The Jackal

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Melody Goldman (The Jackal) is a former Big Team member and currently active hero helping lead the newly-formed superhero team, The Vanguard, which hopes to fill the void left by the defunct League of Heroes. She's a huge proponent of the importance of Big Team and still shows up at the Big Team Base to work out, spar, and help train people in hand-to-hand combat regularly. 
== Appearance ==
Medium-length wavy brown hair, athletic physique, fairly tall at 5'9" with green eyes and freckles. She usually wears shorts, leggings, and/or jeans along with athletic tops and jackets.
As The Jackal, her superhero costume is a utilitarian combination of greys and blacks.
Mask: A gray, taut cloth mask covers her nose and lower face. An off-white light-reflecting design imitating a sharp row of fangs runs across the mouth of her mask and almost to her ears, appearing like a wide and toothy jackal's mouth.
Upper body: A simple form-fitting dark gray top, similar to a sleeveless wetsuit, and a gray scarf. Also wears a slim black backpack housing communication and surveillance tools from her mentor.
Arms: Shoulders are covered by black spaulders, while her forearms are covered by a black-wrapped caestus on each arm with dull black metal plating set over the backhands and knuckles.
Lower body: Dark gray form-fitting cloth pants with side pockets, suspended by a slim black utility belt.
== Powers ==
=== Superhuman Physique ===
Melody has superhuman athleticism and is extremely well-rounded in her physical gifts. She's incredibly strong, fast and agile, and super tough.
=== Impossible Fighting Skills ===
Melody is a highly skilled martial artist who is always looking to test her mettle against any challenger. She's been trained by The Jackal (aka Old Jackal) who taught her a unique fighting style that combines Hung Gar Kung Fu, Western Boxing, Savate, and some secret shadow-controlling techniques that can heighten battle prowess. She generally stays in an extremely low stance while fighting and her style looks very distinct, though she also tries to steal hand-to-hand moves from friend and foe alike.
===Shadow Chains===
The Jackals, a collection of spirit beings made of shadow that reside in Shadow Halcyon (part of the Otherworld), gave Melody the ability to use Shadow Chains after claiming that the spirits were bound to her. She can cause these shadowy chains to batter or bind targets, or form a protective obstacle or barrier. These chains affect spiritual and physical entities. After imprisoning a version of the shadow-controlling supervillain Yamato from the year 1955 in her body, Jackal's control of shadow has greatly expanded to include teleportation, creation of shadow weapons and constructs, and more.
== Background ==
=== Pre-Big Team ===
Melody spent ages 0-14 in Santa Cruz, California with her parents Michael and Monica Goldman. Back home, she loved going to the beach and was really, really good at sports. But Melody's carefree life changed dramatically when her parents moved the family to Halcyon City a couple of years ago.
===Powers Awakened===
A few months after moving to Halcyon City with her family, Melody was downtown by herself when she witnessed a powerful cyborg begin indiscriminately attacking civilians. Rushing to protect someone, Melody was struck by a powerful energy blast and... survived somehow. She spent the next several minutes throwing herself in harm's way, using her body to protect defenseless civilians from the cyborg in the only way she knew how.
The Jackal, a notorious solo vigilante and Silver Age superhero, watched from a nearby rooftop as the young girl struggled to her feet again and again in defense of the city. As the cyborg prepared its finishing blow, The Jackal swooped in and drove it off. Taking the unconscious body of Melody to her secret medlab, The Jackal made her an offer when Melody awoke: become my disciple, master my fighting style, and make villains fear the name of The Jackal long after I'm gone. Melody accepted immediately, and a grueling two years of training began.
===Joining the Big Team===
Melody's mentor insisted on solo heroing-- others can't be trusted, and even other heroes will betray you someday, she said. Despite a healthy diet of team sports and relying on teammates while growing up, Melody took her mentor's advice to heart and started her hero career solo for several months. But solo heroing is dangerous... and lonely. With her parents out of country on work, Melody began longing for the friendship and camaraderie she had back home, and started to find hero work isolating.
It didn't take long for Melody, acting as The Jackal, to get in over her head when she arrived at a midnight bank heist where the crooks were armed with powerful energy weapons and had rigged the building to blow as a failsafe. But there was another hero there too-- also in over his head. Melody and the other hero teamed up, covered each other's weaknesses, and managed to defeat the criminals right before the building would have been destroyed. In the aftermath, Melody realized the other hero, Herald, was her childhood friend Aman. After revealing her identity to him, Aman let Melody know about the Big Team and encouraged her to join. And after almost a year of solo work, how could Melody turn down joining an awesome team of people in the same situation as her? Everything's better on a team!
