Lionfish
Richard Gates (Father)
Fins
She's a fishgirl
Super Durability
Venom Excretion
Enhanced Healing Facter
Contents
Appearance
Lily's appearance easily marks her out in a crowd: standing tall at 6'0", sporting orange skin with white stripes, fins, and spines, it would be difficult not to notice her. Her strange looks often make her the targeting of bullying amongst normal children, and even some students at the Bracen Institute refer to her by a plethora of derogatory nicknames such as "Fishgirl" and "Spines". She usually wears her hair medium-length with bangs, and has a habit of using it to hide her face when she becomes embarrassed or nervous. Her appearance is pulled together with two large, solid black eyes that are far more reflective than a normal person's. All in all, though she refuses to see it due to low self-esteem, Lionfish is cute in her own strange way.
When not going about her hero work, Lily favors sleeveless shirts that don't put any pressure on her spines and fins, and long, loose fitting pants that cover up the fins on her legs without compressing them completely. As her family is well-off, she usually wears designer brands made out of fine materials, though she also has a small sense of pride in wearing cheaper clothing that she's purchased with her own money. As Lionfish, she wears a sleeveless bodysuit in multiple shades of blue accentuated with white, all in swooping rounded patterns, along with a pair of gloves that protects the delicate webbing of her fingers and keeps her from accidentally scratching someone with her fingernails.
Background
Steven Chambers was an operative in SAD/SOG, a division of the CIA that is responsible for covert operations frequently referred to as "secret activities". As a former US Navy SEAL, he was particularly adept at performing in groups that took part in amphibious infiltration and extraction. After many successful "secret activities" and earning the trust and respect of his superiors, Steven was pulled aside one day and offered a deal: an experimental covert task force was being put together to deal with "secret activities" involving metahuman threats, and he would have a part in at... as long as he agreed to genetic modifications. Still full of patriotism and love for his country, Steven immediately accepted.
The very next day, he was brought to a secret military facility, along with five others, to receive his enhancements. In Steven's specific case, this meant he was going to have lion fish DNA spliced into his body, with the idea being that the excruciatingly painful and potentially fatal venom would allow him to carry out interrogations and (if necessary) assassinations with ease. He also received the standard improvements of augmented strength and a boosted immune system, as well as enhanced reaction time and senses. They were to take a week off as a recovery period, then ship out on their first mission: the removal of a budding pro-meta terrorist cell in the Appalachian Mountains. Not only would this take out a threat before it dug in, it would also determine whether or not the task force would receive further funding.
To say that the operation was a disaster would be putting it lightly. Not only did the task force fail to smoke out the terrorists, they lost two of their members in the fighting and were forced to retreat with a third gravely wounded. There was no extraction chopper when they escaped to the rendezvous point: as they were told when they shipped out, if they were to fail, the government would deny any involvement. They were left to fend for themselves in the Appalachians; Steven's wounded teammate died on the way down, and the other retreated in the middle of the night, taking all their supplies with him. Alone and with nowhere to go, Steven Chambers eventually disappeared off the face of the Earth entirely, never to be seen again.
Almost eight years later, in the city of Flat Lake, Michigan, Adrianna Garcia gave birth to a baby girl conceived out of wedlock with her boyfriend Richard Gates, who was away on a job site with his welding company. He wasn't there to experience his wife's surprise when their daughter was born with an extreme mutation that, as the years went on, would cause her to develop the traits of a lion fish. And, when he did finally return home to meet young Liliana Garcia, he refused to stay for long, immediately throwing himself back into his job. It's hard to properly raise a daughter when you can't look at her without crying, after all.
This left Liliana alone with her mother who, already angered and upset by what she perceived as Richard abandoning the family, took out her frustrations on Liliana. She made sure to remind her how much she wished she had a normal daughter, how hard it was raising a child who looked so weird, that maybe her father would be around more often if she was like the other girls in the neighborhood.
