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This is quite possibly the creepiest thing I’ve ever made in HeroMachine – which I guess is kind of appropriate since he’s quite possibly the creepiest character I’ve ever made.
Mr. Fright represents the childhood fear of bogeymen and things that go bump in the night, but also a very different kind of fear – an adult fear. As Toby Falls he used his position as the caretaker of an orphanage to abuse vulnerable children unwilling or unable to tell anyone what had been done to them, and after discovering that children were not the only ones susceptible to his powers he made a name for himself by delving into super-crime, becoming head of a crime ring responsible for trafficking guns, drugs, and even people into the UK and Ireland.
He has the ability to invoke emotional discomfort within a target, ranging from mild paranoia or depression to hallucinations and mass hysteria; this, coupled with the ability to distort electrical signals and his extensive knowledge of hypnotism and psychological manipulation mean even the most courageous superheroes and the most depraved supervillians are wary of him, and his business partners are too unnerved to even consider crossing him.
The low-key nature of Mr. Fright’s criminal activities kept him mostly off the radar and allowed him to operate without attracting the attention of government-sponsored superhumans who would be more than capable of shutting him down; it wasn’t until he made the mistake of kidnapping a young girl from a grammar school in Northern Ireland that he met his match in the form of Badger, an Irish vigilante with a reputation for brutality. After a tense standoff Badger did what the combined efforts of the Metropolitan and Northern Irish Police services could not; he saved the girl in a daring rescue that was captured in a live broadcast on the BBC news, apprehended Fright, violently tortured him and dumped his crippled body in a wheelie bin.
Unfortunately, this was not the end; after regaining consciousness, Fright then discovered he possessed a regenerative healing factor which not only granted immunities to most toxins and poisons but allowed for severed limbs to be completely regrown at an astonishing rate; he has also mastered the ability to lengthen body parts and appendages at will through growth of limbs, and as he is capable of strengthening his bone and musculature structure every time a limb is regrown or replaced, this makes him even more deadly than he was before.
Slendy was actually one of the key inspirations behind Mr. Fright, although he was also partially influenced by The Scarecrow and his Ersatz counterpart The Frightener from Wanted. Excellent book, would definitely recommend to anyone who likes supervillains and is looking for an interesting take on them.
I seem to be on a bit of a creative kick right now, so without further ado here’s Badger, the man responsible for bringing Mr. Fright down.
Protestant-born Connor Byrne grew up in Northern Ireland at the time of The Troubles, and from a young age was forced to watch as the conflict tore his country apart, taking everything he loved with it. His father was killed in the Bloody Sunday massacre by British soldiers whilst his mother and younger brother were killed by an IRA nail-bomb attack, leaving him with a bitter hatred of both sides and no loyalty to anyone but himself. He took up martial arts believing that it would help him channel his rage into something productive, but it wasn’t until he beat a drug dealer to death with his bare hands and dumped the body in the River Lagan that he felt he could do something worthwhile with his life.
Setting himself up as a self-styled vigilante, he staged false-flag attacks on dissident republicans, leaving evidence that would deliberately incriminate British forces or rival IRA splinter groups in order to draw attention away from himself. After meeting his partner Siobhan, a trainee nurse at the time, shortly after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, he thought he could give up vigilantism for good but found himself unable to sit back and ignore the rampant crime in the Northern Irish capital, leading to Siobhan breaking up with him after discovering what he had done.
For years Siobhan had no contact with Connor, and even after he donned his now-signature costume in order to fight crime after the existence of superheroes was revealed to the world not even she made the connection between her ex-partner’s vigilantism and the figure known only as The Badger, spoken of in hushed whispers in Dublin bars and dismissed by the police as an urban legend even as the bodies of more and more criminals began to turn up.
However, after Connor came to her in desperation after being shot during an attempt to intervene in a mugging, Siobhan was not the only one who was in for a shock. Unbeknownst to Connor, Siobhan had given birth to a baby girl, Eva, several months after they had broken up, and Connor himself was the father. The discovery has left him torn between a desire to make up for the four years of his little girl’s life that he’s already missed and a determination to make his home town of Belfast safer for the two women he loves; further complications have arisen after his existence was publicly confirmed, because his status as an unlicensed crime fighter now means he is in direct violation of UN and EU sanctions on costumed heroes and as such is classified as a criminal by the British government.
Badger is a formidable armed and unarmed combatant, a skilled marksman and proficient knife fighter with years of martial arts training as well as sword/stick-fighting and with other traditional weapons. He has an extensive knowledge of firearms, standard and improvised explosives, guerrilla warfare, torture, interrogation, and intimidation, and has toned his body to peak physical condition through an intensive exercise regime and a rigorous lifestyle. His costume also features Kevlar limb pads and body armour, but perhaps the most dangerous weapon in his arsenal is his indomitable will – he is capable of focusing past discomfort, ignoring crippling pain and is one of the only people ever to overcome the effects of Mr. Fright’s powers.
Hey man, don’t mean to step on any toes, but I had to do this. The Kangaroo is an awesome concept, and I put together my own version of the character just for fun. He’s yours if you want to use it, if not just disregard, I just had to play with it. Keep up the great work sir!!!
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