American Avenger

Powers:

(none)

Equipment:

Lariat (s): Don has almost supernatural mastery over the lariat, which he can use to grapple or entangle all manner of things, from guns (in a body's hand), to people, to even large animals. This length of rope is of 8 material strength.

Hindrances:

(none)

Skills:

Brawling (s): Don's quite the scrapper, having no powers or advanced technology to fall back on. In essence, this skill allows him to inflict bloody damage while unarmed, and if he pummels a foe to zero Health (or cards), that foe won't be getting up any time soon.

Equestrian (a): Don's a natural horseman. He can use this skill to ride a horse with ease, and can also perform various tricks and stunts on the beast while doing so. He controls a horse with his Agility, as if it were any other vehicle (if alive).

Languages / English and Spanish (i): while born an American, Don spent several years in college as an Argentinian exchange student. He can speak both English and Spanish as if they were his native tongues, using both without telltale accents or grammatical errors.

Whips (s): while he can use any whip competently, Don's true skills shine forth in the use of a lariat. He can use one to lasso objects with an average difficulty Strength (Agility) action, or people with an average difficulty Strength (Strength) action.

Calling:

Idealist: Don has embraced his new, super-heroic lifestyle with an almost youthful exuberance, fighting the good fight to stamp out any evil that threatens his adopted home - going so far as to follow such evil around the world to end it, if it acted in his homeland.

Costume:

While acting in his role as the American Avenger, Don wears red boots, loose-fitting blue pants, a white, loose-fitting shirt, a long and thick red scarf around his neck, and a sort of black half-mask (covers his hair and eyes, but not anything else).

Personality:

Don Caldwell, the American Avenger, is quite a heroic guy. At the mere prompting of an old man, he dons a costume and uses it to fight crime. He truly cherishes freedom and liberty, and that probably shines through everything he says and does.

Real Name: Don Caldwell
Occupation: adventurer
Legal Status: American, and possibly also an Argentinian citizen with no criminal record
Marital Status: single
Alias(es), if any: El Gaucho
Group Affiliation: none

Height: unknown
Hair: black
Eyes: blue
Weight: unknown
Other Distinguishing Characteristics: Caldwell wears a pencil-thin moustache.

Story:

In his youth, American student Don Caldwell traveled to Buenos Aires as an exchange student. Upon his arrival, he embraced the culture of his new, temporary home, learning all he can about the locals, their traditions, and of course their many sports and mysterious legends.

During this time, he learns how to ride horses, to wield a lariat with impressive skill, and tends to unload his problems by talking to the local statue of El Gaucho, a hero of the nation from times past. As with all good things, however, Don's time in Argentina grew to a close.

As he prepared to leave, Don said goodbye to the statue of El Gaucho, at which point he is approached by a mysterious old man, one who claims that his grandfather fought with El Gaucho himself. Claiming to have the hero's actual costume, he then offers to show it to Don.

Once Don is in the old man's home, he is presented the ancient hero's costume, and told it was perfectly okay to try it on. Admiring him in the suit once Don puts it on, the oldster then proclaims that yes, Don Caldwell can be no other than the physical reincarnation of El Gaucho himself!

Thinking it would be an honor to save the nation he'd come to love, Don accepts this strange mantle, and indeed declares himself to be El Gaucho! Soon after, the statue to his predecessor disappears mysteriously in the night, and people begin to talk about the return of their hero.

This is about the time the actual sightings begin, starting when Don encounters a mad beast terrorizing several locals. Reining it in and saving its would be victims, Don discovers that the beast was no mere beast, but a man in a beast costume! And worse yet, he's some sort of German infiltrator!

Interrogating his captive, Don realizes that Baron Girbel is behind this strangeness, and goes to face him. Little did he know, however, that the man in the beast suit had an accomplice, one who witnessed his battle. He fled before Don and warned the Baron of El Gaucho's imminent arrival.

Trading blows with the Baron's men, Don finds that the leader of this little enterprise had fled, ultimately to a ship he kept at the ready. Thinking he should head to America, since these fiends threaten both his homeland and adopted nation, Dan gets a ticket on a ship headed to the States.

Baron Girbel attacked said ship under the cover of night in his own, his men quickly overtaking the surprised Americans. Before they could commandeer the ship, Don changed into El Gaucho again, and turned the tide of the fight. Of course, he then fled before the captain could ask any questions.

With Girbel and his cronies apprehended, Don then left the ship upon its arrival in New York City, and felt reinvigorated with the spirit of Liberty!

Extra Goodies: