[ooc] Witches Reign Application

[bratbeyond]

OC or AU: AU
Character Name: Damian Wayne
Series: DC Comics (AU: Batman Beyond)
Gender: Male
Age: 11
Requested Sponsor: Amethyst or Lapis Lazuli, if you'd please!

Appearance: Same general canon appearance, but with darker skin and more Middle Eastern features. Ditto for Robin, though he has green goggles sometimes.

History: Canonically, Damian Wayne is the illegal son of famed Gotham millionaire Bruce Wayne and mad scientist's daughter Talia bint Ra's Al'Ghul (Talia Al'Ghul). Despite his rough parentage - and his "I own the world" attitude - he somehow managed to become the Robin to Dick Grayson's Batman after Bruce Wayne was assumed dead. In the present day, he's learning a lot about the superhero world and the unwritten rules that guide it. The most important rule? Thou shall not kill.

The DC Wiki provides a better understanding of the League of Assassin's young Prince... however, within the universe of Batman Beyond, things changed. Damian was still the result of a science experiment. However, instead of sharing half of Talia's DNA and growing in vitro (yep, he was artificially grown!), Damian's birth father - Dr. Ramzi Razem - unknowingly had his DNA rewritten. Instead of getting his annual flu shot, Dr. Razem received a dose of Bruce Wayne's DNA.

Sound confusing already? Let's back things up to 6 years ago (sometime in the early 2030's AD). Amanda Waller, a powerful woman within Gotham and a long-time nemesis of Batman, had finally realized that the world needed Batman after Bruce Wayne died. However, he wouldn't have any biological heirs: Bruce never married and never had children. So Mrs. Waller took matters into her own hands and created "Project Batman Beyond." Of course, she wouldn't just create one child for the sake of this project... she needed to ensure Batman's legacy survived. So she searched for two couples with similar psychological profiles to Bruce Wayne's parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne. One couple was Warren and Mary McGinnis.... but the other was Ramzi and Dana Razem.

Unfortunately for Mrs. Waller, Ramzi and Dana already had two children of their own- and they wanted to keep adding to their brood. By the time she overrode Dr. Razem's DNA to its original state, it was too late: Dana was already pregnant with her third child, Damian.

No one in the Razem family knew Damian was a science experiment; as far as they were concerned, he was their blood relative. He thus had an incredibly loving (yet exciting) childhood. Dr. Razem was a wealthy psychologist and philanthropist - he was also the head of the world-famous Ninety-Nine Steps foundation - while Dana was a financial adviser and Arab socialite. His older siblings, Sharif and Farah, teased Damian almost as much as they coddled and cared for him... and like the other Razem kids, Damian helped care for Hajra, his younger sister.

Growing up, Damian idolized Batman. In canon, this idolization stemmed from a "this man is my father?" feeling - Damian genuinely wanted to follow in his dad's footsteps. However, in Beyond!verse, Damian idolized the new Batman. He thought the kid's actions were just that schway (awesome) and tried his hardest to actually watch the superhero in action. Sharif and Farah naturally tried to steer Damian towards more realistic role models - like Dr. King and Gandhi - but their efforts were in vain.

Damian wanted to be Batman. He even took on additional aikido and taekwando (he already had a brown belt in karate) lessons the minute he realized they existed! He read the newspapers and watched TV for all signs, and even clipped articles from local magazines when he wasn't obsessively looking up websites for information. All of this, unsurprisingly, would come in handy when the new Batman saved Damian's life one evening. This chance meeting - Damian just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time - was only a sign of things to come. From that point on, Damian became even more determined to be Batman's sidekick - or at least, someone who could support Batman in his time of need.

By chance, Damian accompanied his dad and Sharif to the Wayne Manor three months later. Dr. Razem wanted to ask Mr. Wayne for donations - the 99 Steps focused on the difficulties of the Muslim community and interfaith conferences - but Damian knew the routine by heart. He wanted an out, something unusual to shake up the routine. That disturbance came in the form of Mr. Wayne's personal assistant, Terry McGinnis.

Turns out that Sharif and Terry knew each other: they attended the same school, but managed to hate each other's guts. Damian unwillingly - and violently - broke up their fight. When Damian asked about Terry, Sharif just hushed his kid brother and put him in another part of Wayne Manor until Dr. Razem was finished with Mr. Wayne. Something was bizarre, and Damian knew it. He knew he had to revisit and ask Terry for the other side of the story.

The next time Damian visited the Manor, he was attending a high society dinner function. No one thought twice about a little kid wandering the place by himself... and to his surprise, that broken clock in one of the rooms was broken for a reason. Without even trying, Damian came across the Batcave. Bruce, naturally, was downright furious upon finding little Damian marveling at all of Batman's wondrous toys. However, Damian had no intention of being a superhero; he just babbled about the high-end technology until the new Batman returned. To both Bruce and Terry's dismay, Damian was pretty good at playing mission control. When a virus spread around town - causing most of the town to go rogue - only kids like Damian and Terry were unaffected. Terry's assistant - Max Gibson - spent more time taking care of the bedridden Bruce than manning mission control for Batman. Seeing his opening, Damian ventured out onto the field - despite Bruce's and Max's best efforts - and singlehandedly took down Killer Moth (a rogue who couldn't really fight, but a Batman rogue is still a rogue) for Terry.

