Kerzap 'Vex' Thudd

Full Name: Kerzap Thudd
Nickname(s): Gremlin
Codename: Vex
Other Alias(es): N/A
Age: 47
Race: Gremlin
Alignment: Neutral Good
Affiliation: Project Sentinel (Former)



Hair Color: N/A
Eye Color: Yellow
Gender: Male
Weight: 80lbs
Height: 4'1”
Other Traits: Being a gremlin, Kerzap has orangey-brown chitinous skin, long bat-like ears, four claws on his hands, three claws on his feet, a stubby tail, and rows of canines for teeth.



Powers:

Gremlin Traits – The key advantages a gremlin has over a human are as follows: better vision in low-light, higher jump capacity, wall climbing capability, sensitive hearing, and the ability to survive at high altitudes (resistant to pressure and low oxygen conditions).

All gremlins have a natural aptitude to mechanical engineering and can be considered experts in the subject. They feel a deep attunement to machines in the same way a garden-variety fairy would feel to the forest. This extends to a limited form of cyber-empathy.

Skills:

Mechanical Engineering Expert
Communications Specialist
Security Systems Specialist
Skilled Hacker
Skilled Saboteur
Inventor

Equipment:

Kerzap 'Saboteur' Harness – Over the years Kerzap has built up a mechanical suit which he not only uses on missions, but also in the day-to-day drudgery of life. He is rarely seen outside the harness and as a result suffers from bad personal hygiene. It is a full-body suit and the head has an exaggerated toothy-grin painted onto it. It is composed primarily of copper alloys (bronze, brass, etc), nickel silver, and lithium. The capabilities of the suit are as follows:

Helmet – Contains gas mask that filters particles in the air and analyses them. Central H.U.D. can record and play-back images and sounds – the former capable of being projected. It also allows the operator to see in thermal and electromagnetic vision. The audio receptors augment Kerzap's higher hearing capacity so that he may easily hear conversations several rooms over if directed correctly. The antennae attached to the back allows him to intercept wireless transmissions, while onboard software allows him to try and tap into these signals. A hijacked transmission can be strengthened, rerouted, or jammed.

Mitts – Armour-plating and friction pads over claws allow for easier and sustained wall-crawling. An electrical charge can be generated through the palms for purposes of overloading a machine or else zapping an enemy. Placed either side of a skull it would cause unconsciousness. Inside both wrists are flexible cables that allow for upload or download from his onboard computer.

Geographical Positioning Drive – The GPD allows Kerzap to teleport to any inset coordinates via atomic replication. The harness is capable of inputting this data automatically for any location in line-of-sight. For anything outside these parameters Kerzap uses data from satellite positioning to locate his desired arrival. If the location in question is occupied by solid matter the harness will simply prevent the transfer from going ahead by returning Kerzap to his point of origin. If liquids have room to displace then it will allow teleportation into them. This transfer is effectively instant.

Forcefield – An electromagnetically generated dome that can block a force of 1 ton before failure. While it is up it also acts as a Faraday cage to electromagnetic attacks. Kerzap can also use the inherent forces to effectively float three feet off the ground while active. It will not zap people who come into contact with it. It may mould around some physical obstructions so as not to prevent Kerzap from using doorways or interacting with computers.

In addition to this the armour also houses a number of conventional tools such as wire cutters and a screwdriver.

Physical Weaknesses:

The key disadvantages gremlins have are as follows: short of stature, allergic to direct contact with iron, piercingly loud sounds, and a higher susceptibility to conditions caused by bright sunlight.

As a fae creature there are wards which can be used to repel his kind.

Hacking isn't magic. It takes time, the correct software, and sometimes direct access to the terminal.

Due to a gremlin's aversion to iron, the Saboteur Harness largely excludes materials with traces of the element. As a result the suit isn't very durable and it doesn't take much to penetrate its shell.

While gremlins have an affinity for machines, they do not directly control them. Any technopath or AI will easily overpower Kerzap.

Since he relies on sensory input from machines, his readouts can be fooled by things eyesight would catch.

The GPD relies on satellite access to teleport places unseen since even preset coordinates need to account for orbital drift and other such factors. Therefore, Kerzap can't do this while jammed or in satellite black-zones. Sometimes there will simply be no satellite over an area he wishes to go and he will have to wait for it to drift into position. He cannot teleport other people with him. If an area has flooded he could find himself drowning. Teleporting onto moving targets (e.g. vehicles) is impossible. There requires several seconds of cool-down between teleportations.

Once broken through, his forcefield circuits will overheat and be useless for at least half an hour. If the forcefield is not up then his equipment is susceptible to EMPs. Since this forcefield will mould around solid obstructions it is sometimes possible to get around it by travelling through these. For instance, if he was in Japan, someone could jump through a paper door he was stood too close to, to bypass the dome.

He can only use the forcefield to float if there is ground.

Mental Weaknesses:

Suffers from paranoid delusions centred around distrust of the establishment. Very isolationist and has anti-social tendencies.

When it comes to issues of corporate greed and suppressed innovation Kerzap has been known to slip from the side of good in order to avenge himself on the wrongdoers.



Personality:

Driven by a crusade against technological theft, monopoly, and suppression – Kerzap is the terror of any corporation who deals in these. A paranoid and a recluse. He has a big problem with plagiarism and false accreditation. He is loathe to share the secrets of his technology, even when it is obviously beneficial to do so. He can not abide surveillance being used against him and values his privacy. He is slow to trust and slower still to forgive.

Due to his misanthropy and natural affinity, Kerzap will give identity and personality to machines. Those that he has spent a long time with he will develop a relationship for. A great engineer, he can build most anything he has the specs for. His mechanical empathy makes him a great saboteur as he instinctively knows what screw to twist to bring the whole device crashing down.

Kerzap is most comfortable whilst working on a problem. He is observant, due in part to his paranoia, and highly intelligent. He is proud of his gremlin heritage and has great respect for his forefathers. Kerzap prefers subterfuge and ambush tactics over direct confrontation.

While he conducts himself in an honest and upstanding fashion, sometimes the injustices of society cause him to go down a darker path. When it comes to his crusade, he can have a one-tracked mind and care little for casualties. He often regrets this later.

Likes:

Machines
Ancestors
Privacy
Sabotage
Due Credit

Dislikes:

Plagiarism
Trade Secrets
Magic
Showers
Sunny Weather
People withholding food from him after midnight

Interests/Habits:

Rarely seen outside his suit.
Will tap any errant communications, especially of allies.
Enjoys pointing out what inventions weren't human-born.
A delicacy to gremlins is the glue found on the back of postage stamps.



Country of Origin:

California, America

History:

Throughout history gremlins have been disenfranchised. Their first great contribution to the world was that of aviation. They developed the technology for sustained flight and shared it with humans. In response, the humans took the accolade for themselves. Gremlin involvement was written entirely out of the history books. This was a growing trait in their dealings with mankind and so they gradual grew to distrust and hate humans. Instead of helping them, gremlins began to destroy the machines they had once designed. They caused the abrupt mechanical failures in devices that are now par for the course of everyday life. Were it not for gremlins, contraptions would last three times as long.

Kerzap was raised in this culture of resentment. He was a reclusive child and not at all boisterous like the majority of gremlins. He could not bring himself to believe all humans were bad. He had idealistic visions of a world shared equally between all races. With recognition fairly attributed.

His downfall began when his mother fell ill with a degenerative disease. She was slowly losing her faculties and ability to control motor function. The illness was similar to one that affected humans. Medicine not being his field of expertise, Kerzap was forced to turn to humans for help. They went to a pharmaceutical company who agreed to do research on how to adapt their medicines. In return Kerzap promised to work for them.

Exhilarated at being handed so many resources, the gremlin outdid himself. He created a device that could lock on to the mass of a tumour and teleport it outside the body. While it wasn't exact enough to get all the tumour every time, it was a huge step forward and circumnavigated invasive surgery.

Not being business savvy, Kerzap agreed to sell his patent on this invention to the pharmaceutical company. The money he got from that he used to fund their research into medicine for his mother. Eventually, and after long years, the company developed a promising new drug. The catch – it was very expensive. Kerzap had already given all his money, and did not prescribe to human insurance practices. When he asked the humans for succour – on account of all the money he'd provided and work he'd done for them, they refused to waver.

Furthermore, his invention was a huge money-maker. The new patent owners made millions off its manufacture. He was not acknowledged as its creator. Kerzap was reminded of all that was said of humans. That they care only for their own aggrandisement. That they make truth flexible. He was driven half mad by the betrayal.

