Damian Hope

Doctor Damian Hope is a prodigious scientist and genetic engineer, and the founder and head researcher of Pandora Labs. However, despite being an influential man and the leader of his own research institution, he feels dissatisfied as he has no powers in a world of metahumans.

## General Information

### Quick Stats

Gender: cis male

Sexuality: aroace

Age: 33

### Physical Appearance

Damian is a tall African-American male with close-cropped curly black hair. He typically is seen in a stereotypical scientist's garb- a white lab coat, safety goggles, and protective gloves. In more everyday situations he wears a gray sweater, beige slacks, and brown shoes.

### Personality

Damian is a rather calm and collected individual who is diligent and purposeful in his actions. He's highly curious and ambitious, bordering on an obsessive desire to understand and control the world around him. He approaches things logically and tries not to let his emotions cloud his judgement, as this makes him feel out of control, but if he gets angry, he *really* gets angry. He has a tendency to hold grudges. He also has seemingly no sense of humor.

Damian harbors a deep resentment towards superheroes and thinks that citizens shouldn't feel helpless and depend on those with powers. In reality, he sees metahumans as dangerous, and he's scared. He believes that powers need to be understood and controlled instead of having supers running around willy-nilly, as well as that superheroes and supervillains enable each other. He seeks out knowledge and only knowledge, despite the possible risks, and isn't afraid to get his hands a little dirty if it will help him create what he believes is a better future.

### History

When Damian was young, he was obsessed with being a hero, and idolized the famous heroes of his time. He truly believed that he was destined to save the world as a superhero, and his parents indulged this dream, telling him that no one but him could decide what he wanted to be. He waited for his powers to manifest, planned out his costume and persona, even tried to scout out potential teammates.

In the eighth grade, Damian became devastated when he received a rejection letter from Xepshire Super School. He had failed the power detection test. There was nothing special about him. Damian was furious, at the school, at his parents, at himself. Why was it that some were born with powers and some without? Now he was forced to attend a normal high school, grow up, and live with his safety at the mercy of the metahumans. It just wasn't fair!

In a world of unfairness and subjectivity, Damian turned to the only thing he could rely on: science. He needed to understand why this was the way things were, and of course, how he could change them. As he went through a "normal" college and graduate school, he gave up on his dream of becoming a superhero. He had found what he did best—research and investigation—and would use it. Thus, Damian became the lead researcher of Pandora Labs, a research organization-turned-corporation that studies the biology of powered humans, with the aim of learning how to replicate and harness this power.

By the time that "powerless" heroes became more common and Xepshire Super School expanded its horizons beyond educating solely metahumans, it was too little and too late for Damian. Pandora Labs was flourishing, and he was getting close to a breakthrough.

Soon, Pandora Labs had developed a new serum that can give powers to people without them. However, instead of enhancing a particular strength, it exploits the user's greatest weakness, fear, or insecurity. For example, someone who wants to be famous and loves attention would get the power to turn invisible, and someone with a deathly fear of heights would sprout wings. The first iteration of this serum has been available for about six months.