Matthias Schafer (Prime Earth)

"You're not entitled to your own flesh, *I am!*" - *Matthias Schafer*

Matt's face claim, except he has Vauron eyes.

## Background

Matthias belongs to the Vauron race, a species of symbiotic flesh crafting aliens. The Vaurons are ancient, and date back long before humanity's existence. They ascended from an unknown planet thousands of lightyears away from Earth, and have the natural ability to control biomass. Vaurons have no distinct appearance as they can mould their appearance to however they please, but prefer to consume other species to take their DNA and be able to morph into them anytime they want. Vaurons are birthed when one Vauron implants their DNA into another compatible being, impregnating them with a child, this can also be done with other Vaurons. After the pregnancy is over, the Vauron fetus consumes the carrier and becomes its own being. When a Vauron is born to another species, their base form becomes one of said species, such as a Vauron born from a human would produce a Vauron that appears human. The Vauron inherits the ability to turn into their parent's species, and their carrier's species at will, but will always revert back to their base form when not using their abilities. A Vauron in any flesh form becomes a complete genetic copy of that species, and thus is almost impossible to tell the difference between a Vauron and any given alien species, except for one obvious detail: their eyes. Vaurons have scarlet, cat-like eyes that will always be present no matter which form they take, which is their only giveaway, though some Vaurons have found counters to this. Because of these abilities, Vaurons find it easy to consume aliens and take their form, hiding out within many alien societies masquerading as the same species, allowing Vaurons to access alien technology and use interstellar travel despite Vaurons being a relatively primitive race technology-wise.

Vaurons worship a single deity called Vor, which was the first Vauron to bypass biological limitations. All Vaurons follow him and share an obsession for one single goal, which is to achieve biological transcendence. Biological transcendence means to have consumed a perfect combination of foreign genes, giving the Vauron a perfect genome and granting them immortality, which is especially craved by the Vaurons who only live 80-90 years long. The way to have a perfect genome is a technique called Genome Sequencing, where a Vauron absorbs a life form and stores their DNA, Vaurons love to go to other planets and consume the right amount of a species to gain a "perfect" genome of them, then leaving for the next. Gaining a perfect genome of a species makes a Vauron very powerful and respected, but a Vauron doesn't necessarily have to perfect a genome in order to become that species. Another way to perfect a genome without eating a whole bunch of people for science, is to kill and consume another Vauron which has perfected it, which basically gives you all of their DNA collected. It is an easy path to biological transcendence but it is obviously looked down upon. Because of this ultimate goal, most Vaurons are selfish and obsessive, and so the entire species os broken up into independent families that separately hunt for genomes alone, some fighting and some never communicating with other Vaurons families.

Earth is a particularly captivating little planet in the eyes of Vaurons, many seeing it as an easy place for perfecting a genome. Because of this, many Vaurons have come to Earth several centuries apart to perfect their human genome sequence, some failing and some succeeding. Matthias's father was a Vauron whose base form was an alien from the species known as the Ero, and him and his family had their eye on Earth for some time. Eventually, Matt's father arrived at Earth with his two offsprings, but before he managed to land in his aircraft he was shot down from the sky by Earth defences, and his ship crash landed somewhere off the coast of California. With both his children killed in the crash, Matt's father was suffering from wounds with no human within range to consume. As a last effort to continue his legacy, he ejected some DNA of his own at the direction of the shore, which traveled across the air and infected an already pregnant human woman. Matt in his DNA state consumed the pregnant woman's embryo and became her baby instead, allowing him to thrive.

