app for capeandcowl

Jul 26, 2011 04:23

[PLAYER INFO]
NAME: Liz
AGE: 22
JOURNAL: rizumcbutt
IM: the p0rn nun
E-MAIL: silken arcana at gmail dot com
RETURNING: Carrie Kelley and Khisanth

[CHARACTER INFO] Black Bolt
CHARACTER NAME: What’s your character’s given name and Superhero/Villain moniker, if applicable?
FANDOM: Marvel 616
CHRONOLOGY: An instant before the explosion that apparently kills him.
CLASS: Hero
SUPERHERO NAME: Black Bolt
ALTER EGO: n/a

BACKGROUND:
To understand Black Bolt's role in the Marvel universe, it's important to know about the Inhumans. As their king, Black Bolt is defined by his people; every choice he makes is shaped by what's best for them, and he goes to incredible lengths to ensure their safety and survival.

Toward the beginning of the Kree-Skrull war, the Kree discovered sentient life on Earth from their strategic station on Uranus. They began experiments on what were essentially cavemen, and managed to create a race which was genetically superior to Homo sapiens. Their goal with these, the Inhumans, was to create a race of mutant super soldiers - and also to bring each member of the new species to his or her own genetic perfection, and become more than just human. Although the project was abandoned, this new species was gifted with genetic perfection and great technological advances by their departed creators.

Time passed, and the Inhumans kept themselves sequestered and separate from the human race, in the kingdom they'd named Attilan. Theirs was a peaceful society, if strict, and they had no desire to change that. Traditions developed. The most important of these was named Terrigenesis. An Inhuman is born almost identical to a human, without any ranking in the society, and knowing that when he or she comes of age to participate in Terrigenesis, everything will change. Everything depends on the child's reaction to Terrigenesis; not only will it bring his or her genes to their own pinnacle of evolution, but it will also dictate the child's roll in society. If the Inhuman develops offensive powers, for example, he or she will find a place in law enforcement, the Royal Guard, or a similar position.

Black Bolt himself was a unique case. Born to Attilan's top geneticists (both preeminent in society), he was exposed to the Terrigen Mists (the agent involved in Terrigenesis) while still an embryo. This caused a huge mutation in him, and he was born one of, if not the, most powerful Inhumans ever recorded. For the safety of Attilan, he had to be kept in a sound-proof chamber until he was deemed able to control the power of his own voice. It wasn't until Black Bolt was 19 that he was allowed to enter society. His brother, Maximus, immediately took it upon himself to prove to Attilan that Black Bolt was not fit to live among the Inhumans. He tried, without success, to goad Black Bolt into using his voice. Black Bolt remained steadfastly silent, right up until he uncovered a plot that Maximus had been hatching with a Kree emissary. He released a sonic blast at the escaping ship- but overextended himself. The ship fell onto the parliament building, killing several members of the Council of Genetics, including his own parents. Close proximity to his voice also drove Maximus insane. However, the chain of command, coupled with his own great power, landed the crown squarely on Black Bolt's head. Although just 20 years old, he accepted the responsibility.

There are several decades of various adventures of the Inhumans, as Black Bolt and the Royal Family dip in and out of various Marvel titles. During this time, Black Bolt (and his family) meets many other heroes, saves the Earth a few times, and marries Medusa, to whom he'd been engaged from a young age. The two have a strong bond, begun when the two of them were very young and Black Bolt was in containment, passing notes from one another in a code they'd invented. Medusa understands Black Bolt so thoroughly that she can interpret his silent demands without fail, and give voice to them for the rest of the Inhumans.

Also during this time, the capture by humans of one of Black Bolt's cousins, Triton, inspires Black Bolt to find a safer and more remote location for Attilan. This proves to be a far-removed place in the Himalayas. As the kingdom is packing and preparing to move, Black Bolt encounters a little girl crying. She explains that she doesn't want to leave her home. This is apparently all it takes to inspire Black Bolt- and he manages to find a way, working with elementals, to pick up the entire city and relocate it, ground and all, rather than simply its subjects. Later still, when tensions between the humans and Inhumans are rising, Black Bolt moves the Kingdom again. He puts together a plan to make the humans think they had destroyed Attilan, and secretly move the entire city to the Blue Sea of the moon.

