Raveled Posted June 26, 2010 Posted June 26, 2010 So, I'm worrying that my Nighwing-expy might be a little too Iron Age for this site. I figured I'd put it here, see what other folks think. Derek Adrian Valance had it pretty good growing up. He lived in a little bungalow with his parents out at the edge of the city, where there weren’t too many skyscrapers but it was still a little too urban and densely packed to be a suburb. His mom taught elementary school, which sometimes resulted in Derek getting beaten up, but his dad was a cop; a young fear of the law and residual cool factor kept most of the bullies away. More than that, though, his father was a world-class martial artist and started teaching his son the essentials of escrima almost as soon as the boy had the physical dexterity for it. Derek’s life took a sharp turn when her was 14. His father was killed in a raid on a meth lab, shot in the back with a shotgun at closer range. The druggie was shot to death soon after, but it didn’t help the remaining Valances. A policeman’s benefits just didn’t stretch very far, and Mama Valance was forced to move them out of their nice neighborhood – and, when she lost her job at the nice school, had to move again and again. After a year or so of this, the pair ended up in the Fens. Derek joined a street gang, partly for protection and partly in teenage rebellion, but mostly as an outlet for his anger. He stayed out late, got piercings and tattoos, and got into plenty of fights. When he was 17, he broke into an apartment with a friend and started ransacking it, looking for valuables. They hadn’t planned on the man of the house being home, though, nor on him being armed. The man only had one gun, though; while he was covering Derek, the second delinquent snuck up behind him and hit him over the head. Once the man was down, the thug picked up the weapon and shot the home owner in the head until the gun clicked dry. The two fled the scene, but the event forced Derek to reevaluate where his life was headed, and her didn’t like it very much. He cut ties to the gang and moved to the Southside. One night he was in a convenience store, pondering which of his fake IDs to buy beer with, when a kid even younger than Derek came through the front door and pointed a gun at the lady behind the counter, screaming for the cash. It was simple enough for Derek to ghost behind the punk and disarm him; breaking the kids wrist and bouncing him off the walls a few times probably wasn’t necessary, but it made Derek feel a lot better. So much so that it made him consider things in a new light. Derek was, for all his young age, a trained and battle-tested fighter. He was smart, and physically in his prime. He wasn’t afraid of a fight, and he was pretty good at planning small-scale engagements. It took him close to a year to gather up all the resources he needed but then he hit the streets – and the rooftops, it must be admitted – as Nighthawk. Though he mostly limits himself to the Southside, he makes patrols through other neighborhoods – if just to keep crooks elsewhere on their toes. Questions? Comments?
Geez3r Posted June 27, 2010 Posted June 27, 2010 A touch too iron for my tastes, but it's not horrible.
Chumpsteady Posted June 27, 2010 Posted June 27, 2010 I thought the background didn't matter, just the attitude of the character when you were playing them. In Rouge's background she's a burn out addict who's only thoughts were drugs, music, sex, raves. AFTER that when she DIED, she did a 180.
angrydurf Posted June 28, 2010 Posted June 28, 2010 Well part of the problem is we don't have very hard and fast rules about too Iron or not here. I will say this background is no worse than some of those on the books though I'm not comfortable with what his current attitude sounds like from the last bit there. Being glad to have helped and even thinking the thug got what he deserved when you beat him up is on thing but it sounds like he's more excited by hurting someone than having helped someone else. Its a matter of flavor but something to watch out for.
Raveled Posted June 28, 2010 Author Posted June 28, 2010 Being glad to have helped and even thinking the thug got what he deserved when you beat him up is on thing but it sounds like he's more excited by hurting someone than having helped someone else. Its a matter of flavor but something to watch out for. That's kind of a character point. He knows he has this darker side that enjoys the bloodshed and violence, and has to keep it under control.
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