Rock Banner

## **This article, Rock Banner, is a Role-Play article.**

**Rock Banner** is a character in Lookout III. He is a Human male with a troubled past.

Because he is mute, Rock communicates through **Astor**, an AI that speaks through his wristwatch. He and Astor basically live in, and travel through space in a space pod. The space pod is comfy enough for the two of them.

## Appearance and personality

Rock is a tall muscular man with long gray hair. His hair became gray prematurely and was originally black. He also has a chinbeard and tends to wear sunglasses.

He will often go shirtless or wear a jacket with no shirt underneath. Rock tends to wear ragged clothing. He doesn't have a particular style, he just wears whatever. He always wears casual clothing.

Rock is somewhat emotionally detached and may come off as cold. Due to his past experiences, this should come as no surprise. He does, however, regard Astor as a friend. Even though Astor is a robot, Rock has a bond with him and trusts him. He is the only one that he truly trusts.

When Rock first met Lazarus and learned of his mission, he was mostly concerned about being paid. He cared less about the fate of the galaxy. He even threatened Lazarus that he'd be "sorry," if he didn't keep his promise that he would be paid for assisting him on his quest. Of course, all of this was said by Astor, whom interpreted the mute Rock's thoughts.

## Bio

#### Early life

Rock was born and raised on a mining colony that was founded by Earthlings. Rock Banner was not his birth name, however. His birth name is unknown and many of his records were wiped out.

There was a civil war on the colony and Rock lost his family. It was because of these experiences that he became mute.

His family had supported the rebels whom were fighting against a galactic mining corporation. When the corporation won the war, Rock was declared to be a war criminal and a wanted man. He was 20 years old when this happened. Following this, he left his planet and found work from galactic mobsters as the only way to survive. He took jobs as a bouncer, hitman, and hired thug.

It was sometime after he became a wanted man that he chose to take on the name of Rock Banner.

#### Meeting Astor

He was given a special wristwatch which contained the consciousness of Astor, as a gift from a mob boss he had saved from galactic patrolmen. Rock was 28 years old at the time and Astor has been with him ever since.

## Lookout III RP

### Xeajeladar

On **July 30, 5000**, Rock and Astor were in their space pod. They went to a space station to have their space pod recharged. On the way to the space station, Astor interpreted some of Rock's thoughts at unnecessary times.

Before Rock paid for his space pod recharge, Astor had told the man, "Master Rock thinks you are one ugly fucker." Rock wrote down things on a piece of paper, apologizing for Astor's comment, saying that he had "programming issues." The man didn't mind and even said "thank you, come again," whenever Rock left. Rock got back into his space pod and left, his space pod having been recharged by a robotic arm on the hangar ceiling for the space station.

As Rock flew through space, he put it in auto pilot due to the absence of meteorites, thinking it safe. He put on techno music and smoked some cigarettes while Astor talked to him and interpreted his thoughts and responses. Eventually, they landed on the nearest planet, Xeajeladar. Rock got out of his space pod and wanted to explore.

On Xeajeladar, a waterworld, Astor detected several power levels. Rock came to a temple on the planet, flying with Astor as a jetpack. At the temple, they encountered a mysterious person. The being communicated with them, having found them after sensing their power levels. He was invisible, having used a cloaking device. He asked Rock and Astor what their business was. Astor introduced himself and Rock to the stranger. He said that they were just exploring and didn't know who the nearby power levels belonged to. Rock and Astor did not get the man's name, but he left them shortly after he had asked for their business, thinking that they were tourists and telling them to have a good day.

Rock and Astor followed after the mysterious person from earlier, whom was following a stranger, an android, and a fox woman. The mysterious person was now visible, but denied that they were the invisible person from earlier when Astor asked. Astor interpreted a question from Rock, whom asked the name of the mysterious person from earlier. The mysterious person hesitated and said "Van Gogh." When Astor detected he was lying, the mysterious person admitted that his name was Ezekiel. Rock was intrigued but also suspicious of Zeke.

For a whole week, Rock lived on Xeajeladar. He was enjoying a break from his mafia jobs. Astor was observing the stranger named Justinian, as well as the android Godroid, for the whole week. He helped Justinian, giving him a vial of divine energy to recharge Godroid. After that, Astor communicated with Rock through a device that sent a telepathic signal. Rock pressed a button on his other end of the device, a device for the occasion when the two of them were separate. Pressing a button, Rock was teleported to where Justinian, Godroid, and Astor were. Astor introduced Rock to Justinian. He also told him about Godroid.

