Random Character Ideas (The Vigilant)

[Gremlin]

So, I've been in a creative rut for awhile, and I'm getting back into writing by focusing on making my favorite characters a little more interesting.  I mean, every story starts with good characters, right?

So.  I'm revamping a lot of my guys to make them more interesting.  This isn't an Ultimate-style relaunch, I don't want pointless grittiness.  I want realistic characters, with realistic and interesting backgrounds, mindsets, and psychologies.  I want each one to be a unique individual, a character who could have a whole story in their own right.

So, I'm going to throw a couple of characters up here a day.  Their powers, backstories, and basic info.  If you think something is lame, tell me; if there's something interesting, tell me.  I want feedback.  Usually, I think they're cool, but do you?  Do people want to read about these guys?  Would you care about them?

Remember, I'm developing the specifics as I go sometimes, so I'll have a lot of thinking aloud.  Well, typing.  You know what I mean.

Here we go.  I'm going to start with my nanobot characters, since I loves me some nanobots.

Nanite: Originally, Nanite was a colony of nanobots with a sentient hivemind that came from the future to stop a powerful evil entity named Demonik from taking over the world.  I've scrapped Demonik, since he was a dumb character, and came up with something else.  He doesn't know.

Nanobots are incredibly versatile objects.  A single nanobot has the capacity to transform itself into a variety of slightly different shapes, thus having a different function.  Neutrally, nanobots are tiny little maggoty looking things, but they can curl into jimmies for reduced mobility and increased storage capacity and processing speed (since they don't have to worry about moving themselves, as other nanobots move for them), flatten out (they usually connect together to form a solid skin or plates in this state; they don't move much, again, but they are more rigid), or lengthen themselves (they can move independently, and are used in this state to create skeletons to support whatever shape the colony takes).  Nanite, upon creation, had a skeleton made of stretched out bots, a skin of plate ones, and (most importantly) a "computer" of curled up ones; most of his nanobots only use their processors to control their movement, and the ball-form nanobots took all the cognitive functions.  The plate and elongated nanobots can switch forms rapidly without a problem, but the ball nanobots are invariably going to lose some of their data.  Processing power isn't infinite, after all, and a nanobot doesn't have much RAM or disk space individually.  If they have to change shape and start moving around more, they have to surrender some of their processing power to compensate.  Normally this isn't a huge deal, as they can just shove their data into the spare disk space of other nanobots nearby.  But this process takes some time.  And if the nanobots specifically designed to hold memory are destroyed, the colony is quite clueless.  This is a problem.  Specifically, this is Nanite's problem.

His operating system and basic machine intelligence program ("I am not artificial!") are constant from nanobot to nanobot.  But his massive cache of information on our era, his index of history and supers, was all destroyed when 98% of his body was incinerated.  Naturally, one of the core components of his programming is his ability to replicate himself.  The 2% of the nanobots remaining did so immediately.  But, with all of his memory destroyed, he only remembers his name and his mission, but none of the specifics.  He's taken to superheroics in an effort to cover all the bases, figuring if he saves the world whenever he can, he's bound to get it right some time.

He used to be really freaking powerful; he could eat through anything instantly, increase or decrease his mass and size, change shape and density, hack computers, and all manner of awesome.  But with the new restrictions, he's more limited.  Yes, he can change shape, but it requires dismantling his skeleton and skin and putting it back together in a different order, so it takes longer.  Whenever he goes completely liquid, he gets a little slower, since his memory, RAM, and cognitive processors have to disperse whatever they're processing among the rest of his nanobots.  A lot of extraneous stuff, like his personality, gets compressed to save space, and he can't access it when in a fluid form.  But he can still increase his density, and mass if he has to.  He can tear stuff apart, and he can increase his mass with whatever he consumes, although that can sometimes strain his computers, and he doesn't like making excess nanobots, since it actually takes a couple minutes to make them well; if you rush the job, you sometimes have hardware or programming errors, which can lead to unpleasant things like animalistic swarms of grey goo that consume whatever they touch.  Not to mention he has to kill off extra ones, which raises some interesting ethical issues that's he'd just as rather not worry about.

