Calvin Kent | Clark Kent (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
idealofhope) wrote2013-12-04 12:12 am
idealofhope) wrote2013-12-04 12:12 am
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OOC Information:
Name: Jeff
Are you over 15? 23
Contact:
AIM: Viewtiful Rekk
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ViewtifulJeff
DW:viewtiful_jeff
IC Information:
Name:
Preincarnation: Clark Kent / Kal-El
Reincarnation: Calvin Kent
Canon and medium: Man of Steel (2013 film)
Age:
Preinarnation: 33
Reincarnation: 28
Preincarnation Species: Kryptonian
Preincarnation Appearance: It's not an S.
Any differences: Besides not having the kryptonian armor, obviously, he'll mostly be the same. Except he'll still have the beard.
Preincarnated History:
[What follows is a summary of the plot of Man of Steel and all the developments in it that pertain to Clark/Kal-El.
A summary with somewhat more brevity can be found here.
A somewhat more comprehensive summary can be found here.]
Kal-El was born on the planet Krypton to the scientist Jor-El and his wife Lara Lor-Van. Kal was unique in that he was a naturally born chil, the first on Krypton in generations, natural birth having been outlawed in favor of children genetically engineered to fit perfectly and efficiently into castes they were bred for. Kal was the culmination of his father Jor's plan to see that their species would survive, as Krypton was nearing its demise due to aggressive depletion of its natural resources. A codex containing the genetic code of the kryptonian race was hidden within his body's cells, a command key was stored aboard his ship and he was sent away from Krypton on a ship just large enough to safely carry him to the planet Jor had chosen, a planet where he would blend in with the natives and would have extraordinary powers: Earth. Kal's ship escaped Krypton before its destruction (narrowly averting the crossfire of a military coup started by General Dru-Zod, more on him later). His ship landed in Smallville, Kansas in the United States where it was discovered by a farming couple, Jonathan and Martha Kent. Realizing he wasn't from Earth, the couple adopted Kal, naming him Clark and raising him as their own.
As he grew, Clark was forced to come to terms with his being "different" from other people. As Jor-El had planned, Earth's sun was young and its radiation nourished Clark's kryptonian body, granting him superhuman abilities. As he grew, he discovered he had incredibly advanced senses, both of which overwhelmed him as he heard and saw everything around him at once with no control. Initially intensely afraid of this, Clark's mother Martha helped him and taught him how to focus on only one thing at a time. With her help, he learned to control the abilities. At thirteen years old, Clark was on his way to school as the bus went over a bridge and crashed into a river. Clark used his superhuman strength to push the bus out of the water, saving everyone inside but also drawing the notice of several of his fellow students. When word of the incident got out, Clark spoke to his father Jonathan, who revealed the ship that Clark had arrived on Earth in, showing Clark that he wasn't human. After reassuring the young Clark that despite where he'd come from, he'd always be his son, Jonathan told him that, eventually, he would have to discover where he'd come from and why he'd been sent to Earth. He confided to Clark that he believed he would change the world one day, but that people weren't ready to learn about his true nature yet, and he had to keep who he was a secret until then.
At seventeen years old, Clark was in the midst of an argument with Jonathan while the two of them (along with Martha) were stuck in traffic when a tornado touched down nearby. Clark and Jonathan helped others to safety under an overpass (not actually safe at all during a tornado, but, hey, movies), but Jonathan suffered a broken leg and wound up stranded away from any shelter with the tornado bearing down on him. Clark almost interfered to save his father, but knowing that it would without a doubt expose Clark's alien nature to the world if he did, Jonathan stopped him, allowing himself to be killed by the tornado. Forced to watch his father die to protect his secret and filled with guilt, Clark decided to heed his father's words. He left Smallville, deciding to keep his true nature a secret while he searched for some hint of why he had been sent to Earth.
After leaving Smallville, Clark traveled for many years, using his powers to help people in secret when he could, assuming various false identities as he moved from place to place. Eventually, he caught wind of a military site on Ellesemere Island investigating an "anamolous object" buried in the ice and got a job there under a false identity. At the site, he meets a reporter named Lois Lane, come to investigate the object for the Daily Planet, a newspaper in Metropolis. Clark investigated the object, using his heat vision to bore through the ice until he found that it was a spaceship, one that he could access with the key he was sent to Earth with. Inside, he enountered Lois Lane again, who had run afoul of the ship's security. After assisting her, he left her for the military to find and removed the ship from the ice, taking it where it wouldn't be detected. Inside the ship, he encountered an AI imprint of the consciousness of Jor-El, his Kryptonian father, who explained to him who he was, where he had come from and what had become of his home, Krypton. He confided in Clark, in Kal-El, what he had hoped for him when he sent him to Earth - that he would become a symbol of hope for humanity, an ideal for them to strive for. Jor-El gave Clark a suit of Kryptonian armor and told him to keep testing his limits until he realized his full potenetial.
Back in the States, Lois Lane, trying to learn the identity of the man she'd encountered on the alien ship so she could write an exposé, eventually tracked him back to his home in Smallville where Clark met her. Clark revealed his story to Lois and how his father had died to protect his secret. After hearing his story, Lois returned to Metropolis, deciding not to publish the story. Clark returned to the farm house of his youth and reunited with his mother, sharing everything he'd found with her. While he was there, he watched as TV, radio, internet, all lines of communication all over the world were hijacked to deliver a message from an extraterrestial ship orbiting the moon, courtesy of the Kryptonian General Zod. Zod's message was succinct: if Kal-El did not turn himself over, Earth and its people would suffer the consequences. Having heard of Zod from his father, Clark decided that Zod could not be trusted but eventually came to the conclusion that he had to trust the people of Earth and surrendered himself to the U.S. Military to that effect who, after allowing him to speak with Lois Lane (who had been detained by the FBI), turned him over to General Zod.
Clark and Lane were taken into space to meet with Zod abord his ship. There, forced into atmosphere similar to that of Krypton's for the first time since his birth, Clark was wracked with pain and passed out, awakening later to speak with Zod. He learned Zod and his followers had escaped the Phantom Zone after Krypton's destruction and after remodeling their imprisonment ship for interstellar travel, searched Kryptonian colonial outposts throughout the galaxy for other signs of life, only to find all the outposts had withered and died. They searched for 33 years until Clark's discovery of the scout ship on Ellesmere Island triggered a distress beacon, which they immediately followed to Earth. Zod revealed his intentions to use the Codex that Jor-El had taken from Krypton to rebuild their race, but when it became apparent that that meant building a new Krypton on Earth and killing all of humanity in the process, Clark refused to help him. Clark was left imprisoned on the ship while Zod flew to Earth, unable to do anything to escape, until Lane, being kept in a different part of the ship, used the command key Clark had given her before they boarded the ship to give access of the ship to the AI imprint of Jor-El, who gave Lane the knowledge on how she and Clark could stop Zod, guided her to the ship's escape pods and changed the ship's atmospheric composition back to that of Earth's, allowing Clark to break free with ease. After a brief conversation with Jor-El, Clark escaped the ship and returned to Earth with Lois.
Upon returning to Earth, Clark learned that Zod had gone to his home to try and coerce the location of the Codex from his mother. Clark immediately went to his home, attacking Zod in a rage and dragging him throughout Smallville until the two collided with a 7-11 (of all things, because, again, movies.). The unexpected and thorough beating he'd suffered at Clark's hands left Zod's helmet ruined, exposing him to Earth's atmosphere, putting him in the exact opposite scenario Clark had suffered aboard his ship: Zod now had hyper-advanced hearing and sight and with no way to control it, the sudden sensory overload rendered him helpless. Assistance came quickly from Zod's followers, who distracted Clark, recovered Zod and quickly left, leaving two Kryptonian warriors, Faora Hu-Ul and Nam-Ek to deal with Clark. To complicate matters further, a group of U.S. Army Rangers quickly arrived with orders to engage all three Kryptonians. A destructive three-way fight raged throughout Smallville, with everybody trying to neutralize each other, save Clark, who several times interfered with Faora and Nam-Ek's attempts to kill the Rangers. The battle culminated with Faora incapacitated and her and Nam-Ek compelled to a tactical retreat and the Rangers recognizing that Clark was their ally (even going so far as to coin the nickname "Superman" for him). Clark returned to his home to make sure his mother was safe and met with Lois again, where she told him she knew how to stop Zod.
