HeroMachine Character Portrait Creator

CDC Prize for Kellkin

Cato McKinney/Brown Recluse: If Kota is Harry Potter and Emmie is Hermione, then Cato is essentially Ron Weasley. In contrast to his edgy "emo" aesthetic and love for dark places, Cato is an open-hearted and kind young man whose only expectation is the best of everyone he meets. His ability to mediate the most severe personality conflicts and his inability to TRULY hate anyone is perhaps one of the biggest reasons why the dysfunctional Nightlighters have stayed together for so long, and his caring, nonjudgemental nature extends to even the villains his team tussles with daily; Cato has a bad habit of empathizing with the circumstances that led them to evil.

Despite this, Cato isn't entirely squeaky-clean; he's quite prone to comparing himself to other people and has a tendency to think only of the NOW instead of the FUTURE. He also feels quite overshadowed by DiamondFire, but for the sake of his best friend, he keep it to himself. But despite his own issues, Cato does everything he can to make sure the team dynamic of the Nightlighters runs smoothly, and it's only a matter of time before it's clear to him he's FAR more important to the team than he thinks he is.

Cato's Toolkit revolves around a poisonous spider; not only is he capable of crawling across walls and ceilings, but he is also immune to disease and is capable of manipulating silk he generates from his fingertips, camouflage himself, make his footsteps and movement inaudible to people (his voice remains unchanged), has enhanced agility/speed/endurance/senses/reflexes, and can generate a venom that he can either spit from his mouth or directly inject into someone via "stingers" he can protrude from his palms; he can change the lethality of the venom at will. Cato is also capable of using his own bio-electricity as bursts of powerful static shock; his Toolkit ensures he is an essential choice for stealth missions, and he has built his hero career around stealing and getting info from villain strongholds, similar to an RPG Rogue/Thief character. Cato is also a skilled escape artist with knowledge on how to pick a variety of locks, and when all else fails, he just uses his silver tongue to talk his way out.

Let's start with my main protagonists: DiamondFire and Crimson Shadow:

Dakota "Kota" Hartigan/DiamondFire: The main protagonist of Savage Beautiful Worlds, and a wall guard for the backwater Nightlight community, Kota is a friendly and warm-hearted young man who will not hesitate to throw himself into danger to make sure one more person lives; however, he's also quite naïve, socially-awkward, and quite dense in the head. Once, he dreamed of exploring the universe and obsessed over the magic and monsters and gods dominating Atlas's mythology; now, personal traumas have quashed that little spark in him and he now works a dangerous job spearing nocturnal Ferals, keeping his community safe. But when a group of strange people with even stranger abilities, led by a gorgeous undead redhead, show up on his doorstep, Kota's life is turned upside-down; not only does he find out the legends are true, but he also has a personal connection to a missing god. Now, Kota finds himself thrust into an adventure he finds himself completely and truly unprepared for...

DiamondFire's Toolkit centers around the divine empowerment he receives from his trademark broadsword, Steelfire. He is capable of flight and superhuman feats of strength/durability/agility far exceeding the capabilities of a human being. The sword also allows Kota to summon and manipulate powerful blue flames, but it is quite clear he hasn't unlocked the true potential of his abilities just yet. Kota is also an incredibly adept fighter and is highly skilled in various swordfighting styles. He serves as the audience surrogate, and the story chronicles his journey from a faceless guard to the figurehead of a new breed of heroes.

Emmeranne "Emmie" Grace/Crimson Shadow: Once the heir to the kingdom of vampires on the enchanted planet Coinerth, Emmie is the physical antithesis to fairy-tale royalty. She's a crass, bad-tempered, rude, and snarky woman, suffering from severe PTSD and what may very well be BPD; her attempts to cope with her issues have led her down a path of severe alcoholism and bad choices, leading to the unceremonious stripping of her royal titles and banishment to Atlas, where she lost a wing to the vicious beasts wandering the planet's nighttime. In spite of her harsh nature and seeming apathy to everything around her, Emmie isn't heartless; still haunted by the choices she's made, she has resolved to make up for everything she's done and she has discovered her greatest strength is her ability to self reflect. Also helping is her compassion for victims of circumstance and her genuine care for her friends... especially DiamondFire, her relationship with him blossoming into something MORE than just a friendship. Emmie still may have a ways to go... but she's getting there.

As a fully-blooded vampire, Emmie has all the same abilities as her species; she is capable of lifting well over 300 tons of solid material, can run at at least 600 miles an hour, and is incredibly durable, able to withstand immense firepower and harsh conditions easily. Her senses are also incredibly sharp, to the point she can tell one's heart rate or hear a bird chirping from miles away. She is also armed with retractable claws and can withstand sunlight (daytime is more or less the equivalent of staying up all night to a vampire). Emmie must sustain herself on the blood of living things, but her bloodsucking also serves as a multitool based on her emotions; beyond nutrition, it can also serve a variety of functions such as healing physical wounds or even sexual gratification; her strong bite force also allows the fangs themselves to be dangerous weapons. Emmie can only drink a certain amount of blood, or else an overdose will cause her mind to regress to a feral animal state. She later receives a cybernetic wing to replace the original; this wing is armed with incredibly sharp razors and small railguns, and Emmie eventually builds a fighting style around it. She was originally able to shapeshift into a bat, but losing her wing also took this ability.