No one on the team realized it at that moment, but Damian would more than prove himself worthy on repeated occasions. Bruce and Terry saw the kid's potential, but it was Terry who really put Damian through a rigorous training program. Sure, the kid could hotwire a car. ("I saw it on Grand Theft Auto. It wasn't that hard!") Damian, unfortunately, lied: he learned all his illegal technobabble from his computer genius godfather, Miklos Szekelyhidi. Despite his technological know-how and diplomatic skills rivaling most UN diplomats, Terry still wouldn't let Damian fight. Neither Dick Grayson nor Tim Drake gave permission to Damian originally, so the kid drew from Bruce's nickname and created his own identity: Manteis, Tomorrow's Seer.

Terry didn't accept Damian for about half a year. Damian - "the twip" - was nothing more than a nuisance. Only when Damian persisted despite Terry's protests ("IT'S YOUR DEATHWISH, RAZEM!") did Terry finally relent and let the kid fight alongside him... and even then, he was under a tight leash. If the kid goofed up once, he'd have to return to Arabic and Farsi lessons.

For the next six months, Damian officially trained under Terry and Bruce (he'd been doing it on and off - but they'd never actually acknowledged him as a member of the Batfamily)... and well? It paid off. Dick Grayson paid the Batcave - and by extension, Damian - a visit. Seizing his chance, Damian asked Dick for permission to use the Robin identity. Dick agreed on one condition: if Damian could disarm him, Damian could have the title. The two had a rough fight, but Damian somehow managed to disarm Dick's collapsible staff. (Dick had been caught severely off-guard by a kid that resembled Bruce, fought like Bruce... but acted like a kid in a candy shop.) In the end, Dick - and Tim through the phone - gave Damian permission to be the third Robin. With newfound permission, Damian gleefully redesigned the Robin costume to suit his own needs, and a week later? Robin debuted alongside Batman once again. Bruce was still reluctant to let Damian fight, as he had never gotten over Tim's torture, but Terry and Damian proved that they could very well fight crime without bickering with each other.

Prior to coming to Balamb Garden, Damian and Terry had been dealing with a problem of their own. A new girl - one they'd never heard of - claimed the Batgirl title without the permission of Commissioner Barbara Gordon (the previous Batgirl) and fought alongside a mysterious man calling himself Spoiler. Naturally, Damian was frustrated - he had to work hard for his title, and this girl gets off scot-free? - and arrived in this new world just after he'd successfully caught her. So much for happy endings.

World History: Like other members of the Batfamily, Damian lives in Gotham City. By 2042, it's become a city of the future - with appropriate technology to match - but somehow hasn't entirely lost its crime. Under Commissioner Barbara Gordon, things have changed slightly... but Batman and Robin are still direly needed at night. Other superheroes roam the world and groups like the Justice League of America and the Teen Titans still exist, but the new Dynamic Duo prefer to stay and fix problems in their own backyard.

Abilities & Physical Abnormalities:

• Damian's a naturally (and incredibly) skilled fist-fighter. On instinct, he can take people down. Granted, he's not very good at executing a fight, but his stamina and instincts are incredible considering his age.
  
• Following this line: Damian uses pressure points to take his enemies down. He's decent at throwing punches, but he prefers to silently - and quickly - take mooks out if he can help it.
  
• Fluent in English, Arabic, and Farsi; can also speak broken French
  
• A scarily intimate knowledge of all things video game-related; he also knows how to hotwire the Batmobile. (No one wants to know how he knows.)
  
• The Robin suit! I don't know if it'll come with him, but Damian's Robin Suit (built similarly to Terry's Batsuit) has its own set of powers.
  
  
  • Enhanced strength: it allows Damian to benchpress up to 500 pounds
    
  • Retractable claws for attacking the enemy
    
  • Rocket boots that allow flight for a few minutes
    
  • Cape that turns into a retractable glider
    
  • Goggles with night vision, heat vision, and infrared vision
    
  • A cloaking device
    
  • Batarangs! They're not unlimited, but they can cut through almost anything.
    
  • Resistant against heat, water, and electricity attacks... but not very efficient against radiation and nuclear power
    
  • Electromagnetic pads in the soles of boots and gloves to allow Damian to cling to walls
    
  • Sensitive touch microphone that allows him to eavesdrop upon people
    
  • Extra protection against projectile-based weapons

Personality: At first, Damian seems like your typical bratty kid. He makes rude puns, he's very brash and outgoing, and he especially loves to laugh at other people's misfortune. However, this rude shell hides an incredibly insecure and dependent boy. He's very strong-willed and stubborn, but he also relies on people to tell him right and wrong. Of course he'll pursue an ideology until it epically blows up in his face, but Damian's also reached the age where he thinks he knows best. (He does respect older brother/sister figures, however, and will listen to them if they've earned Damian's respect in some form.)