===Big Team (Season 3)===
Melody joined the team as the threat of Gambite first reared its head, and mostly spent her time divided between combating Gambite and helping with the mayoral election and early first term of Mayor Cyclone. She also became "Co-Mayor of Halcyon" by defeating SHILK aliens in a sanctioned HHTTW title match, busted up SHILF Island, time-travelled to Montreal in 1955, and saw the heat deaths of multiple dreamscapes. Ultimately, she helped lead the team that went into Casper's mind and defeated Bloodshot/the Abyss.
Though she often proved herself to the team with her combat ability and quick thinking, she also found herself struggling to open up to other team members and to assert her own identity. Her mentor frequently excoriated her for working with the Big Team, trusting them, and being emotional, which led to Melody shutting her emotions away. After a string of mission failures and an inability to connect with most teammates brought things to a head, Melody's new friends on the Big Team helped her open up, accept herself, trust others deeply, and assert herself to her mentor.
Perhaps most importantly, she also joined a band composed of super-strong Big Team girls called the Flex Girls, where she plays keyboard and sings backup vocals.
===Big Team (Season 3.5)===
The winter break saw Melody (aka Hellody Goreman) teach Stormbreaker to wrestle, defend her "Co-Mayor of Halcyon" title against Last Rite, and 'lose' the championship to Ellen. She helped recruit a couple new people to the team, become friends with Rat and helped convince her to accept Zodiac City's magic for the year, and accidentally raided a treasure compound belonging to The Pharaoh.
=== Big Team (Season 4) ===
With a surge of new recruits to the Big Team, Melody found herself trying to step up and become a leader. At the same time, her newfound shadow powers continued to grow stronger, and her inability to control them lead to repeatedly injuring both teammates and enemies. This culminated in Reaper One seeking out Melody, though she was protected by her besties and The Weatherman ultimately dispatched Reaper One. During the encounter, it was revealed that a version of Yamato from the year 1955 had hitchhiked into the current timeline by hiding in Melody after a time-travel mission. This Yamato possessed Melody, though she was ultimately sealed away inside Melody and currently holds no dominion over her.
Melody also faced off with Smoke and Mirror, as well as the Black Magic Club, multiple times during the season. She still regrets severely injuring Smoke in their last encounter, and wants to punch Mirror and Spegulo more.
=== Big Team (Season 4.5) ===
After getting lost in the newly-formed fae forest and running afoul of the (Bastard) Fox that lives there, Melody eventually made friends with a Unicorn and got back to prom. She also won the Lake Winnemuck Battle of the Bands with the Flex Girls after solving a mystery there, made enemies with the Consortium mage Litoreus after helping take a powerful magic artifact from his house, visited the Atlanta-verse, and had her best birthday ever thanks to her Big Team friends.
=== Big Team (Season 5) ===
Despite some early victories (such as being kidnapped and winning an alien game show with the Jazzberry Jackals), Melody faced many trials during this time. She quickly made a long-term enemy of the Rokkr, a group of Asgardian cultists dedicated to bringing about Ragnarok. She had a particular rivalry with their leader Fenris, who recognized her bond with the Jackals. Eventually, Melody was part of a team that found the Rokkr conducting a ritual inside the fae forest, and when the fight went bad, Melody tapped into her rapidly growing powers to merge part of the fae forest with Shadow Halcyon, causing it to become a shadow forest. The Jackals appeared at this time, imprisoned the Rokkr in Shadow Halcyon (though all but Fenris eventually escaped), and began using the shadow forest as an anchor into the fae forest and the Prime Material. She also traveled to an alternate universe where almost everyone had powers (E-Verse) thanks to an incomplete ritual of Cambria's going awry, got caught up in a Halloween-party scheme by The Syndicate, made friends with space dragons, visited the Cake Dimension and beheld its unfathomable and terrible truth, and more. Eventually, she was part of a mission where Old Jackal's back was broken during a fight, and began filling in for her more regularly. Though Old Jackal eventually recovered, she decided to retire from life as an active superhero and officially gave the title of The Jackal, along with her heroing resources, to Melody. Old Jackal still helps monitor ongoing events, conduct investigations, and help Melody with the more cerebral parts of being an adult hero.
