Difference between revisions of "Dr. Kaufmann"
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* "What an asshole." - [[Spite]] | * "What an asshole." - [[Spite]] | ||
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+ | * "Anybody who thinks that a man with no powers isn't a danger, then they are... incredibly wrong and narrow-minded. The Doctor has resources - both in terms of manpower and funds - as well as combat skills that put him on par with even well-trained fighters. The man is dangerous, and the men who work for him?Just as dangerous. I'll be happy to show the scars he left behind to any person who doubts that." - [[Faith]] | ||
=<div style="font-size:25px;font-family:{{{Font|Lucida Console}}};color: #000000;padding:5px; background-color: hidden">'''Other Stuff'''</div>= | =<div style="font-size:25px;font-family:{{{Font|Lucida Console}}};color: #000000;padding:5px; background-color: hidden">'''Other Stuff'''</div>= |
Revision as of 02:58, 16 March 2017
Dr. Kaufmann | ||||||||||
Player: @kampfykaufmann | ||||||||||
Trust him, he's a doctor. | ||||||||||
Biographical Data | ||||||||||
Real Name: | Dr. Pascal Hugo Kaufmann | |||||||||
Known Aliases: | The Doctor, Silver Scalpel, the Surgeon General, Dr. Leech, Medicus, Dr. Hugo M. Locke | |||||||||
Gender: | Male | |||||||||
Species: | Human | |||||||||
Ethnicity: | Caucasian | |||||||||
Place of Birth: | Unknown (suspected to be Germany) | |||||||||
Base of Operations: | Millennium City, USA | |||||||||
Relatives: | Unknown | |||||||||
Characteristics | ||||||||||
Age: | Unknown | |||||||||
Height: | 6'1" | |||||||||
Weight: | 195 lbs | |||||||||
Eyes: | Dark Brown | |||||||||
Hair: | Black | |||||||||
Complexion: | Pale | |||||||||
Physical Build: | Athletic | |||||||||
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Fame: |
Global | |||||||||
Alignment: |
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Identity: | Public | |||||||||
Years Active: | Unknown | |||||||||
Citizenship: | Various (through fake identities) | |||||||||
Occupation: | Gang leader, arms dealer, criminal mastermind | |||||||||
Education: | Unknown (claims to be a medical doctor) | |||||||||
Marital Status: | Unknown | |||||||||
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MaekadaBoxSlim created by @Maekada |
Contents
Appearance
The Doctor has changed since he suddenly re-appeared in Millennium City. He has cut his black hair short, shaved the sides and usually has the rest slicked back. The large streak of white running through his hair has been joined by some streaks of grey. He is still very pale and seems to have visibly aged in the past year. The dark circles under his eyes and the highly visible veins on his neck remain, suggesting that he still has quite unhealthy living and sleeping habits. Additionally a rather grisly scar is visible on his neck from when a vampire tried to take a bite out of him during the attack of the vampire lord Adrian Arkwright on Millennium City. He has acquired a large number of tattoos covering his torso and arms over the past year, the most prominent being letters on his knuckles spelling the phrase DON'T HARM.
His usual outfit consists of a white dress shirt and black suit jacket, along with black dress pants, both made of a reinforced nanoweave fabric which allows these clothes to withstand certain amounts of kinetic force. Underneath it he wears a state-of-the-arts kevlar vest for additional protection. He also wears gloves made of black leather and black dress shoes with a sound-dampening sole, metal tips and hidden spring-loaded blades for emergency use. He has changed his trademark sunglasses to small glasses with crimson-tinted lenses. However, these glasses are still equipped with an uplink to a combat HUD, target identification software and several switchable vision modes. Reinforced materials prevent them from breaking easily in combat. He usually completes his outfit with a crimson-red tie, preferring to leave it casually half-undone. On his right leg he wears the holster for his customized handgun and he is now rarely seen without his walking cane. When expecting trouble he is known to strap additional holsters and pockets for equipment on his upper arms.
Background
The Doctor was already an enigma before he mysteriously vanished for a whole year. Digging any deeper has not produced any reliable information but instead rumors and contradicting stories.
- Some people claim to have evidence that he is the result of a secret government project of the GDR of East Germany with the goal of creating the perfect secret operative, which was abandoned shortly before the Berlin Wall fell. When the project was abandoned, all records were allegedly wiped out and all the candidates eliminated, except for one.
- Another story points to a small (and now mysteriously wiped out) clan of vampires which haunted the German-Austrian border during the 1980s. According to a retired vampire hunter, said clan exiled a fledgling vampire after discovering that he could endure sunlight and lacked other typical vampire weaknesses.
- Yet another story points to the destruction of Berlin by Dr. Destroyer. As rumors go, one simple physician snapped during the mayhem and started killing the injured superheroes given into his care for not being able to protect his wife and daughter from Dr. Destroyer's robotic legions. While the story made the news in the aftermath of Destroyer's attack, the killer was never captured.
- A fourth story tells of a ghost town in the Harz mountain range in Northern Germany. As rumors go, a secret government laboratory focused on bio-weapon research against the Soviet Union was right next to the village. When a modified version of the bubonic plague escaped, a large-scale cover-up operation which supposedly involved several popular German superheroes wiped said village out, except for one survivor.
Reports about the Doctor's interactions with the metahuman world before his appearance in Millennium City are sketchy at best. Some evidence exists which suggests the involvement of a mercenary and assassin for hire fitting the Doctor’s description in various civil wars, military coups and organized crime syndicates around the world, but the validity of this evidence is questionable. The first confirmed sighting of the Doctor is the murder of the British vigilante Mr. Grey in Edinburgh. From that point on the Doctor has been confirmed to regularly come into conflict with superheroes and supervillains during his activities.
About 6 years ago, he suddenly showed up in Millennium City, starting to sell his skills and talents to the highest bidder. During his active years in Millennium City, the Doctor worked with and against many different superheroes and supervillains, managing to survive in a superpowered world through cunning, skill and calculated ruthlessness. In total he is responsible for the murder of 7 superheroes and supervillains and the prime suspect in at least 13 more murders, along with a rather extensive list of other crimes ranging from burglary to terrorism. Despite the best efforts of law enforcement and various superheroes, the Doctor has never been detained for longer than a few days and evidence linking him to many crimes has mysteriously vanished, causing many to suspect that he has one or even several influential allies or sponsors. The Doctor's last confirmed sighting before his disappearance was at the Millennium City airport when he boarded a private jet to Canada. A list of the Doctor's most infamous accomplishments and (suspected) victims can be found below.
Activities before disappearance
- Royal Mile, Edinburgh: The Doctor is confirmed to be responsible for the murder of the British vigilante Mr. Grey. Mr. Grey was found with his neck broken on the roof of a commercial building on Edinburgh's Royal Mile. Residents reported several loud explosions coming from inside the building. Mr. Grey was seen entering the building a couple minutes later. Most CCTV cameras had been damaged by the explosions, but a few seconds of blurry footage confirms a fight between the vigilante and the Doctor. The commercial building was scheduled for demolition afterwards and the property bought by an ARGENT subsidiary.
- Salle D'Paix, Marseille: The Doctor is the prime suspect in the murder of the superheroine Miss International. Miss International, a highly proficient omniglot, telepath and martial artist was to hold a speech at the 'UNTIL Gala for Peace and Understanding'. During her speech she was shot to death by the security personnel as her psychic powers unintentionally activated and placed repeated telepathic suggestions to do so in the minds of the guards. Investigation of the crime scene reveals that Miss International might have been the victim of brainwashing herself. Subliminal messages convincing her of convincing the security personnel to shoot her had been added to the speech on her prompter. Eye witnesses confirm one of the technicians preparing the event resembling the Doctor.
- Singapore Changi Airport, Singapore: The Doctor is confirmed to be responsible for the death of the supervillainess Shinigami. Shinigami was an infamous superpowered terrorist who saw it as her personal mission to 'guide as many souls to the afterlife as possible, no matter if they like it or not'. Together with a large number of her followers she attacked the Singapore Changi Airport, planning to blow it - together with everyone inside - up. The Doctor intervened on behalf of an unknown client. After a long, grueling battle on the runways, the Doctor killed Shinigami with her own explosives. While Shinigami's mass murder had been prevented and most of her followers captured, the resulting damage to the airport ran into the billions and the Doctor was able to escape in the panic.
- Downtown, Millennium City: In what is quite possibly one of the only jobs he ever bungled, the Doctor is one of the prime suspects in the attempted murder of Claire Thompson, heir to the multi-million shipping company Pegasus Shipping. On her 18th birthday Claire Thompson was on her way to sign the papers that would make her the sole heir to the company when she was ambushed by an unknown assailant and shot in the chest three times. Even though she was on the brink of death, she awoke only a few hours later without any injuries and perfectly healthy in a hospital, ready to claim her fortune. The Doctor is quick to voice his displeasure whenever Claire Thompson or Pegasus Shipping comes up in a conversation, leading many to believe that the failed assassination was his doing. Unknown to the Doctor and the public, Claire Thompson also discovered her powers that day and subsequently became the heroine Demoness.
- Westside, Millennium City: A bomb threat of considerable magnitude caused the city administration to send a team of heroes to investigate and prevent the worst. The heroes managed to track down the source of the threat and had to fight through a warehouse full of deadly traps and remote-controlled combat drones, before managing to confront the masked terrorist. In a close battle they managed to defeat and capture him, but before they could unmask him, he revealed the location of his bombs: All over the city and already activated. The heroes had to split up to disarm each one in time. When they returned to the warehouse the mysterious terrorist had disappeared. Some of the heroes claim that the voice of the terrorist was very similar to the Doctor's.
- Westside Central Prison, Millennium City: The Doctor is the prime suspect in the murder of the supervillain Blaster. Several of the assigned prison guards had complained about a number of incidents including technological malfunctions, unusually rowdy inmates and missing equipment, which kept them occupied with menial tasks and paperwork almost the whole night. Blaster was found in the morning in his still locked cell with his throat slit. Analysis of the wound shows that the murder weapon is likely to be a scalpel. Unusual energy readings were found at the scene, but scans and analyses of the readings are inconclusive.
- Downtown, Millennium City: The Doctor is the prime suspect in the double murder of the superheroine Ballista and the supervillain Brimstone. Ballista and Brimstone killed each other during a vicious battle in the streets of Millenium City, despite both of them being known as unwilling to kill. Autopsy reports revealed a high dose of a yet unidentified hallucinogenic chemical in their bloodstreams. Ballista, known as a dedicated clubber and part-time DJ was seen leaving the Incubus nightclub on the previous evening in the company of a man roughly resembling the Doctor, while underworld rumors suggest that Brimstone left the Black Salon nightclub in the company of an unknown red-haired woman.
- Project Greenskin, New Mexico: After the infamous German supervillain Offizier 99 tried to steal US nuclear weapons and had been stopped and captured by the US superhero Supreme, a prisoner transport was scheduled to bring Offizier 99 from Project Greenskin to Stronghold. Supreme himself escorted the convoy, which unfortunately never made it to Stronghold. A team of unknown but highly trained black ops soldiers under the leadership of a man resembling the Doctor attacked the convoy, freed Offizier 99 and disappeared with the supervillain. Supreme died in the attack from a precise shot to the head with a kendrium-coated bullet.
- Millennium City Convention Center, Millennium City: Witnesses claim that the Doctor was sighted in the crowd during a presentation of cybernetics and prosthetics mogul George Verner during which he was to present his company's latest breakthrough in cybernetic spines. The gala was crashed by the supervillainess Litany, who the Doctor allegedly helped fighting off. He disappeared together with a team of unknown black ops soldiers after relaying a message to George Verner after the battle. Mr. Verner still refuses to disclose the nature of the message.
- Duskview Apartment Complex, Millennium City: The Doctor allegedly helped a group of heroes investigate the disappearance of a SWAT team in the Duskview Apartment Complex of Westside and battled the responsible supervillainess Spiderling together with the heroes. He disappeared just like Spiderling herself after an explosion brought down half of the building before further law enforcement personnel could arrive. Neither Spiderling's nor the Doctor's body was found in the ruins.
