SHR - main characters 1.

SHR - Main Characters - Family, Friends and School Teachers.

Home.

Father: Robert Dorsey

! If implementing character customisation is "a thing", Father's race will be determined by main protagonist's race.

Robert is a middle age man, who took divorce with Leah - your mother - pretty hard. Working long hours as a manager in a restaurant, he spent most of your teenage years away from home, earning enough money to provide you both with stable, even if not very extravagant lifestyle.
Memories of almost picturesque evenings, spent eating whatever you cooked after school, are the first thing coming to your mind, when thinking about him.
He tried, over the decade you were alone together, to find someone new in his life, but deep inside, you knew no one could replace your mother in his life.
Each girlfriend he met was either too introvert, too posh, too much of a bookworm... the list went on, but each real or imaginary fault was really only excuse not to say "She wasn't Leah".
Your father clearly didn't move on from a relationship that ended a decade ago - and is still stuck in the motions of something long gone.

Visuals: Simple. Down to earth and utilitarian. Samey.

Highlight monologue:
I know you're not 15 anymore, but it doesn't mean we can't go to the movies together. You always liked those Shrek pictures. Okay, well, you pick something then, I don't really mind. Just non of those Lord of the Rings movies. I don't know, I think they made some sequels? Yeah, that Hobbit.
Honey, you know I don't follow the blockbusters. Just pick something. I'll be home early, leaving Kate to shut the place down. 

Mother: Leah Dorsey / Clarke

You were 10 when Leah left your father. You remember her as a vibrant and joyful person, terrible cook but wonderful, bright and funny. She was a painter and you remember her study being filled with half-finished works.
She was sensitive and creative person, but those traits came with a side-effect of sometimes living in her own world. She could stare at a blank canvas for hours, almost completely disconnected from reality.
After the divorce, both of your parents decided your life would be more stable, if you stayed with Robert - as he was the one with the reliable financial income, while Leah moved back to her parents in some semi-distant city.
She promised to stay in touch, and for a while she did, but then more and more often she excused herself from those meetings. With time even those stopped as Leah moved on with her life and re-married some guy named Chris.
Last thing you heard about her, was divorcing for the second time.

Visuals: Vibrant. Colourful. Artsy and somewhat posh. Very individualistic.

Highlight monologue:
Of course I did. I still do. But it was difficult. You have no idea how difficult. Can we talk about something else? I didn't called you to open old wounds. Your dad told me about your... Are you all right? Is everything fine? I know I have no right to ask, and you have no obligation to agree but if you'd like to meet again, someday?


STORY HOOK:
Getting the family back together.
Protagonist can try to get his/her parents back together. To do that however, protagonist must understand why their relationship fell apart. Robert was a safety net for Leah - he was everything she needed to become a regular housewife, abandon her dreams of artistic career and focus on the mundane needs of her family.
This regularity was something she grew to hate and started to keep Robert at a distance, subconsciously blaming him for the stability she didn't want in her life.
Robert on the other hand, grew frustrated with her wife, despite doing everything to provide to both of you, she seemed to be slipping through his fingers more and more.
Small things that used to be ignored, grew into problems that divided your parents.

For Leah, your father became a boring, unimaginative and hollow companion, who "sucked" her individuality, her talent out of her - just by being a normal person.
For Robert, your mother was a chaotic, impossible to please mate. The more he tried, the harder the relationship became.

Perhaps those two simply weren't meant for each other and couldn't be happy together - but it is for the Player to decide if trying to get those two together was a good idea.
Alternatively, we can try to help Robert establish a relationship with his co-worker - Kate.

Childhood friend - Male: Marcus Park

Marcus, or rather simply Mark, was your constant companion since childhood. Smart, goofy and completely devoted to the religion of Jedi (as he announced on his 18th birthday) kid, slowly grew up to be a young man.
Geek and gamer, Marcus used his imagination to escape from his circumstances of his family. Both of his parents could be considered pathological workaholics and their son often ended up eating dinner with you and your dad.
As you grew older, Mark remained immature and silly, sometimes embarrassing you with his childish behaviour. 

Visual: Geeky. Silly. Meme. Low brow humour and puns.

Highlight monologue:
Check this out: "If you could swap one character from Walking Dead with a character from Game of Thrones, who would that be?" I'd probably exchange Rick with Jamie Lannister. You know why? Because in the comic books, Rick actually lost his hand. And Jamie lost his in the series. It would be meta AF.

Childhood friend - Female: Samantha Booker.

You met Sammy in high school. She was the new girl in town and somehow you two became fast friends. She's not exactly the shy and withdrawn type, but she just doesn't think much of most her peers - making her appear as someone socially awkward.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
She is charismatic, individualistic and expressive, she just picks her friends very carefully.
She only accepted Mark as part of her "circle", once she figured out, she can use him to run small errands.
Bitchy exterior, hides a warm, easy to harm person - and despite her "don't give a damn" appearance, she never let you, or even Mark down.