After helping save Boston from supervillains Undertow and Nachtmusik, getting thrown into a black hole (and saved by Ernest), and helping free the ent imprisoned by The Pharaoh in his treasure compound, Melody was eventually faced with a tough choice when she discovered that the shadow forest had grown to encompass almost all of the fae forest and had began creeping into Halcyon City itself. Teaming up with Ellen, Tay, and Weaver, they fought to get the shadow forest under control and keep the fae forest from being lost. This culminated in Melody sealing the Jackals within Shadow Halcyon to prevent them from merging Shadow Halcyon with the Prime Material, though she plans to release this lock on Shadow Halcyon after convincing them that merging the realms is a bad idea. She also developed a kinship with the Unicorn she'd previously met as it helped her unmerge the shadow forest from the fae forest, and it now follows her around Halcyon City and beyond. 
=== Post-Big Team (Season 5.5 onward) ===
Melody, alongside Gwen/Ernest/Kurt/Boon/Atlanta, formed The Vanguard after stepping down from Big Team. She's currently finishing her senior year of high school, waiting to hear back from college applications, rocking out with the Flex Girls, and has become one of the notable veteran heroes in Halcyon City after forming The Vanguard and taking over the mantle of The Jackal following Old Jackal's retirement.
== Relationships ==
=== Family ===
Michael Goldman and Monica Goldman
Both are brilliant, nerdy, sweet doctors serving with Doctors Without Borders. They currently work with the humanitarian medical organization W.H.E.R.E. helping civilians, heroes, and villains alike.
Melody's parents have always been very supportive of her, even though she's way more of a jock than them and they sometimes have trouble relating to her. Melody has always deeply admired her parents and wants to help save people in dangerous situations just like her parents do, but felt like she never had the intelligence to do amazing things like them. But with her powers awakened, Melody finally feels like she can make them proud. They recently discovered that Melody has powers and is part of the Big Team after she lost control of her powers at a school swimming competition, and they are supportive of her being on Big Team, though they worry about her safety.
They're also incredibly close with Belal and Javeria Isar, Aman's parents. The Goldmans went to the same med school as Bel, he was the best man at their wedding, and they kept in touch even when Melody's parents moved away. Their families met up for vacations every few years since, and now live on the same street.
Nicholas Goldman
Melody's great great(?) uncle; she isn't quite sure how many 'greats' are in there, but knows that Nicholas is very old and kindly. He is her version of Santa, appearing every few years on Hanukkah and other holidays to give her a mundane magical gift. Her parents have told her that Nicholas is an alchemist, but Melody thinks this is synonymous with 'pharmacist'. Melody doesn't know much about her Uncle Nick, but is very fond of him and enjoys the rare times he does visit.
===Mentor===
Old Jackal
The Jackal (or Old Jackal, as Melody has never once called her to her face), is a Silver Age solo vigilante superhero who is a couple decades past her prime. Late 50s/early 60s, about 5’6” with short, black, graying hair and intense gray eyes. Gruff, scary, disparages others constantly, and again, scary. Always thinks she's right, usually works solo after a fallout with the League of Heroes in her past, and rarely trusts others.
Old Jackal is nicer to Melody than she is to anyone else, but is still unreasonably demanding and a perfectionist. She sees Melody as the best hope of continuing her fighting style and the legacy she's built up over her lifetime, and thinks Melody has been doing a good job as a hero, but frequently chides her for trusting the team and especially for bringing any of them to her Medlab.
During the events of Season 3, Old Jackal worked with Star-Studded, intercepted/stole missions intended for the League of Heroes, and revealed that she was employed by Cyclone.
It was recently revealed that Old Jackal is actually The Coyote, one of the original members of the League of Heroes who Melody had originally met when she time traveled to 1955. Since learning this, Melody has become closer to her mentor and has tried to encourage her to open up and interact more in her civilian identity. They also watch Montreal Canadienes hockey games together now.
After meeting a much younger time-displaced version of her mentor, Melody learned that Old Jackal herself had a demanding mentor that pushed her to seek glory and prove herself at any cost. Old Jackal also revealed that she had spent a good deal of her life fruitlessly seeking out The Jackals in order to prove herself to them and re-establish a previous heroic legacy, and that she had harbored some feelings of jealousy towards Melody for accomplishing so much so quickly.
=== Closest Friends ===
Eclipse
A family and childhood friend of Melody's, she's known Aman since they were barely able to walk. Melody sees Aman as an eternal dork, a goober, her best friend, and her boyfriend. His encouragement brought Melody to the Big Team. She still blames herself for the loss of Aman's Eye to his cousin Esam. During the summer they spent a month trapped in alternate future universes and timelines together. Melody would go anywhere with Aman at her side.