Learning that the Codex was no longer a physical object, but was encoded inside Clark and that Clark did not need to be alive to extract the Codex, Zod put the next phase of his plan into action, separating a World Engine from his ship and stationing both at opposite ends of the Earth. He then began the process of terraforming Earth, changing its atmosphere, mass and topography to make it more suitable for Kryptonian life, the process of which would render the planet uninhabitable for humanity. Clark and Lois met with the army leader, General Sanwick, that Clark had previously surrendered to and they discussed their plan for stopping Zod. The capsule Clark had been sent to Earth in contained a Phantom Engine. If the capsule collided with the Phantom Engine in Zod's ship (currently stationed in Metropolis), it would open up a singularity that would send Zod's ship back to the Phantom Zone. The army planned to drop the capsule on Zod's ship while Clark flew to South America, where the World Engine was stationed. As the engine was changing the gravity and atmosphere around it to be more like Krypton's, Clark was immediately weakened when he flew into the ship's proximity, making him vulnerable for the engine's automatic defenses to stop him. Initially struggling against the intense gravity and altered atmosphere, Clark dug deep and flew straight into the World Engine, destroying it and stopping the terraforming process. He then flew back to Metropolis.
The army and Lois were prepared to drop the capsule on Zod's ship (now having a clear line to get to it without the gravity field from the terraforming interfering), but were pursued by Zod aboard the Kryptonian scout ship Clark had found and he had commandeered (as it contained a genesis chamber, filled with Kryptonian children yet to be born and was pivotal to rebuilding their society). Zod attempted to shoot down the army aircraft when Clark interfered, punching through the ship's hull and damaging it. Zod pleaded with Clark not to destroy the ship, as it would mean destroying Krypton's last hope as well. Clark briefly hesitated before declaring that Krypton had had its chance and used his heat vision to severely damage the ship, making it crash and destroying its Genesis Chamber. Meanwhile, the army succesfully crashed their aircraft into Zod's, opening a singularity that sucked everything in both ships back into the Phantom Zone, except for Lois, who was initially blown clear of the ships by the explosion and then grabbed out of the air by Clark and pulled away before the localized singularity closed. Believing their plan to be a success, Clark and Lois embraced...
...until they were interrupted by Zod pulling himself from the rubble of the scout ship. Clark went to confront Zod once and for all. Grief stricken by the loss of his followers and any hope of rebuilding Krypton, Zod angrily declared that Clark had destroyed everything he had to live for and swore that he would make the humanity suffer in vengeance. The two battled throughout Metropolis and even into space, causing massive collateral damage. Clark eventually succesfully overpowered Zod, crashing him into a building and getting him into a headlock, but there were civilians around and Zod, not content to go down quietly, used his heat vision to target a group of them, declaring that if Clark truly loved humanity, he could mourn for them. There is strong evidence to suggest that Zod, with no purpose left in his life, was trying to force Clark to kill him, going so far as to declare the fight would only end when one of the two died. There is equally strong evidence to suggest that Zod intentionally controlled his heat vision, slowly and deliberately directing it towards the group of humans to force Clark to kill him to save them. Clark begged Zod to stop, but with no other alternative, he was forced to snap Zod's neck, killing him. The shock of what he had been forced to do sunk in quickly after, prompting Clark to scream out in pain. Lois, who had arrived in time to see the very end of the fight and Zod's death, consoled Clark.
Some time later (likely a particularly extended amount of time, as Metropolis seems to have recovered from Zod's attack and be in working order again), Clark confronted General Sanwick again, showing up with a destroyed military UAV that had been attempting to track him. Clark told General Sanwick that he knew the military was trying to track him and they wouldn't succeed, and they had to believe he was there to help, but it had to be on his own terms. He then confided that he'd trust General Sanwick to convince his superiors in Washington of the same and flew away. Clark briefly reunited with his mother in Smallville to visit his father's grave and inform his mother of his plan. He would get a job where he could stay abridged of current events as they happened and where he wouldn't arouse suspicion by going to dangerous places. To that effect, he got a job at the Daily Planet. There, he reunited with Lois, who quickly recognized him and welcomed him to "the Planet".
Reincarnated History:
Calvin Kent was born in the mid 80s in Baltimore, Maryland and had similarly humble beginnings to Clark Kent, his father a steel plant worker and his mother a librarian at John Hopkins University. For Calvin, an only child, growing up was always comfortable, if somewhat boring. As he grew, it became clear that again, much like Clark Kent, he was a unique physical specimen, albeit much more closely in line with human standards. Smart, strong and quick on his feet, Calvin's parents were urged to enroll him in some kind of activity to make use of his budding talents. As children are want to do, Calvin flitted from activity to activity and dropped each one in succession, not finding it to his liking. Just when frustration for the family was beginning to mount, they found an activity that Calvin both enjoyed and seemed to have a bit of a knack for - baseball. It started as a simple hobby for him, something for him to do after school and on the weekends, but as time passed, it became clear that he might have some real talent for the sport, Talent with a capital T. As he became older, it became less of a hobby and more his main pursuit, aside from school, which he also did very well in (his main motivation being, of course, to not let his grades slip to the point where he couldn't play ball). His talent made him naturally popular among his peers and although he was a prime candidate to do something stupid while on the cusp of adulthood, a bright, talented kid with a quick tongue who thought himself just a little bit smarter and prepared for anything than he actually was, he kept his nose clean throughout his formative years. His parents, when they saw his potenetial, went to great pains to impart one lesson on him - live in the moment, but never get weighed down by it. Always strive to be one step better than you were yesterday. In retrospect, their desire to see their son reach his full potenetial led to more than a little pressure from his (definitely well-meaning) parents, but he took their lessons to heart and always kept himself on the straight and narrow. By the time he was partway through High School, it was easy - he knew that he wanted to pursue professional baseball as a career and had the skill to back up his aspirations.
Calvin graduated high school and left Maryland to seek higher education, enrolling at the University of Kansas (to this day, he couldn't tell you why he picked KU if you put a gun to his head, but he knows it was the right choice). In his junior year of College at age 20, he entered the Major League Baseball Draft and was picked by a team close to his home, the Locke City Thunderbolts. Thrilled for the oppourtunity, Calvin left school to join thethe Thunderbolts' organization and began playing through their minor league system. With his job now quite literally being to play the game, Calvin sunk all of his effort into it and played the best baseball of his life up until that point and, when the time came, he moved to Locke City on a permanent basis and became the Thunderbolts' starting Center Fielder. Calvin greatly enjoyed life in the majors. The increase in the level of competition meant he was no longer a big fish in a small pond like he'd been for most of his entire life up until that point. He relished the challenge and continued to do what he'd always done, strive to be better than he was the day before. His first year was hardly remarkable as he was a boy among some particularly grown-ass men and the Thunderbolts, a team on the rebuild, failed to go anywhere within their own division. Despite this, he learned more about the game in his rookie year than he ever had. Throughout his second and third year, he began showing himself off as a premier talent and he along with several others on the Thunderbolts began gathering attention throughout the baseball community, eventually helping the Thunderbolts into several playoffs berths, culminating in their 2013 season, where the team made it past the first round of the playoffs to the ALCS (American League Championship Series), positioning themselves four wins away from reaching the World Series, a feat that had yet to be accomplished by the Thunderbolts in their existence as a major league team.
A fifth year player, an integral part of the Thunderbolts as a team and a key member in their playoff run thus far, Calvin figured in chiefly to the culmination of the series in the worst way possible. With the Thunderbolts leading 6-5 in the 8th inning of the final game of the series, in Locke City, a mere few outs away from the World Series, a fly ball was hit hard to deep center field, in Calvin's territory, driving him back to the center field wall. It initially looked as though he was tracking the ball to leap and attempt to catch it, but he stumbled, seemingly losing the ball in the lights, losing his footing, or just zoning out for a few seconds. He recovered awkwardly and to try and make up for it, ran at the wall and leaped into it at full speed, trying to make the catch. He slammed his left arm and head hard into the wall. The impact made him unable to secure the catch and he dropped the ball, falling awkwardly and painfully on to his arm. Rolling on the ground, clutching his left arm in pain, Calvin could do nothing as the opposing team rounded the bases to the tune of a 3-run inside-the-park-home-run. To make matters worse, Calvin was removed from the game due to injury. Without him, the Thunderbolts failed to rally and lost the game by a score of 6-8 and the series by a score of 3 games to 4, ending their season.
