Sunbeam

Sunbeam is a Chinese mutant hero and member of the Tiger Squad.

## Biography

Sunbeam, born Lian Feng, manifested his mutant powers early and with little fuss. His parents, prominent party members, were able to hide his mutant status through careful seclusion and bribes, and Lian was raised to never use his powers unless absolutely necessary. His parents would scold him whenever he showed the slightest hint of exercising his abilities, and beatings would sometimes follow if these "accidents" ever occurred in public. He resented his parents' treatment, not realizing that they were terrified of him being outed and taken away to a government training facility.

Unfortunately for the elder Fengs, Lian turned himself in when he turned eighteen. Eager to use his powers and not realizing what it would cost, he gladly volunteered for service and, after a year of boot camp, study, and field training, he was inducted into the Tiger Squad. He has only been a member for a short time, but he appears to be a rising star thanks to his potent abilities, political connections, and popularity with the public.

## Personality

Sunbeam is an optimistic young man of about twenty years of age. He is beginning to chafe at the constant orders of the Party, however, and resents the surveillance and his inability to have a personal life while working for the state. Despite all that, he is a loyal and eager member of the Tiger Squad and carries out his duties gladly.

With all the arrogance of youth, Sunbeam believes in his government and disregards dissenters as "complainers" and "ingrates." This attitude may change, however, when he begins to take part in the Tiger Squad's duties cracking down on pro-Democracy organizers. Sunbeam is not naturally callous and doesn't fully realize how bad the human rights situation is in his country.

## Powers

Sunbeam has the power to manipulate light in his surroundings. He can use this to concentrate and fire beams of searing "sunlight," similar to a laser but much more broad. He can also create blinding flares, but he is careful to use this power only when his teammates aren't near. He can also blind a single foe by condensing the light around them to until they are wreathed in a brilliant opaque aura.

Sunbeam also has the power of flight, and wears a lightweight armored suit for defense. His vision is incredibly sharp, and he can see equally well in any light levels other than pitch blackness. By careful manipulation of light and heat, he can change the temperature in his environment, warming himself to survive in even the most frigid conditions. He often carries a compact lantern and a few magnesium flares to provide light for him to manipulate, should he find himself in utterly lightless conditions where his powers won't function.

## Weaknesses

Sunbeam only manipulates light; he cannot create it. As a result, his powers rely on the presence of ambient light levels and can vary wildly in strength. During the daytime he can manipulate massive amounts of light, but at night his powers diminish radically. He also has difficulty overcoming darkness-based powers, as they hamper his abilities by depleting the light he has to work with.