Facade

Facade is an alien supervillain and a member of the Midnight Crew.

## Biography

Facade's background and planet of origin are unknown, but his arrival on Earth was a well-documented event. In 1989, he crashed his spaceship in the mountains of Eastern Romania. The crash was officially labeled a 'meteor impact,' but the Romanian government recovered both the wounded Facade and the remains of his vessel.

His imprisonment didn't last long. The authorities were unprepared for Facade's powers, and he slipped out by impersonating a high-ranking official, convincing the guards to free him by rattling off the official's top-secret security codes (taken from the minds of the listeners). He quickly escaped into Bucharest and could have remained undetected forever. But his need for certain elements, plentiful on his homeworld but rare on Earth, forced him to begin committing dangerous raids on secure laboratories. Word of these bizarre robberies began to circulate but they were attributed to an 'unknown supervillain.'

As he grew to understand more of Earth, Facade inadvertently became accustomed to the delights that the planet had to offer. Once an ascetic, his extended period of imitating humans made him start to *think* like a human, and he began to crave wealth, possessions, and creature comforts. In 1993 he revealed himself to the super-villainous community, taking the name 'Facade' and working as a mercenary specializing in infiltrations. After a few years of successful heists, he was invited to join the Temeraire Club. He was content with his solo act until he eventually learned that the Midnight Crew was looking for a fifth and final team member. After decades on Earth, Facade had finally adopted that most compromising human trait: lust. Instantly smitten with Corona on first sight, he went to great lengths to impress Perfidy and Hellion in order to secure a spot on the team in order to be closer to her. He has been an extremely valuable member of the Midnight Crew ever since, and is considered its most powerful member.

## Personality

Over the years Facade has empathically absorbed personality traits from his closest associates, leaving him a mish-mash of human foibles. He is greedy, selfish, sarcastic, and prone to bursts of intense anger. But he is also a reflection of humanity's best traits, albeit to a lesser degree, and can occasionally be kind, self-sacrificing, and even heroic in the right situation. He is fiercely protective of his adopted family in the Midnight Crew, and has done much to not only keep them safe but to keep their volatile personalities from tearing the group apart. In a subtle but very real way, he is the glue that holds the team together.

Facade has nursed his unrequited infatuation with Corona for years, but doesn't understand human romance well enough to actually court her. He is content with merely being in her presence, though he finds it difficult to understand why this causes him as much emotional pain as it does pleasure. This is one of the few aspects of humanity he has yet to fully grasp, and in matters of the heart his old naïve alien viewpoint shows through.

Due to his empathic powers, Facade is inherently likable, and humans often find him particularly charming without knowing why. He has a reputation as being a "lovable rascal" rather than a dangerous supervillain, and this is more due to his powers' subtle effects than any actual good behavior on his part.

## Powers

Facade has inherent empathic and shapeshifting abilities among the best in the world. Although he doesn't have true telepathy, he can gather information from anyone around him and use it to his benefit by understanding and exploiting their expectations.

Facade can use his shapeshifting abilities to mimic individuals and copy their powers. This mimicry becomes more powerful based on the thoughts of those around him, and his imitation can be influenced by their knowledge (and even foiled if they have poor knowledge of his imitated target). For example, he might copy Defender and use his most well-known powers, but if onlookers don't know about his suit's more unusual abilities, Facade won't be able to properly copy them. In addition to this limitation, there is an 'energy cap' that prevents him from totally copying the abilities of a truly powerful target. He might copy the Plutonian's form, but because he doesn't have the same inherent energy, he wouldn't be quite as fast or strong as the genuine article.

In addition to these abilities, Facade has a number of shapeshifter's tricks that he can call upon, such as turning himself into a liquid form or splitting into multiple, smaller versions of himself.

## Weaknesses

Facade's abilities are affected by the perceptions of those around him. He rarely makes mistakes when imitating a person (thanks mostly to his empathic abilities informing him of what onlookers expect to see), but when he is discovered as a forgery he can suffer a backlash that temporarily reduces or even disables his powers, forcing him to return to his relatively helpless natural form.

Facade requires a steady supply of rare-earth metals in his diet, without which he will wither and die. Some of these metals are easy to procure, while others are extremely rare and expensive.