Black Lotus

**Wesley Kane** is the son of Damian and Miranda Kane, the infamous supervillains Phantom Limb and Siren. He is initially known as **Ghoul** and serves as Crimson Cowl's apprentice, and later dons the mantle of **Black Lotus** following his mentor's death and the subsequent psychotic break he experiences. He is the main character of *Man & Myth*, serving as the primary perspective through which we meet many other characters in the universe.

## Family & History

Phantom Limb and Siren are the leaders of the shadow organization Watching Eye, eluding capture by police or heroes. However, when Siren gives birth to their son and heir to the organization, Wesley, their newborn son is kidnapped by one of the members of the Watching Eye who wishes to save him from their life of crime. He is taken in by a farmer and his wife living in the outskirts of the Capital, who help him learn how to use his powers for good.

At the age of 14, he takes the Hero Certification Exam and passes, but does poorly. As such, he joins a provisional team, Team Nails, where he meets his future lover Hair-Trigger, as well as other heroes that he becomes close friends with.

## Zone 13

### Apprenticeship

After Masquerade is defeated, Crimson Cowl, who was Phantom Limb's nemesis but also respected him deeply, offers to make Wesley his apprentice. He agrees, and he joins him in Zone 13, sparking the *Zone 13* series and the beginning of the Zone 13 Stories.

Wesley grows as a hero and a person during this time, but finds himself growing increasingly at odds with his mentor and wracked by thoughts of his dead father.

### Death of Crimson Cowl

This comes to a head with the re-emergence of the Puppetmaster, the pair's greatest nemesis, who severely injures Crimson Cowl and gives Wesley brain damage and puts him in a coma. After awakening, the two leave Zone 13 to train and rehabilitate, but this proves to be the snapping point, leading to Wesley leaving Crimson Cowl to track down, torture, and murder the Puppetmaster. However, this plays into the Puppetmaster's plan, resulting in the death of Crimson Cowl and the transformation of Wesley into Black Lotus. This saga is known as the Birth of Black Lotus Sequence.

## Black Lotus

The Birth of Black Lotus Sequence marks the end of the *Zone 13* series and the beginning of the *Black Lotus* series. Already having displayed a penchant for violence and vengeance in his younger days that Crimson Cowl tried to restrain, Wesley embraces this side of himself as Black Lotus. During his psychotic break following the death of his mentor, in which he savagely murders the Puppetmaster, his old personality is fragmented and pieced back together with elements of his original self, his master, and his greatest enemy. He is mostly mentally stable now, but it's precarious.

However, his extreme and direct tactics prove to be effective, with Zone 13 experiencing a period of relative peace, aided by a gang truce brokered by Fatal Fist. As such, there is a two-year gap in the story, picking back up with a slightly older and more stable Wesley Kane as the peace falls apart. Returning to the fight, he struggles to restrain his sadistic personality from emerging.