[PLAYER INFO]
NAME: Rea
AGE: 18
JOURNAL:
animeglIM: NearTheHeart
E-MAIL: animeglChuunin@hotmail.com
RETURNING: N/A
[CHARACTER INFO]
CHARACTER NAME: Apollo. He doesn’t remember his real name and doesn’t have a secret identity.
FANDOM: Wildstorm’s The Authority
CHRONOLOGY: End of Revolution Issue 6
CLASS: Hero
SUPERHERO NAME: Apollo
ALTER EGO: Doesn’t have one.
BACKGROUND:
When it comes to Apollo’s past, there’s only roughly a decade or so that he has memories of. Anything before that was lost when he signed up to be a human experiment for a man named Henry Bendix. Bendix was the original “Weatherman” who led the team Stormwatch, a United Nations sponsored team of super people. Unfortunately, Bendix was also a complete psychopath who one day decided he wanted to make his very own team of super humans to use for his own purposes. Thus he created the team Stormwatch Zero by taking a handful of ordinary people and performing gruesome surgeries on them that gave them powers. The only downside is that once they stepped into their new roles as super humans, they lost all memory of their previous lives and all info on them was destroyed. Apollo was given the codename ‘Apollo’ and so that’s who he became. He was given the leadership position of Stormwatch Zero and led the team on their first mission, which turned out to be a suicide mission designed by their creator, because there’s nothing more Bendix enjoys more than messing with people. The whole team-with the exception of Apollo and The Midnighter- were killed on that mission and with nowhere to go, the two of them went on the run, knowing Bendix would be gunning for them.
Fast forward five years and we find Apollo and The Midnighter, still on the run, and fighting crime as they go in an effort to better the world. Somewhere during that time the two of them become lovers, but it’s never really mentioned. They end up tracking a weapons smuggling job to the Nevada Gardens right around the time the new Stormwatch team-now not run by Bendix-track them down and bring them into their base. The team tells them that Bendix was now dead and that they no longer had to be on the run, but could be given new identities and live like regular civilians. They take the deal and have a peaceful-if brief-retirement period.
But all that is disrupted when Jenny Sparks-spirit of the 20th century and ex-Stormwatch black ops leader-pays them a visit and convinces them to join her newly founded team The Authority. They are joined by two other ex Stormwatch members, Jack Hawksmoor and Shen Li-Min “Swift” as well as two newbies, Angie Spica “The Engineer” and Jeoren Thorndike “The Doctor”. The team is immediately thrust into a battle against a dictator Kaizen Gamorra, who had turned China into a rape camp and was planning world domination next. Their ability to work together and listen to Jenny’s orders was a bit shaky at first, especially when Apollo decided to charge straight at the force field Gamorra put up around his empire, causing Jeroen to use his abilities to stop him from going splat. But they were able to pull together and defeat Gamorra without a lot of fuss. And they continued do the same during other missions until the century drew to a close and with it Jenny Spark’s life.
Apollo and his teammates didn’t have much of a chance to grieve for the loss of their leader, as the spirit of the 21th century was born in the form of a baby girl in Singapore and her life was in great demand for anyone who wanted to use her to shape the century to their liking. One such individual was Dr. Krigstein, who made his own team of super people to combatant the Authority and steal the baby. The Authority is initially defeated and sent back home to lick their wounds. It’s also implied that Apollo was raped by the team leader, but I generally like to forget that because it was so horribly done and just…really bad. But of course the Authority regroups and goes back for more, taking out Krigstein’s team and taking the baby back. They also come to realize that they like Krigstein’s ideas about how the world should be and give him a job instead of kicking his butt.
Then some stuff happens when the government decides they don’t like the Authority and replace them with a team of horrible, homophobic, racist, and all around intolerable assholes. The Authority members are taken prisoner and in Apollo’s case hung up like a punching bag to be knocked around, all but the baby, named Jenny Quantum now, and the Midnighter. Some time passes where Apollo is led to believe that Midnighter is dead, that is until he breaks into their base and saves Apollo and the other members of the team. Needless to say they kill their replacements and the government learns not to mess with them. Soon after Apollo and the Midnighter get married and adopt Jenny Q.
Now, I’d like to point out that even by team book standards, Apollo tends to be the most underutilized member of the team and thus, not a lot of stuff in particular happens to him that would suggest character growth of any kind. There are issues and issues of storylines that focus on the team kicking ass and Apollo being the team’s “big gun”, but aside from that he’s either just there to be there or to be Midnighter’s better half. And it’s because of this that I’m not going to summarize every other team storyline that happens. Needless to say they all follow a similar pattern.
