Steve Coops

Overbite



CLEA DATA FILE

Identity:

  • Neil Boardman

CLEA Classification:

  • Human/Animal Hybrid

Special Skills and/or Abilities:

  • He has the means to transform between a human and a humanoid cat form (although he currently only wears the latter form)
  • In his animal form he is extremely strong has heightened senses of smell, sight and hearing.
  • Animal instincts give him the thrill of the hunt and he proficient in tracking down his targets as soon as he acquires his/or her scent.

Limitation(s)/Weakness(s):

  • Can be driven by his animal urges which leads to tactical errors.
  • Enemies with Chimera
  • Enemies with FFF

Rap Sheet/Criminal Traits:

  • Mercenary
  • Bounty Hunter
  • Kidnapping
  • Assault/Aggravated Assualt
  • Robbery

Notes/History

Overbite was originally a small time gang leader known as Neil Boardman. Along with his gang, The Red Bloods, he operated in and around several districts of Pacifica, mainly performing acts of racketeering, thefts and robberies. He liked the sense of power he gained over people and doubtless would have quickly advanced to worse criminal activities if it was not for his girlfriend, Latoya Gutteridge.

Out of the members of his gang she was the only one that managed to reign in his violent nature. She had come to the gang with no prospect of finding a real job and being in the bottom percent of society that were generally stepped on by everyone else she had a lot of anger towards the world, anger she could vent by committing petty crimes. She had grown close to the Neil as she admired his fight against the establishment but as time passed her eyes started to widen. She eventually realised that his gang was targeting people who were exactly like her and so she did her best to try and keep his violent nature controlled.

However when the gang started performing muggings on people who barely had money to get by and Neil refused to listen to her, she realised the battle had been lost. She gave him the ultimatum of stopping the muggings or she would leave the gang but since Neil craved power he decided to drop her. Before she left he did return her favour and gave her an ultimatum. If she left him he would target the people in her neighbourhood.
Latoya thought he was bluffing so left only to realise within days that Neil intended to make good on his promise. Feeling responsible for the current crime wave in her area she decided to take drastic measures. Aware that the Red Bloods were operating outside their territory when attacking her neighbourhood she did the only thing possible, she contacted the rival gang whose patch was being violated.

The Grey Shark Brotherhood were not too pleased of having their territory invaded and took swift and decisive action against the Red Bloods. Those that survived the incident the rejected Neil’s leadership and booted him out of the gang he had created. Angry at what he saw as disrespect from his second in command, Neil knew that if he stood any chance of taking control of the Red Bloods he needed to regain his reputation.

Getting that back was not easy but Neil was highly intelligent. He heard plenty of rumours in the criminal underground that unusually extended far beyond the ears of a “simple” gang leader. This is how he got to hear about the international criminal group Chimera and how their leader Thomas Buchanan was having problems with the FFF. He was offering rewards for anyone that could get him the FFF. Since Neil was aware that the FFF were in Pacifica at that time, he reckoned he still had enough pull with other criminals to get information of where the hybrids were.

Keeping the information to himself, Neil arranged a meeting with Buchanan and stated he would be able to take care of the FFF but he needed a favour in return. Since he was alone he stood little chance of defeating the group, unless he was similarly changed into a hybrid as well.

With the FFF causing him too much grief, Thomas agreed to the suggestion. The process took a few weeks and once done Neil was able to transform into a hybrid that resembled a humanoid sabre-tooth cat. Since Neil knew the whereabouts of the FFF but was keeping it a secret the professor was unable to erase his memories as he did with the other hybrid and this proved to be a mistake for once Neil had got used to his new form he changed the deal.

Before he would capture the FFF he felt he needed a companion to work with him on his quest. Aware that Latoya had given The Grey Shark Brotherhood the intelligence on the Red Bloods he decided that it would be fitting if she was “turned” into a hybrid like him. He was still under the opinion that her betrayal had been accidental and she really loved him. He was even convinced she had left the gang because she was confused and with that in mind, he and several other animal hybrids of Chimera hunted her down and kidnapped Latoya.

Waking up strapped to a laboratory table was quite a shock for her and when Neil told her of his plans and showed Latoya what he could now do by transforming into his animal form, she begged him to let her go. Neil though simply thought she was scared and acting irrationally and insisted that once the professor had done his work she would feel differently. She screamed and protested but it was no use. Buchanan even had pause for thought but Boardman made it quite clear, he wanted a “mate” and without that he would not get the FFF.

With little option but to comply Buchanan set to work in transforming Latoya into another hybrid. He offered to remove her memories but Boardman insisted that he wanted her mind left alone. As per Neil’s request, Buchanan turned Latoya into another cat hybrid but used only one set of animal DNA so she became a humanoid equivalent of a snow leopard. Having seen the power Neil possessed through mixing several different cat DNA’s the professor felt it unwise to create two powerful hybrids that were not under his direct control.

Once the work was done Latoya refused to speak to Neil. Under his own delusional mind he figured she would come around but until she came to her senses felt it best she was locked up. By now Buchanan was growing impatient so he wanted Neil to fulfil his part of the deal. Having been around Chimera Neil though made some new plans. He considered that rather than his eventual goal of taking back the Red Bloods he could create a whole new gang by becoming the leader of Chimera’s animal hybrids. Recognising that the others would not follow him with Guardian around he challenged the reptilian hybrid and though he did in fact best Guardian in battle by dubious methods far from replacing him as their leader the other hybrids turned on Neil.

Buchanan’s patience finally ran out. Having so far failed to eliminate the FFF and tried a coup in Chimera he offered Neil one last chance threatening him with the fact that just as easily as he had “made” him it was equally as easy to destroy him. Since the other Chimera hybrid refused to follow him that also meant he would have to take on the FFF alone. Latoya though had seemed to come around to Neil’s thinking and offered to go with him to Pacifica. What he did not realise was she had finally figured out that the more she protested the less chance she had of escaping so had chosen to act as his ally.

Once in the city Neil began finding the trail of the FFF. Though they had long gone from the locations he had been given, he figured that his animal form would enable him to sniff them out, literally. Using darkness to hide their animal guises the pair set out to look for the FFF. It was on the second night that once lured into a false sense of security she made her move.

Fast as she was no match for Neil’s raw power. Finally he understood. She would never stand by his side and her talk of hating him had not been an act. She really did hate him. After all that he had done for her he felt she had betrayed him again and mercilessly began to attack her.

She tried to fight back but had nowhere near the same experience in fighting in her animal form as he had. Latoya would have likely died if the Night Rangers had not happened across the fight and interfered. With no option but to retreat, Neil fled the area leaving Latoya with the Night Rangers. As she lay there prone she changed back into her human guise.

This was a little bit of a surprise and the Night Rangers figured that rather than take her to a hospital the best people to look after the hybrid was a group of hybrids they knew only too well, the FFF. It was therefore ironic for Latoya to find herself in the company of the FFF when finding them had been Neil’s goal all along.

Having failed to find the FFF and lost Latoya, Neil figured that Chimera would soon come looking for him. He therefore decided to carry out his end game and take back his gang, the Red Bloods that way when Chimera came they would have a fight on their hands. With the power that his animal form gave him, victory was assured. Chimera though did not come looking for revenge on the failed deal for Buchanan had decided that Neil was more trouble than he was worth.

The more he stayed with the Red Bloods the more Neil felt his life was somewhat tedious. The cat DNA in his blood gave him the urge to hunt and mugging people was not giving him the satisfaction he craved. He therefore chose to hand over control of the gang to someone he trusted could manage it on his behalf and take up other work by becoming muscle for hire using the codename Overbite. In time he liked his animal side so much that he decided to wear it permanently.