Bitter at the loss and suffering a minor concussion and an injury to his arm on the play, Calvin left Locke City shortly after the series ended, going to his home town of Baltimore and spending some time with his family. Within a few weeks, both of his injuries had mostly healed and he decided to return to Locke City. Returning to the city felt good, but once he got back, he was stuck with two things that were all kinds of distracting - a memory that made no sense and a string of numbers he couldn't attach any signifigance too or get rid of, no matter what.
First Echo:
Sunday, October 23. While running down a fly ball in a playoff baseball game, in the back of Calvin's mind, he wryly thought that, for the ball's velocity, he'd have an easier time trying to catch a runaway locomotive. Then, that's what happened. A flaming train flying right at him suddenly inserting itself into his memory was, understandable, somewhat disorienting for Calvin. Still having the fly ball to deal with, the distraction forced him to make an ill-advised, ill-timed leap, injuring himself.
When he had the time to actually sit down and think about it, he couldn't put anymore sense to the memory than he could when it had made its poorly timed insertion into his mind. The same went for the numbers now going through his mind.
Preincarnation Personality:
The important thing to grasp about Clark Kent, and probably one of the most obvious things, is that he wants to help people. Credit it to his Kryptonian parents who gave birth to him and gave him his powers, credit it to the Kents who raised him and instilled their values in him, it matters little. The result is that when he sees someone in danger, his first and often overriding instinct is to use his power to help them. His powers certainly make this possible, but they also alienate him. From a young age, he was instructed to keep his powers a secret, he wasn't allowed to play with other children, he was regarded as a freak by his peers. This wasn't enough to keep him from helping people (often against his father's wishes), but it taught him to keep a low profile early in his life, a talent he would hone as he grew older.
Knowing he wasn't human but having no idea why he'd been sent to Earth or where he'd come from, Clark grew up with constant feelings of confusion, fear, loneliness and frustration. He learned to hold back his frustration (for the most part) and as he grew, this led to him being very gradual to anger and unlikely to succumb to confrontation. When his adoptive father died, it nearly crushed Clark and eventually made him leave his home. But he channeled the guilt of being unable to save his father and it made him that much more dedicated to helping the people in front of him. Throughout his life, Clark has gone through many hardships and had many burdens placed upon him, but he's never let them change who he fundamentally is or try to shrug them off.
Meeting his birth father, Jor-El, learning of Krypton and of his father's desire for him to become a bridge between two races was, in many ways, a re-awakening for Clark. Beyond finally finding out where he'd come from, a massive relief in itself, it gave him the ability to do what he'd always wanted - show his true nature to humanity and use his powers to help them. The simple act of testing his limits and the consequent discovery that he could actually fly filled him with elation (the reasoning being twofold in that he could finally use his powers purely for the sake of using them with no fear of restraining himself, but also because he could freakin' fly). The difference shows greatly in his demeanor. To put it in simple terms, as Clark Kent, he's quiet, reticent and restrained to the point of awkwardness out of the fear of revealing his true nature. As Kal-El, there's no need to restrain himself anymore. He radiates composure, he's confident, he's decisive. He has a sense of candor that allows him to point blank say to a U.S. Army general that he (meaning both the army and humanity collectively) couldn't control him and couldn't keep watch of him. He believes strongly in what his birth father told him, that he could be a symbol of hope for humanity, that he could save them, but he just as strongly believes that it has to be on his own terms.
Although he's gradual to anger, Clark is not impervious to it and in some circumstances can be forced to it rather quickly. Threatening someone close to him or those he's sworn to protect in general quickly brings his ire to a burning point - the sight of his mother being threatened by General Zod sent him into a rage, making him mercilessly attack Zod over and over again and he didn't hesitate to fight his fellow Kryptonians when he knew what they planned to do to humanity. Despite this, Clark generally has an aversion to violence and especially to death. This culminated when he was forced to kill Zod to save a group of human civilians, the weight of his actions striking him in much the same way they had when his adoptive father had died. The guilt of being forced to kill Zod was so strong that it made Clark swear that he would never kill anyone again, no matter what. Though he is in many ways defined by his failures, his failure to protect his father, his failure to stop Zod from attacking Earth and hurting innocent people and his failure to then stop Zod without killing him, Clark will never let them change who he is. Be that an awkward human struggling to restrain himself so that he can fit in with those around him or a nigh-invincible alien sworn to protect as many as he can. He knows who he is, and after it taking his entire life for it to all come together, he has no intention of changing it now.
Any differences:
Calvin is a (relatively) normal human being who lived a (relatively) normal human life, making him markedly different from Clark from the outset. As a young man, Clark was cautioned to hide his extraordinary talents. Calvin was encouraged to do just the opposite - hone his talents, show people how smart, how fast, how strong he was, constantly. Become the very best at it. He's had an easier life than Clark for certain never having to deal with loneliness or confusion about who he was. Being blessed physically as he was and a very bright individual too, Calvin grew up with a magnetic personality, gaining friends and recognition wherever he went. Calvin wasn't forced to go through a great deal of hardship either, even by normal human standards. To get to where he is now required a massive amount of work and dedication from him, but always knowing what the fruits of his labor would bring made the work easy to swallow (if difficult to accomplish) and the payoff all the more sweet.
Though he learned to control his emotions and channel them in ways that could help him, Calvin never learned how to restrain himself to the degree Clark did. When he becomes invested in something, he becomes completely invested in it, and can quickly become angry, despondent or jubilant depending on how it turns out. Normally, he is an aloof, somewhat wry individual. He's easily lent to playful sarcasm, he's easygoing and makes no secret of the fact that he truly enjoys his life and desires little more than to keep doing so in his own way. However, when he truly, truly cares about something or someone, he throws his all into it. If he becomes angry, he's certainly not above getting into a fight and indeed can find himself spoiling for one, using it as a means to vent. But once he does vent out his negative emotions, he quickly lets them go. He doesn't dwell on his failures, he doesn't allow himself to be saddled with guilt, because he knows it's not useful to him. To that effect, he is not as emotionally mature as Clark is, but he may be somewhat more emotionally balanced than him.
In the most important way, Clark and Calvin do not actually differ that much. As a young man, Calvin always did his best to keep his nose clean, avoid any trouble that could interfere with his athletic aspirations. He was smart enough to understand the consequences of any malfeasance, so he just avoided it outright. But as he grew up a he found himself avoiding trouble for a different reason. Growing up under pressure from his parents to be the best he could be, the last thing Calvin wanted was to disappoint them and as he gained the attention of more and more people, he realized he didn't want to disappoint them either. When he realized his aspirations and became a pro athlete, that priority shifted. He didn't want to simply not disappoint anybody - he wanted to make use of what he had to help people and set a good example. Considering himself a representative of the Thunderbolts and of Locke City, Calvin tries to act as a role model befitting of that (albeit one who, as mentioned, is easily lent to sarcasm and has a unique sense of humor). He's an activist and a philanthropist within the city, donating his time and at this point in his career, mounting wealth, to causes which he believes can help people. He's not perfect though - he has let his temper get the better of him once or twice.
...a small handful of times.
...okay, he may have been suspended for flipping off an umpire on a televised broadcast once.
Abilities:
OOC: What follows is Clark's unabridged abilities from the movie, but fully aware as I am of how overpowered a fully-empowered Superman would be in a DWRP setting, I would have little problem curtailing his abilities as the mods see fit, Echoing them back to him at only a portion of their full potential, etc. Any limits that need to be imposed for the sake of balance, I'm willing to discuss them.
Kryptonian Physiology / Solar Energy Absorption: Krypton's environment was very harsh and its people are naturally conditioned to be able to withstand it. Earth's gravity is much weaker and its atmosphere is more nourishing than Krypton's and its sun is brighter and younger. Clark's body, born to live in Krypton's conditions, absorbs solar energy from the sun and is much stronger on Earth in a variety of ways.
