Coarse

Character Sheet

History

Coarse was born Hugo Ends in 1975 in Salem, Massachusetts. Hugo was a gifted mind who developed a knack for the occult at a very young age. By age 13, already feeling ostracized and ridden with teenage angst, Hugo somehow got ahold of an ancient book of magic. As he read the book, he could feel the spirit of its author, whom he believed to be an ancient wizard named Rusaal, speak to him through the book. Rusaal offered him a shortcut to the awe-inspiring power he sought, and Hugo foolishly accepted. Unbeknowst to him, as Hugo mastered the book’s techniques, he was actually casting a powerful spell over himself. Hugo slowly and unwittingly gathered energy into his body, shaping him into a vessel for Rusaal’s spirit. By 1990 he had ceased to be Hugo Ends, and was now the Reflection of Rusaal, a being of incredible power and evil that was only partially under Hugo’s control. The Reflection hid the book somewhere at the bottom of the ocean and then set out to begin its conquest of the world.

The Reflection quickly allied with Doctor Destroyer, helping to complete the artificial island of Destruga. Destroyer respected The Reflection’s power, which rivaled his own in combat, but his disdain for The Reflection’s occult methods and distrust of its motives led Destroyer to never fully accept the being into his trust. When the time came for the invasion of New York City, the Destroyer decided to send the The Reflection on a suicide mission. Doctor Destroyer gave The Reflection command of several attack wings and sent him to attack Boston, pretending that the attack on New York would be a feint and Destruga would come to back up The Reflection shortly. Rusaal had never fully trusted Doctor Destroyer, but what little was left of Hugo’s consciousness blinded the entity to the Destroyer’s deception. While the attack did distract several New England superhero groups from the initial attack, The Reflection’s invasion force was destroyed and the terror was captured.

When the defense forces discovered their enemy was a minor, it was unclear what they should do with him. A band of Bostonian heroes led by the Black Mask, The Minutemen, offered to take Hugo into their custody if his dark powers could be somehow contained. A magic-wielding member of the team, The Alchemist sought out the help of a superior sorcerer, Doctor Destiny, for help containing Rusaal’s spirit.

When Hugo came to, he found that the pair had successfully banished Rusaal’s spirit from his body. The dark power that Rusaal had used to enter the body remained, though the magical pathways the spirit had used to take control of Hugo were broken. After a short rehabilitation period, Hugo sought to join the hero group and use his powers to atone for the crimes he had committed. Though many in the superhero community feared that allowing Hugo to develop his powers would allow Rusaal to return, The Minutemen felt that with their supervision and the occasional help of Doctor Destiny, Hugo could master the dark energy and use it as he saw fit. Hugo became a member-in-training of the group, studying conventional magics while mastering his own power, and took the name Coarse – representing the rough edges he had to fix to become a real hero.

Coarse fought with The Minutemen for many years, while simultaneously getting his GED and studying medieval history part-time in college. In 2006, just as Doctor Destroyer triggered his assault on Stronghold, the Minutemen were attacked at their headquarters by the super-powered assassins known as Cirque Sinistre. Although the team fought valiantly, the villains exploited each of their weaknesses. Toreador informed the team that, at least for now, the villains were acting in the employ of Doctor Destroyer.

Coarse's mentor and other members of the team were cut down by the assasins. Finally, Coarse could stand it no longer and the dark energies inside him burst through the wards The Alchemist and Doctor Destiny had placed upon him. He become The Reflection once more and grappled with Toreador with his bare, black-glowing hands. Before he could deliver the final blow, however, Coarse vanished into blackness only to awake in a circle of binding in Doctor Destiny's cabin. Destiny informed him that the teleportation was a fail-safe, an enchantment placed upon him should The Reflection take over him once more. Destiny reinforced the binding and decided to try to find a place for Coarse among the ranks of The New Champions.

Powers

Coarse’s most significant power is the magical energy left over from his time under Rusaal’s control. Without the Rusaal spirit guiding him, Coarse has nothing near the powers that he wielded as The Reflection of Rusaal. Nevertheless, the dark power coursing through his veins gives Coarse superhuman strength and resistance to damage. Combined with some limited martial arts training, Coarse is a fearsome short-range opponent. Coarse has a limited ability to create black energy bursts from his hands, but has not yet mastered the technique and temporarily loses his melee powers when he uses this ability. Energy seems to collect in his eyes, probably to allow Rusaal to see through him. His normal vision is slightly obscured by this, but he has a limited ability to visually sense magical energy.

Coarse supplements his dark power with more conventional occult techniques. Under his magical patron, The Alchemist, Coarse had begun study in witchcraft, a more neutral source of magical power than that he had tapped in becoming The Reflection of Rusaal. Even after all his years under The Alchemist's tutelage, Coarse is still in many ways only a beginner witch. Coarse hopes to develop his witchcraft and eventually use it to the exclusion of his dark power, which he does not fully trust. Unsure whether he is truly controlling the dark energy or if he is allowing Rusaal to slowly regain control over him, Coarse experiments with his former powers slowly and cautiously.

Appearance

From a distance, Coarse looks like an emo band reject. The youthful-looking 31-year-old prefers a double-breasted all-black suit when not trying to be inconspicuous, and has let his hair grow a little too long (think DiCaprio’s hair in Romeo & Juliet, but jet black). He wears a silver medallion, a Triple Goddess, around his neck – a magical focus he uses in daily meditations to help control his dark urges. If forced to wear spandex to keep up appearances, he would probably opt for black with the Triple Goddess in silver over his torso. Up close, Coarse’s occult nature is more apparent. His pale body is covered in black veins, the visible sign of the magical energy left in him. The blood vessels in his eyes are also black, as is the cornea, giving him an even more unnatural look when he is not wearing his sunglasses. In daylight, Coarse’s shadow is very faint. At night, his shadow has an unnatural shape – that of an impossibly tall man in a suit of spiked armor.