Post by The Minister on May 24, 2009 19:11:50 GMT -5
Superhero alias: The Minister
Gender/Sex:Male
Age: 58
Height: 6'0"
Physique: Thin, but muscled - wiry
Home City: Walsh
Citizen Alias: Gabriel Hall
Costume description:
The Minister is wreathed in what can only be described as Modern Fullplate. He's covered head to toe in layers of Kevlar, lined with mail, and covered in steel and ceramic plating. His helmet, shaped like a mitre, is composed of composite ceramic and steel plates, the visor composed of transparent polycarbonate. All of his armor is painted black. Over the armor he wears a stylish scarlet tunic and black vest - it's fitted not to impair his movement.
He carries a two-handed blunt gold mace. The head is heavily ornamented, with various flourishes and embellishments.
Powers/Abilities:
The Minister hears 'the voice of god' in his head, which gives him a fair amount of prescience and clairvoyance. He can't discern things accurately - everything is left very ambiguous. Effectively, he can sense things nearby that relate to him, and he can sense the future - the farther away (in distance and time) the more faded. He can sense things a fraction of a second in the future with a excellent clarity, but a month in the future leaves him only with a vague sense of unease or anticipation.
His mace is a magical artifact that is indestructible and grants the Minister enhanced strength. He can easily use it to smash through concrete and bash through unfortified steel. The enhanced strength also allows him greater jumping ability, such as jumping 20 feet laterally or 10 feet vertically without a running start. The mace is attuned to him, and does not grant such a strength bonus to others (although it remains indestructible). He can recall the mace to his hand after a minute of concentration. The Mace functions well enough away from Walsh, but loses power slowly as it is used. Gabriel can will it to the temple near Walsh to recharge, and usually keeps it there when not in use.
The Minister has experience in a wide array of martial arts, although his advanced years have slowed him down, and he does not remain quite as flexible or acrobatic as he was in his youth. He favors close range attacks such as elbows and knees, as well as take-downs and submissions (when facing a single opponent).
Backstory:
Believing in God was never a problem for Gabriel Hall because he heard his Lord's voice in his head. Well - it wasn't exactly a voice. It was like a guiding hand that led him to things he needed, or showed him things to come. Saying that you hear the voice of god speak to you was hardly the most unusual thing a couple might hear from a child in Walsh, especially if they were conservative Christians themselves, so Gabriel's parents encouraged it. His parents taught him American values and Christian traditions. They taught him to help his fellow man, to spurn selfishness. They also taught him the dangers of godless communists and rampaging dictators. They brought him to church every Sunday, said a prayer before every meal, and donated judiciously to their local church. It was really no surprise that Gabriel decided to be a Priest when he grew up.
When not exhaustively studying both his schooling and religious texts, Gabriel did have a few other hobbies. His God would guide Gabriel on his frequent explorations of Walsh. There were a lot of old buildings and abandoned temples that rumors said were old meeting houses for ancient conclaves and secret societies. There were old buildings that were fun to explore and sometimes Gabriel could find interesting trinkets and coins that had remained hidden for decades, but were revealed by his unusual abilities. One such discovery, however, would change his life.
By the age of sixteen (1983), Gabriel had explored most of the historical buildings in the city proper and started venturing out into the more rural areas surrounding the city. In an old church house he came across in some foothills a few hours from the city, he was led to a secret passage that opened into a series of caves. Man-made tunnels gave way to natural caverns until he came upon what seemed to be a secret underground cathedral. In its center was an altar with a golden relic. By all appearances, it would not have budged from its foundation with the force of a hundred men, but it lifted from from its constraint with the smallest of touches from Gabriel. He knew instantly, upon touching it, what it was capable of, and what he could, and should, do with it.
