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Post by Ophelia Courtney on Apr 4, 2020 3:18:15 GMT
OPHELIA COURTNEY
FULL NAME: Ophelia Delaney Courtney
CODENAME: Catalyst
FACE CLAIM: Laura Bailey
AGE: 35
CATEGORY: Powered
TEAM: Unaligned
ALIGNMENT: Villain
CODENAME: Catalyst
FACE CLAIM: Laura Bailey
AGE: 35
CATEGORY: Powered
TEAM: Unaligned
ALIGNMENT: Villain
Personal
SEXUALITY: Straight
GENDER: Female
PRONOUNS: She/Her
ETHNICITY: White
GENDER: Female
PRONOUNS: She/Her
ETHNICITY: White
Double Life
ABILITIES: Catalyst possesses the ability to temporarily enhance another superpower. When Catalyst touches someone with a superpower, she gains a knowledge of what their power generally is and it's general limitations, and then the ways she can enhance it. She can then choose to enhance the power for a period of time corresponding to the complexity and strength of the enhancement, which can be anywhere from a few minutes to hours or days, or leave them be. Catalyst typically focuses on only one or targets at any one time. Any more than that, and she starts to get overwhelmed and the amount of time their powers are enhanced diminishes rapidly.
SKILLS: While by no means an expert at any of them, Ophelia is skilled in hand to hand combat, and using knives and handguns. She's also spent a lot of time learning how to con and grift, as well as just outright steal. She is very good at reading body language, and while she isn't a human lie detector, she can generally get a sense of whether or not someone is believing the lie they're being told.
Ophelia is a master manipulator, able to find out what her mark wants and make it seem like she can give it to them if they just cooperate. Often, her mark won't even realize they've gotten the raw end of a deal until much later, if ever. People are so desperate for instant gratification over long-term benefits, after all.
WEAKNESSES: While clothing won't hinder Catalyst's abilities, she does still need to make contact with the target in order to enhance their powers. Catalyst cannot give powers to someone who doesn't have powers. The enhancement is temporary, it will fade when Catalyst either mentally releases the enhancement, or the time simply runs out. The more complex and powerful the enhancement, the shorter period of time it lasts. The longest Catalyst has maintained a very simple enhancement was three days. Catalyst must be conscious the entire time, otherwise the enhancement will fade. Enhancing powers takes a toll on Catalyst's metabolism; when she drops an enhancement she's often ravenous. She typically carries various easy high-carb snacks to replenish her energy.
The drawbacks to the target are also increased when the enhancement wears off, usually resulting in the target being more tired than usual after using their powers normally. In addition, the enhancement could be too much for the target to control, a factor that Catalyst will reluctantly weaponize in a pinch, but usually further restricts how much Catalyst can enhance a power.
The more people Catalyst tries to enhance at once, the less time she is able to maintain the enhancement. She tends to get overwhelmed if she does more than three at once for more than a minute or two, and even three doesn't go much further than five or ten minutes at a stretch, regardless of how complex the enhancement is. This time is further reduced by increased complexity and power, as per usual.
SKILLS: While by no means an expert at any of them, Ophelia is skilled in hand to hand combat, and using knives and handguns. She's also spent a lot of time learning how to con and grift, as well as just outright steal. She is very good at reading body language, and while she isn't a human lie detector, she can generally get a sense of whether or not someone is believing the lie they're being told.
Ophelia is a master manipulator, able to find out what her mark wants and make it seem like she can give it to them if they just cooperate. Often, her mark won't even realize they've gotten the raw end of a deal until much later, if ever. People are so desperate for instant gratification over long-term benefits, after all.
WEAKNESSES: While clothing won't hinder Catalyst's abilities, she does still need to make contact with the target in order to enhance their powers. Catalyst cannot give powers to someone who doesn't have powers. The enhancement is temporary, it will fade when Catalyst either mentally releases the enhancement, or the time simply runs out. The more complex and powerful the enhancement, the shorter period of time it lasts. The longest Catalyst has maintained a very simple enhancement was three days. Catalyst must be conscious the entire time, otherwise the enhancement will fade. Enhancing powers takes a toll on Catalyst's metabolism; when she drops an enhancement she's often ravenous. She typically carries various easy high-carb snacks to replenish her energy.
The drawbacks to the target are also increased when the enhancement wears off, usually resulting in the target being more tired than usual after using their powers normally. In addition, the enhancement could be too much for the target to control, a factor that Catalyst will reluctantly weaponize in a pinch, but usually further restricts how much Catalyst can enhance a power.
The more people Catalyst tries to enhance at once, the less time she is able to maintain the enhancement. She tends to get overwhelmed if she does more than three at once for more than a minute or two, and even three doesn't go much further than five or ten minutes at a stretch, regardless of how complex the enhancement is. This time is further reduced by increased complexity and power, as per usual.
Appearance
GENERAL: Ophelia dresses fashionably, but not to the point of impracticality. Pants are something she wears often, usually fairly form-fitting, but not overly so. Skirts are less common, and when they are worn it's typically with leggings or something underneath, just in case. Tops follow the same trend, stylish but practical, tight but not restricting. A leather jacket might finish off her typical ensemble when the weather permits, and she isn't afraid to dress up much more formally when the occasion calls for it, be it a fancy dinner or party, or just a night on the town.
She has dark brown hair that falls to right about her shoulder blades, brown eyes, and a fair complexion that hints that she might not spend as much time on Astaria's sunny beaches as she probably should. She has a burn scar on her right wrist from a childhood accident, roughly in the shape of a hand. She doesn't take great pains to hide it, but it's also not terribly obvious either.
COSTUME: Catalyst prefers not to get her own hands dirty if she can help it, but when she has to make an appearance she wears a black protective bodysuit, with plenty of pouches and pockets for snacks, due to her power usage increasing her metabolism, as well as storage for several knives, and at least two handguns. She also carries a taser and a stun baton, in case she wants to leave whoever she's dealing with alive. She keeps her identity secret with a half-helmet sort of apparatus, with a visor that comes down and covers her eyes out of a hard protective shell that covers the front half of her head, but allows her brunette ponytail to sprout out of the back.
She has dark brown hair that falls to right about her shoulder blades, brown eyes, and a fair complexion that hints that she might not spend as much time on Astaria's sunny beaches as she probably should. She has a burn scar on her right wrist from a childhood accident, roughly in the shape of a hand. She doesn't take great pains to hide it, but it's also not terribly obvious either.
COSTUME: Catalyst prefers not to get her own hands dirty if she can help it, but when she has to make an appearance she wears a black protective bodysuit, with plenty of pouches and pockets for snacks, due to her power usage increasing her metabolism, as well as storage for several knives, and at least two handguns. She also carries a taser and a stun baton, in case she wants to leave whoever she's dealing with alive. She keeps her identity secret with a half-helmet sort of apparatus, with a visor that comes down and covers her eyes out of a hard protective shell that covers the front half of her head, but allows her brunette ponytail to sprout out of the back.
Personality
Ophelia will be the kindest, most friendly person you will ever meet, on the surface. Really, until you manage to dig past her shell and really get to know her, she's just looking for an angle, how she can make the relationship work for her and further her goals. Until you get past that first layer, if you don't have a benefit to her, she'll drop you. Her real friends are few and far between, and as such she's often lonely, not that she'll ever let you know.
Past that shell, she's very confident in herself and the value she has, and will kill for the few she considers friends. She keeps herself emotionally distant from most, believing that most people are just like her, looking for an angle and something they can get out of her.
While she's perfectly willing to swindle most people, she draws the line at children and elderly. She's not one to just go killing because she can, but if someone gets in the way of a plan and gets themselves hurt, it's not her fault in her opinion.
Past that shell, she's very confident in herself and the value she has, and will kill for the few she considers friends. She keeps herself emotionally distant from most, believing that most people are just like her, looking for an angle and something they can get out of her.
While she's perfectly willing to swindle most people, she draws the line at children and elderly. She's not one to just go killing because she can, but if someone gets in the way of a plan and gets themselves hurt, it's not her fault in her opinion.
History
Ophelia Delaney Courtney was born on April 3rd, 1985, to Walter and Miranda Courtney. Her older brother, Francis (although he preferred to be called Flick), was disappointed at the time that it was a girl, and not a boy, but the two still became fast friends anyway as they grew up on the family farm outside of Bricktown, Oregon, just a couple towns over from Astaria.
Flick discovered his powers at age thirteen, when Ophelia was ten. He could make small flames shoot out of the tips of his fingers, not unlike that of a lighter. It wasn't entirely a surprise, Walter could pick up the cows when they didn't want to get out of the way, and Miranda could levitate small objects to her hand. Flick was taught by his father how to be safe and responsible with his powers quickly, and Ophelia couldn't have been happier for her brother and the new trick he could do.
