[Firelizard] Roman Sionis {Detective Comics}

General Information

Full Name:
Roman Sionis

Codename or Alias:
Black Mask

Anonymity
Roman Sionis is a wealthy business owner working in the shadows of the Wayne Family’s influence in Gotham City proper. However in its criminal networks as Black Mask he is incredibly well known, having one of the most extensive and active criminal networks in the state of New Jersey.

Gender:
Male

Race:
Human

Age:
38

Place Of Birth:
Gotham City, United States of America

Occupation/Status:
Officially, Roman Sionis is the owner of a nightclub called the Black Mask Club and is also the arbiter of several high class fashion shows and companies. Beneath that however, he runs one of the most extensive and active criminal organizations in all of Gotham City. However the activities of the Bat Family have forced him to look further into areas of New Jersey and New York City, where he has attained membership and gained standing in the Maggia as a junior member.

Alignment:
Villain

Factions:
Maggia

Canon Or Original?:
Canon

Powers/Abilities:
Criminal Mastermind
Roman Sionis is a highly intelligent criminal leader, able to orchestrate and pull off masterful schemes and criminal activities at the drop of a hat. He is also a highly intimidating and sadistic leader, able to use fear to dominate his subordinates and to force them into performing any task he may ask of them. These skills and his skills as a criminal mastermind have made him a dangerous villain within Gotham’s criminal underground and criminally insane villains.

Expert Marksman
Roman is an expert handler of firearms, and has shown to be incredibly talented when facing down opponents in ranged combat.

Skilled Combatant
While not trained extensively in any martial arts, Roman Sionis is a capable enough fighter who can hold his own in the unlikely case that he finds himself face to face with any hero.

Masterful Torturer
Black Mask is an incredibly skilled torturer, having practiced on hundreds as both a hobby and a way of gathering information that can be used to his benefit.

Weapons/Items:
M1911AI
Roman will not go anywhere without an ornately carved and crafted American handgun, its handle made out of pure ivory and imbued with expert native carvings.

Torture Kit
While usually in the hands of a poor henchman, Roman often carries around a kit full of knives and other torturous equipment to be used whenever it fancies him.


Appearance

Image:


Physical Appearance:

Clothing and Armor:


Roman Sionis is often dressed in the finest white suits that money can buy, often opting for the most expensive fabrics and craftsmanship possible. He will often wear a black shirt underneath and a finely crafted black mask, said to have been carved out of his father’s headstone.


Personality

Sexual Orientation:
Straight

General Personality:
Black Mask is a sadist, often taking more pleasure in inflicting pain upon other human beings rather than making a profit off of his criminal ventures. However he is still inordinately obsessed with wealth and indulging in luxurious decadence, harkening back to the times when he was cut off by his family due to his outrageous spending habits. He is obsessive and endlessly ruthless, often fixating on those who have wronged him and doing anything in his power to eliminate them, almost to the point of insanity when it comes to figures such as Batman or his Bat Family. Roman also has an incredibly high regard for his own self worth, often displaying incredible levels of narcissism and egomania to his subordinates and peers. This emotional instability has earned him a place amongst the other insane villains of Gotham, though even they reserve his erratic nature and actions with some level of caution. He also harbors an intense obsession for exotic collecting, particularly indigenous masks, which he holds many displays of in his private penthouses and mansions.

Face/Voice:
Ewan McGregor


Character's History

Siblings:
N/A
Mother:
Janet Sionis (Deceased)
Father:
Charles Sionis (Deceased)
Other Family:
N/A

History:
Roman Sionis was born into a wealthy Gothamite family, his father the heir and proprietor of a massive cosmetics industry centered in the Janus Corporation. He would grow up in a family more concerned with their social status than providing a loving home, pretending to be a warm and loving family in the public eye but exceedingly cold and calculating behind closed doors. It was in these aspects of putting on masks for other people that a young Roman would become infatuated with physical facial adornments, often wearing paper masks around the house until his father or mother inevitably ripped them away from his face.

