Beckett Alteridem (Triumph)

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Beckett Alteridem
Player: @BittPlayer
Server: Triumph
Origin: Natural
Archetype: Scrapper
Security Level: 26
Personal Data
Real Name: Beckett Alteridem
Known Aliases: Beck
Species:
Human
Age: Early 20s
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 155lbs
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Brown
Sexuality:
Heterosexual
Biographical Data
Nationality: American
Occupation: Hero
Place of Birth: Paragon City, Rhode Island, United States
Base of Operations: Paragon City, Rhode Island, United States
Marital Status: Engaged
Known Relatives: Theo Alteridem (father), Keiko Alteridem (mother), Cyril and Megan Alteridem (sisters)
Known Powers
Baseline Force of Will abilities, several heightened or extra-normal senses, teleportation (self and others)
Known Abilities
Trained in several martial arts, preferred to make up his own
Equipment
Variety of bladed weapons, 9mm pistol.
Beck usually carries between three and five weapons, believing that it's always best to have a spare.



Background

During the evening of March 12, 1985, a pair of heroes were ferreting out gang members in the back alleys of Paragon City's King's Row district when they heard the sound of an infant crying. What got to them was that the crying was heard, not from any of the nearby apartments, but a rusted dumpster, in which they found a baby boy, no more than a few weeks old. Not knowing what else to do with the child, the two heroes, who were Theo and Keiko Alteridem, named him Beckett and adopted him.

Beckett Alteridem unlocked his ability to use Force of Will at the age of 13, though no one is willing to explain exactly how. He then registered as a Junior-Grade Hero with the Federal Bureau of Super-Powered Affairs.

In 2001, Beckett recruited Lorelei Nachtigall into the Alteridem Foundation, and later began a romantic relationship with her, despite her apparent venomous dislike of basically everything.

Beck was in 12th grade when the Rikti War began, and as such, he has never actually graduated from high school. He did, however, learn to teleport. Beckett thinks little of the fact that he never finished school, and in fact maintains a deep distrust of public education in general, and America's system in paticular.

Keiko Alteridem has trained Beckett in a variety of martial arts, and while he has not truly mastered any of them, the eclectic and semi-random nature of his learning makes him highly unpredictable, especially for other martial artists, as they are often used to opponents acting in defined and understandable ways.

Current Status

As of this writing, Beck and Lorelei Nachtigall are engaged, but haven't set a date for the wedding yet, as they're trying to work out how to get married without the media and tabloid blitz that usually crashes a marriage between heroes. Eloping has been suggested, although there is some question as to whether it counts as eloping if the parents approve. While they hash out the details, Beck continues to pursue heroism with untarnished zeal, and is especially enthusiastic about fighting the Fifth Column and the Council. Beck has also put a lot of time into helping Lorelei research the mystical problems that plague Salamanca. Though he's out of his league when it comes to understanding the magical maladies of that town, he knows that finding the right creatures and putting sharp things through their vital areas can provide the town some temporary relief while Lorelei works out a permanent solution. As Beck would say it, putting sharp things into vital areas is his primary skill set. Beck also serves as the Alteridem Foundation's public-relations representative.

Personality

Outgoing, laid-back, and charismatic, Beckett Alteridem is an easy person to get along with. Most of the time. Often seen with his hands in his pockets and an easy smile on his face, Beck is knowledgeable in a wide variety of subjects, and willingly joins conversations on topics ranging from software development to international politics. Beckett is very much in love with Lorelei Nachtigall, and won't hesitate to point this out. He delights in being near her, and is always interested in her usually-negative view of things. Most of the people who know them both have trouble understanding exactly why someone as continually and unabashedly upbeat as Beck would take a romantic interest in the sarcastic, often bitter Lorelei, but Beck claims that Lorelei's critics "just don't get it". He has yet to explain what "it" is, leading some to suggest either malevolent magic on Lorelei's part, or simple insanity on Beck's part. Beck takes equal offense to both ideas, as do Lorelei herself, and the rest of Beck's family.

Beck has a habit of speaking his mind and being perhaps more honest than is strictly necessary, although he typically reserves this behavior for dealing with members of the press. This causes some within the Foundation to question Beck's position as head of public relations, but the fact is that Beck's willingness and ability to say exactly what he means, instead of what is expected, is why he's the Foundation's PR rep.

Beck is also extremely harsh when dealing with the criminals of Paragon City. From the Nemesis militants down to mere Skulls, Beck sees all criminals as just more blood that has to be spilled to protect Paragon's citizens. This ruthless streak, along with his ability to sense dishonesty, makes Beck an excellent interrogator. Beck also employs his natural charisma in combat, using eerie and even sociopathic mannerisms to disturb and demoralize his enemies. It should be noted, however, that Beck only does this when working alone. When fighting alongside other heroes, Beck is very open and talkative, often carrying on animated conversations covering a broad spectrum of topics while cutting through evildoers. Beck and Lorelei consider raiding a Council base while discussing whatever topic comes up a great way to spend an afternoon.

Beck's style of combat is centered on unpredictability. While he typically attacks with a pair of scimitars, he also carries other weapons, including kohpeshes, longswords, knives, and often a small-caliber pistol. He usually conceals the pistol and knives, but wears the other weapons openly. Beck uses his paired blades to make his attacks difficult to avoid or deflect, makes his movements hard to predict by avoiding set combat stances, and actively teleports both himself and his enemies for suprise attacks. Beck relies on the confusion created by all of this to minimalize harm to himself and his allies, falling back on his innate toughness only when he needs to.

Powers and Abilities

Beckett Alteridem is a practitioner of Force of Will, and in addition to the usual powers given to those who use it, Beck has developed a number of super-normal senses. Beck knows when someone is being dishonest with him, whether they are lying or withholding information, he can sense sources of magical effects from over 200 feet away, and has what he calls a "soul sense", which gives him the ability to learn and recognize people's souls. While this doesn't mean he can instantly identify anyone based on their soul, it is impossible for someone who's soul Beck "knows" to hide their identity from him, and he can easily track them down if they are within about a mile of him.

In addition to his extrasensory abilities, Beck's Force of Will has given him the ability to teleport by willing himself to another location. He is limited to locations he can see, and which are within about 300 feet of himself, however. Along with this, Beckett can actually teleport other people, although this ability is even more limited than his self-teleportation.

It should be noted that all of Beckett's Force of Will-granted capabilities seem to increase drastically in times of severe stress. He was far more lethal during the first Rikti Invasion than ever before or since. Beck can also heighten his abilities at will, though this quickly tires him out and has, on at least one occasion, led to him passing out from exhaustion.

As has been mentioned, Beck is trained in a variety of martial arts, although he lacks mastery of any of them. His preferred combat style involves paired swords, usually scimitars, but he is comfortable using a large number of melee weapons, including broadswords, katana, and even more esoteric armaments such as the zweihänder and kusarigama. Beck is also dangerous with firearms, due to his excellent hand-eye coordination. More important than his varied weapon skills, however, is Beck's ability to improvise. He is capable of rapidly reacting to changes in a combat situation, and does his best planning after the fight's already going on, making him seem at once dangerously impulsive and lethally skilled.

Equipment

Swords

Beck usually carries at least four melee weapons. His scimitars, Nick and Six, are ubiquitous, being his primary weapons, and kohpeshes, katana, and other bladed armaments are also carried as backup. "Always carry a spare" is one of Beck's favorite sayings.

While Beck has no magical abilities himself, he works closely with several people who do, so all of his weapons carry at least a few enchantments to improve their durabiltiy and performance.

The Mercurial Blade

This longsword is owned by Beckett, but rarely used. Its hilt is a dark red, and its blade is a light bronze color, though it is apparently made of steel. The Mercurial Blade takes its name from the synbol of Mercury engraved at the base of its blade. In addition to the oddly-colored steel of its blade, this sword has the utterly inexplicable effect of causing large, leathery wings to grow from Beck's shoulder blades whenever he draws it. These wings are typically purple and yellow in color, though this can vary. The fact that the blade has no such effect on anyone else who has held it makes this property even more confusing. The Mercurial Blade's effect has been determined to be magical, so Beckett has entrusted Lorelei with the task of determining how it works, whether it has any other capabilities, and why it only seems to affect Beck.

The Mercurial Blade is the only weapon Beck owns that doesn't get its name from a heavy metal band or performer.

9mm Pistol

This small, easily-concealed pistol has no unique features beyond being named Tarja, and having this name etched into its barrel. Beck carries it into combat primarily to take potshots at fleeing enemies, but he has been known to employ it as a last-resort armament on the very rare occasion that he's run out of swords and knives.

See Also