When Ophelia turned thirteen, that's when she discovered her power. One day, she was helping her mother with some chores, and she happened to touch her shoulder. In that moment, Ophelia knew all the specifics about her mother's power, and how she could make it better. Dinner was made that evening without touching any of the utensils.
It wasn't long before Ophelia and Flick wanted to experiment with how their powers could be used together. Despite their parents warning them to not do such a thing without an adult present, they snuck out one night and hid in the barn to see just how high they could get Flick's flames to go. That's when tragedy struck.
Ophelia used her powers on Flick, and suddenly his whole body burst into flames. He couldn't control it. He couldn't stop it. He panicked, and flailed about in the barn, full of dry wood and hay. The barn caught fire, and Ophelia just stood, terrified of what happened, not knowing what to do or how to stop it. Flick could see that crossbeams were about to collapse and trap them both inside, and rather than have them both die because of a stupid mistake, decided to save his sister. Despite his hand still being wreathed in flame, he grabbed Ophelia by the wrist and threw her out of the barn, burning her wrist and leaving her with a scar that she would carry for the rest of her life.
Terrified of everything that had just happened, Ophelia ran. She didn't know if Flick was alive or dead, or how her parents would react in either situation, but the guilt she felt for causing this horrible accident pushed her legs forward. She ran and ran and she didn't look back, eventually ending up in Astaria.
A thirteen year old girl, all on her own on the streets of Astaria was going to have a rough time. She avoided the police, believing herself to be wanted by the law for what happened, and also avoided anywhere else that might have given her help, thinking they'd just turn her over to someone that would throw her in jail. It was a happy coincidence that she ran into Flea's Circus.
At least that's what they called themselves. It was really a band of lowlives, thieves, con artists, dealers, and other swindlers that banded together under a man who called himself Flea, on account of his ability to jump at superhuman heights and speeds. All of them had a unique power that they turned to gaining wealth by underhanded means. Initially, Flea was going to have nothing to do with Ophelia, but once he learned what she could do with her powers, saw potential for profit.
It was a good few years, working under Flea. Ophelia took the codename Catalyst, to just generally fit in with the rest of the group and continue to hide from the people she was sure were still coming after her for Flick's accident. Her job was usually to enhance the abilities of one or more of the members of the Circus before another job. Eventually, she was taught how to con, swindle, steal, and generally work the seedy underbelly of Haven in Astaria.
All of that came to a screeching halt one day, when Catalyst, at the age of 19, was brought along on a job to move some "merchandise." She was horrified to discover that said "merchandise" wasn't drugs or guns, but children, none of which could have been older than ten.
She refused to help, and Flea and the rest of the circus promptly kicked her to the curb. That was the day she really learned that the only person you could really trust was yourself, everyone else was just trying to find the best way to use your for your own interests.
She wasn't about to let Flea and his Circus get away with child trafficking though. She used everything she had learned, plus a few tricks she taught herself, to roll in to the Circus' safehouse, rob them blind, and then follow that up with swindling her way into all the "merchandise" they were moving, sending them via a proxy (that she kept an incredibly close eye on) to the local police, which she greased all the right palms and made all the right deals to make sure those kids got to good homes. Later, she worked on selling out Flea and his Circus, getting them off the streets. She had no problem swindling people and running contraband, but she drew the line at kids and the elderly.
Over the next several years, Catalyst built up her own little network of hoodlums, thieves, con artists, and other societal detritus. She wasn't about to give them a name, and she wasn't about to get too attached to any of them. The moment someone started to not be worth her investment, she went somewhere else. But she got results, and gave a good share of the take for any job you did with her. By the time the present day rolled around, Catalyst had carved out a nice little niche for herself in the underbelly of Astaria.
By day, she managed to cultivate a secret identity, to make Ophelia a respectable name. She had a nice little apartment, nice clothes, even a cat named Ronin. Perfect for scoping out marks for Catalyst to point a couple hooligans at later.
Flick discovered his powers at age thirteen, when Ophelia was ten. He could make small flames shoot out of the tips of his fingers, not unlike that of a lighter. It wasn't entirely a surprise, Walter could pick up the cows when they didn't want to get out of the way, and Miranda could levitate small objects to her hand. Flick was taught by his father how to be safe and responsible with his powers quickly, and Ophelia couldn't have been happier for her brother and the new trick he could do.
