| Hector Fitzgerald | |
 |
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| Portrayed By | Jeremy Irons |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Date of Birth | January 21, 1957 |
| Age | 50 |
| Zodiac Sign | Aquarius |
| Aliases | HT |
| Place of Birth | Southampton, England |
| Current Location | New York City, NY, USA |
| Occupation | Sociologist |
| Known Relatives | Elizabeth & Harry Fitzgerald (parents; deceased) |
| Significant Other | N/A |
| Known Abilities | Cryokinesis |
| First Appearance | Broken Glass |
Hector is a wealthy British sociologist living in New York City, where he performs participant observation research upon the local homeless population. Which basically means he spends a lot of his time sleeping on park benches and pretending to be homeless. For science!
History
Hector Fitzgerald, born in 1957 to an insane homeless woman residing in a back alley somewhere in Southampton, England, was immediately swept up and left at an adoption agency by one of her more forward-thinking counterparts. Adopted shortly thereafter by an egregiously wealthy couple (with Ford stock, among that of lesser companies) not capable of having children of their own, it can be safely said that Hector was a fortunate boy with an unfortunate beginning.
His parents elected to be fairly forward with him about his origins, with certain details passed neatly over through the course of his younger years. A friendly child from the start, and a bright one, he didn’t seem particularly hampered by the knowledge that he didn’t actually spring forth from the parents that were raising him. If anything, he bragged about it – eager to prove to his friends that he was special in ways they couldn’t be, as kids are, with various spins placed upon the story to make it more appealing every few weeks. First he was born to pirates, then aliens, and so on and so forth. It is possible that he was a little strange from the beginning.
As he got older, he became a little more reserved about who he told what, but could not quite bring himself to shake off a measure of curiosity about what, exactly, he emerged from. Rather than being intent upon seeking out his own mother, which would likely be impossible anyway, he fostered an interest in the homeless community in general, and eventually opted to major in sociology in university, once he got there. Several girlfriends and one master’s degree later, with a specialization in special problems as they pertained to the poor and homeless (much to his parents dismay, though they were certainly proud of his academic record) he set out to do some participant observation research of his own.
First in England, and later in Ireland, Germany, and America, he set about the process of dressing himself down and attempting to blend in with the lowest echelons of society. Again, to the dismay of his parents, who still did not complain, though it is likely that they frowned and gave each other concerned looks with fair frequency. At some point he intended to return to school to get his doctorate, but he found that – with the proper amount of effort and sway – he could get himself published without pausing his research to go back through the massive political effort involved in academia.
For the last twenty years he has done research of this nature – acting as a homeless man for extended periods of time while occasionally vanishing into a proper car and then a proper home somewhere on the other side of town. Initially this was made somewhat difficult by a lack of funds, and it is arguable that he really was basically homeless for a few years here and there, but in the years following the passage of his parents, the hefty mass of his inheritance has made living a double life somewhat more convenient. Something else that helped was his odd but persistent resilience when it came to braving cold weather. Despite the occasional addition of a bulky coat to his hobo outfit when the weather was particularly bad, for well over a decade, fellow homeless have noticed that he doesn’t seem to feel it at all.
Currently residing and carrying on his research in New York, NY (with a large apartment in Midtown), Hector has only been around for a couple of years, but is already somewhat well-known on the street. Despite having been published in academic journals, he is by no means famous for his research, and is virtually unknown to the community that he studies – though he has occasionally made the papers back in Britain.
Abilities
Virtually immune to cold as a necessary side-effect of his power, Hector has the ability to supercool water molecules in his general vicinity (with a radius of approximately twenty feet) to well below freezing, which has some pretty tangible effects on the temperature around him. Once the water is near freezing point, regardless of whether it began as a puddle or humidity, he can condense, direct and manipulate it to a limited degree that is generally restricted to objects that he is in direct contact with. If the object is in itself part or mostly water, like a human body, he could theoretically freeze all or part of it solid. If the object is something like a rock, he could freeze a shell of ice around it, but not actually change it physically in any other way. His hands are the focus for this type of manipulation largely for psychological reasons (it’s easy for him to envision) and typically become partially encased in ice in the process. His abilities do not work in the opposite direction. That is, he can’t force ice that he has created to melt or heat water molecules in any way other than the old fashioned way.
While he’s been immune to cold for years, he just recently became aware of the more direct ability associated with that immunity in the wake of the eclipse. He has been able to practice to a limited degree (freezing the occasional pigeon solid or randomly giving people on the street the shivers) but tends to have a bit of trouble with control, particularly where strong emotion is involved.
Cold Front: Deliberately, or as a side effect of using his power for something else, Hector is capable of lowering the temperature of the area around him to levels well below freezing.
Icy Fists of Justice: Ice is layered over his hands, effectively making them into weapons and changing brawl rolls over to melee.
Mr. Freeze: Hector can freeze matter that involves water and/or freezing a thick shell of ice around matter that does not contain water.
Timeline
- January 1957 - Born and later adopted
- May 1985 - Completes Master's degree in Sociology, leaves home
- June 1990 - Arrives in Germany
- August 1994 - Arrives in Ireland
- December 2000 - Arrives back in England
- May 2003 - Arrives in America
- June 2005 - Arrives in New York City
Quotes
- "I am exceedingly shabby."
Trivia
- Has published research in fields centering around social problems, the homeless, and criminology.
- Has been arrested several times and charged twice for minor felonies, but never convicted.
- Has done work for the government as an informant and as an expert witness.
- Occasional rumors on the street describe him driving around in a sports car.