A CHECKERED PAST…
Michael Heller's story begins in Juvenile Detention. Raised in a boys' home, and with little moral guidance, he had found himself in trouble with the law on many different occasions — his latest sentence was for 'possession' (narcotics) and petty theft, among other things. Still, none of that really distinguished him from any of the other boys in the Detention Center with him.
Then in 2010 the Spectre lifted his ban on superpowers worldwide… and everything changed for young Heller.
With the sudden onset of his metahuman genes (the legacy of his parents — whom he had never met — who were soldiers and test subjects of the US government back in the '80s, a unit designated "Team Seven"), Michael earned the attention of certain powerful individuals in shadowy government circles. A representative of a government-funded project for SPBs (super-powered beings) approached Heller with an offer: sign up for a "once in a lifetime experience" working as an agent… or stay in "Juvie". Of course Heller accepted. For the next several years he found himself on a team of other young metahumans, at the beck and call of a shadowy organisation that claimed to be working for the "greater good" of the American people.
So what?
He got to kill a lot of bad guys.
Aside from that - and the easy access to drugs and other vices - working for the government became just another job. He didn't like his teammates - well, most of them - and he hated his 'senior officer', Ivana, with a passion. They all did. The training came in handy - very handy - as his team was effectively "black ops + superpowers", and Heller developed into an effective agent.
He was the "muscle" on any given field assignment, also "recon" and part of "extraction" - which all made sense given that he could turn into a werewolf, a bat-thing, and some kind of amphibian monster at will. His codename was "Evo", although his teammates called him "Dogboy" more than anything else (also a variety of less-complimentary names…)
After a few years on the team, it became apparent that they were being manipulated by their own S.O. In a bloody coup in early 2014, most of the members of the Project went their separate ways. Heller leaped at the chance to make his own way in the world, but an "adventure gone wrong" resulted in a bungled robbery - and one dead police officer. All of that put him back in prison again.
Then trouble came to the prison, and trouble has always been an opportunity for Michael Heller. The hyper-intelligent primate, Gorilla Grodd, had been captured by some "heroes" and imprisoned deeper in the same facility that held Heller - but Grodd did not remain a prisoner for long. Formulating a plan to effect his own escape, and the escape of several others, Grodd approached Heller with the offer of joining - of "teaming up" - and the promise of freedom and future rewards…
Who was Heller to refuse? He broke out with them.
- TROUBLEMAKER - Michael Heller is not one to sit idle. If there is a button he is not supposed to press, he will press it. If there is a door he is not supposed to open, he will open it. Chances are, if there is trouble to be had, he will be at its centre.
- THRILLSEEKER - This goes hand-in-hand with being a troublemaker. Heller loves extreme sports, and he will do just about anything on a dare, no matter how ridiculous or dangerous it is.
- INSECURE - He would never admit it, but Heller does not have the highest of self-esteem (this is partly why he is always showing off). There is a part of him that feels the need to prove something. He does not have many - if any - real friends, and he is not sure how to go about getting them.
- KILLER - Heller has blood on his paws. A lot of blood. There are times that he thoroughly enjoys the thrill of the hunt - killing bad guys for the government was half the fun of the job - and there are other times that it has simply been a consequence of his own poor choices. He has killed the innocent too, and not always by accident.
- MISGUIDED - Many of Heller's faults can be traced to the almost-complete lack of proper guidance in his life - the lack of role models, mentors, close friends, family… With the right push, he could be turned to more productive (and less self-serving) pursuits. Part of him wants to. Part of him also wants to just enjoy himself.
- MOTIVATION - More than anything else, Heller is a survivor; that is why he does what he does - to survive. In addition to that, he is out for comfort - luxury - and the freedom to do what he wants. He is not fussy about how he acquires his "creature comforts" either. There is a part of him that wants to "belong" somewhere, as well…
- GOALS - Heller's goals could be summed up in such adages as "wine, women and song", "sex, drugs & rock 'n roll", and "to eat, drink and be merry - for tomorrow we die!" He wants to "live it up" - he would be the first to say so - but he has a need to belong to something, and therefore he also intends to find some sort of organisation, team, gang or venture that could use someone like him.