Matthias was eventually born, he was given life without consuming his carrier as he had already consumed her fetus before. His carrier/mother believed him to be her own son with her husband, and thus Matt was raised by two human parents, marking the first time in known Vauron history a Vauron was birthed without consuming their carrier. Matt's base form was a human, naturally, and he had inherited his father's Ero genome too. Vaurons, at birth, do not have the signature red cat eyes, instead their eye colours remain indistinguishable from the eye colours of their base species, in this case Matt had sky blue eyes, so he appeared as a normal child. In puberty, the red eye features developed, which first gave Matt his flesh crafting potential. Matt had also started to develop his genetic memory of his father, meaning that he "remembered" the instincts of Vaurons and his father's genome, allowing him to slowly figure out his strange powers. When his eyes changed, that's when Matt realised he wasn't human, and so he wore tinted glasses over his eyes to cover them, never wanting to remove them. He started feeling detached from his parents and friends because of this, and so left home and found his own way. Over time, Matt was completely aware of his gift, and got himself a proper education, using contacts to change his eye colour (though they don't prevent his gaze effect). Matt had fully realised his potential, and discovered his purpose which was to perfect his genome, which started alienating his mind from society, making him care more about his own self than the lives of innocents. Matthias eventually got into a college in New York and took a course in biochemistry to learn more about the human body to help him control them better, and started changing his goal towards being the perfect human genetically, and he would accomplish this by finding anyone who had a perfect trait, and consuming them. In college, however, he would meet new friends that could change this vile path of his forever...

## Personality

Matthias has had several influences on his personality, the majority two being his alien mind and him being raised by humans. Matt was raised normally, and was taught regular human values and history, which made him understanding of how the world works, and he has learnt to understand human thinking and emotions too from his parents. His Vauron conscious however, differs from that of humans, and because of his fleshcrafting abilities and his red eyes, Matthias saw himself as something other than humanity. Matt, ever since discovering his genetic memory, has realised his primeval goal written into the genes of every Vauron, which is to perfect their genomes. Matthias strongly believes that this is his purpose, and so has disillusioned himself to believe that he must be the perfect human amongst all, and that to achieve this he must kill and consume people he saw as perfect in any way. Matthias has no problems killing innocent humans, seeing them as nothing more than fleshy toys to benefit himself, which eased his conscious into it, and developed somewhat of a superiority complex over them. This fact does not make Matthias an evil person, as callous as he may seem, for he only believes that this is right, and doesn't know that humans also have a conscious like his own. His alien mind makes it hard for Matthias to empathize for humanity, and also makes him seem creepy, as he often says inappropriate things regarding the captivating features of certain people, as he is obsessed with human beauty. So obsessed in fact, that he is sometimes lost in one's attractiveness, but this doesn't stem into lust, as Matthias just wants to consume them and add their beauty to his. Matthias also appreciates his gift of fleshcraft, and enjoys learning biology and practising fleshcraft. He is not a destructive person, and wants to help the world rather than destroy it for it is still his home, which is what stops him from committing mass genocide like other Vaurons, he just sees his needs above everyone else's.

