IndividualCharacter's full name: Daniel "Danny" de Carabas
Alias/ Nickname/ Code name: Firebird
Gender: Male
Age: 242
Date of Birth: July 4, 1772
Birthplace/ Home/ Place of origin: Jamestown, Virginia, USA
Nationality: American
Ethnicity/Cultural Heritage: French
AppearanceHair color and style: Messy short-cropped hair, which is brown
Skin Tone: Originally pale, but now well-tanned
Eye Color: Brown
Height: 5"6'
Build: Lithe, lean but still muscular
Visible mutation: N/A
Scars/ Tattoos/ Piercings: Absolutely none
Other features: A thick, metallic glove on his left hand (black with blue techy designs for style points), with a capped button at the base of his wrist (it sends a shock through his human form strong enough for an immediate, painless-ish death) and wires crisscrossing through the glove. The gauntlet can used in combat, but it will feel a bit like sticking a fork in an outlet versus instant death. Any excess power is kept in reserve so that Danny can activate a significantly less painful death should he feel like it, which is what the button is for. Activation of the sparky fight-worthy part is by snapping.
Everyday clothing style: Button-up shirt with a loosely tied tie, khakis
Uniform: His usual clothes for teaching, an added beret if working the food cart
Sleepwear: T-shirt and shorts
Miscellaneous clothing: Tuxedo, dress shirts, dress pants, hoodie, jeans
CharacterPersonality: Danny is best described as disinterested in everything and everyone. He has no interest in making friends - or socializing at all, for that matter - and not for any reason at all. He just never was one to hang out with kids his age, instead preferring to hone his own abilities alone. Having lived for quite a long time, Danny also finds anything that isn't going to survive for the next few decades dull. That includes people, current events, fads, so on and so forth, isolating him even more from other people, as they find his uncaring demeanor off-putting. The one thing he does care about, though, is children - he believes that they are the future of the human race, and that if they form their own stances on mutants different from the older generation, maybe mutants will actually have a future in the, well, future. He will go out of his way to help children, and most of the time, he will subtly reference that he's a mutant, and try to influence the child's stance on mutants as a whole.
Danny is also incredibly stubborn. When he has his mind set on something, be it an idea or a goal, there's nothing that can make him budge. As proof, it took him three years before he could be convinced that a Molotov cocktail was not, in fact, an actual cocktail. Finally, Danny has no qualms whatsoever towards killing. While adhering to his own code of honor (always fight one-on-one, no stabbing an opponent in the back, no children, and no breaking his word), he can and will kill an enemy in an honorable fight.
Hobbies/ Interests: Swordfighting, helping kids, cooking and baking, archery, forgery, computer programming
Job or part time job and description: Runs a food cart down by Central Park, works as a history tutor at a local library on weekends
Fears/ phobias/ concerns: Being outed as a mutant/a customer realizing he doesn't age/getting lynched, innocent people in the radius of the deathsplosion (will be explained later)
Special talents: Having been born during the American Revolution to a father who was a spy along with being alive to witness the development of the arms industry, he is proficient with various weapons including guns (those he hasn't used he can figure out), various swords (including broadswords, rapiers, and katanas), throwing knives, and throwing stars (trip to Japan, don't ask). He was also there to witness the development of the computer, and while not a genius, he was smart enough to figure out programming when it first came around. He developed his skills as time went by, allowing him to be incredibly proficient with computers today. In addition, he speaks fluent English and Japanese, and semi-fluent French.
MoralityGood/ bad/ neutral/ other: Chaotic Neutral - Danny doesn't really care for being good, as evidenced by his hacking, stealing, and forging throughout the years, but he doesn't actively set out to be bad either.
MutationsMutation description:Danny's main ability is the ability to, well, not die. Technically, if killed, he does die, only to be resurrected again (times vary based on how completely his body was destroyed, with his organs simply shutting down as if electrocuted taking five minutes, while complete destruction would take a month). However, the rebirth process is only a part of his mutation. The other part involves the fact that he's sort of a phoenix. Sort of. He can't manipulate fire, or turn into fire, or anything like that. But when he dies, everything within a ten foot radius is incinerated in a blast of fire. Anybody within touching distance would suffer third-degree burns. Anyone within two or three feet of him would suffer second-degree, and anybody left in the radius after that would have minor first-degree or none at all. Everybody is going to get thrown back at least a little, though, and he may set some things on fire accidentally, but nobody is going to die. (...probably.) Meanwhile, at the epicenter of the blast (a perfect circle of ground with the diameter of the width of his shoulders) nothing is affected by the fire at all, him included (the only marks on him would be from the cause of death) so he doesn't have to go scrambling for clothes and rebuild his gauntlet every time he goes through a rebirth. In addition, his resting body temperature is about 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
Strengths:While rebirth times vary, they're usually pretty quick, as most rebirths are under an hour. All rebirths also "reset" his age, so when he comes back to life, it's as his sixteen year old self. He's also effectively immortal, though destroying his entire body or killing him somewhere and trapping him somewhere else where he can't be reborn without dying again may be fatal for him, but he doesn't really want to try and find out. As a last resort, he does have the final blast, but it's delayable at best, uncontrollable at worst, so while it is highly effective, it's about the same as lobbing a grenade with your eyes shut.
Weaknesses and Limitations:While technically immortal, Danny is fully capable of feeling physical pain. So while the only way to truly fight is to commit suicide, he still feels getting stabbed, or shot, or whatever the cause of death was. This usually leaves him in a state of shock in the minutes following the rebirth, which usually means he's completely incapacitated. Whenever he dies, though, he also has one last "screw you" up his sleeve - a massive burst of fire is released from his body, though as mentioned before, it's uncontrollable. Friend or foe, they're all fair game. He also has nothing remotely resembling a healing factor. Excepting rebirths, in which all his injuries are healed (including scars), he heals at a normal human rate - a bit slower, in fact, to compensate for the rapid rebirths. He's also fully human in terms of his capabilities - he's no stronger or faster than your average physically fit teenager.
Physical AbilitiesGeneral Physical Capabilities: (Strength/Speed/Reflexes/Stamina/Flexibility) No matter the rebirth, Danny is equally strong, which isn't very strong, considering that he's generally only sixteen. His speed, stamina, and flexibility are constant as well, though somewhat more honed. He can run a mile in under ten minutes and generally ends up only somewhat winded, able to do another two at the same rate before reaching exhaustion. As for flexibility, he's no gymnast, but is more flexible than the average teen his age due to training when he was younger. Meanwhile, his reflexes differ every rebirth, as they aren't part of his physical makeup. Depending on whether he practices or not, they either get better or worse, but they normally hover between "get hit in the face by an unseen baseball thrown by a ten-year-old" and "catching a baseball hit by Babe Ruth" (he did it once).
Fighting Style: Danny was trained in martial arts from a young age, and is exceptionally skilled from years of practice. While knife fighting is his forte, he's still quite good with swords and hand-to-hand, and can hold his own in a gunfight (though for some reason, his aim with guns is terrible). Generally, he fights with a hunting knife in his right hand and his gauntlet on his left. His fighting style balances taking as little damage as possible and taking a bigger opponent out as quickly as possible, so it consists of mostly parrying and defending until his opponent messes up or is thrown off-balance, in which case he performs rapid, sudden strikes aimed towards a quick takedown.
Fighting Style Pros/Cons:Pros: Danny's fighting style minimizes the damage he receives, while maximizing the damage his opponent receives. After lunging once an opponent leaves themselves open, his opponent is usually thrown off-balance, which leaves them open to a series of rapid, generally lethal, attacks.
Cons: Sadly, this also means that if Danny messes up, he's done for. While he can take a few hits and get his defenses back up in that time, a few slipups means a rebirth very soon. Of course, then he explodes, so it's really a win-win for him no matter what. (Except, of course, that he, you know, dies.)
History Of Your CharacterDanny's interesting childhood began in a wine cellar as bullets flew aboveground.
Born midway through the American Revolution in an underground wine cellar during a British raid on his home settlement of Jamestown, his mother died during childbirth. Once the skirmish above was over, his father, who had run out to protect his family from the attack, came down, and was horrified at the sight of his dead wife, and his child cradled in the midwife's arms. He then made the rather idiotic promise to raise his child to be the best fighter he could be, as his concussed mind (he had fallen off his horse) had drawn the conclusion that his wife's death had been because of the attacking British. Once recovered, of course, he cursed himself for his stupidity, because the de Carabas never broke a promise.
So began Danny's training. Of course, one couldn't really teach an infant to fight with a sword, so all the initial training composed of was making the baby Daniel sleep on his left side, protecting his heart. That was as far as his training went until he turned eight. Only then did the real drills start. Running, mostly, but his father fashioned a knife of some sort out of wood, and sort-of sparring followed. By that point, the American Revolution was long over, but his father continued on because he was getting old, and his job as part of the army brass was getting slightly boring. So Danny trained. And trained. His father soon stepped up the training, from real knife fighting to swords and guns and hand-to-hand, but the knife always remained Danny's favorite. Mostly because swords were too heavy and he was horrific with a gun. Outside of his father's training, though, Danny learned to read, and do math, and generally be quite smart. (The woman who ran the general store thought Danny was "just the cutest 'lil thing!", and so forced her husband - a teacher - to tutor Danny on weekends.)
So Danny lived his relatively comfortable life, up until his sixteenth birthday. It wasn't on his birthday, per se, that it happened. It was three months later.
His father had this old rival - Adam Mitchell down the street - who everybody hated, and eventually all that hatred built up into a duel in between the two. A swordfight, supposedly. Except Mitchell wasn't the most honest man on the planet, and Danny's father was left having brought a knife to a gunfight. Literally. It took three shots to take Danny's father down, and with horror, Danny could merely watch as his father bled out. And in a wave of uncontrollable rage, Danny barreled towards Mitchell, only to be met with the barrel of a gun. It took six shots to take him down, because if anything, he was a stubborn little bastard.
So it only took him half an hour to wake up again.
It surprised him. It surprised the crows. Most of all, it surprised the ancient gravedigger, who scrambled off with a yell, screaming about the dead rising from their graves.
Danny soon realized that he was not, in fact, dead, and decided to take full advantage of that fact. It took him only moments to figure out that he'd been...asleep? Dead? for only about an hour, and so he ran off to the main part of the town, revenge the only thing on his mind. Within ten minutes, he stood over Mitchell's motionless body, having called on the knowledge he was now thankful his dad had taught him. He didn't even realize that Mitchell was cradling burns. But the first manifestation is always the most powerful and the most draining, and almost immediately, Danny passed out. After all, dying and waking back up again takes a lot out of somebody.
He woke up in the graveyard again, with the gravedigger staring at him intently from his perch on a blank grave. The gravedigger, who had by now decided that if the apocalypse was coming, he'd better get on the zombies' good side, and he helpfully answered all the questions Danny had. He'd been unconscious for a good week before the townspeople had come to the collective decision that he was a witch and burned him at the stake, because that was what they did to witches at the time. And then he blew up, so everybody who had come to watch a kid get burnt at the stake (while unconscious, too) was either dead or injured, because he had sent some of the wood and stuff flying too. The gravedigger, being the helpful man he was, had gathered Danny's ashes and dumped them on a blanket in the graveyard. A month later, and here Danny was, fully reformed. The gravedigger soon had to leave, though, but left Danny some clothes (because he had been reborn fully naked, though he had a blanket, at least). Danny was left with nothing in his name and nothing to do, so he stopped once at his father's grave before leaving.
Over the next few decades, Danny found work at various places and took many strange jobs. Mostly, he worked as a messenger, though, carrying things around the country. As rebirth after rebirth went by, his rebirths started to grow quicker. He didn't know why he could do this, and didn't particularly care, really just wandering without a purpose.
Little important events happened every so often - right before the first World War started, he trained in Japan for a while, learning with an old man who was basically a ninja. He stayed in Japan for a long time after that, until World War II caught him in Nagasaki when the atomic bomb fell. He was at the epicenter of the explosion and it took him a good two months to reform, the radiation heavily hampering any attempt to heal. And then the Cold War started, leaving him with no choice but to go somewhere war-free - France. He stayed there for only a short amount of time before returning to America after the Cold War ended.
He worked odd jobs in New York City for a few years before finally buying a food cart on a whim, and started selling food for a living, juggling that with tutoring history to kids on weekends. He's also had a chance to built his gauntlet, which functions as a way for a quick rebirth if he ever needs to blow up. He's also managed to rewire the taser function so that he can kill himself and change the gauntlet into a taser-thing, which he uses to fight.
RoleplayWhere did you learn about this site?: Google search of "x-men roleplay forum"
Do you have any other characters on MRO, if so who: Nope
Sample RP:It was a beautiful day in New York City. The sun was shining, no clouds clogged up the sky, and Central Park was entirely silent save for the sounds of birds.
Well, almost entirely.
Danny frowned, glancing sideways at the offshoot of the main path. He could vaguely hear something - crying, maybe? So after considering his choices for a moment, he sighed and twisted off onto the side road.
It was only a minute before he saw the source of the sound - a little boy, curled over on a bench, crying. Danny walked quietly over to him before sitting down by the child, and waited a moment before saying something.
"Hey. What's wrong?"
The boy sniffed but didn't look up. When he spoke, his voice was a little muffled, face buried in his hands. "My brother says I shouldn't talk to strangers."
"Well, then," said Danny. The boy was dressed raggedly - secondhand clothes, tattered sneakers. He had a sneaking suspicion that he knew who this boy was. "Why don't you look at me and tell me if I'm a stranger?"
The boy obeyed, and his eyes widened with surprise when he recognized Danny. "You're the man with the food truck who gives me and my brother free fries every Sunday!"
"That's right," responded Danny, nodding and smiling slightly. "So now that we've established that I'm not a stranger, why don't you tell me what's wrong?"
The boy looked as if he was about to start crying again as he showed Danny the palm of his left hand - which, previously, had been cradled in his right. To Danny's surprise, the skin melded straight into fur, which seemed to be crawling its way up the arm. "I'm a mutie," the boy said miserably, and Danny felt a flicker of rage at whoever had taught him that being a mutant was horrible.
"Hey, wanna know a secret?" Danny mock whispered, his voice lowering.
The boy looked at him with a touch of confusion. "Uh, sure."
Danny leaned in close. "I'm a mutant too."
The boy's eyes widened, mouth hanging open slightly.
"Shh," he said, giving the boy a knowing look. "Who says being mutant says you have to be bad?"
