| Howler | |
|---|---|
 Bojangles | |
|
Concept: |
Energy Blaster |
|
Nationality: |
American |
|
Place of Birth: |
Lake Elsinore, California |
|
Date of Birth: |
12 May 1952 |
|
Hair/Eye Color: |
Graying Black/Cobalt Blue |
|
Height/Weight: |
4' 5" / 134 lbs |
|
Status |
Member of Prime 8 |
Background[]
Bojangles was a performing ape: a showman, a clown, and a buffoon. He spent much of his time in small casino acts, roller-skating among the audience members and taking trinkets and handed food for the amusement of the patrons. He’d always been intelligent- but his mind was so clouded by maltreatment and malnutrition from an early age that it never much mattered. He’d skate, and ignore the people, or steal from them for his own amusement. His owner thought it would be a kick to hook him on booze and tobacco.
For thirty years he performed, stood erect in a mis-tailored suit, smoked and skated, and then he was “free.” An ape-liberation bunch of human do-gooders legislated for his release, and paid his former owner compensation. All he saw it as was an end to steady meals and a place to sleep. By this time, some rights had been acquired for intelligent apes -- the same rights as those for humans who were destitute and homeless. And with no cash and no job skills, he found himself in much the same place. He spent a good amount of time panhandling for money, performing his act on the street and still skating for the amusement of humans. He still suffered malnutrition and arthritis.
Eventually he ended up at a shelter, and at some point around his thirty-fifth year during a shaky session of “detoxification” with herbal extracts and chelation therapy, his powers manifested. He began shrieking, and shrieking, and shrieking, until finally the entire dilapidated house came down, and the ground cracked, and windows shattered for blocks around. His voice, something he’d not used in his entire career, now had a power beyond any of his imagining.
He escaped into rural America, in the Midwest, where he began refining his powers in the woods and eventually on a convenience store or two. He quickly found out that hypersonic shrieks and fragile comestables don’t mix, and developed a few new skills in his repertoires to allow him to distract clerks, misdirect security guards, and generally get what he wanted without involving the police or destroying merchandise. He learned how to “throw” his voice by using ultrasonics that decayed to audible sounds at fixed distances, or when colliding with objects, and thereby was able to create illusions of voices, and then sounds. Then he discovered infrasonics- the low and hyper-low frequencies that shook buildings, destroyed bridges, and drove the humans mad.
Eventually, a decade of petty crime brought him to the attention of the authorities, and a fifty-five year old skating chimp found himself pursued -- until the day he encountered Doctor Simian. It was originally as he was approached by one of the Doctor’s aid organizations, appearing to be what he was: a derelict and chain-smoking chimpanzee. His bad experience with “aid” organizations made him resist, until finally approached by Simian directly. The Doctor, through his observations of Bojangles, came to realize that this simian had a lot of power, and a lot of potential.
He was also, unfortunately, precisely what Doctor Simian would have become if he had not escaped the captivity of the circus.
Alternately disgusted by Bojangles's boorish taste and manners, and angry at the history the poor ape described, Simian brought Bojangles him into his organization and re-christened him “Howler.” Here was a kindred spirit, if rather dulled by malnutrition and maltreatment, and in no way his intellectual equal, who could serve as a valuable reminder to the others of what humans could do. Additionally, here was a powerful weapon that had little will or care for resisting where it was pointed, and shared some of his anger and hatred toward humanity.
Personality and Motivations[]
Howler is still damaged, if only psychologically. Nearly half a century of accumulated maltreatment even by humans with good intentions has left him with no trust, care, or affection for the hairless ape. His hatred for humans makes him even more bloodthirsty than Doctor Simian; he advocates the complete extinction of Homo sapiens sapiens. Howler refuses to consider even human enslavement as an alternative, as "that would make us as bad as them."
While he does like his companions, he can be a bit zealous (way beyond the level of mere hero worship) in following Doctor Simian's commands, and additionally a little jealous of the attention and position of Cyberangutan. In his eyes, Doctor Simian can do no wrong, and he will start fights with those on his team who criticize their leader to much.
While cured of a physiological addiction to tobacco, he retains a psychological attachment, and prefers the feel and taste of a real cigar in his off-hours.
Quote[]
"If by my voice alone I could bring down all the hallowed halls of man, I would die happy."
Powers and Abilities[]
Howler uses his voice as much for its morale effect as for its raw destructive power, and throws sounds, voices, and cries for help among the enemy in an effort to distract. He will follow this up with infrasonics to disperse and disrupt, and only then begin any massive strikes designed to destroy en-masse or one-on-one. His ranged attacks vary in effect and severity, from deafening to burial to direct assault, giving him a wide variety of tactics and adaptability.
Appearance[]
Howler has the appearance of an elderly chimpanzee, with nearly black skin and gnarled features and hands. Injected with Dr. Simian's Longevity serum he retains few of the other features of an elderly chimp, and appears as spry on the battlefield as many of the younger members of Prime 8. Additionally, it had the effect of hardening his body and improving his physical prowess. While it has cured his arthritis, he still has his bad posture which was more a result of malnutrition and forced walking and skating erect: consequently, he is almost never seen knuckle-walking.
In the field, he wears a dark red featureless bodysuit. The suit lacks gloves and boots, to leave his hands and feet free. When relaxing, he tends to wear shorts and tank-top-style t-shirts (the kind commonly called "wife beaters").