Mystique was born in a Cherokee tribe somewhere around 1840. She would later discover that her mother was European, the captured and unwilling wife of a brave. She died shortly after Mystique's birth. Growing up in the tribe, Mystique was always jealous of the boys since they were taught to hunt while the girls were taught domestic tasks. Before she passed her rites as a young woman Mystique got her chance.
She snuck off with one of the boys who was older than she, and from whom she'd been learning to hunt in exchange for allowing his small advances. He pushed too far, and in the stress of the situation Mystique's power manifested. Her skin changed to blue and her eyes to yellow, her hair keeping the red of her European mother. Her would-be lover thought her a demon and tried to kill her, but she was able to kill him instead. Hiding his body, Mystique assumed his shape before she realized it. She tore her own dress and stained it with the boy's blood, leaving it far from the body before returning to camp with her new identity.
Mystique grew up as the missing brave, and learned to adapt to her new situation with surprising ease. Whenever she was alone she practiced with her new powers, and in time she left the tribe to join another. The white man was spreading West, and rather than join her people in fighting them she became one instead.
The Civil War was beginning, and Mystique saw plenty of opportunity on the Kansas-Missouri border. Starting out as a mercenary, she was arrested and escaped jail to became a soldier instead. Before the end of the war she had fought for both sides, often switching 'uniforms' after being left for dead on a battlefield. And while her comrades were all fighting for noble causes, Mystique was only looking for opportunities to make a profit.
All the same she was disappointed when the South lost the war. The lifestyle of a Southern aristocrat appealed to her, after all. Impersonating a Union general's aide, she moved to Washington to be closer to the seat of power. Post-war politics were messy, but also provided a valuable opportunity for Mystique to further her education. It wasn't the life of a Southern Belle, but Mystique gradually settled into a comfortable lifestyle as a Washington socialite under various guises over the years.
She wanted more. The Spanish-American War gave her an opportunity to travel, so she returned to the Army in one role or another. She saw Cuba and the Philippines before Spain surrendered, and returned to America amongst the heroes of the war.
With the start of the Great War in Europe Mystique saw another travel opportunity, as well as an opportunity to get to know her mother's people. With America's delayed entry into the War, Mystique fell in with a group of young hot-heads and joined the British Army in late 1914. Much as she had during the Civil War, Mystique didn't remain with any particular unit or even army for very long, changing appearance and identity as opportunity required.
When WW1 ended, Mystique settled in Austria. Assuming the shape of a young aristocrat, she seduced and married a Baron and lived rather comfortably. At least until Germany annexed Austria. After years in the trenches in WW1, Mystique used her abilities to act as a spy. She started off working for the Axis powers, but eventually ended working for the Allies in France.
When Germany surrendered Mystique was preparing to assume a new identity and return to America, who she saw as a rising global power. In 1945, however, The Spectre's curse froze her powers along with those of all metahumans around the globe. Stuck in the form of a European woman, Mystique fell back on her espionage experience and her wits to stay alive.
Working her way into conquered Germany, Mystique took the name of Raven Darkholme. Raven was recruited by the Russian KGB in East Germany after the war, and served as a field agent for many years while she sought to plunder as much of post-war Europe's treasures for herself. In time she was recruited by the CIA as a double-agent. Playing hard to get, her recruitment was deemed one of the major intelligence coups of the Cold War.
During her service to the KGB and the CIA, Raven was active in Korea and later in Vietnam. In the 1970's she was reeled back in and given a new identity in the United States. In the late 1980's the USSR was beginning the journey that would end in its dissolution in 1991. It was during that time that KGB agents caught up with Raven in her Colorado home. Transferring her several times, she was eventually returned to Russia.
Raven was held in a Russian prison in Siberia rather than being executed as a traitor and a spy. Perhaps she was recognized from her earlier work, or maybe her case was just caught up in the new bureaucracy. In either case, when the Spectre's curse was lifted in 2009 she easily made her escape.
Free once more, Raven has had almost 20 years to learn to hate the Russians. And in that time there was likewise no love lost for America, who disavowed all knowledge of their lost agent. She works as an independent mercenary now, taking often impossible assignments and charging very high prices. And looking after herself.
APPROVED: PSY1 Motivation
One thing that Mystique has learned in her long life is to take care of herself, first and foremost. It's an attitude that has been reinforced by her many decades of undercover work as a spy for various causes, most likely. Enemy soldiers are captured and imprisoned; spies are killed. So Mystique has learned that if she doesn't take care of herself, no one else will. Regardless of what cause she happens to be serving at the time, make no mistake that Mystique isn't a hero. And while her capabilities may be great, if it comes down to completing her mission or saving her own skin, the skin will come first.
APPROVED: PSY2 Goals
Mystique has seen plenty of anti-metahuman sentiment in her long life. On many occasions she's found where her own unusual appearance has been regarded with fear and hatred. So wherever there is a voice crying out against metahumans or questioning the rights of 'her kind' to a normal life, that's where Mystique will be. In the shadows. Behind them and to the left. Smiling. And waiting to bring them down.
APPROVED: PSY3 Impassive
For all her ability to impersonate nearly anyone, when she is in her normal form and 'off mission', Mystique is almost clinically impassive. She has to be. Perhaps it comes from her Cherokee upbringing or simply the need to sort out all of the identities she keeps in her mental rolodex. Or maybe the actress simply wants to keep from losing herself in the roles.
