History

Origin ((Levels 1-22))

The day before former Marine Captain Peter "The Stone Wall" Roark was scheduled to have his Mixed Martial Arts Heavyweight title fight in Millennium City, a couple of New Purple Gang punks bet heavily against him. They kidnapped "Coach", his MMA trainer and mentor, and told Roark to take a dive--or else! To cinch the bet, they slipped Roark's opponent a "Mickey" of stolen Cyberline laced with various street drugs right before the fight, causing him to lose control and nearly beat Roark to death!

Desperate to survive and to save Coach's life, Roark focused his will and dug deeper than he ever had before, triggering for the first time his latent mutation and causing his entire body to become as hard and dense as solid stone. Roark knocked out his opponent and then rushed to save his Coach--but he was too late.

After seeing the punks bullets being deflected by Roark's rock-hard skin, with his dying breath Coach told Roark that he was like some kind of human monolith, and that he had a responsibility now to fight, not in the ring for money, but in Millennium City as a hero. Soon after Coach's funeral, Roark returned to Millennium City and registered with PRIMUS as--MONOLITH MAN!

Secondary Mutation ((Levels 23-39))

Years later, the two punks that had killed Coach escaped from Stronghold Prison, where they had carefully planned out their revenge. They captured Monolith Man and injected him with a huge overdose of a similar Cyberline/street-drug cocktail to the one they had used years before on his opponent, and then dumped him in an alley. Their plan was to send him on a drug-induced rampage to ruin his reputation as a Hero before died from the overdose.

The chemicals coursed through Monolith Man's veins, triggering a massive secondary mutation. His already super-dense body grew to monstrous proportions and formed a thick, rock-like shell. The drugs still boiled through his blood, but the strength of his new form allowed him to resist the drug-induced fury raging in his brain and survive. Then, using his greatly increased powers, he once again captured the two punks, and back to Stronghold they went.

Earthstrong ((Level 40))

While Roark was fighting Cairngorm Stoneblood to procure the Earth Gem for Robert Caliburn, Stoneblood commented that Roark didn't even know that his own powers were linked to the Earth. When Roark handed Caliburn the Earth Gem, he mentioned what Stoneblood had said, and Caliburn took a long look at him, as if seeing him for the first time. He retrieved a World Stone and touched it to the Earth Gem, then tossed it to Roark, saying only, "I've got a hunch. Hold on to this and keep it on you. Show it to Whisper when you meet her." Roark asked who Whisper was, but Caliburn would say nothing more.

Roark eventually met the mysterious Whisper as a contact while working on a mission for UNITY. He showed her the World Stone, and all she said was "Yes. Yes, I see." After explaining that Roark must find his Spirit Guide as the next step in his mission, she added "and you must show him the World Stone, Earthstrong." After receiving instructions from his Spirit Guide, Roark showed the World Stone, and the guide bowed, saying "forgive me, Earth-Guardian, I did not recognize you. You must place the Stone on one of the alters of the Mother before the final battle."

Deep in the Cathedral of Earth, before his fight with Gabriel Black, Roark saw a formation resembling an alter, and, remembering, placed the World Stone upon it. A vision of Mother Earth appeared to him. She touched him on the forehed, and said "you have proven yourself time and again to be a true defender of the Earth and it's people, and so you have earned your place as one of the Earth's true Guardians. Let the Strength of the Earth aid you from this day forward."

With that, the World Stone that he had been carying merged with his body, and Roark felt a new, yet somehow familiar, connection with the Earth filling him with a deep strength. Black didn't stand a chance.

Relationships

Over the years Roark has developed a deep, if somewhat strained, relationship with the roguish, radioactive Chiroptera-enhanced human, HAZBAT. He sees the good in her, and he admires her intellect and her survivor's spirit (as well as her... other attributes), but her past troubles him--and he doesn't approve of her erratic behavior and her willingness to use her powers for personal gain. Yet, in the end, and often under protest, she usually does the right thing.

And the wings were a little weird, but he kind of likes them now.

Strength Level

When in his normal human form, Roark is exceptionally strong and fit for a man of his age, height, and build, though he is not superhumanly strong. After his initial mutation, when in his super-dense state he was about three times stronger than normal, enabling him to lift (press) about one ton. As his mutation advanced, his base power levels increased and began to be boosted by his level of mental determination. Just before his secondary mutation, he had a base strength of around 25 tons and a maximum strength of nearly twice that.

Roark's armored form has a base strength enabling him to lift 50 tons, and his powers are still increased by his level of determination, allowing him to reach up to class 100 in strength. However, Roarks powers have since been augmented with elemental Earth magic, allowing him now to exceed class 100 and to perform seemingly impossible feats of mystical strength.

Known Superhuman Powers

Roark's original mutation gave him the ability to will his body to become about three times more dense and much more durable than normal human flesh, with a proportionate increase in strength, healing, and recuperation. However, as his mutation advanced, his base level of strength, durability and healing grew, and he would become even more powerful the more he exerted his will. Blades would scratch his flesh rather than cut, bullets would bruise him rather than penetrate, and any damage to his body healed faster and more completely than normal. His strength allowed him to move normally and eventually to make huge leaps despite his increased weight.

After his secondary mutation, Roark can grow at will into a much larger armored form that has all of his original powers plus an enhanced physiology and a nearly impenetrable, rock-like exoskeleton. In this form, his skin has patches of special tissue that secrete a complex organic matrix with a high degree of granite-like biomineralization. This forms a layer of thick, interlocking and articulating plates that resemble granite, but that are in fact far harder, stronger, and tougher than modern tank armor (similar to the way that mollusk shells have around 3,000 times the fracture toughness of the calcium carbonate they are mostly composed of). Though incredibly durable, great extremes of force, temperature, or energy can damage his plates, and when this happens the tissue below eventually repairs or replaces them.

Roark's armored form's size and weight makes him extremely hard to move or to stop once in motion. It also puts tremendous weight behind his blows so that he often knocks his opponents off their feet or sends them flying. Due to his incredible strength, he is still able to move with his full normal speed and agility despite his massive bulk. Also, his armored form has extremely powerful leg muscles which allow him to jump great distances. In conjunction with the weight of his super-dense body, his leg strength allows him to use stomps or leaps to generate powerful shock-waves.

While in his armored form Roark is highly resistant to toxins, disease and infection. His efficient musculature produces less fatigue toxins, giving him superhuman stamina. His armored form's lungs are also more efficient and have much greater volume than those of an ordinary human, further increasing his stamina and enabling him to hold his breath for superhuman lengths of time. While he has no mental powers, he has an unusually strong will and experience in resisting psionic attack.

The "Strength of the Earth" is a mystical connection that Roark now has with the Earth that allows him to draw upon elemental Earth magic augment his powers. He can magically increase his strength, heal himself, add magical potency to his blows, and it affords him magical protection and grants the "Blessing of the Earth" on those who fight beside him, healing them even in the midst of battle.

Abilities

Roark is a former Marine Captain and Mixed Martial Arts heavyweight contender. Though a highly skilled and experienced fighter, his trademark has always been a deceptively loose, brawling style that has lent itself well to his mutant powers. His fighting skills and years of experience make him a formidable opponent and a valuable asset as a team leader, point man, or, as he puts it, "just crackin' skulls".