the Star Child F A S E R I P Res Pop Pr 4 Gd 10 Am 50 Am 50 Ex 20 In 40 Mn 75 Sh 0 Ty +5 Health: 114 Karma: 135 Origin: The so-called Star Child is, in fact, Ken Connell, despite the fact that Ken Connell is actually his father. You see, the very creation of the Star Brand caused a bizarre temporal paradox that caused Ken to create himself, at which point he was born with the full, infinite powers of the Star Brand. I guess this makes him an arisen, spontaneously created human being. Known Powers: Immortality: Ken Connell's original form, the Star Child was born an immortal being, even if he didn't understand any of this to begin with. If brought to zero Health and Shift 0 Endurance, his body will assume a regenerative form, a sort of fish-headed, pink humanoid looking thing with really loose, baggy skin, until he's all healed up. Even total body disintegration can only delay this regeneration from occurring. Longevity: while he isn't totally ageless, the Star Child nonetheless experienced a vastly accelerated aging cycle until he reached maturity, at an approximate physical age of 18. After this point, should he have actually lived out a life span that hadn't landed him in a temporal loop, he would likely have had a 3328 year life span; 70-18 (human life span - his physical age) x this power rank (Poor (4)) cubed = 3328. Limitations / Enhancements: (none) Equipment: The Star Brand: thanks to his bizarre, paradoxical heritage, the Star Child was born with the full power of the Star Brand roiling within his tiny frame. As such, you can technically consider him the original fount of power from which the Star Brand issued forth, and he can use this power with unbelievable ability (if not necessarily finesse). It can use all of these abilities with Amazing (50) ability. The Star Child can use more than one of these Star Brand abilities at a time. He can execute two power actions by passing a green Reason FEAT roll, and can utilize additional powers by applying a -1 CS to the FEAT for each additional ability he attempts to use. Furthermore, he can enhance the use of these powers to Shift Z (500) rank at will, and has demonstrated these abilities to date: * Causality Control: a power the Star Child wielded with frightening frequency, he can use this ability to change the functional nature of the universe (or a part therein) itself! The Star Child nominally used this power at Shift Z (500) rank, allowing him to cause world-wide changes in causality, using it to, for instance, deactivate all the weapons on the earth, and to end the process of death for a time. * Damage Reduction: being born with the Star Brand's power within his tiny frame, the Star Child can use it reflexively to protect himself, achieving nigh invulnerability. Concentration isn't an issue with this power, as opposed to the normal means of accessing the Star Brand's power, and this ability provides him 8 CS of damage reduction, which is equally effective against physical and energy attack. * Energy Generation: by extending its energies outside himself, the Star Child can create startling displays of the unknown, paradoxical power of the Star Brand. While he can focus this into a directional blast of power, it typically manifests as a sort of explosion centered on his body, inflicting power rank Energy damage to everybody within Very Near distance (50 yards). If he should increase the effect above Amazing (50) rank, the Star Child must pass a red power FEAT roll to focus it into a beam, as opposed to detonating everything within his immediate area. Furthermore, the blast effect is increased by one area for each +1 CS he adds to the power rank; for example, a Shift X (150) ranked explosion would affect everything within four areas of the Star Child. * Environmental Independence: during his many adventures, the Star Child has demonstrated that his power allows him to function without air. It is likely that he wields this power at Class 5000 rank, effectively neutralizing his need to breathe (save out of habit, of course). As he has spent months out in the deep recesses of space, it is assumed that the Star Child no longer needs to eat, drink, or sleep, either. * Flight: simply by willing it, the Star Child can move about in all three dimensions, at up to Amazing (50) speed (375 miles per hour) if he's not really concentrating. However, should he desire, he can kick his flight rank up to Beyond (infinite) speeds, though this would be dangerous in several ways. That's why, if an immediate need to be somewhere arises, the Star Child simply teleports there. * Healing / Others: the Star Child has demonstrated truly staggering healing powers, should he wish to save a body from an untimely demise. Functioning at Amazing (50) rank, this power can heal most any injuries. However, as long as a single cell lives within a given corpse, the Star