Creators Notes:

I've always enjoyed writing stories about werewolves. Something about the idea of a man who finds himself either controlling, or being controlled by a primal, inner self always intrigued me. So it's no surprise that I've roleplayed several in my lifetime. In roughly 2006, I began a play-by-post roleplay named Urban Requiem, an urban fantasy setting where monsters existed in the public knowledge, struggling with the trials and conflicts their loss of humanity brought them. Though Matt was never used in that game, I've always liked to imagine his backstory was sort of an alternate universe version of that, thus the occasional references to it's setting here.

It took me no time at all to decide I was going to make a werewolf character when I first loaded up Champions. Let's face it. How many werewolf superheroes can you name off the top of your head? Werewolf-By-Night, The Astounding Wolf-Man (bleh), and handful of villains. I thought it'd be kind of fun to play one who, rather than sitting around crying “I'M A MONSTER!!”, would actually make use of his powers, and even have fun doing it.

The general theme I was aiming for with Lycan's character was that he's always been sort of an unlucky outcast who found himself with these new awesome powers and decided to use them for good, both out of a sense of justice, and because he was just an adrenaline junkie who wanted to punch Dracula in the balls. While other superheroes may have had these epic tales of their fights against the forces of evil, Lycan's would have a number that read off more like “That time we got drunk and did donuts in Guy Sweetlands yard.”. To an extent, I think his biggest strength is that he works in stories of nearly any tone, from comical antics with Foxbat, to a bloodstained showdown against the worst Millennium City can throw at him, since he goes at both with the same sort of Leeroy Jenkins levels of enthusiasm.

All in all, I hope you enjoy reading about this character as I enjoy writing for him.

History

Puppyhood

Matthew Hollinger was born in Aldhaven, Washington. He never knew his father, who left shortly after his conception. Rather, he came to know many other fathers who came in and out of his life at random. His mother, while not abusive or overly neglectful, was the kind of person you'd more likely see on Springer than a PTA meeting. Needless to say, Matt's early life was chaotic. He fell into petty delinquency fairly quickly. The only escape from his loneliness wound up being through the three friends that came into his life, Jen Berkley, Neil Anders and Keith Sanders. The four bonded quickly through similar interests in music, hobbies, and chaos, and ultimately wound up as Matts best friends and eventual bandmates.

Robot City Roundhouse

One of the things that these four youths were most passionate about was their love for making music. Neil loved to shred on his guitar whenever the chance arose, Keith owning a drum set given to him by overly enthusiastic parents that he was badgered to learn, and Jen eventually finding enjoyment in plucking the strings to her bass. Matt, not exactly rich enough to own anything like that, happened to discover a talent for making up song lyrics on the spot. The four couldn't ignore this all-too-convenient meeting of talents and decided to form a punk-rock band. They chose the name Robot City Roundhouse after awaking from a bender the night before under a sign for a robot expo which had the name. The band had... limited success, to this day only really getting gigs in run-down bars or as openings to other, more popular bands. Still, it provided them the money they needed to survive... if you counted the wage-slave leveled McJobs they were also forced to take. It was during this time that Matt had also began a relationship with Brittany Laine, a girl from his high school who found his potential stardom and inability to say no to a pretty face endearing and the two were together for several years.

She would play a small role in the events that would change Matt's life forever.

The Beast in the Back Alley

"Today is the worst day of my life. Lost my job. My girlfriend left me for some rich bastard. Got kicked out of my house. Banned from my favorite bar. Ruined my best shirt...

...Oh yeah. And I think I'm dead."

-Matthew Hollinger.

Now... I ain't saying Brittany was a gold digger, but she wasn't messing with no broke... broke. RCR didn't get quite as popular as she was expecting, and she eventually realized that the job she had to get to support her lavish lifestyle paid for more around the house than he did. She took little time to find companionship with other, more financially successful men... Which she decided to inform Matt on the day he had come home with the news that his boss didn't really care for how he worked the fryer and had him sacked. This proved an issue to Matt for several reasons, one major one being that she was the one paying for the apartment, and he was now homeless. Heartbroken, homeless, broke and miserable, Matt took the remains of his paycheck straight to his favorite bar to drown his sorrows.

And boy did he drown them. He drowned them so bad that his other emotions were forced to build an Ark to escape the falling Jager rain with two of every animal.

He drowned them so bad that he didn't even realize the stream of insults he hurled at the bartender trying to cut him off might actually result in his removal from the bar via the back door.

After a few choice comments about the bouncers mother, and emptying the contents of his stomach on the steps for good measure, Matt went to stagger his way back to the car. His mind clouded with booze and general hatred of the world, he never saw what happened coming. It began as a pair of glowing red eyes in the shadows of the alley, but before he could fully process it, the beast they belonged to pinned him against the wall with a single hand. To this day, all he could remember was this large, grey furred monster, nearly ten feet tall. It dug his fangs into Matt's neck, cutting short his attempts to scream for help and leaving him with few other options other than to watch helplessly as his body was clawed apart. Eventually, one too many hits against the brick wall behind him shattered his skull enough to make him lose consciousness.

