Desolator (fanmade character)

Desolator is a freelance supervillain with radiation-based abilities

BACKGROUND
Born and raised in a normal, middle-class family, Debra Borders was always an intelligent child. With a quick mind and exceptional memory, she was at the top of her classes throughout her early education. She also, however, showed a certain degree of moral flexibility which, combined with her intelligence, bought her to the attention of other parties. She was encouraged to attend a university for “gifted” young adults, one where her considerable talents could be best developed.

That university was a front run by an evil organisation, looking for exceptional individuals to suit their needs. Debra studied nuclear physics, quickly finding that she had an aptitude for the field. Upon graduation, she was offered a job working for an evil organisation in running their secret nuclear reactor that would be used to power their subterranean lair. She agreed, seeing it as an easy route to wealth.

Over the next few years, Debra worked for several different villainous agencies that needed experts in the field of nuclear energy. However, given the near universal lack of scruples in such agencies and the hazards associated with them, it was almost inevitable that an accident would occur. Debra was trapped inside a facility during a reactor meltdown, and exposed to what should have been an immediately fatal dose of radiation.

Except she was alive and seemingly unharmed. Awakening several days later in an underground hospital, she found that she had been altered by the accident; her first clue was that not just was she in an isolated ward, she was in one that had lead-lined walls. Experimentation revealed that she was somewhat radioactive; more importantly, she had gained the ability to project beams of intense radiation.

Figuring that she had no better option, Debra took up a new career as a professional supervillain. Calling herself Desolator, she followed the same route as she had before, hiring herself out to evil agencies and supervillian groups. However, this time, instead she was working as a combatant rather then a mere technician or consultant for far greater pay. She rarely chooses to stay with a group any longer then is needed, simply moving on when her job is done.

POWERS/ABILITIES
The nuclear accident that transformed Debra left her somewhat radioactive. She registers on Geiger counters, and tends to leave a noticeable trail of wilted greenery behind her. While contact with her is not immediately fatal, it is somewhat hazardous.

Her most important ability, however, is her radiation projection. Desolator can project beams of concentrated energy that have a number of known effects; besides simply damaging objects (and people) they can also seriously weaken or sicken individuals or be concentrated to short out and disable electrical equipment. When using her abilities, her radiation levels spike; the ground around her cracks, plants die, water dries up and islands go out, making her presence easy to detect.

As a side effect, she seems to have a natural ability to detect radiation. This is useful, as she can also absorb energy from radioactive substances and power sources to replenish her own reserves and supercharge her abilities.

Desolator wears an armoured hazmat suit, albeit one designed less to protect her from radiation as to protect the rest of the world from her; it also provides her with a degree of protection from injury and damage. She also retains all her knowledge and experience of nuclear physics, which she uses to augment her abilities.

PERSONALITY
Rather then being tied to any one philosophy or cause, Desolator’s sole motivation is greed. She knows that she can never live a normal life, and instead wants to be as comfortable and well-off as possible. When she joins an evil organization, she does such for the money and not because she believes in its goals or core philosophies. At the same time, she has a degree of professionalism; she stays with the job until it is done, and doesn’t avoid doing what is needed. In many ways, she is rather blasé, with very little motivating her beyond her own needs.

An intelligent woman, Debra has an excellent memory and an exhaustive knowledge of nuclear physics. As a result, she is somewhat prone to correcting people and lecturing them about her chosen fields. She has very little tolerance for fools and often looks down on people. She strongly resents the image that radiation-powered metahumans such as herself are all walking nuclear bombs that are about to explode, and is also prone to lecturing on the subject.

While she doesn’t usually form long-term friendships, she does have something of a partnership with Darklon, a fellow professional supervillian that she has worked alongside several times before. Similarily, she has something of a rivalry with Clenchjaw a superhero (in the loosest sense of the term) that she has crossed paths with several times and humiliated on each occasion.

APPEARANCE
Debra would normally be considered a reasonably attractive woman in her early thirties. Of average height, she has long black hair and green eyes, but also noticeably pale skin. As Desolator, she wears a black and grey armoured suit with a radiation symbol on the chest; the suit features several bright green design areas that seem to glow when she uses her powers.