Davis

Real Name: Davis Harmon
Name: Alchemist (given by media/observers, not claimed by Davis)
Alignment: Neutral
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Race: Caucasian
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Light Brown
Height: 5'9
Weight: 165

Costume Description/Image: No costume.

Personality:

I ask myself all the time how I would describe myself and I have no idea how to answer. Does one define themselves based on their actions? Their dreams? Their goals? I think it's their goals and their passions, personally.

One thing that endlessly astounds me is the complexity of our universe and surroundings. We have an abundance of unexplained phenomena and while some are complacent in attributing such wonders to gods or magic, I know it, in my soul, that its explanation lies in the realm of the rational, not the supernatural. I take for example the appearance of "meta-humans." Some attribute their powers to luck or predestination while others attribute it to some form of ethereal gift. How amazing is it to have these god-like humans in our presence? But how sad is it that everyone is content in not knowing the origins of their abilities? I for one will not stand for such a simplistic explanation. We live in a world presumably ruled by reason, we can quantify all that we previously thought the work of gods, we can explain and revise those explanations previously accepted. And to what end does all this discovery come to? We can apply our findings to improve society, improve our fellow human beings, improve our species. We were given the gift of intelligence and we've come so far as a people that in the presence of these new humans, we can see where our evolution is headed. I'll see to it that we get there.

As Davis himself will claim, he is difficult to describe. Outwardly he is nothing short of an anti-social lunatic. In the few times he does wander from his home in pursuit of groceries and such, he appears awkward. Should a person try to make small talk with him he resorts to staring at them with a surprised demeanor until they uncomfortably walk away. In spite of his inept outward appearance Davis is much more than just a socially retarded lunatic. He aspires greatly to make his name known and to a much larger extent he vies desperately for the approval of others. It is this desperation for validation that makes him terrible in social situations as he is always lost for the right words regardless if all that is required is a greeting.

In times of duress Davis seems to metamorphose into a different person. His concentration and resolve is unbreakable and he becomes very cold and methodical. Because he puts so much emphasis on the importance of his research he is unwavering in the measures he takes to achieve his goals. Truly when in situations where the stakes are high Davis becomes tempered and solid, a stark and refreshing contrast to the coward he is otherwise.

History:

Biographies tend to begin at birth but Davis' childhood was by all definitions uneventful. He was birthed into a middle class family and grew up as an uninteresting child. In much contrast to the person he was to become, Davis paid little attention to his schooling, and was largely inept in all social situations. His parents had a passive disdain for him and preferred to invest their attention into his other two siblings. As a result of the emotional neglect of his parents he became reserved to the point of being considered mentally challenged. His life was clouded by his own impotence and he never entertained any hopeful thoughts about his future; truthfully he would have been content with dying by 15 if the universe was ever so gracious enough to put him out of his misery. While his pathetic prayers were not answered in the way he wished, his life did change in a very dramatic way a few months following his 17th birthday.

After a usual night of drinking himself in a stupor, alone, his mind seemingly detached from everything physical in the world. He was surrounding by nothingness. A nothingness that cannot be imagined, it was not dark nor bright, it was by all means void of anything perceptible. All that could be felt in this nothingness was a peace. Then a rush of information rammed into Davis' mind. This event too cannot be articulated. At best, it can only be described as being tapped into the intelligence of every sentient mind all at once and being able to understand it all in the same second.

As quick as this phenomena transpired it ended. To Davis it seemed like it happened in a split-second. After the event he could not remember anything of what happened, he was only left with memory that something happened. But, naturally, this was only the beginning of many odd occurrences.

A week later, shortly after waking from a usual night of lonely drinking, he found himself exhausted at the unbearable humidity of his room. After placing his hand on the doorknob in an attempted to open it his hands flashed with sparks of what he perceived to be electricity and for reasons unbeknownst to him, at the time, the bronze doorknob had disintegrated into a fine powder.

Davis was flabbergasted. He understood immediately that this was no fluke and that his experience a week earlier was not unrelated to what had just happened. He tried to recreate the situation by attempting to disintegrate a stray brick in his garage, and by his will the same sparks of electricity appeared and the brick turned to dust. When performing this feat, it seemed that for a split-second, he understood the chemistry related to what he wanted to alter.

For weeks he played with his ability. He transmuted bricks into complex figures, he transmuted stone into dust. He found his ability astounding. Davis' ego bloated upon the realization that he had become a "god". Without warning he left his home, taking with him little save for personally valuable objects. Donned in a ski--mask and a trench-coat he entered a bank and with ease left with a modest amount of cash, about 50,000 dollars. Later that week he entered the home of a stranger and murdered him, in order to take shelter in his house. He thought little of his recent actions and was uninterested in whether he would be caught or not.

Davis had a new focus, he wanted to tap into his newfound ability. He knew that he had just grazed the surface and he hoped through research or further use of his abilities he could access more of the "natural consciousness" (what he called the universal knowledge he experienced).

By 20 he had become a sort of savant, his intelligence increasing exponentially and his abilities evolving to the point where he need only think about what he wanted to alter and it would be so (considering it was within close proximity). Through his intense research of his own ability he theorized that it was possible to create a "philosopher's stone" if he could manipulate a currently unknown energy that he believes is contained within any sentient being. The "philosopher's stone" would allow him to create new matter, bypassing a basic law of physics. His time is currently devoted to its discovery in order to "improve" the human race.

