Beetle-Man
Wall-crawling
Insect-themed gadgetry
"I didn't choose to have these powers, but I can choose what I do with them now. And, Sarah, I choose to be better!"
Governments have pursued the supersoldier since the notion of superpowers first became public knowledge. The work conducted by NakanoCorp was no different, though their execution differed from most. In the interest of cultivating the ideal human, their first attempts at genetic modification were in animals of various species, splicing desirable traits into genetically modified super-variants. The beetle B-862 was no different. By some quirk of fate, the beetle escaped one day and managed to bite a visiting Roy Reilly, granting him an array of beetle themed superpowers. At first, he wanted nothing to do with his powers. It was only when his sister died in an easily avoidable tragedy that he knew his destiny. He donned the mask and became... Beetle-Man!
HISTORY
Early Life
Life Changes
Beetle-Man
POWERS & ABILITIES
Powers
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"Look, I can't fly because I was bitten by a ground beetle, please stop asking me!"
- Super-beetle physiology: Roy developed the proportional abilities of a beetle after being bitten by the test subject B-862, a genetically modified Ground Beetle designed to display as many desirable traits as possible. As a result, he developed abilities such as:
- Wall-crawling: Exposure to the venom of the mutated beetle changed the way in which Roy's body interacts with other molecules, he likens it to a sort of Van der Waals force. The result of which is his ability to adhere to almost any surface with any part of his body, though the majority of the effect seems concentrated on his hands and feet. The amount of force required to forcibly separate him from a surface he chooses to adhere to has yet to be discovered.
- Superhuman strength: Beetle-Man also possesses superhuman strength. Much like the average beetle, he is capable of lifting at least 300x his own weight if necessary. He has been shown to be capable of lifting and throwing cars overhead, and wielding improvised weapons out of wrecking balls with remarkable ease. As a result, he has to pull his punches around foes with less durability than him, lest he risk causing severe injury or even death. A side effect of his superhuman strength extends to his legs, where he is capable of leaping up 60 feet into the air.
- Superhuman speed: Whilst in no way comparable to true speedsters, Roy's enhanced musculature enables him to run at speeds which vastly outpace even the greatest human athletes, capable of keeping pace with a car travelling at roughly 80MPH.
- Superhuman stamina: Perhaps a mechanism to help his body cope with the strain of being able to perform far beyond mortal limits, Beetle-Man's body has adapted to produce less fatigue toxins over time, as a result he is able to exert himself at optimum levels for far longer before exhaustion starts to set in. Under ideal conditions, Beetle-Man can perform at his peak for several hours before the build-up of fatigue toxins starts to impair his physical activity.
- Superhuman durability: Beetles are renowned for their hardened skin and carapaces, so it stands to reason that Beetle-Man was endowed with a form of enhanced durability. His body has grown resistant to most forms of injury, shown to be capable of withstanding impact forces that would kill a normal man, such as being thrown from the top of a building, or taking blows from superhumanly strong opponents. His pain tolerance is also increased, demonstrated by his ability to continue fighting even after sustaining gunshot wounds.
- Superhuman agility: Beetle-Man's agility, balance and bodily coordination have all been enhanced to levels beyond the finest Olympic athlete. His body is exceptionally flexible and limber, despite his enhanced strength. His agility functions on a mostly instinctual level, and without practice he is capable of acrobatic demonstrations which vastly overshadow the combined efforts of circus aerialists and acrobats.
- Superhuman equilibrium: A subtle offshoot from his agility, Beetle-Man is able to instinctively balance on virtually any object, his body adjusting automatically to shifts in circumstance granting him perfect equilibrium in virtual any position.
- Superhuman reflexes: Beetle-Man's reflexes are enhanced in line with his superior acrobatic prowess. His reaction speed is theorised to be between 20-40 times faster than the average human, granting him the ability to even dodge virtually any attack, even gunfire if he is sufficiently aware of it.
- Insect Senses: In tandem with Beetle-Man's reflexes, he benefits from enhanced senses, able to feel vibrations around him and hear ordinarily imperceptible auditory input among other things. These two abilities in tandem with his reflexes provide a sort of danger sense for Beetle-Man, who is able to pinpoint the direction a threat is coming from by way of his sensory processing and react faster than any human could possibly do so. With focus, he can even smell a potential threat before it acts, similar to an anti-predator adaptation found in beetles.
- Healing Factor: Whilst not as dramatic as other heroes, Beetle-Man benefits from a regenerative healing factor which enables him to heal otherwise severe wounds rapidly. What once took hours to heal takes minutes, and what took days takes hours, and so on.
Abilities
Weaknesses
PARAPHERNALIA
Equipment
Weapons
ROGUES GALLERY
ROLEPLAY HOOKS
TRIVIA
Beetle-Man started life, and I suppose continues life, as an homage or expy of Spider-Man. He was a tabletop character from a long running Cortex Dramatic (A game designed to emulate CW drama, like Smallville) campaign and even made a few appearances in Masks: A New Generation (He was the Janus playbook, naturally). His backstory is mostly unchanged, though I'm still translating some setting elements over. Paragon is quite different from his original Empire City.