IndividualCharacter's full name: Alex Maurell (Mah-ooo-rey) Johnson (Was recently adopted by Sam Johnson aka Cold Steel)
Alias/ Nickname/ Code name: Rebirth/Debris
Gender: Male
Age: 16 19
Date of Birth: (08/8/1998)
Birthplace/ Home/ Place of origin: A foster home in Kuna, Idaho
Nationality: American
Ethnicity/ Cultural Heritage: Latino (Puerto Rico)
Appearance:
Character Reference SheetHair color and style: Short dark brown/black, a little spikey/messy
Skin Tone: Tan
Eye Color: Green-grey
Height: 5’6”
Build: Lean
Visible mutation: N/A
Scars/ Tattoos/ Piercings: A old scar on the palm of his right hand and a slightly newer scar on his left shoulder. Nothing too gruesome but enough to leave a visible mark. New scare on the left side of his abdomen
Other features: N/A
Everyday clothing style: Well-worn jeans, a brown t-shirt with a logo that has long since faded, a green hoodie that’s seen better days, and gloves to keep from tearing up his hands too badly. Wears hand-me-down clothes in the same casual style but less worn down.
Uniform: N/A
Sleepwear: Usually whatever he happens to be wearing at the time. Shorts and t-shirt
Miscellaneous clothing: Keeps a winter coat and extra socks, t-shirt, and cargo pants with him as well.
Backpack: Since he’s a traveler he tends to keep particular items on him. A hunting knife, a lighter, snacks he can store ranging from store bought chips to squirrel jerky, his extra clothing, fishing line, little packets of salt and pepper, a water bottle, and his notebooks. He's not a traveler any more and finally has a home.
CharacterPersonality: He can be rather easy going, cheerful most times, if not a little insane to those he knows well enough. Being that he’s spent most of his time hoofing it from town to town he’s found people are most at ease when you remain positive. The less threatening you seem the easier it is to ask favors. A childish demeanor is easier to handle for most soft hearts. This combined with the loneliness of constant travel and the push away from society, makes him able to jump from hyper-paranoid to almost sickeningly cheerful. Everything is for the benefit of surviving. If he has to play nice he will, if he has to fight he will.
But running and hiding will always be his first option, best not to waste good energy on fruitless ventures. If he decides, a place is a fruitless venture he’ll pack his stuff and leave, it’s as simple as that. If he decides a person is a fruitless venture he’ll waste no more thoughts on them. He’s locked out everything that might take too much energy, contain too many losses to handle surviving. So in a very real sense he’s never given himself time to mourn his childhood. Never gave himself time to mull over the meaning of his mutation or the politics that forced him into hiding. All he knows is the steady pace of moving on and that his mutation is a bigger part of him than anything else.
Update: In the past couple of years, Alex has grown somewhat pessimistic. Events like nearly dying, being arrested and brutalized by Australian police, his own powers demands on his body and mind, and current world events have made it feel like the sky is constantly falling. He still tries to keep a positive front for everyone in his life, he doesn't want to loose them after all. But internally, he's certain he'll die before he reaches 21.
Hobbies/ Interests: Drawing out ideas and creature concepts, writing in his journal, studying biology, zoology, and crypto-zoology, sometimes psychology and philosophy if he can manage it. And when he doesn’t have access to books or internet articles, those days lost in the wilderness, he studies the real thing, making meals into self made lectures on animal bodies before cooking fires consume important details.
Update: Alex, while still maintaining old hobbies, has picked up a few new ones. Training with Sam aka Cold Steel, and playing video games with friends.
Job or part time job and description: Unemployed
Fears/ phobias/ concerns: The thing he fears most is the inevitability that he will be alone, always and forever. He can’t stand it. It hasn’t morphed into a full blown phobia yet, but the danger is there.
And his greatest concern at the moment is survival.Special talents: Drawing, he’s gotten rather good at it since he’s been copying from biology and zoology text books.
