Powerful Bill

Powerful Bill is an American psychic superhero and the leader of NOVA.

## Biography

Billy Simmons was a normal boy growing up on the outskirts of Detroit. He was a poor student and only slightly better athlete, and his only remarkable trait was the dogged determination that kept him in school despite his natural difficulty following lessons. His metahuman abilities lay dormant and might've remained that way forever if Dr. Destroyer hadn't decided to annihilate his home town.

Plodding his way through remedial summer classes, Bill never heard the news. The "Battle of Detroit" was far away and his head was down over his books. But suddenly there was a bright light and the temperature in the classroom rose ten degrees. Billy looked up, thinking that maybe a power surge in the decrepit school's wiring had messed with the lights and killed the AC. He was horrified to see that everyone else in the classroom had fallen down dead, all victims of the neutrino bomb Destroyer detonated miles away in the heart of the city.

As the news came in and the death toll mounted, Billy realized that he owed his life to some unknown power in himself. With his city and family gone, he accepted a small federal relocation grant and moved to New York City. There, he attempted to make contact with several different super heroes, hoping to find someone to help him understand his powers. Nobody took the plain, slow-talking Midwestern boy seriously until he crossed paths with Decibelle, a member of NOVA, who took pity on the poor kid. She was shocked when she realized that his talk of unknown powers wasn't bluster or wishful thinking, and took him to NOVA's HQ to learn more about him.

The team was welcoming to Bill and invited him along on a trial basis. Displaying his crippling lack of imagination, he named himself "Powerful Bill" and joined in on some routine patrols. When NOVA accidentally crossed paths with the Brain Trust, Bill defeated the villains nearly single-handedly and saved Decibelle's life in the process. He was immediately inducted into the team as a full member, and Powerful Bill has been the rock at the center of the team ever since. As the group slowly rotated membership, he eventually took the vacant leadership position and now commands NOVA as it fights crime throughout New York and beyond.

## Personality

Powerful Bill enjoys being a superhero and doing good, but he doesn't really understand the huge personalities at play in the superhuman world. In his mind, most conflicts between metahumans could be solved easily with discussion. It baffles him that most supervillains would prefer to fight rather than just go to jail and hire a lawyer. Bill's attitude when responding to a super crime is irritation, and he typically offers villains multiple opportunities to surrender in order to cut an annoying fight short.

Bill is a good leader for NOVA thanks to his hands-off approach, though he sometimes wishes someone else would take on the responsibility. Bill is a bit more mature than the average NOVA member and tries not to come across as a grumpy old man, but he expects others to live up to his work ethic and this occasionally causes friction. Bill talks slowly, and combined with his learning disability this leads some to conclude he is dim-witted. But while he may lack book smarts, Bill is a keen observer of human behavior and he's always the first to know when something is troubling his teammates.

## Powers

Powerful Bill is a reality-warping psychic, though he doesn't realize it. He has the subconscious ability to change events to fit his perception of what he expects, rather than follow the normal course of what should actually happen. This lets him ignore inconvenient things like incoming damage or his opponents' immunity to his attacks. Any attack too subtle to notice, such as poison or mental assault, may simply bounce harmlessly off Bill's protective obliviousness.

Bill's powers work on a totally unconscious level and he doesn't understand their functioning. He knows that he is superhumanly strong and tough, but he has no idea why or even how powerful he actually is. This is a result of deliberate ignorance on his part. Bill doesn't care to learn more about his abilities so long as they keep working. When he punches some costumed jerk, they go down; that's all he needs to know.

In combat, Powerful Bill relies on a very basic strategy of pummeling the toughest-looking guy he can reach. His capabilities expand to allow him to succeed; sometimes his strength increases to pierce defenses, or his reaction time increases to help him catch an elusive foe. All this happens because he expects to defeat his opponent, and reality obligingly adjusts to accommodate Bill's expectations.

Powerful Bill's potential is unknown and likely to stay that way. He has little interest in expanding his skill set or exploring the limits of his powers.

## Weaknesses

Powerful Bill has no movement abilities beyond a slightly faster-than-average running speed, and relies on his teammates for transportation. Mobile foes can run rings around him.

Because Bill's powers are rooted in his expectations, he has a unique weakness to Presence attacks. Any villain that can convince Bill that his powers are ineffective can actually short-circuit Bill's abilities, weakening them as he subconsciously comes to expect defeat. This isn't easily done, as Bill is incredibly stubborn and tends to ignore anything villains say, but anyone who manages it can take Bill out of a fight without lifting a finger.

Bill has a totally public identity and villains have little difficulty locating him or his extended family.