CAPE AND COWL APPLICATION
Dec. 23rd, 2011 02:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wantsyou[PLAYER INFO]
NAME: Anna.
AGE: 18!
JOURNAL:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
greyll
AIM: annarcotic
RETURNING: Yes, with two other characters!
[CHARACTER INFO]
CHARACTER NAME: Uncle Sam.
FANDOM: DC Comics.
CHRONOLOGY: Freedom Fighters v2, #9.
CLASS: A hero and more. He’ll keep the dogtags, but he doesn’t technically need to live anywhere, so.
SUPERHERO NAME: The American Spirit.
ALTER EGO: UNCLE SAM some weird dude in a dumb outfit?
BACKGROUND:
(guys i just kind of summarized his canon, whoops!!1)
America, the United States, exists through several universes, several realities—a country like all others, fueled by the ambitions of its people, propelled by their actions. Alongside these multiple physical Americas is a parallel spiritual America, existing in its own realm in an iconic form: all the ideals of these Americas manifest here in one mirroring form, taking from the dreams and fears of its residents.
In some universes, a few, the Spirit of America has been channeled into a physical, limited form, following the interests of the nation on that Earth and seeking to protect what is defined as good from what is defined as evil. This form—a quarter to omniscient but not omnipresent, not at all all-powerful—varies from form to identity. However, what it commonly manifests itself as is a man of a certain appearance, fondly identified by itself and others as Uncle Sam.
The American Spirit fights injustices with the people it holds essence of, against those that threaten their ideals: one team, the Freedom Fighters, is something it is especially fond of and works alongside them on various Earths. This makes it all the more crushing to the existential Spirit as a whole when they’re murdered on an Earth, or where the Earths (including one of his favorites, the “home Earth” of Earth-X) are destroyed with multiple a Crisis.
In the universe this physical incarnation of the American Spirit came to being alongside the creation of the nation, spawned by the founding fathers. An alchemist, working alongside them, had created a talisman that embodied their vision of the new country. Naturally, the American Talisman suffered from a fundamental flaw that left it ultimately incomplete, partially disconnected from the true spiritual realm of America: It was created by the vision of a powerful yet ultimately small group of Americans, the wealthy, educated white men who owned slaves and oppressed others. The talisman embodied Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness of some.
Throughout generations and conflicts, certain dying souls who somehow held the American Talisman had sacrificed their life to temporary combine with it, into a powerful moving manifestation. With the Civil War, the power of the opposing forces had sundered it into two, granting its equal power to twins of the Union and the Confederacy. The form of Uncle Sam had been formed with the dying decision of a 1870s political cartoonist with the name of Samuel Augustus Adams, reappearing three times afterward. After WWII, the fracturing goals of the country, the fading spirit and the fractured vision (and, connecting to the flaw of the American Talisman, the sudden political appearance in the United States of groups not represented by it) had weakened the Spirit and split the talisman into many pieces.
When a “psychic crossroads” of the nation had occurred, where welfare and politics and spirituality and everything and everything reached a climactic peak in tension, the Talisman began to manifest in the world once again, each individual, grand piece spread wide. The American Spirit draws, and draw it did: the Talisman was exploited for individual vision rather than a whole and a certain group called the National Interest sought it out, in the hope of reforming it to fit their vision of a nation.
Outside of its physical form, the American Spirit was very much aware of the turmoil that had been created, the continual plummet of the pride and soul of its being. It had decided to take the problem into its own hands. Approaching several people of various races, backgrounds and phases of life in the realm of dreaming, it had summoned them to Mount Rushmore with the implicit suggestion of sacrifice of the soul. And it was done—the physical American Spirit of that Earth was created, independent of the Talisman as an anchor and others in its most fulfilled form. Here, it had decided to call itself Patriot, a being of noble gold, proud and true.
Patriot had contributed to the JSA for a short time before deciding to revert its appearance, its identity to Uncle Sam—at the time, he had been corrupted with the conflicting vision of the president (at the time, Lex Luthor) but he had cleared up within his first meeting with Superman on that Earth. Continuing to work with the JSA, the Freedom Force had, yet again, somehow fallen under his command. It might be destiny.
And then the Freedom Fighters were quickly murdered, brutalized and imprisoned by the Secret Society of Super Villains—Uncle Sam is killed by Sinestro at that time. A memorial at Arlington Cemetary was built to celebrate their sacrifice.
A year later: Uncle Sam rises up from the Mississippi decidedly late, apparently fine with taking his sweet time resurrecting and recreating himself. In his observatory form, he had glimpsed into America’s future and saw it being sabotaged from within, heard echoes from those planning to ruin it. Taking it as his duty, he pulled at a certain Andre Twist’s subconscious and whispered thoughts in his mind, dragging him to his location and asking for his help—for him to take on the role of Firebrand, one of the team he had lost. A plan had been made to stop a corruptive force in the government from violently infringing on the rights of others. A man named Father Time had created an anti-metahuman task force (S.H.A.D.E.), meant to put down the old heroes and control them to excess, and had persuaded one of the presidential candidates and slaughtered and replaced the less cooperative one with a mechanical mimic (in fact, a chaotic, powerful thing called Gonzo). His eventually hope was, of course, was to control the world through his own police state.
