The Man Without A Face
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
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| The Man Without A Face | |
| Player: Man Without A Face (@Microfrog) | |
| Origin: | Mutation |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Sentinel |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Jonathan Raguel Bishop |
| Known Aliases: | No Face, Mr. Unknown, Mr. Black, El Sereno |
| Species: | Human (Mutant) |
| Age: | 95 (DOB: December 10, 1924) |
| Height: | 1.8 m. (6'2") |
| Weight: | 172 lbs.) |
| Eye Color: | Brown |
| Hair Color: | Black |
| Biographical Data | |
| Place of Birth: | Brooklyn, New York |
| Known Relatives: | Unknown |
| Known Powers | |
| Ability to change skin black by causing it to absorb all light, ability to bend and manipulate light around body. Long lifespan due to mutation. | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Skilled with small firearms, skilled in hand-to-hand combat, expert negotiator and manipulator. Good at infiltrating, moderately good knowledge of technology and security. Extremely, naturally athletic. | |
| Equipment | |
| Two Colt Detective Special revolvers, throwable taser, various explosives, an assortment of costumes (for infiltration), a number of different electronic devices used mostly for data acquisition and security, a pack of Mexicano brand cigarillos and a Zippo lighter. | |
Contents |
Appearance
The Man With No Face (or No Face for short) is a somewhat tall Caucasian man with black hair, moderately tanned skin, and brown eyes. He is without immediately noticeable scars and has no tattoos on his body. He's not too overly muscular, but has an athletic build.
On the streets he can usually be seen wearing a mostly black outfit of a trench coat, dress slacks, work shoes, black leather gloves, and fedora. Under the trench coat he wears a white dress shirt with a plain black tie. He never deviates from this outfit, preferring uniformity when not wearing costumes.
He's also been known to wear just the pants, shirt, and tie, as well as a white tank top and slacks. However, almost nobody has ever seen him wear anything other than his "uniform" clothes.
History
No Face's history is shrouded in mystery, obscured by decades of hard living and even harder fighting. No Face, or Jonathan as he was known formerly, was your average American boy born in Brooklyn, New York. An only child, he made good grades in school, was on the school's baseball team, and had hopes of going to college. However, around his 18th birthday, World War II broke out. Being of age to be drafted, he was, and went to war with the United States military. He didn't see a great deal of combat, and as soon as he could get out of military service once the war was over, he did, returning home.
During the war, his father had died of an accident at a construction site, and so Jonathan moved back in with his mother to help take care of her. While he did, he joined the police force, figuring he would put his limited combat experience to good use and keep the streets clean. No long Aafter Jonathan's mother died, he was promoted to Detective, which is where he stayed for the next decade.
As the years passed, it became more and more obvious to Jonathan just how much corruption there was in New York, especially in the police force. Despite his best efforts, though he tried, he couldn't push back against the rampant crime in the city. Disenchanted with how things were turning out, and wanting to move out of his old home, Jonathan left Brooklyn and moved up to Rhode Island, settling in Paragon City, where he was able to get a job as a private investigator.
Jonathan was the epitome of the "hard boiled detective", a real film noir character come to life. Smoke too much, drank too much, got into a lot of fights, sometimes broke the law, but always did his job as best as he could. Not because he wanted a paycheck, although he did have to put food on the table. He did it because of a genuine desire to uncover the truth, expose lies, bring criminals to justice, and blow open corruption wherever it could be found. Which he did, although not having the kind of ability to do so, as private investigators never had enough power or access to public resources like the regular cops.
As the years continued to go by, the fact didn't escape Jonathan that he wasn't aging. Or, he was, just not like everyone else. He never talked to anybody about it, never saw a doctor about it. He just assumed it was really good genetics. But by the 90's, it started becoming obvious that there was something different about him. In short time, whatever mutation Jonathan has about him, it began to "activate", and Jonathan first learned of his mutant abilities. Able to turn his skin completely black, he also had the ability to bend light around his body, and warp the appearance of his face, capable of minor temporary changes to his apparent facial structure which could fool even the most advanced security.
Word got out that he was a mutant, and people stopped wanting to do business with him. Even in a world where superheros were growing more and more common, a regular old mutant like Jonathan just couldn't cut it. He didn't have the option to put on a cape and some spandex and join some superhero group. He was desperate, and started taking more "questionable" contracts from people with very questionable backgrounds. He never did anything that would break the law or put innocent people in danger, but some of the things he did for money were pretty damn close.