It was quickly apparent that Gabriel could not to be both a priest and a superhero. The two required too much dedication - and Gabriel cared about both professions too much to give only half of himself to each. He grudgingly dropped his plans of ordination, relegating himself only to regularly volunteering for the church. Meanwhile, his spare time went to patrolling the streets at night (and even keeping an eye out during the day) to catch would-be criminals in the act. He started his vigilante career in a Halloween priest costume with a white cloth tied around his face. His God always made sure that he would be in the right place at the right time to stop a crime, and it wasn't long before he had started to develop a reputation. His long, moral diatribes that culprits were exposed to earned him the name The Minister. At first, Gabriel was embarrassed at the title, not having earned it, but eventually grew attached. He started leaving scrawled Latin proverbs at the scene where criminals were caught, but this quickly escalated to him waiting for authorities and the media to arrive so he could deliver his own personal sermons to the news stations before he faded back into the night. The Minister's support among citizens and police officers alike were several times higher than most superheroes in Walsh, and even in most of the country. His popularity resounded with the American people in the face of impending war, and a challenging of American values.
After a few years of crime fighting (1989), a bachelor's in Religious Studies from Walsh college in hand, Gabriel started up a community center affiliated with his local church. It expanded fairly quickly, amassing enough contributions to put Gabriel on salary as the manager. He was happy to have a daytime job that contributed to the community rather than working as the day manager for McDonald's. Being in charge of the books also allowed him to start a small fund for his activities as The Minister. He felt guilty at first for the deception, but told himself that funding The Minister's activities was helping the community just as directly as the center itself. He had a friend in a military surplus store in Mercury start ordering him some better materials for his costume, and he started to get some much needed protection during his nightly outings. He had been shot a few times in the past, which, while life threatening, was also difficult to explain. It also let him set up a police-scanner in his apartment which gave him a bit more precision than his visions do.
It was also during this time period that he met and married his wife Elizabeth - they had their first child ( within a year, and four more within 10.
His popularity, experience, and methods all continued to evolve over the years, peaking near the end of the 20th century. By the turn of the century, however, the public's perceptions and sensibilities had changed - The Minister's hadn't. His rigid conservatism and brimstone strictures have become tiresome to most Americans, and so the news media, baring extremist conservative outlets, rarely cover him. The loss of popularity hasn't sat well with Gabriel, and he's been steadily getting more and more bitter as time passes. He'll often go out of his way to make public appearances at conservative conventions and rallies, to spread his messages that he feels aren't being properly accepted. Fighting crime, however, has remained one of his greatest goals.
Gender/Sex:Male
Age: 58
Height: 6'0"
Physique: Thin, but muscled - wiry
Home City: Walsh
Citizen Alias: Gabriel Hall
Costume description:
The Minister is wreathed in what can only be described as Modern Fullplate. He's covered head to toe in layers of Kevlar, lined with mail, and covered in steel and ceramic plating. His helmet, shaped like a mitre, is composed of composite ceramic and steel plates, the visor composed of transparent polycarbonate. All of his armor is painted black. Over the armor he wears a stylish scarlet tunic and black vest - it's fitted not to impair his movement.
He carries a two-handed blunt gold mace. The head is heavily ornamented, with various flourishes and embellishments.
Powers/Abilities:
The Minister hears 'the voice of god' in his head, which gives him a fair amount of prescience and clairvoyance. He can't discern things accurately - everything is left very ambiguous. Effectively, he can sense things nearby that relate to him, and he can sense the future - the farther away (in distance and time) the more faded. He can sense things a fraction of a second in the future with a excellent clarity, but a month in the future leaves him only with a vague sense of unease or anticipation.
His mace is a magical artifact that is indestructible and grants the Minister enhanced strength. He can easily use it to smash through concrete and bash through unfortified steel. The enhanced strength also allows him greater jumping ability, such as jumping 20 feet laterally or 10 feet vertically without a running start. The mace is attuned to him, and does not grant such a strength bonus to others (although it remains indestructible). He can recall the mace to his hand after a minute of concentration. The Mace functions well enough away from Walsh, but loses power slowly as it is used. Gabriel can will it to the temple near Walsh to recharge, and usually keeps it there when not in use.
The Minister has experience in a wide array of martial arts, although his advanced years have slowed him down, and he does not remain quite as flexible or acrobatic as he was in his youth. He favors close range attacks such as elbows and knees, as well as take-downs and submissions (when facing a single opponent).
