Real
Name: Sean Patrick Kelly
Age: 18
Physical Appearance:
Sean is slightly above average in height, and has a wiry frame that
speaks
of functional muscle rather than decorative. 'Blessed' with fair skin
and
a shock of red hair from his Irish heritage, he appears very north-west
European. And although he was born in Ireland, the vast majority of his
life has been spent in Canada and so he has only the barest trace of an
accent.
His appearance as Redcap has evolved since joining the Vindicators, most especially due to access to more custom-designed technology. His current outfit is a dark suit of flexible, segmented armour designed to prevent the penetration of small arms fire, with a tactical belt for loose belongings and a visored helmet in his trademark red.
History: Sean was born in Ireland, eldest child of parents so Irish that their ancestry can only be called Gaelic. Shortly after Sean's first birthday, however, his parents decided that the current political climate in their homeland was perhaps too inclement to raise a child in -- they had a severe allergy to lead, you see, and didn't want any small bits of it impacting them at high velocities.
Hence, Sean grew up in a more or less typically Canadian household, although the English there spoken carried a great deal more of an accent than many. As well as his parents and himself, the family brought out his maternal grandmother, Nana Hannah, as well, and she provided the small family both child care when both parents had work, and instruction in their national heritage through the thousands of tales of Irish folklore she regaled Sean with.
Not quite two years later Sean's younger brother, Cormac Thomas, was added to the family. When in his early years it was discovered that Cormac was functionally deaf, the O'Kelly's -- now merely 'Kelly' to not stand out to such a degree -- regrouped and moved forward, making what accommodations were necessary within the household and learning sign language.
Not quite a year ago, he and several other adolescents stumbled upon the old headquarters of the Science Squad, a super team based in Vancouver in the seventies. In a series of bizarre incidents several of them acquired power through old experiments or trophies left behind, and the rest took up technological gear to form their own, junior hero team – the Neo-Phyters.
After a few rather public incidents, the Neo-Phyters disbanded, some to stop heroing altogether, others being absorbed as junior members of the Vindicators. Sean has done his best to fit into this globe-spanning organization, but he’s feeling that he’s failing to measure up to the high standards of his companions.....
Personality: Lacking the typical 'jock' attitude, and without a great number of friends -- despite the potential to be 'popular' due to his athleticism -- Sean tends to be stoutly loyal to those he does have, and is more than willing to show off the fiery temper that redheads and the Irish both are reputed to have. Which has, of course, gotten him into trouble before on more than one occasion.
He was inspired to call himself Redcap in honour of his Nana's tales, the Fae warriors who dip their hats in the blood of their enemies. Not that he himself has any interest in such a...barbaric...practice, but since he comes with a built in 'red cap', he felt that it wouldn't be necessary.
Feeling the pressures of having to be an adult rather earlier than he’d expected, Sean tries his best to be mature and responsible, and often worries that he’s letting people down, whether he is or not.
Powers/Skills:
An indifferent scholar, Sean has mid-level grades more through a bit of
natural aptitude than through any real amount of applying himself to
his
studies. He's a big fan of the 'behind the scenes' crime shows -- the
CSIs,
NCIS, Super Forensics -- and while has absolutely no forensic training
himself, he can recognize most of the jargon and is even aware of the
methodology
behind some of the simpler tasks and procedures.
Due to dealing with his hearing-impaired younger brother, Sean is fairly fluent with ASL and can communicate quite well when required.
Formerly on the school's football team, he's become practiced at team tactics, agile movement, and learning somewhat to bear up through the pain.
Possessing mid-range super strength but lacking any comparable super resilience, Sean risks significant physical trauma with every unwary action. Fortunately for him, he also has a phenomenal regeneration factor, apparently able to heal anything short of decapitation or total brain destruction. Bruises have no chance to form, open cuts heal in a breath, bone breakages repair themselves in under a minute, and limbs and organs regenerate within minutes.
Not to say that he can't be incapacitated, of course -- he still feels the pain of his injuries, often enough in and of itself to stun him, and brain-rattling blows to the head can render him unconscious. Not to mention the simple expedient of dismemberment to keep him out of the action.
The disparity between strength and mass means he can propel himself moderate distances through prodigious leaps -- however, he does risk significant physical trauma, resulting in his reserving such maneuvers for emergency situations. The addition of his new reinforced armour means he can make moderate leaps and unleash fairly hefty blows without risking serious harm to himself. What this will mean for his capabilities is yet left to be seen.
Equipment: Upon realizing the limits of his new abilities, Sean searched the Squad base for some sort of protective armour that would prevent him from injuring himself quite so severely. Unfortunately, he uncovered nothing that would really fit -- and had no means by which to alter the unusually high tech -- but a small consolation was the pair of light armoured gauntlets he scavenged from an otherwise ill-fitting suit of body armour. A set of adapted hydraulic leg braces were later added to allow for safer leaps and falls, but proved insufficient to handle the stress of his actions.
His current equipment list reads much more superheroically than his early days. A suit of flexible, segmented armour protects his limbs and torso, providing protection against small arms fire, teeth, claws, blades, and to some extent a variety of energy discharges. His head is protected with a light helmet, which is fitted with a visor that provides polarization and light enhancement at need, and a built-in digital zoom of up to 10x. The heavy forearms of the armour hold flattened throwing irons – a depleted uranium core sheathed in a layer of lead, capped with a shell of tungsten steel – that are released, spinning, when he snaps his arm out straight. The armour resists force and impact with a proportionate rigidity, largely preventing tissue and bone damage both from blows received and dealt, or from the impact of landing after a leap.It does leave him prone to being totally incapacitated with the application of sufficient force over a large enough portion of his body, however.