Zachary

(Inactive Character)

Zachary is run by Sally and is a member of the Brotherhood.

Biography

• Full Name: Zachary Omar Nielson
• Age: 17
• Codename: Zombie Boy (though I'm considering switching it to just "Zombie" or "The Revenent")
• Family: Angela Libretti-Nielson (mother), James Nielson (father), Valerie Nielson (sister, age 13)

Zachary's the eldest child from a classic American home -- two parents, two children, a dog, and a backyard. His mother is an obstetrician, his father a human resources manager at a local office. In every respect, he ought to be an average American teenager. He just isn't. Ever since he was a child, he's loved horror movies, creepy-crawlies, and morbid humor.

His keen interest in the bizarre and grotesque led him to be ostracized at school, frequently bullied and mocked. This didn't stop him from participating in several school plays, however (he has a keen interest in the dramatic) and it was at one such play that his powers activated. He fell apart on stage, and the principal requested that he not return. His parents sent him to New York City to live with his aunt, hoping the change of environment might help him abandon some of his stranger habits.

Powers

Zachary's limbs (as well as his eyes, ears, and nose) can all be disattatched at every joint. The separated limbs remain completely under his psychic control within a certain radius, and are capable of hovering through the air at low speeds. Zachary can use this ability to approximate flight, by separating his arms and then using them to carry his body.

Storyline

Zachary lived with his aunt and panhandled on the streets of New York when he was bored, meeting several of its denizens that way. He met Nikki while signing up at her store for bass lessons, and developed an unrequited crush on her. He attempted to ask her out, but was foiled when she brought a friend -- Tyson -- along for the most awkward evening EVER. Zach and Nikki have stayed friends and been in contact by phone, but he still labors under the delusion that Tyson's her boyfriend. He may still harbor a crush on Nikki, despite attempting to pursue other relationships in light of her rejection.

Shortly after encountering the shadow monsters in Times Square, Zachary was recruited by Pietro to join the Brotherhood. He embraced their goals and philosophies and has grown to be comfortable there, developing strong friendships with Ian and Marrow in particular.

Due to his friendship with Ian, Zachary found himself pulled into attending one of The Butterfly's concerts. Though Ian had the strictest of instructions to maintain a low profile, when Shelby got in danger, he had to act. And so Zachary then had to go help his friend, picking up the Butterfly and flying her to a nearby hospital.

Zachary's relationship with Marrow eventually progressed to the point where he felt comfortable asking her to go with him to the NYC Halloween Party, where they and others fought off zombies. He had the singular experience of playing dead while the MCU basically walked right over his individual body parts.

He ran into the MCU for the third time recently at Zabar's, where he witnessed a group of mutants robbing the upscale grocery store.

A loner all his life, Zachary is fairly new to relationships. He continues to struggle to learn how to interact with friends and romantic interests, and even to understand his own feelings. He seems to be learning, though.

Friends and Enemies

Friends:

• Marrow - Combat Marshall, Friend, and possibly something more? Zach and Marrow have bonded over being loners and outcasts. They've been spending a lot of time together lately, not only with training and missions for the Brotherhood, but just to hang out. Zachary has also attempted to introduce to her his love of horror movies. They attended the Halloween Party together, from which it appears they may be dating.
• Ian - Zachary considers Ian to be one of his best friends. Although Zachary makes fun of the boy's naievete and romantic sensibilities, he also admires him greatly and feels that he can talk to Ian about anything. If anybody wants to mess with Ian, they're going to have to go through Zachary first.
• Nikki - Zachary's feelings about Nikki are conflicted. He enjoys being friends with her, likes her sense of humor, and admires her toughness of spirit, but also can't help but be a bit raw about how she spurned him when he attempted to pursue a romantic relationship. He also has a tendancy to misinterpret her friendly, somewhat tactile mode of communication.
• Rogue - As field leader of the Brotherhood, Rogue has earned Zachary's respect by the care and concern she has for the team members. He wants to earn her approval, not only because she's field leader, but also because Marrow values her opinion highly.
• Wanda - Though Zachary has only met his teammate Wanda a couple of times, it didn't take him long to figure out that he enjoys hanging out with her. It helped that she thought his powers were cool and useful instead of gross.
• Pietro - The fact that Pietro recruited Zachary to the Brotherhood put him firmly in the "friend" spot, although the interaction between the two boys was rather competitive.
• Samantha? - Zachary caught her practicing parkour in a warehouse, and the two bonded over a love of cheesy horror films.
• Marcel - Though Zachary wouldn't describe Marcel as a "friend", persay, they're not enemies either. It might be best to say that they're united in support of Magneto's cause. However, Marcel and Zachary have clashed on at least one occasion.

Enemies

• Tyson - There was a time in Zachary's life when he would have given his right arm (no pun intended) to be like Tyson. Tyson represents everything Zachary has never been able to acheive -- he's cool, good-looking, talented, and apparently a girl magnet. Although sometimes it seems like they might be able to become friends, they come into conflict constantly because of Zachary's competitive nature and their differing belief systems.
• X-Men - Though the Brotherhood ended up succeeding at getting Jacob out of state, Zach wasn't too pleased that the X-Men came along to interfere. He especially doesn't like Pyro, from whom he received a couple of nasty burns.
• Humans in general (but not necessarily in particular)
• Hot Dogs

Wanted

• Any RP that is strange/grotesque/funny/silly. (The strange/grotesque bit is unique to Zach, but I love funny/silly in general!)
• More active BHers. (Let's take over the world!)
• Somebody to play Zachary's sister, Valerie. She's 13 and could just be coming into her powers. I'm open to a lot of concepts, powers and personality-wise, as long as we get one thing clear: This is not a lovey-dovey sibling relationship. If you're looking to create a character that would be super friendly with Zach, look elsewhere. If you love conflict and sarcasm and immature teenage arguments, TALK TO ME. :)

Links

A list of links like this:

• Lucio Fulci's Wikipedia page
• Wikipedia page for The Living Dead movies
• The Stiff Zombies! High Schoolers! Awkward relationships! While Zachary is NOTHING like the lead of this webcomic, some aspects of it helped to inspire his creation.

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