charlie grimms

THE PAST

• charlie grew up in silver city. his parents were...not very nice to him, to put it lightly.
  • he's an only child, and therefore the only target for his parents' mistreatment.
  • his parents stay married even though they kind of hate each other.
  • whatever other family charlie has is also pretty shitty.
  • he's constantly treated like he did something wrong, even when he did everything right.
  • eventually he gives up on trying to do things 'right' because he knows the outcome will always be the same.
  • he pretty quickly takes up the mentality of "you want the bad kid? fine: i'll give you the bad kid" and starts acting out on purpose, getting into fights, arguing, slacking on homework, etc.
• when charlie is in middle school, his parents find out he's queer. by the time he's in high school, he's struggling even more.
  • starts diy hrt at some point as a teenager (don't do this)
  • his grades get worse and worse, and he can't participate in sports and other extra-curriculars because of it.
  • he's in and out of detention, has been suspended several times, constantly has to retake classes, and is always in summer school.
• he starts not coming home for longer and longer periods of time until eventually he just...doesn't come back anymore.
  • he blackmails his parents into giving him money using a secret that would prevent them from receiving their inheritance.
  • this money helps him pay for rent (in less-than-ideal couch surfing and under-the-table rent agreements) and various other financially irresponsible things as well (ie tattoos).
  • he gets through high school, but barely. he works minimum wage, barely able to afford rent.
  • eventually he falls prey to depression and self-loathing.
  • starts drinking at a young age, prior to leaving home. this continues into his 20s.
• at 17, he discovers he has the ability to shoot bolts of glowing red energy from his fingertips.
  • one night while drunk and playing video games, he mimes shooting a gun with his fingers and finds himself with a smoking hole in his tv.
  • while he was already drinking prior to getting his powers, he starts to drink even more afterward because it dulls the effects of his enhanced vision somewhat.
  • he uses his newfound abilities to become a villain known as 'the gunslinger'.
  • for charlie, villainy is an outlet for all the pain, anger, and frustration he feels in his daily life that he can't take out anywhere else.
  • his goal is simple: destroy as much stuff as humanly possible in retaliation for the way the world has treated him.
• charlie chooses a cowboy for his persona as the gunslinger because he loves westerns.
  • he becomes a villain at 18.
  • he intentionally acts as little like himself as possible because it helps keep his identity a secret if no one suspects that the gunslinger is from silver city.
  • the gunslinger speaks with a drawl, says stuff like 'yall' and 'aint', never takes off his hat, and so on.
  • ostensibly it's all to keep his identity a secret, but charlie also finds it really fun to play up the persona, even if he'd never admit to it.
  • per comic book rules, his hat casts a very dark shadow over his upper face and eyes which obscures his features. it also never falls off.
• as a villain, he participates in large-scale, high publicity stunt heists and generally tries to cause as much collateral damage as possible.
  • however, he refuses to cause any harm to civilians, which puts him at odds with the villains he teams up with.
  • he mostly just enjoys getting a rise out of people and inciting others to fight him, and it doesn't matter who they are - hero or villain, he'll throw down with anyone.
  • he'd just as soon fight a villain for trying to kill someone as he is a hero for trying to stop him from blowing something up.
  • he also doesn't steal money. he's not morally opposed to it, he just doesn't want to.
  • he's well-known in silver city for his hairpin trigger and extremely destructive nature, but is seen as a joke because it's not obvious that he misses on purpose.
• a few years in, moonlighting as a villain begins to cause problems.
  • he struggles at work and noticeably withdraws from the few friends he still has.
  • at the same time, he's getting no satisfaction from his activities as the gunslinger.
  • he also starts to gather more attention from heroes, the media, and other villains.
  • other villains are pressuring him to take more direct action and go beyond general property damage into actually hurting people.
  • he's afraid that he'll give in and hurt someone, or that he'll get killed instead for refusing to do it.
  • realizing that nothing good has come from his 'side job' and that his identity is at risk, he slowly stops going out as the gunslinger entirely.
  • he stops villaining at 24.
• shortly before quitting life as the gunslinger, he meets alistaire, an up-and-coming villain who he decidedly does not like.
  • he thinks alistaire is super annoying and can't stand the way he doesn't take anything seriously.
  • alistaire, on the other hand, seems to think they're best friends, for reasons he can't quite fathom.
  • they cross paths a couple times and are even forced to team up on occasion, but it never ends well.
• some other factors that contribute to charlie deciding to stop villaining:
  • he quits drinking around 22. clearing his head helps, but he still keeps at it for another few years despite this.
  • oddly enough, alistaire. seeing him happy as a villain makes charlie realize how unhappy it's making him.
  • he tries to become an emt. he drops out of training because the dissonance between the destruction he causes and the things he sees on the job is too much.
  • lastly, he's finally able to afford therapy and is diagnosed with / gets treatment for his depression, anxiety, and adhd.
• the city eventually forgets about the gunslinger as new villains rise to take his place, and charlie works hard to pull himself out of the hole he's dug himself into.
  •  he reconnects with old friends, finds a slightly less shitty apartment, and even starts volunteering at an animal shelter.
  • getting diagnosed and being in consistent therapy is super helpful for his mental health.
• for a while things are looking up, but...
  • he flunks out of community college. he can't focus in class, can't pick a major, and gets frustrated having to retake classes a bunch of times.
  • eventually he can't afford therapy anymore and his mental health slips again.
  • on the night of his 26th birthday, he comes home after a long day at work, alone and frustrated.
  • for whatever reason, he starts looking through boxes in his closet and happens across some old clothes that bring back a lot of memories...

