Bearhug

Player: @First Player

NAME: Barrett Donnelly
KNOWN ALIASES: The Bear, Bearhug
AGE: 33
PLACE OF BIRTH: Blowing Rock, NC
ABILITIES:

• Superhuman strength, speed, senses, durability
• Minor healing factor

Appalachian-born professional wrestler Barrett “Bear” Donnelly was built for the spotlight. The roar of the crowd, the slam of bodies on canvas, the heat of the arena—it all fit him like a second skin. Fans cheered the “gentle giant,” laughed at his theatrics, and marveled at his strength, never realizing the man beneath the mask was more than just muscle and charisma. Wrestling wasn’t just a job; it was survival, performance, and a kind of art he had mastered.

But behind the lights and applause, Barrett carried a lineage steeped in old folklore and stories. His grandmother whispered tales of the Great Bear, a guardian spirit that prowled the northern woods where his family had come from, fierce and protective, watching over those who dared to wander. Barrett had laughed them off as a child—just stories to scare or entertain him.

All that changed one winter. A botched moved left him with a broken back and fractured vertebrae-the kind of injury that ends careers. The injury wasn’t supposed to be survivable—or at least, survivable with any hope of returning to the ring. Grief and bitterness pressed down like a weight, and Barrett fled the city for the isolation of his grandmother’s cabin in the mountains to recover.

The snow came heavy that night, draping the forest in a whiteout. Barrett wandered outside, nursing both pain and pride, when he caught a shadow moving among the trees. Not human, not animal, just… something. It mirrored him, twisted and hungry, and before he could react, it was upon him.

He fought with everything he had but it overwhelmed him and left him fallen, bleeding into the snow, broken and helpless. Desperation drove him to the old stone circle near the treeline—the one his grandmother had always forbidden him to touch. He collapsed there, blood seeping into the carved runes, and the world went silent.

And then, the Great Bear answered.

It didn’t possess him. It didn’t make him its puppet. It empowered him, binding strength to his resolve, endurance to his will, and sharpening every sense. Pain became a whisper. Fatigue, a shrug. Where he had been weak, he was now unstoppable.

He planned on returning to the ring. In fact, the very night before he planned to make the call to his former boss to schedule his big return, he’d just walked out of a cheap diner when he heard a young woman screaming from a nearby alley. A mugging. Barrett rushed in instinctively—The attackers froze as he moved, senses sharp, strength raw and undeniable. After she was safe, the woman thanked him graciously and in that moment he realized he couldn’t go back. Wrestling might pay the bills, but it didn’t matter as much this could. He realized he could do far more than any security guard or cop. And The Great Bear urged him to act. He packed away his wrestling persona, hung up the boots, and became Bearhug, stepping into the shadows to fight for those who couldn’t fight for themselves.

💪Enhanced Strength, Durability, and Stamina
Bearhug’s strength is raw and practical, the kind of power a wrestler hones through years of conditioning, now amplified to superhuman levels. He can lift, throw, or restrain foes far beyond the limits of a normal human, yet his movements retain the fluidity and precision of a trained fighter. His durability is equally impressive: bones that would shatter under ordinary force simply don't, and skin can take blunt trauma that would incapacitate most. Stamina is another gift of the Great Bear—he can fight, chase, or hold an opponent for extended periods without fatigue, muscles burning but refusing to fail, making him a relentless force in prolonged combat.

⚡Enhanced Speed
Barrett's not a speedster by any stretch of the imagination, but he deceptively quick—more predator than sprinter. He moves with the deliberate, explosive power of a charging bear: when he needs to close distance, dodge an attack, or pin a foe, his body snaps forward with sudden acceleration that surprises both the casual observer and hardened criminals. His reflexes are equally honed, letting him react to attacks, missteps, or shifting terrain almost instinctively. In a fight, this makes him a storm of muscle and intent—never lightning-fast, but shockingly fast for his size, capable of overwhelming opponents before they can even register the threat.

🐻Enhanced Senses
The Great Bear sharpened Barrett's senses to near-animal precision. His hearing can pick up subtle shifts in a crowd or the faintest scrape in a dark alley. His smell detects stress, fear, or the faint scent of danger before it fully manifests. His sight is keen in both daylight and dim conditions, allowing him to track movement and anticipate attacks with uncanny accuracy. Together, these heightened senses function almost like an internal radar, giving him an edge in urban environments where danger hides in shadows and corners, and making him nearly impossible to ambush.

🐾Healing Factor
Barrett's body refuses to stay broken. Cuts, bruises, and minor fractures mend at an accelerated rate, allowing him to recover from injuries that would keep ordinary people sidelined for weeks. The healing factor doesn’t make him invincible, but it lets him push through pain, shrug off damage, and return to a fight that would leave others unconscious. Combined with his durability, this slow but persistent regeneration allows Bearhug to endure where others would falter, turning sheer tenacity into a weapon as much as his fists or claws.