Jiang Mei

Jiang Mei Mar 14, 2013 16:32:11 GMT -5

Post by Jiang Mei on Mar 14, 2013 16:32:11 GMT -5

{desc=(WIP)}Jiang Mei

Nickname: Jason
Codename: Code names are silly.
Preferred name: Jiang
Canon or Non-canon: Non-Canon
Gender: Male
Sexual Orientation: Asexual
Marital Status: Single
Birthplace: New York
Current Residence: Genosha
DOB: 25 January
Age: 27
Occupation: American ambassador to Genosha, part-time terrorist.
Species: Mutant
Affiliation: Brotherhood

Shown in the Light of Day

Height: 6’2”
Weight: 170 lbs
Hair color: Black
Eye color: Dark brown
Identifying features: Anything that would make the character stand out in a crowd?
Appearance:

Tall, fit, and impeccably groomed, Jiang cuts and imposing figure in nearly any setting. Despite his size, he’s light on his feet and moves gracefully. His costume of choice is a tailored Italian suit in either white or blue-black; it is rare to find him in anything resembling casual wear. His Chinese descent is obvious in his facial features and skin tone. Jiang’s jawline is fairly pointed, as is his nose. He possesses a charming, wide smile, which never quite reaches his eyes. He keeps his hair cut just above his ears, parted on his right and neatly combed. Jiang has no facial hair, and even his stubble is kept to an absolute minimum. Fully understanding the importance of first impressions, he takes great pains to make sure his appearance comes off as responsible and trustworthy.

*Uniform:

Spandex is for people who get their hands messy.

Power Corrupts Absolutely

Power Origin: Mutant
Powers:

Skill Acquisition: Jiang has a very specialized, touch-based form of telepathy. He is able to copy the skills of anyone he comes in contact with. This can include book-based knowledge, trivia, and strategy, or more physical skills such as sports, martial arts, or the ability to play a musical instrument. Generally this comes free of any real memories associated with it, leaving just pure ability. Because of this it also will not work on gossip or personal events. The longer physical contact is maintained, the more information can be transferred. A handshake is enough for Jiang to pick up a few formulas, a chapter of a textbook, or a football tackle.

Although is fairly adept at focusing on topics to acquire, he does not have exact control on what he picks up. This functions similar to a search engine--he will pick up what the original learner considers key to the subject, not what he considers useful. He also cannot turn this power off, and will acquire something from everyone he comes in contact with. He cannot affect the person being 'read' in any way, they do not lose the skills he copies, and for the most part his powers function invisibly. A trained telepath might notice his work or be able to block it. Copying full skill sets takes prolonged periods of contact, meaning the subject in question would probably have to be aware of what he was doing…or getting cuddly.

Eidetic Memory: Jiang never forgets anything he learns or experiences, whether through his powers or personal life. He knows every word he’s ever read, never forgets a face, and is capable of instantly recalling any fact he’s ever acquired from someone else. This power is always active, but it can still be shut off through power neutralizers or mind-affecting drugs.

Weaknesses:

Probably the biggest drawback to Jiang's powers is the way he processes physical skills and muscle memory. He will know how to do things as their original owner would have--this means that, to start, Jiang’s going to find them very awkward to use. Before he learns to to adapt for changes in height, weight, and strength, he will use a skill at significantly less than full capacity. This effect is comparable to an ex-gymnast/martial artist starting up again after several years' hiatus--they will have the knowledge of how to do things, and will fall back into routine easily enough, but will be very awkward at first. This also continues on to other physical skills—something as simple as a difference in finger length, for example, will make playing the guitar difficult until he learns to compensate.

Jiang can easily handle small knowledge transfers, and is adept at assimilating them into his collective knowledge. Larger transfers, however, require a good deal of time--and pain--to figure out. If he needs to learn an entire subject or skill, he will probably need to sit down and analyze everything he picked up. This process can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours, depending on the complexity and amount of information. Large transfers always give him killer headaches, too. Resorting one's brain isn't exactly fun. Although uncommon, Jiang can sometimes also picks up personality traits, habits, or memories from people he uses his powers on. He has no real clue when this happens, and it can leave him confused for hours until he figures out what's going on. Usually these accidental gains are simple, like a craving for gummy bears. Occasionally, they give him murderous tendencies or turn him into a manslut.

Getting to the Root of the Problem

Personality:

Prodigal. Charming. Sophisticated. All are commonly used to describe Jiang, but none fit quit so well as ambitious. He is a politician, through and through, and is completely capable of getting his hands dirty if he thinks it will get him ahead. Like a true politician, he is also wonderful at hiding this behind a polite, friendly mask. Nearly everyone believes that he’s nothing more than a young, promising diplomat, perhaps a little naïve about how the world works, and he is perfectly willing to foster this misconception. Meanwhile, he gets to know important people, makes sure serious powers are on his side, and makes sure nothing illegal can be traced back to him.

