Howling Red
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| [[Image:|300px|]] | |
| Howling Red | |
| Player: @Stellar Sleuth | |
| Origin: | Technology |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Tanker |
| Security Level: | ' |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Tobias Matthews |
| Known Aliases: | ' |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 19 |
| Height: | 6'8 |
| Weight: | 230 lbs |
| Eye Color: | hazel |
| Hair Color: | black |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | Law Student / Super Hero |
| Place of Birth: | Paragon City, Rhode Island |
| Base of Operations: | Paragon City |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Parents |
| Known Powers | |
| Enhanced Durability | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Blade Fighting | |
| Equipment | |
| Howling Resonator, Daggers | |
| ' | |
Howling Red is the inheritor of the red Howling Resonator.
Contents |
Affiliations
Member of The Youth League, former member of The Warriors. Informally a member of Task Force Howling Wolf.
Origin
Rushing to the aid of an old man who was hit by a truck, Toby Matthews got into a situation that was waaay over his head. The old man was a goner- flung off an overpass by the impact. He had time to impart upon Toby a message, though. "Protect the Resonator!" in short. The man handed a nondescript housekey to Toby, whispering an address to him, and left him with the final warning: "Beware of Crey... they will come for you now that you've been seen with me."
Toby, curious and a bit traumatized by the whole weird incident, went to the place the old man mentioned- a weird old house at the outskirts of Founder's Falls... the key worked! It seemed like a pretty nondescript place, about what you would expect from an old... well, middle-aged, guy. Toby gave the place a good once-over, though.
In the basement, things got weird. A hidden element of the key began to blink with red light. Concerned, Toby began to explore the seemingly small room. In the back corner of the room, a small panel lit up when he got near. Tapping the key against it revealed the room that would cement Toby's fate forever.
A hidden room with metal walls and unusual machinery, like something out of a Longbow base on TV, was hidden in that basement. In the back, within a glass case, was a jacket bearing the symbol of a wolf and, sealed in a lead lockbox, the Howling Resonator! An electronic tone sounded in the room as he entered, and a voice began to play back from a speaker.
"If you are hearing this, then I am probably dead. I, Archibald Herschnel, have provided you with this key so that the Resonator will remain safe. Almost 30 years ago, I was the leader of a secret US task force against the Soviet Union: Task Force Howling Wolf. As the leader, Howling Red, I carried the banner of justice into battle against some of the most ruthless individuals to ever threaten our nation's liberty. The Howling Resonator, the device which provided many of us Wolves with super powers, is a technology which must never be allowed to fall into the wrong hands! I am sorry that you have been involved in this, if you did not know already. You have been seen with me, and that means that my enemy, Crey, will come for you. They want the Resonator for its applications as a weapon and energy source, and I do not trust them to use it for any good purpose. They do not know about this room. As far as Crey is aware, I keep my old weapons in a secret facility of some kind, so good for you. You may take everything in this room for yourself, and consider this house to be yours as well. You will find the appropriate papers in the lockbox with the Resonator. You are free to do with the Resonator as you choose, but I warn you that allowing it to be taken from you will only end badly. Crey will not want you to be a witness to whatever they do with it. In light of this fact, I suggest that you not repeat my mistake- you should get in the public eye and stay there. It will make it harder for you to 'disappear.' But, do as you will. This is just the suggestion of a dead man."
The speaker fell silent. Reluctantly, Toby put on the vividly coloured jacket and placed the Resonator on his wrist. The device activated, lighting up, and Toby felt and odd wave of pressure wash over him. He placed the deed papers in his backpack and, now a bit paranoid, left the house. It was on his way back home, after filing the papers with the Paragon Exchange Bank, that Crey Agents struck. In the fading evening light, a number of men in black surrounded Toby while he was cutting through a quiet park.
"HANDS UP!" they shouted, training their weapons on Toby, but Toby would have none of that. Falling back on his prior experience with The Warriors, he drew his daggers. The hail of bullets bounced harmlessly off of a film of energy that seemed to be surrounding Toby's body. Realizing he had the upper hand, Toby quickly disabled the agents and left the park.
Fearing for his family's safety, given his current relationship with the ruthless Crey Corporation, he decided to distance himself from them. Despite his parents' protests, he now lives alone in Archibald's house. He has registered with Hero Corps, and at this time is heeding Archibald's advice by fighting as many high profile crimes as he can.
Powers
At this time, the only thing that Toby can really get the Howling Resonator to do is project a force field. Granted, it is a really nice force field- he's nigh impervious to physical harm. His research into the matter in Archibald's basement sanctuary, though, indicates that the device should also be able to give him super strength and stuff, too, but he can't figure out how to activate that feature.