Shielding himself off from social interaction, the gremlin sat in the workshops night and day until he had designed an instrument of his revenge. His early version of the Saboteur Harness merely implemented the teleportation technology he had designed. He used this to break into the company that had wronged him and steal the medicine they would dare charge him for. Once his mother had the required drugs he went back out. He hacked their computers, broke their machines, and torched their stockpiles. Many died in the resultant fire.

Having crippled, but not destroyed the corporation, Kerzap was inclined to stop. He felt guilty about the deaths of mere employees. And his mother was getting treatment now. However, the drugs did not work for her. He suspected, but couldn't prove, that the researchers had never designed it for use on gremlins. As asked.

From that day forth Kerzap earned a reputation as an industrial saboteur.

It was that reputation, and his own concern for the planet, that led him to join the Sentinels in their fight to save the Earth. It may be run by stinking humans, but he wasn't about to let it be destroyed. In mingling with the team Kerzap discovered humans with honour and integrity and became more tolerate towards the race.

When the group fell apart – he returned to his work of holding the corporations of the world to account. He believes the Sentinels could work again but they need a kind and just leader.


Sample rp:

“Carsten Webber.”

The hissing voice came to Carsten as he stood in darkness. The lift shaft he had been riding in, whilst browsing his iphone, had suddenly ceased to function. Mashing the intercom button did nothing to elicit a respond from support staff. The CEO was trapped in this mechanical toy.

“Who's there?!”

“You've appropriated credit. Fired your chief designer and kept his aerodynamic research for yourself.” The clatter of movement came from above and Carsten jumped, “I want to hear you verify.”

The man tried the intercom again to no avail, “How did you get in here?”

“Your vaunted security is a joke, Herr Webber. I want to hear you verify.” The lift shuddered, dropping several inches all of a sudden.

Carsten clung to the handrail and found his voice after a moment, “Yes, yes! Fine! It may be true, but so what? He settled out of court. If he wants more money I can-”

“This isn't about money.” The lift shaft creaked and groaned ominously, “This is about your lack of repentance. Better that I take your company out of your hands so you can't do this to another.”

“So you're going to kill me?”

“A lift shaft has three fail-safes, Herr Webber. Once you chew through the supporting cables there's the safety casters and shock-absorbers to undermine. But no. I am not here to kill you.” The lift seemed to stabilise, “Your cars recently underwent a series of emissions tests. You passed with flying colours. You should not. Before they went out I tampered with their exhaust manifolds. A quite sizeable discrepancy, remaining undiscovered because I also tampered with the emissions detectors. You passed – you should not.”

“You... shielded it from discovery?”

“I waited until your latest batch was out on the open market. Tomorrow I will reveal to the authorities your deception. Along with emails that leave no doubt of your complicitness.”

“My complicitness? But I didn't do this! You did!”

“You didn't design those aerodynamics either, Carsten. Credit where credit is undue.” The lift suddenly sparked back into life and returned on its upward trajectory. Carsten was quite startled to see the mechanical gremlin stood opposite him. He yelled and used the intercom once more, calling for security. Yet when the doors opened, and his security team rushed to his defence, there was no gremlin to be found. Just the gibbering wreck of a CEO gone mad.

A gremlin. Huh. Okay. Wasn't expecting that one, not gonna lie.


Jokes aside, let's get into it.

All in all, this is a really well designed character with carefully constructed strengths and weaknesses. He has his points of expertise, but he has points where he is VASTLY lacking. I've come to expect this from you. Nice work buddy.

My only question in terms of balance here is what the suit is actually made of. If we have a certain character made who can manipulate...copper telekinetically. IDK why copper, but for the sake of argument. It'd be nice to know how much copper is in the suit since it clearly doesn't have any iron in it. I'm also curious how his teleportation is so precise if he uses satellites for it, considering Google Maps isn't exactly stellar, ya know?

Finally, I'd like a small cooldown on his teleportation. We try to avoid instantaneous movement without cooldowns, because you become essentially impossible to hit. While I know you wouldn't abuse it, it would be nice to have for the sake of balance. Maybe just a few seconds where if he uses the device again, he runs a risk of overheating and frying it. That way you CAN use it several times in a moment of "Wow my character is so cool" that we plan out ahead of time, but we don't get button mashing teleports. Hook me up with those and you're gold, pony boy.

I'm glad you like it. I have now added a description of the chief elements in the suit, since you made a good argument for its inclusion. I have also added a notice about several seconds of cool-down now. For your last point I have changed teleportation onto moving targets from 'hard' to 'impossible'. I am not sure if this covers your query about precision.