Red Hood

RED HOOD

Real Name: Jason Peter Todd
Alias: Red Hood
Identity: Secret
Age: 19
Species: Human in his universe/Human Vagrant on New Earth

Physical Appearance: Despite being known at one point in his life as the “Boy Wonder,” Jason has obviously grown out of that title, now a young adult standing at 6 feet tall and weighing 225 pounds of powerful muscle. As the Red Hood, he is usually decked out in skintight Kevlar armor, emblazoned with a large red bat, not out of solidarity to his former mentor, the Batman, but in rebellion that he plays the role of the Bat better than Bruce when colored in the blood of the wicked. For a vigilante, his costume is both casual and unconventional, laden like a walking armory with guns, explosives, and other deadly weaponry, with a brown leather biker jacket completing his look, filled with other fun toys to take down thugs in the street. His face is always hidden by his titular red helmet, expressionless, save for cold, menacing eyes.

Under the red hood, Jason appears young, but still as a man who has seen far too much terror and violence in his life. His dark brown, nearly black hair is shaggy and constantly mussed in odd directions from wearing his helmet, with white streaks creeping through his bangs, and his ice blue eyes always seem haunted or burning with rage. Particularly distinctive is the large brand mark of a 'J' burned into his left cheek, as if by glowing hot iron, that appears to have been scarred over many times, as if someone had been cutting into it to assure it doesn't fade.

Personality: Brash, reckless, and impulsive, Jason is an angry young man holding far too much hurt and bitterness in his heart for one so young. Originally a child of the streets, he is amazingly savvy of the darker sides of citylife, having traveled along its seedy underbelly for most of his life, before, during, and well after his training with the legendary Batman of Gotham. He is not a man afraid to pull the trigger or snuff out the life of one who deserves such a fate, and has the tendency to scoff at those who refuse to use lethal force when it becomes necessary, usually with an obnoxious quip or snarky comment to mirror his violent nature. His sense of ethics may come across to more straight-laced heroes as skewed, rash, or over the top, but nothing strikes more fear into the hearts of criminals than a mysterious man in a mask with an AK-47 in hand.

Beneath the mask, Jason suffers from severe trauma, PTSD and abandonment issues, first brought about by the death of his parents, and escalated by the assumed desertion and quick replacement by the Caped Crusader. He holds on tightly to negative emotion, stewing in it as his sole source of motivation, though he has been known to have his rage bubble over too far, causing him to become sloppy with his words and actions.

Powers: Red Hood is peak human with lots of shiny, fun toys - no superhuman abilities.

Abilities:

Martial Arts Mastery: Trained in several forms of martial combat by Batman during his time as Robin, Jason is highly skilled and highly deadly in hand-to-hand combat, far beyond the scrappy brawling he used to take part in in his younger years.

Trained by Batman: Being raised as Batman's ward, and later adopted as his son, Jason has been trained in acrobatics, gymnastics, hand-to-hand combat, and swordplay. Like his mentor, he is a highly skilled detective, knowledgeable in many high-end subjects, and fluent in several languages including French, German, and Italian (though his Russian leaves something to be desired).

Firearm Proficiency: Unlike the rest of the Bat-Family, Red Hood is not above the use of firearms and other forms of lethal projectiles to accomplish a mission.

Weapons/Equipment: Red Hood uses a plethora of tools, sharp toys, and things that explode in his arsenal, and is generally well prepared for any situation in battle. He is equipped with a varied assortment of tasers, handguns, grenades, and specialized knives that can cut through even Batman's grapple cables and armor.

History: Originally an adoptee of Bruce Wayne, the man behind the cowl of the legendary Batman, Jason Todd had gone from orphaned child of the Gotham streets to the second to carry the title of Robin, the Boy Wonder. Jason was a very different type of Robin than his predecessor – more quick to violence, far more impulsive, and often displayed what could only be described as a “mean streak.” Even from a young age, he toed the line of the Dark Knight's moral code, questioning the need to show restraint of force against these foes that would gladly kill the both of them and countless others without so much as a breath, much to Batman's chagrin.