## Powers and Abilities

* ***Fleshcraft:*** The natural power of all Vaurons. This miraculous art form lets the Vauron race manipulate, shape, consume and generate flesh, biomass and organic material. It is not limited to any specific species, and increases in power the more genomes a Vauron perfects. Vaurons can also use this to increase their bodily functions and conditions for the better, allowing them to surpass their species' regular biological limits, but all uses of fleshcraft that involve increasing mass must first be fueled by consuming the flesh of others. This ability also grants Matt powers such as forming weapons from flesh, blood or bone, or boosting his speed and strength.
	+ **Genome Sequencing:** The path to biological transcendence, a Vauron's way to increase their fleshcrafting abilities. Vaurons can manipulate the flesh of any being, but the more they learn about the flesh of a complex intelligent being such as humans, the closer they become to perfecting their genome. Perfecting a genome means to have complete knowledge over a race's genes, by consuming enough of them, which allows one to increase their control over that organism's flesh. The more genomes perfected, the stronger the Vauron. Matthias currently hasn't even perfected the human genome, but that is his current goal. Matthias's father perfected the Ero genome, granting Matt the flesh form of an Ero, though the genome isn't fully perfected for him.
		- Flesh Form: A flesh form is the result of when a Vauron changes their own flesh to look like someone other than their base form (the form they were born as). Flesh forms can be saved if the Vauron consumes an organism, allowing them to always transform back into them. Simply consuming any organism, regardless of genome sequencing, will allow you to become them whenever you please, even if they're an alien species, this also gives you a fraction of their species' powers. Simply fleshcrafting your own face to look like something else is dangerous and tough, and would not change something like your DNA on sensors or your voice, only a flesh form makes you a clone of that organism.
* ***Human Physiology:*** Matthias was born with human flesh meshed with Vauron DNA, and thus has a human physiology as his base form. With his genome not yet perfect, he hasn't unlocked true fleshcrafting ability in this form, but he has absorbed enough human DNA to have increased conditioning and physiology, provided he has enough biomass to support these bodily changes. For example, Matthias has the strength to overpower any mortal man, durability to survive decapitation and speed to outrun race horses. These physical abilities require little biomass as it is his base form, however other flesh forms require more biomass to fleshcraft themselves.
* ***Ero Physiology:*** The Ero is a race of psychic, elegant and peaceful aliens from a distant planet in the Milky Way. They have a humanoid form and advanced technology. Matthias's father was a Vauron born as an Ero who had also perfected the genome, and when he birthed Matt, he gave him a fraction of the Ero genome, but as it was a desperate attempt at birthing, the genome was underdeveloped and gave Matt only a fraction of the genome. Matthias can still take the flesh form of a member of the Ero whenever he pleases, but will turn back to his base human form when his biomass is low or when damage levels are high.
	+ **Psychokinesis:** Ero are masters of psychokinesis, but since Matt has an incomplete genome of them, he has limited mental powers. What he can do, however, is basic things such as telepathy, minor command inducement, telekinetic blasts and minor flight. All of these abilities eat out of Matt's biomass quickly since it takes biomass to become an Ero, and biomass deteriorates when excessive energy is used up.
* ***Vauron Gaze:*** The Vauron eyes are scarlet in colour and catlike, they never change no matter the flesh form, and are the key to Vauronity. Vaurons used to use them to communicate through eye contact before the days of language, and they are also used on enemies. Upon looking into one's eyes with these Vauron eyes, that organism becomes susceptible to fleshcraft, basically they are "marked" by the Vauron. The mark lasts forever, but if they go out of range of the Vauron, which is usually a city-wide radius, then they will be unaffected. Matt sees this as a downside, as he is still inexperienced and could accidentally fleshcraft someone unwillingly, so he covers his eyes with tinted glasses to avoid marking everyone he meets. Vaurons can still mark blind people, as the gaze can still stare *into* you, which can mark you regardless of your sight.

### Weaknesses

* ***Healing:*** Vaurons have no real healing factor, and will never regenerate lost limbs naturally. The only way they can is by consuming the same or similar part from another being. Vaurons will not bleed out and can survive lethal wounds such as headshots, but the only thing that prevents them from shrugging it off is the pain. Vaurons are very intolerant of pain and faint easily, which leads to unwanted problems. Vaurons also wake up again easily, as they only sleep two hours or so for rest, and could wake up from the pain minutes or even seconds later. No matter how large a Vauron grows, they are homogeneous when it comes to pain, as attacking one limb will be pain felt throughout the entire body of flesh.
	+ **Vauron Eyes:** Vauron eyes are their equivalents to souls, a Vauron will never die as long as their eyes stay intact. Destroy their body, but if their eyes reach some biomass, the Vauron can regenerate. The eyes are as strong as diamonds, but blinding bright lights can knock Vaurons unconscious instantly, and particularly powerful lights with constant exposure can blind the Vauron or even kill them. The Sun has this effect, and staring at it would knock the Vauron out if not wearing strong sunglasses.
* ***Ero Weakness:*** His Ero form has the shared weakness of the Ero race, which is loud noises and fire. Loud noises numb their psychic powers as they come from a quiet and peaceful planet, and fire turns them to ashes in mere minutes. Fire from an explosion is what killed Matthias's father from burning, and his children died instantly in the blast because of the fire as well.