- "And this mist ability..I can phase through things, like a ghost or a specter. That's it, Stark! From now on, I want to be called 'Specter'! The perfect name to strike fear into those losers!"
- —Charles Haze
Charles Haze, also known as Haze, is an original character designed by LeeHatake93. Charles Haze resides in the Vengeance universe.
Before taking on the nickname "Specter", Charles preferred to be called by his middle name, Neil. He is often simply referred to as "Haze" by his friend, Allen, and thus, it later becomes his super-hero name. Haze possesses Vapokinesis, a genetic fusion of Pyrokinesis and Hydrokinesis. The birth of his abilities is different from most mutants. As he possesses The Gene, he has the natural ability to develop his powers, however, neither of his parents carried the trait for his abilities. Instead, his natural Pyrokinetic abilities were mutated, and thus, evolved his natural ability, something that Alistair Haze would later exploit in a future experiment.
Biography
Charles was born on Monday, October 18, 1993, to Alistair and Cecily Haze in Lynch City, Alabama. In 2004, he met Allen Stark, his soon-to-be lifelong best friend. He and Allen also befriended a girl named Amy Sanders, and the three became inseparable. His mother, Cecily, passed away in mid-2011, the cause of her death having never been revealed. Despite the depression that was born from his mother's death, Charles later developed a brighter, comedic personality, both to cope with his loss, and to help forget about it.
Throughout his high school years, Charles balanced sports and helping his father in the family's lab. He dedicated himself to studying chemistry in order to land an internship at a local chemistry lab. Similar to Allen, Haze would occasionally get in trouble with authority due to his overconfident, wise-cracking personality, although he'd hold back his remarks if they put his education at stake. He was determined to get into that internship. During his senior year, Charles and his friends seemed to spend less time with each other. Between Charles spending time in his father's lab, Allen and Amy dating, and the couples' dedication to gaining a scholarship to continue their education after high school, Haze and his friends rarely saw each other outside of school. However, Charles didn't want his friends to drift away, so he would occasionally invite them over to help with certain assignments and show off some of his chemical concoctions, although his father didn't approve of the idea. Alistair didn't mind his son's friends visiting their home, however, he didn't like them being near his experiments.
A few weeks later, Charles heard terrible news from Jason Stark. Allen, Amy, and Caleb Stark were caught up in a vehicle explosion. Charles stood frozen in horror after hearing this news, but his spirit rose when he heard that Allen had miraculously survived the crash. He immediately rushed to the hospital to visit his friend and was surprised that Allen had not only survived the explosion, but he was lying in a hospital bed without so much as a single scratch. He couldn't believe it was possible. He wanted to say something to Allen, but Jason told Charles that it would be a while before he'd wake up. Despite that, Haze waited in the room until the hospital staff told him that visiting hours were up. He left him but was determined to come back every day until he'd awaken, no matter how long it took. However, he never got the chance as Allen woke up the following morning while Haze was at school, and wanted to be alone until after the funeral services for his younger brother.
When Allen returned to school, Haze was glad to see him and offered his condolences for his losses. However, Allen had changed. He became cold, cynical, and temperamental. Haze tried to get Allen into a better mood by cracking jokes and witnessed first hand that his personality wasn't the only thing that changed. Allen punched a table, which caused all of the car alarms in the school parking lot to sound off, all of the light bulbs in the classroom to burst, spraying glass everywhere, and the chemical burners in the science lab to flare up, nearly burning down the school. He was a bit frightened but amazed that Allen has somehow developed superhuman powers. He wanted to learn more about his friend's abilities and began playing around with the idea of his best friend being a super-hero. However, Allen gave Haze the cold shoulder and told him that he had no interest in learning to control his powers, and would rather be "cured" than continue bearing "this curse". Despite this outburst, Charles stayed by Allen's side, even with the rest of the school avoiding him. He wasn't afraid of his best friend, although he was afraid of losing him.
