Post by Multiplex on Mar 28, 2018 1:23:11 GMT
Name: Mǐnyǒng Liu/敏勇刘
Alias: Multiplex
Gender: Male
Age: 23
Affiliation: Rebel
Physical Appearance: Liu has great difficulty standing out physically, having short, choppy black hair with an eye color to match, a build that is utterly unworthy of note, and all of five feet and eight inches for a height to his name. He has a rather weak chin, short ear lobes, and overall decidedly rounded features. Furthermore, he has no easily noticeable birthmarks or scars, no peculiarities in anatomy, and no promptly evident tics. At a glance, it would be extremely easy for one to argue his position as the apex of bland. He is, however, as mortal as anyone, and closer inspection reveals a thin scar on the wrist from a poorly wielded letter opener, a slightly broader left shoulder as compared to his right, decent cardiovascular endurance from similarly decent amounts of running and biking, with the latter his typical mode of transport, and also a tendency to grind his teeth under duress, among other such mundane traits. His civilian choice of outfit is similarly nondescript; business casual at best, and little less than that at worst.
His technically more professional business outfit, on the other hand, is a bit more of a showstopper, if rather clearly assembled on a fairly low budget. It consists of long, stark white gloves and matching, thickly rubber-soled boots over a charcoal one-piece suit decked out with curious, thin rubber plating. This is wrapped with a rather unnecessary four-point harness that looks to have once been a few seatbelts tacked on, the connecting pieces forming a small “x” over the center of his chest. He wears something that resembles (or may have once been) a welding mask to disguise himself, if said mask were to have its sides hammered back and a slightly redundant black paintjob added, lending it the unfortunate air of an accessory on a lazy sci-fi costume. Lastly, a long, white woolen scarf is wrapped around his neck. A minor detail worthy of note is that the gloves have two separate, curious patches of a rough, carpet-like material running parallel to each other on either side of the palm and forearm, as do the boots on either side of the leg.
Personality: Liu is rather cut-and-dry, and isn’t a terribly complex kind of person. In the day to day, he prefers to mean exactly what he says, doesn’t deal much with beating around the bush, and tries to always mind his honorifics. This can serve to lend him the feel of a throwaway, dime-a-dozen salary man to the cynical eye, which is something that he is at least mindful enough of to be vaguely embarrassed by. He does, however, take quite a bit of pride in secretly being anything but that, though he is simultaneously deathly afraid of giving his more infamous identity away. Thus, in situations where this might be compromised, he has no qualms with instead simply lying about his activities or playing dumb, something he is exceedingly good at—he merely has to act like his usual slightly dull self and feign ignorance towards whatever the contraband subject might be, and most would likely take him at his word.
As can be surmised from his slightly unsavory occupation, Liu has developed a few issues with society, or at least so he would claim. To another rebel, he might argue that the materialism and worship that surrounds their heroes, rightly labelled Superstars, has left the populace unable to think for themselves or take any heroic action by their own initiative, and that his own actions help to destabilize the Superstars’ positions. Or alternatively, he could rationalize that the turmoil of the modern world has only created social and economic disparity that runs ever deeper, and that what he does exposes such a dark truth for what it is. The reality, however, is a bit less noble; he simply doesn’t want to work. Society’s pressure-cooking from his first steps to his adulthood has left him without much confidence in his own intelligence, and this combined with his marked laziness has resulted in him finding the idea of being another cog in the wheel repugnant. As such, his crimes can always be counted on being at least partly influenced by the combined need to pay the rent and to stand out.
As he can’t completely neglect the fact that most people would likely consider him something of a loser, some of the profits from said crimes go to more noble causes or people, generally taking the form of donations to charities or locals in dire straits. This is, however, more out of the aforementioned reason and also a desire to give off a Robin Hood-esque image (something he is sure would be good for his PR) than out of much actual sympathy, though he would never admit the former reason and would be hesitant to state the latter, undermining his alleged reasons for rebellion as it is.
