Eisner Academy Archive #11 - Road-Rage
Road-Rage
History.
Leroy 'Roy' Roche was born in Kingsman, AZ in the early 1970s. His early life was a series of crushing tragedies. He and his mother were
abandoned early on, and when his mother eventually remarried, his step-father proved to be an abusive alcoholic. Shortly after this, he hit
puberty and his paranormal abilities first manifested as a series of crippling, blinding headaches and hot flashes. When Roy was fourteen, he
got into an altercation with his step-father and his father was killed when his arm was caught in some machinery. At that instant, Roy's
headaches vanished, and he felt better than he had in years.
Roy developed an interest in cars and engines and did jobs here and there as an auto mechanic and fix-it man, but he had a violent temper
and this got him into frequent trouble. Meanwhile, he was beginning to realize that his "knack" as he called it was more than just normal talent
and he began a small-time criminal career. It wasn't long before his exploits attracted the attention of local criminals, and his career took off as
he started operating all across the Southwestern United States.
His career peaked in the 1990's, with him taking on the costumed identity of 'Road-Rage', building high-tech devices - chiefly vehicles - for a
range of criminal interests. He had a couple of encounters with minor costumed opponents, but mostly came up against regular law
enforcement. Towards the end of the 90's, his volatile personality had made him a number of enemies on both sides of the law, and he decided
that he needed to lay low for awhile, ending up on the outskirts of Reno, NV. It was at this point that he met Rita Lam, who was working as a
waitress at a local diner, and embarked on a short, but turbulent, relationship with her. Several months later, and with the law closing in on him,
he fled, unaware that Rita was pregnant with his daughter.
Shortly thereafter, he was caught and incarcerated. His life after that point is as yet unknown.
Powers.
Road-Rage possesses enhanced mechanical aptitude, the ability to create mechanical devices which perform beyond their normal expected
capacity. Over the years, he has built high-tech weapons, battlesuits, devices but mostly vehicles. It is believed that he's a Genetic Anomaly
(colloquially known as a 'Genie'), which is supported by the fact that his abilities kicked in with puberty, and the absence of another known
factor, but this is just the most likely case and exposure to unknown energies or technologies hasn't been conclusively ruled out and he's
reluctant to elaborate.
His powers have a number of negative side effects, including headaches, high fevers and fits of violent temper. These side effects tend to occur
when he holds off on using his powers for an extended period of time, and using his powers, especially for large-scale, violent acts, tends to
make them go away. The larger and more aggressive the use of his powers, the longer he is free of them. He believes that the powers "want to
be used" and when that doesn't happen, they take their frustrations out on him.
Some of the creations he's manufactured using his powers include:
In addition, he demonstrated a certain degree of above-average physical strength, reflexes and durability, though this varied largely, and at its
peak, was no more than 2-3 times the amount you could expect from a man of his size, age, weight and degree of physical fitness. It is
assumed that this is linked to adrenaline-levels in his body.
Appearance.
Roche is tall (6'3") and muscular, with black hair and hazel eyes. He has a number of traditional tattoos, most notably a large screaming
demon head which covers his back.He usually wears his hair in a pompadour/quiff style, and has it very long at the back. For the most part, he
dresses in simple, hardwearing workwear.
As Road-Rage, Roche wore a stylized set of mechanic's overalls, steel-capped workboots and a black leather jacket. The jacket had a spikes
on the shoulders, and a number of spiked straps and chains hanging off it. Occasionally, he would use these as weapons, frequently as
improvised brass knuckles. The Words 'Road Rage' were spelled out on the back in flaming script, He almost always wore dark wraparound
sunglasses and sometimes, a black kerchief with a skull-face on it to conceal his identity.
History.
Leroy 'Roy' Roche was born in Kingsman, AZ in the early 1970s. His early life was a series of crushing tragedies. He and his mother were
abandoned early on, and when his mother eventually remarried, his step-father proved to be an abusive alcoholic. Shortly after this, he hit
puberty and his paranormal abilities first manifested as a series of crippling, blinding headaches and hot flashes. When Roy was fourteen, he
got into an altercation with his step-father and his father was killed when his arm was caught in some machinery. At that instant, Roy's
headaches vanished, and he felt better than he had in years.
