Frank Payne - Constrictor's page

ABILITIES 42 + POWERS 42 + ADVANTAGES 13 + SKILLS 17 + DEFENCES 8 = 122[/122]

STRENGTH 3, STAMINA 4, AGILITY 3, DEXTERITY 2, FIGHTING 4, INTELLECT 0, AWARENESS 1, PRESENCE 2

Benefit 3 (Alternative Identity - Francis Schlichting, Cipher & Ambidexterity), Connected, Equipment 1, Diehard, Improved Critical (Coils) 2*, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2, Takedown 2.

Languages: English

* EACH COIL IS 19-20 CRIT THREAT.

Athletics 4 [+7]; Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 [+6]; Close Combat (Coils) 2 [+6]; Deception 6 [+8]; Expertise (Criminal) 6 [+6]; Expertise (S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent) 2 [+2]; Intimidation 4 [+6]; Investigation 2 [+2]; Perception 3 [+4]; Stealth 2 [+6] and Vehicles 1 [+3].

CONSTRICTOR BATTLESUIT: Flaw (Removable) [1/5 TOTAL PP COST = 10PP]

Light Body Armour: Protection 6 (Extra: Impervious 6; Flaw: Impervious limited to ballistics), Immunity 5 (Electrical Damage) [11PP]
Constrictor Coils: Damage 4 (Bludgeon/Strength based), Elongation 2 (30ft), Extra Limbs 2 (Extra: Multiattack), Feature (Cogmium Steel), Movement (Safe Fall), Snare 8 (Extras: Linked - Electrical Damage; Flaw: Reduced Range). [31PP]
Power Pack: Damage 10 (Electrical/Energy based; Extra: Secondary Effect - to Snare; Flaw: Fades) [10PP]

Initiative +3
Grab +4
Unarmed +6 (Close, Damage 3; DC 18)
Coil Whip +6 (Close, Damage 7; DC 22)
Coil Snare +5 (Close, Affliction; DC18
Coil Shock +6 (Close/Secondary Effect to Snare, Damage 10; DC25 - Fades)

Dodge 5 [2PP]
Parry 6 [2PP]
Fortitude 8 [4PP]
Toughness 10 (Impervious 3)
Will 1

Secret: Frank is operating as his criminal alias as he is still potentially wanted by S.H.I.E.L.D. after absconding from Brynmore Psychiatric Facility. The world must believe he is Frank Schlichting once again.
Paranoid: Frank believes (rightly or wrongly) that S.H.I.E.L.D. are still looking for him and is wary of any interaction or mention of the his former employer.
Motivation (Redemption) - Frank is a fallen S.H.I.E.L.D. deep cover agent, who now feels he has the opportunity to gain a degree of atonement for his actions as a villain.
Motivation (Mercenary at Heart): As a former enforcer-for-hire he finds "doing the right thing" to be less financially profitable than most criminal enterprises he used to engage in. Squaring this drive for financial reward vs adopting a more "heroic" mindset is a constant challenge for Frank.
Responsibility (Daughter - Mia): Though she believes him to be dead, Frank is still driven to provide for his young daughter.
Reputation: Constrictor is known enhanced criminal enforcer and unscrupulous mercenary, and despite Frank's change of heart, former allies and foes alike will judge him on his previous actions.

Frank Payne originally was a mid-ranking specialist in criminal cartels within the international extra-governmental military counter-terrorism and intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D. When the organisation mooted a covert programme to send agents undercover as an “enhanced” mercenary to infiltrate criminal syndicates and terrorist groups, Frank volunteered. Despite being married and father to a young daughter, Frank saw the deep cover operation as one that would ultimately net him both prestige and status within S.H.I.E.L.D. and the resulting financial reward would secure his family for life.

In 2011, with the rewards outweighing the risks, Frank joined the fledgling Project: Ouroboros and was outfitted with a battle suit incorporating technology theory utilised in the armour of the rogue Russian physicist Ivan Vanko [aka "Whiplash"] and the Constrictor device designed by Howard Stark, housed in the form of two Cogmium coils. S.H.I.E.L.D. then provided him with the new identity of Frances “Frankie” Schlichting - complete with rap sheet and underworld credentials and the codename of Constrictor.

Constrictor enjoyed immediate success, the suits prowess and Frank’s training garnering kudos and employment in some of the world’s most notorious criminal organisations. Domestically he was tied with the Manfredi Crime Family, but also worked internationally alongside mercenaries such as Marcus Scarlotti and Georges Batroc.

Despite his S.H.I.E.L.D. training, the intense nature of the deep cover assignment and its constant requirement to act as a criminal, whilst simultaneously undermining their operations took its psychological toll. Frank became more paranoid, and after several brushes with Interpol, he became convinced that S.H.I.E.L.D. had cut him loose. His intel to his handler dried up as he became more immersed in his Frank Schlichting/Constrictor cover. Soon afterward S.H.I.E.L.D. designated him as “rogue” and Director Fury ordered the Ouroboros programme shut down and informed his family that Frank was MIA, presumed dead.

