Dr. Renard Giroux / Dr. Nemo Syx

Name/Alter ego: Dr. Renard Giroux

Work Place: Mostly retired, though is a part-time Surgeon at JGMH. He has other “specialties” in bio- and medical sciences, however.

Personality: Renard is a bit of a personality chameleon. He tailors his behavior to suit a specific person or situation as needed. However, when he is not attempting to be otherwise, he is best described as aloof. A firm believer in the phrase “I don’t get mad... I get even,” his preference is to wait until the most opportune moment to strike instead of flying off the handle in certain cases. He can be strict ... he can be laid back... but he is not a man to cross, despite his appearance being of one in their advanced years for appearances can and generally are deceiving. When he likes someone, Renard can be most generous and congenial. It is hard to tell when he is acting or lying and when he is not.

Supername: Dr. Nemo Syx

Powers:
Biological Manipulation – can manipulate a creature or person’s biological make-up, e.g. genetic alterations, physical distortion or augmentation, cause disease, heal, basically any biological function. Helps him in his scientific research.

Cyborg Attributes – Is stronger and more durable than a regular human, doesn’t get sick like normal people, doesn’t age, can use sensors to detect various things from vital signs to the difference between supers and civilians

Genius Intellect – he’s smart... what else is there to say?

Power Absorption/Mimicry – A power he has in a very limited capacity, but avoids using it whenever possible. Explained in better detail in history.

[Extra power granted by Lustre; said power not intended to make character invincible; see Weaknesses and History]


Weaknesses:
Unable to use powers to heal himself, though he could heal others... not saying he would, but he could.

A cyborg body is not infallible... not only is he at risk for computer viruses just like a regular PC, but he also has three chambers full of a special fluid to keep him alive. Rupture of them could cause him to “bleed” to death.

Can’t stand temperatures of either extreme... both due to age and cyborg body

Power Absorption/Mimicry ability can mess with his body in a negative way, making him ill after a fashion. If a power is strong enough it could very well kill him – the main reason he refuses to use that power knowingly.


Superhero or Supervillain: Supervillain, of course

Archrival: Unknown; likely only present for an upcoming plot, which may or may not result in his death.

Appearance: Renard appears to be an elderly man with salt-and-pepper hair and moderate build. His eyes are a very dark brown, nearly black, and his complexion varies between rather pale and tanned. A beard and mustache line his jaw, chin, and upper lip. He dresses rather professionally both in public and when creating mayhem, although both outfits vary. In fact, when he is out looking to create chaos he often genetically mutates his features, so that no one will know who he really is. He is for the most part comfortable being identified as an older gentleman, particularly if it gives him added benefits... such as the element of surprise.


[Playby: Christopher Lee]


Marital Status: Widower; Late wife was Mirella Giroux

History/Backstory:
As Dorian, Renard’s father, once told him: “If you aren’t a scientist or involved in the medical field, you aren’t a Giroux!”

Born to Annette and Dorian Giroux, Renard grew up on both French and English countryside soils. Both of his parents were supers: his father with a genius intellect and able to control plant matter, thus becoming a Botanist, and his mother with the ability to absorb and/or mimic powers as well as the ability to materialize objects out of an energy source woven like a web around one’s immediate surroundings – a web only she or other sensitives could see. It soon became clear that Renard had acquired his father’s intellect.

He also acquired his mother’s power absorption and mimicry power... although with a crucial flaw.

One day whilst playing with a fellow Super, whom would one day grow to be classified as a Hero, Renard had fallen into a steep ravine. Injured and covered in mud for the ravine still contained a small amount of what used to be a stream, the child called to his friend for help. It had been Renard’s idea to have his friend send down a fiery rope that he could climb up. Not even halfway up the craggy side his foot slipped, and once again he fell back down. Deciding more professional assistance was required, the friend – named Ian – went to fetch his parents, leaving Renard to plot a way out in wait for someone to rescue him. He had been thinking if only he’d had a rope when his friend’s fire-rope ability came to life before his eyes and in his hands, startling the boy. Immediately, Renard began several different tactics for climbing up the side of the ravine. He had nearly succeeded when four adults, parents of Ian and Renard respectively, helped haul him up by the flaming ropes. Dorian had been a very proud man that day indeed to know his son now had an active power, despite the child having a few injuries that would take time to heal.

Then, amidst his recovery, Renard fell gravely ill and plagued with the worst case of fever even supervillains such as his parents had seen: fire licked at the boy’s body yet left no visible scarring, the pain a nearly unbearable torment that even being dipped into a tub full of ice water couldn’t cure. Physicians accustomed to treating supers were simply stumped. That is... until they visited one Dr. Voclain.

Dr. Voclain was a French geneticist that also dealt with rare diseases and particularly those that have more probability to afflict Supers than non-supers. Tests were run on little Renard until the child thought for sure he would go mad if poked or prodded one more time. The broken bones were still healing, but his earlier fever had finally broken. Before Renard and his parents, Dr. Voclain revealed his findings: Renard had a very rare genetic disorder, inherited by his mother, that made the ability to absorb or mimic powers react aversely to his body’s natural functions. It would not become a fatal complication so long as the power was kept under a very short leash, and medication close at hand in the event mind over matter went unsuccessful. It also seemed that this defect would make it unlikely for Renard to develop further powers. Dr. Voclain predicted that as Renard grew older, the duration of downtime from the ravages of a foreign power in his body would decrease... although the severity of the attacks depended solely upon the power’s provider and/or Renard’s attempt to use the power.

