RPER INFO:

Canon or Original: canon

Name: TJ
Contact:
How did you find us: search
Other characters on this site: Amelia Voght
Rules code: Xavier

Give Credit Where Due: marveldatabase, wikipedia

CHARACTER


Gerard Butler

Affiliation: other, Brotherhood

Name: Thomas Samuel Eamon Cassidy

Codename: Black Tom

Nicknames: Barrington (alias)

Place of birth: Dublin, Ireland

Age: 35

Time at the Institute: none

Marital Status: single

Known Relatives: Sean Cassidy (cousin),
Theresa Rourke (first cousin once removed)

Base of Operations: mobile

Sexual Orientation: heterosexual

Physical Appearance: Tom Cassidy is six feet tall and solidly built with a frame that supports his two hundred pounds. His dark hair is normally cropped short with a couple days’ growth of beard and mustache on his face. His green eyes are often shadowed by his frowning brow. When he does smile, he gives a lazy half grin that gives him a playful, flirtatious air.

Thomas is muscular and possesses a good deal of natural physical strength. He was at one time an amateur boxer and developed his physique through regular training. In the years past he has maintained his condition. He has lived a hard life and there are small scars marking his arms and chest. None of them are blatantly obvious or unsightly.

Distinguishing Marks: Tom has a tattoo of Cernunnos, a deity with a stag’s antlers, on his right shoulder. There are some small scars and light disfigurations on Tom’s face from his days boxing.

Clothing style: Tom is most comfortable in the black leather jacket he’s had since he was a teenager. It has stains and stitches on it from years of abuse and repair. It has “character.” He prefers jeans and a v-neck shirt to suits, but one can’t be a slouch their entire life. There are times when a suit is needed for certain business dealings. Tom Cassidy’s suits are slim and stylish, most of the time they’re black but the occasional dark gray suit has it uses. Tom wears a wooden Celtic cross on a leather cord around his neck. This has come in handy in times when he cannot find another medium through which to channel his powers. Tom is normally seen wielding a blackthorn shillelagh, which is a traditional Irish fighting club. He often wears a silver ring on each hand.

Uniform: none

Powers: Thomas Cassidy’s mutant ability is the power to channel blasts of great concussive force and heat through wooden objects. Once he became aware of this ability he took to carrying the shillelagh. These blasts are quite powerful and destructive. With years of experience, Tom has gained much needed control and incredible strength with his powers.

Recently, Tom has developed an affinity for plants. He has discovered that he has developed chlorokinesis. If there are any plants within his vicinity he has control over them and they act according to his will. This is a relatively new power and it needs much improvement. With time these powers could become much stronger and versatile.

Tom is also immune to the abilities and mutant based attacks of Banshee.

Weakness: The main drawback to his abilities is the need to channel the blasts through a wooden object. This can be any object made of any type of wood, but this object is definitely required. Otherwise, Tom cannot use his powers. That is why he took to wearing the wooden cross. With his plant manipulation powers he is rather inexperienced.

Just as Tom is immune to Sean's attacks, his cousin is immune to Tom's force and heat blasts.

Personality: Thomas Cassidy is bitter and brooding. He has always been the black sheep of his family with the glory heaped upon Sean. He has been on the wrong side of the law for several years and has developed a course attitude with a strong dislike for police and authority. He always tries to give a tough appearance but is genteel to the ladies. With women, Tom is very flirtatious and sometimes forward.

Tom has a strong affinity for gambling. It isn’t so much an addiction but he really likes to gamble and he has lost much through this vice. One vice that he does enjoy is smoking. He enjoys hand rolled cigarettes and will hardly ever smoke a mass produced smoke.

History:

Thomas Samuel Eamon Cassidy was born and grew up in Ireland. His family was well to do and very extended. He is several months older than his cousin Sean but the rivalry between them was evident from the beginning. As young children they always competed. Both boys had their share at being the victor but it seemed that Sean was usually seen as the golden boy.

As they grew older, Tom developed a love for gambling. He’d had a streak of good luck with his gambling and one night lost his birthright to his cousin Sean. The young men were out for a night at the pub and a bit of gambling. Thomas had always held it over Sean’s head that he was the heir to Cassidy keep and when Tom was short on collateral for a wager, he bet the ownership of the Keep. Tom lost the game of dice to Sean in front of the entire pub so of course he couldn’t back out of the deal.

The final split between the men was over the love of a woman named Mauve Rourke. She was beautiful and free spirited. She was also flirtatious between both men. She married Sean much to Tom’s chagrin. It was later that Mauve had an affair with Thomas. When Sean found out the two had a heated brawl. The outcome resulted in Sean leaving for America. He left without knowing that Mauve was pregnant with his child.

Tom soon tried his fists at amateur boxing. He did well for a while and won several of his matches. Though his winnings were meager he enjoyed it. He felt something visceral about pummeling another human with his hands. He had used his powers on others but there was a satisfaction that came with using his hands. After a small string of losses Tom saw that there was more money to be made off of some of the illegal practices that occurred behind the scenes at the boxing matches. The betting was perfectly legal and he had enjoyed that but there was also a thrill associated with the illegal.

Tragedy struck when there was a gas explosion. Tom rushed into the chaos to see how the woman he had once loved fared. Mauve had died in the blast but young Theresa, her daughter, miraculously survived. In the confusion, Tom stole Theresa away and began to raise her as his own child.

Tom slowly grew to infamy within the black market. He had a natural talent for getting into and then out of sticky situations. He was able to garner himself a no-nonsense and respectable reputation all without revealing this to his “daughter” Theresa. When her mutant abilities emerged he was overjoyed but there was a degree of bitterness when the mutation proved to be similar to Banshee’s. It was then that Tom introduced Theresa to his world of crime.

Together they were fairly successful at their less than legal activities. Despite never fully committing to crime, Theresa continued to help her “father” with his exploits. It was when they were captured that Tom had a change of heart. He had grown to have sincere feelings for “Siryn” and didn’t want her to ruin her future with a criminal record. Tom “confessed” that the coerced Theresa to commit the crimes and he revealed her true parentage. Theresa was then set free and Tom was detained in jail. He escaped shortly thereafter.

Black Tom Cassidy has continued his life of crime from that point on. He mainly deals in the black market and usually sticks to arms dealing. There have been small capers where he assembled small teams to rob a bank or complicated jewelry heists.

SAMPLE RP POST:

Thomas Cassidy laughed heartily as he sat at the bar. He had one of his hands wrapped around a nice draft pint and the other gripped the oaken bar before him for support. Tears were straining at the edges of his eyes from laughing so hard and the previous pints he’d imbibed weren’t helping his balance either. One of his best mates, Pete, had just told a story that had the entire bar shaking with laughter. It was a riot.

There were sighs and groans as the laughter died and everyone settled back to normal. People slapped Pete on the back to which he grinned. “That story gets better every time I hear it,” Tom said.

“How ‘bout this story, ye rank bastard,” someone said from behind.

Tom turned around to face where the voice had come from. There was a man his age facing him with a scowl on his face. Tom didn’t recognize the stranger or his three friends at either side. “This is the story o’ the man who deflowered my sister. The happy ending is when I put my boot in his arse,” the man said.

“Is that right, aye?” Tom asked. “And what, may I ask, is the wee lass’ name that Tom the Wolf ravaged?”

“Her name is Rose, ya smug prick,” the man replied.

Tom leaned back against the bar and grinned. “What must be the most important day f’r ye, to me is Tuesday,” Tom said vilely, getting chuckles and pats on the shoulder from his friends.

Tom’s remarks enraged the stranger even further. He lunged forward with his fist drawn. A couple of Tom’s friends intervened and held the man back. The crowd merged in to restrain his friends as well. Tom was a regular at this pub and they looked after their own. Tom stood up from the stool putting his hands up. “Easy now boys. This fellow came here to put a boot in me arse,” Tom said as he took off his leather jacket.

He passed the coat to Pete. He reached around his neck to remove the leather cord that bore his wooden cross. He wouldn’t need to use his abilities to teach this upstart a lesson. Finally, Tom stubbed out his hand-rolled cigarette. “He wants to defend his sister’s honor. The boy is welcome to try his damnedest.”

The crowd parted to give Tom and the stranger room. Tom stood before the man. He had been wearing a vest underneath his leather jacket. The vest revealed Tom’s arms and chest that were quite impressive. He was much larger than his opponent but who knew. This man may have a great deal of heart and motivation to defend his beloved sister. Tom balled his fists and kissed both of them lightly. He winked to the man across from him teasingly.

The two fighters edged closer together. The stranger edged in and swung a punch that was aimed for Tom’s jaw. Tom dodged the blow and gave a punch or two but wasn’t aiming or trying. He was toying with the stranger. Thomas Cassidy could tell this man knew little about fighting. It was written in his stance and the way he held himself. Black Tom had begun to make his name as an amateur boxer, a brawler really, and apparently the stranger hadn’t heard the news. Tom had finished toying and beguiling the man’s hopes and gave a punch to the man’s gut. A mighty woosh escaped his lips as the breath was knocked from him. Tom delivered his own blow to the jaw of the stranger, dropping him to the floor.

It was not a fight. It was entirely too one-sided to be called a proper fight. The stranger’s friends helped him to his feet and shot scowls at Tom. There were hoots and laughs as the crew withdrew from the pub. “You left some pieces of your glass jaw!” Pete called out at their retreat.

Black Tom shrugged into his leather jacket and retied his necklace. He grinned as he watched the retreat and took a drink from his pint. Wiping his mouth with the back of his forearm, Tom said, “Really, who the fuck was that?”