Difference between revisions of "Joey Katana (Champion)"

Revision as of 04:21, 14 January 2011

Overview

Joey Katana is a hero of Paragon City. He is a mutant. His primary power is super speed. He can run almost 100 miles per hour, heals rapidly from any wound, and is nearly indefatigable. He is also a master swordsman, but this ability comes from years of training and experience, not a mutation. Although his body can always heal itself, this does not prevent him from feeling the pain of his injuries. During combat, this pain has been known to drive him into a berserker like frenzy. Although he is currently a hero with a security level of 50, his history includes a brief period when he was considered a vigilante, or even a villain.

Origin

Joey Katana (real name unknown) was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There was no evidence of his powers during childhood. He moved to Paragon City to attend Paragon University, where he settled after graduating. He studied the katana in the evenings at a local dojo. In 2004 he suffered a terrible accident during training which nearly cost him his arm. He was rushed to a hospital. Unfortunately, the hospital was soon overwhelmed by victims of the Outbreak.

Officer Parks of the PCPD was in the hospital interviewing the victims. He was present when Joey Katana's injury triggered his latent mutant abilities. As the doctors stared in astonishment, Joey's arm regenerated. He had difficulty controlling his speed at first. He was talking too quickly to be heard, and moving so quickly that he broke most of the things he touched.

After Dr. Miller discovered that the thugs besieging the neighborhood had been contaminated by drugs based on Rikti technology, Officer Parks realized it would take more than the PCPD to contain the violence. He persuaded Joey Katana to assist the police. Joey was initially reluctant, believing his powers were inadequate for the task. "What am I going to do, heal myself at them?" Dr. Miller tested Joey's blood against the Rikti mutagen and determined that Joey was immune from contamination. The police were not. Joey agreed to assist Officer Parks. While the police cordoned off the area and the hospital treated victims and searched for a cure, Joey Katana and other heroes fought back the contaminated rioters.

Afterward, Parks encouraged Joey Katana to apply for a hero license. Parks served as his mentor in the following months, introducing him to people like Antonio Nash of GIFT.

Early Career

Joey Katana was one of the many heroes who began their careers in the wake of the Rikti War. After assisting with the Contaminated during the Outbreak, he worked with Antonio Nash to combat Hellions in and around Atlas Park. Joey first encountered the Fifth Column in Atlas Park as well. As Joey Katana gained skill and experience, fought his way through the Paragon City underworld. He found the Lost in Kings Row, and fought the Circle of Thorns across the rooftops. He spent many hours patrolling Perez Park, where the Skulls still fear his name. He fought Dr. Vahzilok and his minions in the sewers beneath the city. He learned the secrets of the Cavern of Transcendence in the Hollows. He battled Trolls beneath the bridges of Steel Canyon. He was nearly trapped in the gorges of Faultline, years before the flooding and the reconstruction project made the area more accessible.

He duelled blade against blade with the Tsoo in Talos, hunted zombies in Dark Astoria, and chased ghosts in Croatoa. He helped destroy a giant Robot in a hidden fortress on Striga Isle. He learned the truth about Crey in Brickstown and Crey's Folly. In 2005, he helped fight off the Sky Raiders when they attacked the Terra Volta nuclear reactor. For several months after being exposed to that radiation, Joey Katana was able to fly, but the ability eventually faded. He was still able to jump incredible distances for a few months, but that ability also faded with time.

He helped protect the Earth from alien Shivans in Bloody Bay in 2005. He fought at the Rikti Crash Site long before Vanguard entered the scene, but he joined in and fought with them in 2007 when the Rikti invaded again. He helped to defeat the monstrous Hamidon as part of an enormous army of heroes. In 2008, cooperating with the Menders of Ouroboros, Joey Katana disappeared into the time stream. At the time there was much speculation as to whether he had been killed or simply lost in time, but later events showed that he had merely shifted his time away from crimefighting and focused on more personal matters.

