Ramshackle
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| File:Ramshackle.png | |
| Aw, hell... Ain't y'all heard? I ain't nothin' but a big ol' tin can just full o' whoopass... | |
| Ramshackle | |
| Player: @Ascendant | |
| Origin: | Technology |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Blaster |
| Security Level: | 20 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Russell "Rusty" Graves |
| Known Aliases: | Shack, Scrapheap |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 23 |
| Height: | 5'11" |
| Weight: | 185lbs |
| Eye Color: | Blue |
| Hair Color: | Brown |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | Auto mechanic, Licensed Super Hero |
| Place of Birth: | Fayetteville, Arkansas |
| Base of Operations: | Galaxy City, Paragon City |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Unknown |
| Known Powers | |
| Electricity Control, Super Strength | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Technological aptitude | |
| Equipment | |
| Ramshackle Battlesuit | |
| No additional information available. | |
Contents |
Affiliations
Personality
Rusty is headstrong and hot tempered, but quick to accept strangers as friends. He tends to judge people by the same standards he grew up with in rural Arkansas. While this usually makes him see the potential good in people his more cosmopolitan contemporaries would overlook, it also often results in misplaced trust that would be avoided by a more cynical world view.
In his private life, Rusty tends to party pretty hard, but on the job, he's a focused and dedicated member to any team, and takes his responsibilities very seriously.
While his natural talent with machines is evident to anyone who has seen him in action, Rusty tends to downplay his mechanical genius to such a point as to imply that he's embarrassed by it.
Abilities
Technological Affinity
Rusty can rapidly discern the function of virtually any piece of equipment with even a cursory inspection, and can often determine the methods of operation as well as arrive at a solution to reverse engineer/replicate/improve/counteract the device in an astonishingly short period of time.
Rusty's lack of formal education in science, mathematics, or engineering is his largest detriment, despite the fact that his natural mental gifts more than make up for anything he could learn via any Ivy League curriculum. He finds it extremely difficult to explain his breakthroughs or insights to other technology-inclined individuals, since he often doesn't know specific terminology for the concepts he's trying to describe.
Equipment
Battlesuit
The Ramshackle Battlesuit is just that: a ramshackle battlesuit cobbled together out of junkyard scrap and made functional by Rusty's innate mechanical genius. The suit not only grants him impressive survivability against most combat-related threats, but also greatly increases his physical strength and, more importantly, grants him a wide option of electricity based ranged weaponry options.
Rusty has recently incorporated a flight system into the suit which can use virtually any combustible fuel to attain a flight profile. Rusty generally uses a very high-proof grain alcohol he distills himself which is based on an old family moonshine recipe, but in a pinch he has used Jack Daniels and Jim Beam, as well.
Weaknesses and Limitations
Uncertainty
Rusty is often plagued with the fear that he is far out of his depth, largely because he's traded living in a close-knit community where he knew everyone personally for one populated with millions of strangers. He regularly finds himself in awe of being in "THE" Big City, working alongside superhumans he's idolized all of his life. This contributes to his fear that he won't be deemed "worthy" of helping them, and to compensate, Rusty will routinely take on challenges that are outside the scope of his abilities in order to prove himself.
Character History
Born in rural Arkansas, Russell "Rusty" Graves was an unremarkable youngster until his third year, when he came down with a terrible fever. After days of suffering, the fever broke, but the child was not the same as he was before. Rusty still had all his memories and mental faculties (a miracle given the fever's strength, his doctors were quick to point out), but was somehow changed.
The boy's grasp of mathematics and science astounded (and quickly outpaced) his teachers, and a suddenly insatiable curiosity had compelled him to dismantle almost any technological device placed in front of him. The boy worked quickly, confidently, and compulsively until whatever had been placed in front of him had been disassembled and understood. He would then reconstruct the device, more often than not instinctively improving it to be more efficient.
Fortunately for the boy's imagination, his family lived near a junkyard, and Rusty would spend hours every day trespassing there, so much so that he befriended the junkyard's pit bull 'security system', Bruno.
When he was six, Rusty created a radar out of a discarded microwave and television set. He spent his sixteenth summer building a Corvette out of left over parts, and using a homemade metal extrusion device to craft the parts he lacked. The following year, he made it so his beloved Corvette could transform into a giant robot.
Rusty's fate was decided, however, when he discovered a suit of high-tech armor in the piles one day. He was 21 at the time, and had managed to secure a summer job at the junkyard for over four years at this point. The armor was a discarded prototype from nearly a decade ago, but Rusty was able to salvage, repair, and upgrade it in short order.
Convinced he could use his battlesuit more effectively in a more hostile environment, Rusty moved to Paragon City to pursue a life as Ramshackle.
