Despite making it his thing to perform "magic tricks" as part of his crimes, his powers are actually of psychic nature. For a long time he was unaware of his potential until a lab experiment gone wrong activated these latent powers in him.

Neal and his college roommate and best friend Quincy liked to sneak into the lab to try out Quincy's newest ideas which weren't always so safe. With this ability he can manifest anything he can think of in a hot pink semi-transparent style. He can create these illusions anywhere he can see in a reasonable radius or immediately around him but as soon as he loses focus they disappear. You'd see him pull a psychic rabbit out of his hat or send a flock of doves at the heroes before escaping on a flight of psychic stairs. He likes being silly with it, realistically he could be a lot more dangerous than he is but pretty much just uses it to aid him in breaking and entering, running from the law and fighting any good guy who dares trying to stop him, all while putting on show while he does it. His most common illusions are his psychic hands that he uses as an extension to his regular reach and so he has his actual hands free to pose dramatically. He can also play rock, paper, scissors with himself. Convenient!

A lot of the times he just manifests stuff to show off and because it's fun! Besides stealing random shiny objects and valuables, he just loves to turn every crime scene into a stage show. He's a thrillseeker who gets all giddy at the idea of a good chase between hero and villain. He loves being dramatic and isn't afraid to use his undeniable charm on witnesses and heroes alike. Despite calling himself a villain he is careful to not hurt people.

He has an optional white tophat he sometimes wears for extra effect. It's a chapeau claque so he can easily store it somewhere and pull it out whenever needed.

(Idk much about his childhood yet honestly) From his teenage years on he's been struggling with undiagnosed kleptomania. Once in college studying physics, he met Quincy as they roomed together and became best friends. Neal joined the drama club and discovered his love for theater and acting that way. He was also always a little flirty and definitely awkward but his bad luck dating didn't seem to bother him that much. An important event was that lab accident that awakened his powers and turned his eyes from a greyish green-blue to bright pink. As he got the hang of his powers and how he could use them his kleptomania only got worse. In an attempt to keep his reputation he started relieving his urge to steal by deliberately going out in a disguise to commit a variety of thefts. This worked pretty well for him as he could live his regular life relatively normal again, as long as he kept going, that is. As his thieving persona evolved the Illusionaire was born.

As he got older and accepted the job as a physics professor he had seemingly mellowed out a bit from his college years but definitely stayed silly and fun-loving. He actually put all his flirty and dramatic energy into the Illusionaire. Despite his dramatic side also coming out when teaching the drama club nobody really draws any connection to the Illusionaire.