Never-Born
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| Never-Born in his traditional look | |
| Never-Born | |
| Player: @NeverBorn | |
| Origin: | Magic |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Tanker |
| Security Level: | 50 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Harry Burgess |
| Known Aliases: | none yet known |
| Species: | Human / Magical Entity |
| Age: | 41 |
| Height: | 8'1" |
| Weight: | 871 lbs. |
| Eye Color: | glowing orange |
| Hair Color: | none |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | Former dock worker, now full-time hero. |
| Place of Birth: | Paragon City, RI |
| Base of Operations: | same |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Susan Burgess (mother), Dana Burgess-Hall (sister) |
| Known Powers | |
| Invulnerability / Super Strength | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Confidential | |
| Equipment | |
| none | |
| Harry is permanently stuck in the form of the Never-Born, but his mind remains his own. | |
Never-Born is my first City of Heroes character, going all the way back to the game's beta where he was known as the Once Forged. Always intended as a roleplaying character, Never's languished in obscurity over on the light-RP Freedom server. Thanks to the new "dimensional rifts" in the game and a spare $9.99, Never-Born has finally come home to Virtue.
Contents |
Affiliations
As he has only recently arrived in this reality, Never-Born has no present affiliations. In his home dimension, NeverBorn has been a member of such groups as the Avant Guard, the Irregulators, and the Paragon Brigade.
Origin
Harry Burgess was working the dock at Independence Port when he found it. A battered, mysterious crate arrived, not on any ship's invoice. Harry investigated and found a pulsing, black gemstone covered in arcane scratches. Before he could touch it, green balefire suddenly erupted throughout the dock, signaling the arrival of the Circle of Thorns. The mystics tore through Harry's coworkers, methodically making their way to the gemstone. Harry couldn't explain it, but his instinct was to grab the gem, to protect it from the Circle. He did so. As soon as he touched the gem, he felt its power overwhelm him. He heard the inhuman screams roar forth in his head. He smelled the smoke and fire of a dark, unholy place. Most importantly, he looked down at the mystics and the terrified looks on their faces.
Harry had become host to the interdimensional being called the Never-Born, bound to it forever by an unknowable curse. The curse transformed his body into that of a monstrous giant. The voice in his head demanded destruction, but he resisted the urge. Instead, he used his incredible strength to defeat the Circle, then handed them over to the arriving police.
Since that day, Harry's mind and personality have been trapped inside the Never-Born. All attempts to reverse the transformation have failed, but Harry is determined to turn his curse into a blessing. With the support of the city, Harry uses his great strength to defeat magical villains across the city, to prevent what has happened to him from happening to anyone else.
Powers
The Never-Born is nigh-indestructible and uncommonly powerful. Harry is easily one of the largest and strongest heroes in all of Paragon City.
Invulnerability
The body of the Never-Born is incredibly tough, capable of deflecting or withstanding almost any piercing or smashing attack. As a result, Harry is quite comfortable wading into a large group of enemies and he routinely walks away from large fights without a scratch. He is not completely invulnerable, however. His form has shown particular weakness against mental and magical energy attacks. Still, the body's resiliency has earned Harry a fearful reputation, and many enemies choose to flee without even putting up a fight.
Super Strength
The Never-Born's primary offensive weapon is his incredible strength, capable of ripping apart the strongest material and lifting extreme weight. To date, the upper limits of the Never-Born's strength is unknown, as no current measurements (including magical ones) have been up to the task. Harry often wonders how much damage and carnage the Never-Born would be capable of if his mind was not keeping the creature's incredible power in check.
Other Powers
Leaping
Due to a combination of his leg strength and superhuman agility, Never-Born has perfected a method of traveling through Paragon City with a series of incredible leaps. Despite his hefty weight, Never-Born is practiced enough to land nimbly before kicking off again.