- Downtown, Millennium City: Eyewitnesses claim that the Doctor was involved in an attack on a group of Lemurian ambassadors to Millennium City. While on the way to meet mayor Calvin Biselle, the ambassadors' convoy was attacked by the supervillains Dirge and Judicator along with a group of hired thugs. The Doctor and a group of unknown black ops soldiers also attacked, resulting in a chaotic three-way battle between the security forces (MCPD, a group of superheroes and the Lemurian bodyguards), Dirge and Judicator's forces and the Doctor's men. While none of the ambassadors were injured and a diplomatic crisis was averted, Dirge and Judicator as well as the Doctor and his men were able to escape in the chaos.
- Congo River Delta, Congo Republic: The Doctor is confirmed to be responsible for the murder of the renegade VIPER supervillain Snapping Turtle. Snapping Turtle was the leader of a VIPER operation tasked with smuggling blood diamonds out of the country before he and his troops betrayed VIPER and attempted to flee with a large shipment of diamonds. According to one of Snapping Turtle's surviving soldiers, their VTOL crashed in the Congo River Delta after a precise anti-materiel rifle shot to the engine. Afterwards they encountered a number of carefully designed traps and ambushes during their trek back to civilization. Only a few made it back with Snapping Turtle himself dying in a devious microfilament wire trap. The shipment of diamonds disappeared and a few days later several high-ranking VIPER operatives confirmed the Doctor's involvement and praised the quality of his work.
- Renaissance Center, Millennium City: During one of Dr. Destroyer's recent attacks on Millennium City, the Doctor - together with several unknown black ops soldiers - has been seen in a black helicopter circling over a battle of several superheroes against one of Dr. Destroyer's Mega-Destroids. He has allegedly participated in the battle on the side of the heroes, taking several shots at one of the Mega-Destroids with a sniper rifle out of the helicopter. A similar helicopter was sighted two weeks later during one of Takofanes' attacks on the city, helping to keep the lich's hordes of zombies at bay.
- Maxwell Avenue, Millennium City: The Doctor is suspected to be involved in an instance of unusual energy readings which occurred here. A group of heroes was sent to investigate these unusual spikes of dimensional energy near City Hall. Upon arriving at the site of the latest energy spike, the group of heroes disappeared and could not be found in any way, magical or technological. An hour later the group appeared again in the same spot and the energy spikes stopped. Witnesses claim to have seen the Doctor in the area, but his involvement is still arguable, since the heroes have no memory of the time they 'disappeared'.
- Villa 31, Buenos Aires: The Doctor is confirmed to be responsible for the murder of the DEMON supervillain El Padre Venganza. El Padre Venganza was the leader of a Demonhame in the shanty town Villa 31. As a surviving DEMON cultist confirmed, his plan was to incite a riot against the richer parts of Buenos Aires and use the rage and misery around him to power up the source of his power, a talisman in the form of a necklace. El Padre Venganza was found dead with a gunshot wound in his forehead in his apartment, surrounded by a pile of identical necklaces, which one of his cultists confirmed to be exact copies of his own. The Demonhame was raided shortly after by local law enforcement and eye witnesses have confirmed to have seen the Doctor at several parties in the richer parts of Buenos Aires during the following days. The real necklace remains lost.
- Old Detroit Memorial Park, Millennium City: The Doctor is the prime suspect in the double murder of the superhero Captain Eagle and his sidekick Girlscout II. Captain Eagle and Girlscout II have been found dead (blasted with thermobaric explosives and shot in the head respectively) in the area after their vehicle, the Patriot Plane, had been shot down by an unknown attacker using a thermobaric missile launcher. Despite quick response of law enforcement and several superheroes, no trace of the killer could be found, but analysis of the crime scene confirms that similar explosives were used by the Doctor on several other occasions.
- Westside, Millennium City: According to witnesses, the leader of a group of VIPER agents responsible for a hostage situation near Carl's Gym bore a striking resemblance to the Doctor. The group of agents assaulted a jewelry store and took the girlfriend of a well-known and highly popular superhero hostage, while her boyfriend was trapped in the sewers of the city during an investigation, after several hidden explosives went off. A group of unaffiliated heroes managed to free the hostage, but the group of VIPER operatives managed to escape. NOTE: The hostage's boyfriend was involved with the investigation of the above mentioned double murder of Captain Eagle and his sidekick.
- Inner Easton, Vibora Bay: Eyewitnesses confirm that the Doctor is responsible for the murder of the vampire supervillainess Bloody Rose. The Bloody Rose was a prominent member of the New Shadows gang and herself responsible for the murder of 18 people, including 8 children. The Doctor ambushed the Bloody Rose and her posse in a park in Inner Easton and used a wide variety of anti-vampire weapons and equipment to dispose of them. The Bloody Rose herself (or rather a pile of ash and bones confirmed to be her through DNA analysis) was found with a collapsible steel stake buried in her ribcage. After two weeks the investigation had been closed due to public protests.
- Place D'Concorde, Paris: The Doctor is confirmed to be responsible for the murder of the French superhero Solar. Solar was to hold a speech about the importance of metahumans and baseline humans working together in harmony as part of festivities spanning several days. He died in the middle of his speech from an until then unknown poison in his drink. A member of the catering service for the event was later found unconscious and tied up in his apartment in one of Paris' suburbs. The man claims to have been ambushed in his apartment by a man whose description fits the Doctor.
- Ionizer HQ, Neo-Tokyo: The Doctor is confirmed to be responsible for the murder of the Japanese superhero Ionizer. After Ionizer had fought against multiple unknown attackers in several areas of Neo-Tokyo and investigated a large fire in the warehouse district, he was found poisoned and with various severe bone fractures just outside of his partly destroyed HQ on the outskirts of the city. Partly restored CCTV footage from the destroyed HQ revealed that the Doctor left the area shortly after Ionizer's confirmed time of death.
- Rivertown, Millennium City: The Doctor is the prime suspect in the murder of the industrial magnate Cornelius Preston AKA the retired superhero Forgemaster and the disappearance of his daughter Alice Preston. Cornelius Preston was found dead with a single gunshot wound in his forehead in his luxury mansion in the neighborhood of Rivertown. No signs of forced entrance or other evidence has been found. Ballistic analysis and comparison confirms that the murder weapon is likely to belong to the Doctor. Alice Preston is still missing.
- PRIMUS Quarantine Zone, San Francisco: During the outbreak of an unknown virus with mutagenic properties in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Doctor has allegedly infiltrated the PRIMUS quarantine zone disguised as a FEMA special agent. After the outbreak had been contained, PRIMUS officials discovered that blood samples of infected individuals as well a batch of the vaccine had been stolen in the chaos.
- Downtown, Millennium City: The Doctor has been sighted during a kaiju attack on Millennium City. Witnesses claim that he observed the battle between the giant monsters emerging from the Detroit river and several superheroes. He also occasionally contributed with precision attacks to help tip the battle in favor of the heroes. After the kaiju were driven away, he disappeared and a thorough search of the area provided PRIMUS investigators with no clue regarding his involvement.
- Halcyon R&D Facility, Canadian Wilderness: According to underworld rumors the Doctor has participated in an attack on a R&D facility of Halcyon Industries in a remote area of Canada together with several other supervillains. The attack cost most of the guards and personnel their lives, utterly destroyed the facility and unleashed a gigantic monster of unknown species onto the nearby forests. While the threat of the monster was later neutralized by a team of dedicated heroes, the purpose of the attack, the nature of Halcyon Industries' research at the site and the Doctor's exact involvement in the event is still unknown.
- Las Vegas, Nevada: The Doctor is one of the prime suspects for the massacre that took place during the wedding of Las Vegas superhero Chevalier and his bride Melissa Wyatt. Both bride and groom were found dead in the garage of the Seraph Gate Hotel and Casino after several fights between two unknown assailants, Chevalier, his best friend and Las Vegas vigilante Night Stalker and the security personnel broke out. The couple seems to have been killed by Chevalier's own questionite saber. Both assailants fled the scene unimpeded and Night Stalker has also disappeared since then. Investigation by the local authorities show an entry in the guest list of the wedding: Dr. Hugo M. Locke.
Activities after disappearance
- Graham Industrial Facility, Millennium City: A surprise attack on the Graham Industrial facility by a mysterious group of white-clad soldiers led to a chaotic battle, as the unknown attackers, a large group of Maniacs, two of Millennium City's heroes and Graham Industrial's security forces clashed on the company's property. Witnesses report that the leader of the unknown soldiers identified himself as the Doctor towards one of the heroes. Even though the combined forces of heroes and security personnel managed to prevent the situation from getting out of hand, the Doctor and his forces managed to escape with several samples of potentially dangerous chemicals via a cloaked VTOL gunship.
- Westside, Millennium City / Monastery of the Order of the Mutilated Saint, Romania: During the attack of the ancient vampire lord Adrian Arkwright on Millennium City, the Doctor and his gang settled on an uneasy truce with the city's heroes to help stem the tide against Arkwright's legions and clean the streets of the magical drug called the Thirst, which Arkwright used to infect the people and increase his own power. The Doctor and his gang - along with members of several other criminal organizations he managed to convince - helped defending Westside and its population against the vampires' onslaught. According to rumors the Doctor was also sent on a secret mission to Romania along with several heroes to retrieve an ancient artifact which proved to be crucial in Arkwright's defeat. As usual, the Doctor and his troops disappeared shortly after the crisis was over.
- Airspace near Iwo Jima, Pacific Ocean: The Doctor was responsible for organizing the breakout of the infamous mercenary Killshot from PRIMUS custody. Killshot was to be transported to a high-security facility in Australia via a PRIMUS aircraft. Said aircraft was to meet the UNTIL Heli-Carrier Helsinki near Iwo Jima and subsequently accompany it to Sydney. However the aircraft was hijacked by a group of villains and Killshot was freed. Even though the Helsinki managed to intercept in time, the villains escaped custody together with Killshot via a VTOL clearly identified as the Phaeton, the Doctor's personal aircraft. During the breakout, the Helsinki was heavily damaged and the heroine Lady Scout lost her life when she engaged the Phaeton with her own aircraft.
- Westside, Millennium City: Using intel gained during Adrian Arkwright's attack on Millennium City, the Doctor exposed the identities of the collaborators the vampire lord used to distribute the Thirst. The people of Westside - assisted by a team of vigilantes calling themselves the Justiciars - reacted to this information by rioting and forming a lynch mob for these dealers (the Doctor's competition in the drug trade). If not for a team of dedicated heroes, the dealers would have been publically executed by the mob. The heroes managed to talk down the Justiciars and by extent the mob. Afterwards a member of the Justiciars - Jury - helped the heroes track down the source of the propaganda the Doctor had used to rile up the public. However when they infiltrated the abandoned printing company the Doctor had used as his base of operations, the only thing they did find was a hologram of the Doctor taunting them and siccing a vampire he had captured during Arkwright's attack and subsequently 'improved' via drugs on them. Unfortunately the creature managed to kill Jury before the team of heroes managed to destroy it. Even though the riots were stopped and Millennium City was safe again, the Doctor managed to escape once more.
- St. Jameson Docks, Westside: The Doctor and a large group of Men In White were seen assaulting a private freighter on the St. Jameson Docks. A vicious shootout between the Men in White and a group of black-clad paramilitary personnel defending the freighter broke out. A team of heroes investigating the disturbance was able to break up the fight, only to discover that the freighter contained a massive shipment of drugs, weapons and other illegal goods. The heroes were also attacked by the Chinese terrorist supervillain Xing Tian, who apparently tried to protect said shipment. While the team of heroes managed to defeat Xing Tian and his men and secure the freighter, the Doctor's involvement with Xing Tian and his mysterious employer, the Golden Dragon remains unclear. The Doctor and the Men in White managed to leave the scene shortly after Xing Tian was apprehended.
- St. Jameson Docks, Westside: Only a few days after the above mentioned incident, a sleeper cell of the Golden Dragon's men managed to break Xing Tian out of Westside Central Prison. The villain immediately made his way back to the now abandoned freighter at St. Jameson Docks to retrieve another set of power armor from a secret stash. The Doctor and a group of Men In White intercepted Xing Tian and his soldiers. A chaotic battle broke out when the trio of vigilantes known as the Justiciars (the new Jury being the sister of the previous one) intervened. The already damaged freigther was completely destroyed and all of the Justiciars, Xing Tian and his soldiers as well as a large number of Men In White were found dead at the scene. The Doctor was not to be found.