While Firebrand was temporarily imprisoned and tortured after interrupting a certain Senator Knight's speech, Uncle Sam had, using his knowledge, convinced a small team from S.H.A.D.E. consisting of the daughter of the replaced presidential candidate Stormy Knight AKA the new Phantom Lady, Stan Silver AKA a new Ray, Andy Franklin AKA the new Human Bomb and Lester Colt AKA the Doll Man, to join his efforts and become a new group of Freedom Fighters. They accepted, freed Firebrand from his bonds and set off to Arizona to recruit John Trujillo, the new Black Condor.
Meanwhile: the impostor Knight becomes president, staged suicide bombers supposedly in support of Uncle Sam go off in major areas, they're labeled terrorists. They finally meet Gonzo, he kicks their ass with a new Miss America who exploits their being and withers them, they get imprisoned and tortured. Again. Ken Thurston, the new Invisible Hood goes to free them and Jenna Raleigh, a new Red Bee, attempts to distract S.H.A.D.E. from the attempt. Miss America attacks her―only to be interrupted by the old Miss America, Joan Dale. The Freedom Fighters, meanwhile, totally get out and kick Father Time's ass, retreating to plan about Gonzo in the Heartland.
The temporal field that protects it manages to be broken by the Ray, who kills Ken and reveals himself to be a traitor. And then he brings the Cosmigods into the Heartland, beings shaped out of dark matter bent on destroying them. The real Ray, Ray Terril, comes to defeat him, Phantom Lady bends the Cosmigods into a black hole, everything is fine again in the Heartland. Gonzo, however, attempts to push implants into being implemented in the American People and Father Time reacts badly to it, wanting order rather than wanton chaos.
So, he sends Replicant over to ask for a truce, giving them all what they need to expose Gonzo to the American public. And they do: Uncle Sam, towering next to the Washington Monument, interrupts Gonzo's speech ad Senator Knight's assassination on the monitors on the White House lawn. A fight breaks out, Uncle Sam manages to break the Washington Monument, all is won. Father Time, revealing himself to have done what he did to bring Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters back into the world, destroys Gonzo and captures his information to use against invaders in the future. They're finally celebrated and the Vice President takes the seat.
The Freedom Fighters continue as a team, notably stopping a missile launch in Colorado and then an insect invasion―coming back to find the White House extremely damaged from an Amazonian attack. The government, wanting to increase faith in S.H.A.D.E. as it turns into a watchdog team towards criminals, had requested the Freedom Fighters to become a new face of it for the American Public. Uncle Sam (and Firebrand, the Human Bomb, and the Doll Man) had refused, outraged at the violation of privacy for even criminal civilians, and retreated into the American Heartland to wait for either change or American approval.
And as he's gone, Red Bee further mutates into an insect, Stormy takes a further downturn toward addiction and eventually murders a criminal on camera. Uncle Sam allows her into the Heartland, despite the split. The problem, he knew, was that the murdered terrorist wasn't a terrorist at all―a powered actor hired by Robbins, the guy in charge of media relations, as a PR stunt for S.H.A.D.E.. And then Story attempts suicide within his Heartland, further discouraging Uncle Sam; he heals her and forcefully cuts off her dependency to drugs, of course, but the damage to the team is done.
Miss America directs Sam and the Doll Man to a miniature environment deep in the Pentagon to recruit Darrell Dane, the original Doll Man: the one that Uncle Sam had assumed, with shock, that he was still in an asylum. The only deal was that they―the men that lived in the microenvironment― would continue holding the Vice President hostage until a cure for their size-affliction was found. All this was cut short as Sam caught a glimpse of Jenna, the Red Bee, losing her identity as human and becoming a mechanized creature, only arriving in time to catch her breaking Robbins' neck. She, using her fancy-ass new powers, convert the Freedom Fighters to be her workers, her slaves. Uncle Sam goes along with it.
Things happen―the Human Bomb has a meltdown that's absorbed by Miss America, vaporizing her. Uncle Sam mentally contacts the old Ray, telling him to bring the old Freedom Fighter Neon the Unknown―Ray comes to rescue them instead, though Uncle Sam's body is riddled with tiny insects that drive him mad it's gross okay and they free them from him and Jenna. Blah blah, they fight off the insect invasion, Miss America is reborn as Miss Cosmos, everything is peachy, the old Ray is now Neon. Uncle Sam sees Final Crisis coming, but he's not bothered by it at all. For now, he mostly stays in the Heartland, observing.
