Radcliffe Ellison

**Radcliffe Cole Ellison**, also known as **Nathaniel Torchwick**, is one of Heroes of the Coalescence responsible for the defeat of Salem, though he has notable evaded all recognition for his deeds. Formerly an agent of the Atlesian government and Commander of Metal Labyrinth, presently a member of the Coalescence Coalition for Freedom, and lover of Jonquil Arc.

## History

### Prior to the Coalescence

#### Early Life

Radcliffe Cole Ellison was born in the city of Argus. He is the son of Clifford Renard Ellison, at the time a Commander within the Atlesian Navy, and Miraya Sen, a Mistralian woman of unknown origins. He is the younger of two, having one older sister, Hira Sen Ellison. Much of his early childhood can be called normal, though obviously affected by the rather stressful situation his family was in at the time.

However, when he was four years old, he would be lured out of his home and abducted by one of his Father's military colleagues, actually an agent from AVEA. He would be brought to their headquarters in the Edifice on orders of their leader, and after some discussion, he would be transferred to their Medical Research Department and put under the purview of the researchers there.

Radcliffe would end up being put in as one of the four children within "Project Chrysalis", alongside Gaius Grace, Sylvia Lawrence, and Amaryllis. Cliff would be subjected to a bevy of tests to determine his capabilities, and with his innately high intelligence and observational capacity, he was deemed a candidate to be subjected to the Typhon Protocol. He would undergo years of conditioning in an attempt to break down his ego, being able to slip into any persona as necessary. He was to become a spy, one who could read and manipulate people without a second thought, while remaining completely loyal to his own organization.

Though he would prove highly resistant to this process, he would eventually crack under the continual pressure. The ongoing, long-term trauma would lead to the broken emergence of his Semblance, and result in Radcliffe coming to view himself as fundamentally distant from humanity as a whole, his sole attachment in his world being to his fellow experiments.

From the age of eleven, he would take part in numerous undercover missions alongside his teammates, honing his skills in the field. He would be sent to infiltrate corporate research facilities to steal their knowledge, and undermine the growing Mantlian resistance that was brewing at the time, becoming a seasoned field agent by the time of his escape.

#### Escape & Heist on Atlas

Radcliffe would manage his escape at the age of 16, capitalizing on the unique window created by an attack on the facility by a heavily armed actor. It was a unanimous decision on the part of everyone except for himself, reluctant to leave his friends behind, but he still caved to their wishes. With their help, he'd manage to break out, only to be faced with the cold of the Solitas tundra.

He would wander through the cold for hours, before eventually being found by a woman, initially waiting for her co-conspirator. However, instead, she would end up being the one to save Cliff's life. She would carry him down the mountain herself, keeping him from dying of hypothermia, bringing him to safety on a small islet in Solitas' Inner Sea, helping restore him to health. He would, in turn, give her a great deal of information about AVEA's internal workings and facility.

It was her who told him about the Relic located within Atlas' vault, the Relic of Creation, convinced the boy's unique Semblance would grant him the ability to breach it. The deal was simple - break in, steal the Relic, use it to save his friends, and then give it to her. He took her up on this, and with her help, he was smuggled into Atlas, where he'd spend multiple weeks undercover, gathering information and concocting his plan.

In the end, her hunch would prove correct, as Radcliffe was able to successfully breach the vault. There, he met the spirit of the Relic, and came to understand its true nature and capabilities. Though initially willing to destroy Atlas in order to secure the freedom of his friends, he would hesitate, ultimately deciding against it. He would abscond with the Relic, and attempt to use it as a bargaining chip against Atlas in order to save them. These negotiations would fail, but he'd still escape, and hand over the Relic as promised, securing his escape from Mantle.

#### Time in Hiding

Radcliffe would arrive in Vale after being spirited away in a cargo bay. He would turn to theft to survive, a task easy for him given his background. He would eventually end up falling foul of one Roman Torchwick, but rather than scaring him off, he'd recruit him to his organization, whereupon Cliff would become an instrumental agent of his for a period of time.

However, a year into this, this arrangement would fall apart when Cliff would take an assignment to make an example out of an emerging rival faction a bit too seriously, creating a group of mutilated corpses, splattered entrails, and a massive headache to clean up. Realizing Cliff was deeply unstable, and entering a period in his life where he wanted to begin his transition away from crime, they ended up parting ways, with Cliff booking passage to Anima and going into hiding on the continent.

As an internationally wanted criminal in the aftermath of his actions, he kept an intentionally low profile. He'd end up living in one of the numerous "unsettled regions" of the continent, integrating himself with a small community located outside the bounds of ordinary civilization, where people didn't ask questions about his background. It is there he would receive training in combat, something he lacked previously, along with developing a knowledge of the Grimm and of various other subjects.

#### The Reunion & Metal Labyrinth

The peace Radcliffe had achieved, however, would be broken when Sylvia and Ryllis finally found him. He learned the story of Gaius' death and of their escape, with the two of them inviting him to join them. it would take him a day to reach his decision, but eventually, he agreed. He would join them in Argus, where the three of them would found Metal Labyrinth, with Sylvia at the helm, and begin their quest for vengeance and liberation.

While Cliff had no stake in Sylvia and Ryllis' vision, he did have a deal of great deal of loyalty to them as his family. Thus, as Sylvia rampaged across the continent of Anima with her increasingly growing posse of equally disgruntled fanatics. Even with Ryllis would grow disillusioned with her crusade, Cliff would stick by his little sister's side. But eventually, he wouldn't be able to ignore the emptiness inside of him, his discontent with the situation, and so he would abandon the Labyrinth. Even so, he'd still meet with her once a year, and remains on good terms with Sylvia to the present day.

#### Independent Thief

After leaving Metal Labyrinth, Cliff would spend a year with Amaryllis in the Godforsaken Gutter, but his restlessness at not having anything "important" to do would force him out of retirement. He'd begin doing contract work as an "acquisitions expert" and "intelligence gatherer" for numerous criminal syndicates under a bevy of false identities, but he never stayed in one place for long. He would, during this time, obtain the Azuron, an experimental prototype developed by a prominent Mistralian weapons firm, which would become his main base of operations.

Eventually, he would end up taking on a mission requiring him to infiltrate the higher echelons of the Manyue Syndicate, where he would end up undergoing a transmogrification process offered by his employer to replace one Luz Favero. At the start of the Coalescence, he was in the middle of this operation.

### During the Coalescence

It's unknown what Radcliffe's involvement in the Coalescence was prior to his entry into the 11943rd cycle, but it can be presumed he was present for multiple Coalescences, though he only became a prominent figure in the later cycles.

#### Misaligned Fates

Radcliffe was pulled into the Coalescence in the middle of his undercover mission, and thus appeared in the guise of Luz Favero. He was transported halfway across the world to Vacuo, becoming one of the "plane crash crew" that would come to be among the most prominent figures of the Coalescence. During this time, he would become close with Jonquil Arc and his brother Harea, along with the rest of the crew, revealing to them the fact his current identity was false.

After arriving in Vale and fending off one of Salem's attacks, Radcliffe would end up staying with Jonquil Arc at his mansion in Vale's upscale suburbs. He and Jon became close during this period, but Radcliffe would vanish from Vale for a short period, forcibly reverting his Luz guise and returning to his original form. It is only then that he would come clean to Jonquil with the truth, and allow him to know his real name - Radcliffe Cole Ellison, along the promise for him to never reveal it to anyone else.

Subsequently, he would make contact with the rest of the group and assume the guise of Nathaniel Torchwick, a master thief and the son of one Roman Torchwick, quietly conferring with Roman and Neo first to back up his facade. Roseo Torchwick would suspect, and later confirm, the false nature of the identity, but she did not reveal this fact to the rest of the Heroes, and he would remain under this identity for the rest of the Coalescence.

