Connor Fitzgerald

> *"There is no change without consequence, no progress without setback, and no unity without a dangerous common enemy."*
>
>

**Connor Fitzgerald** is one of the main characters of *A Few Cruel Twists of Fate*. He is a student of NCPS and the Class President of 11-Socrates.

After the tragic death of his little sister at the hands of a villain, he blames not only the supervillains who’ve been granted power, but also the incompetent heroes who were bestowed the powers they take for granted. Furious at what the world had come to, Connor comes to the conclusion that humanity is not and never will be equipped to wield this much power and was never meant to be able to hold it.

He is the author of the controversial Theory of Manipulation of Fixed and Conditional Evil.

## Story

### Events of Volume 2

To prove a point, he decides to expose society’s over-dependence on heroes and their over-glorification that forces citizens to turn their blind eyes to their incompetency and thirst only for fame, power, and violence.

He realized it wasn’t enough to expose the heroes for being inefficient and corrupt and wiping out the villains himself, he needed to prove to society that they were not ready and their pride was keeping them from realizing that. Their perception was warped in that they viewed ‘good’ and ‘evil’ as two separate things, but Connor knew all too well: you could not; two moral halves made a whole man. He needed to show society that their perception was wrong and that they weren’t willing to accept evil for what it was: a natural part of the human condition that cannot be wiped out - only controlled. To go even further, he theorized it could be controlled to everyone’s benefit - an extreme level of evil should be constantly maintained to act as a threshold so that their would be another at the opposite end of the spectrum - a paragon. He would become so evil and destructive that society would have no choice but to adapt a natural counter in a proper hero that they actually needed and could provide their needs. He knew that humanity could only learn through suffering consequence, and so he always committed the preemptive strike.

He knew about the Villified Freudian Law, where those who were villified could be excused, and took advantage of it. He managed to willingly kill Mandy’s Psychopede in him by entering a concentrated state of severe depression for several weeks, therefore starving it of dopamine, and gaining full control of his actions. He was freed under the Villified Freudian Law and charges were dropped.

## Personality

Connor is known for being “the most dangerous man in any given room” - cold, calculating, callous, efficient, and uncompromising. He is aware of this, and makes no effort to be any less. He prefers to define clear boundaries between casual and professional relationships, taking his work and responsibilities very seriously. He distances himself from 11-Socrates at first because he wants to be seen as a solid authority figure, but later realizes that’s not all his class needed from him.

He is an effective leader and can relegate tasks effectively under his command, but doesn’t trust anyone else to do the big, risky responsibilities but himself. In fact, he’s so respected and feared (leaning more on the latter) that everyone straightens up when he enters the room, save for the odd Volk or Helstrom.

His speech patterns tend to emphasize his words. He talks slowly, and in a deep, monotone voice, almost always in an intimidating manner, with the intent of being perceived as a stoic authority figure. He also rarely uses contractions, preferring to say “do not” rather than “don’t”. He also likes to use big words, and talks in an almost philosophical Shakespearean manner.

He is extremely efficient and, while he doesn’t take joy in his work, employs the quickest and most effective methods to dispatch his enemies, especially regarding the usage of power-inhibiting devices, which he uses in his armor.

### Likes and Dislikes

* **Likes**: Classical music, politics, philosophy, knowledge
* **Dislikes**: Ignorance, incompetence

## Powers & Abilities

### Powers

Connor is an average human, unaffected by the Genesis Event and therefore exhibiting no extraordinary powers. However, envious that the Event made him powerless in a world that exploited and infuriated him, he sought assistance from Deus Machina to forge a suit of armor that would not only allow him to walk again, but to go toe-to-toe with even the strongest superhumans the world had to offer. The armor was called the Adaptrix, a support exoskeleton forged from Hardenin and custom-fitted with countless high-tech offensive capabilities including mana-powered directed-energy weaponry and nanomech-based shapeshifting.