In essence, the only thing particularly complicated abut Liu are his moderately convoluted motivations. Though he very easily blends into photos and groups, he is acceptably sociable, and is certainly independent enough, but he nonetheless cares little, and instead fixates on that first point. He uses his power to stand out in the only way he feels he can, as without it he feels he couldn’t amount to much of anything, and he lacks the patience and drive both to be a simple working man and to play the game that is the role of Superstar. The single way he feels is left to him, then, is crime, which he feels is the essence of breaking the mold.
History: Liu’s early life saw the city of Lhana as his home, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in China’s west. Though his mother possessed no powers to speak of, he is in fact a fourth generation Metahuman by his father’s line (who specifically has the peculiar capability to draw or add moisture from the air to or from liquid water), though said lineage was never especially grand and consisted largely of small scale abilities. As a result, Liu’s own ability being so comparatively impressive was quite the stir, once it was discovered, which indeed didn’t take very long. At the mere age of six or so his power unveiled itself, at the time being barely powerful enough to deliver a taser-tier payload, giving him many a year to adapt and advance the means by which he used it, until it was as natural as breathing. This was highly fortunate, as there wasn’t much else he seemed nearly as adept at, doing well enough in school to pass in school as time wore on but excelling in little, and making a good number of friends and acquaintances yet never rising to the forefront.
It was also quite fortunate that his upbringing was in Tibet’s urban heart, for one doesn’t adapt to the hustle and bustle of life in any of the major metropolitan cities otherwise. It was indeed to one of these that he traveled about two and a half years ago once he felt it time to leave the nest and his known world behind, that weighty destination being Shanghai by name, having formed a plan of his own quite contrary to the expectations of those who knew him. For he had hatched a plot as far back as his tween years, a perfect plot that would allow him to never have to work a day in his life, and even after so much time, he still planned to stick to it; he would assemble a disguise and use his power, not for the sake of abstract justice or a sense of right, but merely to both pay the bills and to prove to himself that he wasn’t quite as average or unimportant as everyone thought. He would play the role of thief, crook, antagonist, maverick, whatever label one could possibly fancy to name it, and he would keep it discreet beyond compare.
It was indeed this plan that he followed, down to the very letter. For as long as he has resided in Shanghai, this is how he’s stayed afloat, his criminal deeds paying for his (thoroughly unimpressive) housing, and his perchance to loiter about the theaters, and the parks, and the batting cages. Thus far, things have gone without incident, having more than a few close run-ins with the law but always evading capture, making a small name for himself in the immediate area but never going too far and attracting much attention, and above all never exposing himself for what—or who—he was.
Power: Electro-Manifestation. This allows Liu to generate independent electrostatic forces that roughly take on his own shape in the area they encompass, which he has dubbed “mirages,” as they are composes solely of charged air and are without mass, and are thus normally invisible. The charge he uses to create these comes from his own body, and he is able to easily (albeit somewhat slowly) increase this charge by merely walking around, generating friction with the ground, objects, or the air itself. Each individual mirage is formed by Liu moving out of a space and leaving the charged air behind, which is done on command. He can dissolve these mirages at any time, either by peaceably having them fizzle out or discharging entirely at once, giving off an intense electric shock. When he does decide to detonate, he does not have to detonate every mirage at once; rather, he can set individual ones off, or set them all off in succession, or any other sort of delivery method. Notably, when Liu forms a mirage, he can imbue it with intent, or a command. That is, if he wants the mirage to go somewhere, he can make it go there, and he can also dictate how it will travel, reserving the ability to detonate all the while. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the peculiar connection between Liu and the charges he gives off allows him to reposition his entire mass at the location of any given mirage with speeds similar to teleportation, effectively allowing him to swap positions between mirages on the fly.