Charles decided to go back to his father's lab and help with his experiments. Even though he thought his powers were awesome, Haze remembered Allen's attitude toward his abilities. He figured if he and his father could develop a cure for Allen's powers, not only would he have his old friend back, he'd also be a shoo-in for the internship he sought. Alistair was also keen on the idea and expressed his interest in helping Charles with this project. The two began working diligently toward their goal. They eventually developed a compound that Alistair believed would work as a cure to Allen's powers, however, he would need a DNA sample to test it on. Charles wanted to keep his project a secret, but he figured that asking for someone's DNA would probably require some explanation, otherwise it'd be a little creepy. He made his way toward the door in order to access the phone outside the lab, however, the door slammed shut as the alarms began ringing. Alistair had accidentally knocked over one of the test tubes and toxins began leaking in the lab, forcing it on lockdown. Haze was terrified of losing his father and did everything he could to break the lab door open, although nothing worked. Intensely angered that he couldn't do anything, he punched the door and to his surprise, a large fireball shot out of his hand. He had awakened superpowers just like Allen had. With no time to celebrate, Charles immediately resumed his efforts to open the door. He found a metal pipe, and by concentrating all of his strength into his right hand, he heated it enough to cut through the door. Alistair was desperately trying to avoid breathing in the fumes as Charles made his way over to rescue his father. He accidentally inhaled some of the fumes himself and began feeling light-headed. As he made his way over to his father, he attempted to use his new powers to diffuse the chemicals in the air by smothering them with smoke. However, his fire powers weren't working, although he was somehow able to breathe in the chemicals naturally. After taking a deep breath, Charles was able to absorb the chemicals in order to get his father to safety. Just as his father exited the lab, Charles went back to grab the assumed cure for Allen's powers, but a metal door soon slammed, trapping him inside. Before he could look around for another exit, he noticed one of the burners flare up next to an unstable compound his father had knocked over. The slamming of the metal door caused the vial to roll toward the burner, but before Charles could attempt to stop it, the vial exploded and Charles blacked out.
Waking up 30 minutes later outside of the lab, Charles was met by his father who was surprised to see him alive. He looked over and saw the lab ablaze, amazed that he wasn't dead. When asked how his father got him out of the lab, Alistair merely stated "I didn't--I couldn't do anything. I heard the blast and the door knocked me away. I was afraid you were gone, but then I saw this thick fog blowing toward the house. When it cleared, I found you, lying there without a scratch. By the way, son..when did you manged to dye your hair?". Charles was amazed and confused. "Dye..my hair? What are you talking about, Dad?". Alistair held up a mirror and Charles didn't believe his eyes. His brunette hair had turned silver, and his brown eyes had become a light shade of blue. He threw away the mirror and hugged his father, saying "I guess it was the chemicals." Charles attempted to bring back his flames, but instead, his powers had changed. In the place of fire, he would spawn steam. However, this didn't kill his spirit. Charles was excited to try out his new powers and began practicing them daily. He eventually learned to create a mist, cause his steam to boil, and even transform his body into mist, allowing himself to phase through solid objects. Once he learned to control his powers, he began teasing Allen, claiming that his powers were better. His overconfidence had increased with his new abilities, which caused him to challenge his best friend in a duel of super abilities, knowing that Allen ignored his own powers. Allen initially turned down the challenge, but after a few days of Charles boasting his new abilities, Allen finally decided that he couldn't allow someone to use superpowers so carelessly.
Charles didn't want to injure his friend, so he toyed around with him. He would turn into mist during all of Allen's attempts to hit him, angering him, and would taunt Allen at his inability to hit him, further angering him. Although, Allen eventually told Haze that he had enough, and gave up. As soon as he solidified and came over to ask Allen if he was willing to embrace his powers, Allen punched Haze in the jaw, finally landing a hit on him. "Hey, man, that's cheating!" Haze laughed. "So, this mean you're finally gonna stop being cranky and embrace the super-hero thing or what?" Allen claimed that "If it means I can put a stop to jackasses like you using their powers so carelessly, then I guess I have no choice. Let's go, Haze..", as he helped his friend back to his feet.