Fire Mastery
As he gained mastery over the Never-Born's power, Harry discovered a latent set of abilities within the beast. With concentration, Harry can tap into an alternate dimension and unleash searing, magical fire blasts against his enemies. This has only served to make an already dangerous hero even more so in the eyes of the city's villains.
Abilities
Agility
While most would look at the hulking form of the Never-Born and assume it is capable of nothing but brute strength, the creature is surprisingly athletic and agile. As part of his standard fighting style, Harry mixes in flips and kicks that often catch his enemies off guard. He is also able to prowl and pounce from the shadows, a skill most beings of his size would be incapable of.
Inner Demon
Harry Burgess lives in perpetual limbo, stuck between his own mind and that of the creature. Azuria has long theorized that the creature could not manifest in our world without a human mind to "piggy-back" on top of. It seems likely, then, that the Circle of Thorns intended one of their own mages to merge with the gemstone, creating an unstoppable menace that could have brought down the city... or worse. Instead, the creature's darker impulses are tempered by Harry, who remains the dominant personality in the form. Harry has lost count of the number of times he has shattered a citizen's expectations when instead of a growl, he greets them with a friendly "What's up?"
Over time, though, Harry has lost the occasional battle with the creature's dark will. When this happens, blazing red symbols appear on his body and he goes into an uncontrollable rage. It is only with great effort that Harry can retain the control of his body.
A curiosity: Although the creature's taste for violence is a constant issue for Harry, he hesitates to call the creature "evil". As far as he can tell, the Never-Born prefers to attack evildoers over innocents. Harry can only guess whether this is the beast's natural instincts, or if his mind has has an unexpected influence on its alter-ego.
Heroic Career
Never-Born had a long and storied career in his home dimension, although the population of the Virtueverse has no knowledge of him. In his home realm, Never-Born was on the scene during the initial Rikti invasion, where he was quite nearly destroyed. After his recovery, Never-Born aided police in the first hours of the Outbreak virus and remembers a Paragon City that existed before the nightmare of The Hollows. He's been awarded hundreds of police commendations and badges in his career, including a special designation as a Task Force Commander and Hero of the City. Most recently, Never-Born joined a team of heroes on a suicide mission to the Rogue Isles and battled Lord Recluse in hand-to-hand single combat for over two hours while his comrades destroyed Recluse's deadly invention, The Web. After that taxing victory, Never-Born went into semi-retirement... that is until the sky darkened and the Rikti Invasion began.
Dimensional Rift
When the Rikti first invaded Paragon City and wiped out the majority of its heroes, the Never-Born was only Security Level 1, a complete rookie and not yet in control of his powers. When they returned, things had changed. Never-Born left his semi-retirement and returned to Atlas Park, standing atop the giant globe with his longtime partner Spectral Kid and defending the new rookies from the crashing wave of Rikti carnage. Just as the invaders began their retreat, Spectral Kid was hit by a devastating blast from a Rikti drop ship, sending him plummeting to the ground. Never-Born's rage overcame him. He leaped into the dimensional rift in an attempt to destroy the Rikti's war leader, but was knocked unconscious by a backlash of energy.
He awoke in the hospital. At first, everything seemed normal. His first clue was when the doctors asked for his medical history as if they'd never heard of him. He soon realized that he had been knocked into a parallel reality of Earth -- an Earth also suffering from a Rikti invasion. Never-Born is not sure how to return to his home dimension, but has decided to get back to work in the meantime, stopping the Rikti anywhere and everywhere he can.
Personality
Harry is a blue-collar worker in the form of a demon. He likes to drink beer, play poker, watch movies, and relax on a Saturday night. The only difference is that he's stuck in the monstrous body and constantly suppressing his darkest urges. Harry is friendly and fiercely loyal to his allies. He's a very likable guy and a natural leader.
Trivia
The biggest inspiration for the Never-Born was the Incredible Hulk, the creator's favorite superhero growing up. But you could probably already guess that.
