About

Summary

Jesse Nielsen was an unassuming college student who took part in a medical survey that turned out to be a cover. Stagg Industries was actually scouting for compatible subjects for genetic experimentation. Jesse was abducted along with countless others, and their DNA was spliced with that of various animals. He was given a cocktail of archosaur (avian and crocodilian) DNA, primarily corvid, and renamed Corbin because his captors thought they were clever. The experiments gave him the ability to change into a giant humanoid bird creature. After eight years of being held captive, he and several other test subjects finally escaped.

While fleeing from the local police, he ran into a very wary but very intrigued Dr. Jonathan Crane, who saw this as an irresistable opportunity. He offered to shelter Corbin from anyone who would try to recapture him in exchange for general labor - mostly menial chores so Crane could spend more time researching, and in the event it was needed, acting as a bodyguard.

Story

Jesse Nielsen grew up in a surprisingly normal, loving home. His father was a Norwegian immigrant and fisherman on the Mississippi River, and his mother was a secretary at a corporate law firm. Anna, his younger sister, is 14 years younger than him. His family was nondenominational Christian, but very religious. They moved from Lafayette, Louisiana to Gotham when he was six years old.

When he was in college, he took part in a medical study to make some extra cash. It turned out to be a front for an illegal genetics experiment, testing for potential candidates. Jesse was a perfect match. He went missing at age 22 and the case went cold; he's been assumed dead ever since.

The corporation that abducted him was Stagg Industries. He and several other people had their genes spliced with those of animals, causing them to turn into hybrid-like creatures with various different abilities. Some were able to change from human to animal and back again, while others were permanently turned into huge beasts with mismatched parts and no sense of their former selves. Jesse - or Corbin, as his oh-so-clever captors renamed him - received a cocktail of primarily avian DNA, especially corvid. His abilities landed him somewhere in the middle; he could change from a human form (albeit with somewhat heightened senses and physical capabilities) to that of a nearly ten-foot-tall, bipedal, primitive bird creature. Stagg Industries took note of this deadly potential and selected Corbin and several other successful experiments to be sold as living weapons. The long conditioning process consisted of physical and psychological torture to make them unwaveringly obedient. He was programmed similar to a sleeper agent: he is wholly in control of himself most of the time, but uttering a trigger phrase will instantly turn him into a mindless weapon. Corbin does not know what his own trigger phrase is.

A rogue employee entered the cell wing one night and released all of the test subjects. There was a mass escape attempt while security attempted to contain them. Many did not escape and were recaptured or killed, but many, did, including Corbin. Outside he ran him back to the first place he could think to go: home. Unfortunately, his parents and younger sister were not prepared to see a giant bird monster trying to enter their house, and the bird lacked the communication skills to speak to them at all, never mind explain. Corbin's father chased him out with his shotgun while his mother and sister hid in a closet. Hurt, confused, terrified, and now wounded, the bird fled deeper into the city, scaring citizens and attracting the attention of law enforcement as he went. He took to the rooftops, leaping across them rather than flying or even gliding, and eventually they lost his trail. He fell mid-sprint through the skylight of a seemingly vacant apartment in Chinatown, and with the sounds of sirens outside, decided to spend the night.

The building was not vacant. It was in fact occupied by one Dr. Jonathan Crane, freshly escaped from his recent incarceration after dropping a catastrophic bomb of fear toxin on the city and revealing the identity of Batman to the world. Upon finding the strange crow monster-turned-human in his bedroom, Crane saw a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and took Corbin under his metaphorical wing. Corbin acts as his personal attendant, housekeeper, and bodyguard, and Crane in turn gives him room, board, and shelter from law enforcement and those that would have far worse in store for him than Crane would. He is also occasionally a willing test subject, as Crane has convinced him that it is for the greater good.