Sometime in the late 90's, Jonathan suddenly vanished without a trace. What happened to him is a complete mystery to everyone but Jonathan. But whatever happened, in 2019, Jonathan came back. But he wasn't Jonathan anymore. In his place, was the Man Without A Face. And he came back without a trace behind him. Not one. Nothing. His previous records with the PPD, in the city's database, his birth certificate, his criminal record, everything. Everything had been burnt, totally expunged, never to be found again. Nobody would ever know who he was before. Nobody would ever know the things he did.
But coming back, he saw how much things had changed. There were fewer superheros in Paragon City, and things were far worse. Criminals were running rampant all over the city. There was nowhere in the entire city where you couldn't find corruption. The schools, the business, and especially the government.
And what was worse for him: It didn't seem like anybody was doing anything about it. A superhero would occasionally come along and stop a purse snatching, but nobody was trying to get to the heart of the matter. Nobody was trying to behead the gangs and drive criminal organizations out of the city. Nobody was trying to shut down the super villains which were growing in number by the year.
He would do something about it himself. The people of the city couldn't rely on the police, the military, the government, or the superheros who had once vowed to protect and defend Paragon City. The people deserved something better. If that meant he had to bend rules and break laws, so be it. Better to throw an apple or two into the fire than for the entire bunch to rot away.
But his tactics quickly drew the ire of the PPD and the Paragon City government. He became known as more than just a vigilante, but a criminal. Almost a terrorist. Someone who needed to be locked away for the sake of public safety.
So until the streets were safe, until Paragon City was restored to its former glory, he would remain in the shadows. Watching. Waiting. Striking at the heart of darkness.
Personality
No Face is antisocial, generally has a bad attitude, and is highly suspicious of everybody around him. Not because necessarily he thinks everybody could potentially be evil, but as a way to protect himself from possibly being caught. As such, coupled with his past history being burnt, nobody really knows anything about him.
He likes to smoke Mexican cigarillos, he loves to drink whiskey (or, well, any alcohol if there's no whiskey). He has a dark sense of humor, when he actually makes an attempt to be humorous, and an extremely foul mouth. Having seen the worse things humanity is capable of, nothing surprises him anymore. He remains unphased at seeing or hearing about even the most horrific things.
As mentioned before, he trusts nobody, but he especially has distrust for police, military, politicians, and superheroes. The worst thing to him, second only to crime and corruption, are what he calls "white bread tights". Generic Statesman wannabe superheroes with capes, spandex, and big white teeth. The "goody two-shoes" types of superheroes.
Powers and Abilities
-- Detective skills. -- Skill in small firearms -- Hand-to-hand combat -- Minor medical knowledge -- Explosives knowledge (how to use and make them) -- Moderate knowledge of technology and how to use certain electronic devices and computers -- Influential personality when he needs to be influential, master at lying and manipulating -- Skin-darkening mutation and ability to warp, bend, and manipulate light immediately around his body
Character Notes
Any character doing background checks of No Face will always come up empty handed. All files pertaining to his past have been "burnt", that is, erased from existence, and any files relating to the previous files have also been erased from existence. In essence, as far as anyone is aware, he never existed before coming to Paragon City. Even then, he keeps his doings highly secretive. If he takes a job and somebody even gets remotely suspicious of him, he bails. He has multiple hideouts, with a primary hideout located in a secret location in Paragon City. He keeps multiple secret stashes of weapons, explosives, money, and emergency supplies throughout Paragon City if he needs them. He has a number of anonymous contacts which he can use to stay under the radar and remain off the grid.
He is, for all intents and purposes, merely a shadow, and pinpointing him or what he does is actually impossible. He has decades of training and enough resources that nobody knows, or will ever know, who he is, what he does, or where he's at until it's too late. And then, like the shadow he is, he blends into the darkness, never to be found.
He has no fingerprints, having had them removed through a dangerous, experimental procedure. His face, if it's not in the "black state" where his skin absorbs all light, is in a constantly state of light fluctuation. This manipulation of light extends into all forms of facial scans and recognition. Cameras and scanners prove useless to figure out his face. Magical scans of his face will always prove inconclusive, and if the scan happens when his his is blackened, a magic scan will show nothing.
When he is in "costume", typically during infiltration and information gathering, he'll be dressed in an alternate outfit and his face will have changed (due to the aforementioned ability). He's also able to change his hair in minor ways, and use temporary dyes. He's also good at imitating voices and accents. All of this combined makes him extremely good at faking his identity, proving especially useful if he needs to get into a gang or work a certain job for whatever reason.
If he needs to be contacted, for whatever reason, a person would have to go through a number of anonymous contacts that act as a sort of "onion layers", protecting his identity and activities from prying eyes. Because of this, getting a hold of him can be difficult, even for people who have had frequent contact with him.
If you have any other questions, feel free to get a hold of me, I'll be more than happy to help.
Character theme songs: "All You Are Going to Want to do is Get Back There" by The Caretaker