Roman would grow up and spend his time in private schools aside the likes of Bruce Wayne and other upper crust establishment types, often growing envious of the wealth they had even when his family only barely strayed behind them in terms of net worth. He would eventually graduate and go off to school, though his decision to major in fashion as well as business came as something of a disappointment to his father. He graduated college and soon went to work for his father in the Janus Corporation, though he displayed little to no skill when it came to managing the company or even having a standard job. Roman eventually came to almost literal blows with his father and was fired from the company. This was something that the young man was completely fine with until his own fiscal lifeline was cut off by his parents due to his excessive and needlessly indulgent spending habits.

Cut off from his family and with no job to be had, Roman eventually found work in the late night scene of Gotham City in a variety of nightclubs. It was in these environments that Roman thrived, and the connections that he had made spending massive amounts of money on drugs soon helped him become one of the most prominent drug dealers in all of Gotham City. This penchant for criminal activities soon led to Roman becoming a crime boss, filling in the gaps and picking up scraps left by the Carmine and Maroni families. He labored in this way for almost a decade, with his ruthless resourcefulness and inclination towards violence making him a feared presence in the Gotham criminal community.

Finally able to make a play for what he considered his family fortune, Roman Sionis set fire to his parents’ mansion, resulting in their deaths. His hope had been to inherit the Janus Corporation and finally take his family’s riches for himself. This was not to be, however, as his father’s will stipulated that the Janus Corporation was to be sold off and its proceeds given to charities or the construction of a variety of schools or hospitals around the Gotham area. His family’s last play for an increase in social status akin to that of the deceased Wayne parents had left Roman without a single cent. It infuriated him even further when much of the company was bought by Wayne Enterprises, igniting an intense and deep hatred for the billionaire playboy known as Bruce Wayne.

Donning the persona of Black Mask, Roman turned what had been a subtly criminal organization into an arbiter of petty violence and destruction aimed at the Wayne-dominated Gotham City. This campaign of destruction and vengeance was soon stopped by Batman, but it started a long simmering war that has ensued for years. It was after one of these conflicts and the destruction of much of Black Mask’s criminal empire that he left for greener pastures. After a year or so of licking his wounds in New York City and working within the criminal echelons of the Maggia organization, Black Mask has set his eyes on returning to Gotham City.


Role Play Sample:


“I told you not to fuck with me, Johnny. I mean I didn’t say it out loud. But I told you in so many words.”

The Black Mask wiped the curved blade in his hand against a towel hanging off of his victim’s shoulder. It didn’t do much good, drenched as the fabric already was in the blood of its all too human shelf. With his one good eye he saw the bespoken and white figure pacing back and forth, stabbing and slashing at the air with every step. Black Mask looked down at the blade in his dark leather gloved hand, his eyes visibly narrowing in what might have been disgust. He chucked the blade at the ground in front of one of his men, not looking back as the hired thug ducked down to grab it.

“But I guess this is how things have to end. I’d be lying if I said I hate to have to do this. So…I just won’t, that sound good?”

The masked man punctuated the rhetorical question by pulling out an all too literal gun. Its ivory handle should have glinted in the moonlighting pouring in from the windows, though even that reflection was drowned out by the industrial lamps pouring in artificial light from in the warehouse’s upper limits. Black Mask cocked the gun and walked forward until its gleaming barrel made contact with Johnny’s temple. His eyes gleamed through the mask, clearly relishing the pain and fear on his victim’s face.

“Here’s Joh-”

Before he could finish the mocking sentence, Black Mask felt the gun leave his hand. A bat shaped projectile carried the weapon to the ground where it clattered uselessly. His neck and shoulders tightened as he grit his teeth, rage instantly flowing into his mind at the sight of an all too familiar signal. Grabbing one of his hired thugs, Black Mask threw his head back to look at the industrial iron rafters up above. Shadows clung to every corner, all the light of the lamps directed down below to where he stood. He clutched the nape of the thug’s neck and shoved him in the direction of the iron stairs that clung to the sides of the leaky warehouse.

“I want you to find that little bat and rip off its little damn wings! Understood?!”

The order echoed into the emptiness of the once vibrant industrial space, as lost in the building’s shadows as his winged rat foe. Johnny struggled in the chair behind him, hands tugging at the ropes binding him to a metal chair until a glance from his former boss froze his every movement.