Warlord

Personality
Tope always aims to appear professional, even with his strange habit of walking around shirtless. He’s also always seen nursing a bottle of liquor where he goes. Some say it’s to cope with the loss of his wife, but he always reassures them (with a dangerous flame in his eyes) that it’s for nothing as morbid as that. Any questions about his personal life are deflected with ease. He’s very patient, even in infuriating situations; so much so that it ends up pissing the other person off.

Backstory
When he was born, Tope’s parents were concerned with the strange purple and light orange markings covering his shoulders. It didn’t seem to bring him any harm or difficulties, so they tried not to focus on it too much. As he grew up, he was always made to cover up so that the other children couldn’t see his ‘scars’. He hated it, especially in the days of sweltering heat.

When Tope was 12, a drunk driver thought it would be smart to drive home in a thunderstorm. He woke up to his house shaking as the car struck it, waking his parents and ordering them to leave the house immediately. His father was quick to stumble out. His mother paused to pick up some medicines her husband would need due to his deteriorating health. Suddenly a beam was hurtling down towards his mother.

His powers awakened, and the woman turned around to see her son holding up the beam as if it were as light as a stick, watching her to make sure that she was alright. Tope was dubbed a hero, and he smiled at the emergence of this power.

At 18, he moved to Lagos in hopes of earning money so he could support his parents better. But his markings and powers only earned him a bad rep’ - superhumans in the capital seemed to only cause trouble. He found himself working for a drug trafficker, slowly rising up the ranks until the boss trusted him enough to continue business in Astro City, the new home of superhumans.

He was very popular with the villains who hid in the shadows, waiting for a chance to rise and take over. He still ended up in a couple of fights, one of them being bad enough to send him to the hospital. It was here that he met his future wife Kemi, entranced by her smarts and beauty. He would visit often, even when he wasn’t injured, and woo her until she agreed to marry him. She didn’t know much of his business, thinking he was a rich man who came to Astro City to waste his money, and he aimed to keep it that way.

After the bombings, Kemi was forced to work harder and harder to help the countless injured. Not only that, but villains kept trying to attack the hospital. Tope, worried about her safety, told the villains about exploiting the Hippocratic oath so they could be treated. He also left anonymous tips to the heroes about neutralising the hospital. They refused at first, ignoring the man’s pleas to stop endangering the lives of the doctors and nurses there. But, after realising that they had no other way to keep the hospital safe without losing more zones in the fight, finally agreed.

It was too late for Kemi, however. She died later that year due to long term health complications, leaving Tope heartbroken. After months of mourning and developing a drinking problem, he threw himself back into his work full force with a new bitter resentment for heroes. If they had let go of their pride, she could’ve survived.

He still works as a drugs and weapons trafficker, operating from the Angel’s Motel.

Origin of Powers
He had his powers from birth. They were triggered in the accident of his house collapsing.

Powers
War Paint

Tope’s body is covered in purple and orange marks which can be moved around at his will. It takes 0.5 seconds for them to move to a new location. Areas covered by the purple marks are given 60kN durability in the form of armour. Areas covered by the orange burn at 1000 C.

At most, he can cover 3 limbs (or 2 limbs and half his torso / his torso and 1 limb) with the purple marks, but only 1 limb (or half his torso) with the orange marks.

The purple marks give him 1 ton lift strength when on his arms.

He can keep this activated for 6 turns. The marks are then useless for 3 turns. If he deactivates it halfway through or earlier, the cooldown is reduced to 2 turns. Otherwise, the cooldown stays at 3 turns.

Weaknesses
Without his markings, his body has normal durability. Whilst his fire markings don’t burn him, he is still damaged by flame attacks. Fast attackers / long range fighters are his natural counters- if he cannot react to an attack fast enough, he cannot protect himself.

Examples
Many times, people have tried to sneak up on Warlord with a gun to the head or a knife to the heart. After all, he’s just some shirtless dude trying to sell a bunch of contraband that isn’t his, right? He doesn’t know what he’s doing, they tell themselves with a smirk.

The thought always makes Tope chuckle as he swigs from his flask, looking down at their broken, twitching bodies. He had no reason to fear people who were stupid enough to threaten a man who could crush their bones into dust or burn their faces into a charred mess of blisters and blood.

“Consider yourselves on my blacklist.” He raises a glowing foot and kicks the door off its hinges, watching it splinter against the wall opposite it. “Pleasure doing business. Bastards.”

Equipment
Owns a lot of drugs and guns. He’s a very wealthy man, but he sends a good chunk of money to his boss and parents back home.

Weaponry
Molotovs. Also has an arsenal of guns but doesn’t like using them. Too primitive.

Key Skills
Smooth talker.

Residence
The Angel’s Motel. He used to live in the suburbs, but memories of Kemi makes it painful to stay there anymore.