Animus (Kevin Edwards)

Champions Stats


BACKGROUND

His power coming upon him in his seventeenth year, Kevin Edwards (who would come to be called Animus) realized that with great power comes great opportunity for mischief. The number of embarrassing "freak accidents" or unexplained phenomena which occurred in and around Kevin's classes pointed to the possibility of a developing paranormal in his high school. Satisfied with the pranks themselves and feeling no particular need to boast, Kevin never claimed responsibility for these deeds. Thus, any advice the counselors had on the control and responsible use of powers was long in coming, not that it would be heeded anyway.

The guidance which Kevin needed would come near the end of high school, when he met (through a friend, the doctor's nephew) the retired Dr. Arcane. Seeing the potential for trouble in allowing this boy and his power to run wild, Dr. Arcane feigned an immediate liking for him, in order to get closer to him and advise him on responsibility. For his own part, Kevin admired the style of the older man; his flair for the dramatic, the stories he told, the pranks (magician's tricks, really) he could do, the House he lived in, and the way he paid attention to every word Kevin said. Between that, and wanting the power he thought he could grab if the good Doctor ever let on how his "mentalism" worked (a con really, done by the Doctor with willing associates to impress Kevin), the young adept spent many a weekend at the House, and after graduation, spent much of his time there. As the summer wore on, he learned some of the Doctor's "tricks", but mostly clever, useful ways to use his power and (covertly snuck in) clever, useful ways to live his life. When he left for college in the autumn, he was much less prone to use his powers for pranks -- although the urge to pull a practical joke never completely subsided. The Doctor moved from aquaintance to friend to mentor in Kevin's eyes, and most of the Doctor's warnings about the dangers of being openly paranormal had sunk in. Kevin Edwards had become content to use his powers with restraint and a sense of responsibility.

The truth of monsters in the world and the need for something to stop them came shortly after. Living within an easy drive of the House, Kevin still paid visits to the retired Doctor, who occasionally let him have "the run of" the House for parties and such. Coming in for one such visit, he found the Doctor missing, and one of his past associates, Morgana, checking the House and environs for clues to his wherabouts. Together (to be honest, Morgana did most of the deduction; Kevin spent most of his time looking her over, rather than clues), they determined that Dr. Arcane had been abducted by a covert group known as the Enclave. Morgana was familiar with them, and after checking with some (rather mysterious) contacts [insert Chris' mage here?], the pair tracked the abductors to their lair. At this point, Morgana wanted Kevin to go home, but he declined; he had Powers and Abilities far beyond those of ordinary man, after all; a conspiracy which picks on old men should be a piece of cake. What could go wrong?

Having gone in underprepared, Kevin quickly found out what could go wrong; Morgana had to rescue both him and Dr. Arcane. Thanks to his recuperative powers, the physical injuries both he and Dr. Arcane suffered were short lived; his shock at the horror of the monsters he faced (both emotional, soul draining horror and grizzly, gorey physical atrocities) lasted much longer. His visits with the Doctor stopped abruptly then, and he no longer hosted parties at the House.

(In actuality, Dr. Arcane allowed himself to be captured; when his "rescuers" arrived, he was singularly well prepared to assist his own escape. He had anticipated Kevin's desire to trounce villains in a fun adventure, and had used the opportunity to teach Kevin that such adventuring is, in fact, serious business. Eventually, Kevin figured this out; looking back *now*, he is grateful for the lesson, although he wishes it was taught differently. He *now* concedes, however, that an object lesson was the quickest way to get him to learn this particular point. It took him quite some time to come to this conclusion.)

Eschewing his powers for a time, Kevin lost himself in learning to sculpt, in the social life of his college, and (when that bored him) the club scene of Boston and environs. The moody, half spooked, half angst-ridden outlook he had adopted gained him peers and girlfriends in the "Goth" subculture. He spent most of his undergraduate years this way, until [the nephew] sought him out, on behalf of the Dr. Not wanting to renew that acquiantaince, Kevin was reluctant to see him. Eventually, [the nephew]'s persistence made him relent. At that meeting, Dr. Arcane attempted to reconcile himself with Kevin, hinting at the future he thought the young man had. Kevin didn't say much, but he listened, and the attempt was at least somewhat a success.