- ACI Security Solutions Warehouse, Westside: The Doctor and a group of his Men In White were responsible for an assault on the Westside storage facility of ACI Securtiy Solutions, a subsidiary of Franklin Stone's ACI Technologies. The assault was stopped in time by a group of heroes who managed to take the Doctor and his men into custody. The arriving MCPD managed to secure the area, but the Doctor was able to trick law enforcment into giving him the means of remotely hijacking the warehouse's security drones and ordered them to attack both MCPD and heroes. While the heroes managed to take out the haywire drones and nobody was severely hurt, the Doctor managed to escape in the chaos.
- Millennium City Opera House, Downtown: The Doctor along with a large number of Men In White were responsible for an attack and subsequent short occupation of the Millennium City Opera House during a performance of Richard Wagner's Die Walküre. They took both the audience and the opera house staff hostage. MCPD and a group of the Protectors of the World discovered that the Doctor and his men had proceeded to inject their hostages with some sort of strange chemical. As they prepared to storm the opera house, the Doctor called for negotiations to explain the situation. He and his men were hunting for the Chinese shapeshifting terrorist Bai Gu Jing, another associate of the mysterious Golden Dragon. The chemical's purpose was to find the Bai Gu Jing among the crowd. A reluctant alliance was formed and when the sinister shapeshifter revealed herself, the Protectors managed to defeat her with the Doctor's assistance. While he managed to escape once more, the Doctor promised to contact the Protectors again to deal with the Golden Dragon himself.
- International waters near Greenland, North Atlantic / Wall Street, New York City / Taihang Mountains, China / Vladivostok, Russia: The Doctor and the Men in White are confirmed to be involved in the Golden Dragon conspiracy, which threatened not only Millennium City, but the whole world economy. While exact details are unclear to this day, apparently the Men in White and the Protectors of the World set their differences aside once again to stop the Golden Dragon's forces from destroying a high-tech oil processing facility in the North Atlantic, conducted a secret mission in New York City to weaken the Golden Dragon's power, confronted the Golden Dragon in his mansion in China and finally hunted down the true culprit behind the conspiracy in Vladivostok.
- Goodman Institute, Millennium City: The Doctor and the Men in White were involved in a terrorist attack on Millennium City's Goodman Institute, which caused extensive damage to the facility and led to the supervillain Conner Blackwood AKA Rift being freed from custody inside the institute. While all hostages were freed by the Protectors of the World, the Doctor and the Men in White were able to flee the scene along with Rift. According to witness reports the Men in White were utilizing a powerful, new hallucinogenic chemical weapon in their attack and subsequent battle with the Protectors.
- Downtown, Millennium City / UNTIL HQ, Millennium City: The Doctor and the Men in White, along with the top assassin Killshot, the chronokinetic Rift, the malevolent AI M.A.D.A.M., the sinister demigod Misercorde, the power-armored mercenary Vulture, and the cyborg Campaign were part of the Shadow Manifest, an alliance of supervillains brought together by the mysterious Arc-Angel. While Arc-Angel's goal was the utter annihilation of the superhero Peacemaker, the members of the Shadow Manifest were tasked with distracting the heroes of Millennium City while furthering their own personal goals at the same time, even assaulting the UNTIL HQ in Millennium City at some point! Even though Arc-Angel's plan was ultimately foiled by a coalition of heroes, the Shadow Manifest terrorized Millennium City for a whole week.
Suspected Victims
Personality
The first and most important thing to know about the Doctor's personality is that he thinks he is better than you and anyone else he does not consider his equal in skill, intelligence or simply style. How he expresses this notion depends on the situation though. Sometimes he will be utterly professional and stoic to show you how childish and laughable he finds the situation at hand. At other times all you will get out of him will be smug smiles and empty small talk, like you are not even worth a serious conversation. And sometimes every second sentence out of his mouth will be a sarcastic comment or snide remark to let you know exactly what he thinks of you. And that's the Doctor on a good day.
He also has rather extreme mood swings which become especially frequent when things do not go his way. Cool and consummate professional to throwing temper tantrums that would even cause Grond to take a step back can happen from one second to the next. The tendency of the various drugs he consumes on an almost daily basis to affect his psyche makes these changes even more sudden and terrifying. Even though he tries to keep his cool around the few friends and allies he still has, they are not safe from the occasional barb or tongue lashing. In general however he tries to be a rational and benevolent boss to his allies in the Men in White, preferring to reward success instead of punishing failure, except in extreme cases. And even then, the most an incompetent henchman can expect is a rather lengthy tirade, a pay cut and several weeks of boring assignments.
And then there is of course the little but important detail that the Doctor is insane. While he is better than most supervillains at hiding it and keeping his more eccentric side in check, there is no doubt that several screws in the Doctor's head are just a bit too loose. First there is the above mentioned superiority complex, which is directly responsible for his actions as a criminal and scientist: If other people were as skilled and intelligent as he is, they could easily prevent themselves from any harm caused by him and his actions, which means that everything that happens to them is their own fault. However, the Doctor understands and accepts the common perceptions of what is right and wrong; he simply chooses to ignore it when it is convenient for him to do so. He has no compulsive need to kill (in fact he prefers not to, as unnecessary deaths clearly show that the plan was not flawless), but absolutely zero qualms about doing so.
Powers
The Doctor was once one of the deadliest assassins on the planet. Even though he has officially left this business, the years of training, experience and skills he learned during that time are still as deadly as ever and together with the equipment, resources and manpower of the Men in White make him more than a match for every superhero.
Skills and Abilities
- Genius: The most tragic thing about the Doctor is that he could have put his mind to eradicating most diseases on the planet and succeeded. He is gifted with a level of intelligence rarely seen among non-superpowered individuals. A master of a multitude of disciplines ranging from business administration to pop culture trivia (and of course medicine), the Doctor has the knowledge and skills to deal with almost every problem he encounters with ease. Additionally he is not only book smart, but also able to analyze and react to new situations in record time, outsmarting and outmaneuvering his enemies with a level of cunning that borders on precognition.
- Physical Condition: Years of using and abusing various substances, serums and combat drugs along with his training and experience as an assassin have elevated the Doctor's body close to what could be considered superhuman. His strength, endurance, speed and reaction time are easily on par with every Olympic athlete and in combination with his razor-sharp mind, this allows him incredible feats of precision, accuracy and agility. Deflecting bullets with his sword, easily gaining the upper hand against multiple opponents in close combat or moving before the opponent can even perceive the movement are no bigger deal for the Doctor than walking up a set of stairs is for a normal person.
- Martial Training: The Doctor prefers the quick, precise shot of a sniper rifle or the subtle, clean work of a well-placed poisoned drink or - the best option - having someone else do his fighting for him. However this has never stopped him from getting his own hands dirty if necessary and he has the training and skills to do so. He is a practicioner of baritsu, savate and Polish cross-cut fencing along with capoeira and shōtōkan karate. All of this combines into an incredibly agile and fluid fighting style which makes it extremely hard to anticipate the Doctor's strikes and even harder to lay hands on him. Unsurprisingly he is also very proficient with all manners of knives, shivs, scalpels and other small and sharp objects. His extensive knowledge of the human body as well as his assassin training allow him to target weak spots efficiently and incapacitate or kill with a few well-placed strikes. Finally, years of experience in the criminal underworld have taught him a variety of dirty tricks and underhanded tactics he is not afraid to use in a fight. Kicking a downed opponent, going for the eyes or kicking a girl in the crotch are by no means beneath him.
- Assassin Experience: On account of having worked in one of the most dangerous businesses for years, the Doctor has learned a variety of deadly skills. He has vast experience in using a variety of common and less common weapons, from handguns to throwing knives. He also has extensive knowledge of nearly every aspect of stealth operations, including espionage, disguises, surveillance, infiltration, exfiltration, crime evasion, assassination and how to mix a damn good martini. Finally, evading the authorities for so long has given him insight into modern criminological methods, allowing him to use a combination of his intellect and his knowledge about crime scene investigation and forensic medicine to conceal his tracks and deceive his pursuers. He can make any kill look like a suicide or unfortunate accident.
- Master Tactician: His genius intellect allows the Doctor to quickly assess any situation, analyze it, compare the possible outcomes and choose the most appropriate plan of action. This skill gives him an edge in many situations. Outside of combat, the Doctor is able to stay one step ahead of his enemies, easily coming up with backup plans and ensuring that even unfortunate situations still have some benefit to him. On the negotiating table it is almost impossible to pin him down, as he makes sure that he always has some sort of bargaining chip at the ready. And finally on the battlefield this allows him to efficiently use his enemies' physical, mental or emotional weaknesses against them.
- Mental Defense: Despite his dislike for anything esoteric or mystical the Doctor has spent some time training with a secluded order of monks in the Himalayans to learn a unique form of defense against telepathy and similar mental attacks. Instead of 'building a wall' against such attack in his mind, the Doctor usually lets intruders in, just to hit them with a mental counter-attack consisting of a variety of memories and sensations from his time as an assassin and mercenary, which include delightful impressions like mass graves, child soldiers, executions and similar.
- Medical Expert: The Doctor - true to his chosen codename - is an expert in all things medical. As a trained physician and surgeon, he can heal and treat diseases and injuries as efficiently as he can cause them and his skill with the scalpel has ended just as many lives as it has saved. His expertise in the many fields of life sciences allow him to develop, improve and utilize many different kinds of drugs, poisons, diseases and other substances.
Weapons and Equipment
- Sword Cane: While he most definitely does not need it, the Doctor is rarely seen without his cane since he reappeared in Millennium City. It is a black walking cane with a silver, snake-shaped handle made from extremely sturdy materials, which would already be an effective bludgeoning weapon by itself. However the cane also serves as a sheath for a sword hidden inside. Simply twisting the handle while pressing a button on the cane allows the blade to be drawn. The sword is double-edged and made from cryogenically treated Damascus steel coated by a fine layer of questionite dust. Perfectly balanced for the Doctor it is an extremely deadly weapon in his hands. Additionally a second button on the cane itself activates a high-voltage electric charge on the tip, turning it into a powerful shock baton. The Doctor has been seen dual-wielding sword and shock baton.
- Customized RSh-12 12.7mm Assault Revolver: Currently only available to Russian special forces, one of these weapons has somehow found its way into the Doctor's hands, who immediately commissioned underworld weaponsmith Wayland Talos to make a slew of adjustments and improvements to it. The result is one of the most powerful kinetic handguns currently in use. This weapon is powerful enough to blow a normal human's head clean off and can even punch some very nasty holes into werewolves, power armor and other highly resilient targets while maintaining acceptable accuracy, recoil and reload time. ((OOC note: As ridiculous as it sounds, this is actually a real weapon. Check it out: http://thefunnybeaver.com/rsh-12-most-powerful-revolver-in-the-world/))
- Knife: During his time as an assassin, knives were the Doctor's melee weapons of choice. Eager to not let his skills and experience go to waste, the Doctor still uses his old knife as a secondary melee weapon if his cane is not available or simply a bad choice for the situation. Said knife resembles a traditional bowie knife, but like his cane sword the blade has been cryogenically treated and coated with a fine layer of questionite dust, making it both highly resilient and extremely sharp. The Doctor usually carries it hidden under his clothes as a surprise for those who think they have disarmed him.
- The Doctor's Bag: The Doctor's Bag is just that. A small black leather bag which the Doctor usually carries at his belt. It is filled with all kinds of medical equipment which could prove useful on the battlefield. From staples like painkillers, bandages and suture to the more exotic equipment like cryogenically treated scalpels (can and have been used as a weapon of last resort), syringes filled with various poisons and a variety of combat drugs; all that and more can be found in the Doctor's Bag, depending on what is required by the situation at hand. A list of the Doctor's staple poisons and combat drugs can be found below.
