The Centurion
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Appearance: The Centurion is a tall, middle aged, blonde man whom seems to pulse with strength. His costume is vaguely based on a Roman Centurion's outfit with a small cape that won't obstruct his movement. In his Mark Leeds identity, the Centurion puts on a wig and a pair of glasses with a set of padding to simulate an overbite.
Personality: The Centurion is one of the Greatest Generation and is a great deal more rugged and tough than most. A New Deal Democrat, he's a man who is remarkably progressive for his time but he's not particularly inclined to change his deeply held values for the modern eras new ideals. Mostly, he reacts with bemusement or a sense of understated irritation to it all. Nevertheless, he's never reacted with anything but honest friendship and good will towards his fellow man.
Powers: Invulnerability, Strength to lift upwards to 60,000 tons, the Power to fly 2,5000 mph and the ability to run a hundred miles an hour on the ground. He could hear and see things that no mortal man could. Furthermore; he was immune to aging, heat, and cold. Amongst his weaknesses was exposure to Terminus energies drained away his power.
Background: Mark Leeds, bluntly, inspired them all.
When you talk about superheroes in Freedom City, you're almost certain to think of the Centurion first. Why did three generations of humans (and now a fourth) choose to put on garish costumes in order to fight crime? Mostly, because the Centurion did and showed that you could do it without looking silly. Mark managed to sell it through sheer force of personality.
In gangster ridden 1930s Freedom City, Mark Leeds used the powers that came from his strange heritage to fight crime. Hardly an establishment figure, he shook down slum lords and causally beat up spouse abusers while rebuilding tenaments overnight. Mark Leeds loved Freedom City and lacked the angst that later heroes would have about their roles as champions of the people.
In the 1940s, The Centurion tried to end World War 2 by himself but encountered his first real defeat at the hands of Hitler's Super-Aryan "Ubbermensch" and other super humans just like him. Mark then turned his powers to trying to alleviate the damage of World War 2 and work alongside other American super powered beings. It's questionable if anyone ever really knew Mark but he was driven by his need to do what was right.
After Hitler's super-soldiers were destroyed, Mark was the first to start smashing concentration camps and if he ever lost control of his temper during that time when confronted with Nazi atrocities then history can perhaps forgive him this one lasp.
Still, it's difficult for a Man's Man to cope with changing America. Mark had no tolerance for accusations spread against his character by the government and practically dared the United States to try and stop him. The 1950s were filled with him encountering UFOs for the first time and working to discover his own otherworldly heritage. From the Arctic Circle Sanctum, the Centurion wondered if there was anyone who believed like he did.
In the end, the Centurion kept fighting on and trying to help increasingly larger groups of people. His own wife, Laurie Lamont, grew older as time passed while America became almost unrecognizable. Still, he lead the way for superheroes onwards and always remembered the bottom line "If they help others, they're our friends."
When the Centurion died fighting Omega in 1993, the entire world mourned. Some believed a Christ like resurrection was imminent (and still do). His tomb stands as an eternal monument as does the life that has since become public thanks to the published memoirs of his pal, Jonathan Olafson. Nowhere in Freedom City can you go without some sign of the Centurion.
Quote: "Liberty and Justice, for all!"
