Black Midas
"My, Midas Touch, is the very Hand of Death."
Rufford Murdoch
{ AGE }
32
{ PROFESSION }
Unemployed (Former NSA Agent)
{ FACE CLAIM }
Christian Bale
6'0"
{ WEIGHT }
Varies between 120lbs to 190lbs
{ SCARS }
A variety of stretch marks can be found on his skin thanks to rapid weight loss and weight gain. He also sports a gunshot wound on his right shoulder and a scar along his left forearm, upper left pectorals, a stab wound on his right ribs, and another gunshot wound on his right hip. Yet, all of these scars and marks disappear once an absorption is completed, leaving his body once again flawless.
He doesn't have many likes any more, thanks to his powers he can't exactly enjoy the most simplistic of comforts afforded to humanity. Instead his "likes" have evolved into a much darker and more...disturbing form. Whether or not he will admit, the joys of stealing the very life force from a living creature is...invigorating. Especially with living beings that have face that contort to a variety of fear and desperation as the very life is drained from their very essence. Sometimes even the hunt can be thrilling, but often Rufford has to be thorough, after all starvation is a terrible fate.
{ DISLIKES }
Before he would say he loved books, fine wine, artisan cuisine, art, and well written TV shows. Yet, many of these things can no longer be enjoyed thanks to his power of decay. Food rots by the time it touches his mouth, all beverages become soured and spoiled, and books fall apart as if suddenly ravaged by the throes of time. Most electronics fizzle out and metal rusts by the time he decides to access a computer or even pick up a dumbbell. His daily routines of life have all been difficult to perform more or less enjoy. There for he dislikes most things in life since they cannot survive the decay.
{ FEARS }
He fears his own demise. It's about survival and his body will not allow him to die, although he does often wish it at times. Yet, he fears death and what it may entail on the other side. He has experienced near death before and he was given glimpse of his afterlife. It was not pretty, a life time of deceit, manipulation, and violence does not leave a very admirable service record to the powers that be. If it wasn't for his transformation he would be suffering a most torturous afterlife. Despite his rather love-hate relationship towards his powers they do keep him alive...and keeping one step ahead of death is all that he wants.
Rufford Murdoch is a man haunted by his past, his power, and his own future. Locked in a life or death struggle where the struggle is, chose life or chose death. Yet both come with their own grievous costs. Rufford is usually unfazed by death haven caused and even perform the act of killing in his life. Therefor it doesn't bother him where he drains the very life from someone, in fact it can be intoxicating for him at times. He sometimes takes sadistic pleasure in the act of draining the life out someone especially creatures with a face...yet Humans make for the most exquisite faces. Seeing the life leave a man's eyes...that is a feeling like no other. Despite his amusement in causing death, he in fact is very appalled by his psychotic tendencies. It is true, he has killed even before his evolution but he never took any pleasure in the act of murder. He never considered himself a psychopath before, only a man who does what he has to.
This often leads to a serious bout of depression, where he will starve himself and suffer insomnia. For his urges, much like an addicts, persists in consciousness and within his dreams. His body craves it and he hates what he has become. Still his fear of death always leaves him hesitant into committing suicide. Not to mention the pain and, almost withdrawal like symptoms that bring a heavy amount of stress and toil upon his body. His wish was to always meet a peaceful death, a wish that is now beyond him. Since starvation is the only method he knows that will kill him, but it is a most painful death. In the end his resolution gives way and he indulges in his sinister pleasures. This has left him quite sporadic, becoming depressed and apologetic to becoming violent and sadistic. He is at his lowest when starving, yet even lower when feeding.
His old self arises when fully fed. He feels more like his former self, quiet, methodical, and stern. Not at all like the desperate and pathetic version of himself when starved. A man rigid and trained to be unreadable, a man that always holds back a bit of the truth to keep everyone else in the dark. He is secretive and mysterious but his former job required him to be an enigma. He was and still is very alert and has a keen eye for observation. Able to analyze people and situations in order to make said situations more adaptable. Yet his persona of cool is often ruined when his hunger resurfaces. Much like the coming off from a high, it's not too long after that the body craves it again. He transforms becoming like a hunter, he becomes more menacing but also depraved, he desires the kill and which he takes to it with wicked pleasure. A true psychopath, he sees people more like food and less like people. Merely prey for the predator that he is. He becomes more erratic and deranged over time, until his hunger is satiated. Its almost as if he is another person. These struggles and changes, both mentally and physically, taxes him. In the end he is man tired but conflicted, unsure if he should end his madness or allow it to continue.
The past is often something he would like to forget. It started out humble and nice, but once he grew up, it all changed. He was a young man, looking to make a difference in the world. He felt working in Government would help to achieve such a purpose. Purpose, that's what it was all about. He wanted purpose in his life, that sense of belonging. Everything up til that part was dull, uneventful, and most of all forgotten. Becoming a drone in the masses was not something he aspired to be in life. He wanted something greater, apathy was gripping the nation, and felt that be a mover and shaker would help rejuvenate the country. What he didn't realize was that he would end up defending it. Rufford Murdoch was an intelligent man, he earned high marks and degrees during his college years. His athletic records were also something he boasted.
Academically and Athletically inclined, his sharp wit, perfect health, and wanting to serve made him ideal for many government agencies. In the end he vied for a position with the CIA and the NSA. Another hopeful managed to snag the CIA position but he earned the position with the NSA. At first it seemed to be a remedial office job but brighter opportunities arose when he was sent to a training camp. There he learned self-defense and martial combat, as well as training with firearms, specifically small arms fire. Yet the main training was with using stealth and surveillance tech. He was also taught many different languages, such as German, Arabic, Russian, Korean, Chinese, and Spanish for example. It wasn't long after that he became a field agent and was sent to retrieve information.
Living the life of a spy, is a hard one. For the most part you have to lie about every little detail about yourself. You must assume and change new identities all of the time, as the agency hands you new lives for you to live out all of the time. He became quite the master of disguise and deceit. It was a strange way to live, having to pretend to be different people and moving across the world all of the time. Even his communications with his real family was heavily monitored and restricted by the agency. This made even having a normal life very difficult, but Rufford didn't care. He was making a difference, and being a real life person was more valuable to him than a family. Although the accuracy of this state is rather...questionable considering he doesn't exist half of the time. Yet the most turbulence he had suffered through was during those occasions when murder was called for. Sometimes people needed to be eliminated, and having never killed another Human being, can make it difficult to even think about it.
Yet, he doesn't think, he is an agent, a tool for peace and security and he must follow out his orders. Somewhere deep inside him, he was able to find that switch, the kill switch. To be able to mentally fortify yourself as you take another's life without so much as be fazed by it. It had to be done and he believed that whatever mission he completed was for the good of the many. It was a harrowing experience but those memories of death haunt him greatly in his new life. Death, the very word had made itself synonymous with his very person. Rufford was on the verge of death, having been shot by a Terrorist that managed to escape from his bondage. He was saved by the nearby American Soldiers but his life was quickly fleeting. Soon it all went black. Even to this day it's not quite clear what he saw, if he did see anything. Yet whatever it was, it was a nightmare. The very faces and voices of those he killed tormented him and what seemed to be the edge of the abyss, he was suddenly pulled back into the light.
Technically, Rufford Murdoch did die that today, but thanks to the aerosolized mutagenic gas that blanketed the Earth, it managed to bring him back to life. Rufford was brought back to the states because of his injuries, but they refused to heal. He was locked in a coma for several months but suddenly awoken when a great pain swirled in his stomach. It was starvation. His heartbeat rose as doctors and nurses came to calm him down. Luckily he was bound and still unaware of his powers. It wasn't until a fateful night when a night nurse came by to check on him. Having arose from his coma he was unbound but the doctors felt he should still stay, because of his curious vitals which were steadily declining. He touched her and then suddenly, new life and energy surged throughout his body. His wounds healed and vitals returned to normal but before he knew it the nurse was reduced to a decomposing corpse. This frightened him as Rufford ran away before he could be stopped. Since then he has lived life alone, haunted by his new found powers and his steadily growing trail of corpses he leaves behind.
Life-Force Absorption: His ability is the power to drain a living thing's life energies. The vitality and health stolen from a victim is transferred to Rufford as it revives him in his physical prime, while also healing any injuries he may have suffered. As for the victim they enter a steep decline in vigor that eventually leads to death.
Rot Inducement/Corrosion Inducement: All he touches turns to rot. When he drains one's life force it quickly leaves the body, which leads to all organic material to decay from the lost of their life energy. Similar things happen to inorganic material, usually metals rust or electronics fizzle out because of the decay. Although he does not gain any life force from corroding inorganic materials.
Limited Memory Absorption: A side effect after a draining. Usually victim's see their lives flash before their eyes and Rufford often becomes privy to that information. This only occurs if he has extended contact, otherwise a short feeding does not reveal anything more than a victim's current thoughts. A victim can still dictate what they end up remembering, meaning if one memory keeps replaying in their head, then that will be the only information Rufford can take. It is involuntary and Rufford cannot use this power to inspect a person's mind or pick and choose what memories he views.
{ STRENGTHS }
His strengths potentially give Rufford the power of immortality via stealing the vitality from all other life forms. Not to mention being able to recover from even the most grievous of harm. Being a trained agent, he is knowledgeable in the use of firearms, as well as sabotage, surveillance, stealth and of course martial combat. He is also a skilled manipulator.
{ WEAKNESSES }
His powers only work if he touches a living thing or an object, not if the person or object touches him. This allows him to be physically harmed without the attacker fearing for his life. His power is more like the Midas Touch, he must touch an object in order for it to turn to rot. This means he can be killed through conventional means, so long as he isn't near anything he can siphon the life from to save his. He is at his most vulnerable when he is starved. His movements are slow and sluggish due to an overwhelming feeling of weakness. Although one could say he is even more dangerous, since he becomes desperate. Still, he isn't much good in a fight once he reaches this weaken state.
