"There was no long-term, and trying to cling to one would only spoil it all."
This article contains spoilers regarding the ending of Worm and plot of the sequel.
| “ | Victor had a kind of easy arrogance to him. It wasn't just the arrogance of someone who thought they were better than everyone around them. It was the arrogance of someone who'd been born and raised thinking they were better, only to have that confidence reinforced and enhanced over the course of their lives. | ” |
| “ | He'd written a letter about his past life, his attempt to use the amnesty to be better, [...] blah blah blah. He'd still been a guy who had a history that was violent and stark enough to have records remaining after the end of the world, who'd done what he'd done when he was a full-fledged adult. The letter had been an apology letter without an actual apology or trace of contrition. | ” |
Victor is a member of The Shepherds and a former member of Empire Eighty-Eight. He would later become The Nemean Titan.
Personality[]
His power allows Victor to be self-assured if not outright arrogant. He is completely committed to the E88 cause as much of his self worth and resources are tied up in the organization and the ideology.[10] Thanks to his stolen training he has some modicum of self-awareness.[11]
When forced to address his actions in the E88 before Gold Morning he owned up to it but did not fully apologize for it.[1]
As The Nemean Titan he acts catlike, avoiding frontal combat and being preoccupied with covertly leeching his prey.[12]
Relationships[]
Othala[]
He did love her.[10] But she was also his second love.
Appearance[]
Victor wears a breastplate, painted black, coming down to a v-neck, over a blood red shirt with black pants. While he previously wore a mask while operating as "Victor", after the E88's identities became public knowledge he divested of it.[13]
He changed his color-scheme after joining The Shepherds, possibly more.[1]
Upon undergoing a Broken Trigger, Victor transformed into an enormous black figure, with golden hair running down the spine. His arms became overlong, reaching to the ground, clawed, and with the same golden hair from elbow to wrist. His mane forms a many pronged crown. He has no other features on his "face" besides a mouth and detailed patterns formed out of hair.[14]
Initially, he moves on all four but grows more human-like after "consuming" people.
Unlike the majority of Titans, he is very light and agile, being able to climbs on buildings without instantly toppling them and generally move faster than other titans. He is about 10 stories tall.[15]Abilities and Powers[]
Victor is a skill thief, with the ability to absorb the practical expertise of anyone he spends time in the presence of. He has used this power to become a veteran martial artist, a computer hacker, board game player, an expert in various forms of gunplay, and many other things.[16] Similarly, he has gained resistance to many master abilities thanks to the absorption of standard PRT psychological counseling,[11] and similarly many master abilities have negligible effects on him.[17] These may be a function of his psychology and not solely due to his power.
This mechanism can act through several paths, such as eye contact or general proximity, with each connection made intensifying the breadth and depth of what he is able to steal, whether a specific skill or imparting a target's general skill set.[18][19] Barring a complete "robbery" of the skill in question, the victim will completely regain the skill given time.[20]
To clarify the passive wide net skill stealing can be focused to specifically steal one thing permanently.[21][22]
After becoming a Titan, his power increased dramatically in strength and potency. It affected everybody within a certain radius of himself, effectively giving them brain damage. He also seems to apply his power through objects, including air.[23][24] The Nemean Titan appears to gain an increase in power or confidence for every person that he drains.[25]
History[]
Background[]
Before his trigger, Victor may have attended a meeting of the extended Herren family when they were attacked. When the resident parahumans were incapacitated following Othala's trigger event, Victor disabled the person attacking the newly activated parahuman.[26]
Eventually triggering and working his way up through the ranks, he would marry Othala after her cousin - his original fiancée - died.[7] He was able to use his power to torture E88's targets and other enemies.[22]
Story Start[]
Engaged with New Wave alongside Krieg, Alabaster, and Othala during the Collapse of the Empire Eighty-Eight.[27]
He participated in the fight against Leviathan and was knocked out in the later stages of the fight. He survived where many others did not.[28]
Post-Leviathan[]
With the death of Kaiser at the hands of Leviathan, Victor and Othala fell in with Fenrir's Chosen.