Liliana was more than happy when the family moved to Millennium City so she could stay at the Bracen Institute - a school started to help with the development of teenage metahumans - to say the least. There, she was finally among people who wouldn't judge her (that much) for how she looked, and adults that didn't dislike her for the way she looked and were even willing to help her overcome her insecurities! One student in particular - Miranda Mendes, a loyal and steadfast, if somewhat ditzy, friend - told Lily about her dream: one day, she wanted to be a superhero, just like her idol Sapphire. And, to help repay Miranda for all the kindness she'd shown Lily in the time they new each other, Lily offered to help her on her path to stardom. With a bit of assistance from Miranda's roommate, Lily and Miranda acquired a small pool of equipment to help them break into the business.
On that day, the dynamic duo of Lionfish and Ember were born. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Personality
The most clearly obvious facet of Lionfish's personality is her almost crippling lack of self-esteem. Though she's been improving since her time at Bracen (and especially since she started heroing with Ember), a childhood of emotional abuse has caused a lot of damage to her confidence and self-esteem. She thinks very little of herself and has a habit of clinging to people that show her even a shred of kindness or respect. This can make things awkward for both herself and others at times, especially when she tags along with them into a social situation that she is not nearly equipped to handle.
Underneath this, however, lies the kind and compassionate heart that comes to most peoples' minds when they think 'superhero'. These aspects of her personality tend to surface more often when she's alone with people that she truly trusts, as well as when she's sporting her costume. If she were to ever work past her severe social anxiety and realize that she has no reason to hate herself, even with her strange appearance, Lionfish has the potential to be one of the greatest heroes out there, through strength of heart if not strength of arms.
Powers and Abilities
-Super Strength: Lionfish's muscles are more powerful and her bones more dense and durable than those of a normal human's. Though she hasn't yet tested the upper limits of her strength, and she hasn't reached her full potential, she's shown that she's capable of lifting large and heavy steel doors and beat down solid concrete walls with relative ease.
-Super Durability: Though not as tough as most other bricks, Lionfish's body is still capable of absorbing far more punishment than the average human. On top of her dense bone and musculature, her body is also covered with scales that not only absorb a fair deal of impact from physical blows, they also make her body more resistance to punctures and cuts.
-Venom Excretion: Lionfish is capable of excreting lion fish venom from underneath her fingernails, the tips of her fins, and from her spines. If this venom makes it past the epidermis, it usually causes excruciating pain; if enough is ingested or absorbed, it is also capable of causing death. Because of this, Lionfish rarely makes use of this and wears gloves so she can safely deliver melee blows without worrying about accidental poisoning.
-Enhanced Healing Factor: More useful to her defenses than her durability is Lionfish's healing factor: she can recover from most small wounds and bruises in a matter of seconds, while the most severe (but non-lethal) wounds usually requiring only a few days of rest, or a week at most. Burn wounds take longer to heal than others, however, as the burnt and dead skin has to be shed before it can be replaced with a newer and healthier layer.
Equipment
-Padded Uniform: There's very little that's special about Lionfish's uniform, as all of her defenses are inherent to her body. Still, it's padded to both prevent it from ripping and tearing easily and to help absorb the impact from physical trauma.
-Stealth Mask: A special mask that can be worn over her uniform to hide her hair and change her outfits color to a more 'stealthy' one. While Lionfish's version is somewhat more stealthy than Ember's, she still isn't very talented in espionage.
Weaknesses
-Extreme Heat: Aside from burns hampering her regenerative abilities, Lionfish's body also reacts poorly to extremely high temperatures. She dehydrates quicker than the average person. It is not uncommon for her to pass out if she overexerts herself on an incredibly hot day, or if she's in an environment (such as anywhere with a furnace) that produces a lot of heat.
-Ember: Ember is Lionfish's best friend, and she has made a promise to Ember and the various adults in their lives that she would do everything it takes to protect her. Lionfish takes this promise seriously (perhaps far more than she should) and is willing to do anything, up to and including giving her life, to make sure that Ember doesn't sustain any serious injuries.
