Name: Asher Kingston
Alias: Publicly, he is known as Shield; however, he secretly operates under the vigilante alias of Renegade.
Age: 17 years old
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Backstory:
As the only son of famous heroine Fortress, Asher has been expected to become a superhero for his entire life. His mother is incredibly well-knownโ a strong woman with powers that only make her seem more indestructible and a reputation for defending her fellow heroes (where she earned her nickname)โ and, as a result of being the child of someone so popular, Asher has more or less been a celebrity his whole life.
His abilities are similar to his mother's in that they provide a good means of powerful defense and offense, so it's no surprise that he's been told all of his life that he would grow up to be a hero and follow in his mom's footsteps. As a child, he always grew excited at the idea; after all, he always idolized his mother. He never knew his father (according to Ash's mother, he died when Ash was only a baby, killed by a villain seeking revenge), and he developed a close relationship with his momโ who was Asher's hero in more ways than one. To one day fill her shoes and become a second-generation hero was his childhood dream. And it was regularly reinforced. "You're going to be an excellent hero someday; just like your mom!" was something he commonly heard throughout his youth, among other compliments and encouraging words that fed his desire. Although he struggled with self-esteem issues and fear of not living up to his mother's reputation, he was still determined to be just like herโ to be a hero who could make a difference.
Untilโฆ he realized that everything he'd grown up believing was a lie.
At the age of 15, Asher made some personal discoveries regarding his mother's job as a hero, as well as coming to multiple shocking revelations about hero society in general. At this point, his mother had already began training him to become a hero himselfโ an opportunity he embraced with the utmost enthusiasm. His hero name had been Shield, something that fit well with the theme of his mother and suited his powers. He had never embarked on anything too dangerous, but had helped a few various heroes (including his mama) with various missions, and fought in a lot of training simulations. But there was still a lot he didn't understandโ apparently, even about his own mother. To this day, he's not sure what she has done or what she is involved in, but too many things don't add up, and some strange data he found on one of her computer systems revealed to him that sheโ as well as two of her hero colleaguesโ had been in contact with several criminals within the city.
He tried to shove aside his accidental discovery, make excuses to explain it, but time seemed to make it all the more obvious. He went through a period of depression as the realization that the heroes he was working alongside weren't exactly what they claimed to be. The realization that his mother, his hero, was not everything she claimed to be. Was she fake? Were they all? Was he just paranoid? The passing of each day only seemed to make it clearer to him that society was even more screwed up than he thought, and that, at the end of the dayโฆ were heroes even making a difference?
Would he ever be able to make a difference?
After going through a couple-months of wrestling with his struggles and depression, he nearly quit his hero gig before deciding that such a choice was the wrong one. He could not mention to his family or friends that he was beginning to doubt the way hero-society operated, and given how enthusiastic he had always been about being a hero, quitting would raise a lot of questions. He was too well-known for that, anyway, and would never hear the end of it. Besides, he wanted to be a hero. More than anything. He justโฆ wanted to be a real one. But he couldn't do that to the fullest living in his mother's shadow or following along with the rest of the heroes training him.
So he created a second-alias, a secret persona that no one would know about and called himself the Renegade. Nobodyโ nobodyโ knows that Asher Kingston is Renegade; no, they all know him as Shield. He's half-certain his mother would kill him if she found outโ especially if he knew he was using the alias to try to get to the bottom of the secrets his mother has been hiding about herself and some of her hero colleagues. As Shield, Asher continues to play the part of a famous hero-on-the-rise, plastering on a convincing smile and following along with the rest of them, blending inโ but as Renegade, he sneaks out onto the backstreets, searches for real crime, for real criminals, for a world that he can change, and for answers.
Personality:
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He is neutral-chaotic good, probably a bit more on the chaotic side. Perhaps a lot more on the chaotic side, really. A passionate, expressive guy with a heart of gold, Asher sincerely cares about people and is, overall, incredibly selfless. He wants to do what is best and what is right, always, and will never hesitate to help someone in need. Generally, this is a good thing, but he does have a tendency to sometimes let his emotions get in the way of logic. As a result of this and his naturally chaotic behavior, he is highly accident prone, and it's not uncommon for him to get himself injured or banged up during a skirmish. Sometimes he puts himself out more than is necessary, hoping to please others and make them happy.
He loves to tell jokes and try to be funny, because, second only to saving and helping people, Asher loves to make people smile and laugh. He is sensitive to others' needs and tries hard to be empathetic; he wants to be someone people can depend on to always be there for them and never judge them. An unfortunate side-effect of his altruism is that he can be too trusting of others, trying so hard to see the good in them that he overlooks their flaws to an extent that is not quite wise. His loyalty to people who are not loyal to him may endanger him in the future.