Powers: As of recent, Davis is able to transmute stone. Due to the limitations of physics he is unable to create objects if there is not an equivalent amount of material on hand (i.e: he cannot create a wall out of a pebble). He can regenerate himself if the wound is not instantly lethal within reason. For example, he can regenerate from a bullet wound or flesh wound but cannot regenerate a severed arm. After attaining considerable knowledge in human anatomy Davis was able to alter his body, through alchemy, in order to make his muscle fibers more effective and his body more efficient. As a result he can run faster, lift more than the average man and breathe more efficiently.


Power Grid:
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Character Image/Description:

Roleplay Sample:

I guess I must've be arrogant to ignore my first "crimes". No, not arrogant, it's just that they don't understand I have more important things to do, the niceties they follow don't apply to me. But still, they will pester me about the bank incident... I also killed someone, and I know that was wrong, but no matter how hard I search my mind for remorse I don't find myself caring. Does that make me a villain? I hope not, I'm just trying to help them...I mean us.

How can they hold me to the standards they follow? I am a god compared to them, a benevolent one. Jesus, when did I become like this? No, I shouldn't have to apologize for my thoughts. They'll come for me though, I know they will. Just the cops? No, they couldn't possibly detain me, and if they did I could escape. My cheek is wet. Am I crying? Fuck, fuck. I just need some time to finish this, then they'll love me. I'm just doing it for them. Us. I mean us.

Davis' head was absolutely wracked with self-doubt. His intense need for validation had caused him to lose sleep many nights and it began to affect his sanity in the daylight. He looked around his room, or rather somebody else's room. The man whom Davis murdered for this home he buried in concrete during the night, with little regards to the man's dignity or person and those sleepless nights he would argue with his conscience over it. He knew not whether he could always justify a murder in the name of what he considered a greater good but most nights he pretended he could. Whoever the man was, he lived alone, he had no personal pictures in his home and in a pathetic attempt to make his home more lively he adorned night stands, coffee tables and his fireplace mantel with picture frames containing a stock photo. Davis sometimes found it a bit amusing that the man was so starved for relief from his lonely life that he'd buy photos of others looking happy.

He glanced at a digital clock across the bedroom, his tired eyes took several seconds to work out the numbers on the clock, "1:18 a.m". Jesus, it's late, he thought. He removed several books and loose papers from his bed and took refuge under the covers. Davis turned to his side and stared at the clock, "1:19". He'd spend the next 2 hours this way until his body would give in to sleep due to exhaustion.

Ready for critique and all that good stuff.

I liked this a lot. It's very free form and I enjoyed reading it.

There are a few small problems. Firstly, this site is written in the third person, if only to strengthen the sense of a mutliple narrative. It would be appreciated if in your RP sample you could somehow show that self infelctive comments differ from his actual actions. Most people do so by making it italicised.

This brings me onto your Personallity. While some people could read between the lines, you don't really go into detail about how he acts as a human being, what kinds of things he would enjoy and dislike, you've simply given him a motivation. People generally tend to use these apps to understand how another character behaves, so more information there would be very helpful.

Now, onto the powers.

It is generally considered a little two over powered to do the large amount of list that your capable of. We prefer to not have as wide of a selection as you have; Most people stick to one element, rather than the manipulation of many. I would pick a certain element that you would have control over and move on with it, rather than a power which grants you the ability to control a lot of different things.

It should be noted that Phasing through objects would need it's own amount of EP points too.

Apart from those points, I think you've made a good character and I'd like to see more.

Well, I'll make the changes to the writing as you've explained but I suppose I'll discuss the powers.

Is there some way I can tone down his abilities simply through explanation as opposed to what you suggested? In my mind he can't exactly create cities with a though or erect massive walls to his aide. It's a lot more scaled down as in an environment of stone for protection he'd only be able to erect an 8 foot wall in front of him under direct attack. His power is limited by his reaction time in combat and his concentration at any point.

True, but he has the ability to manipulate lots of different elements. Stone, fire, water, ice. He is a very opened ended player and each different element will be as strong as the last, which makes him a multitooled character ready for any situation and that's frowned upon, because should abilities would you make you a very powerful individual.

Well, for example, if someone were to launch a shard of ice at him, he wouldn't be able to transmute it in mid-air because there is simply no time for that. I realize that by what you are seeing he may seem like a jack-of-all-trades but I planned on making him an inept combatant since he himself only regards his powers as a way to accomplish goals, not to kill.

I'm sorry, but while the site is openly free form in many other areas, in powers the mechanics are limited so as not to be open for the potential of abuse.

If you wanted to do this as your character, I would suggest an alternative; Make him have high Intelligence and a deep understanding of chemistry and physics, looking for a mysterious unkown element. You could also go the Adrian Veidt route, and say that his altered body simply comes from the mind having full control of the body.

I can dig that. I'll make the changes soon.

Approved. Simply PM Pain to tell him you need to be moved to the Renegade group and PM Rinnegato with your stats and two colors of your choice for a power grid.

Added grid.