Advanced Senses: Clark's hearing is incredibly advanced, allowing him to hear anything, regardless of how quiet it is, up to great distances. He can also see through any surface with X-Ray vision and it is heavily implied that he has telescopic vision, able to "zoom in" to see objects at a long distance. Unfiltered, these abilities cause massive, debilitating sensory overload, but thanks to help from his parents, Clark learned to focus and only perceive what he wants.
Superhuman Physical Attributes: As mentioned, due to the lower gravity, better atmosphere and yellow sun of Earth, Clark's body is much, much stronger:
- Super Strength: Clark has incredible raw strength, demonstrated by his accomplishing acts such as pushing a bus out of a river with his bare hands, holding up a collapsing oil rig, flying straight up through a gravity well and punching Zod and the other Kryptonians really really hard.
- Super Speed: Clark can move at supersonic speeds, moving from one side of the Earth to the other in mere minutes at one point. His reflexes and reaction time are similarly enhanced. At one point, he even moves faster than a speeding bullet. This ability extends to things such as the movement of his eyes and how quickly he processes information, allowing him to learn things and commit them to memory very quickly.
- Super Stamina/Toughness: Clark has incredible toughness, nearly to the point of invulnerability. His skin is very dense, functioning as natural armor and he has been shown being struck by flaming locomotives, falling oil rigs, satellites in orbit and weathering numerous pummelings from other Kryptonians, always coming out of it with little more than a slight daze and the wind knocked out of him. His stamina is similarly limitless, allowing him to engage in all manner of strenuous activity as long as his body has solar energy stored in it. Put simply, it is very very difficult to put him down for any extended period of time. Of particular note is that Clark seems to be capable of holding his breath in conditions where there's no oxygen for an extended period of time, traveling into space and spending an extended period of time underwater several times with no apparent struggle. This ability, however, is likely not limitless and he would probably need to breathe at some point.
Flight: By mentally manipulating the gravity around him with an extremely localized form of telekinesis, Clark can fly. After acclimating to the ability, he shows a great deal of precision and adeptness with it, able to slowly hover a short distance above the ground, fly at supersonic speeds from one end of the Earth to the other in mere moments or navigate through buildings in Metropolis with pinpoint accuracy.
Heat Vision: Clark can discharge solar energy from his eyes in the form of beams of heat. This ability has a very wide spectrum of intensity and Clark has demonstrated particular mastery and precision with it. As a child, he was capable of using it to heat up a doorknob to dissuade someone from using it and as an adult, he was able to use it to cauterize a wound. In its weakest form for uses such as these, the ability is invisible. At its strongest, it's materialized as a pair of white-hot orange beams of heat. The temperature and intensity of the beams is incredibly high in this state, being able to cut through metal and rock instantly and being incredibly dangerous on direct contact with another person. The ability is demonstrated to be painful to activate and de-activate and requires a short recovery period after it's used, even for someone of Clark's toughness.
Roleplay Sample - Third Person:
"Number 17, the Center Fielder....Caaaaaaalvin Kent!"
Some people briefly put aside their umbrellas to start clapping and cheering as the PA announced him. The ones with umbrellas were the smart ones, having had the foresight to know the forecast before coming and knowing that the park's roof wasn't working right and wouldn't be able to close right until they got it repaired. Which meant when it rained, for the time being, everybody just had to kind of tough it out. For the fans who hadn't had the foresight to bring protection from the elements, that meant either buying a poncho here at the park (how much did those things cost? 20 bucks a pop?) or just getting wet. Either way. The roof hadn't been working for close to a week and it had been raining for about half that. He appreciated their tenacity.
He took his place in the batter's box and stood ready. First pitch came in low and hit the dirt, the catcher immediately going down to stop it. Ball 1.
Calvin really didn't enjoy playing in the rain - it was harder to track fly balls, it was harder to run the bases. He liked playing in a park with a retractable roof for exactly that reason, but he couldn't really do anything about it right now.
Second pitch, fastball, he didn't pick it up until it was way too late. He tried to catch up to it and it blew right past him, had to be at least 97 MPH. Strike 1.
He let out a breath and stepped out of the batter's box for a second. He had to be ready for that one if it came again. He glanced towards first base. They had a runner there. If he could pull something down the line, he might be able to get the runner to third base, but should he try for a double? He knew the right fielder back there had a hell of an arm. He just didn't feel as comfortable running in this weather - he'd better hold up at first if he hit it in that direction.
Third pitch, he made contact with it, trying to pull it into right field. He almost had it, but it was off target, going way foul and into the stands. Strike 2.
Well, he thought somewhat wryly as he reset himself for the next pitch. Maybe I'll strike out and I can go back to the freakin' bench where it's warm. He had to admit, it was tempting. He briefly considered just swinging over the top of the next pitch. Very briefly.
Fourth pitch, fastball, he picked it up this time. He caught up to it. He made contact with it. From the second he swung, he knew he got it too. He dropped his bat and ran out of the batter's box. He saw the first baseman diving, his teammate already off like a shot on the basepaths. He heard the crowd roar as he hauled it down to first base as fast as his legs would carry him. They were still roaring when he reached first base. The ground felt good under his feet, better than he'd expected. He couldn't help but grin when he realized his legs weren't stopping.
Shit, here we go.
He took a wide turn and started running for second base. He made it a few strides and got ready to slide. His right foot caught the wet grass and came out from under him.
No, no, no, piss, HELL, SATAN, FUCK, DAMMIT, NO
He crashed to the ground in a heap, faceplanting into the grass and dirt. He pulled himself up as quickly as possible and half-scrambled, half-crawled back to first base. At some point his helmet had flown off into the right field grass, so when he collapsed on top of first base his head was bare for the rain to fall on. His heart was pounding up in his ears, so he didn't hear what the other team's first baseman was saying until he tapped him on the shoulder with his glove.
"...huh?"
Apparently, after he'd started running, the ball had bounced over the wall and into the stands. Ground-rule double. With the ball out of play, he was automatically given second base.
"..."
Calvin slowly pulled himself up and started walking to second, amidst a small maybe-a-little-sarcastic smattering of cheers from the audience in the stands and a lot of amusement from the players on the field. He glanced back at the bench and had to put on a wry smile when he saw them laughing and holding their arms up expectantly. The opposing right field, who he'd been so afraid of throwing him out, laughingly asked if he was okay as he tossed Calvin's helmet back to him. By the time he had his helmet back on and had gotten to second base, he had to admit he saw the humor in it. He tipped his cap to the stands, earning him more rain on his head and a slightly more earnest round of cheers as the PA announced the next batter.
He really couldn't wait for that roof to get fixed.
Roleplay Sample - Network:
Alright, so.
I feel like I've got a handle on this.
Those numbers that won't get out of my head. They're a password for this whole deal. Still undecided on how I got the numbers in the first place, I've narrowed it down to aliens or a Russian satellite beaming it into my head with either red or green lasers. But y'know, I got it. They're here and they're not going away.
And I understand you've got something going on here. I would find out what, but, I'm a busy guy. Normally, this is the part where I'd just state that all requests for me to participate in... ... ...I'm gonna be diplomatic and say "esoteric events" have to go through my agent, ask you to fire your space lasers into his head instead and leave it at that, but I've actually got a question. The numbers and this message board. I'm guessing they're connected to another unexplained thing that happened to me recently. If it is, I've got a question.
Who the hell here is responsible for that vision of flaming impending death I got and the goddamn concussion I got as a result? Please reveal yourself now and I promise I'll only sue you until you're dead a little bit.
To everybody else - hi, I'm Calvin. And if you know of the guy or guys I just addressed and can tell me anything about them or you've gone through the same thing I have, then we've got a good reason to become friends.
Any Questions? Obviously, a lot of this app is based on the supposition that a Major League Baseball franchise exists in Locke City, has for some time, and was playing relatively recently (in the second half of October). I hope that that's acceptable and, if the app is accepted, I can add the things connected to that team to the game's setting (information about the team, the arena where they play, etc.), with cooperation from others in the game. If some things about the team need to be adjusted to make the concept and the app itself acceptable, I'll gladly make them. If it's completely unacceptable, and this app would require an overhaul or rejection as a result, I'll understand.
