Frank Dean

Frank Dean is a former movie actor and a former leader of the Church of Gibborim. He is the husband of Leslie Dean and the legal father of Karolina Dean. Frank was also a member of PRIDE until he discovered that Leslie had an affair with Jonah, forcing the group to erase his memories about all of it with the Synnergy Serum. Years later, Frank began to collaborate with Jonah, even if he remembered about his relationship with Leslie, when he was promised the leadership of the Church.
Frank became the de facto leader of the Church of Gibborim while his wife Leslie took a few steps back to focus on the search for their daughter Karolina. Frank came to discover the illegal Ultra Project Leslie had been managing with the Church and decided to help Leslie fight against Jonah, who had been the real beneficiary of the project. However, Frank eventually came into conflict with Leslie upon learning her intent to shut down the Church. Indeed, having become a fanatic zealot of the organization, he feared that Leslie would strip him from the power he had acquired within the Church. However, his plans to keep Leslie prisoner in the Crater were ultimately thwarted by the combined forces of Leslie, Karolina and Susan Ellerh, causing all the Church's parishioners to turn on Frank and call him an apostate.
==Biography==
===Early Life===
====Film Career====
Frank Dean had a professional career as an actor. He hired Phil to be his agent. Dean was extremely popular with the female teenage audience at the height of his career. He also made some action movies.
====Joining the Church of Gibborim====
Dean eventually married a woman named Leslie Ellerh, the head of the Church of Gibborim. He also became a member of the church and his celebrity helped the organization to gain notoriety in Los Angeles. However, Dean's dedication to his wife's church affected his professional acting career. He was also recruited into PRIDE.
When Leslie gave birth to a daughter named Karolina, Frank raised her as his own, unaware that she actually was Jonah's biological daughter. One day, Frank discovered that Leslie had an affair with Jonah. Frank had his memories of this fact erased by the Synnergy Serum, and he was no longer involved with PRIDE.
===Investigation===
====End of an Acting Career====
While Leslie was speaking with followers after a Church of Gibborim ceremony, which Frank attended with Karolina, he left to go meet with Phil outside the Church of Gibborim Executive Office. During the talk, Phil told Frank that he would no longer be his agent as Frank's career had been slowed down, much to Frank's disappointment. Frank returned to his home, where he found Leslie meditating. He joined her and declared that he wanted to be more involved in the Church's activities, claiming to be ready to become an Ultra member.
Suspicious about all the time Leslie spent in the Church's office, Frank attempted to enter her private meditation room. However, he could not open the door and was found by Leslie's assistant Vaughn Kaye, who informed him that he was not allowed to see the room despite being Leslie's husband.
====Ultra Failure====
Frank returned to Leslie Dean's private meditation room, waiting outside for her to come out. Once she did, Frank openly voiced his suspicions that she was having an affair, but Leslie peacefully denied it, instead claiming that she had been praying for him. To add to Frank's surprise, he was told by his wife that she had made arrangements for him to undergo the ceremony so he could be an Ultra member of the Church of Gibborim. Overjoyed, Frank passionately kissed his wife and thanked him, unaware that he was actually right about his wife cheating on him.
Frank was thus scheduled to spend the following night in the Crater. Before departing however, he returned to the Dean Mansion to share a celebration drink with his wife, with their daughter watching from afar. Frank then went to the Crater and went through the Ultra ritual. However, when he woke up, Aura and Frances informed him that he had failed. Although Frank insisted that he had felt something and wanted to try again, he had to leave the Crater with this new setback in his life.
In the next day, Frank went to see his daughter Karolina in her bedroom, offering to join him for a hiking session. Noticing that she reviewed a book of the Beings of Light painted by David Ellerh, Frank discussed their nature with Karolina, who suggested that they were not only metaphorical figured. Frank then told Karolina about his failure to go Ultra, and showed some humility by acknowledging he might have been following the wrong path. Frank also admitted that Leslie was involved in PRIDE on her own whereas all other members had joined in couples.
Frank then joined a gala held by PRIDE in Wizard Headquarters. Showing more discomfort than usual in front of the cameras, which was noticed by Leslie, Frank reiterated his belief that he wanted to explore his own passion rather than just following paths laid in front of him by others. They were then approached by Jonah, who introduced himself as an admirer and friend of Leslie. Frank watched the two of them leaving, and began experiencing flashes of memories in which he saw both Jonah and Leslie having sex.
Frank kept Jonah under his eyes during the speech delivered by Tina Minoru as the gala went forward. By the time the party ended, he noticed that Jonah was talking to Karolina and immediately came to check on her. Once Karolina left to wait for him in the car, Frank remained with Jonah, who had learned about his trial in the Crater. However, Frank was told by Jonah that he had actually gone Ultra, but that he did not know it yet, before Jonah took Frank with him to discuss further.
====Working with Jonah====
Discussing his involvement in the Church of Gibborim, Frank was given Healing Gloves by Jonah, and decided to immediately put them to good use by saving his dying friend Calvin. He arrived in the room as Leslie Dean recited prayers for Calvin's imminent death, and asked Calvin's son and daughter, as well as the doctor, to leave. Frank then used the gloves to heal Calvin, telling him that he had been given more time. Exiting the room, Frank was confronted by his wife about the consequences of his actions, but Frank retorted that he wanted everyone to know that he was a healer.
Thanks to Jonah, Frank gained importance in the Church of Gibborim and was appointed a new assistant: Vaughn Kaye. Frank and Kaye then went into a storage room of the Church of Gibborim to find more furniture for Frank's office, and they eventually found the desk used by David Ellerh to write the Book of Gibborim. Taking a liking at the desk, Frank began searching through its drawers, but was left puzzled when he found a picture displaying a child Leslie with an already adult Jonah. Frank was so surprised he did not hear Kaye repeatedly calling his name to make sure he was all right.
Frank decided to figure out the situation and went to the Atlas Academy open house where his wife was. Immediately approached by a group of fans of his movie career, Frank briefly encountered his daughter Karolina before finally finding Leslie. He then demanded to know who Jonah truly was, and was told that Jonah was the Being mentioned in the Book of Gibborim. As Frank asked Leslie why she had not told him that sooner, he was shocked when Leslie admitted that she had an long-running affair with Jonah, which she had grew ashamed of.
Frank was later called by his wife to the Stein Mansion, where Victor Stein had been shot by his wife Janet. When he arrived, he was asked by Leslie not to mention her relationship with Jonah to the other members of PRIDE who were present for Karolina's sake, although Frank insisted that he would do whatever he wanted. Frank then attempted to use the Healing Gloves to cure Stein from his coma, but although Stein presented signs of regaining vitality, he eventually died, much to Frank's horror.
Following this failure, Frank was sent to guard the door to prevent Stein's son Chase from finding out about Stein's death. Indeed, Frank soon had to deal with an extremely agitated Chase, who demanded that Frank let him in, violently putting him against the wall and threatening to hit him. The argument was ended when Karolina arrived much to Frank's surprise. Once Chase was convinced to return in his room, Frank remained with Karolina, who proceeded to tell Frank the truth about PRIDE's secret rituals to revive Jonah.
In the next morning, Frank went to see Karolina in her bedroom, who told her that the Runaways had lost their only solid piece of evidence against PRIDE because of Chase. Frank complimented the Runaways' efforts against PRIDE, but insisted that Karolina let him handle the situation from this point as it was far too dangerous. However, instead of actually helping the Runaways, Frank asked for a meeting with Jonah, and told him everything his daughter had informed him about earlier.
Later, Frank was driving with Jonah when he received a call from Carl, who informed him that the Runaways were trying to enter the PRIDE Construction Site. Frank told Carl to let the teenagers in, thus enabling Jonah to find them. Frank and Jonah arrived as the confrontation between the Runaways and PRIDE had already begun, and Frank watched helplessly when Jonah attacked the Runaways, who all fled but Karolina, who had revealed her Gibborim powers and who was captured by Jonah and taken to Jonah's room in the Church of Gibborim Executive Office.