During his teenage years, Renard’s interest in the sciences became very serious. It was to the point where science was practically the young man’s life. That was, until he met another bright young student: a girl named Mirella. They had been paired together one science lab, and managed to strike up a “normal” topic of conversation amongst their scientific observations.

Under the guise of a project for school, during their senior year the pair genetically-created a creature that was in every sense of the word a mutant. They hid it on school property, away from prying eyes of any nosy enough to investigate... though the creature was quite efficient at scaring away any that would so much as contemplate investigating it. Everything was going smoothly, until the creature turned on and attacked its creators. Mirella was only scratched, but Renard was not so fortunate: venom within the creature’s fangs swept through his veins like wildfire. His attempts to kill the creature only caused it to bite and tear more, but in the end Mirella had dealt the killing blow to their creation and called the hospital for Renard, who was by then out cold from blood loss.

The next thing Renard saw was the concerned face of Dr. Voclain... though upon coming to the man was actually smiling at him! Mirella, of course, was also present, as were his parents. “Congratulations, young man, on succeeding in part where science has failed for decades!” was the first thing out of the geneticist’s mouth, albeit in a fluent string of French. Asking for clarification caused the doctor to deliver some good news: despite the terrible ordeal of the creature, the venom Renard had been infected with managed to get a hold on a string of the defective DNA in his genetic disorder, and reversed some of its effects, and thus granting him one power he could use without fear of it wreaking havoc on his body: biological manipulation.

While the story of acquiring his powers has mostly stopped there, there are a few other crucial elements of Renard’s history that are known:

- Renard married Mirella and when on to medical school in his early adult years, learning various medical and biological sciences. In due time he became a surgeon and passed self off as a young army medic to gain further experience and various samples from his comrades for experiments during one of the World Wars.

- The man fathered three children: two daughters, and one son. In birth order they were named Danielle, Liam, and Nadine. Renard tended to favor his daughters, and rather ignored and mistreated his son. He had a reputation for being a strict father, just like his old man.

- He did not approve of either of his daughters’ taste in men because they were not scientists or doctors. Although, he eventually accepted Jason Rush, Nadine’s husband. He continues to snub Danielle’s guy, though Danielle refuses to acknowledge her father these days.

- Tends to weave between being decent and harsh in regards to his grandson, Dr. Steven Emerson Rush. Or, rather, he did when Steven was a child. They haven’t spoken in quite a few years as there is a bit of a rift between them.

During his and Mirella’s golden years, their lab was ambushed by heroes while Renard was away. To make matters worse, her body had begun to fail due to her advancing age. Renard managed to keep some of his own consequences of aging at bay, though knew that it would only be a matter of time before he could put it off no longer. More concerned for his wife’s health and life than his own when he found out about the attack, he attempted to use his powers of biological manipulation on her. However, it only caused her get better for a short while before regressing to a state about thrice as worse.

At his wits end, Renard rushed to Steven, and asked for his collaboration on turning Mirella into a cyborg. Steven, in his teenaged, arrogant heyday of being a computer hacker, denied his grandfather the assistance that was so desperately needed. So, Renard began his own foray into what was then considered cybernetics. Compared to Steven’s eventual modifications, Mirella’s were terribly archaic and unwieldy. As a result, her body rejected the robotic programming, and she died. Renard has not seen fit to fully forgive Steven for turning his back on them.

After his wife’s funeral, Renard began a series of radical experiments on himself of the cybernetic and genetic varieties, albeit in secret and with a select group of technicians at hand. While he had one foot in cloning himself to create a supply of backup body parts, the other ‘foot’ was firmly rooted in mechanically fortifying his body in order to slow his aging to a crawl... if not halt it altogether. As growth-accelerated cloning began having more success than cybernetics, it soon became apparent to Renard that he would die just as his wife had if he didn’t remove the robotic components in his body. In a bold and perhaps insane move, he asked his technicians to transplant his brain into the most mature clone available.

It took six tries before Renard’s brain and one of his clones’ bodies accepted each other, each time his brain being placed in a special piece of radical technology to both preserve him and allow him to communicate with others (upon finding a body the memories of speaking with people would be only as a dream). The clone itself was not fully a clone, but rather a genetically-engineered fusion of man and machine: a cyborg. In his long sleep, Renard’s loyal colleagues had found a way to accomplish what Renard himself had failed to. Sure, the clone looked like an old man, but in reality it was little over two decades old. Renard then fashioned a new name for his new self:

Nemo Syx

It has been a little over three years since then. And now it is his goal to come out of retirement – both as a doctor, and as a villain. The time has come for another of his 'projects', long since put on hold, to surface as well...

Dr. Renard Giroux works as a surgeon at Jean Grey Memorial Hospital, though gladly comes out of his area when there is a need to. All he needs now is the right moment to strike...