Born Walter Corrigan in 1936, the Omnivore has had one of the longest supervillain careers in the history of the United States -- though this claim ignores certain alleged immortals who, in some cases, have had careers that predated the existence of the United States. An enemy of both the original and the second Captain Mystic, he is also one of the very few criminals to have survived an encounter with Stardust, though he was a very long time healing the injuries he suffered in that unequal battle. In the current era, he has often fought Paragon, but has been hired to fight a variety of other superheroes, though he has a bad reputation for turning on his employers and trying to seize control of their organizations, if any.
The full details of Omnivore's origin remain classified by the U.S. Department of Defense, but the basics are well-known, based on statements from the man himself and detective work by various superheroes. In 1965, a project was developed with the intention of duplicating the series of events that were believed to have been the cause of Stardust's transformation into a super-being. Walter Corrigan, a former sergeant in the United States army who'd been given a life sentence for the murder of his wife (spared the death penalty only because his wife had been caught in the middle of adultery) was offered the opportunity for a pardon if he survived the experiment. Having nothing to lose, he accepted.
Strapped to a rocket engine and bombarded with an artificial version of the strange radiation encountered by Stardust's rocket, the resultant explosion failed to destroy Corrigan's body, and he did emerge with superhuman powers. They were not those of Stardust, however, but rather an ability to drain the powers of other super-beings and use their energies for Corrigan's own purposes. The official report states that he immediately went mad with power and wrecked the base before fleeing into the desert where the experiment took place. Other accounts suggest that he was first offered the opportunity to become a super-powered agent of the U.S. government, which made him laugh and then wreck the base and flee.
Never permanently imprisoned, the Omnivore, as he dubbed himself, nevertheless found himself running out of enemies on whom he could exercise his predatory habits by the 1980s. While very powerful even without stolen energies, he came to the realization that he was addicted to the surge of power theft. To his dubious credit, he was able to recognize that he had a problem, and made a genuine effort to free himself of this addiction, if only so that he could continue to function as an effective criminal. The rise of the second Captain Mystic interrupted this attempt at sobriety, but when he emerged from prison after their fight and found that shed'd fled Earth out of terror of him (as he saw it) he started again.
While he has never fully succeeded in freeing himself of the addiction, he has discovered different ways to use his stolen energies. While unable to channel them in his own body except to increase his already great strength and endurance, the Omnivore can employ them to bestow lesser version of the powers he steals on other people. He generally uses this talent on hired minions or subordinate supervillains to create the false impression that they are the ones who've stolen the powers of a local superhero, who'll summon aid so that he can prey on them, as well. He's pulled this trick a few times, with good results, and might experiment with other ways to redirect stolen energies in the future.
In as much as his cycle of addiction and recovery allows him to have goals beyond self-satisfaction and self-denial, the Omnivore dreams of a future where all other superhumans in the world are imprisoned in a facility under his control, with him draining their abilities so that they can do nothing, and leaving him with no meaningful opposition so that he can do whatever he pleases to whomever he pleases. Consequently, he will never deliberately kill another superhuman, since he wants all of them to serve as his food supply. But no mundane human is even remotely safe from him, and he views himself as a god who kills mortals for his sport.
While he has not aged appreciably since 1966, it's not entirely clear whether he has completely stopped aging. Especially after he has resisted the urge to steal powers for some time, he has seemed significantly older as well as weaker, but always returns to full health and vitality after he gives in to the urge. Just what his transformation has done to his lifespan remains to be seen.
Omnivore -- PL 13
Abilities:
STR 18/13 | STA 17/12 | AGL 1 | DEX 0 | FGT 6 | INT 1 | AWE 2 | PRE 3
Powers:
Might: Linked Enhanced Stamina 5 and Enhanced Strength 5, Limited to after successful power theft; Immunity 16 (life support, need for sleep, radiation damage); Leaping 12; Impervious Toughness 12 - 50 points
Power Boost: Variable 10, Affects Others Only at Perception Range, Limited to powers nullified within the previous hour - 80 points
Power Theft: Perception Range Nullify 13, Sustained, Very Broad (any non-technological power) - 78 points
Advantages:
Fearless 2, Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Startle
Skills:
Close Combat: Unarmed 2 (+8), Expertise: Criminal 8 (+9), Intimidation 8 (+11), Perception 8 (+10), Ranged Combat: Throwing 8 (+8).
Offense:
Initiative +1
Unarmed +8 (Close Damage 18 or 13)
Power Theft -- (Perception Range Will 13 or Power Rank 13)
Defense:
Dodge 6, Parry 9, Fortitude 17/12, Toughness 17/12, Will 8
Totals:
Abilities 76 + Powers 208 + Avantages 5 + Skills 17 + Defenses 14 = 320 points
Complications:
Power--Motivation. Addicted to Power Theft (becomes progressively Impaired, Disabled and Incapacitated if he goes without doing so). Reputation (fearsome opponent).
