Vigorous

* Civilian
* Vigorous

*"The world is not a fair place. Innocent people die while the guilty go free. The system is broken, filled with corruption, greed, and apathy. The people who are supposed to protect us are failing us. Criminals continue to walk the streets because no one is willing to stop them. The world may not be fair, but everyone deserves justice and someone looking out for them. People say that revenge corrupts the soul... that if you go down that path, you'll never come back. But sometimes, embracing the darkness is the only way to get justice."*
—Vince Clayton quoting Emiko Queen
**Vincent Robert "Vince" Clayton** was a vengeful vigilante living in Neo Arcadia under the codename **Vigorous**. At first, he would mutilate his victims with his modus operandi of carving the letter "V" in the wrists of criminals, but after much persuasion from Almanac, he has become a more clear-headed fighter. Though initially hesitant, he slowly became an ally to the Arcadian Rebels, but he was ultimately killed by one of Torment's goons.

The Raider created a duplicate of Vince and was unwillingly pitted against the Rebels, but once he was dispatched, he has not been seen since.

## Biography

### Early Life

Vince Clayton was born in Queens, Smog City on September 4, 1993, to Louie Clayton and Ava Fray. Vince lived a very well childhood life. His parents were always there for him and would help and protect him to become a good man in the future.

During his elementary school years, Vince knew many people to talk to during lunch and recess, though there was only one person he truly called "friend". William Doyle.

### High School

At the age of 15, Vince and William entered High School. They'd excel in academics. They would stick together and would always have each other's backs if something were to go awry.

#### Devastating Day

Sometime when Vince was 15, he received a call while in class. Vince learned that his mother had gotten into a car crash. She was alive, though the doctors and nurses were trying to evaluate what exactly was to her happening. By the time Vince's father Louie picked Vince up from school, the two of them learned that she was in a comatose and had serious brain damage.

About a month past and Vince learned that his mother was in a very rare state that could last for years, or be lifelong. Following these events, Vince and his father would get into numerous arguments and drifted apart instead of growing closer as they were told in family therapy.

By the time Vince was 18, he and his father's relationship was destroyed, more so after realizing that Vince's mother was still in a comatose.

#### World Turned Upside Down

Sometime in late June, when Vince was 18 and he had graduated, he and William were walking through the dark night of Smog City going to William's apartment to celebrate both their Graduation from High School and William's birthday. That night, once filled with faithfulness and happiness turned into a night that Vince will never forget.

When they arrived at the alleyway near William's apartment, they were greeted by a man who aimed a gun at Vince asking for their wallets. Vince denied and told the mugger to leave them alone, until the mugger decided to shoot him, though before the bullet touched Vince, William ran in front of it taking the bullet in Vince's place.

The mugger quickly fled the scene, at the sound of police sirens. Vince fell to his knees as the police came running into the scene. Vince would move in with his aunt Silvia, with her husband Dixon, and her 21-year-old son Gavin who was getting ready to move out of the house soon with some friends to make room for Vince.

#### Suiting Up

For the next few years, Vince began questioning his existence and reliving the memory of the mugger shooting William. Vince had enough, and decided to physically train himself to be in top physical condition and after many months of training, he sought out to search for the mugger who killed William wearing a black coat, a gray helmet, and he used a bit of paint around his eyes to look like a mask and for a weapon he used a very thin pole as a staff.

#### Revenge and Realization

After a week of roaming the city searching for the mugger who killed William, one night Vince was successful. Near a bar, Vince found the mugger having a conversation with two other men, Vince dropped down and began attacking the mugger and the two other men.

He knocked out the two other men though he began fighting the mugger in an extremely brutal and bloody fight. When Vince was able to knock the mugger off his feet, he began reminding him of William and the night he shot him. The mugger revealed his name to be Clement Brooks, and shortly after this reveal, Vince began hitting Clement with the pole until he was nearly dead which then he jammed the pole into Clement's chest killing him instantly.

Before the police showed up, he rubbed off a bit of pain on his face and wrote on Clement's wrist the letter, "W" to represent William and that he had avenged him, though after a while half of the "W" had rubbed off turning into a "V".

A new vigilante roaming the city was all over the news that night. Some people believed that he was doing the city a favor, though others believed that he shouldn't go killing people. After much consideration and realization, Vince decided to stay protecting the city for a while after realizing how dark and unsafe Smog City has become.

#### Leaving Smog City

Sometime in mid-2018, the news was filled with a terrorist in Neo Arcadia by the name of Axel Trevor who was attacking the city. During the attack of the Caleb Bots, Vince decided to move to Neo Arcadia to help the city after realizing that the Arcadian Rebels are doing nothing to assist, though he would continue to visit his mother in the hospital once a week, and his aunt whenever he had time while seeing his mother.

### Encountering the Rebels

Vince would first meet up with the Rebels at a Gun Shop after trying to investigate why a gun dealer is shipping weapons to a mysterious man. They'd start off with a rocky introduction. He'd argue with them saying that they aren't heroes and only appear when the bad things happen while people like him handle the small jobs.

This argument would be interrupted after a mysterious man landed on the scene and killed the gun dealer. The Rebels and Vince put their argument aside and would attempt to fight this mysterious person, though they'd fail at doing so.

