Iman Wijaya

World: POWERS

Name: Iman Wijaya (identity never confirmed)

Age: 15 (Feb 20th '00)

Position: Student at Tyler Jacobson Academy - Centurion

Appearance: Standing at about 175cm (5'7") and weighing at a very measly 55kg (121lbs). Never one for maintaining personal appearances due to living on the streets his entire life. He has shaggy black, shoulder length hair and light brown skin. His facial features are probably more striking as they highlight his South East Asian origins. The clothes he wears are modest. Usually a plain t-shirt of any colour and a matching pair of shorts to go with it. He has nothing in the way of accessories, wristbands, earrings, watches, and so on. As someone who's lived his whole life in the tropics, the cold weather is something he'll need to get accustomed to. During cold weather he'll bundle himself up in a sweater two sizes too big for him along with a scarf and beanie which essentially covers his whole face.



Backstory: The emergence of the Metahumans seemed like the new golden age for science and mankind. But it was a political nightmare for many developing countries, whose lower class income families were giving birth to these superpowered kids by the hundreds every day. For one particular country that takes up the majority of the SEA region, it spelled their own downfall.

Kids were susceptible to suggestion and manipulation, and for the people of Indonesia, they took every advantage of this. Along with the legitimate laboratories and businesses they invested in with the appearance of these Metahumans, there were far more nefarious, and more profitable, operations underneath the surface. Illegal kidnappings, child trafficking, and a booming black market trade for organs of these children. In a country with a population of 200 million where more than half of these people lived in rural areas which are scattered among hundreds of islands, it was impossible for the government to keep track of every single Metahuman that was born. This started the spell of growing lawlessness and corruption that would envelop the country.

In an effort to clamp down on these illegal operations, the Indonesian government diverted most of its budget to military operations. Expanding its military capabilities and giving more power to police and the special operations division known as Kopassus. Unfortunately, the businesses formed from the advent of the Metahumans did little to return investment in the country's economy. Coupled with the recent military spending and continued recession from its weak currency due to the 1998 Asian Financial Crisis the public had had enough, taking to riots in the streets. Violence was everywhere during this period and eventually the military initiated a coup, overthrowing the current government in 2010. With the growing presence of China as an economic and military superpower, the US was quick to establish friendly relations with the new autocratic police state. It was clear that Indonesia could never solve their Metahuman problems on their own. So, allied with the US and various other European powers, brokered a deal whereby all Metahumans found in the country would be shipped over to its allies. Children with powers were ripped away from their families and sent over. Kopassus became a special division of the military: The hunting and capture of Metahumans. They were ruthless and showed little mercy. This move wasn't met without resistance, though the rest of the world were busy with their own Metahuman problems.

Iman was born to a low class family in a village on the island of Denpasar. Sold as a baby by his parents, who did not give him a name when he was born, his parents did not want the trouble of keeping a Metahuman and babies fetched a high price in the black market. He was put under the care of a local crime ring consisting of kids begging for money which would go to the ringleader. The ringleader who was known as 'Obon' was fully aware of the child's, who he named Iman, powers and would one day train him personally, hoping to make the child his own super soldier. However, Iman discovered his powers before Obon could put his plan into action. Realising he could make it on his own without the help of others, Iman escaped at age 7, taking all of the crime organization's money. During his travels he would he find out he was not the only one with powers. He would also find out his country was hunting his kind down. He knew the police were frightening as it is. He did not want to be on their bad side.

Cunning and stealth helped him along his nomadic life. He never had any attachments to other people, harbouring no feelings towards his parents who he never knew. Even during his time working for Obon he never talked to the other kids. There wasn't any need to. He had a job to do: to collect enough money to return to the boss so he could get enough to eat that night. At times when he didn't collect enough money he would scrape the gutters and check the garbage cans to find change. He couldn't steal from the other beggars, at least, not without preparing to fight tooth and nail for it.

Every day was spent to ensure his continuing existence. There was little in the ways of food and water out in the boondocks. The lands were endless rice fields which spanned for miles. He could easily steal rice but finding tools to cook it with was another matter entire. It was clear he had to find populated areas, areas with shops and ready-made food, so he can continue to survive.

There was also the problem of assailants. Desperate folk robbing anyone on the street at the chance for money. People looking for cheap and easy labour. For fresh organs to sell on the black market. He was pursued many times but his natural agility along with his ability ensured escape every time. Sometimes he would see the attackers give up and wait for the next victim. If he was lucky he would lead them to an officer, quickly disappear, and let the attacker get arrested. Or beaten. Depending on the officer's mood.

This was how he lived for the majority of his life. Skipping from village to village, gathering enough food and water to last a week or two, just enough so he could move on to the next village while avoiding potential threats. With each village he hopped to he noticed they became a little more developed, a little bigger, villages became towns, and with it some more police presence.

A homeless kid wandering around was a suspicious sight in the bigger towns. Iman noticed the majority of kids were wearing uniforms. For what he didn't know but he figured that nabbing one himself would make himself look less suspicious. Little did he know what he nabbed was a school uniform. It was a shock to him when the police approached him in the middle of the day, said to him how it was bad he was skipping 'school', and dragged him to a huge building filled with other kids his age.

Slowly he learned more about the world. That there were other lands besides this one across vast bodies of waters called oceans. How there were kids like him living in big houses and they didn't go to the river to take baths. There were machines that could fly over thousands of miles across the sky. Devices that one could use to communicate with others over long distances instantaneously. Intrigued by these grandiose concepts he stayed to study some more. It was easy for him to slip in and out of different classes, to lie to teachers about who he was and where he lived, to act inconspicuous. There was just so many kids and half of the teachers didn't care.

