Difference between revisions of "Mnemon"

Revision as of 22:57, 1 April 2019

Mnemon
Player: @teokanthalus
"I'm not a demon, please stop asking."
Biographical Data
Real Name:	Wilbur Lightfoot
Known Aliases:	Bill/Will (Civilian), The Blot (Hero)
Gender:	Male
Species:	Human
Ethnicity:	American
Place of Birth:	Missoula, Montana
Base of Operations:	Millenium City
Relatives:	Father (James Lightfoot), Aunt (Rebecca Dean)
Characteristics
Age:	26 (April 27, 1992)
Height:	6'5"
Weight:	228 lbs
Eyes:	Dark, with white pupils. In his public identity, he wears sunglasses or contacts.
Hair:	Long, dark, a bit shaggy, and in need of a trim.
Complexion:	Confidential
Physical Build:	Athletic; lean
Physical Features:	His shadow sometimes contradicts his own movements, or acts out in moments when he chooses to hold his tongue.
Status
Fame:	██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ Local
Alignment:	LG LN LE NG TN NE CG CN CE
Identity:	Secret
Years Active:	2006-2010, 2014-Present
Citizenship:	US
Occupation:	Post-production editor at WCOC.
Education:	Difficult to estimate by conventional standards; see Mnemokinesis.
Marital Status:	N/A
Known Powers and Abilities
Mnemokinesis (Memory Manipulation; Known only by a small few he tells.) Umbrakinesis (Shadow Manipulation, Shadow Physiology/Mimicry)
Equipment and Paraphernalia
Handcuffs and zipties for restraining criminals. A body-camera to record encounters when given permission to investigate suspicious activity on behalf of the police. A .45 ACP H&K Mk 23 (w/CCW Permit); The pistol is not always on him. The subsequent ammo is always only rubber, nonlethal rounds. A taser (w/LTC), and pepper spray. Sap gloves. A lot of snacks.

Physical Attributes
	Strength			Weapon
	Durability			Armor
	Speed			Reflexes
	Resistance			Stamina
	Dexterity			Agility
	Combat			Regen

Non-Physical Attributes
	Energy			Psionics
	Telepathy			Willpower
	Sorcery			Tech.
	Intel.			Knowledge
	Charisma			Bravery
MaekadaBoxSlim created by @Maekada

Background and Origin

Before The Weird

Wilbur grew up in a family that held a long-standing tradition; nearly everyone he knew around him, whether it was an aunt or an uncle, his father, his grandfather, or an older cousin, that served; either in the military, or government sector. Army, navy, air force, with the police, the CIA, and the FBI. It wasn't a bad childhood; more than one of his relatives had a serious enough condition to keep them from that kind of work; and they helped take care of them. It's not that Wilbur was like that, he was just your typical fourteen year-old and didn't have much care or regard for what his parents did, beyond them not exactly being home as often as they should. Like a lot of people of his generation, the TV did a fair share of raising him, but he was well adjusted.

When he wasn't glued to the TV or a book, and his father was busy with work, Bill was always able to find a relative who wasn't. And they didn't mind teaching him a thing or two. And, truth be told, nobody in his family would ever have to push him too hard to follow the family tradition when the time came. His love of mystery movies, Law and Order, and some of the literature of the more pulp silver-age heroics would have nudged him towards being a detective.

Montage

X

After The Weird (The Blot)

X

Fallout

X

Out of the Shadows

X

The Adventurers

X

Powers, Skills, and Attributes

Powers

Umbrakinesis - Mnemon can manipulate and generate shadows and darkness, to an unusual degree. Because it is a form of kinesis (psionic, and also, a stricter form of telekinesis), the bulk of these shadowy shapes get their mass as a form of telekinetic construct.
Applications:

• Darkness Mimicry: By absorbing his own shadow (and other nearby shadows as well if need be) into his body, Mnemon can become a living shadow, capable of existing and maneuvering between being a two-dimensional shape on a surface, or a three-dimensional silhouette. Because Mnemon can exert control over shadow, and that's exactly what his physiology has become, it allows him to afford some unusual shapeshifting. Naturally, as a two or three dimensional shadow, he's rather difficult to harm; in the first instance, this is for obvious reasons as a 2-D shadow is little more than a projection (barring his weakness), and in the second instance, because he's essentially an amorphous blob limited largely by his imagination. Though he could form claws, or make solid blades of shadow grow from his hands in this form, they're rather dull; even spiky protrusions are blunted; as he has a sort of consistency and density somewhere between damp clay and stretchy taffy. When in 2D or 3D form, he gives off no typical lifesigns, seems to lack vital organs, and can be difficult to detect, able to fit himself easily into any other shadow. Shifting from 3D (which is how he always starts out when using darkness mimicry) to a basic shadow on a surface is much easier for him to accomplish; shifting from a two-dimensional form to a 3-dimensional one is a much greater strain on him. While two-dimensional, Mnemon cannot (himself) act physically against his environment, but see Darkness Constructs below.
• Darkness Blasts: Mnemon can shape and guide a nearby shadow, making it solid, to blast foes with like a geyser, as it has the consistency and mass of tar. It cannot pierce or cut, but it can certainly deliver a decent wallop, or engulf and entangle foes.
• Darkness Constructs (Inanimate): Mnemon can form inanimate objects (ladders, melee weapons, walls) out of shadows, but first has to alter a shadow's shape to resemble the object, in most cases. These objects are usually quite sturdy; even if they can't stab or cut, being belted by a shadow-construct baseball bat in Mnemon's hands feels like 'being walloped by metal with a little foam padding around it' according to one criminal. The bigger the shadow present (total darkness doesn't count as a shadow), the bigger the construct he can make. While Mnemon's own shadow form is incredibly malleable, inanimate constructs Mnemon makes generally have the tensile strength, sturdiness, and density of whatever's being mimicked. A rope made out of shadow would bend and support several people if tied off right, and a table and chairs could easily seat a few people for dinner in a pinch. Presently, he cannot make an item have an edge, or cause lasting harm.
• Darkness Constructs (Animate): Mnemon can cause shadows to animate,acting at his behest, but only in mimicry of something living. More than once, Mnemon's had a criminal get jumped from behind, caught unawares by their own shadow. As with all his constructs, they cannot bite or tear, but when tangible and attacking, and have that similar mass and consistency to Mnemon's shadow mimicry. They can hold a shape, but it's blunted. The bigger the shadow present (total darkness doesn't count as a shadow) to shape into a creature, the bigger the construct he can make.
• Shadowplay: Mnemon can manipulate the presence of light in an area; as long as there are shadows, he can stretch them out. The affected area's usually no bigger than a room or two. He can turn a brightly lit room into a dimly lit one, a well-lit room into near darkness, and turn a poorly lit room absolutely pitch black. He can cause already present shadows to contort into whatever shapes he has in mind, or even scatter them to rob someone else of the cover of darkness.

Mnemokinesis - By touching a target, or being in contact with their shadow and able to see them (connected shadows using Shadowplay and Darkness Adaptation count), Mnemon can alter, view, or transfer and share memories, to start. While Mnemon is not a full-grade psychic, it allows Mnemon to be an absolute wildcard in certain situations because most importantly; it is something that can be internalized. While it is typed as a '-kinesis' power, it assuredly is not; it is a very specific sub-discipline of Telepathy.
Applications:

• Adoptive Muscle Memory: Mnemon only needs to be taught something once. Or read something once. Or watch a youtube video once. And once he's seen it, it's in there. He can even learn certain physical skills (martial arts, acrobatic maneuvers) just by watching someone else use them. As long as he trains these observed skills regularly, he'll be able to call on them in a pinch. His capability in any particular 'practiced but borrowed' skill will only ever be as good as the person he observed fighting, unless he surpasses it on his own. He can also 'autopilot' certain practiced skills (like a workout regimen) as a form of meditation. This ability can obviously give Mnemon a huge advantage in hand-to-hand combat, but usually only against a single target.
• Enhanced Memory (Panmnesia): Mnemon can remember and recall everything that he has ever experienced, encountered or learned in his lifetime. He needs only to read, hear, smell, taste, touch, or see something once and he will never forget it. While Mnemon has been tempted before to potentially put this to the test, he has legitimate concerns about what it might do to him if he retained too much information, and so he mostly turns towards absorbing information about blue-collar careers (electrician, plumber) and how-to videos for all sorts of things on Youtube (with a fondness for how-to's on costumes and cosplay stuff.) Mnemon also remembers any scent, taste, touch, and sound-based information he'd be in hearing range of or subject to while asleep.
• Knowledge Projection: Mnemon can share his own knowledge with others, whether it be a practiced skill, a muffin recipe, or a show he watched last night, as if they experienced it themselves. He can also borrow someone else's skill and share that with others as well. However, he has to either be allowed access to those particular memories and skills others have, or have previously witnessed them in use. Skills that are shared, but not regularly practiced by Mnemon (or the group) only last a couple of hours at best if the task is simple or muscle-memory-related (kung fu), or a handful of minutes (bomb disposal techniques) if it's complicated. Skills Mnemon already knows and does regularly train in, can be shared for hours, though it does require occasional focus to maintain it, moreso if he's sharing with more than one person. Mnemon must make physical or shadow-based contact for this power to work.
• Thief of Days: Mnemon can use Knowledge Projection aggressively. This method is a bit of a bruteforce psychic attack, and people resilient to psychic powers will be less affected by it. This power largely depends on the target; how talented they are, and how ingrained the stolen skills and memories associated with it are. Making a shaolin warrior forget a life of training so he can't make a fist is much harder than making an average schmo forget where they left their keys, or that a thug with a pistol needs to reload his gun (even if the magazine is half full), or that the thug with a pistol doesn't even know what a gun is, let alone how to use it. This only usually ever lasts several seconds when done as a kneejerk response (especially if the criteria of the skill erasure is complicated), though if Mnemon is given enough time and consistent physical contact with a target, he could rob them of a talent for much longer. Mnemon must make physical or shadow-based contact for this power to work. And he is reluctant to use it aggressively.
• I Went Thataway: If spotted when skulking and trying not to raise any alarms, Mnemon's practiced technique of fuzzing himself out of a target's memory in real time allows him to be ignored by a single target, or simply pulling a bait-and-switch and replacing it with a memory that they saw, heard, smelled, or felt something, in a different direction. Mnemon must make physical or shadow-based contact for this power to work.
• Memory Projection: Mnemon can project any memory he knows as a visual display, rather than sharing the knowledge of the memory itself. Unfortunately, as detailed (and surreal) as some memories can get, his projections are done through his shadows, and so he can only render visual details in all the shades of grayscale, though he can make them three-dimensional.
• Memory Restoration: Mnemon can, over an extended period of time, give therapy to people suffering from certain kinds of memory loss. While he couldn't cure Alzheimers, he could restore damaged memories for a while, but can definitely help coax memories out of people suffering amnesia because of trauma, or carefully undoing the damage of another Mnemokinetic. A side effect of being able to sift through peoples' memories is being able to instinctively detect certain qualities like derangements and other signs of severe mental trauma. He can also help someone remember someone remember an event more accurately, though the person is still limited by what they experienced.

Psychic Protection - While Mnemon isn't your typical full-fledged psychic -or- broad-spectrum telekinetic, he still has a very strong mind. Mnemon's only real form of telepathic attack is temporary bruteforce skill-denial, but meditation techniques, control over his own memories, and a great deal of internal self-control and morally upright values he adheres to give him a great defense. Mnemon is fairly resistant to most forms of mind control (psychic, magic, or otherwise) and emotion control, including things like: sleep/exhaustion inducement, dream manipulation, fear or rage inducement, having his own memories and knowledge manipulated by outside sources, having his mind read, and madness inducement. It also bolsters him in situations that would otherwise mentally rattle people.

Mental Hypermetabolism (Enhanced Reflexes) - While Mnemon can't exactly move at high speeds, he can think at them. Years of flexing mental muscle filing away every single thing he's ever experienced, or witnessed from the memories of others, allows him to process and comprehend new or constantly-shifting information at a rapid rate. Muscle-memory reflexes are recollected and put to use at much quicker speeds, but this is better used as a defense. It also gives him the ability to obsessively monitor whatever hectic situation he's in (for example; keeping track of whom has what firearm in a shootout, and how many bullets each shooter has fired).

Darkness Adaptation - Mnemon can see perfectly in low-light, darkness, and an absence of light. He can also shade his eyes from sudden harsh stimulus like spotlights, welding arcs, or flashbangs. Mnemon's senses also extend through shadows; as long as he's standing in a shadow, and it connects to other shadows, and so on, he can see and hear through them. By twisting shadows to suit the situation, Mnemon can eavesdrop on criminals from a somewhat safe distance by being in the right place at the right time, and is difficult to sneak up on. When fully concealed by shadows (and not using Shadow-Shifting), or if it's night-time, Mnemon's strength, land speed, leaping distance, and durability are increased to peak human levels.

Weaknesses & Limitations

• Large, bright lights like searchlights, spotlights, and halogen floodlights can knock Mnemon out of his shadow-shifting form, and exceptionally bright lights (not the sun) will cause his inanimate constructs to become sessile, and his animate ones will barely be able to hold a vague shape at all. Being knocked out of shadow-form by bright lights will leave him severely winded.
• Mnemon's shadow-constructs, both animate and inanimate, cannot cause lasting harm. While they can hit severely hard, they can only ever manage to stun or incapacitate targets. This is because Mnemon's shadowy astral constructs lack necessary emotional components. For astral shadow-substance to create an edge, or proper fangs and claws, negative emotions must be involved. An abundance of negative emotion, however, can also lead to a lack of control.
• Psychic defenses and strong wills will obviously provide defense against his Mnemokinesis.
• When actively using some of Mnemon's powers, it causes him severe migraines. Adopting shadow-form too many times in a short period also causes a great deal of pain.
• In human form, Mnemon is as vulnerable to anything a normal human is subject to (save psychic attacks). While he's tough, he's still worried about bullets and getting stabbed.

Untapped Potential

Mnemon still has untapped potential in his powers; these techniques remain unexplored either because Mnemon chooses not to explore them (for ethical reasons with Mnemokinesis), or require significant character development across story arcs.

• Shadow-Pocket: Mnemon can create pockets in the Astral via shadow constructs that extend between both sides. He could use these shadows as traps, to hide in, or just keep stuff.
• Shadowstep: Mnemon can leap short distances instantaneously through connected shadows.
• Shadow Absorption: Able to absorb shadows or linger within them while shadow-shifting to regenerate.
• Mindblank: Mnemon can aggressively cause full-blown amnesia in a target, for a short period of time.
• Mnemovore: Able to gain strength by feeding off the memories of others.
• Psychometry: The psychic discipline of gaining past impressions (memories) left on an object by touching it.
• Aggressive Psychometry: Store a particularly nasty memory within an object. The next person to handle it will be afflicted by that memory. Works especially well on Psychometrics.
• Forged In Darkness: More permanent materials and inanimate objects can be shaped with focus.

Skills

(Very) Diversified Tradesman - Thanks to his Adoptive Muscle Memory and Panmnesis, Mnemon's ability to retain massive amounts of information allow him to train efficiently, but also to absorb knowledge. While Mnemon has not completed certification in most of these courses, he's read enough manuals and textbooks to become a tour de force as a plumber, electrician, carpenter, machinist, and light and heavy duty mechanic. He's watched enough food network to have a library's worth of recipes, and could probably do well at Jeopardy! thanks to his swath of trivia. He knows how to do taxes, and has educated himself a great deal on law.

Electrical Engineer, Film Editor - Mnemon did go to college (and burned through getting a Bachelors and Masters with little trouble thanks to his sharp mind), and while he has a masters in Electrical Engineering, his quiet passion was in the filler courses he took; at first in film studies, but this traveled the road of special effects, costume design, and post-production.

Martial Artist - Mnemon is trained in Muay Thai, Hapkido, Fifty-Two Blocks, Pencak Silat, and Krav Maga. While he has training in other martial arts, those memories and skills come from his Mnemokinesis. However, because of his inherent Panmnesis and Adoptive Muscle Memory applications, he's a very quick study under mundane training, and can master most of the techniques of a martial art in a very short time compared to others.

Advanced Training - Several of Mnemon's relatives (specifically his father and aunt, and later his mother and an older cousin or two) took a vested interest in his potential career as a superhero. His father and aunt especially pulled a few strings and called in some favors to arrange for him to be educated in: proper procedures for arrest and evidence gathering, close-quarters-combat, negotiation and de-escalation, espionage and stealth training, firearms use, reconnaissance technology, first aid, wilderness survival, infiltrative skydiving / HALO, and how to commandeer (see: hotwire) and pilot several modes of transportation. This is apart from him being sent abroad to learn under a few strict martial arts masters.

Attributes and Personality Quirks

Awkward - Mnemon is often a bit awkward, especially around other superhumans. Especially if they know he can alter or see memories. While there may end up being good rapport, Mnemon silently frets over whether or not a person is just putting on a nice front and his power secretly unnerves them, or they genuinely do accept and trust him.

Self-Conscious - While Mnemon is used to ribs about his appearance (what sort of hero wears a white denim jacket and a ballcap), he's a bit more sensitive about his powers, which tend to get wildly misinterpreted by outside forces. Rudely. And like his awkwardness with his telepathy-lite tricks, his shadowplay tends to have him viewed skeptically as a hero at the best of times, and at the worst, some of the stuff he manifests is frightening to bystanders, even when meaning extremely well.

A Pretty Okay Guy - Mnemon's not super-fond of violence, and will always try to talk a situation out first. He's also reluctant to use his powers, save for self-defense, and keeping others safe. Using his powers for harm beyond a little throwdown with some goons just doesn't even register in his own head as something he's capable of doing.

Gear and Equipment

Gear

Weapons - Mnemon carries a pistol, but only ever uses rubberized nonlethal rounds. Otherwise, he may fashion shadows into replicas of weapons, as long as they have non-moving parts.

Armor - Mnemon wears a light kevlar vest over his bodysuit, with trauma plates also located along the back of the vest, and in inner-sewn pockets on the thighs of his pants. There is also light impact padding sewn between the layers of his mask (around the face/forehead, the back of the skull, and the back of the neck), and the elbows, knees, and shins of his bodysuit. His denim jacket also has a layer of seatbelt fabric sewn in between the layers; kevlar on a budget. His usual outfit color palette ranges from an off-white, to light grays, with dark grey and black accents.

Gadgets - Mnemon typically uses a personal, jailbroken cellphone with a top-notch camera in it. Beyond that, he doesn't really rely on gadgets to do his work.

Relationships

Friends/Allies

• Red Spider

• Blue Fox

Enemies

Montage, an evil super-scientist who uses unusual wavelengths in media (film and music, typically) to stress-test audiences in an attempt to unlock unusual talent. This is usually accomplished through his broadcasting devices by subjecting large groups of people to sound or visual-based psychotropic, surreal, and often terrifying stressors that can actually cause people with latent or dormant metahuman potential to erupt. Montage also possesses a form of hypnotism, though this is likely just another one of his gadgets.

Aviax, a superhuman with the power to control birds, and a birdlike physiology. While he's about as low-key as most villains get, Aviax has a special hatred for Mnemon because every time they fought, Mnemon not only beat him, but absolutely verbally roasted him, often causing him to become angry and lose focus.

General Perception