Bradley Houghton

Steamroller

Micah Houghton (Son)

Elaine Houghton (Daughter)

Bethany Houghton (Daughter)

**Bradley Houghton**is a hitman and member of the Babylon Coalition, a syndicate of assassins and cyber-warriors. He is considered one of the most skilled and deadliest assassins in the organization, with his abilities rivaling that of Corvus, even.

## Biography

### Early life

Not much is known about Bradley's early life. However, it is known that throughout his youth, he participated in MMA fight rings and was taught by his father to shoot. He also trained in various martial arts throughout his high school and college years. At the age of 21, he joined the Babylon Coalition.

### Hitman for the Babylon Coalition

After being inducted into the Babylon Coalition, Bradley became one of the most skilled assassins in the organization, with a kill count higher than most assassins in the organization. He struck fear in the hearts of his enemies, able to kill without remorse.

### Kidnapping of Ilgin Arman

Bradley was one of the plotters behind the Kidnapping of Ilgin Arman, as well as one of Ilgin's captives. He collaborated with fellow hitman Nathan Thornton to torture Ilgin for information regarding her plan to expose the Babylon Coalition to the public, with plans to execute her afterwards to prevent word from getting to the public. However, the plan failed when Ilgin was unexpectedly rescued by foreign tourists. After a shootout and fistfight, Bradley and Nathan fled the premises before police arrived.

## Personal details

### Personality

Bradley was a cold, withdrawn, introverted individual for much of his life. As a hitman, he was a ruthless, sadistic, apathetic indvidual who would kill without a second thought. Despite this, Bradley also has a sense of humanity, as he cares for those who find themselves caught in the crossfire by accident.

### Physical appearance

Bradley is described as a tall, short-haired man with a small beard. He stands at 5'11" and weights approximately 230 lbs. He has a beautiful face that looks like it had been "carved by angels", which explains why he seems to attract a lot of potential girlfriends wherever he goes.

### Habits and beliefs

At first glance, Bradley appears to be a moral nihilist, believing that there is nothing that makes an act inherently right or wrong. However, it is later revealed that he is a actually an ethical egoist, believing that the basis for determining right or wrong is determined by whether the costs outweigh the benefits. If an act has heavy side effects that ultimately cause more harm than good to the person doing the act, then the act is considered "immoral". If the good outweighs the bad, then the act is considered "moral." If it's impossible to tell for sure whether such an act has more morally negative or morally positive consequences, then it is considered "morall neutral."

He is also a rational egoist, believing that humans are "programmed" to do things that benefit their self-interest. He sees this as part of the "mystery of human design."

Bradley believes in a twisted form of Christianity, which holds that God Himself is an ethical egoist, only doing things that are in the best interests of other people. He uses ethical egoism to explain the morality behind Jesus Christ's death, burial and resurrection, having been convinced that because of God's intentions as taught in the Bible, God must determine morality based on self-interest as well. It is also for this reason that he believes such nonsensical things  God does in the Bible like displaying "holy jealousy" and "killing during judgment" are morally justifiable in the eyes of God.

Another argument he frequently uses to illustrate the morality behind his career is a modified variation of the "Aunt Bea thought experiment", as detailed by Tom Regan in a book on animal rights. According to the original thought experiment, if you have a cranky aunt who is super rich and you want to murder her to donate her money to the poor, is it technically still murder? Applied to Bradley Houghton and his career as a hitman, the question becomes, "If you are killing someone that supposedly poses a threat to your way of life and well being (something that all Babylon Coalition members believe their enemies are doing), is it still murder?"

## Skills and Abilities

### Skills

* **Peak physical condition:**Bradley is a man who constantly exercises to keep himself physically fit. When he isn't killing anybody, he is most likely at his home in Vancouver, Canada, or the Crown Hotel's gym. Bradley's strength, speed, reflexes, agility, and stamina are in top condition for a man his age.
* **Great reflexes:**Bradley's reflexes are far quicker than most; for example, if someone shoots at him or someone attempts to get his attention and warn him about danger, Bradley immediately understands that he is under threat and reacts accordingly in seconds.
* **Master marksman**: Bradley is quite skilled at firearms handling and firearms usage. He frequently uses a variety of weapons to kill people. He is also quite good at landing long distance shots; he once boasted of killing a target from distances longer than 900 meters (though in actuality, the farthest he has hit a target was about 600 meters). He is also trained in the art of Combat Pistol Shooting.
* **High pain tolerance:** Bradley's experience in MMA fight rings have led to a high pain tolerance; he can be shot, stabbed, and punched in various different areas of the body and he can still shrug it off and continue fighting and doesn't stop to tend to his wounds until after he has killed everybody.
* **Extreme durability:**Bradley can last longer in fights compared to most people, due to his peak physical condition.
* **Master martial artist:**Bradley is highly trained in hand to hand combat, utilizing a fighting style that contains elements of Judo, Sambo, Jiu-Jitsu, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Aikijutsu, and many other martial arts styles.
* **Improvised Weapons:**Bradley is also trained in the use of improvised weapons; he used a rolled up magazine and a book to defeat a bad guy on several occasions. He has also been known to use cars as battering rams against doorways and walls.
* **Linguist:**Bradley is fluent in multiple languages, including Russian, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and even American Sign Language.
* **Affable demeanor**: Despite his seemingly violent nature, Bradley is quite an affable guy. He tries to de-escalate situations when he can, and only fights when the enemies make it obvious that they mean to harm him. This also means he feels strongly about getting innocent people killed, as displayed with his friendship with Corinne; he is adamant about Corinne's safety. This really showed when Bradley refused to shoot at an assigned target when he saw Corinne walking past said target, fearing that he would accidentally hit her if he opened fire.
* **Indomitable will:** Bradley is known for his willpower when it comes to missions; he lets nothing get in his way, and pursues his targets with a determination that borders near obsession. If his target escapes, he will fight tooth and nail to relocate the target and attempt a second kill.
* **Luck**: Bradley has been incredibly lucky on multiple occasions, having survived things that would have normally killed him (other people have called his lucky streak "one miracle after another.").

### Weaknesses

* **Cars**: On multiple occasions, Bradley has been defeated when he has been hit by oncoming cars.