Drawback: Liu can currently only generate four mirages at maximum, and putting out three or more begins to put successively higher amounts of mental strain on him, which can result in loss of focus and migraines if they are maintained for too long, which is generally just over the ten minute mark. Furthermore, when he imbues a mirage with a directive, he cannot change it. The mirage possesses neither sentience nor sapience of any kind, being a purely physical force, and thus once its direction is given, it will only attempt to complete the single timely motion it has been assigned. The mirages can move at about thirty miles per hour before they forcibly discharge, though moving at top speed will cause them to begin crackling, giving away their position. They also cannot go much further than half a mile away from Liu before the very same sort of discharge occurs. They can be maintained for about an hour each before fizzling out.
Notably, it is completely possible for him to electrocute himself, and as a result he must always be careful to keep enough distance between detonating mirages and his own person, or risk the discharge arcing to him. Also, when Liu attempts to teleport between mirages, it can prove highly disorienting if done multiple times in rapid succession, rendering him largely unable to move. Furthermore, as the mirages themselves aren’t all that terribly quick, combat usage of this maneuver requires some careful setup and the ability to predict what the opponent is doing. If either fails, it will prove largely useless. Finally, he has one simple limitation that is both physical and mental, in that he must mimic pressing a trigger with either hand in order to detonate mirages.
Strengths/Weaknesses:
+ Very little gets under his skin, and he is adept at rolling with the punches
+ Rather forgettable persona and features allow him to easily blend into crowds or avoid suspicion
+ Is constantly gaining a charge and does not require outside help to fuel his power
+ Possesses enough cunning to use his power to lay traps or escape otherwise unwinnable situations
- Can be difficult to count on sticking through when the going gets rough
- May often have to waste time trying to build up more of a charge if he is out, to the detriment of allies
- Oftentimes borderline obsessive over keeping his identity a secret, even with no immediate search or pursuit
- Lacks much in the way of drive and presently has no immediate desire to advance his standing
Likes/Dislikes:
+ Hot foods in terms of both spice and temperature, taking it easy, pulling off a heist, hearing about himself on the news, improving his mile time, steep discounts, old school martial arts movies
- Complicated mathematics, the notion of the daily grind, novels that he feels fail to get to the point, nosy neighbors, driving, not hearing about his deeds on the news
Style Points: 0 - Incognito
Alias: Multiplex
Gender: Male
Age: 23
Affiliation: Rebel
Physical Appearance: Liu has great difficulty standing out physically, having short, choppy black hair with an eye color to match, a build that is utterly unworthy of note, and all of five feet and eight inches for a height to his name. He has a rather weak chin, short ear lobes, and overall decidedly rounded features. Furthermore, he has no easily noticeable birthmarks or scars, no peculiarities in anatomy, and no promptly evident tics. At a glance, it would be extremely easy for one to argue his position as the apex of bland. He is, however, as mortal as anyone, and closer inspection reveals a thin scar on the wrist from a poorly wielded letter opener, a slightly broader left shoulder as compared to his right, decent cardiovascular endurance from similarly decent amounts of running and biking, with the latter his typical mode of transport, and also a tendency to grind his teeth under duress, among other such mundane traits. His civilian choice of outfit is similarly nondescript; business casual at best, and little less than that at worst.
His technically more professional business outfit, on the other hand, is a bit more of a showstopper, if rather clearly assembled on a fairly low budget. It consists of long, stark white gloves and matching, thickly rubber-soled boots over a charcoal one-piece suit decked out with curious, thin rubber plating. This is wrapped with a rather unnecessary four-point harness that looks to have once been a few seatbelts tacked on, the connecting pieces forming a small “x” over the center of his chest. He wears something that resembles (or may have once been) a welding mask to disguise himself, if said mask were to have its sides hammered back and a slightly redundant black paintjob added, lending it the unfortunate air of an accessory on a lazy sci-fi costume. Lastly, a long, white woolen scarf is wrapped around his neck. A minor detail worthy of note is that the gloves have two separate, curious patches of a rough, carpet-like material running parallel to each other on either side of the palm and forearm, as do the boots on either side of the leg.