* **Adaptive High-Tech Exoskeleton**: Not only does the upgraded Adaptrix exoskeleton he dons give him superhuman strength and durability, but also access to a swarm of nano-scopic robots that move at his command. The exoskeleton allows him, despite being an average human with no extraordinary powers and having been paralyzed from the waist down due to a serious injury, go toe to toe with some very powerful superhumans.
	+ **Artificially Enhanced Physiology**: The exoskeleton, connected to Connor’s cybernetic spine implant, provides him with a great boost to muscle reaction time, power, and coordination.
		- **Superhuman Strength**
		- **Superhuman Endurance**: The Adaptrix exoskeleton, as well as the nanites, are made of Hardenin, an extremely durable yet lightweight alien metal. The nanites are also able to concentrate themselves on whichever parts of Connor’s body that are most vulnerable to trauma, especially his spine. These locations actively shift, depending on whether or not and where the nanites can predict Connor will suffer trauma to next.
		- **Superhuman Reflexes**
	+ **Nanotech Manipulation**: The unique prototype exoskeleton that Connor owns has a distinguishing ability to command a swarm of nanites to form nanotech constructs, becoming weapons, shields, etc.
	+ **Nanotech Telekinesis**: The nanites change shape and form according to Connor’s will via a highly-advanced microchip attached to his mechanical spine implant. The nanites act within microseconds of Connor’s thought. Connor can even use a swarm or cloud of nanites to carry his whole body weight away.
		- **Nanotech Constructs**
			* **Nanite Weaponry**
				+ **Mechanical Blade Construction:** Connor can form durable razor-sharp blades of varying sharpness, length, or breadth.
					- **Blade Retraction/Elongation**
				+ **Mechanical Limb Construction**
				+ **Mechanical Shield Construction**: Seeing as the nanites are made out of Hardenin, Connor can make effective defenses out of them. His nanotech shield constructs are impervious to many enemy weapons, and even superhuman attacks.
				+ **Mechanical Weapon Construction**
				+ **Gun Protrusion**: Connor can create ionic blasters out of his nanites, functioning as mana-powered directed-energy weaponry. The mana is harvested off of Dynamium ore that Connor must personally collect and load into his suit.
					- **Ionic Weaponry**
					- **Ionic Artillery**
				+ **Stinger Protrusion**
			* **Platform Creation**: Connor can also use his nanites to create platforms to stand or walk on, but at the cost of using up more nanites and leaving less for his construct and armor needs. These platforms may be used to gain a height advantage or increased maneuverability.
			* **Flight**: Connor can also create nanotech rockets and flight stabilizers, both also powered by mana. While it uses up a lot of fuel, mana is powerful enough that it can keep providing power for a long duration. It also lets him fly at high speeds. The most common locations he fabricates rocket boosters in are his feet and back.
		- **Nanite Disintegration**: The nanites can disintegrate and reintegrate into solid form at Connor’s will. Connor often has the nanites form in the shape of a swarm or cloud when not attached to his body.
		- **Nanite Mimicry**: The nanites are also capable of changing their color, texture, and appearance, able to mimic several articles of clothing saved as blueprints that have been scanned and uploaded to its memory. Using this feature, Connor is able to ‘switch’ costumes very quickly, from wearing civilian clothing to donning his iconic red-and-black Dystopia armor.
		- **Rapid Nanotech Fabrication**: The nanites possess exceptional processing, reaction, and construction times, able to disintegrate and reassemble to fabricate new constructs very quickly, allowing Connor to adapt just as fast and use different constructs in any given situation.
		- **Technological Assimilation**: Connor can assimilate and control certain types of modern technology within the nanites’ and exoskeleton’s knowledge. He can use this to download data into his database or damage devices.
		- **Technological Manipulation**
		- **Technomorphism**
	+ **Database and Advanced Learning**: The nanites can download data and blueprints in real time onto a cloud which can be remotely accessed at any time. The nanites actively learn along with Connor, and are able to make better decisions in combat over time.
	+ **Power Inhibition**: Connor’s suit of armor was fitted with power-inhibiting or mitigating measures effective within 10m of his vicinity.

### Abilities

* **Genius-Level Intellect**: Connor is generally very intelligent. He is also knowledgeable about a lot of topics, such as politics, culture, and mathematics.
* **Leadership**: He has a commanding aura, is quite effective at relegating tasks, and is very capable and confident of taking up leadership positions. He was elected the Class President as a result.

## Limitations & Weaknesses

### Internal

* **Lack of Creativity**: As brilliant as he is, Connor is admittedly lacking in the creative department as he is more of a pragmatist than an artist.