It has been eight years since he went missing, and after all of the trauma he's suffered in that time, Corbin's wires can be crossed with remarkable ease. It isn't long before he begins harboring attraction and even feelings for Crane, who makes it abundantly clear that they are not nor will they ever be reciprocated...but learns very quickly that it is worth humoring him sometimes to keep him loyal

Family

∙ Father: Robert Nielsen - Norwegian immigrant; commercial fisherman on the Mississippi River, and later Gotham Bay after relocating
∙ Mother: Joyce Nielsen - born and raised in Louisiana, of French and English descent; secretary for a corporate law firm, became a stay-at-home mom when Anna was born, returned to work after her son's disappearance
∙ Siblings: Anna Marie Nielsen - 6 years younger, was in high school when he went missing, now studying forensics at Gotham University

Corbin was close with his family, especially his younger sister Anna. His happiest memories were of his father taking the two of them fishing on the Mississippi, and later the Atlantic Ocean and several smaller rivers and lakes in New Jersey. Unfortunately, after his kidnapping, much of his early memory is fuzzy and vague at best.

Corbin's father was raised Lutheran and his mother Southern Baptist, but by the time they had children, they were both leaning more non-denominational Christian, and raised the children as such. They were wholly and consistently supportive of both of them, including Corbin's experimentation with his sexualty, and were strongly against corporal punishment. Aside from a fear of heights after being pushed off a jungle gym, which he got over on his own with time, Corbin had no notable trauma from his childhood.

Physical

∙ Height: 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
∙ Weight: 190-200 lb (86-90 kg)
∙ Build: Muscular but lean, toned, ectomorph
∙ Nationality: White, American. Norwegian, French, and English heritage
∙ Disabilities/conditions: PTSD, Stockholm syndrome, memory loss, raised core temperature, sometimes can't control form shifts
∙ Complexion: Clear, fair; burns before tanning
∙ Distinguishing facial features: Especialy straight, triangular nose
∙ Hair color: Yellow blond
∙ Usual hair style: Long, down to the middle of his back; can be worn down, in a ponytail or bun, or braided; rarely seen with an undercut and Viking braids
∙ Eye color: Medium blue-gray
∙ Glasses/contacts: None
∙ Style of dress: Loose and breathable but form-fitting; usually defaults to a t-shirt or tank top and jeans, sometimes with a leather jacket
∙ Style of shoes: Sneakers or construction boots
∙ Health: Overall healthy; more resistent to illness after experimentation, though now susceptible to some strictly avian and reptilian diseases
∙ Grooming: Showers and brushes teeth daily when possible; brushes hair daily, sometimes twice; will wear unwashed clothes as long as they don't smell; regularly preens as a bird
∙ Jewelry & body mods: Used to have ears pierced, closed while imprisoned; sometimes wears bracelets or wristbands, and chains with or without pendants; has an ID number tattooed on his inner left wrist and the base of his skull, under the hairline
∙ Accent: Moved young enough to adapt to the South Jersey accent and dialect, but retains a slight Southern drawl with a few words, or when especially upset or excited
∙ Athleticism: Was always relatively fit, spent a lot of time as a lifeguard during teenage years; far more athletic after experimentation; chest and arms in particular are more muscular than before

Intellect

∙ Level of education: Was abducted just before graduating with a Bachelor's degree; does not remember what subject he was studying
∙ Self-esteem: Reasonably confident in learning or trying new things in general, less so in things he's been conditioned against, or anything regarding his bird form and abilities; tends to beat himself up over mistakes and blames himself for things that aren't his fault, but tries to learn from it
∙ Talents: Can play bass guitar and violin, though he's out of practice on both; good cook once he relearns how
∙ Shortcomings: Not especially good at more complex math, declaritive memory sometimes lapses
∙ Speech: Soft-spoken in general conversation, becomes louder and more gregarious as mood lifts, fear sets in, or bird nears the surface
∙ Artistic: Appreciative of the arts, especially music; good eye for design, especially color, but can't do representational art well
∙Mathematics: Not a strong point; can do standard algebra and geometry, starts to get lost around calculus
∙ Decision making: Combination of emotional and logical; gut feelings come first, then tries to logic his way through it, whether it's to support or quell the feeling
∙ Neuroses: PTSD and several forms of anxiety
∙ Philosophy: Survival is more valuable than dignity or comfort. Values the greater good over the individual. Willing to sacrifice his own wellbeing, safety, or life for people or causes he cares about.
∙ Religion: Raised religious non-denominational Christian; questions faith after abduction but remains agnostic with Christian leanings
∙ Boldness: Cautious, until someone or something he cares about is threatened
∙ Vulnerabilities: Crane, his family, people treated as subhuman
∙ Optimist vs Pessimist: Surprisingly, optimist
∙ Extrovert vs Introvert: Extrovert
∙ Comfort with technology: A bit behind the times, but picks it up quickly

