Daniel Rivers

Oren Koga (Fellow Holder)

### Affiliations

Morning Glory AcademyUnion for Students with Special Abilities (Founder)PVSD Karate ClubPVSD Robotics Club (Founder, President)

# Daniel Rivers

***"Running around trying to play hero hasn't usually worked out. But it's the only thing I know how to do, and I gotta do something."***

### Summary

#### Appearance

Daniel Rivers is 6 feet tall, Caucasian, with blue eyes and messy brown hair. On the back of his right hand, he has a mark shaped like wings.

Daniel formerly wore the standard PVSD red Letterman jacket and jeans. He later changed this to a more unique outfit, a white T-shirt and jeans with a blue asymmetrical jacket, which he wears with the sleeves rolled up. He occasionally wears a red T-shirt with "WHAM!" on it. He wears glasses, but takes care to wear contacts whenever he expects a fight, which is often. He sometimes wears a necklace in the shape of Saturn, given to him by Roxanne MacNally, and around his right wrist, he wears half a charm, the other half belonging to Kyra Malate. Lastly, he wears a black digital watch on his left arm.

## History

### Early Life

Daniel was born in Lansing, Michigan on June 6, 2007. He lived in Michigan until middle school, when he moved. When he was young, his parents were frequently away, but his grandparents' house wasn't far, so he would often find himself walking over. He was extremely close with his grandfather, who would frequently play with him and take the boy on "adventures" in spite of his age. When Daniel was in 5th grade, his grandfather began to be seriously affected by dementia, and would pass away later in the year. In the wake of this, his parents decided to move them away, though why Poppy Valley was selected is currently unknown. In his childhood, he was competitive with his older brother, Percy, who, much to Daniel's chagrin, always seemed to beat him, no matter what they competed in.

### Middle School

Daniel attended middle school in Poppy Valley. Keeping largely to himself and drawing, he was not very popular. He had a small group of friends, but did not speak to them often. He made a habit of deliberately provoking the school bullies, including Jonathan Stead, so that they would target only him and ignore any other potential victims. This resulted in him being the target of bullying on a near-daily basis. From this, he developed a very high pain tolerance and became skilled at hiding injuries.

## Investigations/Arcs

Rivers' Halloween Ghost Hunt

Daniel's first investigation was the Ghost Hunt at the Morning Glory library. The event was suggested by Daniel himself, after hearing rumors of hauntings in the library. On top of encountering ghosts, the students accompanying him also discovered a room under the library containing surveillance footage of every dorm room across the three schools. The room also possessed an entrance into a time-bending tunnel that exited under the bleachers in the Valerian gym. The true purpose of this room is unknown as of yet.

The Major Arcana

While attempting to help classmate Parker Aoyama, Daniel was ambushed by Jester, who was possessing Parker. After being chased through the building they were investigating, Parker brought the ceiling down on Daniel, breaking his leg. This caused him to be hospitalized, but his recovery period was much faster than it should have been.

Praesidium ab Igne

Daniel was one of several students drafted by Jester using tarot cards, as a means to kill Birdwatcher before the entity could bring about the end of the world. Daniel was given the card Justice, and also was called "The Guardian" by Jester. While on a date with Roxanne MacNally, the two encountered a fallen meteorite containing an unearthly metal. While this metal was primarily used to forge weapons for the purpose of killing Birdwatcher, Roxanne kept some and made it into a necklace, which Dan wore. When the time came to face off against Birdwatcher, now inhabiting the body of Skinwalker, the combatants were trapped in an incidental time loop, repeating New Year's Eve 2022 over and over for the first week of January 2023. Finally breaking the cycle, they battled. Daniel was a lesser presence during most of the fight, but was able to turn the tides by punching Birdwalker with the necklace held in his fist, which stunned the entity long enough for his comrades to retrieve their weapons and finish Birdwalker off. Before he died, Birdwatcher revealed to Daniel that his childhood imaginary friend had in fact been Birdwatcher, who had been silently watching the world through Daniel's own eyes.

