Vengeance



Name: Henry Jacob Cartigan

Nickname/Alias: Officer Cartigan; Vengeance.

Age: 40

Height: 6’4”

Eyes: A little rounder than almond shaped, slightly hooded, dark blue-green.

Hair: Prematurely gray, cropped-medium short, slightly longer on the top than on the sides. Usually clean-shaven, though occasionally has stubble.

Miscellaneous features: A number of odd scars, but nothing else unusual. Henry's face is tan, and while not quite wrinkled, the creases in his visage are deep, giving him rough, craggy-looking features.

Clothing: Doesn’t dress to stick out in a crowd – a typical outfit for Cartigan is a gray t-shirt or wife-beater, his worn leather-jacket, and blue-jeans with boots. When he’s out crusading at night, however, he dresses in all black, loses the jacket, and occasionally goes for kevlar if he can get some.

Typical Weapons: Always carries a switchblade with him, and when he’s out as Vengeance, he’ll carry an arsenal of 2 desert-eagles, 2 .45 glocks, ammo strapped across his chest and waist, and the occasional set of knives if he’s in a bad mood.

Skills: Henry ain’t superman, but he has an above-average level of endurance, strength and stamina, which he attributes to the fact that he keeps in shape. Really good shape. He’s a quick thinker and a good shot.

Weaknesses: When he was in the army he got a bullet to the knee, and while surgery was largely successful, it will occasionally give out when under too much stress. Henry also suffers from a rather close-minded, black-and-white view of the word, and while he won’t admit it, part of his crusade against crime is self-destructive. Not to mention he has a bit of an alcohol issue. Even though he’s distanced himself from them, his family will always be a weakness for him, especially his daughters.

Occupation: Ex-police officer, army reservist. Currently he is ‘officially’ unemployed, and ‘unofficially’ a rather violent vigilante.

Personality: Henry has become a rather bitter and disillusioned man. He took up drinking after his wife left him, and has a rather cynical, jaded view of the world. He’s a staunch atheist and uses the lord’s name in vain on a regular basis (and rather explicitly at that). He does, however, have a very, very strong sense of justice and will go to extremes to see that it is carried out. He has a nasty temper and gets angry quite easily - especially when he’s been drinking. His apparent lack of a sense of humor is a common misconception - the sense of humor’s there, it’s just rather dark and warped. The only time his softer side shows through is when he gets to see his daughters. Then, he turns from a bitter and caustic ex-cop to a fiercely loving father.

History: Henry grew up in a military family, the older of two sons of a marine. His father was often off and away, so Henry and his brother Peter were raised in their mother’s strict household. While Henry absolutely adored his father, he resented his absence, promising to himself that he’d always be there for his children when he grew up.

After graduating from high school in a town outside San Francisco, Henry went to college and enrolled in the nearest division of ROTC. After graduating he served several years in the military, then retired into the reserves after getting a gunshot in the knee. He moved to NAC and joined the police force full-time, becoming devout about upholding the law. Peter, his brother, had joined the Navy Seals and his father retired to live with his mother in Santa Monica. Henry’s dedication to his job eventually earned him the position of police chief. He married lovely business protégé Lydia Grehani, and they had two daughters together.

Despite his promise to himself, however, Henry became so obsessive about his job he’d often come home late after the girls had been put to bed. Fighting crime was his life, and it began to push out his wife and children. Lydia eventually got sick of it all and filed for divorce, leaving Henry and taking Samantha (now age 5) and Claire (now age 8) with her.

The shock and grief hit Henry rather hard, prompting the adoption of some of his worse habits. In an attempt at distraction, he threw himself even more deeply into his work. But the illusion had been cast aside, and he saw his life unraveling around him. No matter how hard he worked, and no mater how many criminals he put behind bars, the law had grown corrupt and half of them would walk back out again. New ones would sprout up in the place of those who didn’t. It wasn’t right. Crime was a cancer and the so-called ‘justice system’ just tried to put bandages on it. It needed to be cut out at the source. The world needed real justice.

Henry’s now drunken, depressed life took on meaning as he devoted himself to a single ideal - justice. Vengeance. He took up squatting in an old warehouse in the Mason District and patrols the city at night, using his skills and connections from his police and military career to hunt down criminals and, if not righting wrongs, then at least avenging them.

Miscellaneous characteristics: Has an unusual hate for lawyers. Took up occasional smoking after his wife left him, but liquor is his chief poison.

Family:
Father - Frederic Cartigan (Retired Marine. Gone somewhat senile)
Mother - Mary-Grace Cartigan (Military mother, ex-school-teacher.)
Brother - Peter Cartigan (Navy Seals, MIA)
Wife - Lydia Grehani-Cartigan (successful marketing agent for the Atlantic Chronicle and mother of two.)
Daughters - Samantha (5) and Claire (8) Cartigan (aspiring ballerinas)

Other Notes: Would kill anyone who touched his daughters in the most painful way imaginable. Can be a bit psychotic-seeming at times, and can even come across as downright evil, but at the core, he’s not a bad person.

    December 2005   
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