Alex Mercer/ZEUS/Blacklight

CHARACTER NAME: Alex Mercer, also known as ZEUS
CHARACTER SERIES: Prototype

[OOC]

Backtagging: Always!
Threadhopping: Allowable.
Fourthwalling: I'd prefer this didn't happen with this character.
Offensive subjects: None so far.

[IC]

Hugging this character: If you try, Alex may eat you. If you want to risk that, then go ahead.
Kissing this character: Same as above.
Flirting with this character: Sure, but he won't reciprocate or get embarrassed.
Fighting with this character: Allowed! Talk to me first though. Alex is very deadly.
Injuring this character: Alex can really only be hurt by being burned, but as his body is made of raw, shiftable biomass, he'll heal almost immediately as long as he has biomass to spare. I'd prefer if this was discussed beforehand, but I am totally cool with it.
Killing this character: Preferably not. It's pretty difficult anyway.
Using telepathy/mind reading abilities on this character: You can certainly give it a shot, although I'm not sure what a living virus's thoughts would sound like. Probably very Voice of the Legion-esque.

Warnings:

Alex is a living virus, not a human being, and he needs to consume living things (while they're still living) in order to survive. He's eaten a lot of people, though he tries to keep it to acceptable targets like people who are trying to kill him, muggers, rapists, and the like. If he's hungry, he may have difficulty controlling himself around people who have a pulse, so be wary of that.

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Full Name: Alexander J. Mercer, PhD
-Nicknames and aliases: Alex, ZEUS, Monster of Manhattan

Species: Viral organism codenamed Blacklight
-Abilities and biological quirks: Alex's body is constructed of raw biomass, which he can shapeshift into any person (clothes included) that he has consumed, as well as form bladed weapons and armor. He requires living creatures to consume on a periodic basis, or to heal in an emergency. When he does this, he gains all their memories, and in the case of humans, the ability to take their shape. Because he consumes their mass also, his body is incredibly dense. When he gains enough mass, he can unleash it in an area-wide attack that varies from creating clusters of spikes erupting from underground to multiple bladed tentacles bursting from his body to strike everyone in range. He has no blood, and rarely bothers to form internal organs except those he needs to pass as human, such as lungs so he can mimic breathing. He can run straight up walls, leap massive distances, run at a sustained speed of at least seventy miles per hour indefinitely, and glide for very short distances.
Weaknesses: When Alex consumes a person, their memories are absorbed into his conscious mind instantaneously and violently, causing him pain and momentary distraction from the world around him. Because of his massively dense body, he cannot swim, and will sink in any body of water deeper than his height, which also hurts him in the process. He used to be vulnerable to an anti-viral gas known as Bloodtox, but repeated exposure has built up immunity. Electric shock can temporarily stun him. A nuclear explosion at close range can force him to liquefy until he gains any biomass, no matter how small.

Appearance: In his default form, Alex appears as a 29-year-old white male with intense blue eyes, short brown hair, and pale skin. He wears blue jeans and a white button-down shirt, over top which he also wears a hoodie with the hood perpetually up, and a black leather biker jacket on top of that. As with the rest of him, however, his clothes are made of biomass and only appear that way because he wills it. In his armored form, Alex's entire body appears to be made of a stonelike material, creating an insectoid armor that looks as though it could be worn overtop a human body (with some imagination), but is not. His appearance while in disguise will vary depending on whose face he is wearing.

Personality: Alex is an apex predator, and struggles against his violent nature and hunger when among innocents. He has no such restraint when it comes to Blackwatch, Infected, and others who willingly hurt others, so he tries to limit his prey to those groups. He's determined to protect those that have done nothing wrong, wanting to atone for what the old Alex Mercer did, feeling responsible for it in a way. He has one sister who he cares for, and will do anything to protect her. He's currently developing the first inklings of a sense of humor, though it's dark in nature. He often falls into a state of bloodlust while tearing through Infected or Blackwatch, letting his inner predator loose to do what it does best. He feels no guilt over killing bystanders, but does regret their deaths, and acts to limit innocent casualties when he can.

History: Dr. Alex Mercer used to be a scientist working for Gentek to develop Blacklight, a highly fatal virus meant as a biological weapon. When people associated with the project started going "missing," Alex stole a vial of the virus and attempted to flee, assuming that the virus would be a good enough deterrent to anyone trying to stop him. It didn't, and he was shot and killed in Penn Station, but not before he smashed the vial and released the virus into Manhattan.

Mercer's body fell on the spilled vial, and the virus recreated him from the inside out, taking on his face and form, believing itself to be Alex Mercer. Dozens of people in Penn Station died in minutes, and those that survived became Walkers, Infected mutants that resemble zombies in many ways. Blackwatch, a government/military organization that sees little reason not to shoot innocents along with their targets (or for no reason at all), arrived to stop the outbreak but it quickly spread out of control, and they had to call in the Marines for reinforcements and quarantine the island of Manhattan.

Alex, without the memories of the first Alex Mercer, fought against both the Infected and Blackwatch as he searched for those responsible for the outbreak to get his revenge for what he'd become. By the time he learned that it had been himself, or rather the man that died at Penn Station, the outbreak had spread so far that Blackwatch had decided to resort to nuking the island to sterilize it of the virus, killing all the innocents still trapped there in the process. Alex stopped the nuke, sending it out to sea before its detonation, and decided to take responsibility for New York City. Now he fights against the spread of the Infected, and against the atrocities of Blackwatch, using both as a prey source so he does not have to resort to eating innocents. This will only last so long, however, and he has yet to find a solution to the future shortage.