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gladiatorialOUT of CHARACTER
Name: Ryu
Other characters: None!
IN CHARACTER
Name: Gaveedra-Seven, a.k.a. Shatterstar. Gaveedra-Seven seems to be a designation geared toward how he was engineered, and he instead goes exclusively by Shatterstar, or just Star.
Fandom: X-Factor (Marvel Comics, Earth-616)
Canon point/AU: After issue #245, before the "Hell on Earth" plotline.
Journal:gladiatorial
PB: Shatterstar, as portrayed in X-Factor.
History: Shatterstar at the Marvel wiki, or for a more in-depth account, there's Shatterstar's Spotlight at Uncannyxmen.net
District: 3
Score: 12
Presentation: Shatterstar is enjoying his new lease on life, although it's taken quite some time for him to get comfortable with this freedom. He's come a very long way since his first years on earth, where the teenaged Shatterstar was known for being practically emotionless, trudging arrogantly through interactions and cutting through opponents with barely a glance back at them. Admittedly... not much of that has actually changed, but the way he approaches life definitely has. Shatterstar seems to have finally left his childhood behind him.
He's grown up a lot, and all of that intense confidence is now fueling a young man who is thrilled about life. Asking that Star get over his arrogance and aggression might be too much, but at least he's not emotionless anymore. Star expresses himself easily and honestly, so that even his most over the top moments seem to come right from the heart. His disposition is warm, and he's even downright charming despite his eccentricity, or perhaps because of it. However, this honesty with himself and others is a double edged sword, as he's also blunt and often thoughtless. Star's kind-hearted at his core, but he's not the most sensitive creature. He can often make callous comments about sensitive issues, even when dealing with people he loves dearly.
There's a complicated balance between Star's honest nature, and the fact that he is an unabashed performer. Although he's never fake, and one would be hard pressed to accuse him of trying to get attention, he always seems to be maneuvering into the spotlight. Shatterstar puts on a good show without even thinking about it. It's just how he is. Star's appearance is typically immaculate, whether he's sporting a waist length ponytail or his current short cropped cut, and his posture is tall and proud. He's always been gorgeous and attention-getting, but his "act" has shifted with his lifestyle, so it's grown steadily softer over the years. While he was raised as an emotionless, hardened warrior, Star now lets his vulnerable side show. He clearly adores his boyfriend, Rictor, and has warm relationships with the rest of his X-Factor teammates, and he's not self-conscious about who knows it.
But it isn't as though Star wouldn't be recognizable to someone who knew him back in X-Force and beyond. His friendliness is punctuated by his cutting sense of humor, which he often brings into fights. Star's jabs can often be low blows, and he's quick to mock anyone who crosses him. He's blunt to a fault, whether he's being pleasant or sarcastic, and often lets propriety fall to the wayside. It's also clear that Shatterstar is still the same myopic warrior who has a difficult time not seeing life as a battlefield. He never backs down from a fight, and his honor is dear to him. He's outright dismissive of anyone who doesn't apply themselves to his personal (and somewhat unrealistic) code.
Star still consumes a lot of media. He loves television and movies, and takes a lot of his social cues from them. Star can find enjoyment in everything from bloody action movies to classic musicals, and it's not uncommon to see him reenacting elements of what he's most recently watched. The references are rarely well integrated, and sometimes are outright unreasonable, but his love of media is apparent on more than just a shallow level. T.V. was a huge cultural cornerstone in Mojoworld, and Star lived and breathed the very real interaction between the audience and the performer, so the line between reality and fantasy is almost non-existent to him. Because of this, media will always have a ton of influence over Star. It's also one of the few remaining hints that Star isn't human. He may have the language down by now (although sometimes more obscure idioms still get him), but his life experiences are severely limited. It also brings attention to his naivete. Star is still very young in a lot of ways, and approaches new things with infectious excitement. Although he's severely jaded about combat, when it comes to day-to-day life it's all new to him. Even a good fight still has its own thrill, no matter what he's been through in the past. His overenthusiastic nature does often make him appear childlike, but Star had to put off actually growing up until he was in his 20's. He just really needs someone there to make sure he doesn't let his own excitement carry him away.
