Post by Rodion Rezanov on Aug 24, 2017 22:42:46 GMT -6
Rodion 'Rodya' Rezanov
HERO (Marvel)
PLAY BY
Viggo Mortensen
RESIDENCE
346 East 18th Street, Apt. 301, Upper East Side, Manhattan.
FAME / INFAMY
Rodya is not well known. He fights crime from the shadows, often world wide.
LIVELIHOOD
SHIELD - "Investigations & Research", a division only known by Nick Fury.
HERO (Marvel)
PLAY BY
Viggo Mortensen
RESIDENCE
346 East 18th Street, Apt. 301, Upper East Side, Manhattan.
FAME / INFAMY
Rodya is not well known. He fights crime from the shadows, often world wide.
LIVELIHOOD
SHIELD - "Investigations & Research", a division only known by Nick Fury.
SIGNAL
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
HEIGHT: 6 Foot 2 Inches | WEIGHT: 200 LBS | AGE: 188 YEARS (50ish) |
NATIONALITY / ETHNICITY: Russian (Born in St. Petersburg)
PIGMENT: Medium Tone | HAIR: Ash blonde with greying streaks| EYES: Pale Grey
Rodion is a handsome man in his fifties. It is difficult to tell specifically where he lies on the scale due his exceptional fitness, but most guess later due to the character in his features and the way he carries himself. The sorrows and joys of almost two life times are etched upon his expressive face, now often set stolid. His frosty grey eyes are clear and bright, the remnants of a much younger man frozen in time. His straight dark hair is kept short, his bangs allowed to stay little longer. It is a steel grey hue with a few white highlights, adding to the illusion that he may be further along in his forties, possibly approaching fifty.
Despite being an American citizen since the 60’s, Rodion’s accent has continued to linger-on in a few pronunciations, sounding more like he has a slight ethnic way of speaking. It’s quite difficult for most to pick-up unless they’re listening for it or possess well attuned hearing for such phonetic deviations. He basically sounds purely American to most.
His build is anything but that of what one would expect a man of his age to possess. A large, athletic man he is solidly built, highly defined muscles rippling beneath a tapestry of scars and tattoos. He has been shot, stabbed, burned, all leaving their marks. Several Slavik tattoos cover his flesh, written in cyrillic, a collage of mementos of his many decades. One might confuse them for ‘mafia symbols’ but one apprised in the history of Russia would recognize them as military tattoos, traditional markings of the various campaigns in which he served, telling their own story. Of course, no one bearing such imprints should still be alive.
Fearless of the repercussions of disease he delights in smoking tobacco, in either a pipe or more often his preferred brand of cigarette, the Ukrainian made, Black Russian Sobranie, known for their black wrapping and golden filters, a refined pleasure for a more civilized time.
He prefers the dress style of his favourite era, the 1940’s and often wears clothes that reflect that time. This style of dress also helps conceal his build of which he tries to keep concealed in order to maintain the appearance of a scholarly physicist. He’s rarely without a jacket and tie and when out often wears a hat or even a flat cap, sometimes with glasses simply for the look (he doesn’t really need them, they’re just plain glass). He got into the habit of wearing of them because he hates wearing protective goggle all the time and the glasses offered enough protection for many of his experiments. Sometimes he’ll ‘dress down’, a shirt and jeans but it’s not often and usually not in public. He’s very old fashioned, believing that one shouldn’t head at all if they can’t be bothered to dress appropriately.
When required he’ll carry the appropriate tools of the trade. His favourite side arm is a Beretta and he always carries a silencer. When casually out and about, he carries a firearm stored in a shoulder holster and a knife, just to be prepared.
COSTUME & EQUIPMENT
As ‘Signal’, he wears a red coloured old fashioned military jacket and combat boots. Beneath the coat he wears a black kevlar body armour suit, offering protection against high caliber rounds and stabbing weapons. He makes sure to cover the lower part of his face with a dark scarf to obscure his identity. He’ll carry a variety of weapons, perhaps even grenades, everything that a soldier might carry. His guns are, however, very different. They have the appearance of larger calibered handguns, very modern and black. They sound very different when shot, there isn’t a bang, more like a high-pitched pop. As the round leaves the barrel there is a bluish flash, and the rounds can be fired in succession unlike any other automatic firearm, because he uses ‘Rail Guns’. Weapons of this nature do not exist in such a small size but Rodya lends his magnetic powers to the discharge (pulling the trigger engages the electrical components of the weapon which his electro-magnetic abilities enhance and engage). Only he, or another metahuman with similar powers can use the guns, which utilize specialized rounds propelled magnetically down the barrel. Each of the twenty rounds have incredible stopping power, travelling five times faster than a bullet, their range greatly increased. He also carries a 'Shashka' (Cossack Sabre) slung across his back which when required will use in melee. It is tempered titanium.
Rodion makes everything himself. The guns are his creation, everything customized to work in synch with his abilities. When a craft is beyond his skill he has different manufacturers work on the separate parts so that it's not possible to tell what the 'whole' would look like or do.
HEIGHT: 6 Foot 2 Inches | WEIGHT: 200 LBS | AGE: 188 YEARS (50ish) |
NATIONALITY / ETHNICITY: Russian (Born in St. Petersburg)
PIGMENT: Medium Tone | HAIR: Ash blonde with greying streaks| EYES: Pale Grey
Rodion is a handsome man in his fifties. It is difficult to tell specifically where he lies on the scale due his exceptional fitness, but most guess later due to the character in his features and the way he carries himself. The sorrows and joys of almost two life times are etched upon his expressive face, now often set stolid. His frosty grey eyes are clear and bright, the remnants of a much younger man frozen in time. His straight dark hair is kept short, his bangs allowed to stay little longer. It is a steel grey hue with a few white highlights, adding to the illusion that he may be further along in his forties, possibly approaching fifty.
Despite being an American citizen since the 60’s, Rodion’s accent has continued to linger-on in a few pronunciations, sounding more like he has a slight ethnic way of speaking. It’s quite difficult for most to pick-up unless they’re listening for it or possess well attuned hearing for such phonetic deviations. He basically sounds purely American to most.
His build is anything but that of what one would expect a man of his age to possess. A large, athletic man he is solidly built, highly defined muscles rippling beneath a tapestry of scars and tattoos. He has been shot, stabbed, burned, all leaving their marks. Several Slavik tattoos cover his flesh, written in cyrillic, a collage of mementos of his many decades. One might confuse them for ‘mafia symbols’ but one apprised in the history of Russia would recognize them as military tattoos, traditional markings of the various campaigns in which he served, telling their own story. Of course, no one bearing such imprints should still be alive.
Fearless of the repercussions of disease he delights in smoking tobacco, in either a pipe or more often his preferred brand of cigarette, the Ukrainian made, Black Russian Sobranie, known for their black wrapping and golden filters, a refined pleasure for a more civilized time.
He prefers the dress style of his favourite era, the 1940’s and often wears clothes that reflect that time. This style of dress also helps conceal his build of which he tries to keep concealed in order to maintain the appearance of a scholarly physicist. He’s rarely without a jacket and tie and when out often wears a hat or even a flat cap, sometimes with glasses simply for the look (he doesn’t really need them, they’re just plain glass). He got into the habit of wearing of them because he hates wearing protective goggle all the time and the glasses offered enough protection for many of his experiments. Sometimes he’ll ‘dress down’, a shirt and jeans but it’s not often and usually not in public. He’s very old fashioned, believing that one shouldn’t head at all if they can’t be bothered to dress appropriately.
When required he’ll carry the appropriate tools of the trade. His favourite side arm is a Beretta and he always carries a silencer. When casually out and about, he carries a firearm stored in a shoulder holster and a knife, just to be prepared.
COSTUME & EQUIPMENT
As ‘Signal’, he wears a red coloured old fashioned military jacket and combat boots. Beneath the coat he wears a black kevlar body armour suit, offering protection against high caliber rounds and stabbing weapons. He makes sure to cover the lower part of his face with a dark scarf to obscure his identity. He’ll carry a variety of weapons, perhaps even grenades, everything that a soldier might carry. His guns are, however, very different. They have the appearance of larger calibered handguns, very modern and black. They sound very different when shot, there isn’t a bang, more like a high-pitched pop. As the round leaves the barrel there is a bluish flash, and the rounds can be fired in succession unlike any other automatic firearm, because he uses ‘Rail Guns’. Weapons of this nature do not exist in such a small size but Rodya lends his magnetic powers to the discharge (pulling the trigger engages the electrical components of the weapon which his electro-magnetic abilities enhance and engage). Only he, or another metahuman with similar powers can use the guns, which utilize specialized rounds propelled magnetically down the barrel. Each of the twenty rounds have incredible stopping power, travelling five times faster than a bullet, their range greatly increased. He also carries a 'Shashka' (Cossack Sabre) slung across his back which when required will use in melee. It is tempered titanium.
Rodion makes everything himself. The guns are his creation, everything customized to work in synch with his abilities. When a craft is beyond his skill he has different manufacturers work on the separate parts so that it's not possible to tell what the 'whole' would look like or do.
PERSONALITY
In a word, Rodion could be described as ‘driven’ but overall one would simply call him surly. He is dutiful, precise, observant, imaginative and capable. Above all, a passionate man, devoting all his efforts into anything he considers worth doing and often what he considers worth doing trumps everything else. His work is his life, however, it does not define him. Rodion learned long ago that even a life as long as his was not to be wasted on work, day in and day out. It is just as important, if not more so to take in the pleasures that life has to offer. Fortunately, his position with SHIELD as a ‘scientific investigator’, sent him all over the globe analyzing and documenting the paranormal and unearthly. While seeing the world he became somewhat of specialist in the field. Always fascinated with other cultures and history in general it was the perfect lifestyle, especially for such an adventurous and curious individual. Well traveled and knowledgeable of many different cultures, his work has taken him to such places as Egypt, Africa, Australia and Japan, to name but a few.
He is a man of faith but is not overly religious. He attends masses mainly because he loves to sing. Gifted with a crisp, clear melodic voice he simply enjoys assisting in the performance of hymns among strangers. Choral music is among his favourite forms of song and he has always found solace in the Catholic Church. One will often find him humming a tune while he works, often a hymn or a classical orchestral piece. He loves music in general.
A trait that has always dogged the man is his arrogance. He cannot abide being talked down to and he detests being reminded of his age. Of course this is by those who actually know how old he is, but if someone get’s on his case for being in his forties then the sparks really start to fly! He tends not to be too kind to those fresh-faced kids who think they got the world by the tail. Damn if he doesn’t enjoy pulling the rug out from under their feet when given the opportunity. This metaphor also extends to technology. He believes in building things right the first time, and building them to last. When it comes to his designs he does not sacrifice efficiency to make things smaller or more convenient. They work, and work well and can be completely repaired without having to replace entire components or scrapping the entire system.
A very proper individual, he is never vulgar, though, in his own boorish way can be considered obnoxious at times. He is extremely calculating, always planning ahead (almost annoyingly so). He is not in anyway a spontaneous person, not any more. In his youth he threw caution to the wind, but older now he doesn’t believe in taking unnecessary risks, and he finds very few of them necessary.
He is also extremely moralistic, to the point where he is very judgemental. He has watched the world degrade for over century. According to many of the popular TV shows ‘back-stabbing’ is now morally acceptable and a condoned method of get ahead in life. He still believes in honour and chivalry, ‘holding a door open for a woman’, ‘keeping one’s word’, ‘never cheating, what’s today’s term?… ‘hacking’. He is not so foolish as to expect everyone to adhere to his beliefs but he does judge people on how much they comply with them.
Rodion has a few hobbies. Aside from his constant tinkering and research, he collects orchestral and choral music, “The arts are the one true achievement of modern civilization” he always says, “It defines what is best in humankind.” He also collects classic movies, preferring them on disc. His laboratory is often filled with grand symphonic presentations, but never opera. He detests opera. He also enjoys archaeology, anthropology, history and the paranormal. He always has some of project on the go, something he’s found on the internet.
Above all, Rodion cannot stand the casual display of super-human abilities. He believes that those people empowered with super-human gifts should always strive to be ‘human’. “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should!”. Enhanced humans should only use their abilities for the good of man-kind and not for personal gain, popularity or oppression. He does not, nor has he ever considered himself ’special’ by comparison to anyone else, nor does he consider himself anything but an ordinary man granted extraordinary skills and it his responsibility, and that of all others like him, to wield them with intelligence, wisdom and compassion.
As the years have lingered, the seasons have passed like a carousel at a fair the bright colours, the excitement of change, all have began to lose their vibrance. The most recent years have been most difficult. He sometimes awakens not knowing where he is, nor what year it is. He see’s old friends, long gone, in the crowd, haunting him. The ghosts of the past have been returning for some time, exacting their mortal vengeance on his long lived soul.
In a word, Rodion could be described as ‘driven’ but overall one would simply call him surly. He is dutiful, precise, observant, imaginative and capable. Above all, a passionate man, devoting all his efforts into anything he considers worth doing and often what he considers worth doing trumps everything else. His work is his life, however, it does not define him. Rodion learned long ago that even a life as long as his was not to be wasted on work, day in and day out. It is just as important, if not more so to take in the pleasures that life has to offer. Fortunately, his position with SHIELD as a ‘scientific investigator’, sent him all over the globe analyzing and documenting the paranormal and unearthly. While seeing the world he became somewhat of specialist in the field. Always fascinated with other cultures and history in general it was the perfect lifestyle, especially for such an adventurous and curious individual. Well traveled and knowledgeable of many different cultures, his work has taken him to such places as Egypt, Africa, Australia and Japan, to name but a few.
He is a man of faith but is not overly religious. He attends masses mainly because he loves to sing. Gifted with a crisp, clear melodic voice he simply enjoys assisting in the performance of hymns among strangers. Choral music is among his favourite forms of song and he has always found solace in the Catholic Church. One will often find him humming a tune while he works, often a hymn or a classical orchestral piece. He loves music in general.
