PASSION

CHARACTER RIGHTS:

I retain all rights to the character's name, image, likeness, costume design and background story with all rights reserved.  Please ask permission before incorporating PASSION into any fanfic, short story, comic or other illustrated story or any other media format.

PREFERRED WRITERS:

Darkwind, Drama Queen, Trailblazer, Kryhavoc, Crossfire the Crusader

HISTORY:

In most ways, Ron Martin is your average American next-door-neighbor.  Pleasant and polite, he is often seen working in the lawn of his quiet, suburban home.  He is someone you could call a casual friend, but wouldn't be all that surprised if he ended up on the evening news with the headline "quiet neighbor arrested for serial killings".  It was a little odd, after all, that a confirmed bachelor would own a home in a suburban neighborhood and pretty much keep to himself when he wasn't out working in the yard or checking the mail.  He welcomes the occasional chat, but always declines invitations to parties and is rarely seen at large gatherings other than church services.

But there's a reason for what some perceive to be self-imposed isolation.

Ron Martin is an empath.  He senses and feels the emotions of others.......the whole spectrum...joy, elation, love........anger, fear & hatred.

Psychic phenomena like empathy, telepathy, telekinesis, are unusual traits to be sure, but there has been plenty of documentation and study.  Their existence, real or imagined, is based on which scientist or "expert" you're talking with.  Not considered a mutation or inherent genetic malfunction.....it just is.  You have it or you don't.....most people don't.

But as unusual psychic abilities go, what Ron refers to as his "affliction" is even more rare and unique:  It's called Empathic Kinesis.  Ron doesn't just feel emotions....he can control them, manipulate them and "assign" them to others.  Conversely, extreme emotions emanating from another can sometimes envelope his psyche and take control.

Ron's abilities manifested themselves early in life, around 5th or 6th grade.  It may have been earlier than that, but no one, including himself, really knew what was happening to him or what was going on in his mind.  His parents, loving and nurturing as they were, didn't understand why their son had become so moody and distracted at school.  He was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder and put on medication.  But by Jr. High School, Ron came to understand the nature of his "affliction" and started researching it.  He found a center for psychic research near his home and worked with doctors and psychologists that were able to diagnose his condition.  But their eagerness to study Ron's condition quickly alienated him and he came to realize that he would have to find a way to deal with it on his own.

While seeking out some kind of method for controlling his empathic power, Ron discovered a Korean martial arts school that studied an ancient and traditional form known as Tang Soo Do.  Through intense study and training, Ron learned to control his affliction and use it at will, while reaping the benefits of the grueling physical training.  Over the years, Ron became a master of the use of flexible weapons like rope, whips and chains. 

However, years of intense physical and mental training did not translate into complete control of his empathic powers.  In cases of extreme emotional commitment such as raging anger or passionate love, he becomes consumed by the outburst of his telepathic target and, blended with his own emotional state, creates a mental whirlwind that is terribly difficult from which to recover.  It's for this reason that Ron avoids crowds and is unable to maintain a long-term relationship.  The intense emotional reactions of large numbers of people at a sporting event or concert overwhelm him.  When involved with a woman, he can never be sure if her feelings for him are genuine or if they're feelings he's projected onto her from himself.

Despite all this emotional baggage, Ron's main desire is pretty much the same as anyone else's, to live a 'normal' life.  He goes to work, keeps up his peaceful home and doesnt make waves.  His great escape is live theater and movies.  Ron finds it fascinating and enjoyable to find that the best stage actors can project emotions without really feeling them.  And movies, even with emotional storylines, are nothing more than "recordings", so they're safe.  His love of theater inspired him to create a non-profit corporation to restore a landmark cinema in a nearby borough that had been closed and decaying for 20 years.  No thoughts ever entered his mind of using his powers as a force for good or donning a ridiculous costume to pursue feats of daring-do.....that is until one fateful night at a convenience store.

Ron was picking up a Coke and chips toward the back of the store, when he felt a sudden rush of adrenaline....of fear mixed with excitement.  The robber was a kid, no more than 19 or 20, probably looking for money to feed a drug habit.  He had a gun pointed at the cashier demanding he open the safe, becoming more and more agitated as the cashier pleaded that she didn't have the combination.

At that moment, Ron stared deeply into the back of the assailant's head, brushing aside the initial fear that blindsided him.  The gunman didn't understand what was wrong - this should be an easy mark.  Why did he feel so doubtful?  Or was it hopelessness...shame....sorrow...and deep despair.  Without so much as lifting a finger, Ron disarmed a potentially violent attacker, who fell to floor and wept while waiting for the police.

Stunned by his ability to vanquish an armed gunman with such ease and anonymity, Ron at last saw the value and purpose of his lifelong "affliction".  In a single, fateful moment, the world saw the end of Ron Martin, quiet neighbor and witnessed the birth of Passion, vengeful wraith that preys on predators.

Powers / Equipment:

Empathic Kinesis - Ability to sense and manipulate the emotions of others.  Additionally, PASSION has developed Peak Human levels of mental discipline and physical ability through decades of study of the ancient Korean martial art of Tang Soo Do.  He has become a master in the use of flexible weapons such as rope, whips and chains.  He wears a rope belt around his tunic which he often uses in combat.  It also enables him to travers city rooftops for grappling and swinging across certain distances.

Custom Motorcycle is PASSION's key mode of transporation.

Weaknesses:

In cases of extreme emotional commitment such as uncontrolable rage and insane psychosis, PASSION's empathic skills can be reflected back on him, either incapacitating him or causing him to assume the emotional state of his opponent, which could make PASSION more dangerous and unpredicable than the villain he is facing.

Creator (Real Life) Info:

PASSION is a character I created in March of 2006, and, like many fictitious characters is based loosely on my life.  I am the Executive Director of a non-profit theater group and am a student of Tang Soo Do.  Of course, PASSION's skills far exceed my own and, unlike him, I am married with four kids.  Lone Mountain is a fictitious city patterned after my hometown of Pittsburgh, PA.  While the character was created more or less, 'off the cuff', the more I study and think about him, the more compelling he becomes to me.  Being able to manipulate the emotions of others is a unique power in itself, but the fact that his power can also be his achilles heel is something that I find makes for good conflict and story telling.  I envision story arcs in the vein of 'Angel' the 'Buffy' spinoff in which Angel reverts to evil Angelus when he loses his soul.  Were PASSION to be overwhelmed by a sinister villain so psychotic, that PASSION could become evil as well, causing his own brand of havoc before his mental discipline and moral values could return him to 'normal'.

The abandoned Loews Theater, in the borough of Basse, PA, owned by Ron Martin's non-profit "Loew's Theater Project" group.  It also serves as an oustanding Lair for PASSION