Snow Cat
Real Name: Clarissa Walker
Code Name: The Snow Cat - Used by the media in reports and sightings.
Age: 23
Race: Human - most of the time.
Secret Identity: Yes.
Power Level: 9
Appearance:
As Clarissa Walker, long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, medium height and build. Often considered cute, which annoys her.
As the Snow Cat, a very large cheetah, white with blue markings and blue eyes, standing roughly 5 feet at the shoulder, surrounded by drifting snow that appears to fall from nowhere in particular.
Powers: As Clarrissa, none except the ability to change into the Snow Cat. As the Snow Cat, Super speed and an aura of cold which she can sometimes manipulate to create simple short term constructions of ice or snow. Her control of this is still erratic. When running she can cross liquid surfaces, and even run up walls, though the latter is exhausting and she tries to avoid doing it. She also has a knack of running into risky situations, even when she tries to avoid them. It's uncertain whether this is bad luck or something to do with her powers.
Weaknesses: The most obvious one is fire and heat. She is vulnerable to fire attacks, and worse, they slow her down. Too much heat or flame can leave her unconscious or paralyzed. Less obvious is the fact that the form of the Snow Cat is, despite its powers, still physically an animal, with an animal's limitations. As the Snow Cat, Clarissa has no hands, cannot speak, and has already had encounters with the ASPCA who haven't been sure whether they were dealing with a sentient or a dangerous animal.
Background: Clarissa is a Freedom City local, but was the only member of her birth family to survive the Terminus invasion. She was adopted and grew up in New York, but returned to Freedom City about 5 years ago. Her inheritance from her birth family included a second hand store, which provides her with enough income to live on frugally while paying for part time university education, at least under normal circumstances. However her current circumstances aren't quite normal...
About a month ago she spontaneously transformed, into a large, freezing cold, cheetah. Fortunately she was at home and alone, and didn't do too much damage before she controlled her panic. Clarissa eventually figured out how to return to her human form. She didn't talk about it to anyone else. Nothing happened for almost a week, until she transformed in her sleep. She woke up as the Snow Cat to find her apartment room frozen around herself. She's discovered that if she changes voluntarily every few days or so, she doesn't find herself changing unexpectedly. She's still on a very limited budget for food as she scrimps to replace the items damaged by freezing as she discovered this...
Having learned that sub-arctic conditions aren't ideal for her home, Clarissa has taken to transforming elsewhere. She doesn't have a costume, but has learned that skintight clothing like lycra will change with her. Looser items won't, and she tends to damage normal clothing if she's wearing it while changing. When she's in the Snow Cat form she usually just runs, but she's found herself interfering with several gang muggings, freezing their feet to the ground in a trail of ice. It's those reports which got her the name Snow Cat.
Motivation: Being the Snow Cat is somewhat frustrating to Clarissa, and has left her somewhat conflicted. She had plans for her life, and this certainly wasn't a part of them. It's not something she can ignore though, and she's seen enough unpleasantness roaming the streets as the Snow Cat that she can't quite walk away from that either.
Personality: Nowadays Clarissa is generally fairly quiet and serious. The comparatively few people she's close to realize that she does have a sense of humor, but it's usually subtle and she is likely to make a quiet joke in exactly the same terms as she'd comment on the weather. She has a strong sense of responsibility, which now has combined with the Snow Cat issue to push her into doing things which caution would suggest avoiding.