Name: Jeff
Are you over 15? 23
Contact:
AIM: Viewtiful Rekk
Plurk:
DW:
viewtiful_jeffIC Information:
Name:
Preincarnation: Clark Kent / Kal-El
Reincarnation: Calvin Kent
Canon and medium: Man of Steel (2013 film)
Age:
Preinarnation: 33
Reincarnation: 28
Preincarnation Species: Kryptonian
Preincarnation Appearance: It's not an S.
Any differences: Besides not having the kryptonian armor, obviously, he'll mostly be the same. Except he'll still have the beard.
Preincarnated History:
[What follows is a summary of the plot of Man of Steel and all the developments in it that pertain to Clark/Kal-El.
A summary with somewhat more brevity can be found here.
A somewhat more comprehensive summary can be found here.]
Kal-El was born on the planet Krypton to the scientist Jor-El and his wife Lara Lor-Van. Kal was unique in that he was a naturally born chil, the first on Krypton in generations, natural birth having been outlawed in favor of children genetically engineered to fit perfectly and efficiently into castes they were bred for. Kal was the culmination of his father Jor's plan to see that their species would survive, as Krypton was nearing its demise due to aggressive depletion of its natural resources. A codex containing the genetic code of the kryptonian race was hidden within his body's cells, a command key was stored aboard his ship and he was sent away from Krypton on a ship just large enough to safely carry him to the planet Jor had chosen, a planet where he would blend in with the natives and would have extraordinary powers: Earth. Kal's ship escaped Krypton before its destruction (narrowly averting the crossfire of a military coup started by General Dru-Zod, more on him later). His ship landed in Smallville, Kansas in the United States where it was discovered by a farming couple, Jonathan and Martha Kent. Realizing he wasn't from Earth, the couple adopted Kal, naming him Clark and raising him as their own.
As he grew, Clark was forced to come to terms with his being "different" from other people. As Jor-El had planned, Earth's sun was young and its radiation nourished Clark's kryptonian body, granting him superhuman abilities. As he grew, he discovered he had incredibly advanced senses, both of which overwhelmed him as he heard and saw everything around him at once with no control. Initially intensely afraid of this, Clark's mother Martha helped him and taught him how to focus on only one thing at a time. With her help, he learned to control the abilities. At thirteen years old, Clark was on his way to school as the bus went over a bridge and crashed into a river. Clark used his superhuman strength to push the bus out of the water, saving everyone inside but also drawing the notice of several of his fellow students. When word of the incident got out, Clark spoke to his father Jonathan, who revealed the ship that Clark had arrived on Earth in, showing Clark that he wasn't human. After reassuring the young Clark that despite where he'd come from, he'd always be his son, Jonathan told him that, eventually, he would have to discover where he'd come from and why he'd been sent to Earth. He confided to Clark that he believed he would change the world one day, but that people weren't ready to learn about his true nature yet, and he had to keep who he was a secret until then.
At seventeen years old, Clark was in the midst of an argument with Jonathan while the two of them (along with Martha) were stuck in traffic when a tornado touched down nearby. Clark and Jonathan helped others to safety under an overpass (not actually safe at all during a tornado, but, hey, movies), but Jonathan suffered a broken leg and wound up stranded away from any shelter with the tornado bearing down on him. Clark almost interfered to save his father, but knowing that it would without a doubt expose Clark's alien nature to the world if he did, Jonathan stopped him, allowing himself to be killed by the tornado. Forced to watch his father die to protect his secret and filled with guilt, Clark decided to heed his father's words. He left Smallville, deciding to keep his true nature a secret while he searched for some hint of why he had been sent to Earth.
After leaving Smallville, Clark traveled for many years, using his powers to help people in secret when he could, assuming various false identities as he moved from place to place. Eventually, he caught wind of a military site on Ellesemere Island investigating an "anamolous object" buried in the ice and got a job there under a false identity. At the site, he meets a reporter named Lois Lane, come to investigate the object for the Daily Planet, a newspaper in Metropolis. Clark investigated the object, using his heat vision to bore through the ice until he found that it was a spaceship, one that he could access with the key he was sent to Earth with. Inside, he enountered Lois Lane again, who had run afoul of the ship's security. After assisting her, he left her for the military to find and removed the ship from the ice, taking it where it wouldn't be detected. Inside the ship, he encountered an AI imprint of the consciousness of Jor-El, his Kryptonian father, who explained to him who he was, where he had come from and what had become of his home, Krypton. He confided in Clark, in Kal-El, what he had hoped for him when he sent him to Earth - that he would become a symbol of hope for humanity, an ideal for them to strive for. Jor-El gave Clark a suit of Kryptonian armor and told him to keep testing his limits until he realized his full potenetial.
Back in the States, Lois Lane, trying to learn the identity of the man she'd encountered on the alien ship so she could write an exposé, eventually tracked him back to his home in Smallville where Clark met her. Clark revealed his story to Lois and how his father had died to protect his secret. After hearing his story, Lois returned to Metropolis, deciding not to publish the story. Clark returned to the farm house of his youth and reunited with his mother, sharing everything he'd found with her. While he was there, he watched as TV, radio, internet, all lines of communication all over the world were hijacked to deliver a message from an extraterrestial ship orbiting the moon, courtesy of the Kryptonian General Zod. Zod's message was succinct: if Kal-El did not turn himself over, Earth and its people would suffer the consequences. Having heard of Zod from his father, Clark decided that Zod could not be trusted but eventually came to the conclusion that he had to trust the people of Earth and surrendered himself to the U.S. Military to that effect who, after allowing him to speak with Lois Lane (who had been detained by the FBI), turned him over to General Zod.
Clark and Lane were taken into space to meet with Zod abord his ship. There, forced into atmosphere similar to that of Krypton's for the first time since his birth, Clark was wracked with pain and passed out, awakening later to speak with Zod. He learned Zod and his followers had escaped the Phantom Zone after Krypton's destruction and after remodeling their imprisonment ship for interstellar travel, searched Kryptonian colonial outposts throughout the galaxy for other signs of life, only to find all the outposts had withered and died. They searched for 33 years until Clark's discovery of the scout ship on Ellesmere Island triggered a distress beacon, which they immediately followed to Earth. Zod revealed his intentions to use the Codex that Jor-El had taken from Krypton to rebuild their race, but when it became apparent that that meant building a new Krypton on Earth and killing all of humanity in the process, Clark refused to help him. Clark was left imprisoned on the ship while Zod flew to Earth, unable to do anything to escape, until Lane, being kept in a different part of the ship, used the command key Clark had given her before they boarded the ship to give access of the ship to the AI imprint of Jor-El, who gave Lane the knowledge on how she and Clark could stop Zod, guided her to the ship's escape pods and changed the ship's atmospheric composition back to that of Earth's, allowing Clark to break free with ease. After a brief conversation with Jor-El, Clark escaped the ship and returned to Earth with Lois.
Upon returning to Earth, Clark learned that Zod had gone to his home to try and coerce the location of the Codex from his mother. Clark immediately went to his home, attacking Zod in a rage and dragging him throughout Smallville until the two collided with a 7-11 (of all things, because, again, movies.). The unexpected and thorough beating he'd suffered at Clark's hands left Zod's helmet ruined, exposing him to Earth's atmosphere, putting him in the exact opposite scenario Clark had suffered aboard his ship: Zod now had hyper-advanced hearing and sight and with no way to control it, the sudden sensory overload rendered him helpless. Assistance came quickly from Zod's followers, who distracted Clark, recovered Zod and quickly left, leaving two Kryptonian warriors, Faora Hu-Ul and Nam-Ek to deal with Clark. To complicate matters further, a group of U.S. Army Rangers quickly arrived with orders to engage all three Kryptonians. A destructive three-way fight raged throughout Smallville, with everybody trying to neutralize each other, save Clark, who several times interfered with Faora and Nam-Ek's attempts to kill the Rangers. The battle culminated with Faora incapacitated and her and Nam-Ek compelled to a tactical retreat and the Rangers recognizing that Clark was their ally (even going so far as to coin the nickname "Superman" for him). Clark returned to his home to make sure his mother was safe and met with Lois again, where she told him she knew how to stop Zod.
