Nightwarden

* Vigilante
* Civilian
* Year 1

"*After everything I've suffered...everything that I've seen this city become...**I don't care** what happens to me. **It doesn't matter**. All that matters is that **they** know who I am. [...] I am **fear**. I am **vengeance**. I am the **Nightwarden**,*"
—Nightwarden[src]

**Charles "Charlie" Francis Blake** is the eponymous protagonist of *The Nightwarden*. Years after the brutal murder of his father, Charlie uses his family's fortune to become a wrathful vigilante known as **Nightwarden** and bring criminals to justice, all while struggling not to lose his morals and allow his anger to consume him. Two years after beginning his crusade, Nightwarden found himself up against a depraved serial killer called the Werewolf and slowly unravelled a conspiracy that linked his own family to the killer's crimes.

## Biography

### Early Life and Background

Charles Blake was born in the mid 1990s in the city of Haven, New Jersey. His father's family, the Turners, were working class Irish-Americans while his mother's family, the Blakes, were a wealthy family who helped found Haven. Due to the meddling of his grandfather, Francis, Charlie was born with his mother's surname and selected to become the next heir to their vast fortune as the head of BlakeCorp.

When Charlie was just six, his father was brutally murdered while walking Charlie home from school, an incident that scarred the young boy for life. The killer wore a black mask, which would prove to be the sole physical detail that Charlie could remember of the perpetrator. Charlie developed a twitch in his right eye as a result of the trauma arising from his father's blood covering his face.

Taking the rage and hurt it caused him as motivation, and with the help of his nanny-turned-landlady Beverly Waters, Charlie grew up to become the crime-fighting vigilante detective known as the Nightwarden, striking great fear in the hearts of criminals he encountered. He also adopted the alias of Elias Trench, a mysterious benefactor to the Havenite Concerns Board, through which he attempted to indirectly control certain aspects of the criminal underworld.

### Year One

#### Hunting Mr. M

In an effort to prove himself as Haven's protector, Nightwarden dedicated himself to hunting and apprehending the terrorist and serial killer known as Looking Glass. During the investigation, Nightwarden discovered that the killer had hid themselves behind mirrors that they had installed in their victims' homes, where they also stored the corpses of those they killed. Once he discovered this, Nightwarden deduced the killer's true identity to be a mysterious man known only as "Mr. M".

### Year 2

By his second year as a vigilante, Nightwarden had a working relationship with the Haven City Police Department, forming a particularly strong bond with Sarah Waters and new detective James Bruno. He would also help attempt to solve the case of the serial killer known as the Werewolf. While attempting to solve this case, he would also come into conflict with his old enemy Mr. M, who taunted the Nightwarden from behind bars.

## Overview

### Personality

To the world at large, Charlie is a self-absorbed, irresponsible playboy and philanthropist with little regard for money or those outside of his social class. Only his closest allies know that this attitude is just an act; contrary to his public persona, Charlie is a dark and brooding young man with a personal vendetta against crime and injustice. Psychologically traumatized by the violent murder of his father, Nightwarden has sworn to rid Haven City of crime just as his father had done. He is extremely pessimistic and suspicious, which often makes it difficult for him to trust people other than Walter and Beverly Waters, Harry Hobbs or Hogan; he also has a fledgling trust in HCPD detective Sarah Waters.

He often takes out his anger, frustration and trauma on Haven City's criminals given his brutal and terrifying methods; his reputation as the Nightwarden has been unfavorable in the eyes of the HCPD and Haven City's residents as a result. Charlie is unbothered by how all this affects him given his rugged, gaunt appearance and the many scars he has accumulated. This suggests that he's even willing to die for his crusade.

## Powers, Equipment & Abilities

### Powers

Nightwarden is not known to possess superhuman powers.

### Equipment

Unlike most vigilantes, Nightwarden has access to vast resources thanks to his wealth. As a result, Nightwarden's gear is more akin to specialist military equipment, giving him a significant advantage over the police and his enemies.

