Ravenclaw

Ravenclaw
Bounty Hunter
Creator:	David 2/Battlerock X
First Appearance:	"Battlerock Comics Presents" #2
Game:	Champions Online
Personal Data
Real Name:	Phillip de Raven
Known Aliases:	'
Species:	Human
Age:	'
Height:	'
Weight:	'
Eye Color:	'
Hair Color:	grey (formerly brown)
Biographical Data
Nationality:	American
Occupation:	CEO Millennium Insurance
Place of Birth:	Grosse Pointe, Mi
Base of Operations:	Millennium City, Mi
Marital Status:	single
Known Relatives:	Robert de Raven (father, deceased), unnamed mother, Samuel de Raven (younger brother)
Appearances
Battlerock Comics Presents
Known Powers
trained fighter
Known Abilities
close-quarter fighting, bladed fighting, invisibility
Equipment
claws, grapple gun, Mammoth gunship, cloaking, voice-changer
This character is a hero in the world of Champions Online.

"You may be able to escape the law. But you will not escape me."
- Ravenclaw

Ravenclaw is a character in the world of Champions Online MMO.

He is a little-known fugitive hunter who went after wanted criminals and brought them to justice. When he learned that he was dying, he tried to pass what he knew over to his protigee, a crime victim that would later become the vigilante known as Red Sinner.

Character History

Early History

Phillip de Raven is the son of Robert de Raven, the CEO of Detroit Mutual Insurance, a rather successful insurance company in Detroit. Phillip was the considered the "heir apparent" to the insurance agency, having followed the same path as his father in accounting and business management. With his girlfriend Annabelle by his side, Phillip was living the life that most men would dream of.

Then the City of Detroit was devastated by Doctor Destroyer.

The destruction financially devastated all the insurance carriers in the Great Lakes area. Countless claims for injuries, deaths, damages, and destruction, that had to be honored drove half the insurance providers right into bankruptcy. The other half, predominantly the big corporate agencies, simply walked away. This left the city with no assistance and no means to recover and rebuild.

With the federal government ready to simply abandon what was left of the city, Robert and Phillip took a bold move. They used their own personal assets and bought up the bankrupt agencies and created a brand-new insurance company. This company would become Millennium Insurance, so named after the decision to transform the ruins of Detroit into Millennium City.

The gambit worked. As the new city took shape, Millennium Insurance - which ran red for the first two years - quickly became the most successful insurance agency in the state and became the dominant agency for the city.

Loss and Revenge

As Millennium Insurance exploded with money and prestige, Phillip and Anabelle proudly announced their engagement. The media praised the new local "power couple", making comparisons with the city's premiere superhero team, The Champions.

Then, tragedy.

Just days before the wedding, Phillip and Annabelle were attending a business trip in Florida when a newly-escaped felon confronted them. Phillip was stabbed in the back and was unconscious as his fiancée was killed before their attacker fled.

Phillip was given the news when he awoke in a hospital bed. The news devastated him. Instead of getting married, he had to attend a funeral.

He would heal from his wounds, but his spirit was broken. His brother Samuel, then a seasoned FBI agent, said that the killer was a career criminal with a long history of violence and escaping from various prisons and jails. The killer was already on the FBI's top 10 list, but they could do nothing to bring the man to justice. Phillip made it his mission in life to do just that.

After spending time and resources on private investigators and even using some of the agency's own resources (which his father quickly ended), Phillip finally turned to a hero-for-hire who was skilled in fugitive-hunting. The hero was getting on in his years but felt a kinship with Phillip as someone else who suffered a devastating loss at the hands of a criminal. The hero agreed to help Phillip get closure, not justice, but only if Phillip worked with him.

Phillip worked with the unnamed hero as he began his hunt for the fugitive, teaching Phillip some of the tricks of his trade, and even showing him his prized vehicle: a gunship he called "The Mammoth".

Finally they located the fugitive. Phillip was able to get his revenge and end the fugitive, but not before the fugitive fatally wounded the hero. As he was dying, the hero told Phillip that the price for his revenge was to follow in the hero's footsteps. He handed Phillip a diary containing all his information and told him do better than him.