THE PRESENT

• at 26, the gunslinger makes his second debut - this time as a hero instead of a villain.
  • it takes a long time to turn public opinion in his favor and get people to stop fearing him. years, in fact, especially because charlie doesn't see himself as a hero.
  • charlie is in the very vulnerable position of having enemies on both sides with virtually no allies.
  • despite changing sides, he's still generally unpleasant to be around and refuses to call himself as a hero.
  • he's frequently called an anti-hero in the news, both due to his past as a well-known villain and for his decidedly unfriendly behavior towards other heroes. 
  • magnum opal in particular really doesn't like him and has publicly spoken against him on behalf of the sentinels.
• as a hero, he's a lot more relaxed than he used to be and has a 'take no shit' attitude
  • he now wears his bandana down around his neck instead of up around his face, as a visual distinction between his two 'eras'.
  • he even takes up more mannerisms inspired by cowboys of the old west, such as walking with a sort of slow, methodical swagger.
  • tangentially, his voice dropped pretty significantly over the years as well, so much so that the 'hero' gunslinger barely sounds like the 'villain' gunslinger.
  • he did a lot more screaming and yelling as a villain than he does as a hero, which contributes to this.
  • overall, none of this means he's necessarily nice or even really all that good at forethought, but he is trying...sort of.
• overall, he's doing a lot better nowadays, but his past affects him pretty heavily.
  • not being able to afford therapy and his current isolation (no allies) makes things pretty hard on him.
  • though he tries to remember what his therapist taught him, without direct assistance his depressive episodes and bouts of anxiety can be pretty hard to deal with.
  • he has deep personal doubts about himself and worries that he's going to turn himself towards villainy again, which is made worse by the fact that other heroes don't trust him.
  • he's afraid to tell anyone normal about his 'side job', fearing that they'll reject him or  even report him.
  • he also still has some lingering destructive tendencies: on occasion, he'll feel a very strong need to wreck something, which sometimes results in a trashed apartment and smoking holes in every surface.
  • he does his best to keep it to himself and not take it out on others, but unfortunately this means he does sometimes takes it out on himself instead.
  • he is also guilty of sometimes taking out his emotions on villains instead.
  • he doesn't shoot anyone, but this doesn't prevent him from punching them...
• he re-meets alistaire soon after his hero debut.
  • unfortunately for him, the villain manages to catch a glimpse of his face and soon after learns his name and contact information.
  • after this, charlie never really gets a moment's peace. alistaire is constantly appearing where he's least expected, including at charlie's work.
  • he threatens to expose charlie's identity in order to get him to hang out. to alistaire, a little light blackmailing is all in good fun, but charlie doesn't see it this way at all.
  • he absolutely CANNOT stand alistaire, but he also can't do anything about it with his identity on the line like it is.
  • despite his reluctance, there are a few genuine moments between them, where he begrudgingly admits alistaire can be kind of funny at times.
  • this only frustrates charlie more, as it seems to give alistaire the impression that they're friends.
  • finally charlie can't take it anymore, punches alistaire in the face really hard, and says some mean things.
  • and then he feels bad about it. which is weird, because he hates this guy, right?
  • charlie apologizes and decides to give being friends a shot, realizing that he and alistaire have a lot more in common than either of them would like to admit.
  • alistaire is overjoyed. they pretty quickly become real friends after this, and charlie can admit he genuinely likes hanging out with alistaire.
• outside of alistaire, in his personal life he has a couple close friends and a moderately sized circle of friends-slash-acquaintances, who all agree that he's a very laid back guy who's great to hang out with.
  • he's well connected within the lgbt / queer community in silver city and has a number of acquaintances there.
  • jasper dvorkin, aka photon, knows his identity and he knows theirs. the two butt heads at times because they have very different perspectives on hero work and charlie can't stand their boyfriend apollo, but are pretty good friends.
  • cathal mac lir, aka tempest, is immediately willing to look past his villainous history and give him a chance as a hero. charlie finds out his identity by accident, but hal doesn't know who charlie is.

