El Rayo

Rolando Santiago is a second-generation superhero, fighting crime under the name “El Rayo” (“The Thunderbolt”). Prior to his birth, his mother fought crime as the lucha-inspired adventurer and heroine “La Raya,” with Rolando’s father applying his engineering genius to designing her various gadgets. Rolando practiced hard to be worthy of her legacy, and the day when his mother came out of retirement and donned the costume one last time to formally pass her blessing on to him remains one of the proudest moments in his life.
Rolando inherited his mother’s natural athleticism and charisma and his father’s knack for tinkering with machines. Rolando developed his own minor mutation in childhood as he realized he could sense electricity around him, even learning to decipher radio. While this skill only added to his engineering acumen, he always loved the footage of his mother’s adventures and physical prowess. His parents made it clear that they would support him no matter what path he took, but Rolando decided at a very young age that what he wanted to do was protect and inspire another generation in the same way his mother once did.
Although he has only been a superhero for a few years, Rolando is already looking for a sidekick or candidate to be his successor. He sees the joy in his parents’ eyes at his exploits and very much wants to make the mantle of El Rayo one that is passed down through the years, an idea that outlasts any one person. He has also begun to establish a side business in his civilian identity, doing public relations and promotional work for celebrities, both to help him as El Rayo and to ground him in something other than full-time superhero work. But he’s in no rush to retire. He loves to hear the cheers of people he has uplifted with his exploits or comforted by his presence.