But his problems aren't all so simply solved. That insane brother of his, Maximus, becomes fixated on ruling. He manages to drive Black Bolt and the Royal Family out of Attilan, leaving them to wander the human world as they seek to reunite with Medusa. This was Maximus's most successful coup (out of seven- he's very tenacious, if nothing else), and even this was eventually righted. Black Bolt was placed back into the throne. It wasn't the last time he would be forced from it, though. He and Medusa eventually conceive a child. They announce the pregnancy with pride to the Council of Genetics, only to be told that the child must not be brought to term. Black Bolt's powers are simply too powerful to be passed on- and with Maximus's potentially heredity insanity, a child is simply too large a risk. Medusa refuses the decree and escapes to Earth, living there to give birth and raise her child. Black Bolt is torn between his love of Medusa and his loyalty to the council, but eventually chooses Medusa when it's revealed that the Council is planning to use his son against him. He and Medusa are reunited, but at the cost of Black Bolt's status as King. They do eventually return to Attilan when it needs them, but their son, Ahura, is taken away and confined, to be monitored for signs of insanity or destructive ability.

It was after this that the Inhumans, despite their remote location on the moon, finally began getting more involved with the affairs of the rest of the Marvel universe. Although Black Bolt refused to engage in any of the events of the Civil War, he fought his own struggle. Pietro, the ex-husband of his cousin Crystal, stole the Terrigenesis crystals. They ended up in the hands of the US government, which refused to return them and continually rebuffed the Inhumans' attempts to retrieve them. Finally Black Bolt declared an open war between the Inhumans and the US Government. When a member of his family is captured, Black Bolt takes the matter into his own hands and retrieves the crystals himself.

But, again, the universe isn't done with the Inhumans. Black Bolt is captured by the Skrull and replaced by one of their shapechangers, and used to harness the power of his voice for destruction. He's released by a team of heroes, but the experience is enough to shake him from his impassive and uninvolved stance. He takes on an aggressive campaign instead, confronting and defeating the ruler of the Kree Empire, Ronan the Accuser, and naming himself Supreme Ruler. This places him at odds with the Kree's enemy, the Shi'ar Empire. But this new, angry Black Bolt is willing to peruse the battle with a new foe. He goes so far as to intend to release the Terrigenesis Mists across the entire galaxy, reasoning that with no differences between any species, there will be no warfare. Crystal manages to convince him that this would do more harm than good, but before he can return to his own empire with this new resolve, the Shi'ar's usurper manages to stop him from teleporting away from a deadly explosion. He is, at that point, presumed dead, and rule of the Inhumans and the Kree Empire passes to Medusa.

PERSONALITY:
Black Bolt is a man that knows responsibility. His ability caused his voice to wreck havoc from the moment he was born, and he immediately went into training to learn how to control it. He was deemed safe enough to join civilization only by the time he was 13, and by then he knew very well that he would never speak freely - or even at all. These strict guidelines have left their impression, and how could they not? He's lived in self-imposed silence his entire life, and even has to meditate daily to be sure he won't accidentally murmur in his sleep and destroy his kingdom around him. As a result, Black Bolt is a serious, solemn, and thoughtful king of the Inhumans, whom none have ever blamed for making a hastily decision. When all your words remain on the inside, when the only conversations you have are with yourself, you tend to pick up the hobby 'deep thought' and make it an art.

Although he has accepted his silence, it's not without its frustrations. He's an intelligent and quick-witted man, and there are times that a plan or an idea comes to him, and it would take far too long to sit down and explain it. He's much more likely to simply go and act on his idea or plan without consulting others, which turns it into something of a test of faith. He might suddenly go against the strategy, fly away from the enemy, and he leaves his teammates (often confused and frustrated) to trust that he's got some beneficial spark of inspiration and hasn't merely gone insane or switched sides. This has caused friction between he and his royal family many times, and all Black Bolt can do is push onward and hope they know him well enough to keep their faith in him.

To those that don't know him, Black Bolt's silence may seem arrogant. He makes no attempts to excuse himself or apologize for his lack of communication, and certainly not to explain it to those that are unaware of his power. He gives the impression of being far removed from those too simple to immediately grasp his unspoken meaning, announced in heavy looks and meaningful gestures. This is, of course, a false impression. He's a beloved king of Attilan, and not simply because of his power. His capacity for love is huge, extending to each of the citizens of his kingdom. It extends even to his mad and twisted brother Maximus, even after multiple attempts to overthrow him and steal Black Bolt's crown.

