Gravatar
GRAVATAR
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| Player: @TassaKay (Homecoming/Everlasting Server) | ||||||||||
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| Character Build | ||||||||||
| Origin: | Mutation
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| Archetype: | Controller
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| Security Level: | 50
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| Biographical Data | ||||||||||
| Real Name: | Gabriel Vincente Catalano
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| Known Aliases: | Gravatar
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| Age: | 29
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| Gender: | Male
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| Species: | Human (Mutant)
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| Ethnicity: | Caucasian (Sicilian/Scottish)
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| Birthdate: | 12 May 1993
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| Birthplace: | Port Charles, New York
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| Relatives: | Martin Catalano (father, deceased), Irene Catalano (mother, deceased), Dex Rawlins (stepfather, deceased)
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| Characteristics | ||||||||||
| Height: | 5'11"
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| Weight: | 175 lbs.
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| Eyes: | Blue-Grey
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| Hair: | Black
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| Complexion: | Tanned
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| Physical Build: | Athletic
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| Physical Features: | Strong jaw, clean beard, styled hair, classically handsome features
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| Status | ||||||||||
| Alignment: |
Neutral Good | |||||||||
| Reputation: |
Exalted | |||||||||
| Identity: | Public (Registered with FBSA)
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| Years Active: | 10
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| Base of Operations: | "Gravtopia" (undisclosed location in "the space between multiverses")
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| Citizenship: | Citizen of United States of America with no known criminal record.
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| Education: | Bachelor of Arts in Journalism
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| Occupation: | Registered superhero, field operative for Portal Corporation, part-time mentor/trainer for G.I.F.T.; formerly reporter for Paragon Times, reporter for Millennium City Free Press
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| Marital Status: | Single
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| Known Powers and Abilities | ||||||||||
Gravikinesis (Omega Level), Incarnate of Gravity
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| Equipment and Paraphernalia | ||||||||||
Costume (unstable molecules), personal comlink
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| Attributes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strength |
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Endurance |
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| Agility |
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Speed |
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| Fighting |
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Projectiles |
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| Durability |
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Resistance |
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| Intelligence |
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Psyche |
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| Intuition |
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Charisma |
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| ReldinBox Template | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
APPEARANCE
His costume, deep blue and white in color and consisting of unstable molecules, is a skintight bodysuit that encases him from neck to toes. His personal symbol, a stylized star, is displayed prominently on his chest, and he also wears a deep blue impervium cape clasped to his shoulders. Out of costume, he tends to favor clothing of a professional urban style.
POWERS & ABILITIES
The most basic application of Gravatar's mutation is his ability to manipulate gravitons to increase or decrease the weight of anything with discernible mass, causing the mass to get heavier or lighter respectively. With practice, Gravatar has learned how to change the direction at which such objects "fall", effectively exercising his own version of telekinesis. Decreasing the effect of gravity on objects also allows Gravatar to lift things far in excess of his own normal human strength. Gravatar can also alter the gravitational pull on himself, allowing him to do such things as fly at any speed or height at which he can still breathe, change the direction "down" lies for him in order to walk on walls or ceilings as if they were the floor or ground, and slow a fall to land as lightly and gently as a feather. Gravatar can sense gravitational waves and flux to detect the use of artificial gravity and gravity powers, perceive his surroundings via the minute gravitic attractions exerted by anything with discernable mass ("gravity vision", essentially), use gravity to bend light so he can see things at a distance, create areas of Earth-normal gravity to reduce the effects of high-gravity and low-gravity environments, and modulate gravity waves to carry communication signals across interplanetary distances with a solar system. Naturally, Gravatar is immune to the effects of gravity as he chooses.
