Lincoln "Link" Asherson is not your typical college freshman. Born with psychic powers, he is privy to more than any one could want. Your thoughts, your dreams, your desires, all laid before the young telepath. He is not sad, just jaded at the primal and animalistic nature of man's inner workings
| |
| Link at School | |
| Headcase | |
| Player: @Shyft | |
| Origin: | Mutant |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Defender |
| Security Level: | Undocumented |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Lincoln Asherson |
| Known Aliases: | Link |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 20 |
| Height: | 5' 9" |
| Weight: | 160 lbs |
| Eye Color: | Violet |
| Hair Color: | Varies, usually dyed |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | Student |
| Place of Birth: | Paragon City, RI |
| Base of Operations: | Paragon City, RI (studio apartment in Steel Canyon, not far from the university) |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Katherine - Mother, Dean - Father, Josephine - infant sister (deceased - killed in first Rikti invasion), Sarah (maternal grandmother) |
| Known Powers | |
| Telepathy, Telekinesis | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Telepathic Communication and Assault, Telekinetic movement and screens, Telekinetic Flight | |
| Equipment | |
| ever-present iPod | |
| Theme Song: "The Fragile" by Nine Inch Nails | |
Contents |
Affiliations
Former Supergroup: The Young Champions
Current Supergroup: The New Regulators
History
Childhood
The First Rikti Invasion
In the hearly hours of the Rikti Invasion, Link could hear a telepathic buzzing, that no matter what he did, he could not clear from his mind. Suggesting the family simply needed some time relaxing, his father took the day off from work and they headed to the park to enjoy the seemingly beautiful day. Link went down to the lobby to wait for his family. As he reached the front doors of the aprtment building, the first wave of blasts from the assaulting Rikti ships rained down on Baumtown. Blasts ripped through the building, and Link "watched" in horror, telpathically, as his family perished as the building collapsed.
Overconfident in the bubble that had protected him and full fo rage with his family's dying screams still in his head, the preteen ran out to attack the aliens that were beaming down to the surface.
Although he managed to take a few of the Rikti soldiers with surprise, the young telepath was untrained, and unable to stand against the onslaught of the Chief Menatallist and the herd of Rikti "monkeys". Amused at the vigor and power of the young human's telepathy, the Rikti allowed the monkeys to torment and tear at the fabric of Link's mind well after he lost consciousness.
Aftermath
Once the Rikti retreated, the badly injured Link was taken for medical treatment. After a week of floating in and out of counsciousness and raging fever dreams, Link awoke to find his telepathic and telekinetic powers had grown geometrically. The unfortunate side effect was that he could not shut people's surface thoughts out, letting him hear thier first reactions, basic desired and unspoken reactions. Although the range of this disability isn't very far, highly emotional thoughts seem to be "louder" and carry further.
With his parents gone, Link moved in with his grandmother in Founders Falls.
The Young Champions
In 2005, Link was approached by Jordan Nash Foundation about attending the academy Nash ran as well as joining his teen supergroup - The Young Champions. Link fit in with the young team well, becoming a fied communications specialist as well as honing his telepathy as a means of coordinating the teams actions. He earned his cape while a member of the team and grew from a deeply introverted and troubled teen to a confident team field leader.
He graduated from the Academy in 2007, and enrolled in Paragon University. School had only been in session for a few weeks when the second Rikti invasion hit.
The Second Rikti Invasion
Link heard the buzz he hadn't heard since the first invasion. The ships weren't in view yet, but he knew the feel of Rikti minds. unable to reach the Young Champions, Link contacted the only other hero he knew - Wild Surge. Link hadn't though much of Erik since thier days with the Young Champions. (He held a grudge dating back to Erik's fallout with Verte Virtue and his "abandoning" the team, leaving Link's girlfriend Dark Firebird in a bad bind academically), but he had little choice. As Wild Surge and his new team, The New Regulators combatted the Rikti landing in Steel Canyon, Link acted as a team coordinator for them, as well as assisting the guiding of civilians to safety.
Joining the New Regulators
Impressed with his composure, Gaia's Soldier invited Link to join The New Regulators. He has taken on the role of communication and coordiation for field operations.
Personality
Link's choice of codename is a joke pointed at himself. Before the devastation of Baumtown and the Rikti "broke" his powers, Link was as normal as a mutant with telepathic and telekinetic abilities could be. With his inability to turn off the "mental static" that is generated by normal people just thinking, he's become a little jaded about the nature of humanity on a whole. He sees people's immediate mental reactions, even if unspoken. He "hears" the thoughts that many don't vocalize. Unspoken leers, jeers, jabs, barbs, and other primal thoughts by the normal humans around him are felt by him. He tries to ignore it, but it still wears on him. It jades him, and he often has a hard time seeing the better side of humanity. He doesn't hate humanity, but he sees them as more motivated by greed, avarice and self promotion than anything else.
In the end, his desire to make the world better, and a sense of duty to the populace on a whole drives him to be a hero.
His dark and grim outlook on humanity as a whole, drives him to dress and identify with the Goth/Industrial Metal/Raver scene. His dark look is not usually reflected when people speak with him, as he comes off as generally upbeat.
Powers
Abilities
Headcase is a telepath and a telekinetic, who with the training he recieved by the teaching cadre during his time with the Young Champions has become very adept at team coordination and communication, allowing himself to act as a mental switchboard, allowing ther team to act more cohesivly. He has also adapted the use of his telekinetics as a defensive weapon, using it as a forcefield for himself and those close to him.
Weaknesses and Limitations
Link's biggest weakness is his inability to shut out people's thoughts. He hears simple surface thoughts from everyone around him, and especially emotional outbursts can be "heard" from longer distances, and can even cause him a pain. Extended periods in large crouds are disorienting to him, and the disability forces him to be a bit of a recluse, shunning crowds.
With the tragedy of losing his family and the inability to shut out people's thoughts, When he was younger, Link's personality is a bit dark and fatalistic, leading many around him to think he was depressed - which only served to aggrivate him more, as he could "hear" their pity. He has now learned to alter his manner when speaking to people, and mask his emotional state.
Inspiration (OOC Information)
In my twenties during the early 90's, many of my friends and I were "happy Goths". All the trappings of the Goth subculture, but with none of the self loathing and depressive nature. Being dark and a realist doesn't mean you're depressed. Link really is a reflection of my life in the early/mid 90's.
I also wanted to make a defender. I had made a couple up to this point, but I hadn't liked them at all, and usually ended up deleting them. I loved the bubble powerset, but I really couldn't find a concept I liked. Once I got the concept of a psionic into place it all fell together. Telekinetic bubbles, telepathic psi blasts, and telpathic communication for the Leadership power pool
Fiction
Two Minds as One - First Appearance of Headcase in fiction. The meeting between him and his girlfriend Kachine. (Dark Firebird)