When he finds out about the current Vice President being kidnapped (uh, another one...) by a mysterious figure, he contacts the Freedom Fighters yet again, visiting the White House to discuss it. A map was left in her place―a map detailing a WMD built by the Confederacy way back then, a location as to where it is. As per the President's wishes, they arrive of Devil's Mountain, a tall plateau in Wyoming. Uncle Sam notes that it's scrambling his connection to the country and Phantom Lady opens it up into a staircase. They descend to find a group of four powerful and old beings imprisoned there, the Renegades, which they've allowed to escape into the new America. Whoops.
Uncle Sam is angered at himself, at whoever pointed him there, at the Renegades. He goes to stop their destruction by himself, refusing to allow whatever they are, gods, monsters or not, to get in the way of him and his nation. He's powerful. But they're something else―they drain him, burn him, fry his physical body into a charred corpse.
In a secret cavern in the Grand Canyon, Uncle Sam resurrected himself from the corpse of Firebrand, killed by a fanatic obsessed with reshaping the nation to fit his own ideals. This fanatic, the Jester, attacks Uncle Sam immediately, hoping to slay him and replace him with an icon that doesn't reflect the twenty-first century at all. Uncle Sam beats him, the Freedom Fighters arrive and send him to jail.
Two weeks later, Uncle Sam heads Firebrand's funeral. And, immediately after, the President calls him over and fires the Freedom Fighters. Uncle Sam is ported in around this time from the Heartland, as the Freedom Fighters plan to go freelance.
PERSONALITY:
Uncle Sam is exactly how the majority of Americans see him to be because that's what he is in the first place. As the old motto of the United States went, E pluribus unum. Out of many, one. His view of himself as a symbol above many is not a haughty one but a humble one, noting that his existence entails that he serve those that contribute to his existence in the first place. Uncle Sam, after all, is the best of everyone in both good times and bad. If the American public were truly terrible people as some believe, he notes, then he'd be "petulant, twisted and delusional."
Uncle Sam is an entity concerned not with politics or government or law but the grand direction both the country and individuals should take. Death is abhorrent to him and ultimately crushing to his existence, but he understands that sacrifices often have to be made for the good of the people, even when it betrays common law―something he's had to deal with when handling his ultimately quite powerful team. He doesn't lend his good faith to people merely because they own a certain position or status, but rather what sort of men or women they are and what good actions they'd take.
Uncle Sam is, ultimately, very good. He's benevolent, forgiving accepting and trusting, striving for people to live the happiest lives they can live and protecting individual freedoms. Conflict is the thing he least wants―after all, he had seen the Civil War in flesh―and diplomacy is always his first priority, as visions of vengeance and cruelty don't appeal to him the least bit. And, rest assured, Uncle Sam is a hell of a diplomat.
Outwardly, he's certainly jovial, always the most optimistic out of everyone, always ready to influence others to do well. In his words:
"I'm a symbol, not meant to wield power but to inspire people to strive for a better life free of tyranny!"
What makes Uncle Sam so powerful to people isn't simply his enthusiasm for the country, but his enthusiasm to roll up his sleeves and do what needs to be done for it. He can be serious if he wants to, he can use his knowledge and his strengths to be downright terrifying if he needs to, he's a competent leader and a relentless, passionate enemy. Uncle Sam is an intelligent existential force, unstoppable, unflappable. He's willing to be tortured for the nation, he's willing to be torn apart and incinerated for what the American people deserve. And they, in his eyes, deserve a great deal.
Otherwise, he's charming, tactful, gentle at times which deserve sensitivity. And he's honest too, physically unable to tell a lie, perhaps due to the remembrance of the story of George Washington and the apple tree or Honest Abe, as he also consists of American myths. His clairvoyance has lead him to being often vague in the case that the information might do harm at the time, however. While he takes risks, he's still the sort to think things through before throwing himself and his allies into the fray.
POWER:
Uncle Sam is literally the physically manifested form of the American Spirit. That is, he is literally the collected vision, dreams, fears, needs and hopes of Americans. He is the man-made idea of America and in that sense, he is rather powerful. He is not a man, not a supernatural being, not magical, but a living entity. (That is to say he's not America, but a symbol linked to the thoughts of its people.)
PHYSICAL POWERS
Uncle Sam's physical form, while powerful, is still flesh and blood. He can take certainly take a beating but he can still die. (In canon, he has the ability to resurrect himself; this will be taken away I GUESS?) In particular, his body and mind are particularly weak to telepaths.
In canon, his abilities grow and wane with the status and strength of the nation (I GUESS THAT WOULD BE HARD TO IMPLEMENT FOR CNC SO IT CAN BE KEPT AT A STABLE POINT?) He is, most notably, a size shifter with super-strength and quicker reflexes. There's a few other perks he has: he doesn't need to eat or sleep, can walk on water, can harness the powers of American folk heroes (say, he can manipulate wind like Pecos Pete and tame saplings like, apparently, Johnny Appleseed) and sounds exactly what somebody's individual perceptions of America are―one person heard his voice as children sweetly singing, another heard a competent leader somewhat like Eisenhower.