Offensively, Gravatar is quite adept at utilizing his control of gravity in the field. He can project concentrated graviton particles that have a maximum concussive force equivalent to the explosion of 20,000 pounds of TNT, affecting single targets with powerful blasts of gravitic force, sending forth widening waves of gravitic force to affect everything in the waves' path, or releasing bursts of gravitic force radiating in all directions around him. Gravatar can also create gravity fields that increase, decrease or nullify the gravitational pull in an area. He can "whipsaw" a target with concentrated gravity to create an effect similar to the intense G-forces that can cause fighter pilots to black out, and manipulate gravity to interfere with the inner ear so that the target loses their balance and sense of direction. Recently, he has begun to use his ability to create micro-wormholes to pull in nearby targets and deposit them in a different location of his choosing, and to propel objects through from elsewhere (theorized by Portal Corp to be an as-yet-undocumented "junk" dimension, though this theory remains untested) for use as makeshift projectiles.
Defensively, Gravatar applies his ability to manipulate gravitons in several creative ways. Most commonly, he creates nigh-impenetrable forcefields of gravitons, causing most attacks against him to be nullified: the weight of projectiles are increased so they simply drop out of the air, energy beams and similar attacks are bent around him or otherwise dispersed, and physical attacks are blunted or absorbed by the field. Through force of will, Gravatar can use his fields to either reflect physical and energy attacks back at the source or redirect them to a new target entirely. When operating with allies, he often extends the size of his fields to encompass them as well, rendering them as impervious to attack as himself, though this takes more concentration on his part. Gravatar can reflexively create a point of intense gravity at the heart of explosions, preventing the explosive force and material from achieving escape velocity by containing the blast in an area no larger than its source and negating the explosion. He can also use gravity to bend light rays around himself, rendering himself invisible to visual detection.
Upon becoming an Incarnate on Primal Earth, Gravatar has begun to manipulate gravity on a truly cosmic scale. He is one of a few known superhumans who has managed to enter and exit black holes and other stellar phenomena without adverse effect, and can operate in high gravity, low gravity or zero gravity environments without impediment. His gravitic forcefields also allow him to operate in deep space safely, protecting him from the cold, radiation and vacuum, and he can even use gravity to replenish his air supply by drawing oxygen and nitrogen molecules from nearby atmospheres. His flight speed in deep space is exponentially faster, and he is able to achieve superliminal speeds once free of local gravity wells. He can open up micro-wormholes between two distant points that allow for instantaneous travel between those points. Initially restricted to creating wormholes between two points within a single gravity well, he has since learned how to create them between two different gravity wells, allowing him to traverse interplanetary, interstellar and even interdimensional distances.
Incredibly, Gravatar has also recently bonded with a sentient singularity*, due to his unique ability to communicate with it via gravitic pulses, and the entity (which also manipulates gravity in a manner similar to Gravatar) is never far from his side in the field. When not in the field, the singularity normally exists dormant within Gravatar's gravitic energy matrix, and Gravatar also bears the ability to enter the singularity himself. The singularity acts as a pocket dimension where Gravatar exists at every point in his life simultaneously, and he has only just begun to explore his connection with it.
* See Biography section for more details.
His powers aside, Gravatar possesses the normal human strength, dexterity, endurance and durability of a man his age, height and build who engages in intensive regular exercise. He is moderately skilled in physical combat, specializing in boxing and basic martial arts, though he tends to rely first and foremost on his powers in combat situations. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and nearly a decade of experience as a staff journalist for several different newspapers, specializing in covering the superhuman beat. Since leaving the journalism profession aside to work directly for the Portal Corporation, Gravatar has achieved a basic familiarity with the astrophysics used to study gravity and its effects, though he is strictly a layman in this regard. Besides his native American English, Gravatar also speaks a smattering of Italian, Spanish, French... and Gadroon.
PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE
In that same vein, Gravatar is driven by the guilt he carries: for the accidental death of his mother and stepfather, for the deaths of his original teammates during Istvatha V'Han's invasion attempt, and for his actions while he was under the influence of the sentient singularity. Though he is not directly responsible for these events, he still carries the weight of them on his shoulders, and they have come to define how he approaches his work and the use of his powers. The guilt hasn't always been a negative for Gravatar, however, as it has fostered in him a deep sense of responsibility, and he works to impart that sense of responsibility on other young mutants who have struggled to control their powers.