The Transformation

"Y'know, this reminds me of this TV show from a decade ago called Big Wolf on Campus.

"W-Well... What happened?"

"It really took a turn for the weird after the third season. I mean, it was never all that serious to begin with, but they put far too much focus on the sidekick and barely tried t-

SWAT!!

"...On the show!!"

-Matt Hollinger and Keith Sanders

Matt awoke in a small, dark metal box. It thankfully only took about five minutes of frantic banging and screaming before the confused mortician let him out. He had apparently been found several miles away from the bar, mauled by a large animal and thought dead, though in hindsight, the mortician wondered what made them think so, considering Matt now looked almost fine, beyond some severe bites and broken bones. Though since there's no way something like that could be considered strange, they thought nothing of it... Aldhaven isn't exactly known for its competent hospital staff.

Neil, Keith and Jen came to visit Matt shortly after his admission into the hospital. As Matt had nowhere else to go, it was agreed the four would get a place together after he was released... three days later.

A month passed, and the four were settling in nicely to their new home. The four were just meeting in the garage to begin practice of a new song Matt had thought of on a painkiller trip in the hospital, when he suddenly broke into convulsions. His body began to stretch and deform, bones snapping and realigning, teeth and fingernails growing into fangs and claws, and hair growing all over his body. He stared at the three, first with fear and confusion... then with a primal rage.

...The others had seen enough horror flicks to know where this was going, and got the hell out of there, slamming the garage door down on the growling monster that was once their friend and piled into the van to escape. With his sudden supernatural strength, Matt ripped open the door, staggering into the pale moonlight. He turned his head to the moon above, letting out a howl to punctuate his change and begin his new life beyond the trappings of human flesh.

Neil promptly drove the van over him at 40 MPH. That shut him up.

Since no one has ever written instructions on what to do when your roommate abruptly turns into a werewolf (or, if they did, they never really tried to teach anyone) the unconscious Matt was chained up and tossed into the basement until sunrise, when he finally changed back. So began the hardest period in the young musicians life, as he slowly had to come to terms with what he had become. What followed was nearly a year of trial, Matt spending full moons thrashing around in the basement, and days trying to control his emotions, lest the animal take control of him once again. They began to fear if he would ever be the same again, and Matt himself even wondered if it was safe to keep him around. This eventually drove him to attempt suicide one night, as he snuck out and hurled himself off the highest bridge he could find. This was foiled, however, when he discovered that lycanthropes possessed supernaturally fast healing, which could even bring him back from death itself.

RCR did eventually find the light at the end of the tunnel. Through a mix of Matt's willpower, Jen and Neil's emotional support, and Keith's research (despite being the smartest in his class, Keith had thankfully spent much of his time reading up about the occult and other things a goth kid like him would find interesting, rather than pointless stuff like math or history), the young thrall would eventually control his animal urges and even the transformations themselves, learning to switch between man and wolf at will.

With this new power at his disposal, Matt wondered how he could make use of it. A lifetime of comic books and stories of superheroes, especially after the Battle of Detroit back in '92, left him with little other choice. The Aldhaven Werewolf was born.

The Wolf Runs Wild

With Matt's supernatural sense, and Keiths knowledge, it took little time for the band to discover the other occult goings on around them in their hometown. For reasons that were, admittedly, less motivated by justice and more by the fact that punching vampires and demons in the face was awesome, they swore to fight the monsters that dared to feed on mankind. What followed was several years of kicking the ass of whatever monsters got in their face, with even Jen and Neil, who possessed no powers, able to hold their own in the fray.

It wasn't all sunshine and vampire punching, however. During this time, Matt had developed a bit of a reputation. The occasional witness seeing him prowl the streets, the alley dwelling criminal he'd subdue, and one... small occasion of him going back to his old house and ripping apart the ferarri belonging to Brittany's latest boyfriend while she was busy loudly making love in the bedroom made the people nervous. Not to mention, since the various murders done by every other monster in the city had to be blamed on someone, it had to be on the only one they heard of. Newspapers began to tell the stories of the Aldhaven Werewolf, butcher of innocents and menace to society. For every act of good Matt and the Roundhouse did, three more stories of his horrible atrocities seemed to pop up. Eventually, it became too difficult for him to do anything, as law enforcement, and even the occasional Super, was out to hunt him down. Once more defeated, the four decided to pack up their things and move to a place they would never have to worry about trying to be superheroes again: Millennium City. Matt thought, with such a high superhero population, he would never need to fight evil again, and thought he'd just hang up the mantle for good.

We couldn't have THAT happen, now could we?

The Buzz on Qularr

Putting his werewolf muscles to use, Matt lifted the debris from the exploded building off of him. It had only been a few months since he moved to the city, and everything was going fine. Next thing he knew, giant bugs were blasting the place up, turning downtown into a smoldering wreck. He threw the heavy rock aside and began to sniff the area out, looking for a direction with the faintest scent of bugs, and the best way out. Matt wasn't going to get involved. He couldn't. If someone saw him like this, he'd probably be vaporized by Defender or something. He needed to get out, and get back home so he could get the band out of town until this blew over. An escape route in mind, he began to hurry, slipping through the shadows, just out of sight. At this rate, he thought, he'd get out just fine.

But then he heard them. His lupine ears picked up the faint sounds of screaming, right behind where a door was covered in even more rubble. A young woman and a little girl, crying and begging for help. He could smell their blood. They were hurt, and they wouldn't last much longer like this. The only other people around were soldiers killed by a passing Qularr patrol. But he couldn't stop to save them. If they saw him, they'd just think he was another monster, and then what would have happened? No. He tried to help, and all he got was trouble. They had their chance.

"...don't even know if the Champions are still alive!"

Matt stopped as he heard the communicators of one of the fallen soldiers. It was still on when he died, and it must be picking up the conversations of two others, likely from Primus. Why don't they know where the Champions are at? Can't they find them? Who else is going to help these people without the Champions?

"Then we're in big trouble..."

They can't be! They've got to stop these bugs! He had to get out of there!

"We need help!!"

But...

"WE NEED A HERO!"

...God... Damnit.

Matt dug his claws into the rocky debris surrounding the door. With a yell of frustration, he began to dig through the rubble, effortlessly throwing aside the pile bit by bit. A final punch broke through the door, letting light into the room. It was then he could see the tear-stained faces of the two inside. They were too stunned or too thankful to scream at his appearance, and he wouldn't let this moment go to waste.

"It's okay." He said, trying to sound as friendly as he could despite how snarly his voice got as the wolf. "I'm a superhero. I'll have ya out of here in a sec. Cover your ears. I'm gonna call for help."

He pulled his head out of the hole and pointed it to the sky. He took in as deep a breath as possible. Ever since he became the wolf, he discovered how loud he could make his voice, and it was now to put it to use. He could see his chest expanding beyond what seemed normal. Digging his claws into the ground to brace him, Matt let it back out, letting out a howl that could be heard for miles... His signal to whoever was around where he was.

Thankfully, the first people he saw weren't cockroaches. Other Primus solders, hearing the sound, came to find the source. It was there they found him, digging away the remains of the rubble to let the two civilians out. He expected to be shot right there on the spot, but instead saw the soldiers rushing up to assist the two, leading them off to have their injuries tended to.

"Those two would have been dead without your help." One of the solders, Matt never bothered learning ranks, said, approaching him. "You did good, uh... I don't think I've seen you around. What's your name, superhero?"

Matt had no idea how to react. No one had ever bothered to talk to him when he was like this. They didn't know about the Aldhaven Werewolf, and he wasn't about to get a bad start here. Hell. Thinking about it, Aldhaven Werewolf was hardly a superhero name. Now was a good time for a REAL superhero name. Something punchy, memorable, and really displays who he is to the world around him. Okay, boyo. Flex those creative muscles. Shouldn't be an issue. Just have to think of something that'd sound really cool on a comic book cover. Whatever you do, don't just blurt out the first thing that comes to your head because you're too frazzled from the alien invasion.

"...Name's Lycan. If you'll excuse me, I gotta exterminate your little bug problem."

...Eh. It'll do for now.

The rest of the time was spent as uneventfully as an alien invasion can be. The newly named Lycan prowled the streets once more, hunting down bugs like an animal hunts his prey. Some other hero eventually put a stop to the beacons driving the Qularr crazy and the Champions finally drove the bugs back. And as Millennium City celebrated their victory, Lycan stood proud among the hundreds of heroes who helped it come about. But it didn't take long before he slipped back into the shadows. The more iconic heroes can go ahead and be on the newspapers this time. He had work to do.

Recent Events

• Though his callsign meant very little to him outside of what his fellow superheroes called him, in May 2013, Lycan finally got sick of his generic name, and instead picked up the name Mutt.

Description

Personality

Matt is a fairly easy-going young man. He does his best to be friendly to anyone he meets, and is quick with a joke or an amusing anecdote. He can keep calm when in danger, if only because of the semi-immortality his lycanthropy brings. However, he has trouble taking threats seriously, and often gets himself into trouble because he underestimates his enemies. He can sometimes also have a short temper, but rarely acts on it. He loves to drink and party, and bonds quickly with anyone he can share a few drinks with.

His personality doesn't change much when he transforms, beyond being slightly more easily swayed by the impulses of the id, but he prefers to present himself much differently to his foes when he takes on the Mutt persona in full. Here, he's a savage animal, snarling and snapping at those unlucky enough to be in his way. While in reality, this act is more for intimidation than an actual intent to kill, Matt isn't above roughing up someone who he feels deserves it, and can be a little brutal when dealing with your average thug, compared to most heroes who just subdue them. While Matt prefers to deal with people non-lethally, he's not afraid to kill someone if he feels it's the only other option he has to save someone.