Motivations: Shatterstar was raised as a slave one hundred years in the future, where death and violence were not only everyday occurrences in his life, but an actual commodity, as were the performers themselves. He and all his fellow performers were artificially created to live their roles, which is why Star has a difficult time accepting that actors often lack the skills they're shown to have. Everyone from the more light hearted roles to the gladiators were genetically engineered slaves. Shatterstar was one of these gladiators, and he grew up with a sword in his hand and a camera pointed at him.
As a teenager, he escaped the arena and joined the resistance, the Cadre Alliance. After that, he escaped Mojoworld altogether and ended up on the doorstep of X-Force. Star was known for being a force on the battlefield, and a woefully awkward fish out of water otherwise. Up until then, his whole life had been fighting, often for no reason other than the sport of it, so when he first came to earth he had little to no skills outside of battle. It's been a long road to move past that. The fact that Star is exceptionally bright is apparent, but at the same time very underused. He's always taken much more pride in his ability to fight than his cleverness, and rarely acknowledges or uses his intelligence. And as for emotions, most people would have said he had none. With this disposition, Star took a little too well to Cable's boot camp style of child care. Star was in need of more than just structure and training though, and although Cable was well-intentioned, Star didn't find the emotional support he desperately needed. Star had never been nurtured, and never really learned to function in society. At least, not as anything more than a televised commodity.
Despite this, Star did form a friendship with Rictor, which was the real beginning of his new life. The two became close friends (and more), and Rictor helped Star to break out of his shell. This opened up Star to a lot intense emotions that to this day he's not great at processing. He has a harder time understanding an articulating his own feelings than those of others. Interpreting other people is a little easier, although during arguments and other intense moments he'll still prompt for plenty of explanations. Luckily, most people are a lot better at explaining themselves than Star is. His attempts to articulate how he's feeling are clunky and forced. Star is always struggling to navigate his own mind, and is often overwhelmed by a desire to experience everything.
This leads to conflict in his relationship with Rictor. Star has experienced a recent sexual awakening, sort of like he's going through puberty a decade late. He'd like to experiment with others, but his boyfriend isn't so keen on the idea. Shatterstar is having trouble working through both his attraction to others, and his need to be with Rictor indefinitely. He doesn't see them as conflicting desires, although Rictor would disagree. Despite all his zest for life, as far as Star's concerned, none of it means anything without Rictor. If he's going to be sleeping around, he wants Rictor to be there with him... or to at least have his blessing, and be able to turn to him for emotional context. Although he's done plenty of flirting with any attractive man or woman that he comes into contact with, and has even kissed a couple people, Star remains largely loyal to Rictor and his request for monogamy. The one remaining question is what happened with Layla in Latveria, but considering how mysterious she is (and how dedicated she is to Jamie), it could very well be a red herring and their connection was never actually sexual. When Rictor's nearby, Star noticeably turns down his flirtatiousness. He understands and respects that Rictor is upset about it, but is still having a difficult time understanding why. As of yet, no one's been able to give him a helpful explanation.
Star has always needed an anchor, and likely always will. He's characterized by an inability to put himself into context without Rictor by his side. Star may not be excellent at emotions, but he does like to talk about them, because it increases his understanding of them. He's definitely bloomed a lot under Rictor's attentions, as he's gone from being a taciturn teenager to a vibrant young man who has a happy, affectionate relationship with everyone at X-Factor. He's aggressively protective of his teammates, and will not hesitate to jump into action for them. Doubly so for Rictor, as even trying to intimidate him can cause Star to jump straight to threats of violence. Although he's become a very enjoyable friend, Star still doesn't think about complicated issues if he doesn't have to. If he really needs to figure something out, he goes straight to Rictor for help. However, when Rictor is at the heart of the issue, Star's hands are tied. There are a few issues that he simply can't go to Rictor about. For instance: Rictor's attempted suicide and depression, wrestling with jealousy over Rictor's relationship with Rahne and his own hypocrisy in that regard, and Rictor's objections to his polyamory. Although he does periodically try to talk to Rictor about that last point, it usually leads to dead ends.
