Chato Santana

## Background

### 1987 - 2009: Chato Santana

Chato Santana was born & raised in Ciudad Juarez alongside his mother, father & brother. Chato was born with pyrokinetic powers that slowly developed in strength with his age as he struggled to hide these abilities & curb the temptation to use them. At the age of ten, his family decided to make the journey across the border but both of his parents would lose their lives in the process. Chato & Raúl continued the journey, finally making into the United States. They took care of each other with his brother always stated that didn't need nothing else but each other.

Eventually they both joined the Los Reyes Locos, a local street gang. The two quickly rose up in the ranks by stealing cars, dealing drugs & selling handguns until Raúl was killed by a rival gang. It was that day that he finally let his powers lose. He burned his brother's killer to death after cornering him in an alley. Santana began weaponizing his powers to his advantage & became known as "El Diablo" on the streets.

Though it would life was going well for him, he realized that this might spike his dangerous abilities further & decided to relax more. He later married Grace Vasquez, the mother of his two children.

One evening, Grace came to discover her husband's criminal activities by finding a stash of money & pair of pistols hidden in their closet. She confronted him, then threatened to take their children away to her mother's. Chato quickly lost his temper, leading to him losing control of his powers. The house soon became engulfed in fire & no matter how hard he tried to save them, Grace & their two children were killed. Grief-stricken with this mistake, he handed himself over to police custody voluntarily & was sent to Belle Reve, a prison for enhanced individuals.

## Romantic Relationships

* Grace Santana: Girlfriend (2005 - 2007); Wife (2007 - 2009)
* Veronica Lopez: Lover (*Unknown*)
* Zahra Abed: Lover (*Unknown*)

## Powers & Abilities

* **Metahuman Physiology**
	+ ***Pyrokinesis*:** Chato can generate, manipulate and shoot fire to a multitude of dangerous effects. During his imprisonment, he was seen being doused with water inside a large pipe while causing fire to emerge on its floor. He can also manifest fire on his hands without it hurting him, as well as blast fiery beams or columns of fire from his hands. His power is furthered by his rage.
	+ ***Transformation*:** Aside from his pyrokinetic powers, Chato demonstrated he could transform from his human form, into the form of a massive skeletal being, completely on fire. In this form, he possessed superhuman strength and durability, both of which were demonstrated in his fight with Incubus before his death.
	+ ***Fire Resistance*:** Chato cannot be harmed by fire, which is the reason why he was able to survive the fire that killed his wife & children.
* **Firearms:** Due to his gang background, Chato was very skilled in firearms & regularly used them to deal with his opponents.
* **Hand to Hand Combat**
* **Multilingualism:** He can fluently speak English & Spanish.

### Weaknesses

* **Air:** He needs air to use his pyrokinesis.

### Ratings

* **Intelligence:** 3 - Average / Basic
* **Strength:** 4 - Trained / Learned
* **Speed:** 3 - Average / Basic
* **Occult:** 1 - Nonexistent
* **Weapons:** 4 - Trained / Learned
* **Range:** 6 - Expert / Advanced
* **Strategy:** 4 - Trained / Learned
* **Combat:** 4 - Trained / Learned
* **TOTAL:** 76 - Threat Level 2 / Low Threat.

## Trivia

* He was suspected, although never charged, with the murder of fifteen men.
* The relationship between him, Zahra & Veronica is an interesting one. Chato dates Veronica but sometimes is intimate with Zahra, because she is also dating Veronica. Chato & Zahra will get together without Veronica but that is extremely rare.
* He is a devout Catholic.

## Notes

* Chato accidentally killing his wife & kids is a nod to the movie *Suicide Squad.*
* The alias of Rafael Sandoval is the second person to take on the El Diablo mantle.