Awakening

While attempting to pick up his outfit for the spring Tea Party, Daniel met Oren Koga and had a strange conversation with him. Shortly after this, he was attacked by two monsters made of black goo, which pursued him into a junkyard in The City. They cornered him and began draining him of his blood. Believing that he would die there, he used voice-to-speech to say his farewells, lamenting that he was no hero, just a reckless kid who couldn't stay out of trouble. Deciding to put up one last fight, the Hero's Mark given to him by Koga reacted to his emotional state, reconstituting the scrap metal around the junkyard into wings.

Atlas Tech Issue 1: Can You Even Call This Infiltration?

Following a tip from Jester, Daniel investigated the company Atlas Tech. Recruiting Sienna Saing and Skinwalker as companions, they snuck in under the pretense of an internship and made it to the CEO, Reginald Atlas's office. As they speak to him, he reveals an incredibly watered-down version of his business philosophy, and confronts them about sneaking in under fake names. Shortly after, the room is flooded with security. Skinwalker has no problem dealing with the threat, while Daniel and Sienna put up an admirable fight using their respective martial arts skills. However, they quickly begin to lose ground, leading to both of them being nearly detained. As Dan is knocked down and surrounded by security, he feels his hand begin to pulsate. The Hero’s Mark given to him by Oren Koga begins to appear on the back of his hand, generating an electromagnetic force that pulls in scrap metal from the broken crates around him and temporarily reconstitutes it into a sword. This new weapon helps to turn the tide, but with the promise of more security on the way and two of the party still injured, the need for an escape route becomes clear. With little other choice, the three jump out the office window, relying on Dan and Skinwalker’s regenerative abilities to heal them and protect Sienna from grave injury. For a moment, the Mark is able to generate wings using additional scrap, but as Daniel crashes into a billboard, the wings quickly deconstitute themselves, and they plummet through a skylight into a loading dock.

As an alarm is raised, Sienna goes to find a truck for them to steal, while Skinwalker and Daniel are left to handle the immediate threat- A colossal robot, piloted by Atlas himself, which has made its way to the loading dock. During the fight, Birdwatcher lends Skinwalker his assistance, providing him with the power of slight reality alteration to tip the fight in their favor. Daniel unleashes a more powerful charged attack, which allows him to scale the robot and destroy its core in time for Sienna to get a truck up and running. The three escape, but Atlas is now even more determined to obtain Skinwalker and Daniel as research samples, having witnessed Skinwalker’s link to Birdwatcher as well as Daniel’s unknown abilities, and due to her involvement, there’s now a target on Sienna’s back as well.

Imbalance

When Kyra Malate, a girl Daniel had feelings for, was kidnapped and threatened by Vlad Lavigne, Daniel set out to attempt to find her before it was too late. He would not succeed at this, though Zeke Vernize would gain his respect for successfully rescuing her. Instead, he found his path blocked by Skinwalker, with Birdwatcher concealing his presence as well. The two hoped to use this opportunity to provoke Daniel into bringing out his new ability again. As soon as Birdwatcher revealed himself, Daniel immediately lost control of his abilities, with the Hero's Mark turning purple and the generated energy becoming unstable. He reverted to the most basic of instincts, which, in this case, was to tear Skinwalker apart. Before he had a chance, Wiseman intervened, lamenting the amount of problems the Holders across various worlds caused for him on a regular basis. Using the abilities of his book, Wiseman subdued Daniel and knocked him unconscious, while contacting the Triflora group and Rin Katsuki to tell them where to find him. While Daniel was in his uncontrollable state, Birdwatcher had nearly become consumed by the sea of information contained within the Hero's Mark on account of his link to Daniel, causing him to later remark on how ignorant Daniel was as to the scale of what he had been given.

Daniel would wake up in the nurse's office next to the very person he was trying to save, with no memory of what happened to put him in there. The two had a lengthy conversation, starting in the nurse's office and moving into the secret tunnel under the MG library, which Kyra was elated to find out about. They followed the tunnel to Valerian, where Daniel revealed his powers to her. To his surprise, she reassured him that she didn't view him any differently for his abilities, despite his worries to the contrary. When they reached her dorm, she accidentally displayed the injuries to her arms that caused them to freeze for a few moments at a time, as well as revealing that this was a result of her being severely bullied to the point of having broken bones. Comforting her, he promised not to let anybody hurt her like that again, with her promising that, likewise, anybody who hurt him would have her to deal with. Throughout the conversation, the uncertain feelings the two had for each other rapidly blossomed as they were placed in a number of romantically-fueled situations. Near the end of his visit, she began teaching him to play guitar. In the process, she reveals that her previously offering to go to the dance with Daniel was not out of pity for him being dateless, but because she had already been interested in him.

Atlas Tech Issue 2: Party Crashers

Originally, Daniel had been meant to attend the Spring Dance with Kyra, but in the wake of her kidnapping, she decided to fly back to Santorino to be with her family and recover from her experience. He did, however, have a video call with her on her birthday, where he teased her with an unknown birthday gift and said she'd just have to find out when she got back. Attending the dance without a date, Daniel is accosted by Reginald Atlas, who criticizes him for wasting his gifts in the service of people who hardly know his name and tries to tempt him with the prospect of using his power to reach the top of the food chain, additionally offering him a job at Atlas Tech. Daniel refuses on both counts and runs from him, free-running across campus to lead his Retrieval Unit of androids away from the dance. Eventually, he is cornered, and Atlas forcibly replicates the Hero's Mark, leaving Daniel soundly defeated for the first time since obtaining his powers.

Atlas Tech Issue 3: The Main Course

Atlas Tech Issue 4: Going Down

Atlas Tech Issue 5: Do You Treat All Your Intruders This Nicely?

Atlas Tech Issue 6: Mo' Money, Mo' Product

Atlas Tech Issue 7: Bringing the House Down

Atlas Tech Issue 8: The Encore

Atlas Tech Issue 8.5: Next Time On

Forming the Union for Students with Special Abilities

The Great Cataclysm: Zero War Part 2

Battle of the Bands

Meet your Maker

The Death of Daniel Rivers

CRC x METROPIA Xover Event

## Personality

Upon first attending Morning Glory, Daniel is characterized as meek and quiet. After being exposed to more supernatural circumstances, Daniel becomes a more confident and sociable person. He is generally affable and friendly, readily offering friendship and help to anyone he sees in need. He can be quite naive when it comes to trusting people, stemming from a desire to see the good in everyone. This makes him very easy to manipulate. Daniel is self-sacrificial to a fault, and will often throw himself into the path of harm to spare another. He has a bit of a protector complex, which will sometimes lead to him not letting people fight their own battles. His sense of justice is very simple and uncomplicated, which can lead to issues when he attempts to employ force in the service of his simplistic ideals. His heart is always in the right place, but the same can't be said for his head.

Since obtaining the Hero's Mark, Daniel has maintained his friendliness and sense of morality, but the power has made him more reckless and overconfident, an attribute which can often lead him into trouble.

Daniel has a tendency to mask his fear with comedy, leading to his habit of making quips and puns while in dangerous situations.

## Relationships

Daniel is incredibly close with Roxanne MacNally, whom he dated for a time. They first met at the Halloween ball by chance, and while Daniel promised to dance with her to a Gaelic song, he ended up running off when he heard rumors of a Mothman sighting on school grounds. The two would go on to meet by chance on several other instances, and eventually became friends who saw each other regularly. Roxanne confided a number of things in Daniel, such as her phobia of being touched and her esteem issues, and because of said issues, when he confessed his love for her, he was initially turned down. However, at a later time, Roxanne would realize her own feelings, and the two began dating. Daniel is intensely protective of her, and highly affectionate. His behavior around Roxanne has been compared to a happy dog. He likes to tease Roxanne about the height difference between them. He owns a necklace made of an unknown metal found somewhere in space, fashioned into the shape of Saturn, which was given to him by Roxanne. Despite them breaking up, he still wears the necklace sometimes.

He has a crush on Kyra Malate but isn't confident enough to make a move. His habit of using idioms and slang in his speech, paired with Kyra's subpar English, and the fact that they're both a little dumb, often leads into comical misunderstandings between the two. For her birthday, Daniel gave her half of a charm he had cut himself from scrap metal in the shape of the Hero's Mark.

