Writer Profile
Username: JackOKnives
Preferred Name: I prefer to be called by my character's name, mostly. You can call me “Jack” otherwise.
Favorite Comic / Comic-Based Film: Thunderbolts, hands down. Particularly the era that started just after Civil War.
What kind of superhero stories do you normally enjoy?: My favorite books always end up being team books; having different characters’ viewpoints bounce off of each other and interact does a good job of threading subplots through the more bombastic main stories that attract people to the book in the first place. Generally speaking, I fall on the side of the divide that believes giant robots, super-intelligent gorillas, aliens, and time rifts enhance the genre rather than detract from it. That said, I also enjoy the grim street protector. I just find them more interesting in the context of being yet another patch on the crazy quilt that is comic book reality.
What attracted you to this game?: Actually, I saw it back when it initially launched. I started putting together an RTJ at the time, but when I honestly evaluated my free time I realized I couldn’t properly participate. Seeing that you were still up and running was a pleasant surprise, however, and I’m in a better position now.
If you can and would like to, briefly describe your writing style here: Wordy. I don’t say this with pride, mind you, it’s something I’m trying to refine. I love detail and I have a habit of spelling out a character’s reasons for doing things the way he does. Trying to distill all that data down into its essential nature is a feat of linguistic alchemy I’m still perfecting.
ITSDA Superhuman Dossier
Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19NsAd_0gPg
Full Name: Phillip Toomes
Aliases & Nicknames: Revenant
Age: 37
Years Awakened: 3
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 185 lbs
Build: Wiry and fit
Hair: Black
Eyes: Green
GVD (Generalized Visual Description): Phillip Toomes is a man rapidly approaching middle age; signs of this aging include a tough, weather-beaten face and deep-set dark green eyes whose gleam witnesses have described as "accusatory." Deep creases make his perpetual grimace seem as though it was carved into his stark features. Just the same, his severe cheek bones and blade of a nose make his visage particularly and notably striking. His black hair is cropped short and slicked back to lay flat against his head, and he keeps his face meticulously clean-shaven. He is in excellent physical shape, with a lean, predatory build that seems built for speed more than anything.
When acting as the Revenant, Phillip wears a suit of personal armor. Rigid armor plates painted black and charcoal gray cover his upper body and extremities, while an underlayer of slate blue Kevlar makes up the suit's pants and shirt sleeves. His identity is concealed beneath a helmet whose ballistic facemask was molded into the image of a skull. A black cowl sits atop the helmet and a white, Gothic cross has been painted onto his armor's breastplate.
Political Alignment: Unaffiliated.
Namidian Resources: N/A
Superhuman Abilities: The Revenant’s most noteworthy power is his superhuman regeneration. When injured, Toomes does not bleed like a normal human being. Instead, black smoke escapes from the open wound and said wound almost immediately closes as the damaged tissue quickly repairs itself. Minor injuries like stabbings and gunshots heal over in seconds; more major trauma like broken bones and ruptured organs takes upwards of a minute. Vitally, there doesn't seem to be a limit to his regeneration. That is to say, there is no apparent "point" from which Phillip cannot return. Even when blown to pieces, his parts all dissolve into an inky black smoke which will, in a few hours, coalesce into a new body somewhere isolated and safe. That said, Phillip tries to avoid dying; each time he returns from the dead, he apparently loses a portion of his memories. On the other hand, each time he has died, he has demonstrated more powers and greater control over them. The righteous anger and grief that our psychologists suggest fed into his Awakening Dream continue to burn ever brighter, however.
The Revenant also benefits from enhanced human physiology. Though he’s incapable of lifting one, he’s strong enough to kick a car down a street and effortlessly punch through stone and mortar. He can leap inhuman distances and run forty miles an hour for a prolonged distance (when he's sprinting, he can run up to sixty miles an hour). His eye processes data quickly enough to determine the trajectory of a bullet before it leaves the barrel; moreover, in good conditions he can even see the projectile in the air. This enhanced sense of sight, combined with his enhanced reflexes, allows him to dodge bullets and even sometimes deflect them using a blade. Note, though, that he is easily overwhelmed by automatic fire. His kinesthetic awareness is similarly enhanced, meaning that his aim, balance, and sense of human movement are all preternaturally sharp. Naturally, this makes him a fearsome opponent (even discounting his training) that one cannot utilize normal tactics against.
Over the years, as the body count has climbed, Revenant’s abilities have also expanded. There is some speculation regarding whether this is a result of the deaths he’s caused, the increasing loss of his self-identity allowing him to focus on his powers, or if there is a cost associated with these abilities that he is loathe to pay. Whatever the reason, it’s become clear that the more he fights, the more his powers grow and develop.
Revenant has perfect night-vision. and can apparently sense “life” in a small radius around him. This Gift has proven to make him both difficult to ambush in close quarters and nearly impossible to hide from. Also, for brief periods of time, he can convert his physical body and equipment entirely into the black smoke that emits from his injuries. And once he transforms himself into this smoke, he can maneuver himself through the air and in-between gaps. He’s also proven to be capable of temporarily possessing corpses by turning into smoke and flowing into them. Damage taken to the possessed body does not seem to translate into damage to Revenant himself. On one occasion, while gripping a living subject by the throat, streams of black smoke began to emit from the man’s mouth and eyes. Some have speculated that this last ability is similar to Kane Isiah Armani's "Soul-Stealing" ability. Understand that that assumption is based on limitation information: the power's only known victim was burned to ash inside the drug lab he was guarding.
Another strange side effect of his power is that the presence of carrion eating species increases within a large area as he moves through it. It’s almost as though murders of crows, packs of wild dogs, buzzards, and other such creatures linger in his shadow, waiting to feast on those he kills. It’s verifiable that such creatures have been found by CSI teams at the site of every Revenant attack and allowed the ITSDA to identify his handiwork.
Common Uses: In most engagements, The Revenant could almost be mistaken for a conventional, if exceptional, opponent. He combines his enhanced acuity and reflexes with guns, explosives, and blades to take on entire groups of human opponents all at once. One can usually expect him to break up an opposing force into smaller groups using a combination of ambushes and hit-and-run strikes to keep them off balance. He takes advantage of the darkness whenever possible, taking full advantage of his night vision. That said, he’s not adverse to using shock and awe tactics as well; he has been known to burst through a wall right into the enemy line and pull an enemy through a hole in the floor or ceiling in order to separate a soldier from their group. Lastly, when he absolutely needs to escape, the ability to turn into mist is ideal for escaping a bad situation.
Given his regenerative capabilities, this behavior may seem strange to some. But our strategists believe that this tactical quirk of his is nothing short of brilliant. They suggest that Revenant fights like a normal human so that he can keep his more esoteric abilities in reserve as a trump card. People who don’t know he regenerates are, after all, likely to assume a shot through the leg will slow him down. Moreover, they will likely never expect him to double back and ambush them from behind. Similarly, foes who don’t know about his ability to resurrect won’t take precautions against it.
Whilst fighting other Gifted, The Revenant tends to favor a much different approach to combat. Though he'd prefer to take down far-away Gifted with a sniper rifle, his experience appears to have taught him that most Gifted seem to inherit some method of defending against things like bullets. As such, he generally moves in for close quarters combat when he comes into conflict with other Gifted. He’s strong enough for his fists to damage most mid-range Gifted. And when his power is focused through a reinforced sword, he’s been able to bisect a handful of opponents who mistakenly believed themselves to be invulnerable. If and when the sword fails, however, explosives generally prevail (whether he fixes them to the target or uses them to drop a building on someone).
Specialized Equipment: The Revenant can be immediately recognized due to the heavy composite full body armor that he wears in the field. When designing it, he took full advantage of his enhanced strength. The rigid, heavy alloy plates that cover the most vulnerable parts of his body are capable of shrugging off a burst from an assault rifle and the shrapnel of a fragmentation grenade. The inner layer is a bit more vulnerable, but will still stop most pistol caliber weapons and conventional knife attacks. Of course, if someone brings out a support weapon like a machine gun or a sniper rifle, he’d better duck quickly as the plating will crack and degrade quickly under such stress. High explosives are, understandably, even more problematic.
The Revenant owns a significant arsenal of conventional firearms, most of which were scavenged in the aftermath of one of his operations. He's rechambered most of these to simplify his supply chain, though beyond that (and the pistol grips on his twin .45’s) there’s no real customization to speak of. His access to explosives is a bit harder to explain away. While it’s true that he does mix his own in some cases, it seems that he maintains contact with someone who has access to military hardware that he taps from time to time when he needs something like an RPG.
It’s a bit archaic, but The Revenant often carries a specially tempered broadsword as well as his more conventional weapons (possibly so that he is always prepared to fight other Gifted). Its blade is made from a special alloy and incorporates carbon nanotubes to further strengthen it and increase its resistance to being heated. Those reinforcements allow Revenant to use his full strength with it without fear of damaging the blade itself. With its help, he’s been able to cut clean through reinforced concrete pillars with frightening ease. Although there is a great deal of mystery surrounding The Revenant, the blade's history is known. He took it from a Gifted assassin who’d called himself Slayer as a sort of kill "trophy."
Specialized Training and Skills: In his previous life, Phillip Toomes was a member of the US Ranger Corps. As such, he is possessed of advanced training in combat, tactics, survival, and reconnaissance. Additionally, three years of constant, superpower-enhanced battles have made him an even more fearsome combatant. Indeed, he now know how to use his enhanced strength, speed, stamina, and other powers to overcome most any challenge.
During the course of his crusade, The Revenant has become surprisingly savvy regarding the operations of the criminal underworld. He’s an amateur investigator in his own right, but his detective work mostly serves to direct him to which patsy he should shake down for an answer. He’s also an accomplished armorer, capable of customizing firearms at a professional level so long as he has access to his tools. He’s also become familiar with espionage and surveillance technology, though he tends to favor the “breaking” part of breaking and entering.
The Revenant is licensed to pilot small aircraft, and can speak both Spanish and Portuguese fluently. He knows
just enough Russian to muddle through, though he can’t read a word of it.
Hypothesized Goal: The Revenant’s actions don’t leave a lot of room for misinterpretation. He’s started a one-man war against drug trafficking. At first, he was a pretty typical vigilante, attacking drug dealers and then following "the trail" back to a lab which he would proceed to destroy. Then he’d follow the money further up the chain until a trail went cold and he was free to move on to the next one. He was more anger than careful planning in those days, trusted his powers to keep him upright and used whatever weapons he could get his hands on in the heat of the moment. That changed when an organized crime syndicate started drawing in soldiers from out of town to deal with him; their veritable army descended upon him and killed him very, very dead.
A week later, he came back wearing an early version of his current body armor, bursting into the home of the mob boss who’d organized the hit against him. Once inside, he returned the Don's favor in prejudice.
The Revenant hits street level operations less frequently these days, focusing on the wealthy profiteers who arrange the materials and equipment for the labs. It is possible that he figures he can strangle the industry by cutting off the supply (and such a strategy is consistent with his observed behavior). He keeps some of the money from the deals he interrupts, but he burns most of what he finds to take out of circulation. By now, the organizations that know about him understand that he can’t be bought off and that he won’t stop until they are utterly destroyed.`
Phillip’s activities came to ITSDA’s attention not because of his work in America, but because of his South American activities. He decided to go after the cartels on their own turf, burning farms, and assassinating drug lords who were established and powerful members of the local political scene. Unlike in America, he killed cops and government officials when the money trail led to them. After destabilizing a third world country that was heavily propped up by the drug trade, the ITSDA branded him a wanted terrorist.
The Revenant doesn’t kill indiscriminately. He seems to act to keep innocent bystanders safe, but he clearly doesn’t limit himself to killing active combatants. He’s killed farmers and traffickers with the same ruthlessness which others would limit to mercenaries and drug dealers. It seems that, in his head, anyone who bolsters the drug trade significantly is a target.
Personality Profile: The Revenant is a grim individual: quiet, but possessing a terrifying intensity. Though his plans are drafted with meticulous (and even obsessive) precision, interviews with surviving victims suggests that he executes them in a state of intense, barely-contained rage. Phillip is among those who believe that a pantheon of interdimensional beings are responsible for granting humanity Gifts. As such, he does not believe that his guilt and anger have shaped his abilities. Rather, he feels that his suffering called to some inhuman
thing that made him its instrument. He frequently states that he is doing what he was “made” to do.
On that note, Phillip believes that he received his Gift from the same entity responsible for granting Kane Isiah Armani his powers. The black color associated with his powers, the nihilistic mission he was granted, and the loss of his previous identity all provide evidence for this in his mind. He suspects that he might be able to glean some insight regarding the nature of the being he serves by interacting with Kane. However, he also recognizes Kane as a higher order of predator than himself and doesn’t believe he’d necessarily survive an encounter with him. In Phillip’s mind, Kane’s power is a result of having given up more of his “self.” Given the difference in their ages, Phillip most likely believes that Kane simply had less to give.
Background: Phillip Toomes has been many things across his life. A celebrated athlete, a soldier for his country, and a craftsman. But in his own mind, none of those jobs were more important than being a father to his children. He met his wife while still a member of the US Rangers, marrying her and mustering his way out of the army after finding out that she was pregnant. The early years of his marriage were tough as Phillip worked his way through school while supporting his burgeoning family, but in time he became a certified electrician. On the side, he pursued his interests as an amateur gunsmith at trade shows across several states.
For ten years, he lead that idyllic life. The biggest question in his life was whether he was saving up to start his own business or to purchase a house. His daughter, Autumn, was a brilliant young woman (if not a bit mean-spirited) and he was confident that she’d go far in life. Until, that is, while walking out of a grocery store, Phillip and his child were suddenly caught up in a drive-by shooting. A wild spray of semi-automatic fire filled the sidewalk as the driver gunned the motor. Phillip had enough of his old reflexes left to grab his girl and move for the cover of a mailbox. Sadly, a round in the shoulder and one in the thigh causing him to flop roughly onto the concrete and a bullet pierced Autumn just under the ribs. Phillip frantically did what he could to try and stabilize his daughter, even ignoring his own wounds. Ultimately, however, she would perish in the back of the ambulance the father and daughter shared as he tightly clutched her hand, half-delirious with pain and medication.
It was already a painful chapter in the Toomes family’s life. Soon it became even worse. The police investigation turned up the fact that two of the guns used in the shooting were from handguns that Phillip had customized. Apparently, one of his customers had been robbed, and the man’s gun collection had been resold to a street gang with the serial numbers filed off. It was a matter of luck that the pieces were recognized by an officer who Phillip had done work for in the past. The knowledge, however, tore a rift in the already shaken relationship that Phillip had with his wife, Allie. She blamed him for the death of their daughter, at least as much as the people who pulled the trigger. No longer supporting one another in their grief, the two drew distant. In a desperate, albeit subconscious, attempt to cope, Phillip lost himself in his work. He was too distracted to notice that Allie had turned to drugs as a method of coping. Too distracted to notice, that is, until he came home to find her on the floor of their living room, dead from an overdose.
Toomes sank into a deep depression. He could no longer bear to live in the house he’d shared with his family. It seemed filled with silent accusations and ghosts. One night, he simply drifted off and fell out of his life completely. It was there, in the gutters, the dark alleys, and the condemned buildings he roamed, that The Dreams began. Unmarked headstones under a dark crimson sky, a graveyard that stretched out to the horizon in every direction, and he, gouging the black earth with a shovel. At the time, he thought he was losing his already tenuous grip on his sanity.
Then, one fateful night, he was roused from his sleep by the sounds of a scuffle in the alleyway. Blearily, he tried to hold onto the dream. He remembered, in his foggy memory of his latest dream, that he’d finally stopped digging. It was strange to him that he’d found no coffin, in his waking hours he’d always believed he was looking for his family, trying to reconnect with them. The night seemed clearer than it should have as he squinted down the alley, seeing a pair of thugs accosting a woman, laughing and talking in low voices as the sound of cloth tearing reached his ears. He had called out into the darkness, looking to all the world like a drunk and smelly hobo with a thick scratchy beard and a third of a bottle of scotch clutched in his hand. One of the thugs presented a gun, telling him to back off, and a gear clicked somewhere in the back of his mind. He recognized the colors the man was wearing, had seen them pointing a gun at him once before, before his life had so badly derailed. He hurled his bottle, clipping the gun wielding thug in the temple and causing the bottle to smash against his skull. Booze and shattered glass rained down all over as the man fell back. Meanwhile, the gun slid across the grimy alley, silently encouraging him to take it. As he felt the familiar weight in his hand, and looked at the other thug, who was pressing a switchblade to the poor woman’s throat, Phillip Toomes felt a sense of purpose roll through him.
As he sighted down the gun at the knife-wielding man, black smoke rolled out of the hole in his chest and he stood firm. He knew who he’d been digging that grave for now, even if it hadn’t registered for him yet that the man he’d hit with the bottle had gotten off a shot before going down. As both aggressor and victim watched disbelieving as the hole in Phillip’s chest sealed, the pistol barked in his hand. In a baptism of blood, cordite, and fire, The Revenant was born into the world.
The Revenant's activities since that night are deeply and irrevocably tied to his obvious, aforementioned goal. Given that fact, it can easily be seen that if we want to track down this vigilante, we must learn all we can about the strategies he has adopted and is likely to soon adopt in his crusade against the drug trade.
Awareness: N
Threat Level: 2 (While The Revenant is a skilled combatant, his powers are mostly defensive in nature. Because of this, his destructive power is roughly equivalent to a small number of elite, non-Gifted ITSDA squadrons working in concert. His real advantage is in the realm of guerilla warfare, an area in which he is able to indefinitely sustain his personal war while remaining hidden and nigh impossible to track.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:38, Tue 31 May 2016.
