Captain Collider
American
Once a brilliant physicist with a view for changing the world for the better, Herschel Quark's life was changed forever when a freak accident caused him to fall into a highly experimental particle collider mid-collision. Though he should have been killed, an unknown variable caused the hyper accelerated particles to destroy and reconstruct Herschel's body, merging with his physiology at a subatomic level. The process radically altered Herschel, granting him the power to manipulate the very particles that make up the universe itself. Imbued with power beyond his wildest imagination, Herschel vowed to use it responsibly in keeping with his pacifistic beliefs and became Captain Collider, the immeasurable Master of Molecules!
A gentle and reserved soul at heart, Captain Collider considers himself a scientist and human being first and a superhero second, always prioritising thought and diplomacy over unnecessary violence and confrontation. Though his levelheadedness may make him a hero among heroes, however, his idealistic pacifism occasionally borders on naivete. Still, with the potential for absolute power constantly present within him, Captain Collider strives every day to ensure it doesn't corrupt him absolutely.
Contents
Biography
Born to renowned physicist Gerald Quark and medical doctor Regina Quark, Herschel Richard Quark was the middle of three children, his elder brother, Nicholas, and his yet to be born younger sister, Melinda. Born into well-educated, well-off family, Herschel wanted for little and received all the love and support he needed from parents, siblings, friends and teachers growing up. From a very early age, the true value of companionship and community were instilled within him.
Inheriting his father's natural genius, Herschel showed a staggeringly high intellectual capacity very early in his childhood. Inheriting his father's love of science and his mother's compassion for others, he would often spend his free time studying the world around him in the hopes that he could somehow use what little knowledge he possessed at the time to make the people in his life happier.
Far away from his brother who favored the arts over science and his sister who simply preferred to socialise with her friends, Herschel grew to become more and more enamoured with science and, before long, was off at one of the better high schools in the country, an honour roll student with aspirations of becoming a physicist even half as acclaimed as his father. There he met the woman who would go on to be the love of his life, fellow honour roll student Vanessa Morello.
Becoming fast friends and, eventually, unlikely sweethearts, Herschel and Vanessa both graduated from high school and attended Millennium City University, with Herschel studying physics and Vanessa studying chemistry. It was during their study at the university that a twenty-one year old Herschel proposed to Vanessa. Engaged to be married following the receipt of their respective PhDs in Particle Physics/Engineering and and Analytical Chemistry respectively. When their years of studying came to a well-deserved end, the two long-time lovers marked the occasion with a small wedding ceremony of family and friends.
A year later, their first and only child -- a healthy girl -- was born. Settling on the name 'Luna', Herschel and Vanessa agreed that Vanessa would temporarily put aside her scientific career while Herschel secured a job working within the physics lab of Millennium City University both as a particle physicist and as a lecturer. In this position, Herschel quickly established himself as a brilliant physicist, helping to make a number of breakthroughs in the field of particle physics and gradually making a name for himself via his own personal discoveries and theories. One such theory would go on to form the basis of his later work, and that theory was the 'Power Particle'.
Quickly becoming a popular name for his various theses and books on the Power Particle, it wasn't long before Herschel received the support he needed to turn his theory into a reality. Approaching the bold, young physicist with an offer of his own lab stocked with resources, a team of diligent, intelligent physicists at his disposal and all the money he needed to make sure he made the most of them, Olivier Dreyfus, President and CEO of Unlimited Dynamics, enlisted Herschel's brilliant mind in the search for his much vaunted Power Particle, establishing a professional and personal friendship that would span throughout the following years.
