Sleeper (Wild Cards)

**Croyd Crenson**, also known as the **Sleeper**, is a man who transforms every time he sleeps, each time waking up with a new appearance and new powers. Sometimes he is a powerful ace, sometimes a pathetic joker. Sleeper sells his services as an ace for hire; he is a well-known figure on the streets of New York City. He is a fixture in both the ace and joker communities.

## Powers

**Metamorphic Power Development:**The Sleeper is one of the most unusual wild cards. He sleeps for weeks, sometimes months, lapsing into a sort of hiberation. While he sleeps, his body slowly transforms, and he wakes up with a new appearance and new powers. Sometimes he wakes up as a powerful ace, sometimes as a hideous joker. When he is an ace, Sleeper usually has superhuman strength, endurance, and speed, and also one other power that is different every time. He has manifested many different abilities with the years, including invisibility, flight, mind control, precognition, ice generation, and sonic projection among others. When he wakes up, Sleeper usually is not sure what is powers are and must perform several little experiments to discover them.

Sleeper's appearance also changes completely while he sleeps, and he never looks the same twice. Apparently even his fingerprints change, so there is no way to identify the Sleeper physically. While sometimes his appearance is totally human, Sleeper's transformations frequently include some joker traits even when he has superhuman powers. Examples include multifaceted eyes, albino skin, scar-tissue plates, and fine colorful hair all over his body. Occasionally, Sleeper wakes up in a hideous joker body with absolutely no powers, such as when he resembled a humanoid skink. About two-thirds of his incarnations are aces or joker-aces, and one-third are pure jokers.

One intriguing fact is that Sleeper's most recent power and appearance seem to depend on the emotional state and subconscious desires he had when he last went to sleep. For instance, if he goes to sleep feeling cold, next time he can wake up with heat powers to compensate. If he goes to sleep feeling trapped, he can develop flying abilities next. If he goes to sleep in a rotten mood, he can wake up as a pure joker.

* ***Immortality:***Sleeper's hiberation has several other interesting properties. While he sleeps, his body regenerates so that he heals from any wounds, even regrowing amputated body parts. A side-effect of this regeneration is that Sleeper doesn't age. He remains as vigorous now as he was in 1946.
* ***Enhanced Stamina:***While his sleep periods can last months, he also can stay awake for a much longer time than an ordinary human. He often tries to extend his awake periods even more by drinking coffee and taking amphetamines.
* ***Accelerated Metabolism:***Sleeper cannot be affected by alcohol since his metabolism while he is awake is much quicker than a normal human's. His appetite is also superhuman, and he must consume enormous amounts of food, particularly right after waking up.
* ***Information Absorption:*** One last uncommon trait of the Sleeper is that his mind is able to absorb information and knowledge while he sleeps. He usually sleeps with a radio turned on so that he wakes up with a subconscious knowledge of news and events that have transpired while he slept. A possible related side-effect, Sleeper's mind is vulnerable to hypnotic suggestion.

**Music Generation:**As a result of an experiment conducted on him while sleeping, he now permanently possesses the minor ability to cause music to be played from available sources, such as radios or even the buzzing wings of insects. While he can consciously activate this power, on at least one occasion the power manifested subconsciously. Sleeper was particularly agitated at the time, which may have weakened his control over this ability.

## Weaknesses

**Drug Addiction:** While he is not a bad sort at heart, the Sleeper is addicted to amphetamines and prone to superpowered episodes when he is far gone into drug psychosis.