Remaining at Karolina's side with Leslie, Frank began arguing with his wife, blaming her for erasing his memories and for lying about Karolina's true ascendance, as she actually was Jonah's biological daughter. Still, Frank insisted that he was Karolina's father since he was the one who had raised her. Frank and Leslie were then asked by Jonah to leave him alone with Karolina, and Frank reluctantly agreed to go after asking Jonah to inform him once his daughter would have regained consciousness.
Despite all these events, Frank considered that continuing to collaborate with Jonah was still his best chance to preserve Karolina's safety. He thus met with Jonah later in a dark room where Jonah had taken Stein's body kept in a Dematerialization Box, and was told by Jonah that their cooperation would lead to great results eventually.
===Church Leader: Rise and Fall===
====Taking the Reins====
Frank accompanied PRIDE to the police station after they were called by Detective Flores who claimed that their children had been found. Upon arriving at the police station, Frank could not help himself but go talk to the crowd of journalists who hoped to get a word from PRIDE. However, he was quickly interrupted by his wife Leslie who urged him to get inside the police station before he talked to the press.
Since he was not part of PRIDE, Frank did not take part in the search for the Runaways, unlike Leslie. Frank, who had already been empowered within the Church of Gibborim by Jonah, tightened his leadership over the cult. However, he was soon confronted by Leslie about his behavior. Frank admitted that he knew that Jonah was using him, but insisted that he was playing along to repair his family.
Frank then reminded of everything that Leslie had done to him, including cheating on him, wiping out his memories and lying about their daughter Karolina's true heritage. Nevertheless, Frank insisted that he still loved Leslie and that he was willing to help her so that they could get rid of Jonah. Frank and Leslie were then approached by Jonah, and Frank thus left after pretending that they had simply been discussing the Book of Gibborim.
====The Truth behind Jonah====
Frank was summoned by Jonah in his office in the Church of Gibborim Executive Office, and awkwardly tried to joke about Aura and Frances, who had brought him, but the joke did not work on Jonah. Frank was then reminded by Jonah that the power he held within the Church of Gibborim actually came from Jonah himself, and that Frank now had to return the favor by doing something for Jonah. Therefore, Frank was taken to the room where Jonah kept Victor Stein in a Healing Algorithm pod.
Frank was then told the truth about Jonah and how relied on the Ultra Project to remain alive throughout the years, requiring teenagers to be sacrificed with Dematerialization Boxes. Although Jonah tried to connect it to the Church of Gibborim's teachings about life being preserved in him, Frank was horrified as Jonah ordered him to find someone to sacrifice, or else Jonah would cast him away. Frank thus went to the office's outside, where the young runaways picked up by the Church were being welcomed. He found himself unable to send one to the death, and was approached by his wife Leslie, to whom he exposed his situation and his distress.
In return, Frank was told that Jonah had secretly been meeting with their daughter Karolina. As Frank regretted that Karolina seemed to trust Jonah and questioned the education they had given her, he was assured by Leslie that he had been a good father to Karolina. Frank then expressed his faith in their daughter that she would be able to see through who Jonah really was, and eventually found the strength to refuse to Jonah's command to sacrifice someone, causing Leslie to gently hold his hand.
Frank delivered a new sermon for his parishioners, talking about the symbolism of the Church of Gibborim Bracelet, and used this opportunity to welcome back his wife Leslie in the Church. He then respectfully listened to her speech as she detailed her joy of being back to the Church, and invited the followers to a Coruscation ceremony that would take place in the afternoon. As the crowd cheered and clapped, Frank shared a kiss with his wife.
Frank and Leslie were then summoned by Jonah in his office. With Leslie at his side, Frank was able to behave more defiantly towards Jonah, accusing him of trying to turn their daughter against them. As Jonah pointed out that Frank's leadership over the Church of Gibborim was fake and he considered Frank weak and reminded that he had thrown him out of PRIDE, Frank insisted that he was no longer as weak as Jonah thought he was. Frank then left the office with Leslie after she confirmed that neither she nor Frank would perform the sacrifice Jonah needed.