Nanobots communicate by ultra high frequency, low wavelength radio waves of very low amplitude among the colony.  This allows for intercolonial communication at c, and at 1.8-ish meters from head to foot, that means pretty much instantaneous reflexes.  I don't know if the ball nanobots should also serve as sensory organs, or make each nanobot play a role in picking up data.  Probably the former.  How about both?  Yeah, ok.  All nanobots can pick up sound, radio, and basic vision (rods in your retinas), but specialized webs of ball nanobots in his skin pick up things like heat and specific vision (the equivalent of cones).  They can also adapt themselves pretty easily to other types of sensory data, too, like touch, taste and smell, although I'm not sure if he really senses them or just gets some kinda readout on what it "feels" like.

I'm not sure what other superpowers come out of this.  Super regeneration, so long as he has a lot of metal and sillicon lying around.  Shape shifting, albeit slow, and it'll still be obvious he's a machine, or at least silver.  I can see himself going completely ball-form, too, turning himself into a massive supercomputer with hideously fast processing speed.  Super senses, super reflexes, density increase, probably some limited form of superstrength (make a lot of freeform nanobots go strandy, turn them into "muscles")

Nanite is intensely curious.  He loves to learn new things about the world he's in, especially people, since they fascinate him so much.  He enjoys comedy, which is difficult for him to grasp but makes him incredibly joyful when he does.  He's emotionally simplistic/underdeveloped, but intellectually advanced, although he's not very good with abstract reasoning (since he's, you know, a computer).  I think the best way to protray him is kind of mentally challenged, actually.  Like a savant.  Very intelligent, lots of information, but emotionally stunted and unable to put the big picture together.  I hate writing MI's the same; "Unit designate blah inquiry: blehdebleh".  That was his old speech patterns, which I've decided to toss out.  I really need to think about how, exactly, he thinks and puts stuff together.  I figure that's the key to his character.

The Colony: So, not all of the nanobots that became Nanite stayed Nanite.  Some of them, stolen by the scientists at CarterCorp, were reprogrammed with a new operating system.  The first attempt to change them was far too successful, resulting in a mindless gray goo that consumes everything it touches.  The second was marginally better.  The new nanobots were efficient eaters, but were easily controlled by external remotes, and could replicate within their structure anything they'd eaten; if they were fed a car, for instance, they could arrange themselves in a near-perfect, nanobot-weave replica, artificially recreating each molecule with a couple of uniquely stuck together robots.  When one of the scientists on the job secretly planned to leave CarterCorp with stolen technology to sell to the highest bidder, the higher-ups decided to eliminate him; he was the tragic victim of a workplace accident where he was consumed by these replicating nanobots.  But something went wrong.  Already designed to contain a sapient consciousness, when the nanobots recreated the scientist's nervous system, his personality reemerged, taking over the colony and seeking revenge on those who destroyed him.

This next section is really bizarre and messed up.  Just warning you.
[spoiler]Since the scientist's brain was far too complex to be perfectly repeated, his new mind is a fusion of his previous personality and the nanobot hivemind.  As such, his need to reproduce himself is a bizarre combination of physical hunger and sexual desire.  Nanobots replicate simply to replicate, but his psyche is hardwired to see such stuff...differently.  I imagine it would be most discomforting to fight this guy if one part of him is kicking your butt and the other part is latched onto a car, and he's moaning like it's the best thing he's ever felt.  That might be too much, so maybe the action itself isn't sexual, but the desire itself is?  That would be incredibly frustrating.  Like if you were constantly trying to relieve your sexual tension but no matter what you tried, you couldn't do it.  Like if all the nerves in your...er, naughty bits suddenly stopped sending any information to your brain at all.  OH.  That's cool.  And torturous.  Ok, it's like that.  But also with the desire to eat mixed in.  I'm pretty sure that could get sated.  Man, it's weird thinking about how you'd link two completely different basic desires together.  It's defintely not like a food fetish sorta deal.  Hmm.[/spoiler]

I think, since these nanobots are better at reproducing stuff, Colony is primarily a shapeshifter.  He can easily adapt himself to any form with little difficulty.  I don't know if he'd spend most of his time bipedal or as a pseudo-anthropomorphic blob, kinda like Ultimate Venom.  I figure he can shift shapes on the fly.  Maybe stretchiness could be a part of it.  His nanos distribute his personality, memory and the like among all the bots, so he doesn't have any sort of solid computer brain in him, he's just a glop of machines.  Instead of being dumber, he probably has more mass, and doesn't have many qualms about shooting off extra bits of himself.  Although any new personalities that form defintely aren't his own.  Hmm.  Maybe he doesn't like replicating himself in different bodies because any new colony has a different personality that he can't control?  I'm not sure.

The Mapmaker: Okay, I love this dude so much.  He's kinda stolen from a sci-fi short story I read once; the title eludes me.  So, one of the scientists at CarterCorp working on reprograming the nanobots gets the idea to use them to enhance people's bodies instead of just letting them run amok.  Naturally, he winds up getting himself pumped full of the little dudes.  They proceed to do all sorts of funky things to him; his muscles start getting better, his digestive tract gets more efficient, he loses a lot of weight, that sorta deal.  Not a whole lot is changing, although he feels like he's in a lot of pain.  Suddenly, he starts hearing voices.  They've broken through the blood-brain barrier and are now communicating with him directly.  Turns out the new nanobots think the dude is God.  They/it (the colony functions as a single entity more than as individual bots, obviously) call/s him "The Mapmaker," because of the secret "maps of the universe" hidden in the very core of each and every cell.  Obviously, the entire universe is designed to be studied, and the nanobots have pretty much made a religion out of it.  They worship this guy as God, who created His body to house His creations in return for their loyalty and servitude.  At first, he's scared out of his mind.  But then he starts to get used to being worshipped.  And then he starts to like it.  He commands the nanobots to do other things; strengthen his spinal cord, put layers of nanobots under his skin; rewire his eyes, ears, to be more sensitive.  He integrates billions of ball nanobots into his brain, increasing his intelligence to absurd levels.  He essentially has them transform his body into something incredibly powerful, and more efficient than any human.

Super strength, speed, agility and reflexes just slightly above maximum human norms.  Crazy regeneration, faster than pure nanos since his own natural healing is sped up, AND he's got nanobots themselves help.  Really smart, and not limited like Nanite or Colony by completely robotic minds.  Since he still looks human, he can blend into crowds, which the others can't.  Not to mention he could probably have his nanobots subtley reshape his face, color his hair, etc.  I'm not sure what else he would have.

Of course, once he starts to revel in being worshipped by the nanobots, he slowly begins to wonder why everybody else isn't worshipping him as well.  He is a god, after all.  Why aren't people bowing at his feet?  This defines the guy.  He wants people to worship him.  He probably gains acolytes by pumping people full of nanobots and turning their brains into putty.  Perfect superpowerful servants, completely obedient to his will.  Maybe that counts as a superpower?  Mind control?  I like that.  Yeah, let's do it.  He's got mind control.  He could even take over just your brain with his nanos and leave your body untouched.  He probably does that with most of his acolytes.  Only the truly loyal ones get superpowers.

Ideas?  Thoughts?  Looks like I really need to focus on making their powers more unique.  Their personalities seem off to a good start.

[lmalonsof]

I work in a Nanotechnology company and I just can say... congratulations for your Nanite character! :D
I really like their story and the approach you gave it. It would be great if someone make a skin for it!

[Gremlin]

Dude, are you serious?  You work for guys who MAKE nanobots?