Gravatar is loyal to a fault, taking his friendships and relationships very seriously, and tends to reserve judgment on all but the worst and most obviously villainous of people until he gets to know them. In fact, he has more than a few friends on the "red side" of the hero/villain divide, as he has a more evolved view on morality and ethics than many of his superheroic cohorts. Gravatar is less interested in the letter of the law than the spirit of it, and while this has made it somewhat difficult for him when it comes to his relationships with law enforcement and other superheroes at times, he remains committed to his own personal code of conduct, and will always give everyone a fair shake.
Currently, Gravatar is struggling to reconcile his down-to-earth nature with the reality that the scope of his abilities and the ways in which he is now able to experience the multiverse are beginning to awaken in him. Becoming an Incarnate and embarking on a journey that has led him across the multiverse have not been easy on the young mutant, and he does not particularly enjoy or agree with the fact that he seems to be becoming "some sort of god of the space-time continuum". Only time will tell if Gravatar will manage to hold onto his humanity in the face of his seemingly inevitable apotheosis.
EQUIPMENT
BASE OF OPERATIONS
Once the home was completed on the main island, they turned their attentions to the smaller landmasses, creating several more additions to Gravtopia: Portal Island (with permanent wormholes established to several locations throughout Paragon City, the Rogue Isles, the Shadow Shard and even Praetoria), Memorial Island (a massive shrine/park dedicated to Gravatar's fallen teammates from his own Earth), and Tiki Island (an island with a beach, a lagoon, and an eponymous tiki bar). Gravtopia bears formidable defenses: besides the permanent gravitational fields erected by Gravatar himself to keep intruders at bay, a magical ward was also put into place by Gravatar's friends, Tien and Daniel, who combined their abilities to protect Gravtopia from hostile magical effects as well.
BIOGRAPHY
Early Life
To a young Gabriel and his mother, Millennium City was incredible. Built on the ruins of Detroit, which was obliterated by Doctor Destroyer in 1992, the city was a model for the future: spire-like skyscrapers connected by picturesque garden skybridges, solar panels and nearby windmill farms generating clean and renewable power, automated and computer-controlled highways that eliminated gridlock and traffic accidents, flashy 3-D holograms that replaced billboards, info kiosks on street corners that offered a continual stream of news and information, free high-speed wireless Internet access available in every business and home, and schools and libraries store the vast majority of their data electronically, to say nothing of the greatest feature of all (at least, to a ten-year-old boy), the presence of the Champions superhero team. Though his mother had her doubts, the lucrative offer she'd received from Harmon Industries to join their PR team would allow her to make a real life for herself and her son in this city of tomorrow, so the Catalanos settled into their new home in Westside.
The pair would soon to come to learn that Westside was not quite the safe haven they thought it would be. This area of Millennium City, while home to the new city jail, a burgeoning industrial and shipping hub and the city's Chinatown neighborhood, seemed to be embroiled in near-constant conflict between the five gangs that called it home: the New Purple Gang (a resurgence of an infamous Prohibition Era gang), the Cobra Lords (a biker gang involved in both the drug trade and an underground metahuman fighting circuit), the Maniacs (an anarchist gang that proudly displays sociopathic tendencies), the Black Aces (a gang with a playing card motif) and the Cult of the Red Banner (who control Millennium City's Chinatown). Fortunately for the Catalanos, not to mention the rest of Westside's residents, Millennium City was also home to the superhero team known as the Champions: Defender, Sapphire, Nighthawk, Ironclad and Witchcraft. Young Gabriel was absolutely enamored by the superheroes of his new home, as many of the city's children were, and he followed their exploits with keen interest.
At the age of 14, just after he'd became a freshman at Westside High School, Gabriel's mother remarried. Dexter Rawlins was a MARS (Metahuman Activities Response Squad) officer assigned to MCPD's Westside precinct, and though his unit worked closely with the Champions and other registered superheroes, Dex resented their presence and having to work with them, believing them to be the reason for the uptick in metahuman crime in Millennium City. Gabriel got along well enough with Dex, at least at first, as he was happy to see his mother moving forward with her life, but Dex's homophobic attitudes didn't sit well with him, as he was coming to terms with his own homosexuality. However, though the marriage seemed solid on the surface, Dex would often vent his frustrations with his job at home, becoming first verbally abusive... and then physically abusive. Over the course of the next two years, the marriage slowly deteriorated, and Gabriel spent more and more time with his friends away from home simply to avoid Dex's alcohol-fueled rages and homophobic rants.
