About The Rocket
Background
Zach Epstein aka “The Rocket” is an 18 year old mutant who developed his powers gradually over the last two years. They came on during high school--just in time for him to start wowing scouts while playing varsity baseball. His childhood dream came true when he was offered a full baseball scholarship to UCLA[1]. Then everything came crashing down when they gave him his physical. ”What’s going on? This can’t be right! This is the third blood pressure monitor I've tried on you and they all just error out. I'm afraid there may be something seriously wrong with you, we're going to have to get you to a hospital immediately!”
Realizing what was happening--that his mutant physiology was in danger of being detected--Zach bolted, barely keeping the presence of mind to run at a reasonable speed. When he realized that he could no longer pass a physical exam without exposing his mutations he was utterly demoralized.
He halfheartedly finished high school but couldn’t bring himself to apply to college. Instead, he lost himself in his painting, and started to hang out on the outskirts of the South Side Muralists[2], a group of mostly legal muralists and street artists, who don’t know about his powers but refer to him as Twitch because of his tendency to move quickly (before he catches and corrects himself).
Zach also realized that he can make a lucrative income doing a broad mix of piece-work. He answered every “Moms: earn money from home!” ad he could find and found that he can perform data entry and detailed handicrafts at a hundred times the speed of most people. It’s good that he has a steady source of cash too, because his appetite is gigantic: often eating 30 Big Macs in a day!
Zach was shaken from his doldrums when he realized his speed and agility were continuing to grow to ridiculous proportions. It occurred to him that while pro athlete was something he could never attain without giving away his bizarre mutant physiology...he might be able to pursue an even crazier childhood dream: superhero![3]
Living comfortably off of a few hours work per week, he’s spent his nights running out into the hills where he can work out and test his skills. He’s not sure if he’s ready to be a real superhero yet but he’s impatient to get a chance to try!
Personality
-Protects Innocents & code vs killing: Zach is inspired by the comic book characters he read as a child, and he knows from the comics that a real hero puts saving lives above all else, and captures but doesn’t kill the villains he faces.
- Impatient: Everyone and everything around Zach feels like it moves at a snail’s pace. He tries his best not to have to wait for others and gets impatient quickly when things around him move slowly.
- Competitive: He’s lost his dream of being a pro baseball player, after coming so close to it--but his competitive nature is as fierce as ever. He loves the thrill of competition and can make rash decisions when there’s a chance to compete and win.
Appearance
Zach is 5’8” and of a clearly athletic build, but doesn’t appear to be unordinary...except for the jerky movements he sometimes makes when he’s startled, a characteristic that has earned him the nickname “Twitch” among the muralists he sometimes spends time with. He’s a Jew of Eastern European descent, with brown eyes and hair worn in loose brown curls.
As the Rocket, he’s still putting together his costume but has bought kevlar body armor that he’s added extra padding to, and a helmet.
Misc notes
[1] UCLA...or some other college/university with a great baseball team that makes more sense when we settle on where the game is going to be based.
[2] The South Side Muralistas are a group of somewhat notorious street artists who paint pieces ranging from commissioned murals to unsanctioned street art. Some members are not overly concerned with the legality of what buildings they paint on and so have occasional run-ins with the police. Others only do permitted street murals.
[3] mdt: would he know of real superheroes to be inspired by? And if not, do the comic books we’re familiar with exist as something he would have read for inspiration?
[4] I intend for him to have a rivalry with an NPC speedster who is older and better established.
