King Luther (Protector)
Affiliations
King Luther is the leader of the Lutheran Gang, an organized racketeering outfit that originated in the Kings Row neighborhood of Paragon City. Despite their involvement in various illegal and criminal schemes such as prostitution, gambling, drug dealing, weapons smuggling, and murder, the Lutheran Gang uses a number of legitimate charitable fronts to give money back to the community. This gives the gang a much more tolerable presence in Kings Row compared to gangs like the Skulls and Hellions. King Luther runs his growing criminal empire from the Rogue Isles and is a member of the Commission, a larger and broader criminal syndicate that is gaining more influence in the criminal underworld as members of the Family and other criminal gangs lose ground in their ongoing turf wars.
Backstory
In a more perfect world, Charles Luther King could have been anything more than who he is today, but growing up in the slums of Paragon City was far from perfect. Born into squalor in the slums of Kings Row, Luther was drawn at a young age to the low-level criminal activities that plagued his neighborhood and destroyed countless families, including his own. Luther's father was killed by the Skulls during a drug deal, and his mother was killed in a fire that the Hellions set to their tenement building. By the age of 12 Luther had no family left, and his only hope was to turn to the streets to survive.
Luther quickly mastered the arts of brutality and intimidation, making a name for himself as King Luther. He committed his first robbery and murder at age 14, knowing he would be sent to a juvenile facility instead of prison. While in the facility Luther used this time to establish enough contacts that when he was released at 18 he had more than enough recruits waiting to work for the King.
Upon Luther's release his gang reformed and quickly began recruiting new members. Luther called his gang the Luther Gang or the Lutherans, partly as a self-tribute, but also as a mockery of the Protestant faith he felt betrayed him and his parents for bringing him into such a cruel and brutal world. The Lutherans began their criminal activities in earnest, but it wasn't until after the First Rikti War ended the gang really began to take hold across Kings Row.
Operating behind local community and charitable organizations that offered relief in the aftermath of the Rikti War, the Lutherans were able to raise large sums of money to finance their more overt criminal activities. King Luther used the situation to its fullest advantage, setting up brothels, gambling dens, drug factories, and networks of people to operate these activties. Unlike other gangs throughout the city, King Luther became more like Robin Hood and actually gave back to the community he came from, and the city council publicly recognized his efforts as a community organizer and activist.
Using his criminal businesses to further his own ends, King Luther eventually completed his college degree and, with a surprising degree of intelligence, graduated with honors from Paragon City University and earned a Masters degrees in Business Administration. Combining his criminal fortune and business saavy, King Luther became a producer for young hip-hop and R&B artists in Paragon City to give young members of his community an opportunity to achieve success they otherwise may never have had. On the surface this appears very benevolent, but FBSA and PPD investigators know that King Luther uses his production and recording studios operating under the label King Luther Records as nothing more than a front to facilitate many of his criminal operations. At what may have been the height of his power, King Luther was married in 2005 to African supermodel Subira.
In 2006 King Luther was the subject of an intensive investigation orchestrated by the FBSA. The investigation sought to link dozens of murders to Luther, murders he did not commit himself but was responsible for giving the orders for. Luther was never actually charged for any of these crimes even as late as 2008, and the cases against him kept falling apart as alleged witnesses and hitmen for the Lutherans were either being killed or disappeared entirely. Avoiding prison was a great relief for Luther, but he knew the FBSA would continue prying into his operations and personal life. To best protect his family, Luther relocated to the Rogue Isles, where even the presence of Arachnos would not be as intrusive to his lifestyle as the United States government would.
King Luther operates runs his criminal empire from the Rogue Isles and has successful rackets established from Paragon City to Miami and across the Caribbean. Building a large criminal empire without the use of superhuman beings was quite an accoomplishment for Luther, but as the world around him becomes more dangerous he is looking to recruit as many superhumans as he can into his organization. Luther recently allied himself with the Commission, a super powered criminal syndicate that is spreading its influence across and beyond the Rogue Isles.
Powers
King Luther does not possess any superhuman powers, but he is tremendously strong due to an extreme regimine of strength training, diet, and exercise. As a criminal kingpin Luther's real power extends through his ability to manipulate or motivate others to perform his bidding, and his organization gives him literally hundreds of hands willing to do as he orders. Luther has many connections in law-enforcement, business, and government at all levels and can make things happen with nothing more than a simple meeting. Using his connections Luther can also obtain access to otherwise restricted information that he can use to further his own ends.
Contact Information
King Luther may be contacted on Protector by e-mail using his name, King Luther. His global channel that is valid across all servers is @Major Paragon.
