![](http://i.imgur.com/MnVP6Eh.png" "source: imgur.com")
Post by Ricky Caruso on Jun 3, 2015 2:01:13 GMT -6
Riccardo Gianni “Ricky” Caruso
FACE CLAIM: Luke Pasqualino
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AGE: 16
GENDER: Male
ORIENTATION: Bisexual
POSITION: Student
POWER: Specialized Pyrokinesis
Ricky has “flame powers,” as he would call them, possessing the mutant ability to cause objects within his immediate vicinity to suddenly burst into flames. Although he is not aware of the science behind his powers, he does this by psionically accelerating the speed of oxygen molecules, increasing the amount of friction and heat in the air that surrounds an object (or objects) until-- FIRE! Cue the sprinklers.
With a greater innate knack for creating fires than for controlling them, Ger is more of a "fire starter" than your typical pyrokinetic. In fact, it seems no matter how hard he concentrates he cannot seem to manipulate the fire he creates so as to change its shape or movement. He can, however, extinguish it by using his ability in reverse to slow down oxygen molecules in a localized area until-- Poof! Crisis averted.
Eventually, he will also learn he can mentally smother out flames that are not his own.
LIMITATIONS:
When it comes to producing and extinguishing flames, proximity is everything. For example, he would have little trouble causing an object several feet away from him to ignite, but a few yards? Next-to-impossible. The same goes for when it comes to putting out fires. Basically, the greater the distance, the more psionic energy he projects and the more mentally and physically tired he becomes. And the more exhausted he becomes, the more likely he is to faint or even, possibly, fall into a coma.
Size also matters a great deal. The bigger the flame he wishes to generate, the more concentration and energy is needed to cause ignition - and the more energy is needed to reverse the process. For this reason, he tries to avoid using setting fire to larger objects or areas, fearing that he might lose control. Shh, it's a secret.
Naturally, the more naturally flammable an object is, the longer it will burn. In order to damage less flammable objects, such as glass or the air itself, a constant flow of energy and concentration would be needed in order to sustain the flame around the object or lack thereof.
Another weakness -- and his biggest problem, at the moment -- is derived from the fact his powers are tightly tied to his emotions. Being a short tempered, hormonal teenage boy doesn't help; even the smallest fluctuation in mood could potentially result in the "spontaneous combustion" of his surroundings or even himself.
That's another thing: he is by no means immune to the fire he creates, making him just as squishy and vulnerable as the next human. For this reason, he has to be careful about starting fires too close to his body. Sucks.
SIDE-EFFECTS:
Two things. First, the more he uses his powers, the more tired and hungry he becomes, giving him a voracious appetite and often causing him to fall asleep in class. Second, his eyes glow bright yellow every time he uses his powers, no matter how small of a fire he wishes to start.
GENERAL APPEARANCE: Starting from the top, Ger has thick, wavy dark brown (almost black) hair that’s a little on the greasy side from often touching it when nervous or angry. You could say he’s lazy with his hair, letting it grow out until it threatens to get in the way of his eyes, which are as dark as his hair. His face is rather long with an angular jaw line, a slightly down-turned nose, and naturally dark olive skin thanks to his Italian ancestry.
Moving down to his physique, it’s evident Ger is a soccer player. Standing at 5’7”, he was never the tallest in his class, but what he lacks in height he gains in large calf muscles and an overall athletic build.
Clothing wise, Ricky normally dresses in casual clothes that he wouldn’t mind getting dirty from playing soccer (or, more recently, burned from using his powers). Simple t-shirts, shorts, jeans and sneakers make up the bulk of his wardrobe.
PERSONALITY:
Ricky is a cocky teenage boy who believes he’s capable of doing anything if he puts in the effort. Except for maybe fly. He doesn’t like losing. He doesn’t like showing weakness. And he will not, under any circumstances, cry. Does he have a superiority complex? Absolutely. You can blame Pa, who had always treated him more like a strict coach than a father, training him to be “the best.” Because of his need to be on top, he loves his powers, seeing them as a source of power, of strength, even if they are hard to control, and flaunts them at every chance he gets.
Confident and competitive in one body can only lead to one thing: impulsiveness. If Ricky has one weakness it is his inability to stand on the sidelines, even if it means putting himself or others in danger, prone to acting on whims and emotions, anger especially.