Post-Slaughterhouse Nine[]
Had a disagreement with the Undersiders that led to his capture.[29][30] Coil persuaded Victor to use his hacking abilities in the service of his organization when Dragon began focusing her efforts to combat them.[31]
After the death of Coil and the escape of Echidna he and Rune retreat back to the Clans.[32] The Chosen that operated at Boston did not include Victor.[33]
Gold Morning[]
His wife was killed by Scion while controlled by Khepri, erased alongside a number of capes including Trickster and Ash Beast.[34]
It is unknown how he handled this.[35]
Post-Gold Morning[]
Two years after Gold Morning he became a member of The Shepherds, a religious team. Still going by Victor he evidently "found God" and a new girlfriend, Gospel.[1]
Post-Time Bubble Pop[]
Victor was outed as former neo-nazi alongside Rune by Teacher's operation, and as damage control was moved into in Wardens Bunker.[1]
Post-Attack on Teacher[]
Victor was present for the Second Shin Crisis alongside the rest of the Shepherds.
The Ice Breaks[]
Suffering from the recent break-up and social isolation Victor succumbed to his shard when the City was torn. Upon becoming a Titan, he attacked and almost killed his teammates.[36] Nemean Titan joined Fortuna's network.[37]
He was the first titan of Fortuna's network to attack the convoys entering into The Shardspace, avoiding combat with the capes and feeding off groups of people. Heroes resorted to tinker and master minions to occupy him.[38] After The Firmament bombing he fell back to Fortuna and accompanied her to Earth Shin portal. He fought Egg's monsters with mixed success.[39] He was narrowly stalled by Mayday's bombardment,[40] and later went into a passive defense alongside other Fortuna's Titans.[41]
He was shoved down into the reality cracks by The Shepherds.[42]
Chapter Appearances[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 I saw Victor- Brockton Bay native, named for his power, not because it was an actual name. The costume had been changed so it didn't have that bold red, black, bit-of-white color scheme, but he'd kept the name, I knew. He was talking with one of Capricorn's old teammates from Reach, and had his girlfriend with. She seemed to be Gospel, an ex-member of one of the smaller religious teams.
[...]
Two days ago, the pair of them had been outed. Victor hadn't really been hiding it, but he'd kind of been exposed to the public years ago, and had more or less dropped off the map for two years after that, long enough for most people to forget. After they'd been revealed as ex-members of the Neo-Nazi gang back in Brockton Bay, Victor had been open about it. He'd written a letter about his past life, his attempt to use the amnesty to be better, how he had someone close to him that inspired him to be better, he'd found God, he condemned everything about who & what he'd been, blah blah blah. He'd still been a guy who had a history that was violent and stark enough to have records remaining after the end of the world, who'd done what he'd done when he was a full-fledged adult. The letter had been an apology letter without an actual apology or trace of contrition. I was kind of glad in a way that the public hadn't really bought it, but his team was standing by him. - Excerpt from Breaking 14.2 - ↑ "What do you think?"
"I think if Alabaster is potentially a part of this, it's worth reaching out to the Shepherds. Victor and Rune from the Empire are in the Shepherds now, under new names. They knew Alabaster and they might know something about Jotun. He was small-time." - Blinding 11.4 - ↑ 3.0 3.1 "The Nemean Titan. Formerly Victor, a member of the Shepherds. A thinker-stranger with theft of competency, both ambient and focused. Anyone who passes within a certain range of the titan loses all faculties except their power use. This includes ability to walk or speak. We have reason to believe it becomes permanent if they aren't able to evacuate in time. When his movements cause the air to ripple, the air carries the effect, and we can assume other things may spread it too." - Radiation 18.2
- ↑ His posture shifted, hair gleaming gold in the radiance of the beam. In that moment, I could see past the Titan to a Victor I had encountered in passing on the battlefield. A kid, intimidated and putting on a front. Very good at putting on a front, because it had been a skill he had stolen. I'd moved on to something else, because I'd been young enough I wasn't allowed to fight the supervillains, only the mooks. The posture and stance had been very similar, back then.
Hi, Victor. - Infrared 19.2 - ↑ The scene tilted like the 'camera' floated underwater, unsteady, overcompensating. Taking in more. A young Victor used the toe of his boot to move his victim's head. Half shaved, half of it scuffed and bruised, blood in the ear canal, the other half left alone.
A man I didn't recognize or know, older, put his hands on young Victor's shoulders. Two girls roughly his age approached, one of them with a smudge of blood around one nostril, a bloody handprint on her shoulder. Too old to be Rune. Wrong face shape to be Othala.
Maybe the younger girl was Othala. Maybe she came in later.
Behind them were men. A group, all standing together.
Attacking a family in their own home. Outnumbering them, because they were fucking cowards.