Relationships

∙ Relationship status: It's Complicated (TM) with Jonathan Crane
∙ Past relationships: A couple of brief high school girlfriends, nothing too serious; had both male and female friends-with-benefits and no-strings-attached flings
∙ Reasons for breaking up: Were friends that decided to try dating, mutually agreed they worked better as friends
∙ Reasons for being broken up with: He didn't take things seriously enough, both regarding the relationship and in general
∙ Sexual experience: Moderate; had sex with first girlfriend a handful of times, also friends-with-benefits and occasional flings
∙ First kiss: A game of truth or dare in middle school; he had a crush on her but never asked her out
∙ Loss of virginity: First girlfriend pulled him away at a party and into the basement and came on pretty strong; he was interested and eager but let her take the lead
∙ Social status: Was not in the "popular" cliques in school, but was generally well-liked by most students and teachers; maintains that after abduction and escape, but is slower to trust and even slower to open up
∙ Most comfortable around: Abby, a fellow test subject from Stagg Industries
∙ Oldest friend: Abby
∙ How others percieve him: Amiable, unassuming, easy to talk to, attractive
∙ How he thinks others perceive him: Doesn't think about it much in general, but assumes most people fear him or will fear him after finding out what he is

Vocation

∙ Occupation: Assistant and bodyguard to Jonathan Crane
∙ Past occupations: Lifeguard on the beach during the summer, and on the weekends at an indoor pool/gym during school months; occasional music gigs but only ever pursued it as a hobby
∙ Passions: Music, reading, the outdoors
∙ Opinion of current job: Stressful, at times downright terrifying, but ultimately and incomparably rewarding; wouldn't have it any other way
∙ Opinion of coworkers, bosses, etc: Literally in love with his boss; mixed feelings about Crane's other cohorts - prefers Nygma and Fries to most of the others
∙ Salary: Room and board

Secrets

∙ Phobias: Thunderstorms, needles, mild claustrophobia (specifically restraints or confined spaces - i.e. a cell - for extended periods of time; can tolerate it comfortably for a few hours in most scenarios)
∙ Life goals: Genuinely just wants to live happily and comfortably, whatever that entails
∙ Dreams: Living a "normal" life, without direct involvement of metas and vigilantes, and without the bird's influence
∙ Greatest fears: Crane dying or suffering a permanent mental break, losing complete control over the bird, being recaptured and being subjected to the same experimentation or worse
∙ Shames: Keeping his head down at the expense of other Stagg subjects; logically knows standing up for them would have done no good and even made things worse, but it eats at him nonetheless
∙ Embarrassment: Initial strip search for processing at Stagg; was led to a group shower nude and supervised, only given clothing once he reached his cell
∙ Compulsions: Prayer, especially the sign of the cross; the bird will obsessively preen when confined, and if left long enough, will start to pluck; shifting negates and resets any long-term integumentary damage
∙ Obsessions: Following orders, making sure the hosue is in order the way Crane likes it; eventually learns when to relax on these
∙ Secret hobbies: Playing music, collecting things that make pleasant jingling sounds (glass, bells, wind chimes, etc - hides the noisier ones from Crane altogether)
∙ Secret skills: Bass guitar, violin
∙ Crimes: A handful of minor petty crimes as a teenager - loitering, underage drinking, mild vandalism, trespassing, etc. Was given a warning at most
∙ Desired life changes: Stress levels; would like Crane to give up the life of crime, but wouldn't ever dare say so, thinks it's selfish anyway
∙ Desired appearance changes: Wishes he would tan instead of burn; would get rid of some of the experimentation scars, even though they're invisible to most people