A trait that has always dogged the man is his arrogance. He cannot abide being talked down to and he detests being reminded of his age. Of course this is by those who actually know how old he is, but if someone get’s on his case for being in his forties then the sparks really start to fly! He tends not to be too kind to those fresh-faced kids who think they got the world by the tail. Damn if he doesn’t enjoy pulling the rug out from under their feet when given the opportunity. This metaphor also extends to technology. He believes in building things right the first time, and building them to last. When it comes to his designs he does not sacrifice efficiency to make things smaller or more convenient. They work, and work well and can be completely repaired without having to replace entire components or scrapping the entire system.
A very proper individual, he is never vulgar, though, in his own boorish way can be considered obnoxious at times. He is extremely calculating, always planning ahead (almost annoyingly so). He is not in anyway a spontaneous person, not any more. In his youth he threw caution to the wind, but older now he doesn’t believe in taking unnecessary risks, and he finds very few of them necessary.
He is also extremely moralistic, to the point where he is very judgemental. He has watched the world degrade for over century. According to many of the popular TV shows ‘back-stabbing’ is now morally acceptable and a condoned method of get ahead in life. He still believes in honour and chivalry, ‘holding a door open for a woman’, ‘keeping one’s word’, ‘never cheating, what’s today’s term?… ‘hacking’. He is not so foolish as to expect everyone to adhere to his beliefs but he does judge people on how much they comply with them.
Rodion has a few hobbies. Aside from his constant tinkering and research, he collects orchestral and choral music, “The arts are the one true achievement of modern civilization” he always says, “It defines what is best in humankind.” He also collects classic movies, preferring them on disc. His laboratory is often filled with grand symphonic presentations, but never opera. He detests opera. He also enjoys archaeology, anthropology, history and the paranormal. He always has some of project on the go, something he’s found on the internet.
Above all, Rodion cannot stand the casual display of super-human abilities. He believes that those people empowered with super-human gifts should always strive to be ‘human’. “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should!”. Enhanced humans should only use their abilities for the good of man-kind and not for personal gain, popularity or oppression. He does not, nor has he ever considered himself ’special’ by comparison to anyone else, nor does he consider himself anything but an ordinary man granted extraordinary skills and it his responsibility, and that of all others like him, to wield them with intelligence, wisdom and compassion.
As the years have lingered, the seasons have passed like a carousel at a fair the bright colours, the excitement of change, all have began to lose their vibrance. The most recent years have been most difficult. He sometimes awakens not knowing where he is, nor what year it is. He see’s old friends, long gone, in the crowd, haunting him. The ghosts of the past have been returning for some time, exacting their mortal vengeance on his long lived soul.
POWERS
ELECTRO-MAGNETIC MANIPULATION
His electromagnetism and physiological mutation, specifically his regeneration, are really one mutation. One does not exist without the other. In a normal human, each red blood cell has about 270 Million iron-rich hemoglobin molecules. Rodion’ has a little over 2 Billion, plus has also retained the three chains which exist in fetal hemoglobin capable of producing significantly more oxygen to his cells. This offers him more stamina but those high levels of iron in his blood builds up a toxicity that would have poisoned his body and killed him as an infant were it not for his added regenerative mutation allowing him to sustain the hemoglobin and produce a transformation on the cellular level of his entire body. Beneath his normal looking skin, his muscles, bone, organs all bear a metallic component to their make-up. This is not at all to say they look like metal, but possess a higher concentration of the element which has profoundly changed his physiology. His neurons require a higher level of electricity to excite them and thus his body actually produces a significant current which is ever building up and surging through him.
RESIDUAL CHARGE
The amount of ‘power’ coursing through Rodion’s body at any given time ranges between 15 to 30 mA (milliamperes). Now, a normal human body has an electrical field, everyone has one. This is also known as ‘static electricity’, and during low-humidity weather the movement of conductive materials contacting one’s skin can generate quite a bit of voltage but pretty much ‘0’ amps. A tiny spark resulting from touching one’s finger to a piece of metal is 500 Volts, painful shocks are several thousand. On average Rodion has at least 3000 Volts flowing through him. This is 60 Watts of power, which means he can power one average light bulb by skin contact. For most of his young life this was the extent of his power, mere parlour tricks he used reluctantly and sparingly. In time, he learned that he was also able to magnetize his body and significantly increase his electrical output to deathly levels.
A person may die from as little as 10 mA of electricity passing through their body for only two seconds, but more than often a person falls unconscious. Currents greater than 75 mA may cause ventricular fibrillation and heart paralysis occurs at 4 amps. At 5 to 10 amps Skin tissue burns. Rodion on average sustains an output of 15 to 30 mA (0.03 amps) which means anyone touching his skin receives a painful shock and constant contact would cause loss of muscular control. The power lasts for five minutes. After that time the charge which is normally built up within him is drained and will naturally ‘recharge’ in about ten to fifteen minutes.
THE VENOM OF REBIRTH
Rodion was given a rare serum in 1926 that saved his life and consequently altered his physiology (or perhaps simply awakened latent abilities, it is not really known). It made him even more resilient and stronger and allowed him to regulate his electrical flow and generate lethal electrical bursts. He learned that he could build up energy through a form of meditation he acquired when studying Qigong with the ‘Wu’. The methods that the masters used to generate their ‘ki’ allowed him to summon his inner power and utilize it as a tool and weapon.
By concentrating and focusing his mind on his ‘ki’. Rodion learned he could generate up to 50 amps at 5000 Volts. Hardly anything compared to your single direct lightning strike which is 10,000 to 200,000 amps with a storm’s power entering the realm of several hundred megawatts, but it is still quite formidable.
ELECTRICAL CONTROL & REGULATION
Rodion, after all his long years, can precisely regulate his electrical output within the milliampere range and measure other electrical sources (he is more accurate than a voltmeter/ammeter). He can also reduce his electrical field to that of a normal human and maintain it for up to an hour, but this requires constant concentration. The only other way he’s able to work with electrical devices is to wear a specially designed battery that regulates and absorbs the power of his field. His first design, way back in 1862, was disguised as a belt. Over the years he perfected the design and it know looks like a sleek wrist watch and he even has a ring that can dampen his charge. Without wearing a ‘dampening device’ anyone touching his skin will get a painful shock and technology will tend to get fried. High humidity can also help keep his amperage low in a pinch, enough that he can be touched or even use a cell phone without destroying it, but it’s still risky. He does have the ability, however, to concentrate and reduce his electrical field to a normal ‘human’ level but this can only be maintained for an hour if there are distractions around, two to three hours in a tranquil environment. It makes it very difficult to fully concentrate on meticulous work when not utilizing his magnetic manipulation or the like. Depending on what’s at hand, Rodion can even quickly create make-shift regulators out of common household items and such.
ELECTRICAL SENSITIVITY
He is extremely sensitive to electrical currents and magnetism. Rodion can actually feel the movement of metallic objects and electricity around him (10 foot radius). It acts as a sort of sixth sense, if he’s paying attention to it. Like any other sense, people naturally suppress the sensitivity of it to function normally in society. In reality, everyone has the potential to develop extreme sensitivity but few ever push themselves to those limits. Rodion has, but has learned to focus and turn them down when performing common mundane tasks.
SENSORY MAGNETIC MANIPULATION (Magnetic Clairvoyance)
This sensitivity actually allows Rodion to manipulate circuitry, by employing a combination of magnetism and micro-electrical bursts to modify it. Effective range for this is five feet. He has best results when touching the item and of course he requires knowledge of how it works. Thankfully he’s pretty much a genius when it comes to electrical engineering and circuitry. There’s very little mainstream technology he cannot apply his knowledge to, but this is not done easily or quickly. The amount of time it can take him is all dependent on his familiarity with the system and the amount of distractions around him. He has to enter a meditative state to envision the circuitry through his electro-magnetic sensitivity. While this does not render him completely oblivious of the world around him he’s naturally not as aware of the things as he normally would be.
THE FACTS OF ELECTRICITY
All applications of his electromagnetic ability are draining. Usually once he performs any of them, he’s unable to draw upon them for approximately five to ten minutes. In most cases he can basically perform one spectacular feat and then he’s pretty much done and reliant on his physical skills while his body builds up it’s charge.
People survive lightening strikes because a bolt is basically a set of high-frequency pulses that tend to travel on the surface of conductors. A human body can actually absorb a lot of energy, being not unlike a Faraday cage. Most of the energy goes around them rather than through them. What does pass through tends to collect at the points where there body is contacting another surface, which is why some people struck by electricity discharges tend to have their toes blown off. More than often there is very little tissue damage, people tend to die from having their heart’s stopped. Bottom line, a person struck by one of Rodion’s bolts are just as likely to suffer very minor injuries as major ones. It’s all up to the story.
APPLICATIONS
Electro-magnetic control had many applications. These are not individual powers, rather the varying ways his electromagnetism can be applied:
ELECTRICAL DISCHARGE (POWER SURGE)
Rodion can summon enough electrical energy to produce a 100 amp burst in the form of an arc or a wide spread expansion of his own electrical field. The bolt has a maximum range of 80 feet (most effective at 40 feet) but it’s difficult for him to aim. Electricity is all about controlling the current and while in the air it’s pretty unstable. He has to direct it by using magnetic fields (electromagnetic induction) and can only ensure accurate at range of ten feet after that the bolt deviates, which means everyone in that area is at risk. The burst may also produce one or more arcs that he’ll have no control over. This level of power can only be maintained for a few seconds and can only be mustered every two hours.
STATIC BURST
He can also muster a ‘static burst’, basically charging up his electrical field and releasing it. This has an effective range of twenty feet and all those within the sphere-of-effect are assaulted with approximately 1 - 3 amps of power (give or take a few milliamps). Most people in that range may be rendered unconscious, death is a remote possibility.
ELECTRICAL CONDUCTION
This is simply the movement of electricity through a transmission medium, namely Rodion’s body. We could get into Ohm’s Law but for simplicity sake he can basically channel currents through his body if there is an abundance of electrically charged particles in the air. One might believe this to be extremely powerful but as the current is proportional to the applied electrical field (his own), Rodion is still limited to his maximum power level of 100 amps. Realistically, though, there are very few places where he would channel anymore than a very low residual electricity, such as a transformer, power plants and electrical storms. The interesting thing about this ability is that by channeling electricity through his body he produce an unlimited amount of a low power electrical bursts and shocks. As already stated, he’s not a battery but contact with an electrical source can in fact charge up his body faster but will never build up an excess amount of power beyond his normal limits.
ARC WELDING
To melt two pieces of steel together it takes roughly 25 amps of power, but it general takes time as well. Rodion could apply about five to six bursts of energy or bolts to create two small spot welds before he needs recharge.
MAGNETISM
Rodion is able to magnetize his ‘electrical field’. He can attract, hold, propel up to five hundred pounds of metal from his body for approximately fifteen, possibly thirty minutes depending on the strain.
He can manipulate magnetic fields up to sixty feet away from his body, but every foot from his center reduces the strength of his influence. The strength of his power drops significantly outside of a ten foot radius. At sixty feet he can only move 5 pounds at a rate of one inch per second (approximately twenty pounds of force). Within ten feet he is at full strength, able to generate a field strong enough to manipulate up to 500 lbs and move that weight at six inches per second (a foot ever two seconds), not very fast. Naturally he can propel lighter objects at a much quicker rate. By picking up smaller metallic objects he can propel them with a full 500 lbs of force toward a target, providing an optimal range of three hundred feet.
Magnetic manipulation requires A LOT of power and he can only maintain a field on average for twenty minutes, half of an hour at the most. He can also magnetize metal at a range of twenty feet. He CANNOT produce a magnetic field strong enough to stop bullets but he can magnetize guns to the point where they won’t fire. It takes him approximately ten minutes for his body to recharge enough energy to utilize this ability again.
SHOCK
Rendering people unconscious by touch took years to learn. He can now near instantaneously build up his e-field to 1 amp and by making contact with a person can knock them out for ten to twenty minutes. One would have to be wearing some form of insulated suit to completely nullify the effects (this is ‘basic electricity 101’) and any ‘non-grounded person’ contacting the person as well will get shocked but the effects lessen from person to person.
He’s pretty much mastered the technique of regulating the power to knock a body out. An effective attack which he can utilize several times in a row. He can knock out, approximately, five people in a five minute span of time, after which he will powerless for ten to fifteen minutes while his body recharges.
Of course if he wants to kill a person, he is able to build up his energy and max-out his charge to a full 100 amps. Touching a person with this much power coursing through him will kill most Humans even if they are grounded. It will disperse some of the energy, but not enough. He can release a single ‘Killer Pulse’ then must wait approximately five minutes while his body replenishes it’s charge.
*For the sake of good writing, stronger mutants and super-human player characters will most likely not fall unconscious from this regular shock. It’ll sting, maybe weaken a bit but not stop them.
PARALYSIS (Deadly Low Voltage)
By regulating his voltage (lowers it) Rodion can grasp a person (or persons) and paralyze their muscles while they remain conscious. It takes only 150 mA and he is able to easily maintain this output for hours if necessary but holding on to a person for too long can cause permanent damage and eventually they will pass out, could even die. When dealing with stronger individuals, more power his required, more power means less time.
*For the sake of good writing, stronger mutants and super-human player characters will most likely not be paralyzed from this low voltage grasp and if they are, it will be for a very short time. It is simply too convenient of a power. None of his abilities are designed to have definite effects.
ELECTRO-MAGNETIC PULSE
He is able to generate a powerful NNEP (non-nuclear electromagnetic pulse) that will disable all electrical devices in a 100 foot radius, maximum, of himself. The pulse takes effort to generate, about five minutes to build up and can only be done once every hour. After the release of an EMP wave Rodion is completely drained of power for approximately 5 to 10 minutes but cannot muster another EMP for a good thirty minutes.
ELECTRICAL CHANNELING/DIVERSION
Quite simply put, Rodion cannot be killed by electricity. It channels through his body and is dispersed. He cannot store it but he can divert a certain amount of whatever hits him in another direction. Can he overload? Yes, as a matter of fact he does have his limits. A powerful lightening strike, 200,000 amps running through him is A LOT of power. It’s difficult to even grasp just what that can do to a person. Obliteration comes to mind. So, if Rodion bears the burnt of a direct lightening strike he’s gonna take a nap. It will render him unconscious, but before that he may be able to divert a portion of the energy some place else. Constant bombardment, repeated jolts of extremely high amperage would eventually kill him, it’s only natural.
