Thomas Kinney
Basic Information
Character Name: Thomas "Tommy" Kinney
Character Hero Name: The Botanist, unless he can think of something cooler
Character Sex: Male
Character Age: 23
Character Type: Empowered
DescriptionsPhysical Description: The most prominent way to describe Tommy is that he is scrawny. Standing at 5'9" and weighting a meager 135 lbs, Tommy is best described as a scrawny man. He is certainly lean, and, though he has light muscle tone to his body, he isn't likely to be winning any fights any time soon. He can usually be found wearing a sweater of some sort, usually in darker shades to add to the 'cool' look he tries to convey.
His light brown hair is almost always in a purposeful mess, typically angled upwards to give the appearance that he is just a bit taller than he really is. He once tried to let his facial hair grow out and realized that it was a very, very bad look for him, so he is now always clean-shaven. His dark brown eyes used to be hidden behind a pair of glasses, but as he grew older he decided to make the change to contacts. On occasion, though, he will opt to wear his glasses instead.
Face or Model Claim: Thomas Brodie-Sangster
Distinguishing or Noteworthy Features Not Mentioned Above:
Personality Description: Most people would tell you that, above all else, Tommy is cocky. He is often boastful and loud when among others as a sort of defense mechanism, put in place after being bullied in his early school years. Because of this, Thomas is also quite competitive. He has a sincere wish to be seen as cool, or, at least, to be accepted by others. This trait is at its strongest when Tommy is in a large group, where he feels the need to show off in whatever way he can in an attempt to fit in.
Tommy has a tendency to give in easily to peer pressure which led him into trouble numerous times throughout his youth, but he doesn't usually go looking for trouble. Many of the times he found himself in trouble throughout his time in high school, it involved liquor, and he continued that trend beyond high school, as well. He loves to drink with friends, preferably vodka or gin. However, he tends to be a bit of a lightweight, despite his best attempts to overcome that.
With the friends he keeps, he loves to joke around and have a good time, whatever that means for them. When not trying to show off to other people, he really prefers things a bit quieter and a bit more relaxed. In the privacy of his own home, he is an avid reader, though he wouldn't readily admit that. He also wouldn't admit how much he cares about the people who put up with him, but you can be sure that he would be one of the first people at their side if any of them needed help.
Special Abilities
Tier and Stage of Empowerment: Tier 1 Emerging
Description of Powers:
Plant Manipulation - Tommy is capable of causing growth and change in plant life through a unique enzyme his body can now produce. He doesn't yet really know how it works or how he can utilize this power. The most he has been able to accomplish so far is making a flower bloom at his touch.
Mundane Special Abilities: Tommy has quite a knack for video games. More specifically, arcade games. Anyone who is willing to put up with his bragging and play against him is likely to lose, and he has even reached the kill screens of both Donkey Kong and Pac-Man, or, at least, he says he has. He can whistle, not that he does so too often. Although few are likely to every see him do so, he is also quite skillful at making balloon animals. He doesn't often cook for other people, but he is an excellent cook, having learned from his mother.
Character History and Outline of Story Arc
History and Background:Thomas grew up in a rather large, rather noisy town, where his mother, Eleanor, ran a little bookstore that didn't keep too busy. His father, Daniel, who worked as a police officer, passed away when Thomas was less than a year old. Because his mother never wants to talk about it, Tommy doesn't know exactly what happened to his father, only that he died at the hands of an Empowered individual when responding to a call one night. This bred in Eleanor a fear of the Empowered and of what her son could become, having already tested positive for Empowered genetic markers. Still, she never let her fear show, loving him unconditionally, but ensuring that Tommy took the suppression medicine she referred to as a vitamin to help him get big and strong.Tommy's childhood was, really, nothing out of the ordinary. In school, he was the perfect target for bullies: he was insignificant in size, he wore secondhand clothing as his mother struggled to support them and pay for his medication, he wore glasses (and rather ugly ones, at that), and, lastly, he didn't have a father. Kids are cruel, and Tommy hid away in his mother's bookstore frequently, which was, conveniently, right below their small apartment. He read often at home and in the bookstore, an escape away from the world for a little while. The bullies upset him, but he knew he could always go home, read, and forget about the struggles of the day.
As he approached high school, the bullying only became worse. It was at this time, though, that he began learning a bit about the Empowered. He heard rumors in school about the popular student who knew a kid who knew a kid whose uncle was one. Most importantly, he heard about the medication that people with the Empowered genes had to take to prevent them from Blooming. After putting two and two together, he approached his mother, who finally came clean and told him the truth, that he had the genetic markers of an Empowered.
His mother still feared them, but Tommy was nothing but excited by the information. He had some sort of power locked away under the surface. He dreamed of what sort of cool power he could end up with if he ever stopped taking it. He had seen video after video online of these Empowered people and the incredible, awesome feats that they could achieve. Any one of those powers might be his, and it was time for him to spread the word and make a stand against his bullies. He began making it clear to everyone who picked on him that if they didn't back off, he would quit taking his meds, and then...then they'd be sorry.
This didn't stop the bullies, not completely, but it was a stepping stone for Tommy. He wasn't the kid who went and hid at the bookstore anymore, he was that (over)confident kid who you shouldn't mess with. He could interact with his peers and start to try to fit in. Around the time of his junior year of high school, his mother remarried to a man named Theodore Malson, who Tommy couldn't stand. Thankfully, it was just one more year after that that it was time for him to head to college.
Not sure of what to study, he majored in English, knowing that he would at least enjoy classes centered on literature. He took this opportunity to reinvent himself and dove into the person you will find today. College was relatively uneventful for him, up until the night of the homecoming party at his frat house senior year. He was incredibly intoxicated and started mouthing off to one of the jocks, starting a fight he was in no way ready to finish. After waking the next morning with a black eye and a number of bruises, Tommy decided it was time to quit taking his medication.
Tommy finished his college education, no longer on his medication, waiting and waiting for his power to manifest, but it never did. No, it seemed there were no other Bloomers at his college to bring about the change, so, once he had his diploma in hand, he headed off to Lookout, having heard about the #Bloomer movement and its connection to it. Eventually, he did Bloom and soon discovered that his awesome, amazingly cool power was that he could...make plants grow?
Needless to say, Tommy hated his power. Of all the amazing powers he had heard about and watched videos of, he was stuck with a useless one. He didn't care about plants, he didn't know the first thing about them! Since this unfortunate realization, he has done little to learn more about his power, simply living life in Lookout, not quite sure what was next for him.
Profession: Bartender
Family: His father (Daniel) is deceased. His mother (Eleanor) and step-father (Theo) live in New York with their daughter and Tommy's half-sister (Sarah, age 5). He still speaks with his mother and Sarah over the phone occasionally, but his mother refuses to visit, fearing the Empowered present in Lookout. He still hasn't told her that he has Bloomed.