Jiang may be ruthless, but he is also, surprisingly, nearly passionless. He has no interest in relationships of either the romantic or platonic variety; preferring to keep things strictly business. Although he is more than capable of being friendly, he doesn’t foster ‘friendships’ unless it’s from someone he finds useful. If he believes that someone has a particular skill set he wants, however, he is hardly above seducing them just for some prolonged ~~cuddle~~ contact time. On the flip side, he is incredibly difficult to anger, instead preferring to think things through rationally—and deal with any problems in a calm, ruthless manner. His relationship with the Brotherhood is not built on the belief that mutants are superior to humans, but on the fact that they are influential enough to get him places. Naturally, he is superior to most humans, but that hardly means most other mutants fall into the same category.

Even without his powers, Jiang is nothing short of brilliant. He makes obscure connections easily, actually understands organic chemistry, and learns new subjects easily. He also happens to be polite, charming, and just modest enough to keep others from feeling jealous. Well, at least he’s good at pretending to be modest. Jiang is completely aware that he is, nearly always, the smartest person in the room; he just happens to dumb himself down in most crowds. There are very few people that he considers peers, and he will never let them know that he sees them as a threat. He may be a sociopath, but at least he’s a charming one.

Family:

Mei Fala, Mother
Mei Seong, Father

Background:

To say Jiang's early childhood was uneventful would be an understatement. He grew up in a nice neighborhood just outside New York City, with a low crime rate, some excellent parks, and absolutely nothing of any interest. Their suburban home was exactly like every other suburban home in the area, mainly housing professionals that commuted to the city proper. As soon as he could walk properly he was allowed outside, joining a group of local children. They were more-or-less watched by two of the mothers in the area that didn't work day jobs. It was mostly through them that he learned to speak English, as his parents preferred to use Cantonese at home.

Jiang's start of elementary school was similarly boring, save for his adoption of the American name 'Jason' on the encouragement of his teacher. It was easier for everyone to remember, even if he found it silly at the time. He proved to be a fast learner, and before long Jason was bringing in his own books to read, rather than the boring 'beginner reader' ones. His teacher complained, and his parents yelled at him for doing things he wasn't supposed to. And then took a trip to a bookstore so he'd have more advanced reading fodder.

Continuously throughout elementary school, Jason managed to pull far ahead of his classmates with very little effort on his part. Even then he was a little bit of a genius. His teachers were impressed, and his parents encouraged him to take up other things to fill his time. At the age of eight Jason ended up joining a youth gymnastics team, and that helped get rid of his boredom for a while. He continued to go through books at a terrifying rate, and, as he got older, he discovered the internet. Although this did wonderful things for his general knowledge, it did less wonderful things for his sleep schedule and overall health. His parents began to limit his access, which was very disappointing but probably for the better.

After Jason graduated top of his sixth grade class—an impressive accomplishment right there--his parents managed to get him into a very nice private middle school. Well, his already-excellent resume and an unbelievable intelligence test helped, but those were secondary. Mostly it was his parents. This private school—supposed to be one of the best—was even enough to give Jason a little bit of a challenge. He loved it. Not that he actually needed to study, though. Even then he had an exceptional memory, if not perfect. Still, he'd look over material for a test occasionally, and writing papers took time. It was there that Jason realized that, even when surrounded by ‘smart’ students, he was still the brightest. It was an absolutely amazing revelation, and shortly afterwards he came to the conclusion that he could, in fact, become anything he wanted. An astronaut. A doctor. A bear. President of the United States. The last one struck his interest, and he started doing research. It seemed straightforward enough.

Jason started his first year of high school at a nice new private institute, also specializing in bright children. A few months into his freshman year, however, he began to notice...aberrations...in his behavior. He had always had a tendency to obsess over certain subjects until he knew everything about them, sure, but this was different. His attitudes were changing, too. Worse, there were lapses in his memory. He couldn't figure out how he learned a few of the new tidbits that popped into his head. It was really quite disconcerting. Jason wasn't the only one that noticed the erratic behavior, and appointments were arranged with first the school's therapist, and then a private psychologist. Nothing came of the meetings, however, and it was shrugged off as puberty. Jason continued his schooling.

As the school year progressed, Jason began to figure out what was going on. The strange moments had always occurred after touching people. It was a strange theory, sure, and he tested it by wearing gloves for a few weeks. Problem solved. Well, not completely. There were a few people laughing at him for said gloves, and his sudden refusal of physical contact. They weren't friends. He didn't really have any of those. But he shrugged, stopped wearing the gloves, and started figuring out how to control what he gleaned from everyone around him. It took him the rest of the year to figure them out, sure, but the effort was well worth it. He finished his finals in record time and got perfect scores. Jason figured that if he was going become President, he’d need to keep his grades up.

It was nice, being able to know everything one's teachers did. School went from a mild challenge to a complete waste of time, and Jason spent a good deal of high school year testing out of classes he didn't want to take. He also realized that doing all homework wasn't necessary, if perfect test scores were guaranteed. Jason found himself figuring out exactly how much he could get away with and still remain class valedictorian. It was surprisingly easy, and the slightly-lighter workload was very nice. More and more of his free time ended up going towards 'study groups' in which he'd disappear into New York City for a few hours. His parents never caught on.