If Rodion is near another highly conductive source, like a large piece of iron or the like, he can divert the power of a lightening bolt through his body and into that material. This would save him from suffering any residual effects.
FLASH
This only requires roughly five amps of power. Placing his hands near one another he can concentrate his electric field and produce a bright flash equal to 15,000 Watt light bulb. He can do this ten times in a row before he’s drained of energy, or can generate one massive blinding flash. The only problem is that he could also seriously damage his own eyes if he’s not wearing protective eyewear for such a display so he only uses it if he’s prepared. He often doesn't have welding goggles on him.
BALL LIGHTNING
Rodion is able to generate a small orb of electromagnetic energy roughly the size of a twenty-five cent piece. It hovers above his hand or in close proximity to his body and can be maintained indefinitely if he’s in dry conditions and not overly exerting himself. It only serves as a light source (dissipating if someone touches it), and he is able to slowly manipulate it as well, moving it within twenty five feet of himself if he chooses. If a person touches it, they receive a mild shock and the ball instantly dissipates. An increase in humidity will also nullify the electrical orb.
SIGNAL MANIPULATION
His electromagnetic field jams radio, television, and cell signals, basically all forms of communication within a twenty foot radius of his body. A dampening device he wears can eliminate this plus he has learned to how to repress the ability which now requires very little concentration to maintain. He can boost the power and increases the range, jamming all electromagnetic signals in a 100’ radius of himself, basically creating a dead zone. Rodion can maintain signal jamming for a near indefinite period of time and he can also produce his own electrical impulses which his brain is able to interpret. This basically means that Rodion can hack remote electrical devices by mimicking their signal. Opening garage doors would be a simple matter for him, as would starting remote 'car starters'. He can also tap into security systems and see through remote security cameras. The interpretation of the data isn't perfect, but if Rodion can maintain his concentration and the range is not too great he can make out images. It's this skill in particular that made him an exceptional spy.
OTHER APPLICATIONS
- Erase hard drives (devices).
- Manipulate door locks.
- Start Cars (overriding security).
- Arc Welding.
- Ignite combustible objects.
- Always knows the direction of magnetic north.
PHYSIOLOGICAL MUTATION
Rodion’s electro-magnetic ability is the direct result of his physiological mutations which have also been altered by the ‘Venom of Rebirth’ serum.
REGENERATION
His super-oxygenated blood actually heals superficial wounds slower than your average Human but he possesses the ability to regenerate internal damage so long as the penetrating object is removed. He heals major damage a little quicker than a Human but he has to remain immobile, allowing his body to regenerate. He will not heal major damage on the fly! To heal properly, he needs to rest. If he takes too much damage, like anyone else, he will definitely die. His healing factor does not make him resilient against taking damage it only ensures that when afforded the rest needed he can recover from most injuries. He can even grow back lost digits but it is yet unknown if he could actually grow back an arm or leg as this has never been tested before.
ENHANCED AGILITY / REFLEXES
Rodya's nerves fire faster than normal giving him enhanced reflexes and consequently increasing his dexterity and ultimately his overall precision. This makes him an extremely formidable opponent in hand-to-hand combat.
RESILIENCE
Due to his regenerative capabilities he extremely resilient to infection, disease and aging. He had always aged slowly but since becoming ‘superhuman’ does not age at all. It was surmised that his mutation caused him to age at the half the Human rate but ever since being exposed to the ‘Venom of Rebirth’ he completely stopped aging, as if the serum enhanced what he already had. Poisons can, naturally, render him unconscious but they won’t kill him. Deadly poison will put him in a coma as his regenerative abilities work to neutralize and flush it out of his system. Thus, poisons that are used to render a person unconscious will only serve to make him ‘drunk’. Alcohol itself has hardly any effect on Rodion, he’d have to drink a gallon of straight gasoline to poison himself into unconsciousness.
STAMINA
His body remains at it’s pique level of performance, but intense exercise and training is still required to keep him performing at this level but even without training he can run a marathon and do it in Olympic time. He possesses incredible stamina and can hold his breath comfortably for twenty to thirty minutes even while performing strenuous tasks underwater.
STRENGTH
Looking at the muscularity and exceptional fitness of his body one would be correct to surmise that he’s a strong individual but that strength also rises to the superhuman level. His increased bone and muscle density doubled after expose to the ’serum’. His body can take a pounding, his bones much stronger than a humans. He can pull 2000 pounds off the ground, and press 800 lbs above his head.
ELECTRO-MAGNETIC MANIPULATION
His electromagnetism and physiological mutation, specifically his regeneration, are really one mutation. One does not exist without the other. In a normal human, each red blood cell has about 270 Million iron-rich hemoglobin molecules. Rodion’ has a little over 2 Billion, plus has also retained the three chains which exist in fetal hemoglobin capable of producing significantly more oxygen to his cells. This offers him more stamina but those high levels of iron in his blood builds up a toxicity that would have poisoned his body and killed him as an infant were it not for his added regenerative mutation allowing him to sustain the hemoglobin and produce a transformation on the cellular level of his entire body. Beneath his normal looking skin, his muscles, bone, organs all bear a metallic component to their make-up. This is not at all to say they look like metal, but possess a higher concentration of the element which has profoundly changed his physiology. His neurons require a higher level of electricity to excite them and thus his body actually produces a significant current which is ever building up and surging through him.
RESIDUAL CHARGE
The amount of ‘power’ coursing through Rodion’s body at any given time ranges between 15 to 30 mA (milliamperes). Now, a normal human body has an electrical field, everyone has one. This is also known as ‘static electricity’, and during low-humidity weather the movement of conductive materials contacting one’s skin can generate quite a bit of voltage but pretty much ‘0’ amps. A tiny spark resulting from touching one’s finger to a piece of metal is 500 Volts, painful shocks are several thousand. On average Rodion has at least 3000 Volts flowing through him. This is 60 Watts of power, which means he can power one average light bulb by skin contact. For most of his young life this was the extent of his power, mere parlour tricks he used reluctantly and sparingly. In time, he learned that he was also able to magnetize his body and significantly increase his electrical output to deathly levels.
A person may die from as little as 10 mA of electricity passing through their body for only two seconds, but more than often a person falls unconscious. Currents greater than 75 mA may cause ventricular fibrillation and heart paralysis occurs at 4 amps. At 5 to 10 amps Skin tissue burns. Rodion on average sustains an output of 15 to 30 mA (0.03 amps) which means anyone touching his skin receives a painful shock and constant contact would cause loss of muscular control. The power lasts for five minutes. After that time the charge which is normally built up within him is drained and will naturally ‘recharge’ in about ten to fifteen minutes.
THE VENOM OF REBIRTH
Rodion was given a rare serum in 1926 that saved his life and consequently altered his physiology (or perhaps simply awakened latent abilities, it is not really known). It made him even more resilient and stronger and allowed him to regulate his electrical flow and generate lethal electrical bursts. He learned that he could build up energy through a form of meditation he acquired when studying Qigong with the ‘Wu’. The methods that the masters used to generate their ‘ki’ allowed him to summon his inner power and utilize it as a tool and weapon.
By concentrating and focusing his mind on his ‘ki’. Rodion learned he could generate up to 50 amps at 5000 Volts. Hardly anything compared to your single direct lightning strike which is 10,000 to 200,000 amps with a storm’s power entering the realm of several hundred megawatts, but it is still quite formidable.
ELECTRICAL CONTROL & REGULATION
Rodion, after all his long years, can precisely regulate his electrical output within the milliampere range and measure other electrical sources (he is more accurate than a voltmeter/ammeter). He can also reduce his electrical field to that of a normal human and maintain it for up to an hour, but this requires constant concentration. The only other way he’s able to work with electrical devices is to wear a specially designed battery that regulates and absorbs the power of his field. His first design, way back in 1862, was disguised as a belt. Over the years he perfected the design and it know looks like a sleek wrist watch and he even has a ring that can dampen his charge. Without wearing a ‘dampening device’ anyone touching his skin will get a painful shock and technology will tend to get fried. High humidity can also help keep his amperage low in a pinch, enough that he can be touched or even use a cell phone without destroying it, but it’s still risky. He does have the ability, however, to concentrate and reduce his electrical field to a normal ‘human’ level but this can only be maintained for an hour if there are distractions around, two to three hours in a tranquil environment. It makes it very difficult to fully concentrate on meticulous work when not utilizing his magnetic manipulation or the like. Depending on what’s at hand, Rodion can even quickly create make-shift regulators out of common household items and such.
ELECTRICAL SENSITIVITY
He is extremely sensitive to electrical currents and magnetism. Rodion can actually feel the movement of metallic objects and electricity around him (10 foot radius). It acts as a sort of sixth sense, if he’s paying attention to it. Like any other sense, people naturally suppress the sensitivity of it to function normally in society. In reality, everyone has the potential to develop extreme sensitivity but few ever push themselves to those limits. Rodion has, but has learned to focus and turn them down when performing common mundane tasks.
SENSORY MAGNETIC MANIPULATION (Magnetic Clairvoyance)
This sensitivity actually allows Rodion to manipulate circuitry, by employing a combination of magnetism and micro-electrical bursts to modify it. Effective range for this is five feet. He has best results when touching the item and of course he requires knowledge of how it works. Thankfully he’s pretty much a genius when it comes to electrical engineering and circuitry. There’s very little mainstream technology he cannot apply his knowledge to, but this is not done easily or quickly. The amount of time it can take him is all dependent on his familiarity with the system and the amount of distractions around him. He has to enter a meditative state to envision the circuitry through his electro-magnetic sensitivity. While this does not render him completely oblivious of the world around him he’s naturally not as aware of the things as he normally would be.
THE FACTS OF ELECTRICITY
All applications of his electromagnetic ability are draining. Usually once he performs any of them, he’s unable to draw upon them for approximately five to ten minutes. In most cases he can basically perform one spectacular feat and then he’s pretty much done and reliant on his physical skills while his body builds up it’s charge.
People survive lightening strikes because a bolt is basically a set of high-frequency pulses that tend to travel on the surface of conductors. A human body can actually absorb a lot of energy, being not unlike a Faraday cage. Most of the energy goes around them rather than through them. What does pass through tends to collect at the points where there body is contacting another surface, which is why some people struck by electricity discharges tend to have their toes blown off. More than often there is very little tissue damage, people tend to die from having their heart’s stopped. Bottom line, a person struck by one of Rodion’s bolts are just as likely to suffer very minor injuries as major ones. It’s all up to the story.
APPLICATIONS
Electro-magnetic control had many applications. These are not individual powers, rather the varying ways his electromagnetism can be applied:
ELECTRICAL DISCHARGE (POWER SURGE)
Rodion can summon enough electrical energy to produce a 100 amp burst in the form of an arc or a wide spread expansion of his own electrical field. The bolt has a maximum range of 80 feet (most effective at 40 feet) but it’s difficult for him to aim. Electricity is all about controlling the current and while in the air it’s pretty unstable. He has to direct it by using magnetic fields (electromagnetic induction) and can only ensure accurate at range of ten feet after that the bolt deviates, which means everyone in that area is at risk. The burst may also produce one or more arcs that he’ll have no control over. This level of power can only be maintained for a few seconds and can only be mustered every two hours.
STATIC BURST
He can also muster a ‘static burst’, basically charging up his electrical field and releasing it. This has an effective range of twenty feet and all those within the sphere-of-effect are assaulted with approximately 1 - 3 amps of power (give or take a few milliamps). Most people in that range may be rendered unconscious, death is a remote possibility.
ELECTRICAL CONDUCTION
This is simply the movement of electricity through a transmission medium, namely Rodion’s body. We could get into Ohm’s Law but for simplicity sake he can basically channel currents through his body if there is an abundance of electrically charged particles in the air. One might believe this to be extremely powerful but as the current is proportional to the applied electrical field (his own), Rodion is still limited to his maximum power level of 100 amps. Realistically, though, there are very few places where he would channel anymore than a very low residual electricity, such as a transformer, power plants and electrical storms. The interesting thing about this ability is that by channeling electricity through his body he produce an unlimited amount of a low power electrical bursts and shocks. As already stated, he’s not a battery but contact with an electrical source can in fact charge up his body faster but will never build up an excess amount of power beyond his normal limits.
ARC WELDING
To melt two pieces of steel together it takes roughly 25 amps of power, but it general takes time as well. Rodion could apply about five to six bursts of energy or bolts to create two small spot welds before he needs recharge.
MAGNETISM
Rodion is able to magnetize his ‘electrical field’. He can attract, hold, propel up to five hundred pounds of metal from his body for approximately fifteen, possibly thirty minutes depending on the strain.
He can manipulate magnetic fields up to sixty feet away from his body, but every foot from his center reduces the strength of his influence. The strength of his power drops significantly outside of a ten foot radius. At sixty feet he can only move 5 pounds at a rate of one inch per second (approximately twenty pounds of force). Within ten feet he is at full strength, able to generate a field strong enough to manipulate up to 500 lbs and move that weight at six inches per second (a foot ever two seconds), not very fast. Naturally he can propel lighter objects at a much quicker rate. By picking up smaller metallic objects he can propel them with a full 500 lbs of force toward a target, providing an optimal range of three hundred feet.
Magnetic manipulation requires A LOT of power and he can only maintain a field on average for twenty minutes, half of an hour at the most. He can also magnetize metal at a range of twenty feet. He CANNOT produce a magnetic field strong enough to stop bullets but he can magnetize guns to the point where they won’t fire. It takes him approximately ten minutes for his body to recharge enough energy to utilize this ability again.
SHOCK
Rendering people unconscious by touch took years to learn. He can now near instantaneously build up his e-field to 1 amp and by making contact with a person can knock them out for ten to twenty minutes. One would have to be wearing some form of insulated suit to completely nullify the effects (this is ‘basic electricity 101’) and any ‘non-grounded person’ contacting the person as well will get shocked but the effects lessen from person to person.
He’s pretty much mastered the technique of regulating the power to knock a body out. An effective attack which he can utilize several times in a row. He can knock out, approximately, five people in a five minute span of time, after which he will powerless for ten to fifteen minutes while his body recharges.
Of course if he wants to kill a person, he is able to build up his energy and max-out his charge to a full 100 amps. Touching a person with this much power coursing through him will kill most Humans even if they are grounded. It will disperse some of the energy, but not enough. He can release a single ‘Killer Pulse’ then must wait approximately five minutes while his body replenishes it’s charge.
*For the sake of good writing, stronger mutants and super-human player characters will most likely not fall unconscious from this regular shock. It’ll sting, maybe weaken a bit but not stop them.
PARALYSIS (Deadly Low Voltage)
By regulating his voltage (lowers it) Rodion can grasp a person (or persons) and paralyze their muscles while they remain conscious. It takes only 150 mA and he is able to easily maintain this output for hours if necessary but holding on to a person for too long can cause permanent damage and eventually they will pass out, could even die. When dealing with stronger individuals, more power his required, more power means less time.
*For the sake of good writing, stronger mutants and super-human player characters will most likely not be paralyzed from this low voltage grasp and if they are, it will be for a very short time. It is simply too convenient of a power. None of his abilities are designed to have definite effects.
ELECTRO-MAGNETIC PULSE
He is able to generate a powerful NNEP (non-nuclear electromagnetic pulse) that will disable all electrical devices in a 100 foot radius, maximum, of himself. The pulse takes effort to generate, about five minutes to build up and can only be done once every hour. After the release of an EMP wave Rodion is completely drained of power for approximately 5 to 10 minutes but cannot muster another EMP for a good thirty minutes.
ELECTRICAL CHANNELING/DIVERSION
Quite simply put, Rodion cannot be killed by electricity. It channels through his body and is dispersed. He cannot store it but he can divert a certain amount of whatever hits him in another direction. Can he overload? Yes, as a matter of fact he does have his limits. A powerful lightening strike, 200,000 amps running through him is A LOT of power. It’s difficult to even grasp just what that can do to a person. Obliteration comes to mind. So, if Rodion bears the burnt of a direct lightening strike he’s gonna take a nap. It will render him unconscious, but before that he may be able to divert a portion of the energy some place else. Constant bombardment, repeated jolts of extremely high amperage would eventually kill him, it’s only natural.
If Rodion is near another highly conductive source, like a large piece of iron or the like, he can divert the power of a lightening bolt through his body and into that material. This would save him from suffering any residual effects.
FLASH
This only requires roughly five amps of power. Placing his hands near one another he can concentrate his electric field and produce a bright flash equal to 15,000 Watt light bulb. He can do this ten times in a row before he’s drained of energy, or can generate one massive blinding flash. The only problem is that he could also seriously damage his own eyes if he’s not wearing protective eyewear for such a display so he only uses it if he’s prepared. He often doesn't have welding goggles on him.
BALL LIGHTNING
Rodion is able to generate a small orb of electromagnetic energy roughly the size of a twenty-five cent piece. It hovers above his hand or in close proximity to his body and can be maintained indefinitely if he’s in dry conditions and not overly exerting himself. It only serves as a light source (dissipating if someone touches it), and he is able to slowly manipulate it as well, moving it within twenty five feet of himself if he chooses. If a person touches it, they receive a mild shock and the ball instantly dissipates. An increase in humidity will also nullify the electrical orb.
SIGNAL MANIPULATION
His electromagnetic field jams radio, television, and cell signals, basically all forms of communication within a twenty foot radius of his body. A dampening device he wears can eliminate this plus he has learned to how to repress the ability which now requires very little concentration to maintain. He can boost the power and increases the range, jamming all electromagnetic signals in a 100’ radius of himself, basically creating a dead zone. Rodion can maintain signal jamming for a near indefinite period of time and he can also produce his own electrical impulses which his brain is able to interpret. This basically means that Rodion can hack remote electrical devices by mimicking their signal. Opening garage doors would be a simple matter for him, as would starting remote 'car starters'. He can also tap into security systems and see through remote security cameras. The interpretation of the data isn't perfect, but if Rodion can maintain his concentration and the range is not too great he can make out images. It's this skill in particular that made him an exceptional spy.
OTHER APPLICATIONS
- Erase hard drives (devices).
- Manipulate door locks.
- Start Cars (overriding security).
- Arc Welding.
- Ignite combustible objects.
- Always knows the direction of magnetic north.
PHYSIOLOGICAL MUTATION
Rodion’s electro-magnetic ability is the direct result of his physiological mutations which have also been altered by the ‘Venom of Rebirth’ serum.
REGENERATION
His super-oxygenated blood actually heals superficial wounds slower than your average Human but he possesses the ability to regenerate internal damage so long as the penetrating object is removed. He heals major damage a little quicker than a Human but he has to remain immobile, allowing his body to regenerate. He will not heal major damage on the fly! To heal properly, he needs to rest. If he takes too much damage, like anyone else, he will definitely die. His healing factor does not make him resilient against taking damage it only ensures that when afforded the rest needed he can recover from most injuries. He can even grow back lost digits but it is yet unknown if he could actually grow back an arm or leg as this has never been tested before.
ENHANCED AGILITY / REFLEXES
Rodya's nerves fire faster than normal giving him enhanced reflexes and consequently increasing his dexterity and ultimately his overall precision. This makes him an extremely formidable opponent in hand-to-hand combat.
RESILIENCE
Due to his regenerative capabilities he extremely resilient to infection, disease and aging. He had always aged slowly but since becoming ‘superhuman’ does not age at all. It was surmised that his mutation caused him to age at the half the Human rate but ever since being exposed to the ‘Venom of Rebirth’ he completely stopped aging, as if the serum enhanced what he already had. Poisons can, naturally, render him unconscious but they won’t kill him. Deadly poison will put him in a coma as his regenerative abilities work to neutralize and flush it out of his system. Thus, poisons that are used to render a person unconscious will only serve to make him ‘drunk’. Alcohol itself has hardly any effect on Rodion, he’d have to drink a gallon of straight gasoline to poison himself into unconsciousness.
STAMINA
His body remains at it’s pique level of performance, but intense exercise and training is still required to keep him performing at this level but even without training he can run a marathon and do it in Olympic time. He possesses incredible stamina and can hold his breath comfortably for twenty to thirty minutes even while performing strenuous tasks underwater.
STRENGTH
Looking at the muscularity and exceptional fitness of his body one would be correct to surmise that he’s a strong individual but that strength also rises to the superhuman level. His increased bone and muscle density doubled after expose to the ’serum’. His body can take a pounding, his bones much stronger than a humans. He can pull 2000 pounds off the ground, and press 800 lbs above his head.
QUIRKS • WEAKNESSES • FLAWS
ELECTROMAGNETISM
High humidity severely dampens his electrical field. On misty or rainy days he may be only able to muster 10 amps of power and recharging his body takes three to five times as long.
DAMPENING
HE NEEDS A BASIC AMOUNT OF RESIDUAL STATIC ELECTRICITY TO LIVE.
Dowsing, submersing him with water or wrapping him in insulating blankets or the like would completely nullify his electromagnetic powers. He can unleash all his remaining electricity into the water and after that he needs to exit the water to build up a charge again. Denying him a ‘charge’ for too long actually has a serious effect on Rodion. He NEEDS access electricity to build up his ‘charge’ to function normally, without it his nerves become physically retarded with as little as twenty minutes, meaning all his movements are very sluggish. Too long in any sort of dampening field will have the same results, he will have trouble moving, the simplest tasks like picking up a cup requires all his concentration. The worst happens when he is charge is ‘dampened’ for longer than two hours, after that paralysis begins to occur, in the following hour his autonomic functions will be shut down and he will die.
INSULATION
Thicker clothing and even some types of raincoats can fend off Rodion’s electrocuting touch and for the sake of good writing the majority of strong mutants and super-humans are not going to be severely effected by any of his electromagnetic abilities other than maybe is electromagnetic discharge. Because heroes and villains with much more powerful, electrical abilities, while quite deadly in our real world have to be significantly reduced to accommodate Marvel’s fictitious scale based on pseudo-science.
HIGHLY CONDUCTIVE ENVIRONMENT
Rodion is constantly dispersing excess energy into the air and materials around him. Poorly conductive matter is best for this so if he’s surrounded by highly conductive materials his residual electricity will malevolently react instead of benignly dissipating it. More than ten minutes and his body will start to draw arcs with the metal walls. This may actually set fire to his clothes, harm innocent people and make the car malfunction. An automobile being grounded by it’s rubber tires assists in dispersing his excess energy.
GROUNDED
How do you deal with an electrified person? Hit him with a poor conducting object or make sure you’re grounded. Pretty simple. Lots of super-humans are also pretty resilient to electricity and shake off his best hit.
ELECTRICAL OVERLOAD
Constant bombardment, repeated jolts of extremely high amperage would eventually kill him, it’s only natural.
HEMOCHROMATOSIS
He actually has the condition ‘Hemochromatosis’, which is too much iron in the blood, beyond the 10% that Humans can absorb. His system has mutated to utilize this abundance (70% more than normal, assisted by his regenerative capabilities). Even though he can reduce is electrical field, his body still contains enough iron that ‘metal detectors’ are set off. This makes travel a constant hassle, not to mention making him susceptible to certain types of security scanners.
LOSING CONTROL
His mutation is effected by his emotions. Depression, anger, fear can and usually will spark uncontrollable electrical and/or magnetic reactions. Frustration will often manifest in his electromagnetism acting up, drawing metal to his skin, drawing minute arcs from a build up of electricity. When distracted or emotionally stressed he can also start to uncontrollably affect all kinds of signals and can even start to attract electricity, drawing bolts in a lightning storm. Periods of high stress can even induce an EMP or Static Burst.
ELECTROMAGNETISM
High humidity severely dampens his electrical field. On misty or rainy days he may be only able to muster 10 amps of power and recharging his body takes three to five times as long.
DAMPENING
HE NEEDS A BASIC AMOUNT OF RESIDUAL STATIC ELECTRICITY TO LIVE.
Dowsing, submersing him with water or wrapping him in insulating blankets or the like would completely nullify his electromagnetic powers. He can unleash all his remaining electricity into the water and after that he needs to exit the water to build up a charge again. Denying him a ‘charge’ for too long actually has a serious effect on Rodion. He NEEDS access electricity to build up his ‘charge’ to function normally, without it his nerves become physically retarded with as little as twenty minutes, meaning all his movements are very sluggish. Too long in any sort of dampening field will have the same results, he will have trouble moving, the simplest tasks like picking up a cup requires all his concentration. The worst happens when he is charge is ‘dampened’ for longer than two hours, after that paralysis begins to occur, in the following hour his autonomic functions will be shut down and he will die.
INSULATION
Thicker clothing and even some types of raincoats can fend off Rodion’s electrocuting touch and for the sake of good writing the majority of strong mutants and super-humans are not going to be severely effected by any of his electromagnetic abilities other than maybe is electromagnetic discharge. Because heroes and villains with much more powerful, electrical abilities, while quite deadly in our real world have to be significantly reduced to accommodate Marvel’s fictitious scale based on pseudo-science.
HIGHLY CONDUCTIVE ENVIRONMENT
Rodion is constantly dispersing excess energy into the air and materials around him. Poorly conductive matter is best for this so if he’s surrounded by highly conductive materials his residual electricity will malevolently react instead of benignly dissipating it. More than ten minutes and his body will start to draw arcs with the metal walls. This may actually set fire to his clothes, harm innocent people and make the car malfunction. An automobile being grounded by it’s rubber tires assists in dispersing his excess energy.
GROUNDED
How do you deal with an electrified person? Hit him with a poor conducting object or make sure you’re grounded. Pretty simple. Lots of super-humans are also pretty resilient to electricity and shake off his best hit.
ELECTRICAL OVERLOAD
Constant bombardment, repeated jolts of extremely high amperage would eventually kill him, it’s only natural.
HEMOCHROMATOSIS
He actually has the condition ‘Hemochromatosis’, which is too much iron in the blood, beyond the 10% that Humans can absorb. His system has mutated to utilize this abundance (70% more than normal, assisted by his regenerative capabilities). Even though he can reduce is electrical field, his body still contains enough iron that ‘metal detectors’ are set off. This makes travel a constant hassle, not to mention making him susceptible to certain types of security scanners.
LOSING CONTROL
His mutation is effected by his emotions. Depression, anger, fear can and usually will spark uncontrollable electrical and/or magnetic reactions. Frustration will often manifest in his electromagnetism acting up, drawing metal to his skin, drawing minute arcs from a build up of electricity. When distracted or emotionally stressed he can also start to uncontrollably affect all kinds of signals and can even start to attract electricity, drawing bolts in a lightning storm. Periods of high stress can even induce an EMP or Static Burst.
SKILLS
LANGUAGE TALENT - Like his great great grandfather, Nicolai Rezanov, Rodion also mastered five languages before the age of fourteen. He was born with a natural propensity for learning different tongues and being descended of a noble family had every opportunity to fully develop this talent. He is fluent in Russian, Serbian, Polish, Ukrainian, German, French, English, Japanese and Mandarin-Chinese. Back in his time prerequisites for university entry were knowing Greek and Latin. He is also familiar with many other languages from Arabic to Polynesian dialects, as well as ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and Mayan pictographs. His work and research has taken him around the globe and he has accumulated a wealth of knowledge which he considers to be his greatest asset. He can also partly read / understand / speak, Japanese, Italian, Spanish and Scandinavian tongues.
ELECTRICAL ENGINEER - This discipline is subdivided into a wide range of subfields. By no means is it a stretch for a typical engineer to have knowledge in a variety of them and Rodion after a lifetime of study is anything but common. Some examples of his specialities are electronics, computer technology, telecommunications, control systems, signal processing and microelectronics. His electrical ability has attributed to his notoriety in electronic design. This is due to the fact that he is able to actually modify circuitry without disassembling a machine, performing complex alterations to his designs in a fraction of the time it takes others.
MECHANICALLY MINDED - Possesses a strong talent for ‘visualization’ like his idol, Tesla, Rodion is able to construct complicated machinery is his mind and able to recall the details of complex diagrams from memory. This is not an uncommon talent, many artists possess the ability to visualize and Rodion’s medium is mechanics and machinery. He is able to apply a lot of his knowledge to any kind of engine or machinery. This talent and knowledge transfers to most machinery. He has a good chance of establishing a working knowledge of unfamiliar mechanics.
SCIENTIFICALLY MINDED - Over the long course of his life he’s mastered physics and his highly skilled in the disciplines of biology, genetics, anthropology, the paranormal and history. He possesses a broad range of practical skills as well allowing him to grasp and sometimes apply various scientific disciplines.
HAND TO HAND COMBAT and MEDITATION - Between the years 1923 and 1928, Rodion studied the art of Qigong and Wushu under the instruction of the ancient Wu sect. Never had he, nor would he ever again endure such gruelling training which began with a series of torturous meditations. It was only due to his heightened, ‘in-human’ abilities that he was able to endure and pass the trials. He could can meditate for hours, lowering his heart rate, allowing him to go without food and water for an extended period of time. The training also provided him extra control over his electromagnetic abilities, which the wushu masters believed to be his ‘chi’. He has since incorporated many different fighting styles and acrobatic maneuvers with what he considered his primary ‘martial skill’. A good fighter uses what works and adapts it to their own physicality.
YOGA - After studying with a yoga master or yogi back in the sixties he maintained the practice as it blended well with his own meditative practices and qigong poses. Always pushing himself, he was able to master the discipline and as of 2014 is still able to hold a variety of ‘master poses’ for extended periods of time. He exercises ‘callisthenically’ every day incorporating various methods of strength training.
WEAPONS - Already a master fencer (shashka - sabre) he was taught the art of the Chinese Straight Sword and the Staff. He considers himself to be confident and well practiced, able to transfer his skill to other similar weapons. He can also throw knives, optimum range for accuracy approximately twenty feet.
MARKSMANSHIP - He has been trained in a variety of handguns and firearm tactics. He is no stranger to gun fights, familiar with both long and short range shooting.
WILDERNESS SURVIVAL - During his time as a soldier, surviving in many harsh environments he learned to live and thrive off the land in various seasons. He is equally comfortable in the winter as he is in the summer.
ROCK CLIMBING / MOUNTAINEERING - He has had experience with both these disciplines. He by know means considers himself an expert, but he possesses a certain amount of experience.
FREE DIVING - He’s gone scuba diving a few times and positively hated it. He started ‘free diving’ back in the fifties and has always indulged in this past time when he’s traveled to tropical locations.
BALLROOM DANCING - He comes from a time when just about everyone danced. He is by no means equal to professional quality but he enjoys the waltz, even a tango.
MUSIC - He can read music and play a few instruments. The piano, guitar and pipe flute. He is also a well trained vocalist but only enjoys singing choral music.
LANGUAGE TALENT - Like his great great grandfather, Nicolai Rezanov, Rodion also mastered five languages before the age of fourteen. He was born with a natural propensity for learning different tongues and being descended of a noble family had every opportunity to fully develop this talent. He is fluent in Russian, Serbian, Polish, Ukrainian, German, French, English, Japanese and Mandarin-Chinese. Back in his time prerequisites for university entry were knowing Greek and Latin. He is also familiar with many other languages from Arabic to Polynesian dialects, as well as ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and Mayan pictographs. His work and research has taken him around the globe and he has accumulated a wealth of knowledge which he considers to be his greatest asset. He can also partly read / understand / speak, Japanese, Italian, Spanish and Scandinavian tongues.
ELECTRICAL ENGINEER - This discipline is subdivided into a wide range of subfields. By no means is it a stretch for a typical engineer to have knowledge in a variety of them and Rodion after a lifetime of study is anything but common. Some examples of his specialities are electronics, computer technology, telecommunications, control systems, signal processing and microelectronics. His electrical ability has attributed to his notoriety in electronic design. This is due to the fact that he is able to actually modify circuitry without disassembling a machine, performing complex alterations to his designs in a fraction of the time it takes others.
MECHANICALLY MINDED - Possesses a strong talent for ‘visualization’ like his idol, Tesla, Rodion is able to construct complicated machinery is his mind and able to recall the details of complex diagrams from memory. This is not an uncommon talent, many artists possess the ability to visualize and Rodion’s medium is mechanics and machinery. He is able to apply a lot of his knowledge to any kind of engine or machinery. This talent and knowledge transfers to most machinery. He has a good chance of establishing a working knowledge of unfamiliar mechanics.
SCIENTIFICALLY MINDED - Over the long course of his life he’s mastered physics and his highly skilled in the disciplines of biology, genetics, anthropology, the paranormal and history. He possesses a broad range of practical skills as well allowing him to grasp and sometimes apply various scientific disciplines.
HAND TO HAND COMBAT and MEDITATION - Between the years 1923 and 1928, Rodion studied the art of Qigong and Wushu under the instruction of the ancient Wu sect. Never had he, nor would he ever again endure such gruelling training which began with a series of torturous meditations. It was only due to his heightened, ‘in-human’ abilities that he was able to endure and pass the trials. He could can meditate for hours, lowering his heart rate, allowing him to go without food and water for an extended period of time. The training also provided him extra control over his electromagnetic abilities, which the wushu masters believed to be his ‘chi’. He has since incorporated many different fighting styles and acrobatic maneuvers with what he considered his primary ‘martial skill’. A good fighter uses what works and adapts it to their own physicality.
YOGA - After studying with a yoga master or yogi back in the sixties he maintained the practice as it blended well with his own meditative practices and qigong poses. Always pushing himself, he was able to master the discipline and as of 2014 is still able to hold a variety of ‘master poses’ for extended periods of time. He exercises ‘callisthenically’ every day incorporating various methods of strength training.
WEAPONS - Already a master fencer (shashka - sabre) he was taught the art of the Chinese Straight Sword and the Staff. He considers himself to be confident and well practiced, able to transfer his skill to other similar weapons. He can also throw knives, optimum range for accuracy approximately twenty feet.
MARKSMANSHIP - He has been trained in a variety of handguns and firearm tactics. He is no stranger to gun fights, familiar with both long and short range shooting.
WILDERNESS SURVIVAL - During his time as a soldier, surviving in many harsh environments he learned to live and thrive off the land in various seasons. He is equally comfortable in the winter as he is in the summer.
ROCK CLIMBING / MOUNTAINEERING - He has had experience with both these disciplines. He by know means considers himself an expert, but he possesses a certain amount of experience.
FREE DIVING - He’s gone scuba diving a few times and positively hated it. He started ‘free diving’ back in the fifties and has always indulged in this past time when he’s traveled to tropical locations.
BALLROOM DANCING - He comes from a time when just about everyone danced. He is by no means equal to professional quality but he enjoys the waltz, even a tango.
MUSIC - He can read music and play a few instruments. The piano, guitar and pipe flute. He is also a well trained vocalist but only enjoys singing choral music.
ORIGIN STORY
Rodion’s father, Alexai, resulted from the union between the Russian nobleman and statesman, Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov and his first wife, Anna Shelikhov who died during his birthing (1801). His grandfather, devoted to promoting Russian colonization of Alaska and California and developing the Russian American Company would neglect his son but Alexai would want for nothing else but his father’s love. Raised by a devoted governess and the best tutors he grew into an upstanding nobleman of character — a man who saw ‘Nicholas I’ for what he was… a buffoon. Still, at that point in history little could be done without threatening hearth and home, and to Alexai family was all important.
In 1825, Alexai Rezanov was married to Anastasia Boyarchikov, a premiere ballerina for St. Petersburg’s famous Imperial School of Ballet. A composer, Alexai and Anastasia met during a gala and as the story goes, was love at first sight. Six years later, Rodion was born after which his mother could bear no more children, dashing Alexai’s dreams of a large family.
Rodion was a small and frail child. He matured very slowly, so much so, that his parents consulted several doctors on the matter but as it was in those days, none could agree on a reason, nor treatment. Fortunately, their wealth provided a safe and nurturing environment for the slow-aging child. His mental faculties in no way stunted proved exceptional, an intelligence which his father, a brilliant man in his own right, could only assume to be at genius level. From a young age he displayed an aptitude for science and mathematics and so these talents were nurtured by the best tutors Saint Petersburg had to offer. Unfortunately, due to his odd and lengthy aging process he was unable to attend university until he was twenty-five years of age. Only then did Rodion appear to be at least fifteen years of age and possess a physical maturity that would not suffer prejudice and ridicule as well as attracting unwanted questions concerning his curious condition.
Naturally the Rezanov’s had taken every precaution to protect their son. They even left St. Petersburg, moving to Germany where they were able to start anew and falsify Rodion’ age. In 1855 they moved to Heidelberg, ‘Baden-Württemberg’, Germany and the following year, Rodion was enrolled in German Excellence University of Heidelberg (the year in which his idol, Nikola Tesla was born and Neanderthal remains were found in the Neander Valley). It was a prosperous time for the country and the Rezanov’s. Rodion would eventually achieve a doctorate in physics combined with a degree in electrical engineering. He would also discover that he was not entirely human.
In 1861 at the chronological age of 30 Rodion’ ability to manipulate electricity would manifest, however, much later than normal in most mutants which in later on would be attributed to his slowed aging process. Still, the ‘ability’ if one could define it as such was nothing more than a ‘parlour trick’, an strange anomaly, if anything. Too much iron in his blood caused it, which for some reason had no adverse effects on his physiology. Rodion just wanted to be ‘normal’. He had a bright future ahead of him and feared the persecution that could threaten a person back in those days for being ‘different’. Thus, he learned to conceal his ability and manage it by developing devices to regulate the electricity his body generated.
In 1883 he had the pleasure to work alongside Heinrich Hertz, a brilliant German physicist that laid the foundation for radio, telephone, telegraph and even television. One might surmise that Rodion was influential to Hertz’s work but he would never take any credit away from the man. It was Hertz that put Rodion on his path to the study and eventual harnessing of telluric currents. After the passing away of his parents some years later, still inspired by Hertz, Rodion returned to Russia and started the ‘Rezanov Electric Company’ in Moscow. Never forgetting is beloved homeland he wanted to share his intellect with his fellow countrymen and help propel Russia into the 20th century. Through the years he had kept close eye on the most inspirational figure in his life, Nikola Tesla and had already been able to reproduce his ‘alternating current’ and was planning on sharing it with Moscow and all of Russia when the revolution struck.
THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION — “The Turning Point”
Social tensions climaxed in 1905 and Rodion would end up one of the many victims of the class struggle. Even though he sided with the proletariate students he was still considered a nobleman and so threatened his business with fire. In all his life he had been fortunate enough to avoid violence but when put between an angry mob and his inventions Rodion raised his fists and for the first time was forced to use his enhanced physicality and extraordinary ability to manipulate electricity.
Rodion was an accomplished fencer. He loved sword play and with his enhanced reflexes and agility knew no equal in all his days of competition and training. Disarming one of the rioters he obtained an old sabre and with blade in hand stood against the mob. He put up a good fight but as the violence escalated, melee turned to ranged combat and faced with firearms Rodion released the power of his electricity. In the end, he could not save his company and he lost everything but news of his abilities reached the ears of the red army and he was immediately captured and questioned about his powers.
When it was confirmed that Rodion, who appeared to be a man in his early thirties was seventy-four years old the news was staggered the scientists. As a result he was poked, prodded and probed, but the technology of the time could reveal no reason for his resilience and definitely no way of duplicating it. They would have killed him to unlock his secrets but the army saved him from a the fate of a lab rat, seeing far more potential in him as a soldier. Thus he was taken into Department X, the covert Soviet agency created to train and produce ‘super-soldiers’ to battle the west. However, back in 1905 they still lacked the technology to produce such soldiers, Rodion was an anomaly, but there were more of them. These ‘metahumans’ as they were called back then were the first stage of Department X, later on they would begin to develop beings like the Black Widow. Until then, they made do with what nature provided.
They called him ‘Stachka’, Russian for ‘strike’, as in ‘lightning strike’, others dubbed him ‘Shok’ (Shock) describing both his strange electrical abilities and the blinding speed of his attacks. To Rodion the whole situation was ludicrous, ‘He was a scientist!’ but his appointment was not up for debate. They commanded and he obeyed. The alternative would be unimaginable, but even though Rodion didn’t agree with all of Russia’s policies he was after all a patriot. He saw potential in the Russian army to fund his experiments and so allowed them to train him, to shape him into a soldier of the people, for the people.
Rodion would never see the legendary ‘Red Room’ as he preceded it’s time and though Department X trained him, his purpose was far less sinister that the others. The politicians wanted a visible soldier that the people could relate to, a figure for the papers and propaganda, and thus ‘Stachka’ was born. The concept of the perfect ‘Russian’ soldier, an idea not unlike Captain America but the ideas they were pushing just weren’t as attractive and his ‘red coloured soldier’s jacket’ made him look more like Santa Claus when compared to the future Captain America. Still, for the time, it did it’s job. ‘Strike’, had become the official poster-boy for the Russian Army.
There were many moments of which he could take pride in his world during his career, such as the defence of Serbia from Austria during World War I (1914 - 1918). Then there were those times where he all but despised his government and himself.
OCTOBER REVOLUTION — “Superhuman”
In October of 1917, the Bolshevik communist group staged a coup, sparking a civil war between the Bolshevik Red Army and the anti-communist ‘White’ forces. Rodion, to his disappointment, ended up on the side of the Reds and helped them reign victorious in 1922. He was then part of the forces that were sent to China to support the communist Kuomintang against the Beiyang government that had aided the Whites against what would become the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
From 1923 to 1928 he was part of a specialized task force within the the small opposing Chinese faction. They were simply called the ‘Wu’, which meant mist or haze. As it turned out they were also an off-shoot of an ancient secret society by the same name.
Rodion embraced their culture, learned their ways and became one of them, the only outsider to ever be granted knowledge of their mystical arts, a style that would in time become known to the Western world as Qigong.
In the winter of 1926 a dangerous mission would lead Rodion into a trap and fatal injuries. Rescued and retrieved by his Wu comrades, they prepared for the ritual of death to honour the spirit of their departing brother. He was given, ‘duye xinsheng’, roughly translated, ‘Venom of Rebirth’ the very concoction that years later the ruthless Nazi, Doctor Geist would utilize to complete his ‘Lazarus Serum’ that would bring back the dead.
The ‘venom’ had a strange reaction with Rodion’ unique physiology literally boosting his mutation into overdrive. Not only did it save his life but it completely stopped his aging! He went from aging slowly to not at all. Freezing him in his forties. His muscle and bone density increased, boosting his strength and his electrical abilities seemed to become more stable. He had been transformed from a mutant to a superhuman. It of course took years to discover these side effects and by then he was far away from China. In 1928 they had overthrown the Beiyang government and China was now communist. His mission complete, Captain Rodion Rezanov returned home to Moscow, just in time to witness the announcement of Stalin’s first Five Year Plan.
THE OGPU — “The Spy”
It was the beginning of state industrialization of the Soviet economy and the need for the ‘Lightning Soldier’ was now counter productive to Stalin’s goals. Rezanov was anxious to lend his mind to the new development but it seemed they weren’t yet done with him. He was placed in the ‘secret police’ then, from 1922 to 1934, known as the OGPU, translated, the ‘All-Union State Political Administration’. Rodion would become specialized in seeking out saboteurs and protecting the USSR from hostile conspiracies. It was a difficult job. A devout Russian Orthodox it was extremely difficult for Rodion to persecute the Church. He strongly disagreed with Yevgeny Tuchkov and the policies of the OGPU… of Stalin… but he realized that he could do more good from the inside than out. He secretly began working against the government, doing what he could while avoiding discovery but after the man-made famine of Holodomor in the Ukrainian Soviety Socialist Republic (1932 - 1933) that killed an estimated 2.5 - 7.5 million Ukrainians, Rezanov could no longer stomach the policies of the USSR. In all his 102 years he had never seen anything so diabolical and he conspired to once and for all take down the government from the inside. Of course this proved as impossible a task as walking to the moon, he needed resources… he needed help.
That help would come in the form of an agent from the US Army branch of American Intelligence (prior to 1942 the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the forerunner of the CIA did not exist). They met covertly in his home city of St. Petersburg during a performance at the Mariyinsky Teatr. It was the first time he had ever been approached by an agent of Russia’s sworn enemy and the first time he saw the premiere ballerina Natalya Romanoff (‘Black Widow’) dance. Little did he known then who she was, or if she was even aware of his presence. Irregardless, the exchange of information was a success. In the months follow, in the year of 1933, Rodion Rezanov became a spy for the United States of America.
BEFORE THE WAR — “Returning to Science”
Between the years of 1933 to 1939, Rodion leaked what information he could. It was difficult since those who were still around from the ‘old days’ remembered him, and were frightened by the fact that the man simply didn’t age. It ever put him in the spotlight, and spies were only effective in the shadow but he managed to use it to his best advantage. He was also granted access to Russia’s ‘Special Weapons Division’, allowing him to contribute to ‘making better weapons’. So long out of the loop he jumped at the opportunity believing that he could work on his inventions in his spare time but they were only interested in weapons. They wanted him to reproduce Tesla’s “electric gun” which the famous inventor boasted he could create, so Rodion convinced them that in order to replicated such a design he needed to recreate other inventions of the ‘Master of Electricity’.
WORLD WAR II — “Dusting off the Red Jacket”
Just when Rodion thought he was finally out, they pulled him back in. In 1939, Germany Invaded Poland from the west, sixteen days later, the Soviet Union invaded from the east, only a month later to make alliance with the United Kingdom against the Nazi force. Captain Rezanov was put back into active duty and given a squad to command, of course no one believed he was actually ‘the’ original Rodion Rezanov. His exploits had become ‘mythic’, his tales of strength, exaggerated, the electricity, the use of some device to frighten the enemy and dazzle an unsuspecting populace. It was right up Stalin’s alley to pull such a stunt and bring back a legend to inspire the troops and the people.
Rodion donned his ‘red jacket’ once more, happily, because he believed in defeating the Nazi’s, unfortunately the Soviet Union’s cause was not so noble. All they were doing was continuing to issue ultimatums to surrounding countries and ceded their territories and after the 1939 - 1940 campaign against Finland, known as the ‘Winter War’, Rezanov was about done with Russia. It was time to move on, but his American contacts persuaded him to stay on with the Red Army during the war in exchange for full asylum in America. One among them, a civilian, was none other than Howard Stark. A scientist like himself, the American entrepreneur and inventor proved very persuasive.
BUDAPEST — “O”
They wanted him in Budapest and it was there during his mission that he met a young Ophelia Sarkissian, the future ‘Madame Hydra’. The girl had picked his pocket and he might have pursued, except for the fact that he was ambushed by the very Nazi’s he was supposed to have been gathering intelligence on. There were seven of them, he took out six before they took their pound of flesh. Rodion had to retreat, the last man pursued and cornered him. In pain and battling unconsciousness from blood loss for his last opponent victory would have been assured had it not been for the pick pocket’s return. The girl produced a blade, sticking the man in the back several times, viciously, delightfully. He had seen that look before.
With the girl’s help, Rodion was able to mend his wounds, and healed. In the months to follow they stuck together, the old soldier taking Ophelia under his wing, trying to curb her appetite for murder. He did his best and would have continued to do so if the war had not taken him away from her, but he was required at the final fight in Berlin. It was there in 1945, that Rodion Rezanov was killed in action… well not really. The Americans arranged his ‘demise’ and he was taken to the States where he was provided with compensation for service, a home and a position with the Strategic Scientific Reserve, SHIELD’s predecessor.
AMERICA — “New Cloak, New Dagger”
Rodion’s rank was maintained and given the codename ‘Signal’. He was considered a Captain in the U.S. Army and received instant standing in the SSR as ’scientific investigator’. All he wanted was to put his fighting days behind him, and for a time he did traveling the world and investigating those supernatural events that were deemed worth looking into. In 1952, however, his talents and knowledge were required to assist in the ‘cold war’ against Russia. Grateful to the freedom granted by his new country he agreed and began work as field operative, even carrying out deep-cover missions as a mole in the KGB under a false identity. This was basically the 1950’s for Rezanov, the only consistent name he maintained during that time was ‘Array’. He infiltrated many top levels of security, thwarted plans against his ‘motherland’ and in time was allowed to return to his experiments.
In 1962 at the ripe old age of 131 and still appearing to be a fit forty, maybe fifty-something, Rodion continued with his work in a specialized, highly secure facility granted for his exclusive use. Desiring to harness energy from the planet as Nicolai Tesla had envisioned Rezanov hoped to gain support at the 1964 Stark Expo. It was a crushing disappointment. As soon as the name of Tesla is mentioned Rezanov’s ideas fall under scrutiny. People see his ideas as mysticism rather than science and he loses a lot of credibility. Overshadowed by Stark’s Arc Reactor Technology, referred to as the ‘The Unity Project’ he is literally laughed out of the Expo but he was enlightened and inspired but the most unlikely person. Howard Stark meets with him and the two form a friendship. After this, Rezanov begins to incorporate aspects of physiology, genetics and even virology into his experimentation. It would have to wait, however, as Rezanov yet had few loose ends to clean up in the spy business.
In 1965, about when Charles Xavier opened his school for the ‘gifted’, Rodion was sent to Europe under the alias of a Bulgarian scientist to infiltrate a Russian base. It was after this mission that he was targeted by the legendary ‘Black Widow’. The assassin traced him back to the States and would have ended his life if it had not been for the interference of a young Nick Fury. Still, Rodion did not walk away, unscathed. He was done with the spy-game. Placed under the very man who saved him, Fury would keep a close eye on Rezanov but allow him to retire to his work until such time as he was needed.
In the spring of 1970, Howard Stark’s son was born. Rodion presented the infant with one of an original 1893 edition of ‘The Inventions, Researches and Writings of Nikola Tesla’ joking with Stark that the boy would probably comprehend it half way through middle school. He wasn’t far from the truth. Through the seventies and eighties while Rezanov became one of the world’s foremost authorities on Telluric Current research he kept a close eye on the Tony’s progress and his exploits. He was his father’s son and the reminded the man of it every time he and Howard got together for a ‘meeting of the minds’, which often turned out to be nothing more than a boy’s night out at Rodion’ ‘clubhouse’. All in all, he and Howard Stark met a total of seventeen times over the course of Tony Stark’s young life. The two were as close as men like them could be which was a few steps up from estranged. Still, Rezanov did attend Tony Stark’s 1984 graduation from Massachusetts Institute of Technology… another nameless face in the crowd. Anonymity was the price of ‘immortality’ , never to be a part of the world of men, an outsider. Mind you, Rodion did in no way see himself as a god but merely understood his place, resigning himself to obscurity. As man who did not age it only seemed fit that those who burned brighter for a fraction of his time should receive the fame and notoriety. Leaving the stage to people like Howard’s son. He would always miss Stark. Their conversations. The long awaited collapse of the Soviet Union would forever be tainted by Howard’s death. After the funeral of he and his wife in 1991, Rodion faded into the backdrop, concentrating on his experiments and producing ‘free energy’ for the world… alone. By this time, he was completely self sufficient ten times over. He hadn’t needed to work for SHIELD for years but it was difficult to break away from the organization that had been a part of his life for over forty years.
In 1996 ‘cures’ for the ‘mutant phenomena’ began and Rodion was sure to keep a close eye on the medical journals associated with them. In 2001, 170 years young, Rodion theorized that a specific gene may be responsible for what a select group of people refer to as ‘mutants’ (other scientists were drawing the same conclusion), and a few years later the Mutant Registration Act was proposed to deal with this emerging new species. Still considering himself a ‘mutant’ despite his ‘superhuman alteration’ he feels the injustices emerging… on both sides.
OF MUTANT AND MAN
Since 2000 Rodion had been visiting Xavier’s Institute and meeting with it’s headmaster. With Charles’ help he delved into the mysteries of his own mutation and defined how the ‘Venom of Rebirth’ he took in 1926 altered his physiology. Their talks, spending time among other mutants and the events occurring between 2005 and 2006 inspired Rodion to write a book on the subject. Unable at the time to be of any assistance to the X-Men he felt it was his moralistic duty to try and educated the country and the world. In 2008 he published “Of Mutant and Man”, under the pseudonym, Serge Alset. A novel depicting the prejudices of Humans and Mutants while exploring evolution and the profound differences between the two species. It sold well but not because it was exceptional, it was simply right place, right time, right mind-set, like most success stories. His conclusions were not at all polite to the mutant community. There were even burnings of his book in public demonstrations in support of mutants, but of course, these were by those who believed that mutants should be able to exist as they are, without repressing their abilities. Rodion compared these mutants to spoiled children believing they, like ignorant humans should have the right to wave their powers about like firearms. Gun totting Americans in general were not impressed with his words either and the book has since been ‘black listed’.
IRONMAN
When Tony Stark admitted to the world, “I am Ironman” Rodion almost fell off his chair. He had always sensed a greatness in the boy but never could have anticipated him becoming a ’superhero’. It was a bit of wake-up call for the stagnant ‘superhuman’. Perhaps it was time to step out of the shadows and join the ranks of those embracing their powers to make a difference in the world? His question was affirmed by the discovery of Steve Roger’s body, frozen and preserved in a state of animation. If that hadn’t been a sign, he didn’t know what would constitute as one.
THE BATTLE OF NEW YORK
In 2012 as one of the foremost authorities on energy sources he will be consulted on the ‘tesseract’ but when he learns that SHIELD possesses an alien energy source of unknown potential he goes on record he told Nick Fury straight out, “I will not sully my hands with what is not meant to be used by Men. Send it back to where ever it came from.” He questioned the wisdom of Erik Selvig and would have no further contact with anyone else concerning the matter.
When the Chitauri Invasion began Rodion was ready to suit up though he was not an Avenger. Far on the other side of the city he and others took on a few stray squadron’s of aliens. Wearing his old ‘Red Jacket’, Rodion was like a warrior from another time. The battle put Rodion back on the map. People were curious who this new ’superhero’ was and thankfully, he had the sense to cover his face with a scarf at the time. They called him ‘Red Jacket’, a reference to his red coloured jacket and a type firearm. Rodion couldn’t really say if he had or hadn’t considered the repercussions of wearing his old costume. Maybe it was the return of Captain Rogers that inspired him, he really couldn’t say. All that he knew was that it had felt good making a stand, using his abilities again to fight injustice with no politics attached… just a straight out fight… good versus evil. He would don the suit a few more times before Captain America a few years later was branded a traitor by SHIELD, becoming a wanted man over night. Those were dark times, but fortunately Captain America was able to expose Hydra and send them back into the shadows. All was well, until the Sokovia Accords. Rodion was in America at the time when several of the Avengers were suddenly declared fugitives. Then came ‘The Fold’ and all hell broke loose, for some ‘literally’. He’d stayed out of the fight with Thanos, realizing he was out his depth. It was after the titanic battle between the Kryptonian and the Hulk, then the farcical election of Lex Luthor that Rodya realized it was time to step out of the shadows to once again battle injustice.
GOALS
Completing the initial stages of his research on ‘Electro-Dimensional Transference’. While a technology similar to this is already achievable by Asgardians it represents his ‘life work’. It is important that he before he leaves this world that he leaves a foundation for others who may one day pick up on his work. His research is tied to the planet’s telluric currents and harnessing it’s energy to generate such things as stable ‘dimensional warps’. One could only imagine the temptation to study the ’tesseract’ but if anything, Rodion does not believe in short-cuts, he believes in earning the science, not stealing it. He and Director Fury did not see ‘eye to eye’ on this.
A major part of Rezanov’s research and life work is on the phenomena of ‘Ball Lightning’. All of his theories hinge around it and over the years many scientists and authors have relied upon his expertise on the subject. William Corliss, ‘Handbook of Unusual Natural Phenomena’ discussed his report with him back in 1963. He also worked with Paul Snigier on his 2004 book, ‘Ball Lightning: Paradox of Physics’. Cases of Ball Lightning do in fact challenge the laws of physics and support a theory of ‘electromagnetic dimensions’ which Rezanov believes that one day (long after his time) humans will have the technology to manipulate these strange dimensions and defy known reality.
Rodion’s father, Alexai, resulted from the union between the Russian nobleman and statesman, Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov and his first wife, Anna Shelikhov who died during his birthing (1801). His grandfather, devoted to promoting Russian colonization of Alaska and California and developing the Russian American Company would neglect his son but Alexai would want for nothing else but his father’s love. Raised by a devoted governess and the best tutors he grew into an upstanding nobleman of character — a man who saw ‘Nicholas I’ for what he was… a buffoon. Still, at that point in history little could be done without threatening hearth and home, and to Alexai family was all important.
In 1825, Alexai Rezanov was married to Anastasia Boyarchikov, a premiere ballerina for St. Petersburg’s famous Imperial School of Ballet. A composer, Alexai and Anastasia met during a gala and as the story goes, was love at first sight. Six years later, Rodion was born after which his mother could bear no more children, dashing Alexai’s dreams of a large family.
Rodion was a small and frail child. He matured very slowly, so much so, that his parents consulted several doctors on the matter but as it was in those days, none could agree on a reason, nor treatment. Fortunately, their wealth provided a safe and nurturing environment for the slow-aging child. His mental faculties in no way stunted proved exceptional, an intelligence which his father, a brilliant man in his own right, could only assume to be at genius level. From a young age he displayed an aptitude for science and mathematics and so these talents were nurtured by the best tutors Saint Petersburg had to offer. Unfortunately, due to his odd and lengthy aging process he was unable to attend university until he was twenty-five years of age. Only then did Rodion appear to be at least fifteen years of age and possess a physical maturity that would not suffer prejudice and ridicule as well as attracting unwanted questions concerning his curious condition.
Naturally the Rezanov’s had taken every precaution to protect their son. They even left St. Petersburg, moving to Germany where they were able to start anew and falsify Rodion’ age. In 1855 they moved to Heidelberg, ‘Baden-Württemberg’, Germany and the following year, Rodion was enrolled in German Excellence University of Heidelberg (the year in which his idol, Nikola Tesla was born and Neanderthal remains were found in the Neander Valley). It was a prosperous time for the country and the Rezanov’s. Rodion would eventually achieve a doctorate in physics combined with a degree in electrical engineering. He would also discover that he was not entirely human.
In 1861 at the chronological age of 30 Rodion’ ability to manipulate electricity would manifest, however, much later than normal in most mutants which in later on would be attributed to his slowed aging process. Still, the ‘ability’ if one could define it as such was nothing more than a ‘parlour trick’, an strange anomaly, if anything. Too much iron in his blood caused it, which for some reason had no adverse effects on his physiology. Rodion just wanted to be ‘normal’. He had a bright future ahead of him and feared the persecution that could threaten a person back in those days for being ‘different’. Thus, he learned to conceal his ability and manage it by developing devices to regulate the electricity his body generated.
In 1883 he had the pleasure to work alongside Heinrich Hertz, a brilliant German physicist that laid the foundation for radio, telephone, telegraph and even television. One might surmise that Rodion was influential to Hertz’s work but he would never take any credit away from the man. It was Hertz that put Rodion on his path to the study and eventual harnessing of telluric currents. After the passing away of his parents some years later, still inspired by Hertz, Rodion returned to Russia and started the ‘Rezanov Electric Company’ in Moscow. Never forgetting is beloved homeland he wanted to share his intellect with his fellow countrymen and help propel Russia into the 20th century. Through the years he had kept close eye on the most inspirational figure in his life, Nikola Tesla and had already been able to reproduce his ‘alternating current’ and was planning on sharing it with Moscow and all of Russia when the revolution struck.
THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION — “The Turning Point”
Social tensions climaxed in 1905 and Rodion would end up one of the many victims of the class struggle. Even though he sided with the proletariate students he was still considered a nobleman and so threatened his business with fire. In all his life he had been fortunate enough to avoid violence but when put between an angry mob and his inventions Rodion raised his fists and for the first time was forced to use his enhanced physicality and extraordinary ability to manipulate electricity.
Rodion was an accomplished fencer. He loved sword play and with his enhanced reflexes and agility knew no equal in all his days of competition and training. Disarming one of the rioters he obtained an old sabre and with blade in hand stood against the mob. He put up a good fight but as the violence escalated, melee turned to ranged combat and faced with firearms Rodion released the power of his electricity. In the end, he could not save his company and he lost everything but news of his abilities reached the ears of the red army and he was immediately captured and questioned about his powers.
When it was confirmed that Rodion, who appeared to be a man in his early thirties was seventy-four years old the news was staggered the scientists. As a result he was poked, prodded and probed, but the technology of the time could reveal no reason for his resilience and definitely no way of duplicating it. They would have killed him to unlock his secrets but the army saved him from a the fate of a lab rat, seeing far more potential in him as a soldier. Thus he was taken into Department X, the covert Soviet agency created to train and produce ‘super-soldiers’ to battle the west. However, back in 1905 they still lacked the technology to produce such soldiers, Rodion was an anomaly, but there were more of them. These ‘metahumans’ as they were called back then were the first stage of Department X, later on they would begin to develop beings like the Black Widow. Until then, they made do with what nature provided.
They called him ‘Stachka’, Russian for ‘strike’, as in ‘lightning strike’, others dubbed him ‘Shok’ (Shock) describing both his strange electrical abilities and the blinding speed of his attacks. To Rodion the whole situation was ludicrous, ‘He was a scientist!’ but his appointment was not up for debate. They commanded and he obeyed. The alternative would be unimaginable, but even though Rodion didn’t agree with all of Russia’s policies he was after all a patriot. He saw potential in the Russian army to fund his experiments and so allowed them to train him, to shape him into a soldier of the people, for the people.
Rodion would never see the legendary ‘Red Room’ as he preceded it’s time and though Department X trained him, his purpose was far less sinister that the others. The politicians wanted a visible soldier that the people could relate to, a figure for the papers and propaganda, and thus ‘Stachka’ was born. The concept of the perfect ‘Russian’ soldier, an idea not unlike Captain America but the ideas they were pushing just weren’t as attractive and his ‘red coloured soldier’s jacket’ made him look more like Santa Claus when compared to the future Captain America. Still, for the time, it did it’s job. ‘Strike’, had become the official poster-boy for the Russian Army.
There were many moments of which he could take pride in his world during his career, such as the defence of Serbia from Austria during World War I (1914 - 1918). Then there were those times where he all but despised his government and himself.
OCTOBER REVOLUTION — “Superhuman”
In October of 1917, the Bolshevik communist group staged a coup, sparking a civil war between the Bolshevik Red Army and the anti-communist ‘White’ forces. Rodion, to his disappointment, ended up on the side of the Reds and helped them reign victorious in 1922. He was then part of the forces that were sent to China to support the communist Kuomintang against the Beiyang government that had aided the Whites against what would become the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
From 1923 to 1928 he was part of a specialized task force within the the small opposing Chinese faction. They were simply called the ‘Wu’, which meant mist or haze. As it turned out they were also an off-shoot of an ancient secret society by the same name.
Rodion embraced their culture, learned their ways and became one of them, the only outsider to ever be granted knowledge of their mystical arts, a style that would in time become known to the Western world as Qigong.
In the winter of 1926 a dangerous mission would lead Rodion into a trap and fatal injuries. Rescued and retrieved by his Wu comrades, they prepared for the ritual of death to honour the spirit of their departing brother. He was given, ‘duye xinsheng’, roughly translated, ‘Venom of Rebirth’ the very concoction that years later the ruthless Nazi, Doctor Geist would utilize to complete his ‘Lazarus Serum’ that would bring back the dead.
The ‘venom’ had a strange reaction with Rodion’ unique physiology literally boosting his mutation into overdrive. Not only did it save his life but it completely stopped his aging! He went from aging slowly to not at all. Freezing him in his forties. His muscle and bone density increased, boosting his strength and his electrical abilities seemed to become more stable. He had been transformed from a mutant to a superhuman. It of course took years to discover these side effects and by then he was far away from China. In 1928 they had overthrown the Beiyang government and China was now communist. His mission complete, Captain Rodion Rezanov returned home to Moscow, just in time to witness the announcement of Stalin’s first Five Year Plan.
THE OGPU — “The Spy”
It was the beginning of state industrialization of the Soviet economy and the need for the ‘Lightning Soldier’ was now counter productive to Stalin’s goals. Rezanov was anxious to lend his mind to the new development but it seemed they weren’t yet done with him. He was placed in the ‘secret police’ then, from 1922 to 1934, known as the OGPU, translated, the ‘All-Union State Political Administration’. Rodion would become specialized in seeking out saboteurs and protecting the USSR from hostile conspiracies. It was a difficult job. A devout Russian Orthodox it was extremely difficult for Rodion to persecute the Church. He strongly disagreed with Yevgeny Tuchkov and the policies of the OGPU… of Stalin… but he realized that he could do more good from the inside than out. He secretly began working against the government, doing what he could while avoiding discovery but after the man-made famine of Holodomor in the Ukrainian Soviety Socialist Republic (1932 - 1933) that killed an estimated 2.5 - 7.5 million Ukrainians, Rezanov could no longer stomach the policies of the USSR. In all his 102 years he had never seen anything so diabolical and he conspired to once and for all take down the government from the inside. Of course this proved as impossible a task as walking to the moon, he needed resources… he needed help.
That help would come in the form of an agent from the US Army branch of American Intelligence (prior to 1942 the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the forerunner of the CIA did not exist). They met covertly in his home city of St. Petersburg during a performance at the Mariyinsky Teatr. It was the first time he had ever been approached by an agent of Russia’s sworn enemy and the first time he saw the premiere ballerina Natalya Romanoff (‘Black Widow’) dance. Little did he known then who she was, or if she was even aware of his presence. Irregardless, the exchange of information was a success. In the months follow, in the year of 1933, Rodion Rezanov became a spy for the United States of America.
BEFORE THE WAR — “Returning to Science”
Between the years of 1933 to 1939, Rodion leaked what information he could. It was difficult since those who were still around from the ‘old days’ remembered him, and were frightened by the fact that the man simply didn’t age. It ever put him in the spotlight, and spies were only effective in the shadow but he managed to use it to his best advantage. He was also granted access to Russia’s ‘Special Weapons Division’, allowing him to contribute to ‘making better weapons’. So long out of the loop he jumped at the opportunity believing that he could work on his inventions in his spare time but they were only interested in weapons. They wanted him to reproduce Tesla’s “electric gun” which the famous inventor boasted he could create, so Rodion convinced them that in order to replicated such a design he needed to recreate other inventions of the ‘Master of Electricity’.
WORLD WAR II — “Dusting off the Red Jacket”
Just when Rodion thought he was finally out, they pulled him back in. In 1939, Germany Invaded Poland from the west, sixteen days later, the Soviet Union invaded from the east, only a month later to make alliance with the United Kingdom against the Nazi force. Captain Rezanov was put back into active duty and given a squad to command, of course no one believed he was actually ‘the’ original Rodion Rezanov. His exploits had become ‘mythic’, his tales of strength, exaggerated, the electricity, the use of some device to frighten the enemy and dazzle an unsuspecting populace. It was right up Stalin’s alley to pull such a stunt and bring back a legend to inspire the troops and the people.
Rodion donned his ‘red jacket’ once more, happily, because he believed in defeating the Nazi’s, unfortunately the Soviet Union’s cause was not so noble. All they were doing was continuing to issue ultimatums to surrounding countries and ceded their territories and after the 1939 - 1940 campaign against Finland, known as the ‘Winter War’, Rezanov was about done with Russia. It was time to move on, but his American contacts persuaded him to stay on with the Red Army during the war in exchange for full asylum in America. One among them, a civilian, was none other than Howard Stark. A scientist like himself, the American entrepreneur and inventor proved very persuasive.
BUDAPEST — “O”
They wanted him in Budapest and it was there during his mission that he met a young Ophelia Sarkissian, the future ‘Madame Hydra’. The girl had picked his pocket and he might have pursued, except for the fact that he was ambushed by the very Nazi’s he was supposed to have been gathering intelligence on. There were seven of them, he took out six before they took their pound of flesh. Rodion had to retreat, the last man pursued and cornered him. In pain and battling unconsciousness from blood loss for his last opponent victory would have been assured had it not been for the pick pocket’s return. The girl produced a blade, sticking the man in the back several times, viciously, delightfully. He had seen that look before.
With the girl’s help, Rodion was able to mend his wounds, and healed. In the months to follow they stuck together, the old soldier taking Ophelia under his wing, trying to curb her appetite for murder. He did his best and would have continued to do so if the war had not taken him away from her, but he was required at the final fight in Berlin. It was there in 1945, that Rodion Rezanov was killed in action… well not really. The Americans arranged his ‘demise’ and he was taken to the States where he was provided with compensation for service, a home and a position with the Strategic Scientific Reserve, SHIELD’s predecessor.
AMERICA — “New Cloak, New Dagger”
Rodion’s rank was maintained and given the codename ‘Signal’. He was considered a Captain in the U.S. Army and received instant standing in the SSR as ’scientific investigator’. All he wanted was to put his fighting days behind him, and for a time he did traveling the world and investigating those supernatural events that were deemed worth looking into. In 1952, however, his talents and knowledge were required to assist in the ‘cold war’ against Russia. Grateful to the freedom granted by his new country he agreed and began work as field operative, even carrying out deep-cover missions as a mole in the KGB under a false identity. This was basically the 1950’s for Rezanov, the only consistent name he maintained during that time was ‘Array’. He infiltrated many top levels of security, thwarted plans against his ‘motherland’ and in time was allowed to return to his experiments.
In 1962 at the ripe old age of 131 and still appearing to be a fit forty, maybe fifty-something, Rodion continued with his work in a specialized, highly secure facility granted for his exclusive use. Desiring to harness energy from the planet as Nicolai Tesla had envisioned Rezanov hoped to gain support at the 1964 Stark Expo. It was a crushing disappointment. As soon as the name of Tesla is mentioned Rezanov’s ideas fall under scrutiny. People see his ideas as mysticism rather than science and he loses a lot of credibility. Overshadowed by Stark’s Arc Reactor Technology, referred to as the ‘The Unity Project’ he is literally laughed out of the Expo but he was enlightened and inspired but the most unlikely person. Howard Stark meets with him and the two form a friendship. After this, Rezanov begins to incorporate aspects of physiology, genetics and even virology into his experimentation. It would have to wait, however, as Rezanov yet had few loose ends to clean up in the spy business.
In 1965, about when Charles Xavier opened his school for the ‘gifted’, Rodion was sent to Europe under the alias of a Bulgarian scientist to infiltrate a Russian base. It was after this mission that he was targeted by the legendary ‘Black Widow’. The assassin traced him back to the States and would have ended his life if it had not been for the interference of a young Nick Fury. Still, Rodion did not walk away, unscathed. He was done with the spy-game. Placed under the very man who saved him, Fury would keep a close eye on Rezanov but allow him to retire to his work until such time as he was needed.
