AKA...
- Detective Frank Gomez
Age:
- 28
Height:
- 6'1"
Weight:
- 168lbs
Infamy:
- The single most defining part of Dr Grav's criminal career would be his breakout crime. After being imbued with the power to alter the effect of gravity on certain objects, the man formally known as Karl Wilson hatched a master plan that would present him to the world in a theatrical and impressive fashion. Donning a vibrant purple outfit and eye mask, Grav's scheme was set to affect multiple banks around Bay City. What ended up occurring however, didn't exactly put him out there with a bang. Newly discovering his abilities, Wilson lacked a certain imagination in applying them to action and his master plan actually involved the gradual levitation of a number of bank employees around the city. What appeared to be a stroke of genius at the planning stages was shown to be not even a blip on any noteworthy superhero's radar. Complications in the Doctor's mind after the event that gave him his powers caused him to lose any sort of foresight of this plan, instead getting caught up in the excitement of possessing so called "unlimited power".
The thing is though, Grav's villainy didn't even earn him a place as any sort of villain, his actions decreased productivity in many banks by only a fraction of a percent and much of his "victims" actually enjoyed their brief foray into the life of a spaceman, joining the heroes in the sky for one fleeting day. To top it all off, Dr Grav was stopped by what wasn't even a true hero, but a brand representative by the name of "Captain Crayfish" who held Wilson until the police arrived in his literal crab claw. Yeah, embarrassing. Since then however, after being let off with a warning, (or was it "laughed out of the police station"), the Doctor committed himself to further understanding the uses of his powers. This led to a few low key robberies that have gone unpunished as he has decided to remain anonymous until his ultimate re-reveal.
Appearance:
- Wilson, as a civilian is actually not unremarkable, he stands fairly tall and has a strong looking build. Before he acquired his abilities however there would be no chance of noticing him, with a much skinnier build and being a few inches shorter, Karl Wilson was essentially a stereotype of science nerd. Along with his powers, his body underwent a transformation into a much more athletic, recognisable individual, losing his short sightedness and becoming more confident in his body language. His mind wasn't left untouched however, and this culminated in his initial Dr Grav costume, a bright purple skin suit with an eye mask, boots and striped underwear, the perfect combination to draw attention to himself.
After his failure, Wilson was forced to rethink his approach to super villainy and so redesigned his costume and persona from the ground up, keeping only the eye mask as a reminder that most people would know of the event but few would know of his involvement. What he wears now is more akin to that of a spy than a villain, equipping a black combat vest to hold various tools over a dark purple sweater whenever he performs criminal acts. His equipment in question is actually made from strong, heavy, amour like materials, yet weight it seems has become irrelevant to him, allowing protection while sacrificing limited mobility. His skin tone is a pinkish fairly pale tone and his eyes are dark brown, while his wispy dark blonde hair is uncovered.
Powers:
- Gravity is a broad concept, yet Wilson has and probably only ever will scratch the surface of what his powers can do. Specifically, Dr Grav can alter the effect of gravity on certain objects, be they solid objects or even people. Initially this was simply to cause people to float and jump higher, Wilson is slowly learning that his powers can debilitate and even cripple those in his way by greatly increasing gravity's downward force acting on them. However Wilson's imagination prevents him from realising new applications of his abilities, instead slowly developing them in his own, scientific way.
Often Grav's powers can be difficult to use, as it takes a variable amount of time to change the weight of an object, sometimes changing in an instant other times getting slowly heavier or lighter over time. Along with the fact that pinpointing the target, especially small objects can be very difficult, Wilson may have difficulty performing a specific task in regards to his powers, instead affecting a larger area in favour of a single object. Use of his powers on many different objects can also prove to be confusing, instead backfiring upon him, ranging from his limbs becoming too light to wield effectively or his bones breaking under the new weight of his skin. Other than this weakness, Dr Grav's abilities can theoretically affect all things but one. For an unknown reason Grav is unable to affect Oak wood with his powers, it seemingly resistant to any gravity changes he attempts to use on it.
Technology/Equipment:
- Adopting his new form of crime, Wilson carries with him only a combat knife for a weapon, stolen along with other equipment from a military outfitting company supplying the police. Also he brings with him a multitude of bombs and grenades containing mostly non lethal contents, including but not limited to smoke bombs and gas grenades which he can throw long distances with the assistance of his powers.
Personality:
- Karl Wilson is almost always at odds with himself, both as the result of his powers and from a general insecurity of being a failure of a villain. Firstly, Wilson hopes to one day be one of the great super villains, with an evil plot or a doomsday device the likes of which would rival The Revolutionary's underground guerilla army or the renowned Professor Dusk's Infinity Sceptre. Regardless, Wilson is far from this goal and he knows this. Hiding amongst his ambitious aspirations to make his mark on the world, the second part of Dr Grav's personality shines through, a deep seated fear that he will never amount to his goals and make an idiotic mistake that would cost him his pride, image and not least his life. His insecurities often manifest in a cautiousness that prevents action from being taken and ultimately advancement to his idolised position. Naturally then Dr Grav would simply fall into obscurity like many others before him or worse, become a faceless henchman of a more powerful crime boss. Not Quite.
There is a third part to the Doctor's self adversarial personality, one that is completely distinct from the human known as Karl Wilson. Almost the complete opposite to his cautious nature, Grav holds a repressed tendency to conquer and destroy, something that pushes him to become the greatest villain of all, a supreme conqueror in fact. This nature, which has pushed him to continue his so far uneventful career in crime, appeared at the same time as his powers and has been known to give Wilson prideful outbursts and displays of close to insanity, professing his need to crush his opponents or laughing in the face of certain doom. To this day, to Wilson and the few that have known him, this third personality trait is a mystery.
History:
- Growing up, Karl Wilson was always told that he could accomplish "great things" if he put his mind to it, become someone "special". Unfortunately with the new average consisting of a basic grasp of human flight, being special seemed to be extremely far away for a normal person. Karl's parents were like any other suburban couple, wishing their offspring would be their own person while simultaneously keeping a tight leash on them. Karl was moderately intelligent however, and became an astrophysicist after university. He may not have become a superhero like Bryan Davis who lived across the street growing up, who enjoyed a brief foray into heroics as the short lived Mist Man, later becoming a TV weatherman after his efforts caused the injuries of many police officers in an undercover sting operation in a warehouse, however Karl decided to be the most notable astrophysicist around, star gazing at distant solar systems in his spare time.
After a number of years, his efforts proved not to be in vain as he was the first to notice a series of celestial anomalies surrounding a distant star. Choosing not to report his findings to a colleague (what and risk his glory being stolen?) Wilson instead continued to monitor the various happenings, confident that no one else was observing the same area of space as he was. After a few weeks Karl noticed a small object collide with earth, originating from this area of space, landing unusually close to his house. This small stone from space appeared to glow as if it was smouldering, yet was not hot to the touch, however the small stone was just the first object. That was the day that Karl Wilson was hit by a meteorite. A pretty big one actually.
When he awoke Karl's house was a pile of rubble, yet he was unscathed. He emerged from the hulking chunk of space rock with new found powers of gravity, a mind that told him to become great, and for some reason he was stronger, taller than before and healed of all his physical problems. So naturally, Karl became a super villain. Sort of. Not even an actual Doctor, Wilson's ego got the best of him when designing his new persona, mentally "charged" from the accident he barely thought as he set to design his breakout crime.
After the previously mentioned embarrassment, the new Dr Grav worked in secret to one day emerge on top, never learning the origin of the meteorite that "killed" the old Karl Wilson, only focussing on the time when he would be a great super villain. The invitation to the midnight society was certainly surprising, few knew of his regular whereabouts, but maybe this could be the chance Dr Grav needs.