- Multi-purpose Explosives: Old habits die hard. His days as an assassin have taught the Doctor that having a few explosives with you at all times is never a bad idea, if just for the intimidating effect. These explosives - crafted by Wayland Talos - take the shape of black spheres roughly the size of an orange. They carry a special fordite charge with impressive destructive power, even against heavily defended targets. A small interface linked to his cell phone allows the Doctor to choose the type of explosive (grenade, mine, remote-triggered bomb) as well as adjust detonation force and timer.
- Fingertip Flash Powder: Deceptively simple, this is a type of magnesium powder which the Doctor has treated in a special chemical procedure. By dusting his fingertips with it and then snapping his fingers, the Doctor can create a flare of bright light for a few seconds. Usually used for blinding or distracting enemies and perfect for surprise attacks or quick, tactical retreats. Quite painful when used on bare fingertips though.
- Microfilament Wires: Described as the essential tool of every assassin by the Doctor himself, microfilament wires have been a part of his arsenal for a long time. Incredibly sharp, extremely durable and almost invisible under the right conditions these wires can be used for a multitude of sinister purposes. The Doctor has been seen using them as a garrote, whip or to set up insidious traps. He keeps them on a coil hidden under his vest. His gloves can emit a weak magnetic field, which allows him to handle the deadly wires without danger of hurting himself.
- Razor Mines: Razor Mines combine two of the Doctor's favorite things: explosives and microfilament wires. Upon detonation (either through proximity or remotely controlled by the Doctor) these devices eject a mesh of microfilament wires. The wires are partly coated with a layer of quickly-hardening glue, which allows them to stick to victims or walls, creating either very messy deaths or a convenient way of area denial.
- Nanoweave Clothing: On top of being incredibly stylish, almost all of the Doctor's outfits are made of a reinforced nanoweave fabric, which hardens for split-seconds in response to kinetic force, giving it protective properties on par of light body armor. For additional protection of vital organs, the Doctor wears a state-of-the-art Regor Plastic kevlar vest beneath. Additionally the clothes have limited thermal regulation abilities, allowing them to be worn in moderately hot or cold environments. Extreme temperatures however still require him to wear specialized clothing. They also house numerous pockets and secret compartments to hold additional equipment and weapons. His gloves are of a resilient black leather and reinforced with tiny compartments of metal to protect his hands and give his punches just a bit more force. His shoes are also made of the same black leather, but with special sound-dampening soles, metal tips for painful kicks and hidden spring-loaded blades, just in case.
- Combat Shades: These crimson-tinted glasses are a marvel of technology (and style). They are equipped with magnifying properties, an advanced combat HUD with uplink to the Men in White's databases, target identification and analysis software and several vision modes (including night and thermal vision). They are made from a reinforced material, preventing them from breaking easily in combat situations. The Doctor has several different designs, purely for style.
- Improved Cell Phone: While many superheroes and supervillains prefer wrist computers, the Doctor has never been able to warm up to them. Instead he has paid the super-hacker Ixion to improve a standard business blackberry in numerous ways. Heavy encryption software and a unique, almost hack-proof operating system allow it operate flawlessly, even in combat situations. In turn it features a simple AI able to bypass standard security protocols for hacking tasks, has a GPS uplink, encrypted access to the Men in White's databases and a secure web-browser on top of all the other features of the latest generation of smart phones. The Doctor can also use it to remotely control certain pieces of his equipment (for example, detonate his explosives).
- The Phaeton: The Doctor likes to travel in style. While he prefers a black Cadillac XTS for ground travel, the Phaeton - an advanced VTOL gunship of unknown design and manufacture - is his choice for air travel. An outer hull of a kendrium/teflon alloy over lightweight but sturdy materials gives it unparalleled mobility while still keeping it very durable. An emergency forcefield can boost its defensive capabilities even further by re-routing energy from other systems. An advanced onboard AI as well as telemetric and target identification and analysis software help the pilot to utilize the Phaeton's capabilities to their fullest. Two front-mounted 20mm autocannons, two missile pods under the wings capable of simultaneously firing up to 8 missiles of different kinds (the usual loadout are thermobaric missiles) and one heavy 60 mm cannon capable of firing incendiary tungsten-carbide rounds make up its offensive potential. Finally it is equipped with advanced holographic cloaking technology, allowing it to move nearly undetected. It is capable of transporting up to 6 persons comfortably (including the pilot). As the Doctor's personal vehicle it is of course equipped with several luxuries inside including leather seats, a plasma screen and a well-stocked mini-bar. It is usually piloted by the Doctor's own driver and pilot Frank Wilson, codename Paramedic. Unfortunately it didn't come in white.
- Dirty Tricks: In addition to all its other equipment, the Doctor has some sinister surprises for his enemies up his sleeve.
• He has treated his fingertips in a painful procedure with biological acids. They are now completely smooth, leaving no traces at all.
• He also recognized the danger of being completely disarmed: Making incisions on suitable parts of his skin, the Doctor was able to insert small pieces of equipment directly under his skin, creating subdermal pockets to hold that item after the wounds healed. He has four of them.
• His tie can emit a powerful electric shock in case someone had the smart idea to grab onto such an obvious weak spot in the heat of combat.
• The poisons and drugs he carries with him are deliberately labeled wrong. While the Doctor can recognize the various substances he uses in combat by sight and smell alone, his enemies usually can not.
• Last but not least, he has rigged almost all of his equipment to explode after certain verbal commands (usually the names of his ex-girlfriends).
Drugs, Poisons and other Substances
The Doctor's vast medical expertise allows him to create, improve and utilize a wide range of different substances in and outside of combat. Usually he carries them with him in specially prepared stainless steel syringes, but he has also no qualms about using them in the form of pellets or grenades. Below a short list of the Doctor's staple poisons and combat drugs can be found, but he is known to use a far greater variety of common and less common substances.
- Stranglehold (Poison): Stranglehold, created of a chemically enhanced version of the common poison ivy's toxins is a powerful poison, which causes rapid respiratory shutdown along with painful pharyngeal contractions, making it impossible for the target to breathe. It is not unheard of victims of Stranglehold to suffocate in the span of less than a minute.
- Whiplash (Poison): Whiplash is a chemically enhanced version of the neurotoxin of the box jellyfish. It amplifies nerve conductivity to extreme levels and causes the thermoreceptors of the target to work on overtime, causing such extreme pain that even moving, the feeling of clothing on skin or a light breeze becomes unbearably painful for the target.
- First Blood (Poison): First Blood saturates the bloodstream of the target with an experimental chemical that causes extensive hemolysis and thins the blood of the target to an extreme level, causing rapid exsanguination. The target's blood runs from every wounds and orifices in a rather horrifying display. In extreme cases complete exsanguination was reached in less than two minutes.
- Inner Fire (Poison): Based on a similar chemical as First Blood, Inner Fire floods the bloodstream of the target with a chemical that bonds to the targets red blood cells and starts absorbing the oxygen they carry. After absorbing enough oxygen (usually after two to three minutes), they ignite which causes the target to burn out from the inside.
- Natural Bone Killer (Poison): Natural Bone Killer utilizes a batch of genetically engineered bacteria with an appetite for calcium, attacking the target's bone structure and causing symptoms similar to extreme cases of osteoporosis. The target's bones start disintegrating inside its body, causing extreme pain, inability to move and finally death by asphyxiation.
- Nightmare (Poison): This artificial neurotoxin hyperstimulates the part of the brain responsible for the fight-or-flight response. The target is overcome by an overwhelming sense of panic and fear without any obvious reason. In some reported cases the psyche of the victim actually invented some sort of dreadful imagery to justify said feelings.
- Blitz (Combat Drug): This drug comes in the form of small white pills and increases alertness, improves concentration and enhances reaction speed by drastically speeding up the communication between the left and right brain halves. Taken in small doses for short periods of times, it is mostly harmless, but extended use can lead to paranoia and anxiety attacks.
- Serenity (Combat Drug): This milky, white liquid is a potent cocktail of morphine and amphetamines, which is injected directly into the bloodstream. A single shot of Serenity is enough to suppress the pain from nearly any injury without the side effects usually associated with similar substances. Serenity has to be handled with great care, as it is highly addictive on psychological level.
- Berserk (Combat Drug): Berserk comes as a clear liquid injected directly, which stimulates the adrenal gland of the user with acetylcholine, causing it to substantially increase the adrenaline production. Users feel an almost instant boost in strength after taking it, along with increased aggressiveness. Berserk is easily overdosed and can lead to fatal heart attacks.
- Apathy (Combat Drug): Apathy, readily available in the form of small brown pills, saturates muscle fibres with high doses of protein and makes them extraordinarily resistant to the stress and tension of use, allowing the user to exert himself greatly for a certain amount of time. Unfortunately the pain that this drug suppresses comes back in full after the effects wear off.
- Mind Game (Combat Drug): Mind Game comes as a small bag of blue powder and actually started as a party drug popular with the supervillain community. It hyperstimulates nerve receptors in the brain, causing intense feelings of alertness and greater sensitivity for all known senses, allowing the user to perceive the battlefield (or dancefloor) much more intensively.
- Liquid Spite (Other): There is no universal solvent, but Liquid Spite comes very close. Held in magnetic suspension in a specially designed syringe, because he has not yet found any container that could hold it, the Doctor uses this incredibly potent acid to dissolve the most heavily secured locks, armors and ultimately metahuman flesh and bone rapidly.
- Gentle Touch (Other): This healing foam is similar to the healing patches used by the MCPD and many other organizations, but many times more potent. Applied to a wound it hardens to a flexible layer of protection, preventing both infection and blood loss and stimulating the cells to start the healing process. It can (and should) be easily removed later for further, advanced treatment.
- Nr. 7 (Other): This substance comes as a spray, which applies an invisible, microscopically thin sheen to user's skin, which is completely impermeable to odors, eliminating the user's presence completely on the olfactory spectrum. The Doctor uses it to escape and/or ambush metahumans known for their highly sensitive noses (typically werewolves and similar).
- Liquid Stasis (Other): This substance comes as light blue liquid injected directly, which causes a complete but ultimately temporary (and harmless) shutdown of the target's nervous system, brain activities and body functions, making it appear clinically dead for up to three hours or until the antidote is administered. Useful for infiltration purposes or other deceptive maneuvers.
Weaknesses
Despite his own claims, the Doctor is not without weaknesses.
- Still Human: While he was among the deadliest assassins in the world and has lost little of his edge when since he left that business, the Doctor is - despite all his training and equipment - still ultimately human with all that entails. He has no superpowers, no magic or inherent regenerative abilities. He ages like anyone else and is just as likely to catch a cold as die from a bullet to the head as anyone else. Compared to most metahumans he simply lacks the raw power to go toe to toe with them and is painfully aware of that fact and trying to level the field in every possible way.
- Declining Health: Ironically the Doctor's own health is a precarious matter. Years of years of abusing the effects of various combat drugs have taken a toll on his body. A healthy man in his 30s with his training and experience would be exponentially more dangerous than the Doctor is currently. In many cases the damage done to his body by overdosing and withdrawal symptoms have proven to be irreversible even for his expertise and his tendency to overwork himself and lead a comparatively unhealthy lifestyle with little sleep, as well as too much alcohol, caffeine and nicotine make these effects only worse.
- Big Ego: There is no other way to say it: The Doctor is an arrogant bastard. He is incredibly convinced of his own intellectual superiority towards pretty much everyone. He is also not shy to mention and prove this fact if necessary, which makes achieving his goals often more difficult than it has to be. While he is aware of the fact that his megalomaniacal tendencies can be a weakness and tries to keep his ego in check, repeated insults and humiliation at the hands of people he considers inferior can cause him to quickly lose his cool and focus his attention towards complete destruction of the offenders - to the detriment of his other plans.
- Competitive: Similarly the Doctor relishes the rare moment when he finds somebody he considers a worthy opponent to his intellect, skills and talents. Should he find such a person, he will gleefully test himself time and time again against him or her, even dragging out said competition longer than necessary, because he is certain that it will be a long time until he finds someone worthy again. This arrogance can be easily exploited by those he considers his equal as he is more willing to parley, negotiate and sometimes even help such individuals.
- A Wanted Man: During his time as an assassin he already made a lot of enemies and this list did not get any shorter when he decided to enter the drug and weapons trade. He is wanted by a multitude of law enforcement agencies in many parts of the world and the fact that he has not yet been captured appears to be a miracle. Additionally the list of his enemies also includes many criminal organizations and individuals and while many of them are still willing to work with him and the Men in White, they would gladly betray him as soon as that course of action is more beneficial to them.