Welcome to Empire Eighty-Eight? More likely welcome to the Clans. An induction for the younger generation. Ugliness creating ugliness. - Infrared 19.2 - ↑ "He gave up?" she asked.
"Victor has been struggling," Moonsong was quiet. She sounded despondent, surprisingly so given how she'd never seemed to like Victor. "Gospel broke it off. I think he's had a lot of self doubts. Loneliness." - Sundown 17.z - ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Not quite, huh? It wasn't your dad. You were on your own, a lost soul recruited by a big, proud family. Proved yourself, and you were told you'd earn a proper place in Kaiser's Empire if you married in, so to speak. Not an arranged marriage in the strictest sense, but the idea was that you'd date one of the lieutenant's girls and marry eventually. Except it wasn't her you were supposed to date. Her sister?"
"Cousin," Victor spat the word, "I'm getting tired of hearing you fumble your way to answers. It was her cousin."
"There we go. Something happened to the cousin. So you two got paired together instead. And you two work so well together, it's a kind of kismet. Only there's a little heartbreak on both sides." - Excerpt from Colony 15.3 - ↑ I couldn't think of two capes who were in a committed relationship where there wasn't some degree of fucked-up-ness. Night and Fog were, if I'd understood Tattletale right, essentially functional sociopaths. They'd acted out the role of a married couple with none of the affection or fondness. Victor and Othala were screwed up in a different way, burdened by a shared event in their past. Brandish and Flashbang? If their kids were any indication… yeah. Fucked up. - Colony 15.4
- ↑ Assuming she was someone along the lines of Victor or Über, a combat-oriented thinker, she'd try to do something like a Judo throw - Excerpt from Crushed 24.2
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 - Excerpt from Colony 15.3
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "The PRT trains its squads in resisting and reacting to master-category attacks. I've picked up some things," Victor's chin raised a fraction. - Excerpt from Colony 15.3
- ↑ He didn't like being shot. Nothing suggested he was more fragile than Skadi, but as a Titan, he seemed to have a wholly different personality. He backed off as the lasers focused him down, and darted around a building as a feint, reversing direction while we couldn't clearly see him, before sprinting off in another direction. - Excerpt from Infrared 19.1
- ↑ Victor – A white supremacist and partner to Othala, Victor wears a black v-neck breastplate, red shirt and black slacks. His power allows him to steal people's skills and talents, draining them temporarily or permanently (depending on the amount stolen) and giving it to himself on a permanent basis. - Cast (spoiler free)
- ↑ A massive figure, hunched over, black-bodied, with golden hair running down the spine, moving as if billowing in a wind that wasn't actually there. Hands extended down to the ground, arms overlong with more of that gold hair from elbow to wrist. It bore a crown that took over part of its face, that looked like something between hair in the wind and gold, many-pronged. Below that crown, there was only a mouth, corners downturned. - Excerpt from Interlude 17.z II
- ↑ The Nemean Titan, and a series of circles drawn in the air around it. He slouched, arms long and hands wreathed in clouds of gold, with golden locks on his head that became crownlike at the top. Of all of the titans, he seemed to have the most of a face, with twists of golden hair forming gaps and patterns as they trailed across what would have been his face.
He moved on all fours, fast, and put buildings between himself and us.
[...]
He was cowardly, hard to track, lighter and leaner than many of the Titans. Ten stories tall, maybe, and he scaled a skyscraper near the coast without toppling it, though rubble fell. Still halfway up it, peering over the top, he moved behind it, so the bulk of the skyscraper blocked our view of him, then leaped to one side.
The building fell. He disappeared into the maze of fallen and half-fallen buildings. - Excerpt from Infrared 19.1 - ↑ Victor – Has the ability to steal learned skills and talents through proximity to others. Victor retains these talents indefinitely, while his victims may recover some of what was lost over weeks, months or years. An exceedingly accomplished martial artist, orator, singer, musician, dancer, fencer, gunman, sniper, pilot, driver, chess player, go player and computer hacker, among other things. Victor wears a black-painted breastplate with a v-neck, a blood red shirt and black slacks. Since his identity was revealed, he's decided not to wear a mask. - Cast (in depth)
- ↑ But Lung was part of the handful I'd fought where I could input fear and get anger. Dean had run into the same thing, with emotions other than fear returning the same output.
Some people, especially those of a more feral stripe, just processed things in a different way. The upside was the tactical advantage in it, if I could adjust my expectations fast enough.