EXISTENTIAL POWERS
Uncle Sam generally knows what's occurring within the borders of the United States―besides being made from the emotions and ideals of people, the land echoes back to him. That being said, many activities and motivations evade his vision (some intentionally, some seemingly at a random point.) He also has a tendency to know someone's inner patriotic (and anti-patriotic) thoughts and memories, but exceptions lie. Normally, he is simultaneously aware and mentally active in many universes, but this ability will be cut from his spirit. Uncle Sam is, suffice to say, kind of an infomod. He'll be handled with care.
The existential American Spirit holds a few direct powers both inside and outside of Uncle Sam's body: It can speak in people's heads (that is, if they contribute to the American idea) and summon them to certain places. The American Spirit also has access to its own realm called the American Heartland, a quiet place between universes where America is frozen in time at 1789. Uncle Sam holds the ability to teleport himself and others to this plane―though he'll find that this plane is no longer a multi-universal hub, that it's sectioned off.
UH, SO
If I have to crop this all down, it'll be:
✫ Connection to America's spirit.
✫ Size-shifting.
✫ Ability to teleport to and from the American Heartland.
[CHARACTER SAMPLES]
COMMUNITY POST (FIRST PERSON) SAMPLE:
[ It's a grand day in Washington D.C., as seen in the video. It's immediately clear that somebody else (a volunteer, of course) is holding the communicator at the Lincoln Memorial, as Uncle Sam himself is across the Reflecting Pool and leaning against the Washington Memorial, towering slightly over it in his height. By the view of the crowd gathered in the National Mall, he's been talking for quite a while.
His voice is steady, loud and proud and great: ] ...Now, make no mistake. The notion that imPorts are better than the natural citizens or vice versa is an insult ta what this country stands for! We are all Americans and we are all created equal. Nobody should be granted advantages or be penalized under our Constitution and under our law!
That's supposed ta mean that the imPort community ain't gonna get away with assault, murder or any other crimes that a "normal" civilian would, but they're not gonna be made an exception ta the Bill of Rights, either. No invasions of privacy, no unreasonable searches an' seizures! As many incidents there might'a been, those suggested steps toward'a kind of police state are utterly, totally unacceptable. Any rash decisions made in the name of protection from future attacks can jeopardize our nation's individual freedoms.
When it comes ta national security, even imPorts previously seen as criminal or subversive have their place among America's soldiers... [ A glimpse of another camera in the recorder's hand and the communicator shuts off. The speech, however, goes on on a ton of channels. ]
LOGS POST (THIRD PERSON) SAMPLE:
The City, Uncle Sam thinks, is a hell of a lot more beautiful than anybody else was to ever give it credit for. Sure, it was a New York, but it wasn't the same as any other. When it comes to all that dimensional hoo-hah, cities are like precious snowflakes on the Alaskan tundra: some are ten tons different, some are only subtly set apart, yet they all have their own little marks. Not like this place would set itself apart in this respect, no offense meant to the Cityzens.
No, the concrete underneath him and his feet sing with each step and the buildings tower with ambition in themselves, ambitions of their architects and their construction workers and their janitors and their residents and their elevator operators and their office workers and their plumbers and the feet of all who run in and out, day-by-day.
Blue, clear skies reflect in all that glass, the sun shines around the straight edges of those skyscrapers. Whistling, he tilts his hat to all the men and women hustling and bustling in this fine morning, dropping a ten into a one sleeping Anton Brown's cup on the sidewalk. He remembers that Anton Brown, at age nine, asked for a G.I. Joe for Christmas but had received a Stretch Armstrong instead. The disappointment that he felt was somehow comparable to the day his sister refused to give him shelter, the day she told him she wasn't "going to give any handouts to a nonworking man."
It's a common story, a damn shame. It's too easy for everyone else to forget about them in the overall scheme of the nation.
Then the feeling of imPorts versus everybody else is the same thing as Metas versus everybody else with a bitter twist of a kind of xenophobia and it gives a pang of pain, just a little, as he passes by the M.A.C. and the suspicious and hopeful eyes around the building. It's yet another division, something to bloom into something else and something worse. Uncle Sam isn't going to let that discourage him, bring down his spirit.
"You've got ta keep up hope," he speaks to a man with a certain maybe-offensive picket sign, clasping a shoulder in comfort. "Ya can't blame an entire group'a people for somethin' ya know was an accident the day after she was caught up in it!"
When eyes widen and a mouth opens with a question, he's already ambling off. It's almost noon and he still hasn't made it to the Saturday market.
FINAL NOTES ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER:
THIS CHARACTER IS REALLY, REALLY OVERPOWERED? UH. Anyway, I'll be contacting people a ton, and there'll definitely be exceptions to what he sees/knows.
NAME: Anna.
AGE: 18!
JOURNAL:
greyllAIM: annarcotic
RETURNING: Yes, with two other characters!
[CHARACTER INFO]
CHARACTER NAME: Uncle Sam.
FANDOM: DC Comics.
CHRONOLOGY: Freedom Fighters v2, #9.
CLASS: A hero and more. He’ll keep the dogtags, but he doesn’t technically need to live anywhere, so.
SUPERHERO NAME: The American Spirit.
ALTER EGO: UNCLE SAM some weird dude in a dumb outfit?
BACKGROUND:
(guys i just kind of summarized his canon, whoops!!1)
America, the United States, exists through several universes, several realities—a country like all others, fueled by the ambitions of its people, propelled by their actions. Alongside these multiple physical Americas is a parallel spiritual America, existing in its own realm in an iconic form: all the ideals of these Americas manifest here in one mirroring form, taking from the dreams and fears of its residents.
In some universes, a few, the Spirit of America has been channeled into a physical, limited form, following the interests of the nation on that Earth and seeking to protect what is defined as good from what is defined as evil. This form—a quarter to omniscient but not omnipresent, not at all all-powerful—varies from form to identity. However, what it commonly manifests itself as is a man of a certain appearance, fondly identified by itself and others as Uncle Sam.
The American Spirit fights injustices with the people it holds essence of, against those that threaten their ideals: one team, the Freedom Fighters, is something it is especially fond of and works alongside them on various Earths. This makes it all the more crushing to the existential Spirit as a whole when they’re murdered on an Earth, or where the Earths (including one of his favorites, the “home Earth” of Earth-X) are destroyed with multiple a Crisis.
In the universe this physical incarnation of the American Spirit came to being alongside the creation of the nation, spawned by the founding fathers. An alchemist, working alongside them, had created a talisman that embodied their vision of the new country. Naturally, the American Talisman suffered from a fundamental flaw that left it ultimately incomplete, partially disconnected from the true spiritual realm of America: It was created by the vision of a powerful yet ultimately small group of Americans, the wealthy, educated white men who owned slaves and oppressed others. The talisman embodied Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness of some.
Throughout generations and conflicts, certain dying souls who somehow held the American Talisman had sacrificed their life to temporary combine with it, into a powerful moving manifestation. With the Civil War, the power of the opposing forces had sundered it into two, granting its equal power to twins of the Union and the Confederacy. The form of Uncle Sam had been formed with the dying decision of a 1870s political cartoonist with the name of Samuel Augustus Adams, reappearing three times afterward. After WWII, the fracturing goals of the country, the fading spirit and the fractured vision (and, connecting to the flaw of the American Talisman, the sudden political appearance in the United States of groups not represented by it) had weakened the Spirit and split the talisman into many pieces.
When a “psychic crossroads” of the nation had occurred, where welfare and politics and spirituality and everything and everything reached a climactic peak in tension, the Talisman began to manifest in the world once again, each individual, grand piece spread wide. The American Spirit draws, and draw it did: the Talisman was exploited for individual vision rather than a whole and a certain group called the National Interest sought it out, in the hope of reforming it to fit their vision of a nation.
Outside of its physical form, the American Spirit was very much aware of the turmoil that had been created, the continual plummet of the pride and soul of its being. It had decided to take the problem into its own hands. Approaching several people of various races, backgrounds and phases of life in the realm of dreaming, it had summoned them to Mount Rushmore with the implicit suggestion of sacrifice of the soul. And it was done—the physical American Spirit of that Earth was created, independent of the Talisman as an anchor and others in its most fulfilled form. Here, it had decided to call itself Patriot, a being of noble gold, proud and true.
Patriot had contributed to the JSA for a short time before deciding to revert its appearance, its identity to Uncle Sam—at the time, he had been corrupted with the conflicting vision of the president (at the time, Lex Luthor) but he had cleared up within his first meeting with Superman on that Earth. Continuing to work with the JSA, the Freedom Force had, yet again, somehow fallen under his command. It might be destiny.
And then the Freedom Fighters were quickly murdered, brutalized and imprisoned by the Secret Society of Super Villains—Uncle Sam is killed by Sinestro at that time. A memorial at Arlington Cemetary was built to celebrate their sacrifice.
A year later: Uncle Sam rises up from the Mississippi decidedly late, apparently fine with taking his sweet time resurrecting and recreating himself. In his observatory form, he had glimpsed into America’s future and saw it being sabotaged from within, heard echoes from those planning to ruin it. Taking it as his duty, he pulled at a certain Andre Twist’s subconscious and whispered thoughts in his mind, dragging him to his location and asking for his help—for him to take on the role of Firebrand, one of the team he had lost. A plan had been made to stop a corruptive force in the government from violently infringing on the rights of others. A man named Father Time had created an anti-metahuman task force (S.H.A.D.E.), meant to put down the old heroes and control them to excess, and had persuaded one of the presidential candidates and slaughtered and replaced the less cooperative one with a mechanical mimic (in fact, a chaotic, powerful thing called Gonzo). His eventually hope was, of course, was to control the world through his own police state.
While Firebrand was temporarily imprisoned and tortured after interrupting a certain Senator Knight's speech, Uncle Sam had, using his knowledge, convinced a small team from S.H.A.D.E. consisting of the daughter of the replaced presidential candidate Stormy Knight AKA the new Phantom Lady, Stan Silver AKA a new Ray, Andy Franklin AKA the new Human Bomb and Lester Colt AKA the Doll Man, to join his efforts and become a new group of Freedom Fighters. They accepted, freed Firebrand from his bonds and set off to Arizona to recruit John Trujillo, the new Black Condor.
Meanwhile: the impostor Knight becomes president, staged suicide bombers supposedly in support of Uncle Sam go off in major areas, they're labeled terrorists. They finally meet Gonzo, he kicks their ass with a new Miss America who exploits their being and withers them, they get imprisoned and tortured. Again. Ken Thurston, the new Invisible Hood goes to free them and Jenna Raleigh, a new Red Bee, attempts to distract S.H.A.D.E. from the attempt. Miss America attacks her―only to be interrupted by the old Miss America, Joan Dale. The Freedom Fighters, meanwhile, totally get out and kick Father Time's ass, retreating to plan about Gonzo in the Heartland.
The temporal field that protects it manages to be broken by the Ray, who kills Ken and reveals himself to be a traitor. And then he brings the Cosmigods into the Heartland, beings shaped out of dark matter bent on destroying them. The real Ray, Ray Terril, comes to defeat him, Phantom Lady bends the Cosmigods into a black hole, everything is fine again in the Heartland. Gonzo, however, attempts to push implants into being implemented in the American People and Father Time reacts badly to it, wanting order rather than wanton chaos.
So, he sends Replicant over to ask for a truce, giving them all what they need to expose Gonzo to the American public. And they do: Uncle Sam, towering next to the Washington Monument, interrupts Gonzo's speech ad Senator Knight's assassination on the monitors on the White House lawn. A fight breaks out, Uncle Sam manages to break the Washington Monument, all is won. Father Time, revealing himself to have done what he did to bring Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters back into the world, destroys Gonzo and captures his information to use against invaders in the future. They're finally celebrated and the Vice President takes the seat.
The Freedom Fighters continue as a team, notably stopping a missile launch in Colorado and then an insect invasion―coming back to find the White House extremely damaged from an Amazonian attack. The government, wanting to increase faith in S.H.A.D.E. as it turns into a watchdog team towards criminals, had requested the Freedom Fighters to become a new face of it for the American Public. Uncle Sam (and Firebrand, the Human Bomb, and the Doll Man) had refused, outraged at the violation of privacy for even criminal civilians, and retreated into the American Heartland to wait for either change or American approval.
And as he's gone, Red Bee further mutates into an insect, Stormy takes a further downturn toward addiction and eventually murders a criminal on camera. Uncle Sam allows her into the Heartland, despite the split. The problem, he knew, was that the murdered terrorist wasn't a terrorist at all―a powered actor hired by Robbins, the guy in charge of media relations, as a PR stunt for S.H.A.D.E.. And then Story attempts suicide within his Heartland, further discouraging Uncle Sam; he heals her and forcefully cuts off her dependency to drugs, of course, but the damage to the team is done.
Miss America directs Sam and the Doll Man to a miniature environment deep in the Pentagon to recruit Darrell Dane, the original Doll Man: the one that Uncle Sam had assumed, with shock, that he was still in an asylum. The only deal was that they―the men that lived in the microenvironment― would continue holding the Vice President hostage until a cure for their size-affliction was found. All this was cut short as Sam caught a glimpse of Jenna, the Red Bee, losing her identity as human and becoming a mechanized creature, only arriving in time to catch her breaking Robbins' neck. She, using her fancy-ass new powers, convert the Freedom Fighters to be her workers, her slaves. Uncle Sam goes along with it.
Things happen―the Human Bomb has a meltdown that's absorbed by Miss America, vaporizing her. Uncle Sam mentally contacts the old Ray, telling him to bring the old Freedom Fighter Neon the Unknown―Ray comes to rescue them instead, though Uncle Sam's body is riddled with tiny insects that drive him mad it's gross okay and they free them from him and Jenna. Blah blah, they fight off the insect invasion, Miss America is reborn as Miss Cosmos, everything is peachy, the old Ray is now Neon. Uncle Sam sees Final Crisis coming, but he's not bothered by it at all. For now, he mostly stays in the Heartland, observing.
