Pestilence

* Civilian
* Pestilence

*"I'm nothing but a cold-blooded monster. I'm not even human. I'm your worst nightmare."*
—Taras Richtov to Lance White
**Taras Richtov** (**Тарас Рихтов**) was the archenemy of the vigilante ninja Lance White, operating under the codename **Pestilence** (**Поветрие**), formerly known as **Hazard**. He served as an enemy to White's team, the Arcadian Rebels, until his death at the hands of his parallel universe counterpart, **Famine**. He and his partner's son, Yuri, would carry on his name.

## Biography

### Hazard

Taras Richtov became a recurring enemy to the Arcadian Rebels in early 2017. They engaged in several battles over the year, with his armored suit proving to be his greatest asset.

Richtov eventually partnered with Maelstrom, having conceived a child with her years prior.

### Multiversal Mayhem

Years later, Taras faced against his counterpart, Famine. He was killed, leaving his partner to bear his son, Yuri Richtov.

## Personality

Taras is very cruel and strict, but also driven. He's very determined to carry out his plans of domination and will stop at nothing and will do anything to accomplish such.

## Physical Appearance

Taras bears a strong aesthetic resemblance to Lance White; he is tall, muscular, and has long hair.

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

* **Enhanced Strength:** Taras' armor provides him with immense strength, enough to lift a human or throw one across a room. He could already perform such feats without his armor, but with his augmented strength it is even more effortless.
* **Enhanced Durability:** Taras' armor is nearly invulnerable to conventional attacks, including swords, bullets, and even blows from opponents with superhuman or artificially enhanced strength.

### Abilities

* **Peak Human Condition:** Taras is strong, rugged, and built. He must be in order to wear his suit or he would risk his bones being repeatedly crushed from excessive usage of the suit. He has trained to be very strong and endurant, but his performance is even greater with his augmenting suit.
* **Master Combatant:** Taras is an exceptionally skilled and brutal hand-to-hand combatant, rivaling the skills of the seasoned Lance White and far outclassing martial artists such as Jason Kade. He has been trained in Russia by great Boxing coaches, and is qualified to be a great heavyweight world amateur champion. He is also versed in Karate, Taekwondo and Hapkido, so much that he is able to routinely counter Lance's powerful kicks.
	+ **Sword Mastery:** Taras is a trained swordsman, like Lance.
* **Expert Marksman:** Taras is a master marksman. He is highly skilled with various firearms such as revolvers, pistols, and submachine guns like his archnemesis.
* **Expert Acrobat:** Taras is highly skilled in acrobatic feats, despite his massive build.
* **Intimidation:** Taras commands an intimidating presence. He proclaimed himself as Lance's "worst nightmare," due to presenting a physical and a mental challenge.

*"Na lovtsa I zver' bezhit. (На ловца́ и зверь бежи́т.)"*
—Taras Richtov
* **Gifted Intelligence:** Taras is incredibly intelligent, able to lead his forces effectively and execute his plans. He has even impressed his highly intelligent partner with his sophisticated criminal activity.
	+ **Bilingualism:** Taras speaks his native Russian and English fluently.

## Equipment

### Attire

* **Battle Armor:** Taras' incredibly durable armor is a type X-V33 armor with hydraulic functions that grant him superhuman strength. One notable vulnerability is the armor being susceptible to electromagnetic pulses.

### Weaponry and Gadgets

* **Snub Matriarch:** Taras alternatively supplies his goons with Snub variant Matriarchs, meaning they have a shorter barrel and fire half of the magazine every time the trigger is pulled, similar to the Scatter Shot variant Matriarch.
* **Makarov PMM:** Taras used this pistol to shoot at Famine.
* **Hurricane TMP-18:** The Hurricane TMP-18 (Tactical Machine Pistol 18) is a fully-automatic machine pistol made by Stasiuk Arms Inc.
* **Heckler & Koch MP5:** A Cold War classic still in use today, Taras supplies his henchmen with Russian MP5s, quality short to medium range 9mm submachine guns with a decent range, high rate of fire, mobility, good recoil control, and high penetration. The small rounds help reduce the recoil.

## Relationships

Allies* Ankou - Situational Partner
* Maelstrom - Partner
* Nikolai Finn/Famine - Killer
* Cody Nakamura