Character Name: Yu Ling
Code Name: Shandian (It is Mandarin Chinese, pronounced SHAN dee AN)
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Country of Origin: United States (San Francisco, Chinatown)
Concept: Avatar of the Chinese Element of Air
Sexual Preference: Hetro. She has never really had much time for romance.
Current Role: First Special Services Force Member. More specifically, as her powers are generally considered at the upper end on the scale, Shandian is usually applied only in the most dangerous situations, or those where a degree of destructive force is necesary. She is effectively the weapon of mass destruction that nobody wants to use. While she can obviously apply her powers at weaker levels - and her ability to be a walking EMP to take down a target's power is extremely useful - when it is necessary to make an enormous display of pyrotechnical power, that is when she is encouraged to pull out the big guns, although doing so can leave her in a weakened and vulnerable state. (See Weaknesses.)

Description: Yu Ling is almost stereotypical of her genetic heritage. She is only five feet tall, slim, and built along lines best described as dainty. Her hair is deep midnight black, smooth and straight, and when worn loose hangs just below her shoulders. When working, as a teacher or as an active member of the Agency, she wears it tied in an elaborate French plait, which keeps it very firmly in place.

Her complexion is another sign of her family lines. There is no doubt that she is a child of the Orient. Her voice, though slightly tinted with a Chinese accent at times, is otherwise wholly American. Californian, in fact. Her clothes tend to be comfortable, and she lends herself towards jeans and t-shirts, or light summer dresses when appropriate. She wears only a small amount of make-up or jewellery. One quirk, however, is that she always has food on her person. It may only be a protein bar, but unless she is actively working, it is almost certain that she will be eating or drinking something. This may baffle people, as she remains as delicate and slim as ever, despite consuming massive amounts of food, and not being particularly inclined towards vigorous exercise.

Distinguishing Marks: Nothing exceptional - seems human unless actively using powers.

Personality: Yu Ling is a very cheerful and upbeat person. In fact, some may even consider her excessively perky. She is an eternal optimist, and does everything she can to keep those around her cheerful as well. Her sense of humour is broad, and she is just as likely to laugh at slapstick as at dry sarcasm. She personally prefers well intentioned teasing, and can be flirtatious but tends to be rather shy when genuinely interested in someone romantically.

That said, when she is on mission, she is absolutely focused, and completely professional. While she is usually a very peaceful person, who advocates violence as a last resort, if she deems it necessary she will unleash a truly staggering amount of aggression. She may seem like the happy, tiny lady who tries to help anyone who needs it, but she is a singularly dangerous enemy. When she decides to take someone down, she puts all her energy into making that come about. And given how much energy she has at her command, that is a truly fearsome threat...

Motivation
Yu Ling's family history is not a jolly one. While more recent times have seen the family thrive, there were times when they were in considerable danger, and her grandparents came to the USA as refugees. The tales they told her, and the many injustices she saw in the immigrant community in which she grew up, have made her a very ardent supporter of the rights of the persecuted. She believes everybody has the right to respect, and to be treated as a valuable person. She is willing to take a stand on that, and face down the forces of repression and fascism, for the sake of her own family, and for those like them.

Powers: Control of Electricity

Offensive power: Lightning Bolt
Yu Ling's most obvious power is that she can throw bolts of electricity. These look like anything she wishes, as she can mould the electricity with hands and mind, forming it into darts, spheres, long bolts, and so forth. The effect is exactly what you might expect if you are hit by a bolt of lighting. Severe burns, scrambled nervous system, being thrown backwards, and so forth. It is also possible to release an electromagnetic pulse, shorting out nearby electronic equipment for a period of around twenty minutes.

Weakness: Blasting out bolts of lightning is all well and good, but doing so requires obedience to the laws of physics. That is to say, if she has thrown out a bolt of electrical energy, her electrical energy reserves are reduced by the same amount. Ling needs to constantly recharge her power reserves or in a fight she could literally drain herself into a coma.

Defensive power: Lightning Shield
Ling can call forth a forcefield of electricity. She can put it around herself, or extend it to cover at most one other person. However, she can erect it anywhere she has line of sight, so it could be used to shield another person, or (for example) to block a doorway.

Anyone touching the shield will get a very nasty electric shock, somewhat like a very powerful blast from a taser. However, the more immediate and beneficial effect is that it repels projectiles. Large projectiles, moving slowly (for example, a thrown baseball or knife) will be thrown off target by the release of electricity when they hit the shield. Bullets will not be stopped, but they will be incinerated on passing through the forcefield. The resulting ash is still moving very fast, and is very hot, so it will sting badly when it hits the person inside.

Weakness: Ling has to focus constantly to use this power, and as such is unable to return aggressive fire without dropping the shield.

Electric Transport
Yu Ling can, with focus, pass into the electric current in the national grid. She can, in essence, travel along electrical cables. This is not an instant transport, though she can move far faster than if she were running.

