Bayani (Virtue)
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| Art by Steve McNiven and Sorah Suhng | |
| Bayani | |
| Player: @Bayani | |
| Server: Virtue | |
| Origin: | Natural |
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| Archetype: | Scrapper |
| Security Level: | Confidential |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Renato "Ren" Angeles (Secret) |
| Known Aliases: | None |
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Human |
| Age: | 28 |
| Height: | 5'10 |
| Weight: | 195lbs |
| Eye Color: | Brown |
| Hair Color: | Black |
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Heterosexual |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | Filipino-American |
| Occupation: | COO of Paragon's Own, Inc. |
| Place of Birth: | Cambridge, MA |
| Base of Operations: | Paragon City |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Josie, Manu |
| Known Powers | |
| extraordinary internal energy (chi) | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Expert Martial Artist | |
| Equipment | |
| form-fitting impervium-laced armor, protective eyewear with HuD, double-ended grappling hook launcher, with 45' of aircraft control cable | |
| No additional information available. | |
Overview
Bayani first appeared on the Protector Server on April of 2004. Originally, Bayani was interpreted as a Blaster (Fire/Energy/Energy) but after Power Proliferation, Bayani had been restarted as a Fire/Fire Scrapper. Out of game, Bayani has appeared in the second run of the City of Heroes comic book four times (issues: 9, 12, 15, 20). The "noncanon" Bayani story "Closure" also appeared in Issue #0 of the official City of Heroes Fanzine. A complete gallery of commissioned art featuring Bayani can be found at angbayani.deviantart.com. Contributing artists include Marvel, DC, and Top Cow talents such as David Nakayama, Mark Bagley, Dale Eaglesham, Francis Manapul, Tyler Kirkham, and Gene Colan. If you wish to use Bayani in any medium, please send a note and ask for permission first. This includes gift art. Thank you.
Origin
Aside from being the son of two active superheroes, Renato "Ren" Angeles lived a relatively normal life as a young Filipino-American in the Cambridge suburbs of Massachusetts. Renato's father, Manu, masqueraded as the martial arts master Lawin (Tagalog for "hawk"). Renato's mother, Josie, was a Cabal witch who had been cast out of her coven when she fell in love with Manu. The two eventually married and led a very hectic, but happy life. Despite his parents involvement in the superhero community, Renato grew up in a safe environment relatively unexposed to the "family business", while attending private schools and studying martial arts. Renato remained uninvolved in the superhero community until he attended boarding school in Paragon City. There, he met fellow student Sabrina "Bree" St. James and discovered her secret life as the Hero Corps Agent, Glimmer. Despite a contentious start to their friendship, the two became sweethearts.
Unfortunately, the course of Ren's lifeall changed because of the Rikti War. Manu and Josie joined Omega Team on its mission to the Rikti Home World and never returned. To make matters worse, Bree fell ill with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She passed away several weeks after the Rikti invasion ended. Overwhelmed with grief, Renato spent the next several months taking his intense frustration out on opponents in MMA competitions across the country until a colleague of his father, Chuck "Red" Moran, took Renato under his wing.
Under Red's guidance, Renato spent over 18 months at a martial arts academy in the Philippines known as the Limang Paaralan. This stint at the academy culminated in the potentially lethal rite of passage known as the Pagkagising ng Kaluluwa ("Awakening of the Soul"), which resulted in Renato achieving a greater level of spiritual awareness. Renewed by his experiences, Renato returned to Paragon City to enroll in college and work for Red's business, Paragon's Own, Incorporated. When Statesman sent out a call for a new generation of heroes join his crusade, Renato decided to fill the void left by his parents and Bree. Renato registered with the city as a licensed cape and at Red's insistence, reluctantly accepted the codename Bayani (Tagalog for "hero"). Bayani's uniform pays tribute to the Filipino flag: the red symbolizes valor while the sun represents the Philippines. The designs on his boots and gloves hint at Bayani's signature Element: Fire.
Abilities & Limitations
Under his father and Red's tutelage, Bayani has developed into an expert in hand-to-hand combat. Bayani's unique and highly adaptive system of martial arts draws a wealth of techniques from several different fighting styles including Escrima, Kobudō, Iaidō, Wing Chun, and Karate. Bayani engages in a daily regimen of exercise (aerobics, parkour, simulated combat, weight-lifting) to keep himself in peak physical condition. While he has yet to achieve a level of mastery comparable to his father or Red, Bayani continues to relentlessly perfect his fighting system.
Advanced students of the Limang Paaralan can manipulate and project their chi as one (and only one) of the Five Elements (Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, Metal). The exact Element is dependent on the channeler's personality; the physical manifestation of Bayani's chi is Fire. Bayani can shape his chi into force field of intense heat that can deflect incoming attacks. In addition, he can use his chi to conjure fiery weapons as well as make his melee strikes incendiary. Bayani is limited to conjuring melee weapons that do not have moving or flexible parts (ie nunchaku or whips).
Prior to the Pagkagising, Bayani's agility, strength, speed, reaction time, and endurance were on par with the best Olympic athletes of the modern era. Through the Pagkagising, Bayani learned how to fully tap into his chi, which enhances his physical abilities beyond the limits of many natural humans. Bayani can operate at his peak physical limits for extended periods of time. With intense effort, Bayani can leap up to 20 feet vertically,(bench) press up to 750lb, and run at speeds up to 30mph. His reaction time has increased ten-fold and given proper distance and awareness, Bayani can dodge bullets and some other ranged attacks. In addition, Bayani's perception has widened, allowing him to read body language more adeptly and sense (but not necessarily identify) danger/abnormalities in his surroundings. Bayani's chi also grants him a faster than normal rate of healing along with a strong resistance to many diseases and poisons, but Bayani remains susceptible to human vulnerabilities. Bayani's high level of willpower, however, make him a very challenging opponent to attack through psychic means. Though his abilities grant Bayani many advantages, city life tends to taint and sap Bayani's chi. As such, Bayani must recharge and cleanse his chi by resting and meditating in a quiet, natural surroundings at least once a month.
Related Stories
Short Story: "Heritage"
Short Story: "Closure"
Short Story: "Memento"
Short Story: "Community" (Comic Book Format!)
Mission Architect: "Pagkagising ng Kaluluwa" | Review: "Airhead's Arc #230100 Experience" (Written by Fairgo)