Visual: Uptight. Intellectual and sarcastic. Individualistic style of outfits - something between a classic tomboy and a proper lady.

Highlight monologue:
You think I should wear a skanky dress or the pink skirt with the top saying "I wish I was dead"?
No, I'm kidding. Sure I'll go with you to the stupid party. Can't let my one and only friend end up being part of the "kool kids", it would look really bad - I'll be there to keep you away from the actual fun. What, Mark? Mark is not my friend, he's something between a butler and a scapegoat. No, you can't have my banana. It is mine!

School - Teachers.

Dorothy "Silver Shadow" Maxwell.

Former superheroine to gave away her powers while protecting the planet from some asteroid or shit. A living, yet burned out, legend she is an inspiration and tutor of the upcoming heroes. No-nonsense, yet nostalgic, proud of her students, but envying them their powers, Dorothy walks the fine line between depression and self-loathing.

Visual: Toned down, professional, stylish yet melancholic. Businesswoman.

Highlight monologue:
If I had to, I'd do it again. But does it mean I can't be allowed to feel sorry for myself?
Mourn something I gave away for all people who don't even care? I tried to live a normal life, but there is nothing normal about who I was. How would you feel if you lost your hands, or eyes? Would you just live a "normal life"? For me my powers were normal. I grew up with them, I relied on them, I used them just like you use your limbs or senses. 
So don't tell me I can live a normal life, because you can't even comprehend what I lost.

(actor Edward James Olmos)

Richter

Owner of the school and source of money behind it. Everyone know him as a former concentration-camp survivor during WW2. He spent two years there, for opposing Nazi regime. After the war, as a 20 y.o. man he came to States and quickly climbed the social ladder, using his discipline and strength of character to gather a fortune.
In reality, Richter wasn't a prisoner in a concentration camp. He was a guard. During the confusion accompanying liberation of the camp by the Allies, he was mistaken for a prisoner.

Visual: Calm. Organised. 1950s inspired. Mysterious.

Highlight monologue:
We were all victims. But our tragedies were different. They couldn't do anything to help themselves. We chose not to do anything to help them.
Do you think we were all monsters? All bloodthirsty Nazi dogs? We were kids, indoctrinated enough to hold a gun. And use it.

Duncan "Wildeye" Duwall

If Dorothy plays the role of a strict mother, Duncan is the chilled uncle. He is upbeat, casual, optimistic and helpful, sometimes taking the "fun" part too far, but always well meaning. Duncan on the surface is just the "good guy", and the better you know him, the more "good guy" he seems. There is no dark secret to his character, besides his rough upbringing in the ghetto, which he is not hiding from anyone.

His family however is a different matter entirely. Duncan comes from a pathological family, typical for the high-crime, low-income neighbourhoods. Alcohol, drugs, gangs, you name it.

Duncan escaped all of that when his superpowers started to manifest.

He went beyond and above to free himself from the past - however his family still remains in the ghetto. Duncan tried to help them, but it seems his folks are unable to follow his footsteps out of the gutters.

Biggest strain on his relationship with family is focused on Jimmy, Duncan's younger brother.

Duncan is well spoken, unless agitated - only then you can hear his original accent cropping up.

Visual: Casual. Outgoing. Easy to reach and warm personality.

Highlight monologue:

You know why? You really want to know why? It had nothing to do with the talent. It had nothing to do with someone helping me. It had nothing to do with mamma. It was me! All me, you hear that? I wanted to leave the hood and I would even without those damn powers.

You remembah dad? How he were wenn we were litta? I promised myself Ahh neva' end uhp like him. An Ah kept mah word.

Richard "Eagle Man" Smith

Imagine a superhero from the 60s, Back when all villains wore black and all the heroes wore spandex. All lines were cheesy. No one would stay dead for more than three issues and evil scientists would explain their plans to conquer the world and laugh hysterically along the way.

That is the world of Richard Smith - the all-American old school superhero, connecting the Silver Age of Comic books with the modern gritty reality.

A living legend, Eagle Man is the example of a hero who outlived his generation... and then some.

A little lost in the modern reality, longing for the "good old days", struggling with his own age, that doesn't respect any superpower.

Richard is a decent person, but he sees the world in black and white. You're either good or bad. Smart or stupid. Strong or weak. And if you're weak, you have to overcome that one thing that holds you back, so you can be strong. What's the problem?

Visual: Tough. Old School American Stars and Stripes. Grizzled. No-nonsense.

Highlight monologue:

Of course I'm here, where else would I be?... What?... I don't know and don't give a damn what the problem is... What do you mean we can't? When he was pissing in his diaper I did that every goddamn time and nobody even looked at me sideways... No... No... Listen young man. You can tell the President, that I respect him, but this Great Nation didn't came to be a Great Nation because of people saying "We Can't".