Shortly after this fight, the vigilante Almanac would confront him asking if he would like to join the Rebels. Vince would obviously deny and would then leave the scene.

#### Allying with the Rebels

Vince would soon become an ally to the Rebels after the death of Cameron Walker. He would attend numerous missions with them during the time the demonic creature Izron began roaming Earth-1.

Once the criminal mastermind, Claudius Mayhew came onto the scene, Vince decided to dedicate the rest of his life to protecting to citizens of Neo Arcadia.

#### Without Forethought

After countless missions, Vince would lose his patience after Claudius (now known as Torment) kidnapped billionaire Martin Neal and widow Abigail Kleban. He and Officer Joaquin Dallas searched for Mrs. Kleban while Almanac and Reverie went for Martin Neal.

When the two of them arrived at Mrs. Kleban's location, without thinking, Vince ran into the building she was in and seconds after he entered, the building burst. Joaquin and Jason were able to haul Vince out of the wreckage and to both of their surprise, he was alive, though shockingly, Vince was unable to feel his left leg.

Week of recovery, Vince was told that he would be unable to move and/or walk on his left leg ever again. This rocked Vince's world, though he figured this would be a perfect time to take a break from being a vigilante.

#### Death

Two days before he would leave Neo Arcadia, Vince was kidnapped by Torment. The Rebels and Joaquin quickly found out about this and searched for him. Vince left a message behind for the Rebels to find him telling them that he was at the nearest hotel building.

Once they arrived at the rooftop of the hotel, they found Vince dangling at the edge of the roof being held by Torment. After a small duel, Jason was able to get Vince before Torment was able to drop him. Unfortunately, Torment fired off a few rounds into Jason's hand causing him to drop Vince.

Leah would take Vince to Saint Kenway's Hospital and once Jason and Joaquin arrived, they received the news that Vince was already dead when Leah brought him in.

## Personality

*"Living in a world like this. A world where aliens, superhumans, and cyborgs all exist, anything can happen. "*
—Vince Clayton
Vince was initially a cold and cruel vigilante who aimed to actually scar his enemies as a warning to others. However, after becoming acquainted with the Arcadian Rebels, Vince became more merciful towards his opponents.

## Abilities

* **Peak Human Condition:** Vince trained for nearly a year to heighten his physical abilities, in order to avenge William. As his codename implies, Vince is in prime physical condition and shows above average vigor in his job as a crimefighter, having trained with formidable vigor. He demonstrates high levels of strength and speed when dealing with his opponents, and boasted immense physical resilience.
	+ **Peak Human Durability:** Vince is also very resilient to injury, as he was able to survive a considerably large explosion and being covered in enormous amounts of rubble, with only his left leg being damaged. However, his physical resistance was not sufficient to withstand a fall from a three-story building while not wearing his suit, which killed him.
	+ **Peak Human Reflexes:** Vince possessed superb reaction time in combat.
* **Expert Martial Artist:** Vince is an exceptionally skilled and stealthy hand-to-hand combatant, displaying amateur knowledge in several Ninjutsu disciplines, including Taijutsu, Bōjutsu, Naginatajutsu, Shurikenjutsu, Shinobi-iri and [[Wikipedia:Intonjutsu]|Intonjutsu]]] He can twirl, swing, and stab his staff in an offensive manner, as he makes use of his staff's versatile nature to block, counter-attack, and is also able deliver powerful strikes that can knock his enemies unconscious. His proficiency with his staff translates to his proficiency with the naginata, as his staff possesses a sharp, retractable blade in one end for added measure. Vince is also highly-skilled in knife-throwing.
* **Stealth:** Like many other vigilantes, Vince is stealthy, and can hide in the shadows to sneak around his enemies without being detected, and use them as an advantage in hand-to-hand combat.

*"Stay quiet. If you try to break free, words haven't even been invented to explain what I'd do to you."*
—Vince Clayton
* **Intimidation:** Due to his dark, imposing figure and obscure uniform, Vince commands an intimidating presence as Vigorous. He gained a fearsome reputation for carving the letter "V" in the wrists of his victims. With a single glare, Vince was able to make a robber put away their weapons.
* **Skilled Musician:** Vince can play the piano.

## Equipment

### Attire

* **Vigorous Suit:** While fighting crime, Vince donned a black and very, very dark gray protective uniform which also concealed his identity.

### Weaponry

* **Staff:** Vince's weapon of choice was a staff with a retractable blade in one end

## Relationships

* Ava Fray - Mother
* Silvia - Aunt
* Gavin - Cousin
* Dixon - Uncle

Allies* William Doyle † - Best Friend
* Arcadian Rebels - Allies
	+ Leah Caverly/Reverie - Best Friend
	+ Jason Kade/Almanac
	+ Clark Flat/Flag
	+ Sam Aran/Elysian †
	+ Brian Henshaw/Arcane
	+ KJ Becker
	+ Scott Haynes
* Torment † - Killer
* Izron †

## Trivia

* Vince's theme song is *Can't Hold Us* by Macklemore, Ryan Lewis, and Ray Dalton.