It might be hard to believe, but Damian's just a regular jerk with a heart of gold. He deeply cares for his family - and honestly would defend them to the ends of the earth - and friends/comrades like Terry and Bruce. Of course he has no idea about his true origins (and neither does Terry), but that doesn't prevent him from truly caring for his Batfamily. Unfortunately, he doesn't get along with adults because of his self-righteousness. He acts like he doesn't care about other people's opinions, but it's also part of his shell: he refuses to acknowledge the other side of the coin because he's afraid his side is wrong. He's so desperately searching for love and affection that once someone honestly, genuinely loves him? They'll have a kid that will never let go of them - and one that will fiercely defend them to the end while denying it the whole time.

This is probably his most important canon difference: Damian is incredibly religious. Since Beyond Damian grew up in a Muslim household, he's very aware of the ramifications of becoming a superhero who fights for justice... who also happens to follow a religion that doesn't believe in violence. It's a difficult balance, and one he often has trouble with, but he is very proud to be an Arab-American Muslim. Should someone try to slur his heritage or religion? Damian sends a mean punch or kick as a welcoming present. (He's also been used to prejudices and racial slurs-- it comes with the territory of being a Middle Eastern kid in the United States, but that doesn't mean he likes to acknowledge them.)

Like most kids, Damian has fears. He's secretly scared of bats - the irony of Batman's son hating bats - and spiders and most things that go bump in the night. He also really can't stand brussel sprouts or beets. (Ew!) Despite his fear of robots, the bratty kid also genuinely loves tinkering with machines. He likes seeing what makes circuit boards run-- and he's very knowledgeable on most Earth video games. (It's a running joke that Robin's superpower is "intimate knowledge of nerd things like video games and comic books and Steel Samurai and Power Rangers" because... well, he does. To an eerie extent.)

In short, this bratty kid has a fierce and fiery temper that scares most people off, but once they peel back the shell, they've got a wannabe mechanic/superhero who could quite possibly end up being one of the best friends they've ever had.

What are your plans for the character in-game? Damian wants to ride a chocobo - though he so doesn't know it - and learn how to decently fight without a partner! There's no way he can become a SeeD, so he'll focus on getting home. Hopefully, he'll break out of his tsundere shell... but that's also incredibly unlikely as long as he believes he can find a way back to Gotham.

Anything else? Somewhere along the way, Damian ended up becoming a regular 4th wall breaker. While I suspect this won't be much of a problem - I can always pretend he watched something other than Power Rangers or Steel Samurai - it's still something to note.


Complete TWO out of the FOUR options.
ii) Prose sample (can be general or a response to the post's prompt).
No one wanted to remember last night. Batman and Robin fought in downtown Gotham again, dealing with some weird rogue who called herself "Lady Butterfly." She'd been the easy part of the night. Unfortunately.

The moment they slid into the Batcar, Robin could sense the tension in the air. He already knew he'd messed up. What would Mr. Wayne say? Oh, right. "Just because you have natural talent doesn't mean you know how to use it." It wasn't his fault he didn't know! ... Was it? He didn't even know anymore.

From the stupid obstacle courses that even Fattah the Opener couldn't pass to the death traps (figures that his best friend Haq the Truth wouldn't be around!) to the slagged pushups... it was like the Shaitan himself planted these thoughts in the old man. Nah, the Shaitan was nicer.

"Try to actually hit her next time," Batman's lecturing as the two fly back to the Batcave. The old man's listening, probably - Allah knows he always does - but Robin's tired of caring and pretending. Yes, he screwed up. Yes, he totally caused more collateral damage than he had to. "If you aimed the batarang---"

Robin scowls, "Yes, Father Dearest."

Now Batman's angry, "Excuse me for trying to give you advice."

He... was...? Robin sits up straighter. Teenagers sure have a strange way of saying things. If they wanted to be nice, couldn't they just outright say it? Tapping his fingers against his elbows, Robin sighs, "Tt. First you, then the old man..."

"Remember, you volunteered for this."

Of course he did! He idolized Batman! He wanted to be part of this family for so long. Had he known that he'd be subject to this constant torture? Brutal nights of pain? Oh, and absolutely no social life whatsoever? (Not that it mattered much to a ten year old kid) ... Maybe he would've thought twice about it. He couldn't say that to McGinnis's face. No way.

"I know," Robin replies through gritted teeth. What else is he supposed to say? "Oh, right. I'm not going to complain about this! I'm going to be a happy kid who suffers through this like some marytr?" Feh, no slagging way would that happen. He slumps back in his seat and tries to drone the silence out with something, anything, to remove the stinging pain that would follow. It doesn't work. Robin should've known: metal music never helps.

iv) Thread link
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Canon update can be found over here (the LJ version of Witches Reign)