Red Raven
Appearance:[edit]
Wears a helmet that covers his eyes and cheek-bones crests his nose with a beak. From the back of the slick headgear the Raven's red-feathered cape extends. His tights are basic, a full deep red, with a silhouette of a stylized raven emblazoned on his chest in black. High red clawed boots with wings on the ankles finalize the look.
Origin Story:[edit]
Franklin Butler was an average kid growing up in an average home in a dangerous and mysterious city. He didn't care much for others, but he wasn't frigid, just scared of being hurt (both emotionally and physically.) He read a lot and kept casual romantic dalliances with decent girls to pass off the boredom, and after college landed a job as a clerk at the DAs office. Butler was determined to get a house out in the suburbs, find a nice wife (preferably one who knew how to cook), a picket fence and a dog before he hit 30. Fate had other plans for Franklin though.
After working late he was heading towards the subway to get home to his dull apparent to get some hours of sleep before getting back on the hamster wheel the next day. He gets jumped by these hoods. They don't give a shit that he's a nobody, that he's not particularly rich or important. The hoods just wanna do damage to somebody, mess someone up and remind Baroque that dammit, their craptasticular existences DO matter.
Butler eats the asphalt. Tastes the dirt of the city. Broken teeth clatter down a sewage drain. Considers through the pain that these shitbirds might actually kill him for a second.
But before he has time to make peace with his eventual death, something black and dangerous sweeps in. Takes the thugs down. A dark, avenging angel, wielding a cozier. Instead of seeing God, Butler saw his future. And then the black dangerous something was gone.
A seed was planted.
Franklin Butler went home that night, bleeding and introspective, re-thinking what the hell he was actually doing with his life.
He woke up with a plan. Butler made up a name with the right ring to it. Wanted it to sound like some sort of swift justice. Said screw you to the suburban dream and got a tailor to make his tights for him. Lied to the guy and told him he worked with Baroque's equivalent of Disney-on-Ice. Got his helmet and cape custom made by some movie prop studio he tracked down. Told them to make it durable.
Butler sniffed around the DAs office. Put shit together. Went slumming as Franklin. , figuring out the lay of the land. Till finally he'd found the right time and the right place to test his wings.
Franklin Butler put his helmet on, and became the Red Raven. Now he was the presence in the dark, making a name for himself with his fists. Justice, and a black, bloodstained feather were his only traces.
Months pass. The League accept the Red Raven as a somebody. A young kid with the right ideals. Franklin enjoys vigilantism. On the way to the soda machine at the DA's office he is already thinking about what he'd need in his tool-belt, the grappling hook or a flare gun. Spends time at the gym, imagining faces instead of sandbags.
Then one night, Red Raven stumbles on a veritable goldmine. Some goons are transporting a mutagen-serum to a high end client, another freak in a regular joe's body, wanting to become more, to grasp for power that was not meant for human kind. Raven trashed the thugs and headed off with the mutagen. Kept it in a syringe. Stared at it, wondering if he should or shouldn't. Finally, his growing sense of civil responsibility, as well as hubris, got the best of him.
"If more people in this bent city were like me, Baroque would be a better place!" thought Franklin. "It is my destiny!"
Injection.
And now Red Raven found that he was a speedster, quicker than a fired bullet! He can run faster than a Lamborghini Diablo, make air by jumping and sail with his cloak! Spin like a dervish and knock goons out with the weights with the very same cloak!
"Finally," thought Red Raven, reveling in his newfound powers. "Now I can take my rightful place as one of Baroque's true masked avengers. Now I am not just some angry joe with a suit. Now there is no denying it. I am a super hero."
Skills:[edit]
- Great (+4): Athletics
- Good (+3): Alertness, Intimidation, Fists
- Fair (+2): Endurance, Burglary, Guns, Leadership
- Average (+1): Might, Investigation, Stealth, Contacts, Academics
Aspects:[edit]
"Baroque City would be a better place if people were more like me"
This aspect taps into the sense of entitlement Red Raven feels about himself, being masked vigilante standing up for justice and what is right. At heart, Raven is an idealist, but he is also a bit naive, so his idealism can be painful at times.
Can be Invoked to do cool super hero stuff, like putting himself in harms way to save the day, or doing righteous acts. It can be compelled to have Red Raven fall prey to his own hubris.
The Fleet-footed Raven!
