Roberto Da Costa

## Background

### 1987 - 2002: Roberto Da Costa

Roberto Da Costa is the son & oldest child of Brazilian millionaire Emmanuel Da Costa & his American wife Nina, an archaeologist. His parents' occupations allowed him & sister to want for nothing in life & travel wherever he desired.

He first manifested his mutant powers when he was playing in a championship soccer match for his school team in Rio de Janeiro. Motivated by racial hatred, a member of the opposing team knocked him to the ground. The hot-tempered Roberto retaliated by tackling the kid, who began brutally beating Roberto. Without being aware of what was happening to him, his body & clothing temporarily turned black & he inadvertently hurled the kid away from him. Confused & frightened, Roberto sought help but the other players & most of the spectators panicked & fled. However, his longtime best friend, Juliana Sandoval, who had been watching the game along with Roberto's father, stood by him in his time of need.

Roberto's powers came to the attention of Donald Pierce, a mutant hating fanatic. Pierce's mercenaries failed to abduct Roberto but kidnapped Juliana instead. The mutant telepath, Professor Charles Xavier, learned of Pierce's plan to kill Roberto & sent Moira MacTaggert, Karma & Mirage to help him. Roberto agreed to meet with Pierce's men in order to obtain Juliana's release but the mercenaries refused & intended to kill both of them instead. During a fight, one of the mercenaries fired at Roberto but his durability saved him from any damage. With the help of the X-Men, he was able to save Juliana but vowed to take vengeance on Pierce.

Upon returning home, Roberto felt he was putting his family in danger by staying in Brazil. He contacted Xavier about joining the team & he offered him a place at the Xavier Institute. Roberto's revelation that he was moving to America promoted Juliana to reveal her romantic feelings for him. The two entered a long distance relationship that has been on & off for some time.

### 2002 - 2005: Sunspot

Roberto stayed with Professor Xavier & received training in the use of his superhuman powers as a member of the New Mutants. At the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, the New Mutants were tutored by Professor X & trained in the use of their powers in the Danger Room. A founding member of the New Mutants, Bobby became best friends with his teammate Samuel Guthrie (Cannonball).

Meanwhile, Bobby’s father was contacted by the Hellfire Club & became a member of its secret Inner Circle under the alias of White Rook. He was the only person in the Inner Circle without superhuman powers. His performance in that role was almost unnoticed to everyone, including Bobby.

During a friendly soccer game, his powers went haywire & he accidentally gave Sam Guthrie a concussion. Believing himself to be a danger to his team, Bobby ran away. After living on the streets for almost a week, Bobby saved a runaway mutant called Chance from a group of thugs. When Bobby's powers failed, Chance abandoned him. He was found by Cannonball, who tried to convince Bobby to return to the New Mutants but Bobby felt he was not worthy to rejoin the team. Though he wished to be left a pariah, Cannonball insisted that they stick together & reminded Bobby they would remain friends.

In addition to Bobby's return, the New Mutants expanded with the introduction of former X-Factor trainees Boom-Boom, Skids & Rictor. The two teams got along well, becoming fast friends. A month later, the team heard of an animal creature that was being mistreated after capture. They followed Bird Brain, a human-animal hybrid, back to its home planet. Upon arriving, they were captured by the Ani-Mator, the creator of Bird Brain. Rahne was accepted by the Ani-Mates & their blood-lust prompted her to never turn to her lycan form again. During the battle, Doug jumped in the path of a bullet intended for Rahne, killing him. Magik, in anger, threw Ani-Mator into limbo where he was eaten alive by demons. Things soon became difficult for the team.

### 2005 - 2006: Sunspot

When his father died, Bobby took a break from the New Mutants to discuss his father's business. When he arrived, he learned his father's old friend & CFO Gideon had killed Emmanuel da Costa to gain control of his business. He knew Bobby return home for his father's death & used that as an opportunity to manipulate Bobby with his telepathic powers. Wanting to make him stronger, Gideon had Bobby subjected to various experiments that immensely increased his solar absorption capabilities. When Bobby was gone too long without anyone hearing from him, he was rescued by the New Mutants.

Instead of returning to the team, Bobby joined X-Force. He claimed that he was tired of saving people or being saved & wanted to get to the bad guys before they do their damage. Upon joining, he found he had the ability to fire energy blasts from his hands. While his best friend Sam stayed with the New Mutants & X-Men, Bobby got closer to his teammate & Sam's girlfriend Tabitha Smith. Things progressed to the point where Sam became quite jealous & even went off on both of them for their growing friendship. Knowing he was right, Bobby took a step back from his friendship with Tabitha. He ended up leaving the team as a whole when Pete Wisdom took over months later, leading to Bobby to returning to his former flory with the New Mutants.

## Romantic Relationships

* Juliana Sandoval: On & Off Girlfriend (2002 - )

## Powers & Abilities

* **Mutant Physiology**
	+ ***Solar Radiation Absorption*:** He can absorb solar energy and utilize it for physical strength. The cells of a & human body convert energy from foodstuffs into a form of energy usable by the body. This energy is stored through converting molecules of adenosine diphosphate in the cells into adenosine triphosphate; the energy is released when necessary by breaking a chemical bond in the ATP molecules, converting them back to ADP. Apparently Sunspot can store solar-derived energy in his cells through the same, or a similar method, and release it when necessary to enhance his physical strength.
	+ ***Solar Re-channeling*:** He possess the ability to re-channel the solar energy which his body absorbs, by which he takes the solar energy and uses it for a variety of related purposes:
		- ***Flight*:** He possess the ability to fly by propelling himself through the air, by force of will, by generating thermal updrafts. Bobby has also refined this ability to be able to hover in the air without leaving a heat trail, and can reach speeds of up to 150 mph maximum without over exerting himself.
		- ***Enhanced Strength*:** When Sunspot's cells are powered by solar energy he has the superhuman ability to augment his physical strength. The original limits of his strength was that of 2 tons. Since then however his strength level increased to 50 tons.
		- ***Enhanced Speed*:** He is fast enough to catch a speeding lancet thrown at him.
		- ***Enhanced Durability*:** Sunspot is one of the interesting powerhouses due to the fact that he is one of the only ones that does not have heightened invulnerability. While he is super strong, he is not super durable. He cannot deflect bullets but his limited durability does provide his body the needed protection to be able to lift the massive weight that his super strength allows him to.
		- ***Thermokinesis*:** He possesses the ability to project heat in intense waves when he absorbs and re-channels solar energy from any part of his body to raise the temperature. Roberto can also absorb heat into his body to lower the temperature in his immediate area. He can also project and absorb heat directly into/from people, causing intense discomfort over their fluctuating body temperatures.
		- ***Photokinesis*:** Sunspot has the underlying ability to project, drain & cast light as intense waves from absorbing and re-channeling solar energy, as well as ambient EM wavelengths. To the extent of which is unknown but he is able enough to use this facet of his powers to nullify photon waves from the scientist supreme of A.I.M. & deal a laser emission back with nearly double the force.
		- ***Thermokinetic Concussive Energy Blasts*:** He has the ability to fire blasts of heat & concussive force.
		- ***Energy Absorption*:** He can absorb various forms of energy available to him beyond just sunlight in order to bolster himself even further, even drawing upon and distilling the harmful effects of a laser blast.
		- ***Self-Sustenance*:** While in transformed state, he uses his energy abilities to provide nourishment for himself, allowing him to survive out in the cold of deep space.
		- ***Fire & Heat Immunity*:** As is the norm with most pyrokinetics, Sunspot is immune to all forms of heat and fire as they simply add to his abilities and his mutant metabolism is able to simply convert these two forms and augment his abilities. This includes heat powers that are directed at him as well as heat that is present because of weather conditions. Sunspot has also been seen with the ability to absorb the energy that fire gives off and has remained unharmed while walking through it.
* **Business Management:** Since a young child, Roberto has developed skills for business & finance. His father's dreams was form to become the CEO of Da Costa International.
* **Hand to Hand Combat/Martial Arts:** Sunspot has been trained by the likes of Wolverine & other mutants in combat. He's also trained in the Brazilian martial art of Capoeira.
* **Multilingualism:** Like his father, he is fluent in English, Spanish & Portuguese.
* **Physicality:** Roberto is a very skilled soccer player & used to play for his high school soccer team.
* **Tactical Analysis:** Roberto has shown to be a proficient tactician, being able to turn a ploy against a villain himself through misdirection & exploiting the flaws in his plans.

### Ratings

* **Acumen:** 4 - Trained / Learned
* **Might:** 6 - Expert / Advanced
* **Quickness:** 6 - Expert / Advanced
* **Mysticism:** 1 - Nonexistent
* **Gadgets:** 3 - Average / Basic
* **Projection:** 5 - High / Exceptional
* **Tactics:** 5 - High / Exceptional
* **Battle:** 5 - High / Exceptional
* **TOTAL:** 134 - Power Level 3 / General Threat

## Trivia

* After his father's death, Roberto & his sister inherited his fortune. She is currently running Da Costa International as its CEO but Roberto is a member of the board.
* He is close friends with everyone on the New Mutants. Cannonball is his best friend. He considered Dani Moonstar to be like a sister.
* Bobby & Amara have an untold love for one another. After one intimate moment, neither has discussed their relationship as both are too preoccupied saving the world from one villain after the other.

## Notes

* The original character of Sunspot belongs to the Marvel Universe.
* In the comics, Juliana is killed when jumping in front of a bullet meant for Roberto.