The Paragon (In Progress, Feedback Needed)

Real Name: Ross Raines
Renegade/Hero/Villain Name: Paragon
Title: The Golden Guard
Alignment: Lawful Good
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Hair: Blond
Eyes: Hazel
Height: 6’2
Weight: 200ilbs
Blood type: O+


Character Image/Character Costume Image (Or Description):

Spoiler:

Personality:
Ross is an easygoing Midwestern farmboy without much of a sense of humor. He grew up on a farm, but all that means is that he’s constantly fascinated and frustrated by the pace of being in the big city. On the sliding scale of cynicism and idealism, Raines is clearly on the idealism side. He believes in the basic good of people and believes that most people who have fallen into the criminal life did so because they felt they had to. He has trouble believing that people are just straight out and out evil no matter how many times he’s confronted otherwise.

His public image is very important to him, as he believes the fundamental role of the superhero is to inspire others to do good. This isn’t to say he’ll never do something that strains his stringent moral code. It means that he’ll do it, try to rationalize it and then prevent the general public from finding out about it. That said? It IS a stringent moral code and it’s going to take a great deal of work to get him to break from his role of being “the cape” and get his hands dirty. This can lead to a lot of disagreements with his teammates who are a little on the grey side, as he can come across as unreasonable.

He’s a born leader from years of athletics before getting into the superhero game. He’s a man of faith who’s down home religion is very important to him, though he tries not to lord it over others. He loves a good beer, a good time and a wide smile from those he’s helped.

History:
Sometimes, when you grow up with people telling you you’re going to be special when you get older it can go to your head. It can make you think you’re better than everyone else. In a few cases, it’s even been the driving force that’s made some of the most dangerous supervillains in the world. For Ross Raines? It had the opposite effect. He was born to Steve and Sara Raines, a hard driving third generation farm couple who spent most of their childhood slogging along and trying to bring a horse farm that had long since proved not to be a viable investment back to prominence. They instilled in Ross the value of a hard day’s work. They constantly told him that the way to a better life was to work toward it, and the harder you worked? The better things got.

Athletics was where he excelled. He had the kind of drive most people could only dream of. On the football field, he was a star quarterback. On the wrestling mat, he was a beast. Oh, on occasion it went to his but when he started to get a bit cocky his parents were always there to give him a talk and calm him down. Scholarship offers came but something didn’t feel right about them. He knew he was meant for more. Well, something more came looking for him. One night after a game his town was attacked by a super powered villain who literally flung a car through the front door of the bar he was drinking at with the rest of his team. Springing into action, he helped lead a rescue effort with the rest of his team to secure the townsfolk until help arrived. A few short days later and he was visited by a woman named Amelia Terrence. Terrence represented Rourke Industrial, a company very interested in people like Ross.

Project: HERO. An effort to take individuals with potential and make them extraordinary lead by billionaire Tony Rourke. The next ten years of Ross’ life were spent getting himself in absolute peak physical condition, through a regime of training with top level martial artists and a drug cocktail meant to push his body as far as it could go. He wasn’t what you would call a model employee. For Rourke, it’s less about doing actual good then making his company look good. Now Ross? Ross is all about the work. He clashes with his bosses often, but he does well enough.

He’s young in the superhero game. Despite being a little older than many members of what is a pretty youthful community, he’s a natural leader. He knows how to express himself, and he’s always had a nose for tactics. Now, with the world getting more stable by the second he’s got to get out there and do some good.

Power(s):
Most of what Ross has is tech based. In addition to this, he’s a peak level athlete and martial artist. The martial arts lean toward a combination of muay thai, judo and krav maga. He favors getting in close, clinching up with opponents and incapacitating them with elbows, knees, throws and chokes. It can be difficult to close that distance. It’s worth noting that the money and technology he has access to aren’t strictly his, they belong to the company. He can’t just go and blow his money on a new car when he wants. All that’s got to get based up the chain of command. Same when he needs to buy new gear for his suit or the like. Anyway, check my coming tech thread for the gadgets in the suit but HIS only power is being a peak level athlete and martial artist.

The suit's abilities push him into the lower superhuman range. The armor he wears is expertly constructed. He can take a few bullets without dying, but obviously would rather not. His gauntlets allow him to lift up to 4 tons though he HAS pushed it up to six once before. He's got a helmet with various communication and vision settings, and a wrist mounted nonlethal firing system.

Tech listed here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Grid:
Intelligence: 4
Occult: 0
Strength: 3 (5 while wearing Paragon Gauntlets)
Speed: 3
Durability: 4 (5 in his Paragon Armor)
Ability: 0
Fighting Skills: 5
Magic: N/A
Spells: N/A
Flight: N/A
Wealth: 3

Approved until stated otherwise