This aspect represents the lightning quickness the Red Raven attained after stealing the speed mutagen.
Invoked to do speedster stuff, like outrunning vehicles and bullets. Compelled to bring forth the ire of the villain who Red Raven stole the speed mutagen from in the first place, Potemkin!
Engine of rage and resentment
After the death of the Midnight Samaritan, the Red Raven has plummeted into wrath and depression. He is haunted by a feeling of abandonment, as if he lives as the last righteous being in a cesspool of evil. He is looking desperately looking for hope, and will shun no means to get the answers he is looking for.
Invoked to have Red Raven beat people to bloody pulps and pass judgment on them. Compelled to have Red Raven beat people to bloody pulps and pass judgment on them.
Firebrand
When the Red Raven speaks, people listen to him. It is as if his anger has granted him preternatural wisdom at times. At the same time, his passion can make people shrug his words off as crazed zeal as well.
Invoked when persuading people publicly. Compelled to have said crowd dismiss the Red Raven as someone who has gone off the edge.
A bird in the skies
Using his supernatural speed and cloak, the Red Raven can fly short distances and glide like a hang-glider as well. He is extremely maneuverable when in the air and is skilled at dodging blows and bullets.
Invoked to do acrobatics and dodging while in the air. Compelled to have enemies that have taken countermeasures to the Red Raven's speed and aerial agility (arming them with net-cannons frex).
Anonymous desk clerk by day
Franklin Butler works as a gopher and paper-pusher at the DA's office. He is just a face in a cubicle, anonymous and invisible. This gives him access to information he wouldn't be able to get a hold of as the Red Raven. Dossiers, crime records and all that juicy stuff that is kept on file in the General Attorney's office for example.
Invoked to use bureaucracy as a means to get information and dirt on people. Compelled to have Butler getting caught while snooping around.
Stunts:[edit]
- Alertness: On top of it
- Athletics: Acrobat, Marathon Training
- Athletics: Fast as a Leopard
- Athletics: Marathon Training
- Fists: Brawler
Red Raven's Relationships:[edit]
The Midnight Samaritan - The very reason Franklin Butler became the Red Raven. A highly influential role model for the budding Mask. The Red Raven has turned into a hot mess by his death, and has sworn to avenge him, whatever the cost. Unfortunately, this has led to a more violent Red Raven who doesn't stray from using guns, and actually killing the bad guys. Franklin never bothers to question if that actually makes him a bad guy too.
Father Connor Dillon - Franklin Butler has been assigned by the DA's office to conduct a series of interviews with a priest sent by the Catholic church who wishes to oversee the investigation concerning the death of the vigilante Mask of the same faith, namely the Midnight Samaritan. Both Butler and Father Dillon have begun to understand during these interviews that they share common interests. As of the beginning of the story, they do not know of each others secret identities.
Jihad - The Red Raven's prime suspect in the slaying of the Midnight Samaritan. The Raven has not yet found Jihad, but he is investigating him and actively looking for him.
Nobody - Butler has been to see his performances, and he knows that he moves around in the city at night. The Raven thinks he is a cheat and a charlatan, but at the same time, someone who can change his face is not to be underestimated as a murderer.
Chevalier - A good man, if somewhat limited in scope. The Raven doesn't really understand what drives him, but he isn't beyond the occasional team-up if the situation permits it.
The Emerald Hatter - A loose canon that unfortunately knows important information, from time to time. Dealing with him is like trying to walk a razor's edge.
K - The Raven sees K as a sometimes-informer who squeals on people who intrude on her business. K sees Red Raven as an excellent blunt object to be used against people who offend her - people who break the rules, and so are exempt from the Code, mind you. So far, this has worked out fine.
Eddie "the Angel" Raith - The man is a complete nuisance, getting in the Raven's business in an attempt to chronicle his comings and goings. Someone who might need some straightening up, if he gets to close to the flame.
Paul Revenge - The Raven knows that Revenge is a stand-up kind of guy, but because of him being on the side of the law and himself being a vigilante, their relationship is strained if respectful. Lately, the Red Raven never regrets taking his policemen down when they start bugging him, though.
Thumbs - The Raven is a hothead who is impatient with Thumbs, but at the same time, he understands that this guy knows the City. Furthermore, the Raven understands that everyone who is someone in Baroque knows about Thumbs, and that makes him an asset to know, however peripherally.
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