Franklin Shinnick

[Franklin Shinnick]

Name: Franklin George Shinnick

Codename: None Yet
Age: 17
Country of Origin: America
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Birthday: April 10

Power: Franklin’s X-Gene causes his nervous system to produce excess amounts of electricity that he can discharge through his hands by physical contact.  He is at least capable of releasing a discharge powerful enough to kill a man, but has developed enough control to release only enough juice to cause electronics to malfunction.


An unfortunate side effect of his mutation is that he no longer sees as normal humans do but in fact sees electrical currents, meaning that humans look like walking nervous systems to him. Years of experience has allowed him to be able to identify people by their particular electrical signature.


Recently, Franklin has begun to feel the electrical current of the planet itself.  He has no idea on what this means for his powers.

Personality: Franklin is a loner who doesn't trust anyone, least of all himself.  His life has given him a deep self loathing and hatred of himself and his mutation.

Description: Franklin looks like your average 17 year old, except for his eyes.  A side effect of his mutation caused his irises to disappear. His eyes are instead constantly crackling with electricity.  He hides these eyes by a pair of dark sunglasses that completely obscure them from view. He prefers layers of clothing as it prevents accidental electrical discharge by skin contact.  He further ensures his powers at kept in check by wearing a pair of rubber lined gloves.

Background: Franklin was raised by a poor mother in Springfield, Illinois and would have an uneventful life until his powers emerged at age 12.  He would be playing with his childhood friend Shawn when the boys began fighting. During the course of the struggle, Franklin would shove the young boy and accidentally released a surge of electricity into his friend.  This event left Shawn in a coma and Franklin effectively blind. His mother would be horrified by what her son had become and began abusing him. It would during one beating that his mother would reveal that Franklin was in fact a mutant like his father.


Franklin would endure the torture for four years while developing his new powers.  The then 16 year old would run away from home and begin raiding ATMs in order to support himself.  Despite his lifestyle, he would excel in school to the point that he graduated a year early. This allowed the 17 year old Franklin to begin researching who his father was.  It took bribes and backroom deals, but he eventually discovered that his father was the British mutant terrorist Brimstone. These revelations inspired Franklin to enroll in Xavier University in order to train himself to confront the elder mutant once he had located him.



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[Hank McCoy]

So does he have to regularly discharge to avoid overloading?

Is there a cooldown after a full discharge?

[Franklin Shinnick]

Very good questions.

Franklin's cells can naturally store built up electrical energy but his habit of constantly charging his cell phone and computer with his powers has prevented him from discovering his limits. If he goes too long without a discharge then his cells will literally explode, killing him and anyone within his blast radius.

As for when he fully discharges all of the electricity in his body, he has to wait a full 24 hours for his body to recharge. (There are a few other side effects that I would like to explore in story.)

[Hank McCoy]

Is there any way Franklin can be forced to ground out/discharge?

[Franklin Shinnick]

If he is fully drenched in water against his will he can painfully short circuit. This gives me a great idea for giving him a phobia of water

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[Hank McCoy]

With that in mind, I'm prepared to give this Approval 1/2.

[Ashlie Minamida]

I'd say tone down the overloading from "dies and takes everyone with him" to something that's still potentially dangerous but actually explorable in play. Aside from that, looks good to me.

Approval 2/2