Vantage
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| [[Image:|300px|]] | |
| Vantage | |
| Player: | |
| Origin: | Technology |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Scrapper |
| Security Level: | 50 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Gabriel VanWiliker |
| Known Aliases: | Van |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 28 |
| Height: | 5’ 10” |
| Weight: | 280 lbs. |
| Eye Color: | blue |
| Hair Color: | blonde |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | United State Citizen |
| Occupation: | full-time hero |
| Place of Birth: | Grand Rapids, MI |
| Base of Operations: | Paragon City |
| Marital Status: | single |
| Known Relatives: | Julie King/Crown Joule (cousin) |
| Known Powers | |
| Broadsword/Regeneration | |
| Known Abilities | |
| superjump, fitness, speed | |
| Equipment | |
| laser beam visor, titaniam reinforced skeleton | |
| No additional information available. | |
This character was formerly known as Vanguardian. Character History by Rose in Winter. (The players are married.)
Affiliations
- Twilight Thorn
- Crown Joule (cousin)
- Rose in Winter
- Hell for Leather
- Onyx-Butterfly
- Emerald Brilliance
- Golden Onyx
- Dangereuse (aka Dani)
Supergroup: The Stormwatch Initiative
Former Supergroup: Shinsengumi
Character History
Back in the days when he was just a normal (if unusually good-looking) guy with a boring job and a love of tech, Gabriel VanWiliker knew this guy named Randy. Gabriel himself was a CPA, but Randy worked in robotics. Randy helped design those tiny robots that let doctors operate without cutting a huge hole in their patient...you know, nanotech and all that. Randy loved his job. In fact, he loved it so much that he kept it going in a workshop in his basement.
That's where Gabriel encountered Randy's more experimental nanites. Here's a tip: unless you know exactly what's what in a robotics lab, it's best not to mess around with anything. Gabriel either didn't know that or didn't think about it. He picked up a syringe and was examining it when Randy walked in with a couple of Guinesses and shouted, "What are you doing!"
Back then, Gabriel was a bit of a klutz. Randy's shout startled him and he almost dropped the syringe. In his attempts to catch it, the thing lodged in his arm, and the plunger sank in. Gabriel was infused with millions of microscopic robots.
It wasn't long before Gabriel noticed a few changes. For one thing, when he accidentally cut himself while chopping some vegetables, the cut healed itself almost instantly. In addition to that, he became stronger, the muscles in his arms seeming to increase overnight. A sword collecter, he discovered that raising his authentic broadsword was no effort at all. And when he shot some hoops with the guys? Well, who says white men can't jump? Then there was the fact that -- after a while -- all his clumsiness vanished.
Yeah, Gabriel VanWiliker was a different person all right.
Being a consciencious sort, Gabriel wondered how best to use all these new gifts. He was a sort of superman now, so why not do what Superman did, and become a hero? The best place to go was Paragon City, which was still recovering from the first Rikti War. He knew they could use men of his calibre there. His friends (including the excited Randy, who contributed the nanites that helped Gabriel reach Security Level 50) threw him a going-away party that would live in legend.
In Paragon, he registered himself as Vantage (as Vanguardian, his first idea, was too close to Vanguard) and quickly met a strange, glowing-eyed girl calling herself Twilight Thorn. She invited him to join her Supergroup, and for a time Vantage worked with Shinsengumi, rising in their ranks. During this time, he met a young woman named Golden Onyx, one of the recruits under his command. He took the young soldier under his wing, and when he struck out on his own to form The Stormwatch Initiative, Golden Onyx joined the group.
Shortly before The Stormwatch Initiative formed, a great battle against the Circle of Thorns had allowed Twilight Thorn to regain her soul, and Gabriel finally admitted to himself that his feelings for Arianna (her true name) had developed beyond friendship. Arianna, too, was free to explore her feelings for Gabriel -- but both are too uncertain and nervous to take the first step. Luckily for them, a hero they had often fought alongside, Rose in Winter, sensed the mutual attraction and -- to Gabriel and Arianna's embarrassment -- has been working to bring the pair together since!
This article about a character is a stub -- a small, but growing, work in progress. If you're the creator of this character, why not consider expanding it?