THERIANTHROPY - Michael Heller is a shape-shifter with three distinct forms (besides his normal form): werewolf, werebat, and amphibian. There is no time limit on how long he can remain changed, and he does not have to change 'all the way' if he does not need to. Each form grants a different array of abilities, or similar abilities but at different levels of effectiveness. His humanoid form retains some measure of his 'wolfy' characteristics as well as abilities:
- Physique: In his 'normalish' form, Heller possesses enhanced strength and speed, comparative to that of an Olympic athlete. Usually, when danger arises, he automatically starts shifting into his werewolf form anyway.
- Senses: At all times, Heller's senses are enhanced beyond that of a typical human's - especially his hearing and sense of smell. For him to enjoy the acuity of someone like Wolverine, for example, he would have to morph into his werewolf form.
WEREWOLF - This is generally considered Heller's 'preferred form' as well as his 'battle form'. As a full werewolf, his body grows a thick coat of gray fur, his musculature changes radically (wolf-legs, paws, claws, ears, eyes, snout…), elevating his physical and sensory attributes well into the realm of "superhuman".
- Strength: Several tons. As a werewolf, Heller is probably powerful enough to lift a small car and toss it a few meters.
- Speed: Fast. Very fast. Heller has been known to keep up with typical land-vehicles. His reflexes are so enhanced that he has literally dis-armed opponents in the blink of an eye (and then proceeded to beat them with their own severed limb).
- Agility: Hardly 'cat-like', and there is no 'dodging bullets', but Heller can clear just about any wall in a single leap - or reach the roof of an average-sized building (a house, for example).
- Durability: Heller's skin is much thicker as a werewolf, and resistant to minor/modest types of damage. Guns would hurt him, but small knives would barely cut him.
- Healing: In this form, all of Heller's injuries heal at an accelerated rate. He cannot heal as fast as Wolverine, for example, can - but if he wants to survive a gunshot he would have to shape-shift into a werewolf (or amphibian) to do it. Minor injuries heal in minutes. Major/mortal injuries would take hours or days.
- Senses: Heller can see perfectly well in the dark, hear a pin drop in an adjacent room, and track just about any scent across long distance. His sense of smell is by far the greatest of all his senses when in this form.
- Claws and Fangs: Heller's jaw is strong enough to tear metal, and his claws are sharp enough to rip through doors.
WEREBAT - In this form, Heller's skin turns a very dark green, his eyes turn red, his ears become bat-like and he sprouts broad, leathery wings along his arms and down his sides. His feet turn into vicious, grasping claws. As a 'bat-thing', his bones are hollow, and he can perform prestigious feats of aerial agility. It is also possible for him to carry a passenger or two.
- Flight: Heller does not have to 'go all the way' to achieve flight, but he usually does. If he wants his arms free, a partial transformation will still produce wings, but he will not be able to fly as fast, or as well. In full werebat form he can cruise at speeds of about 70mph, and swoop at speeds of up to 180mph. He can double his cruising speed if he has a tail-wind, for about an hour or so.
- Senses: Heller's sense of sight is greatly enhanced as a werebat, in that he obtains infrared vision. His hearing, however, receives the greatest boost and he develops echolocation as well (just like any other bat).
- Strength: Heller has been known to pick up two people at a time and carry them aloft with little difficulty, but taking passengers greatly reduces the length of time he can stay aloft (from all night, to a couple of hours).
- Voice: In conjunction with his echolocation, Heller can shriek very loudly as a werebat. Don't stand too close.
AMPHIBIAN - This form of Heller's is probably the most bizarre. He resembles a crocodile/iguana-humanoid mutant - with a thick, scaly green hide, a powerful tail, clawed hands and feet, an elongated snout and massive jaws. He can move on land in this form, but it is a rare thing to do. He smells like a swamp.
- Water-Breathing: There is no limit as to how long Heller can remain underwater in this form.
- Durability: Similar to his being a werewolf, Heller's hide is extremely tough as an amphibian - probably the toughest of all the shapes he can take. He has a similar healing factor, only much reduced. He can withstand the crushing depths of deep-sea diving without aid.
- Speed & Agility: Heller can swim at about 70mph in this form, and he is extremely agile. His strength is enhanced to compensate for the weight and pressure of water as well, but at about half of his strength as a werewolf.
- Eyesight: Two different eyelids protect Heller's eyes in this form. He has a scaly outer-eyelid to block out bright light, and a transparent inner-eyelid to enable him to see better underwater.
- CONTACT: Former Team - Although he would be loath to do it, Heller can get in contact with some of the members of his former team, and ask for their help.
- CONTACT: Underworld - There are a number of people in the criminal underworld that Heller can call upon if he needs to. He knows the names and locations of various 'independent businessmen' and how to wrangle a good deal from them.
- RESOURCE: Safe-Houses - In his prior work for the government, Heller was privy to a number of safe-houses and caches of weapons, currencies… you name it. Some of these would still be accessible if needed.
- COMBAT - Heller has been well trained in a variety of forms of combat, and has learned to incorporate his powers and other abilities into them, to make himself quite the killing machine. There is little finesse in what he does, and how he does it, but he is adaptable and deadly. He has some skill with firearms, but not much.
- RECONNAISSANCE - Infiltration, observation… both have been included in Heller's training as an operative. He knows what to look (or listen) for, and how to remain unseen at the same time. He is no master of stealth by any means; but he is effective enough to be in the field.
- DRIVING - While he would normally prefer to 'ride shotgun' (head out the window, tongue lolling out…), Heller loves to drive - fast and furiously. He is generally reasonably skilled at high speed driving - the odd police-chase, here and there.
- THIEVERY - He is no pickpocket, nor any 'cat-thief' of note, but he does have a knack for getting in and getting out with what he wants… most of the time.
- EXTREME SPORTS - Be it sky-diving, abseiling, skiing, cliff-diving, and a number of others, Heller loves it all and is very good at it (of course, he often uses his powers to cheat). If there is a sport out there he hasn't tried, he soon will.
- INTEMPERATE - Michael Heller doesn’t have the best self-control in the world. He is largely driven by his passions, and rather than moderate them, he revels in them. He has a violent temper, and he has no concept of the term 'political correctness'. Or tact.
- ADDICT - Because of his healing factor (in wolf-form), drugs and alcohol do not have quite the same dangerous, addictive effect upon him as they might on a normal person, still - he enjoys them. A lot. He is as licentious as they come, no matter the vice.
- SELFISH - There is a part of him that wants to trust more, love more, value more… but he usually falls back on old habits when the chips are down. Nothing and no one is more important to him than himself - although he can occasionally do the heroic thing.
- CRIMINAL RECORD - From his childhood until now, Heller has had run-ins with the law (for any number of offences, ranging from 'indecent exposure' to 'armed robbery'. While he was an agent of the government his "juvie record" had been put away (he was told 'erased'), but he has since left government employ AND has wound up in prison again. The authorities know all about Michael Heller, A.K.A. "Evo", now.
- HUNTED - Heller has managed to 'annoy' a lot of people and organisations over the last half-decade or so. There are also agencies out there that would love to have a soldier in the ranks like Heller - and they would do anything to get him, and keep him.
Michael "Evo" Heller is known to the government as a wanted criminal. He is wanted for the death of a police officer (the conviction was manslaughter, not murder), as well as a string of petty crimes (theft, vandalism etc). How much the police know is… unknown, since Heller's original criminal record was suppressed when he joined the Project - but there are people "who know". As for the public… they are possibly aware of the prison break that freed Heller (among others - Gorilla Grodd, Evil Star among them) from incarceration, but not privy to the specifics.
The criminal underworld would definitely have heard of him.