Personality: Liu is rather cut-and-dry, and isn’t a terribly complex kind of person. In the day to day, he prefers to mean exactly what he says, doesn’t deal much with beating around the bush, and tries to always mind his honorifics. This can serve to lend him the feel of a throwaway, dime-a-dozen salary man to the cynical eye, which is something that he is at least mindful enough of to be vaguely embarrassed by. He does, however, take quite a bit of pride in secretly being anything but that, though he is simultaneously deathly afraid of giving his more infamous identity away. Thus, in situations where this might be compromised, he has no qualms with instead simply lying about his activities or playing dumb, something he is exceedingly good at—he merely has to act like his usual slightly dull self and feign ignorance towards whatever the contraband subject might be, and most would likely take him at his word.
As can be surmised from his slightly unsavory occupation, Liu has developed a few issues with society, or at least so he would claim. To another rebel, he might argue that the materialism and worship that surrounds their heroes, rightly labelled Superstars, has left the populace unable to think for themselves or take any heroic action by their own initiative, and that his own actions help to destabilize the Superstars’ positions. Or alternatively, he could rationalize that the turmoil of the modern world has only created social and economic disparity that runs ever deeper, and that what he does exposes such a dark truth for what it is. The reality, however, is a bit less noble; he simply doesn’t want to work. Society’s pressure-cooking from his first steps to his adulthood has left him without much confidence in his own intelligence, and this combined with his marked laziness has resulted in him finding the idea of being another cog in the wheel repugnant. As such, his crimes can always be counted on being at least partly influenced by the combined need to pay the rent and to stand out.
As he can’t completely neglect the fact that most people would likely consider him something of a loser, some of the profits from said crimes go to more noble causes or people, generally taking the form of donations to charities or locals in dire straits. This is, however, more out of the aforementioned reason and also a desire to give off a Robin Hood-esque image (something he is sure would be good for his PR) than out of much actual sympathy, though he would never admit the former reason and would be hesitant to state the latter, undermining his alleged reasons for rebellion as it is.
In essence, the only thing particularly complicated abut Liu are his moderately convoluted motivations. Though he very easily blends into photos and groups, he is acceptably sociable, and is certainly independent enough, but he nonetheless cares little, and instead fixates on that first point. He uses his power to stand out in the only way he feels he can, as without it he feels he couldn’t amount to much of anything, and he lacks the patience and drive both to be a simple working man and to play the game that is the role of Superstar. The single way he feels is left to him, then, is crime, which he feels is the essence of breaking the mold.
History: Liu’s early life saw the city of Lhana as his home, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in China’s west. Though his mother possessed no powers to speak of, he is in fact a fourth generation Metahuman by his father’s line (who specifically has the peculiar capability to draw or add moisture from the air to or from liquid water), though said lineage was never especially grand and consisted largely of small scale abilities. As a result, Liu’s own ability being so comparatively impressive was quite the stir, once it was discovered, which indeed didn’t take very long. At the mere age of six or so his power unveiled itself, at the time being barely powerful enough to deliver a taser-tier payload, giving him many a year to adapt and advance the means by which he used it, until it was as natural as breathing. This was highly fortunate, as there wasn’t much else he seemed nearly as adept at, doing well enough in school to pass in school as time wore on but excelling in little, and making a good number of friends and acquaintances yet never rising to the forefront.
It was also quite fortunate that his upbringing was in Tibet’s urban heart, for one doesn’t adapt to the hustle and bustle of life in any of the major metropolitan cities otherwise. It was indeed to one of these that he traveled about two and a half years ago once he felt it time to leave the nest and his known world behind, that weighty destination being Shanghai by name, having formed a plan of his own quite contrary to the expectations of those who knew him. For he had hatched a plot as far back as his tween years, a perfect plot that would allow him to never have to work a day in his life, and even after so much time, he still planned to stick to it; he would assemble a disguise and use his power, not for the sake of abstract justice or a sense of right, but merely to both pay the bills and to prove to himself that he wasn’t quite as average or unimportant as everyone thought. He would play the role of thief, crook, antagonist, maverick, whatever label one could possibly fancy to name it, and he would keep it discreet beyond compare.
