Skewerstrike
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
Contents |
Overview
Assassin-turned-mercenary. Laid-back. Amateur. Unpowered.
The Shrike (or "Skewerstrike" to the license-conscious) is a picture-perfect fall guy, with all the makings (and more) of the many nameless stiffs that wash ashore in the Isles daily--yet for all the times he's stared down double-crosses and long odds, peak physical condition and superb creative acuity have always seen him through to payday. Keeping a sucker's optimism in spite of countless set-ups and betrayals, being underestimated seems to come just a bit too naturally to him. One has to ask: who's really exploiting who?
You can hire Shrike for anything if the price is right, but whatever you do, don't hire him to fail.
History
Neglectful family and constant relocation bred self-reliance in Shrike from a very young age, and he turned to crime in order to provide himself what his guardians wouldn't. The schemes grew as he did, and their success and failure shaped his life: by sixteen he could already afford to live alone; at eighteen he served a year in prison for financial fraud. He spent two years in South America taking part in organized crime (and oddly, managing a restaraunt) before joining an assassin company in the Isles, and later going independent. Shrike often jokes that he was adopted rather than born into the life of a mercenary assassin - given how wayward a path he walked to reach the life, it's fair.
At his solo debut -- if one could call it that -- Shrike was a long-range marksman, and notorious for wearing flamboyant tactical gear in order to downplay his competence. After losing his rifle in a very close encounter with Paragon's heroes nearly cost him his freedom, he decided to address his weakness in fighting unarmed. Reasoning that since most metas he clashed with relied only on the power of their bodies, so should he, Shrike intensified his physical training and began self-teaching martial arts in earnest. From this, a combined need for flexible, functional and anonymous combat gear resulted in the sleek and snug outfits Shrike is known for today.
Personality
Aside from making no bones about the fact that he's playing the game of life for keeps, Shrike is cheery, easygoing, and normal (if 'normal' wore black tights and stirred the shit for money). He's happy for others' successes, sympathetic for their failures, and starstruck for their fame. If anything about his personality sets him apart, it's his boundless curiosity--he'll always have an ear to lend for an acquaintance or a lesson or a success story--and his insistence that inexperience in his field is his biggest advantage.
Instead of worrying about catching up to the levels of expertise held by most in his line of work--a loser's race, in his opinion--he approaches his job with a creativity and freshness of perspective only possible from an amateur's point of view, and in his mind being underqualified makes him all the freer to consider actions a veteran might overlook. Shrike isn't worried about making mistakes, or being ridiculed. He's also not worried about his enemies ever realizing his fortuitous beginner's luck isn't going away.
Abilities
Peak Physique
With a level of time and attention devoted to his body equivalent to what most people spend on their full-time jobs, it's unsurprising that Shrike is one of the most physically fit assassins in the Isles. While his strength, stamina and agility are all impressive in their own right, the ace up his sleeve is intense physical control stemming from his devotion to (of all things) yoga. Shrike has displayed ability to hold his breath for over ten minutes as well control his heart rate and body temperature; the full extent of these talents has yet to be tested.
Criminal Arts
Shrike was a lot of pettier things before becoming an assassin, and is familiar with the basics of just about every illicit activity imaginable. He knows everything from how-tos of everything from laundering money to picking a lock to hotwiring a car* to breaking glass without risk of injury.
*don't let him drive the car
Sharp Intuition
While Shrike's uncanny predictive powers are sometimes mistaken for supernatural danger sense or precognition, the truth is that he's just really good at listening to his gut. The sense is as powerful as anyone's could be, but by having to fend for himself all his life, it just never dulled.
Powers
Shrike doesn't have any powers
...Probably. That said, he's displayed the odd weird talent or two, such as keeping time in his head to the minute all day with just one look at a clock in the morning.
Associations
Organizations
The Thieves' Guild: Headed up by La Fantoma, the secret society of thieves has become Shrike's home away from home. He does his best to earn the group heaps of money, prove he belongs, and politely decline his boss' romantic advances.
The Reciprocators: Shrike has a love-hate relationship with the historic hero group. Among its many members, his notable interactions have been with his favorite hero The Noisebomb, tireless heroine The Crux Enigma, and the (in)famously mean jerk Sean Casus who broke his pricey custom gun. He infiltrated the group once.
People
Codename Devilfish: A veteran assassin who Shrike looks up to. Fifteen years his senior and still kicking - what's not to like?
Roll of the Dice: Shrike's friend and superior in the Thieves' Guild, his crush on her is a poorly-kept secret (it's the shiny hair and tights.)
Karnal Sin: Who Shrike thinks of when he thinks of a femme fatale. They worked briefly for Judex.
Swiftkill: An assassin subletting his apartment to Shrike in exchange for marksmanship training. Tried to decapitate Shrike once.
Webmaster Grave: Shrike has a soft spot for the battle-hardened ex-Arachnos and tries to chat him up whenever he can. Sometimes Grave sends him out on bullshit errands.
Fighting Ruben Wolfe: Shrike and Rube have common ground over masks, brothers, and sticking it to the man. Joined Rube's fighting circuit hoping to improve his physical combat.
Dr. Aquarius: Another hood-and-tights contemporary Shrike gets along with. They adhere to a strict DADT policy (Don't Ask Don't Take your mask off).
Opinions
Put IC opinions of Skewerstrike here (or maybe don't!)
"A consummate professional in every sense of the word. Mr. Shrike succeeds with only two arms and two legs where most of us have a myriad of other advantages. And his physique is, well, enviable to say the least, but you didn't hear that from me." -- Dr. Aquarius
"The young have potential, provided they do not follow the older around like stray puppies. In time we shall see where this Memory leads." -- Jake Love
Backstage and Trivia
- Shrike's concept (or at least, what it evolved into) is envisioned as a well-travelled lone wolf/modern-day adventurer-for-hire with a distinct spec-ops flair; sort of like if a Metal Gear character led the fantasy-injected, travelling lifestyle the likes of Corto Maltese, Lara Croft, Indiana Jones or Lupin the Third. I assume the comic-book comparison to Skewerstrike would be Deadpool (but that's just a guess; I don't read comics). His intuitive and gutsy David-among-Goliaths personality is also heavily inspired from the protagonists of gambling fiction.- Shrike has always wanted to go to space, but travel plans to this effect always seem to fall apart.
- His original reason for being was as a supporting character's supporting character and an excuse to try out some of the more flamboyant costume pieces. Funny how RP can evolve a character.
- His casual drawly manner of speaking is held back for convenience's sake, as millions of apostrophes and shortened words are dumb and hard to read.
