Kamen Rider Excelsior

Civvie Stuff
Name: Greg Cypress
Age: 24
Sex: Male
Nationality: American
Occupation: Greg Cypress works as a Custodian at a contract laboratory called BioRepo.
Species: Red Blooded human man.
Celebrity Claim: James Dean
Hair color/style: Greg is a blond, with hair cut short and unremarkably, which he parts on the left side.
Eyes: Greg's eyes are dark blue.
Description: Greg is between 5'7'' and 5'8'' tall, depending on the shoes he's wearing that day. He wears thin-framed glasses, though typically only when driving and reading. His build is that of the everyman athlete - he is lean, but not toned, and strong enough to lift most everyday object with ease. He dresses modestly, typically in faded blue jeans and military surplus boots with a plain tee shirt under a denim or leather jacket, depending on his mood and the time of year. He carries himself confidently, without slouching or stooping. If one were to look closely, they would think his belt and his watch were a bit odd - a bit too high-tech to be the possessions of a custodian-by-day.

Rider Stuff
Name: Kamen Rider Excelsior
Henshin Device/Sequence: Excelsior's Rider System is a three-piece device. His watch, Civil Siren, sends out a radio call. This, in turn summons a small flying device shaped like the American Bald Eagle, called the Civil Servant. The Civil Servant alights on his belt, the Civil Strip. He grasps the Servant in hand, twists it so that it faces up, and with that ever-famous command word, "Henshin!" is transformed.

Forms:

* Form Name: Glory Form
Appearance: Excelsior's basic form, his helmet reminiscent of the face of an eagle, with a stylized eagle in red on the faceplate. It is lightly armored, with a stars-and-striped motif. An American Flag muffler is around his neck.
Transformation: The form is activated through his standard transformation sequence, wherein he drops to one knee and extends his right arm, his left arm bent to help guide the Civil Servant to his belt. He is overtaken by a blue glow, during which he stands and salutes.
Weapons and Abilities: Glory form is without weapons, but is quite an adept fighter with fist and foot. It grants Greg a working knowledge of most of the world's more 'effective' (IE, military-use) martial arts such as Krav Maga and Tae Kwon Do.
Finisher(s): Glory form's finisher is something Greg has named the Freedom Flyer. Visually, it's little more than a flying jump kick, with a white-hot star-shaped flame forming around his boot. It is activated by adjusting the wings on the Civil Servant in such a way that the bird-shaped device looks reminiscent of a star.

* Form Name: Empire Form
Appearance: Where Glory form was clean and crisp, Empire form is more gritty and grungy. Most of the design elements remain the same, but with duller blues and reds, the white pieces replaced by rough-looking grey, much like that of concrete. The Flag muffler is tattered and worn.
Transformation: Achieved by a firmware upgrade to the Civil Siren and Civil Servant, Excelsior can transform into Empire Form by equipping his first weapons, the Tower Knuckles. In a similar manner to the summoning of the Civil Servant, the knuckles are called upon by a radio signal from the Civil Siren. Once the knuckles are equipped, Excelsior is briefly encased in a layer of stone. In this moment, his physical stats are raised, and he breaks out of the stone, his emotions running hot.
Weapons and Abilities: Empire Form is active as long as the Tower Knuckles are equipped. If both of these building-shaped knuckle dusters are disarmed from him, Excelsior reverts to Glory Form. Empire form discards his previous martial knowledge, replacing it all with knowledge from more brutal, straightforward arts as boxing and Muay Thai. Alongside a physical enhancement, however, Empire Form brings with it a certain level of emotional instability. As a result, Empire runs the risk of becoming a mindless berserker.
Finisher(s): Greg calls Empire form's finisher the No-Count Knockout. Visually, it is the least interesting of Excelsior's finishers. Empire form's arms seem to turn to stone as he delivers one of several forms of punch to the opponent. This finisher is activated by pounding the Tower Knuckles together.

