Louis Drew was an outcast. While all the other kids played kickball, he sat by himself and read comic books and fairy tales. When the big kids got bored, it was Louis who they beat up and humiliated. Louis’ family was little comfort. His mother was a gossip and flirt who turned all the other mothers in the neighborhood against her by fooling around with their husbands or spreading rumors about sleeping with the ones she couldn’t seduce. His father was a drunk, and at least once a week the cops or a concerned neighbor had to drag him home. Louis’ only friend in the world was his older sister. When mom and dad screamed at each other, she dried his tears and made him feel safe. When dad went after Louis with his belt, she lifted band-aids and candy from the corner store to patch him up and lift his spirits.

And then she just disappeared. The cops spent more time questioning Louis’ parents than looking for a kidnapper. Louis withdrew to the woods behind his house. He’d sit out there for hours at a time, either crying or desperately coming up with reasons for his sister to disappear that didn’t involve kidnap, rape, and murder. In one afternoon, it all suddenly made sense to him. The world hated him because he was special, just like the characters in the stories he read. His parents weren’t his real parents; they were a pair of trolls who kidnapped him from his REAL parents, who were undoubtedly sweet, nice, and beautiful people. His sister had found a way home, but she couldn’t take him with her. He had to learn how to fend for himself and protect the weak, just like the heroes in his books. And just like his sister.

The next day in school, Louis earned a detention for smashing one of his tormentors in the face. The other kids left him alone after that. Whenever they zeroed in on another geek to torment, Louis was always there to put a stop to it. They knew they could beat him to a pulp, but Louis always seemed to get one good shot in, or someone would slip and break an arm when they were beating on him. Something always went wrong when people tried to mess with Louis.

Louis stayed with his parents until he graduated from high school. Soon after that, he left home for the nearest major city with a few hundred dollars in cash and one of his dad’s pistols. Louis lives on the roof of a mostly abandoned tenement. After taking down a few local toughs, everyone in the neighborhood knows to never mess with the crazy homeless white guy.

Louis is on a one-man crusade to punish the guilty and protect the innocent. As much as Louis wants to do good, he simply lacks the mental firepower to really make a difference. His tendency to wade into a fight without thinking makes him just as likely to pound on the victim as the aggressor. Unless the situation is blatantly obvious (an old woman getting mugged) Louis is likely to base his decision on what the combatants are wearing or if they look like heroes or villains from his comic books.

Louis wanders the city streets, kitted out in what he thinks is a proper outfit for a hero: third hand clothes from the Salvation Army and a ratty old towel tied around his neck. He fancies it a cape. (Doesn’t every hero wear a cape?) Louis knows there is a lot of evil in the world, but even more important there are a lot of innocent, defenseless people who need a champion. So far, the cops don’t suspect him of anything, partly because his status as an avatar of the fool protects him, and partly because they can’t believe that a harmless kook like Louis is really dangerous.

And maybe, just maybe, if Louis can live up to his memory of his sister, he can finally go home and meet his real parents, and once again be with his sister.

Personality: (Leo) Louis has a very strong drive to make his mark on the world. He also has a knee jerk tendency to classify people as good or evil within five minutes of first observing them, and never changes his mind once he’s sure he has things figured out.

Obsession: Louis is devoted to proving himself worthy of joining his sister in whatever magic realm of heroes she escaped to.

Wound Points: 65

Rage Stimulus: Violence. Louis fights fire with fire.

Fear Stimulus: (Self) Louis is terrified that he’ll never measure up to his sister’s example.

Noble Stimulus: Protecting the weak, as defined by Louis.

Body: 45 (Scrawny)

Speed: 50 (Slippery)

Mind: 35 (Childlike)

Soul: 75 (Wildly imaginative)

Body Skills: General Athletics 35%, Defend the Innocent 40%

Speed Skills: Dodge 35%, Drive 15%, Guns 40%

Mind Skills: High School Education 15%, Notice 15%

Soul Skills: Avatar: Fool 72%, Charm 15%, Lie 10%, Look Completely Harmless 60%

Glock Model 17, switchblade, ratty old third rate superhero outfit, picture of a willowy blond teenage girl kept in a locket, collection of badly weathered comic books and pulp fantasy paperbacks.