Saladin
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Contents |
In Character
 | |
| Name: | Hektor Vespasian |
| Age: | 33 |
| Birthdate: | October 9, 1973 |
| Birthplace: | Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Species: | Mutant |
| Powers: | Tractor beam projection |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Height: | 6'1" |
| Weight: | 190 lbs. (includes cybernetic suit) |
| Gender: | Male |
| Hair: | Blond |
| Eyes: | Blue |
| |
Powers
Saladin can project beams of gravitic energy from his hands -- essentially, tractor beams. He can target and manipulate objects from a distance, carry them, launch them at great speeds, and swing them as weapons. He can only generate two beams at a time, one from each hand, but, if he focuses both beams on one object, he can tear it apart with gravity shear.
Past
Hektor Vespasian, the only child in a middle-class family in Copenhagen, earned a full “genetic advantage” scholarship to Gladsheim University near Stockholm at the age of sixteen. He quickly was drawn to the heated debates over the meaning of mutation – whether mutants were merely a fluke of nature or the next stage in human evolution. He had soon established himself as a leader within the faction of pro-mutant idealists on the campus. He was prominently involved in a student demonstration that erupted into violence, resulting in the infamous and bloody Gladsheim riots of 1990. Hektor was detained and questioned, and though he was ultimately released without charges, he was expelled from the university.
Dr. Gregory Cullen had just founded his Institute the year before. Perceiving Hektor to be both a leader of great potential and a young man in need of guidance, Dr. Cullen contacted him and invited him to join the Institute. Hektor disagreed with many of Dr. Cullen's viewpoints, but, respecting his wisdom and initiative, he joined Cullen's students and began helping their cause.
Hektor joined the first graduating class and became part of the teaching staff along with Ethan Daniels, Francoise Dupont, and Maxine Flannery. He also formed a healthy, if competetive, friendship with Ethan. Dr. Cullen had hopes that the two of them would be joint successors to his vision. But when Dr. Cullen was assinated by a lone gunman in 1997, those hopes were dashed forever.
Birth of the Brotherhood
Hektor believed that Dr. Cullen's death was a sign that his vision for integrating mutants into normal society could never be realized. He wanted to see the school become a training ground to equip the next generation to assert their superiority over humans and survive what he saw as an inevitable genetic war. He tried unsuccessfully to persuade the others to his viewpoint; this created a great deal of friction between him and Ethan. Fearing his friend was fomenting rebellion, Ethan ultimately asked Hektor to resign his position at the Institute.
Angered, Hektor set off on his own to find some new calling when he was recruited by a band of mutant vigilantes called Ragnarok, intent on creating a new world for mutants. They orchestrated a coup in a small nation in central Africa with the purpose of creating a new mutant state. The new mutant government made it very clear that the outside world was not to interfere with their affairs. Aircraft intruding on Ragnarok airspace have mysteriously disappeared; even spy satellites have been unable to obtain clean footage of the area. Hektor, along with his comrades, vanished from the world stage.
Ethan continued to operate the Institute in accordance with Dr. Cullen's wishes, trying unsuccessfully to reestablish contact with his old classmate, colleague, and friend. It wasn't until 2005 that Hektor appeared in Europe, calling himself Saladin, and seeking recruits for his new Brotherhood of Mutants. By early 2006, he moved to the United States and, continuing his recruitment efforts, began building up his resources to wage the genetic war he had always predicted.
Rhetoric
Out Of Character
See Kale.