Learning that the Codex was no longer a physical object, but was encoded inside Clark and that Clark did not need to be alive to extract the Codex, Zod put the next phase of his plan into action, separating a World Engine from his ship and stationing both at opposite ends of the Earth. He then began the process of terraforming Earth, changing its atmosphere, mass and topography to make it more suitable for Kryptonian life, the process of which would render the planet uninhabitable for humanity. Clark and Lois met with the army leader, General Sanwick, that Clark had previously surrendered to and they discussed their plan for stopping Zod. The capsule Clark had been sent to Earth in contained a Phantom Engine. If the capsule collided with the Phantom Engine in Zod's ship (currently stationed in Metropolis), it would open up a singularity that would send Zod's ship back to the Phantom Zone. The army planned to drop the capsule on Zod's ship while Clark flew to South America, where the World Engine was stationed. As the engine was changing the gravity and atmosphere around it to be more like Krypton's, Clark was immediately weakened when he flew into the ship's proximity, making him vulnerable for the engine's automatic defenses to stop him. Initially struggling against the intense gravity and altered atmosphere, Clark dug deep and flew straight into the World Engine, destroying it and stopping the terraforming process. He then flew back to Metropolis.
The army and Lois were prepared to drop the capsule on Zod's ship (now having a clear line to get to it without the gravity field from the terraforming interfering), but were pursued by Zod aboard the Kryptonian scout ship Clark had found and he had commandeered (as it contained a genesis chamber, filled with Kryptonian children yet to be born and was pivotal to rebuilding their society). Zod attempted to shoot down the army aircraft when Clark interfered, punching through the ship's hull and damaging it. Zod pleaded with Clark not to destroy the ship, as it would mean destroying Krypton's last hope as well. Clark briefly hesitated before declaring that Krypton had had its chance and used his heat vision to severely damage the ship, making it crash and destroying its Genesis Chamber. Meanwhile, the army succesfully crashed their aircraft into Zod's, opening a singularity that sucked everything in both ships back into the Phantom Zone, except for Lois, who was initially blown clear of the ships by the explosion and then grabbed out of the air by Clark and pulled away before the localized singularity closed. Believing their plan to be a success, Clark and Lois embraced...
...until they were interrupted by Zod pulling himself from the rubble of the scout ship. Clark went to confront Zod once and for all. Grief stricken by the loss of his followers and any hope of rebuilding Krypton, Zod angrily declared that Clark had destroyed everything he had to live for and swore that he would make the humanity suffer in vengeance. The two battled throughout Metropolis and even into space, causing massive collateral damage. Clark eventually succesfully overpowered Zod, crashing him into a building and getting him into a headlock, but there were civilians around and Zod, not content to go down quietly, used his heat vision to target a group of them, declaring that if Clark truly loved humanity, he could mourn for them. There is strong evidence to suggest that Zod, with no purpose left in his life, was trying to force Clark to kill him, going so far as to declare the fight would only end when one of the two died. There is equally strong evidence to suggest that Zod intentionally controlled his heat vision, slowly and deliberately directing it towards the group of humans to force Clark to kill him to save them. Clark begged Zod to stop, but with no other alternative, he was forced to snap Zod's neck, killing him. The shock of what he had been forced to do sunk in quickly after, prompting Clark to scream out in pain. Lois, who had arrived in time to see the very end of the fight and Zod's death, consoled Clark.
Some time later (likely a particularly extended amount of time, as Metropolis seems to have recovered from Zod's attack and be in working order again), Clark confronted General Sanwick again, showing up with a destroyed military UAV that had been attempting to track him. Clark told General Sanwick that he knew the military was trying to track him and they wouldn't succeed, and they had to believe he was there to help, but it had to be on his own terms. He then confided that he'd trust General Sanwick to convince his superiors in Washington of the same and flew away. Clark briefly reunited with his mother in Smallville to visit his father's grave and inform his mother of his plan. He would get a job where he could stay abridged of current events as they happened and where he wouldn't arouse suspicion by going to dangerous places. To that effect, he got a job at the Daily Planet. There, he reunited with Lois, who quickly recognized him and welcomed him to "the Planet".
Reincarnated History:
Calvin Kent was born in the mid 80s in Baltimore, Maryland and had similarly humble beginnings to Clark Kent, his father a steel plant worker and his mother a librarian at John Hopkins University. For Calvin, an only child, growing up was always comfortable, if somewhat boring. As he grew, it became clear that again, much like Clark Kent, he was a unique physical specimen, albeit much more closely in line with human standards. Smart, strong and quick on his feet, Calvin's parents were urged to enroll him in some kind of activity to make use of his budding talents. As children are want to do, Calvin flitted from activity to activity and dropped each one in succession, not finding it to his liking. Just when frustration for the family was beginning to mount, they found an activity that Calvin both enjoyed and seemed to have a bit of a knack for - baseball. It started as a simple hobby for him, something for him to do after school and on the weekends, but as time passed, it became clear that he might have some real talent for the sport, Talent with a capital T. As he became older, it became less of a hobby and more his main pursuit, aside from school, which he also did very well in (his main motivation being, of course, to not let his grades slip to the point where he couldn't play ball). His talent made him naturally popular among his peers and although he was a prime candidate to do something stupid while on the cusp of adulthood, a bright, talented kid with a quick tongue who thought himself just a little bit smarter and prepared for anything than he actually was, he kept his nose clean throughout his formative years. His parents, when they saw his potenetial, went to great pains to impart one lesson on him - live in the moment, but never get weighed down by it. Always strive to be one step better than you were yesterday. In retrospect, their desire to see their son reach his full potenetial led to more than a little pressure from his (definitely well-meaning) parents, but he took their lessons to heart and always kept himself on the straight and narrow. By the time he was partway through High School, it was easy - he knew that he wanted to pursue professional baseball as a career and had the skill to back up his aspirations.
Calvin graduated high school and left Maryland to seek higher education, enrolling at the University of Kansas (to this day, he couldn't tell you why he picked KU if you put a gun to his head, but he knows it was the right choice). In his junior year of College at age 20, he entered the Major League Baseball Draft and was picked by a team close to his home, the Locke City Thunderbolts. Thrilled for the oppourtunity, Calvin left school to join thethe Thunderbolts' organization and began playing through their minor league system. With his job now quite literally being to play the game, Calvin sunk all of his effort into it and played the best baseball of his life up until that point and, when the time came, he moved to Locke City on a permanent basis and became the Thunderbolts' starting Center Fielder. Calvin greatly enjoyed life in the majors. The increase in the level of competition meant he was no longer a big fish in a small pond like he'd been for most of his entire life up until that point. He relished the challenge and continued to do what he'd always done, strive to be better than he was the day before. His first year was hardly remarkable as he was a boy among some particularly grown-ass men and the Thunderbolts, a team on the rebuild, failed to go anywhere within their own division. Despite this, he learned more about the game in his rookie year than he ever had. Throughout his second and third year, he began showing himself off as a premier talent and he along with several others on the Thunderbolts began gathering attention throughout the baseball community, eventually helping the Thunderbolts into several playoffs berths, culminating in their 2013 season, where the team made it past the first round of the playoffs to the ALCS (American League Championship Series), positioning themselves four wins away from reaching the World Series, a feat that had yet to be accomplished by the Thunderbolts in their existence as a major league team.
A fifth year player, an integral part of the Thunderbolts as a team and a key member in their playoff run thus far, Calvin figured in chiefly to the culmination of the series in the worst way possible. With the Thunderbolts leading 6-5 in the 8th inning of the final game of the series, in Locke City, a mere few outs away from the World Series, a fly ball was hit hard to deep center field, in Calvin's territory, driving him back to the center field wall. It initially looked as though he was tracking the ball to leap and attempt to catch it, but he stumbled, seemingly losing the ball in the lights, losing his footing, or just zoning out for a few seconds. He recovered awkwardly and to try and make up for it, ran at the wall and leaped into it at full speed, trying to make the catch. He slammed his left arm and head hard into the wall. The impact made him unable to secure the catch and he dropped the ball, falling awkwardly and painfully on to his arm. Rolling on the ground, clutching his left arm in pain, Calvin could do nothing as the opposing team rounded the bases to the tune of a 3-run inside-the-park-home-run. To make matters worse, Calvin was removed from the game due to injury. Without him, the Thunderbolts failed to rally and lost the game by a score of 6-8 and the series by a score of 3 games to 4, ending their season.