A redeeming trait is Ricky’s sense of responsibility. Forced to work at a young age to help support his family on top of school and soccer practice, Ricky grew to become reliable, organized and relatively good at taking orders. Relatively.
As far as his fears go, Ricky can proudly say he isn’t afraid of many things… except for snakes. They are probably the only creatures on Earth that can make him scream like a little girl and leave him feel helpless. Not that he’d admit it to anyone. He's also secretly afraid of losing control of his powers.
SECRET(S): His fear of snakes. His fear of losing control over the fire he creates. His bisexuality. The fact he’s Italian but can’t cook.
FATHER: Gianni Caruso
MOTHER: Gabriella Caruso
SIBLINGS: Two younger brothers (unnamed)
WORTHY MENTIONS: None
HISTORY:
Ricky or Riccardo, as his parents would call him, was born and raised in the city of Chicago, Illinois. What with his father being a retired professional soccer player from southern Italy, he was taught the sport as soon as he learned to walk, his childhood highlighted by many days in front of the television watching soccer games and at the local park being personally trained by Pa. However, as he got older, the man who he affectionately called Pa became more of a drill sergeant than a father, yelling at Ricky whenever he made a mistake and only giving him gelato after soccer games if he won.
So focused on soccer, Ricky wasn’t the greatest student in school, getting consistently low grades in every class but gym. The arrival of two younger brothers and being forced to help around his parents’s restaurant, which they had so creatively called Caruso's, as a bus-boy at the age of thirteen to save the family money did not help either, causing him a sufficient amount of stress. And anger. Stress and anger that would ultimately led to the activation of his “mutant gene” a couple years later.
Of course, it happened during a soccer game, the championship game of his sophomore year of high shool, in front of everyone, including both his parents. He was dribbling down the field, feeling desperate to win, when a pair of relentless defenders got in his way. Much to his surprise, when they did their shirts suddenly caught fire, causing them to back off long enough for him to take a shot on goal… and score! Not that anyone had been paying attention...
No one could explain what had happened. According to the news, “spontaneous combustion” was said to be the cause, but it didn’t take long before he realized he had been the cause behind the fire as more incidents of spontaneous combustion started occurring around him. In his room. In class. At his parents' restaurant... Boy, were they mad.
Scared and confused (and pretty angry himself), Ricky didn’t know what was happening to him, or why, until about a week after the first incident when he was approached at his house by a man who invited him to join the Bellefonte Academy, a school for “gifted” students like him. Being a walking fire hazard, Ricky felt he had no choice but to pack his bags and move to Montana with the hope of gaining a mastery over his newly found flame powers and getting his life back.
SAMPLE: (Note: From an X-Men board, different character)
They had been so close to finally starting the game when the shadow-jumping girl asked him about his powers. Worse, she insisted that he show them to her. Then again, she had a point, seeing as he had not simply believed her when she said she had not used her powers to make the shot from before.
“Ugh, fine. Whatever,” Billy said with a huff of frustration, rolling his eyes. It wasn’t worth arguing about now or later; he’d just show her and get it over with. Besides, being at the school for some time now, he had practiced his powers enough to learn to turn on and off his powers with relative ease; he just had to focus.
“But you’re not going to like what you see,” he warned her before balling his hands into fists and taking a deep breath to concentrate. Within seconds, his body became fatter and fatter. His hands became especially enormous, becoming the size of basketballs. He could have made them bigger, but he didn’t want to gross her out any more than he had to in order to get the point across. “There, happy? I get fat. That’s my power. And my only one. Told you it’d only slow me down.”
Upon seeing that the girl was satisfied, Billy took in a breath to calm his body. He had learned while at the Institute that turning off his powers were so much easier when his body was relaxed and that they only turned on when stressed or otherwise provoked. And right now he had nothing to stress about. Of course, he didn’t like how he looked in this state, but for some reason he cared less about what two girls thought about him than he did when he accidentally used his powers in front of Jean-Paul.
As soon as that was taken care of, Billy grinned and said, “Now let’s play,” before going for the ball that the girl currently had possession of. He was impressed by her ability to dribble the ball between her legs with such fluidity, but by no means scared. He kept close to her, utilizing his height to block her from shooting. "Good luck shooting, short stuff," he taunted.
USERNAME: Benjimon4427
AGE GROUP: 22
EXPERIENCE: A long time?
WHERE DID YOU FIND US? RPG-D
