Mister Infamy

Nobody knows who he is or where he comes from. The only clue he has ever provided is his business card, a rectangle of fine black cardstock with gold embossed letters that reads “Mr. Infamy, Your Deepest Desires Can Be Yours, Freedom City, 666-666-6666.” The card often arrives in the mail in a hand-addressed envelope with no return address or postage, though one may also simply show up under a door or on a desk, or even in someone’s pocket.
Anyone who dials the number of the card (which doesn’t exist in any directory) will reach Mr. Infamy. He has a way of knowing which people are most likely to be susceptible to the bargains he has to offer. Others are encouraged to visit him; at some point after getting his card, they’ll step through a door or turn down an alley and find themselves in the small, crowded shop Mr. Infamy calls home, full of antiques, oddities, and “needful things.” Those who reject what he has to offer watch the business card go up in a puff of flame and they are rarely, if ever, troubled by him again. He has other business to attend to, after all.
The deal Mr. Infamy offers is deceptively simple. He agrees to grant the supplicant’s deepest and darkest desires in return for nothing more than the privilege of being able to do so. He asks for no money, nor does he require any contract. Those who ask if he wants their immortal souls are met with laughter: “Your soul? Now what would I do with a thing like that?” No, all Mr. Infamy wants is to be helpful...or say he says.
Of course, Mr. Infamy’s particular brand of helpfulness is almost anything but, since the wishes he grants are always selfish, mean-spirited, and cater to the worst aspects of human nature. Even the most well-intentioned ones are twisted beyond all recognition of anything good, and there’s no going back on a deal once it is struck. Mr. Infamy’s “gifts” are non-returnable.
Rumors abound about this mysterious figure, but few can actually claim to have met him. The authorities in Freedom City aren’t even certain he exists, although AEGIS takes reports of Mr. Infamy’s activities seriously, as does the Freedom League. Dr. Metropolis speculates that Mr. Infamy may be some sort of “primal being” spawned from the darkest parts of the collective unconscious. Captain Thunder thinks he may be related to the imp Quirk or his foe The Hellqueen in some way. Adrian Eldrich and other magicians believe he is a guise for a demon of considerable power. They may all be right, or none of them. All that is known for sure is that when one of Mr. Infamy’s mysterious black cards shows up, trouble almost always follows.

Physical Description

Special abilities

Mr. Infamy has vast, apparently limitless powers, although he rarely takes a direct hand in anything.
His greatest power is effecting remarkable transformations in people: changing their physical appearance, giving them super-powers, altering their memories or even their intellect, making them into forces to equal some of the world’s most powerful superhumans. The only limitations on his ability are apparently that the subject must freely agree to be transformed, and Mr. Infamy can only create transformations based on the subject’s darkest desires, always twisted towards corrupt ends.
There’s some evidence that subjects who truly repent and reject Mr. Infamy’s “gifts” can reverse the transformation, although this becomes increasingly difficult over time. Mr. Infamy can also reverse or suspend the effects of his “gift” at will, although he only does so as punishment or to remind his client that he holds all of the cards. Regardless, he is also immune to any powers that he grants others, and laughs at the notion of allowing them to be used against him.
Apart from his transformational ability, Mr. Infamy appears immune to any conventional form of harm; attacks seem to leave him completely untouched, without even mussing his hair or immaculate suit. He seems able to do nearly anything, although he only uses his vast powers to chastise those who foolishly attack him. He’ll usually strike such foes with an attack that leaves them incapacitated, but conscious long enough for him to mock their efforts and explain how he is beyond their power, then he either ejects the offender from his shop or, in one of his rare appearances outside of it, disappears himself. He seems unwilling (or unable) to initiate any sort of direct conflict, and he never intervenes directly. He only uses his powers to defend himself, and then only long enough to arrange a graceful exit.
If Mr. Infamy’s powers have limits, they appear to involve the sanctity of mind, body, and spirit: Although he is a shrewd judge of character, he has never been seen to read or alter someone’s thoughts, or to otherwise influence or transform their body, mind, or spirit without their consent.

Mental characteristics

Intellectual Characteristics

Mr. Infamy appears to have only one purpose and motivation—making his mysterious “deals” with people likely to be drawn into doing evil through his influence.
He seems remarkably urbane, polite, and charming in person—the ultimate salesman. He has a way of making almost anything sound reasonable, and he helps to justify his “client’s” most twisted wishes in a variety of ways. He’s completely unfazed by threats or taunts of any kind, smiling genially all the while like he’s the only one in on the greatest joke in the world. When push comes to shove, however, Mr. Infamy’s pleasant demeanor becomes icy cold, as he informs dissatisfied “clients” that there is no going back on their deal. Mr. Infamy’s assurance that there is no way out may be true, but then he is also an infamous liar.