The vial of divine energy used to recharge Godroid had been found by Rock on a mysterious planet. Rock was intrigued when he learned of the vial restoring Godroid, surprised that it was useful for anything.

The fox woman, Sukage, took Rock, Godroid, Justinian, and Zeke to meet Lazarus and Melody. They all met outside a complex of buildings on the planet. Melody asked Justinian if he wanted to buy any wares. Zeke asked what wares were sold, but was ignored. Astor asked Melody if she had any special abilities, telling her that Rock was mute. He had not spoken in so long, not since the war. Melody had no abilities and could not help him, however. Lazarus was incapable of restoring Rock's ability to speak, saying that his healing abilities mostly healed wounds of the flesh.

Godroid, Justinian, and Astor offered to help with engineering on Melody's ship. After a couple of days, they were done with the work. Rock and Astor accompanied Melody and the others to Zacces, going aboard the ship. While on the ship, Lazarus introduced himself to everyone and began telling them about a mission. He gave them a briefing, telling them about the Kadan'ii Ruins. He had kept a low profile but eventually met Melody, before he had encountered Godroid, Justinian, and the others. Lazarus was on a mission to solve galactic problems, many of which revolved around the ruins. He was mainly a healer and lacked the strength to do his mission alone. Lazarus told everyone about a magical tablet broken into many pieces and how the tablet pieces were vital to the mission.

Zacces, the planet that they were headed to, was important during the Herulean War. Zeke thought that the war was just a myth. All Rock cared about was if he would be paid for assisting Lazarus on his quest. Lazarus promised that Rock would be paid. Astor told Lazarus that if Rock was not paid, he would be sorry. While everyone was talking to Lazarus about many things, Rock and Astor did not say much. Rock just sat there on the ship, smoking cigarettes. Melody told them that Zacces was pretty far out there, that it would be another day before they reached it.

### Zacces

Rock, along with everyone else, was present on Zacces. They encountered old ruins, ancient droids, and artifacts from the Herulean War. In a battle against a mecha, Zeke was killed. After defeating the mecha, they got a tablet piece. Following this, they departed for Earth.

### Earth

When they got to Earth, Rock was paid by Lazarus. He was left behind, saying he no longer wanted to be on their "bullshit treasure hunt." They were not stranded, however. Astor had a capsule containing a space pod identical to the one they had left on Xeajeladar.

## Abilities

* Marksmanship - Rock is a skilled marksman and uses a variety of firearms. He uses plasma handguns, a plasma rifle, and a bazooka that fires lightning bolts.
* Acrobatic skills - Throughout his life, Rock has been trained in acrobatic skills.
* Superhuman strength, endurance, speed, and durability - By experimenting on himself with space drugs, he greatly enhanced his physical capabilities.
* Brawling - Having a rough life on a mining colony, Rock has fighting experience from street brawls and also from doing grunt work for the mob.
* Knife throwing - Rock is skilled at throwing knives, a skill he obtained while working with the mob.

## Astor

Astor, the AI whose consciousness is contained in Rock's wristwatch, can also aid him in battle. At any time, Astor can detach himself from Rock and take on a robotic spider form. In this form, Astor can fire optic blasts at enemies. He can also spin around, using his metallic legs to slice opponents. Because Rock cannot fly, Astor can also turn himself into a jetpack.

Astor was the only successfully completed robot created by a scientist for the galactic mob. The scientist was later executed for "snitching." Astor, created in 4992, was shelved away until he was given to Rock as a gift.

## Trivia

* Aspects of Rock Banner as a character were inspired by characters from the Mother RPG series. His tendency to rely on weapons and technology was inspired by Jeff from EarthBound. Astor being Rock's interpreter was inspired by Fassad from Mother 3.
* **Scorpionic** originally considered using the name "Ken," instead of Rock Banner. Rock Urwin was also a name that was considered.
* Rock's physical appearance is derived entirely from Scorpionic's imagination and not inspired by anything.
* Astor was inspired somewhat by JARVIS from Marvel Comics. The name Astor is a reference to the old Astro Boy anime.