His older brother, Percy, is viewed as the "favorite child" by Dan, being 3 years older and always beating Daniel at anything they competed in. Daniel struggles to avoid feeling as if he's walking in Percy's footsteps and desires to break out from his brother's shadow.

He is relatively close with Michael "Choco" Lotus and Rex Collins , both of whom he calls "bro". The three share a common trait of being considered "not normal", with Choco being a sleeper super soldier, the circumstances of Rex's creation being unnatural, and Daniel's body being altered to give him his powers. Notably, he's said that he always knows what Rex is thinking, because it's what he would be thinking.

He has a friendship with Max Brighton, who he looks nearly identical to. This is the topic of many jokes about the two.

Much to his chagrin, Daniel is remembered more for the time he mocked Zeke Vernize and ended up being choked until he was blue in the face, leading to him developing the derogatory nickname "Blueberry". However, this taught him a valuable lesson, and he apologized for picking fights simply because he could. Zeke earned his respect by risking his life to rescue Kyra where Daniel failed to, but Daniel has not earned Zeke's respect, and all of his attempts at acting friendly have been met with indifference.

He has a friendship with Jin Oura, though he considers her too cool for him. They've sparred before, and have several things in common, such as a love of food, a willingness to get in fights with cryptids and people alike, and a love for *Kamen Rider*.

He has a respect for Aidan Rhode and Urien Hawkwood for their strength, stoic nature, and willingness to fight for what they love. However, similarly to Zeke, it does not seem that he's earned their respect as of yet.

He is on good terms with Eleanor Black and Avram Scotch, considering them among the only authority figures at Valerian that he trusts completely. He has had a moment of bonding with both, Nora for their shared frustrations with not being able to use their skills to help their friends, and Avram for both possessing powers beyond their comprehension. He has called them "The best couple in Poppy Valley".

He has a growing relationship with Alex Fairey, both of them being involved in a number of dangerous situations.

His endeavors to throw himself into dangerous situations has earned him the ire of several figures within the student body. His attempts to help with Valerian's problems irritate many of the stricter authority figures, namely Derek Orbos and Shizuka Yamamoto.

On account of his tendency to break rules and go against regulations, he does not tend to get along well with most student-run organizational groups.

Due to possessing the Hero's Mark, Daniel has met a number of people from other universes. Before being given the Mark, he encountered Oren Koga (ORGN), who bestowed it upon him. During The Great Cataclysm: Zero War, Dan met a number of heroes from various universes, notably Riko Koga (ORGN The NEXT) and the Steel Spider (Earth-101516). During the CRC x METROPIA Xover Event, he will team up with Kenji Tachibana (Metropia) for a majority of the story. They will also engage in a guitar battle minigame against a cameoing Gitah Hibiki (Gundam Build Risers). A future arc may see him crossing paths with Gene Koga and Genie (ORGN The NEXT - G), as well as Diablo (ORGN).

When the fused universe is created, Daniel and Kenji initially fight, each believing the other to be responsible for the situation at hand. Even after resolving this, they still don't get along for some time, Daniel's youthful hot-bloodedness clashing with Kenji's jaded outlook. However, they bond over their shared willingness to brave danger for the sake of doing what's right, and find a way to balance each other out.

Daniel's favorite animal is the Capybara, and he has a pet capybara named Toffee who he built a small house for near the Morning Glory lake,

## Skills and Abilities

Daniel is a decent artist, working primarily with traditional paper art and using markers for coloring. However, compared to his peers at Morning Glory, he is somewhat subpar.

He is a collector of Gundam Plastic models, and is quite adept at customizing and kitbashing with them.

Since joining the school karate club, he has trained intensely, allowing him to quickly master a number of techniques in a short amount of time. His preferred method is kicking.

Because Birdwatcher had inhabited his body for so long as a child, Daniel possesses latent physical attributes that linger in his body even after the entity's death. With proper training, these enhancements could be brought to the surface, but so far, he only possesses accelerated healing. Cuts and bruises heal within minutes, and a broken leg, which should take months to heal, was healed in a matter of weeks, and during the process, was able to be used normally for a few seconds at a time.

