Off-Beat

Rocky Donovan wasn't born superhuman. Far from it, as a matter of fact. He was brought into the world as a screaming, obnoxious little baby that was, quite literally, the bane of his father's existence from the moment he opened his eyes. His mother having died while giving birth to him, his father chose to leave him behind, rather than having to be faced with the monster responsible for killing his beloved wife. Rather, he was placed into the care of his grandmother, a woman who, though aging and with innumerable problems of her own, refused to see her grandson tossed so callously into the care of the state. An ambitious and quickly developing young boy, Rocky was very much at odds with the small town in which he was raised - yet his grandmother was all that he had, and thus, he pushed aside his dreams of seeing the world, or of traveling to the 'City of Heroes' to see the likes of the Freedom Phalanx with his own eyes.

It was only when his grandmother fell ill, steadily being claimed by lung cancer brought on by years of chain-smoking, that he sought to leave his hometown behind. With naught by a stolen credit card and a backpack filled with his most cherished belongings, he hopped on a train to Boston to seek out his father. Though there for a short time, his life proved no better, and he moved on to Paragon City, before long. While he had no powers of his own, and certainly wasn't particularly adept at defending himself, the idea of becoming a hero was not one that he could ignore. Drawn in by the thought of non-powered heroes that had succeeded nonetheless, he found work as a delivery boy and managed to afford a rather run-down apartment in Steel Canyon within a month of his arrival. Though his life in Paragon City wasn't nearly as wondrous as he had hoped it would be, given that he was robbed, shot at, and kidnapped more times than he liked to count, being able to see heroes with his own eyes made it all worthwhile.

Having taken to turning on his music whensoever he was caught in the schemes of one gang member or another, it was out of habit that he cranked up his music during a bank heist. What he didn't expect was for his body to react to the music in a way in never had before - unbeknownst to him, the stress of the situation had caused his latent mutant powers to manifest. Through utilizing his newly discovered gifts, he managed to protect himself and the other hostages until the authorities arrived to handle the situation in a way that only they could. While Rocky was shaken by the discovery of his abilities and rather clueless in regards to how they were meant to be utilized, he reacted as any young man with a love of comic books could be expected to: he chose to become a fully-fledged hero in his own right.

Spending a few months buying what he needed off of the internet and taking a number of self-defense classes, it was a far more capable Rocky that took to the streets, under the guise of the hero "Off-Beat." Though still unfamiliar with the finer workings of his extraordinary gift, speeding himself up and cracking heads with his rather handy staff, Clarisse, served him well enough. Though of questionable moral and ethical standing and prone to running his mouth more than he should have, he proved to be quite talented at what he did. While quite uncomfortable with being shot at/being set on fire/being knocked off of some building or another, what mattered was that he was having the time of his life. And it didn't seem like the entertainment factor would wear off any time soon.

Rockyis a mutant (or homo superior), his entire genetic structure having been altered by a vagrant gene that has been present since he was born. Latent until he hit puberty, his altered genetic structure granted him marvelous superhuman abilities, the likes of which are far beyond the capabilities of any normal human being. In Rocky's particular case, he has been granted the ability to manifest a number of talents depending on the genre of music that he happens to be listening to. From shrouding his body in darkness to running at superhuman speeds, increasing his physical strength to levitating, the full extent of his abilities remains unknown even to him.

Rocky is the amalgamation of a number of concepts and ideas that seemed to fit together to create a coherent, and immensely fun to play, character. What came first was the powerset - in the hopes of combining the recently released Staff Fighting and the one armor set I had not had the chance to test out, Dark Armor, I found that the concept of a psuedo-speedster worked well. The animations for Staff Fighting were quick enough, and Dark Armor, when colored a nondescript grey, could pass for smoke. But I've played a speedster in the past, and I wanted to expand upon the concept. Thus, I found myself inspired by the lesser-known character from the Marvel Universe, DJ. The idea of having Rocky's powers be powered by music was an interesting one, and it gave me an excuse to play him beyond this first iteration - he could potentially be given any powerset in the game, and given the fact that I had yet to truly get behind an RP character, the idea of playing this one past having him Incarnated out was one that I couldn't ignore.

Next came the personality. What I've noticed through lurking in the various populated RP areas is that many characters are kind, or soft-spoken, or genuinely heroic in one way or another. I wanted to play someone different. While Rocky means well, certainly, he's arrogant, obnoxious, and very much your typical young man. He's driven by instinct, more than rational thought or any sort of organization, and that makes him immensely fun to play. He's a loose cannon, prone to saying and doing anything that he likes, and it's fun to see him interact with some of the more by-the-books heroes out there. Even halfway through his 'career', insofar as his levels are concerned, I've come to love playing him, both in combat and in social situations - I feel as though he's a character I could play and explore extensively, and I intend to do just that.

Carefree and cavalier is the quickest way to describe Rocky – he is a modern day cowboy of sorts, and a bit of a wild one. He has a bit of a flippant attitude, quick to rush into things and certainly off the cuff in most of his behaviors and straight talking attitude. It can be said that he is quick thinking and quick moving along the lines of his fighting style – but Rocky's personality predates the days before he donned his costume. Being raised by most of his neighbors offered Rocky the ‘spoiled’ mentality in his short childhood, but growing up in the rough and tumble atmosphere of Paragon City brought that spoiled mentality to an end and quickly offered up the man to realize that his life was his own destiny – and he had to seize it before someone else did. Rocky is a bit indignant, often one to quickly state his opinion and let others know his feelings and emotions on debated or suspect subjects. This behavior would often lend some to say that he wears his heart upon his sleeve – while he is not one to share his innermost demons or feelings with others, he is opinionated in the essence of what his world would perceive as ‘black and white’, lending himself to be one of the harder people to ‘rein’ when it comes time for uniformity and delegating. In fact, Rocky would have never envisioned himself a team player – it is only the prospect of what the team stands for that ropes him in; otherwise, he’d rather be a free agent at any given time and can often act against the needs of the time in favor of his own whims.

Rocky is certainly a survivalist – doing whatever he needs to ensure he lives to see the next day, and has the resources to continue doing so. He was one short for the world of being sheltered, and came to learn the harsh realities of the world at a young age. Being estranged from his father has also caused Rocky not to truly trust familial links, believing that the only people that one can trust are those equally interested in their own survival with mutual benefits – therefore, he is quick to find one close person to be a loyalist to, but only if they have an equal avenue of shared survival. This type of co-worker relationship is one that Rocky cherishes, but he does not keep his connections strong once he leaves people ‘behind’ – he is a drifter of sorts, never thinking of the past and only acting in pursuit of the present, and out of fear of the future. He isn’t terribly religious, ignore pragmatic ideas on philosophy and the thought of the ‘great beyond’ – seeing this mortal coil as his realm to control and understand…knowing that there are far more majestic things in the universe, but things he does not see himself worthy of.

Rocky takes a bit of an emasculated approach to the whole superhuman aspect of Paragon. While he appreciates being amongst the ranks of the city's heroes, he doesn’t fully understand where he belongs, and knows that he couldn’t hold much of a light against the likes of the the Freedom Phalanx or the Vindicators. Still, he sees how even some of the more questionable heroes have proven themselves a necessary addition to the city's ranks and seeks to offer his skills as a unique take on what being a hero means – especially because he could be considered the anti-hero of sorts. The mistakes he's made in life are things that weigh heavily on Rocky – trying to atone for his past, though feeling as if his past has defined who he is today and that things he's done, from stealing to getting a bit out of hand from time to time, make him a poor fit for the role of a cut-and-dry 'hero'. Still, he really does stand for the human element amongst the immensely powerful heroes of Paragon – his modest skills, human heart, and human behavior all lend to showcasing heroes as people who are not simply their talents, but their attributes as well. Considerably witty, he is probably the first to get on someone else’s nerves, as well – certainly showcasing his provocative side as well.

Last Updated: 8/19/2012