He has a bit of trouble, at times, finding the right time to show one persona over the other. While he wants to keep an air of mystery around him so his intimidation tactics can still be taken seriously, he also enjoys the attention being a superhero brings, and enjoys his rare moments of media attention more than he shows. While he acts like a barely restrained monster to his enemies, he's quick to banter with any other heroes he works with. He's also a bit of a superhero fanboy, with an adoration to more traditional heroes that sometimes shows it's face.

Physical Description

As a human, Matt has an appearance of a scruffy young man with an off-beat fashion sense. Standing at a little under six feet tall, with blue eyes and a blonde mohawk). He's got multiple piercings, several in the ears, two in the lips, and one in the nose, and tribal-patterned tattoos down his arms and across his back. He has a lean, lanky build.

When he shifts into his werewolf form, Mutt takes on a much more fearsome appearance. Thick, brown fur covers his body, with a tan muzzle, and his eyes begin to glow with a faint gold. He doesn't get much taller, but his build grows more muscular, now athletically built, though not overly huge or brutish looking. Somehow, his mohawk manages to keep it's shape and color in this form. His voice changes as well, growing deeper and sounding more growling. Speaking with a muzzle is much more difficult, so he tends to slur his speech and snarl even when he's trying to sound friendly. He tends to walk on all fours like an animal would, seemingly unintentionally.

On the rare occasions he needs some of his lycanthrope powers without shifting fully, Mutt can shift into a hybrid form. In this state, he looks similar to his human form, only covered in fur. His face takes on some lupine aspects, and his fangs and claws still grow in. (Not pictured: ablooobdybloobdybloo)

Abilities

Powers

Mutt has access to a number of superhuman powers thanks to his lycanthropy. While he retains these powers in human form, they're only a fraction as effective.

• Strength: Mutt is disproportionately powerful, able to lift up to roughly a ton.

• Speed/Agility: Mutt can run at speeds up to 60 mph, and leap nearly fifty feet directly upward.

• Supernatural Senses: Mutt has exaggerated lupine senses. He can easily hear sounds from further away, or at higher pitches that the average human ear can pick up. His sense of smell can allow him to track people and things from miles away, or pick up nearly undetectable details in ones scent.

• Regeneration: Mutt can recover from otherwise crippling wounds extremely quickly. Minor cuts and bruises can recover in minutes, if not seconds. Moderate injuries, such as broken bones, can take mere hours. Severe wounds, things that would cripple or kill an average person, only take days to weeks to recover from. His healing is so advanced that it can actually bring him back from death itself, assuming there's enough tissue of him left to recover from, and even then, the process is a long, painful process requiring days to weeks of recovery, depending on severity.

• Iron Lungs (Of Steel): Like the fabled Big Bad Wolf, Mutt has the ability to breathe in an extraordinary amount of air, and blow back with the hurricane force winds. In order to use this ability with any sort of effectiveness, however, it takes a considerable amount of time to breathe in. During this time, he's open to attack.

This is one of Lycans more versatile powers, and he's developed several additional techniques through it:

Huff n' Puff : The bread and butter of Mutt's windy repertoire. Huff, puff, and blow away anything standing in his path. Just pray you're not a pig.

Hurricane Howl : Mutt can use his increased lungpower to increase the volume of his voice, making a deafening scream. Good for disorientation, intimidation, getting a message long distance, or just belting out a badass Face-Melter.

Rock-it Jump : By directing his howl to the ground, Mutt can actually lift himself into the air and fling himself roughly 70 feet upwards. This has also saved him from a few potentially deadly falls, by blowing at the ground hard enough to soften his impact.

Goodyear; Bad Dog : Mutt can expand up to nearly double his size when breathing in. While the pressure doesn't let him hold his breath for more than about a minute, the added size can allow him to break out of holds. More comically, being full of air makes him more buoyant, which has made him perfect as a floatation device in case of a water landing.

• Willpower: Years of keeping his inhuman urges under control has given Matt amazing levels of mental fortitude. This gives him above average resistance to mind control, or other such attacks on his mind.

• Lupine Affinity Recently, thanks to a discussion with a new recruit to the Great Lakes Pack, Alexis Wilde, and her pet wolves, Matt came to the sudden, startling, and awesome realization that he can talk to wolves. Holy shit!

Swag

Tech Collar : Built by Wolfgirl, this otherwise normal looking dog collar has a built in communicator, which Mutt can use to tune into the various radio frequencies he tends to listen in on. A headset, specifically designed to fit Mutt's ear, despite his form, is plugged into it. Currently, it's pre-set to the following frequencies.

• Champions Respond and Protect
• Citadel communications network.
• Great Lakes Pack
• CCI's Street Level Hero

A tag on the collar reads the following:

Chain : A six foot length of chain with no particular special properties. Yup. Mutt wears it around his arm to act as a bracer in a fight, but it also serves as a good long distance weapon to whack people with. It's also got a grappling hook (which he found in a dumpster) for swinging.

Police Honor Badge Given to him by Noir for his assistance in a crime scene investigation. It's design could best be described as a mix between a police badge and a dog tag. It doesn't provide too much authority, but it's enough so the Millennium City cops know he's on their side, and doesn't need them sticking their noses in his business. Pretty handy for an unregistered hero.

