Defender

Defender ( is a Chicago-based superhero and founding member of Champions United.

## Biography

James Harmon IV is the scion of a wealthy family and heir to generations of activism, charity, and advocacy for society's downtrodden. A brilliant inventor, James held several patents of his own by the time he finished grad school, but he quickly became dissatisfied with the failure of political and social activism alone to better society. He wanted to take an active role in the world's protection, not merely sit back and wait for things to improve, and so he set about designing his first set of power armor. He took the name Defender to proclaim to the world that he would protect order from the lawless villains who sought to abuse others for their own ends.

Defenders' early adventures were a disaster, resulting in several crushing defeats, but he nevertheless stood out for his courage and never-say-die attitude. Despite being a relatively weak hero, his persistence impressed the venerable Iron Maiden, herself a power armor-pioneer and more established superhero. Taking Defender under her wing, she helped him improve his armor, trained his tactical sense, and honed his leadership skills. When she felt he was ready, she used her connections to help him form a super team of his own: the Young Vanguard. Although the team only lasted a few short years, Defender gained valuable experience and name recognition which allowed him to recruit his own hand-picked squad of heroes upon his subsequent move to Chicago. Along with Witchcraft, the only member of the Young Vanguard to come along, he formed the first iteration of what would be known as the Champions.

Defender has been Chicago's most prominent hero for decades, using his high profile to combat crime on the societal level in addition to confronting super-villains directly. Although some younger heroes consider him old-fashioned, he has set the standard as the heroic ideal for the area's ever-growing population of supers.

Defender is also a political entity, and is adept at wielding his influence though he is loathe to do so because he may jeopardize the Champions' reputation. But he knows that the law can be far more powerful than one team of super heroes, and does everything he can to advocate for societal reform while carefully avoiding offending the public. Political contributions go far in this regard, and much of Defender's personal wealth goes to advocacy programs and campaign coffers.

In 2020, Defender expanded the Champions roster significantly in order to counteract what he felt was the organization's greatest shortcoming, namely being spread too thin to face multiple crises at once. He is hoping to take a more administrative than front-line role in this new team, though he has no intention of retiring from active duty any time soon.

## Personality

Defender is an archetypal hero in the most classic sense of the word. Courageous, self-sacrificing, principled and reliable, he is a natural role-model for everyone who aspires to do good and is a symbol of hope for the downtrodden. Defender always fights to the bitter end, willing to sacrifice his life to spare injury to others.

Defender's views are considered archaic by the younger, more radical generation of heroes that have come after him, but he has long ago learned the benefits of compromise and when to speak softly rather than impose his will. He is an effective leader because he has the respect of his subordinates, and takes their input to heart at all times. On the battlefield, he is a rigid and reliable commander, never losing his cool no matter the odds.

Defender is a very well known, very well-established racist, and xenophobe. [CITATION NEEDED]

## Powers

Defender's armor provides him excellent physical protection, but its main use is to generate powerful force fields in a variety of configurations. He can fire "energy blasts" from his hands which are actually highly specialized, destabilized force fields intended to do harm, but his favorite tactic is to wrap his foes in spherical cages, removing them from battle entirely. He can also use this ability to protect his allies, conjuring barriers in any configuration to shield them from harm.

If dragged into melee, Defender is more than capable of holding his own, using a combination of super-strength (provided by his armor) and force field "gauntlets" over his fists to enhance his striking power. And if pressed to the extreme, he's capable of focusing his force fields, compressing them into a deadly needle-thin beam that is capable of punching straight through nearly any sort of material, no matter how resilient.

Manipulation of his force fields also allows Defender to fly at incredible speeds, and his armor has advanced sensors and comm systems that allow him to coordinate his team in even the worst conditions. Defender's laboratory is stocked with the best equipment and materials in the world, and he has access to the entire database of schematics maintained by UNTIL. Should he need a special weapon or device to combat an emerging foe, Defender either has one in his armory or can probably develop one with a few hours' work.

## Weaknesses

Defender has no real weaknesses, though outside of his armor he is no stronger than a particularly fit human. Defender's main weakness is his compunction against unnecessary violence, as he will often expend considerable effort trying to detain his foes without injuring them.