Post by William Taft on Feb 10, 2012 0:42:18 GMT -5
WILLIAM JOSEPH TAFT
On my own, cause I can't take living with you
I'm alone, so I won't turn out like you
Want me to
You thought you were standing beside me
You were only in my way
You're wrong if you think that I'll be just like you
I'm alone, so I won't turn out like you
Want me to
You thought you were standing beside me
You were only in my way
You're wrong if you think that I'll be just like you
“Rules don’t work for everyone.”
THE BASICS;;
NAME: William Joseph Taft
AGE: 19
SEX: male
CODENAME: Phantom
ALIASES: he prefers no nicknames
AFFILIATION: Villain
STATUS: Being recruited to go after the Titans by Slade
CANON: No
THE GOOD STUFF;;
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
In regular clothes, William is a normal-looking, if rather worn, person. Black hair to his jawline, rather stringy from his rough lifestyle, and medium brown eyes. A fairly handsome face, but a bit too gaunt, especially around the eyes and permanent stubble, though he shaves now and then to prevent a full-on beard—they itch. He has prominent cheekbones and slightly sunken cheeks and a permanent grim expression. He’s lean but strong and quick, about average height for a boy—5’10” and pretty much done growing.
Any regular clothes he has are worn-out, raggedy, and drab. Black shirts starting to fade into dark grey, occasionally with witty sayings on them like “It’s only funny until someone gets hurt ... then it’s hilarious.” Faded jeans with holes in them, well-worn tennis shoes that have definitely seen plenty of running. He has a backpack where he keeps his changes of clothes, costume, and a few electronics—the most prized of which is his mp3 player.
Phantom’s costume is extremely simple. He wears a white mask that covers a little over half his face, modeled after the mask of the Phantom of the Opera—slanted to cover the top half more than the bottom. He has a bullet-proof vest with a shoulder-holster for his pistol, and black cargo pants that are starting to show the wear. He has a sleeveless undershirt on under the vest, so his arms are bare, but over it all he wears a dark grey cloak, including a hood, that he often pulls up when sneaking about, making it hard to see where his eyes are even if his opponents happen to be wise to his power.
PERSONALITY:
This is a boy who rarely smiles. His whole life has been overcoming obstacle after obstacle, so he looks at the world, now, with jaded eyes waiting for the next problem to jump up. He doesn’t have designs to be a big villain—really, he just wants to be able to do whatever he likes without someone standing in his way. But William sees his only skill as fighting and those powers as his only natural asset, so what else is he good for?
Underneath his serious mask, William is rather insecure. He’s never really been appreciated in any way except as a delinquent, so that’s what he thinks he is and while he’ll make cracks about it being all he needs, William would rather have at least one friend. He just doesn’t think there’s anyone who might actually see him as a friend. Most other villains are too psychotic, heroes look down on him as a criminal, and regular people think he’s too dark. He lives in a world of extremes, where he doesn’t really fit in.
POWERS AND/OR ABILITIES:
Hypnosis-based power, allows for small-scale deception, like fooling someone into not registering that they saw him when he walks by. When he meets someone’s eyes, he can hypnotize them into not actually seeing him, effectively making him momentarily invisible. The effects last for a short time after breaking eye contact, allowing him to hit multiple targets, but he does have to get out of range quickly or start the process all over again.
He can also hypnotize them into thinking they saw or heard something, but only brief flashes of something, nothing sustained for longer than a few seconds. Effective as a distraction.
To compensate for the lack of offensive powers (and as a side-effect of his rough childhood), Phantom has an impressive hand-to-hand combat ability that he’s been developing since he was a young child and hardened by many life-and-death brawls he’s been in over the years. He fights hard and dirty, aiming to win, but has only a single pistol as a weapon, to use only in emergencies as a last-ditch option. He’s not as good with it as he is with his fists, but his aim is solid and his resolve is firm.
WEAKNESSES:
His powers are all passive abilities, nothing offensive, so going against anyone with very offensive powers can be a challenge for him. He’s also short-range, with only one exception, so has to rely on his hypnosis to get himself close, or he’s highly vulnerable.
If there are too many people or too many things going on, his hypnosis is much less effective, so the “invisibility” is just about useless in a fast-paced fight, reducing him mostly to using illusions as distractions to supplement his combat skill.
Phantom isn’t built for protracted, head-on battles. He specializes in theft and guerilla warfare, and anything outside of that is liable to see him beaten or retreating unless his back is against a wall. Because his powers are so limited, he has no shame in beating a hasty retreat to regroup and find better circumstances that benefit him instead of his enemies. He’s also only human, so other than his combat expertise, all human frailties apply.
GOALS:
William is just wandering right now, trying to find a purpose in life other than surviving. He lacks any real goals, as most of his life is day to day, just making it to the next one and hopefully not getting caught or killed.
HISTORY:
William Taft was born the third son of an underprivileged family in Metropolis. They didn’t have a whole lot, and what they did have that was left for the kids, usually went to his older brothers. When William would complain about this, his brothers would bully him until he gave up on it. It wasn’t an unusual response in their household, after all. Their father was the same way.
Without having anyone really to turn to that was on his side, William grew up very defensive and independent. He grew up tough, losing constantly to his bigger, stronger brothers but unwilling to act like a loser and cry. His attitude became rough and waspish, such that kids at school also started picking on him or ganging up on him, but William was the same size as them, so he fought back.
Things weren’t the same at home, though. He got tired of losing, even though he kept telling himself that this would make it easier to get stronger, easier to beat them eventually, so he finally just started wishing he could disappear. His father came home drunk one night, William was in the living room, already bruised and battered from school that day, and sat as still as he could on the couch, hoping fervently to just go unnoticed. His brothers were still out, he was the only one home, and his father walked right over, sat on the couch, and started watching TV without giving a glance to William. It was only once he moved that he was noticed.
Only after similar incidents happened twice did it really occur to him that it probably wasn’t just drunken inattentiveness. He was doing something to cause it. He started experimenting, learning what he was capable of, which opened whole new doors for him. He started winning fights with his brothers because they would think he was across the room, so he could take them by surprise. He started stealing things when he couldn’t get them legitimately—little things at first, like his favorite kind of candy, making sure he wasn’t seen by the camera and just watching anyone nearby while he took things and put them in his pockets.
All at once, one day, William realized his independence. He could steal anything he needed. Why should he stay at home? So, he just walked out the front door, with his backpack filled with the few possessions and changes of clothes he felt he needed, in the middle of the day. He walked right past his dad, unnoticed, and started a new life.
Things weren’t all roses and sunshine even there, of course. Life was hard, and William was still relatively new to his powers. He didn’t succeed all the time, and when he didn’t, the fights he found himself in were more serious than any of the schoolyard spats he’d been in before. His methods turned brutal and his thefts more serious. A motorcycle. A gun.
No point in running around stealing things in front of video cameras and with limited-duration powers of deception, though, so it didn’t take long for William to start piecing together a second identity for himself. Nothing fancy or noticeable—that would make his abilities more difficult to use. A simple mask, a drab costume, things that hid him and made him easier to miss. A fitting name: Phantom.
So, he started traveling, stealing what he needed and trying to find a city that he could stay in with relative anonymity. When he stumbled on Jump City, though, his luck ran out. Nothing special to the Titans, of course, but Phantom hadn’t gone up against heroes before. He was easily overpowered in his shock and thrown in jail shortly before Deathstroke broke in and released scores of prisoners.
Phantom among them.
THE NITTY-GRITTY;;
SCREENNAME: Hikari
Time spent roleplaying: About 7 years, off and on
Other Characters: Beast Boy
