WIP: Outtlaw (PL10)

[CoverAndFire]

Player Name: CoverAndFire
Character Name: Outtlaw
Power Level: 10 (aiming to use all 150/150 PP)
Trade-Offs: TBD
Unspent Power Points: 0 (ideally)
Progress To Bronze Status: 0/30
 
In Brief: An '80's metal star riding superheroics and a magic guitar to another round of fame.

Residence: Los Angeles, California
Base of Operations: "The Cockpit" (bomb shelter beneath his private airplane hangar)
Theme Song: "Kickstart My Heart" - Motley Crue

Alternate Identity: Jonny V. Radke (legally changed from John Andrews)
Identity: Open secret (hasn't said as Outtlaw who he is, but it's obviously him)
Birthplace: West Hollywood, California
Occupation: Former lead guitarist for Zeitgeister
Affiliations: None...yet
Family: Estranged wife, several possible children from one-night stands

Description:
Age: 48
Apparent Age: 38
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: American
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 210 lb
Eyes: Green
Hair: Blond

Jonny has aged surprisingly well, considering the hard-partying life he once led. He gave up drugs and alcohol to take up boxing, which has helped keep him in good physical condition--in fact, he's more muscular now than he was when he was in his prime. Living in Southern California all his life has given him a healthy tan to go with it. In his normal life, he has a thing for striking suits, typically all-black save for a yellow or red tie. If he feels like toning that down, he'll wear a white shirt and a red vest instead of using black for those colors.

As Outtlaw, he wears an outfit similar to what he used to wear on stage with Zeitgeister. This ensemble consists of black leather jeans, a black leather jacket, a neon pink tank top that barely fits him, black leather boots, and a neon pink bandana. In a token attempt to hide his identity, he typically smears black warpaint on his face (like this, but only at the eye area) and wears cat eye contacts.

Power Descriptions

Outtlaw channels his powers through an electric guitar that is in some way connected to the Greek god Dionysus, which he found in a demolished warehouse. By playing it, he casts magic spells, which can be used to attack his opponents in combat with sonic waves and inspire courage in his allies. As he masters the guitar, he will learn other spells, the first of which will be one that causes a massive explosion.

History

John Andrews was born in a West Hollywood hospital into a working-class family. Their primary source of income was his father's auto mechanic shop, which barely got them by. They lived in a rough area of Los Angeles where underfunded schools and crumbling infrastructure was the order of the day. Growing up, all John had to keep him going was his guitar, which his grandfather bought him for Christmas when he was 11. He played obsessively from then on, learning the music of Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest, and other classic heavy metal acts.  That guitar, he decided, would be his way out of his dire circumstances.

Taking the stage name Jonny V. Radke, inspired by an in-joke with his friends about the word "radical," he joined several bands in high school and community college, including Arsenal of Arsenic, GolddRushers and Snake Woman, none of which ever broke out of the local scene. His final band, Zeitgeister, would be much more successful. With vocalist Edd E. Hardball, drummer Dave "Loose" Lips, and bassist Tommy Glitz, the band cultivated an image and lifestyle typical of Los Angeles hair metal, and with Edd's rich parents satisfying their demand for gear and pyrotechnics, among other things, the band was able to get noticed and play local festivals.

By 1989, Zeitgeister was the new hotness on Sunset Strip, and soon enough, they had a record deal at PolyGram. Their major label debut, Spirit of the Age, went gold, and their power ballad "Everlovin'" went into heavy rotation on MTV. It seemed this was the beginning of a healthy career, but it was really their peak. When grunge hit, the band and their contemporaries fell by the wayside, and by 1993, the band had gone their separate ways after a particularly nasty bar fight between Edd and Jonny.

After going to rehab and getting all the coke out of his system, Jonny went from gig to gig, including session work on Dave's ill-fated nu metal album and guest guitar solos with any sufficiently hair metal-inspired new bands who asked for him. For years, Jonny was known as "that guy who played the solo on 'Everlovin'.'" Then, when emo hit, if anyone recognized Jonny, their first question would be, "Are you related to that guy from Escape the Fate?". Jonny was tired of being compared to others, tired of his life's work as a musician being reduced in the public eye to "Everlovin'", and tired of living like the idle white dwarfs of LA, with no more than their money left. He took to wandering dangerous parts of Los Angeles late at night, just to remind himself that there was more to life than what he had, that there were still people growing up poor and desperate to escape, just like he had been when he was a boy.

All that changed on one of his midnight escapades. As he was walking through a neighborhood torn apart by gang war, a building a few blocks down exploded. When he went to it, he found a solid white Stratocaster with black strings lying unharmed in the center of the wreckage. By the whammy bar, there was one word written in black: DIONYSUS. Curious, he picked it up and felt divine power flowing through him. That night, when someone tried to mug him for the guitar, Jonny played one chord and sent his would-be mugger through a brick wall. Immediately, he knew what he had to do: use this guitar to become a superhero and get appreciated for something other than a shred solo too good for the ballad it was on.

Personality and Motivations

Being a former rockstar, Jonny is still a bit full of himself and craves another taste of glory. However, he has a surprisingly strong sense of ethics and integrity. While other hair metal has-beens were showing off their expensive mansions or starring in sleazy reality TV, Jonny was turning every such offer down, preferring to give up-and-coming local musicians guitar lessons. He doesn't ever take easy money, and will outright refuse compensation if he doesn't believe he's earned it. Then again, that's easy when you already have $6 million in the bank.

Jonny may have adopted the Outtlaw persona in pursuit of fame, but there's a deeper moral compunction here. Jonny grew up in one of Los Angeles's worst neighborhoods, and his life was one of poverty and hardship before Zeitgeister happened. As he matures into his superhero career, his drive to help the helpless of LA will begin to take more precedence.

Complications

Ego This Side Up, Contents Are Fragile: Jonny still has a rockstar's massive ego. Bruising it is not a wise decision.

I'm Not Ronnie Radke's Dad, Dammit!: Jonny hates being asked if Ronnie Radke is his son/nephew/relative, partly because he's been getting that nonstop since 2006 and partly because Ronnie acts exactly like Zeitgeister's old singer did when the band was still together.

Enemies, or People Who Can Go [Expletive] Themselves (Edd E. Hardball): Edd Hardball is the former lead singer of Zeitgeister. When the band's fortunes soured, so did Jonny and Edd's friendship. The two now hate each other with a bitter passion, and upon encountering each other, will descend into profanity and catfighting, which is ironic for Edd, because his post-music career has been to turn evangelical and preach to the same people his music once terrified. Once Edd learns about Jonny and his new guitar, Edd just might get up to some revenge...

If You Wanna Hang Out, Don't Make Me Figure Out Cocaine: Jonny has been completely sober since 1995, but that doesn't mean that if he was to, say, get his face shoved in a pile of cocaine or have his water swapped out with vodka, that he wouldn't fall off the wagon faster than you can say "Tony Stark."

Secret Identity? What's That?: It is not hard at all for people to figure out that Jonny is Outtlaw. The one thing keeping him safe is that his residence is isolated, as far as LA mansions go, and he knows not to go announcing to potential nemeses where he lives. Still, this provides multiple ways for villains to interfere with Jonny's personal life and force the Outtlaw's hand.

Fame Ain't All It's Cracked Up to Be: Once Outtlaw starts attracting a following, Jonny will spend both his lives swamped in publicity and tabloids. This creates the possibility of the media leaking information that really needs to be kept secret to the public, where the Outtlaw's foes can make use of it.

Edited June 11, 2015 by CoverAndFire