* Form Name: Victory Form
Appearance: Visually and spiritually, Victory form is the upgrade that one would expect from Glory form. The reds, whites, and blues persist, vibrant and clean. There is a gold trim along the edges of most of the armor, and the eagle emblazoned on the faceplate in gold. The flag muffler is long and flowing. His shoulder pads carry a wing motif, and there are golden wings on his boots. A pair of golden, eagle-motif revolved sit at his hips.
Transformation: Achieved after obtaining a canceled firmware upgrade for the Siren and Servant, the Eye of Brotherhood. The Eye, which resembles the Eye of Providence on the one-dollar bill, once installed in the Civil Servant, allows it to bypass its limiters and grant Excelsior his full power. The flag muffler glows brightly and wraps around Excelsior, and the sound of an eagle's cry heralds the coming of this form.
Weapons and Abilities: Victory Form comes with a pair of golden, eagle-detailed revolvers called Truth and Justice. While they resemble normal six-shot revolvers, they pack a significantly greater punch and don't seem to require reloading. Along with the guns, Victory form comes with a similar physical enhancement to Empire form, but without the nasty emotional problems. The martial knowledge of both previous forms is present.
Finisher(s): The Excelsior rider system calls this finisher E Pluribus Unum, and Greg decided to keep it that way. Visually, this finisher is stunning. Excelsior leaps into the air, spinning and firing Truth and Justice, the shots exploding into a fireworks display of Justice (which is quite lethal to any forces of evil caught in the chaos) before being briefly infused with the strength of every man, woman, and child in America and delivering one mighty kick to a single target, should it be necessary. This finisher, however, is quite tiring and will always revert Excelsior to Glory form, though more often it will cancel the transformation entirely, returning Greg to normal. This, of course, leaves him quite vulnerable to anyone who may have somehow survived!



Other Equipment: Greg has a motorcycle, of course - a 2011 Harley Davidson Road King. He's painted it in a flag motif and calls it the Easy Rider.


Inside Stuff
Personality: Greg is a simple guy, wanting to take life at a day's pace. He's unambitious, and is often mistaken for being lazy because of it. He can't help it, he simply doesn't understand the concept of sweating the small stuff - things like car insurance, medical bills, and bar tabs all count as small stuff for him, of course. No, he'd much rather just take it slow and let it all ride.

However, just because Greg behaves like a devout follower of Dudeism doesn't mean he won't step in when something seems wrong. If he can help someone out, in ways even as simple as giving someone a couple of bucks, helping an old lady cross the street, or fighting murderous mutants and other nasty things, he won't hesitate. As much as he enjoys taking it easy, he revels even more in assisting others in taking it easy.

Greg is unambitious and laid back, but he is persistent. If something needs doing, he does it all the way and doesn't quit. A man finishes what he starts, no matter how long it takes, even if he has to start over.

Strengths:

* Greg is fantastic at cleaning a place up - vacuuming, mopping, organizing, and just general tidiness are second nature to him. Custodial work just feels right.
* He's also a more than serviceable free-runner, a hobby he picked up as a teen and kept up with into his adult years. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, and if his bike cant get him there then his feet most certainly will!
* Lastly, Greg is a talented painter. He doesn't share his work often, and rarely talks about it, but painting is like meditation for him. Brush strokes are calming.

Weaknesses:

* Greg is a terrible cook. Takeout feasts keep him fueled. He cannot follow a recipe to save his life.
* Greg is also awful at most team sports - football, baseball, soccer, cricket, rugby, he simply cannot wrap his head around the rules.
* While this is less of an activity and more of a behavioral flaw, Greg will refuse to see a doctor unless his situation is very clearly going to be fatal. This of course causes him to not only spread illness to others, but also ensures that when he DOES get sick, it doesn't go away quick.