He is highly-sensitive to criticism, particularly if someone can make him doubt his own integrity; it does not take much for him to begin doubting himself. He fears being led by the wrong desires, especially since he knows he does have a need to be accepted and liked by others. Fear of rejection, fear of not being "good enough", and fear of becoming corrupted or a phony often plague him and sometimes cause him to have great anxiety.
He's protective of his friends, strong-willed, and determined. Sometimes he doesn't know when to quit and is the type of person to keep fighting to defend someone else even when he should try to escape and seek medical attention. He would never leave an ally behind. He's highly forgiving and usually pretty laid-back.
Likes- He seems to like almost everything when you first meet him. Making new friends; helping people; deep discussions; nerds/smart people; learning new things; jokes and puns; animals, especially dogs; music (his favorite being hip-hop and EDM); all seasons; late nights; dancing, even though he sucks at it;
Dislikes- Spiders; being alone; sometimes himself; too much structure/being forced to follow a specific plan or guidelines (i.e., feeling controlled); liars (uh, though he is a surprisingly good one when he wants to be); inauthentic people;
Physical Appearance:
Body- He stands at 6'2", and overall has quite a broad build. His shoulders are especially wide, though overall he is really a rather built guy. He is incredibly strong too, and you can tell; his body is solid from working out quite a lot. He has fair skin that tans well during the summer.
Face- He has an oval-shaped face; bright, blue-green eyes, thick blond brows, an average-sized Roman nose, thick lips, and a prominent, sharp jawline.
Hair- Dark blond, with a bit of a wave too it; it's incredibly thick, styled in a messy taper-fade that refuses to obey him, but most people find it endearing. He usually tries to style it up, though.
Extra- He looks very approachable and has a warm vibe to him. He is Caucasian.
Clothing:
On a casual day, he doesn't wear anything too outstanding: fitted t-shirt, sometimes sleeveless, or a sweatshirt, oftentimes with the hero symbol for his alias Shield on it, since everyone knows who he is anyway (and he likes his own merch tbh); a pair of dark jeans, sometimes skinny jeans, sometimes just basic, but he prefers dark jeans over light ones; high-tops or sneakers, usually bright colors. He also likes hats, particularly ball caps and beanies, and will wear them on occasion. Though his clothes are usually expensive, it's nothing to fancy; you wouldn't know he was wealthy and semi-famous at first glance unless you recognized him.
As Shield, his hero-costume is dark blue, piped with light-grey accenting. A small symbol that resembles a shield is printed on the front of his chest, on the left side (where you might imagine a pocket to be on a men's shirt). The costume is form-fitting, but not ridiculously tight, allowing for ample movement and breathability; sleeveless, generally, with two metal cuff-bracelets he wears to help amplify control of his abilities; dark grey boots and a belt.
As Renegade, his costume is a light light grey, essentially white, with blood-red accenting and detail; this suit is more armor-based, complete with a helmet that completely hides his face and alters his voice. The suit does have some technological extras, but nothing too advanced; night vision, heat signature detection, etc., but nothing crazy extreme. Devices built into the forearms of the suit help amplify control of his powers, much like the bracelets he wears in his Shield costume. His Renegade costume is kind of epic but I suck at describing it.
Strengths: Charismatic. Calm in a crisis. Optimistic. Caring/sensitive to others. Strong-willed. Altruistic. High pain-tolerance. Physically strong.
Weaknesses: Sensitive to criticism. Hard on himself/doubts himself. Too trusting. Too selfless for own good sometimes. Accident prone. Sometimes emotionally driven or prone to poor planning.
Abilities: He can create energy-based forcefields, "shields," "armor," and fire blasts; he has meticulous control over his powers, able to create things incredibly small, shaped tangible objects made from pure energy, or massive walls to protect himself and others. He can also create a sort of energy around his body that functions as armor or a shield. The things he creates with his energy are often a translucent glowing white. Creating the energy requires a lot of mental focus; he cannot create large walls or objects for long periods of time before they dissipate. His power is largely used for defense but can also be highly destructive; he can move the walls and forcefields as well as trap his enemies inside if he so wishes (in addition to being able to fire the aforementioned energy blasts). I am awful at explaining, but his powers are hyper-specific in my mind. Think of Susan Storm/Invisible Woman's forcefields (no invisibility tho) + Armor's (from X-Men; if you don't know who she is you can google "X-Men's Armor" and she comes up; his power isn't hers by any means whatsoever but it has a similar vibe) forcefield-armor power + the ability to fire short energy blasts.
Gear: His suit, mostly. He chooses not to carry any extra fatal weapons because killing people is not on his agenda (he would likely only do so by accident, and afterwards he would be feel so guilty).
Other:
