Created by Matt Parmenter
Assassinator
Alter Ego: Steve Kligh
Occupation: Assassin
Known Relatives: Jared and Hannah Kligh, parents-deceased, Stevie Kligh
"Tiger" -wife
Group Affiliation: None
Base of Operations: Mobile
Background/History:
Jared Kligh was a Cold War era double agent. He worked for the CIA, but he
freelanced for virtually anyone. He and his wife were vacationing in Rio while
10 year old Steve was at the hotel with a nanny when the Odessa decided to get
revenge. The resort maid found Jared and Hannah together lying in a pool of
blood from two single shots to the back of their heads. When the reality of the
situation sunk in, Steve ran away and hit the streets, doing whatever was
necessary to survive. After a year or so, he learned to take care of himself
fairly well. One day, he was confronted by an elderly Asian man who introduced
himself as Kobe-San and suggested that the boy had talent that was being wasted
without direction. Steve turned to run and was picked up by Mr. Kobe’s butler,
Ralph Kidd. Not seeing much choice and figuring that he could probably get a
meal and who knows what else out of them, he agreed to listen. Kobe was a former
member of the Ninja Guild who had challenged Ninja Master for the leadership
position and lost. He escaped with his life due to luck more than anything and
went into business in Rio concentrating on a geographical area that the Guild
rarely operated in. They trained Steve to fight and educated him to be an
assassin. He turned out to be an apt pupil and Kobe say greatness in the young
man’s sullen eyes. Then, Kobe showed him his pair of mystical swords and
explained that if Steve worked hard enough, the swords would make him
invincible. Where Kobe had failed, this gaijin who had become like a son to him
could succeed and become the greatest assassin ever. After a few years, the
grown and experienced Steve thought he could handle anything. Then, Ninja Master
discovered where Kobe was. The Ninja Elite swarmed on their home like angry
wasps and their numbers seemed endless. The three men fought valiantly, but Kobe
was too old to handle those kind of numbers, but over a dozen of Ninja Master’s
best died with him. Steve was determined to avenge his sensei and took over the
business with the help of Ralph. First, he intended to dishonor the Guild by
embarrassing them professionally and, once he had mastered the swords, he would
face Ninja Master and avenge Kobe personally. His reputation grew over the years
and he would harass the Guild whenever possible, even doing jobs for free to
embarrass them. Following the quick defeat of her poorly led and badly put
together team of government sponsored second string superheroes, Tiger was
captured by Ninja Master as she was the only member of the ill-fated team worth
allowing to live. He shipped her bound and gagged to his headquarters in the
Orient, unaware that Assassinator was right behind them. Having spent years
avoiding the superheroic community since magic swords had a nasty habit of not
always working on them, his desire to mess with Ninja Master and the fact that
she looked really hot tied up like she was overruled his common sense. He snuck
aboard the ship and made his way to her. He made her an offer. He would release
her and they would kill everyone on the boat or he would slit her throat right
there because she was not going to see Ninja Master alive. She quickly agreed to
the former and, to his surprise, took to the slaughter with no hesitation. Blood
splattered, half-naked, gore dripping from her claws in pools on the deck,
corpses and body parts all around, and Steve had never seen a more beautiful
sight. He fell for her instantly. Suggesting that she had a knack for his line
of work that really did not fit the superhero business, he offered her a job
with him. She immediately accepted which slightly frightened and excited him.
They worked together and eventually married. Despite a couple of face to face
confrontations, neither Assassinator or Ninja Master have conclusively settled
their rivalry.
Personality/Motivations:
Cold as ice and strong as steel, Assassinator takes no pleasure in the idea of
killing, but a great deal of pride in the successful completion of each job.
Perhaps the reason he fell for the emotional and savage Tiger was that old adage
about opposites attracting. Initially motivated to survive, he now wants to
prove his superiority over Ninja Master for his own pride and for the honor of
Kobe.