The downside was that I had to make that adjustment. Most of my costumed fighting experience was that my enemies would hesitate, get sloppy, or back off, but Lung, like Bitch, like the cooler but still dangerous Krieg or the seemingly unflappable Victor who would still act differently when under the influence of my power, attacking faster and more recklessly. They were the people who were angry at the world, or those with the natural predisposition to fight rather than fly. - Excerpt from Gleaming 9.11 - ↑ Victor. He was a talent vampire, stealing people's trained skills, keeping them if he held on to them long enough, and leaving that person temporarily bereft of whatever skill they'd spent their lives learning. People like him had a tendency to pick up martial arts, parkour, weapons training and other combat skills. He tended to pair up with Othala, the girl who could grant powers, meaning Victor also had super speed, super strength or invincibility. If he was wounded, she could give him regeneration instead. - Excerpt from Colony 15.2
- ↑ "I'd step back, Skitter," Tattletale said. "His power works by proximity, among other things. Physical contact, eye contact and active use of a skill lets him leech them off you. The stronger the contact with each transfer point, the more transfer points he's maintaining, the faster the drain. He could suck away something essential, or make you just a little bit worse at everything you do." - Excerpt from Colony 15.3
- ↑ People Victor drains regenerate what they've lost, unless it's taken to an extreme, in which case it may be gone forever (or 'regenerating' the lost skill would be more time consuming than learning from scratch). Tattletale probably wouldn't have volunteered her people for his skill-vampirism if they could lose something vital forever, and her people wouldn't have accepted. - Comment by Wildbow on Colony 15.3
- ↑ Bit of clarification: he can choose to draw from on a singular skill or take a small fraction of every skill they have (you're right but your statement is easily misunderstood- at least, I misread it at first glance).
If he takes in enough of a skill he starts taking the fundamental grounding in the skill. By taking it, they don't regain what they lost, and he doesn't lose what he gained. Time doesn't matter - stuff regenerates at the same rate when he's away from the target.
'Skills' in this case is anything that you can practice and get better at (music, parkour), or broad knowledge you can learn, such as language or medical ability. - Wildbow on Reddit - ↑ 22.0 22.1 It had been Victor, breaking into a man's home to steal his computer know-how, spending more than twenty four hours doing it, so as to leave the man with nothing. [...] until it came out that the whole thing was an attempt by the startup guy to bail on his own project and claim the compensation and disability insurance, with Victor as his paid hire.
Victor had done other things. Taking all talent from a black violinist and leaving her with nothing. She'd never got it back. Taking away all restraint and subtlety from a gay twenty-something, in an effort to humiliate them, or get them to do something criminal. The victim's friends had managed to restrain him and alert authorities, but they'd only noticed because he'd already self destructed whole parts of his life, outing himself and losing the funding from his parents that let him attend the University. I remembered the fundraiser from after. According to the gathered info that had been released about the Empire Eighty-Eight villains, he'd once tortured ABB gang members, taking away all pain tolerance and willpower, because those were skills we all learned over the course of our lives. He'd broken them, then taunted Lung with videos of him lording over the once-proud gang members that now acted like animals. - Excerpt from Radiation 18.2 - ↑ "The Nemean Titan. Formerly Victor, a member of the Shepherds. A thinker-stranger with theft of competency, both ambient and focused. Anyone who passes within a certain range of the titan loses all faculties except their power use. This includes ability to walk or speak. We have reason to believe it becomes permanent if they aren't able to evacuate in time. When his movements cause the air to ripple, the air carries the effect, and we can assume other things may spread it too." - Excerpt from Radiation 18.2
- ↑ In the wake of the blow, again, she felt that wave of Victor's power, writ large. A loss of all faculties. Balance, coordination, everything else. Given enough of a hit, and they wouldn't regain what they lost. - Excerpt from Interlude 17.z II
- ↑ He was tenacious if nothing else, and he was fast enough that even limping and beaten by attacks from five different directions, he got to them faster than they got away from him.
I watched as people fell like dominoes. Trucks that had been moving veered off the road or collided with one another.