In 2013 Fury ordered special agent Clint Barton that Frank be recovered or neutralised. Less than a year later Barton was successful, taking down an unstable Frank but failing to recover his eponymous battlesuit. Deemed no longer a viable S.H.I.E.L.D. asset Frank was sentenced under the lesser charge of “diminished responsibility” and incarcerated indefinitely in the Brynmore Psychiatric Facility.

He remained there until 2015 when the facility was comprised by Calvin Zabo, and in the ensuing chaos Frank took the opportunity to abscond. Disgraced and on the run, he had little option but to head to an old safehouse, where his past awaited him. Hidden within he found paperwork and IDs for his old identity - Frank Schlichting… and more importantly the recovered Constrictor suit.

Committed to redeeming himself, Frank enrolled himself on a criminal reform programme where “Frank Schlichting's” pseudo-criminal profile served him well. If he couldn’t redeem himself his own identity, it would be symbolic to change the one he had worn in his downfall. Honest living for a dishonest man. A chance to earn the the respect and love of his family again… eventually. A contact on the programme suggested he head to New York - friend of his, Earl Laduc, ran a diner there. Always had a spot for a hard luck case looking to turn themselves around for the better.

One phonemail later, Frank was on a Greyhound to NYC with his future ahead of him and his past in the luggage case…

Secret Origins: Frank Payne was an agent of the international espionage organization S.H.I.E.L.D., and the father of an adult daughter, Mia. When S.H.I.E.L.D. needed a costumed "supervillain" to go undercover in the criminal organization called the Corporation, Frank was given a snake-themed costume and a pair of wrist-mounted electrified metal coils. Using the false identity of Frank Schlicting and the codename of "Constrictor", he infiltrated the group, only to suffer a nervous breakdown and become a career criminal in earnest. As a result of his defection, S.H.I.E.L.D. allowed his daughter to believe that he had died.

The Story so Far: As the Constrictor, "Schlicting" debuted in combat against the Hulk, and would remain an independent mercenary and criminal after the dissolution of the Corporation. He battled numerous heroes over the years, including repeated encounters with Captain America, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Spider-Man, the Thing, Batman and Midnighter. Although Luke Cage and Nick Fury eventually uncovered Payne's former identity, he chose to retain the Schlicting alias and to allow his daughter to believe that her father was dead.

Constrictor was also invited to join the Serpent Society, which he turned down and subsequently tried to turn them over to the Avengers. Anaconda later exacted revenge on him. While in the hospital recuperating from the beating, he was nearly killed by the Scourge of the Underworld disguised as a nurse.

Constrictor appeared as a supporting character in Deadpool wherein he and Titania moved in with him as his roommates. During their uncomfortable living situation, Constrictor was convinced that Titania was actually a man. It would turn out that he was right that she wasn't what she seemed; but not about her gender as Titania was revealed to actually be the mutant shapeshifter and Deadpool's former lover, Copycat. He was later found to be under the employment of Justin Hammer. When cutbacks forced his supervisor to lay him off, he responded by brutally attacking him.

He did join the seventh incarnation of the Masters of Evil. Later he was part of a very short-lived rendition of the Wizard's Frightful Four. At one point he was one of the many mercs hired to kill Alex Hayden, who was at this time thought to be Wade Wilson although he stated that Wilson was a hard-ass so Hayden couldn't be Deadpool. Hayden then broke Constrictor's nose. Later in the fight, he was used, or rather his Vibranium coils were used, to drag the Rhino into a river. Somehow both escaped.

After a severe beating from Hercules, the Constrictor was awarded several million dollars in a lawsuit. Nighthawk, rich himself, convinced the Constrictor that with all his money there was no need to be a criminal anymore, and he apparently turned over a new life and decided to be a hero. He went back the employment of S.H.I.E.L.D. as a member of the new Six-Pack. He even attended an all-superhuman charity poker tournament hosted by the Thing, who also had a hand in the Constrictor's apparent reformation, where Hercules regained at least a large portion of the money he lost to the Constrictor in a non-tournament side game.

During Secret Invasion, Constrictor lost both of his arms and was given mechanical arms instead. After returning to his life as a hero, he made sure that most of his paychecks went straight to his daughter.

Constrictor was eventually recruited into the Shadow Initiative by Norman Osborn where he became a prominent member of the team and a close friend of the Taskmaster. Over the course of his career there, he eventually graduated to a more managerial position and began dating Diamondback, a fellow Initiative member. They grew very close, but during the escape of a prisoner, Frank discovered that Diamondback was actually a spy for Captain America and the Avengers. She did her best to assure him that her love was real, and Frank decided to keep her secret because he was afraid she might be hurt.

During the events of Siege, Frank fought for Osborn with the villains, and was in the immediate proximity of Asgard when it fell. His last sight was Diamondback running towards Captain America, who had arrived with the Avengers. He assumed that, because Diamondback and the Captain had dated previously, she was going back to him and did not really love a "loser like him." He then left with the Taskmaster to renew a life of crime.

Characterisation: Frank is a conflicted villain. Part of him wants to try to go straight but his heartbreak over Diamondback and his desire to provide for his daughter keep in on the wrong side of the law.

Friends and Foes: He remains close to Bengal, who continues to try and get him to lead a better life, and Taskmaster, who keeps getting him mercenary work. Diamondback has tried to contact him but he refuses her calls.