Granted, his trips into the city weren’t just regular, juvenile-delinquent behavior. He was doing a different sort of studying—visiting museums, sneaking into scientific conferences, and, most importantly, volunteering at several political offices. It was about then that he realized becoming President might be a little harder than he anticipated. He was a minority—a second-generation one, at that, a mutant, and from a firmly middle-class family. It wasn’t necessarily impossible, but the odds were definitely stacked against him. At least no one had figured out he was a mutant. That was…something. Not nearly enough, but maybe he could make up for the rest.

Jason ended up graduating high school a year early, by far the top of his class. A perfect SAT score and some of the contacts he’d made in his ‘study groups’ ensured that he had his choice of schools. He ended up choosing Cornell, which had offered him a hefty scholarship, and immediately declared a major in political science. The college atmosphere was…definitely a change from the small, exclusive high school he’d attended, but Jason adjusted fairly quickly. Far removed from anyone that knew him in high school, he began to go back to using his birth name, Jiang. Mostly it was a matter of pride, but it also lent a little more transparency for future voters. Other than an incident with a somewhat-homicidal roommate, he moved through college easily.

With judicious use of his powers, Jiang managed to finish up his undergraduate program in two years. He was nineteen. His next plan for education was Harvard Law school, but he didn’t want to start that immediately. Instead, his seemingly-prodigal abilities managed to secure him a spot on a planning committee in New York City. It was an ideal location to meet new people. After a year of work, he managed to secure a spot as a senator’s aide. He stayed there for several years, content to listen and wait for an opportunity. Jiang was still, by far, the youngest of his peers; he could afford to slow down a little. He continued to make connections, using his intelligence and obvious enthusiasm to charm all of the right people.

When he was twenty-five, he decided that it was finally time to go back to school. After getting his expected acceptance from Harvard, he managed to get another aide position in Boston. It proved to be about as easy as his undergraduate program, thanks to his powers, and—once again—Jiang found himself graduating top of his class. He figured it was almost time to actually try running for an elected position. But still, he was waiting for some kind of opportunity.

It came from an unexpected source. After the last ambassador to Genosha had been claimed by an unfortunate ‘accident', Jiang managed to catch wind from the senator that he was working under that finding a replacement was being met with some difficulty. Few humans felt comfortable being around that many mutants, much less ones from a mostly-hostile nation. Jiang happened to be playing with a rigged hand, however. He was more than willing to step forward as an envoy and—after a very serious debate—managed to secure the position. Although he was young and not particularly high-ranking, his charisma, fluency in a wide variety in languages, and very thorough grasp on world politics managed to win out.

Jiang settled into his new appointment carefully, still debating whether he wanted to announce himself as a mutant—and how public he wanted to be about it. Although it could help relations with Genosha immensely, it would also set his career back. Ultimately, he decided to stay quiet. It didn’t matter much, however, as Martinique had been sent to keep an eye on the new envoy. A quick telepathic probe later, it was very obvious that Jiang was a mutant, and, naturally, Magneto was the first person to be informed. He arranged a private meeting with Jiang, during which they discussed the…usefulness…of his appointment. Naturally, Jiang was more than willing to negotiate. He made it clear that, although he was very willing to work with Genosha on less ethical assignments, he did not want to be publicly outed as a mutant.

Seemingly a miracle to anyone unaware of the situation, the prodigal, young envoy to Genosha had managed to succeed where others had not. After being appointed the full rank of Ambassador, Jiang quickly began work on repairing relations between the two countries. Privately, he began working on projects that could never be made public for either him or Genosha. If joining the Brotherhood was what it would take to advance his career, then he was more than willing to make the leap.

No One Likes a Show-Off

Skills: Does your character have any skills that are separate from your character’s powers? Are they a Five Star Cook or Black Belt? This is where you explain them. Make sure it is explained in history how they may have acquires such skills.[/I] Feel free to delete this section if it is not applicable.

Due to the nature of Jiang’s powers, this list should be incredibly extensive. Here’s a few samples of his more ‘useful’ knowledge sets.
He is fluent in far too many languages, including English, French, German, Arabic, Japanese, Russian, Latin, Spanish, Portuguese, and several dialects of Chinese, including Mandarin, Wu, and Cantonese.
Knows several martial art styles, including Kendo, Capoeira, Kung Fu, Kickboxing, Judo, and Greco-Roman wrestling.
Has doctorate-level knowledge in Neuroscience, Genetics, Mathematics, Medicine, Psychology, and Organic Chemistry.
Pretty awesome at playing violin.
Knows far more about women’s fashion than he is comfortable with.

Weapons: If your character uses weapons, list them. Be Realistic and explain where they have acquired them. if they don’t use weapons, feel free to delete.

Massive stacks of paperwork.

Equipment: Gadgeteer? Super Inventor? Tony Stark or Forge? List any equipment your character might utilize on a regular basis here. This includes vehicles, code breakers, and other things. Feel free to delete if Inapplicable.