Weakness: The problems involved in this are rather hard to avoid. If the power goes down when she is in the cable, she is effectively trapped, and cannot move again until power is returned. Also, the wiring system in urban areas is staggeringly complex, resembling a mind-bogglingly fiendish three dimensional labyrinth of mammoth proportions. If she loses focus, she could easily get lost, and pop out in entirely the wrong place...

Micro-Blast
Ling has control over all electrical forces. The human body produces a surprising amount of bio-electricity, and consequently is vulnerable to her powers. This means she can nudge the electricity in any living thing (humans are not the only electrical yet alive biological organism) and cause a variety of effects. For example, she could cause a muscle to twitch, or a leg to itch. On the other hand, she could also let rip and have the electrical activity in the brain go haywire, knocking the victim into disorientation. Or worse, she could simply ramp up the power and literally cook the brain inside the victim's skull. She could interfere with the function of someone's heart, and induce potentially lethal fibrillation,  although she can do the reverse, and defibrillate a heart attack victim using only her mind. Of course, Yu Ling is a genuinely nice woman who would never, ever do such utterly despicable things. She may have the power, but her moral code will not let her become so monstrous.

Recharge
Although Yu Ling, like anyone, has electricity within her, the human body cannot produce anything like the power required to fuel most of her abilities. While the vast food intake adds to her own inherent powers by converting calories into electrical energy, she needs to get outside power to really cut loose. She does this by sucking in electrical energy from the environment. For example, the power grid in the local area is an excellent source. She has to be careful not to take too much and cause a brownout, but she is very experienced these days and is unlikely to cause a power cut.

The air in the modern world is filled with wireless signals, many of which can be used as a power source. Equally, the Earth is rich with electrical energy in the atmosphere. In a really urgent situation, Ling can literally call down the lightning to pour into herself a huge recharge. (Interestingly, she cannot call down a bolt of lightning to hit anything else; only herself. She tries, but has never managed to get that to work.)

One other source of power is the other animals in the near vicinity  including other people. She can suck the bioelectrical energy out of them, and if she takes too much, they will fall unconscious. Even taking a little from them can lead to a moment of disorientation, and as such she almost never uses this power, and if she does when out on a mission with the other mutants, she ensures that she has their permission before doing so.



Shandian Avatar
The ultimate manifestation of Yu Ling's power is the ability to change form into an avatar of electricity. To do this, she must pull into herself a massive electrical charge, and as such it is not a subtle power. It is very bright, and the sound of the electrical discharge is extremely loud. However, once achieved, she converts her physical body into one of pure electricity. The Shandian Avatar floats two feet off the ground, is made of electricity, and as such comes with additional powers over and above the usual powers she has when made of flesh.

The Shandian Avatar is very hard to hurt by merely hitting it. It does take damage; she can still feel pain. However, hitting it with anything is essentially plunging your hand or weapon into a massive electrical discharge. Not a very safe way to live!

The main power that this form grants is the power of flight. By discharging electricity from her feet and hands, the Avatar can fly using a method similar to rocket propulsion,  in essence using the same technique as Iron Man, but powered by electrical discharges to provide the thrust. Like any other power, this drains her reserves, although in Avatar form they are very large. Nevertheless, she has to be very careful not to lose power in flight, as the result would be certainly lethal. Her forcefield would not save her from a fall from a considerable height. She is as vulnerable as any human under such circumstances.

Fortunately, she can recharge in flight, and flying into a cloud to draw off electrical energy there is not too difficult, though it will trigger a thunderstorm, for which the people below will not thank her.

The downside to the Avatar form is that it consumes a truly staggering amount of energy. After using this form for even a relatively short period, Yu Ling will need to rest - not immediately, but on return to home. A great deal of food is required, and she absolutely has to sleep for some time. After using the Shandian Avatar on a mission, it is likely that she will sleep for between twenty-four and thirty-six hours without waking, and then on returning to a vertical state, she will spend several hours eating ravenously. It makes the power risky to activate, as without that sort of facility to regenerate her bio-electricity, she risks falling into her comatose state. The Avatar is potent, but the cost of using it too often could quite literally be her life.


Weaknesses:  Yu Ling's power has a somewhat unfortunate side effect. In order to support her very fast metabolism, to create and maintain the electricity within her, she requires a staggering amount of fuel. Which is to say, calories. Ling needs to eat a vast amount of food - three to four times the amount of a healthy human adult. She requires a regular, and high intake, of calories in any form. Consequently, she eats several large meals every day, and snacks constantly on high-energy foods. However, a helpful side effect of her supremely fast metabolism is that while she may be eating food that is generally unhealthy for most people, she suffers no ill effects. Her liver function, cholesterol, vitamin levels, U&Es... all the biological processes that are usually harmed by a high sugar and fat diet: they are all those of a perfectly healthy normal human being. Also, despite the fact she eats such a huge amount of food, her digestive system does not seem to produce an excessive amount of waste. This is probably fortunate, as she would otherwise be spending half her life in the bathroom...

