Profile
HAL JENNINGS
BASICS
If y’all don’t piss off and leave me alone I’m gonna give you an allergy so obscure you won’t know what it is until it kills you.
OVERVIEW
blunt . grouchy . overzealous . impatient . withdrawn . determined
Burdened from childhood with asthma, allergies, and food intolerances galore, Hal Jennings (or just “Jennings” around professional company) has long since decided to take matters into his own hands. A self-proclaimed “mad allergist,” this med school dropout collected DNA from animals with far stronger immune systems than the meager human, determined to create a concoction that would end the world’s allergy plight for good. All things considered, it went… really bad! Now Jennings has found himself inflicted with an even more maddening condition—a gnarly, chimera-like monster form he has to keep at bay with specially crafted epipens, lest he go Creature Mode permanently. A troubling setback, but he’s keeping his head high. There’s still so much work to be done, after all!
Sour-tempered and a little full of himself, he has a bad habit of taking up hobbies and dropping them a week later upon discovering he’s not an immediate expert at it. Made an advanced AI during a fleeting affair with robotics, and now has to be its on-property babysitter at a high-end Montana resort. Hal doesn’t mind too much, though; the rich yuppies who vacation there make perfect test subjects for his continued allergy research, and the untamed western wilds around the property are perfect for gnashing teeth, bestial meltdowns deep in the midnight hour. Now, if only he could work on developing his flimsy interpersonal relationships…
✔ Likes: zoology, scientific journals, discussing his theories for hours on end, fishing, peach cobbler, animation, sci-fi stories, cowboys, being on time
✖ Dislikes: allergies (of course,) “stifling environments,” snow, failure, blood, being talked down to, constantly battling his chimera form’s animal instincts
TRIVIA
- Has a high, dweeby voice, with a prominent southern accent.
- Is very at the whim of his chimera form’s natural instincts—often hunting for prey or feeling a need to go burrow under some sheets. Sometimes he hangs by powerful prehensile tail, and also uses it to hold objects while he’s working.
- After moving to Montana, learns to love desserts that combine peach and huckleberry (cobblers especially.)
- Good at keeping a secret, but not above blackmail.
- Has a tremendous fondness for animation, and often has a cartoon on as background noise while he toys away at his experiments.
- Thinks superheroes and supervillains are a little much, honestly :/
RELATIONSHIPS
- Hazel Herrera — Brother. At odds for most of their childhood, estranged for a chunk of their adulthood, and only recently back in each other’s lives, things are still Incredibly rocky between the Herrera siblings. Hal’s been in Hazel’s shadow since they were little, and it’s left a massive chip on this guy’s shoulder, that’s for sure. He thinks they’re an infuriating hot mess most of the time, but the truth is they have more in common than he’d like to admit, and given his current circumstances, he almost enjoys their company…
- JETHRO — Creation. An artificial intelligence Hal created in college and then promptly forgot about until a luxury hotel company bought the rights to use him in their new dude ranch resort. JETHRO’s primary function was to be a cheerful reminder app and Hal’s glorified alarm clock, but years of being left alone to develop his own personality has made him sarcastic and teasing towards his beleaguered creator. Hal is proud of what JEHTO’s become, but damn it seems like that funny little computer program always knows JUST how to push his buttons.
