Marcus Freeman (Black Bulwark)

by **Black Bulwark** August 11th 2024, 4:52 am

Basic Biography

Name: Marcus Freeman
Codename: Black Bulwark
Title:
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Race: Metahuman
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Blue
Height: 6’3 ft
Weight: 223 lbs
Blood type: A-

The Looks

Pic:

Spoiler:

The Legacy

Personality:
Marcus Freeman is a person best described as unbothered. The kind of person who takes all things with a kind of stride that could even come across as stoic mostly. He bears himself a serene kind of expression, usually a smile that could be mistaken for happy or content with his life. One could say that his attitude almost fits with his seemingly solid physique. To an extent, this demeanor of his is the true him as he has been this way ever since he can remember. This restraint of his personality has also lead to him constantly holding back his strength so he doesn’t cause undue harm.

Despite seeming unshakable, he carries with him a deep kind of guilt. Not just with Isaac’s death, but with anyone who dies under his watch. Anyone he fails to save takes up a small corner of his head, oozing with all manner of guilt that might be held there. Beneath the unbothered exterior, he is a person who deeply cares about everything around him. From puppies to the people he’s trying to protect, they’re all things he considers important to varying degrees. This makes him the kind of person to constantly take on more than he can handle, and even overtax himself so long as it means helping people.

Prone to quip or tell jokes when highly stressed, he is the kind of person that one might consider chill and fun in most scenarios.

History:
Marcus was born to a life of little means.

Five siblings and all of them constantly vying for attention from their parents, who were constantly busy just trying to support the massive family they made. A large family growing up in south LA led to him trying for everything he could and learning to do without things. The kind of person he was mostly led to him being a quiet kid, keeping a distance from the people around him. That of course led to some persecution, mostly kids being kids and exceptionally cruel for no reason beyond capriciousness.

Despite that he didn’t let himself be bothered by the words of others, like a duck letting water slide off its back. The only person outside of his siblings who even bothered to get close to him and that was Isaac. Another kid that just took an interest in him and moved closer to him, offering to share his pudding cup, who knew he would earn a best friend through sharing a cup of chocolate pudding. The small gesture meant everything to him. From no friends to someone that went under the ‘would kill for’ category.

It was a friendship that lasted, even grew stronger over the years. He was the person Marcus felt like he could share everything with, no matter what that might have meant. Interests, crushes, and even the revelation he was a little more than human. His powers had manifested in a mundane situation. Baseball between him and his youngest brother, practicing he was sure for the school team. With bat in hand, he hit the ball and yet it was sent a good few blocks away. Throw a car window, which they didn’t bother to investigate.

His friend had powers too, so he wasn’t alone in that either. Another thing the two could share is that they had a fun time just practicing the limits of their abilities. How much he could lift, how hard he could strike, and even the amount of force he could withstand without getting bruised. Talk of taking up heroism bandied between the two of them, though he didn’t take it very seriously at first. The idea of going around in costumes and taking down crminals was just not something he cared for, especially when the concept of getting shot was involved.

His resistance didn’t last very long. There was a new hero team operating in the neighborhood. Dressed up like those old Sentai shows Isaac and his little brother used to like to watch, though the connection didn’t exactly click just then. Not like LA didn’t have plenty of other people who liked that kind of stuff when they were younger, or even still liked it then. They were more of a reason he should try out the heroing gig, but he didn’t give in to it.

Not for under a year at least.

Then he was testing the waters in heroism, and with the prodding of Isaac he joined that new team. He didn’t want to, not really, but something about his friend's excitement drew him into the endeavor. Maybe it wouldn’t matter if running around in costume was stupid, so long as he felt like he was making the world better. As the days went by he had to admit he liked doing it too and maybe Marcus could even enjoy being a hero. He had the strength for it, even if he couldn’t do amazing things like lift buildings.

The more they acted the more attention their little team got too. They even got a proper base to work from, full of better tech than spandex and even an information network that made working all the easier. Enough so they decided to take a vacation to London. Marcus was excited to try out authentic fish and chips,the whole nine yards. Despite that, their trip went nowhere good quickly. A nightmarish attack that started with many people dying and a hero clashing with a villain far above their paygrade. So much for seeing the band and enjoying the local cuisine.

They had nothing that could allow them to help the city. Escaping was the only option but Isaac didn’t want to follow along with that. Marcus tried to convince him to stay but he was never a man of many words anyway. So he watched him walk away and he watched him fade to nothing in Ascendants blast. It seemed like some kind of cruel joke, the kind of things that happened followed by the pull of a curtain and the big reveal it was all an act. Despite that, he was gone and there was no one to tell him it was all a dream.

So he found himself just walking through life from there. He still did the hero gig as The Black Ranger but something about him seemed a little distant, still smiling but more withdrawn.

The Powers and Weaknesses

Powers

Superhuman Strength: Marcus is superhumanly strong. He can punch through concrete walls, break human bones, and even flip a car with a single arm. He’s capable of leaping around two stories standing still and leap across rooftops without any difficulty.

Superhuman durability: Marcus is superhumanly durable. He can shrug off blows from humans without a bruise or even staggering. Bats and blades seem to hit his skin without even marking it. He has a higher tolerance to heat, cold, toxins and various irritants and dangers to the human body. This overall makes him difficult to injure compared to the average or even exceptional persons. This also leads to a higher pain tolerance.

Weaknesses
Piercing weakness: Despite how durable he is, piercing or puncturing force has an easier time getting through his body. Knives punch deeper, though they don’t always deal fatal damage. Firearms have an easier time, punching through him almost as if he were a normal person.

Stubbornly good: Marcus is the kind of person who will always prioritize helping innocent or even questionably innocent people over fighting the bad guy.

Items
Black Bulwark Armor: A specialized armor made by Caleb based on popular Sentai shows.

HUD/Vision/Communication: The helmet comes with a heads-up display, as well as IR, Nightvision, Thermal, Zoom, X-Ray, and Motion Sensor). They are also outfitted with an encrypted communicator.

Weakness: EMP

Rebreather: The helmet is outfitted with a custom rebreather, allowing the filtering of air pathogens, and can even be used underwater.

Weakness: They are connected to an oxygen compressor located in the back of the armor. If damaged, it can no longer function, and the rebreather will switch two air canisters located in armored pouches on the belt. This gives the heroes a solid hour of oxygen before the canisters are emptied. Once empty, the rebreather will shut off, and the hero will be breathing in external air.

While the canisters are in armored pouches, they are still vulnerable to armor-piercing rounds.

Bulwark Armor: An advanced kind of armor, heavier than most his teammates wear, composed of lightweight and breathable material under plates and segments of composite material meant to survive the impact from high-yield rounds that would otherwise put Marcus down. It is cushioned with kinetic dampening fibers under the armor to minimize the impact that comes with being shot as well as lessen the damage that comes with higher levels of kinetic strikes against him.

Weakness: Heavier armor plating makes maneuvering more difficult despite his superhuman strength. This mostly limits his speed and dexterity while wearing his armor.

Fluff

Martial Arts Experience: From his teens Marcus had practiced various martial arts. Krav Maga had been a favorite of his, though he has dabbled in Mixed Martial Arts too.

by **Demonhunter** August 16th 2024, 10:29 pm

The first act as staff: MY FIRST APPROVAL!

And it is glorious

Marcus Freeman (Black Bulwark)

Marcus Freeman (Black Bulwark)

Re: Marcus Freeman (Black Bulwark)