[Firelizard] Anthony Masters {Justice League}

General Information

Full Name:
Anthony Masters

Codename or Alias:
Taskmaster

Anonymity
Taskmaster is a mercenary widely revered and well known in a variety of criminal organizations and even the American government. His actual identity is unknown, however.

Gender:
Male

Race:
Human

Age:
31

Place Of Birth:
Bronx, New York City, United States of America

Occupation/Status:
Anthony Masters is widely in demand as an assassin, mercenary, and even trainer for hire for a variety of villainous and shadowy governmental organizations.

Alignment:
Villain

Factions:
The Highest Bidder

Canon Or Original?:
Canon

Powers/Abilities:
Photographic Reflexes
The power that has made Taskmaster so widely revered and feared in so many circles is that of his ability to perfectly reflect and learn the physical movements of any individual with nothing but a single glance. While these photographic reflexes can be used to copy anything from a dance routine to a musical performance, Anthony prefers to use it to copy a wide variety of combat techniques and martial arts. This ability lends itself to Anthony’s ability to detect the slightest bodily cues or reflexes of any opponent, often allowing him the ability to seemingly predict the movements of an opponent if he is allowed to fight or observe them long enough.

These boons do come with some negative effects, however. The modified super-soldier serum that has supercharged his abilities has had an incredibly deleterious effect upon his short and long term memory. For every new combat skill or movement that he learns, a memory is often offered up as a sacrificial lamb. This has led to Taskmaster remembering little to nothing about his own past or origin. A perfect killing machine and combatant drifting through a sea made of blood and violence.

Master Assassin
Taskmaster’s abilities and combat skills make him one of the deadliest assassins and combatants in the world. His training and experience has also made him a master of all manner of melee or ranged weaponry. His marksmanship is near second to none as well, making him a fierce ranged combatant from any range.

Master Tactician & Teacher
Taskmaster is a master strategist and tactician due to years of combat experience and training during his years as an ARGUS agent. He is also a capable teacher and tutor when it comes to combat training, having taught almost a whole generation of villainous henchmen and government personnel throughout the years.

Master Martial Artist
His photographic reflexes and inclination towards martial arts has made Taskmaster one of the most fearsome hand to hand combatants in the world. He has learned everything from boxing, kung fu, sleight of hand, and even acrobatics.

Weapons/Items:
Energy Shield
A wrist device that can create weapons or items out of pure energy, the last item that could possibly remind Tony of his prior affiliation with the ARGUS organization. It is often used defensively to create a shield upon Taskmaster’s wrist, but it can be used to produce other weapons such as knives, katanas, or even throwable items such as shurikens.

Drone Fleet
Taskmaster would not go anywhere without a series of drones equipped with some of the best cameras and tech that money could buy. They can often be seen floating around any battleground or area he may be operating in at the time, and allow him the ability to keep tabs upon individuals or even copy their physical abilities even if he is not five feet away from them.


Appearance

Image:


Physical Appearance:
Anthony stands at an intimidating 6’4” and 230 lbs of pure muscle built during his time as a soldier, agent, and now mercenary. His hair is tightly cropped and well kept, and brown in color just like the ghost of a beard that he has had ever since leaving military service. His eyes are brown as well, and his face would be almost a permanent mixture of disapproval and scowling were it not covered up by a mask most of the time.

Clothing and Armor:


Taskmaster dons tactical armor with a blue, orange, and black aesthetic. His trademark however is a skull mask styled after the Santa Muerte, which is equipped with high level sensors and technology that allows him to incorporate information from drones or other cameras at a moment’s notice. This outfit is completed by a white hood that surrounds the mask, creating a shadowy and intimidating face for any would-be enemies.

Personality

Sexual Orientation:
Straight

General Personality:
If no nonsense was an individual, it would be Anthony Masters. He is an intelligent and resourceful person whose sights are always set on the mission set out in front of him. A lifetime of shadowy governmental service and mercenary work has made him an extremely pragmatic individual, with all his thoughts focused on financial gain as opposed to committing the heinous acts he carries out for personal vendettas or ideological reasons. This ornate cynicism and the professionalism that defines him make Taskmaster the perfect mercenary, able to take on or train villains and heroes dependent on who can pay him the most money at the time.