Backstory:
Believing in God was never a problem for Gabriel Hall because he heard his Lord's voice in his head. Well - it wasn't exactly a voice. It was like a guiding hand that led him to things he needed, or showed him things to come. Saying that you hear the voice of god speak to you was hardly the most unusual thing a couple might hear from a child in Walsh, especially if they were conservative Christians themselves, so Gabriel's parents encouraged it. His parents taught him American values and Christian traditions. They taught him to help his fellow man, to spurn selfishness. They also taught him the dangers of godless communists and rampaging dictators. They brought him to church every Sunday, said a prayer before every meal, and donated judiciously to their local church. It was really no surprise that Gabriel decided to be a Priest when he grew up.
When not exhaustively studying both his schooling and religious texts, Gabriel did have a few other hobbies. His God would guide Gabriel on his frequent explorations of Walsh. There were a lot of old buildings and abandoned temples that rumors said were old meeting houses for ancient conclaves and secret societies. There were old buildings that were fun to explore and sometimes Gabriel could find interesting trinkets and coins that had remained hidden for decades, but were revealed by his unusual abilities. One such discovery, however, would change his life.
By the age of sixteen (1983), Gabriel had explored most of the historical buildings in the city proper and started venturing out into the more rural areas surrounding the city. In an old church house he came across in some foothills a few hours from the city, he was led to a secret passage that opened into a series of caves. Man-made tunnels gave way to natural caverns until he came upon what seemed to be a secret underground cathedral. In its center was an altar with a golden relic. By all appearances, it would not have budged from its foundation with the force of a hundred men, but it lifted from from its constraint with the smallest of touches from Gabriel. He knew instantly, upon touching it, what it was capable of, and what he could, and should, do with it.
It was quickly apparent that Gabriel could not to be both a priest and a superhero. The two required too much dedication - and Gabriel cared about both professions too much to give only half of himself to each. He grudgingly dropped his plans of ordination, relegating himself only to regularly volunteering for the church. Meanwhile, his spare time went to patrolling the streets at night (and even keeping an eye out during the day) to catch would-be criminals in the act. He started his vigilante career in a Halloween priest costume with a white cloth tied around his face. His God always made sure that he would be in the right place at the right time to stop a crime, and it wasn't long before he had started to develop a reputation. His long, moral diatribes that culprits were exposed to earned him the name The Minister. At first, Gabriel was embarrassed at the title, not having earned it, but eventually grew attached. He started leaving scrawled Latin proverbs at the scene where criminals were caught, but this quickly escalated to him waiting for authorities and the media to arrive so he could deliver his own personal sermons to the news stations before he faded back into the night. The Minister's support among citizens and police officers alike were several times higher than most superheroes in Walsh, and even in most of the country. His popularity resounded with the American people in the face of impending war, and a challenging of American values.
After a few years of crime fighting (1989), a bachelor's in Religious Studies from Walsh college in hand, Gabriel started up a community center affiliated with his local church. It expanded fairly quickly, amassing enough contributions to put Gabriel on salary as the manager. He was happy to have a daytime job that contributed to the community rather than working as the day manager for McDonald's. Being in charge of the books also allowed him to start a small fund for his activities as The Minister. He felt guilty at first for the deception, but told himself that funding The Minister's activities was helping the community just as directly as the center itself. He had a friend in a military surplus store in Mercury start ordering him some better materials for his costume, and he started to get some much needed protection during his nightly outings. He had been shot a few times in the past, which, while life threatening, was also difficult to explain. It also let him set up a police-scanner in his apartment which gave him a bit more precision than his visions do.
It was also during this time period that he met and married his wife Elizabeth - they had their first child ( within a year, and four more within 10.
His popularity, experience, and methods all continued to evolve over the years, peaking near the end of the 20th century. By the turn of the century, however, the public's perceptions and sensibilities had changed - The Minister's hadn't. His rigid conservatism and brimstone strictures have become tiresome to most Americans, and so the news media, baring extremist conservative outlets, rarely cover him. The loss of popularity hasn't sat well with Gabriel, and he's been steadily getting more and more bitter as time passes. He'll often go out of his way to make public appearances at conservative conventions and rallies, to spread his messages that he feels aren't being properly accepted. Fighting crime, however, has remained one of his greatest goals.
