the Human Meteor

Strength 6c

Agility 6b

Intellect 5d

Willpower 7d

Hand Size: Edge:

4 (25) 2

Origin:

Originally a normal human adventurer of considerable skill, Duke O'Dowd increased his capabilities greatly upon discovering the lost city of Bayakura. There, he acquired his wonder bet, along with numerous other advanced devices with which he can combat his foes!

Powers:

(none)

Hindrances / Augmentations:

(none)

Equipment:

Explosatom Gun (a): when his considerable combat skills just aren't enough, Duke breaks out the explosatom gun! This weapon fires an beam of unknown composition, with which he can inflict intensity 10 energy damage per deadly blast!

Mentalphone: this wrist-mounted communication device allowed Duke's mentor from Bayakura, Wah Le, to reach him from the Himalayas! This powerful radio transceiver works with intensity 13 range, having an ultimate broadcast maximum of 25,000 miles.

Wonder Belt (i): the primary example of advanced, Bayakuran technology that Duke wields as the Human Meteor, this amazing device is powered by an 'ato-motor' and several micro-miniaturized energy batteries. It grants Duke him a variety of special abilities, including:

* Ability Boost / Strength (w): the 'power electric energizer' in Duke's wonder belt allows him to perform astounding feats of strength for short periods of time! When active, it lasts for a full aura duration, and grants Duke +6 Strength (intensity 12).

* Disintegration (i): using the wonder belt's highly specialized 'contra-magnetic field', Duke can actually generate a field which disintegrates metal weapons (and presumably, other metal objects as well) adjacent to his person, doing so with intensity 13 ability.

* Flight (a): his most visually striking capability, Duke can use the wonder belt to defy gravity and soar through the air! He may fly thanks to the effects of 'radium emanations', doing so with intensity 5 speed, or at approximately 150 miles per hour.

Yar-Gun (w): a device he wields intermittently, Duke has been known to carry a sleep ray into battle. This weapon, once its beam strikes a foe, will knock them unconscious for an aura duration, if it can pass an easy difficulty action, on intensity 12, against their Willpower.

Skills:

Acrobatics (a): long before he left Texas, Duke had become an accomplished stuntman. He's good at taking a fall, though he's usually faking it when he does so. Thanks to this ability, Duke can reduce the difficulty of actions intended to dodge attacks or lower falling damage.

Guns (a): one can't really get far in a martial force without sorting out how to operate firearms. As a Legionnaire, Duke learned how to wield most standard, semi-automatic and fully automatic weapons of his time, doing so at one difficulty level lower than is normally necessary.

Languages / English and French (i): though a Texas native of Irish descent, Duke has the ability to read, write and speak in French in addition to English. But then, as a world-spanning adventurer, one must learn many things, even foreign tongues!

Boxing (s): long before he enlisted in the Foreign Legion, Duke was a competent brawler, and can readily injure others even while unarmed. He may divide his pre-card play action score between two weaponless attacks, the latter of which will occur as a contingent action.

Military / French Foreign Legion (w): seeking adventure, Duke signed up with the French Foreign Legion for a time, where he learned French - among several other skills. As such, he can readily lead fighting men into battle should the need arise.

Piloting (a): a skill that has come in handy all his life, Duke is a competent pilot. He may operate most conventional, fixed-wing aircraft at one difficulty level lower than is usually required. He could presumably figure out helicopters and the like with some work.

Skill / Lasso (s): something he picked up as a cowpoke back in Texas, Duke can wield a lasso quite effectively. Though he cannot use such an implement to inflict damage, Duke can nonetheless use a rope or other, similar item to grapple any foe within near missile distance.

Contacts:

Duke has several contacts around the world. He's on good terms with Wah Le, leader of Bayakura, who has that position precisely because of Duke. Furthermore, having saved his daughter twice, Duke can naturally depend on his former commander in the Foreign Legion in a pinch.

Duke O'Dowd presumably has numerous additional contacts - or had, at least. Once he signed up with the Battle-Axis against his own country, a lot of people broke with Duke... and with good reason. Whether or not he's ever recovered from this turn of events is as of yet unknown.

Calling:

Explorer, with a secondary calling of Guardian: above all else, Duke enjoys exploring the unknown, meeting new people, finding expensive treasures, discovering lost cities, etc... However, he also sees himself as a man who should protect the interests of his nation of origin, as well.

Costume:

Duke originally wore more conventional gear in his adventures. After he acquired his wonder belt, though, he donned a considerably more... revealing uniform. His new outfit consists of green boots, green gloves, green trunks, a green cape, and his golden wonder belt.

Personality:

Duke O'Dowd has always had a hankering for adventure. The man grew up living a life stuffed full of it, and as such his adulthood wouldn't have been complete without more. He seemed to be a fun-loving, humorous fellow in his many exploits, both mundane and fantastic.

However, the Duke had a dark side: his intense loathing of England and its citizenry. His Irish background coloring this irrational hatred, presumably fanned by the uncle who raised him, Duke has been led down a dark path more than once due to its influence on his life.

Real Name Duke O'Dowd
Occupation adventurer
Legal Status: citizen of the United States with a considerable criminal record
Marital Status: single
Alias(es), if any: the Great Deliverer
Group Affiliation: the Battle-Axis

Height: 6'
Hair: red
Eyes: blue
Weight: 180 lbs
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: none

Story:

Long, long ago, the man who would eventually become the Human Meteor felt a stirring in his spirit, the need for adventure. But then, he was something of a risk-taker in his youth, being a cowhand, a stuntman, and even a pilot while growing up on a ranch in Texas!

Though he eventually moved away from that wide open state, Duke went on to become a soldier of fortune, starting out as a member of the French Foreign Legion. While there, he engaged in several successful missions for the commandant - including the rescue of his daughter!

Eventually discharged from the Legion to aid an ailing sister, Duke was on his way home when his aircraft was caught in an inexplicable twister over the Himalayas. While his pilot was killed, Duke himself survived to blunder his way into a lost city, known by its inhabitants as Bayakura!

There, after helping to quell a rebellion instigated by Bayakurans wishing to exploit the world without using their advanced technology, Duke was given several examples of it for his own use. Ostensibly, this was to help free the world from the increasing yoke of oppression.

Accepting this charge, because hey high tech toys, Duke became more than an ordinary human. In fact, he rechristened himself the Human Meteor, using the amazing abilities his new equipment gave him to fight crime and engage in adventure on a much greater scale than before!

Duke faced increasingly more dangerous foes, but apparently something was bubbling around in the back of his head. You see, being of Irish descent, Duke grew increasingly discontent with the fact that America and England were such good allies during the second World War.

He was rather vocal about this, too, which is why the evil Doctor Death apparently heard about his somewhat outré opinions. Knowing of his political views, the Doctor managed to convince Duke that working for the Nazis was in his - and the people of Ireland's - best interests.

As such, Duke participated in Doctor Death's bizarre scheme to wreak untold havoc in California, not to mention the poisoning of millions of American citizens with their own poison gas weaponry (not that the Duke knew about the second half until it was, of course, too late).

This caused him and the Doctor's other dupes, the so-called Battle-Axis, to get into a string of clashes with America's premiere group of super-heroes, the Invaders. In the end, this strange plot was defeated, and the surviving villains were captured - and most likely incarcerated.

Duke's ultimate fate is as of yet unrevealed.

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