When he finds out about the current Vice President being kidnapped (uh, another one...) by a mysterious figure, he contacts the Freedom Fighters yet again, visiting the White House to discuss it. A map was left in her place―a map detailing a WMD built by the Confederacy way back then, a location as to where it is. As per the President's wishes, they arrive of Devil's Mountain, a tall plateau in Wyoming. Uncle Sam notes that it's scrambling his connection to the country and Phantom Lady opens it up into a staircase. They descend to find a group of four powerful and old beings imprisoned there, the Renegades, which they've allowed to escape into the new America. Whoops.
Uncle Sam is angered at himself, at whoever pointed him there, at the Renegades. He goes to stop their destruction by himself, refusing to allow whatever they are, gods, monsters or not, to get in the way of him and his nation. He's powerful. But they're something else―they drain him, burn him, fry his physical body into a charred corpse.
In a secret cavern in the Grand Canyon, Uncle Sam resurrected himself from the corpse of Firebrand, killed by a fanatic obsessed with reshaping the nation to fit his own ideals. This fanatic, the Jester, attacks Uncle Sam immediately, hoping to slay him and replace him with an icon that doesn't reflect the twenty-first century at all. Uncle Sam beats him, the Freedom Fighters arrive and send him to jail.
Two weeks later, Uncle Sam heads Firebrand's funeral. And, immediately after, the President calls him over and fires the Freedom Fighters. Uncle Sam is ported in around this time from the Heartland, as the Freedom Fighters plan to go freelance.
PERSONALITY:
Uncle Sam is exactly how the majority of Americans see him to be because that's what he is in the first place. As the old motto of the United States went, E pluribus unum. Out of many, one. His view of himself as a symbol above many is not a haughty one but a humble one, noting that his existence entails that he serve those that contribute to his existence in the first place. Uncle Sam, after all, is the best of everyone in both good times and bad. If the American public were truly terrible people as some believe, he notes, then he'd be "petulant, twisted and delusional."
Uncle Sam is an entity concerned not with politics or government or law but the grand direction both the country and individuals should take. Death is abhorrent to him and ultimately crushing to his existence, but he understands that sacrifices often have to be made for the good of the people, even when it betrays common law―something he's had to deal with when handling his ultimately quite powerful team. He doesn't lend his good faith to people merely because they own a certain position or status, but rather what sort of men or women they are and what good actions they'd take.
Uncle Sam is, ultimately, very good. He's benevolent, forgiving accepting and trusting, striving for people to live the happiest lives they can live and protecting individual freedoms. Conflict is the thing he least wants―after all, he had seen the Civil War in flesh―and diplomacy is always his first priority, as visions of vengeance and cruelty don't appeal to him the least bit. And, rest assured, Uncle Sam is a hell of a diplomat.
Outwardly, he's certainly jovial, always the most optimistic out of everyone, always ready to influence others to do well. In his words:
What makes Uncle Sam so powerful to people isn't simply his enthusiasm for the country, but his enthusiasm to roll up his sleeves and do what needs to be done for it. He can be serious if he wants to, he can use his knowledge and his strengths to be downright terrifying if he needs to, he's a competent leader and a relentless, passionate enemy. Uncle Sam is an intelligent existential force, unstoppable, unflappable. He's willing to be tortured for the nation, he's willing to be torn apart and incinerated for what the American people deserve. And they, in his eyes, deserve a great deal.
Otherwise, he's charming, tactful, gentle at times which deserve sensitivity. And he's honest too, physically unable to tell a lie, perhaps due to the remembrance of the story of George Washington and the apple tree or Honest Abe, as he also consists of American myths. His clairvoyance has lead him to being often vague in the case that the information might do harm at the time, however. While he takes risks, he's still the sort to think things through before throwing himself and his allies into the fray.
POWER:
Uncle Sam is literally the physically manifested form of the American Spirit. That is, he is literally the collected vision, dreams, fears, needs and hopes of Americans. He is the man-made idea of America and in that sense, he is rather powerful. He is not a man, not a supernatural being, not magical, but a living entity. (That is to say he's not America, but a symbol linked to the thoughts of its people.)
PHYSICAL POWERS
Uncle Sam's physical form, while powerful, is still flesh and blood. He can take certainly take a beating but he can still die. (In canon, he has the ability to resurrect himself; this will be taken away I GUESS?) In particular, his body and mind are particularly weak to telepaths.
In canon, his abilities grow and wane with the status and strength of the nation (I GUESS THAT WOULD BE HARD TO IMPLEMENT FOR CNC SO IT CAN BE KEPT AT A STABLE POINT?) He is, most notably, a size shifter with super-strength and quicker reflexes. There's a few other perks he has: he doesn't need to eat or sleep, can walk on water, can harness the powers of American folk heroes (say, he can manipulate wind like Pecos Pete and tame saplings like, apparently, Johnny Appleseed) and sounds exactly what somebody's individual perceptions of America are―one person heard his voice as children sweetly singing, another heard a competent leader somewhat like Eisenhower.
