Solaris (Richard Rogers)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Contents
Background & Origin
Richard Rogers was born to Andrew and Julie Rogers, a successful civil engineer and a nurse, in Providence, RI. Richard's upbringing was unremarkable in a loving home and he was home schooled, ending up going to college to train as a structural engineer, following his father's example. When Doctor Destroyer attacked Detroit, Richard ended up working with his father for several months in the planning of new buildings in what would become Millennium City, but he had to return to Providence to complete his studies and graduate. Seeing the destruction first hand had a profound effect on Richard and is something he never forgot. Richard became an engineering lecturer in an effort to inspire others and worked for several years as a teacher at the Community College of Rhode Island, as well as a keen amateur astronomer, until the incident that gave him his powers.
He had noticed an unusual light phenomena in the night sky above his home and was tracking it with his telescope, when the light seemed to suddenly change direction, heading straight towards him!
Richard Roger's body became charged with the power of the sun and he quickly learnt that he had gained incredible new powers. Unsure what to do with his new abilities, Richard traveled to Millennium City, home of The Champions, to seek advice. His arrival coincided with the Qularr invasion and Solaris suddenly found himself in the front line. Helping to repel the alien forces and meeting Heroes like Defender and Kinetik inspired Richard to help in other crisis and eventually return to Millennium City to start a new life as Solaris, Man of the Sun.
Attitude & Motivation
Richard has seen his parents work in the service industry, very much working with the benefit of others in mind. This has shaped his view that if someone has the ability and skill to make the life of others better in what they do, then that ability should be used for exactly that purpose. In gaining superpowers, Richard's altruistic nature means that becoming a superhero is an obvious choice.
Affiliation
Solaris is a member of The Sentinels, and has access to The Artimus, their Aero-Carrier.
Powers
As Solaris, Richard Rogers has a level of superhuman strength and invulnerability. He is capable of independent flight and can also fire rays of heat from his eyes, although this takes concentration. His body has essentially become a solar battery, storing solar energy during the day and using it to fuel his powers, even during the night. However, the more he uses his powers the more of this stored energy he uses, so over exerting himself can lead to the temporary lose of his abilities until he can recharge himself.
Solaris has yet to reach the peak of his abilities as his body is still adapting to the recent changes in physiology. It isn't known how strong he will eventually become or whether he will manifest further abilities. Equally, the original source of these powers (the star light event) remains a mystery.
Appearance
Solaris wears a white & gold suit with a sun logo on its chest, teamed with gold boots, bracers and cape. His entire look is very traditionally comic book superhero and only his metallic gold iris/pupils mark him as anything other than human.
The physical change undertaken by Richard Rogers when he becomes Solaris is striking enough to maintain a distance between his two identities. In his civilian identity, Richard also wears a pair of glasses treated with an anti-UV film which prevents his eyes turning metallic gold when out of costume.
Recent History
Qualarr Attack
Arriving in Millennium City, Richard was shocked when the Qualaar began their attack. He'd hoped to seek the aid and advice of The Champions in what he should do with his new powers, but instead found himself trapped within the city as the alien forcefield fell. Looking around him at the devastation being caused as the alien ships circled overhead, Richard was reminded of the destruction he had seen following Dr Destroyer's attack on Detroit. In a moment of impetuous resolve, Richard grabbed the costume he had purchased but never worn from the trunk of his car and dove into action, using his great strength and impervious nature to rescue civilians and strike back against the Qulaar invaders. Eventually, The Champions were able to put a plan together and defeat the Qualaar mothership which hovered menacingly over Millennium City. Richard was praised by the mayor of the city, along with all the heroes that helped to hold the line against the alien threat. On that day, Richard Rogers truly became Solaris, man of the sun, and hero of Millenium City.
Project Greenskin
Following his success during the Qulaar invasion, Solaris was approached by PRIMUS to help with a situation in Nevada, at their Project Greenskin facility. It was here, under the harsh desert sun, that Richard became more aware of his growing powers. As he fought the irrated mutants, his body absorbed more and more of the sun's energy, increasing the strength of his abilitier until he suddenly found himself able to fly! The changes in his powers didn't stop there when, as he flew high over the ghost town of Burnside, he felt his body reach its capacity of stored energy and, like a safety valve releasing excess pressure, rays of golden light burst from his eyes. Solaris quickly learnt to control these emissions, but using them often quickly diminished his store of inner energy and left him feeling drained. But this was not a problem in the desert where a few moments exposure to the harsh sun overhead was enough to replenish that store of solar energy again.
Working with PRIMUS Solaris was able to assist in areas like Burnside, Burning Sands and the Atomic Wasteland, and in the process battling supervillains such as Talisman, Leech and Gigaton, Richard was able to learn alot about his power as Solaris, but the origin of this power still remained a mystery to him. Impressed by his work here, PRIMUS requested that Solaris assist the RGMP Steelhead Division in Canada with local trouble they had been experiencing.
Canadian Wilderness
Upon arriving in the Canadian wilderness, Solaris was informed that the "local trouble" was mutated animals attacking locals and making the area surrounding Force Station Steelhead more dangerous than usual. Following information provided by the RCMP, Solaris eventually found that the animals were being affected by the toxic runoff from a VIPER project, where they were attempting to produce some kind of aquatic super-soldier. This was the first time that Solaris had encountered VIPER and their nefarious schemes, but it would not be the last. As he took apart their various operations, Solaris defeated both their first, fully operational 'Electric Eel' Super-Soldier and Redstone, one of the heads of VIPER's Canadian operations, leaving their projects in disarray.
Millennium City
Text
The Sentinels
Text
Return to Canada
Text