In the afternoon, Frank presided over the Coruscation ceremony, which was disrupted when colorful beams of light suddenly appeared in the room. Frank was convinced that they were witnessing a miracle and encouraged the crowd of parishioners to pray and rejoice. He then expressed his amazement to his wife Leslie, believing that the miracle was occurring because they were once again working together, and did not listen to Leslie who was correctly surmising that the light beams were generated by Karolina, as the Runaways were on a mission in the building.
====Missed Ascension====
Frank was informed by his wife Leslie that Jonah planned on launching his spaceship from the PRIDE Construction Site, an event that Frank, in his religious fervor, believed to be linked to a Church of Gibborim belief called the Ascension. As Leslie insisted that she feared that their daughter Karolina might be taken away from them by Jonah, Frank urged her to trust Karolina. They were then approached by Jonah, and after Leslie convinced him to let him attend the launch, Frank was instructed to oversee the preparation of the event.
Frank thus returned to his business as usual. He was briefly approached by Oscar Gonzalez, but mistook him for a fan of his acting career and quickly walked away from him. Later however, as he prepared to leave for the construction site in the parking lot while speaking on the phone with Frances, whose van had been redirected to Las Vegas by Alex Wilder, Frank was confronted with Gonzalez, armed with a gun. Frank was then told that Gonzalez accused the Church of Gibborim of the death of his sister.
Understanding that Gonzalez was talking about the Ultra Project which he had pieced together, Frank admitted that he knew about the program but that he had been conducting his own investigation about it. He thus offered Gonzalez to show the pieces of evidence he had been able to collect, which Gonzalez, although surprised, agreed to. Although Gonzalez had put his weapon away, Frank was still fearing that he could use it and thus rushed to take it away from him.
Therefore, a brief but brutal brawl then ensued, during which Frank inadvertently shot Gonzalez. In shock, Frank stood over the dying young man, unable to figure out what to do. He then decided to hide Gonzalez's body in the trunk of his car, and then left to wash himself from all of Gonzalez's blood.
====Leslie's Threat====
In the next day, Frank returned to the Church of Gibborim Executive Office, still haunted by what he had done. He went to see his wife Leslie and confessed his crime. Although Leslie did not really pay attention to him at first, Frank kept mentioning that Oscar Gonzalez knew about the Ultra Project that had caused his sister's death, and asked Leslie whether PRIDE or Jonah could kill him. However, Frank was surprised when Leslie told him that PRIDE was being disbanded and that Jonah had died.
Feeling desperate, Frank fell on his knees and began praying, but he was immediately stopped by Leslie, who told him that all of the teachings of the Church of Gibborim were lies invented by Jonah and that she was shutting down the Church. Frank, who had acquired the audience he had longed for, retorted that it was impossible and refused to lose such an important part of his life. As he began to mentally break down and recalled Gonzalez's death, he was reassured by Leslie who offered to call Flores to dispose of the body.
Frank did not directly attend Leslie's meeting with Flores. However, he was determined to stop her from shutting down the Church of Gibborim, and therefore spied on her as she stood near his car with Gonzalez's body, and took incriminating pictures of her. He then summoned Aura and Frances and, appealing to their devotion towards the Church, he presented the pictures and pretended that Leslie had killed Gonzalez and that she had to be dealt with.
Frank maintained a normal activity at the Church of Gibborim. A couple of days later, he asked Vaughn Kaye where he could find Leslie, and although Kaye had been specifically instructed not to tell her husband where she was, Frank learned that she was at the office's dumpsters. There, Frank found Leslie getting rid of many documents related to the Church of Gibborim, including texts Frank still considered sacred.
Frank reiterated that Leslie could not shut down the Church and offered to keep the texts for himself, but Leslie, mentioning how Frank had previously expressed the wish to bring all of his family back together, insisted that Frank could not have both his family and the Church and that he had a choice to make. This left Frank speechless as Leslie left, but once she was gone, Frank retrieved the books and documents from the dumpsters.
