Soulbourne
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| Soulbourne | |
| Player: @Glory Light | |
| Origin: | Mutation |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Defender |
| Security Level: | 27 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Ichabod Jonas Carlyle IV |
| Known Aliases: | Joe |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 20 |
| Height: | 5'6" |
| Weight: | 134lbs, 7oz |
| Eye Color: | Emerald with gold freckles |
| Hair Color: | Maroon |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | American (Eligable to join the Mayflower Society, Sons of the American Revolution) |
| Occupation: | Hero, Massage Therapist |
| Place of Birth: | East Hampton, NY |
| Base of Operations: | Paragon City, RI |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Sarah Carlyle (Mother), Ichabod Jonas Carlyle III (Father) |
| Known Powers | |
| Healing, Electrical Blasts, Flight (Soulbourne's body can convert wounds into a bio-organic energy he can direct to power flight or shoot as electrical blasts) | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Soulbourne can touch his tongue to his nose | |
| Equipment | |
| Confidential | |
| Soulbourne seems to have a hyperactive metabolism, and regularly consumes well over 8,000 calories a day | |
Soulbourne is one of thousands of new heroes that have inundated Paragon City in the last few years following the second Rikti Invasion. He is easy to smile, quick to laugh, and always happy to help anyone out.
((There are plenty of plothooks in Soul's background. If you'd like to hang a story on one, please contact me! I have plenty of ideas and would love conflict RP, or just fun coinicidences
PS--Honk if you like the page :) ))
History
Soulbourne was born in East Hampton, NY three weeks before his parents were to leave for their summer home in Martha's Vineyard. His parents can both trace their lineage to the Mayflower. In his family tree, there are seventeen senators, eight governers, three tycoons, and is distantly related to both the Astor family and the Rockefellers.
Family
Soulbourne is the only child of Sarah Youngston-Carlyle and Ichabod Jonas Carlyle III.
Mother
Sarah Youngston-Carlyle was born in Woodly Park, just outside Washington, D.C. The daughter of a senator from Connecticut she inherited her mother's stunning beauty and her father's keen mind. From an early age, she sought only to better herself and her position. When she met Ichabod Jonas Carlyle III, she saw an opportunity. By that time, her father had lost his senate seat and her family had begun to fall on hard times. Carlyle, an heir to century old steel fortune, had both great means and the proper pedigree to keep the young socialite in the proper circles to amass power.
Currently, Sarah Youngston-Carlyle has followed in her father's footsteps. She is the Republican junior senator from Connecticut and has begun to achieve national attention for her cutthroat political style. She carefully fosters this image of herself as a "pit-bull in pumps" thus fending away competition for her power. Sarah guards her power fanatically and has even gone far enough to edit classified documents about the history of her family. It is unclear what she has removed, but if it were ever discovered it could certainly be the death of her political career. Rumor has it, it concerns her estranged son.
Father
Ichabod Jonas Carlyle III was born into a life of luxory and prestiege. His family had been active in high society for longer than any other American family (Save, of course, the original American Royalty, the Astor family). Trip, as he liked to be called, never developed a great skill in business, nor did he ever show a great aptitude for much of anything. The only talent he seemed to have was for social gatherings. Trip was the life of a party, and people hung off of his every word. When he met, and later married Sarah Youngston-Carlyle, the young heir's life was set.
He briefly became a preacher on the road for some time, but after about two years he retired back to his family homes in the East Hamptons and Martha's Vineyard. A few years later, he and his wife purchased a house on the beach near Middle Beach, Connecticut. Shortly thereafter, his wife ran for the state senate as a Republican. During the next election cycle, his wife ran and won one a national senate seat. Three weeks before his wife was sworn in as a senator from Connecticut, Trip was killed in a car accident while driving to his family's summer home in Martha's Vineyard.
Those Embarassing Baby Pictures
It was clear from birth that Ichabod Jonas Carlyle IV, or Joe, was a mutant. His hair was a rich maroon color. A quick test confirmed doctor's suspicions. The new Carlyle was a member of a burgeoning group of mutants whose powers manifested at birth--well before puberty. Mutants whose powers manifest so early are traditionally powerful, but Joe took everyone by surprise. Before Joe's parents got him home, it became clear he was an extraordinary healer. When left in the infant's ward near a premie, the nurse watched as Joe began to glow a soft golden color. The premie immediately became stronger, and by the end of the night seemed like a normal healthy baby.
Pleased with their son's power, the parents took him home and encouraged him to continue healing. His mother was particularly relieved that her son's power was something socially acceptable and even began to pride herself on the sheer magnatude of his abilities. Experts in metahuman research quickly found the Carlyles and were amazed at the level and depth of his abilities. Unfortunately, it would be his magnificent ability that caused Joe's greatest crisis.
So You Want to Be a Media Sensation?
When Joe was five, his best friend's father was diagnosed with prostrate cancer. A year later, the prognosis was bleak. The cancer was resistant to radiation, resisted any operation and any drug thrown at it. To make matters worse, the cancer had spread to nearly every system in the poor man's body. He was given three weeks to live. The doctors told him to say goodbye to his son and wife.
Joe's friend came to him that day in tears. He knew his best friend could heal--he'd seen him do it when they skinned their knees riding bikes. He also knew that his dad was very sick. The boy didn't know what he was asking of Joe; all he wanted was his father to be okay again. For his part, Joe didn't know what he was doing. He was unaware of how many healers had tried to cure cancer or other cruel diseases in the past and failed. All he knew was that his friend needed his help.
