Bert Ratsen

**Bartholomew "Bert" Ratsen** is a character in the *OutStander* series who appears as the main character and protagonist of all parts of OutStander comic.

## Personality

Bert's personality partially changes from the first to the third part. At the beginning of the story, he appears to us as a calm and very depressed person, for whom, however, frequent and spontaneous fits of rage are characteristic, which he splashes out on others. Bert's aggressiveness is caused by his unhealthy lifestyle and drug abuse (in the 70s - 80s), as well as psychological trauma resulting from an unhappy childhood and the death of his mother. In communication, he behaves disdainfully. Has a habit of insulting even strangers (At the first chance meeting with Hope Byrne). He also has a specific sense of black humor, which is expressed in the humiliation of other people. At the time of the events of the second part of Outstander, Ratsen apparently became much calmer. He himself calls the loss of interest in life the reason for this. After losing both hands as a result of a battle with the Asuras in their dimension in Naraka, Bert seems to become slightly less vicious. So, during a conversation with Hope, he even apologizes for calling her a "dumb bitch."

## History

### Background

Bartholomew Ratsen was born in the small town of Helmut, Florida in the late 50s. His mother was from a family of once wealthy southern planters, and his father was an unsuccessful businessman from somewhere "from the north". Bart's birthday was named to be July 4. He himself was very worried that he was born on Independence Day, which means that "no one will take his birthday seriously."
Parents did not pay much attention to the child, so Bart (Called Bert by friends) spent all his time on the streets of Helmut, often engaged in illegal activities. At the age of twelve, Bart and his friends set fire to the barn of a farmer - Old Reggie. At the age of fourteen, he was first arrested by the local county sheriff.

## Powers and Abilities

(As  Cali embodiment)

* Superhuman physical characteristics
* Flight
* Shapeshifting (Can turn himself into fire, statues or other materials.)
* Blue Flame manipulations
* Teleportation
* Awareness (Was immediately aware of the death of Indra)
* Summonings (Summon Rakshasas against mafia members)
* Dimensional Travel and Teleportation (Can travel anywhere in the universe, as well as to other realities.)
* Regeneration (Can regenerate his body parts with Blue Flame constructs and regenerate flesh wounds incredibly fast)
* Size manipulation
* Inaccessible size

## Equipment

* Dream Drug - A mysterious drug created once by sectarians from unknown substances, among which was a dried galvanizer. At the end of the 20th century, the drug became widespread in India and Pakistan, from where it got to United States. Helps the Outstander to interact better with the demon inside. After learning the "way of the earth" from Narayan, Ratsen stopped using the drug.
* Chandrahas - The legendary sword created by Lord Shiva from the waxing crescent moon and presented to the Rakshasa king - Ravana. It was received by Bert from a descendant of Hanuman. The sword cannot be undone or destroyed, however, it can only be used as a weapon against the "wicked". Cali was able to change the rules, after which the sword can only be used at night.

## Notes

* This character is an part adaptation of Kali, a character in traditional stories. These include, but may not be limited to religious texts, myth, and/or folk lore. More information on the original can be found at Wikipedia.org.

## Trivia

* His visual appearance is based on Sid Vicious, the bass player and a frontman of the punk rock band Sex Pistol extremely popular in the UK in the late 1970s.

## Gallery

OutStander concept art 001Bert Ratsen using his primary weapon Chandrahas to push away bullets