[lmalonsof]

I work for a nanotech. company, but I'm afraid that never won't be nanobots (but I like your character anyway)... We produce metallic and magnetic nanoparticles, those that allow you to print microcircuits in fabrics so you can have a mp3 player circuit printed in your clothes and plug a SD memory stick and headphones in your coat to listen some music (Nanotextiles). They can be used also for DNA extraction and separation, RMN, fluorescent contrasts in biomedical applications, conductive inks and pastes, antimicrobial paints... It's nano but the applications are not sci-fi.

I know that sci-fi (and some people from Greenpeace) think that we are going to invade everything with nanobots to control the world and so on (I don't mean that you are one of these), but that's far beyond from reality. Real nanotechnology will go towards 'Soft machines' and microfluidics, if you're interested in it you can read the whole article it in my nano-related blog:
http://nanowarp.blogspot.com/search/label/soft%20machines

Anyway I like the idea that sci-fi has about nanobots and nanotechnology, and when I saw your character I was shocked... I mean you can expect sci-fi related characters but nano is my field, and it's not easy to see nano things away from my job.

[BaronGrackle]

The Mapmaker: Okay, I love this dude so much.  He's kinda stolen from a sci-fi short story I read once; the title eludes me.

Unless I'm mistaken, it eludes you because it's similar to an episode of Futurama called "Parasites Lost". A great episode!

Of course, in that version of the story...[spoiler]Fry (the main character) eventually decides to eliminate the parasites (technically, I'd consider them symbiotes!) from his body after Leela falls in love with the new him, and he wants to see whether she loves him or the "parasites".[/spoiler]

I looked on Wikipedia to see what that part of the episode was inspired by, but it seems like they made up the idea of micro-organisms improving a man's body and somewhat worshipping him as the universe. I like your character's response to the nanos better, myself, but that's why villains are fun!

[DrMike2000]

Bloody hell! Awesome ideas, Gremlin!

You had me at the spoiler bit, about the Colony having, gulp.. relations.. with a car mid-fight! Love it! :D Raises intersting questions about the way we separate "self" from "other".

The Mapmaker reminds me more than a little of the final episode of "The Filth" by Morrison and Weston, where the protagonist Greg Feely is prtrayed as a "bio-ship" peopled by little nanite creatures.

Nanite himself:
Yeah, dropping the machine talk is a good idea, in favour of the simple stranger archetype. I like the ide aof a robot who can look completely human but every now and then totally fails to, you know turning himself inside out and liquid as required without quite realising how freaky this looks. And having his intelligence switch off in liquid form is cool, like he'd have to sort of programme himself to do whatever and then reform before melting.

[Gremlin]

So, I was gonna post this awhile back, but life got in the way...I'm graduating this year, and trying to recover my GPA from senioritis and sadistic teachers.  Whatevs.

My main superhero team is a group called the Vigilant, and their history traces back to the start of the current superhero boom.  The mutagen that gives people superpowers, M.I.G.A. (Mutation Inducing Genetic Amplifier), was invented in Area 51 by a team of elite scientists who were told to create a squadron of superpowered soldiers for the armed forces.  One of the scientists, the famous genius Dr. Richard Kent, used the finished formula on himself.  He used his newfound telekinetic and telepathic abilities to tear the complex apart, killing almost everyone and everything inside it as he escaped.  But there were more projects than the M.I.G.A. research.  One survivor became the Gadgeteer, who recruited Patriotman, Powerhouse, and Ethan Miller (who eschews superhero handles) to become the first incarnation of the Vigilant.