It was here where he discovered another Metahuman: Kita. A girl one year younger than him who was a technomancer. She could manipulate hi-tech equipment at will. Disassemble them and put them back together in weird and interesting ways. It wasn't a particularly useful ability in a poverty-stricken country but it meant her ability was easy to hide. He was quick to warm up to her. Having someone who understood him they became fast friends. It was his first taste of companionship. For a time he figured he could stay like this. Go to school, attend whatever classes he wanted, and play with Kita every day. No more running from town to town. That life was exhausting. He could easily lie to her. Say his parents suddenly died and ask if he could stay with her. Settle down and not have to work every day just to stay live.

That was a silly dream.

The friendship ended as quickly as it began. On an unassuming day, Kopassus agents surrounded the school and took Kita away. He couldn't save her. Not without revealing his own identity. He stuck to the rule that had kept him alive the whole time. To not act on something if the result wasn't worth it. It was the first time, however, that his decision had made him feel uneasy. Guilt was not an emotion he had felt before. He never had anyone to feel guilty towards until now. He didn't like the feeling. It clouded with his judgement and proved a burden. So on that day he cut ties with the school, forgot about the only friend he ever had, and left. No one noticed him leave.

His time in the school left an impression. He wanted to see the things he learned about for himself. Was life really easy for these people? He decided to venture into the city. Police presence was heavy here but he was confident in his abilities to hide and escape. He would soon learn the police in the city were a level up from those in the boondocks and was quickly detained by Kopassus near Ngurah Rai International Airport in November 24th 2014. Though not before killing one of the soldiers by phasing a hidden switchblade into his heart.

The US government was not only eager to be the leading country in Metahuman science, but to present itself as a haven for all Metahumans. What better way for them to demonstrate their position than to shelter and rehabilitate a Metahuman from one of the most dangerous and violent countries in the world? Iman was promptly shipped to Tyler Jacobson Academy, the country's highest profile Metahuman school, and after undergoing a very intense schooling program, was enrolled at the earliest opportunity.

Powers: Iman has the ability to go intangible. There are no limits as to what he can pass through but he must give a fair amount of concentration to remain intangible. Objects also pass through him while intangible. Losing concentration in his intangible state while between a wall would mean instant death. Iman can also make other things intangible by touching them. The properties of his intangibility work as long as the objects are linked to Iman. For example, Person A holds Iman's hand, and Person B holds A's hand, all of them can become intangible. If A lets go of Iman's hand, both A and B lose intangibility. He cannot pass on the properties of intangibility to other objects or people, only 'share' them by touching.

Intangibility takes a mental and physical toll on Iman. While there is no specific limit on what he can make intangible, or how many, overworking his abilities can cause great stress on the body. Bigger or multiple objects require extra effort to maintain intangibility and Iman can faint if pressed too hard. Because of this he cannot stay intangible for an indefinite amount of time. Further training and refining of his abilities can make it easier for Iman to make himself and others intangible, increase the duration of his intangibility, as well as causing less of a strain on his body.

Personality: His past experiences have encoded a simple moral compass into him: Survive or be killed. Iman looks out for himself first and others last, or if he can help it, not at all. He doesn't enjoy life at the Academy believing it to be stifling and restrictive. The school atmosphere also reminds him of his only friend, causing Iman to hate the Academy even more. He sees little point in the actions of the Academy. The concept of altruism and acting for others an alien concept to him. Every action he dictates is carefully considered in regards to his own well being. He treats everything as a zero sum game. If the choice does not benefit him, he will not go through with it. Everything his fair game to him if it will ensure his survival. Which means he has no qualms with killing (though he avoided this as much as possible during his time in Indonesia as it would draw attention from the police). Iman has a curious mind by nature. Living in the rural outskirts of Denpasar he is constantly being exposed to new things on a daily basis. He has a fascination for airplanes and is constantly trying to sneak off campus so he can snatch a ride.

I really like the world-building you've added to POWERS here, as does Raiden. Adds a lot of depth, and it's a very good idea! Could also lead to some interesting plot...

I'll go through the app step-by-step for you.

Name
Everything is fine for the name, although you might want to add a "hero" name now, if he has one. Entirely optional, though.

Age
First metas were in 2000, so that's perfectly fine.

Position
Centurion is perfect - if not his background but the killing of a guard would have earned him a ticket straight to the Centurions.

Appearance
checks out - although you might want to find a picture to go along with this section, it helps a lot. Google is very useful for finding appropriate pictures quickly, surprisingly.

Backstory
I love the backstory, it's very interesting and should lead to very interesting character development, buuut.... you've fallen into the trap that a lot of people do. You've described the events and Iman's circumstances very well, sure, but there's not really much character there. We don't know of any skills outside of those granted by his ability, particular interests he had while growing up to stave off soul-destroying boredom, any friends or enemies he may have made, any notable events (aside from the one that ended it all) while he lived the life of a nomad, his feelings towards his parents, run-ins with the Kopassus et cetera. Just a few more paragraphs would make the backstory perfect, it just needs a little more fleshing out to make it whole. The foundations are definitely there and they are very strong.

Powers
I like the power, it will certainly prove useful in the coming months. I'd like to know more about his current limits, how many people would he be able to make intangible? I assume bullets and the like pass straight through him? Can he keep it going indefinitely until hunger or thirst take their toll, or something breaks his concentration? Does it physically exert him?

Personality
Personality is fitting of the profile.


You can send me a PM if you wanna discuss anything, but just bump the thread when you've made the updates!

Hope this is better!

You hit the nail on the head! You have my approval. Welcome to the forum! Feel free to begin roleplaying.