Prestidigitator
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| "The Unwilling Hero" | |
| Prestidigitator | |
| Player: @Prestidigitator | |
| Origin: | Magic |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Confidential |
| Security Level: | 50 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Paul Thaum |
| Known Aliases: | Mr Majik |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 34 |
| Height: | 6'00" |
| Weight: | 194 lbs |
| Eye Color: | Blue |
| Hair Color: | Black |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | British |
| Occupation: | Super-Hero, Stage Magician. |
| Place of Birth: | Confidential |
| Base of Operations: | Paragon City |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | None |
| Known Powers | |
| Sorcery | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Confidential | |
| Equipment | |
| Confidential | |
| No additional information available. | |
Contents |
Affiliations
Groups
Supergroup: The Trimmers
Prestidigitator has been a long time member of the Trimmers, at one time rising to the position of leader. Now semi-retired he is content to occupy a backbench seat.
Individuals
'Presti' has cross paths, albeit sometimes briefly, with many of Paragon's finest although his natural melancholy and asocial personality means that not many will have the chance to form anything approaching a close relationship with him.
- Xanatos Starting with nothing more than a passing mutual respect, Presti and Xan did collaborate on some joint operations, but their friendship never progressed much further and since his semi-retirement, Presti hasn't seen his old aquaintance for quite some time now.
- Energy Star Drawn by an apparent similarity in their powers, Presti formed an easy friendship with this experienced and commited hero. Although not often teamed up, each knows that they can call on the other for support if need be.
- Plasma Stream Another hero with similar powers to Presti. Again the natural reclusiveness of this unwilling hero tends to keep this relationship, as many others, at a respectable distance.
- Operative Plum Although seemingly not directly associated there has been a lot of speculation regarding the relationship between these two characters.
Powers
Magical Channeling
As a result of his unwitting exposure to the Dimensional Entities, Presti found himself almost directly connected to vast amounts of raw magical energy. Although in time he may well learn to temper and control it more subtly, his career as a 'hero' has mostly seen him open up channels to this energy and direct it crudely towards his foes. His only successes in harnessing this power for true 'Magical' purposes has been his eventual ability to levitate (both himself and other objects) and to 'vanish' (mostly other objects, but he is able to partially dissapear himself).
Even utilised in such a crude way, the raw magical energy that Presti is able to wield represents a considerable force. As well as directing it towards distant foes, the power is at it's most destructive when delivered to a target through physical contact.
Character History
Synopsis
Whilst out shopping for a present for his thirtieth birthday, his profession led his wife Deborah to be drawn to the magical curio shoppe in Talos Island. There she purchased for him an artifact of some kind - the precise details are now lost - but it is known that she did indeed present it to him on the 21st of September 2004.
Thinking that it was merely some trinket, albeit one which looked impressively mystical, he naturally incorporated it into his stage act. It wasn't until he one day that he stumbled across the correct pronounciation of some incantations that he had been using in his act for years that the artifact was triggered and he became an unwitting conduit to the dimensional entities Hermes, Joule and Grey.
As the event was witnessed by the several dozen audience members, he was of course unable to keep the events to himself, and soon came to the attention, as many do, of Crey Industries. Even though his symptoms at the time consisted merely of a lingering glowing aura of his eyes, Crey decided to nevertheless dispatch an 'aquisition team' to recover both the artifact and 'Mr Majik' for study. It was during the emotional stress of the first attempted aquisition that his ability to direct magical force from the dimensional entities became apparent, both to him and also to the Crey agents sent to 'aquire' him, and although inexperienced, he was able to easily defeat his would-be captors.
Unbeknown to him, Crey standard tactic when presented with an individual of unknown strength is to instead aquire a friend or loved one to use as leverage. Crey therefore kidnapped and held his wife, dispatching a small team of agents to commence 'agressive negotiations' for his compliance. This did not go well, with much of his self-control absorbed with holding back the the pressure of the entities he lost all emotional control and not only quickly defeated this second team, but also in his fury was able to extract from one of the Crey team the location of the Crey complex at which his wife was being held.
Now in posession of his wifes location, he launched an all-out attack on the complex in Creys Folly. Realising that the attacker was all but unstoppable, the subordinate field commander in charge of the base fell to the resort of using Deborah Thaum as a human shield - a tactic which backfired, causing Deborahs death and adding vast grief and guilt to the fury that was now Paul Thaum.
An amount of time passed during which Paul took on some familiar stages of grief as he came to terms both with his wifes death and his powers.
Notable Events
The Denial
Convinced that he had somehow been duped by Crey into believing that he had caused his wifes death, Paul embarked upon a series of raids upon Crey facilities in a search for evidence to back up his view. His approach at this time was characterised by an almost painstaking level of restraint when encountering foes - almost as if he was proving (to himself or perhaps to some imagined 'higher authority') that the fury and destruction he had previously wreaked was an isolated occurance.
Anger
Eventually, after many months, he was forced to conceed that his Wife was lost to him, and now without purpose, Paul embarked fully upon a campaign against not only Crey, but other organisations within Paragon City. Whilst the brunt of violence was borne by Crey Industries itself, he also railed against Hero and Freedom Corps, demanding why agencies such as Crey that were so obviously criminal were allowed to operate largely unfettered.
The Bargain
Eventually, Countess Crey herself had to interpose to bring a stop to Paul Thaums attacks on Crey Facilities. Realising his precarious emotional state, she carefully led him back to his delusion that he could be reunited with Debbie and undo his life-altering tragic mistake. She was thus able to maintain a degree of control over him for quite a period - indeed at one time issuing him a Crey uniform and employing him on several missions. Each time he would begin to doubt, she would have a new ray of hope for him, from schemes to send him back in time to rescue Debbie from her initial abduction, to faked seánces to return her soul to a Crey-engineered clone.
Eventually, troubled by what she was witnessing in Brickstown, Serafina enlisted the aid of Azuria to open Paul Thaums eyes and to release him from his Crey Mistress. This ended in a final battle where Paul used his priviledged position to get close enough to the Countess to defeat her personally, though using up every ounce of strength and inspiration in in the process. Now under the positive influence of Serafina and Azuria he was also able to temper his anger and deliver the Countess not to the hospital, but to the Zig.
Depression
With his tormentor now defeated, and with no prospect of being reunited with his wife, there was nothing now to drive Paul on and he easily slipped into a dark depression. Not much was seen of him during this time, save for the odd report of him half-heartedly thwarting the odd street crime. There were even reports of him ignoring crimes, sometimes bitterly complaining against the kind of society that would 'expect' him to always be there to help.
Acceptance
'It can't rain all of the time...' Eventually the natural grieving process had to come to an end, and with the aid of some true hero friends (whom had stuck with him through the ups and downs of this rite of passage) Paul was able to accept the world as it was now - with only the memory of his wife remaining, and with a responsibility to utilise his powers for the good of a society which would feté him for doing so.
Taking on the mantle 'The Prestidigitator', Paul changed his stage costume for a hero costume and took to the streets (and skies).
To contact this character's creator
- In-game: @Prestidigitator
- CoH official forums: Majik
Creator Notes
Prestidigitator is the main character of player 'Majik' and (aside from the whole anger part of his backstory) most closely resembles the personality of the player ona day to day basis when roleplaying.