In addition to the enhanced durability provided by the Resonator, Toby is a knife fighter with a fair degree of talent, honed by a couple years of street brawls together with The Warriors.
Known Weaknesses
Not only does the Howling Resonator provide no protection against psychic attacks, but Toby is also, frankly, not very bright. Though he can resist the more subtle forms of mental attack by gritting them out, the sheer mental damage that they cause is often overwhelming to him.
Equipment
Toby wears the original Howling Red's uniform jacket, and a resistant bodysuit and boots that he had custom-made by Icon using the money left behind by Archibald.
On his right wrist, Toby bears the red Howling Resonator. While active, its eyes and many of the lines of its form glow with a faint red light. Toby has yet to find any documentation for the thing- Archibald only left behind his old case files and a number of Russian tabloids featuring an "Alleged American Super Villain Team", with pictures of the Howling Wolves in their complete super armor suits. Nonetheless, the enormous physical resistance that it grants him while worn is nothing to sneeze at.
Toby carries a pair of freshly-made custom daggers from Hero Corps' armory division. Titanium-steel alloy blades in solid steel hilts, they are extremely well balanced and fully capable of standing up the stresses of attacking and defending against superhuman adversaries. The hilts are dyed red to match his outfit.
Toby has a black moped that he rides when he's not fighting crime. Nobody respects a super hero on a moped.
Description
Toby is a classic among young tough guys. Practically a wall of muscle, Toby would have been excellent in organized crime if he wasn't actually such a nice guy. Surprisingly metrosexual for a knife-wielding street fighter, Toby is well built, and maintains a cleanly rock-star kind of look. His disguise isn't much- he technically has a public identity. Still, he wears a pair of striking red sunglasses to hide his eyes, and has taken to dying streaks of red into his hair.
Personality
He has a tough guy exterior, honed by two years of knife fighting on the streets for the Warriors, but really Toby is regular person who doesn't like nasty surprises or excessive force- in his short career in organized crime, he never once took a life.
Toby didn't learn any amazingly useful lessons from his brush with the law, beyond "crime doesn't pay and criminals will kill you" - he's still prone to being talked into things and rushing into situations without grasping the consequences. The proof is in the pudding: he's a young, unprepared super hero who doesn't know how to fully activate his power source and has a death warrant on him from one of the world's most dangerous organizations.
Toby is pretty concerned with hygiene and image- almost petty. For a guy who specializes in wading into the middle of a bunch of ax-wielding crazies and poking them with knives, he really hates having his hair mussed up. He's pretty easy-going, though- he won't get angry at you unless you're also trying to kill him.
History
A Life of Crime
In high school, from just before turning 16, to shortly after turning 17, Toby rolled with The Warriors. Enchanted by their macho, sword fighting image, he was pulled into their criminal society. Primarily, he did minor jobs with them- shakedowns and intimidation, and turf wars with smaller fish like Skuls and Hellions. For a while, he was having a great time. However, he hit a snag when he was 17- they wanted him to kill a guy. Up until then, he mostly broke things. Sometimes he had to cut people, but never bad enough to kill them. Toby was horrified- he didn't want to murder anybody. Toby pulled out of the gang, enraging his associates. To stay alive, he had to give a full disclosure to his parents and the police. His father still gives him sideways looks, even now that he's fighting crimes instead of committing them.
On paper, Toby actually has a surprisingly clean criminal record. Of all the crimes he confessed to, they could only really pin a couple of extortion attempts on him- and those resulted in little more than a slap on the wrist thanks to his full confession, gang info disclosure, and excellent lawyer. Toby, though, is still shaken by his experience. In retrospect, it is obvious, but back then, he never thought that the Warriors would actually order him to kill a guy on purpose.
Back On Track
After quitting the gang, Toby went into a shell. He all but dropped out of high school, graduating in the end by just barely drifting through his remaining classes, practically dead last in his class. His super origin was entirely coincidental, even. Toby was out in Skyway looking for a part time job to get his parents off his back.
Receiving the Howling Resonator gave Toby a wholly renewed sense of purpose and direction. He's trying to do his best again. As a super hero, he shines quite brightly. He's kept in the public eye, stopping a number of operations by dangerous organizations such as Arachnos and the Council, and he's successfully entered the ranks of the illustrious Youth League. He's even taking correspondence courses in criminal law.
It's not all sunshine and rainbows. Toby's parents don't approve of his current path. They're old-fashioned. While they appreciate the work that the heroes do in Paragon, they don't think that it's an appropriate career choice for their son. At this time, Toby is striving to do something that they will be proud of.