When Ophelia turned thirteen, that's when she discovered her power. One day, she was helping her mother with some chores, and she happened to touch her shoulder. In that moment, Ophelia knew all the specifics about her mother's power, and how she could make it better. Dinner was made that evening without touching any of the utensils.
It wasn't long before Ophelia and Flick wanted to experiment with how their powers could be used together. Despite their parents warning them to not do such a thing without an adult present, they snuck out one night and hid in the barn to see just how high they could get Flick's flames to go. That's when tragedy struck.
Ophelia used her powers on Flick, and suddenly his whole body burst into flames. He couldn't control it. He couldn't stop it. He panicked, and flailed about in the barn, full of dry wood and hay. The barn caught fire, and Ophelia just stood, terrified of what happened, not knowing what to do or how to stop it. Flick could see that crossbeams were about to collapse and trap them both inside, and rather than have them both die because of a stupid mistake, decided to save his sister. Despite his hand still being wreathed in flame, he grabbed Ophelia by the wrist and threw her out of the barn, burning her wrist and leaving her with a scar that she would carry for the rest of her life.
Terrified of everything that had just happened, Ophelia ran. She didn't know if Flick was alive or dead, or how her parents would react in either situation, but the guilt she felt for causing this horrible accident pushed her legs forward. She ran and ran and she didn't look back, eventually ending up in Astaria.
A thirteen year old girl, all on her own on the streets of Astaria was going to have a rough time. She avoided the police, believing herself to be wanted by the law for what happened, and also avoided anywhere else that might have given her help, thinking they'd just turn her over to someone that would throw her in jail. It was a happy coincidence that she ran into Flea's Circus.
At least that's what they called themselves. It was really a band of lowlives, thieves, con artists, dealers, and other swindlers that banded together under a man who called himself Flea, on account of his ability to jump at superhuman heights and speeds. All of them had a unique power that they turned to gaining wealth by underhanded means. Initially, Flea was going to have nothing to do with Ophelia, but once he learned what she could do with her powers, saw potential for profit.
It was a good few years, working under Flea. Ophelia took the codename Catalyst, to just generally fit in with the rest of the group and continue to hide from the people she was sure were still coming after her for Flick's accident. Her job was usually to enhance the abilities of one or more of the members of the Circus before another job. Eventually, she was taught how to con, swindle, steal, and generally work the seedy underbelly of Haven in Astaria.
All of that came to a screeching halt one day, when Catalyst, at the age of 19, was brought along on a job to move some "merchandise." She was horrified to discover that said "merchandise" wasn't drugs or guns, but children, none of which could have been older than ten.
She refused to help, and Flea and the rest of the circus promptly kicked her to the curb. That was the day she really learned that the only person you could really trust was yourself, everyone else was just trying to find the best way to use your for your own interests.
She wasn't about to let Flea and his Circus get away with child trafficking though. She used everything she had learned, plus a few tricks she taught herself, to roll in to the Circus' safehouse, rob them blind, and then follow that up with swindling her way into all the "merchandise" they were moving, sending them via a proxy (that she kept an incredibly close eye on) to the local police, which she greased all the right palms and made all the right deals to make sure those kids got to good homes. Later, she worked on selling out Flea and his Circus, getting them off the streets. She had no problem swindling people and running contraband, but she drew the line at kids and the elderly.
Over the next several years, Catalyst built up her own little network of hoodlums, thieves, con artists, and other societal detritus. She wasn't about to give them a name, and she wasn't about to get too attached to any of them. The moment someone started to not be worth her investment, she went somewhere else. But she got results, and gave a good share of the take for any job you did with her. By the time the present day rolled around, Catalyst had carved out a nice little niche for herself in the underbelly of Astaria.
By day, she managed to cultivate a secret identity, to make Ophelia a respectable name. She had a nice little apartment, nice clothes, even a cat named Ronin. Perfect for scoping out marks for Catalyst to point a couple hooligans at later.
Player
OOC NAME: Overlord I mean KingJ, you know me.
PRONOUNS: He/Him
OTHER CHARACTERS: Timothy Smith , Nihilo , Alice , Tayla Smith , Bradley Alans
SOURCE: BEHOLD MY CREATION!!!
PRONOUNS: He/Him
OTHER CHARACTERS: Timothy Smith , Nihilo , Alice , Tayla Smith , Bradley Alans
SOURCE: BEHOLD MY CREATION!!!
credit to Laura of Adox