Vorpal Bat : A little souvenir from Bloodmoon 2013. Mutt picked up this seemingly mundane aluminum baseball bat from a the back alley in Westside while a horde of zombies were busy biting chunks out of him. A few good swings followed as the lupine slugger splattered undead craniums across the wall. Much to his surprise, the bat held it's shape despite repeated lycanthrope-powered swings. It's tenacity, almost disturbing talent for taking zombie heads clean off, and the Bloodmoon leaving Mutt slightly unhinged with feral urges, caused him to develop an attachment to the weapon; dubbing it the Vorpal Bat. To this day, he keeps it strapped to his back, for when he needs just a little extra impact, or a few more feet of reach. He swears up and down that the bat has some sort of magical properties, but there's no evidence that it's anything other than a shockingly well-made baseball bat.

Weaknesses

• Silver : Like any werewolf, Mutt's biggest weakness is to silver. Any wound made by a silver weapon bypasses his regeneration, and must heal at the speed of a normal person. Fatal wounds made with silver do not regenerate, and would be one thing that can permanently kill Mutt.

• Accidental Transformations : Mutt's transformations, while at will, aren't entirely controlled. Strong emotions, such as anger or excitement, or adrenaline rushes can occasionally prompt an accidental change, or at least benign one.

• Sensory Overload : His supernatural senses can be used against him. Loud, high pitched noises drive Mutt crazy, sending him to his knees in agony. Strong enough scents can confuse and disorient him.

• Rage : While lycanthropy comes with several perks, it leaves one far more susceptible to ones own inner rage. While Mutt does his best to keep calm under pressure, angering him enough will cause him to go into a near-mindless rampage. In this state, he has only one thing in mind: destroying whatever pissed him off. To him, the rest of the world doesn't exist. Only him, and his target. This single-mindedness makes him prone to making mistakes he would never make otherwise, as he's no longer focusing on any outside forces, or even his own needs. If his prey does manage to get away from him, Mutt tends to fall into a deep depression, shattering his usual enthusiasm. As long as one can keep out of his grasp, he can be easily baited into traps or other kinds of manipulation. Of course if you can't... Let's just say this weakness is only for the gambling types to exploit.

• Recklessness : Mutt has never been the type to think things all the way through. This has only gotten worse when he realized his near immortality. He's more likely to leap before he looks, deciding it easier to just discover his opponents strengths and weaknesses through trial and error, rather than strategy. He eats much more damage this way.

Allies

H.E.L.I.X.

This new recruit seems to be more or less lost to the world. He is certainly not what I was expecting from a big bad wolf. He's more like a tame puppy but I have yet to witness him in action. He could turn into a serious furball when the need arises. He seemed to take a liking of me after I offered him booze and a suit and tie for the upcoming cocktail party. I had Bunny do some background work on him and he seems to be just a kid with little ambition but if he's willing to lend his wolf power to protecting the city, I can't fault him for his slacker ways. We'll see how he works out and hopefully he'll make the passing grade to a full member. He's not a bad club buddy, though, I'll give you that. I'm going to take him out on a mission here in the next few days and evaluate his talents so I can better classify him.

-Benjamin Horshack; March 2010.

Once known as Bastion (and promptly changed due to similar naming with another Bastion) Heroic Emergency Logistics Integrated Experts, a team of heroes funded by Bastion Tech had been the closest experience Matt had with any sort of legitimate team of supers. He was never a full member of the group due to his lack of registration, being instead paid under the table per job as an extra able body in the case of a crisis around Westside. The team, sadly, fell apart after a year, and Matt found himself back on his own. He still holds this time dear to him, however, since this was the first time he'd ever made friends with any "real" superheroes.

Benjamin Horshack: Leader of H.E.L.I.X.. The two met when Matt volunteered for the company, and got to know each other after a few drinks at Club Caprice. The two's similar laissez-faire attitudes made them fast friends. Though Matt sometimes questioned the sanity of his boss (his constant trips to Caprice, the stuff of nightmares for Matt, to pick up chicks being the main reason), he much prefered it to having a stickler for a boss, and Matt remained loyal. Since the dissolution of H.E.L.I.X., Matt lost contact with his old boss and has never been able to find him again.

Cali Landsborough: Matt's ex-girlfriend and co-worker at H.E.L.I.X.. The two bonded quickly due to sharing a love for booze, partying, chaos, and ass kicking (not to mention being one of the few legitimate fans of Robot City Roundhouse). Despite this, what really reached him was her kind demeanor, and willingness to see past his curse. Until he met her, he was terrified of getting close to anyone again, worried that losing control of the beast could leave her infected, dead, or worse. He could only hold her at arms length for so long and, after working up the courage (and nearly wolfing out from the anxiety right in front of her), he managed to ask her out.

Though Matt is often at odds with her demonic alter-ego, Malixtia, he's been willing to bail her out of certain death for the sake of protecting Cali, even defeating a demon hunter who had been after her for centuries. While he doesn't fear Mali, all too used to the ways demons work, he's worried what her influence on Cali might be.

