Tag: thanks to Vito Delsante

#3 – Simulacrum

| November 4, 2010 | 0 Comments

Sometimes I hate my job. I wasn’t able to upload this character yesterday due to pressing deadlines. So today, there’s two updates.

Thanks a lot to Vito Delsante for helping me find a name for this hero!

Meet Samuel “Sammy” LaCroix, a.k.a. Simulacrum, third and final “core” member of the team to be known as the “Marginal Men”.

Samuels powers manifested early, when he gave his parents the shock of their lives by apparently vanishing from his crib, leaving behind nothing but his teddy bear. His father, renowned physicist Dr. Herb LaCroix – one of the keenest minds on Earth – quickliy noticed something odd: firstly, the teddy was already lying outside of the crib, and there was a facsimile in the crib. Secondly, the teddy inside the crib left an imprint in the sheets, it was far too heavy to be a toy pet.

Lifting the teddybear out of the crib, Dr. LaCroix ran a few tests and discovered that the bear was formed out of highly condensed organic molecules, mimicking the plush of the teddy. The copy reverted back to baby Samuel after 8 hours, 47 minutes and 6 seconds. His parents were glad to have their son back and decided to investigate the incident further without consulting a doctor, because Sammy seemed to be just as well as before his change.

Years of testing showed the full extent of Sammy’s power, and gave him a measure of control over it. Apparently Sammy’s DNA had been affected by some sort of radiation and could now generate a morphing field around Samuel’s cells.

After years of prctice, Sammy could assume the form of any inanimate object, invariably keeping his full mass, and invariably returning to his original state after 8 hours, 47 minutes and 6 seconds, during which he has no consciousness at all. Like a memory metal, he returns to the exact state he was in before his change. If, for instance, the 140 pound teddybear (this is approximately the mass of the grown-up Samuel) was torn to pieces, the molecules will reform after 8 hours, 47 minutes, 6 seconds, leaving not trace of the attack on Samuel.

Dr. LaCroix spent the families fortune on the production of several sets of clothes generated from Samuel’s DNA so that the clothing could change along with Samuel, in order to support him in living a life adequate to his potential.

Sammy always had the full support of his family, and eventually the entire family clan was let in on his secret. The family moved back to Louisiana, where the family had its origins, mostly for financial reasons and to help Sammy remain undetected by having him grow up on the coutryside.

Sammy decided in his early teens to become an unsung hero, surreptitiously aiding people in need, for instance turning into a ladder to help children get out of a well. Rumors spread about an invisible superhero, for little did people know that there WAS no-one to place the ladder, but the ladder itself was the hero.

Sammy grew obsessed with aging, and uses his power to fight against time and death itself, mostly by sleeping only every three to five days, spending the night changed into a lifesized puppet of himself, thus saving time. However, because of this he is very unfit, always tired and looking pale and ill.

One day, Blindsight managed to locate Sammy by following rumors on the invisible hero, and offered him a place on his team. Sammy reluctantly joined in, his main reason being a search for profit, in order to restore his family’s fortune, which he felt was wasted on him.

Assuming the name Simulacrum, Sammy joined the team mainly as an infiltration expert. Sammy cannot wear a costume. He has only three sets of his special clothing left, changing them into solid blocks of diamond every 8 hours 47 minutes 6 seconds, whenever he’s not wearing one.

In order to keep the nature of his power a secret, he made up a cover story about blending in with the crowd, appearing as a civilian to deceive criminals.

Samuel is a very brooding type in the beginning, owing also to his constant fatigue. He can be very rash in his emotions, especially to fits of rage, out of his frustration for being practically useless on his own.

This changes with the development of new team strategies over the course of time.

Simulacrums favourite moves include grabbing somebody by the wrists and then turning into 140 pound handcuffs, or hurling himself at somebody and changing into an array of weapons, from bowie knives to webs.

Since the mass remains constant, the density of the reproduced object can greatly vary. If Simulacrum changes into an aspirin, it would be harder than diamond. If he changed into a car, it would not withstand an impact with common flies.

Samuel has amassed a vast common knowledge, in order to most accurately imitate anything from Chippendale chairs to Ming vases. This makes him very inventive, and also a good strategist for the team.

He is also destined to be the last of the “Marginal Men”.