On occasion, he’ll draw for pay in parks and on the street.MoralityGood/ bad/ neutral/ other: Good-neutral, he rather not out-right hurt people but he’s not going to play at being a hero either. Not unless there’s a good reason to.
MutationsMutation description: The ability to create animal constructs from decaying mater. However certain criteria must be filled in order for this to be effective.
The rules:1. Alex must know how to construct the creature; bones, muscles, organ, etc. Without this prior knowledge, the creature will depend more heavily on Alex to keep it alive, thus risking damage to Alex.
2. The daily caloric intake of the construct must be accounted for in Alex’s diet. For every day after the initial creation, Alex must eat equal calories to both his own and the constructs needs.
3. The material acquired for the construct must be equal to it’s final mass or weight and anything special, such as poison or venom, must be added to the mixture.
4. To create the construct, Alex must be in a 30 foot range (seeing range in daylight). Once made, the constructs independence from Alex depends on its complexity or how real to life it is. The more complex the creature, the more likely it will act of its own accord and move further from him.
5. The more complex in mind the creation the fewer he can afford to make. A swarm of gnats is easy; they require little daily nutrition and can be collectively controlled as a hive mind. However a pack of dogs or wolves may prove too difficult at his current level and he may be limited to two or three.
Note: Specifically, Alex is limited to one large construct (100+lbs), or three medium constructs
(20-80lbs), or five small constructs (1-10lbs), or a swarm of insects daily. Aside from the one large
construct these can be mixed and matched on a needs bases.
6. Each construct requires new material. Alex is mentally connected to everything he creates. So if he were cut off from his creations, whether on purpose or through some external force, the creation would dissipate in unusable dirt. However he has taken to naming particular designs for his more complex minded and independent creations.
7. The material may vary greatly and still have the same general look and feel from one construct to the next. However the more organic the material - food, plant matter, carcasses, etc - the better as it’ll be easier to break down and reconstruct as well as how sturdy the creature will be. This is the difference between cheap material and expensive material.
8. How decayed the material will also affect the speed of creation and look of the construct. The fresher the material the harder it will be to break down, but it will retain it’s stronger bonding. Completely rotten material, while easier to break down, may not be as sturdy as fresher material. In general a half way point, or closer to fresh is preferred.
Note: The whole item does have to be dead. Directly after death may allow him to use the material.
For example, that means an apple, even if it's freshly been picked, is dead. It can no longer grow,
it's disconnected from the tree which was providing it life. Now this apple will be considerably
harder to break down than say one that's a couple of days old but it still be used happen.
9. The time between the loss of the construct and the making of a new one varies, but in general 5 - 10 mins.
Notes:1. The longer a construct is alive the more it gains a personality of its own. This personality remains in Alex, so if the constructs body is lost it can be recreated and retain its personality. However, this makes it difficult for Alex to let them go, even if it may cause him health problems in the end.
Some favorites:A. Ace – The first flying construct he ever perfected, first based off a red-tailed hawk. Ace’s
mind is probably the best developed of all the constructs and was the first of Alex’s constructs to
inhabit several different body types. (Current construct time: 1 - 2 min depending on material)
B. Marry – The first large construct (130 pounds and 7 ft in length) he ever made, first based off
a mountain lion. While it took a toll on his body, she protected him those few months at the
beginning of his run away. She does not enjoy inhabiting small bodies. (Current construct time:
5 – 10 min depending on material)
C. Pick & Pocket – Two rat constructs he made to scout for him and often employs when in a
new town or city. (Current construct time: 30 sec - 1 min depending on material)
2. While Alex has gotten rather good at creating constructs, the bigger it is the longer it will take. A chickadee may take a flicker of a thought, a few flies even less so. But on the other extreme, say an elephant, may take hours to construct, maybe even a full day. However, if rushed, he can forgo his usual precision and leave out unnecessary flesh. The rushed creation will be heavily dependent on Alex, as stated in rule 1, and may resemble a zombie creature.
3. Sleep also factors into how well made a construct may be, it’s not as great a factor as food so long as Alex isn’t sleep deprived.
4. Alex prefers insects when it comes to quick constructs, as they are simple and easier to create in mass.
5. Constructs do heal if the injury is non-fatal but it takes energy from Alex to do so and it will be at a normal pace.
Strengths: Through these constructs Alex can provide for himself all that he needs. People will often feed stray dogs or cats for instances, whom would bring the free meal to him. A hawk may hunt for him. With these constructs, he can also spy or patrol an area, likely through a insect or rodent construct. Larger constructs for protection and so on. He has yet to push too far on his abilities but in theory if he can make a design that is consistent with real life then it is possible.
Weaknesses and Limitations: However this all makes rather dependent on his creations. If he were to be cut off from his power, like through the power stopping collars, he would feel a crisis of loneliness to the point of feeling suffocated by it. Not only that but because he can see and hear and feel everything his constructs do, he will feel any injury placed upon them. Thankfully, it’s only feeling it and he receives no physical damage. However if the sensation is too intense, it has the potential to knock him out or leave him unable to move. Likewise, if he creates too much or something too big without the proper nutrition, it will render him too fatigued to do anything or force him to pass out. There is a danger of slipping into a coma or worse death.
Physical AbilitiesGeneral Physical Capabilities: While Alex may not be the strongest he has quite a lot of stamina. Able to play the long game when it comes to trekking long distances and meeting he’s travel goals. This could mean in a fight he may out last his opponent if he’s able to avoid them. This being said his reflexes are fair, enough so that he can duck out of a fight if need be. Speed is about the same, best to run than fight in most situations. He’s not too flexible though.
Fighting Style: He rarely, if ever will engage in a physical fight. However he has gotten in a few, mostly relying on hit and run tactics to stay out of an opponent’s range. He will use dirt from his pocket to blind another if it means getting away easier.
Fighting Style Pros/Cons: Pros: Not really any, though it keeps him from gaining too many injuries. Cons: It shows just how cowardly and weak he physically is. He’s not much without his powers.
History Of Your Character(I'm writing a full story of Alex' journey from Kuna, ID to New York, NY since it's three years long, check it out
here.)
Alex grew up in a less than ideal situation. Born to parents who couldn’t or didn’t want to care for him after a time, he was foisted on the foster care system at the age of three. He doesn’t even really remember what they look like or what they’re names may be. However, to him this is of little consequence. What was of consequence was the constant moving and unstable home situation. That being that he didn’t really have a home.
By the time he was seven he finally found himself in a foster home that was, at the very least, stable enough. The foster mother was nice… so long as the topic wasn’t mutants. Why the woman seemed to have a hate on for mutants always escaped him but it honestly didn’t concern him. Until he turned ten that is and his mutation made itself known. Honestly wasn’t on purpose, it sort of just happened.
A month and a half after turning ten and with Halloween drawing nearer, Alex was feeling rebellious. Taking what pocket money he had, he went to go to the nearest convenience store and grab his own personal stash of candy. On his own and with evening drawing nearer he happened upon some road kill.
Now he did feel a ting of disgust at the pancaked animal that lay there in his path. However, something else pulled him nearer, a sense of pity and a want to fix it. Closer he got, until he was close enough to have the smell of decay invade his senses. With an unconscious motion of his hand, it began to move. First, a rapid deconstruction, body parts and mangled flesh becoming particles and then a reformation, a child’s attempt of refitting all the puzzle pieces.
To say the results were horrifying would be an understatement. A walking carcass stood before him, a zombie animal made real. What's worse he could see through its mind, his own horrified face warped by its broken sight. In an instant, the connection was cut and the creature turned to dust. However, the damage was done. He thought for months after that he had some unholy power, something truly evil. He told no one for the longest time. Eventually, he did pluck up the courage to discussing a hypothetical with one of the other foster kids. It was then that a point was been made. Mutation, mutants, all of that stuff that was on the newsreel 24/7. It hadn’t even crossed his mind.
Thank goodness for the internet. He had all the information he could ever want to frighten him. The government was out to get him, other mutants were dangerous, and humans were generally disgusted with mutants. Everywhere he looked pointed to the fact that the world would be a far more dangerous place than he expected. He needed to prepare, he needed to figure his power out and quick.
Determined not to let his new found power lead to his destruction, he dove head first into research. The library became his second home. He buried himself in books and internet articles. At first he thought his powers had to do with bending flesh, raising the dead. But if that were the case there would have been no need to break things down and reconstruct them. According to what he read most things were made of fairly basic elements, carbon, water, salt, and so on. Basic elements found in everyday material.
So he experimented, practiced in secret. Driven by instinct and research and it went on like this for three more years. He had never been happier to live in Kuna, Idaho, where the rural lands were the perfect testing grounds for his secret power. Though, some of the farmers were none too pleased about finding him unconscious in their fields on occasion. This didn’t endear him to anyone. People found him strange, too quiet, too in his own world. They knew something was up they just couldn’t pinpoint it.
And these people didn’t keep to themselves either. They fed his foster mother’s concerns, echo chambered her worries about mutants, the children she was keeping, how any oddity could be a sign of worse things to come. Moreover, it became more and more difficult to leave and return to the house as he pleased. The small town life was becoming too difficult to bear.
So, he ran. Packed whatever he could and in the dead of night ran. He traveled for three years, avoiding cops and people who might recognize his face as that of a missing child, a ward of the state. Bouncing from town to town, sticking to off roads and wooded areas, only heading to populated towns when need be or to stay as long as he could at the library.
He met a few mutants along the way and sympathizing humans too. It eased his worry, calmed him some to know that he wasn’t always walking with a target on his back.
All the while he researched and practiced, toiling at this mutation that had become his craft. The name Rebirth was given to him by another mutant, a kid too young to be living in the streets but whose mutation left him unable to be anything but a shadow. He did what he could for the kid, tried to live up the name that spoke of a hope for something new, and when that kid disappeared from sight weeks later, he knew he had to move on.
The name Debris was given to him by another. A cop from one town who had gotten close to catching him on multiple occasions but always found his hands covered in dirt one way or another. It was a fitting name, given not only due to the nature of his power but how he lived his life.
He never stuck around long enough to become a permanent fixture in someone’s life however. The need for movement far too ingrained in him now. But it’s curious to find himself in New York City of all places. For what reason the migratory pull led him here he doesn’t know, but he sure he’ll find out.
RoleplayWhere did you learn about this site?: Found it while looking for an X-Men rp for original characters, looks like I’m in the right place.
Do you have any other characters on MRO, if so who: N/A
Sample RP: The first thing that struck him was the noise of the city. The crash of the city limits falling on him at an unfamiliar frequency that set his ears to ringing. This was not the familiar silent farmlands he was used to roaming nor the small towns low hum of activity even on the busiest days. This was a cacophony of noise he wasn’t sure was healthy. Perhaps that’s why New Yorkers were famously callous, they couldn’t hear their own thoughts.
Alternatively, maybe it was the smell, which was the second thing that caught his attention. Or the cold from the shadows of the towering buildings or the shove of strangers packed closer than was comfortable.
Still…Ignoring all that Alex fallowed the tug of the falcon sailing high above, providing the best kind of GPS laid out in his head. The duel sensation just a touch annoying, the falcon overlaying its own sight on his, not unlike one sheet of tracing paper on top of another. However, the annoyance of this sensation was not enough to cut the connection and walk without it.
The greenery of Central Park is what had his attention, a safe haven in this place of reckless chaos. Why he was here, he didn’t know. Nevertheless, the lead of his feet never failed to take him to good places, migratory instinct pulling him east. Whether this was a stopover like all the rest or a place of permanence was yet to be seen.
But have after miles of walking, he’d be grateful for the rest. Stepping into the boundaries of central park and finding the nearest bench, he let out a sigh of relief. All that remained would be to find a spot to settle. Leaning back, he smiled to himself, watching the falcon circle above.