In June 2012, however, after roughly a year together, the two decided to break up. Though Matt was saddened to be alone again, it eas a mutual decision, and they still remain in contact.

The Great Lakes Pack

A pack of werewolves (and wolfish folk in general) that Matt met on the CRP comms. One night, he was called out by Janet "Wolfhound" Burke, where he was given radio equipment she had picked up and told of the pack, a way for the lycans of Millennium City to keep in contact with one another. Matt was hesitant at first, having next to no friendly interaction with other werewolves before them. However, the prospect of getting to know others who dealt with the same things he had, and maybe finding additional help to live with what he had become changed his mind. He's joined the pack on several outings over the last year, and he's come to see them like a second family. With new recruits joining all the time, he's become delighted to see fellow werewolves from all walks of life as his ally.

Razira : Matt took a liking to Razira fairly quickly when he was recruited to the pack, thanks to her kind nature. She always has a way to brighten his day when he talks to her. Just as she tends to worry about the well-being of her friends, Matt was a pinch protective of her, due to her technically not being a werewolf, and was thus not gifted the same perks the others were. When a mysterious assailant kidnapped her and infected her with lycanthropy for real, Matt flew into an almost blind rage for several days, and not a week goes by that he doesn't look forward to the day he can finally hunt down who did it to her, so he can personally make them suffer.

Wolfgirl : Being born a lycanthrope, Wolfgirl's become a good source of information on the inner workings of werewolfism for Matt. He sometimes feels she's a little too uptight for his tastes, but assumes that it's not unwarranted, and does his best not to upset her... At least not without it being really funny.

Wolfhound : Five words:

Werewolf

With

A

Freaking

Chainsaw

It didn't take long for Matt to realize he was going to get along just fine with this one. She's one of the few people in the pack who can match, and surpass him in sheer enthusiasm and craziness. They butt heads every so often, mostly due to their differences in philosophy, politics, and where the line between justice and brutality are drawn. But when the bullets are done flying and the screaming is over with, she ranks up there as one of his favorite drinking buddies.

Onyeka : Matt ran into this lycanthrope, fresh out of Kenya, when they were both assigned to handle a hostage situation at the local gym. When the captives were free, and the thugs holding them were kicked far enough to see the curvature of the earth, the two began to get to know one another. Realizing Onyeka was new to town, and didn't even have a place to stay, Matt invited her to crash at his place. She's been his newest roomie ever since. Matt finds her sweet, if a little naive, but she's managed to fit in perfectly with all the chaos at the house, and he finds it nice to have a natural lycanthrope in such a convenient place. He just needs to get her into punk music before the sound of band practice drives her crazy.

Alexis Wilde : A recruit to the GLP, Matt met her at Leo's when he was called in to join in the interview. A hard drinking, harder partying, metal-head, Matt didn't take long to take a liking to her. The two have been slowly getting to know each other over the fountain she likes to pick change from in lieu of an actual job. He's currently trying to make use of her drumming talent in a way that won't put poor Kieth out in the cold. In the meantime, she's been given schlepping duty for their gigs.

Moonlighters

Mutt was drinking the days events away at Shererras when he found himself face to hypothetical face with the mysterious Mr. Blank. Blank informed the werewolf that he had been watching him for some time, and had a proposition that he felt Mutt would find interesting. He handed him a calling card, an address, and a day to meet. This was his first step into the Moonlighters, a group of street-level vigilantes watching the streets of Westside, handling all the problems most superheros don't notice. Mutt hasn't had too much of a chance to interact with Blank, or the other recruits since he joined, but this was the sort of superheroing that Mutt found right up his alley.

In January 2013, Blank disbanded the Moonlighters, destroyed the base, and fell off the map. Mutt is a lone wolf once more.

Citadel

After Mr. Blank unmasked himself and the Moonlighters disbanded, Mutt spent a few months working on his own. One night, when hanging out with his friend Vivi, aka Anarchy, he offhandedly mentioned the fact he'd been on his own for some time. Vivi revealed herself to be the leader of another team of vigilantes in the Millennium City area, Citadel. One being the loneliest number, Lyc offered to join up without a second thought.

Anarchy : The leader of this ragtag bunch of vigilantes and a friend of Matts. Matt enjoys her company, even though he thinks she tries a little too hard to be mysterious, even around trusted friends. Her penchant for chaos, however, makes her a fun ally to be around.

Violet Mask : Another refugee from the Moonlighters. These two haven't had much time to get to know each other personally, but the fact they can't seem to avoid each other is worth mentioning here.

Misc

Impsblood : Mutt met this adorable green skinned scamp over CRP. Her cheery demeanor and the fact she's an all devouring deathbeast warmed Mutt's fuzzy little heart. Impy remains one of his favorite drinking buddies, and his mood always rises when he hears her voice on the comms.

