Ultimate One Universe
Character Application
Character Name: Barry Allen /
The Flash
Alignment (Hero, Villain, Walking the Line): Hero
Character Speech Font and Color: Red Trebuchet MS for Barry /
Bold Red Trebuchet MS for Flash
Powers and Abilities: Barry is an expert in forensic science and chemistry, though he also possesses some level of aptitude in the other physical sciences as well.
Following the accident which gave him his powers, Barry's body generates a quantum energy field known only as the Speed Force. This seemingly endless source of energy allows Barry to move at superhuman speeds (the limit of which is not known) and perceive the passage of time accordingly. The Speed Force also grants Barry immunity to the effects of friction, as well as affording a certain level of protection against high-speed collisions or impacts. Additionally, Barry's metabolism is supercharged, granting him accelerated healing at the cost of requiring a near constant caloric intake.
Barry's speed allows him to perform numerous amazing feats, including (but not limited to): running on water, running up sheer surfaces, creating a vortex by running (or spinning his arms) in a circle, and vibrating his individual molecules so quickly that he becomes virtually intangible.
Character Origin/Backstory: Barry Allen was born to Henry and Nora Allen in suburban Missouri, just outside of Central City. Growing up, Barry always had an affinity for stories about heroes and the battle between good and evil. His father told him all about Captain America and the Invaders, real life superheroes who fought in WWII before coming home to form the Justice Society of America. Beyond the colored pages of vintage comic books, though, Barry had a hero of his own: his father, Henry, a detective in the Central City Police Department.
One night when Barry was only ten years old, he heard a loud noise coming from inside his house just as he was going to sleep. Shuffling downstairs, the young Barry found the house in shambles: furniture thrown about, papers scattered across the floor, windows shattered. At the center of it all, a sobbing Henry held the lifeless body of his wife, Nora, Barry's mother. Her neck had been snapped. When the police arrived, they took Henry into custody. After a lengthy court proceeding, Henry Allen was judged guilty of murdering his wife.
Barry became a ward of the state, and he was taken in by John and Libby Chambers. The Chambers had a daughter of their own, Jesse, who was five years younger than Barry. Although Barry was quite happy with his new foster family, even slipping into a protective older brother role with Jesse, he could never quite shake the feeling that his father had been wrongly convicted. John Chambers, a mathematician by trade, encouraged Barry to study science, which led to an interest in forensic work. Barry realized that even if he couldn't clear his father's name, he could work to save others from suffering the same fate.
What Makes This Version "Ultimate": Well, obviously with the merging of the universes, there will be changes to Barry's supporting cast - as well as the villains he faces. I'll also be trying to take the best of the various tellings and re-tellings of Barry's story, as well as unifying the grand majority of speedsters from both universes.
What can you bring to the RPG: Damn near eight years of roleplaying experi-- wait a minute, that can't be right. Eight years? Sweet Christmas. Anyway, I think most of you know me by now. I'm always challenging myself to be a better writer/planner/what-have-you, but at the end of the day I just try to have fun with this. And if we get to collaborate together on something, all the better!
Sample Post (provide a short post of at least 3 paragraphs and 1 line of dialogue for your character):
My name is Barry Allen, and I am the fastest man alive.
Sometimes, the best thing about life is how completely unpredictable it can be. Three weeks ago, I was - by all accounts - just an ordinary guy. I rode the bus to work where I performed forensic analysis for the Central City Police Department. A largely unheralded job, outside of a half-dozen wildly inaccurate TV dramas, but that was fine with me. I didn't get into this line of work for the acclaim or the glory. I just wanted to use my talents and passion for science to help people. I like to think that I was even pretty good at it, enough to get hired at my age for a full-time position - though I suppose my father's former connections in the department didn't hurt there.
Anyway, as I was trying to say, outside of visiting a few crime scenes a week, my life was pretty normal by anyone's definition. But I know now how quickly things can change... You see, there was this accident. I don't have time to get into all the details right now, but something changed that night. Something inside me. Someone much smarter than me tells me that my body generates a "quantum energy field." I like to call it the Speed Force. And, well, as I said at the beginning, I'm now the
fastest man alive. And when I say that, I'm not talking about running a four minute mile.
More like a four
second mile.
Yet somehow, in spite of all that, I still find a way to be running late. Of course, nowadays it's for completely different reasons. It isn't because I overslept my first alarm or because I stood in the shower for twenty-five minutes. It's more because there was a robbery on 5th, then a carjacking across the Van Buren Bridge, then a three-alarm fire in Windsor Heights, then... well, you get the picture. And all of that leads us to the present moment, where--
"Allen! You're late."
"Yes, Director Singh," I acknowledge,
"it's just that my--"
"I don't want to hear your excuses, Allen," Director Singh sneers as he continues to walk past me.
"The call went out for a double homicide ten minutes ago. How quickly can you get down to the CCU campus?"
I rub the back of my neck.
"Uhhh... fairly quickly," I answer evasively.
"Then stop standing around here and do it."
"Right away, sir." I spin on my heel and start making for the door. Just then, James Forrest - our DNA analyst - steps into the station carrying a box of donuts. When he makes eye contact with me, he opens his mouth, but I hold up a hand to stop him.
"Can't talk, Forrest..."
"Gotta run."
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