Roy developed an interest in cars and engines and did jobs here and there as an auto mechanic and fix-it man, but he had a violent temper
and this got him into frequent trouble. Meanwhile, he was beginning to realize that his "knack" as he called it was more than just normal talent
and he began a small-time criminal career. It wasn't long before his exploits attracted the attention of local criminals, and his career took off as
he started operating all across the Southwestern United States.
His career peaked in the 1990's, with him taking on the costumed identity of 'Road-Rage', building high-tech devices - chiefly vehicles - for a
range of criminal interests. He had a couple of encounters with minor costumed opponents, but mostly came up against regular law
enforcement. Towards the end of the 90's, his volatile personality had made him a number of enemies on both sides of the law, and he decided
that he needed to lay low for awhile, ending up on the outskirts of Reno, NV. It was at this point that he met Rita Lam, who was working as a
waitress at a local diner, and embarked on a short, but turbulent, relationship with her. Several months later, and with the law closing in on him,
he fled, unaware that Rita was pregnant with his daughter.
Shortly thereafter, he was caught and incarcerated. His life after that point is as yet unknown.
Powers.
Road-Rage possesses enhanced mechanical aptitude, the ability to create mechanical devices which perform beyond their normal expected
capacity. Over the years, he has built high-tech weapons, battlesuits, devices but mostly vehicles. It is believed that he's a Genetic Anomaly
(colloquially known as a 'Genie'), which is supported by the fact that his abilities kicked in with puberty, and the absence of another known
factor, but this is just the most likely case and exposure to unknown energies or technologies hasn't been conclusively ruled out and he's
reluctant to elaborate.
His powers have a number of negative side effects, including headaches, high fevers and fits of violent temper. These side effects tend to occur
when he holds off on using his powers for an extended period of time, and using his powers, especially for large-scale, violent acts, tends to
make them go away. The larger and more aggressive the use of his powers, the longer he is free of them. He believes that the powers "want to
be used" and when that doesn't happen, they take their frustrations out on him.
Some of the creations he's manufactured using his powers include:
- Constructing a vehicle which looks like a cross between a Monster Truck, an armoured tank and a bulldozer which he used to hijack
- other vehicles and rob banks.
- Building an enormous battlesuit which appeared to run on diesel fuel and resembled a bi-pedal prime-mover.
- A pair of multi-functional weapons in the form of immense gauntlets which could launch a variety of damaging projectiles from the
- fingertips.
- A hovercraft-like platform which was capable of creating a tornado-like column of high-speed wind underneath it.
- Building a high speed car which looked like a classic 50's hot rod, and which was equipped with a powerful engine, armoured chassis,
- and array of defensive and offensive systems.
In addition, he demonstrated a certain degree of above-average physical strength, reflexes and durability, though this varied largely, and at its
peak, was no more than 2-3 times the amount you could expect from a man of his size, age, weight and degree of physical fitness. It is
assumed that this is linked to adrenaline-levels in his body.
Appearance.
Roche is tall (6'3") and muscular, with black hair and hazel eyes. He has a number of traditional tattoos, most notably a large screaming
demon head which covers his back.He usually wears his hair in a pompadour/quiff style, and has it very long at the back. For the most part, he
dresses in simple, hardwearing workwear.
As Road-Rage, Roche wore a stylized set of mechanic's overalls, steel-capped workboots and a black leather jacket. The jacket had a spikes
on the shoulders, and a number of spiked straps and chains hanging off it. Occasionally, he would use these as weapons, frequently as
improvised brass knuckles. The Words 'Road Rage' were spelled out on the back in flaming script, He almost always wore dark wraparound
sunglasses and sometimes, a black kerchief with a skull-face on it to conceal his identity.