THE FUTURE

• he and alistaire grow to be really good friends really quickly.
  • they realize they're best friends about two years into the future (when charlie is 28).
  • externally, their relationship doesn't change; it still looks like charlie hates him most of the time, but they actually get on like a house on fire.
  • most people can't figure out what's going on between them. half the time, people think they're dating / in an incredibly toxic relationship; they think this is absolutely hilarious.
• around the age of 28, charlie gets punched in the face and gains a small scar over his lip.
  • it's not an important scar. it happens out of costume when he's goading someone a little too hard and just doesn't dodge in time.
  • normally something like this wouldn't scar, but he keeps picking at it.
  • he gets snakebites at 29, completely on a whim and without planning it.
• five years from the present, when he's 31, a serious threat called neo dominus attacks silver city, and the combined efforts of all the city's heroes and villains are needed to take them down.
  • alistaire's powers are force-activated during the battle, leaving charlie with a large lichtenberg figure scar on his right arm.
  • he makes no effort to hide it and often gets asked if it's a tattoo, but he just tells them he got struck by lightning, which is technically the truth.
  • if pressed he'll say he was downtown during the attack, which is also true.
  • from there, people usually think he was struck by a downed powerline or open circuit, since there was a lot of structural damage during the battle.
  • it's easier to just roll down his sleeves as the gunslinger than it is to try and hide a scar of that size for the rest of his life and never get to wear short-sleeves again.
  • a side effect of being electrocuted is migraines; they're sometimes triggered by visual overstimulation, which he already experiences, so he wears sunglasses a lot more often when he's older.
• during the battle, he accidentally kills magnum opal. it's a 'wrong place, wrong time' situation, but charlie absolutely blames himself for it.
  • he's always been afraid of himself and his own abilities, which he sees as very dangerous. this is his worst fear come to life.
  • very few people actually witness the event. it's easily twisted around by the media to make it look like charlie killed the city's most beloved hero on purpose.
  • all the trust he worked so hard to build for five years as a hero is instantly shattered, and the public now believes he's returned to villainy.
• post-neo dominus is a really rough time for him. he needs a lot of therapy, and it takes a long time to rebuild the city's trust in him. 
  • he lapses back into depression, lashes out a lot more, and generally runs himself ragged as the gunslinger while trying to keep his thoughts from eating himself alive.
  • after neo dominus, he grows a depression beard that he just sort of...never gets rid of.
  • everything gets worse when he blows up while meeting alistaire's parents, who alistaire is trying to reconnect with.
  • having told alistaire before the battle that he wouldn't let anything happen to him, he blames himself for alistaire losing an arm.
  • he's in the middle of a falling out with his other friend jasper, a fellow hero. they were dating apollo / magnum opal, and are justifiably upset about his death.
  • he already feels like he's ruined multiple people's lives. 'ruining' alistaire's chance to reconnect with his parents and their subsequent argument causes him to spiral.
  • after a few weeks of no communication, the longest they've ever gone without talking since becoming friends, alistaire finds him out on the streets as the gunslinger.
  • alistaire manages to break through to him by telling it to him straight: he's depressed and he needs help.
  • he finds it in himself to call his therapist, who he hasn't talked to in years, and starts taking steps to recover, including getting a haircut.
  • months later, apollo comes back from the dead and throws a wrench into everything again...
• around 35, he grows his hair out. he's one missed haircut and an empty tube of gel away from a mullet anyway, might as well embrace it.
  • it's really not that different from his default haircut except that instead of being swept to the side, it's directly back now. it's slightly longer and messier.
  • everyone else hates it. this only makes him more determined to keep it.
• moves in with alistaire at 36. rent's cheaper, the place is nicer, the only downside is putting up with alistaire 24/7 which, let's face it, he was already doing anyway.
  • he puts up a big show of being reluctant, but he actually doesn't mind the idea whatsoever once he thinks about it for a few minutes.
  • "putting up with alistaire 24/7" isn't really a downside, honestly. they're extremely close friends who spend virtually every day with each other anyway.
  • an important aspect of their decision to do this: it's not made out of necessity. they're both doing it because they genuinely want to.
  • it takes a while for it to really click for charlie that he lives here too and that he's not just moving into alistaire's place.
• after getting past this roadblock, it actually ends up working out really well.
  • the financial stability of having a roommate actually does him a lot of good!
  • he's able to afford nicer things, including therapy again, and is overall in a better place mentally.
  • there's also the added benefit of just living with his best friend in general. these two are inseparable and essential parts of each other's lives.
  • alistaire has two cats and charlie is able to get a dog.
• in his 40s he starts to get a bit of gray in his hair.
  • it's not too obvious, but his nose now has a slight bend in it from being broken at some point.
• at no point in the future does he ever stop being the gunslinger.
  • at this point, it's part of who he is and he has no desire to stop, even if other people hate him for it; it's probably what'll kill him eventually.
• his costume steadily evolves over the years but still retains his signature black and red color scheme.
  • he tends to only update one piece of it at a time because he either can't afford a full replacement or just doesn't want to, but sometimes he has to because things break.
• his powers get a little stronger over time.
  • power creep also applies to his eyesight and other physical stat buffs.
  • in the future, he's able to make his bullets ricochet, spin, go offspeed, curve, spark, and so on.
  • he learns how to maintain a charge and hold it in his hands, allowing him to set things on fire just by touching them.
  • his fingers glow as if lit from within when he does this.
  • eventually he and alistaire figure out a way to combine their powers by having alistaire 'release' the charge charlie's building just before he's about to shoot.
  • this results in red lighting shooting from charlie's finger directly at alistaire. they absolutely fucking love this and think it's the coolest thing ever (and they're right).

