Star Jewel

- Star Jewel -

## Overview

Star Jewel is a fictional character in the world of the MMORPG City of Heroes. She was introduced into the game shortly after the game launched in 2004.

Star Jewel's secret identity is Denise Cooper.

*- "I can assure you that there is no scenario in which you will succeed. I will stop you no matter the costs!" -* Star Jewel to SJ-X4 moments before she was killed.

## Powers and abilities

Star Jewel has the ability to generate massive amounts of energy within each cell of her body and to direct that energy into any direction. She uses her arms and hands to direct the energy into a single direction or can unload all the energy at once around her. She can also use the energy in her cells to control her density and generate lift. That way she can fly for a long period of time.

She is an expert in hand-to-hand combat and can direct the energy in her cells into her fists to deliver devastating punches.

## Origin of powers

Star Jewel's powers come from mutated cells. Cells that have extremely high levels of energy which she is able to channel into her arms and hands and release as bolts of focused energy particles.

Her powers didn't manifest until she was about 4 years old. Before that she looked and acted like a regular kid. Several weeks after her 4th birthday her parents noticed that she was stronger than other children her age and occasionally a faint glow would be visible around her hands.

Fearing adverse reactions from other parents and teachers Denise's parents would use various methods of hiding her abilities from others. This included wearing gloves indoors, training her to use minimal force when lifting or pushing objects and even minimize social contact with other children. Within several years Denise was able to hide her powers effectively.

## The school prom incident

Until an incident at a school prom unwillingly forced her to use her powers to protect both her date and herself. While at the dance her date was being bullied by a couple of boys slightly older then her. As she stepped up to try and calm down the situation she was pushed violently, falling down onto the floor and getting hurt. This prompted her to lash out at the bullies and unintentionally use her super strength to knock one of the bullies back quite a long distance. The boy lay unconscious for some time and was taken to the hospital with a broken rib and dislocated shoulder.

After the incident Denise was suspended. Her parents were informed and had a serious conversation with the school's principal.

## Freedom Corps initiative

Several days after the incident Denise and her parents were visited by a representative of the Paragon City Freedom Corps. The representative told Denise that there were more people like her and that there was a place for her to learn how to control her abilities and use them to help others.

After discussing her options Denise agreed that moving to Paragon City would be the best option for her.

## Becoming a licensed hero

For several months Denise trained with Freedom Corps and other heroes to get control over her abilities and develop new powers.

During a training session, which should've been nothing more than a simple "*rescue and escort hostages from the Skulls*" mission, Denise and her team would get involved in a very dangerous situation when the whole mission changed drastically as it turned out that the hostages were renowned scientists kidnapped by members of the Crey corporation. While assessing the situation Denise tried contacting Freedom Corps to inform them about the situation and get back-up but the signal was blocked by Crey's tech.

With no other options left Denise instructed her team on how to handle the situation and they managed to defeat the Crey agents and rescue the scientists.

This feat of extraordinary leadership and tactical insight got noticed by Ms. Liberty who instantly bestowed the title of "licensed hero" upon Denise and gave her the name "Star Jewel".

## The first "supergroup"

While Star Jewel has teamed up with many heroes and has lead many teams to victory as a team leader, only one team serves as the foundation of what would later become the "Starlight Sentinels" supergroup. This team of heroes consists of the following heroes: Star Jewel, Emberflair, Mystfury, Novaspark and Dawnshade. While technically not being a registered supergroup the team would jokingly call themselves "Star's Fury" many times when presenting themselves to the public.