However, it was during one of those fights between Dex and Irene that Gabriel's life changed forever.
Coming home after soccer practice, Gabriel could already hear the sound of shouting coming from inside the house. Rushing inside, he found Dex in the kitchen with his mother, having already struck her and threatening to do so again. Gabriel rushed inside, screaming for Dex to stop and threatening to call the cops, but the officer just laughed in response, responding that he was untouchable as far as the cops were concerned, being a decorated member of an elite police task force. He then dared the "fairy" to do something about it if he thought he could, raising his hand to hit Irene again... and in that moment, Gabriel's mutation manifested, and the teenager lashed out with a primal scream... and an uncontrollable burst of gravitic energy. When Gabriel came to his senses again, he was left standing in the rubble of what was once his home, surrounded by units from the MCPD, PRIMUS and the FBI.
Taken into custody by PRIMUS, Gabriel was later informed by them that both Dex and his mother had perished when their home collapsed in on itself. The grief-stricken Gabriel now fell under the government's jurisdiction, and PRIMUS kept him in custody while they worked out what to do with him. Eventually, a solution was found: Gabriel, who would not be charged with a crime due to the accidental nature of the manifestation of his powers, would be remanded to Ravenswood Academy in order to receive proper training in the use of his gravimetric abilities as well as completing his education. Though his first year at the Academy was difficult for him, as he was still grappling with what he'd done and with having superpowers in general, Gabriel eventually began to heal from the trauma of his mother's death. He also began to learn the breadth and scope of his abilities, and the potential for disaster that accompanied them, and gained a keen sense of responsibility when it came to using them. By the time his senior year began, he was starting to make friends and embrace his gravity-controlling abilities, becoming one of the Academy's most promising students.
After graduating from Ravenswood Academy, Gabriel decided to register himself as a superhero in Millennium City, taking the codename of Gravatar as his own.
Just in time for the Qularr Invasion.
Rookie Career
In the aftermath of the Qularr invasion, Gravatar was presented with the keys to the city by Mayor Biselle, and was personally thanked by each of the Champions for turning the tide of the battle against the invaders. Gravatar decided to remain in Millennium City as its newest hero, registering formally with the city and using his stipend to rent a downtown apartment and live on his own. He also enrolled in Millennium University, majoring in journalism, as he felt that a "day job" in the media would help keep him informed about where he would be needed the most. While attending college, Gravatar pursued his superhero career in earnest, taking on everything from the gangs of Westside to larger threats like ARGENT and PSI, earning the respect of his peers and elevating his reputation among the people of Millennium City. It was during this time that he forged one of his most important relationships: Lucas Washington, the superhero known as Chaingang, met Gravatar while they both arrived to assist with a jailbreak in Westside, and the two became fast friends and frequent partners in the field.
During the next few years, Gravatar branched out from Millennium City on occasion as well. In Burning Sands, New Mexico, he assisted Project Greenskin against an attack by an army of mutant irradiates, and went on to assist Withcraft in Burnside, fought against the forces of VIPER at Area 51, assisted PRIMUS in their research efforts in the Atomic Wasteland, tangled with the murderous robots in the Snake Gulch dude ranch, assisted against the mass breakout of supervillains from Stronghold (even going on to return Menton, the catalyst of the breakout, to Hot Sleep imprisonment), and even tangled with the monstrous powerhouse Grond. At Fort Station Steelhead in Canada, where an unnatural storm that kept the station isolated brought down a commercial flight in the wintry wilderness, Gravatar arrived to assist... and ended up helping the Steelhead personnel (including the Canadian superheroes Justiciar, Ravenspeaker, Celestar and the Constable) to defend the station against hordes of undead conjured by the awakening of the ancient entity Kigatilik from the Frost Tomb by the villainous Rakshasa, and went on to have clashes with the forces of ARGENT, the Hunter-Patriots, the mad geneticist Teleios and his armies of clones and Teleiosaurs, and the alien Gadroon which had established a beachhead in the Canadian wilderness.