DESIGN

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  • for commissions please don't draw future charlie unless specifically requested!
  • for gift art and trades feel free to draw any version of him :] if you like him enough to draw him at any age i will cry
• square face, square face, square jaw, square build, square eyes, square everything. square this man up. sharp cheekbones as well!
  • just a very brick-shaped guy in general. he's muscular, but not overly cut or lean; he never has defined abs.
  • he should just look like a normal guy who works out somewhat often. he's not ripped like a bodybuilder and still has some softness to him.
• due to the angle of his brows, his default expression is >:\ even if he's not mad. extreme resting bitch face.
  • his eyebrows tend to remain at an angle even when he's expressing other emotions. for example, :) becomes >:)
  • eyes always have bags under them. this man does not sleep.
• eyes glow red when using his powers or when he's angry. there should be a faint red highlight in his pupils at all times.
  • if style permits, it should look a bit like replicant eyes from blade runner. otherwise just a red dot in his pupils is fine! open to interpretation, stylize as you like.
  • his eyes reflect at night too. 
• his hair is swept back with more of a fringe on the left side as opposed to the right, which is shorter and more straight back. it should appear somewhat layered and uneven.
• goatee should be fairly small and not take up his entire chin. it's triangular and should come 'off' a little bit rather than being glued to the front of his face.
• eyebrows are wider at the ends than in the middle. he has a small scar over his left eyebrow that points inward towards the center of his face.
• i usually don't have a preference for whether he's shown in-costume or with casual clothes.
• costume notes:
  • the bandolier is optional. feel free to simplify other parts as well!
  • his belts and spur straps can have additional tooling (1) (2) (3). again optional, use any design you like!
  • his hat automatically casts a very dark (#000000) shadow over his upper face and eyes. this helps protect his identity.
  • per comic book rules, his hat never falls off. however, this rule is flexible for drawing purposes!
  • as with the bandolier, feel free to omit the hat or shadow as you see fit.
• casual clothes:
  • dark colors, reds, or neutrals. leans punk / alt but doesn't go too crazy with it. 
  • often wears t-shirts or tanks for real life bands (see playlist).
  • clothing tends to look worn or grungy. wears a lot of ripped jeans!
  • shoes are usually boots or converse, very little in between there.
  • accessory stuff: bracelets, necklaces, gloves, etc; anything sort of casually punk. 
  • he doesn't wear hats out of costume. he can wear sunglasses instead if needed.
  • ears are pierced - feel free to give him as many earrings as you want!
  • i tend to just draw him in simple studs. dangly stuff is a rarity.
• tattoos:
  • left arm: two-headed snake 
  • lower legs: roses and thorns
  • left ribs: snarling coyote
  • right shoulder: ferruginous hawk
  • stylize as you see fit! they are meant to resemble the 'american traditional' style.
    • ex: snakes can be simple silhouettes or have a lot of detailed scales
    • ex: random # of roses, they don't connect all the way around his legs
• i don't know WHY anyone would want to draw him shirtless but if you are for some reason doing this, his top surgery scars are fairly wide; please don't draw them as thin lines!

