Night Thrasher
Context
Night Thrasher was one of the core characters among the New Warriors, one of the new team books Marvel launched in 1990s. The book was fairly successful and despite the problems the industry went through during the 1990s, many of its characters have endured over the decades.
Regrettably, Thrasher was within the bounds of the Anrgy Young Black Man archetype. But there were some interesting twists, and the design of some of armour suits was well cool.
These are older technical notes, not a full profile. The main goal was to have rough numbers for him and his suit. They will be redone eventually.
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Background
- Real Name: Dwayne Michael Taylor.
- Marital Status: Single.
- Known Relatives: Daryl Taylor (father, deceased), Melody Ann Taylor (mother, deceased).
- Group Affiliation: Former leader of the New Warriors, former leader of Psionex, briefly a member of the Folding Circle, head of Taylor Foundation.
- Base Of Operations: Ambrose Building, Manhattan.
- Height: 6’3” Weight: 220 lbs.
- Eyes: Brown Hair: Black
Powers and Abilities
Training-wise, Night Thrasher is a bit like Nightwing. He’s an extremely talented young man with extensive training in combat, detective work and other urban vigilante skills. He’s very good at acrobatics, weapons, escrima, finance, criminology, computers and engineering, etc..
Body armour
His armor is an incredible piece of work. It’s an armoured battlesuit composed of kevlar/boro and silicate-oriented fibre in ceramic matrix, with 2 layers (8mm and 16mm thick).
The cloth is composed of micromail titanium nitride, with a wafer-thin LED casing that allows the suit to camouflage itself within its surrounding (in DC Heroes RPG terms, Thief (Stealth) and MS (cammo)). The suit hydraulically enhances his strength, speed and leaping ability.
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The helmet contains :
- Infra-red sighting.
- Telescopic lenses.
- A magnetic resonance scanner.
- A video camera.
- A voice scrambler/amplifier (with loudspeaker).
- A breathing apparatus.
- A two-way radio.
- A parabolic sound enhancer.
Weapons and mobility
The arms of the armour carry :
- Two truncheons on the forearms, which can be wielded or shot.
- A titanium spring lock blade in the right forearm.
- An Adamantium alloy garrote in the left forearm.
- Two STS micromissiles in the forearms.
- An aerosol spray on the right wrist (payload include acid, Cayenne pepper, DMSO+drug, white phosphorus, etc.).
- A launcher on the left wrist (payloads include magnesium flares, smoke pellets, incendiary caps, etc.).
- A pneumatic piton launcher with a line to swing around.
The backpack includes a micro-Uzi machine pistol, a retractable glider chute and a powerful computer. The belt carries plastique, napalm and cordite charges, as well as packs with ball bearings and caltrops.
He has a skateboard on his board, which doubles as a snow surfboard, and can be affixed as a buckler on his forearm . The board also has a retractable blade in the front. That’s about it AFAIK.
History
Dwayne’s parents were killed when he was young, leaving behind an enormous charitable organisation, the Taylor Foundation. He was raised by his father’s associate, Andrew Chord, and the old governess, Tai.
Both manipulated him during his whole childhood, as [quotes John Walchle] he was one of several children Tai had manipulated to be born so she could gain control of the mystical powers of some “well” (I want to say “The Well of Souls”, but I think that’s from Raiders of the Lost Ark).
Anyway, she was the one who was controlling Chord and forced him to kill Dwayne’s parents [endquote] ; Dwayne later killed Tai, but reconciled with Chord.
Vigilante
Dwayne’s reaction to the death of his parents was similar to Bruce Wayne’s, and he used his considerable fortune to train himself as a crime fighting, while working at getting richer ; his idea was that he should prevent a similar tragedy to happen to someone else.
Dwayne had a “year one”, during which he worked with the vigilante Midnight’s Fire, and a young woman who would later become his lover, Silhouette. During a problem with the police, Dwayne prevented Midnight’s Fire from knifing a police officer, and Silhouette took a bullet that crippled her. Midnight’s Fire and Dwayne’s relation are now downright hostile.
Thinking for the moment that Silhouette was dead, he thought about a new approach, and he and Chord built the Night Thrasher armor. He also formed the New Warriors, in order to have a greater impact. The group was somewhat chaotic, but very dynamic and successful. However, there were recurrent problems between Dwayne and the others, due to Dwayne’s fanaticism.
Leaving the Warriors
He eventually got fed up with them and left, fighting his own battles in his own way. One of the themes behind Dwayne has been growing up, confronting his own fears, discovering the nature of power, money, violence and intelligence. And he was never afraid to take on social issues.
Estranged from Silhouette after the appearance of his half brother Bandit, Dwayne left the Warriors completely. He then led Psionex, a team of psychologically unstable teens with psionic powers. Dwayne and Chord have also become legal guardians of a superhuman youth known as Rage.
