Hippogriff Vivid Flair [Final]

[RarityDash]

I thought this character up largely as a result of Firebolt's superhero RP idea proposed here. I've always loved superheros and thought I'd come up with something since none of my existing characters really fit. It was difficult keeping her at a point where she didn't seem overpowered or unworkable for the Mane RP. Tell me if I need to scale back even further. I'll see what I can do. Otherwise, I think she's complete. It was also difficult to try and streamline my app. I'm used to being pretty verbose with these things. I guess it's still even sort of long...

Roleplay Type: Mane RP

Name: Vivid Flair

Sex: female

Age: mare (late twenties equivalent)

Species: hippogriff

Eye colour: blue green; wears thin-framed glasses

Coat colour: dark red

Mane/Tail/Markings colour & Style: her plumage is a medium brown in colour. The feathers around the top and back of her head are quite long, giving the appearance of swept back mid-length hair style.

Physique: size of an average pony. In good shape, though not in any immediately obvious way.

Cutie Mark: An illuminated lightbulb.

Origin/Residence: Born in Beakbreak City. Currently lives in Manehatten.

Occupation: engineer for Northern Storm Industries, Manehatten Branch. Amateur superhero.

Motivation: Make Equestria a better place for everypony, no matter who or what they are.

Likes: machines/gadgetry, helping others, justice, spicy foods, thrills

Dislikes: discrimination, unfairness, evil, having to deal with her bosses, boring things

Character Summary:

Parents: Vivid's father was a pegasus by the name of Noble Vigor, an esteemed knight of the Holy Order of the Destriers. He wasn't a very large part in Vivid's life; he spent most his time on the road, offering his knightly sword to those in need protecting Equestria. He did nevertheless leave a huge impact on Vivd. He would visit her a few times each year while she was a filly, and the stories of his exploits helped shape her fierce and dominant sense of justice. He was slain in battle with a monster just after Vivid entered marehood. Vivid's mother is a griffin by the name of Gudrun, still living in Beakbreak city, where she works as a metal worker. She is a spirited and fierce griffin, who further taught Vivid to live her life not caring what others think. They remain close.

History: Vivid had a rough time growing up. She was a hippogriff and even in a city like Beakbreak, the line between ponies and griffins was still very apparent. She faced bullying that made her feel like an outcast from both sides. It was only two things that kept her smiling through the fierce and difficult times: the tales of her father, the Destrier knight putting his life on the line to protect Equestria, and her studies which she exceeded at. Vivid was a bookish hippogriff as a filly. She did remarkably well at school, and it was apparent to all her teachers she had an excellent young mind and knack for inventive solutions to problems. This materialized in a scholarship to Manehatten University, where she studied machine engineering. Upon graduation she got a job working at the Manehatten branch office of Northern Storm Industries, a machine parts company headquartered in Stalliongrad, as an engineer. She impressed everpony there as she offered up many ideas and inventions that would soon have her considered to be one of the top engineers working at NSI.

Though she had come so far, Vivid felt like something was missing in her life. She was surely helping make Equestria a better place at NSI but it was in such an indirect way. The thoughts of her father fighting for Equestria with a sword in hoof came to her, which got the gears in her head working. After reading about crimes still being committed nearby, she got a crazy idea to become a little more direct herself. She wasn't going to go out with some sword or something similar, but she did have some tools at her disposal which she could use. Donning a protective white body suit, plated with some lightweight silvery armor, Vivid gathered some of devices she had made: goggles that let her see several times further in both light and dark, a device that can produce sudden blinding flashes of light, and a number of mechanical restraining devices that can be quickly employed. Using these devises she proclaimed herself The Noble Flare (a play off both her father's name and her own). She now spends her nights fighting crime or whatever other dangers she might find on the streets of Manehatten as a makeshift superhero. It's become a bit of an obsession of hers, and a lot of her time at NSI now goes into improving her costume and tools.

Cutie Mark Story: The lightbulb symbolizes both her knack for invention and her brightness and intensity. She obtained it as a filly, after using some s**** metal and her mother's tools to put together a rather complicated design for a steam engine, which impressed the right ponies, helping her get her scholarship to Manehatten University.

Personality/Flaws: Vivid Flare is assertive and opinionated. She however hates being wrong and while she tries to be ultimately fair, she's not above forming grudges. She has a vert strong sense of moral justice which informs most of her actions. She has no tolerance for any form of discrimination in particular, but is generally outspoken in her distaste for all she views as the evils of the world. She is ultimately a thrill seeker; she like putting herself in dangerous situations. As a result, while she might be called fearless, she'll often bite off more than she can chew. She grows bored easily. Monotony is not something she deals with well. Something always has to be happening. It's part of why she works in her field; it survives on coming up with new ideas. She's a bit obsessive. Whether it's her exploits as The Noble Flare or a project for work, she can become detrimentally engrossed in something to the point of shutting other things out. This can lead to her getting in some degree of trouble at work, something that can annoy her greatly. Physically, while Vivid has grown stronger since becoming The Noble Flare, she started out as a fairly weak, bookish hippogriff and is still not much stronger than an average pony. If her tools fail, she doesn't have a lot of raw powerl with which to rely on.

Here's a pic of her courtesy of the very talented LovinMoonlight:

(she's the one of the right, obviously. )

And here's yet another great pic by LM, this time of Vivid and her D&D group, dressed as their characters:

(Vivid is the hippogriff, the one third from the left in the foreground. Dressed as her character, the knight Regalia Banneret)

[Dio]

As much as I like the character and have faith in your ability to play her well, the technology will likely not pass subsequent staff evaluation if it is intended for Mane RP. I would talk to Firebolt again if he is the one running the adventure set to try and push the setting into the FFA zone so we would have the additional flexibility to work with this.

[RarityDash]

I kind of expected this when I decided to add the miniature engine to her costume.

I can scale back the technology if that's the only problem. I mean, it's kind of difficult to keep her tools both sufficiently simple and non-violent, but I'm willing to get creative and find other solutions. Her armaments aren't really the important part to me.

I'd like to get her to work in the Mane RP if at all possible as I intend to use her beyond just that one thread.

[Skye]

My only real issue with this character is the miniature steam engine. That's not really practical or even necessarily possible for use in this manner. However, a pressurized cylinders of say, hydrogen peroxide or something of that nature that might give her a bit of a short boost might be possible. As a pegasus, she really doesn't need assistance to help her fly, unless she needs a boost to speed she can't otherwise accomplish on her own, or needs some longevity for longer flights as a matter of endurance either of which a small jetpack of something like that might be feasible. Other than that, the rest of her doesn't really present much of an issue that I can see.

[Dio]

Okay, I've given it some thought and I'm going to tentatively give this my blessing, with a few caveats.

First, I'm going to assume that the flight device is not steam as in a boiler driving prop or a piston, but more like our idea of a "jet pack," something that uses a jet of high-pressure steam generated by decomposing hydrogen peroxide to provide thrust for flight. With that, you'll have maybe 90 seconds of "burn time" on a full tank of propellant. Though story-wise it wouldn't make a difference, it will change the way you flavor it. I was told to be more particular about that.

As for Flair's other tools, so long as their roles are minor and their purposes highly specialized as opposed to being be all end alls for any confrontation, I think you'll be okay.

I see no real issues with her history or her personality traits. How she manages to juggle her job at NSI Manehattan and her night job as vigilante will provide for some interesting RP hooks.

Rubbastamped.

[RarityDash]

Cool. Thanks to you both for looking at her.

I didn't really think too much about it. The engine just really isn't practical at all, I just thought it sounded cool at the moment. I think I'll just drop that detail entirely.

[Skye]