Bitter at the loss and suffering a minor concussion and an injury to his arm on the play, Calvin left Locke City shortly after the series ended, going to his home town of Baltimore and spending some time with his family. Within a few weeks, both of his injuries had mostly healed and he decided to return to Locke City. Returning to the city felt good, but once he got back, he was stuck with two things that were all kinds of distracting - a memory that made no sense and a string of numbers he couldn't attach any signifigance too or get rid of, no matter what.
First Echo:
Sunday, October 23. While running down a fly ball in a playoff baseball game, in the back of Calvin's mind, he wryly thought that, for the ball's velocity, he'd have an easier time trying to catch a runaway locomotive. Then, that's what happened. A flaming train flying right at him suddenly inserting itself into his memory was, understandable, somewhat disorienting for Calvin. Still having the fly ball to deal with, the distraction forced him to make an ill-advised, ill-timed leap, injuring himself.
When he had the time to actually sit down and think about it, he couldn't put anymore sense to the memory than he could when it had made its poorly timed insertion into his mind. The same went for the numbers now going through his mind.
Preincarnation Personality:
The important thing to grasp about Clark Kent, and probably one of the most obvious things, is that he wants to help people. Credit it to his Kryptonian parents who gave birth to him and gave him his powers, credit it to the Kents who raised him and instilled their values in him, it matters little. The result is that when he sees someone in danger, his first and often overriding instinct is to use his power to help them. His powers certainly make this possible, but they also alienate him. From a young age, he was instructed to keep his powers a secret, he wasn't allowed to play with other children, he was regarded as a freak by his peers. This wasn't enough to keep him from helping people (often against his father's wishes), but it taught him to keep a low profile early in his life, a talent he would hone as he grew older.
Knowing he wasn't human but having no idea why he'd been sent to Earth or where he'd come from, Clark grew up with constant feelings of confusion, fear, loneliness and frustration. He learned to hold back his frustration (for the most part) and as he grew, this led to him being very gradual to anger and unlikely to succumb to confrontation. When his adoptive father died, it nearly crushed Clark and eventually made him leave his home. But he channeled the guilt of being unable to save his father and it made him that much more dedicated to helping the people in front of him. Throughout his life, Clark has gone through many hardships and had many burdens placed upon him, but he's never let them change who he fundamentally is or try to shrug them off.
Meeting his birth father, Jor-El, learning of Krypton and of his father's desire for him to become a bridge between two races was, in many ways, a re-awakening for Clark. Beyond finally finding out where he'd come from, a massive relief in itself, it gave him the ability to do what he'd always wanted - show his true nature to humanity and use his powers to help them. The simple act of testing his limits and the consequent discovery that he could actually fly filled him with elation (the reasoning being twofold in that he could finally use his powers purely for the sake of using them with no fear of restraining himself, but also because he could freakin' fly). The difference shows greatly in his demeanor. To put it in simple terms, as Clark Kent, he's quiet, reticent and restrained to the point of awkwardness out of the fear of revealing his true nature. As Kal-El, there's no need to restrain himself anymore. He radiates composure, he's confident, he's decisive. He has a sense of candor that allows him to point blank say to a U.S. Army general that he (meaning both the army and humanity collectively) couldn't control him and couldn't keep watch of him. He believes strongly in what his birth father told him, that he could be a symbol of hope for humanity, that he could save them, but he just as strongly believes that it has to be on his own terms.
Although he's gradual to anger, Clark is not impervious to it and in some circumstances can be forced to it rather quickly. Threatening someone close to him or those he's sworn to protect in general quickly brings his ire to a burning point - the sight of his mother being threatened by General Zod sent him into a rage, making him mercilessly attack Zod over and over again and he didn't hesitate to fight his fellow Kryptonians when he knew what they planned to do to humanity. Despite this, Clark generally has an aversion to violence and especially to death. This culminated when he was forced to kill Zod to save a group of human civilians, the weight of his actions striking him in much the same way they had when his adoptive father had died. The guilt of being forced to kill Zod was so strong that it made Clark swear that he would never kill anyone again, no matter what. Though he is in many ways defined by his failures, his failure to protect his father, his failure to stop Zod from attacking Earth and hurting innocent people and his failure to then stop Zod without killing him, Clark will never let them change who he is. Be that an awkward human struggling to restrain himself so that he can fit in with those around him or a nigh-invincible alien sworn to protect as many as he can. He knows who he is, and after it taking his entire life for it to all come together, he has no intention of changing it now.
Any differences:
Calvin is a (relatively) normal human being who lived a (relatively) normal human life, making him markedly different from Clark from the outset. As a young man, Clark was cautioned to hide his extraordinary talents. Calvin was encouraged to do just the opposite - hone his talents, show people how smart, how fast, how strong he was, constantly. Become the very best at it. He's had an easier life than Clark for certain never having to deal with loneliness or confusion about who he was. Being blessed physically as he was and a very bright individual too, Calvin grew up with a magnetic personality, gaining friends and recognition wherever he went. Calvin wasn't forced to go through a great deal of hardship either, even by normal human standards. To get to where he is now required a massive amount of work and dedication from him, but always knowing what the fruits of his labor would bring made the work easy to swallow (if difficult to accomplish) and the payoff all the more sweet.
Though he learned to control his emotions and channel them in ways that could help him, Calvin never learned how to restrain himself to the degree Clark did. When he becomes invested in something, he becomes completely invested in it, and can quickly become angry, despondent or jubilant depending on how it turns out. Normally, he is an aloof, somewhat wry individual. He's easily lent to playful sarcasm, he's easygoing and makes no secret of the fact that he truly enjoys his life and desires little more than to keep doing so in his own way. However, when he truly, truly cares about something or someone, he throws his all into it. If he becomes angry, he's certainly not above getting into a fight and indeed can find himself spoiling for one, using it as a means to vent. But once he does vent out his negative emotions, he quickly lets them go. He doesn't dwell on his failures, he doesn't allow himself to be saddled with guilt, because he knows it's not useful to him. To that effect, he is not as emotionally mature as Clark is, but he may be somewhat more emotionally balanced than him.
In the most important way, Clark and Calvin do not actually differ that much. As a young man, Calvin always did his best to keep his nose clean, avoid any trouble that could interfere with his athletic aspirations. He was smart enough to understand the consequences of any malfeasance, so he just avoided it outright. But as he grew up a he found himself avoiding trouble for a different reason. Growing up under pressure from his parents to be the best he could be, the last thing Calvin wanted was to disappoint them and as he gained the attention of more and more people, he realized he didn't want to disappoint them either. When he realized his aspirations and became a pro athlete, that priority shifted. He didn't want to simply not disappoint anybody - he wanted to make use of what he had to help people and set a good example. Considering himself a representative of the Thunderbolts and of Locke City, Calvin tries to act as a role model befitting of that (albeit one who, as mentioned, is easily lent to sarcasm and has a unique sense of humor). He's an activist and a philanthropist within the city, donating his time and at this point in his career, mounting wealth, to causes which he believes can help people. He's not perfect though - he has let his temper get the better of him once or twice.
...a small handful of times.
...okay, he may have been suspended for flipping off an umpire on a televised broadcast once.
Abilities:
OOC: What follows is Clark's unabridged abilities from the movie, but fully aware as I am of how overpowered a fully-empowered Superman would be in a DWRP setting, I would have little problem curtailing his abilities as the mods see fit, Echoing them back to him at only a portion of their full potential, etc. Any limits that need to be imposed for the sake of balance, I'm willing to discuss them.
Kryptonian Physiology / Solar Energy Absorption: Krypton's environment was very harsh and its people are naturally conditioned to be able to withstand it. Earth's gravity is much weaker and its atmosphere is more nourishing than Krypton's and its sun is brighter and younger. Clark's body, born to live in Krypton's conditions, absorbs solar energy from the sun and is much stronger on Earth in a variety of ways.