#### Armour and Apparel

* **Warden Suit:** Nightwarden utilizes a suit of body armour originally designed for stealth combat by U.S special forces. The bodysuit is made of hardened kevlar plates on a titanium-dipped fiber and is broken into multiple pieces of armor for greater mobility. Nightwarden's original suit was a leather jacket and plastic mask that was badly damaged during his final confrontation with Looking Glass.
	+ **Armour Plating:** Nightwarden's armour is made of several kevlar plates that provide him resistance to small-arms fire and stab wounds.
	+ **Springed boots:** Nightwarden's boots contain high-tension springs in the soles that allow him to jump great distances.
	+ **Mask:** Nightwarden's original mask was a helmet that only covered the top half of his face. His Mark II helmet once more covers the top half of his face, with the rest covered by a black sheet and a pair of black goggles that hide his eyes.

#### Weapons

* **Fighting staff**
* **Throwing knives:** Nightwarden's throwing knives are a set of non-lethal weapons with blunted ends and razor-sharp edges. The knives serve as instruments of disarming, distraction, confusion or simply to warn his would-be adversaries that Nightwarden is present.

#### Gear

* **Signal jammer**
* **Voice modulator:** Charlie wears a voice modulator around his neck that deepens the pitch of his voice, further concealing his true identity. The deepened voice also serves as another source of intimidation for criminals.
* **Grapple:** Nightwarden uses a military prototype grapple gun made of a length of monofilament wire attached to a spool. It can be used to make a quick ascent to a rooftop or offensively to pull people or objects.
* **Face paint:** *To be added...*

#### Vehicles

* **Motorcycle:** Nightwarden's modified racing motorbike allows him to traverse the city much faster than the HCPD, allowing him to reach the scene of a crime before his targets are able to escape.

### Abilities

* **Peak Human Condition**: Although Nightwarden has no superpowers, he relies on his scientific knowledge, detective skills, and athletic prowess. Through intense training, specialized diet, and meditation, Nightwarden represents the near-pinnacle of human physical prowess. His strength, speed, stamina, agility, reflexes, senses and endurance are at the peak of human potential.
	+ **Peak-human Strength**: Nightwarden's strength is at peak human levels, being easily strong enough to break a gang member's arm with minimal effort. He can casually send grown men flying off their feet with his attacks alone.
	+ **Peak-human Reflexes:** Nightwarden has exceptionally fast reflexes, quickly outmaneuvering a gang member's attack and beating him into the ground before he had a chance to react.
* **Master Martial Artist**: Nightwarden has reached an exceptional ability in many forms of hand-to-hand combat. He has knowledge and skill in various martial arts, including but not limited to MMA, Taekwondo, Judo, Jiu-jitsu, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Ninjutsu, Fencing, Wrestling, Boxing, Kickboxing, Parkour, Aikido, Tai Chi, Kung Fu and Karate. His combat ability is even said to rival that of a similar vigilante, the New York City defender known as "Nobody", who possesses superhuman martial arts skill.
* **Deduction**: Nightwarden is capable of observation, forensic investigation, and inductive and deductive reasoning of the highest caliber thanks to training with the Pinkertons.
* **Intimidation:** As Nightwarden, Charlie commands an intimidating presence, to the point where many criminals fear him.
* **Driving ability**: Charlie has expertise in evasive driving with a variety of vehicles from motorcycles to cars to boats. He also has rally driving experience.
* **Multilingualism**: Charlie's extensive education and travel experience has made him extremely fluent in English, Spanish, Japanese, German, Russian, Arabic, French, Latin, Cantonese, Mandarin, and many more.
* **Genius-Level Intellect**: Nightwarden's IQ is possibly over 160; he is an expert detective, strategist and tactician. Thanks to his having received an extensive education, as well as his mental training and being naturally gifted, he has acquired an instant learning aptitude and a more powerful memory. He has studied biology, technology, mathematics, engineering and physics, and has secretly earned degrees in chemistry and computer sciences.

## Trivia

* Currently, only four individuals are confirmed to know that Charlie is the Nightwarden.
	+ Beverly Waters, Charlie's nanny-turned-landlord
	+ Walter Waters, Charlie's landlord and inventor of some of his equipment
	+ Harry Hobbs, Charlie's bodyguard and confidant
	+ Hogan, Charlie's driver