The Men in White
The Men in White are the Doctor's growing criminal organization. While they are currently mostly operating as a street gang in Westside of Millennium City, they are growing rapidly in both numbers and influence. They are already controlling a rather large part of the drug trade in and around the city and their superior training and equipment as well as their subtle methods and careful planning means that it is only a matter of time before they start being a national or even global threat. MCPD and PRIMUS estimate that they currently have around 100 members and rising. Their recruits usually come from other street gangs, ex-military or ex-law enforcement; the Doctor does not want amateurs in his organization.
Appearance
Unsurprisingly the Men in White are primarily dressed in white. Unlike many other gangs and similar organizations, the Doctor does not regulate the dress code down to every button. Instead he has presented rough guidelines of what he wants to see. Those guidelines are:
- Dress in white.
- Dress in style.
- Dress medical.
This has led to some interesting choices of appearance. White tank tops, hoodies and jackets are just as likely as vests, dress shirts and suits, sometimes in daring combinations. Higher-ranking members often incorporate various medical accessories in their outfits. Scrubs, surgical masks and lab coats are the most popular choices, while nurse-inspired outfits are an obvious choice for women (Note: Despite the name, the Men in White are completely equal opportunity; in fact, the Doctor's second-in-commands are both women). Even further up the chain of command it is also quite common to find many members incorporating flak jackets, kevlar vests, utility harnesses and similar pieces of equipment into their outfits. Snow camo is a popular choice. Finally, the Men in White's current elite task force prefers combat armor and trench coats inspired by medieval plague doctors. The Men in White's vehicles and power armor - unless repainted for covert operations - are also white with red highlights. The gang symbol of the Men in White is a snake coiled around a combat knife - a parody of the Staff of Asclepius. It is found on the outfits of their members (some of them going so far as getting it tattooed along with other medical imagery), painted on their vehicles or in the form of graffiti on their turf.
Resources
The Men in White are surprisingly well-equipped and trained for being just a street gang. The Doctor has personally designed an extensive training schedule for new recruits which consists of both physical conditioning as well as numerous workshops focusing on a wide variety of skills a Man in White might need in and out of combat. Weekly drills are mandatory and various supplementary lessons are available for particularly ambitious members of the organization. This has led to a high level of competence even among the lowest ranks, which often surprises superheroes expecting just another bunch of gangbangers. Finally, many Men In White have taken after their boss and started experimenting with a variety of combat drugs (a practice which is endorsed by the Doctor since it gives him a large number of volunteers for experiments), so many of their members might be much stronger, faster and durable than expected at first glance.
The Men in White's equipment is also of surprisingly high quality. Most of it comes from various foreign suppliers, with the majority suspected to reside in Costa Azúl, Abrakania and countries of the former Eastern Bloc. Due to its high quality it is likely that the Doctor still maintains ties to ex-military or paramilitary organizations in said countries. The Men in White also possess a surprisingly wide range of specialized and/or high-tech equipment no common street gang should have. It is suspected that most of it is bought from Wayland Talos or other villainous organizations like VIPER. Again, unsuspecting superheroes who expected a gang to have shotguns at best have been surprised by thermobaric explosives, power armor, force field generators and similar equipment and in some cases barely lived to tell the tale.
The Men in White's current HQ is a rather large abandoned factory site on the outskirts of Millenium City. The Doctor has made sure that it is well-secured, shielded and concealed. Security includes numerous layers of traps, gun turrets and cameras along with heavily secured walls and doors as well as 24/7 patrols of guards. Finally a powerful cloaking field shields it from electronic detection as well as nosy psychics. The HQ includes armory, barracks, warehouses, briefing rooms, an underground hangar for the Men in White's vehicles, the Doctor's own office and various other necessities. Despite this, the Doctor has made sure that his organization stays mobile and independent of a fixed HQ. In less than 40 minutes everything of importance and value can be relocated and the self-destruct mechanism triggered.
Operations
The Men in White's main source of income is the drug and weapons trade, but they are currently also expanding their operations towards money laundering, illegal gambling and similar activities. The Doctor is quick to remind any Man in White that their main goal is amassing wealth and influence. Senseless brutality and casual cruelty are very much unwanted since they damage reputations with potential customers and business partners and might bring unwanted attention to the organization. That said, the Doctor has no issue with any sort of 'crude' crime as long as it either furthers the organization's goals or helps to protect its current sphere of influence. At a practical level the Doctor encourages ambition and drive among the Men in White. Their dealers work on commission and using the Men in White's resources for personal gain is allowed (as long as it does not endanger the organization as a whole).
Since the Doctor insists on personally designing and planning any larger scheme or operation, the Men in White are decidedly hard to track and pin down. Often they work through middle men and dummy companies and if they do not, they are exceedingly careful to avoid leaving obvious clues to their involvement (unless it would benefit them). For particularly dangerous or compromising operations the Doctor sometimes hires mercenaries or other supervillains to do the dirty work and take the fall if necessary. When dealing with other gangs and criminal organizations, the Men in White employ a policy of respectful aggressiveness. While they are continuously working on expanding their influence as to not appear weak, they make sure not too rock the boat too heavily as they still lack the manpower and resources to go toe to toe with the truly big players like VIPER or ARGENT.
UNTIL Classification System
As with many gangs, villainous organizations and other threats UNTIL has used its HVEM Classification System (Henchman/Villain/Enforcer/Master Villain) to identify and categorize the members of the Men in White according to their threat level. As usual with the HVEM Classification System the following information is incomplete and should not be taken as an absolute resource on appearances and capabilities of the organization in question.
- Dealer (Category: Henchman)
Dealers are responsible for the day-to-day drug and weapons trading business of the Men in White. They deliver goods, negotiate low-level deals with other criminals and are the ones found on street corners selling the Men in White's merchandise. While being a Dealer for the Men in White is quite lucrative and many of them are better equipped than one would expect a common criminal to be, many of them choose this specific work to avoid confrontations and are not particulary good in a fight, at least compared to other Men in White.
- Orderly (Category: Henchman)
Orderlies do just what their name implies: They maintain order. Orderlies are the guards, grunts and low-level enforcers of the Men in White. They guard the Men In White's turf and property, protect and support Dealers and other higher-ranking Men the Men in White and are the first to call when someone or something needs a few hard knocks on the head. Even though most of them are better equipped and trained than your typical criminal, in the end they are nothing but slightly more capable street thugs: Neither particulary smart, nor particulary dangerous.
- Nurse (Category: Henchman)
The Men in White are equal opportunity and crime attracts women just as much as men. The Nurses are the pet project of the Doctor's secretary Janine Guiliani (apparent by their dress code). In an effort to mirror her own rise in the criminal underworld, Janine has offered gang-members' girlfriends, former prostitutes and similar young women the opportunity to learn a variety of skills: negotiating, medicine, battlefield support, knife-fighting and much more. Many took up the offer and the Nurses were created and are now a strange mix of support troops, cheerleaders and general assistants for the Men in White. Like with everything, the Doctor tolerates it 'as long as it is useful'.
- Street Surgeon (Category: Villain)
Street Surgeons are not necessarily surgeons. While all of them have some sort of scientific background, their specializations (and levels of competence) vary greatly. However, the Doctor makes sure that all of them are adequately trained and equipped for their jobs, which are technical and medical support of the Men in White's day-to-day activities, driving the Men in White's own drugs and weapons research and sometimes even offering backyard surgeries and similar procedures to willing customers. They are no harmless eggheads either: they receive combat training and many of them are surprisingly proficient with their weapons, in addition to supporting their fellow Men In White with a range of combat drugs and gadgets.
- Brawler (Category: Villain)
While the Doctor likes to pretend that they are far more, at their core the Men in White are a street gang. Strength, brutality and ruthlessness can still help to climb the job ladder quickly and that's where the Brawlers come in. Few of them are what the Doctor is looking for in his lieutentants: suave, sophisticated and professional. They earned their position by being stronger, tougher and meaner than the others and many of them are former soldiers or mercenaries. Almost all of them augment their abilities with the various combat drugs the Men in White have at their disposal, which usually does nothing to improve their attitude or readiness to use violence. Underground fighting tournaments and other blood sports are where they are usually found when not on the job.
- Fiend (Category: Enforcer)
Some people exhibit a natural affinity for the various combat drugs the Men in White sell and use and retain many of the enhanced physical characteristics these substances provide, even when they are not currently consuming them. Hulking brutes close to mutating into something metahuman, many of them have developed crippling addictions to the drugs and the lifestyle that come with them. Working as the Men in White's heavy muscle is the solution for many of them to satisfy their desire for adrenaline, violence and their daily fix. The Doctor has recognized the potential of these human battering rams. He has outfitted them with heavy armor and other useful equipment and uses them as heavy enforcers for his criminal empire. Many of them can even go toe-to-toe with metahumans and similar opponents for short amounts of time.
- Adjutant (Category: Master Villain)
Adjutants are the elite of the Men in White's forces. Personally trained by the Doctor and outfitted with the best weapons, combat drugs and equipment the Men in White can provide they have a variety of responsibilities: field commanders, internal police and finally the Doctor's personal enforcers. At any point an Adjutant has the full authority of the Doctor to use any means necessary to ensure the Men in White's success. In contrast to many of the lower-ranking Men In White, the Adjutants take great pride in being polite, professional and efficient and many of them take after their boss in terms of attitude and personal style. Their training and equipment makes them a match for every SWAT or special forces and in the field they wear outfits influenced by medieval plague doctors both as a symbol of their loyalty to the Men in White's theme and as a way of intimidating the enemy.
Notable Members and Allies
((Should this category be edited with one of your characters? Tell me!))
Janine "Red" Guiliani, the Doctor's Secretary
Janine is the Doctor's secretary, personal assistant and best friend. Born as the oldest child of a family of second-generation immigrants to the United States from Italy, Janine's childhood and adolescence was marked by crime. By the time she was 18, she had ran with almost every gang in Millennium City and picked up a variety of skills and talents along the way. Together with her street smarts and her stunningly good looks, she quickly made a name for herself on the streets and soon rose quickly in the ranks of any gang she joined. She met the Doctor when her then boss refused to pay the assassin, which led to a quite unglorified end for him. Now without a job, Janine gladly accepted the Doctor's offer to work for him. He had recognized the young woman's potential and over the years Janine became invaluable to the Doctor's business, handling contracts, finances and client interactions for him. However they also developed a close friendship and she quite possibly the only person the Doctor truly cares about. Their relationship is endlessly ambiguous: Some Men In White swear that they must be romantically involved, others point to the Doctor's rather eccentric character and the fact that Janine flirts just as much with everyone else. Today her role in the Men in White is similar: She handles administrative and financial aspects of the organization, negotiates with customers and is also still the Doctor’s secretary. However she also handles delicate situations which require a more ‘feminine’ touch, even though the Doctor hates to expose her to any sort of danger.
Tamara "Cross" Aristopoulos, the Doctor's Adjutant
Officially Tamara is the Doctor's bodyguard, but since the Doctor is more than capable of defending himself, she usually serves as a field commander and leads the Adjutants, the Men in White's elite squad of enforcers. In her former life, Tamara was one of the most promising Greek biathletes in the history of the sport. Modeling and advertising deals galore promised a secure future and a successful, handsome fiancée was ready to marry her at any moment. Her life took a turn for the worse when one biathlon she participated in became the battleground of the superhero Phalanx and the supervillain Frostfire. A stray attack by Frostfire left a horrible cross-shaped scar covering the right half of her face. The loss of her beauty along with her fiancée and modeling and advertising deals drove her off the edge. She faked her suicide and left Europe for Millennium City. Lost and desperate she turned to drinking and drugs and met the Men in White at some point. The Doctor recognized the scar on her face and came to the right conclusions: He offered her to put her talents to a better use. Without much purpose in life and a lot of anger to take out on the world she accepted. The Men in White supplied her with training and equipment best suited to her skills as a former biathlete: A sophisticated energy rifle and anti-gravity boots which allow her to ‘ski’ through the air.
