Lead

Lead is a Metal from Homeworld, part of the Toxic Metals group and is very dangerous. They are one of the few surviving Metals left and currently living on Earth. They are skilled in psychological manipulation, making them extremely dangerous.

## Biography

Leads were considered guards in Metals' society, mainly guarding the prison where the Radioactive Metals were kept. They were extremely good at their jobs, as one touch from a Lead could completely incapacitate one of these Metals. It was a lower job however, although the Leads didn't seem to mind much. This Lead liked to abuse power especially with their twin, Thallium, towards the Radioactive Metals. As their touch would cause massive amounts of pain to the prisoners, Lead could often manipulate them to whatever they wanted. Most Metals turned a blind eye however, seeing as how dangerous the Radioactive Metals were.
Lead often butted heads with Platinum and other healing Metals as they were quite often found poisoning environments and/or people. Platinum was often the one to purifying after Lead (or Mercury) so tension was high between the two. Once the Takeover hit, Lead managed to survive it much to Platinum's dismay. Lead however, couldn't locate their twin and couldn't stand the thought of staying put on the desolate planet the Gems had forced them onto. Lead was the first to take off, eventually arriving on Earth.
Lead has remained a prominent figure in much of human history since then. Unlike Mercury, their reign isn't as chaotic as Lead is strategic, often quickly rerouting if something doesn't go to plan. Promising prolonged life and riches, as well as the knowledge they had brought with them from the Metals, Lead was able to secure a quite influential position. Their ways of getting there were often filled with manipulation, a very common theme being playing the victim and pretending to empathize with the other and therefor gaining the others' trust. Even when nuclear terror came into human history, Lead was able to remain on others good sides and claim not to be against them as they could protect them from radioactive harm.
Today, Lead remains more in the shadows, connecting with the other Toxic Metals that reside on Earth.

## Behind the Metal

Lead is based on the concept of gaslighting and slow strategic manipulation. This is often because lead poisoning will take a while to see the damage taken from it, and society still uses lead in many things from electrical components to barriers for radioactivity. It also took a lot longer to phase lead out of things compared to mercury, another toxic metal. Lead was still used in paint for instance up until the 1990s in some developed countries. Lead is also soft and sweet tasting in real life, so the concept of befriending you or at least siding with you comes into play because of that.
Lead is an element on the periodic table, being part of the transition metals. It is highly toxic, causing mainly neurological damage including mood swings and developmental problems. Lead is also very prominent in human history as the discovery of it can't be pinpointed, but many artifacts have been found that have used this metal in some way. Its symbol "Pb" comes from its Latin name "Plumbum", which was used in Roman times to make plumbing (and to which the word got its name from). It was also used a sweetener in many dishes, and continued to be used even past when it was discovered how toxic it was. Lead continues to remain an issue in many parts of the world. However, lead is now used as barriers to protect from radioactivity and as electrical components as no better replacement has been found.