When the police arrived, Phillip put on a pair of sunglasses and told the police that he was the hero's apprentice. When asked for a name, Phillip said that he was Ravenclaw.

Fugitive Hunter

Going through his mentor's notes, Phillip discovered a hidden monastery in the Northern Wilderness run by the Tin-Shen monks; masters of combat. He travelled to the monastery and gave the masters his mentor's credentials. He spent five years training with the monks on various forms of combat, including the use of a grapple gun for travel, and the art of being truly invisible.

After five years, the masters felt Phillip was ready to return to the world.

Phillip returned to Millennium City a different man. No longer gregarious, Phillip was seemingly all-business. But not all of it was for insurance. By day he was the Executive Vice-President for Millennium Insurance, helping to manage a successful agency. By night, he was scouring the streets as Ravenclaw, hunting fugitives from the law and bringing them back to prison.

In 2003, Robert de Raven passed away. Prior to his death, he made his son Phillip the new CEO, fulfilling the promise made years ago. This complicated Phillip's dual life only slightly. He would still hunt wanted fugitives, but not as frequently.

Borrowed Time

In 2011, Millennium City was invaded by the Qularr. With energy-dampening forcefields all over the city, many of the city's heroes were working on reduced powers. Fearing another devastation, Phillip took to the streets as Ravenclaw to fight the invading insects. During the battle, he was stung by one of the flying insect drones, and the wound became infected by one of the strange chemicals used by the invaders.

The Qularr would be defeated thanks to Defender and a newly-arrived Galatea Future, but not without much devastation to the city. As always, Phillip and Millennium Insurance would help cover the costs and help rebuild the city again.

Weeks later, though, Phillip would get the bad news. He had a strange form of cancer that was slowly killing him. He would have a decade, at the most, before it runs its course. He was told to make peace with himself and make preparations for his death.

Phillip confided this only to his brother Samuel and asked that he retire from the FBI and work with him to eventually inherit the business. He would also be needed to find someone who would also carry on in Ravenclaw's absence; a role that Samuel himself refused to take as he saw himself as being too old.

With Samuel as the "heir apparent" and learning all he could about insurance, Phillip continued his work as Ravenclaw. It was during his pursuit of the wanted predator Jack the Blade that he came across a bloody massacre with one survivor. He rescued that woman and sent her to the Tin-Shen monks to train.

Three years later, with his own health in clear decline, Phillip asked that the woman, now under the new identity of "Cassie Dare", come to Millennium City, where he could personally train her to inherit his cause.

Death

In late 2017, while guiding Cassie through a surveillance and intelligence-collecting mission, Phillip succumbed to the cancer.

Samuel was officially named CEO following Phillip's death, a move that was long in preparation.

As per Phillip's will, the top five floors of the Raven Building and the land underneath it were given to Cassie Dare under the condition that she continue the path he set for her. She would soon do just that as the vigilante Red Sinner.

Powers and Abilities

Ravenclaw is a skilled fighter, trained in bladed weapons which are concealed in his gloves. His best skill, though, is his stealth, as he is able to render himself invisible through a secret known only to the Tin-Shen monks.

In addition to his physical abilities, he carries a grapple gun, which allows him to swing across the city with ease. His outfit is padded to withstand bullets and blades, and he has a voice-changer in his facemask. His goggles give him enhanced vision.

Ravenclaw's other mode of transportation is "The Mammoth"; a blood-red hovertank that carries a variety of weapons from rubber bullets to missiles. It is a very noisy vehicle, often described by him as "a herd of elephants", so he only uses it when necessary.

Personality

Phillip de Raven gives the appearance of a kind and generous man. While still retaining the savvy business senses that allowed him to run Millennium Insurance after his father's passing, he has very little of a personal life.

As Ravenclaw, he is all business as well. He does not seek the limelight. He prefers to stay in the shadows, making himself more of a recluse than even Nighthawk. He is focused on hunting down and apprehending fugitives, which he considers his prey.

Related Information

Ravenclaw was first mentioned in "Future's Guardian" #16. His first actual appearance was in "Battlerock Comics Presents" #2