Frank "Paramedic" Wilson, the Doctor's driver
While the Doctor is able to drive a car or fly an aircraft, a mix of overenthusiasm, short temper and plain bad luck makes that a dangerous endeavor for everyone in and around the vehicle in question. That's where Wilson (he prefers his surname or his codename) comes in. Wilson used to be a celebrated Air Force ace pilot until his wife died of cancer, leaving him to care for their daughter Mari. Wilson did not take it too well. He started to drink outside of and at some point even on duty, got into fights over the slightest provocations and stopped taking care of himself. It did not take too long before he was dishonorably discharged. While that was motivation enough for him to get his life back on track, he was angry at the world and the military in particular. However he still needed a job. It might have been sheer luck or destiny that the boyfriend of his daughter's best friend happened to be a member of the Men in White. With no other options, Wilson contacted the organization and the Doctor was quite happy to have an experienced pilot in his ranks. While Wilson is no hardened criminal, he recognized that the Doctor and the Men in White can provide easy money for him and his daughter, which is good enough for him to go along with it, especially when he gets to take out his anger issues on all sorts of authority figures on the way. Wilson serves as the Doctor's driver and also pilots the Doctor's personal aircraft, the Phaeton. His training as a soldier and his uncanny skill with any sort of vehicle make him a valuable asset to the Men in White.
Killshot, the Scalpel of the Men in White
Killshot is one of the most proficient and successful assassins on the planet. Blessed with enhanced senses, an impressive regeneration ability, a wide range of high-tech weapons and equipment and years upon years of experience in combat, Killshot is one of the very best in the business. His most impressive feat is his incredible accuracy and proficiency with firearms, easily outshining even highly trained elite soldiers of many armies. Killshot has been known to do freelance work for various individuals and organizations and is rumored to be connected to both VIPER and certain unsavory elements in ARGENT. For a long time Killshot and the Doctor were rivals in "the Business". Sometimes they were allies when hired by the same client combining their skills to frightening effect, other times outright shooting at each other when competing for the same contract. When the Doctor retired from the business after his disappearance Killshot took over his place in the ranking of top assassins and their rivalry faded in the background. After the Doctor hired a team of supervillains to break Killshot out of PRIMUS custody and several projects and business endeavours they worked on together, Killshot has more or less officially joined the Men in White. Today Killshot belongs to the innermost circle of the organisation and serves as its field commander, top assassin and oversees the training of new recruits.
Wayland Talos, Underworld Weaponsmith
Wayland Talos is THE man you want to go to when you need a perfectly calibrated blaster rifle, a set of razor-sharp knives with questionite coating or a custom hover-disc and don't want to worry about the legal intricacies of getting such gadgets. He is an arms dealer, inventor and technological consultant, who is eager to sell his wares and services to the highest bidder, especially if that bidder shares Talos' hatred of superheroes. Earlier in his life, Talos' wife Maria died in a terrorist attack a group of superheroes was unable to stop, because the terrorists were much better prepared and armed than the heroes expected. Talos blamed his wives death on the incompetent superheroes and let his hatred consume him. Subsequently he lost his job as a technology designer due to his obsessive hatred and brooding, which he also blamed on the superheroes. He was determined to get revenge on the so-called heroes who ruined his life and began to use his immense technological expertise to provide criminals, terrorists and anyone else who would fight against superheroes with weapons, gadgets and equipment. The Men in White contact Talos readily and often for more specialized equipment or technical advice. The Doctor and Talos also seem to get along quite well on a personal level, likely due to their shared dislike of costumed superheroes.
Teleios, the Perfect Man
Teleios is the "Perfect Man", an insane and utterly amoral scientist who believes that he alone is the superior being destined to rule the world. His plot is both simple yet unimaginably complex in design: creating innumerable clones of himself (both natural and altered) he seeks to populate the world with said clones and remake it in his "perfect" image. Teleios is the foremost expert on matters of biological science and genetics on Earth; he possesses the ability to create monsters and clones to forward his goals, and by utilizing his expertise he seeks to create the perfect being. He is capable of endowing his test subjects with superpowers, as well as strip those they may already possess. Despite this, he has refrained from granting himself such abilities as not to mar the perfection his own genetically engineered body represents. A criminal megalomaniac of the highest degree Teleios is utterly convinced of his own perfection and has a fanatical zeal in his work that has been labelled "depraved" by Justiciar, one of Canada's leading superheroes. When the Doctor still worked as a mercenary, Teleios sometimes hired him for certain special tasks: Deploying a designer pathogen or eliminating faulty runaway experiments for example. Their relationship cannot really be called friendly; both men are far too narcissistic and megalomaniacal to trust each other, but there exists a certain degree of professional respect. Now as leader of the Men in White the Doctor sometimes hires Teleios for his biological and genetic expertise while Teleios uses the Men in White to distribute and field-test his latest inventions. In fact according to underworld rumors the Men in White are one of the main distribution channel for Teleios' new Onslaught serum.
Enemies
((Should this category be edited with one of your characters? Tell me!))
Spiderling, the Matriarachnid
During his time as a hired killer, a peculiar contract made it necessary for the Doctor to work together with a team of heroes, much to his dismay. Undercover he joined the heroes to help investigate the case of a disappeared SWAT team in the Duskview apartment complex near the docks of Westside. Not only did they find the apartment complex covered with cobwebs on the inside, but they also discovered that the residents were too terrified to leave their rooms because of 'something stalking the halls at night'. For the Doctor this contract was beyond annoying. Not only did he have to sneak around in a dirty, low-class apartment complex, he also had to do it together with a group of superheroes he considered 'delightfully inept' to use his least insulting thought. It all got worse when they were attacked by a swarms of spiders, led by their monstrous matriarch Spiderling. After a series of unfortunate incidents during the battle, like one of the heroes sending the Doctor falling down a set of stairs accidentally, Spiderling was defeated. The finishing blow against the arachnid antagonist was struck by a - at that point very angry and very annoyed - Doctor, who used a well-placed thermobaric explosive to bring a good part of the apartment building crashing down on Spiderling. Law enforcement and superheroes presumed her to have died that day, but the Doctor is not too sure about that. No body was found and it might be quite possible that the spider queen is still out there, plotting her revenge on the Doctor.
Demoness, the Dark Mistress of Justice
Claire Thompson, heir to the multi-million dollar shipping enterprise Pegasus Shipping is secretly the heroine Demoness. From her earliest childhood on she was raised to one day take over her father's company. However many board directors distrusted her father's judgement. Haughty, arrogant, spoiled and a magnet for tabloid rumors, she seemed unfit to lead the company to them. Their distrust and dissatisfaction with her father's decision led them to conspire with ARGENT to take over Pegasus Shipping. They paid ARGENT to get rid of her and ARGENT subsequently subcontracted an assassin to take care of the job. On her 18th birthday she was gunned down on her way to signing the papers which would have made her the sole heir to the company. However she survived. When she was killed, her soul made its way down to hell due to her pride and avarice in life. At the same time a demoness attempted to escape the netherworld, clashed with Claire's soul on the way and both essences merged together in one, reviving Claire's body again. Somehow the two conflicting essences managed to come to an agreement and so Claire Thompson returned, taking her rightful position as vice-president of Pegasus Shipping. However, the fact that she nearly went to hell made her also reconsider many aspects of her life and she decided to save her soul from eternal torment by fighting the good fight, using the powers her half-demonic soul grants her. She became the superheroine Demoness. The underworld rumors however are true this time: it was indeed the Doctor who ARGENT hired to kill Claire Thompson. While it is unknown if she remembers who her assailant was, the Doctor surely does remember that failed job. He might no longer be in the business, but should the opportunity present itself, he will gladly erase that particular stain on his reputation. And this time she won't get up again.
Vladic Dracul, Leader of the New Shadows
Legend claims it was his son, Vlad Tepes, and not he, who became a vampire. In truth, it was a legacy he chose, and one that his son upheld. Although the world around him has changed through the centuries, he has in many ways stayed the same. He is still a warrior, still a man of power and still determined to reshape the world in his image. His dream, now, is to create a vampire nation. Among vampires he is one of the oldest and one of the strongest; if anyone were to father a vampire nation, it would be him. The Doctor's relationship with vampires has always been strained, but he and Vladic Dracul share a special hatred for each other. During his time as a hired killer, the Doctor and Vladic fought two times and while the vampire won both battles by a hair he also learned to not underestimate this particular human. The fact that the Doctor killed the Bloody Rose of the New Shadows who was almost like a daughter to the elder vampire only cemented the hatred and grudging respect he feels for the Doctor. Their respective hatred is reflected in how their gangs interact. While the Men in White are careful when dealing with most other criminal organizations, open warfare between them and the New Shadows is common, even more now that the Doctor and his gang are looking to establish themselves in the Vibora Bay drugs market as well.
Devana Hawke, the Doctor's Favorite Person To Hate
Is a super-powered do-gooder constantly throwing a monkey wrench in your schemes? Need them taken down quietly? For the right price, (and if she's interested) Devana Hawke will take on the assignment. Not one to simply go in guns blazing, Devana will take her target down at the most opportune time. Usually when the target is at their weakest, physically and mentally. Whether it means orchestrating situations to break down heroes or get to them through their loved ones, Devana always completes her assignments by any means necessary. By now the enmity between Devana Hawke and the Doctor is something of a running gag in the supervillain community. It started when they were both still in the same business as simple professional rivalry. However a series of misunderstandings, unfortunate incidents and hurt egos turned this rivalry into a veritable cold war, which turned burning hot whenever they saw each other. Now that the Doctor has retired from the business, they have both cooled down somewhat, but their intense dislike for each other remains. Devana will happily take on every contract which makes the Doctor's life more difficult, while the Doctor will happily try to complicate her work whenever he can do so without too much hassle.
Comments and Rumors
Do you have anything to say about the Doctor? Rumors, gossip, leads for other heroes? Here's the place for it.
- "Dr. Kaufmann, or simply "The Doctor" was considered the 5th best assassin in the world according to the Bounty Board, ranking just behind Jack Knife (4), The Tallyman (3), Andrès Panthanatos (2) and of course, Taipan (1). Last year Killshot took his place after he retired from the Business." - The Middle Men
- "The sassy assassin with the classy sense of fashion, that's my boss alright!" - Janine "Red" Guiliani
- "Zis man is a Monster, ich vill be on zee vatch for him, und ich vill stop him, ich does not vish for anymore lives to be taken." - Fräulein Über
- "Kaufmann... Feel bad for whoever pisses this bloke off.. He is cold, calculatin', and will chain-smoke ya sorry ass into the dirt. Luckily, I was a vastly superior killer, to this pale sod of a boss. He goes on drunken tirades about someone either stealin' his smokes, or the idea that fuckin' gnomes are out to get'm.. Swear those drugs got to his head.. But what can I say, the man did get me out of some jail time, so cheers!" - Killshot
- "He has a reputation, even if he tries to keep it quiet. Impressive. One day, we might have to see who is better." - Crow
- "He freaks me out!" - Coyote
- "What happens when an immovable object meets an unstoppable force? You put this guy, and I, together. He's almost my direct antithesis in terms of combat skill, fighting style, even appearance. I get the nasty feeling the two of us are going to come to blows one day, and it's not gonna be something to write home about!" - Snowtalon
- "Heard about this guy through the grapevine. Real cold-blooded killer type. Probably thinks he's the best there is, too. Heh. He's certainly not." - All-Star
- "I find it sad and frustrating when someone has the talents to help shape the world into something better and they instead squander it for their own personal gain due to their megalomania. He's dangerous, for sure, and I pray that no one underestimates him simply because he lacks super human prowess: It would be a fatal mistake." - Sparrowhawk
- "Ah, him. He's managed to put a chip on my shoulder in a short amount of time. Dangerous in his own right, but it's irrelevant in the end - he figures he can come on top either with brains or with brawn. If I didn't have bigger things to worry about than a narcissistic drug peddler, he'd have been proven wrong on both fronts by now." - The Peacemaker
- "Highly experienced killer. Background unknown. Behavior implies narcissistic personality disorder. Top of UNTIL's watchlist. He plays the game well, using heroes to get rid of his competition and indirectly help him gain control of the drug trade. If he has bigger plans for this city, then I need to prepare myself. His ego will be his undoing." - The Watchman
- "They say he is from Germany, right? In that case I have a message for the Doctor: 'Hochmut kommt vor dem Fall.'" - Fahrenheit
- "Smug ass attitude aside, the Doc is brutally efficient. If he calls me a replacement henchman again, I'm gonna slap him." - Tesseract
- "I've had the...interesting experience of working with the Doctor. Enemy of my enemy is my friend type deal. He's certainly an unscrupulous man, his track record speaks of that. But I have to admit, his pragmatism and efficiency is something I can appreciate. Maybe even admire on some level. It's a shame that it's wasted on himself, he'll be seeing the inside of padded four wall cell soon enough." - Fathom
- "I've had to work with this guy before, I've luckily never been on the receiving end of a fight with him, er, not that I couldn't take him, I could totally take him! He's a total dweeb! Yeah!" - Imp
- "I had the "pleasure" of dealing with his associates. I have a feeling this guy is absolute bad news, and like in chess, he's playing a long game." - African Violet
- "Dr. Kaufmann taught me a lot of things when I got to know the super villain. We make choices in our lives and, sometimes, even the very best choose to be evil. He chose his path while I chose mine... and even the very best have their limits. I don't want to be the one to show him where his limits are but I will, if he faces me and chooses to harm innocent lives." - Cosmic Glory
- "What an asshole." - Spite
- "Anybody who thinks that a man with no powers isn't a danger, then they are... incredibly wrong and narrow-minded. The Doctor has resources - both in terms of manpower and funds - as well as combat skills that put him on par with even well-trained fighters. The man is dangerous, and the men who work for him?Just as dangerous. I'll be happy to show the scars he left behind to any person who doubts that." - Faith
Other Stuff
Trivia
Various more or less interesting bits about the Doctor can be found here.