Face/Voice:
Pablo Schreiber


Character's History

Siblings:
N/A
Mother:
Unknown
Father:
Unknown
Other Family:
N/A

History:

Anthony Masters was born in the Bronx to a family of little note or importance. From an early age it was obvious that he was a talented child, able to excel at and compete at the highest level of any activity at school or around the neighborhood with the usual gang of young troublemakers carousing around the Bronx. However while his parents merely thought him an exceptional child and potential superstar at any sport he chose, Anthony would find that his gift was a power in and of itself. His power was that of photographic reflexes, allowing him to perfectly copy the exploits or abilities of anyone that he watched.

Anthony would excel as a high school athlete and had his pick of scholarships, however he declined these opportunities to join the United States Marine Corps. He would thrive in military training and soon had the attention of higher ups within the military branch, who chose him to become an elite sniper and special operations combatant almost right out of basic training. After a few tours abroad, Anthony would be chosen for and accepted into service with ARGUS as an agent of SHIELD. He would train and perform missions for that organization for almost six years before the fateful mission that would set him on his path as one of the most deadly mercenaries on the globe. During a retrieval mission in Europe, he happened upon a dying scientist with a hole in his chest, a syringe, and millions of dollars in gold bullion. The scientist with his dying breath spoke of a modified and incredibly potent super-soldier serum within the syringe, entrusting it to Anthony. However instead of returning to SHIELD, Anthony would instead inject the serum and disappear into the European Alps with the scientist’s gold.

The action was a split second decision, but it was one that had been long in the making. Anthony had been chafing at the restrictions and Spartan living arrangements as a SHIELD agent, caring little for the patriotic rhetoric that empowered many of his fellow agents. He would find that the serum had strengthened his innate photographic reflexes to a level he could not have conceived of prior. Once able to copy simple physical movements, Anthony could now copy entire fighting styles and any variety of activities with nothing but a glance. With these newly enhanced powers and a large amount of cash, Anthony took on the name Taskmaster and disappeared into the shadowy world of mercenary work. It was in the deserts of Northern Mexico and in the infighting between cartels that Taskmaster would gain notoriety, as well as his skull mask taking after the aesthetic of the Santa Muerte.

Taskmaster would soon move onto work as an assassin and trainer for hire, gifting his services to whichever side could afford them. His combat skills and infamy have only grown over time, even if both have come at the expense of any memory he may have had as an agent or patriot working for the United States government. He has recently been seen interfering in and participating in conflicts with superhuman individuals, and has gained quite the name for himself in the process.


Role Play Sample:


“No, not like that. You do that in real life, you’re dead. Again.”

The one eyed and thuggish looking man dressed in black grimaced at Taskmaster’s admonition. He growled a curse under his breath and shook his hand before picking up the knife that had just been lazily tossed at his feet. His forearm was still screaming from being locked into place by the armored gauntlet of the skull faced man before him. He gripped the knife even harder than he had before and lunged forward in an angry huff. His leather soled combat boots squeaked against the just waxed floor.

“Pay attention, class.”

The henchman tossed his knife into his other hand before getting close to the blue and orange armor he’d been aiming his full bodyweight against. He grinned, this trick had worked in special forces and on the battlefield. The grin faded when the orange eyes of the bony visage before him flashed. An instant later he landed on his head, the knife clattering away. His mind raced for an answer to this new conundrum, his head ringing as if a flash bang had just gone off.

“F-fuck just happened?”

The henchman’s body still ached, and it felt like he had definitely bruised or cracked a rib. The memory of what happened eluded him, but it played on the screen sitting off to the side and in front of the twenty men just like him watching the training session. He saw the knife change hands, and just as quickly saw Taskmaster instantly switch postures before the knife had even landed in the opposite grip. An instant later a gloved hand slammed into his screen self’s solar plexus. The other gripped his once uninjured forearm and twisted to release the knife before fluidly grabbing and flipping him in conjunction with the stomach crushing fist below.

“That flashy shit is just going to get you killed. Who’s up next?”

Taskmaster grabbed the man’s arm and pulled him up, as much as his body screamed at being put back into action so soon as being flipped into the ground. The henchman’s head swam, but he still felt a flash of anger. Who the fuck did this guy think he was? He reared a fist back and let it fly toward the back of his trainer’s head. His hand stopped in its tracks, meeting the steel like palm dressed in blue and orange. Taskmaster’s grip tightened until his opponent collapsed to the ground with a broken hand.

“You’re lucky your employer paid me to train you. Anyone else pulled that, they’d have been dead before they hit the ground.”