It hurt when Joe healed his friend's dad. It burned like he'd never felt before. Electricity shot from his fingers, grounding itself in the floor beneath him and melting the kid's Power Ranger sneakers. But when it was all over, the cancer was gone. Doctors were baffled until the man explained what had happened. Immediately they held a press conference to explain. Joe's world quickly snowballed out of control, his parent's phone rang with pleas from the sick and dying in the thousands. It was more than any adult, let alone a six-year old could handle.
Connie Chung is the Devil
The news media had a field day with the Little Boy Healer, as they dubbed him. Joe was terrified to find Connie Chung hiding behind the azalias at his busstop as he waited for school. Geraldo Rivera rummaged through the family's trash on national TV. Dan Rather held an interview with anyone who would talk--from the family's grocer to Joe's pediatrician. The attention terrified the little boy. Worse yet were the calls and visits from the sick and dying. Healing his friend's father had hurt. He was terrified of doing it again. However, his conscience tugged at him with every story.
All Joe really wanted to do was play Power Rangers with his best friend and maybe go to beach once more before it got too cold. The media blitz, however, made it impossible. All of that would have died down eventually if his father hadn't had an epiphany.
If Jesus is my Co-Pilot, Why are we Crashing?
Trip had done very little with his life. He spent days sitting in a lavish office won through dint of heridity and nights at home with his family. Weekends offered him time to socialize at brunches and country clubs; but it all felt superficial. When the media swirled around his son, he became glued to the television. He watched Pat Robertson cry on the 700 Club as he described the healing as "evidence of the Lord working through a child." Trip had an epiphany then. Perhaps it was because years of an idle lifestyle had left him a bit delusional, or perhaps he believed that all things that sprang from him were holy. Either way, Trip became convinced his son was a gift from god, sent here to do his divine will.
Immediately, Trip pulled his son out of school and set up a tent-revival style church. There he had his son perform 'faith healings' and 'displays of His power'. The healings were simple enough, but the displays of power required Joe to glow with electricity and hover over the crowd. At six years of age, Joe was accomplished but doing so much was hard and it took a toll on him. Joe was constantly tired and slept upwards of twelve hours a day. Still, his father's fanaticism persisted. The situation persisted until Joe was 11.
Joe was already having problems with his father's choice of lifestyle. He had recently realized what his own 'choice of lifestyle' was and knew it would disappoint. He knew he had to find a way out from the religious life his father had made for his family, but nothing seemed to work. Things finally came to a head between Joe and his father one dark night when Trip decided to begin his new plan to have his son heal the nation of its sin.
Trip planned to use his son's abilities to destroy abortion clinics across the country. Joe naturally refused. His father yelled, and Joe yelled back. Tempers flared. Finally Joe's mouth acted without permission from his brain. He shouted that he was gay to his father and ran away as fast as he could. He locked himself in his motel room and began crying almost immediately. The boy decided that he couldn't go on anymore, and, like may gay kids, he decided his only option was suicide.
Home Sweet Orphanage
Before Joe could do anything he would later regret, DCFS intervened. His mother had called them earlier that week and begged for her son to be taken away from his father. She refused to take him, saying she needed to help her husband recover his wits. Joe was sent to a special orphanage designed specifically for metahuman children. Although it sounds dickensian, the orphanage was actually a bright and happy place where Joe flourished and grew as a person.
He attended school on the grounds, and also learned how to better control his powers. The orphanage did require extensive weekly physicals, and some of the children whispered that they were for other, less seemly pursuits. The orphanage, however, said it wanted to make sure that the children were all healthy. Being a few genes left of normal could easily wreck havoc on any human's systems. While at the orphanage, Joe met and made many friends. He blossomed as a person, and became very outgoing.
The time spent at the government orphanage was undoubtedly the happiest of Joe's life. Unfortunately, it was not to last forever.
Mutant Rights, Mutant Schmights!
Joe's time at the orphanage was cut short when the orphanage was shut down pending a lawsuit filed by a mutant rights legal group. Two days before his seventeenth birthday, Joe found himself out on the streets with little to no money and even less of an idea where to go. Although the mutant rights organization offered Joe and the rest of his classmates a home, his pride and sense of anger at the group for destroying what he felt was his only home prevented him from taking the offer. Many of Joe's classmates, however, went to the group. Quite a few would later end up in radical mutant rights groups, and a few have even become known as terrorists or outright villians due to their fanaticism.
Freedom's Just Another Word For...
Out on the street, Joe quickly found work as a delivery boy. He could fly, and if need be, keep the pizzas warm. While he made good tips, he wanted more out of his life. Adrift, Joe enrolled in a massage therepy school and quickly graduated. The school required extensive anatomy courses, which helped Joe refine his healing ability. After all, it pays to know what tendens are spraigned in a knee rather than just healing them all.
And Yet Another Hero is Born!
After graduating school, Joe decided to make his way to Paragon City. He realized his powers had grown from when he was a child, but they still were not at their full potential. Praciticing in the city known for birthing great heroes was the best way to learn to control his powers. Remembering what had happened as a child, Joe took the hero name 'Soulbourne' and fiercely protects his secret identity.
Although he has only found minimal success as a hero, Joe seems quite happy in Paragon. He has joined a supergroup, made a few friends, and even had a few gentlemen wink at him.
He has also recently adopted a cat. She is a tortoiseshell kitten he has dubbed 'Hope'.
Personality
Despite the past, Joe is remarkably well-adjusted. He is quick to smile, laugh, and joke. He offers his help freely and genuinely and sees only potential friends in the manner of one who has never truly been hurt. His bubbly attitude is refreshing in a city filled with angry and brooding souls. Hopefully, it will not be tarnished by time.
The Pariah Project
Joe has recently signed up with the Pariah Project and seems quite content. He has developed a quick friendship with the group's leader, Dynamistress; nicknaming her 'Dyna-butt' much to her dislike.
