Dr. Nano

Dr. Nano is a cyborg superhero and member of Champions United.

## Biography

As a child Jerry Hamerich was a scientific prodigy. He was a brilliant boy who dreamed of putting his love of robotics to work for the good of mankind. At age twelve his ideas were winning nationally-recognized awards, and by eighteen he'd designed his crowning achievement: a cancer-fighting organic nanobot to be made entirely out of hydrocarbons and sodium strings. This research caught the attention of UNTIL, who were so impressed that Jerry was immediately offered the chance to come work in their experimental medical labs while he completed his doctorate on the side. Jerry accepted at once, knowing that UNTIL had state-of-the-art equipment and were committed to the public good.

The project to produce the organic robots made slow but steady progress, and Jerry was convinced he was close to a breakthrough. But at age 20, with his research still incomplete, he suffered a seizure and collapsed in the lab. Jerry had had minor incidents before, and had always chalked them up to the stress of his hectic work and studies, but when doctors examined him they found he had a rare and aggressive degenerative disorder that was causing several of his organs to decay rapidly. There was no potential course of treatment, as no drug could repair the exponentially-increasing damage quickly enough. Even worse were the seizures, growing in frequency and intensity, that threatened to destroy his brilliant mind.

With the clock ticking and nothing left to lose, Jerry manufactured an experimental version of his nanomachines to use on himself. With his body degrading so badly that he could not hold the syringe unaided, Jerry was given a painful series of injections to introduce the robots to his hypothalamus.

The result was miraculous-- at least, at first. His body began to utilize the nanobots immediately, excising diseased tissue and repairing the damage in a hundred locations at once. After a few feverish days, Jerry's vital signs had stabilized, his weakened organs were returning to normal, and his seizures had stopped altogether. But an examination revealed that the nanobots had been so aggressive that they had invaded his glands and reprogrammed them to produce more nanobots. The machines had been intended to flush naturally out of his system, but instead they had become a permanent part of his biology!

Spurred on by his success, Jerry continued to find new ways to employ his nanomachines. He found that with practice he could command them to form complex structures both within and outside his body, and they massively boosted his body's immune system by aggressively attacking foreign cells. He was wondering how he could put these discoveries to use to help people when he was visited by a gang of VIPER thugs. They were aware of his research and had no qualms about its potentially dangerous side effects; though they said that they admired his work and wanted to make radical new cancer medicines with it, Jerry was no fool. He knew full well that his work could be bent to creating terrifying biological weapons. The VIPER goons weren't taking no for an answer, however, and while some of them began to rifle his papers the squad leader grabbed Jerry and started to deliver him a sound beating. Desperate to defend himself, the young man lashed out, smashing the thug straight through a wall with a blow from a nanomachine-covered fist. By the time he was through, all of the VIPER agents were either unconscious or had fled.

Jerry realized that he had to protect the world from his own creation-- and he also thought the idea of becoming a crimefighter was really, really cool. He encoded all of his notes into the very DNA of his own hippocampus and then destroyed the physical copies. He took the name Doctor Nano and continued his research with the help of some other super-scientists, eventually joining the expanding Champions organization. Now he lends his scientific and medical expertise to his team while still advancing his medical research; he has not given up on inventing a nanobot cure for all mankind's ills.

## Personality

Doctor Nano is an archetypical do-gooder. He combines a doctor's respect for the sanctity of life with a young man's desire to be a hero and save the day. Even among heroes he is considered exceptionally selfless, risking life and limb to spare injuries to others. He is also a well-known figure in the medical community and doesn't bother maintaining a secret identity (after all, VIPER has known all about him for years).

Nano truly believes in his research and hasn't given up hope of creating the perfect nanomachine therapy; he has already successfully cured many terminal patients who approached him privately (he is not legally allowed to dispense his therapy unless a case is hopelessly life-threatening). He dedicates himself utterly to his work, only taking occasional days to "recharge" when he hits a wall in his research.

## Powers

Doctor Nano is technically a cyborg, but his organically-produced microbots lack high-tech capabilities others might expect from "nanomachines." Even so, they can generate impressive bursts of chemical energy, disassemble objects, and vastly increase the host's physical capabilities. They can also be administered to the sick or injured, passing through Nano's touch to heal the wounded on the molecular scale.

In combat Nano is a relatively straightforward fighter, though he has a number of support powers that help him heal or bolster his teammates. Although he can't help loving a good fight, Jerry knows he isn't the strongest guy on the field and focuses to find ways to support his allies or undermine his foes. His nanites are particularly adept at attacking objects on the microscopic level; this could be a deadly attack but the good doctor refuses to use it on a living target. In fact, Nano staunchly refuses to use lethal force, and would rather let an enemy escape than take a life. Even so, he's no fool; he will fight tooth and nail to stop a truly evil villain, reasoning that he can always heal their injuries himself if necessary.

## Weakness

Dr. Nano's greatest weakness is that all his powers--healing, defense, physical amplification, energy blasts, and so on-- draw from the same limited reservoir of nanobots. He tends to run out of power faster than other heroes, and once his supply of 'bots is gone he cannot create any more without rest and a supply of nutrients.

Nano's nanobots are particularly susceptible to chemical attack, breaking down quickly in low-PH environments, and as a result he takes more damage than normal from acid-based attacks.