Tobias Blake

Template:Hero Newbox**Tobias Blake,** also known as **Chimera**, is a vigilante superhero and member of team Nemesis along with his best friend and roommate, Cassidy.

## History

### Origin

Tobias grew up a latch-key kid, his parents being out at all hours to try and make money to support the family. When Tobias got word of "tests" being conducted by KORE laboratories that would pay big bucks for civilian volunteers, he went to visit the facility in hopes of earning some extra money. Arriving there, he was wary of the atmosphere but eventually was won over by the high pay. Keeping it secret from his parents, every week or so he would go to the facility, have some tests done, get paid and go home. This went on for a while until one day, he wasn't allowed to leave. In truth, the experiments had been a part of a test of a new kind of genetic experiment intended for KORE's operatives. Genetics is a tricky business, and tests on their own operatives continued to end in failure. Looking for a way to force the procedure to work, the KORE scientists used their civilian front to draw in unsuspecting volunteers to test it on, hoping one of them would have something the operatives didn’t. After several dead ends, Tobias was the only one whose DNA had finally started to react the way they wanted.

As soon as the scientists noticed indication that the procedure was succeeding, Tobias was drugged and brought underground to the “secret labs”, where they kept him in confinement so their work could continue. At first, Tobias’ progress seemed to be going the way the scientists wanted; Tobias was gaining boosts to his physical skills without any apparent side effects. It was going so well, in fact, that KORE began training him to become an operative himself, mandating him exercise regimens, and stealth and combat training. Their hopes were soon dashed, however, as the modified feline DNA they had been using on Tobias began to mutate his body and mind into something far more animalistic than they intended. They tried to work with it, but after an incident where he injured a scientist and several security operatives, they decided to put him on ice, intending to bring him back out when they had figured out a way to fix the problems.

Eventually word of the illegal KORE experiments got out to the public, and the facilities were put under inspection. Though the most incriminating experiments remained underground, undiscovered, there was still enough evidence aboveground to have the entire operation shut down. Five years after being put in stasis, Tobias was discovered and released by Cassidy. She took him home, resolving to take him in since he told her had nowhere else to go.

## Appearance

Before his mutation, Tobias was a skinny kid with tan skin, dark brown hair and grey eyes. The introduction of feline DNA to his system changed his entire appearance to the point where he became almost unrecognizable. His height increased substantially, reaching almost 6'. Though still thin, he gained more muscle mass that would be better described as "lean". His limbs grew proportionally longer than normal. His legs became digitigrade and as a result he has trouble standing completely upright, usually choosing to lean forward or crouch. His skin is striped with catlike markings that fade into solid black at his hands and feet, and is covered in a short layer of fur. He has pointy cat ears, and a long tufted tail that tends to mirror his emotional state. A stripe of his short brown/blonde hair runs down his back and connects to his tail. His eyes are bright green with slit-shaped pupils. His top lip is naturally dark and his fingernails are black and clawlike. His teeth are sharp with extended fangs. He has a tattoo resembling a barcode on the side of his neck, received during his time at KORE.

## Personality

Though Tobias' current personality was partially caused by his mutation, his personality before it wasn't really all that different. Even before the KORE incident Tobias acted catlike in nature in terms of his loyalty and wariness of strangers. He has major trust issues, if you lose his trust it is nearly impossible to earn back. If you want him to like you, you have to "prove yourself" first, but once he trusts you he will Die For You. He thinks of himself as expendable compared to anything "more important" and would literally do anything for the people he cares about. Sensitive, he gets his feelings hurt pretty easily. If you piss him off he’ll give you the cold shoulder until you make it up to him. He can be kind of self-centered, putting his own hurt feelings over other matters; unless he notices somebody else is hurting worse, in which case he'll do a complete 180 and pretend everything is fine so they won't worry about him. His constant worrying about other people has made him neglect his own well-being many times. He freaks out if he doesn't know if his friends are safe and is extremely overprotective.

Not exactly a rebel by nature, he tries to keep his friends out of trouble but that doesn’t usually work out for him. However, he's willing to take risks that others wouldn’t, if it's for the right reasons. He's usually very cautious and comes up with "choreography" before making any moves in battle, but if one of his friends were in trouble he would lose all sense of logic and dive into battle headfirst to save them. He resents that people assume he's stupid or naïve, even though part of him also believes it. Sometimes his "cat instincts" freak him out. Though he'll deny it if you ask, he does fall for the laser pointer trick. If you pet him, he'll purr, but he's a little embarrassed by it.

Tobias loooooooves attention. He'll butt into other peoples' conversations like "what are we talking about??" It’s hard to be sassy when you can’t speak but he pulls it off somehow. He kinda skittish, easily startled and wary of the unfamiliar. Fiercely affectionate, he has absolutely no concept of personal space - when he meets a new person he’ll get right up in their face, he’ll sit right next to someone on the couch and lean on or lie across them, he touches people’s faces a lot when he’s worried about them and will automatically grab someone’s hand or arm when he’s scared - you'd have to tell him directly to stop because he wouldn’t get it otherwise. If you look sad he’ll pick you up and hug you until you either punch him or feel better (both of these outcomes have occurred).

## Abilities

**Enhanced Feline Physiology** – Being infused with the DNA of several cat species imbued Tobias with their natural abilities, which were then further enhanced with genetic modification and mechanical implants. These abilities include -

* **Retractable Claws** - His main weapon, almost two inches long and razor-sharp, they can cut into almost any surface. The claws are made of keratin, but infused with metal to increase their durability.
* **Wallcrawling** - By digging his claws into surfaces, he can scale walls and ceilings.

* **Camouflage** - His skin/fur can change colors (within a certain range) at will, allowing him to blend into his surroundings.

* **Night Vision** - He can see in almost total darkness.

* **Enhanced Hearing** - Tobias' cat ears allow him to hear with incredible clarity and distance, and even frequencies outside normal range.

* **Enhanced Smell** - He's able to detect individual scents and locate their origin, used for tracking.

* **Danger Intuition** - He can sense impending danger before it hits and evade it. This ability is physically visible as his hair/fur standing on end. His intuition is not foolproof; it can be interrupted by distractions, and avoiding one attack could send him into the path of another.

* **Enhanced Leap** - He can jump really fuckin high. Like real high

* **Enhanced Balance** - He gained the feline ability of righting himself in midair, allowing him to “always land on his feet”. Besides that, his general sense of balance is also increased.

* **Enhanced Agility/Reflexes** - This allows him to react to and dodge hits more quickly, as well as move faster than a normal human. While he still moves within visible perception, he can be hard to keep up with in a fight. His speed is increased when he runs on all fours.

* **Enhanced Flexibility** - He can twist/bend his body past normal limits without causing himself pain or injury.

* **Enhanced Strength** - He is extremely strong, able to lift several times his own body weight. He can easily pick up and throw people and people-sized objects. He has been shown as being strong enough to lift and throw a car, but it took a large amount of effort.

* Damage Resistance - His physical durability is higher than most and he can take a large amount of damage before succumbing to the effects.

* **Healing Factor** - He heals from injuries a faster rate than regular humans.

* **Weaponized Tail** - He has robotic implants in the base of his spine, which allows his tail to be used similarly to a whip or bludgeon if he rapidly swings it around himself.

* **Bite** - Tobias has fangs and sharp teeth, with which he can deliver a pretty painful bite. This move is usually a last-ditch effort.

### Skills

**Hand-to-Hand Combat –** His natural agility and danger intuition allows him to fight by dodging incoming blows, attacking when he sees a good opening. He fights fluidly, turning his opponent's movements against them or using them as springboards for his own attacks.

**Lock-picking** **–** Tobias' claws can be used to open common locks.

**Stealth Tactics –** During his time at KORE, Tobias (forcibly) received training that gave him extensive knowledge and skill in stealth, enabling him to easily slip in and out of areas undetected. This is useful for collecting intel, thievery, and accessing restricted areas.

### Weaknesses

His enhanced senses leave him vulnerable to high-pitched or loud noises, bright flashes of light, and etc. If his friends were ever to be used as a threat, he would surrender immediately without trying to think of another way out of the situation.