It was indeed this plan that he followed, down to the very letter. For as long as he has resided in Shanghai, this is how he’s stayed afloat, his criminal deeds paying for his (thoroughly unimpressive) housing, and his perchance to loiter about the theaters, and the parks, and the batting cages. Thus far, things have gone without incident, having more than a few close run-ins with the law but always evading capture, making a small name for himself in the immediate area but never going too far and attracting much attention, and above all never exposing himself for what—or who—he was.
Power: Electro-Manifestation. This allows Liu to generate independent electrostatic forces that roughly take on his own shape in the area they encompass, which he has dubbed “mirages,” as they are composes solely of charged air and are without mass, and are thus normally invisible. The charge he uses to create these comes from his own body, and he is able to easily (albeit somewhat slowly) increase this charge by merely walking around, generating friction with the ground, objects, or the air itself. Each individual mirage is formed by Liu moving out of a space and leaving the charged air behind, which is done on command. He can dissolve these mirages at any time, either by peaceably having them fizzle out or discharging entirely at once, giving off an intense electric shock. When he does decide to detonate, he does not have to detonate every mirage at once; rather, he can set individual ones off, or set them all off in succession, or any other sort of delivery method. Notably, when Liu forms a mirage, he can imbue it with intent, or a command. That is, if he wants the mirage to go somewhere, he can make it go there, and he can also dictate how it will travel, reserving the ability to detonate all the while. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the peculiar connection between Liu and the charges he gives off allows him to reposition his entire mass at the location of any given mirage with speeds similar to teleportation, effectively allowing him to swap positions between mirages on the fly.
Drawback: Liu can currently only generate four mirages at maximum, and putting out three or more begins to put successively higher amounts of mental strain on him, which can result in loss of focus and migraines if they are maintained for too long, which is generally just over the ten minute mark. Furthermore, when he imbues a mirage with a directive, he cannot change it. The mirage possesses neither sentience nor sapience of any kind, being a purely physical force, and thus once its direction is given, it will only attempt to complete the single timely motion it has been assigned. The mirages can move at about thirty miles per hour before they forcibly discharge, though moving at top speed will cause them to begin crackling, giving away their position. They also cannot go much further than half a mile away from Liu before the very same sort of discharge occurs. They can be maintained for about an hour each before fizzling out.
Notably, it is completely possible for him to electrocute himself, and as a result he must always be careful to keep enough distance between detonating mirages and his own person, or risk the discharge arcing to him. Also, when Liu attempts to teleport between mirages, it can prove highly disorienting if done multiple times in rapid succession, rendering him largely unable to move. Furthermore, as the mirages themselves aren’t all that terribly quick, combat usage of this maneuver requires some careful setup and the ability to predict what the opponent is doing. If either fails, it will prove largely useless. Finally, he has one simple limitation that is both physical and mental, in that he must mimic pressing a trigger with either hand in order to detonate mirages.
Strengths/Weaknesses:
+ Very little gets under his skin, and he is adept at rolling with the punches
+ Rather forgettable persona and features allow him to easily blend into crowds or avoid suspicion
+ Is constantly gaining a charge and does not require outside help to fuel his power
+ Possesses enough cunning to use his power to lay traps or escape otherwise unwinnable situations
- Can be difficult to count on sticking through when the going gets rough
- May often have to waste time trying to build up more of a charge if he is out, to the detriment of allies
- Oftentimes borderline obsessive over keeping his identity a secret, even with no immediate search or pursuit
- Lacks much in the way of drive and presently has no immediate desire to advance his standing
Likes/Dislikes:
+ Hot foods in terms of both spice and temperature, taking it easy, pulling off a heist, hearing about himself on the news, improving his mile time, steep discounts, old school martial arts movies
- Complicated mathematics, the notion of the daily grind, novels that he feels fail to get to the point, nosy neighbors, driving, not hearing about his deeds on the news
Style Points: 0 - Incognito