- The Doctor has alluded to having a younger sister.
- The Doctor once killed someone with a golf club. He took the golf club with him and tried playing golf afterwards, only to fail miserably. He kept the club though, just in case.
- The Doctor loves to quote oldschool rap lyrics in appropriate situations...
- ...which has caused some of the younger members of the Men in White to joke that the destruction of the Qularr Invasion of 2009 is rather the result of the Doctor's mixtape dropping.
- The Doctor's most visible tattoos are the letters DONT HARM on his knuckles, but he has many more. On his right arm he has a full sleeve depicting various instances of normal humans fighting the supernatural (David killing Goliath, Siegfried slaying the Dragon, the Witchfinder General burning a witch and Abraham Van Helsing staking Dracula). On his left arm he has a full sleeve of stylized molecular geometry of a wide range of different drugs and poisons along with several chemical formulas. His torso is covered with a wide range of medical and business imagery, including but not limited to the Rod of Asclepius on his back, the Caduceus on his neck, a bull and a bear fighting in front of a stylized stock board on his left side and a 'bloody' carving of the dollar symbol over his heart.
- The Doctor likes his coffee with both milk and sugar, his steaks blue and his martini with vodka.
- The Doctor has been voted 'Best Dressed Supervillain' on three different occasions by the Millennium City yellow press.
- The Doctor loves to play chess, but is not very good at it. He claims it helps him think.
- The Doctor once caused an earthquake in Timbuktu through unknown means. He is sorry for it.
- Fittingly enough, the three books the Doctor has read more than any others are The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli, the Art of War by Sun Tzu and On War by Carl von Clausewitz. The Doctor can quote many passages from all three books by heart.
- The Doctor's birthday is April 18th.
- The Doctor once managed to kill a man using a trumpet, a cactus and a dropkick, but doesn't like to talk about it any further.
- The Doctor is a spectacularly bad driver, but does not acknowledge that fact. Both passengers and bystanders are in danger, albeit due to different reasons. Bystanders from concussive force, passengers from heart attack.
- The Doctor has a bit of a problem with getting older. He diligently researches pop culture references he does not know, just to be prepared for the next time they come up in conversation.
- The Doctor is a very heavy sleeper. He once missed a turf battle between the New Purple Gang and the Cult of the Red Banner going on right next to his apartment while asleep. He also likes to sleep very long on his free days, often waking up at 1 or 2 PM. Despite this, he is quite the morning person if he needs to get up earlier.
- The Doctor once claimed to have the power of toasterkinesis. Investigation of the claim is still ongoing.
- The Doctor is an average cook and prefers to go to restaurants or even fast-food chains whenever he can. His potato salad is surprisingly delicious though.
- Ironically enough the Doctor has not seen a single episode of Doctor Who and no desire to do so. The same goes for Breaking Bad.
- The Doctor has an aquarium with five rather large leeches in his office as both a conversation starter and intimidation tool. It's unknown where he found them but they all show an unusual level of intelligence. Their names are Goethe, Kafka, Nietzsche, Humboldt and Bismarck.
- There is a sealed envelope in the top drawer of the Doctor's writing desk. It contains two million U.S. dollars and is labelled 'Joe'.
- When it comes to magic, the Doctor is suspicious of it at best and downright hostile towards it at worst, which is mostly due to the fact that he does not have any sort of magical ability himself, which makes it hard for him control its influence on his operations.
- The Doctor and Killshot have side bets over just about everything, from which alien race is going to invade Earth next to Dr. Destroyer's favorite dessert.
Tropes
Appearance
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette - The Doctor's most prominent physical feature is his unnaturally pale skin and generally haggard appearance...
- Creepy Shadowed Undereyes - ...made even worse by the dark circles under the Doctor's eyes, suggesting a severe lack of sleep and unhealty lifestyle.
- Tainted Veins - The veins on the Doctor's neck and forearms are highly visible against his pale skin (when not covered by tattoos). His tendency to experiment with all kinds of barely approved combat drugs and performance enhancing stimulants is probably to blame for this.
- Skunk Stripe - A large white stripe runs through the Doctor's black (okay, formerly black and now slightly greying) hair. It's supposedly the result of an experiment going terribly haywire.
- Sinister Shades - The Doctor is rarely seen without some type of red tinted glasses, even at night or in other situations where it would make no sense to wear them. Possibly justified by the fact that they have several useful features built into them.
- Man In White - Duh. Not only does his whole gang follow this dress code (and is even named the Men in White!), the Doctor's own outfits are also often predominantly white...
- Man Of Wealth And Taste - ...in addition to being incredibly stylish, impeccably clean and extraordinarily expensive. He is most definitely paying attention to how he presents himself.
- Pimp Duds - In general the Doctor's outfits are a toned down, classier version of this, but the theme is still there with his pimp cane and the tendency to wear multiple pieces of silver jewelry.
- Coat Cape - For some reason the Doctor is particulary fond of wearing his coats this way whenever possible, even though he regards normal capes on superheroes and -villains as silly.
- Classy Cane - Most of the time the Doctor carries a simple black cane with a silver handle with him. It's both a stylish accessory and an effective melee weapon in his hands.
- Tattooed Crook - In stark contrast to his choice of clothing are the many tattoos covering his hands, arms and torso. Chemical formulas and molecular geometry, medical and business imagery and scenes of normal humans fighting against the supernatural seem to be the most common themes.
- Knuckle Tattoos - Ironically enough the Doctor's read DON'T HARM.
Background
- Multiple-Choice Past - Nobody really knows much about the Doctor's past before he started to work as a mercenary and assassin and the Doctor likes it that way. Some rumors float around, but most of them sound... unlikely.
- Training From Hell - With the Doctor's level of skill and expertise, it's likely that he has to have been subjected to this at some point.
- Mad Doctor - Nobody really knows if the Doctor is actually a doctor. There is certainly no university who has records of him as a student, but his expertise in all things medical make his claim of being DOCTOR Kaufmann quite likely.
- Professional Killer - Regardless of his origins, for the longest time the Doctor's occupation was killing people for a living, specializing in highly dangerous high-profile targets. He was considered one of the best in business and one of the deadliest men on the planet.
- Cape Busters - The Doctor used to be a one-man version of this and has racked up quite the body count of metahumans.
- Bringing In The Expert - He was the expert in question. Whenever your normal henchmen didn't quite do the job, you could rely on the Doctor doing the job reliably, in time, and under budget.
- Corporate Samurai - When not freelancing, the Doctor has worked as an enforcer for many other supervillains, shady organizations and questionable authorities. The guy has connections.
- Murder Inc. - Supposedly he worked for one these - called the Middle Men - for a long time before he mysteriously disappeared for over a year. Nobody knows if they fell out or not.
- Token Evil Teammate - On some occasions however the Doctor has worked on the side of the heroes, much to the dismay of both parties.
- The Bus Came Back - After mysteriously disappearing for almost a year, the Doctor has retired from the killing business to concentrate on building his own criminal empire.
Personality & Motivation
- The Cynic - The Doctor is a deeply cynical individual. To him the world is a cruel place, people are bastards and nothing lasts forever. Ideals, altruism and hope for a better future are ridiculous concepts to him.
- It Amused Me - Despite his cynicism, the Doctor is however neither a fatalist nor a nihilist and his outlook on the world doesn't depress him. Since nothing matters in the end, the Doctor's main motivation is simply doing whatever he finds amusing or challenging. Unfortunately many things the Doctor finds amusing or challenging aren't very nice.
- Greed - And here's the other part of the Doctor's motivation. Money, status, power, influence. Even though it doesn't matter in the long run, all of these four are important to the Doctor for the simple reason that they allow him to do one important thing: whatever the hell he wants.
- Troll - Messing with people for the hell of it (especially those he considers his intellectual inferiors, so most people) is one of those things the Doctor finds amusing. His trolling can go from slightly irritating to very cruel, depending on his mood.
- Insufferable Genius - Even when he is not actively messing with people, the Doctor is often an arrogant, condescending jerk, albeit one with enough cunning, skill, and intelligence to at least partly justify his ego.
- Smug Snake - The Doctor's ego, quick wit, and sharp tongue combine into a distinctly unlikeable individual towards those on the opposite side of the battlefield (and sometimes also on the same side).
- Wicked Cultured - The Doctor has an impeccable sense of style, a flair for the dramatic, excellent taste and sophisticated interests. He is also a devious, amoral criminal and former assassin who can kill people without hesitation or remorse.
- Pragmatic Villany - The Doctor believes that excessive bloodlust, unnecessary cruelty and overt displays of villainy are signs of bad planning, lack of style and a waste of resources. And the Doctor prides himself on being stylish, resourceful and a good planner.
- The Mentally Disturbed - It's not entirely sure if his cynical worldview is the reason or a consequence, but the Doctor is not sane. He often displays a distinct lack of empathy for other people, along with a severe case of narcissism. In addition, the Doctor seems to be frequently on the verge of a nervous breakdown and occasionally suffers from both paranoid delusions and bouts of extreme megalomania.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones - Despite his cynicism, arrogance, and questionable sanity, there is at least one positive thing about the Doctor. His friendship with his secretary Janine 'Red' Guiliani is deep and genuine. Both of them would do anything for each other and even going so far as implying to hurt her while the Doctor is present is a very, very bad idea.
The Men in White
- Five-Bad Band - Within the leadership of the Men in White, it looks like this:
• The Big Bad: The Doctor
• The Dragon: Killshot
• The Evil Genius: Taboo
• The Brute: Paramedic
• The Dark Chick: Red
• The Mook Lieutenant: Cross
- The Syndicate - The Men in White are a large and highly dangerous organized crime syndicate consisting of street gangs, ex-soldiers and mercenaries. They deal in drugs and weapons, have their hands in a number of other criminal activities, and allegedly have ties to some very powerful people. Approach with caution.
- Diabolical Mastermind - The Doctor has no ambitions of conquering the planet or becoming a god. He simply wants money, power and influence behind the scenes and plans to achieve these goals through cunning, intelligence and calculated ruthlessness.
- Opportunistic Bastard - Yes. The Doctor and the Men in White as a whole will work with anyone - even superheroes - as long as there is profit to be made or if it benefits their goals in any way.
- Benevolent Boss - In contrast to many other supervillains, the Doctor actually cares about the problems and issues of his henchmen and works to ensure their safety as well as physical and mental wellbeing. Not because he cares about them as people, but because he knows that they perform better if he does.