The Shadow Years

Little is known about Joey Katana's life from 2008-2010. He apparently fought in ancient Cimerora and elsewhen in history, and he also made appearances in the distant Shadow Shard. Otherwise, he seems to have spent these years in semi-retirement, dedicated to his day job as a civil engineer and, more importantly, his fiancee.

He first met Giuliana Vicenzo when they were both students at Paragon University. She was dating a friend of his at the time. Although that relationship didn't last, Joey and Giuliana never quite connected during their years as students, despite some mutual attraction. After college, she left Paragon City for a few years, while he stayed behind.

A few years later she returned to Paragon City with an M.B.A. and a job as a low-level executive at Portal Corporation. Many criminals were eager to get their hands on that technology, and heroes sometimes had to intervene to protect the employees. One day the hostage was Giuliana Vicenzo, and the hero was Joey Katana. She did not recognize him, but his courage and strength overwhelmed her and she was utterly smitten.

For the next year, he was always there when she needed him, and they grew closer. Eventually he revealed his secret identity to her, and they began dating. He spent more time in his day job, only drawing his sword when she was threatened at her job on Peregrine Island, or when the world was faced with potentially catastrophic dangers like the Winter Lord.

He planned to retire from the hero business entirely after their wedding, but his dreams of the future were shattered by a random Freakshow attack. By the time he arrived on the scene, he was too late to save Giuliana.

After that, he threw himself into his work as a hero, all but abandoning his civilian career. His rage drove him to attack all criminals without regard for his own safety or the niceties of the law. He saw no reason why criminals should receive more mercy than they gave, and so he became merciless, a scourge on the underside of Paragon City.

His anger drove him too far, and the police and heroes of Paragon City began to question his methods and motives. Eventually, a warrant was issued for his arrest. He fled Paragon City and launched a one man invasion of the Rogue Isles. There he fought many of the same gangs he had faced in Paragon. He attacked Arachnos, feeling they were the rotten root supporting the other criminals. In his war against crime, he fell into bad company, joining forces with anyone who had a reason to fight the same enemies.

After carving his way through the army of Arachnos, he drew the attention of Ghost Widow, the undead lieutenant of Lord Recluse. She found him interesting, and decided she could use him for her own purposes. She held out the possibility that his beloved Giuliana could be restored to life, or at least the same half-life of the Ghost Widow herself.

Heartbroken and desperate, Joey succumbed to temptation for a time, until he realized that Ghost Widow was only using him. When he turned against her, he found an unexpected ally among her Night Widows. One of those deadly assassins helped to save his life when he escaped from the Rogue Isles. She followed him to Paragon City, and has been haunting him ever since.

Back in Paragon, Joey turned himself in, only to discover that some of the crimes laid at his feet had in fact been performed by his double, from another dimension. Although it is not clear to this day exactly which crimes were performed by the double and which might have been committed by Joey himself, all charges against him were dropped. Ever since then he has worked hard to regain the trust of the people of Paragon City, and his fellow heroes.

Appearance

Joey Katana is usually seen in black and gold, a tribute to the team colors of the professional athletes in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He wears a sleeveless white t-shirt with a large black and gold Yin/Yang symbol. His only disguise is a pair of black sunglasses with gold lenses. He usually wears simple, loose black pants and no shoes. Early in his career he was frequently seen with no shirt, and a large Yin/Yang symbol apparently tattooed on his chest. While fighting Rikti near the crashed mothership or elsewhere in the city he frequently wears a lightweight suit of Vanguard armor, colored black and gold, with a Vanguard Talsorian blade. On rare occasions he has been seen wearing a full suit of black and gold samurai armor.

Well of the Furies

In 2011 Joey Katana reappeared in Paragon City with a vengeance. While initially considered a rogue operative, he gradually regained the trust of the heroes of the city. He has fought the Rikti on behalf of Lady Grey, and battled the Reichsman at the urging of Dr. Khan. He has also found a way to tap into the Well of the Furies. He has been battling furiously to unlock its secrets. Perhaps he hopes that he can use this newfound power to achieve those ends which Ghost Widow promised, but did not deliver.