After discussing his abilities to Allen, Haze described them: "And with this mist ability, I can phase through things, of course, you already experienced that first hand, didn't you? Anyway, it's amazing. It's like I'm a..a..ghost..or..a specter. That's it, Stark! From now on, I want to be called 'Specter'. Ha! It's the perfect name to strike fear into any losers that would dare oppose us!". Allen continued to call him "Haze", but from that point onward, Charles no longer went by his middle name, "Neil". He would henceforth be called "Specter". Once he became a hero, Haze abandoned his dream of becoming a chemist.
Following his mother's death, Haze developed a clinging relationship with his father. As he was very close to his mother, her sudden removal from his life affected Haze severely, as he constantly lived in fear of losing his father. He wanted to make sure he could spend as much time with Alistair as possible, hence why he developed an interest in chemistry and dedicated himself to helping with his father's experiments. His father appreciated the assistance in the lab, but he'd often feel smothered and resentful toward his son, wanting to develop certain experiments on his own, eventually building a second laboratory in their basement, installing a DNA-specific lock on the door in order to perform his secret experiments in private. However, Alistair didn't hate Charles, and he would always assist him in the main laboratory. Alistair was also the one that recommended Charles for the internship, and wanted to help his son achieve it. He was especially interested when he learned that Allen Stark had developed superhuman abilities, and his son wanted to develop a serum that would cure him.
After the explosion that gave "Specter" Haze his powers, Alistair became more involved in his son's life. Haze originally thought that it was because his father didn't want his son to die, however, he later discovered an awful revelation.
Haze learned that Alistair was the man responsible for his mother's death. The secret experiments that Alistair had performed were dedicated to awakening his powers. Unlike Specter and Allen, Alistair and Cecily were both born as mere carriers of "the gene", meaning that they could pass on superhuman abilities, but they could never awaken them naturally. Alistair discovered that combining the DNA of two such individuals would be enough to awaken his powers, so he asked Cecily if she would donate her DNA to his experiments. Refusing to be lab rat, Cecily was murdered by Alistair and her DNA was contained in several test tubes that Alistair had hidden. After this revelation, Haze furiously attacked his own father, but couldn't bring himself to kill him. He left the decision to Allen as he broke down and wept in his moment of indecision. From that point forward, he despised his father but never had the heart to finish him off.
Appearance
Haze is a young adult with a standard physique. He has silver hair as a result of the chemicals his body absorbed and light blue eyes. He often wears blue clothing. Using notes left by his father, he has to develop specially-made clothing that adapts to his DNA signature, transforming it along with his own body so that he doesn't lose his clothing when he transforms.
In his everyday clothes, he often wears a blue plaid shirt with a large brown collar, black tank top, blue jeans, black sneakers, and blue gloves. His V-Ranger outfit was a dark blue sleeveless shirt with blue tiger stripes, matching leather pants, light blue gloves, boots, and large wrestler-like belt. Before he obtained his powers, he had brunette hair and brown eyes.
Personality
Haze's personality stays pretty constant throughout the years. To counter the depression of losing his mother, Haze began studying joke books, attempting to raise his spirits. This eventually develops into a highly sarcastic, wise-cracking personality, and becomes a staple of his character in general. After playing sports for his high school, he developed a confident personality, assuring himself that even if something goes wrong, he can always bounce back from it. This later made him overconfident in his abilities, and he later quit playing sports to focus on chemistry. He also has a strong flirtatious side to his personality, as he'll occasionally attempt to pick up girls that he meets. He is usually rejected, but that never kills his confidence.
However, despite his overbearing confidence and less-than-serious attitude, Haze occasionally shows compassion toward others and sympathy. He was heartbroken when he heard about Allen's car accident, worried that he lost his best friend, and used to live in fear of losing his father. He expressed his condolences toward Allen's losses after the funeral services and was determined to stay by his friend's side, even when the entire school had turned away from him when his powers were discovered.
Haze also expresses an uncontrollable rage when he's pushed over the edge, born from his suppressed depression he kept bottled up over the years. This was shown after Alistair revealed that he killed Cecily, met by a furious Haze who mercilessly attacked his father without a second thought. Despite his rage, though, Haze refused to kill his father. Unsure of whether it was because of their family bond, or that he felt that prison would be a better sentence, Haze could not bring himself to kill Alistair.
Haze retains his joking personality throughout the years, in contrast to Allen's maturity, often putting the two at odds with each other, although the two never come to blows. He considers his friends to be his family now and does everything in his power to protect them.
Abilities
- Pyrokinesis: Haze originally inherited Pyrokinesis from his mother. During his brief display of this ability, he was able to shoot fireballs and heat metal pipes to serve as makeshift welding tools. It is believed that he would have developed the ability to transform his body into smoke, although this is only a theory as to the extent of this former power.
- Vapokinesis: Chemical exposure affected his natural gift of Pyrokinesis, combining it with a sample of a Hydrokinetic gene, forming a new power known as Vapokinesis, the manipulation of steam. He can use this ability in a few different ways.
- Intangibility: A major exploit of his abilities and the inspiration for his nickname, Haze has the ability to transform his body into a mist form, allowing himself to phase through most physical objects. This is especially useful in combat, as he can dodge most physical attacks with ease.
- Flight: Haze can also transform into a mist cloud, allowing himself to fly, to an extent.
- Projectile Steam: Haze can fire his steam in the same manner as his previous fireball ability. With this ability, he forms a round cloud of steam and shoots it like a fireball. He can also heat the steam to an extent that may burn its target.
- Fog Creation: Haze is able to create a fog thick enough to blind opponents, although it is primarily limited to the steam that his body naturally creates. However, if he is near a source of water, he can manipulate it into a mist form, thickening the fog that he creates, allowing him to cover more distance.
- Mist Vision: Naturally, Haze's fog creation would be self-destructive if it affected him too, so he developed this ability. This is the explanation behind the change in his eye color. The light blue coloration actually serves as a special lense that allows Haze to see clearly in thick fog.
- Boiling Mist: Originally an ability he used solely to heat chicken noodle soup, Haze is able to create a mist that can be heated to a level that can induce third-degree burns. This can also be merged with his fog ability to cover more ground and affect more enemies.
- Accelerated Healing Factor: Haze has an exceptionally speedy healing factor, due to his ability to phase through physical objects. He can quickly recover from most physical injuries, provided he ever sustains them. However, this has a limitation. He has a weakness toward cold environments, as the cold temperature prevents his body from producing the required temperature to transform into steam, and as such, he could wind up frozen solid after prolonged exposure, although, if his body has enough time to heat itself to a certain degree, he can counter this weakness, but he would need assistance from an external source of heat.
- High Intellect: Like Allen, Haze was an intellectual student, and excelled in chemistry. However, despite being a skilled chemist, he didn't score well in other subjects.
- Immunity to Toxins: Haze has the ability to breathe in chemical toxins as naturally as oxygen. This proves to be a useful skill as he is able to enter chemical labs without the risk of exposure. However, he still requires a chemical cleansing before he can make physical contact with other people.
Relationships
Family
- Alistair Haze: Father, turned enemy
- Cecily Haze: Mother, deceased
- Danny Haze: Son
Allies
- Allen Stark: Fellow V-Ranger
- Maya Alexandra: Fellow V-Ranger
- Virgil Brooks: Fellow V-Ranger
- Dylan Holmes: Future V-Ranger
Enemies
- Richard Krueger: Colleague of Alistair's
- Magnus Steele: Ally of Alistair's
- Rachel Steele: Magnus' daughter, potential love interest
- Alyssa Holmes: Sister to Dylan Holmes, turned evil
- Exel Takashi: Ally of Alyssa Holmes
- Cordelia Belmont: Former student of Richard Krueger
Trivia
- Haze's original power was going to be centered around smoke, however, this was changed after the reveal trailer for inFamous: Second Son was released, revealing a protagonist with the same ability.
LeeHatake93
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