After that visit, Kevin began returning to the House, but he didn't view it or the Dr. the same way. He also looked at his powers in a new way; not as something for jokes, or as an occasional trouble saver for himself or a friend, but as an actual power that came with a responsibility to do Right, or at least oppose Wrong (like the Enclave). The better part of his senior year was spent producing the giant metal framework that would eventually become his Chrome Samurai. After graduating, he received the remainder of his inheritance, and moved into the House. Most of his time has spent renovating the grounds and its exterior to their current condition. It was shortly after graduation that his stone dog, Pete, first appeared.

Officially, the years after his graduation have been spent between renovations on the House and as a professional sculptor -- his inheritance allows him to play the starving artist without actually starving (He seems to have a talent for shaping things of clay and metal; he has yet to make a name for himself in these endeavors, but his work is improving nicely). For amusement, he keeps in touch with the club scene, though his clique has lost its fascination with "all black, all the time"; he's expanded into an appreciation of the art scene, as well. Most importantly (in his own eyes, at least) he's met occasionally with Morgana, and has been on the occasional adventure against darkness as Animus; never officially part of a super group, but occasionally able to help out. He takes this aspect of his life much more seriously, and has met with more success, than his first outing; one of these adventures was the debut of the Chrome Samurai.

Recently, Animus agreed to become a member of a super group which Dr. Arcane was at least partly responsible for organizing. He feels relatively good about this; it seems to him a good use of his time and talents. He cannot quite shake, however, the idea that he has a responsibility to do more -- that opposing evil is a step in the right direction, but not the life's work he sees (some) other heroes consider it. What "more" he should be doing, however, and why it is more important than the good work he does now, is a mystery to him; he simply has a hunch that there are bigger things to come in his life than his role as a superhero.


PERSONALITY

[...]

About this overarching goal: At this point, I think Kevin's attitude towards his goal is more a sense that his Spark was not meant for pulling pranks or creating pet rocks more responsive than the usual variety. He doesn't know what its point is, but he knows that, with a couple of exceptions, his use of the power has been diddling around. Joining this group to oppose the Enclave seems like a step in the right direction; it may not be the true purpose, but its using the power for a purpose, and certainly a good one (no doubt of that in his mind). More than that, focussing on opposing the 'clave engages his mind more fully on what the point of the power might be, and that might be the most he can do with respect finding this purpose (for now).

No finished idea as to the true purpose yet, but if he's true to his identity, it may have to do with bestowing something upon humanity that the gods want kept to themselves.

About cheesy exploitations of your rule that standard equipment costs no points: The hollow metal sculpture he's using as "power armor" is a good start, but he'd modify that idea with "gadgets" which are essentially animated everyday items: thin steel cable becomes an entangle attack, smoke grenades (or just sacks of sand commanded to open in the faces of targets) become flashes, etc. Perhaps even bestowing and maintaining intellect on a couple of items which can fly (plastic model airplanes? boomerangs? frisbees?) to attempt surveilance or even ranged attacks which can pick themselves up and attack again (something metal would be nice for a small RKA). Guns are too practical -- maybe in emergencies, but why wear cool looking power armor when all you're going to do is fire a gun?

I see the armor itself as somewhere between a sleek metal samurai with detachable parts about its arms and waist and many tailfins in its design, or a cherry red psychadelic mess that was clearly patchwork before it was armor. Either way, you can tell it wasn't manufactured. I see it standing about 8' tall, and I'm not sure whether Kevin some much wears it as armor or rides in it like a vehicle. Case in point: I'm not sure he uses the visor in the face of the armor, or if its just a ruse and he looks out a pair of eyeslits in the trunk. That way, a head shot might be fatal for the armor, but not for Kevin. We'll work this out, as well as how many points this thing's gonna cost.


POWERS

Animus is perhaps a reincarnation or avatar of Prometheus, who hold within him the Spark of Live (TM). He can bestow portions of this spark into other objects, and even into living things.


John H. Kim <jhkim@darkshire.net>
Last modified: Sun Mar 24 17:49:25 CST 1996