Blackstar
In 1974, James Carson was a postgraduate physics student employed by Teknosis Enterprises as an assistant researcher. He would have counted himself lucky to get the job, since his theories about gravity were largely mocked by his colleagues and mentors, except that he found that he got little if any respect from his coworkers. The jerks even had the temerity to throw a staff party where he was crowned 'most likely to become a mad scientist and declare he'll show us all"! Then and there he resolved that he would indeed show them all, but he was smart enough not to say anything of the sort.
He soon found an opportunity when an elderly scientist at Teknosis developed a mechanism that could alter a creature's density from near-intangibility to hyperdensity. Believing that he could use this device, Carson broke into the laboratory where it was kept and began experimenting with its settings. The inventor arrived in the lab not long after Carson began doing so, and in the scuffle that followed Carson struck the old man so hard that he died. With nothing left to lose, Carson seized the notes on the device and subjected himself to its bombardment, hoping to turn intangible so that he could escape from the laboratory before security came.
To his considerable astonishment, after he made his escape, Carson found that he was able to return himself to normal density with an act of will, and turn intangible in the same way, or increase his density. It seems likely that he had some latent mutations which the device activated, a theory that might be confirmed by the fact that his neice,
Beatrice Smart, developed similar powers without being subjected to any unusual radiations. All that Carson knew was that suddenly he had superpowers, which meant that the world was now his oyster.
He was particularly thrilled by the way that he could make himself stronger than any of the bullies who'd ever picked on him as a child would ever have grown up to be, and spent the weeks that followed his empowerment working out, so that he was in the best shape of his life even without increasing his muscular density. That accomplished, he devised a costume and embarked on what he hoped would be a reign of terror as Blackstar, the human black hole.
On his very first job, Blackstar ran into Binder and Plasmoid, and fought the pair of them for the right to strike the same target. He was overmatched fighting against Plasmoid, of course, but Binder decided that he liked the cut of the other man's jib and invited him to join forces, making the duo into a trio. Secretly relieved to be out of that fight, Blackstar soon found himself running into a better class of opponent. Finding this thrilling, he often kept right on fighting long after the other Ultimates had accomplished their goals and were ready to depart, a critical weakness that got him thrown in jail, in need of a rescue from his teammates.
However, he hadn't totally devolved into dumb muscle. Under Binder's supervision, Blackstar continued to experiment with his powers, developing new ways to use his control over mass and gravity. He learned how to shift the virtual mass that he used to strengthen himself onto other peoples, slowing and even paralyzing them, and how to manipulate objects at a distance. Perhaps his greatest accomplishment was figuring out how to warp space time so that he could teleport from one location to another, facilitating a number of the Ultimates' more subtle crimes.
These complicated manipulations of matter were employed rather directly by "the Ultimate", without regards for Blackstar's wishes in the matter. While he didn't freak out about this as badly as Slick did, it was still a pretty serious blow to his self-esteem. In the end, the team was no more, and Blackstar found himself on his own. He had been paying attention to the news, noting how superheroes were getting more and more dangerous these days. Without the support of his teammates, he wasn't sure that he could keep up. So he surrendered to the authorities, was tried, and packed off to Stronghold for an extended sentence.
(He was actually surprised that he didn't get a life sentence or the chamber, considering the murder. But when he asked his lawyer about it, the attorney seemed bewildered. The scientist that Carson thought he'd killed had reported for work the next day in perfect health, and died of old age six years later. Now Blackstar was the bewildered one, but it was something of a relief.)
He did his time patiently, availing himself of educational resources to finish his science degree and study for an education diploma as well. When he finally got out, twenty years later, he managed to find a job teaching high school physics at a public school in Bay City that was desperate enough for educators to overlook his record.
It would be a mistake to think that Carson has turned good. He's still a cruel, arbitrary teacher who secretly uses his powers to "punish" students who commit the crime of annoying him. He messes up the kids' experiments so that he can give them bad grades, he takes great pleasure in crushing the dreams of students with an interest in science, and takes every opportunity to show up the school's jocks. But he's no longer interested in blatant criminality.
However ... given the increasing lack of support for public schools, Carson may soon find himself out of a job, and be forced to revert to old patterns of behavior out of necessity, despite his awareness that he's a long way from his best days. Or perhaps he might make a new role for himself as the mentor to a group of younger villains ... or even a group of young antiheroes.
Blackstar (c. 1987) -- PL 11
STR 4 |
STA 5 |
AGL 4 |
DEX 3 |
FGT 6 |
INT 1 |
AWE 1 |
PRE 4
Powers: Density Control (Array: Growth 10, Density Increase AND Impervious Toughness 15, AP: Insubstantial 4 AND Enhanced Defenses 15 [Dodge 8, Parry 7], AP: Ranged Cumulative Affliction 8 [Resisted by Fortitude; Hindered and Vulnerable, Defenseless and Immobile], Concentration, Extra Condition, Limited Degree, AP: Perception Range Move Object 11, Subtle),
Spacewarp (Accurate Easy Extended Teleport 6, Increased Mass 3).
Advantages: All-Out Attack, Improved Grab, Power Attack, Takedown
Skills: Close Combat: Unarmed 1 (+7), Expertise: Science 4 (+5), Expertise: Streetwise 4 (+5), Insight 4 (+5), Intimidation 12 (+16), Perception 6 (+7), Ranged Attack: Mass Drop 9 (+12).
Offense: Initiative +4, Unarmed (Min Density) +7 (Close Damage 4), Unarmed (Max Density) +7 (Close Damage 15), Mass Drop +12 (Ranged Fortitude 8).
Defense: Dodge 15/7, Parry 14/7, Fortitude (Min Density) 8/(Max Density) 18, Toughness (Min Density) 5/(Max Density) 15, Will 4.
Totals: Abilities 56 + Powers 71 + Advantages 4 + Skills 20 + Defenses 10 = 161 points
Complications: Thrills--Motivation. Afraid of Heights.
James Carson (2017) -- PL 7
STR 1 |
STA 2 |
AGL 1 |
DEX 0 |
FGT 2 |
INT 2 |
AWE 1 |
PRE 2
Powers: Density Control (Array: Growth 10, Density Increase AND Impervious Toughness 12, AP: Insubstantial 4 AND Enhanced Defenses 12 [Dodge 6, Parry 6], AP: Ranged Cumulative Affliction 8 [Resisted by Fortitude; Hindered and Vulnerable, Defenseless and Immobile], Concentration, Extra Condition, Limited Degree, AP: Perception Range Move Object 10, Subtle),
Spacewarp (Accurate Easy Extended Teleport 4)
Advantages: None.
Skills: Close Combat: Unarmed 1 (+3), Expertise: Science 6 (+8), Expertise: Streetwise 2 (+4), Expertise: Teacher 4 (+6), Insight 4 (+5), Intimidation 8 (+10), Perception 6 (+7), Ranged Attack: Mass Drop 3 (+3).
Offense: Initiative +1, Unarmed (Min Density) +3 (Close Damage 1), Unarmed (Max Density) +3 (Close Damage 11), Mass Drop +3 (Ranged Fortitude 8).
Defense: Dodge 8/2, Parry 8/2, Fortitude (Min Density) 3/(Max Density) 13, Toughness (Min Density) 2/(Max Density) 12, Will 1.
Totals: Abilities 22 + Powers 55 + Advantages 0 + Skills 17 + Defenses 2 = 96 points
Complications: Pettiness--Motivation. Responsibility (job).
Afraid of Heights.