In the spring of 1970, Howard Stark’s son was born. Rodion presented the infant with one of an original 1893 edition of ‘The Inventions, Researches and Writings of Nikola Tesla’ joking with Stark that the boy would probably comprehend it half way through middle school. He wasn’t far from the truth. Through the seventies and eighties while Rezanov became one of the world’s foremost authorities on Telluric Current research he kept a close eye on the Tony’s progress and his exploits. He was his father’s son and the reminded the man of it every time he and Howard got together for a ‘meeting of the minds’, which often turned out to be nothing more than a boy’s night out at Rodion’ ‘clubhouse’. All in all, he and Howard Stark met a total of seventeen times over the course of Tony Stark’s young life. The two were as close as men like them could be which was a few steps up from estranged. Still, Rezanov did attend Tony Stark’s 1984 graduation from Massachusetts Institute of Technology… another nameless face in the crowd. Anonymity was the price of ‘immortality’ , never to be a part of the world of men, an outsider. Mind you, Rodion did in no way see himself as a god but merely understood his place, resigning himself to obscurity. As man who did not age it only seemed fit that those who burned brighter for a fraction of his time should receive the fame and notoriety. Leaving the stage to people like Howard’s son. He would always miss Stark. Their conversations. The long awaited collapse of the Soviet Union would forever be tainted by Howard’s death. After the funeral of he and his wife in 1991, Rodion faded into the backdrop, concentrating on his experiments and producing ‘free energy’ for the world… alone. By this time, he was completely self sufficient ten times over. He hadn’t needed to work for SHIELD for years but it was difficult to break away from the organization that had been a part of his life for over forty years.
In 1996 ‘cures’ for the ‘mutant phenomena’ began and Rodion was sure to keep a close eye on the medical journals associated with them. In 2001, 170 years young, Rodion theorized that a specific gene may be responsible for what a select group of people refer to as ‘mutants’ (other scientists were drawing the same conclusion), and a few years later the Mutant Registration Act was proposed to deal with this emerging new species. Still considering himself a ‘mutant’ despite his ‘superhuman alteration’ he feels the injustices emerging… on both sides.
OF MUTANT AND MAN
Since 2000 Rodion had been visiting Xavier’s Institute and meeting with it’s headmaster. With Charles’ help he delved into the mysteries of his own mutation and defined how the ‘Venom of Rebirth’ he took in 1926 altered his physiology. Their talks, spending time among other mutants and the events occurring between 2005 and 2006 inspired Rodion to write a book on the subject. Unable at the time to be of any assistance to the X-Men he felt it was his moralistic duty to try and educated the country and the world. In 2008 he published “Of Mutant and Man”, under the pseudonym, Serge Alset. A novel depicting the prejudices of Humans and Mutants while exploring evolution and the profound differences between the two species. It sold well but not because it was exceptional, it was simply right place, right time, right mind-set, like most success stories. His conclusions were not at all polite to the mutant community. There were even burnings of his book in public demonstrations in support of mutants, but of course, these were by those who believed that mutants should be able to exist as they are, without repressing their abilities. Rodion compared these mutants to spoiled children believing they, like ignorant humans should have the right to wave their powers about like firearms. Gun totting Americans in general were not impressed with his words either and the book has since been ‘black listed’.
IRONMAN
When Tony Stark admitted to the world, “I am Ironman” Rodion almost fell off his chair. He had always sensed a greatness in the boy but never could have anticipated him becoming a ’superhero’. It was a bit of wake-up call for the stagnant ‘superhuman’. Perhaps it was time to step out of the shadows and join the ranks of those embracing their powers to make a difference in the world? His question was affirmed by the discovery of Steve Roger’s body, frozen and preserved in a state of animation. If that hadn’t been a sign, he didn’t know what would constitute as one.
THE BATTLE OF NEW YORK
In 2012 as one of the foremost authorities on energy sources he will be consulted on the ‘tesseract’ but when he learns that SHIELD possesses an alien energy source of unknown potential he goes on record he told Nick Fury straight out, “I will not sully my hands with what is not meant to be used by Men. Send it back to where ever it came from.” He questioned the wisdom of Erik Selvig and would have no further contact with anyone else concerning the matter.
When the Chitauri Invasion began Rodion was ready to suit up though he was not an Avenger. Far on the other side of the city he and others took on a few stray squadron’s of aliens. Wearing his old ‘Red Jacket’, Rodion was like a warrior from another time. The battle put Rodion back on the map. People were curious who this new ’superhero’ was and thankfully, he had the sense to cover his face with a scarf at the time. They called him ‘Red Jacket’, a reference to his red coloured jacket and a type firearm. Rodion couldn’t really say if he had or hadn’t considered the repercussions of wearing his old costume. Maybe it was the return of Captain Rogers that inspired him, he really couldn’t say. All that he knew was that it had felt good making a stand, using his abilities again to fight injustice with no politics attached… just a straight out fight… good versus evil. He would don the suit a few more times before Captain America a few years later was branded a traitor by SHIELD, becoming a wanted man over night. Those were dark times, but fortunately Captain America was able to expose Hydra and send them back into the shadows. All was well, until the Sokovia Accords. Rodion was in America at the time when several of the Avengers were suddenly declared fugitives. Then came ‘The Fold’ and all hell broke loose, for some ‘literally’. He’d stayed out of the fight with Thanos, realizing he was out his depth. It was after the titanic battle between the Kryptonian and the Hulk, then the farcical election of Lex Luthor that Rodya realized it was time to step out of the shadows to once again battle injustice.
GOALS
Completing the initial stages of his research on ‘Electro-Dimensional Transference’. While a technology similar to this is already achievable by Asgardians it represents his ‘life work’. It is important that he before he leaves this world that he leaves a foundation for others who may one day pick up on his work. His research is tied to the planet’s telluric currents and harnessing it’s energy to generate such things as stable ‘dimensional warps’. One could only imagine the temptation to study the ’tesseract’ but if anything, Rodion does not believe in short-cuts, he believes in earning the science, not stealing it. He and Director Fury did not see ‘eye to eye’ on this.
A major part of Rezanov’s research and life work is on the phenomena of ‘Ball Lightning’. All of his theories hinge around it and over the years many scientists and authors have relied upon his expertise on the subject. William Corliss, ‘Handbook of Unusual Natural Phenomena’ discussed his report with him back in 1963. He also worked with Paul Snigier on his 2004 book, ‘Ball Lightning: Paradox of Physics’. Cases of Ball Lightning do in fact challenge the laws of physics and support a theory of ‘electromagnetic dimensions’ which Rezanov believes that one day (long after his time) humans will have the technology to manipulate these strange dimensions and defy known reality.
SOCIAL RELATIONS
Knows Nick Fury, Captain America, Black Widow and Plymouth Weir. Shares a history with Madame Hydra (Ophelia Sarkissian).
Knows Nick Fury, Captain America, Black Widow and Plymouth Weir. Shares a history with Madame Hydra (Ophelia Sarkissian).
BACKGROUND
He works out of his own private laboratory (built in 1964, he’d occupied it since 1969) located approximately two kilometres east of the Wardenclyffe (Tesla) Tower site (East Shoreham, Long Island, New York, 1/2 km south of North Country Road), located upon the same ‘Telluric Current’. Rumours have it that he was one of the driving forces behind turning the old Tesla facility into a museum after it was threatened with being demolished. His laboratory does not show up on Google Maps, courtesy of SHIELD and the lab itself is camouflaged to appear as nothing significant, it really isn’t, at least on the outside. On the inside of the airplane hanger sized building is treasure trove of devices reminiscent of a classic mad scientist setting. This is Rezanov’s abode, he even lives in the building most of the time, a small apartment set up in one of the corner lofts overlooking the results of his many years of work. Very few members of SHIELD were ever aware of the facility and he was able to purchase it outright from SHIELD in 1999.
He works out of his own private laboratory (built in 1964, he’d occupied it since 1969) located approximately two kilometres east of the Wardenclyffe (Tesla) Tower site (East Shoreham, Long Island, New York, 1/2 km south of North Country Road), located upon the same ‘Telluric Current’. Rumours have it that he was one of the driving forces behind turning the old Tesla facility into a museum after it was threatened with being demolished. His laboratory does not show up on Google Maps, courtesy of SHIELD and the lab itself is camouflaged to appear as nothing significant, it really isn’t, at least on the outside. On the inside of the airplane hanger sized building is treasure trove of devices reminiscent of a classic mad scientist setting. This is Rezanov’s abode, he even lives in the building most of the time, a small apartment set up in one of the corner lofts overlooking the results of his many years of work. Very few members of SHIELD were ever aware of the facility and he was able to purchase it outright from SHIELD in 1999.
WRITING SAMPLE
The bold notes of Alexander Abramsky’s piano concerto echoed through the shadowy warehouse as aged hands fervently tinkered with an archaic control panel. The machine, in fact everything surrounding it appeared to be conjured from the dreams of Jules Verne; perhaps they were so inspired… once upon a time. Rodion did not believe in scrapping things simply because they were old, especially when they were built right the first time.
Wiping the sweat from his grease stained brow, Rodion adjusted his light and studied the circuitry, a beautifully blended mishmash of old and new technology. He hummed along with the tune, blaring over the P.A. system but so attuned were his ears to every note that he was able to detect the faint anomaly. Slowly, it grew louder, the rhythmic clicks of hard soled shoes upon cement. He recognized the hard assed strut right away, a slight smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as they stopped behind him.
“Y’know, I could hook you up with some new shit. It just so happens I know a guy.” Badgered the all too familiar voice of Director Fury.
Continuing to concentrate on his repairs Rodion just laughed. “I don’t need any ten second technology around here.”, he snickered, knowing all too well whom the Director was talking about. Rezanov built things to last. They could be repaired easily and efficiently without having to scrap the bulk of it. The disposable gadgetry of the twenty first century while wondrous made him cringe and people who knew better didn’t want to get him started on automobiles.
Fury sauntered up to the monolithic machine brushing his gloved hand across the smooth black metal, eye curiously scanning the gothic mechanism. “Uh, huh. Well, no one can say you don’t have certain flare, G.E.”
Silence ensued as the director’s stare fell heavy on the scientist’s back. Rodion knew why he was here and had hoped to avoid the conversation but Fury wasn’t the kind of man one just gave a simple, ‘No’.
“So you wanna possibly enlighten me as to why one of my foremost authorities on electrical engineering up and flat out refused to follow a director order?” His tone was suddenly serious.
Rodion expelled a long, audible breath and slowly turned around to meet that harsh glare.
“I thought you of all people would jump at this opportunity. It could prove your theories, Rodion.”
“Then they would no longer be MY theories.” The older man countered.
Fury cocked his head. “So that’s what this is about? Ownership?”
“No, no.” Rezanov quickly assured him, “This about tampering with something we can’t even begin to understand.”
“Selvig’s willing to work with us.”
“Erik Selvig is a fool. He hasn’t the slightest idea what the ‘cube’ even is.”
“Then help us understand.”
Rodion could see that Fury was struggling to understand his point of view. In all the years they’d worked together he’d never disobeyed a direct order, until now. It was true that when he was first told about the artifact that he got caught up in the possibilities but after some sobering thoughts the answer became quite clear. “Nick,” he appealed to his friend, “it’s not meant for this world. You should send it back to where ever it came from.”
“I wish it was that simple.”
“Nothing of this magnitude ever is Nick.”
The bold notes of Alexander Abramsky’s piano concerto echoed through the shadowy warehouse as aged hands fervently tinkered with an archaic control panel. The machine, in fact everything surrounding it appeared to be conjured from the dreams of Jules Verne; perhaps they were so inspired… once upon a time. Rodion did not believe in scrapping things simply because they were old, especially when they were built right the first time.
Wiping the sweat from his grease stained brow, Rodion adjusted his light and studied the circuitry, a beautifully blended mishmash of old and new technology. He hummed along with the tune, blaring over the P.A. system but so attuned were his ears to every note that he was able to detect the faint anomaly. Slowly, it grew louder, the rhythmic clicks of hard soled shoes upon cement. He recognized the hard assed strut right away, a slight smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as they stopped behind him.
“Y’know, I could hook you up with some new shit. It just so happens I know a guy.” Badgered the all too familiar voice of Director Fury.
Continuing to concentrate on his repairs Rodion just laughed. “I don’t need any ten second technology around here.”, he snickered, knowing all too well whom the Director was talking about. Rezanov built things to last. They could be repaired easily and efficiently without having to scrap the bulk of it. The disposable gadgetry of the twenty first century while wondrous made him cringe and people who knew better didn’t want to get him started on automobiles.
Fury sauntered up to the monolithic machine brushing his gloved hand across the smooth black metal, eye curiously scanning the gothic mechanism. “Uh, huh. Well, no one can say you don’t have certain flare, G.E.”
Silence ensued as the director’s stare fell heavy on the scientist’s back. Rodion knew why he was here and had hoped to avoid the conversation but Fury wasn’t the kind of man one just gave a simple, ‘No’.
“So you wanna possibly enlighten me as to why one of my foremost authorities on electrical engineering up and flat out refused to follow a director order?” His tone was suddenly serious.
Rodion expelled a long, audible breath and slowly turned around to meet that harsh glare.
“I thought you of all people would jump at this opportunity. It could prove your theories, Rodion.”
“Then they would no longer be MY theories.” The older man countered.
Fury cocked his head. “So that’s what this is about? Ownership?”
“No, no.” Rezanov quickly assured him, “This about tampering with something we can’t even begin to understand.”
“Selvig’s willing to work with us.”
“Erik Selvig is a fool. He hasn’t the slightest idea what the ‘cube’ even is.”
“Then help us understand.”
Rodion could see that Fury was struggling to understand his point of view. In all the years they’d worked together he’d never disobeyed a direct order, until now. It was true that when he was first told about the artifact that he got caught up in the possibilities but after some sobering thoughts the answer became quite clear. “Nick,” he appealed to his friend, “it’s not meant for this world. You should send it back to where ever it came from.”
“I wish it was that simple.”
“Nothing of this magnitude ever is Nick.”
