Jak o'the Shadows (Desperado)

[Desperado]

Name: Jacob Allan Merando (formerly O'Reilly)

Codename: Desperado

Nicknames: George Doitzel Kaiser III (he gives this one out to people who ask him his name), Des, Desi (call him this only if you have a death wish)

Height: 5'9"

Weight: 145 lbs.

Age: 19
Birthdate: September 21

Birthplace: Tuscon, Arizona (raised in Winslow)

Eye Color: Blue

Hair Color: Black

Skin Color: Flesh tone

Affiliation: X-Men (well, here's hoping)

Personality: Jacob is a cowboy, pure and simple. He's hard to understand, but he's got his reasons. Them that don't know him won't like him and them that do sometimes don't know how to take him. He ain't wrong he's just different but his pride won't let him do things to make others think he's right. He's almost completely insane, and he's cheated death on more than one occasion. He's even been quoted as to saying "Cheating death is fun and easy!" He enjoys risk, but he doesn't enjoy when other people take risks, especially unnecessary ones, and he'll try his hardest to prevent someone from doing so.

Talents: Jacob has many talents, first and foremost being a registered bo master, second being a naturally good brawler, and third being able to play the saxophone (I tried to get one in the picture, but there's only so much you can do with character generators).

Weapons: A six foot long stick (a bo)

Hobbies: Fighting, playing violin, running through bo forms, playing pool, playing poker, being outside, lying in hammocks.

Family: Allan O'Reilly , Father (Deceased); Mary O'Reilly, Mother (Deceased); Jack Merando, Foster Father; Jill Merando, Foster Mother

History: Jacob's past is very complex. His mother was a druggie and chain smoker and his father was an alcoholic, so he learned at an early age to fend for himself. His family was killed during a fire that he says was caused by, "One of mom's cigarettes fell into one of dad's beers, set the whole place aflame, stunning sight, it was," but whether or not this was true leaves to be seen. He was adopted by a kind and loving family, who put him through bo training in return for violin lessons, which he was originally against, but eventually came to love. Things seemed to be going well for him.

Then his mutant powers developed, and the problems started anew. He was forced to run away from his home, his family, and his life, making his way across the country on a stolen Harley, searching for some purpose to his life. He ended up in Bayville, where he joined the X-men for a brief stint, "helping" them out during the Triskelion rescue mission (he claims that he did practically nothing, which is true depending on what perspective you look at things at). Distraught with how his powers failed to help anyone during this mission, he left, heading for New York City.

Powers:
Shadow Power[/u]: Jacob is psionically attuned to the Shadow Plane, and this link grants him various Shadow-related feats:

Shadow Control: Des can control and manipulate an object's shadow, imparting physical characteristics to it should he desire. This is done through a manipulation of the Shadow Plane's energies. Shadows take on the material properties of the object that cast it, such as density, resistivity, conductivity, shear modulus, and even combustibility. The only material properties not imparted are malleability (shadows are infinitely malleable to Des) and radioactivity (cause that's just silly).
Shadow Form: By partially attuning his body to the Shadow Plane, Jacob can assume a shadowy form. Details discussed below. CAUTION: Overuse can result in permanent attunement (as it stands Jacob is currently 5% attuned to the Shadow Plane, as opposed to only being 1% when he first got his powers).
Shadow Step: By fully immersing himself in the Shadow Plane, Jacob can teleport to anywhere in the universe so long as he has a clear picture of where he wants to go. Sometimes, merely the image of a well-known person is enough to travel to that person's location; however oftentimes this is not the case. Note that full immersion can only be done while standing inside a shadow, but it can be done in any form (human or otherwise). Also, it is impossible to carry someone else through the Shadow Plane, and anyone other than someone with powers like Jacob's dies. (This explains what happened to Sakon in the "Desperado's Guide to the Universe" thread). Des's affinity with the Shadow Plane protects him from it.
Shadow Sight: By imparting some of his own consciousness into his shadow, Des can stretch, elongate, and manipulate it to incredible lengths and proportions. Through this shadow, he can hear, see, and even speak, though the voice comes out a cold whisper. This is the most complex use of Jacob's power, as it requires him to use a variant of all three of the previous abilities simultaneously.