History: Greg was a military brat, and grew up on army bases. Both of his parents were Officers, and wanted nothing less than for Greg to grow up to be a soldier, and eventually an officer in the military just like them. To Greg's parents, the Service was their lives. There was nothing more fulfilling than duty to one's country.

Naturally, Greg was resistant to his parents' desire. He wanted a simpler life - a safer life, than that of a soldier. As a youth, he idolized men like Monet and Van Gogh more than the likes of Patton and Pershing. However, like many children, Greg wanted so much to please his parents that on his 18th birthday, he enlisted in the Army. With pride, his parents shipping him off to Basic Training, where he was basically miserable.

He made it through basic, however, and was soon stationed overseas in a place he couldn't pronounce, where they spoke a language he didn't understand. It was meant to be a normal, routine peacetime service. Things rarely go as planned. The base was attacked, and reports claimed that an inhuman monster was to blame. Greg and his squad mates were mobilized, and soon the boy was laying half-conscious among the dead and the rubble.

He came to his senses in a laboratory six months later on American soil. They told him that there were all manner of monsters in this world, just like the one that had attacked the base where he'd been stationed. They didn't know what kind it was, but they told him they would find out. They offered him the opportunity to do some good against the monsters, to help protect American citizens through the use of breakthrough technology. Thus, Kamen Rider Excelsior was born.

Over the course of his service, however, he discovered that the program that had granted him his new power was not a part of the US Government at all, and was instead funded by a darker, more sinister organization. His power came from a toxin that had been derived from the DNA of some of the world's monsters, a toxin that was injected by the Civil Servant upon it's landing. Excelsior was an experiment in transforming a human into a monster, and Empire Form was a sign of its success. However, Greg discovered that a lone scientist in the program had discovered a way to purify the toxin - to grant all the power without the nasty endgame of turning into an aberration - but that the upgrade had been canceled, as it didn't suit the final goals of the experiment. Luckily, Greg managed to find the now-hiding scientist, who built the Eye of Brotherhood for him.

Now Greg tries to keep his head down until he's needed. He was never much for investigating, and he had no leads concerning the nature or location of the program that had nearly turned him into a monster. He knows they're out there, and he's ready. Maybe when they come for him he'll ask a few questions.

Sample RP:

Greg stood over his mop and bucket, musing over it as he worked to tidy the messes of men who made three or four times his salary per year, and yet couldn't be bothered to clean up after themselves. It was fascinating to him how noble mop water was. Selflessly and without complaint it would take the dirt and grime of man into itself, gradually becoming duller, dirtier, uglier. Eventually, it would be discarded, cast away into the nearest drain, or out a door and into the street, a not-so-fond farewell for today's hero. Briefly, he was sad about it all. Then he remember that water wasn't people, and that if it did possess some kind of consciousness, a dirty mop would be the least of its concerns - mop water had nothing on toilet water.

He chuckled to himself as he continued his work, waving to the occasional passing lab technician as they went to clock out and go home for the day. It had become almost like a play he had rehearsed every day. He could guess who was coming by the rhythms of their footfalls, and would know what they would say. He could guess, most days, how long it would take them to get from the timeclock to the exit. Some days he would race them in his mind.

A lab tech passed - his name was Phil, Greg was pretty sure. Short guy, tired-looking, but nice. Always said hi. Usually took him about a full minute to clock out and leave the building.

Three minutes later, Greg was concerned. A two-minute delay wasn't unheard of, or even uncommon, but something about this delay just didn't feel right. He left his mop and bucket and went to investigate. Phil was nowhere to be seen, but his timecard lay on the floor, and a broken window nearby told a tale with few words. He didn't know what had happened, but considering the windows of the building were double-paned and made of reinforced glass, he wasn't going to take any chances. He pressed a red button on his watch and dropped to his knee, raising his right hand to the sky.

"Hang on, Phil. I'm comin' for you."

The Civil Servant came through the same broken window, soared across his arms and came to a landing on his belt. He turned the birdlike device upright and nodded.

"Henshin!"