Ellen
After living together for several months and getting to know each other, Melody thinks of Ellen as a sister, and grieved deeply when Ellen left the timeline and returned to 1992. After struggling with her emotions regarding Ellen's return as Infrared, Melody realized that she ultimately still loves Ellen and wants to be close again for as much time as she can be. Ellen has since rejoined the band, and they hang out together with Atlanta every Friday night (if nothing is actively exploding around town).
Verve
Her friendship with Atlanta was basically forged in fire-- they'd never teamed up until the worst day of Atlanta's life, when her brother Jasper was held hostage and she was forced to reveal her secret identity as Verve. Melody rescued Jasper during the chaos and bonded with Atlanta soon after, and they've been very close friends since then. Melody thinks of Atlanta as very thoughtful, sweet, caring, and super badass, and trusts her implicitly. After finding out that Atlanta is best friends with Ellen, the three hung out together every Friday night and made pancakes until Ellen left the timeline. Now that Ellen is back, they still do this, but Ellen is a little taller and has portal gloves now.
The Weatherman
One of Melody's best friends and favorite people after over a year of teaming up together. Melody trains Ernest in gym exercises, basic fighting, and mentored him in wrestling, and marvels at how quickly he picks it all up. Ernest trains Melody to better control her powers and emotions. Melody cannot help but dunk on Ernest, especially when other people point out how popular he is. She feels protective of him and often tries to stick near him in fights, and loves going on missions with him and hanging out with him in general. After Ernest saved her life and kept her from getting trapped in a black hole, she feels like she owes him a debt she can never repay. But she'll try!
Boon
Bandmate and fellow HHTTW menace, Boon's a good friend that Melody trusts and loves to compete with. She'll frequently try to make bets with Boon because she knows that Boon loves gambling, but Melody just enjoys the competition. After Boon comforted Melody when Melody accidentally revealed her powers to her parents for the first time, she's felt closer to Boon.
Ultraviolet
Tay has demonstrated her powers in dramatic fashion to save Melody many times now, and Melody is thoroughly amazed by her and wishes they got to spend more time together. She feels a debt to Tay for saving her so often and for taking care of Ellen, and hopes she can pay it back someday.
Shade
Melody gets along easily with her fellow teammate and bandmate Shade, and definitely commiserates with her experiences of having to deal with a famous mentor's expectations. They have great rapport, and Melody finds her easy to open up to. Melody appreciates Shade's humor, toughness, and kindness on missions and when hanging out. Thinks of her as a very close friend, especially after Shade opened up about her girlfriend's body-sharing situation with Spegulo.
Focus
Melody thinks Focus is super talented, really awesome, and needs to be protected. Since Melody was one of the first veteran members that Focus teamed up with (and Mirror disguised as Melody knocked Focus out on their first mission together), Melody has felt responsible for some of the tough times Focus has had on missions, and wants to be supportive and a good teammate for her. They train in the Danger Room together regularly. Melody has also been trying to recruit Faith to the volleyball team after winning a swimming competition together (alongside Shade and Jawbreaker).
Signal
Mel has come to be a team member and friend that Melody genuinely enjoys hanging out with and trusts a lot. After some encouragement from Ernest, Melody offered to teach Mel how to fight, and the two have started training together the last few months. She appreciates his positive outlook, skills and know-how, friendliness, and honesty (even if that honesty includes excitedly telling her that she's dead in a future timeline and her boyfriend is with someone else there). She's glad that Mel seems to be helping Smoke find a better path in life. Melody is slightly jealous that a dude this goofy is taller than her.
Serendipity
Jenny radiates "person I must befriend and protect" energy to Melody, and the two have become close friends very quickly. Melody adores Jenny for being so kindhearted and sweet, and wants to help her learn how to protect herself and be confident in her powers. She doesn't really grasp how Jenny's timeline splicing works, but definitely gets the super strength.
Challenge
Tilly's what Melody thinks she would be like if she was a little less strong and otherwise better at everything else in life. Melody and Tilly have a lot in common (sports, superheroing, volunteering for Cyclone's mayoral campaign's phone bank) and get along very well, and Melody is constantly impressed with the staggering amount of activities that Tilly both excels at and finds time for.
Hummingbird
One of the younger teammates Melody has befriended, she thinks Michaela is incredibly sweet, knows lots of cool facts about animals, and that Aman and her must protect Michaela and set a good example for her as team vets. Melody's concerned about Old Jackal's distrust of Michaela's father, an old foe of hers from the '90s.
