Chitin Sting

Emil Siegward Spitz (a.k.a. Chitin Sting)

Active in East Ridge, Chitin Sting is a Mutant hero and vigilante. He hasn't been around for long, and public opinion on him is mixed. Part of this is the usual bigotry, as Emil isn't just an Imbued hero, but a Mutant, even! But his young age sure doesn't help, and neither do the Rogues that seem to pop out of the woodwork specifically to face Chitin Sting in battle.
As a civilian, Emil's life is (mostly) at a stand-still. He lives with his parents, who earn enough for the three of them, allowing for Emil to act as a professional hero, rather than needing to seek work. He's attending college either, though both of his parents push him to seek at least some form of education. And, reluctantly, Emil has to admit they have a point—he can't rely on others' generosity forever.

Physical Description

Identifying Characteristics

As a Mutant, Emil is easiest to recognize by his Mutant traits. In his civilian life, where he hides said traits, he appears rather average, and intentionally so.

Special abilities

Imbued Powers

• Enhanced agility: Emil has enhanced agility, allowing him to make incredible athletic feats. He isn’t particularly showy with it, however—he doesn’t back-flip around everywhere.
• Enhanced durability: Emil is sturdy and tough—tougher to hurt than the average human. This is boosted by the armor he wears.
• Venom secretion: Emil naturally produces venom, which he can emit via the spikes on his hands and his mandibles. When he was young, the venom wasn’t very potent—at its worst it would merely cause nausea. Nowadays it’s strong enough to cause severe nausea or even knock out anyone afflicted by it. Emil himself is immune to the venom.

Skillset

• Combatant: Emil has learned a variety of martial art styles but hasn’t mastered any of them—he simply follows the lessons until he gets too impatient for them. He freely mixes and matches his knowledge to create a highly variable if not entirely well-trained style.
• Acrobat: thanks to his enhanced agility, Emil is capable of incredible athletic and gymnastic feats—and he has absolutely received training and practice for acrobatic maneuvers. He uses them in his hero work, both during battles and while moving around the city.
• Parkour: in part thanks to his enhanced agility and acrobatic skills, Emil is quite skilled at parkour and free-running. He uses this mostly to move around the city during patrols, or to chase enemies.

Apparel & Accessories

Outside of his costume, as a civilian, Emil prefers to wear comfortable clothes. Things like hoodies, t-shirts, and jeans are his usual wear. He also likes to wear Chitin Sting merch—people aren’t inclined to connect his two personas because Emil hides his Mutant traits. When going outside, he wears padded gloves—both fingerless and regular—so he can’t accidentally hurt anyone with his spikes, and also to hide them from public view.
When he started out as a hero, Emil wore a fairly simple costume, consisting of an armored undersuit with casual clothing worn overtop. When his parents caught on, they helped save money for a proper armored costume, resulting in his Praying Mantis armor, his signature look. The Praying Mantis has the same beige armored undersuit he started with, with adds green armored plating overtop, as well as a helmet covering everything but his mouth (to suit his mandibles).

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Emil actually has a fairly ordinary life story. He was born with his Mutant traits, although they steadily grew ‘worse’/more significant over his life. The mandibles he has always had (although they grew more impressive during puberty). The spikes started unnoticeable small, not even penetrating the skin until he was a few years old. His parents had been aware of their existence before that, however—they felt the hard knobs under Emil’s skin and had him checked. Both of his parents loved him—and still love him—and accepted him, despite not being Mutants themselves. His decision to hide his Mutation was his own—and they supported him in it.
He was always middle-class, a fairly average kid who enjoyed participating in sports (he preferred and excelled at agility-based sports rather than ball sports). He had a few acceptable friendships, but none he was very close to.
By the time he reached high school, he started noticing the crime in his city more and more. By 17, he interfered for the first time—punched out a drug dealer who was threatening someone he knew. After that he started noticing more and more how criminal the town was. By 18, he started making appearances fairly often—using his Worm costume. His parents caught on to his activities around this time, but they supported him in it. They put together their money and resources to acquire his new suit, the Praying Mantis. And so Chitin Sting became the town’s hero.
Emil is a second generation immigrant, both of his parents having moved from Germany to the US, where they met, fell in love, married, and had a single child: Emil. As a result, he’s highly aware of the mess that is the immigration system, and with the discrepancies it has. He knows quite a few of other immigrants, having met them as their parents puzzled over paperwork and regulations, and thus grew up being intimately aware of the advantages he had as a white man, even despite his mutation (especially since it was so easy to hide). This, too, pushed him to make a stand.

Education

Emil finished high school, but never went to college, deciding to become a full time ('professional') superhero instead. His parents have been pushing for him to take up at least some classes, find some sort of schooling compatible with his hero life, however, and Emil has been considering his options with increasing consideration.

Employment

Emil is, essentially, a professional superhero. He certainly considers himself to be one, even if no one is paying him for it. Besides his hero work, he has no history of employment.

Personality Characteristics

Virtues & Personality perks

Emil has all the traits one might expect from a stand-alone hero; he is brave, intelligent, and enthusiastic. He’s highly curious and enjoys picking up new information. He’s confident in himself and his abilities, and likes to be able to show off his Mutant traits for once. He has hidden them all his life, but not because he disliked them—rather, he didn’t want to deal with the hassle of how other people might react to them.

Vices & Personality flaws

Unfortunately Emil is also impatient and easily frustrated. He doesn’t like stake-outs or lengthy missions, and doesn’t make plans for the future well—and he definitely doesn’t do a good job of sticking with them. He is impulsive and reckless, but usually only endangers himself in the process. When things take too long, he is easily frustrated.

Social

Family Ties

Growing up, Emil saw very little of his family beyond his parents, and it’s still a rare occasion. Emil’s mutation and his parents’ status as immigrants makes them hesitant to travel, on top of the expense and the time it takes. He feels very little connection with them, although he tries to keep contact digitally, and has no interest whatsoever in his parents’ home country.

Current Status

Professional hero, keeping the city safe

Current Location

East Ridge

Species

Human

Conditions

• Mutant

Ethnicity

American Imbued

Date of Birth

5th of April, 2000

Year of Birth

2000 20 Years old

Birthplace

East Ridge

Current Residence

East Ridge

Pronouns

He/Him

Gender

Male

Eyes

(Muted) green

Hair

Sandy brown, curly

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Pale

Height

1.78m or 5'10"

Known Languages

• English (fluently)
• German (fluently)

Related Historical Events

• 2018
  Chitin Sting's hero career