When Daniel was about to die from having his blood drained, he was bestowed with the Hero's Mark by a man from another universe. This mark contains a vast sea of information about other universes, which Daniel cannot properly access. It grants him the power to temporarily reconstitute matter via electromagnetism. Using this, he can turn loose material into weapons and simple tools, however, it must be something that he can conceive of, and currently, he is incapable of creating anything with moving parts. These constructs can remain intact for as long as his focus lasts, and he can deconstitute them at any time.

The Hero's Mark, as it currently is, cannot coexist with Birdwatcher's influence. The clashing powers cause damage to Daniel's body, and weaken the mental safeguards used to protect his brain from being exposed to the entirety of the information that the Mark contains at once, which would kill him. Due to this, information is leaking into his brain every time he uses his powers. Eventually, this could have dire consequences for Daniel.

### Weaknesses

Daniel is easily manipulated, due to his low intellect and willingness to trust people.

Daniel's overconfidence often leads him into situations he isn't equipped to handle, and only quick problem solving gets him out.

His constructs are limited by the materials available to him. He prefers to use scrap metal, but if he has none, he will have to settle for whatever is present in his current environment.

If his concentration is broken, his constructs will deconstitute themselves.

If he is wearing glasses instead of contacts, breaking these will severely limit his vision.

Despite his healing factor, blunt force trauma will still render him unconscious if well-aimed. His immune system is still vulnerable, and he has no way of replenishing his blood fast enough to avoid dying from blood loss.

His warring powers are causing unseen damage within his body, and can go out of control at any given time. This can be easily accomplished by aggravating him or inducing extreme stress. Additionally, if he continues using his powers unchecked, enough information will leak into his brain to incur terminal brain damage. Because of the information bleed-through, he often complains of headaches.

## Trivia

Daniel's character inspirations are listed as: Daniel LaRusso (The Karate Kid), Miguel Diaz (Cobra Kai), Percy Jackson (Percy Jackson and the Olympians), Yusuke Godai (Kamen Rider Kuuga), Eiji Hino (Kamen Rider OOO), Sakurai Keiwa (Kamen Rider Geats), Peter Parker (Spectacular Spider-Man), Peter Parker (MCU), Josuke Higashikata (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure), Ben Tennyson (Ben 10), Rex Salazar (Generator Rex), Chai (Hi-Fi Rush), Fred Jones (Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated), Brian D (VGHS), and Hibiki Tachibana (Symphogear). Most of these characters are generally good-natured people with a strong moral compass, and many are prone to quipping during battle.

As befitting his name and one of his character inspirations, *The Karate Kid* is Daniel's favorite movie, followed by *Speed Racer*.

Daniel Rivers is one of many characters from other universes who appear in the final battle of the Zero War arc in The Great Cataclysm RP Server. By the time he appears, he possesses the Hero's Mark, and is able to use it to construct an improvised suit for himself and battle the Mu. He also has a notable interaction with the Wayfield High Paranormal Research Club, in which he mistakes them for being related to the PRC of his world.

Daniel is a huge fan of tokusatsu, particularly Kamen Rider, which has led to him forming a group chat called HenshinGangGANG with a small handful of other students, notably Jin Ou and Tensei Gemu. He looks up to Kamen Riders as idols and role models, as referenced by his repeated line of "Kamen Rider is a guide for life".

His preferred constructs are a sword and a pair of blunt oversized fists.

Many of his constructs contain one of two things: A gear pulley, or a light switch cover.

Daniel has a hypothetical transformation that would involve him Splicing with Birdwatcher using the Gene Riser (ORGN The NEXT - G). The appearance and name of this form, as well as what Fusion Slides would be used to access it, are currently unknown.

## Notable Quotes

*"I am so confused. What's going on and who are you guys?"*

*"We're, uh...the Wayfield High Paranormal Research Club."*

*"Oh, no way, you guys are in the PRC? That's so cool, I'm in the Conspiracy Research Club. What are the odds, right?"*

-Daniel Rivers and Samuel Steele

*"Kamen Rider is a guide to life."*

-Daniel

*"Did you see the stars?"*

*-*Birdwatcher's last words to Daniel

*"That kid has no idea what he's tapped into. He's carrying around a nuke inside his head, and he doesn't even know it."*

-Birdwatcher, commenting on how dangerous the Hero's Mark is