SYMBOLISM

• voice: kanan jarrus, played by freddie prinze jr.
• motif: fire. surrounded by fire, setting things on fire...
• color: red, obviously. also black and grey.
• animal: birds of prey, specifically ferruginous hawks.
• plant: mainly ocotillo. also red roses with thorns.

LIKES

• old westerns (a lot of his catchphrases are inspired by these movies).
• doodling (he doesn't think he's very good, but he likes drawing animals).
• video games (unsurprisingly, he's very good at first-person shooters).
• dogs (his favorite breed is the border collie, but he likes all dogs).
• halloween (his birthday is four days before it, so it's his favorite holiday).

DISLIKES

• guns (why use them? he has his powers. he thinks guns are too destructive).
• horses (he thinks they're freaky. in other settings, he actually loves horses).
• planes (experienced mild turbulence all of once; refuses to fly ever again).
• being hot (air conditioning is his best friend. his favorite season is fall).
• horror movies (loved them as a kid, but not after becoming the gunslinger).

MANNERISMS

• pointing: he shoots with one finger (a threat) and points with two (not a threat).
• blowing smoke: blows imaginary smoke from the barrel of his 'gun' (his finger).
• belt loop hook: often hooks his thumbs through his belt loops or pockets.
• finger draw: pretends to draw a gun from his holster. it's just his finger.
• goatee: sometimes rubs his goatee or taps his chin when in deep thought.
• eyes: rubs his eyes, either due to overstimulation or to stop them from glowing.

TRIVIA

• charlie points with two fingers because using only one generally means he's going to shoot you, and he doesn't give empty threats.
  • this is a genuine threat, while this is just giving directions.
• he doesn't photograph well, especially in low light. the persistent red light in his pupils gives them an eerie shine similar to that of the red-eye effect of early digital cameras.
  • he also sucks at taking pictures himself. they always come out blurry and dark.
• he never actually took any of the money from the heists he participated in as a villain. he continued to scrape by on his own dime despite ample opportunity to give himself a more comfortable life.
  • don't ask him why he did this, though. money wasn't his motivation for becoming the gunslinger, but otherwise he doesn't really have a good explanation for it.
  • he's not even morally opposed to it, he just...won't do it himself. it's a character quirk.
• because it's not obvious that charlie is intentionally shooting away from people, it's become a pretty widely accepted fact in silver city that the gunslinger has terrible aim.
  • being treated like a joke is incredibly frustrating for him, but he admits being underestimated is a serious advantage.
  • despite this, people are still wary of him. he was an incredibly destructive villain with clear anger issues who caused a lot of property damage, and he's plenty capable of doing damage without the use of his powers.
• his costume has evolved over the years as he gained access to better materials through villain connections. originally, he wore parts of an old halloween costume.
  • his vest, while styled to look 'western', is actually bulletproof. his gauntlets and chaps are also made of a tough synthetic material, acting as light armor.
  • his gear was all obtained through favors and connections to other villains, which he regrets. he wishes he could replace it, but he can't afford to.
  • the shirt, pants, and bandana are just normal clothes that he can replace whenever needed. he can switch out his colors whenever he feels like it.
• he's practical and realistic. as the gunslinger, he carries a number of essential supplies on his person.
  • he keeps a collapsible water bottle in his holster.
  • he has useful medical items in his bandolier. originally they were just for himself, but now he uses them for civilians.
  • each casing contains small amounts of things like pain relief medication, electrolyte tablets, antiseptic wipes, and bits of gauze and bandages.
  • he also carries things like a knife, a lighter, and a flashlight. they're usually small, cheap items he's bought over the years, not anything special-made.
  • he wears a duster coat or poncho over his costume in colder months.
• other heroes and villains will sometimes call him 'gunner', as a shortened form of his alias.
  • he's particular about who does and doesn't get to call him this. it implies a degree of familiarity that he's not willing to give to just anyone, especially villains who he used to associate with.
• he sometimes asks very small favors of the people he saves.
  • he never asks for anything too big and he tries to do it a way that they don't feel pressured to say yes just because he saved their life.
  • for example, if he hears someone speaking another language, he might ask them to teach him a few useful phrases.
• aromantic bisexual. he's not interested in long-term romantic relationships or getting close to people in general, but he definitely still experiences physical attraction.
  • charlie knows he's bi, but doesn't put much thought into the romantic aspect of it besides knowing that he's not interested in relationships, especially long-term.
  • he has a strong preference for men and will sometimes just call himself gay if it's more convenient - or more likely to piss someone off.
  • generally, he's more likely to be attracted to someone if they're confident.
• he doesn't have a gym membership, so he 'works out' by moving rubble around in the middle of the night.
  • he started doing this while he was still a villain, as a way to cope with the guilt he felt over the destruction he caused.
  • leadtown, the area of silver city he lives in, has a lot of run-down buildings that never get repaired after villain attacks. he does what he can to help out.
  • it works for him because he can't afford a gym membership, is adhd, struggles to sleep, and can see in the dark.
  • ...and the tiny matter of his enhanced strength that he'd rather not think about.
• plays trombone on occasion - mostly just playing along with ska music.
  • accidentally stole it from his old high school and forgot to give it back. has kept it ever since. it's in horrible shape.
  • he sort of vaguely knows how to play it, but can't read music very well and wouldn't describe himself as a musician if asked about it.
• he has a small mid-90s pickup truck, which is in pretty rough shape.
  • he knows nothing about cars or how to fix his, so it's barely functional.
  • he doesn't care to get it fixed either because he likes public transportation.
  • he avoids driving and uses public transportation as much as possible.
  • he's prone to road rage and he knows it. he's a downright terrible driver.
• he cuts his own hair, and has since he was a kid. he doesn't have clippers and just uses scissors, which is why it's always long in the back.
  • this does not mean he's very good at it. he knows how to achieve the look he wants, nothing less and nothing more.
  • he did it as a form of rebellion as a kid, but nowadays does it to save money on haircuts.
• he loves dogs but doesn't own one. he volunteers at a shelter sometimes, and his favorite dog there is a three-legged australian shepherd named bandit. 
  • in the future he does get to adopt and foster dogs of his own!
  • his favorite breed overall is the border collie, and he likes herding dogs the most.
  • his dogs all get western-themed names like bullet, trigger, ranger, scout, etc.
• his tattoos are entirely meaningless. he gets them all young and just picks whatever he thinks look cool.
  • despite having tattoos of three different animals, he really doesn't know anything about animals that aren't dogs.
  • he has no idea what a ferruginous hawk is. he just found a picture of a cool hawk on google and told the artist that's what he wanted.
  • he consistently goes for the biggest, boldest, most detailed design possible in the most inconvenient spots possible. tattoo artists hate him.
  • he has mixed feelings on his tattoos. he likes them aesthetically, but dislikes the time of his life that they're associated with and that he spent so much money on them.