Name: Dirk Farrington
Age: 19
Personality: Dirk likes to present himself as a confident sort of person. He'll stand up straight, keep his shoulders square, and offer a handshake to most people he meets. However, Dirk tends to be wary of people. He's pretty sensitive and can take even slight comments to heart. He's easy to put on the defensive. He hides his insecurities, often being snide or sarcastic to cover it.
Generally not a happy boy, Dirk likes to keep to himself. The façade he attempt to put on for others often exhausts him, as Dirk over thinks a lot. He doesn't desire to go out of his way to do much of anything. He sticks to a schedule, or at least attempts to. If one does manage to strike up a conversation with Dirk, he'll attempt to avoid talking about himself. He likes to ask questions, thinking himself a far better listener than talker.
Appearance: Dirk is slightly chubby and out of shape. He stands only at a height of 5'6". He's taken to usually getting buzz cuts in order to avoid worrying about his hair and having to feel self-conscious about that as well. He often wears long sleeve shirts and sweaters in order to mask the fact that he's out of shape. Long sleeves also help himself not think about it as often. He'll often not wear shorts either, for similar reasons.
Powers: Dirk is able to transfer an Empowered's wounds to himself. In addition, based upon the pain he's feeling, he will gain endurance and strength. Taking on enough pain can cause Dirk to enter an enraged state, where his strength and endurance are increased further, but he loses the ability to transfer wounds upon himself any longer.
On a scale of 1 being mere irritation and 10 being on the verge of death:
1: Little effect beyond making Dirk slightly stronger than he should be with his size.
3: Dirk will gain the strength of an above-average male.
5: Maximum strength a regular human could possibly achieve.
7: This is the point where he starts to be enraged and loses the ability to transfer wounds on to himself. At this point, he is slightly beyond human capability. Could put a dent into a brick wall with a single punch. He is unable to think clearly in this state and is prone to extremely rash decisions.
9: Loses most of his reason. At this point he can easily lift a grown man and throw them ten to fifteen feet into the air.
10: Here and beyond is pain from wounds that would be considered fatal. Nothing like picking up cars or anything of that nature, but Dirk could probably slam into someone and send them flying at this stage. He completely loses his ability to reason between friend, foe, and fire hydrants at this point.
Weaknesses: Strength/endurance gained is based on pain, not severity of wounds. Being shot with a numbing agent could easily stop his powers. If he absorbs a fatal wound (or simply receives one), the ability only stops it from being fatal while he's enraged. Although it depends on the level of pain Dirk is under, enraged people tend to not to be able to distinguish between allies and enemies.
Abilities: A knack for photography, which sometimes lends Dirk the patience to spot things others might miss. He tends to get lost in his own head, but he can be thoughtful as a result.
History: Dirk's mother was sort of well-known in the area as she was once a news anchor for a local newscast within NYC. Dirk always found it fascinating to see his mother on television and decided at a young age he wanted to just be like her. His interests changed throughout his early teens and he eventually decided he'd rather be behind the cameras rather than in front of them. For eighteen years of his life, Dirk didn't imagine his future would be anything special.
His powers had started to develop since he was sixteen, but they weren't strong enough to amount to anything and Dirk never quite understood he even had any power. It was a single instance of Dirk touching another kid on the arm and the cut on their arm disappearing. It had seemed freaky at the time, especially so when Dirk noticed the cut on his own arm some time later, but nothing big enough for Dirk to think much of. Most of the time when Dirk came in contact with people who had cuts or bruises, this never happened.
His father had been a big fan of baseball. Although Dirk decided he didn't like playing the game after only a few months of being on a team, he still watched games with has father. He enjoyed having an interest he could share with his dad, and they often attended games. At eighteen years old, Dirk attended a game with his father much like usual, but something tragic occurred that day. A teenager in the stands suddenly burst into flames, his screams sending the people around him into a frenzy and the fire from his body spreading out toward the people closest to him. Dirk's father had been one of these unlucky people. When it was all over, the teen was dead, his body burned beyond recognition. All-in-all, there had been five casualties in total. Dirk's father had died later in the hospital.
There was much confusion surrounding the incident. It had been rather chaotic and witnesses gave varying recollections. The incident was reported widely to be a "freak accident". Of course, this event made Dirk became very wary. He had been in the hospital waiting on his father after the incident when he accidentally bumped into a younger boy heading into the Emergency. They were wounded, and the brief contact transferred a few cuts and scrapes on to Dirk. He later told his mother that he'd fallen down, but he was starting to understand that there was something off with himself. It occurred to him, after his father had died, that it was possible there was a connection between himself and the teenager who set himself on fire. Dirk started fearing for his own life, worried that he was a monster and that he wouldn't be able to control himself eventually either. He fell into a depression along with his mother, who took leave from her job due to her grief.
It was later that year when knowledge of Unnaturals became public knowledge and the Civil War broke out. Dirk understood fully then what he was, but he realised it was easy for him to hide his ability. Really, he had little idea how to actually make it work. Still, knowing who he was unsettled him. He didn't know what his mother would do if she lost him as well. He was faced with a decision: Did he try to learn more about his powers in order to possibly better control them, or did he avoid the use of them entirely?