The Raven

Real Name: Laszlo Szasz
Super Renegade Name: The Raven
Title: The New Harry Houdini!
Alignment: Nuetral
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Race: Caucasian
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Blue
Height: 5”7'
Weight: 120

Character Image:


Personality: Laszlo is completely obsessed with the early 20th century and the kinds of Men it created, especially magicians. He will go out of his way to wear a Cravat with formal suits and carry a cane to try and emulate himself into that era. While never shying away from new technology he often finds the applications of it gaudy and ugly, much preferring the older fashioned styles of Art Deco. Laszlo has an incredibly powerful obsession with Stage Magic in particular though, and performance as an art form.

He lives for the thrill of fooling and tricking people and from escaping their own cleverly set traps. If he can humiliate and destroy something publicly, he will jump at the chance, if only because of the sense of power it gives him. However if someone presents themselves as stronger then him persistently, Laszlo will submit or try to escape. In pleasant company however, without the smell of blood in the air, Laszlo is an intelligent and charming companion, easily amused and even easier in the company of people he likes.

Although never officially diagnosed with it, Laszlo has Synaesthesia. The neurological reordering of his mind makes letters appear to be separate colours. For example, like many who have it, Laszlo sees A as A. He also has a minor form that relates to sound. When asked about what he can see, he would often describe the experience as seeing lines of music in the air. For softer notes, the line would fade, while for louder notes it would brighten. The colours of these lines would depend on the tone, with deeper tones being darker while lighter tones were brighter to him. Laszlo was unaware that Synaesthesia was not a sense that everyone had until the age of 10, when he described Mozart's Requiem as being the saddest most intense blue he'd ever seen.

History: Laszlo Szasz was the second child to Mary Szasz and Theodore Szasz, a Stage Magician and his Assistant that frequently toured the world. Theodore was also an avid bird watcher and had a nasty habit of calling his children and wife by pet names; Mary was Dove, Laszlo's older brother Arnold was Swallow (much to his embarrassment in later life as it stuck into his academic field, namely Avian Studies) and Laszlo himself was called Raven. As young children, Theodore tried to teach everything he knew to them as they moved from country to country, while Mary took care of the actual academics. Arnold latched onto the birds while Laszlo the magic, so the two seemed to be very different growing up. After shows, Arnold and his father would wonder off for a few hours to look at the nearest feathered things, and before them Laszlo and Theodore would work on traps and tricks.

As Laszlo grew, Theodore quickly discovered that the boy had a sharp mind and was just naturally built for Escapism. There were many nights were Arnold and Laszlo would compete for their father's company and often Laszlo seemed to win out, able to trick his Brother and Father through misdirection that Mary deeply disapproved of and that Theodore was secretly amused by. Around this time, Laszlo's obsession with the past began to grow alongside his desire to do magic. Harry Houdini became something of a personal idol, as did Charley Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Roscoe Arbuckle and Ignatius Clement. Houdini for his magic, the great comedians for their delivery, and Ignatius Clement for his technical abilities.

Around Laszlo's tenth birthday, he became a part of the act in two distinct ways. He began to design some of the mechanical tricks and illusions as well as being an actual part of the act itself. Theodore would introduce him as “My Little Raven. Keep an eye on anything silver, because with his light fingers you never know,” much to the crowds amusement when a small boy in a mask and cape came on stage. He would then be placed inside of a box and would contort his body around the blades that Theodore slipped inside.

Laszlo gained a bigger and bigger part in the act, learning Magician tricks along with his greatly increased ability to contort then the usual person. Slight of hand became a speciality, alongside escapism. He grew older and older under the eyes of an ever changing audience, going from Little to simply The Raven. He also designed and built home made devices. Sometimes he felt a little held back, especially when his father banned the use of any more flame throwers, but he understood that he would need a little more refining to become the truly great magician that he deserved to be. As they moved they picked up more and more complex books on engineering. During this time, Arnold and Laszlo seemed to develop a frosty, almost aggressive relationship, each belittling the others love, so Theodore would generally have the two of them take multiple fighting classes. Arnold seemed ill adapted at it, but Laszlo was wiry and strong and quickly seemed to be a little too dangerous when entering new classes.

Finally, when Arnold was sixteen, the Family returned to America and settled down. It broke Theodores and Laszlo hearts, but they needed proper grades if they were going to actually be able to have real jobs. Or at least that's what Mary insisted.

To this day, Laszlo blames his mother and brother for the heart attack that Theodore had in his sleep.

After his death, Laszlo seemed to bury himself in the tricks, as well as the schoolwork. He was remarkable to earn a spot in MIT, but quickly was booted out for some... unstable experiments in his room that were not board approved. For two years, he stayed with two people that he felt disconnected from, with only his father's memorabilia. Finally, listening to the Television one night as he worked on some Holographic gloves, he heard reports of Superhuman activity. Lazily turning his dull blue eyes to the screen, he watched what was obviously a great spectacle. And he immediately wanted to be part of it. To make his father proud of his performance.

Powers: Laszlo is trained to peak physical performance, often able to out do Olympic athletes in speed and strength. Beyond that, he is trained in multiple forms of fighting, ranging from boxing to martial arts. Beyond that, he is incredibly intelligent and quick witted, having learnt multiple tools of the Magicians trade. He is able to redirect, pick locks, move his hands and body in inconspicuous manners, read people's faces and bodies and even perform seemingly magical feats. These are all backed by a incredible aptitude for machines that fill in the parts of his act where tricks fail. For example, his gloves can project seemingly real images that are false.

Laszlo has also learned many tricks in Mental manipulation from an illusionist in the circus. He is seemingly able to instantly hypnotise people by shaking their hand, although for people who are far more intelligent or have a closed off personality will often be able to resist. However, for the weak of minded Laszlo can do almost anything with a few set phrases of words. These tricks do however only work when he doing something that fits the persons expectations. If he does something to exceed them, they often will reject it, unless he is able to spend time crafting hypnotic triggers that allow him to guide them into it carefully.

He is also naturally “stretchy.” He can not extend his limbs, but he can fold them into shapes that would break others bones. He can seemingly dislocate bones easily and feel minimum pain, which allows him to escape straight jackets and cuffs without having to pick a multitude of locks.

Power Grid:

Approved. I'll make the grid.

hur u go

Edits done, ready for re-approval.

ok