This unrelenting love for Maximus could be said to be Black Bolt's unfortunate weakness. His life would be infinitely simpler if he could only kill his evil genius of a brother before the man could do any more harm, but each time they take him down Black Bolt insists that the man remain alive. He seems to hope for redemption, even after all of these years, and will not stop loving him. One particular plot of Black Bolt's involved using Maximus's own greed against him, allowing the man to think he had gained the upper hand and stolen the throne again. When, in the end, Maximus realized he had only been used the entire time to further Black Bolt's agenda, Black Bolt showed nothing but sorrow for this, the way it had to be.

POWER:
Black Bolt's Inhuman mutation allows him to manipulate free-floating particles. In its purest form, they're generated in the speech center of his brain, and released as a quasi-sonic blast. This is his most powerful ability - so powerful, that a single whisper could bring his kingdom down in ruins, and a scream could tear apart the planet. Needless to say, he doesn't talk much. The tuning-fork on his forehead allows him to manipulate these particles for more fine-tuned work though, such as enhancing his strength and speed, forming temporary force fields, creating surfaces solid enough to stand on, sending out short-range concussive blasts through his arms, and even jamming electronic devices. The force fields and solid surfaces are taxing and can't be maintained for too long, though.

As an Inhuman, his speed, strength, endurance, reflexes and healing are better than a human's, but his immunity to disease is very low.

And finally, for a non-canon ability, he'll be able to materialize a tiny notepad and golf-sized pencil.

[CHARACTER SAMPLES]
COMMUNITY POST (FIRST PERSON) SAMPLE:
My name is Blackagar Boltagon, and I have communicated with some of you before. I share a home universe with many of you. Some of you are from similar universes. Some of you are from not only different universes, but completely different planets and even times from myself. None of you are my subjects, and I am no man or woman's king in this world. I have no responsibility here for any save myself; it would be natural to assume this means I share no connection with any of you, and have no interest in any of you. This would have been true, were I in my own universe, with my subjects to care for. It is rare that my people and I reach out to humanity; we prefer and seek solace and isolation.

I am not, however, in my own universe.

I have seen the bond shared between so-called imPorts of this universe. People who, had their lives not been interrupted, would never have met one another, have instead found solace and friendship in one another. The loyalty in this small community is strong, and the bonds sometimes as strong as those between comrades and friends of many years, even in the face of the possibility that these bonds could be interrupted by the whim of the Porter at any time.

I am impressed. ImPorts, will you tell me your stories? Who have you come to count as a friend, that you never would have met if your life had gone on uninterrupted? I would gladly listen, if you're willing to speak.

LOGS POST (THIRD PERSON) SAMPLE:
It wasn't his world. He had traveled far enough by now to know, without a doubt, that the facts reported on the Network provided were accurate. This was not his world, and none of his people were here. A world without Inhumans. It was a strange thought. There was no kingdom, sequestered silently away on the moon. There were no subjects, in need of help and protection. There was no wife, proud, strong, and loved.

The sigh that whispered along the cold mountain pass was entirely silent. It had to be.

His place, though, wasn't here, at what would have been the abandoned site of Attilan. With no kingdom and no subjects, there was no purpose in hiding away from humanity. He did no good here. Black Bolt's eyes fell to the communicator he'd been given. He had used it, now and then, to read the conversations that the imPort community shared. Sometimes he joined in. These were a people apart, alienated by no choice of their own. Brought into a world designed for others, and told to survive in it.

He would be lying if he said he felt no empathy for them.

Black Bolt watched the communicator for some time longer, eyes skimming the lines now and then as they appeared to be read; listening to the chatter of voices and watching the appearance of faces, both familiar and foreign to him. And, in time, he moved. Both arms lifted, and the fanned wings spread as his powers focused to catch the air. He didn't belong here, where his kingdom had never existed. There was another people here, young and hapless, unguided and separated from the rest of the planet by their very nature. It was possible that they could be his responsibility and his focus, in the absence of his Inhumans.

Time, he supposed, would tell.

FINAL NOTES ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER: If it's possible, I'd like Black Bolt to bring along his dog, Lockjaw! Lockjaw is a giant bulldog that can teleport whoever is touching him to where ever he goes, and a primary means of transport for the Royal Family. If this counts as a power, then I'd like to swap out Giant Dog Owning for Tiny Notebook Generation. AND IF THAT'S NOT COOL, IT'S TOTALLY OKAY. He can go without. B)

capeandcowl, app

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