The True Sketch of Today
Sketch. One of the characters I'm developing for a super-team comic that I'll never write. This guy has powers drawn from biology, any living thing he's "sampled" (eaten) he can mentally pick apart and then physically recreate some aspect of it that might be useful. He can incorporate these features into his own body, for example growing poisonous spines, becoming as strong as a gorilla, gaining a dolphin's sonar, etc. He can mix and match all these features at once, so his appearance is often radically altered and is rarely the same twice. Because he doesn't age (thanks to cervical cancer!), he has lived several lifetimes and many different identities, usually spent acquiring a greater knowledge of biology and a greater collection of abilities by using field research to gain "samples."
At the time of the story that will never be, he spends his days working as a researcher in the same university as another character, and his nights as a "superhero." He had already established his status as an urban legend among the underworld because his method was simply to skulk around the city at night and terrorize any criminals he caught in the act. Then he's recruited by an international organization to assist a team of "situation defusers" assembled from various parts of the world, each with their own special skills and abilities (only a few of them are really superhuman). Part of this work involves exposing his nonhuman form to the world rather than hide it in the shadows, but he still maintains the secrecy of his mundane human identity. He makes the adjustment from half-believed superstitious figure to widely recognized public figure well, but remains personally detached from the other members in an effort to keep his human alterego unknown.
The reason for his secret identity is that a certain wealthy individual with a private paramilitary force is hellbent on capturing him and extracting the secrets of his powers, especially his longevity. When his nights weren't spent antagonizing muggers and thieves, they were spent dodging attack helicopters and elite operatives hunting him down like a rare trophy.
He's not the most powerful member of the team by any stretch, but his unique talents and knowledge make him the most versatile.
At the time of the story that will never be, he spends his days working as a researcher in the same university as another character, and his nights as a "superhero." He had already established his status as an urban legend among the underworld because his method was simply to skulk around the city at night and terrorize any criminals he caught in the act. Then he's recruited by an international organization to assist a team of "situation defusers" assembled from various parts of the world, each with their own special skills and abilities (only a few of them are really superhuman). Part of this work involves exposing his nonhuman form to the world rather than hide it in the shadows, but he still maintains the secrecy of his mundane human identity. He makes the adjustment from half-believed superstitious figure to widely recognized public figure well, but remains personally detached from the other members in an effort to keep his human alterego unknown.
The reason for his secret identity is that a certain wealthy individual with a private paramilitary force is hellbent on capturing him and extracting the secrets of his powers, especially his longevity. When his nights weren't spent antagonizing muggers and thieves, they were spent dodging attack helicopters and elite operatives hunting him down like a rare trophy.
He's not the most powerful member of the team by any stretch, but his unique talents and knowledge make him the most versatile.