Born into a wealthy family in the urban cesspool that is Bishop City, John Summers lived a life of substance and privilege, something very few heavy within his home city. After his sobering induction into the extensive criminal politics throughout the City, John swore he would never be a pawn to be used for the benefit of others. He had seen the belly of the criminal underworld, and he did not blink or give in. He swore to destroy it, make his city a place worthy of its holy, benevolent namesake.

Taking his second chance after being freed from his abduction, John Summers travelled the world - eventually returning to his home city, becoming the Blackflight.

... That was years ago. He was just a boy with high-tech toys. A boy who's antics endangered the lives of others. He retired after the death of his partner, guilt weighing heavily on him. The return of an old foe left him not content to simply sit around and age quietly, he has claimed the Amulet of Vengeance and reclaimed his mantle as Blackflight, bringing his reign of Justice back - this time to Millennium City.

History

Origin

Most vigilantes like John usually have a terrible, defining tragedy - usually revolving around the death of a father figure or such like. John isn't quite so dramatic.

John is descended from one of the Founding Fathers of Bishop City - a group of four large corporations with roots dating back to the founding of the city, and practically every crime that occurs in it, as such he had always lived a life of wealth and substance, but also a life of politics and intrigue. Whilst well-loved by his parents, he was despised by other Founding Families. He grew up completely unaware of the political scheming and movements that surrounded his family. Blissfully unaware of his family's own criminal connections, John tried to have as normal of an upbringing as possible.

He did this. If you don't include the numerous self-defence classes and extensive education he got, albeit depriving him of normal human socialisation.

His life changed, however, on his 15th birthday, in the midst of a power struggle between vying rivals, the Summers and the Brookhyders. In a bid to gain leverage over the Summers, the Brookhyders ordered the kidnapping of the young John Summers, which was carried out to brutal effect. The experience proved traumatic to the young boy, even more so when it turned out that his parents refused to heed the Brookhyders demands to free him; only estranging him from his parents. Eventually, John was rescued after a brief and decisive shootout between the Summers private army and the force holding John - but the experience proved to be a harsh awakening to the politics of Bishop City. In the wake of his weakness in the situation, how easily captured he was, he was set down a path, a path that would inadvertently set him against his own family...

He left the city shortly after that night, with the blessings of his parents, leaving under the guise of protection and training to take over the family business. He went to begin training - training that would shape the man he would become...

Original career and retirement

At twenty years old, John Summers returned to Bishop City after 5 years of extensive, intense training abroad. He assumed a management position in his family's company, Summers Industrials, focusing mainly on the manufacture of industrial goods and the occasional underground weapons contract. John wielded this new influence, alongside his connections to a secretive technology-broker to begin the creation of various assets with which to fight crime from. He created his distinctive battlesuit, car and gadgets to start with - operating out of the basement of Summers Tower first, in a secret sublevel he constructed himself. It connected to the extensive sewer system underneath Bishop city, enabling him to get anywhere within the city without being seen.

It was shortly after he had laid the groundwork for his new purpose that rumors and murmurings of a dangerous, shadowy figure started appearing in the Ireton District, several gang members checking into various hospitals with extensive broken bones and other disfiguring injuries.

After a news-breaking bust up of a docklands drug shipment, the figure was officially named "The Shroud" by tabloids and other newspapers in the area, becoming somewhat of a folk hero to the good people of Bishop City. A journalist shortly after then refined the name, under an anonymous tip, to the name Blackflight.

Blackflight exploited his new found infamy among the people; preying on the people believing him to be an urban legend. But with this infamy, rogues began to rise up, seeking to challenge Bishop City's new champion and protector - with the Founding Fathers scrambling to remove him as soon as possible.

Rise of the Sideshow Syndicate

With the rise of Blackflight, some criminals became more bold.

Blackflight's presence had weakened the strong grip that the Founding Fathers had retained over their city for hundreds of years, allowing newer, deadly criminals to spring up in a grab for power. One of these was the elusive "Ringleader". A man by two names, Boss Jester and Ringleader, he was a classic case of a psychotic mental patient. He escaped from Bishop City's Thomas Forsythe Hospital for the Criminally Insane. An infamous serial killer and almost peerless tactician and manipulator, it didn't take long for the Ringleader to appeal to the disenfranchised of the City - the poor and destitute, and even low-level enforcers of the Founding Fathers who desired more.

He formed a new criminal faction, the Sideshow Syndicate, themed after a circus show - with himself as Ringleader, deadly acrobat assassins, brutes as strongmen, all forming a macabre and violent imitation of an otherwise enjoyable pass-time. Ringleader, with his multiple personalities, could not decide whether he preferred being the leader, or a simple clown - opting for both. The Sideshow Syndicate went on a rampage across the city, banks and businesses failing in their violent crime spree. This attracted the attention of Blackflight who, after several run-ins with the Syndicate, was able to capture an Enforcer for interrogation (more like torture). It didn't take long for him to extract the location of Ringleader and the base of operations.

Ringleader operated out of an abandoned Amusement Park in the Stuart Improvement District of the City. A place where the gang continues to operate out of to this day, forming a stronghold of sorts.

Current Events

Characteristics

Appearance

Blackflight is a 52 year old man, but, outside of his mask, he appears to have aged somewhat well, comparable to celebrities like Tom Cruise. He has greying brown hair, early wrinkles and world-weary eyes, his looks befitting his previous playboy lifestyle. He does, however possess and imposing, muscular figure, larger than his younger self through routine workouts and preservation techniques to keep his body spry and fit. To people of his appropriate age group, he could probably be seen as attractive.

As Blackflight, he wears a kevlar-mesh suit, not dissimilar to the kind that Nighthawk wears. He wears a partial mask with a web-like fibre over the mouthpiece to conceal it, whilst allowing ease of breathing. At the end of each of his arms are bladed tips, again, another cue taken from the vigilante, Nighthawk. His suit is made up of a dark, black cape. The cape merges into his shoulders seamlessly, seeming to droop onto the chest slightly. The chest is covered with an armor-style pattern, a black-undermesh with lighter grey plates on top. A centerpiece of his suit is his jet black utility belt, known to contain his infamous gadgets. Below the belt, the mesh pattern continues again, being swiftly finished by matching colour grey combat boots.

Personality

Blackflight is an elderly, bitter man.

Years of crimefighting have taken their toll on the old man, forming a cynical, realist outlook. He rarely sees optimism in any situation and rather looks at the circumstances he finds himself in analytically. Alongside these issues, years of giving up crimefighting have broken his heart, watching his city fall into decadence in the absence of its protector, in spite of the efforts of other vigilantes to curb rampant crime and corruption. His bitterness has resulted in an excessively violent outlook and attitude when in the suit since his return to crimefighting, the only way to curb the issues in his city being to do so with more violence. Inside his suit, he is work-focused, the mission being his only objective. He is cold and unfeeling. To criminals and those on his bad side, he is immensely aggressive and violent, offering them no-quarter, at times it is hard to tell whether it is part of the act and persona that he cultivated for himself in his earlier years. He is silent and a man of few words, in many ways this lack of talking is irksome and bothers his opponents, who seek to provoke a reaction from him but only succeed in a cold rejection or a brief one-liner to agitate them more.

In his day-to-day persona of John Summers, he once seemed vacuous, now he puts on the act of a man approaching retirement, at work he appears to be dedicated, mild mannered even - a caricature to those that knew him in his younger years. A far cry from his younger playboy persona; filled with charm and flirtatious wit which endears him to women he meets and makes him an interesting point of sociability to others, he does occasionally dip into it at socialite gatherings - which he is still active in, being the head of several 'charitable' endeavours in his home city, and spokesperson for the family business. When not in such gatherings, he is known to be a grump, seemingly discontented with the state of modern society, basically your grumpy grandpa. To those that know him well, he offers moments of wise and insightful behaviour. He is well spoken and obvious educated, his social skills are just rather stunted from an obviously restricted upbringing.

His personality is largely determined by his experiences in his younger years, his lack of socialisation forced upon him by his parents, being isolated from regular kids at his age. His abduction as a mere teen leaving him untrusting and justifiably paranoid; also resulting in his particularly aggressive streak towards criminals, whilst also leaving him cold and detached towards others whilst wearing the mask. The ease at which he slips into his civilian identity is a bi-product of his training and simply a lifetime of lying and growing up around criminal politics, he's highly deflective and lets very few people in - which has, in part, caused his bitterness in his middle-aged life. He is single, having understandably never been in a relationship, a lack of exposure and real bonding left him unable to find love.

Skills

Blackflight has developed an array of Skills with which he continues to fight crime in Bishop City, refined over years of practice. Some are detailed below:

Martials Arts:

Blackflight wields several Martial Arts in an Idiosyncratic mixture, perfecting more and more in his long life:

Mastery of Ninjutsu - Blackflight trained in Ninjutsu from Ninjas in Japan, in an attempt to practice stealth, escapology, guerilla tactics and the joint-lock heavy hand-to-hand combat style with which to fight with. He also developed his skill with thrown weapons - his modified shurikens, whilst training there. As a Master, he does use his Ninjutsu training to great effect in stealth situations.

Proficient in Eskrima - Whilst in the Philippines, Blackflight trained in Eskrima, specifically the dual wielding component of it - which he still actively practices today, through the use of Eskrima sticks which can be joined together to form a Bo Staff, to compliment his Ninjutsu training, forming an Idiosyncratic mixture between the two Martial arts.

Skilled Boxer - Whilst growing up in Bishop City, he trained in Boxing alongside a personal trainer. He still incorporates the heavy punches into his combat routines, his physical strength leaving him able to knock out a weaker opponent in a single punch.

Proficient in Muay Thai - Blackflight is highly skilled in Muay Thai, able to incorporate all of his body and limbs into various free-flowing combat techniques, making him a deadly fighter at close range.

Proficient at Jiu-Jutsu - Blackflight is very skilled when it comes to submission holds, owing both to his strength and training in Jiu-Jutsu and Brazillian Jiu Jutsu, able to to subdue even stronger opponents with ease.

Mastery of Kung Fu - Blackflight has mastered a single style of Kung Fu, focusing around counters and moving with the flow of the battle - Wing Chun. He learnt it in Hong Kong from some of the early modern practitioners of the style. He relies in his Mastery of Kung Fu to perform his seemingly impossible counters and manage handling multiple opponents.

Academics:

Blackflight is by no means an unintelligent man, having pursued several fields of study throughout his life, making him somewhat of a Polymath:

Psychology - Through his extensive study of Psychology, the subject of his degree alongside Criminology, Blackflight has extensive insight into the theories of crime, the criminal mind and the behaviour of the insane, he uses this knowledge to help profile criminals within his territory, keeping track of their predicted movements to isolate them before they can cause too much harm.

Criminology - As the minor part of his degree, Blackflight has insight into the theories associated with Criminology and their management, understanding and prevention of crime. He uses this knowledge to isolate areas of the population and his city which crime is most likely to occur in, patrolling these areas extensively.

Forensic Science - Blackflight has knowledge of the field of Forensic Science, he is hardly a genius when it comes to it, but his knowledge is valid enough to allow him to conduct scientific investigations and collect evidence at crime scenes.

Proficient in the three basic sciences - While speaking for itself, Blackflight does possess a talent for Biology, Physics and Chemistry. He just did not take his study in those fields as far as his other specialisations.

Detective training - Blackflight has trained in various methods of investigation across the world, enabling him to be considered a skilled detective, something he employs regularly in Bishop City.

Interrogation skills - Blackflight knows how to extract the truth from a guilty man. Be it torture, intimidation or mind games.

Body language reading - Blackflight's extensive Kung Fu training allows him to read the body language of his opponents in order to form an educated guess as to what their next move may be.

Weaknesses

Blackflight is just a man, and a man has many weaknesses:

Just Human - Blackflight is, at his core, just a man in a fancy suit. He's vulnerable at the exact same points as any human, maybe even more so given his age. Groups of people can overwhelm him, superpowered opponents can probably beat him into the ground, those of greater combat skill are probably just as likely to defeat him.

Elderly - Without the amulet shards inside him, Blackflight is an elderly old man - this extensive physical activity would catch up with him in an instant, maybe even proving fatal to him.

Old wounds - Several of Blackflight's old wounds failed to heal properly, forming weak spots on his body, not that he'd reveal those easily.

Mental instability - From a young age, Blackflight has demonstrated a degree of mental issues, these manifest in excessive violence nowadays, but he could be driven into shock and other associated issues under the right stimulus.

Equipment

The MAV

The Manoeuvrable Attack Vehicle, Blackflight's personal car both constructed and modified by Blackflight and his mysterious tech broker - Codenamed Hephaestus - over the years. The original concept was simple, to build a car with the speed of a Formula racing car, and with the armor of a light-armored vehicle, with which Blackflight could conduct his war on crime in the form of car chases. The vehicle in its original form proved to be cumbersome and tank-like, yet dramatically falling short in the armaments department. After an encounter with some heavily armed VIPER cells, the car was all but wrecked, forcing Blackflight to return to the drawing board alongside his mysterious benefactor to redesign the vehicle with combat in mind, to make the vehicle even more versatile and effective on the streets.

These added armaments included two automatic machine guns, located at each tip. These were adjusted to fire air-rounds and rubber bullets for the sake of subduing and injuring foes and even protesters, for the sake of causing panic and dispersion rather than grievous injury. A later addition was the Heavy-duty military grade turret, retrofitted to fire gas rounds filled with tear and knock out gas, to disperse and subdue crowds. It does have a heavy-fire capability, but it is rarely used.

Allies and friends

Rogues Gallery

Threat levels explanation:

██	██	██	██	██	██	██	██	██

1 - Easily apprehended, not much threat to Blackflight or his city.

██	██	██	██	██	██	██	██	██

2 - Slightly higher threat than previous, likely more heavily armed.

██	██	██	██	██	██	██	██	██

3 - Usually some form of gang leader or minor threat to Blackflight, might possess knowledge or technology of a high standard

██	██	██	██	██	██	██	██	██

4 - Higher level gang leader or even an enforcer, might have injured Blackflight or even defeated him before.

██	██	██	██	██	██	██	██	██

5 - Moving out of simple gang leader territory, more on the 'supervillain' level. Usually well-armed or superpowered, poses a threat to the City and to Blackflight.

██	██	██	██	██	██	██	██	██

6 - Approach with caution, verging onto State most wanted lists here, known terrorist or murderer, capable of standing even with Blackflight.

██	██	██	██	██	██	██	██	██

7 - Villains of this calibre prove few and far between, they're resilient and highly personal threats towards Blackflight, or every dangerous to the City.

██	██	██	██	██	██	██	██	██

8 - Reserved for the pinnacle of Blackflight's Rogues Gallery, they can be anything from deadly personal threats to Blackflight, to threats on the scale of causing Citywide evacuation.

██	██	██	██	██	██	██	██	██

9 - Worldwide threats, usually not a part of Blackflight's personal Rogues. OR the Founding Fathers themselves.

Ringleader

Threat Level:

██	██	██	██	██	██	██	██	██

Ringleader, an escaped mental patient and dreaded serial killer in Bishop City. He is one of Blackflight's most enduring and deadly foes. Whilst not a physical match for Blackflight, he is more than an intellectual one, his unpredictable thinking proving at odds with Blackflight's need for logic and order - and his extraordinary tactical mind proving to match Blackflight's at every turn. Ringleader is the... Well... Ringleader of the Sideshow Syndicate, one of the most debased and evil gangs in Bishop City, filled with psychopaths and murderers. His gang proves more deadly than ones under the Founding Fathers, the Syndicate isn't restricted by rules holding the men back for the sake of the city, instead it is a rampant force of anarchy, supporting Ringleader's mad, psychotic agenda.

Blackflight and Ringleader are almost obsessed with each other, proving to be two enduring foes representing polar opposites, chaos and anarchy on one side and order and logic on the other. Their battles are drawn out and intellectual, and usually end in despair and tragedy.

The Sideshow Syndicate

This is Ringleader's own personal crime organisation, based out of an amusement park in the Stuart Housing District - compared by some to the Court of Miracles on 1700s France, an area for the poor and destitute. Upon the appearance of Blackflight, Ringleader was able to play upon the deprivation and poor conditions on the area to rally the desperate, psychotics and even local Founding Fathers Enforcers. Together they have formed a violent and uncontrollable rabble of murderous and selfish impulses, all taking Circus-like personas to fit Ringleader's ideals.

They form an almost private army, dedicated to their leader and almost unflinching in their beliefs. Some have heard rumours of an almost deadly initiation ritual involving deadly drug cocktails and violent acts, a deterrent to all but the most insane the City has to offer, only bolstering Ringleader's already large ranks. Operating out of the now-militarised, fortress like Amusement Park.

Some say that the Sideshow Syndicate has even begun appearing in other cities, namely Millennium City...

The Founding Fathers

Threat Level:

██	██	██	██	██	██	██	██	██

The Founding Fathers are a collection of 4 powerful families and corporations that run crime and government behind the scenes in Bishop City, integrated into every strata of Bishopian Society, they are mysterious and secretive - a not-so-secret society with unknown schemes and plans for the city. Each family specialises in a different industry and crime sector, but all are very political, seeking to make movements into each other's territories and business sectors:

The Summers

The Summers, and their company - Summers Industrials, focus on the industry side of Bishop City, from electronics production, to car manufacturing and even construction. Their given criminal industry is high-tech weapons trafficking, using their advanced technology from their company to produce and deal weapons to third world dictators, supervillains, even the corrupt Police Force of Bishop City - the BCPD. Their thugs and henchmen are the best equipped of all the Founding Fathers, taking advantage of their advanced technology. They control the areas East of Summers Tower, including the East Docklands. The Summers are also Blackflight's own family, and Summers Industrials is where he holds a board position, and works on a day-to-day basis.

The Summers Family operates out of their company HQ, Summers Tower, on the East side of Laud Memorial Park. The company appears to be a respectable corporation at face value, but clearly has more sinister motives - motives that become more apparent the further up the Tower you travel.

The Brookhyders

The second most powerful contender in Bishop City. They specialise in the Entertainment industry, producing films, festivals - running clubs and more. The multitude of city officials which visit their establishments gives them more than neough leverage with which to blackmail the administration, effectively keeping them in a vice. The Criminal Sector that the Brookhyders control is Human Trafficking, forcing men and women into slavery for anyone who will take them - for the right price. Blackflight has a particular distaste for the Brookhyders, as they abducted him as a teenager - they're inadvertently responsible for creating the vigilante they so distaste.

Brookhyder Entertainment is based in the Showtime Walk area of the city, in their very flashy and ostentatious tower, Brookhyder Tower, serving as their Headquarters.

The Hydes

The Hydes are the third most powerful contender for power in Bishop City. They operate the Hyde Shipping Company responsible for most shipping within the city, both exports and imports. As such, they control a sizeable portion of the city's docklands, buying area from the Summers family with which to move their large freight ships. As a shipping company, their criminal industry is drug smuggling, they control and regulate all shipping of narcotics and recreational drugs into the city - as well as having a web of dealers to distribute their supply. This makes them popular among the youth of the city, acting as a mini-army for the Hydes. They also have the allegiance of drug cartels from Mexico bolstering the ranks of their gang.

They operate out of Hyde Shipping Inc, a tower on the North side of Laud Memorial Park. Their territory extending through Arbor Heights, a middle class area with a major drug problem among the youth.

The Wilmots

The Wilmots are not a contender for power in Bishop City, they're a more tactical Founding Family. They running the Wilmot Banking Corporation - WILBank, one of few banks to remain stable in the economic turmoil plaguing recent years - this is partly due to their extra-activities on the side, their criminal industry being criminal financing. They finance everything from terrorists to rogue states, oddly always being paid back in spite of the bad company they keep. They even fund their own other Founding Fathers, playing off their intense rivalries and gaining more money for it - making them the richest of the Founding Fathers, albeit secretly; revealing their tricks would get them ostracised from the organisation.

The Wilmots make the headquarters in WILBank Tower, on the West side of Laud Memorial Park; inside the Avenue of Progress, the central business district of the City.

The Paladin

The Paladin is the Founding Fathers' secret weapon. A personal, magically enhanced and later genetically augmented assassin dating back to the late 1800s.

First created as a means of maintaining the Founding Fathers' grip on the city when freedom of ideas began spreading across the United States in the 1800s, the Paladin has become an Urban Legend, used in cautionary tales from parents to their children in order to keep them well behaved. The truth of the story isn't too different - the Paladin is dispatched when people cross the Founding Fathers or go against their ideals and plans for Bishop City, he moves in swiftly to assassinate them, leaving their bodies in public spaces to serve as a warning to the person's replacement. In the era of Blackflight in the 1980s, the Paladin was dispatched against the vigilante several times, with Blackflight never able to best him.

The Paladin's true name and origin remain a mystery to this day, as he has never been captured or interrogated.

Bloodlust

OOC info

Roleplay Hooks

• Maybe you've read about John Summers' exploits when he was younger? Or maybe you even travel the same circles as he does?
• Maybe you've visited Bishop City and heard the urban myths about him?
• Maybe you know someone that's encountered Blackflight before?
• I'm always looking for villains to fight, find me in game and we can sort something out?
• He was a hero in the eighties, maybe some of you hero people trained under him? Or were even inspired by him?
• I'm looking to do a Batman and put together methods of taking down high-powered supers should they go rogue. Find me in game if you want to help me come up with a contingency for your character.
• UNTIL and PRIMUS don't like him.

Tropes

Kung Fu Clairvoyance - Blackflight has demonstrated this on many an occasion, through his Mastery of Wing Chun, he is a Master at reading body language, even able to predict his opponent's moves before they make them.

Crazy Prepared - If Blackflight knows what situation he is walking into, he'll plan for every eventuality of it. Backups of his backups, which then have even more backups. His utility belt often being loaded with the relevant gadgets too.

Great Detective - As with many vigilantes like Blackflight, he is a trained and great detective, often employing his deduction skills to track down street level crime in Bishop City.

Badass Normal - In a world without superpowers, Blackflight manages to retain a certain level of badassery, standing toe-to-toe with superpowered opponents through intellect, training and preparation.

Anti Hero - Blackflight is largely the opposite of the ideal hero, working in the shadows, violently putting down foes - his motives also possessing a sort of selfishness to a degree too.

Doesn't Like Guns - Blackflight has a distaste for firearms. Not because of any personal tragedy surrounding them, but simply because he views them as the weapon of cowards, those without the guts to do things up close.

Combat Pragmatist - Whilst Blackflight is generally an honourable combatant, he will take the necessary steps to ensure his victory should the situation come to it. Be it employing poisons against opponents, or resorting to psychological warfare.

Master of Disguise - Through his Ninjutsu training, Blackflight has become a Master of Espionage as well as disguise, able to portray himself as a different person entirely depending on the situation.

Bad powers, Good people - Adapting the trope here, Blackflight's money and finances are obtained through criminal activity through the Founding Fathers, he reinvests them to attain his technology and equipment which he then ironically uses for crimefighting.

Aristocrats are evil - Many of John Summers' 'friends' are evil, members of the Founding Fathers which run Bishop City in the background, everything from the judicial system to crime itself.

Thou Shalt Not Kill - One line Blackflight has yet to cross is the murder one. He feels that taking a life is a waste and should never be done, not because his parents were murdered, but rather because it makes him like those he swore to fight against.

Dead Sidekick - Someone close to Blackflight, be it Sidekick or Ally, was killed in 1992, this led to his retirement from heroism. And has something to do with his subsequent return.

Temporary Retirement - After 23 years of Retirement, Blackflight is back and ready to kick butt again.

I work Alone Blackflight works best alone. He thought that from the start, even more so now he has come out of retirement. But surely even he needs to realise that he needs help sometimes...

Informed Loner - Blackflight spends much of his time alone, keeping to himself and maintaining a form of personal monologue - much of his dialogue conducted through inner analytic thought rather than outwards talking.

Millionaire Playboy - At least in his younger years, Blackflight masqueraded as a Playboy to disguise his midnight activities. He occasional dabbles into this persona in modern day.

Obfuscating Stupidity - Blackflight pretends to be vacuous, or mild mannered, or simply disinterested to throw people off the trail that he could be a vigilante.

Music

Inspirations

The obvious inspiration for this character is Batman from the Dark Knight Returns, alongside Nite Owl from Watchmen. I'm hoping this will only remain an inspiration rather than being something cloney, the eventual product should be diverse enough from the original Batman mold.