Gwendolyn du Lac
Big sister vibes! Gwen's brave, kind, super capable, and sensitive to how other people feel, and she was one of the first people on the team that Melody was able to open up to. She inspired Melody to reject Old Jackal's insistence on ignoring emotions, and set her on the path to becoming a more empathetic teammate and person.
Ares
Melody thinks Seth is impossibly rad. He's super chill, handsome, brave, and has definitely saved her life multiple times. She thinks Seth is an awesome teammate, and definitely someone she wants to hang out with more. Melody is still a bit flabbergasted that Seth is not only acquaintances with Aman but best friends with him, as she thought someone as cool as him wouldn't be caught dead associating with a dork like Aman. After finding out Seth's history with H.E.L.I.X. and helping to rescue his partner Jaime, she feels much closer to Seth and more protective of him, and cares about him a lot.
Cypher
The way Cypher handles herself on missions immediately impressed Melody, and Melody thinks she's super smart, incredibly badass, and surprisingly nice. Melody tends to feel much more confident when Cypher's on the squad and trusts her a lot, and also appreciates that Cypher seems to have a knack for stealth and subterfuge (especially since Melody's had a hard time using her own training in those fields alongside most other teammates).
Lily
Melody got to team up with Lily in an accidental raid on The Pharaoh's treasure compound, and the two quickly gained each other's respect and friendship. A few months later, they managed to relocate The Pharaoh's compound and rescue an ent from it. Melody really admires Lily's ingenuity, bravery, kindness, and all the absolutely wild magic stuff she's seen and done. Melody tries to visit the Round Table offices to say hi to Lily when she can.
Cardinal
For Lucas, Melody thinks he's a really nice and smart friend who she just loves catching up with, and she's really proud of him for being tough and bouncing back so quickly after his car wreck. For Cardinal, Melody thinks he's really clever and a good fit for the team, but his insistence on secrecy and 'secret missions' reminds her of herself when she joined the team. She wants to be a good role model for him and help him open up to the team, like other team members helped her to do.
Seb
The first non-Aman Big Team member that Melody ever went on a mission with or befriended. Seb's intelligence, warmth, and composure made Melody immediately respect him, and he was one of the people that Melody trusted most on Big Team. She's really happy that Seb was able to resolve his issues with Quantum Knight and his own powers, though she'll miss teaming up with him. He's still a very close friend, and Melody is trying to attend some of Seb's classes at the community center to learn how to sew.
== Journal Entries ==
=== The Jackal's Journal ===
== Scenes ==
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (November 6th, 2019) - Ernest runs across Melody working out in the Big Team gym and asks her to show him the ropes.
After the Storm (November 24th, 2019) - Wherein Melody checks on Atlanta and Jasper after a devastating mission, and the two definitely don't cry a lot.
What We Do in the Shadows (January 5th, 2020) - Ernest trains Melody to better control her shadow chains as the two discuss their powers, recent events, and personal struggles.
The Breakfast Club (January 24th, 2020) - Wherein Ellen, Melody, and Atlanta eat pancakes, talk about their feelings, and have a night in like they're normal teenagers.
Who We Are in the Shadows (March 18th, 2020) - Melody and Ernest talk about mistakes, doubt, and friendship.  
Stand By Me (March 27th, 2020) - Melody confronts Ellen about her recent behavior and the two come clean about future plans, fears, and friendship.  
Dawn is a Feeling (April 11th, 2020) - With a barbecue and a trip to Shadow Halcyon behind them, Aman and Melody head out for a hike to clear the air and finally address something long overdue.
Burnout (May 7th, 2020) - After missing school for several days, Aman confronts Melody about her recent behavior following Ellen's return to 1992.
Pancake Party: 2 Flour 2 Furious (August 11th, 2020) - Melody is invited to Sweet Nothings bakery for a very special birthday present made by Ellen and Atlanta.
2 Mel 2 Furious (September 24th, 2020) - Melody starts training Mel, but the lesson quickly goes awry!
Defying Gravity (November 13th, 2020) - Melody takes Ellen on a tour of the shadow fae forest, but is unsuccessful in her attempt(s?) to strand her there.
Another Day, Another Storm (November 15th, 2020) - Wherein Atlanta checks in on Melody at the hospital after a tough mission, and the two definitely don't cry at all.
A League of Their Own (October 26, 2020 - December 14, 2020) - Melody and Gwen get ice cream and talk about their vision for a new veteran hero team to replace the defunct League of Heroes. Welcome to The Vanguard!
Category:Characters
Category:PC
Category:B-Verse
Category:Jackal