Shadowraith

by **Shadowmaster** June 25th 2012, 6:19 pm

Real Name: Todd Walkins
Super Hero/Villain/Renegade/etc Name: Shadowraith
Title: None
Alignment: Good, but not incorruptibly so
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Hair: Silver
Eyes: Red
Height: 5'9 (6'11 as monster)
Weight: 140 lbs. (42 as monster)

Costume Description/Image: Not much of a costumed superhero, he usually wears a black coat and black gloves outside the lab. If opperating as Shadowraith, he usually cloaks himself in wisps of dark energy which distort the light around him, making him appear as a showy figure. he can also disguise his voice in a similar manner, which presents as a loud whisper.

Personality: He can become very obsessive which can lead to angry outbursts, but is usually mild mannered. He is kind to those who he feels deserve it, but merciless to any he considers to be scum.

History: Born in the swampland of Louisiana, he was discovered by then priest Anthony Walkins who had been curious about claims that a satanic cult was meeting in the wilds. He arrived just in time to save the baby, who was about to be sacrificed in the name of some pagan god. To his great horror, he watched as a shadowy entity forced it's way into the baby while the cultists swayed rhythmically. In a moment of desperation, he lashed out violently at the cultists in a rescue attempt, and was forced to kill the cultists in order to save the boy's life. In his shame at taking the life of humans, Walkins retired from priesthood and became a farmer, raising the baby he saved as his own and naming him Todd. Over the first few years of his life Todd behaved like any normal child, but Walkins became alarmed when at age two the boy's hair began turning silver. By age four Todd's hair had gone completely from brown to silver, and his eyes changed from brown to a dull red. After no doctors could provide a reasonable explanation for the change, Walkins became convinced that the ritual he witnessed had done something toTodd. Believing that things were out of his hands, Walkins gaveTodd to nuns who promised to raise him in the presence of God so that the evil changes could not progress any further. Todd grew up hating the nuns and resenting religion, which his genius mind rejected at an early age as nonsense. He knew that the nuns saw some evil in him despite his perfect study habits and adherence to all their rules, which frustrated him constantly and made him obsess over the concept of justice in his teen years. Once he was 16 he left the church behind to attend college and made his way through c on scholarships and research grants. By 22, Todd had a P.H.D in psychology, physics and chemistry. However, Todd's college experience wasn't all A's and grants. He had begun to notice peculiar occurrences: his shadow seemed to move interdependently of light sources at times, rooms seemed to become darker as he entered, and lab equipment was mysteriously damage or unable to function in his presence. This all culminated in an incident at a party he went to junior year. Bully Tommy Jansen had just humiliated him in front of Diana Coffin, his college love interest.Todd tried to drink the embarrassment away but suddenly became overcome with a destructive impulse and wrecked Tommy's car. Tommy came out to beat Todd senseless for what he did to his car but Todd just shouted "back off!" Tommy then ran in terror and the strange sensation faded from Todd. He saw Diane looking out the window at him, face pale and shocked. He often asked her what she had seen that terrified her so much, but neither Diane or Tommy ever wanted to talk to him again and they both transferred at the end of the year. Todd remembered the story the nun's told him the day he left--the story of how he was found and his strange eye and hair coloration, but not for one second, not even when he started hearing voices did Todd ever believe himself possessed. with years of research, he eventually concluded that some sort of dark energy creature had entered him as a baby, but it had not been given time to fully assimilate itself with him. Once he began to understand his powers, he started to learn to control them through scientific means. He even deduced that the voices he had been hearing was a separate psyche that had formed as a side effect of the energy being's influence. Chris began referring to this entity as the monster, a name which the being took a liking to and has subsequently used as a name. The two even sometimes engage in friendly banter, but Todd is not yet aware of the full extent of Monster's deep seated desire to destroy. So far, his only heroic feat has been to scare the hell out of a would be mugger, but was ultimately disturbed by the encounter when Monster's urge to destroy the teen was so powerful that he went so far as to press a blade of shadow to the kid's throat.

Powers: Dark energy manipulation: Whether it is a curse or a gift is unclear to Todd, but his condition has come with remarkable abilities. Todd's powers take a toll on his physical health, but grant him immunity to most other forms disease, though this doesn't fully extend into the realm of chemicals (extreme levels of alchohal, sedatives, or poisons still affect him). His primary offense and defense come in the form of manipulating Dark energy. This power grows in the absence of light, and as such he has focused a considerable portion of energy in his own shadow, which he can manipulate as a malleable physical substance. He can make tendrils, blades and shields from this energy, and can greatly increase it's size and density. on a moonless night his power could extend such that he could generate a small tidal wave of shadow, though his control in this instance is limited. He can also focus the dark energy to cancel out other forms of energy from kinetic to pure blasts. at best he could completely cancel out a blast of concussive energy that hits like a small truck, but doing so would not be automatic and he would have great trouble with a barrage of such energy. In such an event he would use a dense shadow shield. The amount of "shadow" he commands is limited, and is further limited by light. In it's most condensed form it cannot be used simultaneously as attack and defense. He can also use dark energy to negate the bonds in solid structure, in effect acting exactly like an acid. Anything stronger than steel would take time to go through, and certain substances or high endurance metahumans would likely have complete immunity to this effect.

The remnants of the dark energy being inside Todd have fused with his soul. As such, he is sometimes prone to draw psychotic conclusions.

(As himself)

STR: 1
SPD: 2
END: 2
INT: 5
EP: 6
FS: 6

Power Grid colours: Black and Gray.

Appearance: