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The Silver Spirit - The Phantoms of Piedmont

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The Silver Spirit:

Real Name: Olivia Delacroix

Age: Late teens. Nationality: Franco-American

Profession: Masked Vigilante/College Student/Nightclub Singer

Also Known As: La Femme Fantôme, The She-Ghost, The Shrouded Siren

Skills: High-level intellect, expert detective, experienced hand to hand fighter, expert weapon user, highly skilled in acrobatics and athletics, fluency in several languages, talented actress, extremely proficient stealth and gadget capabilities, experienced driver, extremely talented singer.

Equipment: Goggles with Binocular and Night-Vision Capabilities, Collapsible Bo-Staff, Wireless Communication Radio, Utility Belt, Grapple Gun with Various Attachments, Smoke Pellets, Miniature Re-Breather, Advanced Lockpick, Multi-Tool, Detective Gear, Handcuffs.

Biography: For years, there was only one Phantom of Piedmont. Then, as suddenly as the Gray Ghost had appeared, there was a second. Nimble, acrobatic and an extremely skilled fighter, The Silver Spirit quickly became yet another thorn in the side of the criminal underworld of Piedmont City. Nearly as skilled a detective as the Gray Ghost, and far faster on her feet, the Spirit carries a similar arsenal of gadgets and tools to her mentor, as well as a multi-function, collapsible Bo-Staff, which she wields almost as well as she does her quippy sass. Largely referred to as the She-Ghost, but preferring to call herself La Femme Fantôme, The Spirit is a fierce crime-fighter, devoted to the Phantom of Piedmont's heroic cause, despite the differences in "style" the pair seem to share or virtually every level.

Beneath her mask, she is Olivia Delacroix, honours student at Piedmont University, popular nightclub singer of Jazz and the Blues… and Dr. William Weathers' niece…


References:

The Sidekick: Every superhero/vigilante detective worth their salt needs a sidekick/partner, and the Silver Spirit fills that void for the Gray Ghost. The Spirit is essentially an amalgamation of both Robin and Batgirl (although definitely leaning closer to Batgirl…) across all iterations of said characters. Taking a name and costume that pay homage to the Ghost's, the Silver Spirit is also a far "lighter" character than the Ghost, much like Robin and Batgirl are for moody, gloomy Batman. So, this is why I maintain that the Gray Ghost has a protégée, and a female protégée at that. (Also, that's not a typo. Turns out the feminine version of protégé is protégée. The more you know…)

Feminised Costume: Essentially, the Silver Spirit wears a clone of the Gray Ghost's costume albeit with high-heeled boots, longer gloves, a shorter cape and a colour scheme of paler greys. This idea is heavily drawn from Batgirl's costume. Sidekicks/partners/apprentices/protégées wearing a similar costume to their "superiors" is nothing new, and I'd fail if I even tried to list all the instances of this here. So I won't. You'll just have to trust me. (Also, I ummed and ahhed over giving her high-heeled boots for the longest time, knowing how inefficient they'd be for fighting crime in a real-world scenario. Eventually, I folded and did it anyway, with my reasoning being that, as a person, she's not on the tall side, and that they're pretty thick heels… I may ret-con this at a later date. Or maybe I won't. Who knows? [Who cares?!?])

Bo-Staff: The Spirit's Bo-Staff is lightweight and sturdy, and both ends are capable of collapsing into the hilt of the weapon in a telescopic manner, much like the Gray Ghost's own sword, the Ghostblade. The staff gives the Spirit an edge over any enemies, as well as allowing her to be far more acrobatic in her attacks and manoeuvres. The staff is also capable of splitting in the middle, allowing it to be used as a pair of batons. The idea of the Spirit using a Bo-Staff is a direct reference to the many Robin's, the staff of course being their primary weapon of choice. As well as this, the staff's ability to be broken down and used as two separate weapons is a nod to Nightwing, who uses a pair of escrima sticks as his signature weaponry. (Also, these escrima sticks occasionally screw together to form a staff, depending on the version of Nightwing. It's like poetry, sort of, they rhyme. Or words to that effect…)

 

Authorial Musings:

Initially, this design was far less refined than it is now, with all of the female characters suffering from a terrible condition known as "Box Syndrome", to which there is no known cure. For countless hours I toiled, attempting to heal this wretched blight affecting the womenfolk of Piedmont City, but to no avail. For every attempt at surgery and resizing, two more problems would arise.

I then said "Sod It", scrapped the idea of resizing and made an entirely new female model from scratch, in ironically less time than I'd initially spent faffing about with "surgery". I'm thus pleased to announce the cure for Box Syndrome, with two full recoveries so far, and more in the transplant list as I speak.

(Of course, 100 out of 99 experts now concur that the only real cure for Box Syndrome is not to use PowerPoint to try and design semi-lifelike people… #StuckInARutOhLordHelpMe )

But yes, elaborate introduction aside, here we are with my first genuine OC for the Phantoms of Piedmont universe, The Silver Spirit! Essentially, she a combination of Robin and Batgirl, both in design and style, as well as being the sidekick of the Gray Ghost. And good lord, I'm proud of how she turned out. Granted, she may not have the most interesting design, and the rest of the female cast that will follow her look far better aesthetically, but seeing how she looks now compared to her old designs just makes me so happy! ^_^

Essentially, the Silver Spirit was born out of my love for the various iterations of Batgirl and Robin, combined with my love for kickass female superheroes, and seasoned with a huge amount of sassiness for good measure. For my main female lead, I wanted a "stark compliment" to the Gray Ghost, much like Batman's sidekicks are to him, so the result is that the Spirit is far livelier in her crimefighting than the Ghost is, which of course doesn't always sit well with her seasoned mentor. Of course, this does develop quite a bit as time goes on and they become more accustomed to one another, but that is a story for another day…

Anyhow, her alter-ego will follow next, as soon as she's released from surgery, that is…

But yes, as always, stay tuned! :D



... 



(Oh, and if anyone wants to try and create characters in PowerPoint, a couple of pointers from a "seasoned expert" for you:

#1: DON'T.

#2: BREASTS ARE NEVER YOUR FRIENDS. [Seriously, you wouldn't believe the amounts of problems that what are essentially two rounded lines give you…]

 

((And I just realised I actually typed that… What am I doing with my life?!? X'D))

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Comments2
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IsabelaPowers's avatar
Lol, I love your last comments.  Though, typically men like to fantasize that breasts are their friends.  ^^

I think you did a great job with The Spirit.  No box-syndrome in sight.  :)  Great job with her outfit and bo-staff too.  Actually, I especially like her bo-staff.  Very clever.  It's unique and very specific.  Also, I'm unsure if this is relevant or not, but I like how her primary weapon leans towards the "non-lethal".  In much the same manner that Batman's choice weapons (as well as that of Batgirl's and Robin's) were chosen specifically because they were not intended to be lethal.  This says a lot about her character without needing to read her backstory.

I like how The Spirit is a bit the opposite of The Gray Ghost, balancing perhaps his darker mood with his lighter, cheerer mood. 

I love that you're continuing to flesh out more and more characters from your awesome story.  I'm sure you have the beginnings of a really good story here.  I'm off to check out The Spirit's alter ego.  ^^