Enemies

The Fomorian What began as a hostage situation went sour quickly when Mutt found himself facing down this cold man with a god complex. A couple who had made mistakes in their lives, and now stood on trial at his blade. Mutt and his allies did their best to talk sense into him, but he convinced himself to be above mortal-kind, and fit to decide the fates of those he choose. Though they convinced him to let them go, it was only to lure the heroes into a false sense of security until a planted bomb went off, killing the hostages and several members of the SWAT team that was accompanying him.

Surrounded by the sickening scent of the blood of a dozen innocents, Mutt was overcome by his beastial rage. Reduced to little more than an animal with a single minded urge to kill, the werewolf engaged The Fomorian with everything he had, even blindly leaping off the building they were on after his prey tried to jump. The Fomorian managed to survive while Mutt shattered against the ground. Broken, bleeding, and running only on savage hatred, Mutt used up the last of his willpower to deliver one final attack in the form of a supercharged roar into the mans face. A stroke of good luck allowed him to survive even that, and the Fomorian escaped as Mutt collapsed from his wounds and slowly bled to death.

His final act, leaving a message for the "god" who defeated him, written with a shaking finger in his own blood:

"I HAVE UR SCENT"

Dogz It should really come as no surprise to any of you kids at home that Mutt has a slight issue with this gang of werewolves. Sharing the same curse aside, Mutt came to have a grudge for these thugs after his discovery that they get many of their recruits by infecting civilians. While Mutt isn't in Vibora Bay often, his visits often involve at least a little time thwarting their plans.

Fuzz Facts

Trivia

• Matt thinks vampires are cool. Screw what Underworld, Twilight, and everything ever tries to tell him.

• Matt is afraid of bugs. Despite being able to suck it up during the invasion, he still has nightmares about the Qularr.

• Matt secretly has a slight drug problem, in that he's a regular marijuana user.

• Mutt appears to have some slight awareness of the fourth wall. During more lighthearted moments, he has a strange tendency to acknowledge people who aren't there, but would be sitting off at a computer somewhere, watching them. Though this could just be chalked up to Matt being weird, high, or mildly insane.

• Mutt is an absurdly heavy eater, though this could be attributed to needing more energy to change forms. He, and the rest of the band were once stranded in the middle of a rural area during a full moon when their van broke down on their way to a show. Having not eaten at all that day, and not about to help push the van to another town, he briefly slipped off into the night. The next morning, a farmer awoke to find one of his cows completely skeletalized.

• He might not look it, but Matt is a fan of tabletop RPG's. His favorite character, one he likes to bring back when he plays with different DM's, is a half-elf bard named Locrius Lirian. He's also been trying to convince his roommate to run a campaign for the Champi... ow.

• His favorite song he's written was "Charismatic Hobo", based off a real life event where a homeless man managed to get 60 bucks out of the band.

• Despite all the time he spends as a wolf, Matt is actually turned off by werewolf, or otherwise beastial women. He explains that he's weirded out by women with more body hair than him. Some theorize that he's in denial due to a knee-jerk reaction to the implications.

• With his bedroom always covered in claw marks and shed fur, Matt has had to explain to his landlady that he works at an animal shelter, and sometimes has to take sick animals home. He has no idea if people can actually DO that at an animal shelter, and worries that there might be some unfortunate implications due to the fact the fur and claw marks are mostly in his bedroom and on his bed...

• Matt is, technically, a meta-human on top of being a werewolf. His super-lungs are the result of a latent mutant gene, which activated from the shifting of his DNA his transformation caused.

Tropes

Berserk Button Harming an innocent civilian in front of Mutt is a surefire way to face the full force of his wrath. On a more personal note, being treated like a dog is a pet peeve that he makes no secret of... Not that he minds a little petting or a scratch between the ears by a cute girl...

Big Badass Wolf 'Nuff Said.

Butt Monkey Matt's life was a series of getting kicked around even before he was nearly eaten alive, turned into a monster, and forced to struggle against his fading humanity. Even after getting a handle on it, Matt still struggles with the obscurity of his band, the lack of respect from the people he saves, and the constant fear of losing control of the beast he so tightly holds onto.

-Angst? What Angst? ...But to him, what's whining about it going to fix? Matt seldom spends more than a few hours seriously upset about anything. He deals with his issues with his sense of humor, and lets problems slide off his back when he can. Even during dire, life threatening moments, Mutt is quick with a joke, or a funny non sequitor to lighten the mood for himself and others. For all the issues it brings, he's still a superhero, and he'll never whine about the fears and doubts his lycanthropy brings... out loud, anyway...

Celibate Hero Not by his choice, mind you. Matt has all but sworn off sex of any kind out of fear of potentially infecting his partner with lycanthropy. This has also kept him from perusing romance. Beyond his time with Cali, who was immune due to her demonic influence, he's gone without for six years. He's not too happy with this arrangement.

Cloudcuckoolander

Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Mutt can be pretty thick, but anyone who considers him harmless is in for a rude awakening.

Fourth Wall Observer Every so often, the cosmos works in just such a way that Matt notices the strange folk on the other side of the computer monitor. He blames the drugs.

Guttural Growler : Only when Mutt's all wolfed up.

Iron Buttmonkey : While being able to regenerate from death might come off as a little overpowered, it's worth noting that this only means Mutt can be more prone to all sorts of horrible, agonizing mishaps, the best of which are listed below.

Make Me Wanna Shout Mutt's flashiest power.

Our Werewolves Are Different Apparently, Mr. Talbot never noticed the inexplicable super breath.

They Killed Kenny Again See the Animal Abuse section below.

Soundtrack

• Misfits: Wolfs Blood Main Theme #1

• Calabrese: Werewolf Boy Main Theme #2, as well as a good example of Robot City Roundhouse' quality.

RP Hooks

• Are you a creature of the night? Does your backstory have far too many comparisons to a Universal monster movie? Mutt always loves to meet other vampires, werewolves, mummies, or other critters that go bump in the night.

• Matt Hollinger is a lead singer of a punk band that enjoys moderate success among the seedy bars and other such venues in Westside. If you happen to need a band with a lot of screaming and smashing stuff for your next big event, RCR can always use the money (to spend on booze). Or, if you happen to be a musician yourself, he's always up for a jam session together.

• Mutt has spent most of his superhero career fighting the paranormal. If you're having trouble with a supernatural baddie, Mutt might know a thing or two. In fact, while he doesn't normally operate in Viboray Bay, he knows enough about the goings-on there to be a good assistant for any hero who finds them-self there.

• Mutt is a HUGE superhero fanboy. If you happen to be a high profile hero, Mutt might have heard of you, bought a poster of you off of Ebay, and even want your autograph for his collection.

Public Opinions

"Lycan is a bit of a joker, but when the chips are down, he gets down to business. I'd rather have him at my back in a bad situation than a dozen other people. You can consider that an endorsement." -Wolfgirl

"Nice Kid, plays a rippin' guitar and he's not afraid to {Expletive Deleted} {Expletive Deleted} to {Expletive Deleted} {Expletive Deleted} {Expletive Deleted} when the fecal matter hits the rotating oscillator unit. All around a solid dude and a solid wolf." -Wolfhound

"While Lycan is a friendly, talkative character, he's more than capable of defending himself when things fall apart. After recent events, I'm glad to have him on my side and call him my ally." -Razira

"Hey, do I have to be part-dog to say something here?" - The Flea

"This guy's a riot. Seriously, the whole balloon dog thing? Hilarious and effective. He's also great at soaking up damage and he looks good in fur, both important qualities in a man." -Nightfang

"Poochy! He's a lot of fun to drink with and he's cute and fuzzy! He looks okay as a person I guess, but he has silly hair." -Impsblood

"I've met and worked with my number of werewolves in my time, but aside from another, Lycan is one of the more friendly types. He's got a talent at making me feel like I'm missing out on things with the media references. . .he seems crazy sometimes too, like he's talking to this voice in his head. Anyways, I'm about to call him, see if we can do some music. Later." - Veronica Vivi Brimstone

"The lil' fella's not exactly the best hero in the city, but he's a ball to have around and you can rely on him to save your arse when ya' need it." - Snowtalon

"Dah man 'as some obvious dings tah work out. I would know. I live with dah man and dah odha chumba mates. But dat may jus' be me deasin' dah boy." {She snerks a moment before putting her hands in her back pockets} "He lemme 'crash' at dah place he call home and dreat me nicely. He be makin' a fine man for a girl ladah on I can dell yah. Hopefully I can ged dah man to do dah damn dishes first dough!" - Onyeka

"...know a bunch of odd people. He's not bad. Loud and strange though." - Violet Mask

"This guy knows how to party. I need to hang with this guy some more. Rock on, my dude." - Stitch

Animal Abuse!

As mentioned above, Mutt's regeneration has made him semi-immortal, able to recover from fatal wounds in days. Realizing this has made him a little... reckless, which has caused him no small amount of pain, or repeat visits from the Grim Reaper. Since we all enjoy a bit of schadenfreude, here is a comprehensive list of all the more hilari... err... Painful injuries Mutt has sustained since his move to Millennium City.

• Acid overdose, spat from an angry gargoyle woman.

• Frozen from the inside out with a well timed spray of nitrogen. The T-1000 made it look so easy.

• Cooked by Pumpkin Jack's radioactive blasts. New-found sympathy for popcorn.

• Bloodmoon gave him a hankering for flesh. He settled on eating pavement at terminal velocity. Needed salt.

• Hit by Mr Blank's van. Pedestrians have the right of way, asshole!

• Fell off a building chasing The Fomorian, damaging an eye, nearly all his bones, and his spirit.

• Caught and left in a bundle of microfilament wires by The Doctor.

v • d • e
Leader: Anarchy
Dispatchers: Divael • Crow • Nightinwail
Members: Shrouded Rose II • Mr. Blank • Renny Two-Hand • Carmina • Black Knight • Beguiler • Ant Girl • Extractor • Lorelei • Fortress • Labrynthia
Vigilantes: Violet Mask • Ophidia • Mutt • Day Nine • Reverb • Salina • Calamity Nine • Gemini Stone