He would take part in the many battles against Salem alongside the Valean crew, lending his strategic expertise to the cause. Together with Hibiscus and Roseo, he would help formulate the plan to ultimately defeat Salem, and aid them both in carrying it out and the conflicts that followed.

#### Spirits Unbound

After helping defeat Salem, Cliff would leave Vale for a time, eschewing recognition for his role in the fight against Salem to instead enter a life of obscurity. With the formation of the Coalition, however, Radcliffe would seek out Jonquil Arc, bringing him aboard Morningstar. He would re-assume his prior identity as Nate Torchwick. He would be one of the people responsible for the abduction of Whitaker Alby at the Silver Sands Casino, being the one who kidnapped him directly. When Jonquil Arc would be injured in the process of Alby's rescue, Cliff would go and seek retaliation, permanently mutilating his subordinate Adler Stahl.

During their time in Vacuo, Jonquil would gain access to Cliff's inner world, helping to partially resolve the Paradox carried within him, and reclaim the Azuron for themselves after it being previously stranded within the Vacuan desert.

## Personality

Radcliffe is an outwardly cordial, if excessively formal and aloof individual. He's one of the more elusive figures in the Coalition, due to his tendency to avoid the company of others outside of a professional context. In the field, he tends to be direct and straightforwards with his comrades, showcasing a shrewd sense of tactics and insight. He's decisive, quick to act, more comfortable following orders than giving them, but preferring to have some room for interpretation.

The reality, of course, is that Cliff is a deeply broken man. He views himself as fundamentally inhuman and different from others, only capable of interacting with them when he's playing a part. He can observe people, manipulate them, work around them, but he's incapable of being honest with them. Rather, he views himself as an instrument, defined more by his utility than anything else. His feelings, his passions, his thoughts, all of them are secondary in his mind, compared to what he is and what he's done, causing him to self isolate.

While he's capable of connecting with, and to some degree understanding, some of the other more troubled members of the Coalition, for the most part he thinks that they'd never understand him. For him, his aloof, mysterious thief image suits him perfectly well. Better that they think that of him, than think he's some sort of monster.

## Weapons, Powers, and Abilities

* **Seed of Potential** - Radcliffe's "semblance", which is less of a true semblance and more an aberration resulting from his unstable Self-Concept. It makes him impossible to be affected directly by any sort of abilities, from Semblances to Magic to even more esoteric effects, as they are unable to recognize him as a "valid target". Abilities which conjured external objects, or impose an effect within a certain area, are fair game, but any sort of "discriminate" effect will not be able to mark him. While mostly Conceptual in nature, it occasionally leaks into physical reality, causing periods of existential destabilization, which are typically self-correcting. As of the conclusion of *SU-122*, has achieved partial stabilization, around 40%.
* **Zero Edge** - His weapon I finally landed on a name for. A dust-integrated sword, by default working like simply an ordinary saber, but within it lays a complex dust matrix, allowing for the blade be modified by or used as a conduit for various dust-based effects.
	+ Cliff's an experience swordfighter, though his style differs heavily from that of those who received more conventional combat training. He's a solid combatant overall, though he'd probably lose in a one-on-one duel against the Coalition's true heavyweights.
* **Espionage:** Perhaps the most crucial ability of his. Before he was ever a thief, Radcliffe was a spy. His primary skill set, thus, lies in human observation and social engineering, being able to quickly survey a situation and control it accordingly. He has no compunctions about lying and manipulating other people, and if he is given an objective, he will be able to quickly ascertain the most direct path possible to obtaining it.This makes him incredibly dangerous opposition, as he's strategic enough to find a way around any safeguards and ruthless enough to pursue such means, but it means that he struggles to operate without being given a stable foundation to build off of, or direct orders he can follow.