There are downsides, however. If Yu Ling goes for time without food, her powers start to fade. After twenty-four hours, she is ravenous, and starts to lose control of her abilities, causing random electrical discharges. After three days, her powers are greatly reduced. At five days without fuel, her powers are gone, and she will slip into a cataleptic coma  as stiff as a board, and non-responsive. She can be awoken only by either a massive electrical charge (making her rather similar to the way that Frankenstein's Monster is depicted in a great many movies of dubious quality) or, perhaps with greater ease, a large injection of calorie-rich fluid. Should she ever be captured by enemies and imprisoned on low rations, she will eventually enter a coma, and while she may not die immediately, she will live only as long as a normal human, and be completely helpless in the interim.

One final side effect of her needing fuel is that she almost never needs to sleep;  the calories have essentially replaced sleep. She can do so if she wishes, and at times is obliged to do so to recharge her drained reserves. But most of the time, sleep is entirely optional.


History: Yu Ling's grandparents were young adults, newly married, when they fled China during the schism that led to the two conflicting Chinese governments. Like many who did not support a change of regime, they feared for their lives, and left as refugees. They were amongst the great exodus that ended in the United States, and they settled in San Francisco, in the heart of Chinatown. There they stayed, and raised a family. Yu Ling's father was their youngest son. He was very intelligent, and won a scholarship to the University of Berkeley. There, he studied mathematics, and met his future wife, who was also from the Chinese community, though her family were far better off than his. It was during the 1970s, and they married, and lived, with a fairly bohemian lifestyle. Over the following years, they had five children - three sons, and two daughters. Yu Ling was the older girl, and the fourth of their children.

It was clear that these children were special. Each of them came with an unusual power, which manifested fairly early in their lives. They each had control over one of the elements  those traditionally associated with Chinese folklore. The eldest boy had the power to move metal. The next, power over rock and earth. The next, he could manipulate water. The youngest girl controlled fire. And Yu Ling, she had power over air  or as that is interpreted in Chinese mythology, power over lightning. It was not very long before word of these powers (even when they tried to hide them) reached the mutant community. Inevitably, the Powers That Be learned of the children, and the siblings were immediately transferred into their care, where they would be protected, nurtured, and properly trained to control their powers. The notion appealed, and the family relocated to New York State. From then, the education and mentorship of the children was in the hands of their mutant-supporting mentors. Thus, Ling ended up in a training and education program at the incredibly young age of eight years old. She was a keen student, and enthusiastic, but her power was considerable, and she had to learn control. It was hard work, but she came to control her powers well. Beyond this training, music was her passion, and she was proficient on both piano and cello. Here she studied hard. However, she also spent time in more intense studies with her tutors, who gave her the capacity to control her powers.

At the age of twenty-five, having trained for so many years, she was finally moved to the forefront of the FSSF's active counter-terrorist campaign - though she saw it as essential fighting for basic human rights. This required her to undergo full Special Forces training. In every imaginable hostile environment, with every possible permutation of deadly scenario inflicted on the trainees. She looked ridiculous. Alongside the big muscular guys, the former school jocks, and the kids from bad backgrounds, who signed onto the program to make good... there she was. A tiny, pretty, and excessively perky little thing, who gave her gun a cute name, and who stuck a Hello Kitty sticker on the side of her helmet. Nobody told her to remove it. Frankly, the instructors either thought she was going to flunk out, or they were too scared to do so. Or both. You choose.

Because there's only one reason a 5 ft nothing girl, who looks like she could be young enough to be in school, gets onto a Special Forces training program. That reason? Because she is really, really, scary. Yu Ling has the capability of blowing the side off a tower block, or reducing an SUV to so much molten slag. Once the guys on the training program realised exactly what she was capable of, they never once did or said anything that might piss her off. Instead, she became their good luck charm. Their mascot. She was the small cute one all the guys kept an eye on when they went to a bar. Everybody's favourite kid sister. And also... the person they stuck out front when everything was going to hell in a handbasket.

Even now, some of the guys still call her Kitty. Only those who went through SF training with her, and only they know why.

Someone called her Pikachu, once. The guys she trained with took exception. They still haven't found his car.

Since then she has remained on active duty, and while she may be small and rather perky, she has proven many times that she is a true, and literal, force of nature. Well-liked by her mutant friends, and popular with younger members of the Brigade, she feels she has found her true place, her lifetime's vocation. What the future may bring remains to be seen, but Ling will face it with a determination - and if necessary, a truly spectacular display of electrotechnics.

Something Unique About Your Character That Isn't in the comics, The Movies or TV:
Here are some fun facts that may or may not help with this!

Hobbies: Music, Cooking.
Likes:  Classical music, peaceful walks by the river, playing practical jokes on her colleagues...
Dislikes: Bullying, torture, and celery. Seriously, what is celery FOR? It doesn't even provide calories enough to make eating it even worthwhile.
Nonmutant abilities: A gifted classical cellist, and a competent pianist. Speaks several languages, including various Chinese dialects, Italian, and German - mostly resulting from deep interest in opera taking her into language studies.
Family Yu Ling has three brothers, and one sister. They have all been given some degree of training, but they are not all suited to work with the FSSF. Should any of them stray from the good path, or be taken as a hostage to bring influence to bear on her, she would stop at nothing in order to bring them back to her family.