[Desperado]

Jacob's life has developed in interesting ways since coming back from New York, where he went for a brief period of time following Triskelion. First, it appears as if the Jacob Allan Merando from one of the parallel universes has taken up lodging inside Jacob's head, the exact reason for this unknown. It is possible that, at the exact moment of Revolution, Jacob was shadow-shifting and, since the nature of the dimension he travels through is unknown, the consciousness of the other Jacob became trapped inside this universe's Jacob, possibly because of the similarities in their quantum signatures.

Also, Jacob recently met up with his old girlfriend, Samantha. After some initial problems, they began a relationship once more, only for Samantha to be shot and killed by a mugger on one of their dates. Jacob, in a tremendous fit of rage, killed the mugger, and is now slowly losing his mind.

[Desperado]

If you want a recap of what's happened in Jacob's life since the last post, you're gonna have to read Desperado's Guide to the Galaxy, cause it's way too much to recap in this.

I have found it necessary to define the limits and nature of Jacob's shadow form and also attempt to explain his powers via physics. I'm still working on the physics.

Jacob's shadow form comes in two varieties: 2D and 3D. In both forms, Jacob possesses a fullly operational biological and physiological makeup, it is simply made of either a different material than normal human tissue or exists in an alternate state of matter from normal human tissue. This explains how he can smell, hear, speak, and breathe in shadow form. Also in both forms, Jacob possesses no weight and is not affected by gravitational force, instead being affected by the inverse of the normal force of whatever surface he is on. He must constantly be touching a solid surface in both forms, as shadows cannot exist in mid-air. His speed is limited to his normal running speed when oustide of a pre-existing shadow, but, without acceleration, becomes infinity when inside a pre-existing shadow, thus causing his "shadow-shift". It is unknown why he must enter a pre-existing shadow to do this, but it may have something to do with the lack of light "pushing" against his form granting him more freedom of movement.

In his 2-dimensional form, Jacob becomes a part of the surface that he is on and thus cannot be harmed by normal physical means. He does possess a sort of solidity, though, as electromagnetic radiation in the form of concentrated visible light will exert a force on him. He moves via use of normal walking motion (at least in his perception), but is capable of "walking" up walls provided they are capable of sustaining a shadow (thus he cannot walk up a glass wall) or "sideways" (as seen from a casual observer) along walls. This form's overall area (as it is 2-dimensional and thus does not possesses only height and length) is limited to being between the two-dimensional aerial projection of Jacob standing (or approximately 24" by 6") and the two-dimensional front-profile projection of Jacob sprawled out (or approximately a chalk outline like in the movies). He is capable of slipping through the tiniest of cracks, but not passing straight through otherwise solid matter. He is not phased, merely two-dimensional. He is utterly incapable of interacting with solid or liquid matter.

In his 3-dimensional form, Jacob basically applies his ability to solidify shadows to himself. Thus, he is capable of striking objects and equally being struck, and since his nervous system is still operational (and he no longer has a wall or floor to absorb the impact), he will be hurt by an object striking him as if he were completely human. It's size is equivalent to Jacob's size and this cannot be altered in any way so long as he remains in this form, as doing so would probably compromise his internal organs. He is still capable of walking up walls, as the inverse of the normal force of a surface is what pulls him downward, but he is no longer capable of slipping through cracks in surfaces. Objects that strike him in this form with sufficient force to pierce his normal human body will cause him to lose his concentration and revert to human form just in time to get seriously injured. He is incapable of shadow-shifting in this form.

The time it takes for Jacob to transform from human to 2-dimensional shadow is approximately half-a-second, and he briefly assumes his 3-D form in the process.