Dwayne has also become the secret benefactor of the Warriors, continuing to financially support them in their endeavors.
Don’t call it a comeback
Night Thrasher and the other New Warriors later teamed up with the Thunderbolts, Heroes For Hire, Spider-Man, Darkhawk, the Swordsman and Magdalene in protecting the city from the Elements of Doom. He also aided Nova and Turbo in combating the worldwide disasters caused by the weather control machines of the Masters of Evil.
Dawyne then decided to give up his life as Night Thrasher to devote his life to his business career.
He couldn’t keep away from heroing for long. Dwayne became an independent hero, giving up his powered armor and relying more on his body and martial arts skills. He aided Iron Fist in a battle with assassins from the Hand.
Description
A black man in his early 20s with an athletic physique, who generally dresses like the businessman he is, with a slightly trendy haircut. The Night Thrasher armor is a light, professional-looking, integrated black armor with full faceplate, and red motifs, including a red bandanna around one tight.
He does not currently wear it, preferring a lighter, unpowered body armor. He later gained a big red scar on his face.
Personality
Dwayne is downright intense. He’s a bit like the Year One Batman : extremely driven, but not very experienced yet, and still trying to determine the best approach to crime fighting. He once decided to buy out criminals, which was relatively successful. Early on he had frequent berserk rages and a slightly sociopathic behavior, but that improved.
He’s an aggressive person, who likes fighting (whether it’s physical, financial or verbal), and hates being manipulated (which, unfortunately, he’s been all his life). He’s always been raised to be a fighting machine, on all levels.
The current Night Thrasher is more mature, calmer, and is obviously becoming more and more of a devoted martial artist.
Game Stats — DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Night Thrasher
| Dex: 08 | Str: 04 | Bod: 06 | Motivation: Seeking Justice |
| Int: 07 | Wil: 07 | Min: 07 | Occupation: Adventurer and CEO |
| Inf: 06 | Aur: 05 | Spi: 06 | Resources {or Wealth}: 13 |
| Init: 025 | HP: 080 |
Powers:
Mind blank: 15, Mind field: 08
Bonuses and Limitations:
Mind field is Self Only (-2).
Skills:
Acrobatics: 09, Charisma*: 06, Detective*: 07, Gadgetry: 08, Martial artist*: 08, Military science*: 07, Scientist*: 07, Thief*: 07, Vehicles (land): 05, Weaponry*: 08
Advantages:
Buddy (Chord), Connoisseur, Expansive H.Q. (Ambrose Building), Intensive Training, Iron Nerves, Leadership, Lightning Reflexes, Scholar (battlesuits, business), Sidekick (Rage).
Connections:
New Warriors (Low) ; Taylor Foundation (High) ; Street (Low) ; Computers world (Low).
Drawbacks:
MIA to Justice, MIA to conflict, MIA to Silhouette, Secret ID. He long struggled with a Minor Rage, but overcame it in the “Four Controls” miniseries.
Equipment:
- ARMOR [/STR/ 06 /BODY/ 09 INT 01, Acid: 06, Bomb: 10, Charisma (intimidation): 07, Claws: 08, Cling: 05, Cold immunity: 02, Extended hearing: 05, Flame immunity: 02, Flame project: 11, Flash: 06, Fog: 06, Gliding: 03, Jumping: 02, Military science (cammo): 08, Poison: 06, Projectile weapons: 06, Radio communications: 09 [14], Recall: 19, Running: 05, Sealed systems: 07, Sensory block: 07, Telescopic vision: 05, Thermal vision: 04, Thief (stealth): 08, X-Ray vision: 09, Bonus: Bomb can have a normal Range if it’s a micro-missile (+1), Claws can also simulates his Adamantium garrotte, Cling has a Range, Flame project stands for the incendiary pellets, napalm charges and white phosphorus used as a spray, Projectiles can simulate both the Uzi and the batons, Limitations : Flame project drops to 5 if used at a range (-1), X-ray vision can only pick up energy sources such as electrical wiring (-1), R#2].
- Escrima sticks (x2) [BODY 09, EV 03 (05 w/STR, 09 w/Martial Artist)].
- Board [BODY 09, EV 03 (05 w/STR, 07 w/BODY), Running: 06, Bonus : Running works on snow and possibly on water in “surf” configuration].
- Dwayne does not currently wear power armor, but a light suit of BODY ARMOR [/BODY/ 08, Radio coms: 06] in which are hidden CLAWS [BODY 09, EV 03 (05 w/STR, 09 w/Martial Artist)], SMOKE PELLETS (x4) [BODY 01, Fog: 05], MINI-PLASTIQUE PACKS (x2) [BODY 01, Bomb: 09], THROWING BLADES (x8) [BODY 02, EV 03, Range: 03, Dart bonus] and a swingline.
Source of Character: The New Warriors and Night Thrasher series.
Helper(s): Pufnstuff, Matthew Ignash .