Child can restore it to full functions, though such a restoration entails a significant increase in the amount of power needed to heal said body. * Imaginary Doubles: the Star Child, should he need to talk to somebody elsewhere (and not actually wish to be present for the conversation) can send the image of a disembodied head to their location. He can use his own sensory powers through this illusory head, and can thus carry out conversations with other people by using it. He wields this power at Amazing (50) rank. * Macrosense: though he couldn't initially expand his consciousness into the cosmos around him, the Star Child developed this ability after months of practice and meditation. Working at Amazing (50) rank, this power allows him to learn things directly, as opposed to probing the minds of others to figure things out. This power also alerts him to serious threats to the universe, as well. * Portability: being the progenitor of the Star Brand, technically speaking, the Star Child can do many things with it. He can move the tattoo of power around on his body as he sees fit, or can even transfer a portion of its power (not the 90 percent normally required) to others, as he has done with Roger Price and Jacob Burnsley. Of course, he can always take it back, too. However, he will never place its power in an inanimate object. This is because, without a true sentience to control it, the power will rage out of control, disintegrating the object (and a very large portion of its surroundings). For instance, placing the Star Brand into a bent ten pound weight destroyed said weight and all matter within a twenty-five mile radius, accidentally creating the Pitt. Needless to say, this also ruined Ken Connell's day. Similarly, placing the Star Brand into a non-sentient animal isn't a good idea, either. This won't cause the calamity described above, but it will kill the animal over time, as the Star Brand's energies, unchecked, will consume it within days. Of course, this was discovered by the Old Man during his many attempts to rid himself of this thing. * Psychic Probe: a power the Star Child routinely used while he was in his first stage of development, this ability allows him to look into the minds of others, searching for all kinds of information. He can use this power at Amazing (50) rank, but would-be targets receive a Psyche FEAT roll to resist this power, and he can only use it on a given person once a day. * Super-Strength: while his strength is naturally quite high thanks to his Star Brand powers, the Star Child can considerably enhance this physical power. Boosting it as high as Shift Z (500) rank, the Star Child can acquire tremendous lifting (or striking) power at will, and can lift up to 500 tons regardless of the structural integrity of such a heavy object, or that of the surface he stands on! * Telekinesis: the Star Child has the power to impose his will upon other objects as though he were physically manipulating them. He's quite handy with this trick, which he can wield with Amazing (50) ability. It's likely he could enhance its power as he can with his other Star Brand abilities, but he simply hasn't demonstrated it at such potent levels yet. * Telepathy: needing the ability to communicate with others despite his undeveloped vocal chords, the Star Child learned how to use telepathy via his Star Brand power immediately after being born. He can use this power at Amazing (50) rank, allowing him to talk to others with significant (five thousand mile) range, though he can easily increase this further when necessary. * Teleportation: when the Star Child has the need to be somewhere in a hurry and simply flying there would be a bother, he simply wills himself to manifest at said location, crossing space to appear there instantly. He can perform this little trick with Amazing (50) skill, allowing him to cross five thousand miles in the blink of an eye - without the danger of materializing within another object. * Time Travel: his single most potent (and draining) use of the Star Brand, this power gives the Star Child the ability to cross time itself, though doing so was his last act as a sentient being. Working at Amazing (50) rank, this power allows him to move himself (or others) up to 125,000 years into the past or future. He never had cause to go that far, of course, but he could. Quirks: Bluntness 2: the Star Child essentially grew up on his own, and as such, has little knowledge of social graces and the like. As such, he most often says the first thing that comes to mind in a given situation, and must pass a Psyche FEAT roll at -4 CS to prevent himself from doing so. With his powers and youth, this combines to be a downright creepy trait. Talents: (none) Contacts: The Star Child knew very few people during the limited course of his life. However, he made good friends with Jane and Roger Price, the couple present at his birth, as well as Jacob Burnsley, who he gave the Star Brand to for a short time. Furthermore, while he wasn't on good terms with his father for a good long time, this may have changed once Ken regained his sanity - though that took a while. Costume: To begin with, the Star Child wore no clothes, as he wasn't born with any. For his first year of existence, he simply flew around in the buff - but then, he was mostly in space during that time, so this was irrelevant. When he had to start dealing with people, however, the Star Child wore a strip of white cloth over his shoulder, one long enough to cover his 'unmentionables'. Personality: The Star Child is something of a quandary, in that he was a child born with the power of a god, able to alter his universe as he saw fit. However, as he matured, the Star Child found that he was less inclined to use his powers to change things, as everything he did had unforeseen results. However, if he did think it necessary, woe be he who got in the Star Child's way. Real Name: Kenneth Connell, Jr. (adopted name) Occupation: explorer, nascent cosmic entity Legal Status: Legally, an American citizen with no criminal record Marital Status: single Alias(es), if any: none Group Affiliation: none Height: 6' 5" (originally 1') Hair: blonde Eyes: blue Weight: 230 lbs (originally 9 lbs) Other Distinguishing Characteristics: when he wielded the Star Brand, it's presence on his skin was kind of distinguishing, though he could move it to a place where it wouldn't normally be seen. Story: A product of Ken Connell and Debbie Felix's love affair, the entity known only as the Star Child to the vast majority of the earth attained sentience shortly after his conception. Knowing little about his universe save for what his mother had knowledge of, the Star Child slowly exerted his willpower upon his mother, influencing her to study various subjects the Star Child felt he should know about. Shortly after the creation of the Pitt, Debbie made her way to the Pitt to find out what happened to it - it was her home, after all. However, the strange energies extant in the vicinity around the former metropolitan area caused her child to be born early, right after it saved Debbie and her friends (Roger and Jane Price) from a mutated plant creature that attacked their Jeep. Of course, it wasn't a peaceful birth. You see, Debbie's child ripped itself out of his mother's womb rather violently, streaking off into the distance immediately thereafter. Moments later, he was picked up on radar by a nearby Army station, and found himself attacked by a wave of fighter craft that wasn't sure what he was. Reacting instinctively, the baby lashed out with its power, annihilating the pilots of said craft. However, the child kept a portion of his awareness anchored upon the friends of his mother, who found themselves under assault by a mutated wolf-like creature near the Pitt. Vaporizing the beast, the child addressed the couple, using his mother's voice. When Jane accused the child of murder, he wasn't sure how to deal with this and, after failing to explain it himself, flew off to explore the weight of his actions. A few months later, Connell's child detected a rather large meteor on a direct collision course with the earth, and activated an earthbound nuclear missile to destroy it. Immediately afterward, the youth returned to Jane Price to further question her about the world. However, Jane wasn't too happy about this, and when he tried to probe Jane's mind, her husband tried to intervene. Again reacting instinctively, the child killed Roger outright. After Jane freaked out on him, scolding him in her grief about Roger being no threat to one with his power, the child found himself confused even further, and sought his father out to get some answers. He found Ken, raving like a loon, in the rubble around the Pitt. Teleporting Ken into space, the child finally introduced himself to his father. Completely insane at this point, Ken perceived this as a threat to his primacy over the world, and attacked his son. However, his child had learned much about himself and his power, at the very least, and decided that Ken couldn't continue on in his current state - not with his powers, at least. As such, the child extracted the Star Brand from Ken's body, though this made him even more disturbed than before. Having some answers to his questions, at last, Ken's child returned to earth and, seeking out what life he could in Roger's smoldering corpse, he managed to return the poor man to life, infusing his body with a portion of the Star Brand's power. Thinking that he had at last made amends for his inadvertent actions, the youth returned to his meditations, hoping to learn his place in the world. Some time after this, the child sensed a powerful life form within the Pitt, and