Eric Gitter

**Eric Gitter,** better known by *Ink*, is a young mutant with the ability psionically harness power from iconic imagery tattoed onto his body.

## Description

### Appearance

Eric is a tall and wiry young man, with black hair and blue eyes. His hair is usually slicked back. His fair skin is covered with a number of tattoos, from which he derives his considerable mutant abilities.

He typically wears Hawaiian shirts with no undershirt, as well as fitted jeans. He's usually barefoot when indoors, though he does have a pair of black combat boots. Often has a cigarette behind his ear.

### Personality

Ink is a somewhat blunt and rude teenager who doesn't really care what others think about him, though he is by no means belligerent. He's surprisingly quiet, but can be sarcastic and even biting toward others, even his friends.

He enjoys grunge music and partying, and finds the "dry campus" rule the worst part about living at the Xavier School. Though he has managed to smuggle in a number of packs of cigarettes.

Eric is a somewhat aloof person, usually "too cool" to participate in school activities and rarely offering any real vulnerability with others. He isn't a mean person, but he avoids emotional moments, and has a reputation for rough housing, especially with **Northstar.**

## Biography

### Background

Born in Grand Rapids, MI, to a manager at a local bank and a women's studies professor. He had a fairly normal and privileged childhood in a loosely-religious household.

Eric spent a lot of his time skateboarding or biking or messing around at friends' houses. He did alright in school, though his defiant behavior often got him into trouble.

#### Mutation

Strangely, things didn't start going wrong with his mutation, as he wasn't actually aware that he had developed a power, due to its nature. His high school had installed Sentinel Detectors at the doors and, as he walked into school on the first day of the 2017 year, he set off the sensors.

He was detained and brought to a DUP office in Grand Rapids. He was not allowed to call his family or anyone else; he was to be transferred to a facility in Detroit for "processing".

He managed to escape when, while concentrating on a ghost tattoo on his arm, he became intangible and escaped through the wall. He wasted no time and, trying to focus on his bird tattoo, managed to fly to his cousin Leon's apartment. Leon decided to help Eric get to Canada and the pair left Grand Rapids that night.

They would eventually found by the DUP near the Mackinaw Bridge, where Leon would be killed in the ordeal, allowing Eric to escape into the woods. He would be found by **Charles Xavier, Beast,** and **Longshot** the next day. They offered him a safe place, and he accepted without hesitation.

It would be with Xavier that he would understand the nature of his power. It wasn't the tattoos that gave him power; they were something he could focus on to create an effect.

### Major Appearances

#### Volume 1

* **Chapter 2 -** *"The Xavier School for the Gifted"*
* **Chapter 3 -** *"Bad Weather"*
* **Chapter 5 -** *"Where Walks the Juggernaut"*
* **Chapter 6 -** *"With Friends Like These..."*
* **Chapter 7 -** *"The Con Man"*
* **Chapter 8 -** *"Prime Time"*

## Relationships

### Charles Xavier

Ink doesn't think badly of the Professor, but he is annoyed by a lot of the school's rules. He doesn't really think the Professor's outlook or "the dream" are really possible, given his more cynical outlook.

### Jean Grey

He is very attracted to the red-headed psychic girl, and tries to be on his best behavior when she's around. He finds himself using bigger words when she's there, and he often refers to her as "ma'am".

### Northstar

Probably his best friend at the school, Northstar tends to be Ink's partner in crime. The pair often get into trouble together and are fond of having contests and rough housing together.

### Petra

Yeah, she's a bitch. But Ink can also see she's pretty damaged and feels a sort of connection with her. He likes Petra, a lot, though he knows he doesn't really have a chance with her. Regardless, he'd rather be a friend to her than nothing at all.

## Character Information

### Abilities

* **Gardening**
* **Guitar**
* **Skateboarding**

### Mutant Powers

#### Tattoo Empowerment

Also called a "Tulpa" ability, Eric is capable of psionically generating a number of effects by concentrating on his tattoos. This power can only be triggered by tattoos that are an "iconic" symbol. The tattoo creates whatever power Ink believes they have, and are an extension of his will. The upper limits of his power are not known.

Each tattoo he has saps a portion of his will and prolonged use of any individual ability can make him tired or ill. Using too many of these powers at once could, theoretically, put him into a coma or even kill him.

The current tattoos that Ink possesses and can draw power from, and their effects, are as follows:

* **Combustion:** From an "explosive" symbol tattooed onto his right bicep.
* **Energy Discharge:** From a tattoo of a 9mm handgun on his left leg.
* **Enhanced Speed:** From winged patterns on his ankles.
* **Extreme Nausea and Vomiting:** From a biohazard symbol on his left palm.
* **Flight:** From a bird tattoo on his neck.
* **Healing:** From a Caduceus symbol on Ink's left hand.
* **Phasing:** He can briefly become intangible, thanks to a ghost tattoo on his left arm.
* **Rose Floral Scent:** From a rose tattoo on his wrist.
* **Superhuman Strength:** From lines similar to the banding on **Colossus'** organic steel form on his right forearm and hand.
* **Telepathy:** From two lightning bolts on the back of his neck, taken from a comic book depicting psychic abilities.

## Trivia

* Eric's mutant name, *Ink,* derived from the bevy of tattoos he has from which he can draw power.
* He is a vegetarian.