Stryker

Stryker

Real Name - Gerald Stryker

Code Name - None

Sex - Male

Age (11-18) - 15

Mutations/Powers - When he joined the New Mutants, Gerald was a low level telepath, able to read others’ thoughts and emotional state, but unable to influence them in any way. It took him years to learn how to control his powers enough to be able to not invade others’ privacy, and he frequently had issues with control whenever he actively used his powers. With effort, he could create a mild psychic attack that would effect those without psychic protection with a feeling similar to a migraine, but this was a last resort as an attack as it required so much effort that it makes him unable to stop himself from reading the minds of others near him for about 10 minutes after using it.

This all changed when Gerald got the Legacy Virus. His telepathic ability increased at exponential levels, frequently leaving him somewhat estranged from the real world. By the time of his death, he was arguably more powerful than Professor X himself.

Look – Gerald is 5’9”, scrawny, with black hair and dark brown eyes. He shaves his head once every two months, then lets it grow for two months, during which time he makes no effort at styling it. He tends to wear ratty blue jeans and alternative/goth band T-shirts, usually of bands no one else has heard of, although he is a fan of Hot Tuna. He wears wire frame glasses.

Personality – Gerald tries to keep to himself most of the time, or used to. Ever since he came into Xavier’s care, Professor X has made an effort to help him socialize with others, which was very difficult for Gerald given his history (see below). Recently, he’s gotten much better at being social, although he still isn’t exactly trying to make friends. He is shy and takes a long time to begin to trust anyone long enough to talk to them, but values the people he has gotten close to, especially Xavier who he sees as a father figure. Gerald usually makes a token appearance at gatherings/parties and either leaves early or becomes a wallflower. His biggest social activity is playing video games, although he prefers single player games to multiplayer. He’s also very good at most school subjects, and is a favorite of some of the teachers for his broad knowledge base.

Gerald and Roxanne became really good friends during their time at the mansion, with Gerald acting as a big brother of sorts and attempting to help her as much as he could with the Calamity personality. Roxanne believes that he saved her life, but Gerald always thought that he had somehow failed her along the way.

History: Gerald Stryker’s father, the Reverend Stryker, attempted to kill both Gerald and his mother shortly after Gerald’s birth. Gerald’s psychic powers were actually active from birth, and for some reason he appeared monstrous to his father, who killed his mother for having borne him. His father thought that he had killed Gerald as well, but he had actually lived and was raised by an aunt, who kept him secret from his father. When Gerald was five, his aunt was at the end of her rope because she did not know how to deal with Gerald’s powers. She consulted noted mutant specialist Dr. Moira Mactaggart about what to do next, and Moira offered to run some tests at her Muir Island Mutant Research Facility.

During these tests, Gerald accidentally learned the only secret that his aunt had managed to keep from him this whole time: the identity of his father. Shocked that his father was still alive, he ran away in order to try to find him, and arrived just after he passed away after battle with the X-Men. Gerald lashed out at the X-Men due to their role in his father’s death, but was quickly subdued by Professor Xavier, who has helped him come to grips with his power. Beyond Xavier, Gerald looked up to Piotr Rasputin as an older brother figure, and refused to speak of Colossus’ status as an Acolyte of Magneto. He was somewhat instrumental in Colossus returning to the X-Men, as he psychicly attacked Piotr to start the melee that became the first NM/Acolyte battle.

Gerald was a founding member of Cannonball's New Mutants team. He came down with the Legacy Virus, which limited his ability to participate, but also greatly increased his power when he did participate. His biggest onpanel moments were related to saving Roxanne, first by journeying through the astral plane with Heatwave to figure out what happened to her, then by nursing the nigh-dead psyche of Roxanne back to health, and finally by supplanting the Calamity persona with the Roxanne persona.

After that, the Legacy Virus worsened, and Gerald's hold on sanity started to slip. He approached Dillan Drummond with a plan to keep himself alive, based on Betsy Braddock's Revanche experience. Addison, a former lover and current enemy of Dillan's, was chosen as the recipient of Gerald's psyche. After a brief tenure at the mansion as Addison, Gerald realized he had done something wrong and went back into his own body with Professor X's help. During this time, he also had altered certain memories of particular students to prevent them from learning the truth, and released those memories one day after his death. Notably:

Roxanne: Gerald revealed that he had transferred into another body to Roxanne in a dream, but didn't specify what body it was. Roxanne convinced him that he was doing something wrong, so he went back into his own body.

Addison: All memories of what happened between Stryker, Dillan, and her were erased.

Wreck: Stryker claimed that he mindwiped Wreck once, but he never did, so he got nothing. It's unclear whether Stryker was insane from the Virus, or maybe he mindwiped Blight, or maybe he meant to mindwipe Wreck but never did.

Lex: Stryker mindwiped Lex to forget that he and Addison were the same person, after he started blabbing it around the mansion. He also vindictively screwed up his relationship with Jubilee by making Lex feel intensely attracted to Addison.

Almond: Right before his death, Stryker found out the truth about the Almond at the mansion. He then downloaded his memories of "where Stryker went wrong" into Almond's head, allowing him to know all about his life posthumously, hoping that would help Almond redeem himself.

The following character received a mindwipe from Stryker that was not released by him, but somehow got released by something somewhere.

Kelly: LexLex told her that Addison was Stryker, Stryker messed with her head so that she wouldn't believe that.

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