Star is still a fighter at the end of the day. He revels in battle, and admires those who excel at it. Extreme violence is more likely to get an admiring nod than anything else. When Star is unable to work through his problems, or doesn't have someone he trusts to use as a sounding board, he usually retreats into violence for security. His mind is clearest when he's fighting, and there are no complicated and uncomfortable emotions when you're crossing swords with a worthy opponent. The worse his mood is, the more Star seeks out fights to comfort himself, and perhaps to return to a mindset that was less difficult. However, Star now values more about battle than just the act itself. His world view has grown, and so he also puts a lot of weight into how he fights and what he fights for. Developing a sense of honor was not only a crowd pleasing quirk, but also a way to cope with the violence he saw day in and day out. By holding himself to standards, Star retained some control over his life. The fact that he has a soft heart might be a little surprising in the wake of his warrior's mindset, but Star is as likely to get into a bar brawl as he is to defend the defenseless. He goes out of his way to help strangers in need, simply because they need it and he can provide it. In most cases, he's quick to forgive, and as long as no one crosses his code of honor, Star's not judgmental. Because of this, he has an easier time being friends with even the most prickly people. However, there are some things Star can't let go.
Star still carries with him a deep seated hatred towards Mojoworld and everything it stands for. Star doesn't lose his cool often, mostly only reaching the point of exasperation or irritation, but he is obviously shaken when his past comes back to haunt him. The voyeurism and complete control over the subjects on the screen was key in Mojoworld, as it is in Panem, and Star is going to have those old memories resurface en masse. Although he loves television, which was the centerpiece of Mojoworld culture, he avoids reality TV because of the memories it brings to the surface. In the past, he's overreacted so badly to reality television that he came close to murdering some teenagers involved in staging and filming brutal attacks on mutants because it brought him back to his days in Mojoworld. Shatterstar has reached a point where he's much more stable, and hardly bats an eye at Las Vegas, even though Longshot describes it as the closest thing to Mojoworld he's seen on earth. However, Star will almost certainly regress once the Capitol gets ahold of him.
His "warrior's honor" is very deeply ingrained, but at the end of the day, it was probably seen and used by his handlers as just a gimmick for audiences. His stunning appearance, his fighting style, his cleverness, they're all just for ratings. Star is always trying to be the center of attention, often unconsciously, and even when he was much more reserved he would take over a room. A combination of presence and behavior kept the spotlight on him. Now that he's able to process and express emotions, the problem's become a lot more apparent. He doesn't want to exist just for entertaining people, but every aspect of him seems designed to be entertaining, and it was designed very well. Even though he now has fully fleshed out emotions and strong relationships, Star was never quite able to shake all the damage that Mojoworld did to him. It's rooted in his nature. Star was, and still is, a little too much fun to watch.
SAMPLES
Thread: Here's a thread!
Prose:
Shatterstar spotted the swords as soon as he walked in, but didn't make a beeline toward them just yet. He walked down the line of judges, taking an assessment of each set of eyes. He didn't know a single one of them, but gave them a sneering smile as though they were dearly familiar. They were, in a way, because he knew their type and they probably knew his. It was an old relationship with fresh faces. He counted off how many of them there were (around twelve, all grown adults) under his breath, loud and obvious enough for them to hear.
"You've got me outnumbered," he laughed, like it was a joke. Everyone here must have known they were enemies, though. The kidnapping and their plans for his future made that crystal clear. That was about the time he went to arm himself. There was no shame in going for his favorites if these people wanted a show. They wanted this to be fun, and Star wanted to kill them, so double swords it was.
But he knew he couldn't, and that the reasonable choice was to wait it out and play by the rules. He tried to imagine any number of familiar voices telling him to take it easy, play it cool, keep your cards close to your chest. It helped a little. Star would be cooperative, but he would not keep his head down. Reluctantly, he strode back to the far side of the room to square off against the dummies instead of the audience. He spun the swords in time with his steps. Decent weight, but not the best quality. Still, they'd certainly be enough to ruin his stuffed opponents.
A quick sprint, and then Star threw himself forward. The world spun, and he felt a sword connect with the first dummy. From there, it was only a matter of using his momentum and his strength to propel him into the next strike. One attack bled into the next. The dummies couldn't exactly fall, but he knew a killing strike. He also felt a... lack of something. He didn't let it slow him down, but cleaving the rubber and steel in half was unnervingly out of reach. It made the whole give and take of momentum more bouncy, as he struck and withdrew into another motion. There were only four targets, so it was quick, and even if he couldn't slice anything in two, the gashes were all several inches deep and would demand replacements for the next tribute.
The job was done, and he landed lightly after having avoided the ground as much as possible during his demonstration. This time he let his weight rest and his momentum die.
"There's just one problem," he said finally. He was still catching his breath, but a grin lingered on his lips. "You're about eight dummies short of a proper demonstration."
What is your character scored: 10+. Shatterstar was quite literally created for this.
Shatterstar was genetically engineered and raised from birth to be the perfect candidate for a televised death match. He's just one of a long line of ideal movie star gladiators from Mojoworld, and they've got this breeding system down to an art. He's stronger, smarter, faster, and has sharper senses than the finest natural human specimen. Accordingly, Star's also striking to look at, and his fighting style is no less stunning. Star always fights as though there's a camera on him, and therefore all of his battles have the appearance of a choreographed blockbuster action scene. It's noted that even when he's just training alone, long after having been freed from the arena, he still seems to be performing for an audience. Beyond being flashy, he's exceptionally skilled and strong, and has been shown as capable of going toe-to-toe with big names like The Thing... and winning. He has hollow bones on top of this, so he weighs in at about 95 lbs., which makes it a lot easier to do acrobatic flips mid-combat. (It also makes it much easier to pick him up and throw through walls and/or windows, which is apparently a near weekly occurrence.)
Star's engineered with plenty of mental advantages as well. He's technologically savvy, even with space age devices, and has accelerated learning on his side. He's of genius level intelligence, although his passion is obviously the battlefield rather than intellectual pursuits. But even without a scientist's disposition, he absorbs things like language and technology as easily as breathing. The same goes for any other skills, particularly martial ones. The first time picking up a pistol, he fires the whole clip directly into the center of the target in neat lines without any trouble.
Star also has a leg up because he has first hand experience with the politics of a situation like the Hunger Games. Up until his mid-teens, this was his life, although he was considerably less involved in the behind-the-scenes marketing back then. He'll be torn between his rage at being dragged back in, and using his knowledge of how to play to a bloodthirsty audience to his advantage. Although he'll be clearly resentful toward the whole system, perhaps even to the point of worrying the Gamemakers, Shatterstar's personality is vibrant and easy to love. He's got a big heart, he's emotive, flirtatious, and extremely protective of people he's fond of. He's not going to be doing any backstabbing in the arena, but he'll never back down from a fight. His bad habit of making a lot of mean-spirited jabs at the expense of his opponents might help to balance out his disinterest in manipulation. Star clearly loves fighting, and will be flashing toothy grins while doing so. At the same time, he's very attached to the idea of a warrior's honor, and will be quick to judge anyone in the arena who behaves in a way he sees as dishonorable.
What Star hasn't picked up very easily, however, are the nuances of human emotions. Underneath the big personality and dangerous skills, there's a distinct note of naivete and youth. Additionally, Shatterstar usually has a pretty decent healing factor, and has never had to put up with a serious injury for more than a few hours. There's going to be an adjustment period where he has to keep in mind that taking a sword to the gut is no longer a viable strategy. Furthermore, while Star largely appears to be just a few steps above human limitations, he does have some obvious super-strength (cutting cars in half, beating people with 200 lb. dumbbells) that will need to be toned down.
His unhindered powers include channeling vibrations through blades for explosive power, and creating large portals for transportation. Both of these abilities are mutations, and they're extremely exhausting for Star to use. In order to teleport, Star needs something to channel the energy through, usually a sword, and someone else to picture the location. This person has to be someone Star has a deep emotional connection with, and currently that list only includes Rictor, Layla Miller, and Longshot. If anyone distracts or interrupts Star, the portal immediately closes. After he uses this ability, it takes him several hours to recover enough to do it again. Without someone to focus him, Star could end up trapped between dimensions, which would be one of those fate-worse-than-death things. There's also still a lot of mystery to Star and his relationship with Longshot, and why his opaque eye sometimes lights up at key moments.
Name: Ryu
Other characters: None!
IN CHARACTER
Name: Gaveedra-Seven, a.k.a. Shatterstar. Gaveedra-Seven seems to be a designation geared toward how he was engineered, and he instead goes exclusively by Shatterstar, or just Star.
Fandom: X-Factor (Marvel Comics, Earth-616)
Canon point/AU: After issue #245, before the "Hell on Earth" plotline.
Journal:
gladiatorialPB: Shatterstar, as portrayed in X-Factor.
History: Shatterstar at the Marvel wiki, or for a more in-depth account, there's Shatterstar's Spotlight at Uncannyxmen.net
District: 3
Score: 12
Presentation: Shatterstar is enjoying his new lease on life, although it's taken quite some time for him to get comfortable with this freedom. He's come a very long way since his first years on earth, where the teenaged Shatterstar was known for being practically emotionless, trudging arrogantly through interactions and cutting through opponents with barely a glance back at them. Admittedly... not much of that has actually changed, but the way he approaches life definitely has. Shatterstar seems to have finally left his childhood behind him.
He's grown up a lot, and all of that intense confidence is now fueling a young man who is thrilled about life. Asking that Star get over his arrogance and aggression might be too much, but at least he's not emotionless anymore. Star expresses himself easily and honestly, so that even his most over the top moments seem to come right from the heart. His disposition is warm, and he's even downright charming despite his eccentricity, or perhaps because of it. However, this honesty with himself and others is a double edged sword, as he's also blunt and often thoughtless. Star's kind-hearted at his core, but he's not the most sensitive creature. He can often make callous comments about sensitive issues, even when dealing with people he loves dearly.
There's a complicated balance between Star's honest nature, and the fact that he is an unabashed performer. Although he's never fake, and one would be hard pressed to accuse him of trying to get attention, he always seems to be maneuvering into the spotlight. Shatterstar puts on a good show without even thinking about it. It's just how he is. Star's appearance is typically immaculate, whether he's sporting a waist length ponytail or his current short cropped cut, and his posture is tall and proud. He's always been gorgeous and attention-getting, but his "act" has shifted with his lifestyle, so it's grown steadily softer over the years. While he was raised as an emotionless, hardened warrior, Star now lets his vulnerable side show. He clearly adores his boyfriend, Rictor, and has warm relationships with the rest of his X-Factor teammates, and he's not self-conscious about who knows it.
But it isn't as though Star wouldn't be recognizable to someone who knew him back in X-Force and beyond. His friendliness is punctuated by his cutting sense of humor, which he often brings into fights. Star's jabs can often be low blows, and he's quick to mock anyone who crosses him. He's blunt to a fault, whether he's being pleasant or sarcastic, and often lets propriety fall to the wayside. It's also clear that Shatterstar is still the same myopic warrior who has a difficult time not seeing life as a battlefield. He never backs down from a fight, and his honor is dear to him. He's outright dismissive of anyone who doesn't apply themselves to his personal (and somewhat unrealistic) code.
Star still consumes a lot of media. He loves television and movies, and takes a lot of his social cues from them. Star can find enjoyment in everything from bloody action movies to classic musicals, and it's not uncommon to see him reenacting elements of what he's most recently watched. The references are rarely well integrated, and sometimes are outright unreasonable, but his love of media is apparent on more than just a shallow level. T.V. was a huge cultural cornerstone in Mojoworld, and Star lived and breathed the very real interaction between the audience and the performer, so the line between reality and fantasy is almost non-existent to him. Because of this, media will always have a ton of influence over Star. It's also one of the few remaining hints that Star isn't human. He may have the language down by now (although sometimes more obscure idioms still get him), but his life experiences are severely limited. It also brings attention to his naivete. Star is still very young in a lot of ways, and approaches new things with infectious excitement. Although he's severely jaded about combat, when it comes to day-to-day life it's all new to him. Even a good fight still has its own thrill, no matter what he's been through in the past. His overenthusiastic nature does often make him appear childlike, but Star had to put off actually growing up until he was in his 20's. He just really needs someone there to make sure he doesn't let his own excitement carry him away.
Motivations: Shatterstar was raised as a slave one hundred years in the future, where death and violence were not only everyday occurrences in his life, but an actual commodity, as were the performers themselves. He and all his fellow performers were artificially created to live their roles, which is why Star has a difficult time accepting that actors often lack the skills they're shown to have. Everyone from the more light hearted roles to the gladiators were genetically engineered slaves. Shatterstar was one of these gladiators, and he grew up with a sword in his hand and a camera pointed at him.
As a teenager, he escaped the arena and joined the resistance, the Cadre Alliance. After that, he escaped Mojoworld altogether and ended up on the doorstep of X-Force. Star was known for being a force on the battlefield, and a woefully awkward fish out of water otherwise. Up until then, his whole life had been fighting, often for no reason other than the sport of it, so when he first came to earth he had little to no skills outside of battle. It's been a long road to move past that. The fact that Star is exceptionally bright is apparent, but at the same time very underused. He's always taken much more pride in his ability to fight than his cleverness, and rarely acknowledges or uses his intelligence. And as for emotions, most people would have said he had none. With this disposition, Star took a little too well to Cable's boot camp style of child care. Star was in need of more than just structure and training though, and although Cable was well-intentioned, Star didn't find the emotional support he desperately needed. Star had never been nurtured, and never really learned to function in society. At least, not as anything more than a televised commodity.
Despite this, Star did form a friendship with Rictor, which was the real beginning of his new life. The two became close friends (and more), and Rictor helped Star to break out of his shell. This opened up Star to a lot intense emotions that to this day he's not great at processing. He has a harder time understanding an articulating his own feelings than those of others. Interpreting other people is a little easier, although during arguments and other intense moments he'll still prompt for plenty of explanations. Luckily, most people are a lot better at explaining themselves than Star is. His attempts to articulate how he's feeling are clunky and forced. Star is always struggling to navigate his own mind, and is often overwhelmed by a desire to experience everything.
This leads to conflict in his relationship with Rictor. Star has experienced a recent sexual awakening, sort of like he's going through puberty a decade late. He'd like to experiment with others, but his boyfriend isn't so keen on the idea. Shatterstar is having trouble working through both his attraction to others, and his need to be with Rictor indefinitely. He doesn't see them as conflicting desires, although Rictor would disagree. Despite all his zest for life, as far as Star's concerned, none of it means anything without Rictor. If he's going to be sleeping around, he wants Rictor to be there with him... or to at least have his blessing, and be able to turn to him for emotional context. Although he's done plenty of flirting with any attractive man or woman that he comes into contact with, and has even kissed a couple people, Star remains largely loyal to Rictor and his request for monogamy. The one remaining question is what happened with Layla in Latveria, but considering how mysterious she is (and how dedicated she is to Jamie), it could very well be a red herring and their connection was never actually sexual. When Rictor's nearby, Star noticeably turns down his flirtatiousness. He understands and respects that Rictor is upset about it, but is still having a difficult time understanding why. As of yet, no one's been able to give him a helpful explanation.
Star has always needed an anchor, and likely always will. He's characterized by an inability to put himself into context without Rictor by his side. Star may not be excellent at emotions, but he does like to talk about them, because it increases his understanding of them. He's definitely bloomed a lot under Rictor's attentions, as he's gone from being a taciturn teenager to a vibrant young man who has a happy, affectionate relationship with everyone at X-Factor. He's aggressively protective of his teammates, and will not hesitate to jump into action for them. Doubly so for Rictor, as even trying to intimidate him can cause Star to jump straight to threats of violence. Although he's become a very enjoyable friend, Star still doesn't think about complicated issues if he doesn't have to. If he really needs to figure something out, he goes straight to Rictor for help. However, when Rictor is at the heart of the issue, Star's hands are tied. There are a few issues that he simply can't go to Rictor about. For instance: Rictor's attempted suicide and depression, wrestling with jealousy over Rictor's relationship with Rahne and his own hypocrisy in that regard, and Rictor's objections to his polyamory. Although he does periodically try to talk to Rictor about that last point, it usually leads to dead ends.
Star is still a fighter at the end of the day. He revels in battle, and admires those who excel at it. Extreme violence is more likely to get an admiring nod than anything else. When Star is unable to work through his problems, or doesn't have someone he trusts to use as a sounding board, he usually retreats into violence for security. His mind is clearest when he's fighting, and there are no complicated and uncomfortable emotions when you're crossing swords with a worthy opponent. The worse his mood is, the more Star seeks out fights to comfort himself, and perhaps to return to a mindset that was less difficult. However, Star now values more about battle than just the act itself. His world view has grown, and so he also puts a lot of weight into how he fights and what he fights for. Developing a sense of honor was not only a crowd pleasing quirk, but also a way to cope with the violence he saw day in and day out. By holding himself to standards, Star retained some control over his life. The fact that he has a soft heart might be a little surprising in the wake of his warrior's mindset, but Star is as likely to get into a bar brawl as he is to defend the defenseless. He goes out of his way to help strangers in need, simply because they need it and he can provide it. In most cases, he's quick to forgive, and as long as no one crosses his code of honor, Star's not judgmental. Because of this, he has an easier time being friends with even the most prickly people. However, there are some things Star can't let go.
Star still carries with him a deep seated hatred towards Mojoworld and everything it stands for. Star doesn't lose his cool often, mostly only reaching the point of exasperation or irritation, but he is obviously shaken when his past comes back to haunt him. The voyeurism and complete control over the subjects on the screen was key in Mojoworld, as it is in Panem, and Star is going to have those old memories resurface en masse. Although he loves television, which was the centerpiece of Mojoworld culture, he avoids reality TV because of the memories it brings to the surface. In the past, he's overreacted so badly to reality television that he came close to murdering some teenagers involved in staging and filming brutal attacks on mutants because it brought him back to his days in Mojoworld. Shatterstar has reached a point where he's much more stable, and hardly bats an eye at Las Vegas, even though Longshot describes it as the closest thing to Mojoworld he's seen on earth. However, Star will almost certainly regress once the Capitol gets ahold of him.
His "warrior's honor" is very deeply ingrained, but at the end of the day, it was probably seen and used by his handlers as just a gimmick for audiences. His stunning appearance, his fighting style, his cleverness, they're all just for ratings. Star is always trying to be the center of attention, often unconsciously, and even when he was much more reserved he would take over a room. A combination of presence and behavior kept the spotlight on him. Now that he's able to process and express emotions, the problem's become a lot more apparent. He doesn't want to exist just for entertaining people, but every aspect of him seems designed to be entertaining, and it was designed very well. Even though he now has fully fleshed out emotions and strong relationships, Star was never quite able to shake all the damage that Mojoworld did to him. It's rooted in his nature. Star was, and still is, a little too much fun to watch.
SAMPLES
Thread: Here's a thread!
Prose:
Shatterstar spotted the swords as soon as he walked in, but didn't make a beeline toward them just yet. He walked down the line of judges, taking an assessment of each set of eyes. He didn't know a single one of them, but gave them a sneering smile as though they were dearly familiar. They were, in a way, because he knew their type and they probably knew his. It was an old relationship with fresh faces. He counted off how many of them there were (around twelve, all grown adults) under his breath, loud and obvious enough for them to hear.
"You've got me outnumbered," he laughed, like it was a joke. Everyone here must have known they were enemies, though. The kidnapping and their plans for his future made that crystal clear. That was about the time he went to arm himself. There was no shame in going for his favorites if these people wanted a show. They wanted this to be fun, and Star wanted to kill them, so double swords it was.
But he knew he couldn't, and that the reasonable choice was to wait it out and play by the rules. He tried to imagine any number of familiar voices telling him to take it easy, play it cool, keep your cards close to your chest. It helped a little. Star would be cooperative, but he would not keep his head down. Reluctantly, he strode back to the far side of the room to square off against the dummies instead of the audience. He spun the swords in time with his steps. Decent weight, but not the best quality. Still, they'd certainly be enough to ruin his stuffed opponents.
A quick sprint, and then Star threw himself forward. The world spun, and he felt a sword connect with the first dummy. From there, it was only a matter of using his momentum and his strength to propel him into the next strike. One attack bled into the next. The dummies couldn't exactly fall, but he knew a killing strike. He also felt a... lack of something. He didn't let it slow him down, but cleaving the rubber and steel in half was unnervingly out of reach. It made the whole give and take of momentum more bouncy, as he struck and withdrew into another motion. There were only four targets, so it was quick, and even if he couldn't slice anything in two, the gashes were all several inches deep and would demand replacements for the next tribute.
The job was done, and he landed lightly after having avoided the ground as much as possible during his demonstration. This time he let his weight rest and his momentum die.
"There's just one problem," he said finally. He was still catching his breath, but a grin lingered on his lips. "You're about eight dummies short of a proper demonstration."
What is your character scored: 10+. Shatterstar was quite literally created for this.
Shatterstar was genetically engineered and raised from birth to be the perfect candidate for a televised death match. He's just one of a long line of ideal movie star gladiators from Mojoworld, and they've got this breeding system down to an art. He's stronger, smarter, faster, and has sharper senses than the finest natural human specimen. Accordingly, Star's also striking to look at, and his fighting style is no less stunning. Star always fights as though there's a camera on him, and therefore all of his battles have the appearance of a choreographed blockbuster action scene. It's noted that even when he's just training alone, long after having been freed from the arena, he still seems to be performing for an audience. Beyond being flashy, he's exceptionally skilled and strong, and has been shown as capable of going toe-to-toe with big names like The Thing... and winning. He has hollow bones on top of this, so he weighs in at about 95 lbs., which makes it a lot easier to do acrobatic flips mid-combat. (It also makes it much easier to pick him up and throw through walls and/or windows, which is apparently a near weekly occurrence.)
Star's engineered with plenty of mental advantages as well. He's technologically savvy, even with space age devices, and has accelerated learning on his side. He's of genius level intelligence, although his passion is obviously the battlefield rather than intellectual pursuits. But even without a scientist's disposition, he absorbs things like language and technology as easily as breathing. The same goes for any other skills, particularly martial ones. The first time picking up a pistol, he fires the whole clip directly into the center of the target in neat lines without any trouble.
Star also has a leg up because he has first hand experience with the politics of a situation like the Hunger Games. Up until his mid-teens, this was his life, although he was considerably less involved in the behind-the-scenes marketing back then. He'll be torn between his rage at being dragged back in, and using his knowledge of how to play to a bloodthirsty audience to his advantage. Although he'll be clearly resentful toward the whole system, perhaps even to the point of worrying the Gamemakers, Shatterstar's personality is vibrant and easy to love. He's got a big heart, he's emotive, flirtatious, and extremely protective of people he's fond of. He's not going to be doing any backstabbing in the arena, but he'll never back down from a fight. His bad habit of making a lot of mean-spirited jabs at the expense of his opponents might help to balance out his disinterest in manipulation. Star clearly loves fighting, and will be flashing toothy grins while doing so. At the same time, he's very attached to the idea of a warrior's honor, and will be quick to judge anyone in the arena who behaves in a way he sees as dishonorable.
What Star hasn't picked up very easily, however, are the nuances of human emotions. Underneath the big personality and dangerous skills, there's a distinct note of naivete and youth. Additionally, Shatterstar usually has a pretty decent healing factor, and has never had to put up with a serious injury for more than a few hours. There's going to be an adjustment period where he has to keep in mind that taking a sword to the gut is no longer a viable strategy. Furthermore, while Star largely appears to be just a few steps above human limitations, he does have some obvious super-strength (cutting cars in half, beating people with 200 lb. dumbbells) that will need to be toned down.
His unhindered powers include channeling vibrations through blades for explosive power, and creating large portals for transportation. Both of these abilities are mutations, and they're extremely exhausting for Star to use. In order to teleport, Star needs something to channel the energy through, usually a sword, and someone else to picture the location. This person has to be someone Star has a deep emotional connection with, and currently that list only includes Rictor, Layla Miller, and Longshot. If anyone distracts or interrupts Star, the portal immediately closes. After he uses this ability, it takes him several hours to recover enough to do it again. Without someone to focus him, Star could end up trapped between dimensions, which would be one of those fate-worse-than-death things. There's also still a lot of mystery to Star and his relationship with Longshot, and why his opaque eye sometimes lights up at key moments.