-Low Self-Esteem: Lionfish suffers from severe self-esteem issues. This can be easily exploited both in and out of combat, causing her to doubt herself and make more mistakes than she normally would.
-New To The Job: Like Ember, Lionfish is new to the heroing gig and has yet to learn all the ins and outs. Because of this, she has a tendency to make mistakes when trying to fight crime. She's also notoriously bad at stealth operations, a fact that would no doubt disappoint her father if he knew.
Friends, Allies and Aquaintances
-Ember: Lionfish and Ember met before they decided to become superheroes together. Ember is Lionfish's main source of stability and confidence, and there is nothing that she wouldn't do for Ember. She treasures her friendship more than anything else in the world, and wants nothing more than to help Ember live her dream of being a famous superhero.
-Charity Corren: Another of Lionfish's friends from Bracen. She didn't talk with Mercy very much, but she appreciated her levelheaded attitude and usually calm approach to life. She also felt a small bond of understanding with Mercy, as they both have (or had, in Mercy's case) issues when tackling social encounters. She recently joined the team that Mercy leads and hopes to talk to her more in the future.
-Gabriella Smith: Ember's roommate at the Bracen Institute. Gabby provides the duo with assistance on occasion, usually in the form of basic equipment or equipment maintenance. Like Ember, Lionfish also sometimes allows Gabby to test out her powers and abilities, though never to the same extent that Gabby does with Ember.
Important NPCs
-Uther Crane: The gentle giant is a teacher at the Bracen Institute that has pledged to help Ember and Lionfish learn some basic self defense skills. Lionfish works with him frequently to both practice her hand-to-hand skills and to help her practice moderation with her powers.
-Professor Lobdell: Another teacher at the school, Lobdell has reluctantly agreed to help Ember and Lionfish out to keep them from getting in too much trouble. He has even provided information in the past, helping them with their research into cases. As a former hero himself, he's given advice on how they should approach certain situations.
-Mysterious Cloaked Man: An unknown individual that has helped the duo on a few occasions, giving them information and rescuing them when they got in over their heads.
-Aaron Chester: A former member of a cult known as the Knights of the Nightmare, Chester is something of a mystic adviser to the clueless duo.
Nemeses
-Kid Cactus: Possessing plant empathy, and the proportionate strength and spines of a cactus, Kid Cactus is a minor threat with a love of spiny plants. He was first encountered attempting to steal a rare plant that was sent to a local flower shop by mistake.
-Demon of the East: A dork with cyber ninjas. Lionfish takes him a bit more seriously than Ember does, but she still thinks he's kind of lame.
-Drum and Bass: Dubstep girls with bad hair. Lionfish and Ember were forced to throw down with the villains after Ember started trash-talking them.
-Grimstone: A foe that's just a bit over Ember and Lionfishs' heads. Grimstone is a hellfire powered bruiser that has made numerous deals with dark powers to gain his immense strength. He's corrupt and completely twisted.
Trivia
-Lionfish enjoys browsing the internet, especially websites talking about superheroes and their exploits. Now that she's become one herself, this is especially true, as she likes to read about others' adventures and imagine what she would do in their place.
-Lionfish's roommate at the Bracen Institute is a shapeshifter named Jenny Carr. She's a punk enthusiast and likes to pretend she has far more of a 'tude than she does. They don't actually hang out very much, and she's unaware of Lionfish's exploits.
Comments
-What do others think of the superfish?-
"She's strong, caring and loyal; the best crime fighting partner you could ever ask for and my very best friend! She's wonderful and beautiful and I wish everyone could see her like that! I won't stop until at the very least, she can see that for herself." -Ember
Gallery
| SomethingWitty Characters | ||
|---|---|---|
| Auroral • Blue Blitz • Falconet • Fantasma Foxhound • Gabby Gizmo • Lionfish • Melova Quarrel • Riptide • Scripture • Temezca Victory | ||
