DC Criminal Profile: Berserker

Story by Stinkdog on SoFurry

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#10 of Defense Council Profiles

I created Berserker because I wanted to flip the tropes used by characters like The Hulk on their head. Itsuo's appearance doesn't change at all other than his eyes when he goes berserk. He's still a small, 140-pound hare that can suddenly, easily lift and throw city buses (depending on how much kinetic force he has absorbed). He's also a likely candidate for rehabilitation, though he has a LOT of emotional baggage to work through first, understandably.

This awesome artwork was once again made by: Spelunker Sal


Defense Council Criminal Profile

The following individual is currently in custody in the United City high-security correctional facility. This individual is considered to be extremely dangerous and should not be approached by any unauthorized personnel without level nine clearance.

Name: Itsuo Takahara

Alias: Berserker

Species: Japanese Hare

Age: 33

Height: 5'9"

Weight: 140 lbs.

Eyes: brown

Hair: black

Fur/Skin: black and white

Gender: male

Threat Level: Red

Known Abilities: Kinetic Absorption, Strength Augmentation, Reflex Augmentation, Physical Invulnerability.

Known History: Itsuo Takahara was born in Queenston prior to the unification of United City to Taishi and Maiko Takahara. As the family's fifth child, Itsuo was at first babied by his parents but gradually was left to fend for himself when their attention returned to their other children. A timid and soft-spoken individual, Itsuo had trouble fitting in at school and also at home, but his tendency to remain on the sidelines of social circles caused childhood bullies to pass him by without a second thought.

Taishi Takahara is a known Sumo champion and while it is unclear whether he or Maiko passed down abilities to their children, Taishi's many winning streaks throughout his wrestling career are something to look into.

Itsuo lived with his parents until the age of thirty, watching all of his other siblings move out and become reasonably successful. He began to feel pressure from his parents to do the same, and also began to resent them. Itsuo has told Defense Council staff that he remembers arguing with his parents late one night and fleeing the house into a pouring rainstorm at ten pm. He inadvertently ran into the road and was struck by a vehicle, blacking out from the impact.

He awoke two hours later in the rubble of a destroyed storefront four blocks away from the crash, covered in blood, but with no injuries to speak of. The remains of several other people were strewn about the ruined building and the car that had struck him was embedded into the back wall of the store. Police received a call moments later from a shaken and distressed Itsuo who told them that he wished to turn himself in.

Itsuo Takahara's rampage resulted in the deaths of fifteen individuals and over three million dollars of property damage. He has been held voluntarily in custody and under heavy surveillance in the United City high-security correctional facility for three years with no escape attempts.

Ability Details: After several months of psychotherapy, Mr. Takahara reluctantly agreed to allow the Defense Council to test his abilities. When struck by sufficient kinetic force to damage his body (from any physical object that is moving), Takahara's body automatically absorbs that force and then increases his strength and reflexes in proportion to the initial kinetic impact.

Because of this ability, Mr. Takahara is immune to all physical damage caused by objects in motion. E.g. bullets fired from a gun would not damage him, but he would still be injured by stepping barefoot on broken glass. Further, his ability does not protect him from or respond to non-physical hazards such as extreme heat and extreme cold. It is theorized by research staff that Takahara's ability would also activate from the kinetic force caused by the blast of a nearby explosion, though he would still be injured by any flames that may or may not be present from said explosion unless his augmented reflexes allowed him to escape in time.

There remains a caveat to Mr. Takahara's incredible power. When his ability activates, regardless of the amount of kinetic force he absorbs, he loses all control of his own actions. This makes him extremely dangerous as evidenced by the initial rampage that caused him to give himself up to the authorities. However, all of his abilities cease to function when Mr. Takahara loses consciousness. He has been given the unofficial alias "Berserker" by analysis staff due to this caveat. Should Mr. Takahara ever learn to control himself when his power activates, he would be a formidable addition to the Defense Council team.

Security footage of Mr. Takahara's initial rampage showed that, given enough kinetic energy, he has the capacity to leap over great distances and avoid non-physical hazards easily. However, it appears that his abilities require an immense amount of energy to maintain. Mr. Takahara's destruction of the storefront lasted merely seven minutes before he succumbed to fatigue.

Psychologists on staff have determined that Mr. Takahara suffers from anxiety disorder and possibly clinical depression as well. He is terrified of his own abilities and of what he may do should he be struck with any significant force. He has shown a tendency to unsuccessfully attempt self-harm using bladed or sharp objects, though analysts have noted that this behavior has never triggered a rampage.

Because of the above, Mr. Takahara has been assigned a personal psychologist and confined to a solitary cell as per his own request. The Defense Council has also designated Mr. Takahara Threat Level Red.