After graduating from Millennium University, Gravatar took an internship with the Millennium Free Press, which quickly turned into a staff position as the young journalist proved his mettle by writing several hard-hitting pieces about the villains he took down in his Gravatar identity. He also began working with other heroes who were aligned with PRIMUS, assisting on several high-profile cases through Millennium City and beyond as time permitted, and with the international organization UNTIL, where he aided them in stopping the Supreme Serpent from using the Serpent Lantern to unite the quarreling factions of VIPER. Though he felt uncomfortable in his dealings with the magical side of superheroic life, Gravatar aided Juryrig and Robert Caliburn in Vibora Bay to stop the fallen angel Therakiel from conquering heaven and hell (and aiding Caliburn in becoming the new Archmage of Earth), and also assisted Witchcraft and Project Hermes against Luther Black's plan to imprison the Kings of Edom and elevate himself to godhood, entering the Qlipthotic Realm to free the Kings.
Now a seasoned hero, Gravatar met the superhero team known as the Forces of Nature while attending an event at Harmon Labs demonstrating new breakthroughs in dimensional travel technology. Traveling with the heroes through the dimensional portal, he arrived in Multifaria, a dark and dystopian version of his own world. The city of New Harmon, Multifaria's dark reflection of Millennium City, was ruled by Citizen Harmon... the Shadow Destroyer himself! They joined forces with the underground resistance opposed to Harmon's rule, which was led by several outlawed superhumans, and brought the fight to the New Harmon Security forces after breaking out of the New Harmon Reeducation Facility. Facing hordes of tanks and Mega-Destroids as well as Shadow Destroyer himself, Gravatar and the Forces of Nature were ultimately triumphant, and upon their return to their own world, Gravatar was offered a place on the team. He gladly accepted it, fulfilling his childhood dream of being a part of a superheroic team of his own.
The Big Leagues
A New Earth
Alpha to Omega
Current Status
AFFILIATES
Other friends and associates of note include the space-manipulating government agent Nexus, the luchador wrestler and former sheriff Lone Lobo, the earnest forcefield-generating Shieldborne, lupine superhero and LGBT icon Haute Dawg, the half-Nath cosmic superhero Wavelength, the alleged daughter of Bast Shannon Harper, the powerful fae shapeshifter known only as Wildside, the spirit-touched dimensional traveler Walker (who also originated on Champions Earth), the timeless jotunn runecaster Magnus Njordvallir, the mysterious and suave DJ Midnight Masque, the chimeric aquatic humanoid Deep Six, and Director Adam Fairfield and Colonel Jane Grey of Vanguard's Special Ops unit, though Gravatar is acquainted with many other members of the superpowered community in both Paragon City and the Rogue Isles due to his prolific social life and constant presence on the superpowered club circuit.
Romantically, Gravatar has had several high-profile relationships with other superheroes... and even a so-called supervillain or two! On Primal Earth, he was first linked with Rafael Mattia, an ex-Skulls leader who reformed and became the masked luchador superhero (and eventual Incarnate) Lord Quetzalcoatl, but he met a violent end at the hands of the Circle of Thorns in Oranbega. He later met Aohdan Darragh, the sonic-controlling Welsh superhero Omnitone, while mentoring the mutant immigrant via GIFT, and the two began a whirlwind courtship that culminated in the two building a home in the Superflow and making plans to marry... but those plans were cut short when Omnitone was lost in the timestream during a critical interdimensional mission. Gravatar has never fully recovered from these losses, and has since kept his romantic partners (rumored to have included the mid-tier supervillain Spinister, the liberated Cimeroran minotaur Maximus Bovis and the geothermal-powersuit-wearing ex-Marine Mantle of Freedom) at arm's length to protect himself from further loss.
Professionally, Gravatar is most affiliated with the Portal Corporation. He serves full-time with Portal as a field operative, and can most often be found assisting them at Firebase Zulu in the Shadow Shard, due to his unique ability to operate in that dimension's gravity without detriment. Gravatar often works with both Shadowshell and Grey Gryphon, also superpowered Portal Corps operatives, and he is close work friends with the two. He has also become friends (and possibly more) with Major Jackson Armstrong, his military liaison at Firebase Zulu. Through his affiliation with GIFT, he has begun mentoring Massifist, another gravikinetic mutant like himself, but one who has taken a pacifistic approach to hero work. He has been a member of the Northern Stars and the Global Defense Force, as previously mentioned, and also maintains contacts with some of his former co-workers at the Paragon Times.
On Champions Earth, Gravatar was a member of the Forces of Nature (Undertow, Earthmover, Windshear, Sunscorch and the team leader Plasmus) in good standing, until their untimely demise during the invasion of the extradimensional Istvatha V'Han. He was closely affiliated with the Champions Earth versions of Citizen Thirteen, Starspark and Elycion, working with them via PRIMUS on several high-profile cases. His closest friends included Chase Harrison, the heat-generating hero and ex-MCPD officer Sunferno, and Lucas Washington, the chain-wielding martial artist and ex-con Chaingang. Gravatar maintained friendly relations with the Champions teamed based out of Millennium City as well as the Canadian heroes that he worked with at Steelhead: Celestar, Ravenspeaker, Justiciar and The Constable. At the time of his disappearance, Gravatar had a solid working relationship with the MCPD, PRIMUS and UNTIL.
Beyond these ties, Gravatar is in good standing within the superhero community of Paragon City, and his reputation has even begun to extend throughout the multiverse as his work with the Portal Corporation has taken him to other worlds and other dimensions.
TESTIMONIALS
"He's as bright as a shootin' star, but I'll be there t' catch him if he burns out from workin' too damn much." - Moonsetter
"When I met Gravatar, he was new to this dimension and had no friends or any idea what he was doing. And look at him now! He has a beard." - Firemage Daniel
"Gravatar? Great student. Amazing friend. But still not as cool as me." - Cryomancer Tien
"We've had our ups and down, but he manipulates gravity, so that's to be expected." - Nexus
"Gabe? One hell of a hero and a damn fine man. Paragon's lucky to have him." - Lone Lobo
"After he left my supergroup over... creative differences, we've managed to stay in touch. He is still a dear friend, even though we do not work together that much anymore." - Brett Holt
"He likes beef, not veal." - Farside
"Honestly, I'm proud to call him my friend. He doesn't care too much about what others say about him and is just carefree." - Areus
"Great guy and wonderful friend, always there for you when you need him and has your back no matter what. Just don't piss him off. Piss off a guy with control over gravity and you could find yourself in orbit from a simple flick of the wrist." - Elycion
"Gravatar's wild. I mean, who else do ya know that can go inside a black hole and survive? Always enjoy gettin' to work with him, although he likes to try makin' me as uncomfortable as possible sometimes..." - Citizen Thirteen
"Gravatar is powerful, but then again, so is the sun, and I gotta admit, the sun is a lot more commonplace. The point is, power isn't everything except for the things that aren't matter, which are energy. But Gravatar is what matters, and he's made of matter. Questionable about what the sun is made of, though. Anyway, what's the wordcount--" [MESSAGE LENGTH EXCEEDED] - Hugs
"In a difficult time, he was the only spark of joy I had in my day for a while. I truly love him like a brother. He is definitely a refreshing cup of tea on a rainy morning." - Midnight Lark
"He is one bad bitch. I'll **** you up if you hurt him. Like seriously, I'll punch you in the throat, and then I'll punch you in the ****." - Starspark
"I don't really know if his personality extends to his gravity powers, because... he has this-- amazing pull on people. Like um, you just want to be around him. Like a magnet! A-A really bold, bigger-than-life, flying magnet." - Shieldborne