Feeling that Leslie left her no other choice, Frank decided to set up a reconditioning session with assistance from Frances and Aura. He then sent Kaye to look for Leslie and bring her into the room, even though Kaye did not tell her what to expect. Once Leslie arrived, Frank instructed her to sit in the strapping chair. Although she initially refused and insulted him, Frank had the door of the room locked and ordered the other adepts to seize Leslie and force her onto the chair.
Aided by Aura and Frances, Frank initiated the reconditioning, trying to forcibly persuade her to give up on her idea to shut down the Church of Gibborim, but it did not work on Leslie since she was the one to have invented the technique in the first place. As Leslie kept taunting him, claiming that the Church was only an act that Frank had grown to care about because he was indeed an actor, Frank dismissed the other adepts and threatened to send his wife to the Crater. Since Leslie remained defiant, Frank instructed Aura and Frances to take her to a van to be led to the Crater.
====Losing the Church====
Frank traveled to the Crater to oversee his wife Leslie's imprisonment himself. He had her brought into his office, and insisted that he was working to preserve the Church of Gibborim, even though Leslie reduced it to his lust for power. Frank then reminded Leslie that she had lied to him about their family and that she had made him feel irrelevant, insisting that it was his own celebrity that had made the Church famous, and that he would no longer let his wife diminish him.
The conversation then got tenser, as Leslie revealed to Frank that she was pregnant. Frank asked her whether the baby was his, and since Leslie did not know, she offered to do a paternity test but insisted to be treated more respectfully. Frank agreed to do the test and sent Leslie back to a room in the Crater. However, the test turned out to be inconclusive, thus keeping the possibility that the child Leslie was bearing was from Jonah just like their first daughter Karolina.
As Frank was reading the test results, he was surprised when Karolina arrived in the office, having bypassed the new security system of the Crater. Frank was then told that Karolina had come to the Crater to find Leslie, causing Frank to explain that Leslie had betrayed the Church of Gibborim. As Karolina insisted to see her, expressing her confidence that she could bring her mother back on the right path, Frank agreed to let her see Leslie, but insisted that he would go with her.
Frank escorted Karolina to an empty wooden cell, letting his daughter enter it before him. He then immediately shut the door and locked her inside. As she rushed to the door, Frank explained that he knew Karolina had been trying to manipulate him to release Leslie. He then remained unfazed when Karolina attempted to use her powers to get out, explaining that there was no electronic system for her to hijack. Frank then explained that the source of this brutal behavior was no other than Leslie and Karolina themselves and walked away, ignoring his daughter banging on the door.
When the night came, Frank was alerted that Leslie and Karolina had been able to escape from their cells because of their relative Susan Ellerh. Frank ordered the guards and the other adepts to stop them from leaving the Crater, and although he nearly succeeded as they were on the verge of opening the last gate, his plans were foiled when Karolina activated her Gibborim powers, thus seemingly fulfilling the prophecy of the Radiance mentioned in the Church of Gibborim, something Frank could do nothing against.
Frank tried to convince the crowd that Karolina was tricking them, but was ignored by all as both the parishioners and the guards alike knelt and began praying. He was therefore forced to let his wife and daughter leave. Then, the other adepts turned on him on Ellerh's instructions and seized him, despite his brutal protests that he was the leader of the Church and, drowning into his delusions of grandeur, claimed to be the bearer of the truth. Frank was then locked up in a cell just like he had tried to do to his daughter, and was never heard of again afterwards.
==Personality==
Despite appearing as a nice father and generally speaking as a friendly figure, which was often used as part of the Church of Gibborim's propaganda showing the perfect Dean family, one of Frank's main traits was his lack of self-confidence. Frank grew to blame his wife Leslie for it, claiming that she was the one who had convinced him that he was insignificant. It is true, however, that Frank had to overcome many ordeals in his life that led him to lose trust in himself, such as the end of his acting career, the fact that he failed to ascend to the rank of Ultra in the Church's hierarchy, and the shocking reveal that Leslie had cheated on him with Jonah and that Karolina was not his biological daughter. Frank's desperate wish to gain value and importance even caused him to temporarily side with Jonah, even though he had been alerted by Karolina that Jonah had influenced PRIDE into the perpetration of ritual murders.