And he stood taller, no longer moving on all fours. His body shifted composition. - Excerpt from Infrared 19.1 - ↑ Othala's power grants powers. It does so by means of a striker venue (touch) and it's a positive relationship. She was being supported by a variety of powers when she triggered due to a pointed and immediate, in-her-face physical threat. The clan was attacked, possibly during a moot, a big meeting of multiple branches of the family/organization. Someone came after her, and despite everything, all the power around her, fighting off the other enemies, this guy wasn't stopped. He had a weapon or grabbed her and scared her. Good enough for a second generation trigger. I imagine that after that point, during the usual 'trigger visions' blackout, that someone (an unpowered Victor?) knocked out the assailant. - Othala's Trigger event
- ↑ Buzz 7.9
- ↑ The Armband spoke. Losses are as follows: Debaser, Ascendant, Gallant, Zigzag, Prince of Blades, Vitiator, Humble, Halo, Whirlygig, Night, Crusader, Uglymug, Victor, Furrow, Barker, Elegance, Quark, Pelter, Snowflake, Ballistic, Mama Bear, Mister Eminent, Flashbang, Biter… - Excerpt from Extermination 8.3
- ↑ Colony 15.2
- ↑ Colony 15.3
- ↑ I've been made aware that Dragon is also making a bid to claim, seize and lock out digital goods within the city. Victor has agreed to work with my teams and do what he can to minimize the damage. - Monarch 16.1
- ↑ You were 'fine' when we went back to the Clans and the new leadership treated us like dirt and blamed us for what happened in Empire Eighty-Eight." - Excerpt from Sundown 17.z
- ↑ "The individuals in question are Menja, Stormtiger, Cricket, Rune, Othala, Niflheim and Muspelheim. I'll see you have all available records. Best to enter any confrontation with your eyes wide open." - Excerpt from Interlude 19.x
- ↑ Speck 30.5
- ↑ Pitch 6.9
- ↑ Sundown 17.z
- ↑ Lines connected titans. One between Dauntless and Eve. Then Titan Fortuna with lines of varying strength to the Ophion, Nemean, and Ashen Titans; to Bough, Victor, and Cinereal, respectively. - Excerpt from Radiation 18.2
- ↑ Infrared 19.1
- ↑ Infrared 19.4
- ↑ Infrared 19.5
- ↑ Infrared 19.6
- ↑ Infrared 19.d
[]
| Leader | Allfather † • Kaiser † |
|---|---|
| Leiutenants | Hookwolf ‡ • Krieg ‡ • Purity ‡ |
| Members | Alabaster † • Cricket ‡ • Crusader ‡ • Fenja † • Fog ‡ • Heith Anders † • Iron Rain † • Menja ‡ • Night ‡ • Othala ‡ • Rune ‡ • Stormtiger ‡ • Victor ‡ |
| Associates | Aster Anders † • Theo Anders ‡ |
| Leader | Hookwolf ‡ • Menja |
|---|---|
| Members | Cricket • Muspelheim • Niflheim • Othala • Rune • Stormtiger • Victor |
| Leaders | Whorl • Moonsong |
|---|---|
| Members | Tribute • Victor ‡ • Scribe • Gospel • Cue • Fishtank • Vessel • Pictor • Armiger • Accolade • Riveting • Reconciliation ‡ • Eagleflight ‡ |
| Associates | The Wardens • Breakthrough • Advance Guard |
| The Kronos Titan † • Titan Eve † • Titan Fortuna † • The Nemean Titan † • Titan Arachne † • Titan Oberon † • The Ashen Titan † • Titan Skadi † • The Ophion Titan † • The Strange Titan † • Auger † • Titaness Amenonuhoko † • The Flowing Titan † • Drillbit † • The Liminal Titan † • Pouffe † • Valkyrie † • Morgana † • Yakshini † • Ashoka † • Ghast † | |
| Endbringers | Behemoth † • Leviathan † • The Simurgh • Khonsu * • Tohu * • Bohu * |
|---|---|
| Titans | The Kronos Titan † • Titan Eve † • Titan Fortuna † • The Nemean Titan † • Titan Arachne † • Titan Oberon † • The Ashen Titan † • Titan Skadi † • The Ophion Titan † • The Strange Titan † • Auger † • Titaness Amenonuhoko † • The Flowing Titan † • Drillbit † • The Liminal Titan † • Pouffe † • Valkyrie † • Morgana † • Yakshini † • Ashoka † • Ghast † |
| Groups | The Slaughterhouse Nine ‡ • Three Blasphemies • The Machine Army |
| Parahumans | Ash Beast † • Echidna † • Khepri ‡ • Nilbog • Pastor † • Scion † • Sleeper • The Tower † |