After many adventures at the side of his mentor, Jason came upon a plot facilitated by Batman's sworn enemy, The Joker, and decided to take on the Clown Prince on his own. He felt the Joker deserved whatever he had coming to him, and the Bat would simply allow the monster to live and get away with more atrocities, and if Bruce wouldn't put him down, he would in his stead. What Jason didn't realize was that he was the real target, and was easily overpowered and abducted, whisked away in a hidden wing of Arkham Asylum to be beaten and berated for the course of nearly two years by the Joker.

Every day, every moment of blurry consciousness, Jason held out against hope that Bruce would find him, save him, take him home and away from his living nightmare, but he never came. Each day was the same as the last, The Joker never failing to remind Jason how the Bat was so quick to presume his failure of a son dead and replace him with a new Robin, amidst the constant cracking of iron on bone.

Eventually, the Joker's new toy was thoroughly broken and no longer fun to play with, as he stopped fighting, stopped struggling, stopped crying, and the Clown left Jason alone and locked away while he went off to continue making Batman as miserable as possible. The riots caused by Joker's mass breakout in Arkham provided the broken Robin to escape his bonds and the villain's clutches, with the help of the lethal mercenary, Deathstroke (a little monetary persuasion not withstanding). However, Jason couldn't just return back home, consumed with hatred and anger towards Batman. Instead he licked his wounds alone, training harder in secret, just to take on his former mentor and prove to him that his ideologies are laughable at best.

Adopting the moniker of the Red Hood, Jason began to make his move in Gotham City to take it over as a better, more realistically minded style of vigilante, all the while following the rumor mill surrounding Batman's movements, as well as the stories of these mysterious gateways that were opening up all over Gotham. Certain that with the escapees of Arkham out on the loose, several of them would likely be locating and securing these gates, Red Hood went on the hunt himself, eventually coming to blows with the minions of the crime boss, Black Mask. The men attempted to ambush him upon his arrival at the secured portal, and the whole group ended up knocked through the gateway, Jason included.

When he came to, Red Hood was alone, no sign of Black Mask's men anywhere in sight, and in a city he didn't recognize. He definitely wasn't in Gotham anymore, though there were rumors churning of a a lady clown running the place from the criminal underbelly. Jason pulled himself back together, and prepared to make his next move.

Weaknesses:

Short Fuse: Red Hood is very quick to anger and can be riled up to the point that his movements and training gets sloppy and off course, allowing better ease of catching him off guard. Want to get him really off-kilter? Call him Robin.

He's Still In My Head!:Anything involving the Joker is an instant trigger for all the painful memories that the monster clown has caused. He will either fall into a despair spiral or a violent rampage, depending on the scope of the situation. He often hears the echos of Joker's wicked laughter ringing in his head, along with the cruelties constantly jeered at him that he had been finally conditioned to believe.

Cycle of Abuse: Due to a life full of trauma and betrayal, Jason keeps everyone at arms' length of him, not wanting to find himself caring for another too deeply or loving another as much as he used to love his previous guardian, the one who couldn't save him or bother to avenge him. Beneath all the anger and resentment lies the heart of a hurt and scared child desperately trying to protect himself from being hurt again, and fears becoming the betrayer himself if he allows others in.

Other Information:

Red Hood's name is known in the darker corners of New York City's underbelly, due to his war to take over the city from Harley Quinn and her growing criminal empire. His territory starts in Hell's Kitchen, and has been only growing in size from there.

Jason keeps a small circle of his most trusted gang family, known in private as The Unfortunates, in a large boarding house in Hell's Kitchen, where he more or less lives as well.

Due to how he needed to survive in Arkham, mixed with his own sense of pride and dignity, Jason refuses to eat in front of others, opting to either turn down a meal until he's alone or takes it into separate room. He has a tendency to violently scarf down food to make sure he swallows it down before it's taken away or forced out of his mouth. He has been trying to break himself of this habit in private, but doesn't want anyone to pity him because of it.

OOC Information
OOC Name: Cali
Face Claim: N/A – using both main comics artwork, as well as his facial appearance in Batman: Arkham Knight