Robin Hale

*"Ah, shit." - Robin Hale*

## Biography

Robin is an affectionate gremlin of a man that occasionally has a tendency to act a bit more like a delinquent teenager than a grown-ass man. He is completely blind, but rather navigates by precise echolocation (in part due to his sonic manipulation), and leans towards the 'chaotic good' side of things. 'Good' is a little questionable though, at times. He is an artist, as well; specifically, of the musical variety, somewhere around 'indie rock'. He is well-known, a name commonly recognized when spoken and most certainly a familiar face from concerts and photoshoots.

Robin was always a soft boy; affectionate, sweet, even long after his mother passed away in a house fire when he was young. He was left to be raised by a single father who had never been particularly affectionate in the first place-- to this day, he believes his father resents him for surviving the fire instead of his mother. He did not have an easy run at life. Alienated, beaten, abused; even after his cancer diagnosis when he was thirteen. Chemotherapy sent him into remission, but not before losing his eyesight completely due to the cancer. When he was sixteen, he left home to live with his friend's family. His father couldn't have cared less, and they have not spoken or seen each other since-- though not for lack of trying on Robin's behalf.

He had always had a knack for music; listening to it, writing it, making it. He preferred to skip classes with his friends and go play music and hang out in his buddy's garage. In his early twenties, he began posting their music online, as well as doing solo work; taking requests, doing covers, and occasionally posting his own written songs. Him and his four friends formed their band in 2012, initially named 'Born Victim', but soon changing to 'Sunset Drive' to better suit the style of music they played.

In September of 2015, they were preparing to play a gig in a small bar in their hometown of Baltimore when the Fenyang bomb was set off. While the bar evacuated due to the chaos outside, Robin's powers manifested immediately. While he had already had a general idea of his surroundings, he wasn't expecting to suddenly know where absolutely everything was. Every tiny sound became rapidly overwhelming, the turn of a peg across the room pinpointing where his best friend was tuning his bass, the rapid footsteps of people out in the main lounge trying to escape or hide due to the chaos. He wasn't expecting to hear everything so clearly that he could see it-- but he thought maybe it was a bad trip. He *had*, after all, popped a tab or two of LSD before the show.

In the following weeks, however, he began to notice that people listened to him more. Seemed more attracted to his voice, more responsive towards him when he spoke. More and more people began to attend their concerts, promote their music-- and by late 2016, they were booking national tours and picking out a shiny new tour bus to replace their shitty old van.

Now, when Robin isn't out of town playing shows, he hangs around his hometown of Baltimore. He can often be found just about anywhere; the park, the coffee shop, the frozen yogurt place-- even the sex shop every now and again. He has no trouble getting peace and quiet when he needs it. After all, who wouldn't want to listen to such a convincing voice?

## Personality

Robin is known for many things due to his career as a musician-- including his personality. He is known to be incredibly kind, affectionate, friendly, and creative, though also a bit oblivious and slow to catch concepts at times. He often speaks without thinking and occasionally says some rather dumb things, though can hardly be considered offensive. However, he also has a tendency to flinch when people are angry, and will often shy away from personal conflict, such as arguments or street fights.

More importantly, however, he is known for being incredibly noticeable when he speaks. His voice, even at a normal volume, can be picked out among a massive crowd and is able to easily command the attention of an entire room, as a byproduct of his sonic powers.

## Powers and Abilities

Robin is a Victory-class metahuman with the ability of *Sonic Manipulation* with the *Performance* baked-in skillset and the *Presence* elective skillset, *Senses* as his secondary power, and a weakness of *Intelligence*.

Level 1: Echolocation - He can navigate well enough by listening for or making small sounds (such as clicking his tongue, snapping his fingers, and whistling) that enable him to visualize an area as the sound waves bounce off of objects and reflect back to himself. Normal humans have been documented in real life as being able to do this, as such it is generally passive, but with a little bit of energy exertion and conscious effort he can pick out much finer details and follow them. As a byproduct, his voice is /very/ deep, and /very/ smooth, which often seems a bit more pronounced; easier to notice, easier to latch onto and listen to, a bit more attractive or attention-grabbing. Hence his occupation as a musician!

Level 2: Amplification - Amplifying sound waves and funneling them in a certain direction in order to allow him to push objects-- or people!-- around, pin them to a surface, or temporarily overload the senses of those without hearing protection or extra-sensitive hearing. This can also be used to amplify and project his voice when directed into the open air, in order to grab the attention of a particularly noisy group when normal yelling volume doesn't do the trick.

Level 3: Banshee Scream - The use of a far louder noise, such as a scream or a crash, and amplifying it greatly within a large radius outside of himself. People with unprotected ears would likely be debilitated, and those with enhanced hearing could be rendered completely unconscious, and it has a strong chance of knocking people and objects down. The noise itself could come from him, from another object, or from a 'sound bomb'; one of those nasty little things that you pull the pin on and throw into a room to emit a high-pitched squeal, amplified a hundred-fold or worse. Can be VERY destructive and dangerous; ruptured ear drums, destruction or destabilization of structures, physical injury, etc.

## Equipment

Robin carries a smartphone equipped with a screen reader, his wallet with approximately $50 to $200 cash depending on the day among his bank card, photo ID, and several other items within, and a switchblade concealed within one of his pockets.

## Relationships

Robin Hale is a mostly-heterosexual man that has a short history of relationships and a long history of one night stands and flings. He has had a total of two girlfriends, both of which were seemingly mutual and peaceful break-ups.

## Sunset Drive

[ REAL LIFE REFERENCE: KALEO ]

After their rapid rise to fame over the past few years, the band usually tours once a year; they make more than enough off of physical and digital sales to not need to tour constantly to keep the income flowing like some bands, and they put out new music, new videos, new merch all the time. They'll travel for weekend festivals and concerts throughout the year while they aren't touring, and are back home within a few days.

Sunset Drive can be described as a lot of things; indie rock, psychedelic rock, modern rock, soft rock, folk rock... It all boils down to 'rock'. They are known in part for their captivating music and intriguing music videos recorded in or around strange places, such as active volcanos, inactive volcanos, on floating ice plains, and elsewhere.