Spirit of '76

Strength        Agility         Intellect       Willpower
8d              6d              3x              6x

Hand Size:      4 (25)
Edge:           2

Origin:

William Naslund was the Spirit of '76, a man motivated by the fine example of Captain America to do his utmost to fight his country's many enemies. Like his idol, William lacks super-human powers of any stripe, merely doing battle with his Axis foes under his own steam.

Powers:

(none)

Hindrances / Augmentations:

(none)

Equipment:

Cape (s): as the Spirit of '76, William utilized a brilliant red, bulletproof cape. This item provided the man intensity 12 (+3) protection from attack physical attacks, as long as they came from behind. In a pinch however, William can forgo attacks and wrap his cape around his body.

Skills:

Boxing (s): William made it a point to fight with his fists, as opposed to using knives or guns (which he absolutely refuses to do). Skilled with these natural weapons, he can divide his total action score between two melee attacks, the last of which will occur as a contingent action.

Martial Arts 2 (a): William may use his Strength or Agility to resolve unarmed melee combat. Also, this skill allows him to reduce the difficulty of actions to catch thrown weapons, lower the damage inflicted by falling, or even to strike in melee.

Contacts:

William was a member of the short-lived Crusaders team, and as such can count on those ersatz heroes for aid should he need it. Of course, most of them have since retired out of shame over being so easily duped into participating in the team's, er, crusade against the Invaders.

Calling:

Idealist: William is a tried and true patriot, as he risks his life constantly in the protection of America and the idea it represents. He does this despite the fact that he is essentially a normal human, and is always mixing it up with super-villains and the like.

Costume:

As the Spirit of '76, William wore a costume that included a long-sleeved, collared white shirt with ten blue stars on the chest, blue trousers with white racing stripes, black leather boots and gloves, a black domino mask, a black cocked hat, and a brilliant red cape.

Personality:

William was an extremely patriotic young American, and felt he could best serve his country by fighting its many foes as his idol, Captain America did - namely, up front and personal in a bright costume. He may not be the smartest fellow but his heart was definitely in the right place.

Real Name: William Naslund
Occupation: adventurer
Legal Status: U.S. citizen with no known criminal record
Marital Status: single
Alias(es), if any: none
Group Affiliation: former member of the Crusaders

Height: 6' 2"
Hair: black
Eyes: blue
Weight: 210
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: none

Story:

Little is known about the origins of the man that became the Spirit of '76. It has been revealed over time that he idolized Captain America, watching him with pride on the news reels as the red, white and blue Son of Liberty bashed in Nazi heads week after week.

Wishing to do his part, he began to study the Captain's fighting style, training intensely to become as good at fighting evil as his hero. He didn't quite manage that, but William nonetheless became quite adept at the unique, unarmed fighting style he evolved over time.

Feeling he was ready, he assembled a costumed identity of his own: the Spirit of '76. Traveling to Europe, William went about looking for a means with which he could take the fight to his foes without being an easy mark, and failed after he was taken in by a man known only as Alfie.

This fellow was a Nazi intent on assembling a team of English super heroes - to eventually turn them against the mighty Invaders. William wasn't English by any means, but he was a costumed do-gooder in England at the time, so Alfie figured that was good enough.

Once his Crusaders were ready, Alfie set his plot into motion, but naturally the Invaders were more than a match for these hastily assembled, ersatz heroes. Once it was revealed they'd teamed up in some sort of Axis scheme, the Crusaders quickly disbanded and gave up super heroics.

Except maybe William. In fact, he continued fighting the good fight for years in Europe, doing so for the duration of World War II.