Upon finally gaining importance by taking the reins of the Church of Gibborim since Leslie took a few steps back from the cult to focus on her search for Karolina, Frank was convinced that he could be someone to guide others into what he believed to be the truth. As a result, his religious fervor was significantly increased, and he genuinely believed in the possibility of miracles, not considering that they could have rational explanations (like Karolina secretly using her powers during a religious ceremony). Having become some kind of zealot, Frank was extremely worried when Leslie announced her intent to shut down the Church and did everything he could to stop her, including sending her to the Crater to reindoctrinate her. While Frank used to be able to show some humility, such as after failing to go Ultra, he was ultimately devoured by his own ambition, claiming to be "the Light and the Truth" even though the Church's adepts turned on him upon witnessing Karolina's powers.
==Powers and Abilities==
===Former Powers===
*Healing: While wearing his Healing Gloves, Dean was able to heal a Calvin from a near death like state.
===Abilities===
*Martial Artist: Dean received training in Chinese martial arts in preparation for a series of action films. He was able to disarm Oscar Gonzalez of his sidearm, but he accidentally shot and killed him.
==Equipment==
*Church of Gibborim Bracelet: Like every member of the Church of Gibborim, Dean had a bracelet signaling his membership to the religious organization.
*Healing Gloves: Dean received these special gloves from Jonah.
*: Dean tried to disarm Oscar Gonzalez when he threatened him with this handgun, believing him and the Church of Gibborim responsible for the death of her sister Destiny. Dean convinced him to lower his guard, and then he tried to disarm Gonzalez, but in the struggle, the gun was shot and Gonzalez was killed.
==Facilities==
*Dean Mansion: Frank lived in this wealthy residence with his wife Leslie and their daughter Karolina.
*Church of Gibborim Executive Office: Upon gaining importance within the Church of Gibborim, Dean was given an office in the cult's main facility. Over time, as he acquired even more leadership, he spent considerable amounts of time in the Church's office, delivering sermons and interacting with the parishioners on a daily basis.
===Prisons===
*Crater: Initially, as a new leader of the Church of Gibborim, Dean was also in charge of the reindoctrination facility known as the Crater, where he briefly imprisoned his wife Leslie and even his daughter Karolina. However, once the adepts turned on him because of Susan Ellerh, Dean was in his turn locked up in a cell in the Crater and was never heard of again.
==Relationships==
===Family===
*Leslie Dean - Wife and Brainwasher
*Karolina Dean - Legal Daughter and Stepdaughter
*Elle Dean - Stepdaughter
*David Ellerh † - Father-in-Law
*Susan Ellerh - Mother-in-Law
*Donald Kimball - Grandfather-in-Law
===Allies===
*Phil - Former Agent
*Calvin - Friend
*Carl
*Aura
*Frances
===Enemies===
*PRIDE - Brainwashers
**Geoffrey Wilder
**Catherine Wilder †
**Robert Minoru †
**Tina Minoru
**Dale Yorkes
**Stacey Yorkes
**Victor Stein
**Janet Stein †
**Gene Hernandez †
**Alice Hernandez †
*Jonah - Brainwasher
*Runaways
**Alex Wilder
**Nico Minoru
**Chase Stein
**Gert Yorkes
**Molly Hernandez
*Oscar Gonzalez † - Accidental Victim
*Church of Gibborim - Former Allies
**Vaughn Kaye
==Appearances==
Appearances for Frank Dean
==Trivia==
*In the comics, Frank Dean was a Majesdanian criminal posing as a human actor and a member of the Pride.
==References==
==External Links==
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Category:Characters
Category:Runaways (TV series) Characters
Category:Humans
Category:Males
Category:Blonde Hair
Category:Blue Eyes
Category:Performers
Category:Villains
Category:Church of Gibborim Members
Category:Church of Gibborim Leaders
Category:PRIDE Members
Category:Brainwashed Characters