They gained prominence when they brokered a deal with IBC, the International Broadcasting Company, to start their own reality television show.  They screened hundreds of applicants to create an elite team of eight superheroes: Patriotman, the Gadgeteer, Powerhouse, Sensory, Speedstress, Freezer Burn, Empath, and Graviton

The Gadgeteer: One of the experiments at Area 51 was Project Solomon, an experiment in genetic factors of human intelligence.  Using DNA from some of the smartest and most creative men alive (Edison, Einstein, Feynman, etc.), they created a human being with a brain nearly 15% larger and heavier than average.  Additional manipulation also allowed the subject to rapidly regrow his brain cells and neural networks.  However, this abnormally powerful brain came at a price: intense debilitating migraines and the failsafe paranoid schizophrenia.  Project Solomon was born and lived in a glass tube for years, immersed in a virtual reality world where he did nothing but learn the sciences.  Once his education was complete, he built.  He designed dozens of high-tech weapons before Kent destroyed the complex.  And when the ceiling came tumbling down, he did not die--but his illusionary world ended, and he found himself lying on the ground in a pool of wires and green fluid and broken glass.

He tore the coat from a corpse nearby and escaped from the ruins.  In the desert, he would've died of heat stroke had a passing tourist not found and rescued him.  He spent weeks in Nevada, healing his atrophied muscles, adapting to life in the outside world, and desperately trying to manufacture enough morphine and antipsychotic drugs to keep him functional.  A return voyage to the ruins of Area 51 led to the discovery and recovery of dozens of secret files, including a list of potential supersoldier candidates, the formula for M.I.G.A., and an experimental offensive/defensive mechanized flight suit.  Before he could finish his scavenging, an Air Force clean-up crew arrived, and he had to flee for his life using the experimental suit.

Back in Nevada, Solomon developed a hatred of the United States Government and hatched a plan to elude them.  He decided to locate the most "heroic" of the potential candidates, an honorably discharged Marine named Robert Carlson who now lived in the city of Freeport, California.  He would replicate the M.I.G.A., grant Carlson superpowers, and make him adopt the moniker of the top-secret Patriotman, America's premier superhero since World War II.  Together, they would attain a very high profile--with the formula for superpowers in the hands of a madman, Solomon knew it would only be a matter of time before life turned into a comic book--and the military, still looking for him, would be hard pressed to pull off a successful assassination.

His plan went off with little difficulty.  His flight to Freeport was quiet and low-key, and the subsequent team-up with Carlson accomplished his goals quite nicely.  The two quickly became fast friends, although Carlson's incredibly conservative and religious views drove the atheistic liberal anarchist Gadgeteer up the wall.  Powerhouse's idea to make a television show irked his ideals, but was an efficient way to move into the spotlight.  He still keeps his true motives and weaknesses a secret, but as time passes he finds he's being a superhero to genuinely do good.

His only superpower is his brain, but what a brain it is.  He equipped Patriotman with most of his gear, and upgraded the flight suit with various weapons and defensive measures.  He also has a small cache of additional suits adapted to various environments and purposes; a space suit, an underwater suit, etc.  The primary suit contains antigravity flight capacity, a laser torch, a force-field generator that can be converted into a battering ram (or similar simple solid weapon), and a variety of tiny weapons (glue grenades, flash bombs, tracers, etc).  His suit has a wireless internet connection, which gives him near instant access to maps and other useful information.  And, of course, a constant feed of antipsychotic and painkilling drugs, which nobody knows about but him.  The most important element, though, is his plethora of tools.  The Gadgeteer isn't just a powersuit, he's a supergenius who can think on his feet, and technology is his greatest asset.  From laser torches to superstrong adhesives and everything in between, the Gadgeteer is never caught off guard.

Gadgeteer is brilliant, and a wonderful planner (although not tactically), but finds it difficult to empathize with others; he's incredibly emotionally underdeveloped, having spent most of his life isolated in a computer.  Sometimes he is terrified by how much he cares about his friends, since his loyalty is based on the entirely irrational feeling of love.  He's rather arrogant and self-assured, but at the same time is utterly paranoid about being hurt.  He doesn't like being alone for extended periods of time, but at the same time, can be easily bored by others of lesser intelligence (i.e. everyone).  He enjoys keeping up with current events, especially politically and scientifically, and is a huge conspiracy theorist.  He doesn't trust easily, but applies a double standard where he expects to be trusted completely by everyone.  He doesn't mind lying to people to get what he wants, but usually doesn't have to.