### External

* **Physical Injuries**: Connor suffered severe physical injuries, especially to his spine, making him unable to walk again without the aid of his exoskeleton. Even then, he still had trouble keeping an upright position, and his overall physical prowess had been diminished.
* **Nanite Malfunction**
* **Susceptibility to Cyber Attacks and Hacking**
* **Electromagnetic Interference**
* **Overheating**

## Equipment

* **Support Exoskeleton**: After he was severely injured and paralyzed from the waist down, Connor was able to walk and move his lower body again after he was given a basic ISDRAC support exoskeleton.
	+ **Adaptrix Exoskeleton**: The Adaptrix is a highly-advanced exoskeleton made by ISDRAC with offensive capabilities that also enhance the user’s physiology, making them stronger, faster, and more durable. Connor later steals this prototype from an ISDRAC facility, and upgrades it with nanotech functionality.
* **Wheelchair**: After Connor was first paralyzed, he used a wheelchair to get around.
* **Laser Pointer**: Connor liked to use a laser pointer for his presentations.
* **Whiteboard Marker**: Connor always had a whiteboard marker ready in his pocket for whenever explaining anything in class.

## Trivia

* His costume resembles a knight's, which implies that he believes what he is doing is of good intentions, and that he is a hero. Basically, a templar knight, or a well-intentioned extremist.

### Quotes

* *"To rid of evil would be to rid of the natural human condition."*
* *"Man cannot instigate change until they have suffered the consequences of complacency. I am the catalyst that this society needs, Detective. I am that consequence manifest." -* to Sebastian Gideon
* *"Once something has been normalized, you invite the possibility of the extreme."*
* *"There is no more room for lesser actions."*
* *"I sincerely apologize, but I simply cannot stand the likes of you. I believe myself to belong to a sufficiently high standard where I am able to make my own romantic demands as I see fit without the consequence of sacrificing a smidge of my own integrity."*
* *"If it is a battle that he wants, then he shall receive war."*

## SPOILERS!

*"This is not for the faint of mind!"*

**WARNING!** *A Few Cruel Twists of Fate* is planned to be a slightly long-running series, and the following details can contain spoilers ranging from belonging to early in the series to much later. While these details are subject to change, heavy spoilers still lie ahead.

You have been warned.

* Connor becomes the main antagonist of the series' Volume 2 and remains a recurring major antagonist in Volume 3, though is no longer the main threat, initially strongly implied to be Dystopia. However, while he does adopt the moniker due to Mandy's influence, he looks nothing like the Dystopia from 2022, and is actually a different supervillain altogether.
* Connor is known to be a skilled manipulator, which is shown through multiple actions throughout his series, especially in Volumes 2 and 3.
	+ He tricks the group into killing one of their own by allowing them to 'figure out' that he was using Germaine to disguise herself as that person to infiltrate their ranks and possibly sabotage their plans or even assassinate them, so Van kills who he assumes to be the disguised Germaine, only to find out that Connor had baited them into killing the real person, and Germaine is alive somewhere else. If anything, Connor was able to put Germaine's identity-altering abilities to great use without really using them much at all, as, in his words, 'the paranoia she is able to induce with her abilities is like a self-consuming flesh-eating bacteria'.
	+ Upon his capture and arrest, he uses a Mind-Rape Gambit, where he feigns innocence under the event of having been possessed by a Psychopede and mind-controlled by Mandy just like his classmates, and so is excused for his crimes, as they were not his doing, worsening Mandy's criminal punishment in return. However, it's revealed later on that Connor's Psychopede had been gone at some point between assembling the Gauntlet and committing acts of terrorism, implying that he was fully conscious and aware of his actions, and not under Mandy's influence at all, if any.
	+ He was able to take advantage of Netherlord's invasion of Newheart to effectively assassinate him and end his rampage, gathering the attention of heroes and villains around the world, and even using it as leverage.
* He has been known to take great pride in being well-informed, and usually has controversial opinions on society and politics at large, so much so that his descent into villainy was not sudden but gradual, and not very surprising at all. In fact, Mandy's Psychopede possession is implied to have had minimal effects on his psyche to turn him 'villainous', but rather that he saw the perfect opportunity to use it as an excuse to commit acts of extremism.