went to investigate it. Submerging himself within the Pitt-Juice at the bottom of the Pitt crater, the Star Child found out that the life he sensed within the time-suspension fluid on the Pitt bottom was, in fact, a single gigantic plant mass, one which was expanding at an astounding rate towards the civilization around it. Sensing that it was about to unknowingly kill thousands of innocent people, the child reached out with its power, creating a dome of energy the size of the Pitt itself, one that contained and pushed back the monstrous plant that was issuing forth from the crater, though he killed the thing in doing so. Sad to have destroyed so unique a creature, the child dedicated himself to preserving life - at all costs. To this end, he utilized his powers to their fullest extent, changing the very nature of life on earth, preventing death itself from occurring. Also, he used the power of the Star Brand inherent to his form to deactivate the entire nuclear arsenal of the earth, thus saving humanity from inadvertently destroying itself. With that, the child made preparations to leave the earth to determine the Star Brand's origin. One such preparation was the granting of the Star Brand to a wise man to protect it during his absence. This fellow turned out to be one Jacob Burnsley, an elderly man who Connell's son determined to be worthy of its power. The only thing he needed to do after this was say goodbye to Jane and Roger Price. This was a sad meeting, however, for the Prices told him that he'd screwed up again. You see, eliminating all death in the world, even that of bacteria and other pests, turned out to be a disaster. Furthermore, he discovered that Roger didn't like the buff body he'd granted him, and as such, the child withdrew the Star Brand power that rested within him. After restoring death to the world, the child rescued the Prices from the military base they were being held in for the last couple of months. Saying good bye, the child then made for the stars, seeking out the origins of his power for many months. The answer eventually came to him, but he wasn't too happy about it. You see, the so-called Star Child had found out that the Star Brand came into being when the sum of space-time had folded in on itself. Furthermore, the very existence of Ken Connell was apparently causing space-time to collapse. This was because he was currently present in the universe at three separate stages of existence: his present form, the so-called Old Man, and himself. Yes, Ken Connell's son was, in fact, a previous incarnation of the man himself!! Armed with this knowledge, the Star Child resolved to trap all three incarnations of himself in a temporal Mobius loop to save the universe. Collecting the many wielders of the Star Brand together in orbit around Jupiter, the Star Child explained the situation to everybody present (such people being Ken, the Old Man, Roger Price, and Jacob Burnsley), and eventually got everybody's cooperation. As such, he sent Roger and Jacob back to earth, and then combined his essence with that of Ken and the Old Man, and got ready to enter the time stream. Before leaving, however, the Star Child found out that the governments of the world had all begun to war with each other, and he acted one last time to protect the earth. Deactivating each and every weapon in existence on the earth, the Star Child then told humanity that he would not save them again, and then departed from the world forever. He then began to reach through time with his power. Heading 500 years into the past, he changed things so Ken could live as a Dutch Duke, and sent his essence back there so he could eventually become the Old Man. He wiped the Old Man's mind clean, and sent his energies back about a year, so that the Old Man would become himself - the Star Child. Finally, he made a place for himself in the eighties, and altering his own memories, became Ken Connell. Of course, though the Star Child (and his other temporal manifestations) are no more, he did provide one final defense for his world, should it need it. You see, while Jacob was collecting the Old Man for him, the Star Child reached through Jacob's power to grant a portion of the Star Brand to an Air Force pilot who was wounded during Jacob's battle with the mad Old Man. As such, the universe had been saved from collapsing, and the earth had its most powerful weapon. Furthermore, the Star Brand had been granted to a person who refused to utilize its power for fear of creating another Pitt-like disaster, so it wasn't about to be wielded lightly. Though things eventually soured down the road, the Star Child did his best to protect the world of his birth. Chronology: Star Brand # 13, Star Brand # 14, Star Brand # 15, Star Brand # 16, Star Brand # 18, Star Brand # 19, Quasar # 31 (in a flashback), the War # 3, the War # 4.