APPROVED: PSY4 Morally Bereft
Mystique is willing to lie, cheat, steal, or kill in order to accomplish her goals. Likewise, physical intimacy is just something else to be traded as far as she is concerned. Mystique is the ultimate embodiment of 'the ends justify the means'.
APPROVED: POW1 Shapeshift
Mystique can alter her body to duplicate any humanoid of either sex wearing any clothing. Her control is so precise that she can duplicate a person's retina pattern, fingerprints, palm and skin patterns, and even their vocal cords. Mystique's shapeshift occurs at an atomic level and is controlled psionically, which means she only needs to see another person to duplicate them. While Mystique can alter her body's volume, she cannot change her mass. Each shift takes only a few seconds to accomplish.
APPROVED: POW2 Resistances
As a side-effect of her shapeshifting, Mystique's body is more durable. She heals at an accelerated rate and is immune to drugs and poisons. Alcohol and tobacco have no effect on her. Age retardation makes her actual age almost impossible to determine, even through cellular level analysis.
APPROVED: ADV1 Experience
Even without her power, there is a lot to be said for 160+ years of life experience. She's seen a lot and done a lot, so there is very little that surprises her.
APPROVED: ADV2 Languages
Another effect of having lived a long life in many places, Mystique knows quite a few languages. Her mastery in many cases is limited to conversational fluency, and is certainly limited to places that she has lived for some time. Her repertoire includes a few Native American tongues, most major European languages, Korean, Vietnamese, and Russian.
APPROVED: ADV3 Speed
Mystique's control over her body gives her a remarkable efficiency of movement. This allows her to respond at the upper end of human reaction time and gives her a distinct advantage in situations where she's free to use it.
APPROVED: SKILL1 Combat
Mystique has learned a variety of fighting styles over years of serving as a mercenary. Raised by Cherokee as a warrior, she fought through the American Civil War, Spanish-American War, and both World Wars as everything from a regular soldier to a covert agent. With her form 'frozen' after WWII until recently, Mystique relied more on her accumulated skills. Serving both the CIA and the KGB as well as various other intelligence agencies, she learned to be extremely efficient at killing.
APPROVED: SKILL2 Body Control
After over a century of practice, Mystique has developed a very precise control over her body no matter what form she takes. Her joints are much more flexible than a 'normal' human, meaning she can easily slip out of handcuffs, ropes, physical holds, or other bindings. She can kick higher than expected and shift her body to radically change direction in a mid-air summersault.
Mystique is capable of holding and firing a rifle and even a bow using only her feet. Conversely, walking on her hands is also very natural for her. She can alter her 'skin' to allow her to adhere to walls, albeit briefly, so that she can climb several stories along all but the most sheer surfaces. Similarly, she can slide along concrete as if it was smooth ice.
APPROVED: SKILL3 Weaponry
With decades of experience as a soldier, Mystique is proficient in a wide variety of ranged weapons beginning with the Civil War era. Whether bows, firearms, throwing weapons, grenades, or tools of modern law enforcement, she is skilled in their use and maintenance.
APPROVED: SKILL4 Covert Ops
Mystique has been a soldier and spy throughout a variety of conflicts since the Civil War. Even without her power she is a skilled actress and makeup artist, capable of a wide range of impersonations. When it comes to stealth, defeating security systems, and obtaining information there are very few in the world who are in her league.
APPROVED: SKILL5 Actress
Looks and voice are only part of the package. In order to be a convincing spy, one needs to -act- the role. With over 160 years of practice, Mystique is a consummate actress. She's even developed the knack for imitating accents without her shapeshifting power, since the Spectre's curse caused it to 'go down' from 1945 to 2009. Mystique can plan virtually any role, male or female, although she's much better at imitation if she's actually interacted with a person first.
APPROVED: FLAW1 Identity
Being able to assume just about any identity she wants, it's sometimes easy for Mystique to get lost in the role and forget who she is. That's why she usually wears her 'normal' blue-skinned form when she's not actively working.
APPROVED: FLAW2 Distinctive Appearance
You just don't see many people around these days with blue skin and yellow eyes. When she's not working in another form, Mystique's natural form is extremely distinctive and just screams of 'metahuman'. Or 'freak'.
APPROVED: FLAW3 Limitations
While Mystique can change her body's volume, she cannot change her mass. Likewise, it is physically stresstul to maintain a form that is larger than her normal body. While there are no absolute numbers, the amount of time she can hold such a larger body volume is proportional to the size difference with her normal form. I.e. - the greater the difference, the shorter the amount of time before she passes out and reverts to normal under the strain.
Also, Mystique cannot change into a non-humanoid (animal) or inanimate object form. This is due to the need for her to maintain internal organ structure, which would be disrupted with radical departures from humanoid shapes.
Who is Mystique? No one really knows, because no one has ever seen her. Well, not the REAL her. She's deja-vu. Mistaken identity. A double-take in a crowd. She could be anyone you know, from the barista who makes your coffee every morning to the waitress in your favorite lunchtime restaurant. And her purposes are just as elusive as her identity.
OOC Note - I recognize that working Mystique into RP is going to require plenty of thought, so I am asking for your input as other players. Please read my Background! Mystique isn't 100 percent canned villainy, but she isn't a hero either. Selfish and morally challenged, she could work for or with nearly anyone. For the right reasons.
As for contacting Mystique? There are, perhaps, a few individiuals with psychic abilities or deep resources that would be aware of her activities and could locate her. The best and most likely routes would be someone tracing her KGB/CIA identities since she is the ONLY agent who escaped a KGB maximum security holding facility, but I'm certainly open to other ideas.
