Nightstrike's page

Daniel can barely remember his childhood now. From what he's been told he isn't missing much. he was given up for adoption on account of his condition and raised in an orphanage until he was ten and schooled by nuns who said he had 'the devil's eyes". he was expelled when he began to manifest his powers. He was taken in by a state-sponsored academy specifically for young metahumans. Those were teh best years of his life. They treated him well and taught him to control his abilities.

When he was an adult he decided to join the military. His abilities immediately set him apart as a potentially valuable candidate. He spent three years as an infiltrator in a metahuman special forces team until his squad was captured.

The next four years of his life are a blank, and he's glad for that. He was brainwashed, cut up, rebuilt and experimented on. He's suspected of killing a lot of people, but given who he is and how he was trained, there isn't any real way of proving that.

He was eventually captured and brought in by another metahuman team. At first he was treated as an enemy combatant, but one of the members of the team who brought him in was psychic and detected the damage to his mind.

Somehow news of the events were leaked to the press and even though he was being kept in isolation he became an overnight celebrity and a subject of political argument.

Over the next two years he slowly regained control over his thoughts and worked with psychiatrists and psychic healers to repair the damage to his psyche. When it was decided that he was ready to re-enter the world he decided to change his name and stay out of the public spotlight. He was placed in Witness Protection and moved to Emerald City.

Today the recently dubbed Dan Cranston spends his days asleep in the loft apartment he's been provided by his government handlers. At night he mostly goes running through the city for hours on end or sitting in the corner of a bar. He's not exactly happy and he's going a little stir crazy with nothing to do, but it beats everything else in the last ten years, hands down.

Dan Cranston wears old sneakers and black cargo pants with a loose fitting grey tank-top tucked into it. He wears a three-quarter length black leather jacket and usually wears a pair of lightly tinted polarized glasses and a black ball cap.

He looks like a typical ex-soldier, having never quite lost that military bearing and demeanor. His hair is kept cut close to his scalp and he tries to shave every day, but he doesn't always succeed so he often has a light stubble that matches the length of the hair on his head.

Nightstrike spends most of his time in darkness, but when he can't help but be in the light he looks a lot like Vin Diesel in Pitch Black (which is something he is definitely sick of hearing, especially considering how his abilities work).

His costume is a close-fitting black suit of reinforced leather and neoprene. His head is bare but he wears a pair of close fitting dark goggles that reflect a faint red.

He'd look a lot like a modern ninja if not for the six whip-like, clawed cybernetic arms that come out of his back.

In action, he's a terror. He's veritable cyclone of blades that leaps, swings, grabs, and seems practically impossible to hit.

In the dark, he's a nightmare. His skin blackens, matching the light levels around him. He comes out of nowhere, blending into the shadows and seeming to disappear into one and come out of others.

Light-Blind: Nightstrike's eyes do not handle bright light well. He normally wears tinted Flash-Goggles or sunglasses to protect himself, but if he is caught without them then it becomes difficult for him to see. The brighter the light the more blind he is in it.
Traumatized: Being kidnapped, brainwashed with mind-altering chemicals, image repetition and painful reinforcement and being the subject of terrible surgical experimentation has left Nightstrike with severe PTSD. He is secretly extremely afraid that his programming is still in effect, manipulating his reactions and thoughts in ways he doesn't realize.
Fear of Hospitals: After so many medical procedures, Nightstrike has a deep fear of medical facilities. He hates to be in them, and can't even watch surgery performed in movies. He has been attempting to conquer his fear by watching television shows like House and Scrubs, but he has yet to make it through an entire episode.
Not a Villain: Dan only remembers some of the things he did while he was under [bigbad]'s control. That's enough for a lifetime. He doesn't really want to be a hero, but helping people, saving people, and fighting off those who would hurt people who can't fight back, those are the only ways that he is able to feel even halfway good about himself. He's not in it for fame, recognition or even a sense of responsibility. He's in it for redemption.