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ROSS

Ross, Thaddeus E. (Publicly Known) FC
Nickname(s): Thunderbolt
Non-player Character

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

HEIGHT:		6' 1"
WEIGHT:		245 lbs.
EYE COLOR:		Blue
HAIR COLOR:		Grey
ETHNICITY:		Caucasian
BIRTHDATE:		Jun 12, 1956
AGE:		54
GENDER:		Male
APPEARANCE:		Thaddeus Ross is a severe-looking man, in effect wearing the experience of his lifetime on his face and body. At just over 6 feet tall, his imposing, fit build is accentuated by the unwavering expression seen frequently settling on his face. His hair is a steely Gray, and he casts a very intense gaze from his icy-Blue eyes. As with most career-military men, he is rarely seen out of uniform except when off duty, and then he prefers his Camoflage-print training fatigues over more casual clothing. On extremely rare occasions, he has been seen in a suit, but only in the most removed circumstances would he be seen in anything like regular pants and shirt.
MODEL:		William Hurt
THEME SONG:		Stars and Stripes Forever : John Philip Souza
WAIVER:		NPC WAVER APPLIES

LEGAL INFO

CITIZENSHIP: America, Adult, No Criminal Record
PLACE OF BIRTH: Unrevealed
MARITAL STATUS: Widower
OCCUPATION: Lieutenant General, U.S. Air Force
AFFILIATION: Mutant Response Division (formerly S.H.I.E.L.D.)
BASE OF OPERATIONS: Triskelion

PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE

CHARACTER CONCEPT:		Fanatical Patriot
ORIENTATION:		Straight
DEMEANOR:		Autocrat
NATURE:		Director
PERSONALITY:		In a word, Ross is a driven man. Having been committed to the defense of the U.S. and its allies for so long, he has very much embraced the philosophy of 'Might makes Right'. He truly cares for the welfare of the people around him, but should they become, in his viewpoint, an obstacle to defending the country, he counts this as near traitorous behavior, and so treats them accordingly. The only 'dent' in the man's personal 'armor' is his relationship with his daughter, Betty, and she remains at times the only one able to communicate with Ross other than military command to convince him to 'stand down'.
GOALS:		Primarily, Ross remains committed to the protection of the U.S. and it's citizens. This just happens to include using any means necessary to control internal and external threats, not limited to, but definitely including The Hulk.

CHARACTER STATS

CLASSIFICATION:		HUMAN - Class H: Homosapien Sapien
POWER RANK:		GD - 10
SKILL LEVEL:		Superior talent with extensive training
APTITUDE:		Operate current technology: computers, electronics
WEALTH:		Large business or chain, trust fund, upper class

SPECIAL ABILITIES

ADVANTAGES:

DISCIPLINED - Ross is a disciplined man, both mentally and physically. This allows him to keep his mind sharp and his body in peak physical condition, as well as allowing Ross to be more intuitive in all situations, leading to heightened intelligence, combat skills and achievement.

LEADERSHIP - Ross has the respect of all other team members to the extent that these members rely on Ross to lead them, be it in battle or generally in times of pursuit or crisis. Ross therefore has bucket loads of logical thinking, strategy and charisma.

PATTERN RECOGNITION - Ross has an amazing awareness of placing things together, whether it be puzzles, secret messages, or another form of repetition that might not be so obvious to the average eye. This person is also good at math and history, recognizing patterns in functions, as well as remembering points of history and how they fit together.

CONVICTION - Ross possesses great belief in them self, what Ross is doing, what he stands for. He is able to stand up to the forces of evil and temptation better than most.

INTERNAL COMPASS - Ross is never lost or disoriented in any area that he has been to before. Once Ross gets his bearings, he will be at a slight bonus to navigate in a new area. This advantage does not work in alien dimensions or alternate realities, unless he has been to such places beforehand.

FIGHTING SKILLS:

ADMINISTRATION - If Ross didn't have much of a talent for administration before he started assisting S.H.I.E.L.D., he certainly does now. He's gotten quite good at keeping things organized and coordinated, keeping track of the various aspects of an organization and making sure none goes neglected, and keeping things documented in case the need arises to go back and check over something.

COMBAT STYLE (Aerial) - Fighting in the sky. Ross can use Agility instead of Strength to attack while flying in an aircraft. He can also use Agility instead of Intellect for declaration order during aerial combat.

COMBAT STYLE (U.S. Military Martial Arts Training) - Ross can use his Agility instead of Strength to attack and reduce the difficulty to reduce damage from falling. If he doesn't attack, he can reduce the difficulty rating to catch any thrown object He can lift, negating impact damage. Additionally, for every post which states Ross is studying a target, he can increase his ability to react.

PILOTING - Working knowledge of most 20th century aircraft. Even in a small spaceship, Ross will have an intuitive understanding of which flashing light is the accelerator and which is the brake.

TACTICS - If Ross takes a full exchange to analyze an ongoing or anticipated combat situation and is able to share his insights with allies, he and all his allies gain a strong increase to all actions in their first exchange and a moderate increase to all actions in their second exchange. Not all allies need to attack at the same time to gain these benefits, some may hold themselves in reserve and still receive the bonuses on their first exchange, rather than on the exchange that others first engage in combat.

WEAPON STYLE - (Guns) - Modern personal firearms of all types-handguns, rifles, shotguns, sub machine guns, including laser, stun, and concussion varieties. Ross is usually armed with a government issue .45 caliber automatic pistol as a sidearm, but has been known to commandeer weapons from his own troops as well as civil authorities.

DISADVANTAGES:

FANATICISM - Ross is thoroughly convinced that the Hulk is a major threat, both to civilians and as a possible, and exploitable, military asset. He remains both covetous of the power of the Hulk, while not trusting him in the least.

SUBJECTIVE APATHY - Ross is known for having a total lack of remorse in some situations, but particularly to one over all. Ross is indifferent to or rationalizes hurting, stealing from, or mistreating others, when it comes to doing what is necessary to combat the Hulk. Note Ross' service record considers this quality under the title "Commitment to duty", so Ross finds validation in pursuing an 'ends justify the means' attitude if the circumstance seems to demand it.

EQUIPMENT

UNIFORM:		In regular circumstances, Ross wears a standard U.S. Air Force Commanding Officer's Uniform, with all applicable insignia, medals, and marks of Rank, including those of MRD and S.H.I.E.L.D. when applicable. In action or on missions, he may switch to Commanding Officer's Field Dress.
EQUIPMENT:		.45 Caliber Automatic (Service pistol/Sidearm), plus any applicable materials needed on a given mission.
RESOURCES:		U.S. Military, S.H.I.E.L.D., and MRD.
TRANSPORTATION:		Ross may requisition (or commandeer) any MRD or U.S. Military vehicle, without explanation, at any time. His personal civilian vehicle is a nondescript Black 4WD SUV of unknown make and model.

CONTACTS

CONTACTS:

S.H.I.E.L.D (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division.); Super Soldier Program and Asset Retrieval

MRD (Mutant Response Division)

United States Army and Air Force

RELATIVES:

Karen Ross (Wife; deceased)

Betty Ross (Daughter)

ENEMIES:

The Hulk

Brotherhood

HISTORY

General Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross, the man who would became the most frequent nemesis of the superhuman monster known as the Incredible Hulk, was born into a family with a proud tradition of military service. Ross's grandfather served heroically under General Sherman in the Union army during the Civil War; Ross's father became a general while fighting in the Argonne during World War I. As a boy Thaddeus Ross immersed himself in the study of military history. Later he learned how to fly by barnstorming at county fairs.

As a young man, Ross graduated first in his class at West Point. He married Karen Lee, the daughter of the captain who was his commanding officer at the time. Ross rapidly rose in rank and was endeared to those under his command by the nickname "Thunderbolt," since, they said he "struck like a thunderbolt" when leading them into action. Ross was stationed at the nuclear research facility at Los Alamos, New Mexico. It was here that he met nuclear physicist David Brian Banner, the father of Robert Bruce Banner, with whom Ross would work years later. Ross had risen to the rank of colonel, then finally became a brigadier general in the U.S. Air Force. "Thunderbolt" Ross gloried in combat, so he was dissatisfied with the "desk jobs" he was given later on. He eventually came to hold the rank of lieutenant general.

Ross's wife, Karen, bore him only one child, his daughter Betty. Karen Ross died when Betty was in her early teens. General Ross, now in command of Desert Base, New Mexico, a missile base and nuclear research site, believed that it was not the right place to raise a young girl and sent her off to boarding school. After completing her education, Betty, devoted to her sole surviving parent, returned to Desert Base to live near her father.

Later Bruce Banner, a young genius, was sent by the United States government to the Desert Base to work on recreation of the Super-Soldier Serum that had created Capt. America. General Ross, now working with S.H.I.E.L.D. but side-lined to ‘oversight regulation’ resented the fact that Banner, a civilian, was supervisor of the project. Moreover, the general had contempt for the unathletic, intellectual Banner for failing to live up to Ross's own vision of true manhood. Making matters worse for Ross was the growing attraction developing between Banner and Betty, whom he hoped would marry a military officer.

The test trials of the serum were rushed because of an upcoming military review, which would decide the further viability of funding for the project. The trial formula was deemed possibly toxic due to the Gamma radiation used as a catalyst and so not cleared yet, but Banner was aware of Ross’ desire to have him replaced with Ross’ own scientists, and became so engrossed in proving his formula worked that he tested it on himself. Due to an unknown genetic factor in his body, the serum did not kill him, but instead caused him to transform sporadically into the superhumanly strong monster known as the Hulk. Although the details varied over the years, the Hulk usually possessed little of Banner's memories and intelligence, and was easily enraged. Hence, the Hulk was considered a menace, and Ross began his long career of hunting the Hulk.

At first, Banner managed to keep secret the fact that he was the Hulk. Indeed, since the Hulk looked radically different from Banner, there was no reason for anyone to suspect that Banner physically transformed into the Hulk. However, Banner's mysterious disappearances and reappearances under strange circumstances, all due to his recurring transformations, led Ross to suspect Banner of treasonous activities and of a possible alliance with the Hulk itself. The Pentagon designated Ross as head of "Operation Hulk," the project to find, kill, or capture the powerful menace, in conjunction with S.H.I.E.L.D.

Ross enjoyed his hunt of the Hulk since it meant he had returned to combat, which he preferred to his "desk job" the Air Force had given him. At times over the years Ross succeeded in capturing the Hulk or Banner, but more often the Hulk thwarted the general's attempts to capture or kill him, or, even if captured, the Hulk soon managed to escape. Embittered by these failures, Ross grew even more determined to put an end to the menace of the Hulk. The general's determination eventually became a fanatical obsession.

Also, over the years, Ross found himself in conflict with other superhuman foes. Invariably, Banner defeated such menaces, either in his human identity or as the Hulk. Although Ross continued to regard the Hulk as a menace, he gained a grudging respect for Banner when he was ‘human’. During 2009, Ross unveiled the Fantastic Four, also under the Ultimates Initiative via his previous advisory position with S.H.I.E.L.D., as well as being put in charge of the Mutant Response Division (MRD) and Project: Wideawake.