EXISTENTIAL POWERS
Uncle Sam generally knows what's occurring within the borders of the United States―besides being made from the emotions and ideals of people, the land echoes back to him. That being said, many activities and motivations evade his vision (some intentionally, some seemingly at a random point.) He also has a tendency to know someone's inner patriotic (and anti-patriotic) thoughts and memories, but exceptions lie. Normally, he is simultaneously aware and mentally active in many universes, but this ability will be cut from his spirit. Uncle Sam is, suffice to say, kind of an infomod. He'll be handled with care.
The existential American Spirit holds a few direct powers both inside and outside of Uncle Sam's body: It can speak in people's heads (that is, if they contribute to the American idea) and summon them to certain places. The American Spirit also has access to its own realm called the American Heartland, a quiet place between universes where America is frozen in time at 1789. Uncle Sam holds the ability to teleport himself and others to this plane―though he'll find that this plane is no longer a multi-universal hub, that it's sectioned off.
UH, SO
If I have to crop this all down, it'll be:
✫ Connection to America's spirit.
✫ Size-shifting.
✫ Ability to teleport to and from the American Heartland.
[CHARACTER SAMPLES]
COMMUNITY POST (FIRST PERSON) SAMPLE:
[ It's a grand day in Washington D.C., as seen in the video. It's immediately clear that somebody else (a volunteer, of course) is holding the communicator at the Lincoln Memorial, as Uncle Sam himself is across the Reflecting Pool and leaning against the Washington Memorial, towering slightly over it in his height. By the view of the crowd gathered in the National Mall, he's been talking for quite a while.
His voice is steady, loud and proud and great: ] ...Now, make no mistake. The notion that imPorts are better than the natural citizens or vice versa is an insult ta what this country stands for! We are all Americans and we are all created equal. Nobody should be granted advantages or be penalized under our Constitution and under our law!
That's supposed ta mean that the imPort community ain't gonna get away with assault, murder or any other crimes that a "normal" civilian would, but they're not gonna be made an exception ta the Bill of Rights, either. No invasions of privacy, no unreasonable searches an' seizures! As many incidents there might'a been, those suggested steps toward'a kind of police state are utterly, totally unacceptable. Any rash decisions made in the name of protection from future attacks can jeopardize our nation's individual freedoms.
When it comes ta national security, even imPorts previously seen as criminal or subversive have their place among America's soldiers... [ A glimpse of another camera in the recorder's hand and the communicator shuts off. The speech, however, goes on on a ton of channels. ]
LOGS POST (THIRD PERSON) SAMPLE:
The City, Uncle Sam thinks, is a hell of a lot more beautiful than anybody else was to ever give it credit for. Sure, it was a New York, but it wasn't the same as any other. When it comes to all that dimensional hoo-hah, cities are like precious snowflakes on the Alaskan tundra: some are ten tons different, some are only subtly set apart, yet they all have their own little marks. Not like this place would set itself apart in this respect, no offense meant to the Cityzens.
No, the concrete underneath him and his feet sing with each step and the buildings tower with ambition in themselves, ambitions of their architects and their construction workers and their janitors and their residents and their elevator operators and their office workers and their plumbers and the feet of all who run in and out, day-by-day.
Blue, clear skies reflect in all that glass, the sun shines around the straight edges of those skyscrapers. Whistling, he tilts his hat to all the men and women hustling and bustling in this fine morning, dropping a ten into a one sleeping Anton Brown's cup on the sidewalk. He remembers that Anton Brown, at age nine, asked for a G.I. Joe for Christmas but had received a Stretch Armstrong instead. The disappointment that he felt was somehow comparable to the day his sister refused to give him shelter, the day she told him she wasn't "going to give any handouts to a nonworking man."
It's a common story, a damn shame. It's too easy for everyone else to forget about them in the overall scheme of the nation.
Then the feeling of imPorts versus everybody else is the same thing as Metas versus everybody else with a bitter twist of a kind of xenophobia and it gives a pang of pain, just a little, as he passes by the M.A.C. and the suspicious and hopeful eyes around the building. It's yet another division, something to bloom into something else and something worse. Uncle Sam isn't going to let that discourage him, bring down his spirit.
"You've got ta keep up hope," he speaks to a man with a certain maybe-offensive picket sign, clasping a shoulder in comfort. "Ya can't blame an entire group'a people for somethin' ya know was an accident the day after she was caught up in it!"
When eyes widen and a mouth opens with a question, he's already ambling off. It's almost noon and he still hasn't made it to the Saturday market.
FINAL NOTES ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER:
THIS CHARACTER IS REALLY, REALLY OVERPOWERED? UH. Anyway, I'll be contacting people a ton, and there'll definitely be exceptions to what he sees/knows.