What is relevant though is that at some point the Authority get sick of the U.S. government and decide to just run the country themselves. This leads to a lot of hate and hurt feelings, both from the politicians and the American people. But they’re the Authority so they don’t really care. Until a group of super humans pop up and begin leading a revolt against them that is. Turns out their hate club is lead by a bunch of super people who were famous from fighting in World War II and were somehow de-aged back to their youth. Their leader how the power of charisma, which is basically the ability to give great speeches and have everyone agree with you, and he was able to use that to rally the U.S. citizens to his side. Basically, there was a huge final battle between the two teams, a lot of people were killed, and the Authority was blamed for it. Also, Midnighter was given some bad news from an older, future Apollo, who told him he needed to break up the team. And so he did by leaving the team to deal with the fall out that eventually split them apart.
Three years later, Apollo is living in San Francisco with Jenny Q and raising her alone. He’s had no contact with the Midnighter and only minimal contact with the other team members. A year previous Jeroen died by overdose and Jenny Q wanted to rally the team together to visit his grave on the anniversary of his death. The team was a no show, leaving only Apollo and Jenny Q. While visiting the grave, Jenny got the great idea to use her powers and visit the Ancestral Garden, a heaven like place where the Doctors go when they die, and visit Jeroen. But she’s told that Jeroen isn’t there and that the previous Doctor didn’t even know he was dead. Jenny goes back to the grave site and tells a worried Apollo what she’d learned.
PERSONALITY:
Apollo is probably the nicest and most normal of all his teammates. And by nice I don’t mean that he’s less likely to let a criminal walk away without at least some permanent damage or that’s he’s more forgiving, because when it comes to the people they fight, Apollo doesn’t give a damn if they’re sorry or are planning to build an orphanage with their bare hands to repent for their crimes. What he knows is that they did terrible things and now they’re going to suffer the consequences. Like a majority of the team, Apollo sees in very black and white terms. There’s the innocent and then there’s the people who try to corrupt the innocent and they must be punished. But it’s also important to mention that Apollo is the least vengeful of the team. Sure he’ll get angry at times but he’s not one to prolong someone’s suffering. He prefers to kill them quickly but not necessarily painlessly.
But, going back to my first point, Apollo is a nice guy. He gets along with people and makes them feel comfortable. He’s considerate and a good person to go to when you want to talk or vent or hang out with someone. He knows how to handle the most difficult of people, the Midnighter being the best example, and he’s a caring friend, father, and husband. But he also has a sarcastic streak a mile wide and the worst of situations doesn’t keep him from cracking jokes about it. For example he once flew through a storm of flaming pieces of sun while carrying a full airplane of people and cracked jokes about being the Apollo Airline. He’s that kind of guy.
Some of Apollo’s biggest flaws are a border line superiority complex if not a total complex and the fact that he can be eerily calm at times. For the complex, it’s something I believe the entire Authority has to some extent because they believe that they should be able to do whatever they want as long as they are making the world a better place. This includes taking over a country and threatening their way to a peaceful solution. As for Apollo’s crazy level of calm, he tends to be very chill in the most dangerous and bloody of situations. A good explanation would probably be that he’s seen so much death and destruction that he’s just completely desensitized to it, but that’s not always a good thing because it stops him from feeling the amount of horror he should when dealing with the kind of people he fights. It ceases to mean anything more than just another day on the job.
Apollo is very self aware. He never tries to be something he’s not and he’ll never try to justify his actions falsely. He knows that people hate the way they work and he knows that the methods they use are sometimes unorthodox and very like that of a bully forcing people to do what they want. They’re bastards and Apollo recognizes that and will admit it. But as long as they are fighting for a better world, Apollo believes he and his team are in the right. And that’s the one thing he wants the most-to create a finer world. A world without killing or fear or the rich abusing the poor or the strong trampling the weak. It’s what he’s fighting for. It’s what he’s always fought for and it’s what he will continue to fight for. And he won’t shed any tears for anyone they have to walk over to reach their goal.
Aside from his goals of making the world a better place, Apollo lives for his family. He’s known the Midnighter for all of the life that he remembers and he’s pretty much Apollo’s best friend. They’re partners in every sense of the word and he loves the Midnighter more than anything. And then there’s their daughter Jenny Q. Apollo has always been very affectionate towards her, carrying her on his shoulders, taking her for flights around the world, he’s the parent that Jenny Q can always count on. Not that the Midnighter is a bad father, he just tends to be at war with himself a lot of the time and Apollo, as stated before, is the one with all the people skills.
