Wes The Mess
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| File:Pending | |
| "Broccoli!? YOU NO MAKE ME EAT!" | |
| Player: razoras | |
| Origin: | Mutant |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Tank |
| Security Level: | 50 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Weston Hassler |
| Known Aliases: | Wes The Mess, The Mess, Wes |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 17 |
| Height: | 5 ft 9 in |
| Weight: | 478 lbs |
| Eye Color: | Brown |
| Hair Color: | Blue (Brown) |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | American (US) |
| Occupation: | Vanguard Volunteer, Volunteer Fireman |
| Place of Birth: | Peoria, Illinois |
| Base of Operations: | Dover, Illinois |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Jamie (mother) |
| Known Powers | |
| Super Strength, Invulnerability | |
| Known Abilities | |
| N/A | |
| Equipment | |
| N/A | |
| Appeared in City of Heroes Issues 3-4 (Jury Duty arc), and 12 (Best Issue Ever) | |
Wes The Mess is, by all appearances, a very muscle-bound dim witted hero that fixes things by punching them. Generally he speaks using the incorrect personal pronouns and butchers grammar in various fashion and can seem to have an obsession with broccoli, but he also tends to be gentle and friendly despite the appearance of a brute. Sometimes he can be hard to miss with the layers of muscle, fat, and bright yellow and blue clothing, but he also regularly dons the uniform of Vanguard and spends considerable time fighting the Rikti in the Warzone.
Some have suggested that his unintelligence is just an act, which is supported somewhat by his network of friends and aquaintances as well as his membership in organizations such as Vanguard, his super group the Defenders of Paragon, and his time as a juror in Paragon City's justice system.
Contents |
Background
- Wes The Mess was born in west Illinois to his rural single mother, Jamie Hassler, in 1999 and lived most of his childhood in a somewhat typical rural Illinois life. It was clear from an early age, however, that something was either wrong or simply unusual with him. He was born as a very heavy baby and grew at an accelerated rate. Doctors were able to eventually establish that he was suffering from a glandular issue that was making him physically age twice as fast as he should as well as build muscle at an extreme rate but could not determine the cause after ruling out tumors or other illness. Jamie Hassler never pursued any treatment options.
Super Powers? (1997)
- Being so different did make Wes' childhood difficult for a variety of reasons, but one significant one was that other people would often assume he was older than he really was. Even his mother made this mistake sometimes, as she did when she let her 7 year old son (who would have appeared to be a very strong 14 year old) use the lawn mower mostly unattended one day during the summer of 1997. This mistake almost turned tragic when Wes reached under the running lawn mower to try to pull out some debris that was stuck in the blades. Despite his wailing and tears, Jamie was astonished to find Wes received only a bruised and slightly lacerated hand and a highly damaged lawn mower that had somehow ended up in the boughs of a nearby tree.
- Jamie pulled Wes out of public school and began to home school him, fearing her son was more than simply different but had super powers. She was aware of some bullying at school about his condition and had concerns her son could act out and accidentally hurt someone. She eventually let him return to school to be among his peers after she was certain she had taught him self control.
The Moniker (2000)
- The bullying by some children continued as soon as Wes returned to school, and he started to be called "Wes The Mess." Eventually Wes would adopt the nickname as his hero name, perhaps in an attempt to turn the insult around. This was when Wes began to show signs of low intelligence and poor communication skills, though a lack of special education meant he was taught with his peers instead of a specialized or reduced curriculum.
The Riki Invasion (May 23rd, 2002)
- At the age of 12 Wes would ultimately become both a hero and a haunted var veteran. Wes and his mother were visiting Chicago, Illinois, a major US city, in order to spend time with an aunt and uncle who lived there. The Rikti began their coordinated invasion of major Earth cities across the globe just as Wes and his mother were touring the downtown area. This would be an incredible turning point in Wes' life, both for good and ill.
- As the city skies were darkened by Rikti drones and the streets began to fill with Rikti troops, Wes and his mother sought refuge in a nearby store with other civilians. Although the military had already been on alert from the moment the portals in the sky had appeared, they were firsthand witnesses to the quick dismantling of the armed response the Rikti inevitably drew. Within hours Rikti were marching freely throughout the city, destroying and killing methodically after initially striking key targets. Eventually it was no longer safe in their store, so Wes and a few other refugees began to try to quietly sneak away from a small unit that was approaching them. Their stealth failed.
Heroism
- Before this point Wes' heroism was all imaginary. As a twelve year old boy he had many dreams of heroism and had enjoyed stories about Statesman and the local Windy City Warriors and had an active imagination and fantasy life, but an approaching force of "aliens" with futuristic weapons forced Wes to make a decision about real life. Bolstered by the confidence of childhood, especially a childhood where he often experienced no harm when other children would have had broken bones or severe cuts, Wes felt he had no choice but to confront the oncoming Rikti while his mother fled.
- Reality hit Wes hard. As he constructed a make-shift fortress by dragging and piling cars between the Rikti and the other refugees, the Rikti took notice and immediately opened fire. Futuristic plasma weapons were shockingly painful to flesh that lawnmower blades and falls from great heights had no effect on, but Wes was old enough to understand that at that point he had lost his option to run to safety. Rikti with teleporters made the fight even more personal as they bypassed his barriers completely and engaged him hand-to-hand.
- Ultimately Wes would survive this confrontation despite the long odds because two members of the Chicago super group, Windy City Warriors, had arrived to assist him. They had been actively helping civilians escape dangerous areas, and ultimately Wes was able to keep the Rikti occupied long enough for his mother to get to safety. With the help of a cloak of darkness provided by his new comrades, Wes the Mes did not have to witness any death or experience is own during this encounter.
- That innocence would be over by the end of the Rikti War. He would witness dozens of civilian deaths first hand, as well as the deaths of super beings who fought to defend the city. He even eventually became hospitalized by injuries sustained during the final days of the War when the Windy City Warriors had initiated a plan to destroy the primary Rikti portal within Chicago, even as the bold Alpha and Omega teams were forming for the final confrontation. Very few would survive this strike, and even one of those survivors became a member of Omega Team, never to be seen again.
Paragon City
- The leader of the Windy City Warriors, Mitt, would visit Wes regularly as he recovered, and both he and Wes' mother had serious concerns for his mental state after witnessing the horrors of war. Mitt eventually convinced Jamie to let him take her son to Paragon City. He argued that Wes needed a way to cope with what he had experienced, and that rebuilding the city and being a hero would be critical in that effort. Paragon City was the home of all the famous super heroes everyone read about, but was also not the same battleground that Wes had witnessed hundreds of strangers and even some friends die cruel deaths in.
- Jamie reluctantly agreed, and Mitt was able to arrange some paperwork and exceptions to officially register a 12 year old hero as an official Paragon City hero.