Advanced Senses: Clark's hearing is incredibly advanced, allowing him to hear anything, regardless of how quiet it is, up to great distances. He can also see through any surface with X-Ray vision and it is heavily implied that he has telescopic vision, able to "zoom in" to see objects at a long distance. Unfiltered, these abilities cause massive, debilitating sensory overload, but thanks to help from his parents, Clark learned to focus and only perceive what he wants.
Superhuman Physical Attributes: As mentioned, due to the lower gravity, better atmosphere and yellow sun of Earth, Clark's body is much, much stronger:
- Super Strength: Clark has incredible raw strength, demonstrated by his accomplishing acts such as pushing a bus out of a river with his bare hands, holding up a collapsing oil rig, flying straight up through a gravity well and punching Zod and the other Kryptonians really really hard.
- Super Speed: Clark can move at supersonic speeds, moving from one side of the Earth to the other in mere minutes at one point. His reflexes and reaction time are similarly enhanced. At one point, he even moves faster than a speeding bullet. This ability extends to things such as the movement of his eyes and how quickly he processes information, allowing him to learn things and commit them to memory very quickly.
- Super Stamina/Toughness: Clark has incredible toughness, nearly to the point of invulnerability. His skin is very dense, functioning as natural armor and he has been shown being struck by flaming locomotives, falling oil rigs, satellites in orbit and weathering numerous pummelings from other Kryptonians, always coming out of it with little more than a slight daze and the wind knocked out of him. His stamina is similarly limitless, allowing him to engage in all manner of strenuous activity as long as his body has solar energy stored in it. Put simply, it is very very difficult to put him down for any extended period of time. Of particular note is that Clark seems to be capable of holding his breath in conditions where there's no oxygen for an extended period of time, traveling into space and spending an extended period of time underwater several times with no apparent struggle. This ability, however, is likely not limitless and he would probably need to breathe at some point.
Flight: By mentally manipulating the gravity around him with an extremely localized form of telekinesis, Clark can fly. After acclimating to the ability, he shows a great deal of precision and adeptness with it, able to slowly hover a short distance above the ground, fly at supersonic speeds from one end of the Earth to the other in mere moments or navigate through buildings in Metropolis with pinpoint accuracy.
Heat Vision: Clark can discharge solar energy from his eyes in the form of beams of heat. This ability has a very wide spectrum of intensity and Clark has demonstrated particular mastery and precision with it. As a child, he was capable of using it to heat up a doorknob to dissuade someone from using it and as an adult, he was able to use it to cauterize a wound. In its weakest form for uses such as these, the ability is invisible. At its strongest, it's materialized as a pair of white-hot orange beams of heat. The temperature and intensity of the beams is incredibly high in this state, being able to cut through metal and rock instantly and being incredibly dangerous on direct contact with another person. The ability is demonstrated to be painful to activate and de-activate and requires a short recovery period after it's used, even for someone of Clark's toughness.
Roleplay Sample - Third Person:
"Number 17, the Center Fielder....Caaaaaaalvin Kent!"
Some people briefly put aside their umbrellas to start clapping and cheering as the PA announced him. The ones with umbrellas were the smart ones, having had the foresight to know the forecast before coming and knowing that the park's roof wasn't working right and wouldn't be able to close right until they got it repaired. Which meant when it rained, for the time being, everybody just had to kind of tough it out. For the fans who hadn't had the foresight to bring protection from the elements, that meant either buying a poncho here at the park (how much did those things cost? 20 bucks a pop?) or just getting wet. Either way. The roof hadn't been working for close to a week and it had been raining for about half that. He appreciated their tenacity.
He took his place in the batter's box and stood ready. First pitch came in low and hit the dirt, the catcher immediately going down to stop it. Ball 1.
Calvin really didn't enjoy playing in the rain - it was harder to track fly balls, it was harder to run the bases. He liked playing in a park with a retractable roof for exactly that reason, but he couldn't really do anything about it right now.
Second pitch, fastball, he didn't pick it up until it was way too late. He tried to catch up to it and it blew right past him, had to be at least 97 MPH. Strike 1.
He let out a breath and stepped out of the batter's box for a second. He had to be ready for that one if it came again. He glanced towards first base. They had a runner there. If he could pull something down the line, he might be able to get the runner to third base, but should he try for a double? He knew the right fielder back there had a hell of an arm. He just didn't feel as comfortable running in this weather - he'd better hold up at first if he hit it in that direction.
Third pitch, he made contact with it, trying to pull it into right field. He almost had it, but it was off target, going way foul and into the stands. Strike 2.
Well, he thought somewhat wryly as he reset himself for the next pitch. Maybe I'll strike out and I can go back to the freakin' bench where it's warm. He had to admit, it was tempting. He briefly considered just swinging over the top of the next pitch. Very briefly.
Fourth pitch, fastball, he picked it up this time. He caught up to it. He made contact with it. From the second he swung, he knew he got it too. He dropped his bat and ran out of the batter's box. He saw the first baseman diving, his teammate already off like a shot on the basepaths. He heard the crowd roar as he hauled it down to first base as fast as his legs would carry him. They were still roaring when he reached first base. The ground felt good under his feet, better than he'd expected. He couldn't help but grin when he realized his legs weren't stopping.
Shit, here we go.
He took a wide turn and started running for second base. He made it a few strides and got ready to slide. His right foot caught the wet grass and came out from under him.
No, no, no, piss, HELL, SATAN, FUCK, DAMMIT, NO
He crashed to the ground in a heap, faceplanting into the grass and dirt. He pulled himself up as quickly as possible and half-scrambled, half-crawled back to first base. At some point his helmet had flown off into the right field grass, so when he collapsed on top of first base his head was bare for the rain to fall on. His heart was pounding up in his ears, so he didn't hear what the other team's first baseman was saying until he tapped him on the shoulder with his glove.
"...huh?"
Apparently, after he'd started running, the ball had bounced over the wall and into the stands. Ground-rule double. With the ball out of play, he was automatically given second base.
"..."
Calvin slowly pulled himself up and started walking to second, amidst a small maybe-a-little-sarcastic smattering of cheers from the audience in the stands and a lot of amusement from the players on the field. He glanced back at the bench and had to put on a wry smile when he saw them laughing and holding their arms up expectantly. The opposing right field, who he'd been so afraid of throwing him out, laughingly asked if he was okay as he tossed Calvin's helmet back to him. By the time he had his helmet back on and had gotten to second base, he had to admit he saw the humor in it. He tipped his cap to the stands, earning him more rain on his head and a slightly more earnest round of cheers as the PA announced the next batter.
He really couldn't wait for that roof to get fixed.
Roleplay Sample - Network:
Alright, so.
I feel like I've got a handle on this.
Those numbers that won't get out of my head. They're a password for this whole deal. Still undecided on how I got the numbers in the first place, I've narrowed it down to aliens or a Russian satellite beaming it into my head with either red or green lasers. But y'know, I got it. They're here and they're not going away.
And I understand you've got something going on here. I would find out what, but, I'm a busy guy. Normally, this is the part where I'd just state that all requests for me to participate in... ... ...I'm gonna be diplomatic and say "esoteric events" have to go through my agent, ask you to fire your space lasers into his head instead and leave it at that, but I've actually got a question. The numbers and this message board. I'm guessing they're connected to another unexplained thing that happened to me recently. If it is, I've got a question.
Who the hell here is responsible for that vision of flaming impending death I got and the goddamn concussion I got as a result? Please reveal yourself now and I promise I'll only sue you until you're dead a little bit.
To everybody else - hi, I'm Calvin. And if you know of the guy or guys I just addressed and can tell me anything about them or you've gone through the same thing I have, then we've got a good reason to become friends.
Any Questions? Obviously, a lot of this app is based on the supposition that a Major League Baseball franchise exists in Locke City, has for some time, and was playing relatively recently (in the second half of October). I hope that that's acceptable and, if the app is accepted, I can add the things connected to that team to the game's setting (information about the team, the arena where they play, etc.), with cooperation from others in the game. If some things about the team need to be adjusted to make the concept and the app itself acceptable, I'll gladly make them. If it's completely unacceptable, and this app would require an overhaul or rejection as a result, I'll understand.