A few random things about Apollo are that he spends his free time watching loads of TV which includes Friends marathons and he tends to rant about how Hollywood takes good ideas and then buries then with other crap. Plus he likes abusing the Midnighter’s ears with Doris Day music. Also, the only thing he’s ever had a nightmare about is Henry Bendix and the experiments that were done on him.
POWER:
Apollo lives by absorbing solar energy into his body. It’s basically his life force. He needs to get a lot of direct sunlight in order to stay alive. If he stays in doors too long and/or uses too much of his energy at a time, it could kill him. But his solar energy does have a few perks. For example he’s able to shoot solar energy out of his eyes and mouth to burn enemies to a crisp. But it uses a lot of energy and can’t always be relied on, especially when he’s running low on juice. The solar energy also works as a type of healing factor. But again, it’s only effective if he’s stored up the proper amount of energy. He can also do stuff like get in direct contact with the sun and swim through lakes of lava and live.
He can also fly really, really fast. So fast that it’s said he can fly around the world in thirty seconds. It’s his preferred mode of transportation and he uses it a lot, especially for quick trips up to the sun for a fast charge. He also has super strength and has been seen carrying planes and towering buildings.
[CHARACTER SAMPLES]
COMMUNITY POST (FIRST PERSON) SAMPLE: [The video kicks on to show a man in his late thirties, with shoulder length white hair and very blue eyes. His expression carries the impression of amusement, like being abducted and tossed into an alternate world is something he faces daily and isn’t really something that warrants worry. And in this case, the impression would be right. He grins at the screen, seemingly totally relaxed. Only someone who is very close to him would notice the way his shoulders seem to tense up or how his smile seems a bit strained around the corners.]
I can’t really say much about that lady computer, but she sure leaves one hell of an impression. Does she greet everyone by throwing a communication device and dog tags at them and sending them on their merry way? I don’t want to think I’m getting any special treatment or something.
[He leans forward a bit, grin still in place, like the situation was getting more amusing by the minute.] So, I take it this place is in need of heroes. I get that. But how hard up does a place get that it drags in retired ones? I mean, I’m flattered and all, but I was kind of hoping my retirement might stick this time. [Not completely true, but his audience, whoever they are, didn’t need to know that.]
But for curiosity’s sake, how does this work anyways? Is it like the military and we have tours of duty? Or is it a little more…permanent. [He pauses, considering his next words. The grin is noticeably gone now.] Because if it’s the later, that won’t do at all. I have somewhere more important to be and I don’t have time to be some computer bitch’s prisoner.
[He’s silent for a moment, letting his words sink in before he’s all smiles again.] So, I guess this is where I’m supposed to introduce myself. Hi, I’m Apollo. It’s nice to meet you all.
LOGS POST (THIRD PERSON) SAMPLE: To say Apollo was unimpressed with the situation would be an understatement. Alternate universes, people from other worlds, it’s all stuff he’s been through one too many times to count. When you spent your off time traveling through the Bleed you lose your ability to be surprised by anything. The only problem is, he’s never been unable to leave before. On the Carrier all he needed to do was say “Door” and he could be anywhere he wanted. Not so much now. Besides, all that was firmly in the past now anyways, he’d hung up his uniform and found a job a little more important to him, but way harder. Raising his daughter Jenny. She was what he had left. The Authority was over-scattered-his husband was god knows where, and the world moved on fine without them. So, while being stuck in an alternate universe would be unusual in the past, it irritated him all the more because he couldn’t leave and be with his daughter.
Jenny was smart and wise beyond her age, but she was only eight and still-Apollo hoped anyways-needed looking after. She’d already had one dad bail on her, and Apollo didn’t want to rub salt in the wound. But he’d been here for three days already and was no closer to going home than when he got here. Whatever damage would be done has been dealt already. He just hoped she’d be able to forgive him. At least he could count on Angie and Jack to look after her while he was gone.
He got up from where he’d been laying spread eagle across the bed and went to the window. He had a pretty decent view of the city and all the lit up signs. He pressed his forehead to the glass and just stared out at the city. Maybe if he gave that computer bitch what she wanted he’d be able to get out early for good behavior. All he had to do was be a hero. That shouldn’t be too hard.
FINAL NOTES ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER:
Nope.