- Private Military Contractors - If you can convince the Doctor, the Men in White can also be hired for all kinds of jobs, from almost legal to plain criminal. With both the Doctor and Killshot leading the Men in White, their success rate is quite impressive and definately justifies their often steep prices.
- Gang Of Hats - The Men in White's hat is either the color white and their medical theme or being completely ruthless opportunists, depending on who you ask.
- Doom Troops - The Men in White's elite enforcers are the Adjutants. Equipped with the very est equipment available on the black market, highly trained and led by Killshot himself, they are a force to be reckoned with. They outfits and masks are inspired by medieval plague doctors and designed to leave a lasting impression on allies and enemies alike.
- Super Soldiers - Many Men in White can technically achieve metahuman prowess when overdosing the organization's combat drugs (especially the dreaded Fiends), but the effects do not last long and come with dangerous side effects, which severly undermines the effectiveness and frequency of their deployment.
- Back-Alley Doctor - Unsurprisingly the Men in White do offer all kinds of medical procedures and surgeries to those who have the money and don't want questions asked. The quality of their work is surprisingly good, especially if you are willing to pay the premium rate for the Doctor himself.
Skills
- Charles Atlas Superpower - The Doctor does not have any superpowers per se, but his abilities, vast range of skills, intelligence, and level of competence are beyond what any 'normal' human could ever achieve outside of comic books.
- Combat Pragmatist - The Doctor fights dirty. Very dirty. He's not averse to using the environment, distractions, henchmen, traps, ambushes, hostages, psychological warfare, biological and chemical weapons and all manners of dirty tricks to tip the fight in his favor againt opponents he would otherwise not be able to defeat.
- Awesomeness By Analysis - While the Doctor lacks the raw power of many superheroes and supervillains, he is able to tip the odds in his favor by analyzing enemies, situations, fighting styles, powers and weak spots accurately and in record time. He then uses this information to quickly develop strategies and counter-strategies which often target and exploit the physical, mental, and emotional weaknesses of even vastly more powerful opponents.
- Dangerously Genre Savvy - In addition to his training, his tendency to fight dirty and his analytical abilities, the Doctor has been in this business for a long time now and pretty much seen it all. And probably dealt with something like this before.
- Trap Master - Ahh, traps. Two of the Doctor's favorite things at the same time; defeating an enemy by outsmarting them and not getting his hands dirty. The Doctor is extremely skilled in combining his many skills to create both literal and metaphorical traps for his enemies to walk in.
- Deadly Doctor - Despite the ambiguity of his doctorate, the Doctor certainly knows how to utilize his medical knowledge in a variety of ways, from using anatomical knowledge to target weak spots to performing impressive feats of medicine and surgery on the battlefield to skillfully using different kinds of poisons, drugs and other substances in combat.
- Master Poisoner - With the Doctor's expertise in all matters medical, biological, and chemical it's easy for him to tailor a variety of poisons, biological and chemical weapons to a wide range of situations and enemies, all of them extremely dangerous.
- Dance Battler - The Doctor is a very proficient practicioner of Capoeira. Combined with his training and a small dose of combat drugs, this allows the Doctor to twirl, lunge and back-flip through battles with amazing agility and quickness (and style), outmaneuvering enemies and nonchalantly dodging attacks.
- Cane Fu - The Doctor's cane is much more than meets the eye. ot only is it a stylish accessory, it's also a quite effective melee weapon in his hands, aided by his skill in the arts of baritsu and savate. And since it's a sword cane...
- Implausible Fencing Powers - ...stabing and slicing the enemy is also an option. The Doctor is quite adept at fencing, preferring the rather obscure Polish cross-cutting technique. He's also good with knives.
- Sword And Gun - Of course the Doctor is not above bringing a gun to a knife fight. Or a sword fight. Or a fist fight. In fact, the Doctor likes shooting people. And while he is trained in a wide range of firearms, he prefers handguns, mostly due to the fact that they are versatile, easy to hide, and stylish.
- Firing One-Handed - Comes with the job. Long years of training, customization of his weapons and some help from combat drugs allow him to maintain accuracy while compensating for the recoil.
Weapons & Equipment
- Hand Cannon - It's a highly customized and modified RSh-12 12.7mm Assault Revolver with reduced recoil, improved accuracy and enough stopping power to make even superpowered enemies think twice about charging the Doctor. He refuses to give it a name.
- Sword Cane - For melee combat the Doctor prefers this stylish piece of weaponry. It's a sturdy black walking cane with a serpent-shaped, silver handle. Hidden inside is a sabre-like blade made of cryogenically treated Damascus steel, coated with a fine layer of questionite dust. The tip of the cane also contains a powerful electric charge allowing it to be used as a shock baton. He can also just hit people with the cane.
- Knife Nut - The Doctor is a fan of all kinds of knives and owns an extensive collection. He is very good at using them too, and yes, if necessary he is able to use a scalpel as a melee weapon and has killed someone with one. His favorite is his customized bowie knife, made from the same material as the blade of his sword cane.
- Hidden Weapons - Keeping with his philosophy of never giving the enemy a fair fight, the Doctor carries a number of hidden weapons with him; a secondary knife strapped to his leg, spring-loaded blades hidden in the tips of his shoes, flash powder coating his gloves, small explosives hidden underneath his clothes, and scalpels and syringes filled with all manner of nasty substances in a small bag. Catching the Doctor unarmed is nearly impossible.
- Poisoned Weapons - Insidious like he is, more often than not, the Doctor's melee weapons will be coated in one of the various poisons he likes to use. Sometimes he will even use poisoned bullets, if it is a viable tactical choice.
- Throw Down the Bomblet - Maybe there are really people who don't love explosions, but the Doctor is not one of them. All manners of grenades, mines and remote-controlled bombs have been used by the Doctor in the past when it was tactically sound, discretion was not necessary or simply when a show of force was necessary.
- The Poor Man's Atomic Bomb - Poison, chemical and biological weapons, sometimes even thermobarics when he can get his hands on it; if it gives him an advantage in combat the Doctor will use it with frightening skill and expertise. Let's hope he never gets his hands on something truly destructive...
- Razor Floss - Microfilament wires were one of the Doctor's favorites back in the day when he was still a killer for hire. He hasn't forgotten how to use them as garrotes, tripwires or to set up nasty traps for his enemies.
- Psycho Serum - If even his already impressive set of talents and equipment is not enough, the Doctor uses a variety of combat drugs and other stimulants to boost his physical and mental abilities to even higher (often metahuman) levels. However the effects are only temporary and the side effects are... unpleasant.
- Future Copter - The Phaeton is the Doctor's personal (and incredibly stylish) way of getting from A to B. This high-tech VTOL aircraft is outfitted with the latest in weapons and stealth technology and is the Doctor's trump card in combat when all else fails. Piloted by Frank Wilson AKA Paramedic.
Misc.
- The Nicknamer - It's not like he is unable to remember the names of people he meets, he simply likes to do it to mess with people.
- Drives Like Crazy - There is a reason why the Doctor has employed a personal driver and pilot for both his car and his VTOL aircraft. That reason is that a mix of overenthusiasm, short temper and bad luck tends to turn rides with the Doctor into a matter of life and death for both passengers and bystanders.
- Sophisticated as Hell & Sir Swears-a-Lot - Due to spending almost all of his life among mercenaries, soldiers and criminals the Doctor's vocabulary is not entirely as posh as one would expect.
- Crazy Prepared - The Doctor believes that every plan should have a back-up plan. The same rule goes for back-up plans.
- Cooperation Gambit - Of all the villains who made Millennium City their home, the Doctor is one of those who are most ready to strike a deal and cooperate with groups of heroes (local law enforcement not so much, the Doctor doesn't respect them enough for that...). He will also not necessarily betray the heroes, but they can be sure that the cooperation somehow furthers the Doctor's own goals on the side.
- Extended Disarming - Don't ask him to drop his weapons unless you've got some time to spare. It takes a while.
- Functional Addict - The Doctor is quite the hedonist, which has led to him being addicted to alcohol, nicotine, caffeine and a slew of other drugs. Until now - thanks to his incredible self-control and a good bit of luck - his addictions have not yet affected his ability to function, but he is definately not a healthy person.
- Horrifying the Horror - The Doctor is prone to this. Even vampires, werewolves, demons, mutants and cultists have been horrified by the Doctor's amoral attitude, calculated ruthlessness and complete disregard for anything even vaguely resembling fair play.
- Playing with Syringes - While the Doctor ususally focuses his efforts on more tangible endeavours like gaining money, power, and influence, he is a brillaint scientist. That, combined with his disregard for most tenets of morals and ethics have led to some truly impressive (and in most cases twisted) creations. Highlights include an improved but very unstable version of Adrian Arkwright's vampire plague, a variant of the Graham formula which can supercharge the human body and metabolism for a few minutes (with catastrophic side effects though), and Nightmare 2.0, a highly potent, hallucinogenic combat agent.
- Renaissance Man - The Doctor is talented and knowledgeable in a wide variety of fields, ranging from business administration to languages to biology, chemistry, medicine and toxicology to pop culture trivia.
- Laughably Evil - The Doctor is many things, but the fact that he is an eccentric, sarcastic and quite insane criminal mastermind with an ego the size of Texas and a distinct lack of empathy is often just as hilarious as it is terrifying.
- Crazy Awesome - We are talking about a guy who has (in that order) manipulated a telepath via subliminal messages on her teleprompter into manipulating her guards into killing her, escaped an omega-level binding circle by using the shockwave of his own grenade to blow him out of it, brought the entire Westside Central Prison of Millennium City to a standstill by flooding an entire floor with coffee, blew up an entire apartment building to kill a single supervillain, saved Thundrax' from being killed by a Mega-Destroid, fought Vladic Dracul of Vibora Bay's New Shadows to a standstill on two separate occasions all by himself after killing Dracul's adopted daughter, poisoned a superhero in front of a crowd of thousands while remaining unseen, shot a kaiju's eye out with an anti-materiel rifle and killed another kaiju by feeding it a thermobaric satchel charge, defeated a powerful vampire by poisoning it with his own blood, nearly destroyed an entire UNTIL skycarrier while rescuing Killshot from UNTIL custody, engineered a Westside-wide riot to take out several of his competitors in the black market, helped the Protectors of the World take down the Golden Dragon and save the wrold economy from collapsing, escaped MCPD custody by cutting a hole in the floor of his prison transport with a cutting laser hidden in the temple of his glasses, took out a whole group of Protectors of the World with a hallucinogenic gas and robbed Millennium City's Goodman Institute at the same time, led a successful attack on Millennium City's UNTIL HQ, engineered an alliance of all Westside gangs and attacked the Progeny during thewith ensuing riot with a modified bulldozer and escaped the National Guard in it afterwards. During all of this he was rarely completely sober.
OOC Information
- Dr. Kaufmann combines the best (and/or worst) of Albert Wesker, Kiritsugu Emiya, Lex Luthor, Kirsten Geary, Roman Torchwick, Mr. 47, and the Medic.
- Theme Songs:
1. Business Casual: Marilyn Manson feat. Tyler Bates - Killing Strangers
2: Trust me, I am THE Doctor: Muse - Supremacy
3. Businessman, Scientist, Entrepreneur: Panic! At The Disco - Victorious
4. The Men in White: Skindred - Kill The Power
5. Ladies and Gentlemen, Showtime: Emigrate - My Pleasure
6. Just Business, Nothing Personal: Powerman 5000 - You're Gonna Love It, If You Like It Or Not
7. First, Do No Harm: Combichrist - What The Fuck Is Wrong With You?
8. This Might Hurt A Bit: Clawfinger - Biggest & The Best
9. Just As Planned: VNV Nation - Control
10. Work Hard, Party Hard: Noisuf-X - Let's Rock
- Should there ever be a Champions Online Live-Action Movie, my pick for the actor of the Doctor would be Adrien Brody (an animated version would be voiced by Stephen Merchant). His secretary Janine "Red" Guiliani would be Natalie Dormer, his second-in-command Tamara "Cross" Aristopoulos would be Rosario Dawson and his driver/pilot Frank "Paramedic" Wilson would be Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje.