Individual
Character's full name: Andrew Elijah Fletcher
Alias/ Nickname/ Code name: Andrew. He doesn’t care
for Andy or Drew
Gender: Male
Age: 51
Date of Birth: 10/02/1969
Birthplace/ Home/ Place of origin: Portsmouth, New
Hampshire
Nationality: American
Ethnicity/ Cultural Heritage: British/French
Appearance
Hair color and style: Short but fluffy dark brown hair with greying streak, normally neat but can get a little windblown if he doesn’t pay attention.
Skin Tone: Generally pale but has a light tan
Eye Color: Dark brown
Height: 5’9”
Build: He is overall slender, but age and drink have made him a little comfortable around the waist.
Scars/ Tattoos/ Piercings: None known
Other features: Wide smile
Everyday clothing style: In general, Andrew likes to wear business casual clothing, typically black pants or khakis and button down shirts with a jacket and sometimes a tie. The tie will be either solid or patterned, but not garish. He sticks to neutrals and dark colors, though sometimes he will wear a white button down shirt. He is very rarely seen in jeans or khaki shorts (but sightings do happen) or solid color T-shirts (again, dark colors). He will also wear pullover sweaters over T-Shirts or polos. He wears Oxfords when at work, Oxfords or sneakers at home, usually black.
Uniform: Pretty much the same as his every day business casual clothing.
Sleepwear: Wears a pair of boxers and a T-shirt to bed
Miscellaneous clothing: Wears his class ring instead of a wedding band (he is unmarried). He also wears a simple black and gold leather banded analog watch. He carries reading glasses and a handkerchief.
Character
Personality: Andrew comes off as a quiet, calm, charming man, but it usually doesn’t take too long for someone to notice that there is a lot brewing under his surface. He is realistic (though some might call it cynical), and frank, but will soften his words in response to the emotional state of the person in front of him. Gracious and kind, Andrew does not inject himself into people’s lives unless he feels he must, and he does not often get involved in conflicts unless he is called out or he finds a personal reason to do so. He is content to sit and watch people suss out their own issues before offering his thoughts, though sometimes he will toss out a dry joke here and there to remind people of his presence. He is at rather constant war with himself, longing for friends and companionship due to being lonely, and then wanting to be alone because he doesn’t feel like he can trust anyone but himself. He loves to teach and discuss films, plays, and literature. Here is where you will see him brighten up, smile, his eyes sparkle, and in short, become beautiful. It takes a lot to make him angry, but if you come after his students or anyone he has decided is someone he cares about, he can become dangerous, wasting no time in using anything and everything he knows to protect them. He may be older, but he keeps in shape enough to throw a good punch.
Hobbies/ Interests: Walking, Wing Chun, archery, reading, riding horses, teaching, acting/directing
Job or part time job and description: Former actor, former professor of film and theatre direction at University of Pittsburgh (left due to anti-mutant coworkers and wanting to be more involved in helping mutants find their place).
Fears/ phobias/ concerns: Has a drinking problem that he is working to keep under control. Has abandonment issues due to losing his family and growing up in the foster care system. Is sterile, so considers his students his children. Is afraid of flying.
Special talents: Weaponry. He’s a rather skilled archer, a good shot with a gun, and knows how to fence. He’s also a good actor with a modest career on the stage and a few television appearances, but he isn’t well-known. He speaks French and Latin.
Morality
Good/ bad/ neutral/ other: Overall good with some neutral leaning. His life has not been easy but he has come to rely on himself and believes that one should treat the world with good intention.
Feelings toward Mutants: Truly fascinating! He is enthusiastic about their existence and eager to help shape the lives of young mutants growing up. Plus, he really wants to learn about them. He may love to teach – but he also loves to learn.
Feelings toward Humans: Actually overall, Andrew’s kinda neutral towards humans. They’re a cruel, selfish, race more focused on what they can acquire rather than what they have, not to mention throwing hissy fits when something ‘new’ offers them a new challenge in life. He doesn’t hate humans or anything, but he has gathered a rather negative view of them.
Feelings toward Mystics: Almost more fascinating than mutants! Magic is a little frightening due to its unpredictability but if approached cautiously, it’s probably safe…
Adapted Aura
Adapted Range: Nullifies powers within a 6 foot radius
Physical Abilities
General Physical Capabilities: Andrew is in average shape for his age. He is a little weaker, a little less flexible than he used to be, but he tries to walk and practice his Wing Chun to keep himself at least healthy. His hand-eye coordination is still very good, and his hand only occasionally shakes when drawing a bow or holding a gun.
Fighting Style: Wing Chun. He is no master, and mostly uses it for self defense and exercise.
Fighting Style Pros/Cons: Very fast and very direct strikes that can block and incapacitate quickly. Sensitive to opponent’s attacks and so can often block them before they land. However, Wing Chun does not move around a lot, and has almost no ground fighting/grapple abilities, so if you can get past his strikes you’ve probably got him. And given that he’s older and a little slower, it’s easier to catch him than it used to be.
History Of Your Character
Andrew was second born of three, with an older brother and a younger sister. His family underwent some severe shakeups in the first few years of his life, however. His father, a veteran of Vietnam, was a violent drunk at home, often beating his wife and Andrew’s older brother. After his abusive behavior landed his wife in a coma in the hospital, the children were taken by Child Protective Services and placed in foster care. Andrew never heard what happened to his parents after that, but he suspects they are dead. He kept in contact with his brother and sister, but eventually the siblings all stopped writing. Andrew has no idea if his siblings are still alive.
He was shuttled around in the system for a while before landing in the home of a kind British couple. Andrew put them through their paces, but they were infinitely patient with him, gradually earning his trust over the years. It was their love of Shakespeare that got Andrew interested in plays and the theatre, and when he discovered people made a living out of pretending to be other people, he was immediately hooked.
Andrew was a somewhat active child. He preferred to read and watch movies and plays, but he did enjoy riding horses with his family, and had a lot of fun at summer camp learning how to shoot a bow and arrow. He was intrigued by the duels in Shakespeare’s plays, and sought out learning how to fence as well, often fancying himself as a brave soul protecting the people who had been so kind to him. He earned a small knowledge of guns during hunting season, when his father would go out to shoot pheasant and deer, but overall he preferred archery and swords to rifles and pistols. Andrew also, as a child, caught reruns of a television show called Kung Fu, and was fascinated by the fighting. It wasn’t until he landed with his British foster (eventually adoptive) parents that he finally was able to start learning the martial art. It wasn’t the same as his beloved show, but it was certainly fun and helped keep the bullies off of him in school!
Despite being quite a loner (something his adopted parents) struggled to change, Andrew grew up into a kind man. He worked hard, double majoring in English and theatre in college, finding a passion not only for acting but for directing as well. After graduation, he went for his masters in classic English literature while beginning to act in local plays. By the age of 25, he had made a name for himself as a local stage actor, and an opportunity arose to join a theatre company in New York. He was active with the company for seven years, both as an actor and a director (and doing a few television appearances in the off-season). Though he dated often, he always balked at commitments, the old distrust rearing its head, and while he was well-liked, he still kept people at a distance.
Everything went wrong shortly before Andrew’s 32nd birthday – specifically on September 11, 2001. Both of Andrew’s parents were on Flight 175, and they called Andrew shortly before impact. Andrew, having been up late in rehearsal, slept through the phone message. He has never forgiven himself for this. Paralyzed by grief and horror, Andrew sank into an alcohol and rage-fueled depression, dropping out of the company and disappearing from public view for months. His friends from the company eventually banded together to haul him out of it, but it was a dark couple of years. When he decided to finally rejoin the world, he was unable to throw himself into acting and directing as much as he used to, and so he turned his sights to a career change
– teaching. He didn’t want to go back to New Hampshire, nor did he want to remain in New York, so he took the first available job that he could find that wasn’t in either of those states: Professor of Film and Theatre Direction at the University of Pittsburgh.
Over the next eighteen years, Andrew slowly continued to climb out of the pit he had fallen into. It warmed his heart to see students learning, and over time a few students earned enough of his trust that he was able to share bits of his life with them, becoming as friendly as professor/student relations would allow. One day, one of his students came to him with a secret: she was a mutant. Andrew, as an outsider, had never found himself afraid of mutants, and so thanked her for trusting him with her secret. She asked him for help on what she should do, and he told her that she needed to find other mutants to help her, that he – as a human – could only understand the isolation but not the power. He was sorry he couldn’t do any more but he didn’t want to have a bad effect on what was clearly a frightening situation for her. He did ask her to show him what she could do, and both of them were stunned to realize that her abilities did not manifest around him at all…at least, not until she had put some distance between them. Initially, Andrew believes he is a mutant who simply nullifies powers. He has not yet learned about adapted humans.
This discovery of his abilities, however, brought with it some serious changes. Suddenly, the anti-mutant sentiments of some of his coworkers struck home in a far more personal way. Suddenly the hate crimes he saw against mutants became something he wanted to prevent, rather than avoid. Suddenly, the concept of people like himself, or the young woman who had revealed herself to him, too afraid to reveal themselves to the general public, became too pressing to ignore. Sad but determined, he began to seek out a way to help mutants, focusing of course on what he knew best – theatre and schooling.
Andrew is currently job hunting, trying to find a teaching position at a mutant school so he can help outsiders feel welcome.
Roleplay
What’s your OOC alias?: FandomDancer or Dancer
Where did you learn about this site?: Google search
Do you have any other characters on MRO, if so who:
No
Sample RP:
Andrew’s heart grew heavy as he watched Violet walk slowly towards the door. The urge to reach out to her pressed on his chest and lips, combining with the confusion of the last few moments. Violet, a mutant, an intelligent and beautiful young woman come to him to ask for help, and he was forced to turn her away because he couldn’t relate? How many characters had he played or stories had he read with this very situation? How many times had there been an answer just beyond reach, in the wings, waiting to be called out with the right breath?
Ah, but reality is not a play, is it now?
It wasn’t. But reality sometimes could throw someone for a loop.
As Violet continued walking, her body began to glow. At first, he thought it was just a trick of the light, but as she continued towards the door the illumination increased rapidly. His eyes widened. “Miss Violet?”
She paused, looking back behind her, and only then did she seem to realize what was happening. “Wait…what the hell?”
Andrew began to move towards her quickly, wondering if he could shield her from the window leading to the hallway. But when the distance between them had closed once more, the glow suddenly faded from her body, winking out like a snuffed candle.
The two of them stared at each other.
“Professor,” she said softly, “are you a mutant too?"
Andrew’s head spun. His first immediate thought, of course, was no! No, it was impossible. Mutations manifested in one’s teenage years, or perhaps earlier. He was fifty, for goodness’ sake!
But suppose my mutation is so subtle, that I simply never noticed it all of these years?
“Not to my knowledge,” he replied, “but the ending of our little scene here appears to have an unexpected twist. You say you can manipulate light?”
“Basically, yeah.” She stepped back from him and the glow resumed. She stepped towards him, and the glow vanished once more. “But you stop me. Being around you stops me.”
“I assure you, this is not intentional!” Was his voice shaking? Yes, a little. “I have never had any experience with mutations in any way!”
She looked up at him, her eyes luminous and filled with an emotion he did not expect. Compassion. “Professor, I think you’re a mutant too. I think you stop powers from working. That might be why you never realized it until now.”
Andrew’s legs wobbled under him, and he sank slowly into one of the chairs, his hand white-knuckling the desk.
What else can I do?
